From Vermont we drove up into Canada. Yes, Ginger is now international! We stayed overnight in a really cool little town Bromont just over the border before heading into Montreal...
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| Old town Montreal had lots going on. These people in the red jackets were doing some kind of weird interpretive dance for the person wearing the headphones. Because art. |
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| Ginger enjoyed the interesting music |
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| Our first poutine - crispy french fries covered with delicious rotisserie chicken, cheese curds, and a peppery brown gravy |
From Montreal we turned left and headed west. My friend Thad and his wife Krista invited us for a week at Krista's family place right on the water of Georgian Bay, which is a few hours north of Toronto. We had an incredibly fun week swimming, running, sailing, kayaking, picking wild blueberries, going for boat rides, scuba diving, playing volleyball, badminton, soccer volleyball, and lots of games, plus eating tons of good food and hanging out with Krista and her family. Ginger, needless to say, had the best time of all - swimming all day until she could hardly move at night.
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| Too many people in a kayak |
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| Thad and I out for a sail. I mostly observed |
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| Steph is 30! |
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| To the islands! |
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| This is how tired Ginger was - she'd even let little Eva share her bed |
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| The boys made a mexican feast one night |
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| Homemade wild blueberry jam |
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| Ginger at her happiest |
After our week with the Gilliams we headed back east the way we came and picked up my mom at the Ottawa airport. She joined us for the next 10 days of our road trip.
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| Ging was very excited to see her grandma despite how she looks in this picture |
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| We stopped a really cool shop/cafe place somewhere between Montreal and Ottawa. This guy (who turned out to be the owner) walked up to us and said "wanna see something cool?" and led us upstairs to his working Pianola Aeolian from 1904. He sits and pedals the machine to play sheet music. It was indeed cool. |
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| Next stop - Quebec |
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| Quebec had a really cool, but really popular, old town |
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| Really cool waterfall outside Quebec as we made our way Northeast towards Tadoussac and the Saguenay Fjord |
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| We came here to see beluga whales. Literally first thing we saw when we got there - see those 2 white specs out in the water? A pod of belugas! |
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| We went on a whale watching trip on a zodiac |
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| This humpback whale made my mom cry |
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| Watched this humpback for a long time |
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| This is the only evidence I have that my mom went on a sea kayaking trip - hoping to see belugas up close. We did not see any and the seas were way too rough to every pull out the camera for in-water shots. |
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| Sea kayaking the next day was much calmer - saw some whales in the distance but nothing very close |
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| No caption needed |
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| We drove back south and into Maine to Acadia National Park. Had to have a lobster dinner! Sadly I was not impressed |
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| Neither was Ginger |
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| The top of Cadillac Mountain for sunset - a must do in Acadia |
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| Steph and I did the Beehive "hike" |
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| Steph and my mom's favorite part of Acadia - coffee and popovers with fresh strawberry jam. Obscenely overpriced but they were really good |
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| This part was pretty good too |
After Acadia we headed down for a day in Portland before my mom flew back home. Of course the girls stopped to shop a few places on the way. Back at just the 3 of us, we headed into New Hampshire to do a hike along the Appalachian Trail.
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| Made it to the peak! Tough hike and low vis but everyone was happy at this point..... |
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| We missed a sign and went over a mile the wrong way. To add insult to injury it starting hailing like a maniac! Even with rain jackets on it hurt! |
From New Hampshire we headed south, usually hitting one big city every day.
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| Walked the "Freedom Trail" in Boston... |
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| Where we saw one of our forefathers in person |
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| Steph really wanted to go through Newport, Rhode Island to run the famous "Cliff Walk" and to see some of the mega-mansions |
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| Found a free(!) parking spot right across from Central Park(!) in NYC |
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| I actually had Steph drive through Manhattan so I could navigate and take pictures |
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| She insisted we come here and wait 2+ hours for some overpriced cannolis |
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| Stopped by Valley Forge for a run and to see some of George Washington's old huts |
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| Ran up the Rocky steps in Philly |
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| And of course had a (few) cheesesteaks |
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| Drove thru Rhode Island |
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| Ginger loved DC |
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| Drove the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park - saw a few bears while there |
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| Did some hiking in Shenandoah |
Our final stops were Boone, North Carolina for my cousin Caroline's wedding, Clemson to visit the Neff's again, then back to Atlanta. I have to say, we were pretty much over camping nearly every night so were glad to be home, but now that I look back it was a fantastic 6 weeks. We put around 7000 miles on the Prius and visited a total of 21 states and 3 provinces! Next stop - Europe!
