Don't Stop Believin'

Frank and I were off early in the morning to make the ferry to Victoria that was leaving at 9am. We wanted to be about one hour early. The ferry may have been 70-80 percent full...but tomorrow's ferry will be packed as it is the last day of the long holiday. Once we arrived, we met with our uncle Roger and his son, our cousin, Derek. This was to be the last ride of the trip for the 42canoe that was on a volunteer's vehicle! So this was it, we threw it onto the Dodge Journey. Get our title for the blog now?

We then drove over to “Mile 0” of the TransCanada highway for a few photo ops. Next it was down to Fisherman's Wharf for the canoe's 2nd dip in the water for the entire trip, this time in the waters of the Pacific Ocean!!! Frank and I set the canoe in the water, with our mom, Natacha (Frank's wife), our uncle Roger, our aunt Sandy, Derek and his wife Laura and their kids Devin and Paige watching our launch and taking some final pictures.

Tomorrow would have been dad's 68th birthday. We will be getting together with family and toasting the man that inspired the 'Cross Canada with a Canoe fundraiser.

It's been a great trip and we've met some utterly amazing people along the way. We hope to stay in touch with more than a few of them.

Thanks to everyone that gave us a lift, took us home to dinner, or took the time to hear about ALS and make a donation. We hope you enjoyed our company and that you are all safe and sound.

Warm Regards,
Frank and Jeff

Our fly is down

This morning we woke with the sun coming over the mountains and warming up the tent. We packed everything up and went into town to meet Libby; we had to get her to sign the canoe. We met her just as she was heading out for a few hour bike ride. After she signed the canoe we said our goodbyes and then went over to see Jake, Karen and Bryson at he outrigger compound. We were meeting George there and they spotted by to say farewell.

George was out with the crew on the water. They started at 8 and brought the boat off at about 1030. We had our canoe on his truck quickly and were on the road by 1100, after saying our final farewells to the Devlins.

The drive from Kamloops was gorgeous. We made good time and both Jeff and I got to spend some time with George. He's a fantastic guy and he didn't mind taking us to the campground, even though it was out of his way. He was heading to Vancouver to see his wife.

We will be seeing our cousin Marylin this evening. Should get on the road soon since I'm updating this blog at a Starbucks.

Woke up sometime in the evening to a pitter-patter of rain. Just before turning in, we thought about putting the fly on, but said “Let's live dangerously”, even though the forecast was calling for some drizzle overnight. But how accurate can the Weather Network be? Well, we discovered at oh, maybe 2 am that yep, they were right! I volunteered to go outside, dig the fly out of the car in my jammies, and get it set up while the drizzle is actually turning into a full rain. Did alright for working in near darkness.

Hawaii 5-0

Friday July 29

Sleeping next to a busy railway line is not the best for getting a good night's sleep, as Frank discovered. I slept fine however...

Before leaving we had a phone interview with Catherine from the Kamloops Daily News. Thanks for your time and interview Catherine!

Our ride for the day, bringing us from Revelstoke to Kamloops, was Jake Devlin. He actually lives in Kamloops and drove to Revelstoke to pick us up, then drove back to Kamloops to drop us off at the campground. I found the scenery amazing. It was neat to see the change in vegetation as we neared Kamploops, which is in a drier part of B.C. Sagebrush and smaller plants were more common and trees were thinner.

Once we arrived, Murray, a photographer from the Kamloops Daily News met us for a few photos to accompany the interview we did earlier in the day. Thanks Murray!

At 5pm, we gave Jake and his outrigger crew a hand to load a boat, although they had plenty of hands for the job. Jake then took us on a tour of the city and showed us some of the sights and historical buildings, as well as some of the new facilities for the upcoming 2011 Western Canada Summer Games. Very beautiful city!

Jake then had Frank and I over for a BBQ at his home. We met his stepson Bryce and his wife Karen, and George, an outrigger teammate of Jake's, also came over for a visit. It was an amazing meal and Frank and I would like to extend our thanks to Jake, Karen and Bryce once again for all of their hospitality and to George who offered us a ride to our next campground.

Later in the evening we had the pleasure to meet Libby, the wife of Brain who recently passed away from ALS. All the best to you and your family, Libby, and thanks for all that you did for Frank and I during our short stay in Kamploops!

Sure would like the drink that goes with that ice cube...

Our night at the campground was restful, which was a good thing as we had an early start at the CityTV Calgary building for an interview.  Got up at 5:30 and were on the air at 7:15.  They did an amazing job.  Once the interview was done we loaded up the canoe on their Ford Escape and Rob and Mike took us to Canmore!  

While airing our story, Kathy in Canmore heard that we needed a ride and called Frank's number, so we got a ride the rest of the way from Canmore to Revelstoke (which was our destination for the day).  Thanks go out to all at CityTV but especially Sandra.  And thanks again to Kathy from Canmore for helping us out.  The canoe was spoiled on the Lexus...:)

Great views along the highway; Frank and I have not been on this road before.  Now camped out in Revel stoke for the night, sitting by the fire and catching up on a few to-do things.

Pinball Wizard

We met the Tempo Twosome at 7:30am and transferred the canoe onto their Jeep Cherokee for the trip from Edmonton to Calgary. Jeff rode in their vehicle on the way down.

We arrived in time for the barbeque ALS Calgary had scheduled for us. The Tempo Twosome didn't stay for lunch saying they had to return for a baseball game, but we know they really wanted to visit the big box stores in the Calgary area;) CityTV had a reported there shortly after we arrived, so Jeff took some time to talk to him while I started in on a freshly grilled hamburger. Had a great visit with a lot of the Calgary staff as well as a gentleman who just lost his father to ALS in December. After we had lunch, we got another media visit from a Global TV reporter, so we took the time to talk to him. Both reporters were great guys. Thanks for helping us spread the word about ALS.

Going to have an early morning since we are visiting the CityTV studio tomorrow morning for a spot on the Morning Show. That should be a lot of fun since they want us to portage the canoe into their studio. We'll let you know how it goes.

The thicker sleeping bag is already in the tent.

Cornflower Cooking

Oops, fell behind a bit.

We met our pre-arranged ride to Edmonton at 9 am Tuesday morning. Colleen Christie, who lives in Lloydminster, was more than willing to help us get to Edmonton. Rovic, her care-giver, was with us as well. Colleen was diagnosed with ALS and has been living with it for 18 years. Colleen impressed us so much with her humour, drive, strength, and generosity. Not only did she give us a ride but she also gave us a cook book she had published with some friends. She was an inspiration to Frank and I as we are entering our last week of our trip. Colleen, thank you so much for your help!

Our drive to Edmonton was, let's say, just a tad on the wet side. Rain fell down in sheets and we had to go a little slower due to the conditions. We wanted to get to the campground by 1pm as we had CTV in Edmonton meeting us for a chat about our trip and ALS. Great interview; thanks CTV!

We next had a ALS dinner at Ricky's Grill in Edmonton South Common complex. Ricky's was very kind in hosting our group. The owner is a supporter of the Walk for ALS in Edmonton. Thanks for the support and the venue Steven.

Many friends joined us at the dinner, as well as some of the staff from the ALS Edmonton office. Thank you to everyone who made it out to say hello and also thanks for all the donations...we received over 500 dollars Tuesday night for ALS Alberta as well as a gift bag from the Edmonton Office! That's awesome!!!

We waited as long as possible to set up the tent, since it had rained for most of the day. We finally started setting it up at about 9:15pm and, although it got a bit chill during the night, the rain held off and we woke shivering, but dry. Tonight – a thicker sleeping bag.

Sweet Music

Before leaving the Saskatoon area, we stopped by and had John Attwater sign our canoe. Thanks to the Attwaters once again for their wonderful hospitality!
Westwards we drove, crossing the North Saskatchewan River not too far west of Saskatoon and then again at the Battlefords. Stopped there for some breakfast too.
Arrived in Lloydminster at about 1pm and met up with a reporter, Catherine from the Lloydminster Source newspaper. Thanks for doing a story on us Catherine! That story will likely be published in their Thursday paper as it is printed twice a week - Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Checked out the town and sights of Lloydminster in the afternoon, then had a bite for supper before heading back to the campground to get caught up on some emails and Facebook stuff.

Just met another camper here, Clarence St. Germaine, the father of the recording artist Yvonne St. Germaine, who sings Gospel music and tours all over North America. Neat! And what a great voice she has.

Off to Edmonton tomorrow!

The 42canoe needed some gas....

Jeff here. Now in Saskatoon at Campland RV Resort, a brand new campground just west of Saskatoon. Great site, staff and owners!

Got an early start yesterday morning and hit the highway to grab a bite. Okay, once again, not camping fare...we grabbed a solid breakfast at a Perkins just east of Regina. Then decided to head a short distance south to the town of Rouleau. If you are a true Canadian, you will know that was the filming site of the highly popular sitcom Corner Gas.

Now get this, my brother and I park on the main street of the town and start walking down to the police building from the show. Another car pulls up and two people get out. The man looks really familiar to me. But the car is not from Ontario, so it can't be him. But I look again and low and behold it is one of my former bosses, the director of the Ontario Geological Survey, Andy Fyon, and his wife. How weird is that???!!! We chatted for a while and bought some souvenirs at the gift shop (which is the police station on the outside).

On the road again and heading north. We swung around Regina via Moose Jaw as the road leaving Rouleau was in a northwest direction back to the trans-Canada highway. Got in to Saskatoon early and set up camp. We visited with our uncle's brother and his wife and son for a supper. Great meal! Thanks to John, Joyce and Quinten Attwater for their welcome to the area! And to cap it off, Saskatchewan beat Montreal! Great night!

I can see for milles and miles and miles and miles and miles

Cool night last night. Coldest one so far this trip. Might have been 12C, which is a bit below the rating for the small sleeping bags we initially brought. Luckily Jeff picked up his mummy bag in Sudbury and I used his smaller bag as a blanket. A cozy night despite the chill.

Got an opportunity to do some laundry while we waited for a reporter from the Brandon Sun to call us. She was right on time and came out to the campground to do an interview, the cameraman arriving about 10 minutes later. Great interview Tory! Thanks for taking an interest in our story. Hope you got some nice shots Bruce. We look forward to seeing the finished article.

After the interview we hit the road to Regina. Drove through some rain on the way there, but nice weather once we arrived.

Got a chance to talk to some people we are meeting tomorrow. Our uncle Mike's brother and wife will be having us over for supper once we reach Saskatoon. We will have to catch up on calls and emails tomorrow, but we should get an early start.

Roxy Music

Woke this morning at 0430 so we could be at the CityTV station in Winnipeg for 6am. Packed everything up, brushed our teeth and we were on the road at 5.

We arrived at the station at The Forks in Winnipeg about 10 minutes early and were greeted by their great staff. We were on the air from the front of the building, with the canoe in the background, at 0615.

Brian Campbell, the ALS Manitoba PR rep, took us to Smitty's for breakfast and we enjoyed his company while we enjoyed the service and the meal. Spent the morning at the ALS Manitoba office and had a reporter from the weekly local paper stop by to get our story and take some pictures.

Once that was complete we went to meet our ride to Brandon. We transferred our canoe to the Rav4 driven by Joel and Danielle Grenier and hit the road for Brandon. Shortly after arriving we had an interview with CBC Radio 1 host John Updike. Another great experience and one more chance to spread the word about ALS.

We then grabbed a bite to eat with Joel and Danielle at the local Montana's. I know I won't be any lighter when I get home. Sorry Babe.

We are setting up the tent now and Jeff is organizing the back of our car. It's taken on a life of it's own and it we don't get it under control feel that it may start the car and drive away in the middle of the night.

It's going to be a cool night. We are bundling up for the worst.

Just like Willie Nelson sang....On the Road Again....

Got on the road by 11:30 after the Honda dealership fixed the axle - an early start despite the car repair issue.  Could have been a lot worse though (example? Being stranded in NW Ontario with a broken cv joint/axle!) Stopped at the timezone sign to take some photos....now in the Central Time Zone!  Woohoo! Gained an hour, which helps us to make Winnipeg and get back on schedule.

As Frank said in the previous post, we have to get up early and make the 6 am tv show/interview in the morning. This will mean an early rise tomorrow!

With regards to our day....had a nice day driving from Thunder Bay to Ste Anne just outside of Winnipeg. A little over 700 km today to make up the lost time. We are staying at the Lilac Campground and water park; very nice park! Only thing about today's trip was the wind, which pushed the canoe and car around a little on the highway. Must have been gusting at 50 or 60 kph! Canoe was solid though.

Went into Kenora for supper (Chinese food). Now hungry again ;)

A day in Thunder Bay....

Wednesday, July 20 entry:

We've been hearing an interesting clicking noise coming from the driver's side wheel so we decided to take the Fit into the local Honda dealer. They had a look and decided that a new axle was required. They ordered the part from Toronto and it should be here tomorrow morning. Not sure what we'll do if it doesn't arrive.

We have to be in Winnipeg on Friday morning since we have an interview with Breakfast Television on CityTV at 0600. Really need to get there so here's to a speedy and competent repair tomorrow.

After hearing about the delay we decided to see a movie to kill some time. First we stopped at Futureshop where I bought a keyboard for the iPad. I'm using it now. Then went over to Chapters where I refrained from buying anything. This in itself is a minor miracle.

After the movie we had lunch at the Mongo Grill. A good, healthy meal.

Decided to check back into the campground we left this morning and we've been waiting for the thunder and rain to stop ever since. Might go see another movie this evening if things don't dry up. Might also take a cabin if the rain continues.

Yep, stayed in a cabin in Thunder Bay's KOA as the weather was highly uncooperative on Wednesday night.  High winds, lightning, and thunder.  The city lived up to it's name today!  The airport suffered some roof damage as part of it was torn off in the 115km high winds last night.  Damaged some cars there too.

Wings and Ribs

Hit the highway and once again, enjoyed the scenery along the north shore of Superior. I (Jeff) drove this leg as I had done it before and I wanted Frank to have a full access to the beauty of the road while I concentrated on driving. We had a lift set up from Nipigon to just outside Thunder Bay - a old friend of dad's from the Sudbury area, Carl White. We picked up some breakfast grub and a coffee in Marathon, and proceed onwards. Stopped at the Aguasabon River Gorge, just outside of Terrace Bay. Nice scenery there! Met up with Carl at Timmy's in Nipigon and transferred the canoe over to his truck. It was another Ford Ranger! The 42canoe loves those trucks!

Had an amazing meal at the White's beautiful home on the shoreline of Superior. Thank you very much for everthing Carl, Marriette, and Kevin!
Frank and I pulled in to Thunder Bay about 4:30ish and set up camp at KOA there. Fantastic service and help there. One of the staff, Aleks, has an uncle with ALS and we wish him and his family all the best.

Went for a swim here and now just catching up with stuff while we can...

There is a Black Hole north of Lake Superior

Met a retired military gentleman at our campground in the Sault. He offered us a ride to White Lake (he was heading to Calgary) but we had to decline as we were heading back into town to have breakfast with mom and Jannette.

Got on the road around 10pm and took our time heading to the White Lake Provincial Park. Don't drive this highway too often so we wanted to stop and take some nice photos on the way. Of course that meant stopping in Wawa to get a shot of one of the many Geese populating the town. This is either a snow goose or they ran out of paint when they were painting a Canada goose. Natacha, we're going to need a bigger oven!

Got some nice shots of waterfalls and beaches on the drive and pulled in to the park at about 6:30pm. Actual camping site is over 4km from the highway! Glad we didn't have to portage the canoe in that far (then back out again the next day!). Went for a swim at the northernmost beach - shallow water and warm. Very refreshing after a day on the road. Tossed around a football Jeff bought, we both had some quality spirals there! Caught up on some other stuff at the campsite and we were a little worried that we would get a repeat of the storm we saw the night before in the Soo as there was some thunder booms echoing around for a while. But only some pitter-patter rain fell and we were able to make a delicious supper at the site....some gourmet canned chili! Yum!

Slept until 7:30am. We were on the road by 8.

Mister can you spare a ... Nickel?

June 16
Day for relaxing and visiting family in Sudbury.  Not much here!

June 17
Had a nice breakfast at mom's house, packed up our stuff, and headed out to Sault Ste Marie with the canoe on top of mom's vehicle. Has a great campground visit thanks to our uncle Roger setting up a trailer for us. We had two great nights sleep because of that.

On the road to the Sault we had to stop and get a picture of the canoe with the big nickel in the background. Seeing as we are Sudbury boys this was a must. We continued with the drive and arrived at the campsite at 4pm. We decided to meet at Casey's for supper after a quick shower at the campground. 



We survived our first thunder storm through the evening. Just two small leaks that we will seal with silicon tonight.

Katchup Blog

Barrie to Parry Sound to North Bay

Well, we were up and at 'em early on Thursday to head up to Parry Sound to meet our next volunteer to carry the canoe, Paul Fredette. Before departing the area, we stopped in for a nice breakfast in a restaurant called Lobbie's in Craighurst. Dave and Louise took off, heading back down south towards the Niagara area and their home. Frank and I headed north on highway 400 to rendezvous with Paul in Parry Sound at the airport there.

We arrived in Parry Sound in time for lunch at the airport, and had a nice tour of the Found Aircraft building where they build these planes. Paul owns a Bushhawk, one of the models of Found Aircraft.

After lunch with Paul and his two daughters, Isabel and Alexie, we headed up north to highway 124, which connects highway 400 to highway 11, which was going to get us into North Bay for the night at our next campground. Very nice road and some excellent scenery along the way. Pulled into the campground a little before supper and started unpacking. Watching us from no more than 50 feet was a deer. She was just standing there munching on twigs or something like that, just checking us out. Seemed to be saying “Hey, you guys have anything better to eat over there than twigs?!”

Paul headed back to Sudbury and Frank and I set up our tent. Feeling a might peckish, we headed out onto Lakeshore Drive in North Bay to seek out a pizza place. Yeah, I know, we're really roughing it! Found a nice local pizza/restaurant called Greco's (not the East Coast chain) that had a very good pizza. Made a campfire and relaxed a bit before heading to bed for some shut-eye. Temperature dropped a little, so it was a cool night, but not cold.

North Bay to Sudbury...

Frank and I were up early again at 6am. We packed up camp and hit the road. On the way, we had a telephone interview with Rich and Garry on Sudbury's 105.3 EZ Rock radio station. Nice chat, which they aired about 20 minutes after the call. Thanks gentlemen!

We also had another radio interview with Markus Schwabe of CBC's Morning North program to get to by 11am in Sudbury. We arrived early and Markus got us in the studio quick to get this recored. Neat to be in a studio with all the mics and equipment. The interview was mostly about ALS and its affect on families and will air on Monday, July 18th at 7:15am.


Friday afternoon we had a Youth Group Activity Fair to get ready for at Ramakko's Adventure Outfitters on Regent Street, which started at 4. Good turnout and met lots of people there. Many donations collected as well, so the canoe is filling up nicely with signatures!

I'll take two of everything....

Had a very nice stay on the shores of Lake Ontario at Darlington Provincial Park.  Our ride for the day, Dave and Louise, were coming up from the southern shore, but still made it to the campground early.  After loading up the canoe, I (Jeff) was in the safety car following the canoe.  After stopping for gas nearby, they made a turn which was blocked from my view by a cement truck, and yes, we got separated.  Not a biggie though as we were heading to Barrie and the KOA there anyway.  I stopped for a few supplies and continued along some backroads. 
In the other vehicle (the one with the canoe!), Frank, Dave, Louise, and Anna-Sophia stopped for lunch at a Thai restaurant (after ditching me!).  After lunch, they continued on backroads to Barrie.
Met the other guys at the entrance to the campground.  I pulled in 4 minutes after they did, despite being separated and traveling different routes!
Went for a nice swim in the afternoon.  We decided to run into Barrie for dinner as it was only 5 minutes down the 400.  Nice meal, then went back to the campground for some marshmallows, then some fun card games, which Frank and I taught to Dave, Louise, and Anna.  Anna won both times....beginner's luck!

Waking up near Lake Ontario

Tuesday was a busy day.

After waking up at the Hither Hills Park in Ottawa, we packed up and headed out for a breakfast rendezvous with Tamara and her three kids. We decided that the nearest Denny's would be a great spot to grab a quick breakfast.

Tamara is the cousin of Jennifer, the wonderful young lady who baked blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cooks for us in PEI. Both Tamara and Jennifer have an aunt suffering with ALS at this moment.

From Denny's we decided to head to the Parliament Building to try for a shot of the 42Canoe. Couldn't stop for long on the busy streets of Ottawa, but Jeff managed this shot.

On the way to Kingston to meet Lesley, an ALS volunteer, we decided to take the back roads and avoid all the buffeting caused by passing transports. We passed through Smith Falls and down Highway 15, a beautiful drive as we moved from farmland into woods and lake areas.

Met Leslie at a Timmy's in Kingston. She organized their recent ALS Walk and was going to give us a ride to Darlington Provincial Park. Not wanting to tax her volunteering spirit, and with the fact that she was very busy at the time, we told her we could get there ourselves. She bought us lunch and signed the bottom of the canoe. Thanks Leslie.

Once we left Kingston we followed some back roads (I lead Jeff to a ferry that I'm pretty sure we didn't want to get on) until we reached Belleville, where we got on the 401 and drove through to the Park. We have a great campsite and can see the CN tower in the distance.

Off to Barrie today with the help of a friend.

Deflated mattress offers no good night's rest.

Jeff here.  Nice weather last night in Montreal at the campground.  Slept okay, might have a leak in the mattress pad as I was basically sleeping on the tent floor/ground, which was set up on sand.  I will have a look for any leaks tonight in Ottawa.  John Dow met us at the campground at 8am sharp and we loaded up the canoe and got everything else packed in the car for the trip to Ottawa.  John had a plan to get through Montreal and boy, it worked.  Went through the city without any problems.  Didn't even stop once in traffic!  Had to get over to ISR for a BBQ at noon.
Well, the rain started falling as we came into Ottawa, and continued during the BBQ.  Oh well....  Thanks to ISR for having us and the ALS event there!  Mmmm, hot dogs.
Had some running around to do in Ottawa.  Logistics stuff and whatnot.  From this point on Frank and I have decided to take a safety-car as a backup; we simply cannot hitchhike when rides are unavailable as we will undoubtedly get stuck overnight and not maintain our daily schedule.  We will still accept rides though!  Anyone willing to carry the canoe for us can still do so, just give us a shout!
Off to southern Ontario tomorrow!

Bird poop washes out of towels...

Woke up at 6:40 this morning in Quebec City.  On our way out of town, a Tim Horton's was causing the car to steer  funny, and we ended up in the drive thru for a coffee and a breakfast sandwich.  So now we are in Montreal at Camping Alouette.  Still haven't seen any football players yet ;)
The staff here have been great.  Elizabeth Crosland has been a wonderful help in getting our message out to fellow campers around this large campground.  She posted our poster all around the campground for us and all new arrivals got an information slip she made herself to inform them of our ALS fund-raiser.  Big shout of thanks to Elizabeth!  Cheers!
Met some others campers curious about our trip, about ALS, and willing to help out.  We now have a message on our Canoe in Spanish!  Thanks Gladis!  Frank explained our fund-raising event to another camper in his broken French....seemed to do okay though!  My spaghetti dinner was amazing!
Now settling in for a campfire while trying to drive away these mosquitos....

La premiere nuit a Quebec

Okay, so we were in Edmundston, NB, this morning.  On our way out of town, grabbed some Food at Mickey Dee's.  Not your standard camping breakfast fare to be sure.
As mentioned in the previous post, we had to resort to a car rental to get to Edmundston and Quebec City.  We would have had a tough slog to get up to the highway from our campsite, and if yesterday's lack of success getting a ride is any indication, we would have likely had a tough go getting  a  ride to Quebec City.  Anyway, we arrived at the campsite here early since there was a time change at the border.  Frank dropped the car off and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at the campsite.  Not getting a lot of questions about our fundraiser here in the Quebec City campground...
Well, just had some very nice American visitors to our campsite. They are from Virginia and are touring around Ontario and Quebec And having a great time. Thanks to Barbara and Cynthia for their contribution!

Getting a ride when you have a canoe is NOT easy...

This is to continue yesterday's happenings.  After Matt dropped us off at the gas station not too far from our campground, we figured we would have no issues getting a lift to Edmundston, about 272km.  Well, we started looking for some takers around 9:20am, but were there until 5 pm with no offers to Edmundston.  Many people actually recognized us from the news and were very friendly, but either had no space, were going in a different direction, or just didn't want to strap a canoe to their roof.  I (Jeff) even called a local radio station to see if they could help us out by giving the listeners the request for a ride needed.  The girl I spoke to said at the station she would see what she could do, but I'm not sure they were able to do that for us (understandably).  At any rate, 8 hours in the sun (at least it was a gorgeous day!) and we still hadn't secured a lift to Edmundston, so we talked about several options.  Frank and I settled on renting a car and driving up ourselves, but continuing on to Quebec city with the vehicle.  This was not what we wanted to do when we started this trip, but even before starting our trip, we had to go with plan B when the canoe we ordered 10 weeks prior to our arrival in St. John's didn't show up there.  C'est la vie.
Anyway, we finally pulled into our campground in Edmundston at 8:15pm.  Whew!

A long day in NB

First, yesterday.
Yesterday my aunt and uncle picked us up from the campground in Moncton and took us for a great breakfast at the Irving Truckstop on the way to Fredericton. Jeff had the Eggs Benny and I had the hot turkey sandwich. Ok, not traditional breakfast fare but close enough.

After breakfast we took a detour through Sussex to see a friend of our fathers. Dale was welcoming and warm, with a huge smile and a cold beer. We sat on the porch and told him what we were up to. Of course he offered to help in any way possible, this after making a nice donation to the ALS cause. He spoke about a few of the adventures he shared with Dad, including a skinny dipping incident at a party they were attending. I sometimes wonder where my own devil-may-care attitude has gone. Maybe I've outgrown it. But I sure hope not!

After leaving Dale's we drove up to the campground and discovered that the tenting area was 2km into the woods. Since we are trying to raise awareness for ALS we wanted something a bit more central so we got the owner's permission to set up our tent near a power pole in the vicinity of the main entrance. We got some weird stares and some welcoming comments but the best part was being offered a ride the next morning to the nearest roadside Petro-Canada, somewhere with a good volume of traffic. That was important because there was a long two lane bridge between us and our roadside rendezvous, and it wasn't a carry the canoe over your head friendly bridge either. Matt also gave us a beer to enjoy as the sun set on the horizon.

Matt picked us up this morning and got us on the road. His son Alex, his friend Dawson and Matt all signed the canoe after a nice breakfast at the Acorn Restaurant.

Now in Moncton, NB.

Left PEI this morning. Our cousin Gordon O'Neill and his wife, Jeanne Caissie O'Neill, came to all the way to Charlottetown from Moncton to pick us up in Cornwall, just outside of Charlottetown, PEI. Before leaving the island, we had a chance to stop just before the bridge and get some nice pics with the Confederation Bridge in the background. This was just after stopping for some Cows ice-cream. Awesome stuff!

Gordon took us to pick up a battery pack for my iPhone. I've been using it a lot and need to recharge it constantly. We also stopped to get some acrylic matte finish so that we can protect the signatures already on the canoe from UV and water damage. Would hate to lose them to the elements during the trip.

Now at our campground in Moncton-off to Fredericton tomorrow. Still needing a ride from Fredericton to Edmundston! If you can help, call us! 613-875-1726 Both campgrounds the past two nights had great swimming pools, but we didn't have time to go for a swim!

Well fed in Cornwall PEI

Got a ride this morning from Lily, one of the volunteers with the ALS Society of PEI. Had a great trip into Charlottetown and met a CBC reporter along the way. He shot some video outside of an Irving station, then followed us to our campsite to tape us unloading the canoe and setting up the tent. Brian story ran in PEI on the six pm show, Compass.

Finally got to see ourselves on TV. Won't be doing that again anytime soon. lol.

Went out for diner with two of the ALS PEI volunteers, Lily and Cindy, and a friend of Lily's, Jennifer. Had a great time and a great meal.Thanks for your hospitality and the kind gifts.

We're now back at the campsite getting caught up on our social media. I know of at least one dedicated follower so I can't disappoint him.

Off to Moncton tomorrow.

Now in PEI!

Made it across the Northumberland Strait from Pictou this morning. Got a ride from our campground in Pictou to the ferry from Anders and Tammy - thanks guys! We are now in PEI waiting for our ride to Charlottetown. NFL ferry service was great, let us carry our canoe on!
A great example of how small the world is.....the first person to sign our canoe was John DeWitt, a bicyclist from Holland who was staying at the Pippy Park campground the same night we were there. Tammy and Anders, who we met last night and gave us the lift this morning, actually met John at another campground (Howley) in Newfoundland! Weird huh?

Chillin' in Pictou

Had a busy morning. We were interviewed by both CBC and CTV in Halifax this morning. The interviews aired this evening and a few people at our campground mentioned seeing us. We appreciate the time taken and the efforts of both stations to carry our story and help spread the word about ALS. Thank you!

Got a ride from our cousin Jamie O'Neill this afternoon. Beautiful drive to Pictou and we are well settled in our campsite. We have met some nice folks here in Birchwood campground. Tomorrow will get over to the ferry and across to PEI and Charlottetown.

Now in Halifax

Arrived in Sydney yesterday on the ferry from Argentia at 6am. Had a great buffet breakfast on board at 5am then packed up to leave the ship. Our canoe was handled as freight and arrived a-ok. All the folks at Marine Atlantic were fantastic! After leaving the ferry, we had some trouble getting a lift; it took a long time to get to Halifax yesterday but we made it with the help of some very kind people. Stewart Chaulk, his wife Helen and their son Aaron gave us a lift from Sydney to Baddeck, NS and even stopped so we could take pictures at the lookouts. Then we got a ride all the way to our campsite in Halifax from Shawn Kaiser in his white Ford Ranger, "Beauty", so named by his daughter. A great last minute ride that saved our bacon and got us in at the Halifax campground at 915pm. Thank you to the Chaulk family and Shawn!

July 2, St. John's to Argentia and the ferry ride.

Meet up with Steve Williams as we set up the camp last night. Once he heard about our trip and fundraiser, he immediately offered to get us to the ferry for this morning after feeding us breakfast at his camper. We took him up on the generous offer and had a great meal before packing up and leaving camp. We also met a fellow traveller, albeit doing a bike tour, from Holland. His name was John Dewitt and he biked from Buffalo, NY, to St. John's in one month. Both gentlemen signed the canoe this morning! Steve got us to the ferry with plenty of time to spare. Thanks again Steve for all the help and the hospitality!
While waiting in the lobby at the ferry terminal, I (Jeff) started talking to the gentleman beside me, Donald Barnes. It turned out he is the VP of customer experience for Marine Atlantic, the ferry company that runs the service between Argentia and Sydney. He was traveling with his wife to Toronto. Marine Atlantic and Donald have been awesome to Frank and I - thanks for everything Donald! We appreciate it very much!
More to follow....

42Canoe Article in the Ottawa Citizen on Canada Day

Follow the link to read more and be amazed by Jeff's square jaw.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/country+longest+portage/5034288/story

Quidi Vidi, July 1st

Started the adventure this morning at 0900. Had a nice little paddle in Quidi Vidi harbour, then set up the tent in Pippy Park. Getting ourselves ready for 31 days in a tent! The fresh air feels great

Beautiful St. John's

We arrived in fine form last night and the day looks to be shaping up to be a nice one, if a bit cool. Going to pick up the canoe today and put our 42Canoe decals on it so we're ready for a paddle in Quidi Vidi harbour tomorrow morning at 0900. Also need to buy life jackets and one paddle. Jeff brought on with him that's been signed by the students and teachers at the school where he teaches.

It's going to be a good day!
Frank

Morning North CBC interview with Markus Schwabe

We have a phone interview on the 30th with CBC's Morning North host Markus Schwabe. We'll be on the air from St. John's at 0715 EST. Hope you get a chance to listen in.

St. John's Bound

Heading for the beautiful St. John's, Newfoundland in a few short hours. Really looking forward to spending a few days there before we start the trip across Canada.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Heading for Halifax to attend my daughter's  HS graduation. Then heading for St. John's, NL, where the 42Canoe will be christened in the waters of Quidi Vidi Harbour. This will kick off the 'Cross Canada with a Canoe ALS fundraiser. Really looking forward to this adventure. See you in the Maritimes.

Sudbury ALS Walk - Our speech

Jeff and I addressed the crowd at the ALS Walk in Sudbury. To see it follow the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-h_7sRl8MM

Sudbury ALS Walk

We're going to help with the set-up for the Sudbury walk tonight and the walk takes place tomorrow morning. I think one of us will be flipping burgers for the after walk barbecue. Hope the weather is better than it's been for the last few days. More pictures or video to follow.

CTV Interview

About to be interviewed by CTV in Sudbury. Nerves are starting to show up as unwanted twitches and occasional stuttering. I'll try and post a link if it makes it to the CTV website and it's not too embarrassing.   :-)

Ottawa Walk for ALS

Jeff and I volunteered at the Ottawa Walk for ALS this past Saturday. 750+ people and great weather made it a terrific event. Got a chance to tell the crowd about our fundraiser and the response was positive.

Heading to Sudbury to take part in their ALS walk and to do an interview with CTV Noon on Thursday.
The count down to the big paddle is ten days. This is going to be fun!

The Bro is Here

Jeff has arrived in Ottawa and we are getting down to the nitty-gritty of the trip we are about to take. We will be starting in 2 weeks from St. John's, NL and there's lots to do before that. Going to the Ottawa ALS walk tomorrow and the Sudbury walk next weekend.

Now that Jeff is here we can really get the ball rolling.

Posters Out

Natacha and I spent the morning putting up posters in Westboro. Hit 5 different places and they all allowed us to put up our poster. Thanks to Bushtuka, MEC, The Paddle Shop, Whitetail and Green Drake for the support and the encouraging comments.

Follow us here with daily updates

We set off on July 1st from St. John's to travel 'Cross Canada with a Canoe.
We will be keeping everyone posted on our trip by posting to this site.
Hope you can follow us.