Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Update



Hello friends


Sorry it has been so long since we have communicated. Our (big harry lug) 'The Chief' is sick and we have been all consumed with him lately. It looks like we may have to make the very difficult decision of putting him down. The emergency vet we took him to a couple of nights ago diagnosed him with cancer in the spinal cord. Chief's ability to walk has progressively gotten worse over the past few months. We are waiting to hear back from our vet who got the x-rays today to see if he agrees with the diagnosis. Chief has a morphine patch on so he should not be in pain. He still loves to eat and loves attention from Jimmy. He even growled and got up and moved away from me the other day so the patch must be working. Please keep him in your prayers to be pain free and happy until the end and pray for us to make the right decisions. Dixie has been acting weird too...We are hoping it is just her way of dealing with Chief being sick and not something worse...When it rains it pours!!! We would really appreciate your prayers at this time as our dogs are very special to us. I will try to get back to the blog as soon as we get through this.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Thanks Canada!!!



From Niagara falls we headed to Montreal which was a very cool city. We took a shuttle from our campsite into the heart of Montreal where we began our sightseeing [AKA "Cameraing" -J]. We declined the guided tours and followed the map and huffed it on our own two feet around town. We did take a tour of the Montreal Canadians hockey arena which was cool especially for my sports fan hubby. They even took us up to the press box which was pretty cool. As usual I was STARVING so we found a place to eat lunch at a little hole in the wall place where I'm sure it is very busy during hockey season. Not so busy when we were there as the cook/manager/owner sat down and talked with us while we ate. We proceeded to walk around town on a very hot day and see all there was to see, well as much as we could before our shuttle left to take us back (or before we crashed with exhaustion). We saw some beautiful churches (Basilicas), I believe most were Catholic in Montreal. As we sat in the Notre-Dame Basilica, it was amazing how beautiful it was and yet heaven will be even more beautiful and spectacular [That place is the only nice thing named Notre Dame I know of. FIGHT ON!! -J]. I was not able to take any pictures but I did get a post card so if we get our scanner working I will add it to the blog. As we meandered through the town I began to crave a diet coke so my sweet husband found a place and before I was able to check the price I had tiny little diet coke sitting in front of me which cost us over $3. It definitely hit the spot but I don’t think my husband thought it was worth that much. After we paid the guy told us just a block over we could have gotten one for much cheaper…GEEEE thanks!!! We headed back to the shuttle as we were hot and tired and we ended the day with an ice cream cone as we waited for the shuttle. That night we had another lightening storm but not quite as cool as the last one. This is the campsite where chief decided he liked to sleep under the bus...only problemis he cant get out...You will hear about this more in our ' Bloopers Blog'.




From Montreal we headed to Quebec city - the most French city in a predominantly French province which was really fun. Everyone spoke French and some did not speak any English, which made it interesting. We arrived there 3 days early which meant there was a chance of no campsite and that is pretty much what happened. We ended up staying in the overflow parking which was at the entrance of the KOA right on the main drag, with no water or dump and only 15 amps which did not run the air….but it was a place to stay where I felt ok leaving the dogs in their fence while we were gone. Now that I look at the pics this was here where the lightening storm was and not in Montreal [wups]. We took a shuttle into the city and again did our own self-guided tour through the city. We followed one walking tour group for a while then headed to the Citadel. We spent a lot of time at the Citadel where we saw the changing of the guards. Jimmy was amazed at how still they stood as they guarded the Citadel. The changing of the guards was a long ceremony where the last group of guards got off duty after 24 hours and the new group got on duty. They marched around, stomped their feet, paraded a goat around, brought the band out, checked their uniforms and weapons and then marched around more. It was very cool...well, not the weather…we were hot and these guys were in these suits with these hugs hats on that only showed their nose and mouth, they had to be baking in there. Not one broke their serious demeanor as they carried out their duties. My husband tried to break them but they stood there like statues. Some of them did not even blink…crazy. We then took a tour of the Citadel which was cool to see everything that was there. The buildings were covered with grass to camouflage the place which was pretty ingenious. After the Citadel we continued to explore the city. We have tried to eat at the most authentic cuisines in each place we have been and we found a quaint little place in Quebec city. We did not realize it in the beginning but their specialty was rabbit. So of course wanting to get the full experience we ordered the platter that had samples of all of their authentic food, including rabbit. It was actually pretty good if you did not think about it. Jimmy thought too much about the little white tailed fellow hopping around and did not enjoy it all that much. Had I thought about it at all I would not have been able to eat it so I didn’t and it was kinda like a more savory tasty tuna. After our exciting lunch we walked around the lower part of Quebec city while a festival was going on and then headed back to our shuttle. Quebec city is bi-leveled [as opposed to hetro-level -J]. The big hotel on the top used to be the castle of the French king (some kind of French ruler) who from there could see the towns people in the city on the lower level but also across the river to their enemies, the British [GO BRITISH!! -J]. The more affluent people lived on the upper level which was on the same level from the Citadel. Very cool city but it was time to head back to our shuttle to take us back to our Moose in the overflow parking.


Next destination: Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia was absolutely beautiful. We took 3 day trips around the area in a rental car. First day we rested and had some home made chicken soup which was perfect for the rainy weather. It actually rained/wind/stormed the whole time we were in Halifax and did not let up until we left for PEI. Our first excursion in Nova Scotia took us through the town of Halifax and through the scenic route to Luneburg on which I believe was the lighthouse trail. We saw a bunch of lighthouses and some beautiful scenery. We stopped at Peggy’s cove which is supposed to be a famous cove. It has a population of 40 and is a quaint little town. We saw an old lighthouse, got some pics of the Atlantic and then got some homemade ice cream on homemade waffle cones at a little shop in town ( best ice cream so far). The Atlantic ocean was very cool and a bit different from the Pacific which we would see more of on our next days adventure. Since we were on the scenic trail we did not get as far as we would have hoped but as the rain got heavier we started worrying about the dogs so we started back. Although it had taken us 6+ hours to get where we were on the scenic route, our trip home was only an hour on the main road. Of course the dogs were all snuggly buggly wuggily in their padded little bedroom/luggage compartment under the bus. The next day we awoke to lots of wind which ended up making our trip very exciting. We drove the very scenic Cabbot Trail on the little island of Cape Brenton. As we arrived to the land bridge the wind was so fierce the waves were crashing over the bridge. It reminded me of that scene in the movie ‘Twister’ when they are one that little strip of land in the middle of a lake and two twisters twist around them and spin the car around them and cover the car with wind and water. Well that was what it was like except for the twisters, the car spinning and there were no cows flying by. It was pretty crazy, I actually had to stop the car in the middle of the bridge as a semi was coming the other direction and a wave hit us so hard I was blinded for a few seconds even though the windshield wipers were on. I got a few pics but was focusing on driving at that time (After that experience Jimmy drove the rest of the day). The rest of the day ended up being VERY LONG as we had not realized how long of a trip we had embarked on. We had already driven 2+ hours and had left around noon. The tourist information guy informed me we had 6+ more hours to go. Well it was more than that. We didn’t stop too much but we did stop for some authentic clam chowder and fish cakes which was delicious. We also stopped to get some cool pics and experience the furry of the wind. It took us about 10 pics just to get a pic with my hair somewhat out of my face. The wind was crazy which made the waves even crazier. Jimmy kept saying “ this ocean is pissed’…and it was. After a while the storm broke a bit and the clouds were beautiful. If you look closely you can see the coastal road we traveled on...So pretty!! OH YEAH this is where we finally saw a moose and got a picture. I was so excited!! It wasn’t a bull moose with the big horns but it was a moose…FINALLY! I started out this trip in the front seat leaning over Jimmy or having him open the back window and leaning back to get the pics because the ocean was on the left. Finally a smarted up and ended up sitting in the back seat for a few hours because he wasn’t much for stopping as we had a long day ahead of us. Don’t worry I got some great shots as he would pull over quick and give me a few seconds at each pullout and then we were off. Our book said something about some special Scottish Scones at a little restaurant so our taste buds were ready for some yummy scones but being spoiled by my mom’s friend (Cathy Burns’s) scones we were a bit disappointed. We got home late that night and were up the next morning to head to head to Prince Edwards Island (PEI).

Luckily we heeded my parents advice and took the bus as we ended up spending the night at the KOA there. PEI was beautiful although my husband and the moose had some struggles with the roads. They were a bit hilly and curvy for the good ol' moose. The main thing I wanted to see on PEI was the house of Anne of Green Gables. There are 2 sites one which is the town of Avalon which is like a re-creation of the town. The tea house my mom told me about was not open so we had sandwiches and tea in a Styrofoam cup. I was a bit disappointed but my husband made it fun. He put on his proverbial tea party hat and pretended he was one of the girls at a tea party (trying to have a tea party conversation-whatever that is) using words out of his repertoire like magnificent, superb and then the best one he kept trying to get us to pose for more pictures and when I asked where we should stand he said ‘I cant decide’. I died laughing and we went on our merry way. It was an interesting ‘tea party’ but definitely unforgettable. We found out that the enchanted/haunted forest was at another site and since I really wanted to walk through it so I could tell my mom all about it we packed up the bus and headed over. Jimmy stayed with the dogs (I can't imagine why he didn’t want to pay money to see Ann of green gables house and walk through the forest that was in the book) [Yeah...me neither -J]. Anyway I thought it was going to be just a nice little stroll, I mean how hard could it be, a little girl did it all the time to go to her cousin's house. Well it was a long mile hike and Jimmy was waiting back at the Moose so part of it I tried to run. By the time I got back I was exhausted. The house and garden were beautiful and the forest was quite enchanting but im sure if she left late and got back after dark it could seem a little scary for the little girl.



We left PEI ( which cost us $40+on the toll bridge—YIKES!!!) and headed for the U.S. border. We spent the night in an empty lot at Frenchy’s store (thanks Frenchy) which ended up being one of our favorite places to stay. Great weather, quiet and lots of space for the dogs, we didn’t even have to put up the fence. We got up early(well Jimmy got up early) and we headed for the border.
NEXT STOP…… THE GOOD OL' US OF A!!!!!



We are excited to get back to the U.S. although Canada has been fun and beautiful. We are ready to use our phones and internet as much as we want since there won't be anymore roaming charges and we are hoping we can get our TV working. We will be staying with my sister in a couple days which I am really excited about. We haven’t seen a familiar face in quite a while so it will be really nice to see Leslie and Catherine (and to get off this stinkin bus for a few days). I have never seen her place and we haven’t spent quality time together in years so I am really looking forward to Vermont.

Hope all is well with everyone [Couple more weeks till football season!! -J].
Lots of love
The Tyners

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Busses, Helicopters, Boats, Falls and a bunch of Bison!!

We apologize it has taken us so long to write but we have been so busy…I know no excuses. My brother said I need to update the blog…so since I always listen to him (haha) I thought it was a good idea. Thanks for being patient.

Our next adventure took us to Edmonton where we camped in the parking lot of the West Edmonton mall [Nice parking lot!! –J]. Luckily we were able to park next to the grass so we could set up camp with our dog fence and all. One might think what would Jimmy and Roilyn do in a mall being that neither one of us are big shoppers. Well…..this thing was huge…I believe it is the biggest mall in the world. Anyway it has on top of all the normal shopping stuff, a full sized water park, amusement park with roller coasters, ice-skating, a pirate ship, seal show….the list goes on and on. We went on the rollercoaster which was cool…I think we were the only ones who were not in their teens there. But we didn’t care we had had a rough day with the internet and needed a little pick me up. Then I was able to talk my handsome husband into ice-skating which was so much fun .I hadn’t ice skated in years…so I had a blast and he did pretty good himself. I fell a few times…but that is expected since I can fall just walking down the street [LOL…you have no idea… -J].

From Edmonton we headed toward Niagara Falls with a few pit-stops along the way. After leaving Edmonton we went to another national park in hopes of seeing some wildlife (preferably a moose). Instead of a moose we found more bison [Which are way cooler than Moose -J]. Oh my gosh…there were so many bison just walking in the middle of the road. There were some really young ones that looked like they had just popped out, so cute how they stayed close to their mama. Obviously they could care less about humans as they took their merry time meandering in our path. We followed them around for a while and took some pictures and then my husband was ready to go (I could have stayed all day…but then we would never make this trip in 5 months). It was such a big heard we finally had to turn our 40 ft bus around on a narrow two-lane road to get out. Good thing my husband is an awesome driver.

We spent the night at a Wal-Mart in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the ‘Land of the Living Skies”. Not knowing exactly what “Land of the Living Skies” meant we snuggled in for a quiet nights sleep [as quiet as a Wal-Mart parking lot next to a free-way with our windows open gets… –J] unaware we were going to find out exactly what ‘The Land of the Living Skies’ really meant. We were awakened at about 5am by a sudden gust of wind that shook our bus and threw papers everywhere, loud rain and bright flashes of light. As we looked outside we saw the most amazing lightening storm you could believe, literally lightening every second. We watched from inside for a while not sure if going outside would be safe and then finally deciding to be brave we headed out. It was so awesome, I wish my camera could have done better but i'll show ya what I got. Anyway it lasted for about ½ an hour and then the storm faded in the distance, the rain stopped, the wind slowed down and it was over. We don’t have storms like that in San Diego. I guess now we now know why they call it Land of the Living Skies [Also cool, nearly equally as cool as the storm was the fact they did not have many mosquitoes –J].

Speaking of mosquitoes, our next stop was good ol’ Winnipeg where we were reacquainted with the nasty little bugs. These guys were huge. I think they wait outside the bus for you to come out and then ATTACK!!!!! You could literally feel them land on you…all over you. YUCK!!! I whipped out my mosquito zapper and put it to good use. The zapper looks like a tennis racquet and the middle part has an electrical charge so you barely touch the little suckers and ZAP!!!!! They disintegrate. Well the little ones do, most of them just cook on there. The smell is pretty nasty but much better than getting bit or worse the dogs get heart worm (should be hard with all the preventative stuff we have them on- but I get a little paranoid some times).

Next stop: Marathon. Short but sweet. We stopped at a Travelodge so we could get some much needed internet access and ended up sleeping in their parking lot. It was actually pretty cool…as we were sitting in our bus right next to a big field, a helicopter came down and parked right next to us. The guy stayed at the Travelodge for the night and then headed on his way. We also found an outlet and plugged in for a few hours so we could have some air as it was hot with lots of bugs. The helicopter man told us if we want to see a moose we would have to leave at about 5:30am. WOW that is early but we were determined to see a moose so we were out of there by 5:45 and through the fog we finally saw a moose. It was in the fog, pretty far in the distance and it was running but it WAS a moose!! I really hope we see more as it was so fast my camera didn’t even see it. But…we saw our moose finally [And the Moose saw our Moose, and I would like to think he liked what he saw. –J]

Next stop: Sault St. Marie. This was supposed to be a quick boondock and pass through stop and ended up being a 3 day rest. We were so tired and getting burnt out we needed a few days of just doing nothing to recharge our batteries (our bus batteries were not as lucky as the battery charger does not work). Anyway we ended up loving this place and one night turned into 3. It was good to rest up for Niagara Falls.














Next Stop: Niagara Falls.



Niagara Falls was awesome. You would not believe (well maybe you would) but I took over 300 pictures there in just one day [Yes if they have read any of this blog they believe it and they are saying a prayer for my sanity. –J]. It was just so spectacular I just couldn’t stop. The falls are enormous and just a remarkable display of the beauty and power created by God. There were literally rainbows everywhere. We went on the ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat ride which takes you right up under the falls (well as close as you can get without harming all the passengers). They gave us ponchos which Jimmy did not wear as it was extremely hot and because Jimmy always has to do the opposite of the crowd. It was pretty spectacular being that close to the falls. The guide said “And this is ‘Niagara Falls!!!” and right then we were hit by swirling wind and water. It was pretty dang cool. After we returned to shore we rested and ate in the Maid of the mist restaurant which looks out onto the falls. After a rest we headed for the edge of the falls for a different look and for the ‘Journey Behind the Falls’. This self guided tour took us down an elevator to tunnels that lead to 2 spots behind the falls and one right next to the falls. Jimmy was not too impressed (and would have rather gone to ride the ‘Maid of the Mist’ again) but I thought it was pretty cool. Just being behind the falls and hearing the rumble was exciting for me and then to be so close…WOW… those falls are huge. My camera got pretty wet on both expeditions but don’t worry it is still working like a champ [Phew! –J]. Next we went up in the Skylon tower where you can see everything from above; which was cool to see where all the water comes from before it goes over the falls. We also watched a tight-rope walker perform right under us, which was fun. [Some people may think this is bad but I was hoping we get to see the show where he falls. -J]. Wow...my huband is sick. ANYWAYS...I was able to talk Jimmy into staying till dark because they light up the falls. We watched that for a while and then headed to the bus stop to catch a ride back to our Moose. All in all Niagara Falls was AWESOME, I’m glad we rested up for it because it was a long day!!!!



Well I guess that is all for now. We are doing great. Bus still has some kinks to get out…A few new problems like the shower doesn’t work….but who needs a shower when you are roughing it….I DO!!!!!!! Thanks for keeping us in your prayers we (Jimmy, Roilyn, Chief, Dixie and The Moose) can use all the prayers we can get!!
[You may have already sent one for me after the whole tight rope walker falling thing, so thanks for that. –J].

With lots of love [Holla atcha girl!!]
The Tyner’s (Jimmy, Roilyn Chief, Dixie and The Moose!)