Are We There Yet?

I am SO sick of this meshugana journey!!! GAH!!! GAH!!!!

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday because Dad ran off with my laptop, so let me fill you in on the past few days of nonsense.

Day Six - Ottawa to Quebec City

We had breakfast (Starbucks in a crowded hotel room) with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin in Ottawa, which was really nice. From there, however, things went horribly wrong. It was a terribly rainy day and I wasn't mentally prepared for just how French Quebec would be. Bilingual nothing, this place is ALL FRENCH! I was irritated about that as we pulled out of a Tim's and dad was waiting at a yield sign to get onto the highway when an impatient truck driver decided to go around us (what the heck?!) and promptly smashed into us instead. Luckily only the tail light sustained damage, but boy were we angry!!! After that I pretty much decided that I hated Quebec and that I was catching the next flight to Calgary because this was a stupid adventure! Then I had a nap. I woke up in old Quebec City and darnit, it was so freaking beautiful that I decided I couldn't really hate it as much as I wanted to. It's like someone just put a piece of Paris in Canada, it's just incredible! I went for a walk with my mum, found a book store that was selling Harry Potter, and came back at midnight to pick up my copy!

Thank goodness my French is decent enough to understand this sign :)

Medieval Boutique... So lovely!

Pretty Street!

Day Seven - Quebec City to Fredericton

Today was less eventful, thank goodness. The day started with hotel/cat/map madness, but things cooled down enough for me to get seriously involved in Harry Potter, which allowed me to be vacant for most of the day. Ahhhh. Then this evening my mum and I had dinner with Kirsten and Claire! It was sooooo nice to see them, and Claire has just gotten sweeter and more beautiful since I last saw her. I can't believe she's five months old already! What a sweet pea! And Kirsten is as beautiful as ever too :) Ahhh, it will be so nice to live closer to them :)

Alright, well I have to get up at 5am to catch the ferry tomorrow (blah) so that's all for now. Tomorrow... Nova Scotia... Ye Gods!

Gillian

Day Five - Sault Ste. Marie to Ottawa

One Word:

GAHHHHHHHHHH!

Driving cross country is driving me to drink. You spend 13 hours in a car and I defy you to not wish you had a bottle of Amaretto to help soothe your nerves. So I ordered Nachos and a glass of Merlot from room service... SO THERE! HA! I'm having a drink (insert *gasp* here.)

Today was so long on account of all of the highway construction and a little episode of being completely lost and hungry around Sudbury. Apparently it's the season for blowing up granite in the Canadian Shield! Who knew?

But here's the good news:

1. We're staying at the Marriott tonight, which is super posh and lovely. They have Bath & Body Works products for the tub and the bedroom is big enough for yoga! I also have a gorgeous view of downtown Ottawa from the 16th floor!
2. Tomorrow should be much shorter, as we're heading to Quebec City.
3. Tomorrow night at midnight: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows... Need I say more? Now I just need to practice saying "Avez-vous Harry Potter?"
4. Saturday I get to see Kirsten and Claire! EEEEEE!!!
5. I have nachos and Merlot and an enormous king sized bed... ahhhhh la dolce vita!

I think that's it for now! Time to go relax :)

Love,
Gillian

Day Four – Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie

I swear the days are getting longer and longer, melding into a big lump of a day with short intermissions of coffee, fast food and hotels. It also doesn’t help that we’re going back through time zones, and losing hours. Also, Ontario is too big... I mean, really. How big does this province need to be anyway?

This trip has taught me that I’m easily pleased. This is what I need to be happy:
1. Coffee (are we surprised?)
2. Music... constantly... preferably that I can sing along to.
3. Clean, un-scary bathrooms.
4. Hotel rooms that don’t smell funny.
5. Lots of activities to keep me busy.

I’m starting to get worried about moving to a small, quiet town. I just don’t deal well with silence, it actually causes me anxiety. I drum my fingers, fidget, twitch, shift around. Talk about a city girl. I’m sure you’ve all started taking bets about how long I’ll last, so I’ll get in on the action and bet that I won’t last five minutes, OR that I’ll resort to listening to my iPod at all times.

Our day today consisted of skirting around Lake Superior. Great Lake?! That thing is huge! It’s like an ocean, you can’t even see the other side! Close to the end of the day we managed to convince dad to go to Katherine Cove, a little beach area with soft sand and an area to paddle in (who knew that Lake Superior had beaches?) It was just heaven :) Here are a few pictures of our beach break!

Sandy Belal... He thought it was just the best thing ever!

Dad, Belal and Mum!

Me :)

Tomorrow is Ottawa! I'm really excited for that one, and will hopefully get to see some family too!

Love,

Gillian

Day Three - Winnipeg to Thunder Bay

SO MUCH DRIVING! I always have big ideas about posting interesting pictures and stories for you to read, but we keep getting to the hotels late in the evening, starving, carting angry animals, and by the time I climb into bed it seems like a huge effort to write at all!!!

Today started off rough, with really angry pets and a late start and many stops. Being stuck in a car for so long is starting to wear on me and all Yoga Zen has disappeared into twitchy angst. I feel like I need a good shot of something strong.

Ontario is certainly different from the Prairies! The lakes, trees and rocks are gorgeous. The Trans Canada Highways is lined with rocky outcroppings, and almost every one had an Inukshuk perched atop. It was so neat, so many Inukshuks helping to guide us on our journey. I took lots of pictures, but am too tired to put them up tonight.

Thunder Bay is really interesting from what I've seen, and I'm looking forward to the scenery around Lake Superior tomorrow and being one day closer to our destination.

Love to all,
Gillian

Day Two - Regina to Winnipeg

Another long day, full of prairies. There's not really much to take pictures of, unless you like a lot of flat wheat fields. Wheat, wheat and canola and wheat... woooo... this country is darn big. Darn big, and full of wheat.

I have to say, thank heavens for Tim Horton's... Tim Horton's, with their reliable coffee and consistently clean bathrooms. We've run across many a sketchy bathroom thus far, but the pinacle of sketchy was at a KFC in Moosomin, Saskatchewan. We stopped for lunch and my dad ordered us some salads while mum and I went to the washroom. It was a recently renovated KFC, but the bathroom.... TERRIFYING! The first thing you notice is the massive hole in the floor right in front of the toilet... then, the disgusting toilet... then, while standing and washing your hands, you notice that your feet are slipping on the grease-coated floor... and then the door that sticks and refuses to open. Yikes. We got through that fiasco, and drove to a park to eat lunch, only to discover that our salads were, in fact, totally rancid... *sigh* Needless to say, we didn't eat them, but there must have been something extraordinarily bad about that KFC, since my mum and I were both edgy, twitchy and shaking afterwards. Dunno if it was bad vibes or some toxic fumes, but it was no good.

The lesson I've learned? Stick with Tim's.

I hope Ontario is better :)

Love,
Gillian

Day One - Calgary to Regina

That...
THAT...
was a long day.

I'm sitting in the Holiday Inn, Regina, watching Edward Scissorhands. I'm a total space cadet right now. Saying goodbye to Nathan, Sheila and Grandma Bell this morning was haaaaaard, and all that driving? I thought it would never end. It felt like we'd been driving for hours, and we were still in Alberta! And then, Saskatchewan, which looks just like Alberta! Ack! PRAIRIES! ENDLESS PRAIRIES!

... I don't really have much to say... um... I'm alive... I'm emotionally all over the place... that's it for now.

Love,
Gillian