Today we left Calgary around 11:30 after stuffing everthing into Kevin. We made it all fit and now everyone has a place to sit. We drove for about an hour and a half and then we hit Banff. We were going to go to Lake Louise today, but we decided that we will probably just do that on our way back. We spent the day exploring Banff which is such a cute town surrounded by the mountains. I was so happy to finally see mountains and get out of the prairies!
We checked into our hotel a little early cause our room was ready. It is such a convienent location because it is right on the main street so we are within walking distance to everything. We decided to set out and explore Banff soon after eating our lunch. I couldn't believe how many neat little shops that Banff has. We shopped for a bit and then we went to Second Cup which was delicious. I found he neatest shirt today which I thought was just perfect for me. It said "Just chillin' with my gnomies" and it had a picture of 3 gnomes on the front of it. I LOVE it! We also went to the candy store, so of course I couldn't pass up buying candy! After we were done shopping we came back to the hotel and decided to make Sloppy Joes on the camping stove. It is brand new and has never been used, so we were pretty excited to try it out. Well, the bad news is is that we couldn't get it lit. The good news is, is that we went to Boston Pizza for dinner. Before dinner though we went to the Banff Hot Springs. It was so wonderful just to sit in a warm pool looking at the mountains. I don't think I will ever forget it! Tomorrow we are going to BC! If all goes according to plan, we should be in Revelstoke or Sicamous. Good night!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
I am tired
YAWN. Today has been a long day. Probably one of our longest and to top it all off we got to drive straight for 8 whole hours! I'm not complaining though because we are in Calgary and I get to see Heather!!! This morning we woke up at our usual 7 o'clock and headed down to the free breakfast at the Comfort Inn. All was well as I heated up some french toast in the microwave. I then scouted out the area looking for a place to sit down and enjoy my warm meal when, much to my dismay, all the seats had been occupied by middle aged people. We were then told that "another room" was open to sit in. A conference room to be exact. It was at this point I realized that we had been exiled. Celina and I quietly ate our meals and were happy when we could leave the large empty room. We then hit the road and ended up driving and driving some more.
We stopped for lunch at some gas station in Saskatchewan and decided to sit in Kevin because of the wind gusts and the cool air. While we were parked Celina and I decided to people watch and were watching a middle aged man in particular. This man was standing outside the bathroom for quite some time and kept eyeing our license plate. A few minutes later he went into the washroom for a really long time so Celina thought it might be fun to take a picture of him when he came out. As he came out, he looked at us in the car, at which point he starting making his way towards us. I thought he had seen the camera but the man came up to the closed window and said, "Where in Ontario are you from?" We had never been so nervous as I thought he was going to chastize us for taking his picture. Now we have photographic evidence so we can remember this day forever and ever.
We arrived in Calg around 5:30 and were greeted by rush hour traffic. I was quite proud of myself for driving in it. We were both really happy to get to Heather's house and see her wonderful family. We had a great dinner and then we went grocery shopping. Tomorrow we are planning on going to Banff and then we will be going to BC!
We stopped for lunch at some gas station in Saskatchewan and decided to sit in Kevin because of the wind gusts and the cool air. While we were parked Celina and I decided to people watch and were watching a middle aged man in particular. This man was standing outside the bathroom for quite some time and kept eyeing our license plate. A few minutes later he went into the washroom for a really long time so Celina thought it might be fun to take a picture of him when he came out. As he came out, he looked at us in the car, at which point he starting making his way towards us. I thought he had seen the camera but the man came up to the closed window and said, "Where in Ontario are you from?" We had never been so nervous as I thought he was going to chastize us for taking his picture. Now we have photographic evidence so we can remember this day forever and ever.
We arrived in Calg around 5:30 and were greeted by rush hour traffic. I was quite proud of myself for driving in it. We were both really happy to get to Heather's house and see her wonderful family. We had a great dinner and then we went grocery shopping. Tomorrow we are planning on going to Banff and then we will be going to BC!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The Prairies
Yesterday we drove from Minnesota to Winnipeg Manitoba and stayed with my second cousin Doreen and her family. I haven't seen Doreen in 14 years, so it was so great to catch up and meet my third cousins. We all went for a walk which was really nice after sitting in a car for so long. We then sang some songs because their whole family is really musical. I'm not a very good singer, but it was still fun to mouth the words. For dinner we had steak which was WONDERFUL!!! After dinner we went to a place in Winnipeg called the Forks which has many neat shops. Winnipeg is a really pretty city...I never thought I would like it that much.
Today we left around 9 am to drive to Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. The prairies are so flat and so boring. Most of the driving was all straight so Celina and I tried to switch up drivers every so often so we wouldn't fall asleep! I ended up having 4 teas which I never do...that's how tired I was. Since the weather was so rainy and windy, we decided to stay at the Comfort Inn. It seems pretty nice so far and we each get our own queen size bed and a free breakfast. Tomorrow we are going to Calgary and are staying with my friend Heather. It will be nice to finally see some mountains!
Today we left around 9 am to drive to Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. The prairies are so flat and so boring. Most of the driving was all straight so Celina and I tried to switch up drivers every so often so we wouldn't fall asleep! I ended up having 4 teas which I never do...that's how tired I was. Since the weather was so rainy and windy, we decided to stay at the Comfort Inn. It seems pretty nice so far and we each get our own queen size bed and a free breakfast. Tomorrow we are going to Calgary and are staying with my friend Heather. It will be nice to finally see some mountains!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Border Patrol
This morning we left Thunder Bay at 9:00 right on the dot and headed over to Robin's Donuts for some much needed caffeine. As we were in the drive thru I decided to take some pictures of Jerome at the signs and while I was doing that I was also trying to drive around the corner to pick up our drinks and almost ran into the curb. Jerome unfortunately hit his head off of the windshield. We were all kind of surprised but we then happily drove off with our caffeine. We started driving and decided to learn some Chinese which we thought would be appropriate because it is Jerome's native tongue. I ended up making a bunch of noises and said things I didn't understand, but now I can stay Hello in Chinese.
We then decided that we were feeling hungry, so we pulled into a Pulp Check Stop where many logging trucks drive into and we ate our egg salad sandwiches that my grandma made for us. We thought it would be important to get some excercise, so we danced around to Enrique. I think some of the truckers thought we were a little crazy.
We kept driving some more and went to Emo Ontario and blasted the emo song called Boulevard of Broken dreams. We had quite a bit of fun there and visited a cut
e little chapel called the Norlund Chapel. Apparently it can fit up to 8 people but it seemed a lot smaller to me.
e little chapel called the Norlund Chapel. Apparently it can fit up to 8 people but it seemed a lot smaller to me. We then arrived at the border to the US and were very excited to be going on an international adventure! I have never had so many questions asked of me at the border! Some of these questions included: Where do you go to school?, What is your major? Where were your apples grown? The guy then asked me to empty my pockets and I pulled out 5 or so Lactaid wrappers. He was perplexed so I told him I had Lactose Intolerance. It was clear we were just making small talk at this point, so I asked him if he got many people going through this border checkpoint. All in all, we made a new friend and we got to enter the good ol' United States of America. We drove around Baudette Minnesota looking for a place to stay and we came across the Baudette Motel. It is only $45 dollars a night AND we get wireless. The place smells a bit and has a light that looks strangely like a hospital room, but all in all it has been fun. Celina even made Kraft Dinner for us in the kettle pot gadget. Tomorrow we are going to Winnipeg Manitoba so that should be fantastic!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Pots, Cruise Control and Sketchy Motels
Last night we made it to Thunder Bay around 6:00 and were so happy to have a warm bed to sleep in, a delicious dinner and wonderful grandparents. Our drive to Thunder Bay was quite an adventurous one, so I will do my best to recap some of the highlights!
We woke up in Sault Ste Marie to pouring rain so we had to take down our tent very quickly. By that time we were so hungry so we just decided to eat breakfast in the car before we hit the road. We also really wanted to get our pot back from the night before, so we did, but we still weren't able to wash it haha. We drove through heavy rain and fog and were happy when the sun came out! Northern Ontario is so beautiful and I never realized how gorgeous Lake Superior is until we drove around it to get to Thunder Bay.
I also never realized how many trucks there are in Northern Ontario!!!!!! It always seemed like we had some sort of truck behind us and then a few more behind that truck. Throughout most of our driving I used cruise control to give my legs a rest so at one point the road divided into 3 lanes to allow for cars to pass but at the same time there was a large hill we would have to go up. I had a really impatient truck behind me and it was following really close, so I am sure we were both really relieved when the extra lane opened up. So, we both started to climb the hill and as the truck was passing us, Kevin (my car) kept speeding up in order to maintain our current speed so we ended up passing the truck. We looked behind us and he was slowing down quite a bit on that hill. Once the road was back to only 2 lanes I had the truck RIGHT behind me and he was NOT happy that I had passed him. He was clearly not as impressed about Kevin's pick up as I was.
After that little ordeal we decided to stop for lunch, only we couldn't find a rest area so we decided to pull into the scariest looking motel ever. We examined the area to make sure we wouldn't get attacked by crazy rednecks but during our examination we came across a bird head mounted on a wooded pole. Its teeth were still intact and we each took pictures of it cause we had never seen anything as creepy! Lunch went well and Celina and I were both looking behind us to make sure we wouldn't get jumped. Once we arrived in Thunder Bay we were exhausted but also pretty sore from sitting all day so we ate dinner and went for a walk with Jerome while wearing our sun hats. I don't think Thunder Bay knew what hit them :) Today we are planning to bake muffins and go grocery shopping and tomorrow we will drive to Fort Frances and make a stop in Emo Ontario! We have also decided that we want to make this trip an international adventure, so we are planning on driving through the US on our way to Winnipeg!
We woke up in Sault Ste Marie to pouring rain so we had to take down our tent very quickly. By that time we were so hungry so we just decided to eat breakfast in the car before we hit the road. We also really wanted to get our pot back from the night before, so we did, but we still weren't able to wash it haha. We drove through heavy rain and fog and were happy when the sun came out! Northern Ontario is so beautiful and I never realized how gorgeous Lake Superior is until we drove around it to get to Thunder Bay.
I also never realized how many trucks there are in Northern Ontario!!!!!! It always seemed like we had some sort of truck behind us and then a few more behind that truck. Throughout most of our driving I used cruise control to give my legs a rest so at one point the road divided into 3 lanes to allow for cars to pass but at the same time there was a large hill we would have to go up. I had a really impatient truck behind me and it was following really close, so I am sure we were both really relieved when the extra lane opened up. So, we both started to climb the hill and as the truck was passing us, Kevin (my car) kept speeding up in order to maintain our current speed so we ended up passing the truck. We looked behind us and he was slowing down quite a bit on that hill. Once the road was back to only 2 lanes I had the truck RIGHT behind me and he was NOT happy that I had passed him. He was clearly not as impressed about Kevin's pick up as I was.
After that little ordeal we decided to stop for lunch, only we couldn't find a rest area so we decided to pull into the scariest looking motel ever. We examined the area to make sure we wouldn't get attacked by crazy rednecks but during our examination we came across a bird head mounted on a wooded pole. Its teeth were still intact and we each took pictures of it cause we had never seen anything as creepy! Lunch went well and Celina and I were both looking behind us to make sure we wouldn't get jumped. Once we arrived in Thunder Bay we were exhausted but also pretty sore from sitting all day so we ate dinner and went for a walk with Jerome while wearing our sun hats. I don't think Thunder Bay knew what hit them :) Today we are planning to bake muffins and go grocery shopping and tomorrow we will drive to Fort Frances and make a stop in Emo Ontario! We have also decided that we want to make this trip an international adventure, so we are planning on driving through the US on our way to Winnipeg!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
It's not CAMPING...It's KAMPING!
What a long day! We made it to Sault Ste Marie around dinner time and quickly set up our tent so we could go and eat hot dogs! It's 9:00 pm and it's still light out here, but I imagine I will want to go to bed pretty soon.
We had an early start this morning...that could be why I forgot the propane for our camp stove, so we stopped in at Home Hardware in Huntsville and ended up buying all of their propane...4 small tanks in all!
Jerome throughly enjoyed our little adventure!
We drove and we drove and ended up in North Bay for lunch where we decided to eat at a picnic table right outside of Country Style. We sported our foam visors, our decorated fanny packs and our rape whistles. I don't think North Bay knew what hit them!
Now we are all checked into the KOA where everything is spelled with a K...KAMPING KITCHEN, KAMP GROUND...it's too much! We were enjoying the campground until the owner decided to close the kitchen just as we were about to wash our pot...I'm pretty sure he thinks we stole his pot so I hope we get it back tomorrow...otherwise our propane won't be much use if we don't have anything to cook with. Tomorrow we have 697 km to drive to Thunder Bay. I don't mind though cause I can look forward to a bed, a shower and fooooood!
We had an early start this morning...that could be why I forgot the propane for our camp stove, so we stopped in at Home Hardware in Huntsville and ended up buying all of their propane...4 small tanks in all!
Jerome throughly enjoyed our little adventure!
We drove and we drove and ended up in North Bay for lunch where we decided to eat at a picnic table right outside of Country Style. We sported our foam visors, our decorated fanny packs and our rape whistles. I don't think North Bay knew what hit them!
Now we are all checked into the KOA where everything is spelled with a K...KAMPING KITCHEN, KAMP GROUND...it's too much! We were enjoying the campground until the owner decided to close the kitchen just as we were about to wash our pot...I'm pretty sure he thinks we stole his pot so I hope we get it back tomorrow...otherwise our propane won't be much use if we don't have anything to cook with. Tomorrow we have 697 km to drive to Thunder Bay. I don't mind though cause I can look forward to a bed, a shower and fooooood!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Getting ready...
Next week I am going on the adventure of a lifetime. For the month of May I will be driving with my friend Celina from Ontario to BC. This trip has been in the works since December, but it is really only in these last few weeks that I have made our itinerary and started to book all the campgrounds.
Once we get to Calgary, we will pick up Heather and then all drive out to BC. It's not just the three of us though...we have a little addition that will be coming along of the ride. His name is Jerome the Gnome. Jerome will accompany us on our trip from the times when we are singing loudly in the car to the times where we are scared at night of bears. Hopefully we can make a little scrapbook of all the places that he has been to.
Speaking of bears, I am actually scared beyond belief that I am going to get mauled. I am hoping and praying that we do not encounter any while camping, but I am sure that it is bound to happen. Celina and I are planning "bear drills" where one of us pretends to be the bear and the other has to react and pretend to fight off the bear haha. I will hopefully keep the blog updated to tell you about all the adventures we have while on the road :)
Once we get to Calgary, we will pick up Heather and then all drive out to BC. It's not just the three of us though...we have a little addition that will be coming along of the ride. His name is Jerome the Gnome. Jerome will accompany us on our trip from the times when we are singing loudly in the car to the times where we are scared at night of bears. Hopefully we can make a little scrapbook of all the places that he has been to.
Speaking of bears, I am actually scared beyond belief that I am going to get mauled. I am hoping and praying that we do not encounter any while camping, but I am sure that it is bound to happen. Celina and I are planning "bear drills" where one of us pretends to be the bear and the other has to react and pretend to fight off the bear haha. I will hopefully keep the blog updated to tell you about all the adventures we have while on the road :)
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