TravelStream™ news feed for member meganj77 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/meganj77 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:15:41 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1184190900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1184190900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1184190900/tpod.html Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:15:41 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Belleville, Ontario, Canada

Today we walked back down to Old Town Montreal and visited the Notre Dame Basilica. I think it was the prettiest church I have been in. Tony and I both really liked it. The pictures turned out kind of fuzzy. There wasn't much light in the church so I had to turn the camera to the "moon" setting. Then I was too shaky to take a good picture. But I will post a couple so you get the idea.
We "sortied" out of Montreal and took off down the road again. We drove a little over halfway to Toronto (about 4 hours). Tomorrow morning we will head the rest of the way to Toronto (about 2 hours) and spend the rest of the day exploring the city. Tony is excited to see the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Tonight we are going to work on repacking our suitcases so that we are really for the trip home of Friday!!!

Tony's favorite thing so far: Tim Horton's muffins (another chocolate chip one today).
Megan's favorite thing so far: Notre Dame Basilica

Picture Count to Date: 335 (almost out of room on the camera!)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1184103600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1184103600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1184103600/tpod.html Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:54:53 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Montreal, Quebec, Canada

We survived the 9 hour drive!!! Actually it wasn't too bad, there was no rain and we put in a book on tape and next thing we knew, we were in Montreal.

Unfortunately the "travel bible" I put together only had directions to Montreal, not to our hotel in Montreal....oops. But we found the hotel pretty quickly as we were staying in the city center....or centre.

Tony has taken a liking to Tim Horton's which is somewhere between a Dunkin Donuts and a St Louis Bread Co (Panera to non-St Louisans). It seems as long as he has coffee and muffins he will drive anywhere.

We rested for a little bit and then walked to the old part of Montreal. They say that Montreal reminds Americans of Europe. I would say that was true, except there was not as much trash and the distinctive Parisian urine smell. There were a lot of narrow cobblestoned streets lined with old buildings. We stopped and had crepes for dinner and then headed back to the hotel. I really like Montreal, the people are nice and I really like wandering around the old streets.

We were staying on the 32nd floor so we had a nice nighttime view of the city. We got back too late to watch the Canadian Idol kick off show (We watched them perform last night). Canadian Idol is surreal, but everyone had signs cheering on Tyler when we were in Nova Scotia so we wanted to check it out.

Tony's favorite thing so far: Tim Horton's muffins
Megan's favorite thing so far: Old Town Montreal

Picture Count: 324
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1184017800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1184017800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1184017800/tpod.html Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:21:18 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

We are heading west! Today we left PEI and drove over the Confederation Bridge (a reallllly long bridge) to the Bay of Fundy.

PEI really gives you the shake down when you try to leave. The bridge toll was over $40 Canadian. Tony has the same problem here as he had in London. He refuses to spend coins, so most of our vacation budget is in the drink holder of the car!!! We will be spending in change the rest of the trip to try and get rid of it all.

We left early today and went to the Hopewell Rocks. I'm no Earth science expert, but apparently the Bay of Fundy has the highest tides. So we went to go see these rocks that you can kayak around at high tide and walk around at low tide. We were there at sort of medium high tide and medium low tide. The tide was moving out at about a foot every ten minutes, so Tony would throw some coins in the water and then we would look for them as the tide went out. We are easily amused.

From there we drove though Fundy National Park (Canada has A LOT of trees!) to Fredericton, NB. Tomorrow we have our longest drive to Montreal - 9 hours, which is great because Tony says that with all the rain, the inside of the car has taken on the atmosphere of the mountain lodge in "The Shining" to him. Things are definately getting more populated as we drive...and also more French.

Tony's favorite thing so far: Whale Watching
Megan's favorite thing so far: PEI Beaches

Picture Count to date: 296
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183725660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183725660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183725660/tpod.html Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:01:28 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Margaree Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada

We had rain again in Nova Scotia, although it was not as torrential as yesterday. It rained off and on and was hazy and cloudy all day, but we did get to see some great sites on the Cabot Trail. Unfortunately because of the fog, we didn't get very good pictures.

We saw some great sites from the tops of the mountains, the rocky coast line, and amazing forests of trees. We even did a little hike through the forest.

The best part of the day was a whale watching tour we did in the afternoon. We just caught a boat that was leaving. The "Golden Girls" were on board and as we took off into the crisp air one of them said, "oh good, hot flashes be gone." It was pretty funny. We saw a lot of pilot whales. There were about 20 swimming around and they got pretty close to the boat. It was raining a bit and cold, but we both loved it! We also saw a bald eagle.

Tonight we stayed in the worst hotel ever. We had to boil water before using it. It was very cold, but I didn't want the blankets touching me. Nice view of the beach though.

We are back on schedule and headed to PEI tomorrow.

Tony's favorite thing so far: Whale Watching
Megan's favorite thing so far: Whale Watching
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183930140/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183930140/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183930140/tpod.html Mon, 09 Jul 2007 17:49:27 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Cavendish, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Hello all,

I put up some pictures for previous days. Thanks Ramada!!! Prince Edward Island was alot of fun. We are still searching for the sunshine in Canada, but the rain is spotty, so we are able to see some sights.

Our B&B in PEI was A-OK. We headed for the beach in the morning. It was pretty awesome. Too cold to swim of course, but we had a good time walking the beach and searching for beach glass and interesting rocks. There were LOTS of jelly fish in the water and washed up on shore. I told Tony not to worry, I would pee on him if he got stung.

PEI reminds me of the midwest with a few more trees and of course, the ocean. There are farms and tractors and cows, etc.

Since neither of us have read, "Anne of Green Gables", we really didn't get into that stuff too much.

We went to our second beach and walked about a mile away from our car when it started pouring. We both got soaked. Stay close to your car in Canada...

Tomorrow we leave PEI.

Tony's favorite thing so far: Whale Watching, Nova Scotia
Megan's favorite thing so far: Cavendish Beach, PEI

Picture Count to Date: 255
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183813620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183813620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183813620/tpod.html Mon, 09 Jul 2007 17:28:43 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Goodbye Nova Scotia! We headed to the PEI ferry and when we got on we saw the sun!!! I even got a little sun burnt on my forehead. This ferry ride was really nice and calm. We stood outside and listened to what might possibly be the worst band ever.

We got to PEI and drove to Charlottetown where we are staying. We did some shopping and walked down by the harbor. We both fell asleep at 8pm. It's nice to have a room where you don't mind if the blankets touch you and you don't have to boil water to brush your teeth.

In the morning we are off to explore some beaches!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183682220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183682220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183682220/tpod.html Sun, 08 Jul 2007 08:49:39 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Alma, Nova Scotia, Canada

We aren't sure where we are, but there was room at the inn. The Tara Inn to be exact, if
you are playing along, that was not a planned stop.

We awoke to rain this morning. It rained while we were getting on the ferry. It raining
the whole ferry ride. You couldn't see anything out of the wet, foggy ferry windows. It
rained, and it was rough. Some people left their breakfasts on the ferry.

The ferry got off to a late start and the journey took longer than expected, so we were two
hours behind. We got off the ferry at Yarmouth and headed north. We skipped alot of the
Lighthouse Route because it was raining so hard, but we did see a lighthouse and some
scenery and towns. Also great conversation...are people from Maine called Maniacs or
Mainians?

We stopped at a roadside diner that had 46 flavors of ice cream, but they were out of 32 of
them. I ordered a side of poutine which is french fries covered with gravy and cheese (a
recommendation from Marisa and Jeremy). Tony ordered a side of some sort of chicken fried potatoes (seriously, fried breaded potatoes). Tony loved the poutine.

We drove until dark, but then had had enough and tried to find a room. The first exit we
stopped at had no electricity, so we continued on until we found the Tara Inn.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is not much better. Please baby Jesus let it stop
raining!!!

Tony's favorite thing so far: Poutine (French fries....good, gravy....good,
cheese.....goooood)

Megan's favorite thing so far: Maid of the Mist and no more driving in the pounding rain.

Picture count so far: 128
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183585560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183585560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183585560/tpod.html Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:20:45 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Bar Harbor, Maine, United States

Tony and I left Boston at about 6:30 this morning. We intended to sleep in, but we are morning people by nature. Good thing we got on the road because people were already lining up about two blocks from our hotel for July 4th activities.

We crossed into Maine about mid-morning and were issued our LL Bean clothing and a Subaru. We narrowly missed a speed trap. Whew! Then, we drove off the beaten path a bit and inadvertently joined a 10k run (much easier in a car).

We stopped and had lobster rolls at a roadside stand (yum) and then drove to Acadia National Park. We watched a movie at the Welcome Center which told us that the true gifts of Acadia National Park could only be found by hiking and biking off the beaten path to find solitude....Well, the stuff we saw from the car looked pretty good.

We are planning to see fireworks by the water tonight, but people have been lining up since 3pm when we got to Bah Hahbah!!!

Hope everyone has a great Fourth!!! We are headed back to Canada tomorrow on the ferry.

Tony's favorite thing so far: Dunkin Donuts Coffee
Megan's favorite thing so far: Maid of the Mist

Picture Count to date: 122
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183500300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183500300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183500300/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:55:45 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Boston, Massachusetts, United States

We are back in the US! Tony and I got up very early (5:30 wake up call!) and said goodbye to Niagara Falls. Today was one of our longest drives (7 and a half hours), but it went very well. We broke up the driving each driving about half.

I saw two Save-a-lot trucks today. The first one I saw near Albany (with the old logo), probably heading to or from the Coxsackie DC. I saw the second one just as we crossed the border into Massachusettes (with the new logo). Haven't seen any stores though.

We got to Boston about 2pm, and headed out immediately to Boston Common where we joined a walking tour led by a costumed guide. We felt like good little patriots and visted a couple graveyards (Alexander Hamilton, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams graves), site of the meetings preceding the Boston Tea Party, site of the Boston Massacre, and the Massachusettes State House.

We went to an English pub for dinner and I had bangers and mash (one of my favorites from England). It wasn't as good as the real thing.

Tony's favorite thing so far: Maid of the Mist
Megan's favorite thing so far: Maid of the Mist

Picture Count: 88
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183381500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183381500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/meganj77/canada2007/1183381500/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:16:29 -0400 Road Trip Canada

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Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Our first car had electrical problems on the way to Niagara Falls. So we turned it in for another, much smaller car. (Tony hates it.)

We went on the Maid of the Mist today.

Tony's favorite thing so far: Maid of the Mist
Megan's favorite thing so far: Maid of the Mist
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