Does anyone remember Semisonic? They were a great alt-rock straight out of Minneapolis in the mid-nineties who is probably best known for their anthem "Closing Time". It ends with the lyric "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end".
When Jessica and I started our adventure we lived not too far from Minneapolis. Prior to living in Canada -- before England and even River Falls we first met across the lunch table from each other in Cameron, Wisconsin. It was 2005 -- she invited me to her birthday party. I almost didn't go.
Ten years later, it's 2015 -- we've had more beginnings and endings than most people have had in a lifetime.
About five months ago, my family and I buried my little brother. He was killed in a car accident and left behind a wife and two children.
About six months ago I met my niece for the first time.
Nearly a year ago I fell in love with someone new -- and two months prior to that, Jessica and I ended our journey.
Yesterday I got the final divorce certificate.
Honestly, I am not sure what else to say here. The adventure is over. About thirteen hours drive from where it started -- Regina, Saskatchewan.
It's closing time.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Bletchley Park Birthday Trip
May 7th is the hubby's birthday and I had something special planned for weeks and was having trouble containing myself and avoiding spilling the beans. The weekend before his Birthday happened to fall over a bank holiday so we both had the time off so we didn't have to ask off from school. Trevor had been talking about Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes being the
one place he wanted to see before we left the UK, and with both of our
busy schedules, we were not sure it would happen.
I figured what better gift for his birthday is there then a trip to Bletchley Park (computer nerd heaven). So, I organized a dog sitter, and then a schedule of places to see, and then how I was going to announce it when they day came.
May 4th- Bright and early in the morning I wake the husband up and hand him a gift and insist he open it early. After a bit of nudging he eventually opened it to see "Alan Turing Monopoly" which features figurines from Bletchley Park (Alan Turing is considered the father of computing). Then I said, "that is where we are going for the weekend, so pack your things", I gave him about an hour to pack all of his things and then we handed off the dog to our wonderful friend, and we headed to the train station.
A few hours on the train and we first arrived at Bletchley Park (we only brought a backpack to minimize carrying tons of things-after all it was only a weekend away). We walked just a short distance from the train station and there was Bletchley Park. I loved seeing the smile on Trevor's face as he said "I have only ever since this in pictures". We weaved in and out of every building in the museum scrutinizing every gadget and memorial. Seeing how happy he was really made all the planning and waiting worth it.
It turned out to be a beautiful day, aside from a little bit of rain. I really enjoyed the gardens full of Trees from all over the world. Of course, Trevor would tell you an entirely different story, probably saying something about how cool the Enigma machine was, and how he loved seeing Alan Turing's office. When the afternoon rolled around Trevor and I ate at the on site cafe, and then quickly scurried to our feet to view more. We were then very lucky to have actually met a WREN.
Once we finished at Bletchley Park we had a taxi take us to our hotel, which was very nicely located in the heart of Milton Keynes, and we were surrounded by lots of shopping and great places to eat. But, this was Trevor's birthday trip so we did everything at his pace. So, we napped, and then had a late night dinner at a fancy seafood restaurant and then took a walk.
May 5th- I had one more surprise planned for Trevor, and the only trouble was going to be finding it. I slipped out of the room in the morning while Trevor was asleep to ask the hotel staff how to get to excape on foot. So, once Trevor felt up to being awake I took him on a walk and would not tell him where we were going, but of course he guessed almost the entire way, but still couldn't figure it out. How could he have though, when we arrived to excape, he found he would be spending a couple of hours indoor skiing! Yes, you read that right, INDOOR skiing. Trevor loves cold, and Trevor loves skiing, so it was the perfect thing for him. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Costa and then we were ready to enjoy some skiing. It was a weird experience, the snow certainly was not quite is good, and it was only so steep, but it was still very cool.
So, now we had the entire day left at our disposal as we had done everything I planned. So, Trevor said, lets go shopping. We went to all these huge malls, and some street markets and found a couple of fun things. And...the most exciting thing for me is we had dinner at an American Restaurant TGIFridays! Mmmm...Chicken wings in ranch! We were pretty significantly tired after this so we went back to the hotel and slept, and it was glorious.
May 6th- We stayed at the hotel just before check out as to get plenty of sleep and had a Taxi drive us to Maplins so Trevor could spend the final moments of his Birthday weekend looking at electronics! He was very happy. Then on our walk back to the train station we saw a B & M store (basically an outlet store), and stopped and grabbed Nova his favorite treats...because, well, we really missed him! We grabbed the next train home, then gave our friend a call to return our dog, and we waited at the front door for him excitedly! We gave him lots of cuddles and then slept for the rest of the night.
Now, the next problem is how I am going to top this Birthday next year?
I figured what better gift for his birthday is there then a trip to Bletchley Park (computer nerd heaven). So, I organized a dog sitter, and then a schedule of places to see, and then how I was going to announce it when they day came.
May 4th- Bright and early in the morning I wake the husband up and hand him a gift and insist he open it early. After a bit of nudging he eventually opened it to see "Alan Turing Monopoly" which features figurines from Bletchley Park (Alan Turing is considered the father of computing). Then I said, "that is where we are going for the weekend, so pack your things", I gave him about an hour to pack all of his things and then we handed off the dog to our wonderful friend, and we headed to the train station.
A few hours on the train and we first arrived at Bletchley Park (we only brought a backpack to minimize carrying tons of things-after all it was only a weekend away). We walked just a short distance from the train station and there was Bletchley Park. I loved seeing the smile on Trevor's face as he said "I have only ever since this in pictures". We weaved in and out of every building in the museum scrutinizing every gadget and memorial. Seeing how happy he was really made all the planning and waiting worth it.
It turned out to be a beautiful day, aside from a little bit of rain. I really enjoyed the gardens full of Trees from all over the world. Of course, Trevor would tell you an entirely different story, probably saying something about how cool the Enigma machine was, and how he loved seeing Alan Turing's office. When the afternoon rolled around Trevor and I ate at the on site cafe, and then quickly scurried to our feet to view more. We were then very lucky to have actually met a WREN.
 |
| In the Tree Garden. |
 |
| "PETARD Bombe - a small version of the Bombe, Alan Turing's code breaking machine." -Trevor |
 |
| "Colossus - The World's First Programmable Computer (of course, this is just a replica -- the original was destroyed after the war). Designed by Tommy Flowers, it was used to crack telegraphic messages by German High Command." -Trevor |
 |
| The Replica Bombe. |
 |
| "This
woman we happened to bump into was a member of the Women's Royal Naval
Service (wrens) during the war and worked at Bletchley Park helping to
crack Nazi codes -- although they had no idea exactly what it was that
they were working on. Without these heroines, World War II would have
probably lasted two more years -- they saved countless lives. She just celebrated her 95th birthday as I begin to celebrate my 25th." -Trevor |
May 5th- I had one more surprise planned for Trevor, and the only trouble was going to be finding it. I slipped out of the room in the morning while Trevor was asleep to ask the hotel staff how to get to excape on foot. So, once Trevor felt up to being awake I took him on a walk and would not tell him where we were going, but of course he guessed almost the entire way, but still couldn't figure it out. How could he have though, when we arrived to excape, he found he would be spending a couple of hours indoor skiing! Yes, you read that right, INDOOR skiing. Trevor loves cold, and Trevor loves skiing, so it was the perfect thing for him. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Costa and then we were ready to enjoy some skiing. It was a weird experience, the snow certainly was not quite is good, and it was only so steep, but it was still very cool.
So, now we had the entire day left at our disposal as we had done everything I planned. So, Trevor said, lets go shopping. We went to all these huge malls, and some street markets and found a couple of fun things. And...the most exciting thing for me is we had dinner at an American Restaurant TGIFridays! Mmmm...Chicken wings in ranch! We were pretty significantly tired after this so we went back to the hotel and slept, and it was glorious.
May 6th- We stayed at the hotel just before check out as to get plenty of sleep and had a Taxi drive us to Maplins so Trevor could spend the final moments of his Birthday weekend looking at electronics! He was very happy. Then on our walk back to the train station we saw a B & M store (basically an outlet store), and stopped and grabbed Nova his favorite treats...because, well, we really missed him! We grabbed the next train home, then gave our friend a call to return our dog, and we waited at the front door for him excitedly! We gave him lots of cuddles and then slept for the rest of the night.
Now, the next problem is how I am going to top this Birthday next year?
Thursday, March 28, 2013
The Adventure Continues
Just to let you all know in only six months time our blog will make a slight change as we will be exploring a new Country. That's right everyone...we are moving to Canada! Trevor and I have been thinking very hard and long about what is next for us and after much deliberation have decided that Canada is unequivocally the place for us! We have loved adventuring in England and have so much more we want to see and so little time to do it all in. We plan on packing these last six months full of British adventures so you won't miss out on these. In addition, we still plan to come back and visit England yearly as it will always be like a second home to us and have a special place in our hearts. We also plan to visit Amsterdam yearly to attend Trevor's Blender Conference. So, we will just be expanding our travel area in future blog posts.
Why Canada?
1.) Obviously all of our American and Canadian friends and family will firstly say they may get to see us on more than once every year and a half, which everyone is thrilled about!
2.) There is a significant monetary benefit as the American dollar is worth about half the value of a British Pound.
3.) Cultural assimilation (The process by which a minority immigrant group acquire new customs, language, and ideologies through contact and education in the dominant society) (wikipedia). Trevor and I suck at this...we are very headstrong Midwest Americans at heart and adapting we have not. While we can appreciate the culture from a far and love so many things about British culture, we just like it better when we are not a part of it.
Some ways we have not been able to assimilate culturally include the following.
A.) No matter how much we try, or how innocent the casual Englishmen is, when we get asked "where are you from?" every time we leave the house...even if we are sitting trying to have a romantic dinner we have a 30 minute conversation with a complete stranger about American culture. Trevor has started answering this question a bit snidely with "we are from Middle Street in Worcester". We don't mean to come of as rude, however, it's questions like this that make it very apparent that we will just never quite fit in. And discussing my accent or putting on a British accent to blend in has failed...I have tried! lol. fyi...I still...I mean STILL get confused when I go to order a burger and some fries, and when I ask for fries they tell me they don't sell them with the burger, and if they do I have just ordered the wrong thing. Because, No, I never remember to say chips...and I suck at all the other lingo too, and the British don't appreciate when I am talking about my pants (their underwear) with no reservations in public.
B.) The English pace of life tends to run on a much slower basis than the American life style. For example, all stores close by 5 or 6 pm. So, if you need or want anything (even just something to keep you entertained) you better go to the pub because everything else is closed. And again we can respect the British pace as we notice the English tend to be much more family oriented and much more willing to give time off for illness or family. But, unfortunately we can not be those people that wait 2 months to get Internet installed...it would literally drive us insane.
C.) Luxuries...and yes...I know how vein that sounds. I miss certain types of food from back home (even certain cuisines like Chinese can taste completely different from what I am used to). We are used to being able to find everything we want very easily and know exactly what stores to look at to locate them. Some stores here we still have no idea what's in them...we were actually once forced to be a plunger from amazon because we couldn't find one anywhere else...still haven't in fact. Oh....and for the love of everything holy I will be so glad to never have to use the two tap British system again. Either you use the hot water and get burned or the cold and freeze.
4.) Canada is BEAUTIFUL and we miss the nature, the fresh air, and the mountains (and skiing). I mean how could this not be somewhere you could see yourself falling in love with.
So if all goes well with work permits and visas we will see you in Saskatchewan in six months!
Why Canada?
1.) Obviously all of our American and Canadian friends and family will firstly say they may get to see us on more than once every year and a half, which everyone is thrilled about!
2.) There is a significant monetary benefit as the American dollar is worth about half the value of a British Pound.
3.) Cultural assimilation (The process by which a minority immigrant group acquire new customs, language, and ideologies through contact and education in the dominant society) (wikipedia). Trevor and I suck at this...we are very headstrong Midwest Americans at heart and adapting we have not. While we can appreciate the culture from a far and love so many things about British culture, we just like it better when we are not a part of it.
Some ways we have not been able to assimilate culturally include the following.
A.) No matter how much we try, or how innocent the casual Englishmen is, when we get asked "where are you from?" every time we leave the house...even if we are sitting trying to have a romantic dinner we have a 30 minute conversation with a complete stranger about American culture. Trevor has started answering this question a bit snidely with "we are from Middle Street in Worcester". We don't mean to come of as rude, however, it's questions like this that make it very apparent that we will just never quite fit in. And discussing my accent or putting on a British accent to blend in has failed...I have tried! lol. fyi...I still...I mean STILL get confused when I go to order a burger and some fries, and when I ask for fries they tell me they don't sell them with the burger, and if they do I have just ordered the wrong thing. Because, No, I never remember to say chips...and I suck at all the other lingo too, and the British don't appreciate when I am talking about my pants (their underwear) with no reservations in public.
B.) The English pace of life tends to run on a much slower basis than the American life style. For example, all stores close by 5 or 6 pm. So, if you need or want anything (even just something to keep you entertained) you better go to the pub because everything else is closed. And again we can respect the British pace as we notice the English tend to be much more family oriented and much more willing to give time off for illness or family. But, unfortunately we can not be those people that wait 2 months to get Internet installed...it would literally drive us insane.
C.) Luxuries...and yes...I know how vein that sounds. I miss certain types of food from back home (even certain cuisines like Chinese can taste completely different from what I am used to). We are used to being able to find everything we want very easily and know exactly what stores to look at to locate them. Some stores here we still have no idea what's in them...we were actually once forced to be a plunger from amazon because we couldn't find one anywhere else...still haven't in fact. Oh....and for the love of everything holy I will be so glad to never have to use the two tap British system again. Either you use the hot water and get burned or the cold and freeze.
 |
| http://mindyourpeaseandqueues.tumblr.com/post/531131668/15-sinks-with-two-taps |
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| http://cdnstatic-2.mydestination.com/library/images/102_1680_948.jpg |
So if all goes well with work permits and visas we will see you in Saskatchewan in six months!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
From Paris, France to Saskatchewan, Canada to Rice Lake, Wisconsin and Back Again- The Hobbit's Tale
If you understood that Lord of the Rings reference you get a gold star for the day! Anyhow, it had been over a year and half since I had last seen any of my family! And....FINALLY....We were going home! We missed all of our family so much and there was a huge excitement for everyone to meet Nova our new addition to the family. So, here we were knowing we had planned to come home over the Holiday's to see our family, but we have a dog in the most strict Country on pet travel. Oh, yes, chaos ensued.
We literally tried absolutely every avenue imaginable before we ended up with this route of travel and some of the things we had to consider were absolutely exhausting. Yes, we had to think months in advanced and get Nova updated on all shots, health certificates, and get him a pet passport, and international travel certificate. But, at the end of the day what it boiled down to is this; dogs must fly back into England as Cargo under the plane (which we had come to terms with), but what we couldn't come to terms with was the cost to do such a thing when it would only cost $100 per way to fly him in the cabin. So, we thought how can we get around this cargo expense and buy a round trip ticket (the cost of single fare tickets is outrageous by the way) and avoid having our poor little JackChi stuck in cargo all day (without anyone to feed, water him, or take him to the bathroom), and with all of that we had decided...we had to go through Paris where these rules are not in place.
So, yes we were forced to go to Paris...ugh...our luck, huh? Not the worst thing in the world, but it made for a fairly grueling trip. We were able to split it up as much as possible and tried to have fun with it and act like it was an entire day to lay around, eat snacks, watch movies, and play tons of games.
Our wonderful neighbors and friends from next door offered to be our door to door service from our home to the airport in Paris (and back). We had a ton of luggage because we had Christmas gifts and trinkets we wanted left in the US. We barley got all of it loaded in the small British car, but we managed and we were off...2 hours to London...and then the Eurotunnel (a train under the British channel that connects England and France). The Eurotunnel was freakishly awesome by the way, very eerie and lots of ear popping...and 30 minutes later we made it to the other side. We were in France and I believe it was approximately a 6 hour drive to our hotel for the night (near the airport) not including potty breaks for all of us especially Nova who was fed copious amounts of delicious little sausages like a king. Our neighbors love him...and Nova adores them back. Which is one of the reasons they so graciously agreed to drive us (them not wanting Nova to fly in cargo).
By the time we got to our hotel we were all starving and exhausted, we were not able to see much for the scenery because it was dark and rainy. We ate supper at the hotel buffet and it had super strange food...and a slew of jokes about 2 British, and 2 Americans walk into a French Restaurant. We could not stop laughing. The hotel was awesome with Nova though, I was able to have him off lead and just let him out the front door to go potty when he needed to and that helped get him some of the exercises he needed before the flight. So, we all tried to rest, Trevor and I didn't have much luck.
We awoke early for our flight and then arrived at the airport where we quickly went through the security. No one payed any attention to the dog until we mentioned him because he was in his plain black Sherpa bag, which just looks like a duffel bag. So because you can absolutely not let a dog go through the x-ray machine you have to physically take your pet out of the bag and walk them through the metal detector with you. I swear you could have heard the entire airport gasp and say "awww" simultaneously when the cutest little JackChi popped out of a little black bag and into my arms...he was a bit nervous at the start. In fact he would not let me just set the bag down...he needed to be carried...he is quite the diva.
After security we only had an hour to wait for our flight, which we quickly wasted by looking at the shops and buying trinkets like the cutest little Eiffel towers. We boarded the plane, and again, the dog remained unnoticed thanks to the Sherpa bag, which allowed him to stay very calm and not have people poking and prodding at him or draw the attention of the stewardess which allowed us to be treated as any other passenger. It was a LONG 8 and a half hour flight...for us and the dog. It wasn't Nova's favorite, and I think we were stressing him out too much by checking on him too frequently and not just letting him sleep. I would open the bag to pet him and he would practically force his self out with his nose (because he had to remain under the seat in front of me for the entire flight, sadly). So, he did scrape up his nose a little. After this we got smarter though and the worst was over.
We had a 6 hour layover in Toronto where Trevor and I took turns running Nova outside endlessly. He made lots of potty and was pooped out for the second flight to my Dad and Step Mom's house in Saskatchewan Canada. He and I both slept the entire flight...we had lots of space as I got two seats and so did Trevor. The only time Nova cried as when I had to get up to go to the bathroom and of course he noticed.
I was so excited to have slept through that flight because I COULD NOT wait to see my parents. We are the last ones off the plane because we always chose the back (to try to respect any allergy suffers or those not keen on dogs) to make it more comfortable for us and others. We finally got off the plane and walked towards the escalator down to my parents who were waiting at the bottom and we had lots of big hugs...especially from my step mom. And Nova had a barking fit towards my step mom when she started talking to him...so we got the memo, quickly grabbed the rest of our luggage and let him out on his lead in the bitter cold and snow. We loved the weather...and so did Nova...I don't think any of us were ever so happy to see snow! We hopped in my parents car, which was thankfully well heated and had heated seats, and we drove about 30 minutes before arriving at my parents house.
Mind you, everything at my parent's house was a surprise. They had just built this house, the last time I had saw it, it was just a piece of land. Since then, they had finished almost the entire thing and refused to show me any pictures because it was supposed to be a surprise. So, I am coming home to a home I have never been to...it was so strange and exciting. My dad messed with me and kept trying to make me guess which house it was until we finally got there. We pulled up and the house was spectacular...the entire thing was built and decorated by my parents...you could literally see their personalties come alive in it. It was very much like a piece of art. We walked in and it felt like we had entered a Safari, the beautiful sunrise colors coming alive. A breathtaking kitchen with an island and wine rack. A unbelievable sized 3D tv and living area. And for us, we went down stairs to be surprised by a gym at our disposal, and an entire room built just for us. I mean, what other kids in the world have parents that build their children and in my case my husband and I our own bedroom for when we visit. It was designed around us. Our Step Mom, specifically chose an Asian theme infused with colors of turquoise and deep red, with decorations from a samari sword, to ornamental paper fans, a stunning fireplace hanging from the wall, and a big screen tv in the corner. Every detail had been thought of from the tinted bamboo windows, to the bungalow style ceiling fan. I don't think either of us got such good sleep in our big Queen sized bed in a long time. After all the things my parents did for us, Trevor and I don't even remember if we thanked them that night because we were so exhausted we couldn't properly gather everything that was happening. So, first thing next morning we told them how amazing everything was and how much we loved it.
I believe it was that first night my sister arrived super early in the morning like 3 am, and we both gave each other a big hug...a big deal in my family we aren't usually huggers. The next few weeks I just spent time with everyone...I really didn't do anything else. All of my attention was directed to them...I didn't even check facebook. We all had so much catching up to do. It's actually funny to think about how Nova barked at my step mom, because now he is completely in love with her. He follows her around and waits at her door in the morning for her to wake up. And yes, he is a grandpa's boy too. He adjusted quite quickly. Especially when you consider we had 5 dogs in the house...yes I said 5! My sister has one named Tinky...a teenie weenie rescue Chihuahua, and my dad and step mom have 3, Sammy the Terrier/poodle mix, Binky the Toy Rat Terrier, and Foo Foo the Rat Terrier. And of course Nova, and that makes 5. Nova got along with them all except a couple of scuffles with Binky (my childhood dog), who is a bit of a loner and doesn't like anyone to be rough housing because she is a bit of an old crabby lady. However, Nova, Sam, and Foo Foo ran around and chased each other like crazy, and I think Binky liked not having to put up with them!
We started our Christmas vacation off right with a good theater production of the Trailer Park Boys on their "Dear Santa Clause, Go Fuck Yourself" Tour. Which was sufficiently hilarious...and we will always remember SantaJesusGod, and never think of onion rings in the same way. It wasn't long before it was Christmas Eve and almost everyone was there except my brother, sis-in-law, and nephew, who couldn't make it this year but we would get to see later on. For Christmas Eve we stayed at home, baked a dangerously unhealthy amount of cookies (including some resses peanut butter cookies), and ate something of everyones favorite foods for dinner, like bbq bacon water chestnuts, crab Rangoon, fried dumplings, and it goes on. And thank you for asking, in fact I did gain weight while I was back home. We exchanged lots of awesome gifts. I got some super cute gifts from my sister including a pink pair of earrings and bare minerals makeup. From Trevor I got a Breaking Bad T-shirt and a really skimpy wonder woman swimsuit that Trevor gave me specifically to make my dad uncomfortable...and it worked (they have an odd relationship). From my parents I got an awesome nail care dryer, and manicure kit. And Trevor, he got lots and lots of video games...as per usual...he was very happy. All of us kids bought my Step Mom this really cool necklace that was a tree with the birthstones of all of her kids, and kid-in-laws on it. We knew she would like it, but we didn't expect she would like it as much as she did. There was an initial shock...she didn't say anything for about 30 seconds after she opened it and read the inscription which said, "Wear this to keep your kids as close to your heart as you are to ours". Initially I thought she didn't like it, but then she said "this is all of your birthstones isn't it?", I nodded and she burst into tears (which I am sure she will appreciate me telling the entire world over my blog since she is a bit of a tough cookie). My sister and I gave her a big hug and helped her put her necklace on. Of course, Christmas morning after she collected herself she explained to us why it was so meaningful to her. She said her and her siblings had given a similar gift to her mom before she passed away so it was a gift that was very sentimental to her.
And then there was Christmas where the whole family came over to the house and I got to meet a couple of my family members and cousins for the first time. They were all really nice and inviting to me. We played a gift exchange game and Trevor and I won lots and lots of delicious homemade wine. It was such a fun experience. And oh, I almost forgot, lots and lots of old Christmas music. And more delicious food.
And only a couple days after Christmas we were on our next trip into the US to see our Wisconsin family. Trevor's Parents and Brothers, his Birth Mom and family, and my Mom, Brother, Sis-in-law, and Nephew. Again, we were unbelievably excited. We took off very early in the morning and dressed up our Nova in a doggie Santa suit for our family and the borders enjoyment (FYI super easy border trip--I think it's because they thought Nova was cute). My parents drove us through into North Dakota, were we met Trev's parents and my in laws who had just driven a ridiculously long distance to bring us home. Again, more hugs and lots of excitement. We used the bathrooms, hit the road, had some delicious subway flat bread sandwiches-(American food score) along the way! Trevor and his ridiculously long legs led him to the passengers seat and brought his Mom to the back, which worked out nicely anyway because we snuggled up in blankets with Nova and chatted the whole time. And of course Trev and his Dad were up front talking hard core politics...the usual. A long I believe 12 hour-ish drive later and we were in the back woods at their house in the forest...so calming. We pull up to see a giant Christmas tree and a Santa on a tractor pulling his sleigh...lol!
We got there just in time to celebrate the new year and open gifts with Trev's family...we got some beautiful North Face jackets, and we gave the parents a voucher for a family photo. We were able to stop in a couple of times and visit my Brother, Sis-in-Law, and Nephew and exchange gifts (showering our nephew with a ridiculous amount of gifts to make up for all the time we missed-and playing with them for him). I was able to stop in and see my Mom for a day, and she terribly missed me and was so happy to see me. We were even able to make it up to Minnesota to see Trev's Birth mom and family and spend some time in a beautiful little cabin with Nova in Lutsen Minnesota at a fabulous ski resort and the best skiing either of us have ever experienced, and his Birth mom and brother babysat our dog for us.
We did get to spend a entire day and night with my nephew which was really nice and fun...we did all sorts of crazy things like giving him a giant bubble bath in a jet tub, playing with an early birthday present of hex begs, and some unintentional dress up which he will most certainly grow up to hate me for some of the photos I took. Other than that though, I was not able to find time to visit friends as our schedule was pretty filled up.
We had a really nice time in Wisconsin, but it had some very sad undertones as Trevor's grandpa was very sick, and as was Bird dog, his childhood dog. The first thing we did when we arrived in Wisconsin was visit Grandpa at the nursing home. We brought Nova and lots of pictures with us. Nova curled up by his head and gave him kisses while we showed him pictures from all of our different adventures. It was a really good day...by the next few days his health declined. It wasn't long after we gave our hello's that he said his goodbye's and passed away. Not the best of circumstances to come home to, and we scrambled to try to do right by everyone over our visit and most certainly failed. Trevor grieved in his own way, and Trevor thought it would be nice if I could sing at his Grandpa's funeral as he sang at his Grandma's when she passed, so when the day came as nervous as I was, I did. I sang you Raise me up...Trev's Mom cried...I keep making people do that. It was a hard day but we were happy to be there for it. A week or so after we left Bird was put down because of terrible hip-displaysia, which is really common for labs. I am quite convinced she had a fabulous last couple of weeks with us and Nova...I think he made her feel young again and she would prance around with him as much as she could, although sometimes her legs wouldn't hold her. We gave her extra treats, and snuggles, and let her sneak in our bed at night, knowing that it may be the last time we would do those things. Our time came and left quickly and most of Wisconsin was a blur...what Trev and I do remember is each of us giving Bird her one last bone and a big hug.
Wow...it's hard to come back from the tone of that last paragraph, but let me try. We did have a fun albeit crabby and exhausting trip with some of my favorite people (Tanner and Katelyn his partner) back to my Dad's house in Saskatchewan. Trevor's brother Tanner got home late from a ski trip and we headed out about 9 pm and had about 36 hours to make it to my dads before Trevor and I had to be on a bus to Calgary Alberta for a business trip. We were on a race against the clock. So we drove, Trevor and Tanner switching off through the night and day. We grabbed snacks, and had lots of potty breaks for us and the dog, and the weather was terrible almost the entire way. And all of this happened over Katelyn's Birthday...poor Katelyn. Although, we had an awesome time playing mad libs, and talking, and exploring the Canadian Walmart. And this was the First time Katelyn had ever been to Canada, and the Border Patrol even gave her a pin because it was her Birthday and she was so excited. Although, we did spend at least an hour at the border, because Katelyn didn't have a passport, and Tanner couldn't find his, we were driving his Mom's car and we were a group of youngsters with a dog. I am pretty sure every red flag went off with us at the border, so they searched the entire car and drug swabbed it, took all of our things out, had the dog sniff it and us. Not that we can blame them at all, it's really good to know they do their job...and the drug sniffing dog is adorable. So all was forgiven.
Our directions sucked and the lack of visibility allowed us to get lost easily...in fact I couldn't even find home and my Dad needed to come rescue us and bring us home from in town. We finally arrived back at the house, and then went to Walmart...lol. We got Katelyn a cake and she bought lots of fun Canadian foods and candies. We had cake, gave her her gifts, and passed out. The next morning 8 am, up and in the car for my dad to take us to the bus station for the long bus ride to Calgary. On the bright side I slept almost the entire 9 hour bus ride I was so exhausted. We got to Calgary, Trevor attended his meeting, we looked around at one hell of an enormous city, but it was beautiful. We ate at a giant rotating glass dome (like the space needle), and it was really awesome. We did some sight seeing and the next day we were on the bus back again...9 hours.
We had a few days off to spend with my folks...and then the sad journey to the airport...multiple times due to weather delays. This meant our wonderful neighbors were waiting in a hotel for us and had to stay an additional 24 hours before we could get the next flight into Paris. What a nightmare, and forever for Nova in his bag and for us to stay at the airport. We did arrive though, and our trusty neighbors as promised picked us up at the door. We were probably super crabby, and smelly, and we apologize. And Nova slept the entire way in his bag on both flights...he definitely put a few kids to shame.
On the way back we did get to enjoy some of France and it was beautiful. I wasn't able to take any photos because I was too tired to lift my hands. So, here are some photos of the sights I saw via other photographers.
We had a bit of a scare at the France/England Border because some of Nova's paperwork wasn't properly dated, but it was clear the 24 hours had passed since Nova's tapeworm vaccination. As the vet put the date, not the time of day. Then the Eurotunnel, through London, a brief scare with almost running out of gas, then home. It was a surreal and actually depressing feeling to be back. We very much miss Canada especially...we never knew how much we would like it there and would very much like to live there some day. Although, it was super exciting to have our own place back, a bit lonely. And then I got to see my English bestie Lorna...and she is absolutely the best thing about England along with her dog Elfie. I even arrived back in time for Lorna and I to celebrate our Birthday's together!
Whew...well that was a mouthful (err...page full...I mean). And this so ends the Tale of how many Countries you can feasibly visit in 2 months...the answer is 4, but it's not recommended.
We literally tried absolutely every avenue imaginable before we ended up with this route of travel and some of the things we had to consider were absolutely exhausting. Yes, we had to think months in advanced and get Nova updated on all shots, health certificates, and get him a pet passport, and international travel certificate. But, at the end of the day what it boiled down to is this; dogs must fly back into England as Cargo under the plane (which we had come to terms with), but what we couldn't come to terms with was the cost to do such a thing when it would only cost $100 per way to fly him in the cabin. So, we thought how can we get around this cargo expense and buy a round trip ticket (the cost of single fare tickets is outrageous by the way) and avoid having our poor little JackChi stuck in cargo all day (without anyone to feed, water him, or take him to the bathroom), and with all of that we had decided...we had to go through Paris where these rules are not in place.
So, yes we were forced to go to Paris...ugh...our luck, huh? Not the worst thing in the world, but it made for a fairly grueling trip. We were able to split it up as much as possible and tried to have fun with it and act like it was an entire day to lay around, eat snacks, watch movies, and play tons of games.
Our wonderful neighbors and friends from next door offered to be our door to door service from our home to the airport in Paris (and back). We had a ton of luggage because we had Christmas gifts and trinkets we wanted left in the US. We barley got all of it loaded in the small British car, but we managed and we were off...2 hours to London...and then the Eurotunnel (a train under the British channel that connects England and France). The Eurotunnel was freakishly awesome by the way, very eerie and lots of ear popping...and 30 minutes later we made it to the other side. We were in France and I believe it was approximately a 6 hour drive to our hotel for the night (near the airport) not including potty breaks for all of us especially Nova who was fed copious amounts of delicious little sausages like a king. Our neighbors love him...and Nova adores them back. Which is one of the reasons they so graciously agreed to drive us (them not wanting Nova to fly in cargo).
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| Nova was obviously a car riding pro. |
By the time we got to our hotel we were all starving and exhausted, we were not able to see much for the scenery because it was dark and rainy. We ate supper at the hotel buffet and it had super strange food...and a slew of jokes about 2 British, and 2 Americans walk into a French Restaurant. We could not stop laughing. The hotel was awesome with Nova though, I was able to have him off lead and just let him out the front door to go potty when he needed to and that helped get him some of the exercises he needed before the flight. So, we all tried to rest, Trevor and I didn't have much luck.
We awoke early for our flight and then arrived at the airport where we quickly went through the security. No one payed any attention to the dog until we mentioned him because he was in his plain black Sherpa bag, which just looks like a duffel bag. So because you can absolutely not let a dog go through the x-ray machine you have to physically take your pet out of the bag and walk them through the metal detector with you. I swear you could have heard the entire airport gasp and say "awww" simultaneously when the cutest little JackChi popped out of a little black bag and into my arms...he was a bit nervous at the start. In fact he would not let me just set the bag down...he needed to be carried...he is quite the diva.
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| Nova is snuggled in somewhere in that giant black bag...and not the most flattering picture of me, but hey, traveling is not pretty. |
After security we only had an hour to wait for our flight, which we quickly wasted by looking at the shops and buying trinkets like the cutest little Eiffel towers. We boarded the plane, and again, the dog remained unnoticed thanks to the Sherpa bag, which allowed him to stay very calm and not have people poking and prodding at him or draw the attention of the stewardess which allowed us to be treated as any other passenger. It was a LONG 8 and a half hour flight...for us and the dog. It wasn't Nova's favorite, and I think we were stressing him out too much by checking on him too frequently and not just letting him sleep. I would open the bag to pet him and he would practically force his self out with his nose (because he had to remain under the seat in front of me for the entire flight, sadly). So, he did scrape up his nose a little. After this we got smarter though and the worst was over.
We had a 6 hour layover in Toronto where Trevor and I took turns running Nova outside endlessly. He made lots of potty and was pooped out for the second flight to my Dad and Step Mom's house in Saskatchewan Canada. He and I both slept the entire flight...we had lots of space as I got two seats and so did Trevor. The only time Nova cried as when I had to get up to go to the bathroom and of course he noticed.
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| Trevor was pretty sufficiently pumped about the Dinosaurs in the Toronto Airport. |
I was so excited to have slept through that flight because I COULD NOT wait to see my parents. We are the last ones off the plane because we always chose the back (to try to respect any allergy suffers or those not keen on dogs) to make it more comfortable for us and others. We finally got off the plane and walked towards the escalator down to my parents who were waiting at the bottom and we had lots of big hugs...especially from my step mom. And Nova had a barking fit towards my step mom when she started talking to him...so we got the memo, quickly grabbed the rest of our luggage and let him out on his lead in the bitter cold and snow. We loved the weather...and so did Nova...I don't think any of us were ever so happy to see snow! We hopped in my parents car, which was thankfully well heated and had heated seats, and we drove about 30 minutes before arriving at my parents house.
Mind you, everything at my parent's house was a surprise. They had just built this house, the last time I had saw it, it was just a piece of land. Since then, they had finished almost the entire thing and refused to show me any pictures because it was supposed to be a surprise. So, I am coming home to a home I have never been to...it was so strange and exciting. My dad messed with me and kept trying to make me guess which house it was until we finally got there. We pulled up and the house was spectacular...the entire thing was built and decorated by my parents...you could literally see their personalties come alive in it. It was very much like a piece of art. We walked in and it felt like we had entered a Safari, the beautiful sunrise colors coming alive. A breathtaking kitchen with an island and wine rack. A unbelievable sized 3D tv and living area. And for us, we went down stairs to be surprised by a gym at our disposal, and an entire room built just for us. I mean, what other kids in the world have parents that build their children and in my case my husband and I our own bedroom for when we visit. It was designed around us. Our Step Mom, specifically chose an Asian theme infused with colors of turquoise and deep red, with decorations from a samari sword, to ornamental paper fans, a stunning fireplace hanging from the wall, and a big screen tv in the corner. Every detail had been thought of from the tinted bamboo windows, to the bungalow style ceiling fan. I don't think either of us got such good sleep in our big Queen sized bed in a long time. After all the things my parents did for us, Trevor and I don't even remember if we thanked them that night because we were so exhausted we couldn't properly gather everything that was happening. So, first thing next morning we told them how amazing everything was and how much we loved it.
I believe it was that first night my sister arrived super early in the morning like 3 am, and we both gave each other a big hug...a big deal in my family we aren't usually huggers. The next few weeks I just spent time with everyone...I really didn't do anything else. All of my attention was directed to them...I didn't even check facebook. We all had so much catching up to do. It's actually funny to think about how Nova barked at my step mom, because now he is completely in love with her. He follows her around and waits at her door in the morning for her to wake up. And yes, he is a grandpa's boy too. He adjusted quite quickly. Especially when you consider we had 5 dogs in the house...yes I said 5! My sister has one named Tinky...a teenie weenie rescue Chihuahua, and my dad and step mom have 3, Sammy the Terrier/poodle mix, Binky the Toy Rat Terrier, and Foo Foo the Rat Terrier. And of course Nova, and that makes 5. Nova got along with them all except a couple of scuffles with Binky (my childhood dog), who is a bit of a loner and doesn't like anyone to be rough housing because she is a bit of an old crabby lady. However, Nova, Sam, and Foo Foo ran around and chased each other like crazy, and I think Binky liked not having to put up with them!
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| From Left to Right: Nova, Tinky, Foo Foo, Binky, and Sammy. |
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| A picture of my Dad's new truck and his newly acquired best friend Nova. Nova thought my Dad was leaving so jumped in the truck with him. |
We started our Christmas vacation off right with a good theater production of the Trailer Park Boys on their "Dear Santa Clause, Go Fuck Yourself" Tour. Which was sufficiently hilarious...and we will always remember SantaJesusGod, and never think of onion rings in the same way. It wasn't long before it was Christmas Eve and almost everyone was there except my brother, sis-in-law, and nephew, who couldn't make it this year but we would get to see later on. For Christmas Eve we stayed at home, baked a dangerously unhealthy amount of cookies (including some resses peanut butter cookies), and ate something of everyones favorite foods for dinner, like bbq bacon water chestnuts, crab Rangoon, fried dumplings, and it goes on. And thank you for asking, in fact I did gain weight while I was back home. We exchanged lots of awesome gifts. I got some super cute gifts from my sister including a pink pair of earrings and bare minerals makeup. From Trevor I got a Breaking Bad T-shirt and a really skimpy wonder woman swimsuit that Trevor gave me specifically to make my dad uncomfortable...and it worked (they have an odd relationship). From my parents I got an awesome nail care dryer, and manicure kit. And Trevor, he got lots and lots of video games...as per usual...he was very happy. All of us kids bought my Step Mom this really cool necklace that was a tree with the birthstones of all of her kids, and kid-in-laws on it. We knew she would like it, but we didn't expect she would like it as much as she did. There was an initial shock...she didn't say anything for about 30 seconds after she opened it and read the inscription which said, "Wear this to keep your kids as close to your heart as you are to ours". Initially I thought she didn't like it, but then she said "this is all of your birthstones isn't it?", I nodded and she burst into tears (which I am sure she will appreciate me telling the entire world over my blog since she is a bit of a tough cookie). My sister and I gave her a big hug and helped her put her necklace on. Of course, Christmas morning after she collected herself she explained to us why it was so meaningful to her. She said her and her siblings had given a similar gift to her mom before she passed away so it was a gift that was very sentimental to her.
And then there was Christmas where the whole family came over to the house and I got to meet a couple of my family members and cousins for the first time. They were all really nice and inviting to me. We played a gift exchange game and Trevor and I won lots and lots of delicious homemade wine. It was such a fun experience. And oh, I almost forgot, lots and lots of old Christmas music. And more delicious food.
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| My Dad wearing Nova's Santa hat. |
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| Notice the Wonder Women Swimsuit draped over the sofa. lol. |
And only a couple days after Christmas we were on our next trip into the US to see our Wisconsin family. Trevor's Parents and Brothers, his Birth Mom and family, and my Mom, Brother, Sis-in-law, and Nephew. Again, we were unbelievably excited. We took off very early in the morning and dressed up our Nova in a doggie Santa suit for our family and the borders enjoyment (FYI super easy border trip--I think it's because they thought Nova was cute). My parents drove us through into North Dakota, were we met Trev's parents and my in laws who had just driven a ridiculously long distance to bring us home. Again, more hugs and lots of excitement. We used the bathrooms, hit the road, had some delicious subway flat bread sandwiches-(American food score) along the way! Trevor and his ridiculously long legs led him to the passengers seat and brought his Mom to the back, which worked out nicely anyway because we snuggled up in blankets with Nova and chatted the whole time. And of course Trev and his Dad were up front talking hard core politics...the usual. A long I believe 12 hour-ish drive later and we were in the back woods at their house in the forest...so calming. We pull up to see a giant Christmas tree and a Santa on a tractor pulling his sleigh...lol!
We got there just in time to celebrate the new year and open gifts with Trev's family...we got some beautiful North Face jackets, and we gave the parents a voucher for a family photo. We were able to stop in a couple of times and visit my Brother, Sis-in-Law, and Nephew and exchange gifts (showering our nephew with a ridiculous amount of gifts to make up for all the time we missed-and playing with them for him). I was able to stop in and see my Mom for a day, and she terribly missed me and was so happy to see me. We were even able to make it up to Minnesota to see Trev's Birth mom and family and spend some time in a beautiful little cabin with Nova in Lutsen Minnesota at a fabulous ski resort and the best skiing either of us have ever experienced, and his Birth mom and brother babysat our dog for us.
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| The Ski trail overlooking the Lake Superior! |
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| Making snow |
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| Excited to get to the next hill...and wifey missed the lift on accident. |
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| Nova...our poor British dog can't handle the rain, but he is all for the snow and the cold! What a goof ball...he had a blast. |
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| Frozen smiles...my lips just weren't working in this picture. |
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| Some of the beautiful scenes to weave through on your way down the mountain. There were also some incredible bridges to go over and one to go under...so cool. |
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| Getting my ski on by the snow maker...I was actually pretty mortified the entire time. I would get brought up the ski lift and would be stuck and have to go down even when the hills were steeper then I was comfortable with. I just went down very slow. |
We did get to spend a entire day and night with my nephew which was really nice and fun...we did all sorts of crazy things like giving him a giant bubble bath in a jet tub, playing with an early birthday present of hex begs, and some unintentional dress up which he will most certainly grow up to hate me for some of the photos I took. Other than that though, I was not able to find time to visit friends as our schedule was pretty filled up.
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| When I told him the bath tub had a Jet in it...this was not the type of Jet he was thinking, lol! The Jet's made the bubbles huge! |
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| He is more like his uncle Trevor than he even knows. |
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| Playing with Christmas gifts. |
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| I was organizing my jewelry and he saw these earrings and picked them up himself, and hung them over his ears. |
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| We were making funny faces at the Ipod camera on our way to visit my Mom in Eau Claire. Fyi- my nephew demanded Nova be on his lap the entire car ride, and he was! Nova adored him...thankfully! |
We had a really nice time in Wisconsin, but it had some very sad undertones as Trevor's grandpa was very sick, and as was Bird dog, his childhood dog. The first thing we did when we arrived in Wisconsin was visit Grandpa at the nursing home. We brought Nova and lots of pictures with us. Nova curled up by his head and gave him kisses while we showed him pictures from all of our different adventures. It was a really good day...by the next few days his health declined. It wasn't long after we gave our hello's that he said his goodbye's and passed away. Not the best of circumstances to come home to, and we scrambled to try to do right by everyone over our visit and most certainly failed. Trevor grieved in his own way, and Trevor thought it would be nice if I could sing at his Grandpa's funeral as he sang at his Grandma's when she passed, so when the day came as nervous as I was, I did. I sang you Raise me up...Trev's Mom cried...I keep making people do that. It was a hard day but we were happy to be there for it. A week or so after we left Bird was put down because of terrible hip-displaysia, which is really common for labs. I am quite convinced she had a fabulous last couple of weeks with us and Nova...I think he made her feel young again and she would prance around with him as much as she could, although sometimes her legs wouldn't hold her. We gave her extra treats, and snuggles, and let her sneak in our bed at night, knowing that it may be the last time we would do those things. Our time came and left quickly and most of Wisconsin was a blur...what Trev and I do remember is each of us giving Bird her one last bone and a big hug.
Wow...it's hard to come back from the tone of that last paragraph, but let me try. We did have a fun albeit crabby and exhausting trip with some of my favorite people (Tanner and Katelyn his partner) back to my Dad's house in Saskatchewan. Trevor's brother Tanner got home late from a ski trip and we headed out about 9 pm and had about 36 hours to make it to my dads before Trevor and I had to be on a bus to Calgary Alberta for a business trip. We were on a race against the clock. So we drove, Trevor and Tanner switching off through the night and day. We grabbed snacks, and had lots of potty breaks for us and the dog, and the weather was terrible almost the entire way. And all of this happened over Katelyn's Birthday...poor Katelyn. Although, we had an awesome time playing mad libs, and talking, and exploring the Canadian Walmart. And this was the First time Katelyn had ever been to Canada, and the Border Patrol even gave her a pin because it was her Birthday and she was so excited. Although, we did spend at least an hour at the border, because Katelyn didn't have a passport, and Tanner couldn't find his, we were driving his Mom's car and we were a group of youngsters with a dog. I am pretty sure every red flag went off with us at the border, so they searched the entire car and drug swabbed it, took all of our things out, had the dog sniff it and us. Not that we can blame them at all, it's really good to know they do their job...and the drug sniffing dog is adorable. So all was forgiven.
Our directions sucked and the lack of visibility allowed us to get lost easily...in fact I couldn't even find home and my Dad needed to come rescue us and bring us home from in town. We finally arrived back at the house, and then went to Walmart...lol. We got Katelyn a cake and she bought lots of fun Canadian foods and candies. We had cake, gave her her gifts, and passed out. The next morning 8 am, up and in the car for my dad to take us to the bus station for the long bus ride to Calgary. On the bright side I slept almost the entire 9 hour bus ride I was so exhausted. We got to Calgary, Trevor attended his meeting, we looked around at one hell of an enormous city, but it was beautiful. We ate at a giant rotating glass dome (like the space needle), and it was really awesome. We did some sight seeing and the next day we were on the bus back again...9 hours.
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| Up the very large elevator to the very top where the revolving restaurant is. |
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| Try not to look down, because it's nauseating...those are glass floors! |
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| Having dinner in the revolving restaurant...not as appetizing as you would think. |
We had a few days off to spend with my folks...and then the sad journey to the airport...multiple times due to weather delays. This meant our wonderful neighbors were waiting in a hotel for us and had to stay an additional 24 hours before we could get the next flight into Paris. What a nightmare, and forever for Nova in his bag and for us to stay at the airport. We did arrive though, and our trusty neighbors as promised picked us up at the door. We were probably super crabby, and smelly, and we apologize. And Nova slept the entire way in his bag on both flights...he definitely put a few kids to shame.
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| My tired family waiting out the flight delays. Luckily the airports are usually pretty good at letting him have his bag open as long as he stays in it. It makes it a little less horrible for him. |
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| Trevor ready for the flight to be over, and at this point the first one hadn't even left the ground due to the weather delays. |
On the way back we did get to enjoy some of France and it was beautiful. I wasn't able to take any photos because I was too tired to lift my hands. So, here are some photos of the sights I saw via other photographers.
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| The Calais Theater -Photo Credit: Tom Jervis, http://www.flickr.com/photos/89775718@N00/40087572/lightbox/ |
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| The Calais Theater -Photo Credit: Tom Jervis, http://www.flickr.com/photos/89775718@N00/40087571/lightbox/ |
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| The Calias Town Hall- Photo Credit: Gary Bembridge, http://www.flickr.com/photos/tipsfortravellers/7739068622/ |
We had a bit of a scare at the France/England Border because some of Nova's paperwork wasn't properly dated, but it was clear the 24 hours had passed since Nova's tapeworm vaccination. As the vet put the date, not the time of day. Then the Eurotunnel, through London, a brief scare with almost running out of gas, then home. It was a surreal and actually depressing feeling to be back. We very much miss Canada especially...we never knew how much we would like it there and would very much like to live there some day. Although, it was super exciting to have our own place back, a bit lonely. And then I got to see my English bestie Lorna...and she is absolutely the best thing about England along with her dog Elfie. I even arrived back in time for Lorna and I to celebrate our Birthday's together!
Whew...well that was a mouthful (err...page full...I mean). And this so ends the Tale of how many Countries you can feasibly visit in 2 months...the answer is 4, but it's not recommended.
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