Montreal

Hi everyone!



Sunday night here, and we have been in Montreal for four days. Unfortunately, wifi is not free here, so we picked a slow evening to buy some time and get caught up.

We left Quebec City on Thursday, driving the 250 km to Montreal. This KOA is not nearly as nice as the QC one, and the bathrooms are not all that, but it is a good base for visiting Montreal (it is only about 25 km away).

On Friday, we went into downtown Montreal (CRAZY drivers) and found the world's largest tourist info centre, where an incredibly helpful woman gave us all sorts of ideas. Since we were in the middle of downtown, we decided to use the afternoon to shop, and so Dennis went to Indigo and sat and read computer books while the girls and I went out to shop. Since Montreal gets very wintry, a whole "underground city" developed around the metro stops, with more stores than in the whole of Victoria, I think! All the usual brand names are there, along with Simon's, a Quebec department store that is terrific. Both kids found some clothes there. FASHON ALERT! For those of you who want to be cutting edge, fall clothes are starting to appear, and I saw STIRRUP PANTS for sale. Just FYI...if only I had kept mine! The jeans are getting narrower and narrower, and the tops bigger, kind of 80s style! I wonder if the mullet will return?

Anyway, picked up Dennis (now drinking coffee and reading the paper), and walked to St Denis street, a very funky neighbourhood with hookah cafes and the like. Went to a really nice Mexican restaurant, and then next door to a place the tourist info had recommended: Juliet et Chocolat. Three guesses why it appealed. Everything they served had chocolate, just about...although they also make sweet and savoury crepes. Dennis had milk hot chocolate (which, Sara and Beth, is like that chantico they sold at Starbucks for a while), which comes in a small pitcher and is poured into a bowl for drinking. It is so rich, it is almost like a melted chocolate bar (it also comes in dark and white chocolate). Mhairi had a citron et sucre crepe, which she has been craving since Paris, and had the most blissful look on her face as she was eating it...Ceilidh and I had chocolate cake with a molten chocolate centre, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream (we could have had chocolate ice cream, but that seemed overkill, even for us). Neither of us could finish ours, but our tablemates helped us along. I thought my tastebuds were going to explode. I hope to go there again for a savoury crepe and another dessert. That was a meal to remember...

Saturday was not so successful. We decided to go to La Ronde, and amusement park. When we got there, the woman said they didn't give refunds if it rained, which we thought was peculiar, since who does give refunds if it rains? In Canada, everyone would be bankrupt. What they didn't mention was that they actually CLOSE THE RIDES if it rains. So, after paying $38 x 4 of us, and then a stupid fast pass to get us through the lines faster for another $50, and then paying through the nose for food cuz you can't bring coolers onsite, it RAINED! AND, they had the gall to actually charge extra for some things (which we didn't do). So, $300 later, we left. The kids enjoyed some of the rides, but really, it was a waste of time and money. A lesson learned.

Today, we went to Mount Royal Park, which is designed a little like Central Park. Apparently in the 1600s, Jacques Cartier was taken up the mountain by some native guides and he loved the place and decided it would be a great place to have a settlement, and named it Mont Royal...there is the history lesson for today. We took our bikes in with us, stopped by Fairmont bagels, which has THE best bagels in the city (also recommended by my favourite tourist helper!) and is open 24/7. Dennis ordered "plein" bagels instead of "nature", but other than that, he did well. Had a picnic at the park beside a lake, rented a paddlboat, and had a great time. We then biked around the park, stopping at the viewpoint, and at la croix. The story is that one of the founders of Montreal named Maisonneuve carried a cross up the hill when the city was saved from a flood, as his promise to God. Now, unless there is some Quonset story here (a story far too embarrassing for me to repeat here, but I am sure my sister would be happy to tell!), they have replaced the original cross he carried up, because this one was metal and lit up.

We then went into Vieux Montreal, and biked around the old Expo 67 site. We saw the Habitat 67 buildings and the geodesic dome (not sure of that spelling) designed by Buckminster Fuller. I kept imagining Montreal in 1967, which must have seems SO cosmopolitan, especially by Canadian standards. I imagine my sister, a 20 year old, going to Montreal for the summer in 1967. In fact, almost everyone we have met speaks both French and English, and with the large immigrant population, I am sure many are multilingual. What a gift! People I have overheard speaking seem to switch between French and English, even within the same sentence, and if they hear us struggling in French, they automatically switch to English, unless we ask them not to!

Anyway, there is a long pedestrian/bike concourse, so off we went to explore along the river, and a short way along the Lachine Canal. Reminded me of biking along the canal in Oxford.

Navigating here is quite fascinating, since almost every street is either Sainte or Saint something or other, so we are constantly saying "St Jean or Jacques?" "Did you say Ste Catherine or Ste Marie?", etc.

A close to home day tomorrow, then into Vieux Montreal for a good look around on Tuesday. Ceilidh is meeting another teacher (!), Jenne Martin, who is from Montreal, for a morning together while Dennis, Mhairi and I poke around the town.

We took a quick look at Notre Dame, where there is a series of organ recitals going on, one by none other than Matthew Larkin for those of you who would care to know!

Encore Quebec

Hi again

We have had a busy few days. On Sunday we went to the Valcartier waterslides (the largest in Canada) and they really were amazing. We were there for 8 hours and certainly got our money's worth since Den and the girls went down the slides over and over again. There were also a couple of inner tube rivers that they loved. I sat, read a book (and finished it) and did my knitting. I really must have looked old though, since the book I borrowed happened to be large print (and it was a Maeve Binchy which isn't exactly intellectually highbrow) and I was knitting...However, the knitting came in handy, since I can reset the GPS (which sometimes gets confused) with the tip of my knitting needle. In addition, some of the waterslides prohibit wearing glasses unless you have a lanyard on them...so I gave Dennis a fetching yellow piece of yarn for his glasses, and Mhairi a cool green one for hers. Needs must!

The weather was perfect...a slight breeze and overcast so we didn't get fried. It was a good day! Came home with tired kids too!

The next day, Monday, Ceilidh's Grade 8 teacher, Danielle Brault, drove up from visiting her father in Cowansville. She took Ceilidh, Mhairi and I out to Montmorency Falls (beautiful, and taller than Niagara Falls, although not as wide). Dennis stayed home to work (which he FINISHED and now is free!!) and nurse an injured toe he stubbed at the waterslides. After the falls, we went over to the Ile d'Orleans, an island in the middle of the St Lawrence, which is one of the oldest inhabited areas in Quebec. It is a little like Saltspring, with artisans, craft stores, lots of produce and quaint houses. It is easy to see the remnants of the feudal system in the long, narrow plots of land that reach the water. Went into a couple of churches, too!

We then went into town for coffee, ice cream and a tour around. I really like Vieux Quebec; it is European, pedestrian friendly, and charm around each corner.

Danielle brought us home, and Dennis made the yummiest pizza, with thinly sliced potato and rosemary. She also left us with some of her sister, Suzanne's, home made maple fudge. YUUUUUM! Merci, Suzanne!

Today, we took our bikes, parked on the Blvd de Champlain, and biked the 5 km into Quebec City. There was a fierce wind, which made for tough peddling, but the way home was easy!!

The bike and pedestrian path was installed for the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City (this year!) and is a wonderful path, easy to cycle, with beautiful benches, seating and "installations" along it. The benches all look very modern with horizontal lines, and remind me a bit of 60s architecture. The "installations" are sculptures, and other "things", that I am sure have some deep meaning which eludes me. Some seem to look like ships, others emit a mist periodically, which almost obscures everything. It is all very user friendly and appealing to the eye. The installations seem to run diagonal to the path.

In the city we did more sightseeing, and enjoyed tarte au sucre (sugar pie) which is like pecan pie without the pecans or raisins....so sort of a maple custard in a crust. Wow! I hope we cycled off a tenth of the calories! Thanks to Danielle for the suggestion!

On the way home, there were Cycling Security people who kept the cycling traffic moving, and directed cars so that the cyclists had the right of way! What a nice change. Since we headed home about 4:30, I assumed that cycling commuters were joining us.

It is raining (sigh), but we are sitting down to a tortellini arrabiata dinner, which we all are looking forward to!

More Quebec

I have posted a few new pictures at the bottom of the blog.

There is certainly a wide range of RVs and trailers around this country, and ours is one of the very very smallest. There are many that are like homes on wheels...more than 40 feet long with slideouts, laundry facilities, tv, satellite dishes...and two entrances! We are consistently dwarfed by the monsters around us.

We went into Quebec City yesterday for the evening, which is so beautiful. Narrow, European lanes with shops and restaurants...We also climbed up to the Plains of Abraham, where the fate of Canada was determined in about 45 minutes, and talked about how our parents would not likely have immigrated here if it were a French speaking country. Paul McCartney is playing a free concert here tomorrow; they are expecting 250,000 people, with busses coming from as far away as Mexico!

Well, a nice down day today, catching up on email and letting the kids play in the pool...

Love to all

Kerry

Quebec!!

Hi everyone...this will be a long post since we have been offline a couple of days and much has happened. We left PEI expecting a short drive (3 hours) to Kouchibouguac National Park which is on the east coast of NB. As we went back over the Confederation Bridge and into New Brunswick, we realized we were in Acadian country; French flags abounded, and the sign at McDonald's in PEI that read "McLobster is back" (who knew there was "regional cuisine" at McDonald's?) now read "McHomard est en retour". Got a laugh out of that. In PEI I announced that since I had parented all the way to the east coast, it was Dennis' turn on the return trip. So, we stopped at Tim Horton's for a donut. Since we were in a French speaking community, Dennis tried his language skills and ordered an apple fritter by asking for "pommes frites". He got a strange look and when we left, Ceilidh said "Dad, you tried to order French Fries!" I thought we were all going to die laughing, and every kilometre or so, we would all bust up again.

As an aside (that comes into the story later) there are NO Starbucks in Atlantic Canada...and virtually no cappuccino. Tim Horton's regular coffee is what everyone drinks.

We stopped in a very sweet town Bouctouche, with a beautiful Roman Catholic church, were we had fries and the girls had slushies (remember, Dennis is parenting). This becomes important later. We were meandering around since we had a short driving day. Then, I look at the guidebook for the national park and read "Under no circumstances should you be without bug spray". We arrive at the park to find there are no water hookups...So we are 1:30 pm in a campsite nobody wants to be in on the east coast of New Brunswick on the scenic route. We decide that we will drive up to the next day's campsite at Riviere du Loup, in Quebec, which the girls are into...but it is a further 8 hours. Back into the car we go.

Now, Dennis was expecting that we weren't driving long, and was OK with the junk the girls had eaten...now we were driving for another 8 hours...Mhairi complained she didn't feel well, and about 2 minutes later, was throwing up into a hastily conjured bucket (my reflexes are pretty darned good after all). FYI, blue raspberry slushie comes up blue.

She felt a lot better after that.

I was needing a coffee, but we could not find anywhere for love or money, or even a plug for me to make my own. I was regretting having sneered at Starbuck's earlier in the journey and knew this was my penance. In fact, Dennis said it was my penance for booking a campsite in a swampy area, with no water! So, I joined the locals, and got a Tim Horton's!

So, the other thing we kept seeing were signs to watch out for moose. The signs started out benignly, with a picture of a cute moose on a diamond shaped yellow sign. The next signs had a much larger moose trotting out into the road. The next signs had "ATTENTION" in large red letters, with a moose TOWERING above a car, and finally, there were signs that showed a moose sign and a car sign colliding with nasty results, and an "extreme caution" written below. We had already decided NOT to do any night driving, but in this case, to get to our campsite, we knew we would have to, at a time when the moose would likely be out. This coincided with us driving west, into the setting sun, while it rained, resulting in near blinding conditions. However, we were fine, and lo, and behold, saw a mother moose and her calf standing in a field near the road. They very kindly stood while we pulled over, got out the camera and took some good shots.

So, Dennis has seen his moose. We also saw a fox and kit, and a black bear.

We made it to Riviere du Loup at about 9:30, and thankfully fell into bed.

Riviere du Loup is a charming town, with all the amenities, including good veggie selections "Hamburger tofu", and a very nice patisseries with real cappuccino. It was wonderful walking around and feeling immersed in French. The town is on the south banks of the St Lawrence, and we biked along the river, where apparently you can see whales. I guess it isn't really a river at this point...I think I could live here too...although I noticed that the fire hydrants are marked by large signposts, leading me to believe there must be a lot of snow.

We drove today for a couple of hours into Quebec City (our campsite is about 15 minutes outside of the city). Doing laundry and all that stuff...

More PEI and car woes

Hi everyone!

Tuesday today, and we leave here tomorrow, to head to NB en route to Quebec. On Monday we went into Charlottetown (PEIs capital city) and had a great day. We dropped our Honda off for its service and were shuttled into Charlottetown. Went to Founder's Hall, which is a display describing Canada's Confederation (I know it might SOUND boring, but it really isn't). In fact, even Ceilidh gave it an 8.5 out of 10. Basically, we entered into a "time capsule", in 1864, when delegates came to Charlottetown to discuss a union, originally intended to be a Maritime Union, but Canada East and West (now Quebec and Ontario) crashed the party to suggest the union of all the provinces.

We then went through each stage, listening to a "reporter" cover the news via headsets. There are models, interviews with with the people involved, and some funny anecdotes. The funny thing is that even though PEI hosted the conference, they did not decide to join Canada until 1873. Then the exhibit goes through how each province joined, ending with Nunavut in 1999.

After that we headed into town for lunch, and a little shopping. Mhairi made the sales clerk in bookstore laugh out loud when she asked "Do you have the 'Anne of Green Gables' books?" I wish I could count all the "Anne's" on display; from dolls and figurines, to chocolates, books, tea towels, t shirts, etc etc. Anne is big business. We got tickets for the musical "Anne of Green Gables" for that night. Checked in about the car. Had left the lug nut key at the campsite so they couldn't do all the servicing. Made an appointment for today.

Came home, had a quick dinner, and then back into town for the play, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Today, we looked for the lug nut key...no luck...we have lost it. Phoned the Honda dealer where we bought the car and they said each dealer had a master set...not in Charlottetown, apparently! So, we need to wait til we get to Quebec and discuss the whole thing IN FRENCH!
We'll probably end up with red flames painted on the side of the van by mistake. We did go down to Cavendish beach and cycle along the dunes trail, which was wonderful. The sand has a red tinge too, and the kids saw red jellyfish!

So, we all recommend a visit to the Maritimes. We like the pace, the friendliness, and aside from some rain yesterday, the weather. The family next to us in the campsite are from Port Coquitlam; isn't that always the way!

We also have eaten PEI potatoes for the past two nights; they are really really good. Apparently this is new potato season, but when the others are harvested in the fall, they are as large as a litre milk container! Most of those head to McCain for frozen fries.

Dennis is desperate to see a moose; we keep seeing signs for them, but to no avail. Apparently there are lots in Newfoundland, and one guy told us he saw one whose back was 8 feet tall. They are not animals you want to mess with, or find on the road ahead of you in the dark.

No wifi at the campsite tomorrow, so you will likely hear from us from "la Bell Province".

Off to have smores!

PEI is the CUTEST place

Hi everyone

We arrived in PEI today after two nights in Nova Scotia. On Saturday we went into Halifax, which is just beautiful, and reminds me quite a bit of Victoria, with an attractive and busy harbour. Lots more "Maritime" themed things here though, focussing on lighthouses, lobster and men in sou'westers. Had a nummy lunch at Just Us Cafe (Karl and Kelsey, I think it was the place that friend of yours was representing that we met at your BBQ).

Back to the campsite and an early start to get us to PEI in good time. We drove over the Confederation Bridge, which is an engineering marvel; it is over 10 k long! Just on cue, as we drove off the bridge, we saw a statue of Anne of Green Gables, the red dirt and a young woman step dancing. The whole PEI experience in 30 seconds. Since it is Sunday today, and PEIslanders seeming to be a religous lot, there was not much open. Stopped in a teeny tiny grocery store that was one of the few open to get some lunch fixings (Dennis parking across four parking spaces) and the parking lot started filling up. Appeared to be post churchgoers stopping for a few supplies. One man came right over and welcomed us to the Island, asked us where we were from and then told us his brothers and sister lived in Calgary (which I guess seemed to him close to Victoria). Another man honked his horn and commented on how far we had travelled. It was like a scene from 50 years ago. The houses, streets and buildings are just impossibly CUTE, and there are fields and fields of potatoes planted in the red dirt. We were all just commenting on its cuteness until we stopped at the third United Church for me to take photos. Ceilidh muttered "How many freaking United Churches are in this province anyway?" while Mhairi ran back to the car to show Dennis a photo she had taken of a tombstone with the name "DENNIS" on it!

Besides watching "The Brady Bunch" and "Partridge Family" on DVD, we have also been listening to "Anne of Green Gables" on an audiobook, so as we drove past LM Montgomery's birthplace, we were listening to her book!

The island looks just like the pictures; rolling hills, farms, beautiful gabled houses, and red, red dirt. We have actually enjoyed all the Atlantic provinces; New Brunswick has some amazing coastline, and rolling farmland, and Halifax is a charming city.

Forgot to mention about the fog in New Brunswick; one guy in Saint John said "Fog was born here", and a woman near Fundy National Park said "Fog is nature's air conditioner". The joke on PEI is that all the top soil blew off Newfoundland and came to PEI.

Well, that is all for now...off to make a campfire and have 'smores!

Ahoy from Nova Scotia!

Hi everyone. Thank you a million times over for sending email and posting comments on the blog; it is so nice to know you are out there!

Quite a busy couple of days. We left Maine on Wednesday and drove up the coast to New Brunswick, coming into St Stephen just over the border. St Stephen is home to Ganong candy, so we stopped there to buy a few things. It is nice to be in Canada again! Drove on to get to Fundy National Park (the highest tides in the world) and stayed at a national campsite. Went into "town" to get groceries, had the choice of spaghetti or macaroni for pasta. Chose spaghetti. Our friend Lori mentioned that the pace was slower here in the Maritimes; is it ever. It seems to me that there is a beat before people answer questions, and that everything moves just a l i t t l e more slowly here. I feel like a type A Wall Street person next to the locals.

Fundy is really beautiful...the tide was in when we first looked, but this morning was waaaaay out. We took the scenic route (the kids were THRILLED) to see a lighthouse at Cape Enrage, which was really beautiful. They did not design the road for trailers though, and it was bumpy and slow going. Dennis had to u-turn at one point, so he backed UP A HILL to turn around. We were all very impressed. (Actually, I was out of the car directing, and I could see the girls' panicked faces at the van windows...)

We then went on to Hopewell Rocks which are "flowerpot" rocks, shaped by the tides. Timed it perfectly to see them at low tide, where we ate local strawberries and fresh bread.

I have also begun taking photos of churches (United) as we drive along; the kids just roll their eyes and sigh.

Long day to make it all the way to our campsite in Sackville (Beth, there is a Frenchy's here which we hope to check out) in Nova Scotia. There are hideously large bugs here but it is not humid. Tomorrow we will go into Halifax, and then Sunday we head to PEI.

No more funny bathroom stories to share; sorry to disappoint everyone.

The Atlantic Ocean

Hi again
We (well, 3/4 of "we") swam in the Atlantic Ocean today. We cycled down to Old Orchard Beach (about 3 miles) and spent a couple of hours, where Dennis and the girls body-surfed. It was colder than Hawaii, that's for sure, but there were lots of people in the water. Beth says if we look to the east, we will be looking at Yarmouth, NS. Tomorrow we are doing the waterslides.

As I think about our trip, I keep forgetting to post things! Here are some bits and pieces I have forgotten to tell you:

1. Finding the public library in NY, a city block big with a wonderful park of trees and birds (!!) with lots and lots of free seating, and a trolley full of free kids books for parents to read with their kids!

1. Leaving NY on a Monday morning after a long weekend...there are traffic cops at many intersections, keeping traffic moving, regardless of the colour of the light...a very efficient but disconcerting experience. Right turn lights that operate independently of the straight lights, causing one traffic cop to yell at Dennis (in that great NY tradition) "Hey! Don't you know what a red light is for??!!" As we left the city, we counted (no exaggeration) over 150 busses lined up in traffic going into the city, filled with commuters. They were stopped dead in an express lane. I think I would go postal if I had to endure that every day.

2. Listening to people here talk about "cahs" and "Bah Hahbah" (cars and Bar Harbor). I LOVE the accents. I have been trying to figure out how to write the NY accent...but I don't think I quite have it, but one word would be "cawfee" for "coffee".

3. Poor old Ceilidh struggling on the bike ride, with a beet red face, and me thinking she was totally out of shape, until we discovered her front brake had been locked on the whole way.

4. The "Live Free or Die" license plate logo in New Hampshire. They also advertise liquor stores and lottery tickets sales (open on Sunday), so I guess living free means free access to alcohol and gambling. I much prefer Maine's "Vacationland" theme.

5. Someone at the KOA addressing Mhairi as "Ma'am"! We get ma'amed a lot here.

6. Mhairi says "hi" and Ceilidh says "hi".

Kerry

New York to Maine

Hi from Old Orchard Beach! We left NYC this morning and picked up our trailer and then headed to Maine, through NY, New Hampshire ("Live Free or Die") and into Maine. This is a beautiful campsite, with the added attraction of being near the ocean and the waterslides. This is also the first campsite we are staying more than one night, so the kids have their bikes out and are enjoying some downtime.

Our last day in NYC was great; Mary Poppins was a terrific show with an absolutely amazing set. It looked like a doll's house with three levels, like you are looking in the back of a doll's house. In one scene, Bert the chimney sweep tap dances up the wall, across the ceiling and down the other side! The theatre (the New Amsterdam) was like a tarted up Royal Theatre. We walked home through a market, got some souvenirs, ate watermelon and smoothies, and then went home to pack up for this morning.

Parking in NY is insane. Parkades offer a half hour of parking for $7. Street parking is non-existent. I also think that most people in NY must have standing or sitting around jobs, there are traffic cops, regular cops, front doormen, people who sell touristy stuff in stores and stalls, ushers, ticket sellers, people who work in toll booths...everyone is standing around. Mhairi says she misses the "busyness" of NYC, and there certainly is a buzz. However, there were some things that amazed me. Starbucks seems to be the only game in town. In fact, Starbucks locations are at almost all the rest stops, and McDonald's are everywhere.

When Dennis and I talked about it in the car, we both agreed we enjoyed the European cities we have visited more...they seemed friendlier, much cleaner, and (obviously), had more going on historically. We are glad we went, though!

More from NY

Hi

Sunday today, our last full day in NY. Yesterday we walked up 5th Avenue, past all the expensive stores...Prada, Gucci, Cartier etc., as we oohed and aahed. Mhairi tried on a $500 belt at Lord and Taylor.

The rain started as we got to FAO Schwartz, a great toy store, so we hung out there for a while. Our plan was to go into Central Park, but it was raining too hard so we went back 5th Avenue to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). What a great place...saw Picasso, Matisse, Gorky, etc., all who Mhairi had studied in her art class. She took about 700 pictures...Ceilidh ended up reading on the second floor.

The rain had stopped when we left and we came home. Ceilidh's friend Tessa invited us to dinner; she and her mum and sister are here for six weeks and have rented an apartment. It was great to see familiar faces, have some good food and catch up. Sounds like they will have a great summer.

I forgot to mention earlier that our subway stop is Grand Central Station. It is quite beautiful in there, and every time we go, one of us says "It's so busy here, it's like Grand Central Station" and we all think we are very funny.

Today we are picking up some souvenirs and then Mary Poppins. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. Tomorrow we pick up our trailer from the campsite and then head to the ocean. I will be glad to be away from the garbage-y smell!! There is so so so much more to see here though!

Two Days in the Big Apple

Hello!!
Lots to tell over the past two days; I can't quite believe we have only been here two days! We drove in from Newburgh (90 minutes) uneventfully, but noticing the traffic steadily increasing. Paid a lot in tolls (probably $25 altogether), including one we drove up to but couldn't find anywhere to drop cash. We, being honest Canadians, even pulled over and tried to find a human to pay, but there was nobody. Hopefully we will not be extradicted.

Took us about 20 minutes to drive the 5 blocks to our hotel once we were in the city; but managed without damaging the car, us or anyone else. I canNOT imagine bringing our trailer in too...there is just no way to widen the streets here; it is pretty much concrete horizontally and vertically!

After we dropped our bags off (the room was not yet ready), we headed out for a walk. Made it to a burger place that had BOTH veggie and soy burgers, so went in and had lunch ($40 for 4 burgers and fries). It was HOTTTTTTTTTTTT and humid but on we trudged, making it to Times Square, which is actually a LOT smaller than I thought it was going to be. How people celebrate New Years there is beyond me. We investigated tickets to a show, and ended up going with Mary Poppins ($480--gulp), but we figured, if we are going to do it, let's get good seats and enjoy. We are going Sunday afternoon. So, that was Mhairi's wish taken care of. By this time all of us were feeling hot-and-tired-and-if-another-human-touches-me-I-cannot-be-responsible-for-my-actions.

Got a latte on the way home just a block from our hotel, which is quite possibly the best coffee I have ever had (at least on this continent).

Went to the hotel and checked in. The room is great; it used to be an apartment, so there is a galley kitchen. Got some groceries, since we plan to breakfast and like eat dinner here.

Went for a walk after dinner and headed to the Empire State Building, only a few blocks away. Did the obligatory "tourist shopping" and enjoyed our evening. Girls spotted purses that they wanted to think about before buying.

Slept well, and I was up and out at 7 for a latte (unfortunately, Starbucks) while everyone else slept. We got off to a late start, not sure what would be open on the Fourth of July. Everything, except the good coffee place, apparently. As we were walking, we came across Macy's and went in. Advertised as the biggest store in the world, we looked on 5 floors and every one of them was ladies clothing, accessories, etc. Dennis went to Starbuck's (one of four in the store) and read his Peter Robinson murder mystery quite happily while the girls and I explored. Mhairi picked up a cute t shirt (50% off--go Mhairi).

Walked up to 5th Avenue again to buy the bags, and then took the subway down to the very bottom of Manhattan where you can see the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately, the statue is on an island, and it is kind of unspectacular from the shore. The wait for the ferry over to there and to Ellis Island was HUGE, so we decided to leave it. Had a couple of pretzels to nourish us and then walked up Broadway, past the huge sculpture of the Wall St bull, and realized we were close to Ground Zero. Had not planned on going there, but as we were so close, we took a detour (past a beautiful church which I had to go into). So, I have to say that I was surprised at Ground Zero. I had expected a huge US display, as they do so well. However, there was chain link and fabric all around, so you couldn't really see into the site, and it all seemed very business as usual. What struck me was that the site was actually small, and every building around it was completely open and seemed absolutely untouched. If I hadn't know where we were, it would have looked like another building site. The thought of two scyscrapers occupying that space was almost unbelievable.

As we walked up to find a subway station, we noticed Century 21. A friend had mentioned this store to us as a bargain hunter's dream. We had forgotten the name of it, until Dennis (!?) remembered. The tag line on the store is "bargains worth fighting for", which gives you an idea of the concept. The girls perked up immediately. In we went. Dennis found a corner with his book and the kids did some shopping. Ceilidh got jeans and shoes, Mhairi got two pairs of shorts, a hoodie and a belt. It was insane...and there are only change rooms on one floor. Mhairi came up with a brilliant strategy; to try on the shorts, she put a dress on, took her shorts off, tried on the new ones and then took the dress off. We were all impressed, and Ceilidh used the same technique, saving us about 2 hours in the change rooms!

Walked on up into Little Italy (I could have stayed there a long time) and had pizza at Lombardi's THE place to go. It was SO VERY GOOD and everything was really fresh. By this time we were all spent and took the subway home.

However, it was the Fourth of July and we wanted to go out to the fireworks. Debated between watching on TV and going in person; decided on the latter...big mistake!

There are a lot of people in New York. Every one of them went to the fireworks. There are more police officers than the entire population of Kitimat. Every one of them was working. We walked out of our hotel room the two blocks to the viewing site (did I mention it was raining?) That site had been closed. We ended up walking from 39th Ave to 20th Ave where we had a beautiful view of the FDR parkway, almost completely obliterating our view of the fireworks. It was a bit like getting up at 3 am to see sunrise at Haleakala in Maui, only to find it fogged in ("This NEVER happens here!") So, we walked the 19 blocks back to the hotel and watched the Boston fireworks on TV (which will make Jim laugh since he suggested those fireworks in the first place).

I am quite mixed in my feelings about NY. It is really dirty and there are garbage bags stacked along the sidewalk for pick up, so there is this pervasive garbage smell all the time). I think London, Paris and Rome are all much cleaner. However, there are so many iconic symbols here that are quite thrilling to see in real life, and there certainly is a buzz of energy. We have all felt perfectly safe here (other than crossing the street, where we have adopted the same strategy as the locals, which seems to be "see a chance take it" which has worked fine until the time I stopped to take a photo in the middle of an intersection), and we must look like complete hicks since we spend half our time looking up! I had also assumed a lot of flag waving and the like, but it has all been quite low key.

Today we are heading into Central Park and uptown...maybe the Museum of Modern Art. We are hopefully meeting up with Ceilidh's friend Tessa, who is here studying at the Alvin Ailey Dance School.

Maryse, they publish Metro and 24 here too, and Mhairi and Ceilidh have dutifully kicked each 24 stand they have seen!

New York State

NOTE: I HAVE MOVED THE PHOTOS TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG. THEY SEEM TO BE BETTER THERE.

Today a driving day, about 7 hours into New York state, about 90 minutes north of NYC. We thought it would be easier to stay at the KOA here in Plattekill and then get an easier day as we drive into Manhattan! We can leave our trailer here for the four nights we are in the city and then come an retrieve it when we head to Portland.

What a great campsite, with two pools and even a TV which luckily means we can watch "So You Think You Can Dance", which we all like.

Forgot to mention a truly Canadian moment from last night...as we were jostling away from the fireworks, we saw none other than Peter Mansbridge! Got a photo too, which we will post soon. Jim is an amazing photographer so those ones of Ottawa are all from him (wait til you see the one of the Snowbirds over Parliament Hill!)

I don't know how much we will be posting in NYC since I am not sure whether we will have wireless, but I will try to keep people posted...we have each come up with the ONE thing we want to do in NY so we at least we get those things done. Mhairi's choice is to see a show on Broadway, and Ceilidh wants to do that too, but since Mhairi chose that, she has chosen shopping. Dennis wants to go to Little Italy, and I want to go either to MOMA or Ellis Island.

From here on in our trip slows down a bit, since we have multiple nights at most places from now through to our home exchange in August, and the long driving days are broken up. The kids have really been amazing on the journey...so far Mhairi has liked Sault Ste Marie best, Ceilidh has liked Ottawa (Parliament Hill and seeing the PM...the Prime Minister, not Peter Mansbridge), Dennis has enjoyed Therese's great cooking (me too!), and for me, it has been the way we have all got along and adapted to this life on the road.

Canada Day in the capital

What a day! The weather was absolutely PERFECT...not too hot, but sunny with blue skies. We headed in to Ottawa on the bus (incredibly good service) to go to Parliament Hill to see the PM, GG (well, at least the small dots in the distance were supposed to be them!) and the Snowbirds fly past. Jim got some amazing pics which I will try to post. The crowd was a sea of red and white...it was really quite something. We then walked to the Natural History Museum (all museums are free on Canada Day) and saw terrific prehistoric bones and replicas of dinsaurs (with a very enthusiastic security guard giving us all kinds of information), and lots of mammals. As we went from floor one to two, we somehow neglected to inform Mhairi. About 10 minutes into the second floor, I asked "Where's Mhairi?" Several nervewracking minutes later, Dennis heads down to reception, where a VERY teary Mhairi is waiting. The good news is that when she couldn't find us, she went right up to the helpful security guard and asked for help. Valerie (J and T's 16 year old daughter) kindly gave Mhairi the rest of her bag of gummi bears!

Some bigs hugs and tears later, we were on our way.

We came home to Orleans for a swim, dinner and a nap, and then off to Ottawa again (one day pass lastest the whole day) by bus for the fireworks. As luck would have it, we had to use the "loo". The kids were all allowed in the Chateau Laurier to pee (!!) but I had to find a porta potty. In a crowd I estimate at over 100,000, do you know how many porta potties I found? 8.
Total. I waited in line for 45 minutes, and, 5 people from the front, the first firework was shot off. I left the line, and raced back to find the group. Nearby were some bushes....after checking they were not inhabited, Jim and Dennis stood sentry...

The fireworks were spectacular, with the Peace Tower silhouetted against the sky...it was really quite a moment.

Then, home...on a very crowded and hot bus. I did manage to stand beside a young man and woman and got to eavesdrop on their drama for quite a while (she was dumped, the guy she was with obviously loved her, her heart was broken by this other guy, he wanted to comfort her, she only saw him as a friend...the age-old story).

So, today, we pack up and leave chez Miles and head back into the States, to stay a night in a campsite outside NYC and then into the Big Apple.