Our New Home At Last

Sammy checking out the land out front of the house. 

Well after much asking I have been elected to finish off this blog.  There will be updates of photos on facebook in the future as usual.  We have been unpacking endless boxes and looking for endless things that we needed.  There is still a long way to go but in one day we got the house livable to have Josh and Sarah as our first visitors.

Josh, Sarah and Dave

The weather has been very kind to us and we have been enjoying temperatures in the middle to high 20c.  On our way to get Sarah and Josh from the airport we purchased three kayaks, one double and two singles.  We have had tons of fun with these boats and the water has been like glass so easy paddling.  We took all three boats over to the other side of the bay to a beach to get photo's of the house from there and for Josh to swim.

Our house from the other side of the bay. 

We are going to take a paddle around the island as our neighbors tell us it will take 2 hours to do.  Sarah and Josh leave tomorrow morning and we have to be out of the house at 4am, which is going to be interesting as neither Sarah or Josh are morning people.  One plan is for them to be fully dressed, packed and sleep in the car!!!!!
Living in Nova Scotia we have noticed some changes, one is some of the things that we are used to buying we are having trouble getting here.  If anyone comes out soon could they bring me some mint sauce and some colored Ikea napkins please?  We did finally find tonic water the other day, and as the liquor stores are run by the government they seem to have strange hours of opening and closing.  Also, because of this there is no Costco Liquor Store!!!!  Though thankfully at the moment you can get booze on a Sunday in the summer months, guess that is to stop a riot from the Albertan visitors!!!!
The pace of life is slower in Nova Scotia and no one seems to be in a hurry especially when you go to the store.  Sarah and I went and got flowers the other day and to get the soil it was a huge debate from the employees about whether we had paid the right price.  Turns out there was the wrong picture on the stack and after 30 minutes standing in the heat I told them I frankly did not care and started loading the car myself.  They seemed quite taken aback that I would not go back into the store to sort out their mix up.  All in all though the Maritimers are an amazingly friendly bunch, always waving you on when crossing the road and waving at you as you pass along the roads home.  They love to talk and visit with everyone that cross their path.  We have been for drinks at one of our neighbors already and have an invite to a party in August at another.  Once we get settled we will have some over for drinks and nibbles.  They have been checking us out and the first day or so we seemed to have a steady stream of people passing our door.
We got a contractor in to give us a quote on things we want done, one being my studio.  I need heating, flooring and insulation put in the walls and the ceiling.  Also some water which we should have already out there but cannot seem to get the pump working.  After the studio we will frame out the cottage and then move all the kitchen and the flooring from the house over to use in there and start on a new kitchen and living room for the main house.

Outside studio and garage.  Studio to the right & garage to the left.

Studio space

The studio at the moment as you can see has a dirt floor which is good at the moment but in winter we are thinking maybe a little damp.  I seem to have regular visitors of snakes that slither in and out to take a look see.  We googled these to make sure that we don't have to worry, and they are all harmless except for one that can give a nasty bite.  The snakes that are common in Nova Scotia are Garter Snakes, these can bite but only if you try to pick them up.  The Ribbon Snakes which are quite pretty in yellow and brown stripping, these are harmless.  The Green Snake which is very bright green in coloring as the name suggests.  There are also the Ring Neck and the Red Belly snakes.  All of them are about one to two foot long.  There are also some awful bugs around but surprisingly not bad on mosquitos, and we have only needed bug spray when walking in the woods.
Our garden around the house has proven to be amazing, with every kind of plant and tree imaginable.  I even have two peach trees!

Sarah and I bought some lillies the other day and planted, they grow really well out here, a lot taller than in Alberta.  They seem to be in most yards and along the roads.  There are also raspberry bushes which Josh and I have been enjoying and we planted some strawberries.  I have never been able to grow tomatoes so got one plant to put in a pot to give it a try.  We are thinking of putting in a garden next year, but as the ground is incredibly rocky, it seems most of Nova Scotia is granite based, we will have to import soil.  David is relieved as that means he does not have to clear a section.
Though we are missing our family and friends, we are enjoying every day of our new home.  If anyone wants to come and visit they are always welcome though we may put you to work!!!!!

This Is The Life

 Finally managed to get on (and in) the water here.  Bit cold for swimming but the kayaking is great.

Some of us swam anyway!

 

 

Kayaking 101

On the water Yeah

 

!

Sam is not yet sure about kayaking

Sam will need several more tiny trips before I feel up to taking him further than a few feet from the shore.  He was a bit scared and of course every time he moved, we wobbled which made him worse.

Statistics

On the journey here, we drove 6004 km in 11 days.  A direct route would have been 5472 km, according to TomTom so in side trips we added a little less than 10% to the distance.  The main side trips we did were to Niagara Falls and Bar Harbour.

We did most of the driving in the early days and eased up on the distances later on.  This was definitely a good strategy so as to get the long boring bits (sorry Saskatchewan) out of the way before hitting the more interesting parts.

We passed through (in order): Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan (for just a few minutes), Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

We drove at a fairly consistent (and conservative) speed above the posted limit.  In the early days in rural areas, nothing passed us at all.  As we neared the big cities (Chicago, Boston) we were the slowest vehicle on the road and then as we headed back into Canada it was like the beginning of the journey.

We spent $735 on gas and $3015 on hotels, food and incidentals.  If we had shipped the car and trailer and flown out (with Sam) it would have cost about $5,000 so if we treat the trip as vacation and don't value our time then we saved some money.

The car computer tells me we averaged a fuel consumption of 11.6 litres/100 km.  This is much worse than I thought it would be.  Without the trailer or top box we typically average 7.8 litres/100 km.  The car seems to have survived OK and is now well past the 250,000km mark.  It really doesn't owe us anything any more so every km from now on is a bonus.

Best meal on the trip was either the seafood restaurant in Cambridge Massachusetts or the last hotel we stayed in just down the road from here near Mahone Bay.

Most surprising place we visited was Chicago.  Surprising because we were expecting something similar to New York with rude, impatient people, honking cars, police sirens all night.  The reality was completely different.  Friendly well behaved locals, clean streets, clean air and a general feeling of goodness.

Would we do it again?  Probably not.

The Furniture Is Now In...

but it was another stressful day.

The movers arrived on time and unloaded most of the stuff OK but then took over two hours to turn the big truck around in order to get out.  The lawn is rather ripped up.

The only major catastrophe in the move was our big dining room table which arrived in about ten pieces!  Totally destroyed.  I have a picture of it for the insurance but it's rather upsetting so I'm not going to post it.  There were a few other chips and bumps but nothing too obvious.  Of course, we haven't unpacked everything yet by any means.

Our major worry was that there would be so many boxes and things all over the house that we wouldn't be able to move around for them.  Generally though we seem to have been fairly successful in our culling of things before the move and it looks like everything will fit in OK.  The only major area where we've got way too many things is the kitchen.

So, first night in our new home.  We went out for dinner since we are fairly disorganized kitchen-wise and are now sitting in front of the TV watching trash stuff and drinking wine until we are ready to fall asleep.

Tomorrow, Sarah and Joshua arrive for a week.  My plan is to go get a couple of kayaks and some other essential things (chest of drawers, storage shelves, etc.) from Halifax on my way to pick them up from the airport.  weather forecast for tomorrow is 30C+ and sunny.  But that was the forecast for today too and it mostly just rained!

Finally We Own A House Again

We arrived at our new house on Thursday and left the trailer there (with the owners permission).  It was nice to drive around again without that dead weight pulling us back.

First thing we had to do was source a TV as we had arranged for the TV and satellite internet installer to come in on Friday afternoon.  We went to WalMart in Bridgewater but their selection was rubbish so we nipped over to Canadian Tire across the street to pick up a TV stand we had seen while we considered what to do next.  Annette approached a random guy in the parking lot and asked whether there was a Future Shop or other place we could get a TV.  He recommended a place in downtown Bridgewater and then asked if we were from Alberta.  Turned out that he was our installer guy.  There's a coincidence for you.  Anyway, we went to the recommended store, picked up the TV and headed back to our hotel.

Friday morning we had our final inspection at the house before the deal closed.  We expected to have the deal sorted and the keys in our hands by about 10am as we had been assured that everything was OK.  It turned out that the bank had screwed up big time and the proper paperwork had just not been done.  The stress was immense.  Would we have to cancel the TV/internet connection?  Would we have to cancel furniture arrival for Saturday?  What would we do when Sarah and Joshua arrived on Sunday?  After lots of phone calls by us and our lawyer and others, it came right down to the wire and finally closed at 4:30pm.  The realtor turned up with the keys at 5:15pm and the satellite installer arrived five minutes later!

While we were pacing around waiting, calling everyone we could and stressing, I put together the TV stand in the garage, which was unlocked.  We were therefore all ready for the install.  When the install was done and Coronation Street setup to be recorded, we went back to our hotel for a late dinner and fell into bed.

We've got another busy day today, trying to fit all our stuff into a smaller house so probably won't be in any fit state to blog tonight.

Another hotel room

Hi this is Annette, just a quick blog, as David and Sam are both asleep.
We are in Halifax today, the weather was way better than New Brunswick, about 23c.  We had about a three hour drive this morning and the hotel is situated in a great location, near tons and tons of stores.  As we are doing research on things we need to purchase for the house it has worked out well.  We went to Costco, and saw great stuff but how do you get it home, they do not deliver and frankly even if they helped us in the trailer with some of it there is no way we would be able to unload when we get the other end.  So we went to Ashley Furniture which has a no tax and a no delivery fee on at the moment and found a chest of drawers that will work for a good price, when we come back on Sunday to get Sarah we will have measured and then we can order it for delivery.
David and I were talking today in the car and there is no way we would do this journey across the country again.  It has been an experience but very time consuming and very costly, to date with food, gas, and accommodations we are sitting at over $3,000.00.  We could have shipped the car and flew for that money, but like I said it was an experience and an adventure.
Talking about shipping of vehicles we picked up the Mazda today, as luck would have it, the place it arrived at was just up the highway from here so it was easy to get it.  Tomorrow after signing documents with the lawyer we will both go to Mahone Bay and stay for 2 nights before taking possession.  The actual possession date will be Friday with all of our furniture arriving on Saturday.  That is what is planned anyway.
Sammy is ready to get out of the car for good and get home, every day he is more and more reluctant about getting in the car, poor boy, we know how he feels.
Along our route we have noticed the most strange road kills, lots and lots of racoons, and porcupines, and some that frankly look like large rats......  I fear for my dog and hope against hope that we do not have porcupines on our land, or racoons come to that and I don't even want to think about the rat possibility.   
The other observation is that though drivers out here are polite, and let you cross or cut in (Calgary used to be like that), they use their honks a lot.  They sound them to either say hello to each other if they know someone or to sound off if they are displeased, or just seem to like blasting their horns at each other, very strange.  Everyone is friendly though and we are already enjoying the laid back no fuss no rush kind of way of the Maritimes. 
Just watched Harry Potters last movie as I want to catch the last one that is due out here July 15th.  So thought we had better see the first half, I liked it and know have to say goodnight to everyone.  We are now 3 hours ahead of Calgary time and 4 hours ahead of UK time.  It is now 11pm NS time so it is good night from us here in NS.  xxx

Back In Canada

We crossed over into New Brunswick yesterday and are currently in St. John.  First thing we did after returning to Canada was stop at Tim Hortons for one of their lunch sandwiches. How cliched is that?

Despite a beautiful day south of the border, it was foggy in NB and remained so all afternoon.  A little disappointing even though we do have to expect quite a few foggy days a year.  Today the weather looks nice and sunny again.

Today we go to Halifax and have to sort out money and signing papers on the house.  We will then be just one step away from our new home.  We've already decided from now on that we are going to tell people that we're from Nova Scotia, not Alberta and will start referring to it as home.

Bar Harbour

Short driving day today, just 90 minutes down to Bar Harbour and we spent the day in Acadia National Park.  It really is a beautiful part of the world.  Lots of similarities to Nova Scotia.  We can hardly wait to get there now.  Just a few more days.  I'm typing this looking out over the ocean from the deck on our hotel room and thinking this is how work's going to be from now on.  Boats sailing by, a tour group of sea kayakers paddling lazily by.  Looking forward to lobster for dinner.  Warm and sunny summers, what could be better.

In Acadia, we did a couple of hours hike up Mount Gorman a mere 525ft above sea level but in the near 30C heat a reasonable effort.  I had hoped to climb the Beehive too but there were ladders up some parts so Sam would not have been able to cope.

Bar Harbour - That house is for sale!

Not Much Shade, but we made the most of it

The Beehive - You can see people climbing up

The summit

View From The Summit

View down to Sand Beach

Cooling Off

Sand Beach

Getting Closer to Canada and Home

We headed to Maine today, but before leaving stopped off in Boston to go to the Sunday market.  It was really good though poor Sammy seeked shade every inch of the way.  Lucky for us they love dogs in Boston and he was allowed to go into the market and even the indoor antique market where there were huge fans set up which he promptly sat in front of while I shopped. I bought a cast iron lobster that I plan on using as a door stop and a new dress.  We did have some difficulty with the SatNav as Boston has a series of tunnels that you go into and hence the satellite stopped working, so we had a couple of misses before actually getting more directions.  What did we do before TomTom's.

David picked the hotel tonight another Best Western, apparently they asked if we minded a small room, to which he said OK!  When we arrived it was at the back of a truck stop, lots of rigs parked and a truck stop restaurant.  The Hotel was at the back and did look onto trails and did sit on several acres of land.  Not exactly what we had envisioned, for some reason they had not taken pictures of the truck stop!!!!   When we got to the room it was located at the end of the building, under a set of stairs and the smallest room I have ever seen.  We had to step over Sammy to get to the bed.  I immediately named the room "The Harry Potter Room".  After a while of resting in there and checking email, we noticed it was getting hotter and hotter, and when we checked the air conditioner we found it was not working.  The Gods were on our side, after calling the front desk and them sending someone we are now sitting in a room that is three times as big and cool, cool, cool.

We went to the truck stop tonight for dinner and David ordered ribs and I ordered scallops.  We were going to order seafood but everything was deep fried.  When my scallops arrived they were sweet, yes very sweet, like sugary sweet.  After calling our very jolly, and loud waitress over, she told me they were cooked in honey, I said I had not ordered the sweet ones (saw them on the menu that were cooked in maple syrup).  Well she said the ones that I had ordered were the ones off the special and she should have told me that they were done in honey, anyway to make a long story short, she sent them back and brought me grilled ones.  They were sitting in about an inch of butter but by then I was just glad to have something to eat.  No wonder everyone is over 300lbs here in this country.  Also, each meal comes with 3 side orders, so we ended up with tons of food on the table.  Also, did I mention apparently on a Sunday in Maine, you cannot get alcohol!!!!! Hmmmm!!!!!!  We had seen signs for liquor stores advertised along the route from Massachusetts and everyone pulling off, we just thought they were alcoholics.  But it turns out they knew there was no beer in the next State, I think they should have added that fact to the signs.

When we left the restaurant today we went to the store, it appears that Dysart's owns half the town, the restaurant, the truck repair, the store, the gas station and truck delivery.  The store had everything you needed for if you owned a big rig.  A fridge you plug into your cigarette lighter, CB's, plug in heated mugs to name a few.  The one thing that stood out was a kit to break into a car, yes an actual car intruder kit.  Now I am sure they sell them thinking you have locked your keys out of your car but what if you are just car jacking someone elses.  Well there is a kit for you sitting in the store in Bangor, Maine.

Tomorrow night we are going just down the highway to Bar Harbor.  This time I picked the hotel and we have a room with a balcony over looking the Atlantic ocean, which we have been referring to as our ocean all day.  Who knows though it could be a plastic swimming pool, I am beginning to not trust the pictures that go with the hotels.  Hope all are well back home, have managed to catch up with most of you either via phone, skype or email.

Below are a few pictures taken today.

Atlantic Ocean

Downtown Boston

Sowa Artist`s Market

Keeping Cool

Sunny Skies and Endless Roads

Hi this is Annette, thought I would add some to the blog here. 

We had quite a easy day yesterday with only 5 hours to drive it seemed a lot easier than the 7-8 or even 10 hours that we have done in the past few days.  As David said we miscalculated and it came as a shock to him that we were way ahead of schedule.  Math being David's strong point it came as a shock to him that he had made a mistake of such.  I was relieved though and as it slowly sunk in that we were closer to our new home the more excited we became.  As we have been driving across country it was sort of surreal that we were actually going to arrive somewhere.  We have organized the entire house from making notes and discussing where every piece of furniture is going.  How we are going to decorate, where the fountain will be situated, what to do with the garden are some of the topics also covered in great detail as the miles eat away.  One problem was that as we want to turn the garage into a cottage by next spring so that it can be rented where to put stuff that would normally go there.  We have decided that the garage (cottage) would be left empty, and the barn would be used for cars, tools and my studio.  The barn is in two parts, as you enter (which was the tack room) there is a concrete section to the left, that we will use for the cars and tools and to the right a dirt floor section (this was where the horses were kept) for my studio.  We will later plank and insulate that part so that we can put heat in for my studio.  We have so many plans and the property lends itself to lots of potential, now all we need is the time and the money.  It will not happen over night but we foresee great things for this little piece of land that will be our retirement haven. 

We are in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is just outside of Boston.  We are going to Sowa Open Market in Boston this morning, and to look around before heading off to Bangor, Maine where we will stay tonight. 

We will take more pictures today to post later, the weather has been amazingly good.  With the average temperature in the high 20c's.  Poor Sammy though is not as keen on the heat as we are, and tends to seek shade at any opportunity.  He has become expert at arriving at Hotels and heading to his (our) room to check it out.  He usually dives into his dinner and then passes out,  which gives us time to go out for our own dinner before coming back to give him one last walk before dinner as the sun goes down and it cools off a little.  All the staff and guests love him, though he does get sick of everyone patting him on this head though, poor boy, but accepts it in good humor. 

Well better get dressed and get on with our day, sending lots of love to everyone.

Schoolboy Arithmetic Error

QUESTION:  If David and Annette leave Calgary on July 4th and drive to Nova Scotia over ten days, stopping in hotels overnight, what date will they arrive?

ANSWER:  July 13th

WHY:  Work it out for yourself.  The no thought answer would be to say July 4th plus 10 days  = July 14th! That's not how it works though.  What this means to us in practice is that on the current schedule, we'll arrive in Halifax a day earlier than we expected.  We are discussing whether to hang out somewhere in Maine for an extra day or crack on and stay in the Lunenburg area for a couple of nights and start getting things together that we need to do before our furniture arrives.

Niagara Falls

As we were leaving Erie early this morning, we pulled into a gas station to fill up.  It had a sign on the window saying closed Friday.  Since we weren't sure what day it was, we hesitated for a while and the owner came over and said he was closed today because today he was supposed to ski across Lake Erie to the Canadian side.  After further hesitation on our part, he explained that only one other person had ever skied across the Lake before and that was many years ago, in the 60's.  He also said he'd tried it a week ago but was stopped half way across by the Canadian authorities (who hadn't been forewarned) who asked for his passport.  He didn't have one and didn't think it mattered since he was doing such an epic thing!  Anyway, he got in touch with the Pennsylvania governor who cleared it with Canada and was go for today, except that the forecast was for thunderstorms this morning.  He was therefore somewhat dejected that he probably couldn't go.

The other problem the Canadian authorities had was that water skiers are supposed to have two people in the boat, one to drive it and one to spot to see if the skier falls over.  He only had the boat driver and his Jack Russell terrier who has been trained to bark if a skier falls over.  Canada didn't think that was good enough.  This seems typical of the spirit in this little town that we hadn't discerned when we arrived, just thinking how run down it all was.

Anyway, once we had found an alternate gas station, it was a fairly short drive to Niagara Falls this morning and we arrived about 9:30am.  Another beautiful day as we walked around on the American side.

Niagara River Above The Falls

American Falls

American Falls

American Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Horseshoe Falls & Maid Of The Mist

Horseshoe Falls

 After a couple of hours Sam was overheating and getting fed up with head pats so we each had an ice cream and moved on.

Somebody say lunch?

We drove round the south shore of Lake Ontario and found a nice place to sit next to the lake and have lunch in the little town of Olcott.  The town was working up for its pirate festival (?!!!?) this weekend and several locals suggested we should stop over for it.  There were more than a few piratical characters around, and a fun fair and some really odd looking stalls.  Looked like it could have been interesting.

Anyway, we moved on and are currently in Syracuse NY in an hotel at the airport (don't ask why).  We repacked the car and got out some fresh clothes and then I took Sam for a stroll in the dusk so he would settle down for the night.  After letting him off the leash in a field next to the hotel he was soon hot on the trail of something and then he dived down a hole and started furiously digging.  He was so far down little more than his tail was showing.  Unlikely that it was gophers, probably racoons.  It took me some time to haul him up and away and then had to sneak him back in the hotel with his head covered in mud.

Tomorrow we head to Cambridge Massachusetts, close to our first sight of the Atlantic Ocean on this trip.  It's finally beginning to feel like we are getting there.

Unexpected concert in Erie, Pennsylvania

Hi this is Annette thought I would add to the blog tonight. 

Well when we drove into town today we thought OMG what have we done.  The hotel was cheap, and now we know why and the area was very run down.  There was a really nice colored lady on the desk who was very accommodating and sweet.  The room was off the swimming pool and it did not look anything like the one that was advertised.  The room also smells bad but a good spray of expensive perfume seems to have fixed that.  Well one night and screw that for an idea to save money though. 

Now just as we were thinking it was going to be an awful night we went and looked at the concert this evening which turned out to be amazing.  They had closed the road when we drove in and we saw something being set up.  The band was called Earth Quake and they were really good they had a female singer and she was really good, the male singer not great but the guitars were mind blowing.  They did a really good rendition of Jimmy Hendrix American anthem.  The beers were all $3 and we sat outside on a terrace and had a good meal and I drank way too many lime margaretta's.  There were loads of bikers in town on some very fancy rigs, Jay you would have loved it cheap beer and cool bikes. 

So after dinner we went and watched the band for a bit and now are home.  By the way, James the picture I took from my phone and sent to you was of a VW Bug with a Hohawk hair do and there was a tap at the front that dispensed beer, how cool is that.  Thought Jonah would like the hair cut on the car as he had one this weekend. 

So good old Erie's Pennsylvania has turned out not too bad after all.  Happy accidents, after all.
Today was another long day in the car but we are doing well with both driving and taking turns.  David did not take a nap today though I must admit I did on our way into here.  Having fun hanging out with each other and enjoying all we see.

I forgot my camera tonight so no pictures as I have not found out how to down load it onto the computer.  It is a pity as there must have been about 2,000 at the concert in the middle of town tonight.  For a town that is obviously depressed they sure can have a good time. 

I want to talk about the tolls that we have been going through ever since we hit Chicago.  It cost us about $11 to get into Chicago and another $22 to get out.  Then we went through Ohio which was another $15 by the time we had finished though at least that road we felt we had gotten our moneys worth as it was long.  Because we are towing a trailer they count the axles and charge us accordingly.  So a car will be say $5 but because we have a trailer (does not matter what size) it ends up costing us $11.  There are also toll roads through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania be prepared if you want to use them to end up costing you a lot of money by the time you get through all of the States. I would like to mention though you do not have to use the toll roads, but they are quieter, and quicker than the alternate routes which is nice if you are on a schedule. 

Tomorrow we drive onto Niagra Falls, which is about an hour and half from here.  We plan on looking around there before finishing up in Syracuse, New York.  Where we will stay the night before heading to Boston. 
We just booked a Best Western in Syracuse as we know at least they are always clean and good value.  They are extremely good about pets too, and do not charge. 

Good night to all my friends, and family and I hope your foot soon heals James, you dumb Cluck!!!!!

Erie, Pennsylvania

A longer day than we'd hoped today, but at least it wasn't too hot (27ish).  Not a very interesting day really, except for the number of states we crossed: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Building Being Demolished in Cleveland

We decided we quite liked Chicago.  Much nicer than New York, for example.  They certainly like their sports there.  On the way in last night we passed the Red Sox stadium and this morning on the way out, Soldier Field, the White Sox stadium and two others we couldn't identify.

As we drove through Cleveland, we saw this old building being demolished.  Looked like a small mountain from a distance.

We decided that instead of going to Buffalo we would stop in Erie, Pennsylvania instead.  A very depressed town on the south bank of Lake Erie.  When we arrived, the street the hotel is in was closed for a street party.  The band playing is "Earthquake" who claimed they last played in Erie in 1957.  They certainly look old enough!  The streets are full of bikers.  We wonder how much of the car will be left by tomorrow morning.

Going out for an Italian meal tonight within earshot of the street party.  Should be interesting.

Downtown Cleveland, Ohio

Depressed Downtown Erie

Earthquake

Chicago

Another longish day on the road saw us in Chicago this afternoon.  We got a move on this morning, leaving about 7am and got into Chicago about 3pm before the rush hour started.  It was quite a smooth run but still another long drive after the last two long days.  It was very hot again today so perhaps as well that we were in the car most of the day.

We splurged a bit and found a hotel just one block from Lake Michigan in North Chicago.  Very nice.  To compensate, we've got a very cheap hotel in Erie, Pennsylvania tomorrow night, right beside Lake Erie.  Not sure if we're going to regret the cheapness later, but still.

Almost as soon as we arrived, we went out to look at the lake and downtown Chicago.

Annette wants this boat

Big Fish of some sort

Downtown Chicago

On The Lake Shore

It was pretty hot today, 32C inland and a nicer 27C down by the lake, but very humid.  Sam had soon had enough of the heat so we left him in the room until after dinner.  I then took him out for an evening stroll and he found and fell in love with a female Airedale also out for an after dinner walk.  Took me and the female's owner some time to separate them.

A much shorter driving day tomorrow.  Be good to slow up a bit.  We should pass the halfway mark in mileage tomorrow.  Since we don't have to be in Halifax until the 14th, we can take it a bit easier now and enjoy the trip.

Another long day on the road

Hi everyone, it is  me Annette, David is exhausted tonight and wants me to fill you in on today.  Not that I am any less tired you understand.  So here it is.....
Another early morning and on the road clutching boiled eggs, muffins, and fruit from the free breakfast.  Bottles of water at the ready as it was reported it was going to get to 30c today. 
Things that were noticed today:

• The mad arsed crop duster in the plane that flew over our head and just missed hitting a bridge by a few feet.  
• The dragon flies that look like birds, they are huge and hover like helicopters and make a mess when they hit the wind shield.  
• The enormous houses that are in the state of Minnesota, like mansions and huge pieces of land.  

• Strange goings on in the road surfaces where they are inserting what looks like pipes and some sort of flag attached under the road surfaces.  We saw them doing it at the border but now we notice there are signs of them all over the US, is this something to do with Big Brother keeping an eye on you and I or what very strange.  

• We drove across to Minnesota and the state it seems has shut up shop.  All the rest stops are closed as is the parks and camping grounds.  Apparently they have run out of money!!!!!  
• The border guard that kept asking us if we are sure we have never been finger printed????
• There is hardly any traffic anywhere, it is really, really quiet for July.  I used to drive a lot during the 4th July and it was always crazy busy especially during the first week of July when all the kids were off school.  Another sign of the down turn in the economy.  
• Huge, huge people eating huge, huge meals of what looks like piles of mush.  
• We shared a lunch as it was big enough for us both. 

This drove David nuts, does it mean NO to no trespassing talk about bad English.  

Well we finally found our hotel, we really need to get a new TomTom, SatNav.  Nice hotel, nice people and Sammy likes it.  He has been so good, and travels well.  Our hotel is on the banks of the Mississippi River.  

There has been so much flooding all throughout this region.  Amazing, water everywhere.  We think we have had it bad in Alberta not as bad as this State.  Large areas of land under water still and it has stopped raining for a while and still the rivers are high. 

So I will say goodnight to all and tell all my friends and family I miss them still.  But hope to see you all very soon,  Sarah and Josh being the first visitors, July 17th!!!!  Hoping the furniture arrives on time!!!!!
Night Night.......

On The Road At Last

Not quite on schedule this morning but we were on the road by 5:30.  Had breakfast in Medicine Hat at the slowest McDonalds drive thru ever experienced.  Lunch in Moose Jaw (Subway) and dinner in Brandon (pub).  Now about to sleep ready for a shorter day tomorrow.

The countryside wasn't very interesting although Manitoba has many more trees than eastern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan combined.  There are no trees to pee behind in Saskatchewan!  Radio choices weren't any more interesting than the scenery.  It's either happy-clappy religious stuff or thigh slappy country music.

Sam wasn't too impressed with the scenery or his new water bowl.  He wouldn't drink anything until we got out the old tupperware box he normally uses.  Pretty much slept the day away and is now so exhausted he's out like a light.  Thank goodness he's no trouble in the car or in hotel rooms.

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

As we got into Manitoba, there was plenty of evidence of flooding.  The Athabasca river was at least three times its normal width and flowing fast.  In Brandon, the flood defences were piled high each side of the road near the river.

Athabasca River Flooding

Brandon Flood Defences

Tomorrow we turn south into the US, not far from  the Souris river which has been much in the news recently.

Nove Scotia Or Bust

Well, the car with top box and trailer are packed and ready to go.  Turned out we had plenty of room for all the stuff we needed to take.  The poor old car feels very heavy to drive though.  I guess if it doesn't make it, we'll buy a replacement somewhere along the way.  We said that when we went to Mexico a couple of years ago and it got through that almost without missing a beat.

Plan is to set off early tomorrow morning for the 1111km leg to Brandon, Manitoba.  TomTom says 10 hours and 43 minutes driving so if we set off at 5am and make a couple of stops, we should be having dinner in Brandon around 7pm.

Tum Te Tum

Just biding our time now until we set off on Monday morning.  All we have left to do is pack up the car and get started.  I say all, but it could be a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to get everything stuffed in safely.

The other thing we are doing is saying goodbye to lots of friends in Alberta.  Not everyone seems to understand that we will be back from time to time.  It's not like we're disappearing off the map, it's only the other side of the country!

Getting excited about the trip now (and the destination).  We've organized our first night's stop in Brandon, Manitoba.  This is really going to happen...