Andrew & Carrie & Lily & Nora & Charlotte & stuff: 2022

So it happened again. What with flights being annoying and expensive, I decided that a road trip was in order. Kind of like last year. But unlike last year, we didn't have a giant plumbing nightmare the day I wanted to leave. And packing the car was so much easier! Pretty much no camping or hiking gear, and no baby stuff; that saved all sorts of space.

Like last year, I left Carrie behind, but this time I took both girls rather than just Lily. That way Carrie could get some work done and fly out to Edmonton later in the week to join us.

First stop was in North Bay for lunch. Traffic in this little city was absolutely horrendous, due to construction and probably no other conceivable reason. I mean, it's North Bay.

From there, we headed north for a change. Instead of the more popular route along Lake Superior (via the likes of Sudbury and Sault), we took Highway 11 which passes near Timmins. This remote section of the TransCanada Highway takes over 10 hours (North Bay to Nipigon). Fewer cars, possibly more big rigs, and it's actually shorter than the more popular route by 20 minutes!

Plenty of unexciting places to stop for lunch on Hwy 11.

Our first day ended along Hwy 11 in Kapuskasing. Stopped at a tired but adequate inn for some shut-eye. The next morning we stepped across the road to the local museum, which detailed the town's history. Kapuskasing was home to one of Canada's largest internment camps during WWI; among the many prisoners were Canadians of Ukrainian descent who happened to be immigrants from what was the Austria-Hungarian Empire at the time.

Kapuskasing: A real happening town

Day two was just another long drive, getting us a couple of hours past Thunder Bay. Daylight was dwindling, and we were kind of in the middle of nowhere. Some searching online didn't give us much hope for accommodations anywhere nearby, except a motel in a place (not a town, but more like a spot on the map) called English River; we called ahead and booked the last available room, non-refundable. Once we got there we were led to our room.

The first thing I noticed in the room was that the front wall had big cracks around the window. I asked about this, and sure enough, someone had failed to stop in time and had hit the building with some force. Not worth fixing, I guess, being merely a structural issue. Now a little suspicious, I then threw back the covers on the beds to check for scurrying bugs. No bugs, phew! Just some dirt, debris, long black hair, and who knows what else. This was grossing me out, so I asked for another room. While all the rooms were already reserved, not everyone had arrived to claim them yet, so I got to see two other rooms, the last of which was finally marginally presentable. The floors were very filthy, so we kept our shoes on. We ended up not really touching the beds, opting instead to grab blankets from the car, laying them on the beds, and sleeping on top of that. Worst motel ever!

The next day was Lily's birthday. We left the gross motel early to get a good start to our day. I needed gas, and Dryden prices were $1.80/L. Fortunately I use the GasBuddy app to tell me where the deals are, so a little ways before Dryden I turned off the highway and drove a bumpy 10 minutes out of the way to Wabigoon, a reserve where gas was only $1.54/L. That was a giant discount... so worth it. Even if reserves don't seem to be worthy of paved roads.

It was around noon of this third day that we finally left Ontario. Somewhere east of Winnipeg we discovered this:

In Winnipeg, we headed straight for the same hotel Lily and I stayed in last year. This was a birthday present for her: more waterslide fun.

Just as busy as last year.

Less fun was when Nora told me she had to go number two, at which time I discovered she might have already done so... Alright chlorine, do your thing...

The security at the hotel was kind of nuts. Every floor had security in the elevator lobby, and the parkade had roving security too. I'm not sure what was going on but there were lots of displaced-looking people outside the hotel. Possibly like last year, when forest fires were causing people to be evacuated to cities, where the government put up a lot of them at various hotels.

Lily had received some cash with which she was allowed to go thrift store shopping, so we walked for miles visiting a bunch of thrift stores where she shopped her heart out for 80s-style clothing.

Lunch at the same Indian restaurant we went to last year...

Walked our socks off, but this view was the reward.

And like last year, breakfast at the adjoining pancake place.

The next day we headed west yet again. We took Highway 16 toward Edmonton. The girls did some reading, colouring, gaming, sleeping, etc., to pass the time. Spent a night in Saskatoon.

Friday afternoon we arrived at my brother Richard's place in Edmonton. That evening Carrie flew in from Ottawa so I picked her up. We spent a great weekend with them... had them all to ourselves, in fact!

Water rats

A couple nights in a row there were hailstorm warnings, so we crammed the vehicles into the not-so-tiny shop. Just in case.

Eleven years ago Rich & Fen took us to The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant that we really enjoyed. We decided to try it again. Cheese fondue, then oil fondue, then chocolate fondue. Yum!

On Monday we took off and headed for Vernon via Calgary & Banff. We didn't really stop anywhere, other than the time we sat in traffic for an hour somewhere in the foothills. Construction, maybe? Anyway, it was a straightforward mountainous driving day, and we made it to Vernon without incident.

Since for once we weren't there during the August long weekend, the rest of the family didn't join us from the Fraser Valley. That meant the girls didn't get the cousin face time they normally would.

The kids churned out more art than Grandma's fridge could handle.

A whole bunkroom to themselves.

20th anniversary lunch at a winery.

Miss fashionista

We hit the beach a few times, but the better outings were with the boat. The kids both enjoy tubing... solo though, since it's a one-person floatie. Once we boated out to a more remote beach, anchored there and just swam off the boat. The water was agreeably warm... even for me!

Lily with her iron grip

Tethered tubes.

Nora going at Nora speed. Kid can hardly reach the handles to hang on.

Stories with Grandma.

I did have some car trouble of course. Thankfully it happened in Vernon, and not while travelling. A quick diagnosis, some quick money spent, and things are back to normal... sort of.

After a week, we all headed down the valley a ways to camp in Okanagan Falls. Carrie's brother and his family was vacationing there, so the kids got to see some cousins.

The campground was very small, with no beach and no playground. The frisbee got lots of airtime, and we made good use of the public beach in the town park nearby. We also went on evening nature walks, during which we saw ospreys, beavers, deer, and snakes. Lily met another girl camping here; they decided to swap addresses, so maybe they'll become pen pals!

Not a ton of room, but we made do.

Daryl & Lydia and kids hung out with us.

Evening stroll.

Nora getting her tan on.

Cousins!

After a few days of camping, it was time to head east again. It was a real treat to enjoy BC without any forest fire smoke this year. A marked difference from the last few times out.

This time around we left BC via the south route, over Highway 3. An exciting opportunity to burn through tiny hamlets like Osoyoos, Midway, and Grand Forks. We hit a crazy rainstorm somewhere along the way, but were rewarded with a double rainbow for our efforts. Cool!

We made it to the small mining town of Sparwood, where Carrie's uncle Ben and aunt Karen live. We rarely see them, and it was great to spend a wee bit of time together, if not to catch up entirely. Their hospitality was much appreciated!

Next stop: Waterton Lakes National Park. This park is in southwestern Alberta. It endured a forest fire a few years back, and it shows.

First thing we noticed as we drove in was a cute little grizzly bear. Fun!

It turned out to be a bit of a wet day, but we didn't have big plans for hiking so that was okay. We did walk a trail to a waterfall, which gave a good sense of the creepy dead trees all around.

The only other wildlife we saw was some bighorn sheep blocking the road.

As we drove through the village within the park, Carrie randomly recognized someone, so I had to pull over. It was a cousin with his family from Lethbridge! We were hoping to meet them that weekend anyway, so we just got a head start. They invited us for dinner that evening back in Lethbridge, which we ended up doing.

We spent the weekend in Lethbridge with Carrie's uncle Clarence and aunt Yvonne. We had a wonderful time with them and their kids and their families; it was a heartwarming and relaxing weekend with such wonderful hosts.

And then it was time to head east some more. We didn't do quite as much as last year, what with its dinosaur museums and zoos and whatnot.

We stopped in Winnipeg, as one does. This time we checked out the Children's Museum, which it turns out is less of a museum and more of a play place, with perhaps a dash of education or interest thrown in. A little disappointing, but it gave the kids something to do while the parents chilled.

Off to Ontario! Again.

Smelly Dryden! Just stay upwind of the pulp mill.

A disturbingly dirty bathroom hallway in a Thunder Bay mall.

I drove past the Terry Fox memorial near Thunder Bay too many times last year. This time I figured we'd better pop in. You can see Sleeping Giant Provincial Park across the water in the background.

Not too far along was Ouimet Canyon Provincial Park. The views were worth stopping for.

Eventually we made it home. Covered 9500km this trip. Next year again?

Our bug collection

And then there was another year. Time flies when you're not doing much vacationing.

We did go to a cottage in March with a couple of families, including my little sister. That was fun, and not too far away.

Everyone got all foodie of course...

People chilled...

... some more than others.

There was an indoor hot tub, which got lots of use. Carrie went in it one day for a minute, for which she was rewarded with a giant itchy rash for the next couple of weeks. Hot tubs are gross.

And then more life happened. And then it was the last week of school. A friend need to go to Florida for work stuff. He wanted to drive, and he wanted company so as not to fall asleep on some interstate. So I volunteered to tag along, leaving the kids with our wives, on the busy final week of school, what with its school trips and half days and graduation stuff.

We set off Sunday evening, making it to the border pretty quickly. Getting into the US was no problem. We strove to take the most direct route, but Google keeps pushing fuel-efficient routes these days. What's with that anyways? Let us burn gas if we wanna burn gas. It's good for the economy.

Speaking of which, gas was anywhere between the equivalent of $1.40 to $1.75 a litre, at a time when back home it was over $2. Nice and cheap!

Toodling down the interstates, we were impressed by the number of roadkill deer we encountered. Hopefully they were taken out by big rigs and not cars. Must be a few dented grills driving around.

And those rigs... yikes! More often than not they kept up with traffic, happily going 130km/h. No speed limiters in those things, apparently.

Another random microburst

At any rate, we made it to Fort Myers area in about 24 hours, with a couple hours of sleep each. No real incentives to stop, except, perhaps, for ... (*drumroll*) ...

Pedro's! Giant billboards announce it for miles as you approach the North/South Carolina border. A big ol' tourist trap boasting glorious slogans such "You're always a wiener at Pedro's". Seriously though, you never sausage a place!

We did not stop. Made it to Fort Myers, stayed for 44 hours, headed right back home.

Palm trees make any scene nicer

A random parking lot turtle

We hit a bit more traffic coming back (thanks Orlando), so the return trip was about 26 hours in total. The border crossing into Canada was thoroughly uneventful; although we were well prepared with our ArriveCAN apps, none of that nonsense was even required.

Arriving home on the last day of school, I wasn't in any shape to attend the grad dinner with the rest of the family, but I did manage to drag myself out for the grad ceremony that evening. Duty done.

The week following that, a few families headed off to a cottage resort near Parry Sound. Each family occupied a little full-featured cottage near the water. Oh, except no air conditioning; the first night was brutal! Fortunately I had the foresight to bring a couple of fans along, so those sort of saved the day.

Our waterfront home

Our view

A private beach for the resort

Boerenkool for supper on our screened-in deck

There were a bunch of kids, and they mostly got along just great, spending time at the playground, in the water, or just hanging around.

Someone brought this giant pad... tons of fun

The kids made lunch! They really don't need us.

A couple of hiccups during our week... First, we kind of forgot to bring entertainment for our kids, so we had to visit a nearby Walmart one day.

Problem solved. These girls love colouring/drawing.

The other hiccup was bladder infections. Carrie has had them off and on since then; at the time, it wasn't clear how bad things would get, so we ended up spending an afternoon in the emergency room. We lucked out... we were out in under 4 hours!