On the Road Again: August 31-Sept 1

And we’re on the road again!  Thursday was my last day at work and a tearful day it was, I was very sad to leave.  The people I worked with in Kingston were amazing!  In my 11 years of banking I can honestly say that that was the best branch I have ever worked for.  I left with a few parting gifts including a zucchini loaf for the road baked by a friend I called my “bank mom”, a bag of goodies for the road from a co-worker/friend/neighbor and leftovers for our first lunch on the road from the potluck the branch put on for me. 

Carl and I had packed up the car Wednesday night, which ended up being harder than we thought.  To get our roof top carrier closed Carl had to climb on top of the car and get on top of the roof top carrier while I tried to get a lock on it!  We stayed Wednesday and Thursday night at a friend’s house since we didn’t have a bed anymore, but Carl went back to our place on Thursday where he unpacked and re-packed the car.  We thought we might have to ship 2 or 3 boxes that wouldn’t fit in the car…Well our total came to 9 boxes and the car is still packed to the brim (like we both don’t have much leg room!).  We have literally shoved stuff in every nook and cranny in the car.

We hopped on the road by 7:30am Friday morning and made our first stop in Belleville about an hour away.  We stopped for breakfast and one last visit with my Great Great Aunt Joanie and Fred.  We were back on the road by about 10:30am and drove until about 7:30pm to Sault Ste. Marie.  Besides shedding a few tears (ok, maybe more than a few), the drive was uneventful. 

As for tenting while pregnant, we decided to put me close to door for my midnight pregnancy pee’s, which seemed to work well.  However, I am finding that the easiest way for me to get into the tent is to back in butt first and kinda fall to the ground.  I feel like I should have as sign on my rear that says “Wide Load” and there should be a warning back up signal beeping to warn people of what’s coming.  As for sleeping comfortably in the tent…It might take me the whole trip to figure that out!

This morning (Saturday), after a pancake breakfast we were on the road by about 9:30am.  It’s now 7:15pm and we are still going.  Again, it’s been pretty uneventful.  I’ve shed a few more tears and had a few naps trying to catch up on lost sleep and Carl has been listening to a book on CD while doing all the driving!  The sights were a bit more desirable today, as we drove along Lake Superior and through some rocks cliffs.  As we entered a small town called White River I had to do a double take because Winnie The Pooh was on the sign?  Apparently White River, Ontario is where Lieutenant Harry Colebourn bought the little black bear who became the basis for the Winnie The Pooh stories.

Right before we hit White River, I was enjoying a little nap when I felt the car suddenly slow.  I woke up with a jolt and saw the lights in the rear view mirror.  We were being pulled over.  We had heard that the area of route 17 we were currently on was a common place to get speeding tickets.  The speed limit is only 90km, it’s a 2 lane highway and for the most part empty…Except for us and the cop who gave us a speeding ticket!  I figure with the amount of driving we've done in the past 2 years, one speeding ticket isn't to bad.  Since then we've stuck to the 90 speed limit and feel a little insecure when multiple semi trucks fly passed us!

We carried on making one more interesting stop outside of Thunder Bay where Terry Fox ended his run across Canada prematurely.  When we were in Newfoundland we saw where he started so it was kind of neat to see the start and finish lines.

Emotionally, we are both feeling drained.  Drained from the driving (oh we just passed our first time change zone!) and drained from the emotional good byes and leaving a place that we both loved so much.  Carl has a more positive outlook and is excited to get home while I am stuck more in the mourning phase of our departure.  I know as we get closer to home my excitement will come, but for now I am letting myself grieve what is left behind.