Bonjour, Quebec

Being primarily English speakers, as we entered Quebec we realized it was uncharted territory for us. We vowed to try our best at French and to enjoy our time exploring the major cities and visiting with good friends – and Hazen couldn’t wait for the poutine, Montreal Smoked Meat, Queues de Castor (Beaver Tails for the Anglophones) and crepes!

Our first stop was the cultural hub of Montreal. First off – what a beautiful city! Montreal is a mix of old and new, and is filled with both corporate influences and a younger college feel so the people appear to always be on the go, except when they’re eating or drinking. The first place we noticed this crazy rush was on the streets! We can safely say that Montreal has some of the most aggressive drivers and pedestrians in the country. Couple that with the French street signs, the winding roads, tangles of highways into and out of the city, and you begin to fear for your life every time you start the car. Hazen set aside his normally courteous driving attitude and quickly began to lean on the horn like the rest of the motorists. Our savings grace was the lovely people who saw the confused looks on our faces while trying to figure out things like where we were and how to read the parking meters and came to our rescue with translations and friendly advice.

Montreal was an exciting city for us for reasons other than previously stated. Before leaving Victoria we had gathered all the loose change we had been collecting in jars and counted it up, agreeing that the sum was to be spent on a night out on the town in Montreal. We spent our first day doing a hike up the beautiful Mont Royal, followed by cleaning up at a hotel and then out for dinner at Gibby’s Steak House, an amazing restaurant set in an equally amazing 200 year old building in old Montreal. Some of the wooden beams were so low that Hazen had to duck to avoid supplementing his projected hangover with a throbbing goose egg – luckily neither came to fruition. We followed Gibby’s with drinks on a patio on a street of bars – one fondly reminding us of Victoria’s own Strathcona Hotel, where we met almost four years ago.

The following day we had a very exciting visit from one of Autumn’s best friends! Tara and her new baby boy, Noah, showed us around the cobblestone streets and famous eateries of old Montreal. For those who have been holding their breath since the intro to this post, breathe easy, Hazen began to enjoy the culinary delicacies he had been craving!

Tara invited us back to her new home in Mont Saint Sauveur to spend a few days with her, her Fiancé Matt and the beautiful Noah to get to explore the cute town and catch up. Hazen also got to check the authentic Queues de Castor off his culinary bucket-list.

A few days later, we reluctantly left Tara, Matt and Noah to head to Quebec City. We wandered around Vieux-Quebec, the walled part of the downtown core that is North America’s only fortified city, and marveled at the steadfastness of the several century old construction. We were happy to experience an authentic crepe with a glass of red wine while we sat in one of the oldest portions of the city. As we departed Quebec, we stopped off at the Plaines of Abraham and Battlefield Park, now a football and track field, but once the site of a battle that was pivotal to the formation of what is now Canada. Quebec is rich in heritage and culture and we supremely enjoyed the food, wine, sights and people – even if it is sometimes a bit difficult to order off a menu! If you’re ever stuck in a small town in Quebec and you’re starving, just say “je veux prendre” **point to item while brutally sounding it out** and follow it with “s’il vous plait” and a smile.

A lot of ground to cover

ODO: 371776

We left Kenora driving east along the Great Lakes with Toronto in our sights. We drove for hours...and then we kept driving...and then we kept driving. And. Then. We. Kept. Driving - ONTARIO GOES ON FOREVER. We tried to pass the time spotting moose; however, we never did see one, thus the time passed slowly.

When we finally reached the Toronto area we spent our time catching up with the many old friends that live in this area. From Mississauga to Toronto to Waterloo we spent our days at the beach and nights on the town.

(A shout out to Ahmad, Ishtar, Barrett and Ye for putting us up and taking us back to some of our sweet memories).

After a few tearful goodbyes we winded our way to Niagra in search of the ever popular falls. We soon discovered that wineries are in no shortage (including one owned by Wayne Gretzky). It would have been rude not to stop in at a few, so we did. They took a liking to our cross country traveling ways and we received tastings for free at each! Hazen was so excited when he heard that one of the wineries specializes in mead - you know, that drink they are always drinking in olden time movies and books, i.e. Robin Hood, Beowulf, etc. For those who don't recall it's a wine-like drink made from honey instead of grapes and delightfully tastes like champagne. Fun fact of the day - the term "honeymoon" is derived from the tradition in olden days when the father of the bride was supposed to supply the newly married couple with enough mead to last 30 days. The new husband and wife were to drink the mead every night for this 30 days in order to help them procreate; thus, the term honeymoon.

When we arrived at Niagra we were taken aback by the awesome falls accompanied by the gorgeous, ever present rainbows arching overtop. For those of you who have not been, the falls are amazing and the town has been aptly coined Canada's Vegas. We can testify that this is very true. We wish we had photos of the tacky streets lined with haunted houses, amusement park rides, ice cream stands and chain restaurants accompanied by an overdrive of lights, sirens and horns for your senses delight, not to mention the many screaming children and people pushing past you through the crowds. Sorry Niagra, we wanted to like you...

Our next destination was up along the Ottawa River near the county of Renfrew - it's ok if you don't know it well, apparently neither does TomTom, our GPS. We were heading to visit Hazen's headmaster's family at their cottage along the river. They kindly offered us a relaxing evening complete with a swim, a sauna and a beer - except we got a bit side tracked on the longest day/night of our trip. We set out on a 5 hour drive that quickly became 8 hours when we hit Toronto's rush hour traffic on a long weekend, but we got through it and headed off into cottage country.  We started to get a bit puzzled by the directions TomTom was giving us when we began transferring from highway to dirt road to highway to dirt road, all within 10km of our final destination. We drove down little paths such as Lover's Lane, Pleasant Valley Drive and Gore Line Road - yes, GORE! As it neared dusk and we began to feel a bit like we were in the beginning of a horror movie, we started down a little gravel path that was a mere 2km from their haven in the woods. 1km down this road, the path suddenly veered away from what TomTom was telling us to do (he was telling us to head down an overgrown goat-trail that hadn't been used in 25 years). We took the veer, instead of pushing the van through the woods, and wound up at a clearing with a bunch of old farm cottages - complete with rusty pitchforks and sickles everywhere. Remembering the big, menacing "NO TRESPASSING" sign at the entrance - obviously painted by a one eyed, inbred, chainsaw-wielding giant with a thing for travelers - we quickly determined we had gone the wrong way and went back to find cell service to call Eva, our friend, for directions. At the original confounding point in the path we got one bar and pulled off the path to take advantage. While calling, Hazen shut the van down to let the motor cool from the sweltering summer evening. When Hazen went to get out of the van to cool himself down, he tried pulling the key out of the ignition to avoid the loud annoying buzz it makes with the door open - we wanted to avoid waking the giant! To our dismay, the key refused to come out. 'Never fear', Hazen thought, 'I'll turn the car back on.' Nope. It wouldn't do that either. Ok, so beyond starting the chainsaw for him, we had made it as easy as possible for the horror film to begin! After an hour of frantic directions, an emotional break down or two, Eva finally saved us and took us home in her armoured vehicle - a blue minivan! After a good sleep and that promised river-dip we returned to the van in the morning to call CAA for a tow.

We found an amazing mechanic who diagnosed it over the phone and agreed to hold up his long weekend to help us out. A big shout-out and thank you to Frank Condelli (frankcondelli.com) an international guru of the Westfalia, who not only had the broken part (a melted key-switch) but also knew exactly how to fix the problem by re-wiring the headlight circuit onto it's own set of relays, instead of running all the high-beam power through a rinky-dink little plastic part. Safe and sound, we got back on the road, headed for Ottawa.

We happened to be there for the buskers festival and took in a few different street performers as we explored Canada's capital city.

This city made our top picks with its big city opportunities and events but it's little city vibe. We felt very at home while we were there, mostly in thanks to our family friends, Marty, Linda, JoAnne and Jean Marc who showed us around and put us up.

Around the World in 30 Weddings

ODO: 368809

Sometimes in our lives we have the privilege of meeting truly amazing people. It happens rarely, and usually the meeting is fleeting, but what makes these encounters truly memorable are the stories.

Every person has a story. Some are tragic, some are heroic, and some are beautiful. Every now and then we encounter one of these truly beautiful stories that gives us hope, lifts us up, or just makes us smile on an otherwise mundane day. We encountered one of these stories in the most unlikely of places, a campsite in Kenora, Ontario and we feel it's worth sharing. It’s a bit sappy, sometimes idyllic, but it’s real and that’s what makes it truly amazing.

We met Lisa and Alex as they were passing us on a trail, car battery in hand (an event we know all too well). We chatted and offered them a jump if the charge hadn’t been sufficient from the local Canadian Tire. Later that afternoon they came over to our campsite with beers in hand and we ended up spending the whole night with them in the summer air drinking, eating and getting to know each other. We found that they were Brits traveling Canada east to west living out of their van. It soon came out that this was only the first stint of their 2 year trip around the world. They mentioned they were doing a blog on their travels, but eluded that there was something more. They asked us what was the reason behind our travels and we said that we just wanted to get away and see the world before life set in. Their response, “we’re the opposite, life already set it and we’re leaving it behind,” had us intrigued. Then they delved into their story.

Alex and Lisa have known each other for 12 years, since they were 20 and 18 respectively. They had never gotten together because “they were too wild for anything serious to have worked,” Lisa divulged with a laugh. They had mutual friends and stayed in touch throughout these years, reconnecting at friends’ birthdays and random phone calls inviting the other out for drinks. They both experienced other relationships, engagements, marriage and divorce. When they were both free, Alex called Lisa up for a drink yet again and this time they realized they wanted to be together and she soon moved to Manchester to be with him. Alex asked Lisa one day, “have you ever wanted to go to Australia?” and the two started planning an around the world trip they had both been dreaming of for years. They sold everything they owned, including a business, house and everything possession within. Their trip is more than just an around the world trip though, more than the two of them leaving it all behind or some kind of crazy two year honeymoon. In fact, they aren’t even married….well not legally anyway. They are getting married 30 times in the next two years and blogging about the experience as they go. 30 vow exchanges, cutting of the cake and first dances. When they finish they will pick their favorite location, invite all the people they met along the way that made the journey possible and have their  “real” wedding there. This trip is a quest for the perfect place to get married. As Alex wrote in their blog, “I’m so excited about marrying her I wish I could do it again and again….so that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Their romance, spontaneity and genuineness was staggering and apparently we aren’t the only ones that feel this way. They have had a wedding dress, venues world wide, and accommodation as they travel donated to them. Newspapers, writers, and publishers have reached out to them wanting to tell their story, and honestly, we understand why. This story of love, of adventure, of finally getting it right is inspiring. So, for the next two years we will be following their blog as they profess their love for each other in every country they can get to. But why take my word for it? Check it out for yourself- 2people1life.com/blog

It's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine, it's summertime...

Every morning we wake up in the back of a van. Every day we brush our teeth in a parking lot or the side of a road and find the nearest bathroom to pee. Passers by stare at these haggard kids climbing out of a bug splattered Westfalia, but we don’t mind. In fact, it has come to feel very normal. Leaving Alberta, we knew we had several thousand kilometers ahead where it was just us, the van and the road – and we were ready for it.

When we entered the prairies we were skeptical of what we would find. We had heard many a comment about how we would become sick of the flatness, the ongoing highways of nothing to look at, and the bugs that would eat us to death. We were told that we would find nothing to do and might as well just drive right through it. In reality we did find something to do, and that something was relax.

There is something extremely calming about driving down a highway without being bombarded by roadside signs, streams of other vehicles, or highrise buildings that obscure your view of the landscape. When we were driving with the windows down blaring the music in order to hear over the roaring wind, wearing hardly anything more than a bathing suit and hanging our feet out the window, we found the purest form of summer. It was exactly what both of us were looking for.

Saskatoon was spent walking the scenic paths by the river and drinking beer on a bustling rooftop patio. We loved the quaint and cultural feel of the town and how beautiful the town was, filled with parks, riverside beaches and boutique-lined streets. The summer heat wave had hit us at this point, making sleeping in the van so difficult. We would wake up at 6 in the morning unable to breath because our van works as a greenhouse in the morning sun. We would be forced to get up and get going just to avoid having to stay inside the van. Weather of 35+ was the norm, with humidity making it feel 45 degrees! For all of you using Fahrenheit this is between 95 and 115 so hot, hot, HOT!! As we hit Winnipeg we did the thing we had been putting off all this time and got a hotel room. The air-conditioning, comfortable bed, endless showers and free wi-fi were worth every penny. After we had cooled down we explored the downtown core and found that it was as historic and confusing as we have heard. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to head over to Grand Beach because the heat wave had made it unbearable to be out in direct sunlight for more than 20 minutes.

Our time in the prairies was great, but it was those drives to and from that really gave them a place in our memories. Sometimes you just can't beat the simplicity of a long unknown road with a good road trip partner. 

Cowboys & Dinosaurs

Calgary during the stampede is pure mayhem. It seems that everyone is on vacation, although we learned that the people who party the hardest are also the ones who have just spent 10 hours at the office. Everyone has on their plaid and cowboy boots and they are ready to two-step the night away. Since neither of us has been to the stampede since we were of age, we were excited to take full advantage of all the “greatest outdoor show on earth” has to offer. One of our good friends Kayla, being the wonderful friend that she is, opened her house to us and showed us the ropes of stampede. The first day we went to the rodeo and then to one of the tents for some beers and dancing.

Then an amazing surprise came in the form of one of our best friends-Hannah! We hadn’t seen her since she embarked on her own journey 7 months earlier. She had taken a 15 hour train to come meet up with us! We took full advantage of the fair, rodeo and time with friends. After Hannah and Autumn lost out several times playing games at the fair, Hazen took over in order to win ourselves a mascot. We never did win, but a nice employee did give us a stuffed bear for our troubles.

One of our favorite activities was a night at the chuck wagon races. We all went and sat watching each heat of the race, a new four chuck wagons competing in each, and made 20 cent bets on who would win. We of course knew nothing about chuck wagon racing so the bets were made primarily on the aesthetics of the wagons, wheels, and/or horses’ attire. We lost track after so many rounds of races but we’re pretty sure someone owes someone a beer. 

We finished our time in Calgary with a trip to the Royal Tyrell Museum. Now, to appreciate this you must first understand what a dream come true this was for Hazen. Hazen claims to have fantasized about coming here as a little boy, and he has the dinosaur pillow, blanket and Jurassic Park obsession to back it up. If you look closely at Hazen’s eyes you may even be able to see tears of joy as he stands next to the T-Rex. The museum was extremely well done, with exhibits on fossils, how they excavate and clean them, interactive education on paleontology, and a journey through the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras.

The Great Outdoors!

Have any of you ever spent much time in Banff or Jasper? If yes, then you will know exactly what we're talking about when we say "amazing" and "breathtaking." If no, then put it on your to-do list because these National Parks are worth the time and money-just ask the thousands of international tourists that fly, drive, and sail to this location every year just to catch a glimpse of the bluest blue of Lake Louise or the humbling statures of the snow topped Rockies.

After spending our first day sleeping in a parking lot in downtown Banff to be next to a repair shop (turns out we had blown an exhaust gasket on the drive) we decided to suck it up and pay for campgrounds as we traveled through. It was well worth it as we both enjoyed much needed down time in some of the best scenery that Canada has to offer.

Banff was filled with hiking and fun campfire activities.

One such campfire activity was spider dogs. What's a spider dog you may ask? Well, Hazen has prepared a little DIY demonstration for all you camping enthusiasts.

Step 1: Tools you will need- 1 hotdog, 1 knife & 1 roasting stick

Step 2: Slice in an X pattern 1/3 of the length of the hotdog on both ends. Leave the 1/3 in the middle to mount your spider dog on the stick.

Step 3: Above the flames, roast both sets of 4 legs like so...

Step 4: Enjoy au natural or with your favorite dog toppings (Hazen likes mustard)

No camping trip is complete without a spider dog, or 6.

We then headed off to Lake Louise for that sought after blue water. Fun Fact: The blue you see in the water comes from the weight of the glaciers grinding against the underlying rock which forms "rock flour." The rock flour travels down to the lake via glacial streams and the result is this undeniable blue.

Hazen spent much of his downtime fashioning a makeshift gasket from tin foil and gasket sealant to get us through the parks because no one could help us. Thank goodness one of us is handy with the tools....
At Lake Louise we embarked on one of the most breathtaking hikes. While most passers through enjoy the splendor of Lake Louise itself, some choose to hike up behind it to it's sister lakes- Mirror and Agnes. These lakes are certainly smaller but equally as beautiful.

Heading North, we adventured out onto the Columbia Ice Fields, a glacier that is cascading down a valley like frozen class 5 rapids.

Don't worry, we didn't make the treacherous hike over crevasses so deep you can't see the bottom - we hopped their little shuttle bus out to a safe spot.

The parks were fantastic, but we did learn a few lessons while we were there...
Rules of the Road:
8. If your van is making a noise, it's probably broken.
9. They are able to make you pay through the nose when there is no gas, groceries or liquor for hours.
10. Wildlife is one of nature's amazing gifts, but that is no excuse to slam on the breaks every 5km, running your fellow drivers off the road just to take a picture of yet another furry creature.