Canada Update

We haven't had much time on the internet in the past week. So I'm sure some of you have been wondering what we've been up to....

Last Friday (April 28) Shanon arrived in Vancouver. So I sadly left Lloyd's comfortable place to stay with Shanon in a great apartment hotel literally 5 mins walk from where we lived when we were here before. It was very nice to be back! On the Saturday it rained, but since then the weather has been great. I've only had that 1 day of rain in the 3 weeks I've been away - not bad! During our time in Vancouver we went to Whistler (very nice drive), the zoo, Stanley Park (our fave place in Vancouver), and went hiking in North Vancouver. I took Shanon to meet Lloyd one evening. And we also had dinner with Willie, the guy we lived with much of the time we were here before. We had such a great time, but it was all over way too fast.

On Thursday we flew to Toronto and spent the night in a motel next to an extremely noisy highway. On Friday we drove to the teeny weeny little town of Vanastra to visit George, Darlene's step-father (Darlene is my step-mother). We hadn't seen him in 10 years, so it was lovely to have the chance to spend a few hours with him. Afterwards we drove to Burlington where we managed to find a nice hotel for the night. As we got out of the car we saw our first ever skunk, which fortunately was a healthy distance away. It was late when we arrived and we were starving, so we went to the Boston Pizza down the road and stuffed ourselves silly. Boston Pizza is our favourite restaurant chain in Canada. We love, love, love it. So far we've been 3 times, and hope to go once more before we leave! Once back in the hotel clever Shanon managed to lose his wedding ring down the bathroom sink! Fortunately the staff were able to get it back for him.

Yesterday morning we met Bob in Hamilton. He's an old penpal of mine and this was our first meeting. It turns out he's one of the really nice guys of the world, and has gone out of his way to make sure we're having a good time. First it was lunch at a restaurant with him and his Nan. Then he spent hours driving us around and showing us the sights of Hamilton. Last night his mother cooked us a nice dinner and we had the chance to chat with his parents. Then Bob, his siblings, and a couple of friends took us out for the evening. They're all such lovely, kind & generous people and we're so glad that we had the opportunity to come and spend time with them. We wish we could of stayed longer!

Today we leave Hamilton and head to Niagara Falls. Then tomorrow we drive back to Toronto and fly to Europe, where the next phase of our trip will begin.

Thanks so much to all you lovely people that fed us, gave us a place to stay, took us sightseeing, kept me company while I was travelling alone, or otherwise made our time in North America a truly unforgettable experience!