August 11--HOME!

Hi everyone
This has been quite the week since I last posted. As I mentioned, we went into Toronto for the day, which was lots of fun. The CN Tower is a great experience, and we arrived early in the morning before it got too crowded. The bonus was that the weather was fabulous and we got a great view over Lake Ontario, and over the city, which looked miniature from our vantage point. There is a section of glass floor in the tower, so you can actually stand looking down to the ground...it takes a certain trust to step on a glass floor from that height, and I could actually feel my legs wobbling as I stepped on!
We walked by Rogers Place, the stadium where the Toronto Blue Jays play baseball. They were playing that night, against Oakland, and there were tickets left, so we decided to go. None of us are huge ball fans (sorry, Duncan), but it was a great experience to sit in the stadium with so many people who loved the game. We were all greatly entertained by a guy behind us who heckled the opposition outfield (shouting "Watch out!!" when two of them went to catch a fly). There was also a player on Oakland who had previously played for Toronto, who wasn't much liked, so he got huge rounds of "BOOOs" when he batted, and our friend behind us shouted "Nobody loves you Frank! I talked to your mother and even SHE doesn't love you!" When Toronto was in the outfield, he tried to get the left fielder to turn and wave, and tried to get the pitchers in the bull pen to throw him a ball...it was good fun.
The rest of the day we spent exploring the city, and using the $9 all day family metro pass. Since it was a civic holiday, things were quite quiet. In the afternoon, we went to Kensington Market, which was supposed to be full of stall selling food etc., but was really disappointing and quite tacky, until we found Wanda's Pie in the Sky, and had a fabulous veggie pizza and a lemon meringue pie that was the best I have ever had!
We talked a fair bit about heading home. We were all feeling quite overwhelmed by the journey and all we had seen, and I think psychologically, now that August had arrived, as though it was time to start the homeward journey.
The last thing we wanted to do was to go back to Buffalo to finish back-to-school shopping, a promise we had made the kids early on, as they tried to decide where and what to spend their money on...so BACK over the border we went on Tuesday, leaving about noon. We also had to take our trailer in for service and new tires (!!) so we dropped it off for the day and headed out. The kids enjoyed trying on runners, shoes, clothes, etc., and got some nice things, much cheaper, and in most cases, unavailable in Canada. Dennis was the big winner though, heading back to Eddie Bauer, and getting (I am not exaggerating) a year's wardrobe for about one quarter the price.
While he was waiting for us to finish, he struck up a conversation with a US Army vet who was lamenting the mess in Iraq. Dennis asked him if he thought Obama would win, but the guy said "Oh, I am voting for McCain. I'm a racist." Dennis said, "Well, Obama is half white" to which the guy replied "Maybe in your world he is"!
Headed home, paid duty, and got to work packing up the trailer...we left really early on Weds morning to try to avoid the rush hour into Toronto and made great time, driving to Sault Ste Marie and staying in the same campsite we had the way over. The next day, Thursday, we got to Thunder Bay. We actually found northern Ontario quite beautiful, although it does seem endless at points. By this time we were picking up steam and got to Winnipeg, where we got the oil changed in the car, and visited the Royal Canadian Mint. Then back in the car, and off to Brandon for the night.
Then we had to decide...meander or head home. The vote was Head HOME!! So, Brandon to Calgary on Saturday and Calgary home on Sunday, making the 9 pm ferry! The comment of the day came from Ceilidh, who, when we woke her up at 7:15 to get going, said "Thanks for letting me sleep in!" The DVD players proved invaluable, and we became adept at the 10 minute pit stop for fuel and bathroom breaks. Amazingly, there was not ONE word of complaint for the kids; after 7 weeks, they were ready for home!
The Prairies were beautiful, although not as completely flat as we had imagined. The sky is huge, and seems like a huge dome covering us until it joins the horizon. In fact, the TransCanada at that point was not what we had imagined either. I had images of it going through every small Prairie town, but for the most part, it is a divided highway that skirts most centres. I think this had something to do with us being ready to head home...
We arrived after 11 pm, and only unloaded the essentials, including the coffee machine in preparation for the morning java. After 7 weeks and 16,000 km of travel, my latte mug, which I had used each day, slid off the machine and crashed to its death right in front of our house!
Thanks, everyone, for reading, and all the comments...it is too early to sift through all we have done and try to come up with highlights. But this is for sure: we live in an amazing and diverse country. Still haven't totally up the gas bill yet...