We left Glacier National Park on Thursday morning and went north into Alberta, Canada. We traveled about 5 hours and entered Banff National Park. We stayed at Fairmont Chateau, Lake Louise which was awesome! The hotel is nested in between beautiful mountains, which had glaciers on them and sits right on Lake Louise. Caroline got her first horse ride by herself! Over the last two weeks, we’ve tried multiple times to take Caroline on a horse ride and this was our last chance. When we walked up to the stables at the Fairmont and they said that you had to be [View Full Entry]

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18th July 2008 Today we had a bit of a lie in until 7-30am, even the children slept until then. After some breakfast I took Amy and Richard to Hamilton Airport to catch a plane to Halifax. They are off to explore places they have not yet visited. We decided to take the children back to their own house in Toronto as they have their own beds and toys there. It was very hot and humid still and it was almost a pleasure to get into the car and put the air conditioning on. We did not have a chance to [View Full Entry]

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19th July 2008 We are now in Toronto with Amy's car and the children. The car in Toronto is almost more trouble than tits worth as the authorities are red hot on parking and it involves careful reading of the complex parking restrictions and moving the car from one place to another to avoid getting fined. After breakfast we decided to take the children to the Toronto Science Centre (to escape the heat). It also has an official car park where you can leave the car all day. We found our way there with the aid of the Sat Nav, but [View Full Entry]

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"I'm tired but not sleepy". My clock is messed up! "It's so cold here!" We even prepared by wearing socks, long pants, and light jackets. "Get out of the way! You're blocking the escalator!" Western people ride an escalator side-by-side, but Asian people stand one behind the other for the benefit of anyone wanting by. It took a moment to remember that people standing beside their companions were not being inconsiderate. "$11.95 for a sandwich? I love a server with a sense of humour!" We can believe neither the sky-high prices in Canada, nor the meekness with which people just pay. [View Full Entry]

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After our wild west adventures with the olds, Rich and I have left mum and dad in Toronto baby sitting Hannah and William. It was very sad saying goodbye to Marta and my beautiful niece and nephew, I had a great time this year being so close to them and will miss that a lot. After dad dropped us off at Hamilton airport (which by the way has to be the quietest and most relaxed airport I have ever been to!) we few an hour and a half to Halifax moving into yet another time zone, the Atlantic provinces. We [View Full Entry]

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Nothing really to say, but this post is costing me an arm and a leg to make. Patrick and I are just sitting around waiting for the plane. By the way Patrick is niccing out like crazy. [View Full Entry]

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Today was an easy drive or we are just getting use to it. It seems we crossed a time zone, then crossed back so were a little confused this time. It was uneventful, nothing exciting to talk about except that we arrived safe and are staying put until Monday. We saw a deer, a coyote and a bunch of cows, still no buffalo. Gas here is the cheapest we have seen yet $1.27. After a terrible rain storm last night it was nice to see the sun. Thought we would have to build an ark but it all dried up by [View Full Entry]

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Ah, Montreal. The city that I call home when I travel. We're back in Montreal for the summer, and we're loving it! While Dave and I were running a "chase point" or checkpoint for the Montreal City Chase, we were distracted by a man wearing a clown wig riding on a kid's scooter, chased by a blue bus full of drunk guys, two of which were hanging out of the overhead emergency exit, throwing water balloons at the clown. Meanwhile, the cockroaches and the snakes at our checkpoint wanted to know what the commotion was about. As teams raced around Montreal [View Full Entry]

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July 18th. Traveled from Calgary to Edmonton and met up with Aunt Derda and many family members and friends. Tonight is casual dining, but tomorrow is the 'big' party dinner. Travel today was punctuated by a heavy thunderstorm, lightning, hail and heavy rain. Scenery fairly bland (no hills) between Calgary and Edmonton. Saw an emu but guessed that it was an alien species and should not be here. Pam and George [View Full Entry]

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Photos from July 17. [View Full Entry]

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