Tink keeps up!

Pictures 1 and 2 are Hil and Phil enjoying Naomi.

Picture 3 is the whole family with Hilary, Phil and Rose.

Picture 4 is the three girls in the hollow of a giant tree. (It smelled green).

Picture 5 was taken in the van after lunch. Just a nice spontaneous shot of those three.

Well hello Everyone,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your comments. We love them!!!! That many exclamation points means that it is especially true.

My task is to tell you of two things. One, our trip to Victoria and two our drive through the redwoods.

Our trip to Victoria was warm with friends and cold and rainy with weather. We did a bit of "veg"ing so that we would have maximum energy for our long drive through the states. Maia was extremely comfortable at Hil and Phil's place. She even snuggled up with Phil to read a couple of books one rainy afternoon.
Luckily, we also caught up with our good friend Rose. We stole a couple of her busy student hours to play at the park, eat soup and Ice-cream and to discuss the health benefits of nuts. Many of you may be pleasantly surprised to hear that I have become of fun of nuts of many varieties. Hummm, I guess I had to just go on a life changing trip in order to become a little less picky, that's all.
Sadly, we didn't prepare well enough in advance and we completely missed seeing my Cousin Matt and his girlfriend Shauna. We felt very silly when we found out that they were in Victoria and that we had no time to see them!
Other than that one disappointment, it was a relaxing and comfortable stay. Many and mucho thanks to our gracious and giving hosts.
The very next day, as Adam's last blog indicates, we drove our little van as far as we could go. The girls were great and we ended up having a 13 hour day, including the Coho ferry ride from Victoria to Port Angeles. We are desperate for warm weather so that we can make the best use of our CAMPER van.
So, last night we stayed in Grants Pass and this morning we drove a leisurely 6 hours, with an hour and a half stop to visit the giant redwoods. WOWEE ZOWEE is what first comes to mind, but there are a few other adjectives that could also describe their magnificence, like; awesome (in both the original and contemporary sense), fantastic, stupendous and of course humongous. Maia had a blast and so did Naomi. Naomi loved the wet air and the quiet I think. The roar of the van engine can get to be a little loud at times. As for Adam and I, well if you must know, we loved it as well.
Speaking of the girls, quick update...Maia is constantly amazing us with her increasing vocabulary. She's also becoming quite the climber and most recently, she has started to play with her sister. She keeps hoping that we are in Nicaragua, but she was pretty excited to be in California. She gave the sunshine state a round of applause and a couple of shout-outs!
Naomi is really loving her hands at the moment. Her face when she concentrates is hysterically funny. I am certain that you would all agree. Also, we think that a tooth may be erupting momentarily, so there is a degree of discomfort for her that isn't fun to hear.
Tonight, we are in Eureka. The coastal highway is dangerously beautiful....in a very real way. Luckily I was reminded by Adam on a regular basis to keep my eyes on the road. We are staying at a fancy hotel as a treat....it had a pool and a hot tub for Maia.
Love, love, love you all too much! Oh, yeah...the name Tink for the van is here to stay. She just seems to have a halo of pixie dust following her as we chug/fly down the road.
E

INTO AMERICA! (in the dark of night)

This morning we woke up in Grants Pass, Oregon. The sun is up and everything is looking very green. The weather is cool but getting warmer and we are heading for the Redwood forests this morning.

We took the ferry yesterday morning at 10:30 to port Angeles. We didn't have any problems at the border. We felt good and we drove until we couldn't drive anymore. We drove 800km down interstate 5. Maia and Naomi travelled great. We finally decided on a name for the van....Tinkerbell. Tink for short.

That is all. Check out is in 13 minutes.

Vancouver Horny Toad

Vancouver treated us very well and we were able to get a new stereo, visit our friend Molly and visit the aquarium.

While our van was at Performance Stereo getting upgraded, we took a bus to the aquarium.

The aquarium was a blast. Most of the pictures didn't turn out because the flash reflected of the glass but here we see a ornate horny toad posing beside Maia. She is asking me if it is real. We saw snakes and dolphins and turtles and sharks and we even got hit by a surprise hail storm. Many of the tourists were standing outside and watching in exclamation. I coundn't tell if the exclamation was from the thick slushy hail or from Maia who was on her hands and knees trying to eat it.



After the aquarium, we picked up our van from Performance Stereo. The new tunes sound great. With Robert Munsch blasting through the speakers, we headed to the set of "Supernatural". Our friend Molly Clayton is the assistant to the assistant director we got a tour of some equipment while everybody on set was having lunch. I got to sit in the "stand in's" chair. Apparently all he does is "stand in" the scene until the lighting is good enough for filming. I may have found my new calling.

Time and time again

Adam bought a watch, the day before we left Edmonton. It is quite the watch actually, it does our laundry and acts as a nanny when we need some time alone.

The concept of time started a train of thought that has followed us to our present location in Kelowna BC.

Last night, we stayed in Golden BC. Going through the Kicking horse pass was humbling, to say the least. The timelessness of the mountains reminded me of how young we are (something that is nice to feel at the grand old age of 32). Then, in the morning, Adam took a picture of our two girls, reminding me again of how fast time flies.

We unexpectedly made great time through the Rogers Pass, which is 1345 metres above sea level and arrived in Kelowna ahead of schedule. The beauty of this trip though, is that we don't really have to be anywhere on time.

Our van was really great and we have been having a wonderful time. One quote from Maia for the day...Maia told me "to be cute, ok?!"

Love to everyone who has sent their well wishes and made comments. They are the first thing we check when we stop for the day.

Make it so

The departure on March 21, 2008, started with an idea over a year ago. Although we knew that Edmonton was a temporary home for us, it was nonetheless difficult to say goodbye to our good friends. When we pulled away today and started the first leg of our journey, it was with exhilaration and sadness in our hearts.

We arrived in Calgary without any problems. The van ran well on its maiden voyage, Maia was excited about her new "house" and Naomi slept most of the way. There was a speed trap South of Red Deer and we managed to avoid detection. The van is quite laden with gear and somewhat underpowered. I wouldn't be surprised if the police hadn't even used the radar gun on us. We did pass our first vehicle that wasn't stopped...we all laughed at them heartily as we passed. It was quite momentous.

Tomorrow we are planning to travel through the mountains to Revelstoke. The travelling distance is 433 km with a 1300m tall bump between Golden and Revelstoke. This will be the first large climb for the Westy and we will be taking it slow with a close eye on the engine temperature. I feel like we should have to drive many days before being afforded the opportunity to witness the splendor of the Rockies and we plan to absorb what we can, going to the Banff hot springs.

A moment in time.

We are flying to Nova Scotia. Maia gets her own seat and is adept at putting her seat belt on. She has her baby with her and will be holding her tight during takeoff. (so don't worry). Maia has a not so surprising love of airports and flying as well as a propensity for travelling.We visited Ottawa for a week to visit Maia's Great grand parents and great aunts and a hand full of her cousins. While visiting, we had the chance to visit the museum of civilization. Its a beautiful building designed by Douglas Cardinal who is the same guy who designed the College in Grande Prairie for those of you in the know. While in the kids section, Maia and stopped to study the painting below. She stood unmoving for several moments and I took a seat on a bench nearby. Eventually I asked her what she was doing and she told me " I am waiting in line." Her patience paid off because she was served strawberry/blueberry ice cream and we continued on our way.
This picture shows Eileen and Maia. Eileen is Maia's Great grandmother on her grandfather's side of the family. I wish I could show pictures of her visits with all her extended family as they are all very important to her, but I think the picture below illustrates the enjoyment that visiting family brings.
Grandpa Dave and Maia sharing a moment at a diner back in Halifax. It was a sunny Sunday and we have been staying in the luxurious Radisson hotel in downtown Halifax. We had just finished walking to the museum of natural history but it was closed. We roamed around downtown Halifax until we found a cafe. We made it back to the museum after brunch and Maia made friends with an 84 year old turtle named Gus.
Maia and her Grandma Mary Coyle woke up very early to take the ferry between Halifax and Dartmouth. There are Tim Horton restaurants at both the Halifax and Dartmouth terminals, right beside the ticket booth and Maia received a free timbit in Dartmouth. Before making land, Maia noticed Theodore Tugboat and so...

The Chariot

This photo was taken in the back yard of our house in Edmonton in December, 2007. This is a 1984 Westfalia, it has 200 000+ kms and it is the chariot of choice for the voyage to Central America. We planned a few reparations to prepare the vehicle for the journey and the vehicle is presently at Westside Auto.

Right after I took this photo, I began the process of trying to start the engine. You might be surprised to learn that it started on the first turn of the key. (By first turn of the key I mean tenth with a battery booster and a horseshoe in the tailpipe).

For those of you who haven't been inside a 1984 Westfalia, please lend me your imagination for a moment. The van's sliding door opens into the kitchen. The kitchen has two gas burners, a sink, a fridge and an espresso machine. The fridge and burners and powered by propane. The sink faucet pump is attached to a 50 liter water tank that drains conveniently out of the van and into nature. All of the cupboards and drawers lock when closed and allow plenty of room for the pots and pans. The driver's seat and the passenger's seat turn towards each other and a table can be swung into place. Another table is placed in front of the bench seat in the rear of the van. The nice part about the kitchen is that when the top of the van is popped up, there is plenty of standing room for cooking, laughing and eating. When diner is finished, the tables swing out of the way and the rear bench lies flat to create a double bed. The second double bed is comfortably under the recently popped van top and there are drapes for all of the windows for privacy and a good nights sleep.

I would like to end this blog with a small request from my readers. This van does not have a name or even a gender. At the moment, Emilie believes the van is a girl while Maia is quite sure that it is a boy. Please send us your preference and help us decide. (My personal choice is Optimus).