Major Update

Hi! Meghan had a meltdown about dying in Minecraft, a computer game, so I've commandeered the MacBook again. Just driving past a farmer combining his oats in between Sudbury and North Bay, Ontario. It's mid afternoon, well, almost 5 actually. A lovely sunny day and quite warm but not uncomfortable. We spent last night at the Sault Ste Marie Walmart Supercentre and got a good nights sleep. Actually got up at 7:30 and fed everyone on time. Just when it all seemed to be going according to plan Steve noticed we had a flat tyre on the rear of the motor closet. Luckily, the guys at the auto dept got it all fixed up for $25 but getting the wheel off and on again was a royal pain because you have to jack the axel up really high and of course it's supporting a lot of weight right now so it's tricky.

We finally got on the road after trying to get air for the tyres at several different stations. Some were broken, one had no air at all, and the last one on the way out of town had air so we got everything inflated to it's proper pressure. I guess the tyre guy at Walmart missed the 65lb rating on the tyre and only filled it to 32.

So we hit the road. We discovered that there are lots of nice rest areas along this road and not a single one is marked on the map. We also discovered that if you need gas in Sudbury you mushave to get off the hwy because there's not one single station until you reach the town that's on the east side of the city. But we didn't run out and got gas ok. Stopped for a few sandwiches and some juice then back onto the road towards Ottawa.

Driving past Lake Huron was very scenic but now we're heading inland and there won't be much in the way of water for the rest of the day I don't think. If we can make it to Pembroke which is west of Ottawa we'll be happy and then we can go to Ottawa and Montreal tomorrow depending on traffic and construction. The scenery here is somewhat like the Island except the trees are smaller and although it looks like the ocean, the lakes don't have the salty tang we've gotten used to. Same waves and shorelines for the most part. Oh, and the trees are tiny :) I don't know if it's all new growth forest or what but the province is covered in little trees that don't look to be more than 50 feet tall. Just babies! Perhaps it's the difference between species that survive this climate. Steve wanted to point out that it's interesting that the Trans Canada Highway is dual lane divided highway in every single province so far, including Saskatchewan, but not in Ontario which is the richest and most heavily populated province.

We can tell they have worse winters here just by looking at their wood piles. It's not unusual to see 15 or more cords all stacked up and waiting for the cold weather. It's likely a 2 year supply of wood but nevertheless, it's a lot of wood! Lots of roadside cars and trucks selling wild blueberries.

**Hey Vicki, tell Garry we'd send him some but no doubt they'd get squished in the mail**

Lots of fresh water fish too like pickerel and walleye. It's been a long time since I ate fresh water fish, years in fact. Maybe I'll have to do some fishing once the move is done and I've slept for a week. Oh, North Bay! Population 54,000. We just passed the sign...and wouldn't you know it...more construction bollards are up. Doesn't look too bad though. Looks like your average mid size Canadian place I guess. It's hard to tell from the hwy of course. It's now 5:24pm.

We're on highway 17 still heading east towards Ottawa. I'll update the blog as soon as I can. Mmmm, I can smell McD's fries. Too bad we can't stop. We've officially now turned off the road leading to Toronto and decided to skip it altogether in favour of saving gas money and arriving a day earlier at our new home. And to avoid the busyness of Southern Ontario. But mostly because we're getting short on funds and don't want to get as far as New Brunswick and run out of $$$. On that note...if any of you owe us money, please feel free to put it in our bank for us :D We could really use it!

It's all the repairs that are nickel and diming us to death. But it's been a good trip so far and with your continued prayers and kind wishes we know we'll make it.

Ottawa 360km. We're getting closer! But boy the road is sure bumpy all of a sudden. This might not be a big deal for most people but when your hitch has a clearance of 3-4 inches it's not a good thing. And the concrete has a sway to it that's like breaching waves in a small boat so it's a bit nauseating too. Thank goodness Debbie told us about Meclazine because it's totally working on Kate and Meghan's car sickness. And it works for me too if I want to read or type while driving. Thank You Debbie!

I noticed we're losing our tans now it's sad to say. 2 weeks of being indoors or in a vehicle are making us pasty again and the boys are teasing me that my shorts are the same colour as my skin.Maybe it was just a dirt tan ;)

Well that's enough typing for one afternoon. Hope all is well with you and yours!

Elizabeth

We got to Petawawa and Pembroke where we gassed up and got ready for the next day. We highly recommend NOT taking any motorhome or larger vehicles through downtown Petawawa or Pembroke. It's very twisty and uneven to say the least, but pretty. The WalMart in Pembroke allows overnight parking despite the 3 hour signs. It's been the same at almost every WalMart we've been to.

Bagels, left over donuts and honey dew melon for breakfast. Now we're trying to get the guys going and ready to leave. Steve and the girls are ready to go but we're waiting on Dave who is not an early morning person at all. Jordan's walking the dog and Chris is folding the top of the trailer down. Maybe we can get going early today, wouldn't that be nice! It's a little past 8am. I'd love to be in Ottawa by late morning.

**Blew out that tyre we had a problem with yesterday, on the road about 15 minutes outside of Petawawa. Another rim failure. Luckily had a spare so it took us over an hour but got it changed out and we're now lost in Ottawa! Sort of. It's a big place. We're leaving the motorhome here in WalMart's 4 hour parking spot and taking the car with us to tour around town for a couple of hours. If I can find an internet connection I'll upload this to the blog as soon as I can. Off to play in our nations capital!**