St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
We had decided during the planning of this vacation to spend two nights in St. Johnsbury for two reasons: 1) to give us a chance to decompress from the long drive on Day One; and 2) to act as start or gateway to our East Coast vacation. Well, make that three reasons: 3) Adam had discovered there was a lot happening tourism-wise in this area, so St. Johnsbury was acting as a base for information collection for future vacations.
There was no itinerary for the day. Options included visiting a local museum and planetarium or a trip to Littleton, New Hampshire (a 10 minute drive southeast). The weather forecast for today was a warm but dry day. No humidity and no oppressive heat. We decided to take advantage of the good weather and headed out to Santa's Village in Jefferson, New Hampshire (this was to be a stop on Day Three as we headed towards Bangor, Maine). It was an excellent choice. Santa's Village is about 35 minutes east of St. Johnsbury on US-2. By the time we arrived the place was alive with excitement - and Corbin was more than willing to add to that excitement. He loved the place. With no oppressive heat and humidity to wear you down, it was an enjoyable experience for all. It was one of the best outings the three of us has had. Corbin went on almost all the rides including the roller coaster, ferris wheel, log flume and multitude of other rides. We caught a cheesy show with a talking Christmas tree and four elves. But Corbin liked it and that is all that mattered. After almost 5 hours in the park, we left tired but having lots of fun.
We headed back to the hotel via a side trip south to Littleton, New Hampshire. Main Street in Littleton has won numerous awards. The place was busy. It was late in the day and Tina and Corbin were tired so we drove through and headed back to St. Johnsbury via I-93. At the hotel Corbin was itching to get back into the pool, so we spent some quality family time in the pool (which is advertised as heated but is nowhere near being heated). We had supper had a local diner. The food was good, but on the pricey side, especially after you convert to Canadian dollars. Food in the US is either dirt cheap or expensive. Seems to be no middle ground.
With Santa's Village off the list, we are making totally new plans for Day Three. Possibilities include Littleton, the Aerial Tramway at Cannon Mountain and/or the Slide Ride at Attitash. Any of these would include driving through the White Mountains area - an amazing range of mountains and valleys. Stay tuned to find out what where we went.
Brantford, Ontario to St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
The big first day of our vacation. Just under 900 km in total. Our target departure time was 6:00 am. Our actual departure time was 7:05 am. Why the difference? Seems that the combination of going to bed late and waking up too early was enough to put Corbin in a miserable place. He complained his leg hurt, his wrists hurt, that he was going to throw up, that he was not well. Yeah. What a good way to start the trip. It almost drove Adam to the brink. After 30 or so minutes, Corbin slowly came around, and we said our goodbyes and headed out. Traffic through the GTA was typical - even for a holiday. The only slow down in Toronto was due to jack-knifed truck carrying bagged ice - the irony was not lost. Shortly thereafter we stopped in Ajax for breakfast and a refuel.
The next 200 km or so were torture. You see, some time after the Highway 35/115 interchange, the 401 goes from 3 lanes to 2 lanes. Usually not a major problem, but with cottage bound traffic, it was a problem. You would be driving along and in a few seconds you were doing 20 kph or you were at a standstill. No accident. No nothing. Seems that some people had difficulty in passing vehicles, as in they would barely speed up to pass a slower moving vehicle. With the volume of traffic, that meant traffic bunched up good. At the rest stop between Napanee and Kingston, Tina took over driving duty and Corbin was given his special surprise of the trip - a Game Boy Advance SP. He was in seventh heaven.
Just inside Quebec, we were looking for a place to eat other than McDonald's, but it seems that Quebecers love McDonald's. It was not until east of Montreal that we found an alternative in Burger King. Wait. Let's go back a few minutes. Yes, Tina drove through Montreal. With Adam playing the navigator, she managed to drive through Montreal with no problem. Tina was proud of her accomplishment. After finishing a late lunch, Adam drove the final leg. We hit some light rain in the Eastern Townships, but that quickly gave way to sunny warm weather. There was very little traffic on Autoroute 55 towards Vermont. We arrived at the Canada-USA border to be greeted by a small US Custom's facility (two booths). It was amusing not having to pay a toll to enter the US. We arrived at the Comfort Inn & Suites in St. Johnsbury, Vermont around 5:00 pm. Check-in was courteous and fast. In less then an hour, we were enjoying the swimming pool. A good Day One.
Windsor to Brantford.
Why Day Zero? Well, because it's not really the first full day of our trip out east, but it is the start of vacation. Day Zero is the day where we tied up the loose ends around the house, such as, cutting the grass, getting the garbage out, cleaning the bathroom and, oh yeah, packing. We loaded the Montana and headed out to Brantford just after 4:00 pm. It was an uneventful trip. Traffic was not too bad for the last working day before a holiday weekend. The cops were out, but thankfully, they were busy handing out tickets to other drivers. Corbin was very excited about arriving in Brantford because he had a surprise waiting for him. The surprise? A new larger "treasure chest" that had a new toy waiting for him. Needless to say he was excited. It was early bed for Adam - we have a long day ahead of us tommorow.
We headed up to Goderich this weekend to participate in the Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life in memory of Mary Jean Boughner, Tina's Aunt who died just over a year ago. The Relay For Life is a 12 hour event from 7 pm to 7 am where teams of 10 take turns walking around a track. Money is raised through pledges. Our team consisted of Chris & Lisa (Team Captain) Muggridge, Bev & Gerry Muggridge, Mark & Rhonda Waldick, Scott & Robert McFarlane, Sarah & Emily Boughner, John & Lisa McFarlane and ourselves. It threatened to rain, but no rain came. It was cool night - which was good when walking but not so good when resting. By 4 am it was getting chilly and people were bundling up in sleeping bags. It was long night and everyone was tired at the end, but over $130,000 was raised at the Goderich event.
Today, Tina and Adam celebrate 10 years of marital bliss. Yes, 10 years ago, we decided to walk down the aisle and exchange vows and rings at St. Aloysius Parish in Kitchener, Ontario. It was beautiful day - warm and sunny. Not bad considering that it was supposed to rain. In a departure from other weddings, we greeted guests as they entered the Church and walked down the aisle together. After the ceremony, we headed to a small parkette to have pictures taken. A small break and freshening up and it was time to enter the reception and Mr. and Mrs. Szymczak. The reception turned out to be a rip roaring time - people from another reception down the hall were peaking in to get a glimpse of the party. We danced until god knows when. It is a day that we both will never forget.
Corbin spent his morning trying to remove a loose tooth. After several hours of tinkering, he was successful in the removal of the loose tooth. According to his EA, Corbin spent the next 30 or so minutes showing and telling everyone about his tooth and the gap in his mouth. Talk about focus. The tooth was stored in a bag stapled to his communication book, that was left behind in school. The Tooth Fairy will have to wait until Tuesday to take it way.
...Hello Wave. Yes, we finally decided to retire the Sunfire (after 10 years and 263,000 km) and get a new vehicle - a silver 2005 Pontiac Wave 5-door (aka hatchback) Uplevel. We took it out for a full day test drive this past Saturday, during the recent spring snow storm.The inclement weather made for a more realistic test drive. Tina loved it. She said it was "peppy" - which was evident to Adam as he tried to keep up with her. She also liked how the seating was more upright - similar to our Montana minivan. The car comes with automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows and locks, remote keyless alarm and entry, heated side view mirrors, and a AM/FM CD player with MP3 capability. The rear seat is a 60/40 split that not only folds flat by also can be fold forward to increase the volume of space. The engine is a 1.6L DOHC. More information is available at the GM Canada website.We are leasing the car for a period of 48 months. It's our first lease, so we hope this works out. The car comes with the standard GM warranties and roadside assistance. The Wave will be ready for pickup at Jerome Taylor this Friday at noon. Tina is a happy because she will not have to drive the gas guzzling minivan, Adam is happy to get back his gas guzzling minivan, and Corbin is, well, excited about anything new.
