Quebec video / Happy Anniversary Part 2

...After I left Sault Ste Marie I had a light leisurely drive to Gravenhurst Ontario.  Other than the fact that the wind was gusting to about 70km/hour over most of the highway and by the time I had reached the town of Gravenhurst I was physically exhausted from trying to keep my car on the road...I still found it to be a beautiful drive.  I started my stay out in a little ‘A’ frame cottage on the edge of a lake (can’t quite remember the name off hand) but it was nice.  I had to pinch myself a few times because I just couldn’t believe the view I would be enjoying for the next couple of days.  Coming from a place where the front window looked out onto a parking pad and my car sitting in front of a rather large evergreen, this was the view I had dreamed about having for as long as I can remember.  Marilyn and Allan Picard were so kind to offer me their home for the weekend while they were away at a wedding.  It was right next door to their daughter Jamie and her husband Jeff and their two fabulous kids Nathan and Hannah.  They were also kind enough to give me a place to stay for a couple days as well.  I had a great time touring Gravenhurst with Marilyn and Jamie.  It was fun for me and it was great to see a place where someone had grown up and actually still lived.  The way they reminisced about old times made me feel like I myself had grown up in Gravenhurst.  Marilyn treated me and Jamie to lunch at the Marriot Hotel and Spa in Muskoka and for the afternoon we hung out and laughed and told crazy stories about crazy people.  No not gossip it was all in good fun but it was a blast getting to know all of them and I look forward to seeing them again along the way.  Maybe in Florida ;-)soooo excited!!

From Gravenhurst to Ottawa Ontario was short and sweet to say the least.  I had a rather long discussion with Betty Lou after arriving in Ottawa four and a half hours after leaving Gravenhurst.  I had typed in the address of my destination into Betty Lou and started on my trek.  I was surprised to see the Ottawa 45km sign when I was still in fact waiting to see a sign for Algonquin Park.  I wish I had of paid a little more attention when Jamie was telling me which highway went through the park, but of course I didn’t want to go off the path that Betty Lou had laid out for me; so I just stayed full steam ahead and hit Ottawa in record time.  I am sure Pepper was happy about that but I would have loved to get some photos of that area.  I met up with my Auntie Margo in Kanata Ontario.  She and her husband Randy were more than happy to put me up for a few nights.  I loved getting to know them all a little better and I was so grateful for them as I started to feel like I was coming down with something.  Not sure if it was the flu or a cold or just complete exhaustion from a month of staying in new places and meeting new people and let’s not forget, a whole crap load of driving.  I slept for about 14 hours there and missed out on what I am sure would have been a great evening with my Aunt and her daughter Faith.  I will for sure return to Kanata following the completion of this trip and spend some quality time with the entire family.  I am looking forward to it already and I hope they are as well.  I promise I will get sick and be over it before I get there lol I got to tour around Ottawa and see all the crazy ins and outs of a nation’s capital.  I have never been a fan of politicians and a tour of their homes didn’t change that.  I loved the tour itself and I am thankful that my aunt had the time to take me on it, but seeing how our political leaders live was just a reminder of how much they will never know about the real world and real people who live in it.  They are so sheltered and so withdrawn from anyone not just like them that it’s like another world and no matter how hard they try and how much they believe they have their finger on the pulse of the nation; they never will.  You can’t solve a hunger problem if you yourself have never been without.  You cannot change something if you have never experienced it on a personal level.  So as I said before, Ottawa is a beautiful city.  The company I had there was second to no one, the tour was great and appreciated but my political views will always remain the same.  More to come on that I am sure ;-)

I left Ottawa and headed straight for Edmunston New Brunswick.  I was still not feeling all that well but I was way better then I was the day before.  On my way through Montreal I noticed a huge cultural swing.  A swing that saddens me to say was not for the better.  As I mentioned in my post about the driving and the blatant disregard for the safety of others, I was struck with the realization that this was a big part of Canadian culture and a huge part of Canadian representation.  I finally realized what my American friend was talking about.  She and her husband had only ever visited two places in Canada; Vancouver British Columbia and Montreal Quebec.  They were disgusted with how we as Canadians thought of ourselves as polite and courteous.  They found us rude and arrogant and somewhat self involved.  After my experience through that area of the country I am angry at myself for telling her she was wrong.  I spoke before knowing all the facts and I retract what I said and I apologize for trying to correct her when she had every right to feel the way she did.  I guess it didn’t help that I was sick on my way through and not in the mood to witness such aggression but that is how this is playing out and that is how I am writing it down.  More to come on that as well lol

I ended up staying at the Best Western in Edmunston New Brunswick.  I stayed for two nights and loved every minute of it.  I cranked the heat in my room to 25 degrees I opened a can of sweet potatoes and tried to get some rest.  I had three showers the first night I was there as I couldn’t seem to stay warm.  I watched Ghostbusters in French did a little skype action and slept till 10:00am 7:00am Mountain Standard time 8:00am Eastern Standard time and of course my new time ....some standard time east of eastern standard.  My body is having a ridiculous time adjusting to the difference.  Especially when I talk to friends back home and they are sitting in the sun on the deck with an ice cold drink and I am sitting in the dark with a bottle of Dayquil.  The one thing I hadn’t thought of.  Oops

Throughout my drive I would listen to the radio and more often than not it was a French station. I love some of the music but of course I would have no idea what they are saying.  When it came time to check out of my hotel room I walked up to the desk clerk put my card on the counter and said...”bonjour” LOL I have no idea why that came out of my mouth but it did and it made me laugh.  I will blame it on the woman behind me who had just said it so I am sure my brain heard it and decided to repeat.  That is really the only real explanation. 

After my French possession I hopped in my car threw in a CD and headed for my final Canadian destination...Antigonish Nova Scotia.  For the first time in my drive the weather was crap.  It was foggy and cold with rain and wet snow off and on all the way.  I haven’t seen the sunshine now for four days and the energy meter is starting to drop.  Actually who am I kidding, the energy meter was on empty the second day of fog.  I am still not feeling well and I hope I haven’t brought anything nasty to Antigonish.  Joan Gilfoy has been so awesome to me.  She brought me some fresh squeezed orange juice this afternoon, which of course made me feel bad as she herself is slightly under the weather.  I guess it’s going around but I still can’t believe the hospitality I have received from one end of this country to the other. 

A quick note about Pepper...he is doing great!!!  Everywhere I go they offer to take him off my hands for me.  I like to think part of that is from me being such a great mom J He is loving all the attention and all the love.  He has met some friends of his own which I am sure I will have to write letters for him so he can keep in contact with them.  He actually has more of a bounce in his step now and he has been so great on the long drives.  We do stop about once every hour and half for a stretch...actually more the last two days as I discovered his new food is rancid and we are now peeing out our bum.  When I say we I mean Pepper lol but I have to go find some of his food in an animal hospital here so we can get back to just pooping.  I am really looking forward to that.

So that is it in a nut shell for the last 4 weeks of my life.  I have learnt a lot about what the rest of the country feels is needed to make this world a better place.  Which I will of course be sharing with everyone upon the completion of this tour.  Don’t want to start the great debate while I am still travelling.  Or maybe I will, we shall see.

So long for now from Antigonish pronounced...(ant-tic-nish) lol or at least I think that is how they pronounce it.

I hope to get some great shots tomorrow.  Fingers crossed it’s not raining.

I will leave you with some pointers and things I have picked up along the way.

1.       Never eat hummus which has been sitting in your ice free cooler for 7 hours under your seat where the heat as been at it for at least 5 of those hours.

2.       Sugar in your eye really hurts, especially when you are driving on a 4 lane highway in the middle of Ottawa and you can’t get over to the left or the right.  Don’t ask how I got sugar in my eye!

3.       Not all dishwashers are the same

4.       Not all coffee makers are the same

5.       Not everyone shares my sense of humour

6.       5000km from home in the middle of nowhere with no one else around you can still have a rock fall from the sky and put the first ever crack in your windshield. Hmmm anyone else think that’s a bit strange?

7.        Last but certainly not least ...When brushing your teeth in the dark always make sure you have the tube of toothpaste and not the polysporin...YUK!!

Here is to another great month of Travel, Kindness and Fun!!!!!!

OK, that is it for the looooooong posts.  Well for another four weeks anyway ;-)

CHEERS