Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Winnipeg-Downtown, Mb

Anisha and Naraj made sure we were up before 5! We dressed and quietly said our good-byes and began the trip to the car rental return. For the first 15 minutes the traffic was light and we followed the GPS. As we got closer to the airport the traffic became busy. We could have never followed the signs to 'car rental return'! I caught a glimpse of one sign saying Avis and Hertz with an arrow to the left and National and Europacar ...

... that I was going away. And I realized how much I would miss. I don't know why that was a trigger since I have been packing and repacking, reading about India and researching my job for a while. A bit silly, I know. So now that my mind is set to 'travel mode' I can't sit still in anticipation of the journey ahead. I am imagining myself manoeuvring airports, feeling the thrill of new places and what it will be like ...

This entry holds information in both the story and the photos ... .

We left Thunder Bay this morning in rush hour traffic at 8:45am - Reyanne mentions that Dundas & Pacific (Toronto) is busier ... haha. We've added a new habit: sequence of packing and unpacking the car with nightly hotel stops. The last planned stop before "heading for the border" (of Manitoba, that is) is Kakabecka Falls. History about this ...

... person as possible. The flight went by smoothly, and in no time we had arrived in Vancouver. This is where it became handy that we were all wearing our matching shirts. It made it easy to follow where we were going, and when it came to getting into the area where our gate was, we were just waved though on account of our matchy-ness. After exploring a little bit (including finding a pretty *****ing playground) I wandered back to the gate and ...

... I get run down and eventually sick when I travel. At least I have a good time! I am missing Europe so so much right now. Winnipeg is the same as ever, despite the fact that this will be the first summer I will have spent here since 2004, nothing much has changed. Europe just never ceases to amaze me. The history, the different cultures, languages, festivals, music, landscapes, food, people, and then all the new ...

... somehow in my work. If you want more info on it you can email me and ask as well. If you don't wish to share but just want to email back and say 'hi' that would be cool too. We miss all you's out there on the road and we plan to get back there some day in the not too distant future. Hope you're all doing well and staying happy. All our best and a frozen thumbs up. It won't go down anymore. Dan and Gabrielle

... Booth Bay Harbor. Boy, did we need the time to rest up. While there we visited the Bath Iron Works where they are building AEGIS destroyers for the Navy. They look HUGE, especially sitting on dry dock and you are looking at them from the keel up. Also visited a 1900's ship building museum and was able to see a lot of the old tools, etc., that it took to build wooden sailing ships. They built the "Wyoming" there that was the largest wooden ...

... fun if I didn't get stung by a wasp halfway through. Actually, a few of the girls from Singapore did too so if you're heading there watch out! We then began our slow trek back. By the time we got back across the river it was about time for our next tour. We hopped on a boat with our guide and a couple (I think from Austria?) and headed down the river towards the Orang Asli Village. Orang Asli translates to "original people" and they are the people who arrived in Malaysia way before ...

... tour hubby. Together the two of us were extremely reminiscent of gre*t showbiz couples from recent times. Think Liz* Minnelli *nd D*vid Gest.....P*ul McC*rtney *nd He*ther Mills...I could go on *nd on. So, C*n*d*, eh? (For the uniniti*ted, there'll be * le*st * couple of p*r*gr*phs devoted to the 'eh' concept in P*rt II. Yes, there's enough m*teri*l for * Pt II!) Anyw*y, I confess - it re*lly did come *s * surprise to me to end up there *s p*rt of my glob*l odyssey. And to be perfectly ...