Blogs from Ontario, Canada, North America - page 14

" The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust. Finding our way into Washington was a push over. Finding our way out was intriguing to say the least. Google Maps was duly set and armed with technology and my trusty navigator Susan alongside, we set off very early morning in the knowledge that hordes of motorists were rushing towards the city we were leaving. Should be easy? Wrong! For once we were convinced that the GPS satellite was in free fall and technology was in melt down mode. Seemed like we were endlessly circling Washington witnessing a few "fender benders" on the way ( hell, this was only Monday morning!) and getting on a northerly heading seemed mission impossible until there it was...Route 270 North! So, ... read more

Niagara Falls always had such a romantic air to it. The kind of place you go for a proposal or to take super adorable photos with your long-time beau. That's how I imagined I'd end up there - probably a weekend trip using a Groupon Getaways deal. But Prince Charming never came (or if he did, I promptly pushed him away), so I took myself. Ithaca, NY is only about 4 hours from Niagara Falls, Ontario. After our Bachelorette Weekend group ate wayyy too many carbs and checked-out, I checked out Cascadilla Falls and Ithaca Falls, then had a dirty chai and brunch snack at Moosewood Restaurant (the hip vegan spot in downtown Ithaca). When I hit the road toward Niagara, I had planned to stop in Rochester, NY for a break, but by the time ... read more

Mmmm, TravelPod is defunct and I’ve overtly said I’m not blogging this trip. Instead, I’m choosing to on-line diary despite that being a subtle differentiation. Our preparations for departure were unusually calm. Starting early with visits to those we want to see beforehand, finding some warm and leaveable winter coats at Value Village, ordering tech bits early and getting a grip on next-year apartment rentals started a steady, manageable pace on the track to finally exiting unit 1106’s door. Mom and Dad are wintering in Halifax for the first time, Emma and Hannah are taking up skiing, Kelly and Marty are in high gear on their careers, we have friends and family whose circumstances are on our minds, and we leave in good health and spirits. And our suitcase holds three characters chosen by our granddaughters ... read more

Well, it has been a week since we flew 11921 km home from Shanghai and it has taken us that long to get our feet on the ground and feel "normal" again. That flight is a killer and we do not envy anyone who has to make long haul flights on a regular basis. From talking to others who have to do it occasionally, the secret is drugs! As the title infers, we would not call this trip a holiday- it was an expedition to discover China. Of course we only saw a glimpse of this fourth largest country in size and largest in population but what we did see certainly opened our eyes to a country we knew very little about and had misconceptions of. With a population of 1.4 BILLION people, and the cities ... read more

Geo: 43.6485, -79.3854... read more