August 21. 2002 (Week # 3)

Day 21 (Ontario-Canada, Vermont-USA)

We had a slow morning, packing up the car and doing our farwell’s. Little Miss M got to pick a few green tomatoes before we left. “That was fun!” she exclaimed.

Having some nice time in the garden before we drove off

Saying our farewells to the family

Then we were off, and on our way back towards the border to the US. We drove through Montreal, Quebeck, and then over the border into Vermont.

The policeman at the border was very nice, he talked and talked and didn’t ask us to open a single bag, not that we brought anything though. All we bought was a few DVD’s. But you know the hassle when you have packed your car almost to the limit. Thank you 🙂

We made a stop in White River Junction, at the Best Western, and spent the night there.

Someone was happy about leaving the car 😉

Happy Happy Happy!

August 20. 2002 (Week # 3)

Day 20 (Ontario-Canada)

Today we were going to do something for the children. First we picked up Ms T’s cousin and of course little Ms M was thrilled, she found a new friend 🙂  Then we drove along the Canal again, this time to Valleyville and The Little Animal Farm.

The farm had all sorts of animals on site: sheep, lamb, bunnies, a horse, donkeys, ostrich, a pony, deer, calves, ducks, geese, and even more.

Hi there (Teddy is always with us)

Mr Goat

Train ride – lots of fun

We even got on a train ride through the fields. The children enjoyed that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way back to the house we once again stopped at a mall. The children got a few new DVD’s for use in the car. I must add, the DVD player was well spent money.

 

That afternoon we went to the little park again, to use the swings one more time before we would leave Ottawa the next morning.

Back at the house, enjoying the pretty garden

August 19. 2002 (Week # 3)

Day 19 (Ontario-Canada)

We all slept long and well. Nice to spend the night in a house and not a motel!

Playtime in Ottawa

After breakfast and some playtime we had a short walk to the nearest Grocery Store, to check it out, and pick up a few things for the children. It felt good to walk a little after the two previous days spent in the car.

Thereafter we went downtown to pick up Ms T’s  cousin. We parked the car at her house, and walked around in Ottawa City. We walked next to the Canal, and up to the Parliament Building and then the city.

The Canal

Parlament Building

Us in Ottawa, near the Parlament building.

The whole gang out walking

Nice spot so check out the sights for little ones.

We found a nice outdoor restaurant for lunch and was surprised by rain, we got wet but the children thought that was lots of fun!

Nice to sit down for lunch – even though it started raining..

On our way back to the house we stopped at St. Laurence Shopping Mall, our oldest little one needed a new jacked. She got one in Gap Kids! We did not check the price first, ooops! But it was a cute knitted jacket, just what she needed. And she loved it.

After a long day outdoors we all felt like some ice-cream and decided to try the Frozen Yogurt in the Mall. The little on ate with his whole face, and did not like it when we took the ice-cream away to “find his face again”. To bad we have no pictures of that.

A little dusting before bedtime

August 18. 2002 (Week # 3)

Day 18 (Ontario-Canada)

It would be a lie to say we slept good that night. But we did catch a few hours sleep. And we were not the only ones on the road with little ones, with no motel to spend the night in. There were at least 10 other cars in the parking lot that night, all with little kids…

We started the car up again at 8:30AM after a quick cat-wash in the nearest washroom. Oh boy did we long for a shower, and a bed!

It was a nice drive to Ottawa, Ontario. And it felt so good to see familiar faces again. We rested a little while before we took the children to the nearest playground. They were thrilled to see there were swings and sand and a slide.

Kids enjoying the playground

Marcus, poor little one got sick, probably too much swinging after lunch. But he soon recovered.

That evening we turned off the light early, we all had some sleep to catch up.

August 17. 2002 (Week # 3)

Day 17 (New York, Ontario-Canada)

First things first, we had breakfast at the Sheraton – but we didn’t stay long. We checked out and went over the border to Canada. No problems there, stamp in our passports, and we were headed for the Falls.

We parked the car and took both strollers and walked towards The Horseshoe Falls. Very misty, very hot and windy, but still we got at good view of the Falls. And a few more pictures.

Therese and kids in Canada

Kids with Police at Niagra Falls

 

Marineland, just a couple of minutes from the Falls, was next on our agenda. First we went to the Friendship Cove where you could pet a Killer-whale or a Baluga-whale. Madeleine and Therese also went to see them from the underwater viewing area.

Madeleine even got to feed black bears with “Goldfish”. She did not want to leave them! Huge but cute.

Feeding the bears some “goldfish” crackers.

Cute ❤

We also got to see Red Deer, Elk, Wapiti and Buffalo Bison up close. In the Deer Park you could pet the little “Bambi’s”.

And we found Santa’s reindeer. I’m pretty sure we saw Rudolph too.

Marineland also offers (for those of you being interested) the world’s longest steel-roller-coaster. Before we left we watched the show in King Waldorf’s Theatre – starring Sea Lions, seals, a killer whale and dolphins. The show was very good! We highly recommend Marineland to everyone. at least all 4 of us enjoyed it tremendously.

Santa’s Village in Bracebridge was next on our agenda. And we headed out of Niagara, through Toronto and north towards Santa! But someone had other plans for us. We got to Bracebridge all right, but a place to spend the night was out of the question. We tried every motel/hotel up and down the Interstate from Toronto. We decided to turn back again towards Toronto once we saw the enormous thunderstorm that was ahead of us towards North Bay. We headed back at 9:PM and did not find ANY place to spend the night. We finally made a stop at a Service Center (Gas Station) in Odessa, at 3 AM. One good thing, we were very close to Ottawa and Therese’s family. Another good thing: Madeleine has not mentioned Santa’s Village (at least not so far….), she was really looking forward to meeting him!

August 15. 2002 (Week # 3)

Day # 15 (Kentucky, Ohio)

Waking up early ready for a new day and new adventures. Where would today take us?

For breakfast the children wanted waffles again, so we took them to the Waffle house, after all “all Americans” have waffles for breakfast – right? Thereafter we drove to Newport, Kentucky and visited The Newport Aquarium. What a great place to bring the kids.

Newport Aquarium

We watched 10.000 different species in different surroundings and had sharks and other fish swimming above, under and around us. Truly exciting. The kids clapped a lot of fish and even some sharks (through the glass of course). And had a blast doing so. They even watched some alligators being feed just underneath their feet.

The little one was in a back-pack kind of chair on Mr J’s back, what a great thing for the Aquarium to provide for their little guests. All museums and other places should have them. It is not always good to be in a stroller. Can you imagine being down there, only seeing a lot of legs.

We spent quite some time at the Aquarium, and after we had to continue driving.

We checked in at The Travellodge in Austinburg, Ohio, which was more like a hotel than a motel. We paid USD 20 more than we did for the other motels, but then we also got a much better standard. Sometimes it is worth spending a “few” dollars extra. And from time to time it is so nice to do so.