Mazzou's Memories : FLASHBACK! Canada trip 2013...day 1, day 2

It's April 2013 (whether you knew it or not)
and the Belleys are heading to the homeland!
(I never even posted about this trip so I thought now, exactly a year later was fitting.)
information in italics is copied from my small and trustworthy travel journal. :)
April 10th 2013
We are off!!! (sorry Alexandre. I didn't do one exclamation point but three!)
Off we go!
Thus we go!
This trip finds me seated in the middle with me younger siblings! The idea was to give Nikola a more comfortable place to rest her newly adjusted neck better...but so far no one has slept!
I for one, only slept from 3 am to 4 am!Ha! But it felt like a full night. :)
As expected by this realist, we left 2 hours late. But since it was still dark it didn't feel so bad.

Sitting with the others was real nice; far more relational than up front; we talked, laughed; we played the ''guess the person'' game (which means without ceremony lumping suitable names-not rudely, just varying from ''Cyril to Tom or Virgil'' upon any drivers we pass and watching to see how they ''take'' it) until I randomly fell asleep! haha! and ate yummy, healthy and careful amounts of food...
I don't like sleeping back here unless I stretch my legs up on the parallel bench, and lean my head back...ahh! That was so comfy! And since I was ''new'' I enjoyed privileges.
Supposedly, putting one's toesies up on the bench in front is far from acceptable by the passengers seated facing your bench. But when I accomplished that taboo this time, with an innocent sigh of bliss, everyone looked a little sheepish and patient but didn't say anything. Then everyone proceeded to follow my example! haha.
We read our Bibles, studied French, slept, ate, had a water bottle fight (nothing like doing such things when you're exhausted!)...

uh...not so flattering. but interesting.

Oh the strange things you view on a road trip. Weird. Just weird.

As usual, we had fun settling into a hotel room for the night. Eating supper perched all over the place...laughing...talking...

Day 2...

April 11th 2013

(At a hotel someplace in the not-so-mid-USA and excited about breakfast. As usual)

I eagerly scanned the grub: muffins, bread (if you wish to thus entitle it), and bagels; cereal, juice...but to my joy: REAL cream cheese and REAL butter! I stocked up. The younger ones happily poisoned themselves with the usually-taboo fruitloops and such.

Back on the road!

how we generally spend our travel time; leaning dangerously over the seats and chatting with siblings. :) This is my view of Jessie when I'm seated near the front and she twists around to be friendly.

6-year olds sleep :)

12:20 pm driving through the Adirondacks again, just like 4 years ago! We just saw a lake, Piseco lake which was entirely frozen! This is fun.
It was neat to drive through the towns which we went through in 2009! There is snow here; more than in 2009!
This morning was so easy, I've never had a more comfortable, healthy trip! I feel great.
12:30 pm Lake Pleasant...This scenic route is very pleasant indeed. Not breathtaking, but very cozy. The tall trees surrounded by snow and the rustic cabins give a fun atmosphere. There may be some cute cabins, but there are even more terribly run down shacks.

12:41 Speculator (town) This is a rather messy little town! But just ahead is a beautiful range of mountains, with Lake Pleasant below.
1:30 pm Passed over Hudson river, through a red bridge! This is the town of Chester, est. 1799
Ahh...we travel well. :) Mummy is driving. These roads are just like IL anyhow. Or MO.
1:32 pm Loon Lake.
1:54 pm Saw a sign for ''Fort Ticonderoga'', which makes me wish we could stop by. There are so many things to see.

Papa artistically waved his sandwich around- perfect for a picture. (Nikola and I are the only ones fond of this picture. The question is: are we the odd ones, or are everyone else?)
Saw a truck of logs.
I feel Northern.

Another travelling shot:

3:55 pm Asable! The chasm did resemble a small grand canyon...it's the oldest natural attraction of the Adirondacks! Again we felt impressed by the great distance to the rushing waters below! But surprisingly, almost as if we remembered from 4 years ago, we didn't really feel dizzy.

It's so impressive! I love waterfalls and such. Sam took these pictures. I took identical ones with my camera but his were better.

me with the Asable Chasm...sort of. (I'm rather in the way)

freezing siblings

Soon...very soon...after, we arrived at the border!

Always an exciting moment.

American, Canadian and Quebec flags! That's us. :)

As before, we were a little nervous at the customs (less than before. just a tiny bit this time)...and thankfully as before, we were allowed through with all our delicious vittles. :)

4:50 We're in Canada! It was easy yet again.

We're home! :) (in a sense)

Yay for French signs!

ayers rock?

On our way to the friends' who would kindly house us during our short stay in this portion of Canada, we passed through the small town Granby where we used to live. We stopped by the small hardware store which our friends used to own...and out came the very friend himself! They invited us over to their house to stretch our legs and eat our snack of a supper.

A random window with curtains which reminded us of the curtains in Sound of Music.

That night we set up camp in the spacious and hospitable abode of some long-time friends. (a couple with no children at home) We kiddos had the basement to ourselves! It was spotless and fully finished with joy! a laundry room, our own bathroom and plenty of room to dance and run...back...and...forth....If our hosts heard our giggles, they kindly didn't mind. :)

I was delighted that many of us accidentally chose to wear stripes for this our second day of travel! We must all think alike. We don't own too many striped shirts yet stripes it had to be.

We're so special. We get to lie down on the spotless floor and get our picture taken in a circle.....'cause we're all wearing... stripes.
Thanks, Nikko. :)
The pictures of us lying on the floor in striped formation all got deleted because Nikko thought we looked sadly like dead bodies awaiting burial. ouch.