Michele’s Musings

I am at the point where I an REALLY looking forward to leaving, not necessarily going home, but just getting out of mom’s house…. I’m sure some of you can relate, too much time spent with my mom wears on my nerves. I love her but…. it’s time to go home. I can’t relax in her house so I’m feeling a bit stressed out, have a cold sore I’m currently keeping at bay with Abreva.

Since my last post we have been busy. Last Friday we went to the CN Tower, actually got James to go up with us, he has a thing against heights

 Rowan and I on the subway heading downtown.  Rowan took the picture of me

The requisite “children with iconic Canadian symbol” shot

Views from CN Tower

Keely sitting on the glass floor

Cool shot of my feet on the glass floor

Little breezy up there!

James trying to call our friend Stacey…can you hear me now?  Darn she was out of the office on a lunch run…

The view from the ground

The kids had a blast, then we went to East Side Marios for lunch.

 Friday evening was spent out to dinner at Outback with Sheila and Stan, we had a great time, Stan and James seemed to hit it off. After dinner we walked to Archibald’s pub for a few drinks, James got to drink a Molsen Export, which made him very happy. They don’t sell Ex in Alberta and it was one of the beers he really liked when we lived in Ontario. From there we walked home to mom’s, only a 45 minute hike, reminded us of our dating days when we used to walk home from the bars lol

Left to right… James, Stan, Sheila and I

We cancelled our plans for the beach in Barrie on Sat. I wish we could have gone as we had plans to meet up with some of the mods from CPO, but the threat of thunderstorms was too great for us. This has been the wettest July in ages here, it has really messed with our plans! Sat night I dropped James off at London Pub for a reunion with some of his high school friends, I hung out for a couple hours then the kids and I met up with Sheila and Stan and we went to Dave and Busker’s for some amusement and Boston Pizza for a late supper. I went back to the pub to pick him up later, always fun to be one of the only sober people in a group…. but they seemed like a nice bunch and I’m happy for Jamie that he got to meet up with them.

Sunday the weather looked good so we decided to go to Wonderland, it’s a good thing we did because our only other option was this past Wed. which turned into another really rainy day! It was a long day at Wonderland, but we had a lot of fun. We went with my mom and Jamie’s sister Melanie. Jamie, Mel, Arran, Keely and I went on the Behemoth, wicked fun roller coaster! The wait didn’t seem very long, we have a great picture of all of them minus me on the ride, I ended up in another group. It did rain a bit that day, but it passed over quickly. We closed the place down!

Arran, Aunt Mel and keely after riding Riptide…. just a little bit damp lol  Had to get Mel to cover herself to keep the pic g-rated, white tank tops don’t fair well wet lol

Mom and I

James and I

Arran and I, notice my boys can’t keep a straight face around a camera…

James, Mom, Keely, Mel and Rowan under an eaves in Hannah Barbera Land trying to keep dry

Monday we drove to African Lion Safari and drove through the safari in our van, luckily the monkey’s left our van alone, but we saw them ripping the trim off the top of another van and playing with torn off windshield wipers. It was really amazing seeing the animals. The kids played in the waterpark for awhile then we saw the 3 animal shows (parrots, birds of prey and eliphants) while they dried off. Then hopped back in the van and drove to Niagara Falls. We had dinner at the hotel *blech* it was all you can eat ribs, well no wonder, they were horrid and the service sucked. Oh well, so far it has been the only bad dining experience of our trip, and we have eaten out a LOT. After supper we swam in the hotel pool, then after it closed at 10, went for a walk down to the falls to see them lit up at night. I think I was the only one who enjoyed the 1.5 km hike *sigh* Everyone else grumbled about it and it made for a miserable night and following day. I loved the sight of the falls at night and the ferris wheel and Clifton Hill all lit up James and Arran were tired of playing tourist and we didn’t get to do nearly as much as I had planned for us in Niagara We did end up on the Maid of the Mist in the morning and went to the Guiness Book of World Records Museum, if I had known we were only going to do one museum I think I would have picked Ripley’s Believe it or Not instead. After the museum James and Arran got very grumpy so they left to go to the van. Keely and Rowan went into an indoor playland while my mom and I waited out in the heat for them. Then Keely, Rowan and I went on the big ferris wheel, the view from up there is beautiful! Then it was time to leave, I called James to pick us up and we drove home to mom’s.

Wed. was Jamie’s birthday, it was very low key, we took the kids to lunch, then glow in the dark mini golfing. Today I went out with Sheila for a pedicure I now have Russian Blue toes and very soft feet! This afternoon will be spent packing up our van, we have a ton of extra stuff we are taking home with us. What is left of my father’s record album collection (after my mom discovered my step dad throwing some of the albums in the garbage) my mom’s old aquarium (she mentioned she was throwing it out, and I had told the kids when we got rid of the cats we could get more fish, can’t say no to a free aquarium and all the supplies!) and a large glass terrarium that my mom was given when my father passed away. She had a philodendrun (sp?) in it for about 20 years! So I want to plant another in it when I get home. We are also taking back a couple cases of beer….. you should have seen Jamie’s face as he was leaving The Beer Store, just like the crazy lady in the Ikea commercial, I got out to open the back hatch for him and said “start the caaaaarrrrrr, start the caaaarrrrr!!!!!!” lol He not only had a 24 of Molsen Export, he found out they still make Golden, which was his favourite back in the day, he got 2 - 12 packs of it lol Stacey and Sheldon, we are bringing beer to the bbq next week I’m sure we’ll make it all fit!

Again I am on the library computer so not able to post pictures, but I have a lot! I will hopefully post some from one of the hotels on the way home. We have decided to make it a 4 day trip home instead of 3, we want to avoid the night driving. We will be stopping at the same hotel in Wawa on Friday night, I left a necklace there they are holding for me! Then we are planning on booking the same hotel in Dryden for Sat night, and then a stop in Russell MB, at the Russell Inn, it has a pool and waterslide and was recommended to me (thanks Krista if you read this) for it’s 50% off room rates on Sunday nights Then home on Monday……

Made it to Richmond Hill Monday evening around 8.  It has been raining almost constantly since we got here!  We had planned to go to Canada’s Wonderland on Wed. but it was just pouring!  One of the intersections near Wonderland (Jane and Major Mack) was flooded about an hour after we drove past it!  After making the drive by at noon, we decided to go to lunch at Montana’s and then to the movies to see the Dark Knight, very good!  We are hoping to get to Wonderland next Wed. for Jamie’s birthday or Thurs. which would be our last day here!  Fingers crossed the weather holds.  We are also supposed to go to the beach in Barrie on Sat, but there is a 40% chance of thunderstorms…..

The kids have gotten to spend some time with their Aunt Melanie (Jamie’s sister) and Uncle Kevin (my brother) and of course grandma….  and her puppy Maggie, I will try to get some pictures up when we are at the hotel in Niagara, I can’t do it from the library computer :(  Tonight I am meeting some friends, then tomorrow, maybe CN Tower, then dinner with Sheila and Stan.

We have been doing some driving around town, looking at places we used to live, where Jamie went to school.  In a way it’s sad, so much has changed, we feel left behind.  I am a bit homesick for the green, green grass and trees, nothing like Alberta.   We also stopped for lunch today at Pizzaville and had a deep fried Panzarotti, can’t get THEM in Alberta!  Arran loved it, said he’s ready to move to Ontario lol   Will try to post again tomorrow afternoon from the library, otherwise it will be the hotel in Niagara Monday night.

Send me good weather vibes!

That last hour was spent in the dark, in the rain, in fog, avoiding moose…  I need a drink!

I forgot to mention yesterday that near Winnipeg we passed one of those solar cars on it’s treck from the US to Calgary, really cool!

 We left Dryden this morning ar 8:30, had a yummy breakfast at the hotel, would definitely recommend the Best Western Motor Inn, and they gave us $20 off for the 10 minutes of headache when we checked in :)  Between Ignace and Upsala we passed the Multi Faith Walk Against Violence heading west.  Then we hit construction (lots of it on the transcanada) and this is what you see passing you around a curve

If you think that is bad, imagine going up a hill to find one IN YOUR LANE coming AT YOU!  He barely made it back into his own lane, we had to slow down and get over onto the shoulder other wise he would have hit us.  Then James says “You should have taken a picture”  Well excuse me, I was a little busy freaking out and trying not to poop myself!  Then a bit further down the road we see a sign that says “Can’t See, Don’t Pass”….. thanks for the tip. 

We stopped in Thunder Bay at 1:30 for lunch, then hit the Wal-Mart so James could buy a cheap electric razor, apparently *I* forgot to pack it…. yup I’m sure that’s what happened…. The boys needed new sandels as well that we didn’t have time to shop for before we left and I needed a travel pillow, trying to stuff a regular pillow behind your head in the passenger seat just doesn’t work well.  Left Thunder Bay at 2:30, stopped a bit later at Pass Lake for gas ($145.9/L - $89) then headed to the Panorama Amethyst Mine for some digging fun!  Well we didn’t need to do much digging, they are just laying there for you to pick up!   All the purple stones below are amethysts.  You can buy them for $3/lb.  Picked up some souveniers as well

Kids and James poking for stones.

James and I with a scenic view behind us near the mines.

We left the mines covered in black fly bites at 4:30 and headed east.  At 6:15 we passed the Sea2Sea University of Lethbridge cyclists just before Schreiber.   Click the link for their blog.  We also ended up dining at the same restaurant in the town of Schreiber, saw them sitting as we were leaving. Back on the road at 7:30 and into Wawa Mystic Island Motel for 10:30, after a harrowing last 2 hours.  Today we saw on the side of the road, one young deer, one young black bear, one porcupine and 2 dead young moose.  Then in our harrowing last 2 hours we almost hit a young moose crossing the hwy, luckily it was still light out and it had started raining by then and James has slowed down (did I mention he drove ALL day today?) so we saw it and stopped in time.  Then it got dark…. and the rain started coming down harder…. and the fog rolled in…. did I mention it was harrowing????  But we are here safe and sound.  To finish off tonight here are a couple of fun pictures I took.  I probably won’t be able to update until next week but we’ll see how it goes!

Who knew we had a lake? This is slightly north of White River ON.

Blue skies….smiling at me….

That’s a very long road…. and only 1000 or so km left!

Keely in our rustic motel room, it’s quite nice.

The whole famdamily in the funny mirror in the roof.

ETA ….Found another pic, the boys sleeping in the van.

And I want to mention that the kids are behaving really well!  I thought maybe there would be a lot of fighting and whining, but there has been very little.  And Arran has done well entertaining the other two in the back, without any prompting from us even!  Rowan is being his usual Rowan self, but settles down when we remind him to.

Off to TO!

People have been commenting to me about the price of gas, so I am going to post the price/L as well as the $ we spent.  Although James didn’t get a receipt with the L’s at every stop.  We’ll add it up at the end :) 

We left Edmonton Friday night at 9:30, quick run to Safeway for gas (123.8/L 7c off Club price)… then home again as we forgot pillows!  I started off driving so James could get more rest.  I made it as far as Lloydminster at midnight, it was dark and I must say, you don’t appreciate the lines on the road until they aren’t there!  There is construction on the hwy so for about 20 Km there are only white dots where a center line would be  and no lines on the shoulder, plus there were idiot’s passing me going well over the construction speed limit, and to add to the fun, it started raining on and off.  James took over for the rest of the night, and it pretty much rained all night for him.  We stopped in Regina SK at 6 am for gas (137.9/L full serve- $110) and to switch drivers. 

Sunrise on the Prairies!

Stopped to top up the gas and hit the washroom at Elk Horn MB ($47 for a top up and 2 coffees) I have to say I was quite amused that their ladies room has no feminine hygiene dispensers but I could buy a variety of condoms for $1.25 each lol  Shortly after we hit Brandon to switch drivers, Jamie’s turn again! 

Children packed in and James getting his sandels out of the back, decided 24 hours wearing one pair of socks in his runners was enough.  I OTOH brought no socks with me for the trip, my feet will be FREE lol

Driving across SK and MB is very boring, really nothing to break up the monotony other than roadkill (occationally stinky) and the debris of blown tires, which I have to say was a bit disconserting….  We didn’t have to stop often because my children can hold their bladders like camels do water, it was James and I needing the pee breaks, wonder if the endless stream of Tim’s coffee had anything to do with it?   Then just before we hit Winnipeg a guy in a sports car passed us doing well over the speed limit, he just flew by us and we tend to go about 10 over, as we hit the Winnipeg bypass James noticed the RCMP had him pulled over lol sucker!  Nice to see them get caught once in awhile.  At Winnipeg we switched drivers again, my turn….. until Kenora, the endless Prairie’s are hard on my eyes for driving, very straining.  Topped up the gas again (137.9/L full serve - $83) and the terrain started to get more interesting finally as we hit the Canadian Shield

Then onto Dryden where we are staying at the Best Western.  There was a bit of a mix up with our room, the internet reservations are not catching the children, so we almost ended up with only one bed!  The front desk said they have had three reservations this week where that happened so they are logging the errors.  Then we got given someone else’s room, we noticed when we opened the door and saw clothing scattered around the room… then we were given a room that wasn’t cleaned yet, after about 10 minutes we finally got settled and they offered to reduce our rate to compensate for the headache.  We had a great dinner in the hotel restaurant then took the kids swimming and enjoyed a soak in the hot tub, heavenly after 18 hours of driving!  The kids made friends in the pool of course.  Now it’s time for bed, have to be up early  as we want an early start.   Oh and tomorrow we are on moose watch, the front desk clerk says this wet weather is making the bugs worse which is making the moose skittish, which in turn causes them to JUMP out on the hwy with no notice at all…. wish us luck!

And we’ll be on the road!  Trying to get all the laundry finished tonight so we can pack.  I *thought* I was done on Monday but then Arran came to me tonight and said “I have no clothes to pack, they are all dirty”  WTH?  I did 8 loads earlier in the week!  One last load ….. 

We have all the DVD’s and travel games picked out, I have my lists of stuff to pack, phone numbers written down of friends I’m visiting.  Rowan is out with some postcards collecting his friends names and addresses so he can mail them on the trip.  Keely has a wee journal started with a title page lol  Supper tonight and tomorrow will be “food that must be eaten before we leave or will be thrown in the garbage”.  Bagels, eggs, cereal (for the milk)  lol  I am working a full shift tomorrow, but James is supposed to get off early, so hopefully he can nap in the afternoon so he’s rested to drive.  Then I can nap as he drives.

Talked to my mom this morning….. my stepdad doesn’t like the AC on long enough to cool off the 2nd floor bedrooms *wah* wish us luck, we HATE humidity.  I am hoping to keep the blog updated with pictures while I’m gone, so stay tuned…..

Well in my mind I am….  Physically I still have to pack and get the van ready lol  We are driving from Edmonton to my home town north of Toronto.  We have a full itinerary, and I’m still not going to be able to do all I want to do with the kids and see all the people I’d like to see *sigh*   2 weeks just isn’t long enough!

We are leaving Friday night the 18th, our first leg is 18 hours of driving, we have a hotel booked in Dryden ON for Sat night.  Wish us luck!  Sunday we plan on taking it a bit easier with only 10 hours of driving, stopping along the way at Amethyst Mine Panorama  for a rest stop and for something fun for the kids to do.  Sunday night we are staying at a motel in Wawa ON, then Monday an 11 hour trip to my mom’s in Richmond Hill. While there we plan on taking the kids to Canada’s Wonderland, the CN Tower (although James says he’s not going, he has a thing about heights) African Lion Safari, Niagara Falls and a good old Ontario beach, cause the beaches in Alberta are just not the same….

Just 4 more sleeps!