TravelStream™ news feed for member sanmutsch on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sanmutsch en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:37:35 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215926400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215926400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215926400/tpod.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:37:35 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

Our goal was to make it back for the Kelowna VBS program in the evening, so we had to get a decent start.

What anticipation as we looked forward to getting home. We all agreed that the trip hadn't seemed too long, but it was really time to get home!

After driving a total of over 14,000 km on the trip (not including any train/boat/plane mileage), the last 600 km seemed like a small hill to climb! Most of us slept for the first while, waking up in our beloved mountains.

Once we were through Revelstoke, I eyed the "Crazy Creek/Suspension Bridge" sign and remembered that admission is free on Sundays. As we usually just fly by there on our way to Alberta or on our way home, today seemed like the perfect time to stop. We still felt like we were in "Atlantic" mode - laid-back; take it easy.

That really was our last stop though! Everything became more and more familiar. Even the landfill looked welcoming as we rounded the last corner before we could see the house. Then Dennis laid on the horn, announcing to the Glanzes and Grandma and Grandpa that we were home.

We were barely parked long enough to say a prayer of thanks before we saw Glanz kids tearing across the field. Chloe and Jo met half way - as they often do - and ended up bowling each other over with the force of their hugs!

Our dog Dusty was rather pleased to see us and settled right back into our yard (she had "moved" to the Glanzes while we were gone).

It was truly wonderful to see the other side of our country and we feel very blessed to have been able to make this trip as a family. We live in a beautiful, varied and vast land of which we are proud to be citizens! We hope you have enjoyed traveling with us and thank-you for following our journey.

For any one out there considering this journey, we highly recommend it! For us, it was worth every effort it took to make it happen.

Blessings!
Sandra
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215839040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215839040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215839040/tpod.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:11:18 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Our family split up today.

The girls stayed with Elizabeth who took them (and Mali) to a waterpark.

Sandra went to spend the day with Sandy and her kids, while Dennis and boys went on a hike in Kananaskis country. The hike took a few hours longer than expected, so it turned into a very nice, long visit for Sandra and Sandy!
The evening took us back to Rod and Elizabeth's for a Bar-B-Que and birthday party for Mali - turning 2 the next day. It was so much fun watching her open her presents and being the center of attention!
A late night visit (more like early morning) with Rod capped the trip off perfectly for Sandra!!
Dennis was faithful to take some pictures of the hike.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215755760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215755760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215755760/tpod.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:04:19 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Calgary, Alberta, Canada

With a brother (of Sandra's) and some good friends waiting in Calgary, it wasn't hard to get up and get going. We were in Calgary by 12:30 p.m. and had a happy reunion with Rod, Elizabeth and Mali. The girls played with their little cousin, while Wills and Kurt helped their Uncle Rod clean up the church after a week of VBS. Meanwhile, Dennis took Sandra to Canadian Home Education Resources, where Sandra spent a blissful two hours perusing possible materials for the coming school year.

Our evening entailed a visit with some of Sandra's childhood friends (along with their husbands). What fun to reminisce and compare notes on kids and life in general. Way too soon, it was time to leave.

As you can tell - we were too busy visiting to remember to take photos!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215668640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215668640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215668640/tpod.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:53:06 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

I dozed for the first hour and a half of this day, but awoke when the train stopped moving. We were in Saskatoon and it was 1:25 a.m., only about ½ hour behind the scheduled time of departure from this station. Wow - we really DID make up time!

The train stayed sitting and I dozed back off, only to wake up again at 2:00 a.m., looking out at another VIA passenger train, but having moved at least a bit. The train sat. And sat. And sat. By about 4:30 a.m., people started talking about why we were sitting there. No one had heard anything and there were many rumours flying. In fact, the train car was abuzz by about 5:30 a.m. The girls slept through it all, and the boys had decided to sleep up in the dome car right from the start. I couldn't sleep with all of the chatter going on.

Our train car was carrying many military families, war veterans, and civilian staff that worked for the military. They all travel free in July. Maybe it's part of the culture - to look at every angle, strategize, second guess those in command, hash and rehash. I don't know. But I do know that all of their yapping in those early morning hours didn't change a thing, and we were still sitting in Saskatoon at shortly before 9:00 a.m. when a crew member finally made an announcement. It wasn't much of an announcement - just that a train had derailed somewhere along our line and we were being held up. No clue was given as to when we would move again.

So we sat. And sat. A crew member came through at about 11:00 a.m., announcing that anyone who was getting off in Edmonton would get free lunch. We got into the first sitting this time, and as we were enjoying our meal, the train finally moved - a bit.

The day is rather a blur now. It was basically a series of inching forward - sometimes moving for an hour steady, sometimes for only 5 minutes towards Edmonton. There was consideration given to taking another longer route, but for whatever reason, that was ditched and we just stayed on the same track.

It turns out the derailment happened right outside of Edmonton. Someone had stolen a packer from a construction site and parked it on the track. A freight train had hit it shortly after midnight, and derailed as a result. We would eventually drive right by the site - and what a sight it was!! We were disgusted by the physical damage caused by this act of sabotage, and very aware that it wasn't only one freight train that was affected. A whole load of passengers had to cancel plans - hotels, flights, rental vehicles because of one person's stupidity.

On another level, we were very thankful that no one was injured in the crash, and that it was a freight train and not a passenger train that derailed. Another positive - there were no dangerous chemical spills as a result of the derailment.

Finally, at about 10:30 p.m., we pulled into the train station in Edmonton - 14 1/2 hours later than the scheduled arrival. What a wonderful site to see Bernie (Dennis' brother) arrive with our suburban. Although they were out of town, the Wermanns (Dennis' sister and family) had made beds for us in their home and we thankfully collapsed in them at about midnight.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215581040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215581040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215581040/tpod.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:27:23 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Watrous, Saskatchewan, Canada

Today, we looked forward to leaving Ontario. Nothing personal - it's just that when it seems like you've been on the train forever and you're still in the same province - gets a little discouraging!!

We had very little commentary from the VIA crew. Every once in a while, we would get an announcement about something we had just passed, or something (body of water) we had been traveling next to for quite a while. Our main indication of where we were was the sign at the train station we were stopped at. There were only 10 official stops between Toronto and Vancouver (ours in Edmonton being one of those stops). When we were stopped at a station, we could get out for some fresh air (LOL! Fresh except for all of the smokers who were dying for a cigarette and polluting the air directly outside the train). Usually though, the stops were no longer than 30 minutes.

There were many "optional" stops in between, as in if there was someone who needed to get on or off at that stop, the train would oblige. If not, we would just continue on.

The scenery was pretty, and very nice to view from a train. We especially loved the many lakes in Ontario, but were also very appreciative of being inside a train with the doors closed. No doubt, this was mosquito country!!

We got into Winnipeg at about 5:00 p.m. This was a major stop for the train - refueling and restocking the dining cars. We had an hour to spend, and decided to get supper at The Forks. By the time we were reboarded and on our way, we were about 2 hours behind time, and becoming a bit concerned about getting into Edmonton hours late. One of the crew reassured us that traveling across the prairies was a great way to make up time and thought we'd probably be almost back on track by the time we hit Edmonton (ETA, 8:05 a.m.)

The crew handed out covers for our eyes and earplus in addition to pillows and blankets this evening. Hmmm, Hmmm, Hmmm, - wonder what this could mean? At bed time, we had been on the train for about 40 hours. Only 10 to go, and we'd sleep most of those away, missing Saskatchewan entirely.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215575880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215575880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215575880/tpod.html Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:07:20 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Hornepayne, Ontario, Canada

Well, today was a day we had all been looking forward to - the much anticipated train trip home, or at least the beginning of it. Dennis had us up and at the breakfast table (fully decked!!) by 5:30 a.m. After some tired-and-sad good-byes, we were on the road by about 6:15 a.m.

The PLAN met a glitch again this morning. Only about 10 minutes on the road and one of the two-way radios started to die. Kurtis announced, "This radio is crackling. I'm turning it off." Click. Silence.

I panicked a bit. Apparently, the guys could still talk to us (when they chose to turn their radio on), but I was feeling a bit abandoned! We tried to stick as close to Dennis as possible, because I knew that one wrong turn would mean we were hooped. We had a train to catch!! (Not to mention cars to return, luggage to move ...... )

Quite often, a car would cut in front of me, then another, then a semi, and Dennis would be completely out of sight. He did his best to "hang back" - but that's not always possible on major highways either.

I like to think that I am in constant communication with God throughout the day. Well, I was hanging onto that line of communication for dear life this morning - it was all I had!! And God came through. As we approached Wellington Street - the road where we knew the Avis drop-off area was, Dennis made a left-hand turn on a yellow. And I was stuck. The drop-off didn't have an address - it was just an opening into a parking garage.

To my relief, Dennis has pulled over and waited, "happening" to park right in front of the garage entrance. He'd had enough time while waiting for me to check out his surroundings and noticed the rather insignificant "Avis" sign. Had we both made it through that yellow light, we probably would have missed it and had to backtrack - however you do THAT in downtown Toronto during rush hour traffic.

We parked our rental cars with a great sigh of relief, unloaded the multitude of luggage pieces and finished up the paperwork. Then began the trek. We were about a block and a half away from Union Station, but fortunately didn't have to go onto the street level to get there. We took the elevator up to the concourse level and trudged along, forming our own little train. Everyone was carrying or pulling something - most of us carried multiple pieces of luggage. It was obviously an unusual sight for the Friday commuters, as was made apparent by the many looks and stairs we garnered.

By studying signage and sending me ahead to scout out unknown territory, we did eventually make it to the place we needed to be in Union Station. And we made it there by about 8:00 a.m. - an hour before our train was to leave - just as we had been instructed.

The half hour wait to board seemed long after the stress and rush of the morning - but eventually the call came for all groups with 3 or 4 members (or more) to board. We boarded the train, starting to look for seats. I had warned the kids that we'd more than likely be split up, so it was with great delight that I spotted a sign that read "Reserved for Families: Dennis Mutschmann." We got two side-by-side sets of facing seats! Eight seats for the seven of us for the entire trip. What a blessing that was!

And then the epic trip started. Train is a pleasant way to travel. Relaxing - but often slow to progress. I was surprised at how often we had to stop and let other trains by. And the stops weren't just for 5 minutes. Sometimes 20 minutes or more. I had planned ahead for the expected 50 hour train trip, buying games, puzzles, fidget toys and of course food/snacks to sustain us. These seemed to mostly do the trick.

Our train, "The Canadian" was 16 - 20 cars long, to my best count. We had access to four of those cars. Although sleeper cabins would have been nice for the trip, they were an unnecessary luxury that we had to make do without. We were in "Comfort Class" which seated about 60 people per train car. The fourth car we had access to was the dome car. About half of it had a second completely-windowed story, great for viewing. The lower half of the car was a combination of a dining car (which could seat 24 people), a snack canteen and a lounge area with tables and benches.

We were in Ontario for more than 24 hours. What a huge province it is! We ate dinner in the dining car - but not until about 9:00 p.m.! Since they can only seat 24 people at a time, we had to reserve a "seating." Third seating was the only one that accommodate all seven of us, so we had to wait patiently, but it was worth the wait. We had roast beef (Kurt), chicken breast (the rest of the bigger people) and chicken nuggets (little girls). All left the diner satisfied and ready to snuggle in for our first night.

So ... sleeping on a train in comfort class. Challenging, let me tell you! Kurtis finally gave up and went up to the dome car where he was able to have two seats to himself. The girls did alright, although Anna was bothered by whatever bug had been bothering me the day before. Dennis, Wills and I - well, let's just say we got some sleep.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215488880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215488880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215488880/tpod.html Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:51:05 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada

While in Niagara Falls, we received a call from the Lebers (near Toronto), inviting us to spend our last night in Ontario with them. As they were only about 40 minutes from Union Station, this sounded like a very appealing option. (Plan A had been to leave Aylmer at about 4:30 a.m. to make it to through traffic and to Union Station on time). Add to this the fact that we had a fabulous time with the Lebers only one week before and the decision was unanimous: let's go to Toronto on Monday.

I (Sandra) had never planned on having to drive on this trip. I drive because I must. Dennis drives because he loves to (AND because he must). Because of us having to rent two mid-sized vehicles instead of one minivan, I had no choice. Not sure if it was nerves (having to drive major highways in unknown territory) or if I had caught a slight bug, but I was NOT feeling well as we left Aylmer.

Our last stop before leaving town was at Jen and Gary's apartment. Gary was working, but Jen found time to bake us some delicious muffins and have a visit before catching a sleep to fuel up (catching babies is exhausting work!)

Dennis had the GPS in the lead car and I followed behind. We had our two-way radios along, so Kurt was my live-GPS, repeating instructions as they were announced. He was a much more personable GPS, mind you - informing us of good radio stations they had found, and just being generally friendly and conversive between turns!

We arrived at Martin and Irene's at close to 4:00 p.m. and headed into Kleinburg to pick up a few supplies and check out the cute little town(? Hamlet? - not sure)

Irene had invited her parents to dinner and we enjoyed delicious fare and good company. The kids were ecstatic to see each other again. We all enjoyed a walk together in a park in Kleinburg (by the McMichael Art Gallery - group of seven gallery). Unfortunately, we never did get into the gallery - a shame, seeing as we were so close.

Lebers were very gracious hosts - again! They had rearranged their own sleeping arrangements to accommodate 7 extra bodies. We'll never forget your hospitality!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215373320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215373320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215373320/tpod.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:48:33 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Aylmer, Ontario, Canada

We had the privilege of worshiping with the Bradley Street Church of God congregation this morning. Although we don't know very many people here, it was a bit like coming home - being back in the church atmosphere we're used to. The people were so friendly and welcoming. Many came up to us an introduced themselves as John's uncle, Aggi's brother, Aggi's sister-in-law ... Neudorfs - you are certainly missed here!! - but I made sure to thank them all for "letting" you go!!

After some very practical, insightful preaching and great music, we headed back to the Schulers for a delicious full-course meal! - then afternoon naps for some of us (my first one in 2 months!!) and then an evening service where we were blessed to attend the Aylmer VBS closing program.

Irma invited some company for the evening and we enjoyed catching up with some and becoming acquainted with others. One last late night chat before we had to say good-bye!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215286020/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215286020/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215286020/tpod.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:42:23 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Aylmer, Ontario, Canada

Today was clean-up in earnest day. We needed to completely clean-out the motorhome, as well as clean-up the motorhome. Dennis and the boys went at the exterior; Anna and I cleaned the interior.

We made a late-morning diversion to London to pick up the two rental vehicles which we had to settle on. I got the Jeep Liberty. Dennis drove the Impala. It was a pretty good deal!! I hadn't driven anything since we left Kelowna, so if felt a bit strange to be behind the wheel again, but I was apparently feeling pretty comfortable quite quickly. Dennis informed me after we got back to Aylmer that I had been in such deep conversation with Irma (who was encouraging me not to go too slow on the 401) that I had sped right through a 60 km/h zone driving 80 km/h (and apparently right past a police car!) I hadn't even noticed - yikes!!

Dennis and I were able to deliver the cleaned-up motorhome back to the Bergens in the late afternoon - all safe and sound, albeit with just shy of 12,000 km added to the odometer.

The evening was spent sorting, chucking, recyling and packing our motorhome contents back into our suitcases and duffle bags. Thankfully, everything fit. Later on, Sieg and Irma (along with Jason and Steph) took us to Port Stanley for an ice cream and walk along the beach.

How much we enjoyed reconnecting with our good friends! It was just like old times - never running out of things to talk about! Even a few VERY late nights (or very early mornings to be more accurate) didn't catch us up!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215198960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215198960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sanmutsch/1/1215198960/tpod.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:19:22 -0400 Atlantic Canada - here we come!

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Aylmer, Ontario, Canada

The PLAN today was to pick up our rental van in Niagara Falls, and drive it along with the motorhome back to Aylmer. That was the PLAN.

Good thing we've become accustomed to taking things as they come. There was no van. Not in Niagara Falls. Not in London. Not anywhere in southern Ontario. Budget's solution was to offer us 2 cars instead. Problem - they wouldn't let our unlicensed 15-year-old drive one of them!! They also didn't have a driver to offer us, so we left Niagara Falls, slightly disconcerted as to how we would get to Toronto for our train ride.

The drive to Aylmer was peppered with stops here and there - trying to pick-up parts for the motorhome, dump one last time, fill up with propane and such. We finally rolled into the Schulers' driveway shortly before supper. It kind of felt like being back in Kelowna - familiar faces, good friends!

While Wills went to youth, the girls enjoyed the above ground pool and Dennis and Sandra got a start on cleaning up the motorhome. It's truly amazing what we had packed in there!!

Oh - how refreshing to be able to stretch out in a full-sized bed - first time in 6 ½ weeks!!
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