Home again, home again jiggidy jig

So this is my last entry and it is over due.
I woke up at 6 on a Tuesday morning. I packed my final things like my pyjamas and toiletries. Fran made my lunch and I put the finishing touches on everything. When the time was catching up to us we hopped into the car to make our way to the airport. Bill went the wrong way so he had to go park the car while Fran and I went inside. We tried the do your own ticket thing but it didn't work so we needed help. A nice young man helped us then we went to go check my suitcase. By that time Bill had arrived so we went to go then check my guitar in oversized. We walked over to security and said goodbye. It wasn't tearful but it was sad. I went through and went to go find my gate. I waited not for long before boarding. I was in the middle of the three seats and the man net to me's arm was on my channel controller. I didn't want to wake him up so I just left it. You also had to pay for the movies so I don't like West Jet. I fell asleep rather uncomfortably and kinda cold. After 4-5 hours the plane landed in Edmonton. It seemed to be a tight squeeze between my get off and the time I had to get on my next flight. I got off and went to the washroom quickly. When I got off I realized I got out of the same gate I had to board. We boarded a little bit late but this time because I was at an emergency exit I also boarded early. I spent most of my time looking out the window at the mountains. When the plane landed I sat looking out the window at the men taking out the luggage until the line started moving. I met my mom -Daegan- at the other end and we waited. When my luggage and my guitar arrived we left the airport, and Victoria is hot now for some reason. We stopped at the Saanich Fair to drop off some entries then at Red Barn for cheese. When we got home we watched some tv then I unpacked all my magnets and showed them to mom. She ended up falling asleep in my chair so I unpacked and cleaned up my room because there was stuff everywhere. Thomas got home and dad -Steve- did as well. We ate dinner then just went to bed. And guess what? I slept in!
I hope all you guys liked my blog and I'm sad to see it be done, but on my next travels I will  make a new one.

Saying goodbye

We set on alarm to get up early to get to Ottawa earlier. Our first stop was at the Concordia Store because it was open on the weekdays. I got some books and a sweatshirt and Fran got a a shirt that looked like a Bench jacket. then we headed to Orleans driving for a couple hours. When we got to Erica's house we were greeted and had lunch. Erica asked if we could go to the mall and Fran and Bill agreed. We bused and went with Erica, Rachel Erica's sister and me. We met Erica's friend Jesse when we got there. We stayed there for a while before Fran and Bill picked me up. When we got into Montreal we stopped at IGA for some lunch food for my plane ride tomorrow. When we got home Fran ordered Chinese food and I organized my magnets . After we ate I continued packing but ended up taking everything out and re-packing anyways. Bill packed my guitar all safe and I realized I don't have enough room. We figured out a solution then came up stairs to watch tv. I have to wake up early but I'm not going to bed very early.

The start of a journey home :(
Samantha and Fran

Long time no see!

We woke up at 11:40, ate breakfast and  got dressed. We went to go get the bikes but had to pump the tires, oil the breaks and tightened the seats. We biked around the island then up to Jollipop. I showed her some of thee huge houses then we went to the park and hung out there for a while. When we got back home we hopped in the car and went to the old port. there was this Middle Eastern thing going on then Erica and  I rented a quadracycle. After we went and found a Montreal magnet and had dinner. When we were done we got ice cream and it had started raining a bit so we shuffled back to the car. A rainbow appeared. When we got home from the old port we had pie, then I went to go and pack. We skyped Gloria again and went to bed earlier but not by much cause we needed to head off early the next day.

 Quadracycle
Erica and Samantha

 A raindow
Erica and Samantha

Erica and Samantha

A day downtown

We had bread from Upper Canada Village and butter for breakfast. I got dressed relatively quickly because we had a pedicure at 2:30. So we hopped in the car cause the trains didn't run very much on the weekends. When we got downtown we went to go check out the Concordia store but it was closed. We then went to Staples for a folder for all of my souvenirs on the trip. We got one, then Bill went to go to his office while Fran and I made our way to the Ongles Kim. Though we stopped at the Dollar Store to check for a magnet. We got to Ongles Kim and we sat down. I chose my nail polish and sat down in the fancy chair and got pampered-ish. When it was done we sat around waiting for our toes to dry. When we were done we walked to Ecco to look for sandals because Fran doesn't like my flip flops. I didn't find any but Fran bought a pair. We went to the Starbucks across the street to meet Bill. He arrived and we drove to another store that sold Birkenstocks. I got a pair and have been breaking them in. We stopped at the Metro on the way home to get apples for pie and chicken. When we got home, Fran made me clean my room and do my laundry because I was going to have guest over. We had dinner, then Fran and I went to go and sit in the solarium while looking at Daegan's 40th book. Finally Erica arrived and her family came in for a bit and we talked then they left. We all had pie then Erica went to go and skype Gloria for a long time.

Happy Birthday to me!

This morning I was able to sleep in a bunch. When I got up I went upstairs and just sat down. We had some break from Upper Canada Village for breakfast. I decided that I just wanted to sit around and do nothing all day. I do clean up my stuff a little but not much. For late lunch Fran made me a grilled cheese and apples, and for her and Bill she made this curry soup thing. It was pretty good. We did more sitting around and watching tv, then dinner time came around. We were going to Marathon with Mandy and Linda. We got a ride there all together, and had to wait a while. We got our seat and Mandy and Linda gave me a card as well as Fran and Bill. We had dinner and when it was done, the waitress brought me a cake and a candle. They sang me happy birthday then we ate it. Fran had ended up giving the waitress a letter to do that. Then we sat there for a LONG time just chatting, while the restaurant started emptying. We headed back home and said our goodbyes. Now I am watching Frozen Planet while Fran is asleep on a chair and Bill on the couch.

 Dinner at Marathon
Samantha, Fran, Linda, Mandy and Bill

My Birthday cake

Samantha, Fran, Linda and Mandy

Upper Canada Village

This morning it didn’t start out raining, but as we were putting the finishing touches on the packing it did start drizzling. So we quickly finished and the car started which was a relief. We got a magnet at the campsite office store, and are going to Upper Canada Village. It really isn’t that far, but that was the first time camping in a while so I was tired. I slept on the way there and by that time it was raining. When we arrived in Upper Canada Village it had stopped for the moment but I brought my rain jacket in just in case. They made this new building attached to the gift shop where it is an exhibit about the war of 1812. It was kind of interesting. Then we went to the gift shop where i got some gifts, my make due magnet, and the cutest mice magnets. And of course Fran and Bill got bread. When we got outside it was only spitting so we started at the woolen mill and the flour mill, where we usually start. We decided to start with the things that we normally have to rush through. We just walked around and talked to the characters and by that time it was really raining. After we had lunch it was really raining, so it was muddy, but not cold. We didn`t get to look at everything because the bell rung but that was okay. We headed to the gift shop, had out bathroom break then went to the car for a snack of bread and cheese. Then we headed off the Montreal and I slept while it was still raining and when we got here, we emptied most of the car, then went inside.

Fran and Bill had renovations to their house so it looks different and unfamiliar but that okay. I should get used to it. So I went upstairs to watch tv while Fran and Bill worked downstairs. It is nice to relax after 3 1/2 weeks of travelling and tomorrow we might go down to the old port.

 Playing crocono
Samantha and Bill

 The travelling Tiltons and their Tonic

 The Big pigs
Samantha

 The piglets and their weigh

 Finally made it to Montreal
Samantha

 Unpacking
Bill

 Grabbing all my stuff
Samantha

My bed!!

More car troubles

I slept in till 10 cause I was in a real comfy bed!! Fran came into my room though to work on my computer. By the time I woke up Kathy was already gone, she had headed to Ottawa. So we packed and talked and talked and packed and when we were finally ready we hoped in and said goodbye to Jim. We wanted to check out the Lift Locks, so Jim gave us directions to those. We got a little lost, but found it soon after. The Lift Locks are kind of like giant bath tubs that move boats up and down. We saw 2 boats that went thorough it then went to the Peterborough Museum. There I got a bookmark I will turn into a magnet and a magnet of the museum and the cutest little woodpecker toy! Then we went to go to Kingston. We had to make one bathroom stop at Tim Hortons, but then the car wouldn’t start after that. We tried for a while then Bill called the garage and they arrived after a long time and all he did was jump start or whatever you call the thing with the cables and it worked! So we drove to the old Asselstine house without stopping then continued, not stopping not wanting the car to stall and arrived in 1000 island parkway in Gananoque. They have llamas here! I made a small fire with the wood we had and had dinner. Tomorrow we are going to Upper Canada Village and will get to Montreal!!

Lift Lock

 The Peterborough Museum
Samantha

 The Asselstien House

1000 Island Parkway
Samantha

Kathy and Jim’s

Son we left late. You know why not, we were in a hotel. We packed up slowly and left to go to Peterborough. We stopped at Starbucks and for groceries. We drove but it was hard to switch drivers since it was in the expressway. But we ended up going off and into Toronto area for lunch at some boardwalk thing. The car was a lot warmer then the picnic table, so after I ate and I Ieft for the washroom then the car. There is this circus school going on so there were kids on rings and doing the stick tricks and juggling. We left after the car was packed. We stayed the night at Kathy and Jim Dancey’s house. Wilma Johnston and her friend Bill were there as well. Later Judy and Bob Poulton came for dinner. They ordered pizza and Kathy made some salads. After we just sat around outside talking. At some point everyone had to leave so we said goodbye to Wilma and Bill left. Then Judy and Bob left but not before pictures! Fran went out for a swim and we went downstairs to watch the Olympics synchro swimming. Everyone parted ways and I stayed up later working on my blog. Almost up to date. This all happened on August 7th, and today we are August 8th.

 Lunch in Toronto
Bill and Samantha

 Dinner at the Danceys
Fran, Wilma, Bill and Bob

 Fran, Judy and Bob

 Judy, Samantha, Fran, Wilma, Bill and Bill

Judy, Samantha, Fran and Bob

Niagara Falls

We had breakfast in the room then walked back down to the falls to get our vouchers turned into tickets. Our first stop of four was at Niagara’s Fury, a 4D movie. You walk in and they give you these plastic raincoats. You walk into this room and there is this cartoon of a beaver explaining how the falls were created, then you walk into this room and it squirts water at you and fake snow, so you get a little wet. I didn’t expect to get wet. Then we went to go and had lunch in the sun, waiting for our next activity to start at 2. It was Journey Behind the Falls. They take you down stairs to where you can get a picture then these elevators bring you down to these tunnels, and again they give you a little yellow plastic raincoat this time. It wasn’t that exciting because it is mostly in the tunnels. There is an outside part which gives you a close up look at it, then 2 little observation holes and all you see is water. After that we had some time before our next schedules activity so we got in line for The Maid of the Mist. That line was long, but the boat took a lot of people so it went fast. There they also give you these little rain coats and you get wet! They get you to take pictures here as well then lead you to the boat. We were one of the first in line so we were at the top front of the boat. When it was done, my face and front of my hair was very wet, but I tied the strings so my clothes didn’t get wet. When it was don’t we went to the People Mover stop, to get to the White Water Walk. That was boring, it was just a boardwalk down by the rapids. After we just went and got on the People Mover to go to the end of the line then back to the Queen Victoria Place. We walked back up to the hotel to get a break and have a nap cause I was pooped. Then we went to AlMacs where it was another buffet but this time the ice water wasn’t free and the food wasn’t as interesting. We stopped at Macs for milk then walked back to the hotel, and I watched Seabiscuit again, but form the beginning this time. Then bed time.  

 Waiting for Niagara's Fury
Samantha and Fran

 The 4D movie
Samantha and Fran

 Horseshoe Falls
Samantha

 Journey Behind the Falls
Bill and Samantha

 Horseshoe Falls

 On the Maid of the Mist
Samantha and Fran

 On Maid of the Mist
Fran

The White Water Walk
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Some down and ups

I got another wake up call, but took a little longer this time. Lorna decided to make us nice breakfast, so we all had pancakes, eggs, fruit and bacon. When we were done we had too head out, so we all went outside, had a short little chat then said goodbye to Lorna, since Bob was already gone. We were going to Niagara Falls. It’s not that long of a drive, but it started to drizzle. And by the time we got to the Information Center, it was raining hard. Bill started looking for hotels, and I started looking for restaurants. The hotel we decided on was the King’s Inn. It was still raining so we shacked up and watched tv, but all ended up falling asleep. We woke up and it had magically become sunny, so we walked down to the falls. We walked to the queen Victoria Place, and down to where The Maid of the Mist line up is. We got postcards and little gifts and decided to get a magnet, after I actually go on whatever. We walked back to find where dinner was, because by the time we got down too the Falls it was already late. So we walked over to the International Buffet, where they have free ice water, but it wasn't very international. Then I looked in the gift shop while Fran and Bill sat at the table writing postcards and waiting for the fireworks. When they started we set up at the wall and watched. They were coming from the American falls. They weren't that long, but we walked over to the edge of the Fall where you see the water go over. After a while we hear a girl scream. Apparently someone went over the falls, but no one had any information on it, though they did find a coat. There were a few witness but not many, and they never found the little girl. We stayed to see what happened, but ended up leaving. We walked back to the hotel and watched The Blindside and Seabiscuit. Then went to bed because we had a lot to do the next morning.

 Horseshoe Falls

 American Falls

At the Falls
Samantha

 Fran and Bill

 The American Falls

The nigh time fireworks

After a long day

When we got back, Louise was there. She is Francis Chochla daughter. She brought along her Russian student whose name escaped me, and her friend. We had sushi and dumplings to start then for the main course we had burgers and salad. After dinner we just sat around and conversed, then Ben showed up. He is Bob and Lorna’s neighbor and a heart surgeon. He invited us to his house for dessert, so after more chatting we packed into 2 cars and headed to his house. He lived kind of far away, and has nice big property. He has chickens and a dog. We went inside and sat around eating dessert and drinking, water and other stuff. Finally it was time to go home, so we said our goodbyes, packed back into the 2 cars and headed to the Shapton’s. Louise and her student and friend left, we headed inside and just sat around and talked. Then everyone went their separate ways.

 Lorna, Bob and Fran

 Bob, Bill and Lorna

Fran, Lorna and Samantha

CN Tower

I got a wakeup call cause we needed to leave kind of early. So I had breakfast then got all of our stuff together, hopped in the van then headed out. We got to Yorkdale, parked in a mall parking lot, then walked to the subway station. We got a ticket for all-day. It was really hot and humid in the station, but as soon as we got in the subway car it was a lot cooler. It was a little bit of a ride, and I have decided that I don’t like them because they stop too much. But we got to Union station then walked o the other Union station and followed the signs to the Skywalk. There was construction going on so we had to take a bit of a detour. We ended up taking the long way, and outside so I was dying, but we made it. We got tickets go to the observation deck, glass floor and the skypod. We started looking at the gift shop but didn’t get anything yet. Then Fran wanted her coffee so she got that, I got a drink and Bill wanted water for his bottle, so he found these 2 taps. One had regular water and the other gave you fuzzy water. He thought that was cool. When she was done her coffee, we headed up to the elevators. We got into the wrong line. This line was to take pictures, but Fran was like what the heck? Little did she know she would regret it once she saw the photo. Then after the photo, the line up to the elevator area was right next to it. You have to go into this machine that shoots air on you in little puffs, then someone checks your bag. After you walk to the elevator line finally. It takes 58 seconds to get up to the top. On the observation deck there were these digital binoculars which I ended up using. From there I saw the Legislative building and some college. They also have tv which show live feed of the people doing the Edge Walk. It is just walking on the outside top of the observation deck. Then we went upstairs to see the glass floor. It can hold 14 hippopotamus. It is a small area but still cool. You see down and the people look like ants.
We went back down to the observation deck and got in line for the Skypod. We were in line for an hour and in the Skypod area for about 10-15 minutes. It wasn’t something we hadn’t already seen down lower. We got back down and got in another line, a shorter line to go back down. When we got down there, that is when we got our stuff form the gift shop. Magnets and postcards of course. Then we walked outside to find a coffee shop, and we found a souvenir shop. I got a magnet of Toronto this time, and Fran, well she got more postcards. Then we walked over to Second Cup, where I updated my blog to “A better day” on Fran’s tablet. Then we headed for Union Station, but not before looking at the Royal York Hotel. On our way back we got into the topic of marriage and giving your daughter away. Fran thinks that’s dumb daughters aren’t a piece of property. Then we got on the subway and headed to the parking lot, where we got gas, then went back to Bob and Lorna’s house.

 The CN Tower
Fran

 Glass floor

 Glass floor

 Wouldn't want it to break

 The Edge Walk

Skypod
Bill, Samantha

Sudbury North

We tried to get an early start, but I don’t like waking up early. We all had oatmeal, and when we were finally ready to go, Bill had to drop off a converter at the office, but no one was there so we had to wait. The person finally arrived, so we headed off to Science North. Fran and Bill hoped to get there at 9 but we got there at 9:30, and they hoped to leave by 11. That didn’t happen. We started by watching a 4D movie about forest fires. The seats moved, water was spurted at you and there was smoke. When that was done, we started on a floor where you could go “shopping”. When you earn points and then can get things like shells, rocks, pine cones, nature things. The next floor up had live animals. There was a beaver with a tail that was too small, they think due to frost bite. There were amphibians and snakes and flying squirrels and bats and porcupines and even a skunk. It was cool.
Then nest floor had DNA things and space stuff and computer stuff. Bill tried to teach me the recessive and dominant genes, and in the cyber thing they had a smart board that I played angry birds on and a DJ thing. It was really cool. But then we had to go cause it was getting late, like not late at night but in the fact that we still had some places to go. We stopped at the cafeteria for some lunch then went to the gift shop then headed off. Oh and part of the museum is made of rock that they blasted away. When we left we made a quick detour at the giant nickel.
We were listening to the Vinyl cafe during our long drive to Calendon. I spent most of the trip sleeping, and we thought of stooping at Mid-land for this thing, but we didn’t have time. When I woke up we were stopping in Barrie for ice cream, Bill wanted it. After I went back to the car to change - It was hot! - while Fran and Bill got corn and blueberries for dinner. Then we did more driving till we got to Bob and Lorna Shapton’s. Later we went for a walk and watched the Olympics.

 A millipede
Samantha
  

 What a moose
Bill

 Lunch at the museum
Fran and Samantha

The giant nickle

Fran and Samantha