Adventures of Michaelea & Jon

a Little Wet

2009-07-29T09:37:00.001-07:00

so it's been a little wet out here since I arrived. As you can see
we've had a lot of rain.

Long Lost Family

2009-07-29T09:20:00.001-07:00

On the island we stopped in at the Rose House Museum and found
ancestors from our past. It helped in being able to find out more
about the family history. Having such a common last name like
Harrison makes it really hard to find relatives and family history.

To Prince Edward County

2009-07-29T09:18:00.001-07:00

We took a ferry over to Prince Edward County and sampled cheese,
cider, and beer.

St. Lawrence Seaway

2009-07-29T09:16:00.001-07:00

Mom and I put our feet in the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Rail Fanning

2009-07-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

Even though Jon wasn't with us, I did a little rail fanning. Here are
photos from Brockville, ON. It's the first railway tunnel in Canada.
It was built for the Brockville Ottawa Railway to gain access to the
St. Lawrence Seaway.

Wandering at the cottage

2009-07-29T08:07:00.001-07:00

Cameron's first driving lession

2009-07-29T08:04:00.001-07:00

Uncle Bob took Cameron out for his first lesson on driving the
"tractor tractor."

For the Boys

2009-07-29T08:01:00.001-07:00

As we were walking through the Haliburton Arts and Crafts Festival
Julia pointed out this t-shirt on one of the boys there. I had to
take a photo of it. We also found a mirrored medicine cabinet and
toilet paper roll holder for the upstairs bathroom.

New toy

2009-07-24T16:21:00.001-07:00

Dad picked up a submersable pump so that he didn't have to bail the
boat by hand anymore. Especially since there has been a lot a water
this year.

Julia jumps in

2009-07-24T16:19:00.001-07:00

It wasn't the first thing she did, but it was the second. After
dinner she jumped in. The temperature of the water is about 20
degrees C.

Fishin'

2009-07-24T16:16:00.001-07:00

I caught three fish, but only landed two of them. They are rock bass
and not wanted in the lake so we take them out and put them in the
frog pond for the racoons to eat.

Digging the Ditch

2009-07-24T16:15:00.001-07:00

Dad was busy playing with his tractor digging the ditch.

Day 3 July 22, 2009

2009-07-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

Dad and I returned this fire pump to location #3 at Paul's Island.

My Summer Holiday

2009-07-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

Day 1 July 20, 2009
found me arriving in Toronto at 12:40pm local time and then Mom and
Dad picked me up and we headed to Whitby to have lunch and visit one
of Big Print's customers Dave at Sign Design. After our visit we went
and picked up a few groceries then took the scenic route up Simcoe Dr
North towards the cottage. We stopped at the Kawartha Dairy for ice
cream for dinner.

Day 2 July 21, 2009
I explored the beach and took these amazing photos. Jill and Dave
came over for dinner and then we went to fire rock for a fire in the
evening. We watched the fire until it started raining, then ran into
their covered porch to take shelter. We played Euchre (I needed the
practice) for a few hands then the "brother's" heads were getting too
big so once it stopped raining Dad and I walked home for the night.

Day 17: The final stretch

2009-01-04T18:21:00.001-08:00

We were early for every place last night that we figured we'd be early into Edmonton, AB. But as after went to sleep somewhere before Saskatoon, it all went awry. We woke up at 4:30am to find out we weren't even at Wainwright, SK which we were supposed to be at 3 something in the morning, so at that point we knew we'd be at least two hours late getting in. It turns out we were two and a half hours late.

Lynn and Lawrie (Jon's Mom and Step-Dad) were waiting for us patiently as they didn't phone ahead to find out if the train was delayed. It took a little while for everyone to disembark and then collect the checked baggage. Since we had one suitcase checked in, we also had to wait.

Getting out of Edmonton was easy, there wasn't much traffic that early in the morning on a Sunday. There was a few slippery spots on the road, but nothing we couldn't handle, which is more than I can say for the Jeep we saw sitting upside down on the highway.

We arrived into Calgary around 12:30pm dropped our baggage off and exchanged our gifts for Lynn and Lawrie. Then we headed over to Original Joe's for some lunch. After our wonderful meal we said our good byes and parted company. Lynn and Lawrie were off to Chris and Geneva's and then off to Banff for the night before heading to the West Coast.

We made a quick stop at home to get some shopping bags and gift certificate for Marks Work Wearhouse and then headed out to get Jon some Steel Toed shoes for his new job he starts tomorrow morning at 7am.

I hope everyone has enjoyed our adventure as much as we had.
Michaelea

Day 16: To Saskatoon

2009-01-03T15:36:00.001-08:00

We left Winnipeg 30 minutes late, but I'm sure they can make up the time. We are just passing close to Brandon right now as I write this at 2:55pm Central Standard Time. Jon and I were in the 2nd seating for lunch this time which was supposed to start at 12:30pm but was delayed a bit by our late departure. We both had the Steak Salad which was wonderful. There was a lot of tomatoes in it, so Jon gave me all his to eat. For dessert we had a choice of Caramel cake or Maple ice cream. I had the ice cream and Jon had the Caramel cake. Both were yummy.

Michaelea

We are now stopped in Melville, SK. I have fallen asleep a few times in my chair and Jon laughed at me when I woke up the many times. I saw a group of about 12 deer off in a field and we have been seeing lots of cows and horses out in the farmers fields. We arrived an hour early so Jon is meeting a friend from T2000 outside while I stay warm inside. Many other people are outside catching a smoke, since the next chance will most likely be in Saskatoon at 11pm tonight.

Ken is our new attendant for today. The crew switched out in Winnipeg, MB. No offense to the new crew, but the first crew seemed friendlier and had more manners. The our waitress in the Dining car always took the ladies orders first and then the mens, no matter whom belonged to who.

Day 16: Winnipeg Morning

2009-01-03T07:27:00.000-08:00

We woke up around 7am and Jon had a shower before we got into the Station in Winnipeg. We were going to be 1/2 an hour early. Since there was no staff outside when we arrived they didn't let anyone off the train. Jon and I headed for breakfast where I had French Toast with yogurt to start and Jon had pancakes with muslix to start. We then went back to our room and got dressed for the -18C weather. As we were getting off Dennis our attendant said to me that it wasn't that cold outside and that I was dressed for the arctic since I was wearing my new rabbit fur lined hat with ear flaps. I just didn't want to be cold. They are allowing guests to get on and off the train until 10am and then they are closing the platform. We can start getting back on at 11am if we wish and the train departs at 12:30pm. We are going to head over the the Forks and see what is at the marketplace, but I thought I would update the blog for those who check often.

Michaelea

Day 15: On VIA's Canadian

2009-01-03T07:26:00.001-08:00

This morning breakfast was being served at 7:00am to 8:30am. We headed over to the dining car around 7:45am, right after Jon had his shower. There was a lot to choose from. Jon ordered the cinnamon bun which was fried in butter, with oatmeal to start. I had eggs benedict for my breakfast. We both thoroughly enjoyed breakfast.

After breakfast we spent some of the morning in our room watching the scenery and doing the digital thing (iPods and Computer games). We headed to the Park Car where we met lots of great people and were trying to maintain three or four conversations. We had a layover in Foleyet because we were way early. We weren't supposed to be there until 11:16 and we were about two hours early. Michelle delayed her presentation of Frequently Asked Questions until we were on the road again. We even quizzed her on a couple of things.

Just after Michelle's presentation we had first seating for Lunch which is the seating we chose for today, so we again headed to the Dining Car. Jon and I both had the Lamb Chops and mmmm were they good. For dessert Jon had the vanilla ice cream (some of us heard "pail of ice cream" when the attendant told the other table) and I had the pecan pie. For the afternoon we spent most of it in the Park Car enjoying the view and we stopped in Hornepayne for about an hour, because again we were early. Jon got out of the train and took some pictures and ran over to the general store to pick up some junk food. It was pretty cold outside about -13C. I stayed inside the car and visited with the other people in the car. There is one guy named Cash who calls Jon, Johnny because then it's Johnny & Cash. He is very talkative and has lots of stories to tell. He's from Vancouver Island traveling from Halifax. He's trying out all the different classes of service during this trip. He started with Comfort Class and has worked his way up to Silver and Blue Class which is 1st Class.

Michelle waited until we left Hornepayne before putting on her trivia game. Everyone was asked 38 questions and two of them were two pointers. The highest score was the older couple in front of us who scored 38, we scored 32 and if I didn't listen to Jon on a couple of the questions we would have had 34 points. The first place winners won a CD of Music to Travel By and a badge and the rest of us had the choice of a keychain, pin, badge, or bookmarks. Jon and I both chose the bookmarks, as we can always use bookmarks and we already have too many key chains. The remainder of the afternoon was spent visiting and watching the sun set over the Northern Ontario frozen lakes and rivers as well as a whole lot of trees.

Around 5:30pm the first call for Dinner was made and we headed to the Dining Car again. The Dining Car is three cars in front of us, so at least we are getting some exercise along the way. Dinner Jon and I had the Prime Rib dinner which came with soup I had the fish chowder and Jon had the Tomato and Red Pepper Bisque and then we had starter salad with a Maple Mayonnaise Dressing, boy was it good! The attendant came by and gave us all fresh baked dinner rolls which were still warm when delivered to the table, and then shortly after that our dinner was served. Again mmmm mmmm good! Dessert was a choice of Creme Brule Cheesecake or a Silver and Blue Chocolate Tort. We went with the Chocolate tort, which Jon nicknamed "Death by Chocolate" and boy was it. As our friend Cam would say it was disgusting, it's a good thing we ate it all so that no one else would have to suffer the torture of finishing it. After dinner we retired to our room where I am writing this and Jon is playing on my iPod. We have no idea when these updates will be sent out, maybe in Winnipeg, but we are still writing in hopes that they get out sooner or later.

Dennis, our attendant just checked in with us to see if we want our beds made up now or a little later. He was going to grab a bite to eat. We told him to go and get a bite to eat and then come back to make up our rooms. I am looking forward to sleeping better tonight, but we will see. Breakfast tomorrow starts at 6:30am.

We are an hour early into Armstrong, ON which is where we are to change our clocks back one hour. If all the people we are supposed to pick up are at the station we can continue on, if not we have to wait until they get there or until 10:19pm to depart. Looks like we may be early along most of our trip, so Lynn and Lawrie, phone 1-888-VIA-RAIL to find out if we are early into Saskatoon, SK if you are meeting us there for hugs. We will be into Winnipeg and have a layover of about 4 hours. Tomorrow lunch is at 12:30 for us and dinner is at 7pm.

Michaelea

Day 14 - Returning home

2009-01-03T06:41:00.001-08:00

Ten minutes to 9pm and about an hour and a bit away from our scheduled
departure from Toronto.

It's been a relatively quiet week, log splitting, playing Skip-Bo (a
card game), watching TV, and basically enjoying the company of
Michaelea's parents. We visited with a couple new neighbors of mom
and dad and then had quick good-byes and I drove the rental car back
to Toronto. Took route 45 west to Orillia and then south on 11 and
400 to the 401. Stopped in at the Turriton's to say hello, have a bit
of a visit while we're in town, (Tony is the newsletter editor for
Transport 2000 Ontario, and I stayed with the Turriton's back in May
when I came out for a Transport 2000 board meeting in Ottawa.) and
kill some time since we made good time into Toronto (it helps when
everyone on the 400 is doing 120kph, while the speed limit on this six
lane highway is supposed to be 100.)

Returning the rental car turned out to be a rather interesting
experience...Well, not so much returning it, but actually getting into
the parking lot where we were to return it. Basically, we were both
shown and reminded (Jon and Michaelea respectively) how much driving
in downtown Toronto really Sucks. Especially when there's a hockey
game going on at the Air Canada Centre, which happens to be directly
south of Union Station. Lots of pedestrians, no end of "no left
turn's" on the streets we needed to turn left onto, and in general how
traffic just loved to screw around with us. After turning around,
doing a reverse/u-turn in the middle of an intersection, we finally
managed to learn how to get northbound on York street just south of
Front Street and then into the parking lot for returning the car.
What a relief! (Next time, we want to take the bus out to Haliburton
and save ourselves the hassle of driving there...)

Had an inkling to have dinner at a decent restaurant in downtown
Toronto and went for a walk after checking our luggage in at the
Luggage counter. We obviously went the wrong direction and ended up
in a whole ton of construction, just west of Union Station. Nothing
worthy, so found our way into the Skywalk between Union Station and
the Skydome (now known as the Rogers Centre, where the Toronto Blue
Jays and Toronto Argonauts play) and walked back indoors to where we
were going to find "something" to eat. Ended up being Harvey's. Not
really noteworthy other than it was food, done reasonably well for the
price.

Checked in at the Panorama Lounge (we were the first ones here), had
our tickets lifted and shortly afterward, Robert, the Dining Car
Service Manager advised he would be taking reservations aboard the
train tonight. I pretty much instantly recognized him from a previous
trip where George W, Michael C. and myself (all part of T2000) enjoyed
a trip west in the Park Car with a bottle of Canadian Sparkling Wine
(aka Canadian Champagne), and he recognized me as well. Cherie is our
Service Manager to Winnipeg, someone I haven't yet seen aboard in my
travels on the Canadian. From most indications, this should be a good
trip west. If nothing else, I'm sure it's not going to be better than
our trip aboard Amtrak!

Jon

We boarded the train around 9:40pm and we were greeted by our car
attendant Dennis who took our small suitcase and led us to our room.
We checked the large suitcase as we shouldn't need anything out of it
for the remainder of the trip. It is Room F on Car 122. It is a large
room with really comfy chairs, which you can move around, a water
closet (bathroom with just a toilet) a sink and several mirrors. After
dropping our stuff off in the room, Jon bolted to the park car to sit
in the front seat to watch our departure. I on the other hand stayed
behind and organized our bags before heading to the park car. The park
car is the last car on the train with the dome on top and the curved
rear end. In the Park Car they offered Champagne and hor'douveres. I
had a glass and Jon had a glass and a half. The Champagne went to my
head much faster than the wine and beer I was drinking at Mom and
Dad's. Only small amounts, I didn't want to get sick. It was really
nice to have the Bon Voyage Reception while our rooms were being made
up.

Compared to the beds on Amtrak these beds were luxury. They are wider
on top and bottom than the Amtrak and more comfortable. They also give
you two really comfortable full sized pillows and a comforter whereas
Amtrak gives you a travel pillow and travel blanket like you would get
in an airplane. Thin and small. There was no want for extra heat on
The Canadian. As per usual the first night is hard to get used to the
moving and bumping so all the sleep we really received is the "travel
sleep" where you are virtually asleep, but aware of what is going on
around you.

Michaelea

Day 10

2008-12-28T20:16:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Welcome to the brown north!

Whoever disclaims that Global Warming is happening should be looking at our weather here in the boonies of Donald, Ontario (Koshlong Lake Road, off Haliburton County Road 1). We've had rain the past couple days, temperatures in the low single digits (metric...this means it's in the 40's-50's in fahrenheit), and nearly all the snow we've had here has all but melted away. The lake is breaking up to a certain extent (wasn't ever solid enough for people to go out on the ice either...so much for Michaelea's wish to go ice-fishing while we were out here), and if all that wasn't enough...we're getting so much wind that we've had power bumps pretty much all day and a 4-5 hour long outage. Not quite long enough to warrant getting the generator out of the garage, but long enough to make us think about what needs to be done to get the residence ready for a longer outage, in weather that's potentially just as ugly. In any event, I'm thinking we'll be getting appropriate stuff done tomorrow to make sure we're ready for such a potential eventuality.

Dial-up internet remains a hate for me. Web surfing is pretty much out of the question, and downloading 308 spam messages over dialup is painful at best. At least the home-brewed router (using the iBook G4's modem bridged to the airport connection was easy and reliable) works!

Had a few of the Oshawa based Harrison's (and Chaputs) up to see us today. Nice to visit, right in the middle of the power outage. :-)

Couple days ago, did up a few logs into wood suitable for the wood stove downstairs (thus the lack of worry about heat in the house) with the hydraulic log splitter, and yesterday, Michaelea officially named "Hazel"...that is, she applied the late Aunt Hazel's signature to Dad's new John Deere tractor which he's using for landscaping stuff and snow-blowing. We also did it's first oil and transmission fluid change. Only one broken socket in the ordeal of getting the oil pan drain plug undone! (Doubt we'll ever tighten it up that much again to need a breaker bar and a sturdy socket to get it undone!)

Other than that, life is progressing out here. We'll be posting photos and so forth when we've got broadband internet once again...

Until next time,

Jon

Day 6

2008-12-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

Arrived into Union Station last night a little on the late side, give or take about 50 minutes down. Apparently some people on the train only started gathering their rather sizable pile of luggage when the train stopped at Aldershot. The service manager was rather clear for the stops a little further on about getting luggage ready prior to arrival at Oakville if that's where they were getting off.

Stayed at the Strathcona Hotel, the walk to there was a little...interesting shall we say. Not that the distance was any issue, since it was only a block and a bit away from Union Station, but that the snow on the ground made for tough walking and my feet are paying for it. The Sorels work wonderfully at keeping feet warm and dry, rather important with the slush on the sidewalks and really watered down slush at the curb edges crossing the road. But they're not made for a lot of walking and with the condition they're in means that feet move around a bit and my feet are now quite raw. I am quite happy to have running shoes to provide some better support to the feet.

Anyhow, back to the hotel. Everything was good, though internet isn't free, and the room was a little on the small side. But the bed was really comfortable, which after all the "all-nighters" we've pulled over the past few days is Very Appreciated. Answered the alarm on my cell this morning and then promptly fell back asleep. Woke up a little over an hour later when Michaelea advised we'd overslept. I continued sleeping. :-)

Checked out after packing up everything and having a shower. Back over to Union station and found the walk a lot wetter this morning than yesterday. Got to the car rental place (Alamo/Enterprise) and went through the process. The rental agent must've been quite sympathetic to our "adventure" and put me on as a second driver for no charge (regular value of $11/day - When I heard that price, I had pretty much decided that Michaelea would be the driver) and the vehicle we got was considerably "upgraded" from what I was expecting. I had requested a compact car (ie: a Chev Cobalt), and what we got was a Chrysler Sebring! Leather seats, much more room, and potentially even Sirius Radio. Not that we need it since we brought our iPods and the RoadTrip to play our music on the drive.

Departure out of Toronto was rather uneventful, the Don Valley Parkway moved pretty well and the 401 east was pretty good too. Around Oshawa we had to pass by a car which had done something stupid and removed the front bumper at speed, spinning out as well. We followed the ambulance in, but traffic moved around the wreckage pretty smoothly. The rest of the 401 was in wet condition, no worries atll. Once onto the lesser highways, we're noticing a fair amount more slush and lots of fog, but otherwise, no issues for us. Michaelea's even following the rather pedantic speed limits. (out in Alberta, these roads would be rated for at least 90 or 100 rather than 80...)

So we're definitely into dial-up internet after this update (we'll do a bit of war-driving to post this) and enjoying our holiday time with the folks...Next update when we have a few spare minutes.

Cheers to you and yours!
Jon

Day 5 Night

2008-12-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

We are finally aboard VIA 1 from Windsor to Toronto. The train got going a little late, which will probably mean a night in Toronto for us. Which looks like it's going to be the best thing anyway considering the weather. We will get a room in a Hotel not far from the Toronto Union Station and then pick up the rental car in the morning and then head out. We are hoping that we will be going against the flow of traffic in the morning. We are happy. They have fed us good food and wine, liquor, coffee, and tea, juice. Any type of drink you want. I had a small glass of wine. It's my yearly drink since I am allergic to alcohol. If the entire trip was this nice there would have been a lot less frustration.

Michaelea

So we're going to definitely miss the 10:10 deadline for the car rental. Looked up on the interweb a few hotels close to Union Station and have decided on the Strathcona Hotel which is all of a block and a bit away from the front door of Union Station. It's really _really_ nice to have internet access onboard the train, something I wish would expand out of the Windsor-Quebec Corridor. It'd be handy to have on the Canadian when you'd like to check in on e-mail while you're crossing the country.

I'm glad to have introduced Michaelea to VIA 1...She gets to experience first-hand why I always prefer travelling first class! Life is good at 95mph in the VIA 1 car...

As we don't have internet at the hotel, we'll likely be signing off on this for tonight and perhaps will post one more update before we head out to the hinterland, where we'll be on dial-up internet...Yuck.

Jon

Day 5 Afternoon/Evening

2008-12-23T13:36:00.001-08:00

We're back in Canada!!!

Yes, it's only Windsor, but at least we're in Canada. Arrived into Detroit (and the station there leaves a lot to be desired...) and had the station agent make a couple phone calls to find us a cab willing to take us across the border into Windsor. Cabs unfortunately are pretty pricey affairs, about $45 flat rate, plus the tolls (about $7.50 US for a round trip). Probably either of our most expensive cab ride yet, and the distance/time wasn't too bad for us, though the bigger problem was for the cabbie going back home. 1) He can't take a fare back to Detroit to alleiviate the trip and 2) the line up going through the tunnel to Detroit was stretched the entire distance of the tunnel and out past the toll gates!

For us in the back seat, the border crossing was pretty smooth, only a few questions and that's it. We had more issues with the customs agent wanting exact placement of the appropriate windows at his window and the cabbie didn't quite comply as nicely as he could've? In any event, we're back...Lunch was typical Canadian Fare. Sandwich or Chili at Tim Hortons, which thankfully is only a block away from the VIA station. I managed to secure a couple tickets for us from Windsor to Toronto while we were stuck waiting for another Amtrak train to pass us outside of Ann Arbour, MI...Thanks to the folks who left their internet connection open for us to "borrow" for a few minutes!

Train is supposed to arrive in Windsor at 5pm, turn around and head back for Toronto at 6pm. Hopefully we can keep to the schedule or else we'll be looking for a hotel tonight in the centre of the universe since the car rental desk closes at 10pm. We've got agreement with them to hang around for 10 minutes after that, in the event our train is on time and arrives at 6 minutes after 10pm. Mich would love to be able to drive up tonight and see her parents, but we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, we're waiting at Windsor's train station.

Jon

PS: We decided for kicks to see what sort of time the Lake Shore Limited left Chicago and see whether we made the right decision to go for Detroit. Sure enough, we absolutely did. The LSL left Chicago around 1:30-2pm this afternoon, which would've guaranteed a missed connection in Rochester or Buffalo and another night in a hotel and another wait for the train to Toronto. Yikes! (and for those wondering the folks waiting for the Empire Builder left about an hour early for the next day's departure time (ie: they're about 23 hours behind schedule!!!)

Day 5 Morning

2008-12-23T06:01:00.001-08:00

And the adventure continues...But it's getting to be not so fun any longer. After we signed off on last night's update, we tried to get some form of rest on the floor of the Metropolitan lounge, and during which time, things started to get somewhat ugly. Information was not forthcoming from the people who had it to the people who wanted to share it with us. Conductors came and went with tickets and assurances for those ticketed on the Empire Builder (trains 7 and 27 to Seattle and Portland respectively) and yet the train was not being boarded.

The Lake Shore Limited was even worse...guesses were made as to when the train would be ready to go, but those times came and went and nothing further.

So a few people were demanding to be put up in a hotel but due to the time of day (so late at night, it's morning), the agents in the lounge were not able to help out in that respect. Legal actions were threatened (only in America!), people started rushing the desk, and it wasn't until an Amtrak Police agent came in and very loudly and firmly got everyone back under control.

A little while later (give or take 2:15am), train 354 to Detroit was announced as being ready for boarding. This was a train due to leave Chicago around 6pm but didn't due to much the same reasons why the other trains weren't leaving either (frozen equipment, lack of locomotives, etc.).

So with no news about the Lake Shore Limited, I checked out what sort of availability VIA Rail had out of Windsor. Sure enough, there's space available from Windsor (just across the river from Detroit) to Toronto, and if we're lucky, we'll get into Toronto around 5ish pm as opposed to 8ish...Provided of course that we wouldn't end up with yet another misconnect between the LSL and the Maple Leaf. So, went to talk to Isabelle (one of the Met Lounge agents) and asked if there was space aboard the Wolverine she just announced boarding for. She did, so I said we'll take the train to Detroit and then make our own way to Windsor and VIA. We're now aboard that train, with a somewhat quirky arrangement. Our entire coach of passengers going through to Detroit is sitting backwards, the engine's pushing us (I'm not sure whether we've got a Cab Car or another engine at the "front" of the train), and the door at the back end is stuck open. We're getting a little chilled as a result, but managing to get some sleep in the trip. I gave Michaelea the idea to use the toque as an eye mask, and once she removed her glasses, worked fine. Managed to get some decent sleep too. Me, I got a few winks here and there, and hopefully will get a few more aboard VIA. After all, if the car rental is still available (and bloody well should be given that I made a couple phone calls yesterday to Alamo's main call centre and the Toronto desk to advise of our late arrival and to NOT give our car away since we're no-shows for the 22nd), we've got ourselves a few more hours at the wheel to get to the cottage outside of Haliburton.

So, upcoming will be arrival into Detroit (hopefully not much more than an hour) and then get the Maple Leaf refunded, and find a cab willing to take us across the border into Canada.

Wheeee!

Jon

Day 4 night

2008-12-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

They still can not get us into a sleeper for our train tonight. We were supposed to start boarding at 8pm for our train which was supposed to leave at 10pm, but it is now 9:30pm and they still have not called our train. We don't know when we are going to be able to leave at this point. We are hoping that it won't be too much longer.

Update: it's now almost one am, and still no news for our train. Several other trains have left but no word on ours... We were told midnight but that has come and gone without any further news. {sigh}

Day 4 Evening

2008-12-22T16:47:00.001-08:00

Amtrak put us up in the Hyatt for the afternoon. We jumped in the
shower as soon as we got into the room on the 20th floor, it was so
nice to get clean. After our showers we went to find a bite to eat.
Out of the 4 restaurants in the hotel the most expensive one was open.
We each had chicken caesar salad. I ordered a ginger ale and the
waiter got me a regular one and then he came back with one that he
mixed himself which was lighter and less fizzy. It was nice. We then
headed back to the hotel room and took a nap for the afternoon. I
still woke up with a migrane, but felt refreshed. We are now back at
the Amtrak station waiting for 8pm which is when we are supposed to be able to start boarding our train. I am in the "Sleeper Car" special
waiting room and Jon is out exploring the train station and seeing if
we can get a sleeper on the car. Due to the large amount of delays we
may just get lucky and get one.

There is so little room left that I am sitting on the floor behind one
of the chairs. There are lots of people standing as well. They just
told about 10 trains that they are delayed and that they will not be
getting dinner on the train. They are encouraged to go and get
something in the food court and that they would be re-imbursed for the cost of the meal. Up to $18.00 per adult and up to $9.00 for kids.
Jon went and checked for sleepers and unfortunately, no luck. We'll try talking to the conductor to see if anyone missed their connection (like us last night) and left some space open. Jon also grabbed some goodies for our trip, some cinnabon cinnamon rolls, plus some assorted junk food for us while we're waiting or on the train.

The Adventure continues!

Day 4 Morning

2008-12-22T08:38:00.001-08:00

We have arrived in Chicago and are now sorting things out at the station. We were booked on the Lakeshore Limited to Rodchester for last night in a sleeper, but now are booked for tonight in coach. At this point we didn't care we just wanted to get on a train in the right direction. The people going to Detroit got bussed there since the train was cancelled so plan B wasn't going to work, not only that but we would have missed those connections as well. Jon is calling the car rental place to make sure that they hold our car reservation for another day and now they inform me that we can get a hotel and they will give us money for a taxi and a couple of meals. Once Jon's back we will look into that option. I could really use a shower right now. I have clean clothes on, but my hair is really feeling dirty and the shower Jon took on the train was a quick cold shower so I'm sure he'd like to get clean too.

So in all if the rest of the trip goes well we should arrive at Mom & Dad's late on the 23rd or morning of the 24th.

Day 4 morning

2008-12-22T08:16:00.001-08:00

Around 5:20am, we were woken up by an announcement from Charles to announce the first and last call for breakfast in the diner, and that he would want access to the room before Chicago as he wanted off the train as quickly as possible. I think the rest of us were in full agreement. Arrival in Chicago is slated to be arond 8:30am, which all but kills our chances of getting the Wolverine to Detroit and then Windsor to Toronto today. We'll have to wait and see what the options are for us to get to Toronto. All we hope that it's not on a bus!

Pulling into Milwaukee and hopefully we can find a wi-fi spot to post this and last night's message. Most of the hotspots which have shown up on the computer are all locked, and that's if they show up at all in the first place.

Breakfast this morning was pretty disappointing for Jon, as they were serving Scrambled Eggs and French Toast. That's it! For those who
have never had breakfast with Jon, he's never enjoyed or tolerated
eating food whose primary ingredient is Eggs. Nothing for cereal,
toast, etc. He went to the lounge car and found little there in the frozen space worth the price being asked, so he's been munching on cookies to take the hunger pangs off.

The adventure continues...

Day 3 Evening

2008-12-22T05:18:00.000-08:00

We're still moving, thankfully. Passed through Fargo, ND
approximately 16.5 hours behind. On the bright side, we'll get a full
night to sleep in for arrival into Chicago...

We had lunch in the diner with a couple who boarded in Portland,
headed for Columbus, Wisconsin. They're in coach and one of them
isn't taking the night in coach very well... We had the Angus
Burgers, served with Chips. Now, bear in mind, these aren't the
"English" chips, as it's pretty dangerous to have a deep fryer aboard
a train. (A good bump happens pretty often, and I can only imagine
the horror of scalding oil on a cook's hands!) Of course, good news
with the bad. We were parked at Minot, ND getting various things with
the train corrected, one of which was a frozen shower drain on our
sleeper, which was fixed just as we were called for lunch. The car
attendant said that due to the major cold, the drain was freezing
solid and requiring a blow torch to unblock. He said that if we
wanted to use the shower to do it quickly after it was unblocked. The
shower's been well used afterwards, thankfully hasn't been blocked up
again, but the water heater is barely functional. Takes the water
from 4 degrees celcius to maybe 15 degrees. Needless to say, it's
still this ->||<- cold!

Weather is warming up a little bit as we approach Chicago. Defect
detectors have been reading not much better than -9F for temperatures,
and is now fully dark. Not terribly surprising on the shortest day of
the year.

Off to dinner now...just got the call for our dinner reservation.

Dinner was good we both had the Flat Iron Steak dinner which included
a baked potato, mixed vegetables, and a starter salad. Dinner was
really good and filling. For dessert Michaelea had chocolate icecream
and I had vanilla.
After dinner the showers were unblocked, but there wasn't much in the
way of hot water. Jon tried having a shower and it was a quick on. I
didn't even try. Charles our attendant stopped in to make sure Jon got
his shower and to see if we wanted our beds made up. We decided we
would get the beds done now so that he can get some rest before
Minneapolis/St. Paul. We will try again to get an internet connection
there.

Breakfast if we want it is going to be served between 5:30am and 7am
tomorrow morning to allow all of us getting off a chance for something
to eat, since we are going to be into Chicago at 8am. We were supposed
to be there at 3:45pm this afternoon.

Day 3

2008-12-21T05:24:00.000-08:00

We woke up sort of, since we never did really go to sleep just stayed
in that travel sleep not quite asleep but aware of your surroundings,
at 7am Mountain Time with a Station stop and the announcement for
breakfast. It is -27F outside right now -33C or just under. The
scenery is farmland and hills spotted with the odd tree here and
there. We have seen 4 pheasants as we go by. It is much like the
Alberta scenery. We are now passing Bainville which has a bunch of
pump jacks scattered in the field and a cemetery. The sun is now
cresting the hills and spreading a warm glow on everything despite the
cold.

We went for breakfast in the Dining car. They called our names and
since our car is at the front of the train and the dining car is near
the back it took a long time to get there. They even did a second
calling for our names, we were only one car away at that point. Jon
had the Continental Breakfast with oatmeal and a biscuit and I had the
french toast. We sat with another young couple going to Detroit to
visit his parents.

Just out of Minot the operating crew ran out of hours. They are only
allowed to be working for 12 hours and not a mintue more, so as i
update this note we are waiting for the "dog catch" crew (Engineers
and Conductors) to arrive. I guess that's what happens when your train
is 14-15 hours late. We figure we'll be into Chicago around 7am on the
22nd and then we (us and Amtrak's Customer Relations desk in Union
Station) need to figure out what to do from there.

We are haning out in our room watching the scenery and playing games.
We would go to the Sightseer Lounge, but one of them is being used for
extra Coach passengers and the other one is really cold. I guess there
are advantages to being close to the engine when it is so cold
outside. When we walk through the cars on the way to the Dining Car
the temperature seems to drop the farther away from the engine we are.

We have seen more pheasants and grouse along the sides of the tracks.
The scenery still looks like prairie, but there are a few more trees
now, most likely planted by the original farmers.

The crew is now changed out and we are stopped in Minot to pick up
passengers and unthaw heating systems and water systems. Jon is hoping
that they'll get the showers running.
If you get this that means the freight train has passed and I'll get
the signal back from the houses across the street.

Day 2: Evening

2008-12-20T21:45:00.001-08:00

We sat in the waiting room at the Shelby, MT train station. There were movies on, but due to the large amount of people waiting for the train going West it was too noisy to hear it, so I bought a word search magazine and Jon and I worked on it until out butts were too sore to sit on and we walked around the small station, played games and talked to the other people in the station. Quite a few freight trains were getting through before the Westbound train got in. Jon ran out and took pictures of most of them. The westbound train came in at 7:30pm, only about two hours late. We wish ours was only that late. Everyone in the station was really nice. After the westbound train boarded there were only 5 of us left in the waiting room until around 10:30 when more people started arriving. We ended up eating our leftover pizza at around 9pm. The station manager let us use the microwave to heat up the pizza and wings. At the time I write this we are still waiting. By the way the windchill is -37F outside which is about -38C, -40 is when it equals out. If the train does show up at 1:05 as they are now predicting we will get into Chicago at around midnight on the 22nd of December and then we still have to make our way to Canada. We will miss our connection in Chicago to Rodchester or Buffalo, and the following train is solidly booked, so we're not sure what we're doing once we get there. We may take a train to Detroit and take a Taxi across the border to Windsor, ON and take the VIA into Toronto from there rent a car to get to Haliburton. That's just a guess. We really don't know at this point and are calmly taking it as it comes. It's all part of the adventure.

Day 2 Afternoon

2008-12-20T15:23:00.001-08:00

Afternoon of Day 2:
We are currently sitting in the Shelby, Montana USA Train station waiting for our train which is over 11 hours late to arrive. Murray stayed with us for most of the day and we took a quick trip to Havre, MT to do some railfanning. We went to the Amtrak station to see how late the train was. We found out that tomorrow's trains were cancelled. We then went to the railway museum and looked around for a little while before going to K-mart and Wal-mart Superstore.
We decided to have a late lunch at Pizza Hut in Shelby since we didn't know when our next meal would be. We now have pizza and wings leftover for our dinner/snack tonight. Either that or we share with the others in the station.
Stay tuned for our next chapter of our adventure..

Day 2 Morning

2008-12-20T07:22:00.001-08:00

We stayed in the Comfort Inn at Shelby
We woke up to more freezing temperatures. We know the train is going to be late, we just don't know by how much. Today is going to be an adventure! Now we're off for breakfast.

Christmas Trip 2008 Day 1

2008-12-19T21:18:00.001-08:00

We left Calgary at 5:05pm on Friday December 19th in Murray's truck. Due to the bad weather we didn't go through the city, but took hwy 24 South to Lethbridge. The roads were fairly good with a few icy sections.
We headed south to the border at Coutes and then to Shelby. We arrived in Shelby at 10pm. The border guard at Coutes was really nice. He is a rail fan too. We invited him to Calgary for the Supertrain show that we
are involved in.

New Kids on the Block

2008-11-22T16:11:00.000-08:00

My sister, Julia and I went to the New Kids concert on November 19th, 2008. It had been 19 years since we first saw them in Toronto at the Maple Leaf Gardens. I was 14 and my sister was 12.

The stage looked similar to the one they used the first time, but it's had a few modifications. We had slightly better seats this time as we were behind the stage the first time. Also the first time there were so many screaming girls that you couldn't hear the show. This time was a little better, but it was still lots of screaming women.

Lady Gaga and Natasha Beddingfield opened the show. I didn't care for Lady Gaga's show as she only directed it to the people directly in front of her and not to the rest of the crowd. Natasha Beddingfield put on a great show and she directed it to everyone. She sounds as good live as she does on her recordings. I had a great time at the show and enjoyed it more than I expected to.

Bloomin Inn November 2008

2008-11-22T16:07:00.000-08:00

For the November Long weekend Suzanne, Melissa and Michaelea went away for a scrapbooking retreat at the Bloomin Inn, in Pincher Creek, AB.

Greater Edmonton Train Show (GETS)

2008-09-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Our layout is the on behind the layout in the forefront of the photo.

This year for the Greater Edmonton Train Show we decided not to put a module in and only go up for Saturday since Jon had to work on Sunday afternoon and we wouldn't be there for tear down. After some thought Jon decided that we should go up on Friday instead so that he could help with setup. I told him to go without me since I really couldn't be away from work for the entire day. He headed up with Murray on Friday morning and I headed up after leaving work at 2pm. The drive was pretty uneventful, but there was lots of traffic.

For Friday night dinner Jon and I usually go to the Fantasy Grill and enjoy caesar salad made at our table. This year was no different. We were able to get away just before 8pm. When we were being seated we asked if we could be seated in Wallace's section as he is our favorite waiter there. He came to Canada from Hong Kong and out of the 15 years that he's been here he has worked at the Fantasy Grill for 14 of them. He recognized us from previous years and treated us very well. He gave us some extra service above and beyond the usual. We felt special and very well taken care of. The chef even came out to see how we were doing.

This year we chose to stay at the Super 8 at the corner of 170 Street and the Yellowhead Hwy. It was a nice clean hotel, but nothing special.

Saturday morning we headed over to the VIA station to purchase our tickets for our trip at Christmas from Toronto to Edmonton and then went to the Mayfield Inn Conference Centre to 'run" trains. The layout ran smoothly for the majority of the day and then we headed over to Fort Edmonton for playing and great food. Dan and George were the big winners in the raffles. We headed back to the Hotel for a quick sleep and up and at 'em for the next morning for a nice Sunday drive back to Calgary.

Alberta Free-Mo 2008

2008-09-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

The model railway group we belong to has an annual event the second weekend after the long weekend in August in Big Valley, Alberta where we set up our modules and make a huge layout. Lots of different Free-mo groups join us. This year on the way back I managed to catch some great photos of lightning.

Pelican Safari

2008-09-22T20:36:00.001-07:00

On August 3rd Julia and I went on a Pelican Safari. We had to trek over rocks and through the woods, but it was well worth it.

Stampede 2008

2008-09-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

Julia and I went to the Calgary Stampede on Thursday for sneak a peek and on Sunday for Family day.

July 1st at the Calon's

2008-09-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

On July 1, 2008 we headed over to Nanny and Grandad's to help move furniture and pull up the carpet in their house. By the time we got there it was all done and it was time for dinner. Good timing on our part I think.

Back to Calgary

2008-09-22T20:24:00.001-07:00

Up and on the road again after having breakfast with Marty and Carol. We had Jon's favorite, cereal! One long drive back to Calgary. We stopped in at Golden for lunch and then continued on our way. We sure were tired by the time we got into calgary. We stopped in at Jon's Dad's restaurant for dinner. Extreme Restaurant in Bowness (area in NW Calgary). Good thing I still have a day to relax before going back to work.

To Kelowna

2008-09-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

We headed out on the road after sharing breakfast with Larry and Lori heading for Kelowna. We took the Kokahalla highway as it was the shorter route there. After taking the long steep hills our little 90hp VW Golf TDI just didn't have the guts to handle them any more. Part way up we were severely losing power and ended up crawling up the hills at 40 kph in 2nd gear. It was a good thing the highway is twinned and that there wasn't much in the way of traffic. Finally the drive headed downhill and we headed towards Peachland to catch a ride on the KVR historic railway. It was pulled by steam and there was a good crew aboard. Another young couple riding the train asked us to take their photo since we had the same camera and knew how to use it.

After our ride on the KVR we headed into Kelowna to spend the night with Uncle Marty and Aunt Carol. They moved to Kelowna from Calgary in the past year. Their house is really nice. We enjoyed drinks and appitizers on their back patio and then retired inside for a nice salmon dinner. This time it was cooked to perfection. Jon is now so sick of fish, he won't eat any for at least another year. We had full use of the guest room and the bathroom in the basement. It was nicer than the B&B's we were staying at.

The Sunshine Coast

2008-09-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

Up early the next morning to catch another ferry. We ate breakfast if you could call it that (cookies) while waiting for the ferry. Once on the ferry we ate a proper breakfast. It was really good food. Again we had rain, but it soon passed. We stopped in sechelt for a pit stop and a walk along the beach. There was a lot of activity. Sechelt is beautiful and one of those places I could see myself living it the opportunity ever arose. Another Ferry and then off to Gibsons, BC. We parked the car and walked around. I bought my friend a little gift and we went down to Gibson's Landing to see the location that the Beachcombers was filmed. We ate at Molly's Reach for lunch. It was really good food and I would recommend it to anyone. WE finished lunch and then headed off for one final ferry of our trip.

Finally onto mainland and off to Art Knapp to get some G-Scale stuff. We bought a passenger platform and a few trees. Now off to Chilliwack to spend the night at Larry and Lori's place. Thanks for the hospitility guys! They met us at Mr. Mike's a great restaurant and we all had dinner and then headed over to where the Chilliwack Free-mo group sets up. We helped them out with setting up the N-Scale layout before we headed back to their house. They let us park in their garage since we had so much expensive stuff in our car and they didn't want anything to happen to it. We visited and then went to bed.

Vancouver Island Adventure Day 4

2008-09-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Last day to enjoy. We woke up to rain oh joy. We went to another beach to see the star fish. It was raining but we didn't care as we were determined to see the star fish. We found them. There was so many and in orange and purple colours. It was low tide so it was easy to see them and touch them. They really have a good grip on the rocks. Dave tried to pull one off, but it wasn't letting go. We also saw sea annenomies in green and pink. There were also lots of muscles all over the place. We didn't stay here too long as we were getting wet with all the rain and it wasn't all that warm.

We jumped back into the car and began to head back to Port Alberni. We stopped in at Cathedral Grove where all the large red woods were. These trees are mostly only 400 years old. There was a fire that went through and burned most of the trees in the forest.

We also stopped in at Coombs and saw the goats on the roof and bought some snacks in the market. I also found the rubber stamp barn and bought some stamps. There was a really cool store with lots of hand carved statues in it. It would be a place that I would like to visit again and spend more time. Off to Nanaimo as Dave and Laura had a ferry to catch back to the main land and Jon and I picked up our car and headed to Courtney and Comox.

While waiting in Comox for the ferry we got to see some fighter jets fly over. The circled quite a few times. I believe they were doing touch and go exercises. It entertained us for a little while. While on the Ferry we looked though all the literature in the racks to find a place to spend the night. We found this great little bed and breakfast. We had our own private room with bathroom in it and a wonderful view. It was in the old area of Powell River and was worth it. They provided us with a book containing facts about the area, the hotel, and tourist information. They spoke about the unique breakwater that was set up for the pulp mill. It's affectionately known as the Giant Hulks. They are concrete barges that are attached to the sea floor with giant blocks of concrete and giant chains.

Vancouver Island Adventure Day 3

2008-09-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

----
Vancouver Island Day 3:
We woke up in the morning and needed to be down for breakfast at 7:30am. It was a continental breakfast style with Yogurt, fruit, berries, cereal, granola, baked goods, and juices, coffee, and teas. Everyone was happy with the selection. We were the only ones eating at this time. After breakfast we packed up and checked out.

This day we headed out toward Ucluelet and Tofino. We stopped in at the information centre at the beginning of the park and got our park pass as well as making a pit stop. The facilities were beautiful. The drive to Uquilet was beautiful, but was very windy and the road was in bad condition. We passed this one lake and I asked Dave to stop to take photos. It was glass smooth and I was not feeling so good being in the back seat on a windy road. Even Jon said he was starting to feel the effects so it was a good thing we stopped. There was still dew on the petals of the wild roses at the side. We could see minnows in the shallows of the lake. It was quiet and peaceful.

For the remainder of the ride Laura let me take the front seat. I felt much better. We stopped in at the Rain Forest and walked along the trails. It was a beautiful sunny day. We decided to take one trail and it lead us to the Coast Guard base where the Army guys were doing some exercises. We quickly got off the property and onto the road back to the parking lots. It was a long walk, but it was beautiful.

Back in the car we headed towards our camp site which was 0.5km from being the exact centre point between Ucluelet and Tofino. We set up camp and headed to the beach. It was long and white. There were quite a few people there with their families and dogs. We walked along the shore and pulled up our pant legs to keep them from getting wet. We walked over to some rocks to see if there was any life on them. Not much there, but tomorrow we would check out another spot. We found crab parts, feathers and baby jelly fish on the shore.

After our walk we jumped into the car and headed into Tofino in search of dinner. There was a place on the outskirts that looked like it might be good. It wasn't the place we thought it was. We went inside and the decor was directly from the 1970's and hadn't been touched since. We were greeted by this real character of a person. He told us to sit at any of the tables except the front one near the TV. The pop machine didn't have any pop in it, instead the canned Co-op brand pop was stored in the milk dispensor. The water was okay in colour, but a little weird in flavour. The greeter turned into our waiter and took our orders. He didn't have some of the stuff on the menu but recommended a couple of the fish meals since he caught it fresh that morning, so he says. We place our orders, why not this could be entertaining and give us something to tell stories about. Next our waiter turns into the cook and goes into the back to prepare our orders. Poor Jon but this guy decided to pick on him because he ordered pizza and not fish like the rest of us. The guy even pulled the 'look you have a spot on your shirt' and bopped Jon on the nose. Talk about invading personal space. After dinner, we decided we should have all ordered pizza. The fish was good, but I felt it was over done. Laura liked it that way though. There was some coslaw looking thing that none of us touched and I didn't like the look of my garnish so I didn't eat that either. We paid for dinner, a decent price considering and headed back to our campsite.

Earlier we had purchased the makings for smores and decided tonight was the night to make them. The fire pit was built perfectly with a platform on top to place your cracker with the chocolate on it in order for it to melt some before making your sandwich out of it. We had the perfect fire built and lots of good coals for toasting. Now that we are adults we had a little more patience to nicely toast the marshmellow and not just burn it. We enjoyed the fire and then made sure it was out before retiring for the night. It was so dark and quiet in the campground that Jon woke up at one point and had a panic attack thinking he had gone blind.

Vancouver Island Adventure Day 2

2008-09-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

Vancouver Island Day 2:

We woke up and went on a search for breakfast. Had a hard time finding a Tim Horton's, but we prevailed. Now we really had to hurry up so that we could get a spot in line for the ferry over to Salt Spring Island. Well I guess we didn't need to hurry too much as we spent a lot of time waiting for the Ferry. We were able to walk around and visit some of the artist vendors set up at the Ferry terminal. There was some really nice stuff there.

Finally on the Ferry to Salt Spring. We had the best seat in the house. It was an open air Ferry and only one deck. We stayed with the car for some of the trip and stood in front of it for some as we were right at the front of the boat. Surprisingly enough there wasn't much in the way of wind at that location. It was really neat to stand on the front of the ship.

We parked near a laundry mat and walked around main street. Saw some really neat stuff in the stores. We stopped in at a little deli for lunch and then walked over to the bakery, then back to the car. We wished we had a little more time to explore, but the mighty Ferry calls and we must go and wait for it.

We took the Ferry over to Chemainus and stopped in to see Harry and his wife. It was supposed to be a quick trip. The guys got talked into going to see the train as it came through... They were kidnapped and forced to chase the train all the way back to Duncan.... Two hours later they returned. We now had no more time to visit and had to get on the road to Port Alberni for the night.

In Port Alberni we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast for the night and they recommend a couple of restaurants we could have dinner at. This was almost 8pm at night. We went to a Schnitzel House for dinner. The food was good and the atmosphere was definately German. After dinner we headed back to the B&B unloaded the car and headed to bed.

Vancouver Island Adventure Day 1

2008-08-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

Starting out in Surrey, BC we did our shopping at Art Knapp's and then headed to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to catch our Ferry. We arrived in plenty of time. We hung out, went shopping, had lunch and transferred our luggage that we need while on the island to Dave and Laura's Murano as we would be parking our car in Nanaimo at my Aunt's parking lot. The majority of the time on the island we were in one vehicle. We were on the last crossing of the Ferry as the new one would be taking over it's route. Something we wished we knew ahead of time. The Ferry crossing was fairly uneventful we didn't see much in the way of wildlife, excluding sea gulls. We found out our Ferry was going to be delayed in docking and unloading. Not good. Jon and Dave had tickets on the train and we couldn't afford the extra hour that we were delayed on getting off the ferry. We had to wait until the new Ferry loaded and took off before our Ferry could even get into the terminal in order to unload. With that news we were trying to find out if the train was running on schedule. If it was late it would be a good thing. No luck. Michaelea and Laura had planned a girls day out visiting gardens, driving along the coast, and shopping. This threw a wrench in the gears. So we dropped the car off and ended up watching a boat being taken out of the water. After about an hour it was mostly out, but we decided to hit the road. We drove to the Gold Stream Campground just outside of Victoria. There we set up camp and enjoyed the rest of the evening as we had an early start the next morning.

Chilliwack Interchange: The Show

2008-08-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Chilliwack Interchange was a weekend long Model Railway Convention in Chilliwack, BC. Most of us headed out on Wednesday to arrive late on Thursday and setup on Friday. There was a small amount of Calgary Free-mo Members there and we all had a great time. During the convention Jon was busy at the layout so Laura and I went exploring on Saturday and Sunday. We got our nails done and did some shopping.

We also went to the Blue Heron Nature Reserve. It was a beautiful park with plenty of plants and animals. We saw a bunny and ducks, blue herons and cedar waxwings. We also saw giant slugs, or at least that's what they looked like. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

On Sunday I had one of my migraines and headed to the hotel to take a nap. By the time I was feeling better the group was half way through tear down and pack up, so Jon let me stay at the hotel until they were heading for dinner. We went to Mr. Mikes Steakhouse for dinner. It was really good. I wish we had one here, or maybe not.

After dinner we all headed back to our hotels and bright and early Monday morning they headed back to Calgary, while Jon and I headed to Surrey, BC to meet Dave and Laura at Art Knapp's Garden Centre. The Surrey location is also the only one to sell G-Scale Model railway stuff. Jon and I are putting one in our back yard and Dave and Laura haven't decided where theirs is going yet. There are actually quite a few of us HO-Scalers that also have G-Scale in our yards.

Misson BC

2008-08-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

I picked Jon up in Mission BC after he got back from Vancouver. We headed over to the VIA station if that's what you can call it, as there is no building just a platform and an electrical box. We could have spent the entire evening there if we stayed to take pictures of all the trains coming through. There were lots. We stayed for three of them including the 'Canadian'. After we were done railfanning we headed back to Chilliwack in search of dinner.

Chilliwack: Side Trip to Vancouver and Back

2008-08-24T18:22:00.000-07:00

On Friday Jon caught the Greyhound bus to Vancouver to ride the West Coast Express commuter train back to Mission BC where I picked him up.

Along the way and the Quintet Tunnels

2008-08-24T18:06:00.001-07:00

We stopped a lot along the way to Chilliwack, BC Including the Quintet Tunnels.

Chilliwack Interchange Part 3: Notch Hill

2008-08-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

We stopped at Notch Hill just outside Salmon Arm, BC and railfanned. We just missed a train when we arrived and just as we were driving away another one was coming. We quickly turned around and caught it on camera.

Chilliwack Interchange Part 2: To Salmon Arm

2008-08-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

It took an amazing 13 hours to go to Salmon Arm. We stopped a lot along to way to rail fan.

Chilliwack Interchange Part 1: The Packing of the Trailer

2008-08-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

On June 7th all of those who were having their modules transported with group transport headed out to Ron's place to load up the car hauler he had borrowed. We also had a BBQ. It was a good thing we were able to park the trailer in his large garage as there was a major rain storm that day.

Michaelea's Birthday

2008-08-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

For my 33rd Birthday I hosted a games night at our house. There were about 15 people there. We had burgers for dinner and played games until 11pm. The day started at 3:30pm. It was loads of fun and I think I will throw myself another party next year.

May Long Weekend at Bloomin Inn

2008-08-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

Suzanne and I went to the Bloomin Inn in Pincher Creek for May long weekend and we made some new friends. We had so much fun and laughed the whole weekend.

A BBQ Story

2008-08-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time last December a wicked wind storm raced through the city of Calgary, upsetting trees, power lines, lawn chairs and Michaelea's Barbeque. This upset Michaelea very much as it is her favorite way to cook all through the year. She was very sad and going into withdrawls.

... A time later, about 5 months...

The magical day finally came. The income tax cheques were deposited into the bank. Later that week Jon and Michaelea made a lunch date to go to the Barbeque Doctor to look at re-furbished Weber BBQ's when there were only two in the showroom and neither one was ready to take home. A little saddened by this, they didn't give up the search. Later that day, after work to be exact, they headed to Barbecues Galore not knowing what was in store for them there. They got there about 10 minutes before they closed and a nice sales associate named Paul came over to see if he could help them.

They told him what they were looking for and the uses and price range and he recommended the Weber Genesis CEP 320 with the side burner. Now Michaelea and Jon weren't sure they wanted the side burner since most of the time they bbq at home where they can use the stove. Michaelea and Jon decided to leave the store and possibly come back on Saturday.

Saturday morning they went to their Chiropractor appointment in Airdrie and then went to Michaelea's bosses place to see their new PC Brand BBQ as well as play on the Nintendo Wii. After getting tired out playing the boxing game they headed back to Barbecues Galore to talk with Paul. It was much busier than the evening before, and Paul was with another customer. They asked him to find them when he was finished. It wasn't long and they asked a few more questions about the Weber and then said, Okay we'll take it. There was a long waiting time to get one assembled, so they took it home and assembled it themselves. It took about two hours to put together.

After assembly was complete they made a few phone calls to invite some people over for dinner to test out the barbeque. Michaelea ran out to Safeway and picked up the steaks while Jon cleaned up the dining room.

Julia and Cameron came over and enjoyed the steak, baked potatoes, caesar salad, and steamed carrots. After a little while digesting Julia served the Tall Strawberry Shortcake that she picked up on the way over.

They all ate happily ever after.

The End... or should I say just the beginning...

2007-12-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year we had an open house/games night on Dec 22nd. We made this Gingerbread Train as the first 'game'. Melissa and Kris helped us out. It was a lot of fun, but the train kept wanting to fall over.

For Christmas Day we had Julia and Brad (her boyfriend) over, then we all went to Jon's grandparents place for the big family visit and dinner.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and may 2008 be the best year yet!

Chasing 2816

2007-10-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

On October 20th Jon and I chased 2816. What is 2816, you ask? It's a beautiful Steam engine. Jon took the majority of the photos while I drove. We managed to catch the train in about 16 spots. More than anyone else. We had friends riding the train as well. We made friends along the way as well. The railroad community is great! The train went from Calgary to just past Okotoks and back. We had a lot of fun, we just wished there was time to pee and eat lunch.

Trip to Oregon

2007-09-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

We headed out from Calgary Thurday (September 13, 2007) morning to Cranbrook, BC stopping in Invermere, BC for lunch at the Station Restaurant. In Cranbrook we toured the Railway Museum, went for dinner, then walked around the Museum site and checked out the train yard. At the train yard there was a train getting ready to leave. It arrived when we were looking through the rail cars at the Museum.

Friday morning took us down through the border to Spokane, Washington where we had lunch at Carl's Jr and then went to Sunset Junction, Murray's favorite Hobby shop. They even remembered him there. After spending only $75.00 we then headed out to LaGrand, Oregon where we filled the car up with fuel for the first time on the trip at 1152.3 KM on the trip meter. I love our VW Gold TDI. We checked into our hotel and then drove to Elgin to see exactly where it was and to talk to a couple of the locals about the RDC (Rail Diesel Car) that we were going to be riding on the next day. On our way back to our hotel and to grab something to eat there was a wonderful sunset. We ate at Quizno's and stopped at Safeway for snacks for the trip the next day.

Saturday morning, up early to get ready. Breakfast didn't start until 7am, so we got packed up so that all we had to do was eat, brush our teeth and check out. We headed to Elgin, Oregon which was about a half hour drive from LaGrand to board our train. When we arrived an alarm on the train was going off. It sounded like the horn was stuck in the on position. It took almost an hour to turn it off. They couldn't get the engines on the one car to start, so instead of being self-propeled rail cars, they were pulled by a GP-7 Engine instead. It took some of the romanticism away from the trip.

We boarded the train and there were only about 43 people on board the two cars, which meant almost everyone got to sit on the side they wanted with a view of the river. We stopped several times for photo run-by's and static shots. The train was moving at approximately 10 miles per hour. The views were beautiful, but somewhat obstructed by the forest fire smoke that had blown in from Montana. They provided us a box lunch as well as a continential breakfast of sorts and various other goodies along the way. If you were hungry you ate, if you were thirsty you drank. With the issuses of the cars not running on their own power you couldn't use the washrooms on the car we were on, so you had to go into the other car to use the facilities.

We got into Joseph, Oregon arouund 4:15pm and took a quick bus tour of the town. They are know for their bronze statues. Then off on the highway back to Elgin. We arrived in Elgin around 6pm and then promptly headed out on a scenic route towards Spokane. We stayed on the scenic route until the sun set, which doesn't take long around there, and then got onto the freeway North to Spokane. We passed this one area that had a pulp and paper mill, or at least that's what it smelled like, then immediately after that there was a sour milk smell followed by a poopy smell. Needless to say we plugged our noses for that section of the trip. It sure woke us up in a hurry. We got into Spokane around 10:30pm and checked into our hotel and went to sleep.

Sunday morning we got up later than usual, around 8am and headed down to breakfast. They had a continental breakfast which included Waffles! We were on the road by 9am heading for Cranbrook through CourD'Lane. After stopping in Cranbrook for a bite to eat and some rail-fanning we headed out towards the Crowsnest Pass. As we were going through the town of Crowsnest Pass our friend Doug S. passed us, so we kept up with him until Blaremore where he pulled over to get gas. We followed him into the parking lot and his wife was suprised to see us. He was heading to Waterton for a couple of days. We headed out with out them and stopped a couple of more times for railfanning then at Lundbrek falls to enjoy the views and hope a train would come by. Just as the sun was setting we headed back out on the road again up 2A to Black Diamond, Okotoks and then into Calgary. We arrived home around 10:30pm. I unpacked the car and when to bed. That's a long day on the road.

Now it's back to work until Thursday. Friday we head out on our next adventure to Edmonton for the Greater Edmonton Train Show.

Last Morning at Cottage

2007-07-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

A few last images the morning before we left on our trip to Sudbury.

Last night of Fishing

2007-07-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Again we didn't catch much except for all of these wonderful photos. Jon joined us this time and caught a rock bass himself.

Warm enough to Swim... Finally

2007-07-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

There weren't too many days where it was warm enough to swim. I did get in the water more than Jon did, but this day we were both in at the same time!

Fishing Again

2007-07-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

We tried a different area this time to see if there were any bigger fish at the other end of the lake, but there was only these two loons.

Accomodations & Ride

2007-07-25T19:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of our luxury accomodations and our rental car.

Rail Fanning

2007-07-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we managed to sneak out in the early afternoon to Kinmount,ON to see their Model Railway Club and their setup. There was only two guys on duty. They were friendly as most in the hobby are. They Modeled the line from Kinmount to Haliburton.

Girls Day Out!

2007-07-25T19:09:00.001-07:00

We stopped in Buckhorn on the way back to the Cottage and took a walk along the canal.

We enjoyed a Chinese Buffet at the Panda Restaurant and then headed to the Brew Kettle to bottle the Beer!

On Friday the 13th of July, The three of us Girls headed into Peterborough to run some errands. We saw this along the way.
Jesus is Alive!...

... So is Elvis!

Aparently these neighbours lived somewhere else and when one decided to move so did the other.

Fishing with Dad!

2007-07-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

Dad and I went Fishing on July 11th and all I got was these two Rock Bass... and all these great photos.

House Work

2007-07-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

Jon was working on the 'feature log' which will be a part of the entrance and belcony of the house. I don't thing Craftsman ever thought of this as a use for their electric planer.

The faithful crew... Michaelea, Auntie Terry-Lynn and Jon

Our Supervisors... Chris, Dad and Mom. They were good at giving orders.

Jon and Dad do some masonary work for the front piers.

The Septic System is being installed today!

Tracey's Wedding

2007-07-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Trip To Ontario

2007-07-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

On July 5th Jon caught the Red-Eye to Toronto and took the train to Ottawa to meet me since I was flying out on July 6th directly to Ottawa with a stop-over in Toronto. Jon got to Ottawa about an hour before me and caught the city transit to the airport to meet me and so that we could pick up the rental car.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-05-24T20:43:00.001-07:00

May 22... I made my favorite cake for my birthday. Angel food cake with Butterscotch Whip Cream Icing, Mandarines and toasted almonds. I had help from Co-op making my cake and from Jon to decorate it.

Ride Home Tuesday May 22, 2007

2007-05-24T20:40:00.001-07:00

We caught the Airport Shuttle to catch our flight. Our driver's name was Freddy Kruger. Goood thing we didn't go near Elm Street!

Monday after dinner

2007-05-24T20:32:00.001-07:00

After returning from Parksville, we went out to dinner at Swans Pub with a fellow railroader and then wandered around downtown Victoria and took photos of buildings to get ideas for weathering our buildings.

Monday-Qualicum Beach/Parksville

2007-05-24T20:16:00.002-07:00

Monday morning we boarded the train which was packed since it was the last day of the long weekend and there were a whole lot of Train Geeks taking a ride to Qualicum Beach. I bet once we got off the rest of the people on the train were happy!

We toured around Qualicum Beach and visited a few layouts and then headed off to Parksville to look at some more. We were really impressed with all the layouts we saw this weekend. Thanks to everyone who opened up their homes and yards for us!

We re-boarded the train in Parksville and headed back to Victoria to have dinner and get packed up to leave early the next morning.

Sunday Dinner

2007-05-24T20:13:00.001-07:00

For dinner on Sunday we went to Darren's again. While we waited for dinner to be ready Jon played video games with Aiden. Thanks again guys we really had a lot of fun visiting with you!

Sunday May 20, 2007

2007-05-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning, I headed out to Buchart Gardens followed by Hatley Park while Jon went to Victoria Shops. You weren't allowed to take pictures at the Shops, but I took lots at the Gardens. It rained all day and poured in the afternoon. They provided umbrellas at Buchart, but not at Hatley Park.

You can check out the Buchart Gardens at http://www.buchartgardens.com

Hatley Park is located at Royal Roads University you can check it out at http://www.hatleypark.ca

Darren's Place

2007-05-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday night for dinner we went to our Friend Darren and Tiffany's place. They cooked us dinner and it was wonderful.

Finnerty Gardens

2007-05-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

The campus is basically set on a large circle, so I set about to find the gardens. I stopped in for a quick visit with the Chilliwack group while they were setting up for the show on Sunday and then I continued on my way to find the gardens. It was raining off and on, but not too bad and the $20.00 jacket from The Nut Man kept me fairly dry. The gardens are amazing and well worth the treck in the rain. I wandered around, took lots of photos and then once it started to really rain, I decided to head back to the dorms. I took a 'short cut'. Once I finally got onto the ring road I had to pull out my map to figure out where I was and where I had to go. Not to worry, I wasn't far off course.

Oh yeah, as you will see they named a plant after me, although again they spelled my name wrong!

Saturday afternoon

2007-05-24T19:27:00.001-07:00

Once back at the University Jon went to partake in a few clinics and I got a chance to explore the Campus. There are rabbits everywhere. One night 27 of them were counted in just two small grassy sections. And there are blooming rhododendrons and azaleas everywhere. Look at the size of the blooms.

We stayed in room 308 in the Margret Newton building on an all girls floor. They had to make accomodations for all the men on the floor.

Saturday Morning May 19, 2007

2007-05-24T19:12:00.003-07:00

Saturday morning up early again to board the bus to Duncan. We went to the Duncan Forestry Museum. Upon arrival we were able to wander around the museum and the grounds while waiting for the train to arrive. The train took us around the park and stopped half way for us to explore a different area then re-board the train to go back to the station. After the train ride we had a quick bite to eat at their station then re-boarded the bus back to the University.

Friday night Layout Tours

2007-05-23T20:06:00.000-07:00

Friday night we caught a ride with another Calgary couple and we headed out to the Three layouts starting with the riding layout, then O Scale and finally the amazing G scale. It's amazing that you can grow just about anything.

Friday May 17, 2007 Trip to Port Alberni

2007-05-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

Did a full day trip from Victoria to Port Alberni to visit the Alberni Pacific Railway and McLean's Mill. We took a highway bus from Victoria to Port Alberni, where arrived at the Port Alberni Enginehouse at 1030 for a tour by the WVIIHS.

Also rode behind the Alberni Pacific's 2-8-2T #7 locomotive aboard a former CN transfer caboose. They allowed those of us who wanted, to disembark for a photo run by at the entrance to the park. I (Michaelea) stayed on the train to get photos from that point of view while Jon got off to take photos from his view point. Wonderful ride to say the least...Rumours have it they'll be running all the way to Parksville next year...If that's the case, guess where we're going after Chilliwack!

We arrived at the McLean Mill National Historic Site. It is an operating steam sawmill, fully restored to the way it was in the 1920's, with various stam driven saws, carriages and jackladder drawing logs up from the ;ons. There is a large collection of logging equipment and rolling stock on the site where the CPR spur was located.

Ferris Oyster Bar

2007-05-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

After checking into the University for our room and for the Conference we attended the end of the Meet and Greet. It was at the meet and greet that we saw that there were a large number of calgary people there as well as the Chilliwack group. They invited Jon to join them in running on their layout.

After the meet and greet we got the phone call from Julia saying that she had landed and that she would call once Sig, TLG, and Brandon picked her up. They picked her up at the airport then picked up at the University and we squeezed into the Jeep! We went to Ferris Oyster Bar for dinner. The food was really good and so was the atmosphere! I was so glad I got to spend the time with them.

Thanks guys!

Obsticle on the rails.

2007-05-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

There was one obstruction on our trip though, and it was a boom lift that was parked too close to the tracks. The conductor had to get out and acess the situation. He told the engineer to start pulling forward slowly as he watched how much room was left. Turns out that we had three inches to spare. Any closer and we would have been waiting two hours for a tow truck to come and remove it.

2007-05-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

Jon was invited up by a few other railfans who rode the train up to join him on the rear of the train/RDC to take photos of the Tunnel and Bridge.

Ride from Courtney, BC to Victoria

2007-05-20T16:14:00.002-07:00

The train trip was fairly uneventfull. I managed to stay awake for the entire trip! Lots of really nice scenery and tons of flowers in bloom.

Pacific Rails Tour - Victoria, BC May 17-22,2007

2007-05-20T16:00:00.001-07:00

We headed out from Calgary on May 17, 2007 and landed in Comox, BC. We took a shuttle van into Courtney to catch the train. The Shuttle driver had Tourettes and it was a very intersting drive to say the least. He dropped us of at the Thrifty Mart for us to pick up a bite to eat for the ride to Victoria on the train. We had just enough time to walk to the Station and take a couple of photos of the station before the train arrived.