Don't Mess with Canada. Part Un.

A picture book story of our trip to Canada. Here's a quick run-down so that you know what our trip to Canada was like:

DAY 1ish
12:00 a.m.: Arrive in Buffalo.
12:30 a.m.: Cross the border.
2:00 a.m.: Go to Tim Horton's.
2:30 a.m.: Go to bed at Grandpa's house.
11:00 a.m.: Get on the road to head to Timmins.
12:00ish p.m.: Arrive at Weber's for lunch.
3:30 p.m.: Drive through North Bay, home of the Quintriplets.
5:00 p.m.: Temagami for ice cream at the Busy Bee, where Dad had pickerel at the chip stand.
8:00 p.m.: Drop off Grandpa at Scotty and Myrtle's in Matheson.
9:30 p.m.: Arrive at Auntie B's and Uncle J's in Timmins!

DAY 2
7:30 a.m.: Leave for Cochrane to take Polar Bear Express to Moosonee.
8:30 a.m.: Arrive in Cochrane and pay $100 each for the Polar Bear Express (a train).
9:00 a.m.: Leave from Cochrane. (We were supposed to get to Moosonee by about 2:00, and have three hours there to take a canoe trip around the James Bay.)
4:00 p.m.: Arrive in Moosonee, with only one hour to spend there.
4:20 p.m.: Dip feet in Moose River.
4:40 p.m.: Buy groceries for return trip to Cochrane.
5:00 p.m.: Barely get on train in time to go home.
12:00 a.m.: Arrive in Cochrane.
1:00 a.m.: Arrive at home.

Stopping at Webers, the ultimate train-turned-into-a-burger-joint restaurant.

Murray, driving the burger train.

[We had to stop at Webers. It's an essential childhood memory.]

At Temagami. We found out we can buy our own island with a house for just under a million dollars. Now we have a goal to work towards.

Murray at the Arctic Watershed.

As we pulled into Timmins, we saw a young bull moose with beautiful, velvet antlers to the side of the road. We pulled off the road to get a good look at him and he got a good look at us, too. He was so curious that he just stayed to watch us, which allowed Murray to take many, many beautiful pictures of him, worthy of National Geographic. Until, of course, the moose ran away, and we realized that I had left the camera on different light settings, and all we could see in the moose pictures was black nothingness. This is what Murray was able to tease out of the files in Photoshop. We imagine we'll have the same experience with camera trouble when we have our perfect opportunity to shoot Sasquatch.


DAY 2: On our way to Moosonee.

Just a few remarks before we get into these pictures so that you can fully appreciate them. The day we left to come to Canada, my mom left a voice mail on my phone. I listened to it and then had Murray listen to it. She detailed what a trip to Moosonee would entail. She listed the Polar Bear Express (a train that takes you to Moosonee because there are no roads), a $100 expense, in addition to $20 canoe rides and other fun Moosonee adventures. We'd have three hours in Moosonee. Murray listened to the message and said, "That polar bear thing sounds expensive, but I'm okay with everything else." That was funny to anyone from Timmins, because we all know that "the polar bear thing" is the essential train that you must take to get to Moosonee. So all the other stuff wouldn't happen unless we spent that money.

So we splurged. Why? Because when Murray and I were dating, we went to San Diego, CA, and to Ocean City, NJ, successfully hitting the West and East Coasts of the continent. Well, if we went to Moosonee, we'd be able to get to the James Bay, essentially hitting a "North shore" of the continent. Then we'd head down to Texas and swim in the Gulf of Mexico, adding a south shore to our list. All in under a year. What would you pay for bragging rights to such a feat?

What we didn't know is that the train would be slow. Very slow. In fact, we were crawling along to Moosonee at an average speed of 25 miles an hour. That turned our five-hour trip up into a seven-hour trip up. Which meant that we had just spent $100 each to be able to spend 1 hour in Moosonee. Suddenly the trip wasn't feeling quite worth it........

(Moosonee is the big red dot.)

(Notice the big smiles? It's the beginning of the trip.)

This is Auntie B, who is about to win the world record for hours traveled for a visiting teaching visit. There is a church member in Moosonee who was waiting for us. She had arranged the canoe trips for us.

This is at about hour six of the five-hour journey. We spent the time enjoying one another's company and getting to know one another really, really, really well.

When we arrived in Moosonee, the church member was still waiting for us at the station (she'd been waiting for two hours). We no longer had time for the canoe rides or the lunch that she had prepared for us. We did have time to run to the Moose River, where Murray and I were the only ones anxious to get our feet in the water. While we were soaking our feet in the waters of the north, Auntie B conducted her visiting teaching visit.

Murray and me, sinking into the Moose River.

Enjoying the frigid waters of the North, and not quite willing to go swimming. (There wasn't enough time, of course!)

Murray, getting on his shoes again.

Mom, documenting.

On the ride back now, you see that I went a little crazy. Fifteen hours of travel would make you go crazy, too.

Whenever we talked about feelings, Dad would conveniently fall asleep.

In case you're all wondering, the next day, Auntie B and Dad worked together to get us a full refund on our money. So now we definitely feel that it was worth our money (and time) to take this trip. In fact, we all agree that the train ride to and from Moosonee was one of the greatest moments (really, really long moments) of our Canada trip. We really all did enjoy one another's company, and enjoyed the humor of the situation.

THIS CONCLUDES PART UN OF THE DON'T MESS WITH CANADA SERIES.