Boston - Day 4

Not much to report today as it was a travel day home. Both Kev and I were ready to get home and see the family. We didn't have any plans for the morning so we had a leisurely breakfast and then took the subway to the airport. It was so easy to use the mass transport and we were getting a pretty good understanding of the layout. The security in Boston was different, with a small security gate just for Air Canada and not much for amenities on the other side. Luckily we both had things to amuse us before we left.
Arrival in Toronto was a bit hectic when we couldn't find a stupid pen! After clearing customs we had 10min to clear security and get to our gate. Luckily a nice lady put us in the priority line and our plane was 10 min. late on arrival. Why is it you either have less than 30min to catch your connection or 3hrs?
The flight from Toronto was uneventful. I did get to the Great Lakes Huron and Michigan from the plane, but nothing beats seeing those prairie fields on the descent into Calgary.
Dora arrived only a few minutes before we arrived so she didn't have to wait long. After a quick bite to eat we were on our way home. Sure looking forward to sleeping in a bed where my feet don't hang over the edge. Considering the fact that I start work Monday, I'll call this the end of the Summer. Good Times!
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Boston - Day 3

We woke early to say goodbye to Steve as he departed for home around 5AM. After getting some more sleep we headed out to do a couple of tours.
First up was the Samual Adams Brewery. A quick subway ride put us at the brewery where we learned a lot about the consumption of beverage. Not wanting to miss the Fenway tour we headed to the park. We ate lunch across from Fenway and made the tour on time. It was an informative tour where we got to see the press box and sit on the green monster. It's too bad we didn't get to do the tour before the game. Regardless, it was time well spent.
We left Fenway and hit the parks Boston Common and Boston Public Garden. The nice thing about the parks is that they were next to Cheers, the outdoor set for the TV show. I sat at Norms spot and Kevin at Cliffs. Cheers everyone!
With the day running short we jumped on the ferry transit and headed across the river to Charlestown. We did a quick triple play of Bunker hill, the USS constitution and Warrens Tavern, making it back by 8PM. We were getting tired and hungry but had one stop, the site of the Boston Massacre. We were done! With are energy spent, refueling was needed so we found a nice outdoor restaurant by Quincys Market. I decided to have the 2 lobster meal since I was on the East coast. Not the prettiest meal to eat, but tasty.
We couldn't head home yet, since we needed to visit our local pub for the third night, O'Paddys. With the checklist done we headed for the hotel but got sidetracked. Then we got dragged into this MMA gym. Turns out they were having a special promo for a local fight coming up in September. It was definitely a different crowd. We ducked out early and hit the bed. Done.
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Boston - Day 2

Rain, rain, rain. We started the day with quite the downpour as we headed to Fenway. We weren't optimistic about the game being played as the game yesterday was rained out and a double header was planned for today. Since we weren't experts and didn't know how things would play out we were off to see the game.
We arrived about 2.5hr before game, with the gates opening 2hr before the game. So it off to the pub "Game On" at Fenway for a bit. The nachos were so cheesy we couldn't even eat half the plate. Getting weak in my old age!
We headed into Fenway and... it was everything it was suppose to be. An American classic, nostalgic and one big family! What fans. It's hard to put words to the experience, jitters, grins and moments of enthusiasm brought on by the unity of the crowd. I've never experienced a pro sports event quite like it.
The game had a slow start that picked up when Boston had a 4 run inning. Seattle responded with 3 runs and 2 home runs. In the end it was a 5-3 win for the Sox.
After the game we worked our way home, visiting the Prudential Tower. We made it back to the hotel and headed to Regina Pizzeria on a suggestion from a local. I haven't had pizza like that since 2005 and our trip to Italy. The rest of the night involved 5 pitchers of beverage and 3 pubs. It's an odd feeling when your considered a regular in a Boston pub.
We made it home late, with Steve needing to get up for a 7AM flight. I think we will all try and help on that one.
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Boston - Day 1

With a 4AM departure from Lethbridge, I of course slept in! Steve arrived on time and I flew into my clothed. Luckily he went and picked up Kev so I had time to get ready. The drive to Calgary was the norm as we solved all the worlds problems in our eyes. Now all we have to do is convince the spouses to buy property in Kalispell!
The airport went smoothly and we arrived in Ottawa for our connecting flight. Steve was sitting on his own as he booked differently, but the TV system on the new Air Canada planes is pretty good. I think I might have seen him watching Treehouse!
Ottawa airport was a bit confusing but we managed to avoid deportation and made it thru customs. We found the only lounge and sat down for a pint and nachos before the connecting flight. It was a wonderful flight South with some interesting landscape, with the exception being the descent. I've never spent so much time in the clouds wondering how fast and how high we were. We finally descended into a rainy Boston, where the ceiling must have only been a couple of hundred feet, so we didn't catch much of the town.
After landing we pondered how to get to our hotel and decided to try public transit. So it was working great until our last station was closed. We had to get off the subway and find our way to our hotel. Heck it was only drizzling. Well after walking for 5 I was soaked and we decided a cab would be a good idea. Funny thing was it was only a few blocks away. Success we made it to our hotel.
After checking in we headed down to Faneuil Hall Marketplace for supper. We ended up eating in this high end seafood restaurant, having striped bass with a corn lobster butter sauce. YUM! After that a pub crawl. Well if you call 2 pubs a crawl then yes. The second pub had 8 dollar pitchers and golden tee. So 2 pitchers later and 10 bucks in golden tee we called it a night. I think I'd call day one pretty awesome.
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British Invasion

We returned from our 3 week trip across Western USA and BC to find friends from London in town.  They were visiting family and were nice enough to come over for a few "play dates".  They too have a couple of boys that are on either side of Logan and he enjoyed having them around.  Watching the three of them play together without yelling, fighting, hitting or crying was a pleasant surprize and one that I'll take.  We managed to get out for a paddle as well and I rigged a system to attach a smaller kayak to mine.  You can see the results below.
This ends up being a short post as I am getting ready to head for Boston tomorrow and I need to get a few hours sleep before we head up for Calgary around 4AM.  Yikes!

From 2010_08 T&H Visit

From 2010_08 T&H Visit

From 2010_08 T&H Visit

From 2010_08 T&H Visit

From 2010_08 T&H Visit

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Whitefish - the return

We packed up and started the drive back to the border. Considering it was only a 2hr drive, we were enjoying the shorter distances. We hit Columbia Falls for beverages for home, which reminded me of an earlier incidence. In whitefish I got ID'd at the restaurant. Then the same thing happened in Columbia Falls! What an ego boost!
With a stop in West Glacier for lunch, we headed to East Glacier for the night, with a visit to the property. We hiked to the top while we were there and ran into some more neighbors who were out hiking with their dogs. They even knew of a local guy who could do our excavation. Not a bad day! We camped in town so we could let the kids run around/crawl and so Dora could walk to town to get a Huckleberry Milkshake. We headed to bed to notice the one pitfall of the campground, TRAINS!! So many trains and so loud at times. Both kids were up throughout the night.
We packed up quick and made our run for the border. After our 3 week trip, 3 days was enough this time. Luckily it was only 2hr home rather than 20! I think we all need a good nights sleep...
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Whitefish Again

Well after a week at home with our British Invasion (I'll post later), we decided that this might be our last holiday together before school starts. We packed up in the morning and were on the road by 2. Much like our last trip we were headed to Whitefish for day 1, except this time things went much better.
Rather than puke going over Logans Pass, we decided to acclimatized and hiked the hidden lake viewpoint trail at the summit. Plenty of parking on a Thursday which was nice. Evan did lots of walking with Dora's help and Logan loved jumping down all the stairs on the boardwalk. If you've never hiked it, it's mostly a boardwalk trail to protect the Alpine environment.
We hit Whitefish with no problems and had an enjoyable supper out. Our evening accommodations... A Kabin at the KOA. We decided to try out one of those little cabins you can rent, probably 12 x 12 in dimensions. It was pretty nice, except the mattress that was pathetic and quite noisy when you rolled over. Evan ended up awake in the night and sleeping with us.
Day 2 involved school shopping and picking up things that are cheaper in the States. After that we headed to our regular stop, the park in Whitefish. It really is a nice park and walking distance to the downtown. After that it was back to the cabin for KD and hot dogs. I think it's amazing how that meal always tastes better outside. Might be one of the reasons I like camping so much.
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Day 18

Last Day! Who knew that vacations were part fun, part endurance trial, part stress test and part experiment? Kudos to our parents for doing this with more than 2 kids! With stuff starting to fall out the windows and Evan down to 1 diaper we head to Calgary. Breakfast had the Husky's Restaurant was suprizingly peaceful with Logan demonstrating his prowess at eating. The boy is demonstrating some amazing Iwaasa talents these days. It was nice quick drive to Calgary and straight to the zoo. We bought season passes last time we went so it makes the zoo an affordable short stop and a great way to breakup the drive home. It was a super fun time at the zoo and we went through Dinosaurs Alive, the new robotic exhibit. Logan was a little freaked at first and Evan kept saying "wow". Of course, we hit a snag. Apparently I couldn't count. We had no more diapers and Evan pulled a number 2! Luckily we were at the playground and another mom took pity on us. Then he pooped again! Well we packed up and left for Ikea, the land of meatballs cheap furniture and free diapers. After a quick trip thru the maze Ikea calls an isle we were on the road again. Oh wait... Is it 5:30? Rush hour! As we limp through Calgary we are elated to be so close. 2hr later and we are detoxifying everything. We are home, yet a part of me wants to take a couple of days to relax, start packing and hit the road again. I guess that's why summer is always too short.
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Day 17

Day 17. Really? 17 days on the road with this crew? Perhaps that explains the edgy feeling everyone is experiencing. Even Evan sounds like he's loosing it a times. I think he's learned how to do random screams on this trip. He's now quite good at it! We were up and on the road by 10 and off to Revelstoke to visit with July. A poor continental breakfast at the motel, a huge lineup at Tim Horton's and a McDonalds so full in Revelstoke that it was standing room only just about put Dora over the edge. It's a good thing it started to rain while we were eating outside. It was just enough crazy to make her start laughing. Any less and someone was gonna die! July showed up while we were all smiling and we had a nice visit. She's almost ready to pop (baby boy for those who don't know) and looks great and happy. Still have yet to meet Ben, her husband. After the short visit it was back to the road. The rest of the drive was going fine until we hit the dreaded summer word "construction". Outside of Banff we hit a standstill with traffic. Logan was asleep, but Evan had a meltdown before we were through.
We pulled into Canmore for supper since it was getting quite late. Boston Pizza, 25 minute wait, Sage Bistro, too pricey, Gasthaus, looked empty and had a kids menu. Perfect, until we found out they were short staffed. Of course, we found out they were short staffed from this table of 4 near us. I don't know if they were actually that pretentious or just trying to, but all the complaining sure made for a good dinner show! It took awhile for the food to arrive, but when it did it was great. I had a strip loin steak sandwich for 10 bucks and Logans veggies were maple glazed carrots and butter nut squash. Yum!
We were back on the road and Evan was losing it again. This time, staying awake. He was falling asleep with the windows down and me holding his eyes open. We pulled into Lac Des Arcs campground to find out it was reservation only, you had to book online. With the campground almost deserted, we said whatever and setup for the night. Finally, back in Alberta !
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Day 16

Considering the fact that this is the longest we've been away from home in 5 years, I'm amazed Dora is still talking to me. 2 kids, 1 dog, a typical male and a truck packed to the nuts with nothing in the same spot as when we left should have put her in the crazy house awhile ago! I think we might have a chance at this camping with kids thing!
After getting the OK on the truck this morning we started the long road home. Dora went for a run this morning with Meg, while Shane introduced Logan to the PS3. Logan had mastered the basics of little big world by the time Dora was back from running. With some quick goodbyes we were off with one stop left. My uncle David was on the way so we stopped in for lunch. It was an amazing meal of somen noodle, maki and fried chicken. I think Logan ate as much chicken as me! The only disappointment was the fact that my cousin couldn't make it. I can't even remember the last time I've seen him.
We hit the road after lunch to start the "long haul". With the rain coming down, we were expecting to hotel for the night rather than camp. We stopped at Skinny's Grill in Hope, BC for supper. A quaint local restaurant that has live music every night. Maybe next time we can stay and enjoy it. We jumped back in the truck and hit the road. 2hr later... Kamloops! The only problem was that Evan lost it about a 1/2hr before we got there. With Evan crying I was 0 for 2 at the Holiday Inn and Super 8. Next on the road, the Alpine Motel. They had room so we were done for the night. A floor for Evan to crawl on, Treehouse for Logan and two beds, enough for everyone. Ahhhhh...
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Day 15

We woke up to a beautiful morning, the perfect temperature. I was defeated by my bladder and was out of the tent before everyone was fully awake. It was nice to get breakfast started in the morning calm. We contemplated what time we should get to the ferry and felt 30min ahead would be best. Sure enough we were running late. We had 15min instead, but literally ended up driving straight onto the ferry! Finally some luck.
This luck however was short lived. Our truck was squeaking and not in a furry or cute way. Our rear passenger tire was giving off a weird noise when we were braking. We decided to try and find a brake shop to have it looked at. Good luck! Using Google maps the first Midas didn't exist. The second too busy. We found a place down the road from Meg and Shane's (our friends that we are staying with), Wu Automotive and they can look at it tomorrow morning. We have our fingers crossed!
As for the rest of the, another BBQ with friends. Steve T joined us which was a nice treat. After the BBQ the boys slipped away to hit Best Buy and Steve bought Borderlands. We then proceeded to play the night away on his PS3. Man I miss playing video games. Another great day on the road.
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