Monthly Archives: August 2012

Rained quite a bit on Saturday night, so we both didn’t sleep well due to the lightning and wetness in the tent. But woke up to clearing skies and an improving forecast. Made some coffee and breakfast tacos, before heading out for a run around the campground.

We really wanted to have enough time to explore so talked with the ranger about sites available for another night. Our current site was booked so we had to move down the road a bit.

Unloaded the kayaks and carted them down to the nearby beach. Took off to the north end of the reservoir with our fishing poles, few cold beers and Jalapeño. Had a great time exploring and stopped for a break at a nice lookout which we proceeded to jump off into the water (go pro video footage to be posted when we can charge up the laptop)

Returned to the campsite and headed back to the grocery store for some dinner supplies. Cooked up a nice combo of fish tacos and corn on the cob accompanied by a fine red wine served in the red camping cup.

Packing up today and continuing south. Original plan was to stop next in NYC, but decided we will keep camping instead so Appalachian trail here we come!

Drove from Montreal to Vermont today. Cleared customs with no trouble other than about a 30 minute wait due to Saturday traffic. Took the scenic route 2 thru the Champlain islands on our way to Burlington. Stopped at the Magic Hat brewery for some free samples and tour, it’s great beer if you haven’t tried it yet. #9 variety is my favorite type.

Weather cleared up a bit, so we decided to camp for the night and luckily they had spot available at little river campground. It’s a fantastic area and hope to explore the lake tomorrow on our kayaks.

Arrived into Montreal on Thursday evening, headed for a suburb named Logueuil to stay at the Holiday Inn.  Got settled into the room after sneaking Jalapeño in as this was a first non-pet friendly hotel.  Laid around for a bit after the lengthy drive, then got motivated for a run to a nearby park in the drizzling rain.  Ended up running about 6.5 miles, about twice our normal distance and also saw a huge deer hanging out near the trail.  Montreal has an impressive amount of bike paths which are in great condition.

Cleaned up afterwards and found a French restaurant on Yelp which was nearby.  Great food and friendly waiter willing to help us out explaining the menu in english.  Longueuil is a cozy little neighborhood.

Arriving into Quebec is like entering a completely different country due to the fact that French is the primary language in this province.  Never been to France, but imagine the feel in Montreal is very similar.

Woke up Friday and worked out a plan to meet up for brunch with a colleague whom I met working on a project a few years back.  Yohan and his family met us at a nearby restaurant and we proceeded to have a great meal and get some info on sights to see around town.  Luckily, the bad weather held off most of the day until around 5pm!  The following are some pics we took during our day of sightseeing:

Found our Jedi powers near the quay in Montreal

An impressive sight at the Notre Dame Cathedral

Rainy weather held off just long enough to get a decent skyline picture from the chalet on Mount Royal

An amazingly huge oratory

Churches were a highlight on our sightseeing, hard to beat the price of admission of a small donation

Had to try the local specialty called Poutine (fries w/ gravy and cheese curds on top) followed by a couple local beers during happy hour

View from inside the oratory

Bar hopping during happy hour and came across this guitar duo

We both loved Montreal, from the old town, port-side, Mont Royal, amazing outdoor market at Jean-Talon, cozy neighborhoods and the efficient subway.  Hopefully make another trip in the future to spend more time.  In the meantime, we have to get going on learning new languages cause only knowing one language is a real detriment when traveling.  We both agree that having our children learn multiple languages when young is important.

Headed over to the Sandbanks provincial park on Tuesday based on a recommendation from a friend.  The park campsite was completely full when we stopped by the guard station, so ended up driving a bit down the road to check out some of the private campgrounds.  Our second stop was pleasant and quiet, so we stopped to ask a couple about the details.

A friendly couple named Rod and Laura gave us all sorts of info and the place had just cleared out from the holiday weekend, so we decided to stay the night!  They were both world travelers, and Rod was actually from New Zealand so hopefully get some inside info in a few months before our trip over.

Set up camp, had a light dinner, talked with our new neighbors a bit then headed off to bed.

Cooking breakfast at the lakefront campground

Tasty campsite breakfast consisting of local eggs, salsa, goat cheese on flatbread with a side dish of local cucumbers. Schaul’s seasoning made it taste great!

After breakfast,we chatted a bit more with our neighbors about paddling nearby.  They gave us some great info, but then we decided to just join up and head out there together!  It was a fantastic day with great weather, scenery and fishing!

Launch spot just outside the provincial park which was a sweet hookup from our new friends Laura and Rod.  Yes, that is our cat being loaded onto the kayaks!

Paddling along towards the sand dunes around mid-day.  A rare day without 20 knot winds or us in our kayaks!

1 of 5 bass I caught today! 4 largemouth and 1 smallmouth on a Mirrodine saltwater lure

Jalapeno was quite sleepy afterwards..

Stopped along the niagara river for lunch at a park picnic table.  Saw a bunch of these parks along our 30 mile bike trip yesterday which we took from niagara falls to niagara by the lake.

our picnic lunch with jalapeno

Drove down to niagara falls today from toronto.  Picked a great day!

Had a nice drive on Saturday from michigan to Toronto. Smooth sailing thru the border checkpoint, never even asked to see Jalapeños papers!
Stopped along the way at an artisan cheese shop which was located on a farm near Woodstock, Ontario. A kind woman working there gave us some tips on a place to stay and a couple things to do. We also learned that the largest Caribbean parade festival was happening this weekend in Toronto, expecting over a million people!
Continued on our way down the 401 towards Toronto, while noticing how close niagara falls is on the map, so may take a detour to see that wonder of the world.
Pulled into the Toronto area around 6pm and decided to take a smaller street into the downtown area to try to locate the hotel which was recommended. Never did find that specific hotel…

We have become so accustomed to having our smart devices with Internet connectivity, so when that option is no longer available it becomes quite a challenge. Driving up and down a few streets in Toronto, I somehow chose the area of town with NO hotels… Back in the US, one of us could pull up a map or website to find the right directions, but was somewhat frustrating to not have that option.

Ended up driving back out near the airport where I remember seeing hotels on our drive into the city. Come to find out after 4 or 5 stops that every hotel appears to be booked nearby, and it’s getting to be 9pm at this point. Then I recalled additional hotels further down 401 near some shopping malls, not the best location to see the sights but hopefully a bed for some sleep!
Luckily they had a room available at the motel 6, which might be the nicest motel 6 I have ever seen. Checked in, got jalapeño situated in the room (amazing she could hold it the entire day in the truck and still impressed how well she has done on the long road trips), then headed to BW3s for a beer and some food. Not in line with our choice to avoid chains, but at 1030pm after a day of driving we ignored that “rule” temporarily.

While quite frustrating last night to not have the ease of information, I am looking forward to not using our phones or iPad on this part of the trip thru Canada. Teaches us a bit more of planning but more importantly to learn to stop somewhere and ask someone, what a novel concept!

Weather looks windy and rainy today, so may find some indoor attractions, then outdoor activities again on Monday.

Jalapeño had a bed to herself last night:

A great month in the Chicagoland area came to an end on Friday. Really glad we spent our first month of travel back with family. Haven’t been able to spend much time with my family since I left Chicago after high school, which has been 15 years already… Only visits since then have been Xmas or Thanksgiving holidays, a rare vacation trip or random weekend visit. So it was really great to spend a much longer amount of time.

We said our goodbyes on Thursday evening to the grayslake relatives after a great dinner! Then the really tough goodbyes with my parents on Friday afternoon. Hopefully get to see them soon if they come visit us in the Keys!

We ventured off into the Friday afternoon traffic jam to head back over to Benton harbor, MI. My aunt and uncle were gracious enough to host us for a night at their farmhouse. We had a nice relaxing evening with them, then a great farm-fresh breakfast before heading back on the road.

a quick pic before leaving the farm in michigan

As you can probably tell, we aren’t really planning these road trips much at all, but our expected stops along the way are Toronto, Montreal, Vermont, NYC, somewhere in North Carolina, Crescent Beach and Cindy’s parents house in Cocoa Beach. Guess that would be an extreme scenic tour route?

Cindy got a chance to try out a backhoe today.  Took a little time to get the hang of it, but she did great!  Safety first with the helmet of course.

Posing with some heavy machinery and guns (Cindy’s biceps)

Lush garden at the yard with all sorts of veggies