Days Four & Five

Canada!  I am combining a couple of days since internet service was limited in Canada.  We enjoyed our time there.  A lot of our friends and family travel a lot, and even though we take a road trip every summer, that is close to the extent of our travels.  Harvey works for his dad for a company that his grandfather started. Because it is local in our city, we are pretty linked in to where we live.  We are fine with that, don't get me wrong.  So flying for us?  Not so much.  Traveling outside the U.S.?  Not so much either. Harvey has been out of the country a few times before we got married with his family on trips.  So, for us to go to Canada was pretty different.  Remember, I am a NC girl :).  I liked Canada, experiencing new places and meeting new people.  But when our time was up, I was definitely ready to be back in the U.S.!  

After we left Niagara Falls, the stomach issues several of us had experienced were pretty much gone, thankfully.  We appreciate our friends and family that were praying.  It was a rough few hours/day, but we were so grateful to be in a comfortable hotel room with bed space and a beautiful view.  It was our nicest room and we appreciated it immensely.  

From Niagara Falls, we drove to Toronto.  We had lots of heavy rain, which was tough as it was combined with heavy traffic.  Toronto was a much bigger city than I expected.  After the rain subsided, we went to the St. Lawrence Italian Market and tried some local food.  It was fascinating to see all of the fresh fruits, veggies, fish, meats, and cheeses.  

We then went to a music garden that Yo-Yo Ma, one of my favorite cellists, had a part in developing.  It was beautiful and was by the water.  We swam some at the hotel pool afterwards.  Harvey and Rebekah made a Wal-Mart run to buy a new air mattress.  We pulled out an air mattress that was mildewed and was unable to be cleaned.  That has never happened before, but was not a big problem thanks to Wally World :).

The next morning, we let the kids sleep in and then ate breakfast at a wonderful local restaurant called "Cora's."  We ate crepes and LOVED them and then drove to the Thousand Islands.  Unfortunately, Harvey got a speeding ticket.  He was going downhill and chowing down on his candy (the way he stays awake driving), when a policeman pulled us over.  Fortunately, he was very nice and had been to Charlotte several times.  Unfortunately, he still gave us a ticket.  He informed us that if we had been going just 10km faster than what we were doing, it would have been classified as "stunt driving" and would have resulted in vehicle impoundment and jail!  Seriously.  We had no idea we were going that fast.  I think some part of my husband was flattered that anyone would consider his driving in our minivan stunt driver-worthy! Ha!  Seriously, we were very thankful that our vehicle was not impounded!

After that adventure, we took a boat tour of the Thousand Islands.  It was beautiful.  The weather was perfect, a little cool even.  We had some limited phone access since we were close to the USA border again, so I was actually able to check in with a couple of loved ones back home we have been praying for.  It felt like a gift!

After the boat tour, we had some local food again.  It was meant to be a quick meal, but it ended up taking a little longer.  One of the guys at the restaurant realized that we had never tried "poutine" and wanted to give us a sample.  He was very proud of it, and even though we were full, we knew we had to try it.  Apparently poutine is pretty popular where we were.  It is french fries with gravy and cheese.  So, we graciously tried it.  All I can say is...it was an experience ;).  

That night we drove on to Ottowa where we were able to watch the end of a laser show on their Parliament Building.  It was a beautiful evening!

We ended our day late and fell right to sleep, thankful to have arrived safely and to be together.

In downtown Toronto, with the CN Tower behind

Trying poutine

My handsome boys :)

Our Gouch Gang