Our BIG Adventure Days 14, 15 & 16

The Wedding

We left Drumheller and headed to Edmonton for the wedding that was the original reason for our trip -- an idea that grew into this grand adventure!

Along the way, the boys practised their singing (always to the tune of "Oh Canada" for some reason -- Olympic hangover, I think!)  My favourite rendition was:

"Mark and Hilary,

Are in love with me ..."

That's as far as they ever got before exploding into fits of laughter.

We decided to stay in a hotel while in town -- we figured the other guests might appreciate it if we all had showers.  Also there was a pool, lots of clean towels, and an iron -- clothes that sit in the bottom of a box for 2 weeks tend to get a bit wrinkled!

 After the showers and freshly ironed clothes, the boys thought that we looked pretty good (I never iron anything at home, so freshly ironed clothes were a real treat!)  They thought that such "fancy people" deserved some special treatment, so as we drove the streets of Edmonton, they shouted out the windows:  "Fancy people, coming through ... fancy people, make way for the fancy people!"

The Fancy People

 As for the wedding, Paul did his ushering thing, I did my reading, the groom said "I do", the bride said "I do", we had our picture taken a couple of times ... it was a beautiful success.  Congratulations to my brother and my new sister-in-law!

The groom's family minus a few

 After a brunch reception the next day (we ate, we told stories, we laughed), we headed west toward the Rockies ... the ROCKIES!!  I am so excited!

Another great bunch of days on this big adventure.

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 13

Bright and sunny (but much cooler, thank goodness) this morning as we headed off to go exploring in Drumheller!

We started out tour just outside Drumheller at Horseshoe Canyon.  From here we got a great view of the area, known as the Canadian Badlands.  We also ran into these bad characters!

With the promise of being able to climb inside the world's largest dinosaur, we headed to the center of town.  There, staring down at us was a very large T Rex.  We climbed the stairs and looked out over the city through the jaws of this massive creature.

After a bite of lunch at a local place called "The Old Grouch" (an interesting place where the walls are covered in Elvis memorabilia, the food is homemade, and the service is friendly -- it must have been the grouch's day off), we headed to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in search of some real dinosaurs.  There was so much to see and learn!  Everything from how they go about their search and transport their findings (there is even a window into a working lab where you can watch them doing their work!), to bones, casts, rocks and fossils.  It was awesome!

Another great day on this big adventure.

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 12

More driving today, but before hitting the road we stopped to look for buffalo (we were, after all, in Buffalo Pound Park). Unfortunately, they (all 30 of them, according to the sign) were out playing hide and go seek, or else grazing in another part of the pasture. We did, however, mange to see a few prairie dogs -- buffalo, prairie dogs ... they're similar, right?

The closer we got to Alberta, the hotter it seemed to get. The thermometer on the van read 37©! (By the way, when it's that hot out, don't leave crayons on the dash!)

As we set up camp in Drumheller that night, we talked excitedly about what we would see the next day ... dinosaurs!

Another great day on this big adventure.

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 10 & 11

After our day at the fair, it was time to get back on the road. As there is much country that we want to see, as well as many people, there are some days that are spent mostly driving. But some of our most interesting discoveries have come when we were least expecting it, and days 10 and 11 brought many interesting and unexpected discoveries.

The dragonflies in Graham's Island State Park, North Dakota, were amazing. There were big groups of them that seemed to congregate just out of reach, but close enough to get our attention.

The Geographical center of North America is in North Dakota ... who knew? We came across this monument on the side of the road and just had to stop for a picture.

Dot's Homestyle Pretzels - the pride of Dakota (according to the package) were a yummy discovery! We will be going through the Dakotas on our way home too and will definitely be looking to pick up some more.

Once we got into Saskatchewan, we came across this place ...

It's Dog River! Dog River is actually a fictional place, but the building and the grain elevator where they shot scenes for "Corner Gas" are really on the prairie in Saskatchewan. We had been admiring all the grain elevators and stopped to take a picture of the one that said Dog River, and when we turned around, there was the other building too!

And to top off our day, we had the most amazing view from the hills around our campsite in Buffalo Pound Park.

Another great day on this big adventure of ours ...

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 8 & 9

We awoke early on day 8 to thunder and lightening. It didn't last long, but since we were already awake we decided to get an early start and hit the road again.

We drove for most of the day, picnicked on the beach between the raindrops, and stopped in Iron River, Wisconsin. After discovering that the county fair was that weekend, we decided to hang around for an extra day and check it out ... because who can resist a county fair (especially one with rumours of bull riding)?

Day 9 was slightly overcast, but off we went to the Bayfield County Fair, and it did not disappoint! There were kids of all ages in horse riding competitions (my favourite part), a stunt motorcycle show, the usual rides, games and food (deep fried everything from potatoes to Oreo to green beans!), and lots of animal, baking and craft competitions. We spent a lot of time looking around the foul and rabbit barn (Isaac's favourite part) where I was informed many times that some of the bunnies were for sale ... hmmmm maybe I should have checked their pockets before we left.

Owen and Laurel enjoyed the ferris wheel best, while the highlight for Aidan was the pony ride! (sorry no picture ... I was busy consoling Laurel who went around once then decided she was done).

Although the rumour of bull riding was true, it wasn't until later in the evening, so we headed back to our campsite for some supper (some very tasty ham from the local farmers market), an evening campfire and some smores.

Another great day on this big adventure of ours ...

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 7

Another driving day (*sigh*). But I have just realised that, although I have made the drive between the Maritimes and Ottawa many times, this is all new territory for me! Suddenly things are very exciting.

Today I saw ...

a hitching post at a post office -- with a horse hitched to it (sorry no picture, I was too surprised!) ...

Some acrobatic cows  ...

This rather ambiguous sign that amused me (we had great fun speculating what it meant, oh what a silly bunch of people on this adventure with me) ...

And ... I thought we had oddly named places at home, but how on earth do you pronounce this? (not Sudbury, smarty pants, the other one!)

We crossed the border into Michigan with no problems, ... went swimming in Lake Superior, then off to bed as the rain started.
Another great day on this big adventure of ours.

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 6

On the road again.  Long drive today, but luckily I have some backseat entertainment  ...

Total silliness, but they think they are hillarious!

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 5

Our plan for today was to do some touristy stuff, but with a few errands to do (we were not as organized as I would have liked when we left home *sigh*) we opted to stay close to home (as it were). It rained off and on all day, but we still managed to get lots of playground time, an oil change for the van and all the laundry done. A successful, but rather unexciting day, I thought. But then I saw this ...

... and as we danced in the rain under the rainbow, I decided that it was an exciting day after all!

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 4

We were back on the road again today, on the way to our nation's capital, Ottawa. We avoided Montreal as much as we could (sorry Montreal!), but the boys did enjoy driving on the "race track" as we were going by -- what else would you call 4 lanes of traffic all heading the same direction with cars racing by?

Despite the numerous construction sites and other minor delays, we finally came to Ontario and arrived in Ottawa just in time to catch some drive home traffic! The boys, having never seen anything like this before, were appalled that we were STOPPED on the highway.

After finding our campground and getting set up, we made our way into an area of the city known as "the Glebe" for supper at Paul's cousin's. Isaac and Aidan were thrilled to have some older boys to hang with ... a little bit of street hockey, video games, good food and family, what could be better?

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 3

** technology seems to be working against me lately -- that's why I'm only on day 3.  I will keep trying, but I may have to change things up a bit.  Adding pictures is particularly challenging, so I may have to be content with only 2 or 3 per post ( I also can't seem to fix the word "pledding" closer to the end of this entry -- it should say pleading.  Please overlook any other spelling mistakes.)  I am open to any suggestions.  Thanks for your patience. **

I have realised that there may be people out there to whom this big adventure of ours may have come as a bit of a surprise. So, first, some explanation. My older brother is getting married at the end of the month and I wouldn't miss it for the world. The challenge was that he lives in Edmonton, Alberta and we live in Nova Scotia! We thought about flying, but flying 6 people so far seemed a little daunting. We joked about driving but that seemed even more crazy! But as time went on, the jokes turned into serious discussions, then ... "let's turn this into a huge adventure!" we thought. And if we're going to be in Edmonton, we decided we might as well make it a real cross-Canada trip and go all the way to Victoria, British Columbia to visit one of Paul's sisters and her family. So that is how it came to be that 3 days ago we left our house intent on seeing as much of this great country of ours as we can (and friends and family that are scattered across it). Now on to ...

Day 3

In true tourist style, we headed for Old Quebec and started strolling through the cobbled streets, stopping in some of the places that interested us.
A sports store ...

a candy store (in the following pictures the kids have sucker sticks in their mouths, not cigarettes as it appears at first glance ... I know that things are quite liberal in Quebec, but I not allowing that yet!).


and this bistro looked especially appropriate ...

We walked along the old fortification wall, enjoying the beautiful view of the harbour and stopping to check out every cannon along the way (followed by pleddings of "Mama, take my picture!"). With the occasional history lesson from Dada, we made our way to the Citadel where we arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard.

All that walking, combined with the beautiful summer sun, made us a bit warm. We came to a park that had a fountain(?) that looked appealing. There were no signs around saying that we couldn't play in the water -- believe me, I looked -- so we stripped down and cooled off in the water. By the time we left, nobody had been arrested and there were lots of others in the water too ... just call us trendsetters from Nova Scotia :-)

Our BIG Adventure -- Day 2

I have finally figured out how to get my kids to sleep in ... keep them up really late the night before! Hmmmm ... might not be the best long term solution. Well, they slept in today anyway and, after a rainy night, we awoke to a lovely sunny morning. After a bit of exploring and looking around (not a bad parking job considering the darkness and the late hour when we arrived!), it was time to hit the road again.

It wasn't long before we reached the Quebec border, where Isaac announced that he was born in Quebec and, now that he was back, he was never leaving! We were tempted to stop in St-Louis-du-Ha-Ha (because, come on, that's just fun to say), but carried on to Riviere-du-Loup for a picnic lunch and some playtime at a local playground. It was a warm, but windy day and there was a gentleman flying the most amazing dragon kite that the boys found fascinating.

 After some more driving, some napping and some Vinyl Cafe stories, we arrived at our next stop just outside Quebec City.

The boys took off for the playground and when they returned for supper, Isaac announced that there seemed to be an awful lot of people around who spoke french! When I asked if they had learned any of it, they said "yes, merci!", and, added to "bonjour", which they already knew, pronounced themselves bilingual!

Another successful day and we went to bed excited to have a day off from driving tomorrow and looking forward to doing some exploring in Quebec City!

Our Big Adventure -- Day 1

It has been crazy the last few days in the Winter household, with one house needing to be emptied and another not ready to be filled (I do not recommend moving and going on vacation at the same time, by the way!).  As I was madly packing boxes to go to the new house AND packing up the camper for our grand adventure (and wondering how we had managed to accumulate so much stuff), a friend called to say goodbye and, oh so gently, remind me of just how lucky we were  ... so (message received) it was with a thankful heart (and a few hours behind schedule) that we set off on our BIG adventure.

Day 1

This is our "on our way" picture.  Everybody was supposed to wear their sunglasses, but in the last minute rush to get going, some were unaccounted for at departure time  ... they have all since been found.  And Laurel says that hers are not upside down, thank you very much!

We drove and drove and drove (Owen found the drive a little tiring) with only a couple of stops.  First in Moncton for a quick visit with Grampie and Sandra (at Tim Horton's of course), then in Gagetown for supper (the Creek View Restaurant was very tasty!).  We finally arrived at Maple Leaf campground just outside of Edmundston a little late, but still fired up about the adventure and looking forward to day 2!

The Key to the Rest of Our Lives

Here it is!  This is what we have been dreaming of for years ... the key to our "forever" house.  The place where we will grow our own food, raise happy and healthy children (hopefully), and some animals too, entertain friends old and new, laugh and learn together, and much, much more ... and it all starts here with this key!

We took possession on Friday and decided that, although we won't be moving in for a few weeks, we would spend this first night in the new house!  The boys got to work right away exploring our backyard.  One suggested it would make a good baseball field and off they went, stopping briefly to examine the little stream (boys do not possess the ability to walk by water without at least stopping briefly ... it's a well documented fact!).

While looking around, we discovered deer tracks by our back door and are anxiously awaiting the first sighting -- boy, is that deer in for a surprise when it realizes that 4 kids and a dog have moved in!

The boys really wanted to play hide and go seek in the empty house, so everybody joined in and it turned out to be a ton of fun!  It turns out that Laurel is a surprisingly good hider!

The sunset was spectacular for our first night's stay.

6 sleeping bags in one room ... sounded like a good idea at the time ... not much sleep was had by anyone.  But it will be a night that we will remember for a long time.

So, here we are at the beginning of a new journey and we are all very excited.  There is much work to do, but no longer will we have the excuse "when we get a new house".  The house is ours, and I have the keys to prove it!

There's no place like home ... there's no place like home ...

Almost 2 months since I last posted, oh my, I feel a little rusty (hmmm, I wonder where I left my oil can?).  But what an adventure we have been on (oops!) ... I guess I should say we are on, since the adventure is not over yet.  Its been a long 12 weeks since we left home for what we thought would be 4 weeks, but we are finally home (no ruby slippers or yellow brick roads, or wicked witches, thank goodness).  Oh, there is still lots to be done, but the house is livable again and so we are living in it (I'll post some pictures when it looks a little bit cleaner and a little more finished).

Our adventure to date has included: celebrating 4  birthdays -- twin nephews, myself and Owen

discovering new places (look at the munchkins!)

remembering my mother

trick or treating with cousins (instead of lions and tigers and bears, we had Darth Vader, 2 Yodas, an ewok, and 2 spidermans ... oh my!)

helping grampie do some cleaning out -- or, more preciously, finding fun new uses for grampie's things.

attending a funeral -- actually it was more like celebrating the 97 years of life of a grandmother

spending lots of time with family that we don't normally get to see very often

lots of playing on the beach

watching the leaves change colour and fall

learning new skills

... and the adventure goes on with things like walking around obstructions, a couple of missing doors and picnic-ing in the dining room until the table can be uncovered and cleaned.  But after 12 weeks of being away and weekend visits from Dada, what is a little dust and dirt?  We are HOME and we are together!

  

 "... Home! And this is my room, and you're all here. And I'm not gonna leave here ever, ever again, because I love you all, and - oh, Auntie Em - there's no place like home!"

The Wizard of Oz