Isn't it about time for an update?
It's been far too long and there may be one or two of you that are wondering what ever became of Scott and Steph?
Well I can tell you that so much has happened over the last 3 years that it will take some time to get you up to speed. I will be back shortly with an update.

Whale Watching Video

Here is a better video from the whale watching tour.

Day Five - Fish, Boats and A LOT of stairs.

We started out the day at the Aquarium. We made it in there just after they opened and before all the school kids arrived and it was nice and quiet. We got to see them feeding the penguins. They have quite a large exhibit of three types of penquins there. They also have lots of fish exhibits and a large tank in the middle filled with everything from small fish, larger fish, sharks and sea turtles.

Penguin feeding time.

A very cool fish. (I forget what its called)

Then we went downtown and caught the trolley that travels all around Boston while the driver talks about all the sights. We toured through the MIT campus in Cambridge and then we got off in Charlestown for a visit to the USS Constitution. It is the the oldest commissioned warship in the US Navy still afloat. They are doing some restoration to the top deck and the spires were off because of that so we didn't get to see the ship in all it's glory but we did get to go on board and climb down into the various decks and that was pretty cool. If you have ever heard of "Old Ironsides" this is that ship, even though it is made of wood!
Then, after three days of walking around Boston we decided that we could still walk the 294 steps to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument. At about 100 I started to regret that decision but we pushed on and made it to the top. But the time we got back down we were pretty dizzy from going in circles!!

But the view from the top was pretty cool. You can see most of Boston from up there.

A view to the TD centre (where the Celtics play - BOOOOOO!) and

the Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, which was part of the big dig project.

Then we made our way back downtown for a quick stop at the Old State House. It was just outside there that the Boston Massacre took place. It is the place from which the Declaration of Independance was read to the people of Boston and the museum inside has many artifacts from Boston's history. The coolest thing was a vile of tea that was preserved from the night of the Boston Tea Party when tonnes of tea was dumped into Boston harbour.

And thus ends our days in Boston. Tomorrow we will attempt to get home in one day so that Alice will no longer be lonely. It has been a fun trip and we learned a lot. If you ever have the chance to come to Boston it will be well worth it!!

Day four...Cheers to the Whales!

Day four brought a beautiful sunny day even if the wind was cool. We started out down at the wharf and left on a whale watching tour. I was really looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. Today I witnessed what definately falls among the top ten most awesome things I have ever seen in my life. Here is a video clip of some what we saw. You'll have to excuse the noise, but it does give you an idea how windy it was out there.



And we are both proud to say that we did not fall ill to the waves like several other people on board :-)


They have two Cheers restaurants here in Boston. One that is made to look like Cheers from the inside and one that is the Cheers bar from the outside that they showed on TV. We got to see both of them today.

In the afternoon we went on a walking tour of the part of the Freedom Trail. We saw the graves of Paul Revere, Samual Adams, John Hancock and also Mother Goose! We stood on the site of the Boston Massacre and saw several other historically important buildings around the city.

All in all, a great day in beantown!! What will tomorrow bring?

Day three...history, beer and ducks

It was a rainy morning in Boston and we started of with some minor issues getting to the "T" station due to the parking lots being very full. But once we got to a lot with parking still available we managed to make our way downtown. We picked up our Go Boston tour cards at the Macy's and then got back onto the "T" (thats what they call the Subway here) and we were off to the JFK Library and Museum for a history lesson.

It is quite a large building and very interesting to see the exhibits full of pieces of JFK's life and the projects he contributed to throughout his political career (the space program & peace corps just to name a couple).

It was funny to find out the Bouvier sisters were scrapbookers way ahead of their time. They had a scrapbook of pictures and drawings they did about a trip to Europe that they had given their parents.

An amazing view from inside the museum.

After that we decided to have some fun and went off to the Samual Adams Brewery...

...mmm beer.

This is Scott holding some of the ingrediants for the beer.

We got three samples to taste (did I mention this tour was FREE!!). I enjoyed the Oktoberfest brew and Scott enjoyed them all and might need some more sampling before making a final decision on this one.

After this we went over to the Duck Tours. It's a bus and boat in one-QUACK! We got a tour of Boston by land then it drives into the Charles River and cruises up and down the river so you get a cool view of the city from there.


By this time we were starving and while driving on the bus made the city seem simple enough, finding our way on foot on our own proved a bit more challenging. Eventually we found an Irish Pub to grab some dinner. Got the subway back to the hotel and are taking it easy.

With any luck tomorrow will be a whale of a day....stay tuned.

Day Two -

We left Albany to head towards Springfield this morning. On the way we went to another Outlet Mall for more great deals! After that slight detour we were on our way.

While driving, we passed a cut-off for a town called Voorheese. If my history is correct, this is the birthplace of Jason and a place you probably don't want to visit.

We also passed my namesake town as well...

We arrived at the Basketball Hall of Fame, and were treated to a history of basketball. Not too exciting for Steph, but I enjoyed it. First you go to the Honors Ring. This has pictures and a brief bio on every member of the Hall of Fame. It also included stuff that players and thier families have donated to the hall. Things like Kareem Abul-Jabar's shoes, Bobby Knight's red Indiana Sweater, a ring the Lakers presented to Chick Hearn.

Damn that was a HUGE ring. This photo really doesn't do it justice.

After that, the second floor has more interactive displays like a media gallery where you can call the play-by-play. An interactive video game where you can actually play against an NBA player. it also has displays on the various coaches and a history of the game itself.

The last area is a court where you can shoot some baskets. Here is Steph taking her first shot...

She made it!
After a quick trip through the gift shop we are off once again.

Not too far from the hall is the Dr Suess sculpture garden. Did you know that Springfield MA was the birthplace of Dr Suess?

Off to Boston, check into the hotel and go get some dinner. Nothing like delicious Mexican food to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving.

More sightseeing to be done tomorrow. Look out Boston...here come the Canadians!

From the road day one...

Well, it's time for another road trip...destination Boston. Current location: Albany NY.
I only feel slightly guilty about not spending this week at the cottage or joining the Hendersons for the normal crazy family dinner today, but am excited to go and explore a city like Boston. Today was a driving day. The car ride felt like it took forever!!! We experianced about a 45 minute wait a the border at the Lewiston bridge, next time we'll take the Peace bridge. We decided to stop in Waterloo NY at the outlet mall to give ourselves a break. I did some damage at the Lane Bryant store as usual and we got some other deals at Eddie Bauer, Nike, Corning and of course Lids where Scott picked up a Syracuse hat.
We arrived here in Albany shortly after 6pm and checked into the hotel. Then we went down the road to the TGI Fridays. If you ever have the chance to try the Peanut Butter Pie there I highly recommend it.
Well, thats it. short and sweet for today. Tomorrow we will stop in Springfield at the Basketball Hall of Fame and then on to Boston. Hope everyone is enjoying their turkey this weekend. Thanks to Margaret for providing the leftovers from yesterday so we could have turkey sandwiches for the road today.

Just like a kid in a candy store...oh wait, he is in a candy store.

On the road again...

New Beginnings

Last Friday was the deadline for a photo contest at work. At the time I didn't have any good pics that matched the theme of "New Beginnings". But this past weekend at the cottage we came across just that - a new beginning - and I got some great pics. They were too late for the contest but I thought I would share a couple with you.

If you say it out loud....

If you set a goal I think the best way to achieve it is to say it out loud to someone else. Then you feel pressured to make sure that you get it done. Well after logging all these geocaches from our recent trip we are at 75 caches found. With the summer just around the corner I think that I can be confident when I say that our goal should be to reach 100 by the end of the year.

There I said it. 100 by the end of the year, that's our goal.

From home...day 6

We started the day with a little shopping at the Grove City outlets. I hit my fav store - Lane Bryant and got some good deals. But Scott knew he was in trouble when we discovered that they had opened a Disney Character outlet store in Grove City - I was like a kid in a candy store!! Luckily we made it out with just one thing - some really cool mickey Christmas lights. Guess you'll have to visit us next Christmas if you want to see them.

We headed up to Erie, PA for a quick stop at Millcreek Mall. Then we had some lunch at TGI Fridays (they have the best Jack Daniels glaze on everything there) and hit the road for home.

I think Scott's "kid in a candy store" moment came when we walked into the duty free shop and had to choose what beer to buy. But eventually he made his choice and we were back on the road again. Luckily there was no border delays and we were home in time to watch the specials leading up to the last episode of one of our favourite shows...Corner Gas.

We were welcomed home with a chorus of "meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow. As you can tell, I guess Alice missed us a bit.

So we're home. It's cold and the grass is brown. And I have to go back to work tomorrow. Time to think about the next vacation so I have something to look forward to. But maybe next time we should fly - I think I have a serious case of "numb bum" from sitting in the car for so long.

I am just watching Scott crack open the jar of chocolate we got at Hershey's and put his "tasting" skills to work. MMMmmmm...chocolate.

From the road...day 5

Happy Easter!!!! Well here we are, day 5. This morning we said goodbye to Allison, Phil & Jacob after a great visit. We spent the day in the car travelling from North Carolina to Virginia to West Virginia to Pennsylania. It was a long drive but very scenic as we were driving along the mountains much of the time.

This is Pilot Mountain, NC

Then we drove by Mount Airy. Mount Airy was the birthplace and childhood home of American actor Andy Griffith, and is widely believed to be the inspiration for the fictional community Mayberry, the setting of The Andy Griffith Show.
This is the view from Virginia looking back at Pilot Mountain and Mount Airy area of North Carolina. This was a spectacular view and the picture does not do it justice but I tried.

We passed through two mountain tunnels in Virginia.

This was the hiding spot of a geocache I found at the West Virginia welcome centre. Scott found another one just off the highway later in the day. Looking for caches was a great way to break up the drive a bit and give us a chance to stretch our legs a bit.

This is the view from the bridge over New River. This is the Western Hemisphere's longest Arch Bridge. (Who knew?)

This was a monument to a one of the largest coal mining disasters that took place at the same location as the current Pennsylvania Welcome Centre.

It turned out to be a rather educational trip today.

We finished off our day by having Easter dinner at the Olive Garden just south of our current location, Grove City PA. Tomorrow we do a little shopping at the outlets and head for home.

From the road...day 4

Day number four in North Carolina. It was another beautiful day here with the temperature reaching about 22 degrees Celsius. Last night we had some pretty good thunderstorms. My car is now clean from the rain we had.

We got out for a walk this morning and were able to find some geocaches in a green belt not to far from where we were staying. Here is Scott finding one on our walk.

After lunch we took a trip to Chapel Hill, home of the 2009 NCAA Division 1 Basketball Champion University of North Carolina Tar Heels. We took a walk down Franklin Street and visited some of the stores that were selling championship gear. Scott was able to pick up a couple of t-shirts and hats.

A very special thanks to our host Phil for taking us there today. We understand how hard it must have been for a North Carolina State alumni to visit this unholy ground, but we appreciate the sacrifice and won't tell anyone of your journey today.

What visit to Chapel Hill would be complete without a visit to the Dean E Smith center? Home of the Tar Heels. Unfortunately it was closed for renovations and we could not get inside. Maybe next time!

After a delicious diner that evening we were treated to a quite an entertaining show from Alison and Phil's son Jacob. Full dress costume and all.

All in all this has been a wonderful trip. Tomorrow we start to head for home.