Technical Difficulties

Our trip has been wonderful so far. We are in Alberta and should be in British Columbia by tonight.

We stayed in Edmonton last night and were able to witness the electrical power of a super-cell storm over the top of us. 3 storms converged over the Alberta prarie directly over Edmonton and unleashed their fury: rain, hail, lightning and wind. I watched it all unfold from the picture window of our 7th floor hotel room.

Canada is much more desolate than I expected. The fabled Trans-Canadian highway is not the interstate that I expected but just a small 2 and 4 lane highway with little traffic. Computer access in a number of places has been unreliable and the WiFi in our hotel last night did not work. I am typing this up again on my phone at 75mph (120 kph) while Amy drives. We are just outside of Fox Creek, AB.

A more detailed post when I can do it...

Terrace Bay

We drove 900 miles today! Twice we went for stretches that were 180 miles with no gas station. One of those stretches only had two structures the whole way! It was beautiful and Amazing.

Amy and I are both struck by the beauty of the north shore of Lake Superior. The terrain here is so rugged and remote. Cliffs dropping down into the water a shoreline that goes for miles and miles with no houses or boats in sight. It looks like the Maine coast or the San Juan Islands of Puget Sound. Who knew? :)

As we drove along one remote section of the highway a black bear came out into the road right in front of us. It was so cool and cute. It turns out that it is the first black bear that Amy has ever seen. She was exited and worried for it at the same time. A cool experience and sure not to be our last.

We are now camped at a site in Terrace Bay, ON. I am sitting by the tent and typing this up on my phone in the dark. There is a large trailer with "Live Bear Trap" printed in big letters on the side with the door propped open. Is this a sign??? :) We have a big drive ahead of us tomorrow and I will type more when I get to a spot where I can. Now to sleep under the stars...

Neverland Farm

Ok, so we got sidetracked! That is what happens when the magical powers of Neverland come into your life. You throw your cares to the wind and end up following whimsical fantasies that take you to wonderful places. That is what happened for us today.

First, let me back up to the shores of Lake Erie where we found ourselves this morning. We had a great time at our friends' home and slept like babies. In the middle of the night a wonderful rain storm came through and dropped a tropical amount of rain with hardly any wind. The rain just poured down and in the distance, out of ear-shot, lightning flashed and danced.

We had a leisurely start to our morning and I went for a swim in the waters of the great lake before me. Having grown up on the salty waters of the Gulf of Mexico it caused a bit of cognitive dissonance to swim in an "inland ocean" but not have the familiar taste of salt on my lips. It was like a dream: almost familiar but something was off. Regardless, it was a little piece of heaven.

We loaded up the car and anticipated the big day of driving before us. We got about 30 min down the road and saw the signs for Niagara Falls. "Wait a minute! We have got to see the falls!" So, off we went on a little side trip over to the falls.

Water moves over the falls in a northerly direction as water from Lake Erie moves through the Niagara River on its way to Lake Ontario. There are no good words for me to describe the natural wonder that we laid our eyes upon. It is power exemplified. It was beautiful to behold but we had to move onward so our time there was short. We will be back for sure as, Jerry, my travel partner on my trip last month has told me that it is a great place to fly to from our home.

As we drove out of the brash and gaudy commercialism that surrounds this natural wonder, I gave my friend Jess a call to say that I was sorry that we were not going to get to see her on this trip. Jess is from Toronto and had spent the majority of the summer there and just by random chance had left only days before to head back to her teaching job in the states. When I gave her a call to say "bummer" she extended the opportunity for Amy and I to head to her family's summer home in the hills an hour and a half northwest of Toronto. With a little talk of "Hmmm, should we?" we decided what the hell, let's go!

We pulled into Neverland Farm in the early afternoon and were literally just stunned into silence at the beauty of this little Victorian house on 60 acres sitting high on a ridge. It's perch is a thousand feet above the valley below and the view is simply arresting. We whiled away the hours walking on the paths, swimming in the pond, sleeping in the hammock, and just soaking in our time together. Sebastian slept in the grass and looked like he never wanted to leave; neither do we.

This house is steeped in Jess' family's deep love of this place. Pictures of family, loved ones, and every friend that has ever visited the place (literally), decorate the walls. It is a shrine to love and to family and to living a good life. To walk here is to walk on hallowed ground and we feel blessed that we have been invited to do so. Thanks Jess and Andy.

Tonight, as we retire, Neverland Farm has one more childhood fantasy awaiting us: there is a pristinely restored bright red caboose in the yard converted into the ultimate guest house. Jess told us that we could use any room in the house but where do you think we are going to sleep? All aboard...!!!

Alaska or Bust!

Amy and I are on the road and headed for the great state of Alaska via Canada! We left today around noon and made good time on the road towards our first stop at our friends' house south of Toronto on Lake Erie.

We have our husky Sebastian with us in the car and he is doing great as always. He is so mellow on a road trip and is going to finally make it to the state where he should have lived in his doggy fantasies.

Then, five miles outside of Buffalo, NY, a moment of painful clarity hit us: we forgot to bring the paperwork for Sebastian! Here we are about to try to cross the boarder into a foreign country and we have no documentation on this canine in the backseat. Oy!

As we sat in line at the boarder crossing we were working out all of the possible outcomes in our minds; everything from having the vet fax documents to us in the morning to driving across the US instead and leaving Sebastian with a friend in Washington State.

Fate would have it that we ended up with the coolest boarder agent that I have ever encountered in all of my travels! A few quick questions, a "relax, it's okay" smile, and 5 min later we were cruising into Canada and at our friends' house 20 min later. Amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you...

The view from Dave's family's place is so peaceful. After wonderful drive down a little enchanted lane you come to their summer home. The house sits high up on a sand dune with a vast vista of Lake Erie spread before it. This is the kind of place where you could stay awhile.

We had a great meal, wonderful stories and laughter, and chats that went into the night lit by candlelight. Now, as I prepare to go to bed and type up this post on my cellphone (no internet here) Sebastian lays curled up at my feet, Amy sleeps in the bed beside me, and the first day of our trip comes to a close. I wonder what tomorrow has in store?

In the morning: headed towards Winnipeg...