day 5 - Sault Ste Marie, ON to Toronto, ON

so this is it. the end of the road...for now.
our last day started a bit slower and more relaxed, knowing that it was a relatively short day (clocking in at just under 8 hours)...we even had time for a shopping stop for new mocassins in Espanola.
...and then proceeded to drive right into hwy 400 traffic (welcome back to me!).
nice to find the road rage was still buried deep inside...it attempted to surface but so far i'm holding strong in my northern mentality. that's my goal with moving back to the city. keeping the Smithereen alive inside!
there are no photos from our last day on the road...mostly because there wasn't much to take photos of. southern Ontario isn't exactly the most photogenic place in Canada...but am happy to report that the packing job in the truck was extraordinary and everything found its way across the country in its right place. and also excited to report that my first night back in the city was marked by take out from Jean's Vegetarian Kitchen awaiting my arrival.
best. husband. ever.
and as for my fear of Lucy forgetting who i was...let me tell you, it is such a warm-and-squishy-inside feeling to have a pooch go ballistic at your arrival.
best. dog. ever.

day 4 - Dryden, ON to Sault Ste Marie, ON

i cannot believe we made it from saskatoon to the soo in 2 days. seriously.
i am an AWESOME driver.
plus the sun finally came out. and north of Superior is my favourite part of Ontario (aside from maybe Manitoulin Island). so vast. so blue. so crazy beautiful.
and had an awesome dinner with Aunt Carol and Uncle Rob. so nice to have a home cooked meal after 4 days on the road....so delicious!

Kakabeka Falls

crazy beaver in Kakabeka

look at him go!

Nipigon

the moms in Nipigon

Lake Superior

Lake Superior

day 3 - Saskatoon, SK to Dryden, ON

a long haul today. 1189 kms!
no photos. blew right past Regina and the 'Peg.
totally on a mission: to get to the Soo to have dinner with Aunt Carol and Uncle Rob tomorrow night.
we could have stretched out the trip until Saturday, but the consensus was to plug along to get home by Friday night.
i'm just happy i made it through the dark without hitting a moose.

ps - it's cold here in Ontario. what's up with that?

day 2 - jasper, AB to saskatoon, SK

prairie rainbow

 major disappointment this morning when the little man at the jasper national park booth at the start of the icefields parkway wouldn't let us on. apparently uhaul trucks are commercial vehicles that are well over the weight restrictions of the parkway, despite mine being much smaller than the two ginormous RVs with F350s in tow being allowed on (apparently they are "personal vehicles" so they are an exception despite their weight...the logic mystifies me)...i felt really bad at getting the moms super hyped up and being unable to get through to the little man in the booth, so i tried to argue with him a second time, and then even went back to jasper to speak to park administration...no go.

it was pouring in jasper when we left, and of course all the mountains were covered in cloud...by the time it cleared there were no mountains left. mom #1 declared the drive "very boring".
but we found herds of caribou everywhere and stopped in the palisades to take a few pics of these guys:

caribou butts

more caribou butt

and then we booked it all the way here to saskatoon along hwy 16 (the 14 footer with small trailer handles the prairies at a nice 120kms/hr with no problem!), in the hopes that we may now actually make it to toronto by friday night instead of saturday night.
a couple of days of long driving ahead...but after my two full days of driving, tomorrow it's a baileys in the coffee for me--moms' turns to drive!

the bedspreads at the motel 6 look like a little boy's bedroom...so random (but the hot tub makes up for it)

day 1 - Smithers to Jasper

sunset on Lake Kathlyn

mom #1 came wednesday. mom #2 came thursday.
friday they packed my house.






then a super swell party at Kirsty's cabin on Lake Kathlyn.

the moms on Lake Kathlyn

Anthony, Nelsie, Marianne

Teena

 

 

 

 

Anna

Nelsie, Marianne, Julieanne, Connie

Kirsty, Breann, Anthony, Nelsie

Ashton

Sarah, Dave, Breann, Mike

Anthony directing Sarah and Bonnie in fire building skills

Anthony supervising the ladies

Anthony makin up for it by bearing logs

Mike, Ryan, Kat, Anna, Julianne, Anthony

Nelsie, Sarah, Marianne, Ki

then a day of packing the 14' Uhaul only to find not everything fit.



made it all better by calling it a day, relaxing with some beers for the last time on my front lawn, followed by a nice dinner at the aspen.

ended up having to get a small trailer to tow prior to leaving monday morning, which i had to quickly (read: haphazardly) pack without the advice of my jenga-minded packers, and ended up with a cooler full of hummus. didn't see robson in the rain and cloud (big surprise) but we made it to jasper, chillin at the super sweet tonquin inn.







the moms got a taste of the rockies today but are excited for the icefields tomorrow!

it's time for change

the view from Malkow (never tired of this view)

so...wow. with all the stuff going on in our lives lately, this blog here has been seriously neglected.
let's see...an update (our life in point form):

- Jon left in our car...with lucy and thespa...the day after Christmas (i joined in a mini road trip as far as saskatoon then got on the bus back home)
- i filled my time sans husband with working and a ton of snowboarding through january
- february came and i really started to miss my hubby and dog and cat; put the house on the market
- march: a well needed vacation...hung out for a week in Vancouver with Lindsay; a good transition city to get myself back from rural life to Toronto mode...rode Linds' bike all over, had a lot of alone time and thinking time; picked up Jon and Gillian and Jordan at the airport and headed up to Whistler to meet Mary and Toby for 3 days of riding and 4 nights of eating and drinking with friends (and a well needed visit with my hubbers!)
- got back and most of the snow in town has disappeared, spring is in the air and i realized how quickly time goes by. i leave this town a week from Monday!...i should start packing, really.

a few photos:


ashton and lindsay (two of the awesomest roommates ever)


surprisingly, it was mostly sunny for my time in van


this is what i pictured myself to be doing most of the time
(having coffee during a rainy day in Gastown)


sculpture in English Bay...these are just too cool.
(laughing statues by artist Yue Minjun)
one of the nurses at work has always said she wants one of these on her lawn because they make her happy. i concur. if i ever win the lottery i'll be sure to buy one for Marianne.


i rode the trail that goes around the perimeter of Stanley Park




under the Lion's Gate Bridge


the group at the top of the Blackcomb glacier
(L to R: Jordan, Gillian, Toby, Mary, me, Jon)


Jon waving from the glacier (it was so much fun the first time we hiked up and went again...the bluebird skies disappeared the second time, making for a fun time navigating the spring conditions)


on the Peak2Peak gondola...seriously a feat of engineering!


the inukshuk at the peak of Whistler


us at the Whistler peak


got a spring hike up Malkow in before leaving...and spent some quality time with Connie and her pooch Burma. i will definitely miss working with Connie (one of the smartest nurses i know!)

so I am officially changing the name of this blog. and once back in Toronto I will be laying it to rest.
Mom and Sue are flying in and driving back across country with me. I'll fill you in each evening until we make it back home.
just another awesome adventure in the life of J&A.
we are so lucky.
-a.