Side Note!

On a side note....

I am so very thankful that we will be picking up the Jeep in Calgary tomorrow to carry us through and across the rockies on this trip. The Kia Sephia Alexander bought has done great this trip, but summer tires and heavy weight in the back is not helpful during a Canadian winter!

Also, I have decided that I am going to keep my eye on the weather channel a bit more vigorously....

Our cross- Canada trip is coming to an end....

But, Halloween in Vancouver should be fun!!!!

October 26, 2010--Day Twenty-Seven!

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Like most days we have been travelling, it was raining when we left Winnipeg. I had a sneaky suspicion, and I voiced it, that it would be snowing by the time we made it to Saskatchewan. I was wrong...it started snowing before we made it to Saskatchewan. Actually, the roads were terrible the ENTIRE trip. They started the degrade slowly but were not very good by the time we were only an hour out of Winnipeg. Great....!

To be honest, this post won't be very thrilling. Because of the lameness of the weather we had to pay attention to the roads, go slow and take our time.

Winnipeg to Regina was okay...the roads were slushy and starting to get worse, but we could still go about 90km/hr.

After Regina it all went downhill.

The roads were slushy and the temperature was starting to drop. Our speed also did the same. We, unfortunately have all of our weight in the back (except for us two in the front), and we have summer tires on our car, so our chances were pretty slim.

All was well but in a split second we managed to plonk Jerusalem right into the middle of the ditch. The wind had caught our car and we tried to pull out of it, but before we knew it the snow/slush had caught our front tires and pulled us towards the median of the divided highway. We somehow managed when all was said and done to be facing the absolute opposite direction from where we needed to go.

Both people were just fine, our car just fine, but we were defintely stuck.

We had kept track on our trip of how many vehicles we had seen. With us in the snow our tally came to 3 semis and 5 cars in the ditch from Winnipeg to Saskatoon. The roads were BADDD!!

We called in our second wish with CAA and waited on hold for quite a while (i'm guessing because the tow trucks were crazy busy) and finally got in touch with them to come and get us out.

We waited for an hour and were told if the tow truck driver had not arrived to call back, and so we did. By 6pm we were still waiting for the tow; CAA had said he should be along shortly. To keep ourselves busy we watched two episodes of Grey's Anatomy-hallelujah for charged laptops and the technology to even have a laptop and watch it while in the...uh..ditch.

Anyhow..the tow truck came about an hour and 15min after our initial call (which wasn't bad considering the number of people in the ditch) and before we knew it we were back on the icy, icy, icy road.

It didn't take us very long to decide that driving to Saskatoon tonight would be absolutely ridiculous (as it was still 150km away) so I got in touch with some friends and figured out that Davidson was probably the only place along the highway to stop for the night.

Davidson was only 50km away from where we went in the ditch, but considering the roads our max speed was about 40km/hr and our 4-way flashers were going the entire time.

The winds were incredibly high and it was causing pure white-out conditions for a lot of the treck so we clenched our teeth, both watched the road and tried our best to stay out of the ditch.

We made it to Davidson some time later and we crawled Jerusalem (literally-- I don't kid!) into the first motel parking lot we saw. Thankfully it was right off the highway.

The parking lot was PACKED and so we rushed in to see if they had any rooms left.

They only had two left--both of which were smoking, but we didn't car.

We just needed a place to rest and sleep and gain our strength and de-stress so that we could carry on in the morning.

We walked across the the nearby bar and grill to grab a bite to eat, and then called it a night---just like all of the other highway drivers who were on the road.

Thank you Davidson for taking us in...we are safe and sound in Saskatoon as I write this blog and man are we glad!!!

Hello Prairie Winter's and thank you for making us welcome as we arrive home ;)

October 25, 2010--Day Twenty-Six!

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Before we had finalized plans and the route for this Cross-Canada trip we hoped that we could make it to Panorama Amethyst Mine near Thunder Bay by October 15th when it closed. If you have been following this blog you will know that our route has changed numerous times and when we were planning our route home we realized it just was not possible to get to Thunder Bay by October 15th. If we did rush, we would have had to miss out on many of the sites and sounds of the maritimes and seriously, whenever again will we have to time or chance to take a trip like we have across the country?

While we were in Thunder Bay the next best thing for us was to go the the Amethyst gift store which was in Thunder Bay and well..sort of on our way out of town ;)

There Alexander picked up some Amethyst. The store owner (who also runs the mine) cut us a deal on a few of the Amethyst pieces, but either way we would love to come back at some point to see, and dig up our very own Amethyst!

Just outside Thunder Bay, as we headed west, we knew that we could find Kakabeka Falls. It was there we stopped to see some more impressive water falls.

These were probably the most impressive of all of the ones we have seen. It is known by most visitors as the "Niagra of the North"--!

We walked along the boardwalk, across the river, and back the other way to the falls to get a view from almost all angles.

When we had had enough of the impressiveness of the falls we decided to head back to the car. By that time it was already late morning and we realized we had really better get on the road so that we make it to Winnipeg for the rest of the day.

and then we drove.

We arrived in Winnipeg and decided to hang out near the outskirts of the city as we had not heard from Alexander's family who was putting us up for the evening. We got in touch with them and then headed to there place.

We visited for a while and then went downstairs and watched Blood Diamond with everyone and then called it a night. We had changed yet another time zone without really realizing it, but by the time we had made it to bed it was midnight Manitoba time (1am according to our brain) so we were exhausted.!!

Good-night from Winnipeg! We are almost home....!

October 24, 2010--Day Twenty-Five!

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Day Twenty-Five was our site-seeing day of Thunder Bay. I had done some investigating and researching yesterday, so I came up with a few ideas of things to see, and so that is what we did.

Our first stop was to go and look at Eangle Canyon, which boast's Canada's longest foot suspension bridge at 600 feet. The walk was about 30minutes and it took us up a hill, looped us across a smaller suspension bridge, up more of the hill, across the large suspension bridge, down the side of the hill and around the lake. It was very scenic, and gave us a great view of the sheer drop of the canyon wall. Imagine if they made a suspension bridge across the Grand Canyon?!?! What kind of view would that be?!

After we finished the walk we went back to Jerusalem and continued back to the highway. Before we got to the highway we noticed a sign for Ouilet Canyon and figured what the heck, we might as well go see it.

So off we went.

This Canyon offered visitors a boardwalk to investigate parts of the canyon, from the top. We walked along it and were, to our surprise, offered a more stunning view than what we got while we walked across the suspension bridge!

From there we headed back to the highway to marvel at the Terry Fox monument, which was erected right outside Thunder Bay. Where the monument was erected is very close to where Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope had to end in 1981. Granite was the base of the statue and amethyst underneath. The plaques and statue itself was impressive and gave me a true understanding of the impact Terry Fox had on Canada...and the rest of the world. I am very proud to have seen this monument and I am thankful of the impact his Marathon of Hope has had on the hope to find a cure for cancer.

Yesterday night we were told of a great trail/park just outside Thunder Bay that we could walk along and get a good view of some falls. We made our way to Cascade Conservation Area and there, we were given, like Cruise Sensei had informed, numerous choices for trails to take.

When we arrived in the parking lot we noticed this place was very popular. My best friend Amber should definitely come to this park when she moves to Thunder Bay next summer. It is beautiful and Amber, you can tell me what all the other trails are like!!!

As it was already getting late in the day we decided to take the yellow trail. It was the shortest, and the least strenuous of them all.

We walked along the trail and that continued along the bank of the river. We snaked our way over the large rocks and boulders near the falls. We were able to get a view of the falls from many angles and were definitely up close and personal with the river.

That concluded our site-seeing of Thunder Bay. After we had made our way back into the city we stopped to grab some food. Alexander got KFC (not the double down this time ;) and I got a sandwich from Subway.

With another day done we decided to take it easy for the evening and we watched some TV and blogged.

Tomorrow we are "going to Winnipeg"--Ah, saying that reminds me every time of that hilarious WestJet commercial....

October 23, 2010--Day Twenty-Four!

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Today was the day my sidekick was going to be gone for the day--he had registered and was very excited to attend the Thunder Bay seminar where he was to train with Tribe and Ohmi Sensei.

Since he was off to that very early I was able to sleep in, and then I was spoiled with an incredible breakfast of fruit and toast and eggs and bacon at the B&B.

After that I had some much-needed Emails and blogs to catch up on so that is what I did.

I also rested, and watched TV and searched around on the net and then my tummy started to grumble.

I decided then that I would go search for food and investigate Thunder Bay in one sweep. We were situated close to the casino and I got a sense very quickly that we were definitely in the rougher area of Thunder Bay.

I wandered to a McDonald's, which I had found on a map of Thundery Bay, and then I walked along the Lake and Marina Park. It showed the sleeping Giant very well and offered a shiny look at the Lake itself so that environment was very calming. Much of the boardwalk was under construction, so I was not able to walk all along it, so I decided to find a bench and just enjoy the nice weather (first time ever!..haha jk!)

When I had had enough of that I decided it was getting closer to when Alexander would be back from his training, so I headed back to the B&B.

He arrived not too long after and then we got ready for the dinner that Cruise Sensei had planned for the members who attended the seminar and their partners/kids.

The restaurant-- T&A (called that by the locals) was literally a block away from our B&B so that worked out really well. We had been given some faulty directions (off by one block) but we found our way to the restaurant none the less.

We chatted with everyone there and were given a huge dinner with endless supplies of food. We had salad, pizza, pasta, veggies, chicken, and roasted potatoes. It was absolutely delicious!!!

After our meals were over a magician came in and awed us with his incredible-ness.

I am still in awe at how some of those stunts go down. Maybe one day I can become a magician and then I will be able to figure them all out!!!

After dinner it was bedtime!

More site-seeing to do tomorrow!!

October 22, 2010--Day Twenty-Three!

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We remembered when we arrived in Wawa that it has the world's largest goose, so we figured we had better see it since we are here. After breakfast at the motel we went to look at the goose and then headed to the Magpie Scenic Falls. It was a little waterfall, but according to the signs around there that isn't how it usually is.A reservoir impacts how big or small the Magpie Falls are and today...they were tiny!

It was still neat to see, and we got a good idea walking around of just how large the falls could be. Next time we can see them when they are bigger ;)

As we were walking around we noticed some baby trees that we wanted to add to our collection of pilfered plant life. These were baby trees, and since we picked them up and got them dirt and have been watering them on a regular basis, both Alexander and I have become quite attached.

By the time we had finished checking out the falls and packing up our trees once again, we figured we had really better hit the road. So off we went...

As we drove we noticed a clearing through the trees and a small trail down to the lake, and a good spot to stop Jerusalem. We had wanted to stop and look at Lake Superior, so this was our chance. We walked down to the water, took some pictures and then carried on back to the car.

When we got back to Jerusalem a local stopped behind us and came to see if we had seen or picked up a gentlemen who had on a checkered shirt who had been filtering through one of his buildings and doing the same to some of his neighbours. We had not seen this person the man was looking for, so he pulled a u-turn and continued back to his place.

We, as well, carried on, but in the other direction--towards Thunder Bay!

One of the most obvious marks along this long stretch of highway was the large number of Inukshuk's that were created using the rock by the highway, and placed on ledges along the highway. We have numerous photos of them throughout the area, as we travelled along the highway.

When we arrived in Thunder Bay we went to the B&B which we had booked while we were in Guelph. The gentleman who runs the B&B showed us where we would be staying, gave us our key, took our breakfast order, and then gave us a suggestion for a meal to have this evening.

We went to Hoito, a local diner which is well known for serving Finnish pancakes. Since they were well-known, that is what we ordered. They arrived and they were identical to English pancakes (crepes almost) in which my mother made me all the time when I was little. I used to roll the pancakes in lemon and sugar and then eat them. This diner only offered us syrup, so that is what we had!

After pancakes we headed back to our B&B and rested. Cross-Canada trip= tiring!

October 21, 2010--Day Twenty-Two!

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We were up once again and heading the road again and then we drove.

For hours.

Hours.

Hours.

and more hours.

We wanted to stay in Canada, so we had to trick the GPS. We told it to get us to Sudbury and once we were there we told it to take us to Wawa! And VOILA! It worked. We had to do this because the shortest route was in fact through the United States...but...this is a cross Canada tour...not a cross the US and Canada tour.

We drove North; managed to take the 407 and avoid Toronto altogether. This put us on a toll road though, in which a fee should be arriving in the mail for us in a few days.

We made it to Sudbury and stopped at KFC. There, Alexander found a Double Down, a sandwich with two pieces of chicken breast as the bread and bacon and cheese in the middle. His mouth had been watering for this sandwich since he first saw it on TV and so the time had come and he could finally have it.

According to him it was good, but not that good. It was actually quite tiny and much different than what the TV ads showed. Karma...

The trip around Lake Superior was a longgggg drive...but the colours were spectacular and quite often we were able to see a stunning look on the magnificence of Lake Superior.

We made it to Wawa!!

My sidekick wanted to sleep in the car again, but we decided that maybe we had saved enough money to splurge on a hotel room for the night. And so, that is what we did.

Wawa-check!

October 20, 2010--Day Twenty-One!

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We wanted to leave for Guelph early, but with the 401, Toronto and that sort of mess we decided instead of leaving early maybe after rush hour would be better. We had a wonderful breakfast made by Auntie Anne, thanked her a ton for taking us in and all of her generosity, and then headed on our way.

Guelph is really close to Toronto, so once we got out of the back-log of rush hour traffic it was smooth sailing..or cruising..or, well..uh? you get the point.

We pulled up to Kim Taylor's house...(this is another of Alexander's Sensei's) around 10AM and he invited us in. Kim had to run a few errands, so we used his computer to check on our email's and arrange accommodations in Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

When he got back we had some lunch (Kim soup and the two of us pizza) and then we headed over the the University of Guelph. Alexander was to train with Kim for the remainder of the afternoon and I could do whatever. I watched the two train for a while, (video-taped) what they were doing for Alexander to refer back to, and then went out to wander around the University.

It was a very strange feeling to see all of the university students busy and running around. I know what that is like, but it was strange being there but not actually being a student.

I wandered to the Arboretum which Alexander has talked so much about. I took pictures of the fall colours and settled on a bench and enjoyed some fresh air.

After I had enough of that I went to the Student Centre to try and find a plug in so that I could watch some TV re-runs. I had no luck doing that, and I didn't know how much longer the guys were training for, so I settled in and started writing some blogs. It wasn't long, and then I got a call from my other half saying they were done and we could head out.

I trekked back to the car (met Kim and Alexander along the road) and then we went back to his place. Kim had to go out with his kids quickly so we kept ourselves busy in his house. Another student of Kim's (Pam) who wanted to join us for dinner and when everyone was back we headed out for Chinese buffet called Sun Sun.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the day. When supper was over we headed to Pam's house where we all vegged out and watched an oldie but a goodie movie "The Last Starfighter".

Pam headed out halfway through the evening as she was on her way to Thunder Bay for the seminar (which we will be seeing her at on Saturday) and then when the movie was over the Taylor crew headed home as well.

October 19, 2010--Day Twenty!

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We got to sleep in a little bit, which was much needed and then we headed out to take in the rest of Toronto, and parts that we had missed.

We got off at the same station as yesterday, and then headed on foot. We walked towards Dundas Square (baby Times Square) where a huge Uncle Ben's promotion was going on. We considered getting a free meal of rice there, but then decided that it would be best for us to continue on our way.

We kept walking, strolling, trudging...whatever you would like to call it. We walked past the Old Bay Building again, and headed towards the CN Tower.

Though it was fairly expensive-- $30..we headed up to the SkyPod of the CN Tower. We stopped off at the gallery and looked down through the glass floor and got an incredible sense of just how large the City of Toronto really is. The photos from the SkyPod will probably be better than me trying to explain, so make sure you check out all of my Cross-Canada Road Trip photos HERE!

Not high up in the air, and back on ground we headed back on foot to see the rest of Toronto that we had missed, or wanted to see and hadn't. We got some street meat (smokies) and then took off to see such things as: Much Music, CBC and Kensington Market (where that crazy plant car is.--It will make sense if you see the pics). We continued through the heart of China Town and then stopped at Marble Slap (second day in a row) for some "energy food".

Toronto was busy, and it had a definite city vibe. There are business people and modern people and hip people EVERYWHERE and it is easy to tell it is a thriving city. Toronto reminds me of Calgary (except for the large lake right by downtown--which Toronto has) and I enjoyed it very much!

Late afternoon-ish we met up with an old friend of Alexander's at Union Station and then headed to second cup to catch up and get some coffee. I have never met this friend of Alexander's and she has a very, very bubbly personality and it is very contagious. We caught up on what she is upto and she caught up on our news and when that was all said and done we headed back to Union Station, to head back to Auntie Anne and Benny's house.

Alexander headed off to the Jung Ko Kendo Club where Cruise Sensei was teaching Iaido, and I stayed back and ate dinner with Auntie Anne, Benny and David (we had spaghetti) and then I got some ME time!

I did some blogging, and E-mailing and caught up on Gossip Girl and Teen Mom (yaya!) and then finished doing laundry and packing it back into our bags.

After Alexander finished his training he headed out with the guys for some Korean food and I headed to bed...

Goodnight from Toronto...!

We are changing the route!!! Slightly...

So after some careful thought and consideration we have decided that it may be best to change the route.

Jerusalem didn't handle the snow very well ...and the hills...we it is understandable considering he only has summer tires. So, with that being said, we have decided to re-route ourselves from Saskatoon to Calgary, where we will pick up the Jeep...and then we will head from Calgary out to Vancouver...back to Kamloops and finish off in Innisfree where I will be able to pick up my car!!

We have also changed around one thing in Ontario--we are now not going to North Bay, so we are hoping to spend the night in Wawa, Ontario on our way to Thunder Bay.

Check out the map below for an updated version of our route home!

P.S-- Alexander's grand-dad has offered to sponsor us so that we make it over to Vancouver Island. We will be the first people he knows who will have driven through all of Canada (not making it quicker through the States) and have made it from the farthest most Eastern point in Canada to the farthest most Western point in Canada.

Keep checking out our blog for when we get there. We are hoping to be in Vancouver around Halloween!!!

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PPS-- I can't believe we are already on Day 18! Oh, how time flies when you are having fun!

October 18, 2010--Day Nineteen!

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Our goal was to head out of Ottawa early to beat the rush-hour traffic and to arrive in Toronto after it's...but...our early morning departure took a little longer than we had hoped.

We had to roll up our tent and pack it back away. It was of crucial importance and we were scared that we would forget it. But, I am happy to say we did not!

With the tent back in Jerusalem, and our bags shoved onto the back seat we headed out.

Ah, welcome to rush-hour Ottawa traffic! Oh...and massive construction projects.

It took us a while to get through Ottawa, but we did, and before we knew it we were on the 401 !! There we saw incredibly well placed speed-traps, police on patrol, many, many signs warning us of the potential fine for speeding and a semi trailer on fire. Yes, I do mean just the semi-trailer. Somehow the driver had managed to unhook his truck from the trailer and get it out of harms way before the trailer really got on fire. By the time we drove past it was definitely on fire. Does anyone know hoe just the trailer can catch on fire? What would cause something like that to happen?

All traffic on the highway heading in the same direction as the semi trailer was could not get through. (Construction took up one lane, and the semi was in the other, so it was just too unsafe to pass). Luckily our lane, headed for Ottawa was still on the move.

The 401 looks just like the Deerfoot (AKA Highway 2) until...you get like 80km from Toronto itself. From then on it turns into massive amounts of lanes. Express lanes, and collector lanes, merge lanes, exiting ramps and stuff of the sort which make up the core of the 401, especially once we get close to Toronto itself.. It is, quite obviously the busiest highway in North America, without a doubt.

With help from 3 sets of directions we fathomed out the collector lanes rather fast and made it with no trouble to our destination. We were staying at "Auntie Anne's" a family friend of my sidekicks family---and as soon as we arrived and were settled in she gave us lunch. A big bowl of soup and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Now we are really getting spoiled!

Once done lunch we headed to the Subway and then into downtown Toronto, where we met Cam-- my boyfriends best friend. He is currently taking his Masters at U of T, so we were able to meet up with him and get another guided tour. (Just like the one Amy gave us in Ottawa, but much, much longer)!!

We walked and we walked and we walked. Literally, we did! But, we did get to see tons and tons of stuff and get a good feel for the City of Toronto (well definitely its downtown core) and we were also able to catch up with Cam at the same time.

The boys got ice cream and later we got coffee and slurpees and Cam showed us the dungeon he sleeps in while taking the U of T Master's program. He lives in the basement and well the place definitely has a "modern" look with two cement walls and the other two with painted dry wall or whatever it is. It was quite interesting to see...

We saw the CN Tower, the waterfront, the Hudson's Bay Company Building , MuchMusic, Queen Street, China town and the market near it...and after all of that it felt like our feet were going to fall off.

It was definitely the most amount of walking we had done it one day and we were absolutely exhausted when it was all said and done.

After our excellent tour we headed back to the Subway and arrived at Auntie Annes. We were cooked a delicious steak dinner!!-- we are definitely spoiled now!

Thank-you for the great dinner!!

After dinner we sorted out a few more plans for out trip and one big one.

Read my next post to see what it is!!!

October 17, 2010--Day Eighteen!

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We enjoyed the last breakfast at our B&B--this time we got scrambled eggs and croissants...and then we headed out!

We were Ontario bound so off we went!

We arrived in Ottawa around noon and were told that if we parked at the World Exchange Plaza the parking was free. So that is what we did. From there we were directly downtown, so we were close by to most of the touristy things to see.

We popped into McDonald's for lunch and then set off to find Parliament. It was like...down the street and around the corner and then there it was!

We walked around it for a while and then Alexander's friends cousin (who lives in Ottawa) offered to meet up with us and show us around the downtown core. It was a Sunday, so the tourist information centres were closed (especially in Ottawa which is like, totally government run) so having her to show us the cool stuff was a total bonus!

Thank-you Amy!

She took us to the market, Rideau Canal, City Hall, and walked us through the general downtown core and it was much appreciated. Once we had done that she headed home and we continued on. We wanted to go back to a few of the places she showed us, because we didn't get photos and so off we went.

We had been told that at the market the beaver tails were delicious so off we went to find some of those. In case you are starting to get worried it is not real beaver tails, it is a company called beaver tails that offers delectable pastry topped with whatever you would like. I opted for the original pastry topped with cinnamon sugar, and my other half had a double chocolate pastry or something of the sort.

I had broken my sunglasses half way through the trip so I needed to get some more--the market offered thousands so i picked a set up! Yay sunglasses!!

From the market we wandered back to some of the sites we had seen; City Hall, old churches, statues, crazy art work., etc. and then went back to the World Exchange Plaza to pick up Jerusalem.

From there we headed out to Alexander's sister's best friends place (Courtney). They live outside of Ottawa, a fair distance, but the house that Courtney's boyfriend Jason has bought is very, very nice.

Once we arrived at there place we said our hellos. Met Jason and Courtney (I had not met either before) and then we settled in.

Since it had been raining like everyday we were camping we figured we had better set up the tent to air it out. This was the first chance we had gotten to do that, so we didn't forget.

With the tent set-up in the back yard we decided we had better cook up the burgers. We were going to have them for supper, but changed our minds, deciding to order Pizza instead. The pizza came from Gabriel's (a local pizza shack) and we sat with the food and watched Snatch..quite the movie!

After that we chatted for a bit and then called it a night. After all, we had been on the go non-stop and Courtney and Jason both had to work in the morning so it was a no-brainer!

Bed-time!!!

October 16, 2010--Day Seventeen!

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Mmmm...B&B's are great---especially for the kick ass breakie you get when you wake up first thing in the morning. After camping it's like...being well...spoiled!!! Ahhh...fresh coffee and French toast....

That was our fuel for the busy day ahead. Because we were not able to see much of Montreal yesterday afternoon we figured we had better start early today--so off we went.

We trekked back to the area where we were last night (St. Catherine Street) and wandered into the Eaton Centre. It is there that we entered what is known as the Underground City and it is quite something. Montreal's Underground City is literally a mall...underground and it is massive!

I so very much wanted to do some shopping, but I am trekking around to site see, and, well Alexander isn't the biggest fan of shopping, and most importantly, I can buy the exact same clothes in Calgary and pay half the tax...and I also won't have to stuff it into the already overloaded car.

But man, were there some incredible looking shoes and some...gah...shirts...and gah....! I WILL DEFINITELY HAVE TO COME BACK TO MONTREAL TO SHOP--WHEN I BECOME RICH!!!!

We popped back up from underground after we had got the general jist of the "underground city" and we wandered around to see some Churches and take photos. We saw the Cathedral-Basilica: Mary Queen of the World and St. James the Greater and we saw the Notre Dame Basilica where Celine Dion and Rene Angelil got married. (It was a $5 entrance fee to get in, and we only had a few minutes inside because someone else was getting married there that day, but it was definitely neat to see).

From there we found our way into the heart of Old Montreal. We wandered the streets and saw the BMO Building, took in the culture, gawked at all the places to shop and continued on.

We stopped for lunch in Old Montreal and enjoyed some hot, cheezy French Onion Soup and Coc au van. After lunch we finished our tour of the Old City and then wandered towards the Subway. This took us through the edge of China Town, (which, after being to real China isn't quite as impressive, but interesting nonetheless), and then we jumped on the Subway to Olympic Park.

There we took photos of the Olympic Park (the rings and the fire and the podium) and all of that fun stuff, and then we walked a block further to the Botanical Gardens. We really wanted to go to the BioDome, but it was closed recently due to a strike, and now it is closed for renovations or something, so that will be put on our list of places and things we will have to come back to see and/or do.

We arrived at the Botanical Gardens and within a few seconds of entering the first part of the gardens we were taken aback. It was a a macro photographers dream come true, with all of the plants and insects and it was seriously interesting. We walked through the indoor greenhouse then through some of the outdoor gardens, which are developed into different Gardens (Japan, China, Aboriginal, etc.)

As we walked we found that we were close to the insectarium, so we went in there. We found all sorts of insects (bees, ants, cockroaches, spiders, tree plants, butterflies) dead and alive...but it definitely was an educational experience. We wandered through the exhibits, read the information, laughed at some of the insects, shrieked at others (some of disgustingly massive) and then we continued on.

We continued back outside..and as the sun was starting to head towards dusk (not quite there) we were able to get a quick idea of what the Chinese Lantern show was all about. Throughout the Chinese Gardens lanterns were set up, and they would offer visitors an impressive show once it got dark. (It reminded us very much of the Zoo Lights that are erected through Christmas at the Calgary Zoo).

As it was getting later and we were gettting....tired (and our feet sore) we figured we had better start heading back to the B&B. We walked back to the Subway and got off at the Eaton Centre, where we were hoping to stop to pick up a few gifts for people. When we had arrived it was 6:04PM-- all of the shops closed at 6pm...so we had missed our shopping chance by 4 minutes. Damn...

Oh-well, we still have many stops ahead and a ton of shopping to do!!! :)

Once we had realized the stores were closed we found our way back outside. We wandered down some back streets to try and find a quick bite to eat (as we were sort of hungry but not really)... We spotted a Cora's and figured, you can't go wrong with breakfast anytime of the day, but when we arrived it was closed....Grr!

At that point we also realized there must have been a Montreal Canadiens game on tonight as we noticed groups of rowdy (most likely intoxicated) fans in their jersey's heading to the arena.

With our chances of any food dwindling we listed to how hard our tummies were grumbling and decided it would take too much effort to find food and we were just too tired for that. Plus, we had snacks and stuff back at the B&B that would work just fine to fill our bellies.

And so we did. We munched on our snack as we wrote our journals and then we zonked out, fell asleep and dreamed......oh, sweet, sweet dreams....!

Merci! Montreal!

October 15, 2010--Day Sixteen!

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So we've had some pretty bad weather this entire trip, but Quebec was a real doozy!

We enjoyed a nice brief breakfast with Francine, and then re-packed the car (in the rain) and then drove on. Today we were Montreal bound!

It was absolutely pouring rain and our pour Jerusalem just can't block off that much rain with big trucks and semis cruising past. It definitely wasn't the safest of trips but we did make it to Montreal (and it was still pouring).

We had arrived around lunch time, forgetting that check-in to our B&B was not until about 3p.m. Luckily our host was around and he was happy to let us bring in our stuff for the day. He only had one other guest so us being there a little early was no inconvenience. Hooray!! We could hide out of the rain for a while....

And that is just what we did! We had not planned to do a lot of touring during our afternoon in Montreal, and that become even more clear as the rain continued to pelt down. Our host told us that this was the worst rain storm/weather that Montreal had seen recently. Great! We seem to be bringing the ridiculously crappy weather with us for this trip...

We caught up with some E-mails and planning and blogging, (so that you lovely folks can continue to read our blogs!), and then we decided we had better brave the crappy rain storm to investigate some of Montreal.

We trekked out of the B&B--which was located at a very, very convenient place...just a few blocks from St. Catherine Street and a couple blocks from the Subway station. Lucky us!

We headed up the street (through the tunnel) and were on the search for the Architecture Museum but we failed miserably.

We were told to look behind us when we got out of the tunnel and so we did and so we found a building. We walked around it...and found a couple signs that appeared to be close to that which we recalled from the website, but....we couldn't see any signs of museum stuff (only offices) and we definitely, definitely could not find a door open for people like us (AKA: the public) to trek into...

With our complete and utter failure to try and find the museum and getting wet feet, soggy clothes, and coming close to breaking the umbrella we figured we had better get a move on.

We walked around St. Catherine's Street on the search for food, but not a lot was open until 5:30pm for the dinner hours.

We walked up most of one side, and down the other and then maybe back up the same side but further, and then somehow came across a mexican restaurant that was open! Hooray. It, was also super, super busy--most likely because the hoards of people braving the rain also got sick of getting soaked and decided to find a place to eat (and it was the only reasonable pricing place open at 5pm)!

Lucky us we got a table and we watched the rain fall.....while we warmed up inside!!

We enjoyed our Mexican feast and then, once again, braved the pouring rain back to our B&B.

St. Catherine is a very busy street. It boasts a lot of restaurants and places to shop (as does most of Montreal) and it was nice because it was so convenient and close to where we were staying.

As we walked back home we noticed numerous umbrellas that had been thrown into the garbages over the course of the day. The wind was something terrible and many peoples umbrellas just sort of crumbled under the wind...or snapping...or just not working all together.

Our umbrella, thankfully, worked surprisingly well (Thank-you China--it was a great purchase!) and we made it back to the B&B somewhat dry...but our feet/shoes were absolutely drenched.

(Today I was cursing and wondering why on Earth I did not own a pair of rubber boots)--! The answer is: In Calgary it snows more than it rains, so snow boots are a much better purchase!

Once we arrived back at our B&B we did a little bit more E-mailing and blogging and downloading photos and whatever else it is we do and then we....

ZZZzzzzzzz.....