We've Arrived

After the grey, rainy day on Sunday, it was a delight to get going before 7 a.m. and have a sunny drive. The temp at the start of the day was 4 ( 38) degrees. When we reached the South Carolina Welcome Centre (Rissa has to visit all Welcome Centres - she isn't known as the Brochure Queen for nothing) it was 20 (70) degrees and when we reached Folly Beach it was 25 (80) degrees.

They let me sit up up on the dashboard but then I got too hot so I went back to sitting in front of that Tom Tom. It wasn't anymore fun than yesterday so I went to sleep.

We arrived in Folly Beach around 3.30 p.m. and Rissa was welcomed like an old friend by the staff at the Rental Agents. So she should, after all the emails and telephone conversations over the past month. We were soon at the house - what a view and what a great house.

Everyone went to bed early (old people aren't much fun late in the day) and they all discovered that their remotes for their bedroom TVs don't work. What a shame.

Rissa was up as the sky lightened and on the beach before 7 a.m. ready for the sunrise. As I didn't fancy an early morning hike, I stayed on the deck and watched it from there.

Now it's time for some fun so I'm off.

Cheers

Guelph to Beckley, West Virginia

Well - what a day. After Rissa had a lot of excitement with her cats and kittens they finally got on the road by 7 a.m. It was COLD, VERY COLD and remained cold all day. It also rained all day - until we reached Beckley around 6 p.m.
Rissa set me up with the Tom Tom so that I could watch the route. Let me tell you, sitting in front of a screen nearly as big as you are, with an old red car driving along a red road, is torture. I soon dozed off but every time I opened my eyes - there it was again. Not only that, they kept testing different sounds to warn them if Olly was exceeding the speed limit. First it was a cuckoo but that was soon replaced with a cow. After a while (can you tell he kept speeding) they chose the bugle and that would wake the dead.

Talking about the dead, our motel in Beckley is next to a cemetery and on their way over to the Outback Steakhouse for supper, they passed through it and took a photo of me with the smallest gravestone. OK this is enough for today. The photos are backwards but you get the point.

Cheers

Yippee - I'm going on a trip with Rissa!

Rissa is off to Charleston, South Carolina and is taking me with her this time. Well actually she's going to Folly Beach, near Charleston. We'll see how this goes!!! After all, Clare is normally my scribe and who knows yet if Rissa is any good at it.

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign!!

So I have always ended my trips with some useless tidbit of information that amused me along the way but never really had a place that fit in. This trip has no exception, as Di and Nate seemed to be fascinated with all the signs along Ontario roads. I guess I never really noticed before, but as they started pointing them out, I realized that we do have an awful lot of them, and each seem individually tailored to that particular road. It leaves one wondering just how much we spend on all these uniquely printed signs.

Naturally, as we drove around, more and more jokes were made about the signs, and soon we were coming up with stranger and stranger meanings behind them. As our list of sign meanings grew, we had no choice but to stop and take photos of them to share. Some of the meanings we came up with were instant comments by these friends with warped minds, while others kind of progressed over time. Either way, I hope you will see these signs with an open mind, and perhaps you too will start seeing road signs in a whole new way. Enjoy...

 The sign that started it all... For some reason my two traveling friends thought this looked like a zombie, thus it quickly became known as "Zombie Crossing"

Another early sign that kind of grew in meaning as time passed.  Originally commented on because the man and woman were going opposite directions, then the red explosion was pointed out, and soon enough it was being called the "Divorce Bus Ahead" sign.

Another early one, as Di kept asking Clare about the "truck flying off the road backwards" sign.  It was a long time before Clare actually saw the sign Di was talking about, and had a good giggle over it.

Walking along a street in Toronto, Nate looked up and asked if this meant the parking was in the sky, about 225 m up!

Canadians seem to be so nature-friendly that they even having parking for the crickets!

Fascinated with the idea of "hidden" driveways, we had to stop and get a picture.  Only after stopping at this particular one, Di noticed the sign just past the main sign which we passed in the past (sheesh your language makes no sense people!).  Anyhow, the sign reads "Seek ye the Lord while He may still be found").  Is He in the hidden driveway?

We aren't really sure what this sign was about (seen at West Montrose Bridge), but it sure amused me!

No stop signs allowed!

Old man crossing
Older man with oxygen crossing

Hitchhikers will lose their hand!

Once the first one was seen as a chinese rice picker, the rest just kind of fell into place
- rice picker
- depressed or lonely
- waving hello
- going to trip you
- waiter taking your order
- in serious need of chiropractor





I really wish I could share them all with you, but I think you get the idea.  So, wherever you may live, the next time you are out driving around, take a good look at those signs you pay little attention to and see what else they could mean.  Trust me, it might just make the drive go a little quicker, and even bring a smile to your face.

Well, that's all she wrote for this adventure.  I enjoyed being a tour guide, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but I have to admit that my true love lies in traveling to new places, meeting new people, and sharing the crazy adventures I have with all you humans!

Until my next trip...
Whatever!

The Last Days

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and since vacations tend to be good things, they tend to come to an end also. My dear friends had to return to Detroit and fly home on Wednesday, so we decided to head down a day early. As Di wrote in an email; "We don't want any misadventures four hours away from the airport in Canada. We'd rather have them ten minutes away and in the USA."

So it was, that Tuesday was spent packing up, repacking, and then repacking again. These two non-travelers had done well to get everything in to come on their adventure, but Clare had neglected to suggest they make sure to have space to take home the various trinkets and paraphernalia that they would inevitably pick up while here. As a result they were left playing a very intricate 3D version of Tetris to get everything in and ready to go.

The drive back to Detroit was uneventful, they found the hotel without a problem, went out for dinner, and returned to the hotel with time to write the Zoo blog-entry before going to sleep. In other words, it was an utterly boring day for me, without much to report on whatsoever (except that we counted another 7 Tim Horton's).

The last morning, however, does have a few noteworthy pieces of information.

It started with a stop at a rather unique coffee shop not far from the hotel. Yes, my dear readers, we planned this from day one (ever since Clare saw the first advertisement on the interstate). After counting nearly 50 Tim Horton's in Ontario (where the popular chain got started), we chose to actually enter one in Michigan! Part of the reason for this amusement stems from the fact that none of them drink coffee, and two of them can't eat gluten so the donuts are not an option either. Basically, they had no reason to enter the store at all, but after counting and joking about it for two weeks, it seemed a fitting place to stop on the last day. To prove that this stop was planned, I can tell you that Clare and Di even bought gluten-free donuts days before, brought them across the border and defrosted them in the microwave before leaving the hotel. They then bought hot chocolate (and a donut for Nate), and proceeded to eat their treats inside Tim Horton's as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do. Oh, and they both agreed that the hot chocolate was delicious!

Our final stop of the day, before heading to the airport, was a mall about half an hour away in Ann Arbor. Yes, this too was planned ahead, as I wanted my pawsport stamped at the Build-a-Bear store there. For those of you not yet converted by my constant references to the store, they have little bear passports ("pawsport") that you can get stamped as you travel. Each state/province/country has its own stamp, and since I already had Utah and Ontario, it seemed only right to find a store and get a Michigan stamp as well. It was the one thing I could get in the states and not have to declare at the border on the way back!

Sadly, it came time to return to the airport and say good-bye to my friends. I have learned since that it was Nate this time who was privileged to receive the incredibly personal security check at the airport. I can not help but wonder what it is about this couple that has the security people so fascinated by them. Oh well, at least they are both fully acquainted with the process of airport security now, that they should be good to go for future trips (as I'm sure they will have now that they've learned how much fun it is)...

Maybe they'll even be willing to travel with me some day!


Tim Horton's Count (both days): 9
Tim Horton's Final Count = 50 (what an interestingly round number).
That is an average of over 3.5 per day and we didn't even go that far!
Now of course, the challenge for Clare is to STOP seeing them everywhere she goes!
Whatever!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

I have converted another one!  After spending the weekend with us, Haydon was suddenly in desperate need of a Build-a-Bear of his own, and so it was that Monday morning started earlier than any day since this trip began!  Of all the tourist sites to entice these people out of bed, it took a 17 year old boy's desire for all of them to be a part of his creating a bear, to get them up and out of the house by 9am!  In fact, when Di set the alarm on her phone, she titled it "OMG Haydon!!" (even with two exclamation points - I know because she just checked it).  But they did it, they got up and took him back over to the store in Kitchener, where he enjoyed the full-treatment and although he might be too proud to admit it, I think he loved it as much (if not more) than any child would.

With bear in hand, Haydon was dropped off at home and the rest of us returned to Toronto to spend the rest of the day in the zoo.  This was a personal request of Nate, as he'd learned that it is the largest zoo in North America (3rd largest in the world), and I guess he just had to see this for himself.  Of course, when you don't get there until 2pm its really hard to see that its the largest zoo because its impossible to actually see the entire zoo in that amount of time, so he'll just have to take my word for it.

Now, to my devoted followers, you will probably remember that I have been to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City twice in this last year, and I want to tell you that there is no way to compare these two zoos.  While some might argue that the Hogle Zoo is small, I think its just my size!  Not only is it very easy to see in a day, but it is very accessible to a little bear like myself, who loves going right up to the windows and enjoying the interactions with the animals on the other side of the glass.  My time at the Toronto Zoo was bordering on overwhelming, and there were only a few places were I truly got to enjoy sticking my nose (and paws) right up to the glass!  And, even though we spent about five hours there, we only managed to see about half of it (if that).

Still, it was a beautiful day as Di can prove by the many pictures she took of the sky, trees, and well, anything else that took her fancy (occasionally taking a picture of an animal or two as well).  And yet, as irony would have it, the most beautiful sunset that we have witnessed on this trip was enjoyed while stuck in traffic driving through Toronto, and no real chance at getting a photograph.  Go figure!

Tim Horton's Count: 1 (Total = 41)
Whatever!

Do Nothing Days

Looking at my latest post would lead one to believe that we went to Niagara Falls on Friday, leaving my precious readers wondering what we did on Wednesday and Thursday.  Well, the truth is, we went to Niagara Falls on Wednesday and it took two days to get someone to actually write about it for me!  So, the next question would be; what was so all-important in those two days that would cause such a delay in my blog updates?  Nothing, I tell you!  Nothing!

Thursday was deemed laundry-day, although dedicating an entire day to a two hour laundromat run seems a bit extreme to me, but I didn't have much choice in the matter, so I just sighed and sat on my little counter by the door waiting for something more exciting to come along.

 Friday wasn't a whole lot more interesting, to be honest.  The highlight of the day was going to the mall to look at video games and new cameras, and then hitting a 24 hr grocery store on the way home.  Well, we didn't actually hit the grocery store, we just went inside it to, well... get groceries (imagine!).  Yes, definitely an exciting day.

Plans for this weekend have changed numerous times over, and I've kind of lost track of what is happening.  One minute we were going to some cottage, then we were having friends come over, then we were back to doing nothing again.  Nobody could decide on anything, and trying to co-ordinate things with teenagers on their last week before returning to school is harder than one might think.  As a result, we've continued the practice of sitting around early afternoon, staring at each other saying "I don't know, what do you want to do?"  *sigh*

Finally, something exciting happened!  We all got in the car and drove over to Kitchener to pick up Haydon so he could join us for the night (for those who may have forgotten already, he is the teenage nephew who was missing at last weekend's family gathering).  On the return trip we took a detour to the West Montrose Bridge (aka "Kissing Bridge").  I'm not quite sure why this is such a tourist stop, but the sign says its the only covered bridge still standing in Ontario (built in the 1800s sometime).  We stood around while Clare and Di took the obligatory photos that are required at all tourist sites, whether its something that you really want a picture of or not, and then piled back in the car to return home.

The final comment on the day has to be the excursion to Walmart after dinner.  I only mention this because I'm impressed with the fact that this is the first time this crew has set foot in the store this entire trip!  Unlike my last adventure in Utah, which had me going to two different Walmarts on the first day, they have managed to go a week and a half without entering one at all.  I had begun to wonder if we could actually make it the full two weeks without visiting one.  I guess not.

So ends another nothing-day in the life of this little bear.  Perhaps tomorrow will bring something new.

Tim Horton's Count (all 3 days): 8  (Total = 40) ... and we have yet to enter a single one!
Whatever!

Getting Wet in Niagara Falls

Deciding that we were more interested in an evening at the falls, than a full day (in order to enjoy the lights on the falls), the alarm was set for 1pm.  Yes, I'm serious, they actually had to set an alarm to assure that they could be out of the house by 2pm. 

They didn't do too bad, and managed to get to Niagara by about 4:30.  While searching for a bank machine in order to have the required exorbitant fee for parking, Clare decided to introduce them to Clifton Hill.  For those of you familiar with this atrocity, I apologize for allowing this to be their first site in the town of Niagara Falls.  For those of you not familiar with it, it's, well, a street of tacky side show stores with even tackier storefronts.  Clare and I had tried to prepare Nate and Di for what they would see, but their shock was still apparent as we drove through the intersection and they were able to see down the hill at the spectacle before us.  Di even blurted out something like "This is the last thing I would expect to see in Canada!"

We drove straight through that mess, alongside the river to find an incredibly good parking spot near the Horseshoe Falls.  I guess there is some advantage to sleeping in, going late and taking the parking spots of those early-risers who had already left for the day.  I am with Clare in saying that seeing someone's first reaction to The Falls is about as satisfying as it can get.  It's always fun to see them stare in wonder at the speed and vastness of the river before they've even seen the falls themselves, and then having to pull them along saying, "Come on, there's more!"  They say that a million bathtubs of water go over that falls every minute.  I didn't see many bathtubs, but I did see one heck of a lot of water, enough to say that is not a place I'd like to try river-rafting!

After the first fifty or so photographs were taken, we started moving down the river towards the entrance for the Maid of the Mist, but just then the sun hit that optimal place in the sky and a huge rainbow appeared over the river, and while more photos were taken, the second rainbow appeared faintly above it.  I was so excited as, while The Falls is a popular place to see rainbows, it is not guaranteed, let alone a double one!  Of course, the appearance of these rainbows also made it a very slow walk to the boat... very slow walk... but hey, a LOT of photos were taken!

Eventually we made it to the Maid of the Mist, where there was surprisingly no line.  Everyone was handed their very fashionable blue rain-capes and then Di had to assist both Nate and Clare with getting them on (trust me, this was a very ironic moment for all).  I donned my own rain gear (acquired in Newfoundland), and then we walked straight to the top level of the boat and secured a place right at the bow of the boat before it started filling up with other blue-cape wearing, camera holding passengers.  The wind was fierce and we were getting sprayed by mist long before we even reached the Horseshoe Falls, yet Clare held her determination to photograph as much as she could, even if it meant getting soaked herself, and constantly trying to find a dry piece of t-shirt to wipe the lens.  But photograph it she did, and well worth the effort (of course, I could say that as I was kept nice and dry under the rain-cape).  I do think I was the only one that came off that boat dry though!

Naturally, the path from the dock led us straight through a rather large gift shop, which my three companions perused extensively.  Normally I would complain about, or at least make sarcastic comments about such things, but this time I think I made the biggest haul.  Not only did Clare find a small teddy with a blue cape with the Maid of the Mist Logo that would fit me, but Nate found me the greatest clip for hanging onto backpacks (I was using a long one with maple leaves).  I could waste precious time describing it to you, but that's quite silly when I know there's a photo here somewhere mixed in with the million photos taken between the three of them, so I'll just insist Clare find it and include it (it is MY blog after all).

The next stop on the agenda (yeah, there was an agenda for this day, or at least an attempt at one), was none other than Build-a-Bear.  I know, you're probably wondering what on earth would be the draw to such a store, but there were rumours that they had special items at this particular location specifically for tourists so I just HAD to find out what items I could find for my furry friends back home.  Sure enough, they had little tourist t-shirts for bears, but my personal favourite was a fabric barrel that the bear could wear (like the ones idiots have used to go over the falls in the past).  Very cute, and while it was not an item anyone else seemed interested in, it did require a picture.  While there Di & Clare each got Niagara Ts for the bears they bought together in Utah, and Nate decided to connect with his inner-little-boy and made himself a wolf with a Jedi outfit (Star Wars sound effects and all).  Oh yeah, I'm gonna convert everyone to bear-lovers yet (even if it was a wolf).

Dinner was enjoyed in a restaurant on Clifton Hill.  Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I just had to take them back there and let them see it all up close.  Besides, that's where Build-a-Bear was :).  With cell phones that take pretty good night-pictures, we were able to collect a number of shots of this wonderful street to share with all of my fans who I know are just dying to know what I've been going on about!

By the time they finished eating it was gone 10pm, but Clare decided to drag the rest of us through the Lego city exhibit that she's been wanting to check out for years.  Turns out it was nothing like she expected (I guess once you've been to Legoland everything else pales in comparison).  The place was empty and we even tried to get some of the staff to assist us in some fun shots with me in the Lego town, but none of them seemed interested in paying any attention to us whatsoever, so we left.

Since the exhibit was upstairs with no windows, we were not expecting to return to the street and find a torrential downpour.  Now, the weather report had said that thunderstorms were expected in the evening, so this wasn't a huge surprise,  In fact we'd all just been grateful it had held off as long as it did.  However, now that it had arrived, it was holding nothing back!  It was coming down as hard as if it had been standing on a boat directly under the falls.  Thankfully they'd kept the cheap Maid of the Mist rain-capes and quickly pulled them out to cover backpacks and the teddy bear box, as well as tucking me away safe before the lengthy walk back to the car.

The lightning was incredible, and had us all jumping more than once as thunder cracked a little closer than one might like.  We walked like drowned rats along the river to the falls and gave in to soaking feet as they quickly stopped avoiding puddles, splashing in them instead.  I think my dear friend KayRena back in Utah would be very proud of all of them!  I mean, once you're wet, you're wet, right? 

Some might feel this was a sad way to end what had been an amazing day at the falls, but we refused to let it get to us, and as a result we were treated to one of the most amazing things any of us had ever seen.  For those of you who don't know, both the American and Horseshoe Falls are lit up every night by some serious heavy-duty flood lights on the Canadian side, changing colours every ten minutes or so.  Well, with the rain so heavy, these floodlights were creating strange arcs of light across the sky above us, which was cool enough on its own, but when the main lights to the Horseshoe Falls switched to white, suddenly we were staring into a true, seven-colour, DOUBLE rainbow against a black sky, disappearing only by the bright flashes of lightning that were inundating us with almost-daylight power.  Deciding that a photo of this had to at least be attempted, Di pulled out her camera, and a few seconds later a squeal of excitement was heard over the thunder.  It turns out, that she managed to catch a bolt of lightning as it streaked sideways across the sky right between the rainbow.  Sure, maybe the rainbow doesn't show up as well because of the lit sky, but come on, what are the chances!!!

While it was a long drive home in wet clothes (well they all had wet clothes, I was quite dry actually), I really don't think anyone minded, having experienced the falls in so many wonderful ways.

Tim Horton's Count: 16 (Total = 32)
Whatever!

A Step Above (Or Two, Or Three)

They did it! They actually got themselves up, dressed, and out the door by 11am. Aren't you proud of them!

The drive was uneventful, which is always a good thing when you have places to be at a certain time. I think the adventure really started for Di and Nate when we passed the airport and the highway became 16 lanes wide! Then, they both enjoyed their first-ever ride on a subway in order to get downtown without the hassle of parking. I'm not sure what they really thought, but hey, I liked it and that's all that really matters, right?


There is something to be said for eating at the 360 Restaurant, but I'm not going to say it!

Ahhh I think my typist and proof-reader are getting giddy. Anyhow, I digress. While many consider the restaurant over-priced, there are definitely a number of perks, especially when its busy. The most obvious is that it includes the ride up the elevator (which is about $25 a piece). It also allows you to avoid all the lines and go straight to the private elevator (those lines must have been at least an hour long). Then, you get to sit by the windows and not fight for the view with hundreds of other visitors, while you wait for some pretty amazing food. Finally, you can go down and visit the observation deck, glass floor and so forth, then return to the restaurant level and again avoid the long lines waiting to return to ground level. Yup, I'd say its a pretty sweet deal.

While my companions were happily filling themselves with food, I enjoyed checking out the view as the restaurant slowly rotated, giving us full view of Toronto, Centre Island, Lake Ontario, and even the shore of New York State in the distance (only with the help of binoculars of course). After they ate, I just had to drag them downstairs to the infamous glass floor, where we fought for space between children and adults all trying to pose on the floor for various typical photos, including looking like you are skydiving. Hey, I'm not too proud to do the typical!

Eventually we came back down from the clouds, and since it was rush-hour decided to check out PATH, a huge network of tunnels connecting many blocks of businesses. Di and Nate didn't get it at first, so Clare found a map and showed them just how big it is. For those of you who like random tidbits of info that have nothing to do with anything important; "PATH is a 28-kilometre (17 mi) network of pedestrian tunnels beneath the office towers of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to Guinness World Records, PATH is the largest underground shopping complex in the world with 371,600 m² (4 million sq. ft.) of retail space." (thank you Wikipedia for that enlightening experience).

Did we explore 17 miles of PATH?  Absolutely not. We ventured through one small corner of the map, found yet another Tim Horton's, and then jumped on a subway to return to Northern Toronto, the car, and eventually, home!

Tim Horton's Count: 7 (Total = 16) I have a feeling this number would have been much higher had we driven downtown instead of hiding underground, but... well...
Whatever :).

I Win!

After waking up at noon (yeah I guess that's kinda early for this crew), much discussion was had about trips to either Niagara Falls or the CN Tower. Of course, that "discussion" really just meant a lot of "I dunno, what do you want to do?" It was a beautiful, clear day so at some point things started leaning towards the CN Tower.

Having stage one of the decision-making handled, they then went on to determine whether they were going to pay to go to the top, or have dinner at the 360 Restaurant up there. Finally it was agreed that it would be fun to have dinner at the top, and it sure saves paying to get to the top and then buying dinner somewhere as well. On further investigation (procrastination) it was learned that there were no available tables for that evening's dinner, or the next's for that matter. It was too late for lunch, but Clare finally picked up the phone and made a reservation for Tuesday lunch (well 1:30pm because that was their latest time for lunch - I mean, we wouldn't want them to have to get up too early now, would we?)

So... now they'd killed another hour and still no decision was made for the day! Oh yes, they now had plans for the NEXT day, and spent at least another half hour planning how early they had to get up to get to the Tower on time. 10am was the final decision for those of you fascinated by this groups' sleeping patterns, and this they considered EARLY.  Boy, they would not survive with Rissa coordinating their trip at all!!

At this point it was decided that Niagara Falls was not a possibility because they would get home late, and it was going to be hard enough to get up early as it was (no, I'm not kidding, this was actually said).  Now its almost 3pm and yet no decision has been made on the day (*slaps paw against forehead wondering if they'll ever pull it together). However, once it was agreed that we were not going to Niagara Falls NOR Toronto, I suggested St. Jacob's a little village that specializes in Mennonite creations (and a whole lot of non-Mennonite stuff for sale just because people think its all Mennonite stuff). Of course, by the time they got their act together, got out the door and drove over there, it was only an hour before the stores closed. Still, St. Jacob's isn't what it used to be and really that was plenty of time for these three.

Following that, we headed over to the St. Jacob's Outlet mall, so Clare could show Nate the Lego store (I'm sure Di was thrilled). The store was empty so Clare and Nate spent a good amount of time building race cars for Thomas (the wolf) and me to test drive on the track they have there. I think this set-up is for kids, but nowhere does it say its not for the kid-at-heart, so much fun was had by all. As for me, it was definitely the highlight of the day, partly because I won (I shouldn't say that too loudly because Thomas might argue)!

After a few sunset stops on country roads for sunset photos, we made it back to watch a video before agreeing all should go to bed, as they had to "get up early".

Tim Horton's Count: 1 (Total = 9)
Whatever!

I'm Singing in the Rain

Well maybe not singing, partly since I have no vocal chords, and partly because I was tucked safely into Di's inside pocket while she and Clare went for a walk to photograph the backyard in the rain.  Since this was the sum total of the day, there isn't a whole lot for me to say about it all.  However, they took some pretty cool pictures between them so I thought I'd let the pictures speak for themselves, except that pictures can't talk (mostly because they don't have vocal chords either).  So, umm... well make up your own story.