What A Year!

How do I possibly sum it up in one post? Maybe I can start by answering the questions I am frequently asked,...

How was it? Amazing!! Definitely better than I had expected.

Was it hard traveling together for a year? There certainly were times when we got frustrated or tired of each other but for the most part we all got along pretty well and we definitely know each other better than we had ever imagined we could! Chloe probably had the hardest time,... Paul and I could (and did) get away on our own once in a while when we needed a break or if there was something that really interested us or was cost prohibitive for all of us to do. Chloe however was always with at least one of us. She frequently reminds us of the fact that she had exactly 7 hours away from us the whole year (the longest stretch being when she got to hang out with Madeline on the island of Koh Lanta in Thailand).

What was my favorite place? I have been finding that a very difficult question to answer. In fact, I think I've given a different answer every time I've answered. Galapagos Islands, South Africa, Kruger Park, Victoria Falls, Murcheson Falls, Cordoba, Spain, Peru and Peru's Challenge, Gili Air, Koh Lanta, Ankor Wat, Iguazu Falls, Valparaiso, Stockholm, Great Barrier Reef, Blue Lagoon in Bali, Cartagena, Goreme, Olympos, Venice, Wales, Chaing Mai, Dinan, St. Malo,... I could go on and on (guess I really have already!).

Are you happy to be home? Yes and No. Yes, it's great to see friends and family and it will soon be nice not to have to pack every few days. I'm happy to be reunited with Jessy. I appreciate having a comfortable bed to sleep on, a cushy pillow to rest my head on and reliable showers with good pressure and warm water. (thanks to Nancy and Scott!) I love the calm that overtakes me as I take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale. I enjoy looking at the North Shore Mountains and have been pleasantly surprised by and proud of the friendliness of my fellow Vancouverites.

On the other hand I miss having only 3 pairs of shoes, 7 shirts, 1 pair of pants, 2 shorts, 1skirt and 2 dresses. I miss not caring about wearing the same clothes for days on end. I miss setting our own schedule. I miss not having to consider who I might be offending by not attending an event or inadvertently missing someone on 'the list'. I miss discovering new places and being awed about what is looming ahead of me as I turn a corner. I miss the European outdoor restaurants and relaxed attitude about drinking wine at the beach or in a park. I miss chatting with people from all around the world and swapping stories in the hostels or apartments we stayed in. I miss walking straight into the warm ocean waters. I miss snorkeling, swimming alongside sea lions and sea turtles and looking at colorful fish and corals. I miss the food in India, the cobblestone streets of Europe, the sky that seems to be bigger in Africa, the giraffes crossing our path and elephants who appear to be hiding behind bushes in Kruger Park, the warm waters, friendly smiles and cheap accommodation of SE Asia, the sea lions, lizards and boobies that we walked amongst in Ecuador, the rocks of western Australia, the breathtaking beauty of the undersea world at the Great Barrier Reef, the incredible architecture of the Incas in Peru, the awesome waterfalls of Canada, Argentina and Africa,... I miss the friendly people we met, the relatives we got to know a little better and the lasting friendships we made along the way (you know who you are). Mostly, I miss spending time with Paul and Chloe.

Would you do it again? DEFINITELY!! We met a British couple in Australia who were on part 7 or 8 of their RTW tour. Like us, they had traveled with their young child for an extended period and have since been on several shorter trips to various areas of the world. Like them, we have decided that our trip is not done or over, it is just on hold. Our RTW tour will be continued,...

It's Time

When I met my friend Todd in Avignon he challenged me to bring proper closure to the trip through the blog and to not just let it die of neglect once I got back to Vancouver.

Originally when I got back I thought of doing a "Best Of" blog that would allow me to reflect and recapture the feeling of being "out there." Well, I've been back in Vancouver now for a week. The "Best Of" blog just ain't happening. At least not yet anyway. Maybe once the photos get organized.

Now tomorrow marks the day I have tried to ignore the most - the dreaded "I have to go back to work day." I am certainly not dreading the chance to see many friends and colleagues and bore them with tales of world travel. It's the routine that work brings with it, and the threat of the "rut" that I have realized I can so easily fall back into and so dearly wish to avoid. I remember coming home 20 years ago from backpacking in the South Pacific and being so keen to see more. Then work and life happens and 20 years goes by before you even realize it. I am so thankful for the chance to be able to finally both see and do more. The way I look at a map is now irrevocably changed. The challenge is to remember the awesome feeling that accompanied seeing things both long-awaited and those discoveries that were unexpected. That way this "hiatus" will be a short one and we will once again be out there.

But that's for a later date. Now it's time to figure out what I should wear to work (ugh - socks) and to complete one last end of trip ritual. We started collecting friendship bracelets on the trip. One for every country that we visited. It was quite foreign to me, as I didn't really "do" jewelry of any kind, but I found I really got into it. But just as they once went on, now it is the time that they come off. At least all but one. I figure I'll keep one on as a little memento of my other life (along with the tattoos). It can ride solo until it is once again joined by others.

Getting Closer

The morning mist of Westhawk Lake

With the foreign portion of the trip now wrapped up I have been able to enjoy a gradual re-entry into Canadian life by enjoying the hospitality of my family both at Westhawk Lake in Manitoba and now in Calgary.

Westhawk Lake is about a 2-hour drive east of Winnipeg. Ever since I was a kid it has been a destination for family vacations, first at my Grandmother's trailer and now at my Uncle Cliff (my Dad's brother) and Aunt Eleanor's cottage.

After picking up Heather from the airport and watching her reunite with Jessy, we arrived at the lake and were enthusiastically welcomed by the vast number of family (13) who were hanging out at the lake. What followed was a great 4 days of hiking, eating, swimming, waterskiing, tubing, deer-sighting and storytelling as we recounted our adventures and heard about what was happening with everyone.

Heather and Jessy being reunited

The Westhawk Family Portrait

Kathy coming in for a landing

Heather getting a ski lesson from my cousin Sandra

Success!

Of course, like all moments of the past year this too came to a close and we had to depart for the airport so Heather could head west and Kathy could head east. That left Jessy and I to tackle the reportedly ominous prairie drive as we made our way to Calgary.

Now I have to say that for year's I have heard nothing but negativity about the experience of driving through Saskatchewan. Now having finally done it (on the way out last year we skipped it as we did a detour to Wyoming) I have to say I think it has got a bad rap. I would much rather do that drive and be able to look across the prairie landscape then do the Maine / Pennsylvania tree-lined highway.

Yep - Moose Jaw

The only cop I saw between Winnipeg and Calgary

The world's biggest teepee at Medicine Hat courtesy of the 1988 Winter Olympics

Arriving in Calgary meant that once again enjoy the wonderful hospitality of my Uncle Earl and Aunt Islay(my Dad's sister). After a family dinner Sunday with them and my cousin Dean and Mark and Mark's family where I once again bored everyone with travel tales I enjoyed a great day Monday where they treated me to a tour of Calgary, a great lunch and a trip to the movies to see The Bourne Legacy.

The Olympic Plaza from '88 where the medals were awarded

Islay and Earl enjoying a quiet morning while trying to ignore me blogging

When I speak about the trip I know people will be (hopefully) fascinated by the places we have been to and the things we have done. But for me, just as important as all that, were the treasured moments of surviving the Fox Valley Inn with my sister, of just chilling out at the lake, and of going to the movies with my Aunt and Uncle. The opportunity both last year and this to spend just a bit of quality time with family was really the unexpected gift of the trip.

But now it's time to head to British Columbia and a meet up with Heather and Chloe at Chez Glover in Peachland for one final bit of travel before crossing the finish line in Vancouver.

The Tale of 3 Falls

I have been fortunate to see 3 world renowned waterfalls in 9 months, 2 of which are included in the 7 natural wonders of the world list.

They are all magnificent in their own right and all have their own special qualities.
Here are a few facts:
Niagara Falls, border of Canada & the United States
Horseshoe Falls is on the Canadian side has a length of 792.4 metres, a height of 50.9 metres and 2,271,247 litres of water per second goes over the falls. (claim to fame)
Iguazu Falls, near the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay (the falls are in Argentina but can also be seen from Brazil)
There are 275 individual cascades and falls (claim to fame), with the highest fall dropping about 82 metres.
Victoria Falls, border of Zambia and Zimbabwe
considered the biggest waterfall in the world with a height of 102 metres. (claim to fame)  It is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) world heritage site.

They all draw tourists from all over the world and act as the main economic basis for the cities they are  connected to.

Although there are many other differences and similarities, the one that sparked my interest was the differences in how tourists are invited to interact with the falls.

Niagara - Chest-high, thick stone walls line a wide, paved boardwalk. There is no charge to see the falls as they are right there beside the road. You can get closer to the falls and get drenched by the spray by hopping on board the Maid of the Mist ($45 adult, rain poncho included) or walk behind the falls (which we didn't experience but you also have to pay for that).

Iguazu Falls - the falls are found within the borders of a large park. You pay an entrance fee of $50 with gains you access to all areas of the large jungle-like park. There are 3 levels from which to see the falls: above, from the middle and from the bottom. There is a train that carries people from one side of the park to another, pathways that take you over the river, and right up close to feel the spray from the falls. You can also take a high adrenaline boat ride that gets really close to the base of the falls and then down the rapids for a fun ride. No rain poncho provided but they do give you a dry-sac to keep any essentials dry. I neglected to put my shoes in and spent the next 2 hours tromping around in wet hiking boots. All trails and walkways have from hip to chest high railings.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls - the falls are found within the borders of a park which you pay a $20 entrance fee to enter ($10 for kids).  Following the thunder of the falls and a paved path, you quickly see the falls.  There are fences in most areas (especially when you are on the opposite bank facing "the smoke that thunders" or on the knife edge bridge) but when you reach the top part of the falls,  there are no fences to climb if you want to walk into the river, which you can apparently do during the dry season when the river is low.

Paul said he  just wanted to "test" the water.
Apparently warm but much to much water flowing to go any further!

You can rent rain ponchos for a nominal fee.  We later realized that this would have been a very good idea.  We got completely drenched from head to toe!!

Paul and Chloe having a shower in the spray near the Knife Edge Bridge

We were at the falls during a full moon so we were able to see the lunar rainbow over the falls. Spectacular!

A Little Delay

After a wonderful visit with the Gates and a huge weight lifted knowing that Jessy will be well taken care of in her new home, we left Truro yesterday.  We rented a Toyota Camray with Ohio plates and after a slight delay getting across the border (details will follow) and a LONG drive, we have landed at Paul's sister's in Newport, Rhode Island. 

Newport is great and Karen and Craig are, as always, fantastic hosts!  We have decided to extend our stay here by a couple of days due to a little storm called Hurricane Irene that is set to hit the Boston area on August 29th, the day we were supposed to fly out of Boston for Peru.  Karen and Craig have taken all the necessary precautions (bringing in all outdoor furniture, potted plants, etc., stocking up on food and water, making sure there's gas in the b-b-q,...) so we are all set to ride out the storm here.  We have changed our flight and will now be departing on the 31st. 

Did I mention that our little delay will allow Paul to tick off the bucket list item of seeing the Boston RedSox play the New York Yankees at Fenway Park on the 30th?  Our first travel glitch followed quickly by a silver lining!

 

how east coaster's play with their food

This is 1 of the 9 lobsters we're eating at dinner. And my cousins like to play with their "food" and name them. For an example, this one is named Phillip. They also have lobster races. They also took the lobster for a walk around the back yard. (I thought he was going to die at one point.)

Some other perspectives on PEI

Yes, it's true, the wind was fierce at Cavendish Beach (which we could have figured if we had looked more closely at the trees when we arrived). A few other things to note:

The sunsets at Cavendish Beach are beautiful! 

(note the wind swept angle of the trees)

The beach right in front of our campsite was lovely! 

The dunes made a perfect canvas for creative minds.

Jumping of the dock running along the canal at Singing Sands Beach

 (@ Basin Head on the East Shore) was tons of fun!

Meeting up with good friends is wonderful no matter where we are!!

Searching for Moose

We saw these signs from Ontario on. Mom really, really wanted to see a moose. We were looking constantly. On the hike... no moose. On the drive... no moose.

Finally we saw one on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. It almost got hit by a car. It was a mama and its baby.

The Wall

One of the things that drew us to visit Quebec City was the allure of seeing Old Quebec. We heard stories about all of the old architecture, and especially reports of how impressive the wall around the area was. Like a lot of things, at first glance it doesn't necessarily appear as impressive as one may have thought it to be:

But then you stand back a bit and take another look and you find your appreciation for what you are seeing grows:

Walking around Old Quebec was like suddenly being transported to the backstreets of Paris. On one building (the place where we stopped for some ice cream) we determined that it was 250 years old. The cafe's were numerous and enticing. I'm sure we would have spent some time in them, except for the tiny constraint of having a dog with us.

Not being especially fluent en francais, often I would look to the signage to give me clues to what was around me. For the most part I think I can interpret most signs, but this one gave me some challenges:

Any ideas?

Algonquin Provincial Park

I realize this is a little late but I wanted to add a note about Algonquin Park.  It is amazing!!  (yes, I realize that I may have used the word "amazing" about a few other things I've seen but, if you say it with a little sing-song voice it really applies to a wide variety of sights and experiences. 

Try it: "A-MAY-zing!"

Algonquin Park is Ontario's oldest, largest and best known Provincial Park. The park was established in 1893 and comprises 7725 square kilometers of forest, lake and river.

We expected to land at our site, set up the tent and just hang out near our campsite for the day. Swimming in the lake, maybe canoeing and taking a few walks.  There are so many lakes and hikes in the park that you can't just stay at one.  Our daily routine was to pick a hike/walk, drive to the trail head, grab an interpretive pamphlet for that particular walk and enjoy the natural beauty while learning a few things about the history, animals, trees or a variety of other things along the way.  We usually did 2 walks each morning at different lakes before returning to Canisbay Lake to eat, swim and "hang out".

There are an estimated 2,500 lakes within the boundaries of Algonquin Provincial Park.

Thanks to Kathy, Rich, Roch, Sue, Patty and Jim for organizing and letting us join in for a few days!

The Final Push to Truro

For the last few years when people have asked us what we would be doing for our year away we always told them, "we're starting with a drive across Canada to drop off Jessy in Truro, Nova Scotia at Paul's sister Kathy's."  It feels very strange that we've actually arrived at that first big goal!

It is also 1 month since we drove away from Vancouver and we've covered a lot of ground!!  We figured out yesterday that we've had 13 driving days and 17 days of visiting and touring around.  We've stopped in Peachland, Lake Louise, Banff, Calgary, Drumheller, Gillette, West Hawk Lake, Schreiber, Sault St. Marie, Blind River, Huntsville, Canisbay Lake, Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Hartland, Moncton (non) Magnetic Hill and finally, Truro.

World's Longest Covered Bridge, Hartland, N.B.

As I was doing a rare driving stint Chloe and I decided to stop at Hartland, New Brunswick to check out the world's longest covered bridge. (1282 feet)  We were very proud of ourselves for finding a rare gem and not getting lost.  Paul, the main driver and the only person in our car with a natural sense of direction,  was taking a well deserved nap at the time.  We woke him up as we pulled into Hartland!

Magnetic Hill

The next side trip Chloe and I chose to take was at Magnetic Hill in Moncton, New Brunswick.  Auntie Karen had told us about it and how amazed she was that it actually worked.  After stopping at the white post and putting the car in neutral her car was "magically"(or magnetically) pulled up the hill.  We tried several times (forward, backward, beside the post, in front of the post, behind the post) but,... nada! nothing! rien!  I guess our car, packed with all of the stuff that we have hauled across the country, was just too heavy!

We'll see what we can discover in the the Maritimes for the next 15 days before heading to Boston for our flight out to Lima, Peru.

Going "Home"

For the past couple of years when people would ask me about what my "must-do" list for the trip was I was usually fairly vague. Probably because I really hadn't given it a tremendous amount of thought. But there was one thing that I knew I needed to do, and that was to see my "home" when we got to Montreal.

For those who don't know, both my parents have been deceased for a few years. I never gave it much thought, but when we decided that a cross-Canada tour was going to be first up on the trip, I realized that I had no idea where I was raised after being born in Montreal. It's not like I wasn't paying attention. I left when I was around three. Really - who remembers anything from when they are three anyway? My only Montreal memory is being freaked out by the crowd noise when my parents took me to a Montreal Canadians game and making them take me home early. What a jerk. And highly ironic that I have spent so much of my working life dealing with large sports & entertainment events. But I digress...

So we hit Montreal and I still have no idea where I lived. Even my Aunt Islay and Uncle Cliff were not able to solve the mystery. But a trip to La Grande Bibliotheque (aka the library) and a couple of really helpful library staff connected us to a website that yielded both the apartment that I was brought home to and the subsequent 4-plex that we would have moved to before my sister arrived on the scene.

We did the drive-by of both places this afternoon. It's not like I was excited to see either. The earth didn't move, I didn't become overwhelmed with emotion, and I had no flashbacks to mysterious happenings. It's more like being able to fill in a gap so that when I now think of Montreal I have a better context for where I started out. It's not just all about a Habs game anymore.

Field Trips Are Worth It!!!

For all of my teacher friends who grumble when filling in the paper work and get overwhelmed by the collection of $ and forms, and to all the parents who are asked to pay extra $ and drive groups of children;  I am here to tell you that yes, field trips are worth the extra effort!!!

I feel like we are on a giant field trip across Canada.

Here are just a few of the lessons we have learned as we travel across this nation of ours:

Hoodoos are cool!!

A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, and earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. They typically form within sedimentary rock and volcanic rock formations.

Terry Fox ran a really long way!!

Now that I have experienced driving across Ontario and a little bit of Quebec so far, I have a much better understanding of how far Terry Fox ran.  I have an even better understanding of just how amazing a person he must have been.  I read about Terry Fox and watch movies about Terry Fox and I run around a few blocks every September to help raise more $ for cancer research (because truly, any effort and amount of $ helps!).  This young man ran the equivalent of a marathon every day for 143 days!  Amazing!

The House of Commons has 308 seats.

Seeing the seats/desks where the Members of Parliament sit in the House of Commons will help you remember that there are 308.  And that the Prime Minister always sits in seat #11. The Senate has 105.

All Canadians should pay a visit to the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa at some time in their life!

Niagara Falls is awesome! 

If you drive through Clifton Hills before reaching the falls, as we did, do not be put off by the touristy tackiness of the area as I almost was!  Don't worry about the crowds or big line-ups; take time to walk around the promenade, take a trip on the Maid of the Mist and stop for while and really look at the falls and admire their beauty and enormity - amazing!

Family and Friendships are truly the most precious of all blessings!  (I already knew this but it has certainly been reinforced on this trip!)

We have had the opportunity to stay with many family members and have been so welcomed by all.  We've had fun jet skiing, water skiing, tubing, eating a pancake breakfast in a parking lot, seeing the sights around the city, hiking around Algonquin Park and singing around a campfire, to name just a few.  Thanks to all of you!!

And yes, all of these pictures were taken by one of us.  (Paul asked so I thought I'd clarify!)

Capitaine America

and no - I did not make a spelling mistake. We are in Montreal and after a smoking hot day getting acquainted with the city, Chloe and I decided to head to the movie theatre to escape the heat and check out Captain America. As a long-time comic book geek superhero movies are must-see entertainment for me, and I see it as my duty to pass my geekdom down to my child.

So we head to the theatre in what I now know is the Latin Quarter of Montreal, figuring that either the movie would have french subtitles or at the very least english. We didn't account for option number 3........dubbed with no subtitles. Sadly my limited french skills were way out of their league, and Chloe said she could understand about 1/2 but they talked too quickly for her french immersion ability to really kick-in.

Luckily it was the kind of movie that you could easily figure out what was happening by the action sequences. But this does give me a good excuse to see it again, as it was awesome!

Me and Oscar

Spent a sweltering hot day walking around Parliament Hill and the Rideau Canal today, but the coolest thing I saw was a statue of the legendary Oscar Peterson in front of the National Art Centre. What put it really over the top was they had speakers close to the statue playing his music. Very cool.

Loose Threads

When we were driving from Wyoming to Manitoba we stopped where the 'welcome to North Dakota" sign was for a picture. There was a family already there doing the same thing, and our exchange as they were heading out went something like this:

Her: What part of Kansas are you from?

Me: we are actually from Vancouver Canada

Her: oh, sorry - couldn't tell from the licence plate (the 2010 olympic plate)

Her husband (sitting in their car): I guess you must be a big Boston Bruin fan.....

Me (outside voice): nice one

Me (inside voice) &%&%&^&$#^**^$

the street of "fun"

In the street of"fun"there is a lot of wax museums. there is the wax museum of criminals, the wax museum of rock stars

and finally the wax museum of movie stars.

I also saw a frankenstein themed burger king. It's frankenstein themed because it's right next to the frankenstein house of horrors!!!

From the Park to the Falls

Blind River came and went, and we have continued on our Ontario odyssey:
- made it to Algonquin Provincial Park for the start of the long weekend and connected with my sister's family and their camping cohorts for a few days. On the way we saw a cool chair that we we really thought would look great at the camp site, but unfortunately we couldn't fit it into the car


- thankfully Heather is an ace camper, as I think my sole contribution to the camping experience was buying the beer and making the pancakes on the first morning.

- saw no moose or elk, but did wake up scared one night. Thought I heard a wild animal but then realized it was just Rich's snoring. For all those out there who have claimed that I am loud, Rich is in a whole other class.

- got laughed at by all the other campers (who BTW were comfortably ensconced in their RVs) for having a monster tent

We then headed through Toronto to see Fort Erie and settled in Niagara Falls for the past couple of days. At least I thought it was Niagara Falls. It could easily be Las Vegas east, although I have only seen one casino. We are staying across from it, so every day I see the "coming soon" video board. Lots of the usual suspects that frequent Vancouver, but one entertainer did catch my attention. "An Evening with Sean Penn" is coming up. For $90 you can sit in the audience and listen to him talk about whatever is on his mind I guess. Maybe he watched the Charlie Sheen tour and thought "hey - I can do that....I have won Oscars". Unlike Dennis Quaid and even Kevin Costner (who are both coming to NF with their respective bands) who play music, this is just an opportunity to hear Sean Penn speak. Really? These guys make big money to act, and now they are doing the circuit making more $$$ for "sharing their thoughts and doing a Q&A." I hope someone asks him about Fast Times...

The Falls are really, really cool to see in person. Happy to report that the "Canadian" side is much more awesome than the American falls. Walked down last night to check them out and saw that we were just in time for the special holiday fireworks. Decided the hang out, then had to flee the scene as our dog decided she needed to warn everyone of the dangerous explosions by barking as loudly and as often as possible.

Today was our day for the "Maid of the Mist" boat tour, which took us down via boat to the vase of the Falls. This has been on the "must-do list ever since Chloe saw the "Niagara" episodes of "The Office"

So we got in line, received our blue disposable rain ponchos and headed out to "sea." It was so cool (and very refreshing on a hot, muggy day). We got soaked but it was so neat to see the Falls from the base, and hear stories about the 63 year old woman who went over the Falls in a wooden barrel and survived.


Now it's time to pack up again and hit the road for Ottawa...and then it will be time to finally escape Ontario!