Comfort Inn Midland

First port of call - Visit Elsa and Ken who are about to become first-time parents at the end of December. We're very excited to meet our new grandchild, probably by Skype the first time, in late December. Our travels will take us to Florida, Texas, Arizona and Utah, with a possible trip to India in May to celebrate Eugenie's 50th. birthday.

The bump is very big!

Decided to write down info about our travels. First leg is not very long and not too far. Nottawa, Ontario to Maitland Bridge, Nova Scotia, distance of about 6300km or 3700miles (i think!).

Dave, myself and Ozzy dog are off on the weekend for a couple of months, with moving van and all our worldy goods, to our little fixer upper (well quite big fixer upper really) in Maitland Bridge, NS. Only us 3 as both kids (Hi ...

Visit with fourteen relatives in one day. Can it be done? That was the question lingering in my mind as we drove into Barrie, Ontario, around 6 pm on the July, 23rd.

We had a hard time finding our Holiday Inn Express Hotel. Incorrect directions, given by a variety store clerk, had us spending the first hour in Barrie driving around lost. I luckily spotted the hotel from hwy 400 as we zoomed past it at ...

Great family camping weekend of campfires (i think we must have burned the equivalent of a small forest), frisbee, swimming, volleyball, canoeing, hiking. And the main event of the weekend: eating.

Some of us camped over night (me, Matt, Anice, Piyali, Calvin, Aunty Ivy ...

Canada Day (AKA My Birthday) Nels and I left Minnesota on June 30th with the best intentions of soaring across the top of Lake Superior on the Circle Drive and getting to Niagra Falls in a couple of days. Today is July 2rd and we are still on Lake Superior. It truly is the biggest damn lake in the world. I want to thank the Canadians for helping me celebrate my birthday with all those red and white flags flying. I spent my birthday in Sleeping ...

... small 2) is absolutly breathtaking. this is the experience I'll looking to share with other's there is nothing like being fully exposed the forces of nature and to be at one with living things around you, to make you feel alive! So we turned the boat and started to head down wind from where we had just come from, with assistance from the US coast Guard guiding us in. kotoos to the coast guard those guys are amazing and where so much help! we got to rpovince town Cape Cod safely

... the scenery was blurred by the speed - that would have made an awesome photo! Along Lake Simcoe our train ran perpendicular to a calm canal - we looked straight out a tree lined waterway on the brown tumultuous lake - only for a second and then we were past. We thought we were getting up early and that arriving half and hour before departure ...

... and in those 2 weeks I probably learned more about what I was capable of doing and wanting to do, and will to do. How much effort I was will to put into something, and I don't think my heart was truly in it at that time in my life.

I ended up spending the rest of the summer at home.

This was my first attempt at basic, I was pumped to be there, but the reason I was sent home, was because I had a panic attack while doing the shuttle run and couldn't get to level 4. Now that just totally bummed my summer, I ended up going back home, and was put to work on the farm. That so was not what I thought my summer was going to look like.

... with the meal. Apparently, the chef, general manager, and bartender all put their heads together to come up with suitable drink pairings. The food and service we had was excellent. And speaking of my birthday, it looks like I will be turning one year older, a day earlier. Australia is practically one day ahead of Canada... :P