Nathan picks up a worm...the sequel

Okay, here's the promised second video...where Nathan is finally brave enough to pick up the worm!!! Especially for you, Jo. Anyone wanting to watch the first video, where Nathan is scared to touch the worms, it's under "Itasca State Park" - July 2, 2009.

We're Comin' Home!!!

Wow! What a journey!

We left Itasca State Park Friday morning at 11:00 and drove all day, crossing the border at 4:30 p.m. and getting to Regina for the night at 8:00 p.m. I was tired, but relieved to be back on my own country's soil. Funny, eh? There's such subtle differences between the two countries, yet it just feels good to be home again. Well, for me, it was nice to be seeing 'kilometre' signs again rather than 'miles'. The problem was that none of the signs had 'miles' behind the number, so I kept thinking kilometres in my head and then wondered why destinations were taking so long to get to.


Interesting side note....in Wisconsin, while driving on the highway, I noticed a bus a ways ahead of me and mentioned to Deon that it looked like an ETS (Edmonton Transit System) bus. A few minutes later we pull up to pass it, and it was just that!! So weird...we ended up meeting this bus a few more times at stops in Wisconsin and North Dakota. I talked to the driver and he indicated Edmonton was getting a fleet of about 40 new buses, and this was one of them.


The Regina hostel is nicely situated in the downtown area, just 2 blocks away from the large park areas next to the river, with their provinces legislature on the opposite side of the river. It was beautiful weather, so we enjoyed a walk and played some frisbee yet that night.




Saturday morning was bright and beauiful, and I wanted some exercise in before driving HOME!! Nathan & I went back to the park, and, sticking with tradition on this trip, Nathan led me in some yoga & strength exercises.

We hit the road at 10:00 and we're pretty excited to be on the homeward stretch. The boys travelled very well :), we finished our Odyssey series -- Novacom, talked about all the things we did and saw, and counted down the kilometres.

Oh yeah, and we passed the ETS bus yet again near Lloyminster...

Home again at 5:30 pm -- just in time for a home cooked meal by my hubby. It felt so good to make it and to see him again.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for safe travels for us...we really were blessed with no breakdowns and generally no troubles the whole time! If ever you think about what you should do with your family...I would highly recommend seeing our country with them. No history lesson will ever do justice in comparison to seeing it all in person!

Itasca State Park, Minnesota !!!

We picked a great place to end our trip!! The main reason for coming to Itasca State Park was that they have a hostel...a great one! The park itself is rated as the best in America by National Geographic. It's also the head of where the waters of the Mississippi make their way into the Gulf of Mexico, and it's one of the oldest official parks the country. Cool stuff, and so fun, yet relaxing, for us! Nathan had a blast fishing, and fishing some more, -- he "could stay here for a month just fishing" (his words). Deon did a lot of biking -- I mean a lot!!! 3 hours worth all at once -- it worked out to over 22 miles worth (Mom, what is that in kilometres?). It was unintentional... at 10:45 a.m. we started riding together to make a "quick" trip to the North Entrance store that was a mile away from the hostel. Taking the bike trail, we ended up at the Mary Gibbs Centre about 1/2 mile from the hostel. We asked for directions there, and were told a lady who worked there "take a left"..."it's not very far down the road".

Well, we took a left...about a 1.5 - 2 miles later, we hadn't gotten to the store, but kept going. Approaching a big hill (uphill for us), Nathan had to walk his bike, and Deon carried on. We lost sight of him, and he didn't wait for us. We kept on, just the two of us, with Deon ahead a ways! After about another 1/2 hour of biking, Nathan & I turned around. I knew long before we were going the wrong way but kept hoping Deon would stop and wait for us. I didn't want to leave him on his own. However, we had biked for an hour already -- it was hot out and we didn't have water 'cause this was supposed to be just a quick trip to the store.

Nathan & I returned to the hostel at 12:45 pm hoping that maybe Deon's bike would be there too. No such luck. We jumped in the van & searched for him...everywhere...until 2:10 pm. I was worried, and planned to check the hostel one more time before calling the park rangers. Thankfully, we got back and Deon's bike was there. He just got back a few minutes before, and ended up riding around the whole of Lake Itasca. He realized at one point, after waiting for us for about 15 minutes in one spot, that we turned around. But, he thought he must almost be at the end of the trail and back at the hostel. He didn't know the trail was 22 miles long!! It was a relief to all of us to have him back home. Apparently...we were supposed to take a right, where the lady -- who lived and worked in the area -- told us to take a left. What an adventure!! We relaxed the rest of the afternoon at the beach...where my 'Canadian flag' towel really made a statement!, and Nathan had fun searching for crayfish -- he was too scared to pick them up, so a kind man did that for him.

We then rented a canoe for a bit (only $5/hr). That was a hoot -- Nathan actually got up the courage to pick up a worm (see the two videos), and such a great day for the beach and canoeing.

...the second video I wanted to post failed to upload properly...so I'll have to try again when I'm not sooooo sleepy...

Supper did end up being a weiner roast -- I ended up driving for weiners to the store that was only a mile away. The hostel manager's (Sara) son --and their family -- joined us half way through. The boy (Wyatt) had his DS, so Nathan begged for his so they could play together. It was quite comical watching the two of them "bond" over their DS games. I really want to stay longer, but Deon wants to be home for church on Sunday...to hear our pastor's message of course...not to see his friends. So, I guess we leave in the morning to Regina, SK...back on Canadian soil!

All the way to Madison, Wisconsin

Well, Chicago ended up being way too busy for my liking. I was able to cancel our 2nd night at the hostel, so after shopping for the day, we made the 3 hour drive to Madison, Wisconsin. A much nicer city...smaller than Edmonton. Of course, coming here, there were a few more toll booths -- it's unreal how many there are. I accidentally passed through one without paying, so I'm hoping they don't arrest me when I go back through customs on Friday morning :)

The hostel in Madison is cozy, and close to the downtown core, but it doesn't even feel like downtown. There are bike trails everywhere. We took advantage of those a lot over the last 2 days, biking or walking everywhere!! The city is located between 2 lakes, and the trails extend through the city and around both lakes. Very nice atmosphere here...such a contrast to Chicago!

I needed a down day, so we decided to stay here two nights, just to get a day of relaxing in.

After a good sleep last night (it's also a little cooler here), Nathan & I enjoyed a morning bikeride part way around one of the lakes while Deon slept in. Later, we all walked to State Street (where the State's Capital buildings are). State Street is about 12 blocks of neat shops (including a Goodwill). We spent a couple hours there -- I spent almost an hour in GoodWill, thankfully the boys were preoccupied in a video game store across the street. The boys had fun going to the typical US stores such as Walgreens and Target.

I enjoyed an hour nap when we returned, and got the laundry done after. We had a good home-cooked meal for supper -- chicken, broccoli & rice. I needed that after a couple of days eating quick/fast food meals.

I feel rested and ready to drive again tomorrow :)

Into the USA

We left Niagara Falls at around 9:00, and breezed through customs. Driving to Buffalo, we searched for a church. Unfortunately, all the Baptist churches started their services at 11:00, and we were in the city already at 9:30. So, we went to a Presbyterian church, which was ok. A big building with only a scattering of people.


We planned to drive to Cleveland (home of Deon's favorite NBA team -- the Caveliers -- we got a picture of where they play) and stay overnight there. However, the hostels there were both closed on weekday nights, so we drove all the way to Chicago. That ended up being a longer driving day for me -- we arrived in Chicago at 10:00 p.m. I passed the time by observing the beautiful scenery -- fields of grape vines to apple trees to ripe grain fields -- and observing the many different license plates. I counted 21 different state plates, and a few Ontario plates.

Gas is cheaper here, but the toll booth in every state make up for the difference in gas. I paid $23 total in tolls, and went through 6 different toll booths! Traffic on the interstates is fast, which was nice.

The windy city of Chicago was not windy, but HOT. It was 28 degrees when we got here at 10:00 pm last night! Uggh...I don't know how people live in this heat! And traffic here is a lot different than city traffic in Edmonton. I felt a little stressed driving -- even late at night on Sunday traffic was busy and fast. I was grateful to get there in one piece!!

Magnificent Niagara Falls

Well, today we had to say good bye to Mom :(. A sad day...I did get emotional. It was such a neat experience over the last month with her. I feel blessed to have been able to go on this trip with her too.

We stopped in Hamilton to pick up my skate sharepener that Uncle Stan's brother stored for me the last couple months, and then brought Mom to her cousin John's in Guelph. He took her to the airport later on -- She flew home from Hamilton, and arrived in Edmonton last night. Monday, she works again.



The boys and I carried on to Niagara Falls, and made it there by 4:45 pm. We checked into our hostel and then biked to the falls (about 3km). The initial view was, of course, breathtaking to all of us. This fulfilled Nathan's requests of things to see (the first was the CN Tower, the 2nd was Niagara Falls). We took the infamous 'Maid of the Mist' tour. Although we got good & wet, we were glad we did that. What a way to experience the thunderous falls in all their glory. Truly magnificent!

a visit with the VR's...after an afternoon at the beach!

Finally, on the last full day with Mom, we planned a BEACH day....we ended up at Burlington beach based on the advice of Ger...awesome beach off of lake Ontario, right smack dab in the middle of the city!!

It was a HOT day, but the water in the lake was COLD -- ice cold. We're not used to lake water being that cold, but considering the size of Lake Ontario, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise. Nathan didn't seem to mind; in fact, he was in his element there. We were at the lake from 11 - 3, and other than popping our for a few secs to have a bite to eat, or pull me into the lake with him, he was in the water the entire time. The cold didn't phase him. The rest of us enjoyed the sun on the beach, with the occassional dip in the water. It was wonderful to put our feet up for a day! Unfortunately, we underestimated the strength of the sun, and Mom, Deon & I did burn a bit!

We got to cousin Dave & Ger's by 4:30 pm (they live in Burlington) to stay overnight. It was Leah's 6th birthday, and we did a bit of shopping for her. She was thrilled with her new jewelery, and had to wear it all! An old friend, Donna & husband Job & kids came over for dinner.


It was a beautiful evening, so we enjoyed our dinner outside. Nathan enjoyed playing with all the kids, and we even had a chance to ride our bikes in a huge graveyard (directly behind Dave & Ger's with lots of paved roads, and little traffic). We had such a nice, relaxing visit with them, and would've loved to spend more time at their house.



PS -- Geraldine, you can throw out the boys' toothbrushes that I left there :( That's only the 2nd thing I've forgotten on the trip!