Cleveland Heights, OH to Malone, Michigan

Day 14

More rain. We took our time starting the day and around 4:00 finally bid farewell to the grand parents and drove to downtown Cleveland. Our stay with them was very nice and very needed. Whenever the return voyage happens, we'll be swinging back in.

In downtown, we saw the typical Cleveland sights: the Rock Hall, Lake Erie, some museums, the Browns Stadium, and a fireman's memorial for the CFD. Leaving the city, we stopped in Oberlin to see an other Frank Lloyd Wright house that apparently was no longer there.

Driving westward, we entered Michigan and took a campsite at Sterling State Park in Malone. The park sat on Lake Erie, with beautiful views of three power plants and hundreds of RVs. At 9PM we headed out for a run, attempting to run some trails. However, the bug were so dense they blinded us and flew in swarms that had substantial mass.

Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Day 13

I headed out for a morning run at 7:30 while everyone else slept. The run started out as a nice tour of Cleveland, but turned sour when I began getting hopelessly lost in the ghetto after 60 minutes of running. Luckily the city was asleep. My skinny white boy runner shorts didn't seem to fit in well with my surroundings. Eventually I made it safely home, only after running for 93 minutes.

We visited the Cleveland Museum of Art, which was having its reopening. The collection was pretty standard American and European classical art but nice enough and very free. The building's impressive though and when the entire museum reopens in 3 years it looks to be amazing.

Finding internet at the local library, we caught up on some business, then got hopelessly lost trying to make our way back to Papa's. The torrential rainstorm only made getting lost a second time today more enjoyable, but Tim came to the rescue finding us and driving us home. After dinner Liv gave Papa and Sally a tour of her art work, which was a big score.

Good work Cyr.

Concord, to Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Day 12

Tim ended up tweaking his back this morning at work and came back early to rest and recover. Again he made a very large and generous donation to our meal funds. We took breakfast at a cafe in Chardon. The meal was filling but not too special, especially the deep fried french toast. The wait staff was also slightly less intriguing than Ohio's mountainous region.

After catching up on a few hours of laundry, we hit the road and drove the 45 minutes south to Papa and Sally's (Kirby's grandparents). Their apaapartment's amazing and feels more like staying at a 5 star hotel. Even though Papa's health isn't at 100% his spirits are up and he hasn't lost an ounce of spunk. Sally's an amazing help to him and seeing her is quite motivating. Our youth seems to energize their day and they've taken an immediate liking to Liv.

After dinner we walked through the neighborhoods, gawking at the large Tutor houses. After seeing a few house designs repeated, we realized it's just a cookie cutter housing development with taste and some antiquity. Regardless, it's a nice area.

Niagara Falls to Concord, Ohio

Day 11

Again we hit it early today, finishing a second visit to the Falls after lunch and driving south to Buffalo. We toured the Martin House, a Frank Lloyd Wright design from the 1930's that had fallen into disrepair from 30 years of neglect and was in the final stages of its renovation. The house was amazing and Wright's knowledge of architecture and people's perceptions is absolutely staggering. Leaving Buffalo, we drove our first long section of highways from Erie, PA to Concord, OH. The Pennsylvania country east of Erie was very beautiful wine country, a region we were not aware PA had. From Erie through Ohio was nothing special and the highway made the boredom fly by.

Arriving at Tim's (Kirby's uncle), we accidentally went to the wrong door where our youth broke up the monotonous routine of an elderly couple that were very happy to give us directions. We hadn't seen Tim in a few months and making it to his house was much needed and welcomed. We ran some miles on an old train bed where I added on an interval workout and chased a few deer.

Tim graciously treated us to an excellent meal at Outback Steakhouse and our bodies welcomed the new found protein.

Niagara Falls, New York and Ontario

Day 10

Niagara Falls is an interesting place of give and take. The Canadians get the better Horseshoe Falls while the Americans get to look across at the trashy casinos with less attractive falls. The Americans however, get to more physical possession of the falls while loosing a majority of the tourism to Canada. The Canadians also get skinnier residents while overweight Americans get to pollute the Canadian streets. Interesting relationship where Canada seems to win.

Anyways, we started out visiting Niagara Gorge State Park in New York, hiking down a few hundred feet from the road to the river and throwing a snake into some trees. The gorge was impressive and watching the jet boats dance in the surf was entertaining.

At Niagara Falls State Park we did the tourism circuit: Maid of the Mist (worth it), Cave of the Winds (worth it), IMAX movie (second rate and a waste of time), the Niagara Aquarium (decent because of the sea lion show, but probably wouldn't have gone if we hadn't already paid), and the Discovery Center (worth it, but geared towards young children). We got thoroughly soaked on the Maid of the Mist and at the Cave but the nice weather dried us out quick enough.

Crossing into Canada for $0.50 by foot was better than driving the Wagon and we ate an overpriced meal at an overrated restaurant. Walking up the Canadian strip, we gambled $10.00 on penny slots. Liv steadily lost money from the beginning, and I went up $1.60 then crashed.

The American border guard had the personality of a wilting cactus, but he let us back in without too much hassle. At the campsite, we moved the tent away from the creek to avoid the frog's rather loud relations and managed to get a rather restful sleep.

Niagara was a good visit and the ions from the falls made everything just grand (falling water releases negative ions which naturally makes people feel positive).

Southwick Beach State Park, NY to 4 Mile Creek State Campsite, NY

Day 9

Today we drove about 3 hours along the Seaway Trail after an early morning run. Blake had called while on the road telling me to apply to the Portland (Oregon) Fire Department which was taking applications for the next two weeks. It was a nice gesture, but a few months too early.

Lunch was at Fort Ontario in Oswego, consisting of too much pasta with too much cheese. Oswego was a nice city with a pretty little downtown area. Further down the Seaway Trail we stopped at a Bank of America in Walcot, NY. The town was very beautiful with nice people, except Bank of America has begun to show how poor they are as a bank. My new bank card had been canceled for being used in Canada, the ATM was slightly malfunctioning, the tellers had reissued me two wrong cards, and this all somehow took 2 hours to accomplish. Oh well.

Our drive made it to Youngstown, NY (an awesome little down), where we got very lost trying to find 4 Mile Creek State Campsite. The campground was massive with a few hundred sites. We took one near the creek, which made for all night frog mating.

Southwick Beach State Park, New York

Day 8

Finally no rain. By noon it was in the 80's, right when we headed out for a trail run. I broke off after 4 miles for a speed workout. I had planned on 8x90 seconds at 8K pace with 3:30 rest through the farmland. It was a quality run, yet I ran out of distance after 7 repeats.

We took a visit to Sacket's Harbor, which played an important role in the War of 1812 that we didn't know anything about. It was a pretty little town slightly overtaken by European tourists

Dinner was steak over the fire, which actually came out the best we've ever cooked steak, then it was down to the lake for a while.

Morristown, NY to Sacket's Harbor, NY

Day 7

Rain starting smacking the tent at 5:14AM, making for sub par sleep until we ventured out into the day at 7:30. We ate oatmeal in the Wagon the rain as we planned the tip to Niagara Falls. By the time we left the park it was clear and enjoyable, making for a beautiful drive through upstate New York.

Driving through endless countryside, we passed more Amish buggies than cars before pulling off for lunch at Southwick Beach State Park outside of Sacket's Harbor, New York. Since the weather was nice for a change our quick lunch and swim break became a two night stay. Making camp, we hung out the past week's worth of wet gear and clothing, giving our site a rather shanty appearance the other campers tried to avoid.

A run through the park's trails and local farm roads capped with swimming in Lake Ontario made for a quality afternoon. Dinner was more of a disaster with shit canned chicken spread and wild rice. Liv rightly avoided the chicken as I gobbled the crap down.

The sunset over Lake Ontario was nice, but I hoped for better. Yet, thankfully it wasn't raining for once as we went to bed.

Montreal to Ottowa, ONT to Morristown, NY

Day 6

Again it was raining when we woke up, except this time we got to have a roof overhead rather than a nylon bag. Before hitting the road, we walked to the top of Mont Royal as the rain moved out after visiting a rather disappointing sculpture garden. We got lost trying to find our way through McGill, but that resulted in seeing more of the city than expected.

By lunch we put Montreal in the mirror and made our way towards Ontario and spent $96.00 on gas. Trying to communicate in French for the past week had become quite exhausting and speaking English was very welcomed. After crossing out of Quebec we way-sided the Wagon into a farmer's field and took lunch. The locals didn't seem to care and looked at us more out of curiosity than skepticism.

Two hours later we rolled into Ottawa and explored the very attractive downtown. The city was very relaxed and enjoyably quiet. Canada's federal buildings have more grandeur and demand more respect than anything Washington has to offer. The National Library deserves more visiting. The Canadian National Gallery had a decent collection, but it's true strength is its architecture. We managed to loose track of the Wagon for two hours, delaying our departure from the city for quite a while.

By dinner we had crossed back into the U.S. at Odgensburg, New York. The hospitality of the States (or maybe just New York) was apparent in getting honked at by a fat man driving an SUV within 2 minutes of crossing. Good work Empire State. We spent the night at Jacques-Cartier State Park in Morristown, NY on the St. Lawrence River. The campground was rather nice and only cost $13, much cheaper than Canada.

The day ended with clear skies, a first for the trip.

Trois Rivieres to Montreal, QUE

Day 5

We finally were able to catch up with showers and this beautiful thing known as the interweb at the hostel. Additionally, they had free laundry so we'll no longer smell like mud and feet. Leaving the hostel, we continued west along the coast to Montreal, stopping for lunch at a nice rest area on the banks of the St. Lawrence.

Our original plan was to spend the afternoon in Montreal, then continue onward. With that in mind, Liv spent two hours at the Musee de Beau Arts while I gave myself a running tour of the city. Covering a fair portion of the city on the run and summiting Mont Royal, Montreal has proven itself to be the most beautiful city I've been to thus far. Good work Canada.

By 5PM we realized Montreal's awesomeness deserved more than two hours and found a room at the YWCA in downtown for $82.00-pretty good since apparently everything is booked for some festival going on tonight. The next five hours were spent walking through the Vieux Port and following hoards of people to the docks for fireworks over the harbor.

We never did find out what festival was taking place, but the fireworks kicked serious ass.

Jacques-Cartier National Park to Ste. Anne-de-Beaupre to Trois Rivieres, Quebec

Day 4

Again more rain, except this time we spent the night in one of the Park Service's large canvas tents, staying completely dry for once. Granted, we woke up every fifteen minutes from 5Am to 7:30 to make sure the rangers weren't coming to evict us, but over all it was a good place to sleep.

We struck camp and drove the 45 minutes to the cathedral in Ste. Anne-de-Beaupre. The place is massive and very impressive with the cathedral's grandeur giving a stong European feel. The weather has also turned from cold rain to sunny and hot. Hopefully our next stop will allow the tent to finally dry.

We attempted to find a hostel for the night in Quebec City to catch up on a few days of showering, but seeing how the city was all booked, we put the Wagon into drive and headed west. The countryside on the north shore of the St. Lawrence was again very agrarian and quaint, with small towns plopped between seemingly endless fields.

Our original plan to was camp outside of Montreal, but seeing as that would have been a few more hours of driving we stayed at the HI Trois Rivieres. The hostel was nice and clean and we had the place to ourselves. A run through the city showed it to be sketchy away from the downtown area, but the Old Port looks to be worth a second visit-at least for a few beers.

Jacques-Cartier National Park, Quebec

Day 3

We woke up to more damn rain, except the tent's remaining dry...for now. We cooked oatmeal underneath the awning of a large canvas tent to stay partially dry, then prepped for a three hour hike somewhere in the park.

Well, three hours was a load of crap, so was the 3 mile round trip distance the ranger told us. After hiking through the mountains for about 3 miles, while it was raining, we took a quick food break on a wooden overlook hanging off a rather respectable cliff face. The view was very impressive, yet some highly intelligent hiker had lit a fire on the deck, burning a good sized hole in the wood. Regardless, after 30 more minutes of cold and wet hiking we tossed in the towel and headed back down the mountain. Apparently the views from the summit were quite nice, but we'll just pretend we submitted and saw some sweet pieces of nature.

Getting back to the car mildly soaked, we quickly walked along the river, then I ran the 12KM back to the site while Liv drove the wagon. The run was quite nice, hitting some trails on the opposite side of the river before returning on the dirt road. About 3KM from the site the sky completely opened up, but my feet remained dry thanks to the New Balance trail runners that they sent me to product test. Hell yeah New Balance water based cement (the basis of the wear testing).

Beauport, QUE to Quebec City to Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier

Day 2

The morning started out without rain and a quick 5 mile run through the small towns above the St. Lawrence. By the end of the run the sky had opened up again and the tent had returned to its typically soggy state.

Arriving in the old part of Quebec City, the sun had returned and the city began to loose it's gray feeling. The boardwalk around the Chateau de Frontenac had been mostly removed for an archeological dig, and we walked through the ruins of various forts from 1600 to 1850 that had been continuously built over. Lunch was amazing at L'Omlet, and the $300.00/night at the Chateau motivated us to find 2 nights camping at Parc National de la Jacques-Cartier about 40 miles outside of the city.

En route, we visited Les Fleuves L'Montmarcy, a 270' waterfall emptying into the St. Lawrence. A pretty spectacular place, well worth the $9.00 for parking.

By 11:30pm we had settled into the campsite after a few tense moments regarding the discovery of an IGA. Dinner was hot dogs and pasta over the fire while sitting in a new found rainstorm. The site was very nice, yet the night's rain gave it an ominous feel. Liv's rightful opinions of bears invading the camp has resulted in a vow to not go west. I'm partially in agreement, but in time we'll get used to living in the tent and cuddling with large carnivores.

Fort Kent, Maine to Beauport, QUE

Day 1

After three days of rain, unpacking, repacking, and packing, the wagon finally pulled out of Fort Kent and crossed into Canada to kick off the adventure. Our route took us away from highways directly north to the Saint Lawrence, driving past minute picturesque towns where silos considerably outnumbered houses. A lunch stop at a French speaking cafe in Kamouraska, QUE was much needed and proved that Kamouraska is a place to revisit.

More westward driving put us in the suburbs outside of Quebec City, where a RV park took us in for the night. The tent was setup on a island no larger than the Wagon, but the people were friendly and the ducks provided us with decent company during the downpours.