This was our big family, road trip summer vacation.
We drove up to New York State, then on to Ontario, and especially Quebec, Canada. On the way back we made some stops in Vermont and Philadelphia.
Day 0
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| We left Friday night after work and drove up to New York State. On the way we got to see a surprise fireworks show. What a fun coincidence. Our Richmond Flying Squirrels were playing an away game with the Harrisburg Senators and we passed through Pennsylvania at just the right moment. |
Day 1
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| Our first visit was in Corning, New York. They have an amazing glass museum with outrageous glass sculptures... |
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| And glass blowing demonstrations |
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| Grant got to be the helper in the glass breaking demo. He loved it. We all learned a lot about glass. Way more interesting than you'd think. |
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| And other curiosities... |
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| Next up was a hike and swim in Ithaca. |
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| We got all heated up on our hike and decided to take a swim in the gorge. It was a bit cold at first, but one of those things that you get used to, and really refreshing after the hike. |
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| Spencer and I managed to swim right up to the waterfall, but it is hard work swimming in that current. |
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| Then we drove on to Canada |
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| We made a short stop in Brockville, Ontario for pizza and a walk through Canada's original railway tunnel. |
Day 2
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We went to church in Cornwall, Ontario, which was the last chance for services in English.
In Quebec we stopped in to the Basilica for Mass and heard some singing and preaching. I caught enough of the sermon to know we were learning about the Good Samaritan. |
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| We finally made it to French Canada- Quebec City |
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| Some fun on the old fortifications of the city |
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| Apparently this is the most picturesque hotel in the world (Based on the number of photos taken.) |
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| Just walking around the streets is an attraction in Quebec City |
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| Flying the Fleur-de-lis over parliament. |
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| It feels like going to Europe, but you can drive there. |
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| Some great views of the city from the city walls |
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| This is the hotel we stayed at. Such a cute spot and a great location in Old-Quebec |
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| "I don't know what it is, but I like it." |
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| They say you can't get a bad meal in Quebec City. This was a fun meal. I tried the venison pie. |
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| Our hotel room was down this back alley. |
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| We got along great with just rudimentary French. I studied up on DuoLingo for a couple of weeks prior to the trip and was surprised that I still remembered any French from my high school education. |
Day 3
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| Croissant meets decadent chocolate filling = chocolatine. Amazing! |
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| Some pictures from Canyon Sainte-Anne. |
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| We did a guided tour in the canyon on the Via Ferrata. It is a safe way to explore the canyon in a way that would otherwise have been death defying. |
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| Zipline across the canyon is part of the tour. |
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| Go Team Haines |
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| This Basilica in Beaupre was absolutely amazing. |
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| They had many ornate mosaics, but Grant is fond of turtles, you know. |
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| A cookie as big as your face! |
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| Beautiful town |
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| Lots of street performances going on. Jugglers, unicyclers, magicians, etc. Stop and watch for a bit. Move on to the next one. Come back later. Plenty to see and do. |
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| The St. Lawrence River |
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| The Citadel of Quebec |
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| As we were wandering around they herded us off to the side. |
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| And here comes the change of the guard. |
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| Another great meal. Crepes this night. |
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| More street performers. Steamboat Woody on the banjo and stomp box. |
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| A walk down hill to the Low Town |
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| Grant and Laurel were so excited to chase all the seagulls away. |
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| Supersize snow globe is fitting for the land up north. But in July we had pretty much beautiful weather. |
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| There is a funicular to take us back up to High Town |
Day 4
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| Next, to Montreal. This is a much bigger city, and much more multicultural. Not just bilingual, but influence of many different cultures is obvious. |
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| Montreal's botanical gardens are rated among the top in the world. It did not disappoint. Amazing how much they can grow with what must be a short growing season. |
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| Spencer had been in denial about this curly hair trait. I think he came to acknowledge he is a curly head, too. |
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| I caught the reflection of Grant making faces while we rode the subway. This is how we got around town. |
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| Poutine! |
Day 5
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| Some exploration of the Old Port area of Montreal. |
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| Montreal has a whole underground city connecting different buildings. This is convenient when the cold winters come in. But even in the summer it was fun to explore the city this way. |
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| These Canadians like their poutine you know. |
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| The kids are big fans of Candylabs- which we discovered on the internet last year. When we planned this trip to Montreal, we had to include a stop. They make some impressive creations. No candy making at our visit, but we did sample and purchase some of their candies. |
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| We went to the Cirque du Soleil under the big top right on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. |
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| It really was an amazing show. |
Day 6
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| Then next day we got up before sunrise and dragged the kids to this field for a surprise... |
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| A hot air balloon ride over the Canadian Countryside |
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| It was fun to watch the whole process of filling the balloon... |
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| And heating the air... |
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| Then all of a sudden you're floating! |
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| Take off and landing are the most exciting parts |
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| But it is also fun to just float 4,000 feet above the ground. |
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| This was the closest we found to crop circles. |
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| About to land. |
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| We came in pretty smooth, and the basket is basically meant to tip over like that. |
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| Deflating the balloon. |
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| This is what we would have looked like floating in the sky. |
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| A sparking cider toast to celebrate a successful flight. |
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Next we drove back into the United States. We started with Vermont. Near Burlington, there is an amazing bike path miles along an old railroad causeway into Lake Champlain.
Laurel was pretty excited that her helmet matched her shirt and her bike matched her shorts. I think she must have been pretty cute because of all the friendly comments that she got on the trail. |
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| There is a short "cut" in the causeway and we actually caught a bike ferry to cross the gap. |
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| We rode on to South Hero Island and made our way to this apple orchard famous for their "Maple Creemees." |
Day 7
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| Our final stop on this road trip was Philadelphia. We visited the US Mint and saw how coins are made. |
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| And we visited the Museum of the American Revolution |
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| Me and the older boys took a trip to the Philadelphia Temple. Later Jen and I got to go as well. |
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| As we went to the temple Jen took the younger kids to an event at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. |
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| I don't think the kids really even know who Rocky is, but they wanted to do the run up the stairs. |
Day 8
We made it back home. Everything is in good order. Lot's of great memories from this trip.
