Halloween

Halloween, a huge event here on the calender almost as big as Christmas. Never seen anything like it people decorate their houses with many orange pumpkins, corn stocks, fall leaves, and ghoulish decorations.

The kids had a halloween dress up for school and all the kids dressed up, they were excellent outfits, parents and kids spend a lot of time getting ready with their outfits for Halloween. Even the kids at my school dressed up at least 60% of the students in school dressed for the day it was great the way they got into the spirit of it.

On Saturday night we get the house ready for the kids to Trick or Treat, we decorate our house and I have lots of 'Candy' to give out, we are visited by about 40 kids, its so much fun so many different costumes. James and Steph head out for their first Trick or Treating and have a great time. They come back with so much candy even they are disgusted by it they have collected a years worth of lollies in one night, its incredible.

James is dressed as a Pimp, or so he thinks he looks pretty cool.

Steph dresses as a snow angel and looks very angelic.

Luckily it wasn't too cold it can be for Halloween, there has been no snow yet it has been -2 on some mornings but only really frost so far.

Of course there is also a fairly wild Wagner Lake Halloween party, Kevin and I dress as the Fred and Wilma Flinstone which was great fun, everyone looked so amazing in their outfits I have never been to such a great dress up party. Take a look at the photos!!!

Back to School - Falls Coming

September has finally come around and the kids and I are finally back to school, I know I am glad to be getting back into some sort of routine again, the weather was so aweful for a lot of summer that it really wasn't fun being off and my brain seems to have gone to mush.

I know Steph is happy to be back at school she goes into Grade 8 and it does seem strange starting a new school year in September, anyway she is happy with her teacher she is in a Yr7/8 split but she is in there with all her friends so that is good.

James of course can take or leave school he goes into Grade 10 and will need to do some serious work these next 5 months.

My classes are quite nice I have an Anthropology Class, Food and Nutrition and Family studies class, the students are a bit more of a challenge than they were last year (first half of the year), but they are still much easier than my students in Aus. Anyway we have 15 weeks of school and then we go home, its going to be a long stretch with no real breaks.

For September we see many changes in the area again the seasons are changing again, its getting cooler and the leaves are starting to fall and change colour, the season changes here are really very beautiful, I have never seen anything quite like it and sooooo many leaves to clean up, if its not snow its leaves. There are many social gatherings at Wagner Lake for September and October, its almost as if everyone is trying to use the outdoors as much as possible before it turns cold again, so we are invited to 50th birthdays and Corn roasts (we are surrounded by corn farms) and its the best corn we have ever tasted. A corn roast is basically where a huge pot is put over a large fire pit and 50 - 100 corn on the cobs are cooked and then served with butter, of course many beers are also consumed with this corn, but it was quite a novel experience.

We also went to the Toronto zoo and visit Toronto again to see Center island and go to an Ice Hockey game.

The Toronto Leafs are the Canadian team that everyone follows they are huge but amazingly pretty hopeless, anyway we got given these amazing seats so off we went to see the Toronto Leafs play the Pittburgh Penguins (the winners of the Stanley Cup last year). It was quite an experience the best fun, crazy, violent, aggressive game and we laughed heaps because its so out there we had no idea.

Thanksgiving was also in October and Kevin and I cooked a Turkey because thats what everyone does, it was a nice long weekend and good to have a break, we travelled so much in summer that everyone is over travelling, plus the weather is just not that much fun so we are just having a nice time with the people around the Lake.

Summer and Birthdays

So yes this is very late but at least you get to know what we have been up to. Getting back to Wagner Lake was nice because it meant we were finally able to have a rest and I really didn't do much of anything for 6 weeks, I have never had such a long holiday it was very nice.


James and Steph were going a bit crazy by the end of summer though and poor Kevin was working pretty hard at TSC (The country Hardware store) he works at.


James went away to a Venturer camp in Northern Ontario where there are a million fresh water lakes, for a week and had a wonderful time. He has really had some great times with the Venturers this year they have done some great camping trips.


We also spent a lot of time on peoples boats on the lake, I skiied, Steph swam a lot and James Wake boarded as much as possible. Wagner Lake is only quite small compared to Lake Macquarie, so it was quite different when out on the water. It was probably their worst summer in years it didn't really get that hot and it rained a lot so summer was a bit of a let down for us.

Kevin had his 40th birthday while here and we had a great cricket party everyone was invited and we had the Canadian team led, by of all people a visiting Englishman, and an Aussie team Captained by Kevin (of course). I made up T-Shirts for everyone to wear in Canadian and Aussie colours and the game started with the Anthems. Then it was on, Canadians played like they were playing baseball, always forgot to take their bats with them and because there were a lot of older players there were a few injuries. Everyone had a wonderful time the day was beautiful and just like any Aussie Cricket match there was plenty of eating and drinking. The Aussie team won of course abley Captained by Kevin and the whole day finished with dancing a bonfire and singing afterwards.

Summer was a wonderful break but after so much time of we were very ready to go back to school.

Seattle and Home

Minnesota

North Dakota

Seattle

Otters

We arrive into Seattle and they are in a heat wave which of course doesn't worry us much, but they are all dying, its 38 degrees and they are saying please make sure you keep your pets inside. Anyway its getting hard to get the kids interested in anything anymore so we take a day then decide what to do. We head off to the Museum of Flight which is very cool, we see all these Air Force Planes, Kevin and James have a go on a flight simulator which they say is very cool, we also get to look through the old Air Force One Plane and a Concord. We then see the Blue Angels plane land and its good to see the kids excited about something, they really want to get home and have had enough.

I loved Seattle it really reminded me of Sydney a big beautiful harbour very clean (we see no rain or fog) very cosmopolitan, pretty, cruise ships moored and ferries in the harbour, I could have spent longer there. We have a few nice dinners out in Seattle I am impressed by how adventurous the kids are getting at choosing meals and they enjoy having a night out. We visit their Aquarium much to my amazement but Kevin is intent we of course are rather disappointed but we see these gorgeous little otters and watched them for ages soooo cute.

We have a great shopping day here at the Factory outlets everything is so cheap we really pay through the nose for clothes in Aus its digusting, we get lots of designer clothes for 1/4 the price you would pay in Aus. That night we head of on the Ferry to have dinner on Bainbridge Island with our friends from Grafton, Gaye and Toni and kids, its wonderful to see more Aussies and hear about their experiences, we have a lovely dinner with them very sorry we couldn't spend more time with them.

We leave Seattle and decide that we will just drive till its dark we get to a place called Butte in Montana, we have driven today through Washington, Idaho and into Montana which is very mountainous and quite deserty, we are again driving over the Rockies but the amazing thing that in the US they have these dual carriageway roads and the speed limit is 75 miles, very fast so we cover about 1000km a day on the way home. Of course its freezing in Butte being up in the Rockies, we camp for the last time on our trip and get up early for another big travel day. We drive through Montana, into North Dakota very pretty but at times straight road and all farmland, we see rice, wheat, corn, soy bean and hay being farmed very rich farm country looked to us. We decide to camp in Jamestown we arrive about 830pm and get some dinner and head of to our camp ground well wouldn't you know it the GPS has been great all along but here its lost and it takes us 40 miles out of town into this corn field, no campground, its getting dark the kids are bit panicked and of course no mobile phone coverage. So we head back into town slowly because by now deer are everywhere on the road, very dangerous, we finally find a Hotel to stay in all head of to bed. 4.30pm Steph is awake with the a raging ear ache she is in so much pain we finally get up and take her to the hospital, ends up the pool in Butte has given her an ear infection, great, anyway easily fixed but I had no idea where the Travel insurance stuff was luckily I did as I was told and put the card in my wallet before we left and there it still was. Phew.

Anyway we head back onto the road and head into Minnesota through more cropland but getting near lakes again, then on into Wisconsin and Illinois, we stay our last night on the road in a place just outside Chicago called Rockford we have a good rest here and get back on the road the next day to head home, Today we drive through Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, then into Ontario and are greeted at home by the biggest Canadian flag I have ever seen and a lovely party, everyone has missed us, and we are gald to back home.

Port Angeles to Seattle

Bainbridge Island

La Push

Port Angeles

Victoria British Columbia's Capital

We arrive into Port Angeles with high hopes of discovering "Twilight" areas. We are camping for 3 nights at the local KOA (Kampgrounds of America) of course. We set up our camp and have a bit of a look around the town its quite pretty at the foot of the Olympic National Park, that has as its main area Mount Olympia, really more huge snow capped mountains and pretty lakes, we are getting a bit tired of it all, the kids are sick of driving and sight seeing so we decide to take it easy here. We have a lovely camp site under lots of tall trees and as usual its freezing at night I would have to say I am getting very sick and tired of the fact that its so bloody cold still and its SUMMER.

Anyway the first day we decide to head to Forks and La Push we drive for about 2 hours to find the beach again and La Push is a very picturesque beach area but as usual on this side of the Pacific its foggy and cold, very mysterious. We find the First Nation village quite poor and much like the aboriginal reserves in Aus. We go for a walk through a lovely rain forest down to another beach, when we get there the kids are now quite adamant no more beaches they are disappointed there is really nothing like Aust Beaches. We then head into Forks a funny little town that is nothing like it was in the books or movie, anyway we have been there and don't need to go back, we head back to camp and get ready to go to the movies to see Harry Potter which we all enjoyed of course. We are finding America quite different to Canada, Americans are quite interested in themselves and thats about it, anyway the petrol is cheap 2.49 gallon (think 3.8 litres to the gallon) everything is very cheap. We have met lots of interesting people along our travels and they are always interested in where we come from we find Americans quite ignorant of Aust at all.

Anyway we let the kids just hang around the park they meet some nice friends and have a bit of fun at the pool with them. We decide we will not push anymore sightseeing on them and so we pack up the next day to head to Seattle its only a 2 hour drive and we are staying at a nice hotel which I for one am looking forward to. We have a nice drive to Seattle crossing Puget Sound at Bainbridge Island and onto another Ferry to get of in the middle of Seattle.

Vancouver Island

After a wonderful time in Vancouver we head of to Vancouver Island to see our friends Deb and Mal and have a bit of a look around the Island. We are again struck by the beauty of the snow capped mountains in Horshoe Bay, we have a lovely trip over on the ferry which takes about 1 1/2 hours and we see some beautiful sights the kids enjoy the trip as well. We arrive into Nanaimo and drive to Deb and Mals I am actually not real well having got a bit of food poisoning from the restaurant the night before so we just have a bit of a rest.

The next day we head to what Canadians call the beach, Qualicum Beach is apparently the Gold Coast of BC which we find funny because when we get there the sea is 500m out yes they have a huge tide and its very shallow for a long time. Anyway nothing can stop these Canadians and they are set up around the puddles left which is pretty funny to see. We walk out to the water which is of course freezing and have a bit of a look around, see some interesting sea life then head back. We have a wonderful dinner with Deb and Mal in their wonderful huge house.

Next day we head to Tofino on the far west coast of the country where people apparently surf, its 29 degrees when we leave the east coast of the island after a long drive over the mountains, again very picturesque we get to Tofino to find its only 20 degrees and a low fog over the ocean. We are a bit disappointed in the beach but I am determined to put my foot in the Pacific Ocean from this far away from Australia. Tofino reminds us of Boomerang beach (much colder of course) but its all about surfing. Vancouver Ialnd is one place on earth that you can snow ski in the morning and then go surfing in the afternoon of course you would need pretty good suits. We find the beach interesting because all along the beaches are huge piles of logs from the logging they do in BC its quite amazing that so many logs end up on the beaches. On the way back we stop at the Cathedral National Park where we go for a walk through 800 yr old trees an absolutely amazing sight its very beautiful.

Next day we head to Victoria (capitol of British Columbia) and catch a ferry to Port Angeles in the US, its about an hour trip and its quite nice.