Trip to Canada-Officially up. Only 3 months late.

So you can expect the Trip to Mexico to be up in march or April :)

October 9^th-18^th, 2009

So, David and I hadn’t taken the time to sit down and write about our trip to Canada in October, so we are doing it now.

Friday, October 9^th, 2009-We left on a Friday morning to the airport which turned into an entire day trip because our plane was so late due to weather. So, once we got to Canada, we got our luggage and went outside to look for David’s dad (James), and it was…raining. I hated it too cold. David’s dad doesn’t have a cell phone so it took a little longer to find him since we couldn’t just call. Once we found him I had my first bit of Canadian food, Harvey’s. It was hamburgers, and I only thought they were okay. They were a weird texture.

After Harvey’s we went to Grandma Richards and hung out for a bit until Gwen could come get David and I. Grandma Richards is funny, down side, I smelt like smoke when I came out of there. Gwen finally got us and took us to David’s moms (Susan) house which is where we were staying during our trip.

At Mom Richards, we visited with her for a while and she gave us a whole bunch of Canadian merchandise which was funny because it seems anytime she send us something there is something in there to represent Canada. We got this bag full of stuff that had t-shirts in it, umbrella hat, coffee mugs, stickers, socks, buttons, and the infamous delicious Homemade Strawberry Jam, among other things that I can’t remember right now. After that it was interesting watching the news in Canada, I liked it better. It would show the name of the country/continent, that they were talking about and then present all the news in that location, rather interesting and easier for me to follow. Then we hit the sack.

Saturday, October 10^th, 2009- We got up, got ready, and went outside, which it was a brisk cold and there was SO much corn! I’d never seen corn on the stalks up close so that was neat to me. I got to see Susan’s house in the day time too and it was a cute little quaint place, a little farm house. A guy from a car rental place came and got us and took us into Oshawa to rent a car for the day. Then David took me to Parkwood which is Xavier’s mansion in the X-Men movies. It was closed though, so we walked the grounds which were pretty and I saw a squirrel. It was SO fat lol. All the animals were fat, stinking hilarious.

After Parkwood, we went to Adale’s place where I got to officially meet our niece Rylee, and Adale’s fiancé, Dan. Rylee was too cute and such a little tease. I finally got to see all of Adale’s creepy crawlers too, which was not so cute. Bleh, to insects and reptiles.

We left their place and had Tim Hortons which is SO good. One of my favorite Canadian food places! Yum! Okay, now we go to Lars and Cyndi’s house out in the trees. When we got there only Marianne (pronounced Mayanna) and Lars were there. Cyndi and Asta were down the street at Asta’s horseback riding lesson. We sat in the kitchen chatting for a while, and I was very impressed with Marianne’s involvement in conversations, when she was so young, and yet, she was so genuine. She gave us the tour of the house and of her room, and played a little number on the piano for David’s out of her Disney book. I believe it was “Wish Upon a Star” from Pinocchio. After the tour we went outside to see a path that Lars had just made, where he showed us the oak trees were coming in and the bird and owl boxes her made. It was a beautiful walk and neat to hear the things he had to say, though at one point it got awkward on my end. Kind of funny actually, because it was only a coincidence. He was saying how white man would come into the forest and would pay to shoot animals just to take home their trophy, to “prove” that he was a man. Well, I automatically am thinking that he is taking a shot at Grandpa Garth, thinking maybe David told him about Grandpa, when Lars doesn’t really like American’s to begin with so I didn’t’ know how to respond. Luckily, David chimed in with the benefits to the community when those hunters come in.

Shortly after this little awkward moment happened, Aunt Cyndi totally jumped out of the trees trying to scare everyone, and that….was my introduction to meeting Aunt Cyndi lol. We finished our walk and went inside, had pie and visited with everyone and I met Asta. She was also very intelligent and genuine like Marianne was which I thought was a wonderful characteristic in girls so young. We finished chatting then David and I left to go to meet his friends in Whitby.

We got there a little early so we ended up going to the Putting Edge playing cosmic mini golf. I tried to count out Canadian money there, but apparently did it all wrong because David apologized to the cashier for his “American wife” lol. Putting Edge was very coo. Way better than King Putt in Vegas. It was bigger, and the obstacles were more fun. After our game we were to Jack Astors, for me to meet David’s friends that I hadn’t met yet. We pretty much just ate and chatted and David LOVED being out with HIS friends. Michelle Junkin, Julie Westover and her boyfriend, Neal Strickland and his girlfriend, Dan Clarke, Erin Strickland, his sister Lisa and her boyfriend, Jennifer Gearing and her boyfriend, and Chrys Bodurka and his girlfriend Ashley all showed up. Very fun!

It got late there and everyone left, but David and I weren’t tired yet so we went to Lake View Park and walked down the pier on Lake Ontario. David says it is more beautiful at night. Something really cool though was you could see a little light across it which was Buffalo, NY. I liked that. It started getting cold so we left to go home, but stopped at a convenience store first to get cereal and milk for the next morning.

Sunday, October 11^th, 2009- This day we got up and went to church with James, Gwen, Lisa, and Gwen’s boyfriend, Dave. It was hands down THE smallest ward I had ever been to. It was very neat though because apparently everyone had been waiting to meet me so I had multiple people coming up and giving me hugs before I even knew their names lol. I thought that was sweet and something that will never happen again.

We left church, took the rental car back and changed out of church clothes, then we all headed up to the Kydd cottage in Haliburton for Thanksgiving. On the way we stopped at Swiss Chalet. That was very good. Haliburton- Holy tiny little cottage in the cold!!! I then met, Uncle Brian, Aunt Linda and Uncle Dennis, and their daughter Alexandra. After meeting everyone David, me, Susan, Gwen and Dave all walked up to a ski lift thing called Sir Sams Inn. It was quite the little hike, but gorgeous in the end. The colors represented Canada so well to me. We took several pictures, and rolled around in the grass. Then we walked back to the cottage where then David and I left on our own adventure, to the forest at the back of the cottage, which was 100 acres of Grandad’s property. We went on a walk, then we went back home where we had my first Canadian Thanksgiving.

We ate all we could eat, then Gwen and Dave took us home and on the way stopped at Uncle Todd’s, and met him and his sons, Travys, Jason, and Dayne. It was such a boy pad. All 4 boys and their dog Timber. We left to go home and on the way saw my first raccoon! It was SO cute I was excited! I wanted a picture, but David hopped out of the car and scared it. Sad.

Monday, October 12^th, 2009- It was James birthday and he came and got us and took us to the Tyrone Mill which was a 150 some old mill. Then he took us to the house David grew up in. That was something really neat to me. I was pretty sad that it was sold before we got up to Canada so David and I couldn’t stay there. It was a beautiful home and the spirit there was nice. It was set up so original. I can honestly say I’d have moved to Canada for that house. I loved it. After that we went to Purple Woods and saw where the maple comes from. We went back to Adale and Dan’s visited with them a while, went and had Whistle Dogs (bacon and cheese on a hot dog), then me met Lisa and her boyfriend and went to my very first hockey game. It was beautiful. I loved the sound of the puck making contact with the stick, and the atmosphere. I wouldn’t mind going to another game. We saw the Oshawa Generals play the Kingston Frontenacs. After the game we went back to Grandma Richards and Gwen and Dave joined us all. Gramps was up this time. We took James out for his birthday dinner to Mr. Greek. Home.

Tuesday, October 13^th, 2009- We slept in this day, and then went to Grandma Kydd’s for lunch. David asked her to make her homemade macaroni and cheese for me. It was good except the onions. It kind of ruined it for me. I really liked being that their house. It was a nice home and I especially loved Grandad’s cane chairs. They were amazing, a very neat hobby to have. I also loved Gramdma’s glass, she had so much and it was all very unique. I thought it was kind of funny Grandad on a “leash” though. It made me laugh; we were teasing him about it. The last thing I loved about the house was grandma’s apple pie. It was THE most delicious thing I have ever tasted. It was perfect.

We had to rush to leave there to go to the Johnston’s for dinner. I must’ve gotten so fat, everyone wanted to feed us. Okay, so funny, we get to the Johnston’s and David and I go to set our coats down in David J’s room, but couldn’t find a light and it was pitch black in there, then all the sudden someone turns on a light all I got startled by about 100 figures set up looking at me. Oh, David J. Dinner was nice, the Sowchuck’s came and David J’s gf Tara, me, David J, David, and Michael sat around listening to music and playing Nintendo 64-Bomber man.

Once dinner was over, David and I left to Uncle Don and Aunt Cheryl’s. They were so kind. I uploaded pictures from the wedding from face book onto their computer and we all talked on the couch. Our stay was pretty short there because it was so late.

Wednesday, October 14^th, 2009- This day David and I went in to Toronto on the GO Train. First, we went to the CN Tower for lunch. That was very cool. The CN Tower is the tallest freestanding building in the world and is much like the Stratosphere in Vegas. The restaurant we went to was similar to the one at the Stratosphere in Vegas too. Nice food, it rotates, I really liked being up there with David. After lunch we met up with David J and Ryan Van Steenburgh at the Silver Snail. David’s favorite comic shop ever. It was HUGE. After that we went to the Eaton Center (and met up with Tara) which is their mall, like the Fashion Show. At the Eaton Center David bought me a beautiful black winter coat. I love it. David’s dad then met us at Nathan Phillips Square and took us to the Toronto temple, which wasn’t actually in Toronto. It was a bit further away. It was amazing there. I love the temple. So small, and David, I, and James all did a session there. We stopped at Tim Hortons on the way home from the temple.

Thursday, October 15^th, 2009- We left David’s home today and started our trek back to Vegas, James gave us his truck to drive cross country, so we loaded it up and headed to Niagara Falls. The falls was too wet for me, but it was something neat to see once in my life. The big excitement for me in Niagara was Rossi Glass. It was a famous glass blowing shop, where they work in front of you and have thousands of pieces to choose from. It is one of three places in the world who make cranberry glass. We were there for about 3 hours or so if not more looking for something for mom and something beautiful for me to take home. While we were there one of David’s mission companions and his wife came to say hello. That was a nice little treat. We saw them, bought our glass, sent our post cards and crossed the border. We were officially back in the United States and taking the 80 home.

This is the part of the trip where things get boring. I’m sick with a cold, and we have 38 hours of driving to do. After Niagara we stop in Palmyra and saw some church history sites which weren’t as exciting as I wished they were. The only thing that I really liked was the Sacred Grove. I was disappointed with the rest. After we stopped we drove until David got tired which was somewhere in upstate New York, I think it was Dunkirk.

Friday, October 16^th, 2009- I’m still sick but we get up and drive through the rest of New York, the little portion of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and stopped for the night in York Nebraska.

Saturday, October 17^th, 2009- It gets a little more exciting today, I’m still sick, but we finish up Nebraska and decide to stop in Parker, Colorado to see the Govoreau’s. It was SO good to see them. I’ve missed them. As we were pulling into Parker, the truck started doing something funny, so we figured we ought to get it checked out. So we dropped it off at a place Kathy referred us too and while they were looking at it we went to lunch with Kathy and Emily. After lunch we found out the barrings in the front were falling apart and it was going to cost about $2,000 to fix the problem. They also said they couldn’t get to it until Monday, but we explained our situation and did us a favor and hired a guy to come stay late so we could have it late that night. So, we decided to stay the night at the Govoreau’s which was nice because David and I, and Kathy and James, went on a double date to see Where the Wild Things Are (which was a horrible movie). We sure did love being with them.

Sunday, October 18^th, 2009- We woke up at like 5am, James and Kathy woke up with us to say good bye and we were off. We finished driving through Colorado, drove through Utah, stopped in New Harmony, and had dinner with Mom and Ross in St. George (gave mom her glass and dropped off trees), then headed onward to Vegas, and got home at about 10pm to Dad’s to see Caiden and give them the things we brought back.

THE END.