Day 30: Hey, you know...

"Hey, you know, if we drive straight through, we can be home by midnight..."

That's how the conversation started. Call it adventurous or stupidity, we decided to drive straight through Calgary and head for home. I think all the nights in hotels and stops in restaurants were getting to us. We awoke to rain in Regina yesterday morning and got on the road by 8:30 a.m. local time.

Moose Jaw, Swift Current, and a lunch stop in Medicine Hat. While Carrie got some food with the kids, I decided to stop at the Shell station to fill up. It was later in Golden, B.C., that I realized I left my credit card back in "The Hat" :-( Credit card company was phoned and card cancelled. Oh well.

Calgary, Canmore, Banff, Golden, Revelstoke, Kamloops, Coquihalla, Hope, Home. What a drive. We arrived home at 1:30 a.m., after 1689 kilometres. It was a tough haul, but getting into our our beds was worth it. Kate and Sam slept through most of B.C., and Jake faded shortly after. Sam and Kate were carried to bed and for once, Jake went to bed without complaint. Shortly after (at about 2:30 a.m. Jake claimed, "I can't sleep!" That's more the Jake we know.

Well, it had been quite a journey. 14,400 kilometres across a truly enormous country! Overall, it was a wonderful experience and we all learned a great deal. I think this blog was a great way to process, learn, and stay in touch. It's an experience I think every Canadian should have! I hope you've enjoyed it.

The World's Tallest Teepee in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

The Beautiful Rocky Mountains, Alberta, B.C.

Day 29: Regina...Are we there yet?

Our drive to Regina was supposed to be an easy journey of a mere 560 kilometres or so, so we decided to sleep in a bit, lounge, and get on our way at check-out time, 11:00 a.m. The drive to Regina seemed to take forever, but alas, not all was bad. On the way, we got to see the other yellow crop on the praires...sunflowers. You'll recall that we commented on the fields of canola on our way east, but we didn't notice any sunflowers. A month has passed since then and I suppose that has given the sunflowers time to bloom. I imagine that, like the canola, the sunflowers will be used to make cooking oil. The fields were beautiful!!!


Given that we were driving through Manitoba, we took a slight detour off the #1 to go see some bison. We went to a town called Minnedosa where we found a herd of Plains Bison. They were an impressive sight! There were many females, one HUGE male, and several calves. I understand the warning sign: when I neared the fence to take a photo through the wire, one or two of the bison would charge at me and snort. I'm glad I was on one side of the fence and they the other, and that we made the side-trip to see them!




We have settled in for the night at the Days Inn Regina. We've been very happy with the Days Inn whenever we have stayed there. As for hotels in general, I can say that I have had my fill. Carrie and I look forward to getting home, but I think the kids could keep hopping from hotel to hotel for a long time (especially since they don't have to pay :-) One more stop in Calgary, then we head for home.

Day 28: Out of Ontario

Today was all about DRIVING. The drive from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg was a long one, both in distance and time: Just over 700 kilometres and about 9 hours. But, Bob would be proud of the fuel economy on this leg of the trip. I filled up in Thunder Bay and made it all the way to Winnipeg without another fill (the first time the Villager has gotten more than 700 kilometres on a tank - 723 to be exact). As we cruised in to Winnipeg, we stopped in at a Superstore Gasbar and found that they give 11 CENTS per litre. I received $7.40 in Superbucks :-)

We have driven over 12,500 kilometres so far. Two more legs (to Calgary, then home) should take us over 14,000!

We got to the Victoria Inn and Conference Centre to check in. I had reserved a room while in Deep River. When I spoke to the front desk, they had no reservation for us, but rooms were still available. It turns out that while booking the rooms through Expedia, I booked the Thunder Bay and Winnipeg hotels for the same night. Ooops. The room was only $93.00. We got a poolside room that was very nice, and the kids really enjoyed the dinosaur themed water park.

Off to Regina in the morning...

Day 27: From the Soo to the Bay

Day 27 was a long day of driving from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay. The journey was over 700 kilometres. We left at 9:00 a.m., stopping at the Panorama Amethyst Mine, the largest in North America, and arrived in Thunder Bay at about 6:30 p.m. As long as it was, the drive was enjoyable since the weather was so nice and there were many vistas of Lake Superior. During our trip east, the weather was so bad that the views weren't anything to speak of. The kids all enjoyed their visit to the mine and bought some Amethyst for themselves. We got in to the Travelodge Thunder Bay, had a swim and dinner, and now we are settling in for the night. Tomorrow is another long day of driving from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg.

Day 26: Back to the Soo

Day 26 was spent travelling the 650 kilometres along Highway 17 from Deep River to Sault Ste. Marie. It was a long drive, but everyone managed. We stopped off at Sudbury to see "The Big Nickel". It is 9 metres high and about 60 centimetres thick. Nickel is plentiful in the Sudbury Basin. We found our hotel (the same Days Inn we stayed at while heading east) and had a quiet evening in Sault Ste. Marie.

Days 21 to 25: Relaxing in "The Deep"

How nice it was to finally arrive back in Deep River after our Maritime excursion. We arrived back on Friday evening and were expecting Bob and Wynn back late Sunday afternoon. The weather wasn't great in Noranda and so Bob and Wynn arrived back home Saturday afternoon, surprised when the kids ran out to greet them. The next few days were restful and relaxing. The kids enjoyed playing down by the river and going on canoe rides to the beach. In particular, all three of them loved to jump out of the canoe and swim back to shore once they got close to home (don't worry, they had life jackets on and the river is very shallow near the shores). See the pictures below.

Sam and Jake swim to shore after a canoe ride (see that white speck in the background??? It's Kate :-)

Kate follows Dad to shore

Kate makes it to shore

An exhausted Kate cuddles with Grandy

A beautiful sunrise over the Ottawa River

On Tuesday, Bob and Wynn were gracious enough to offer to watch the kids while we went in to Ottawa for the day. It was a great day. We had a nice lunch outside on Sparks Street, we visited Byward Market, went on a sunset cruise on the Ottawa River, and took in the light and sound show at the Parliament Buildings.

Tasty lunch at the Byward Cafe

Carrie enjoys lunch on Sparks St.

Rideau locks before

After

Rideau Locks

Carrie and Antonio on river cruise

Rideau Falls

Sir John A. MacDonald's Residence

Parliament Buildings from the Ottawa River

Glorious sunset over the Ottawa River

The Parliament Buildings are lit up!