an Ontario Christmas

This is the first time in many many years either DH or I have spent Christmas back home in Ontario. for me it was 15 years (since the move to alberta when I was 12) and somewhere around 12 or 13 for DH (i'm still a little foggy on the exact year he moved west even though I've known him for 7 years now). Excited doesn't even explain it  : P

 

we left the Friday before xmas in the early afternoon so that we'd get there earlier than the wee hours of the night (which didn't actually happen). I packed up the truck pretty awesomely with tons of room in the backseat to spare next to HayHay's travel kennel. I was hoping she'd spend some time in it on the road, but that didn't really happen. she also didn't spend much time in the spacious back seat either... because we were travelling with the dog, we made a lot more stops than we normally would, not to mention nearly an hour in Saskatoon between filling up with gas, taking HayHay on a quick walk around a block, stopping at the slowest mcD's ever and eating in the truck before getting back on the road. we tried to stop every 3-4 hours for her, which is a little more often than every gas fill-up. it proved to be unnecessary to stop so often because half the time, she just sniffed around forever and didn't acutally do her business, which in -30 weather got a little frustrating. she did great in the truck though. DH got a little annoyed with her moving about the truck looking for spots to sit/sleep, but she did sleep or just sit quietly pretty much the entire 32 hours on the way to Ontario. if I was driving, she was usually sleeping on top of the cooler bag on a blanket behind my seat and if DH was driving, she was usually in my lap. so proud of how she did on such a long road trip since the longest for her was only 5 hours.

 

this trip we decided to drive through the northern states because I wanted to avoid driving through northern Ontario in the winter knowing how twisty and hilly those roads are and how much wildlife there is. I refuse to drive that highway in the dark and in the winter, that's a lot more than the 6-8 hours of complete darkness that happens in the summer. I didn't want to do that to DH, so knowing the roads in the states were more similar to the prairies which i'm comfortable driving at night, we took that way. we got to the border went through without any trouble, took less than 5 minutes, they didn't even ask to see papers for the dog  : )  we finally made it to Sault Michigan just before 10pm on the Saturday night, let HayHay out before putting her back in the kennel and crossed the border back into Canada and onto familiar roads. an hour and a half later and we were finally done driving! 32 hours, 3 provinces, 4 states and just over 2700km

 

we stayed at FIL's place the whole time we were there. lived out of suitcases, which HayHay appreciated since she used mine as a bed the entire 2 weeks  : P  the bed we slept on there was a lot higher than our bed at home and she had a couple tumbles off the bed and a couple hard times jumping onto the bed so i'm not surprised she preferred the much lower suitcase that smelled like home, lol. when it was bedtime she slept in the bed with us, but during day when she wanted a nap, it was in my suitcase. probably because it was a Lucy(FIL's dog)-free zone...

 



lazing by the woodstove

we didn't really do a whole lot while in Ontario, just tried to do what visiting we could and some time relaxing doing nothing. we slept in every day (heaven! even HayHay did, though her's could be due to the time change...) but I had a hard time getting used to other ppl's habits... like going to a friend's place every night around 4 and coming back between 7 and 8 and then not eating supper until 8 or 9 at which point i'd be starving. you'd think my body would have been fine with it because of the time change, but no. Christmas day I finally got to visit my family which was so awesome. my cousins got into town on Christmas eve so I went to visit them for a bit before xmas dinner and then went back to play some cards after I ate. I miss my family back there so bad! my dad came down Christmas day and I really wish I could've spent more time with him. i'm really hoping I can get pregnant real soon so I can get him out here for a longer visit when a baby is born. we spent boxing day night at the cabin my dad was renting for him, my step-mom, my sister and her DH (who also made the trip to Ontario for xmas) so I did get to spend more time with them, but not any time just them without my sis/BIL being there  : (  I made a trip to Elliot and did a quick tour just to see what's changed and I also got a visit with my BF of 20+ years and finally got to meet her FH! I so can't wait to see her again for her wedding! new years day we made a day trip to Sudbury to visit with one of my cousins a bit more, so glad we did that. our last day there we did some snowshoeing even though it was a balmy -30 outside  ; )  it actually wasn't so bad once you get past the initial watering eyes, lol. I got to take some pics of the winterscape of Ontario. wish I got more pics of things I have pics of from the summer. maybe next time we come back for Christmas.

our trip back wasn't as pleasant as the trip there  : (  it didn't start out too bad, weather we could deal with, just a bit of snow falling. it wasn't til we were about 6 hours in and it started to get worse. it was still manageable, we probably would have only taken up the time we wasted on doggy pee breaks on the way out there so it would have taken the same 32 hours. then we hit the bad weather just after getting past lake superior and that's where it all just really sucked. it got windy, really windy. it wasn't really snowing much anymore, but it was so windy that it just picked up anything off the ground and blew it all over. of course by this time we were into the prairies so that wind carries a far ways. I was so glad DH was driving because it got so bad at times he had to slow right down so he didn't go off the road because he couldn't see even a foot in front of the truck, if even that at times. I tried to sleep so that when he got tired I could do some driving, but I just couldn't do it in that weather. I kept my eyes closed, but i'd flinch every time I felt the truck sway a bit cuz of the wind and grab hold of HayHay cuz I kept thinking we were going to hit the ditch. I think I dozed off for about 5 minutes that entire time. turns out that we were actually driving on closed roads... oops! not like there was a barricade or a gate or a cop turning traffic away from the highways. there was just an overhead sign that said "road closed when lights flashing", not very official so DH just kept going. I didn't get very far driving either. the blowing snow across the highway was so distracting. my eyes would kind of follow it across the road so it kind of put me in a trance. I had to stop after about an hour and we all took a 2 hour nap about 30 miles east of Rugby, ND. when I woke up, I took the dog out and then just kept going. at least by that point it was daylight so it was A LOT easier to see because you weren't depending on headlights to see the road. it was still windy as hell, but you could see. the roads were complete ice from the wind so it was a bit slow going still. the roads finally started to clear up and not have ice on them a few hours from the border, finally I could drive the speed limit again. we switched again when we got to the border, something I regret doing. I wish I would've kept driving because by that night, it got as bad as the night before. it was windy that entire day, sunny, but windy. it wasn't blowing snow over the roads as much during the day thank goodness. but by nightfall, about an hour west of Saskatoon, it was starting to get harder to see again. I took over by that point again to give DH a break. it was great when I was following someone and could see their tail lights since I couldn't use my high beams to see very far ahead due to the blowing snow. but that person turned off after a train separated us so I was on my own again to see the road. slow going once again. I drove for a few hours and normally we wouldn't be very far from home in the same amount of time, but when you're driving about 1/2 to 2/3s the speed limit, it really slows you down. we switched once again just shy of the border because I was having a hard time not being able to see anything. the last 300km felt like the longest few hours EVER! it wasn't until we were about 100km from Camrose that we finally started feeling like we were getting somewhere because there wasn't really any towns for a good stretch. Camrose has never been such a welcome sight knowing we were only 20 minutes in nice weather from home. FINALLY made it home and in one piece! hallelujah!

 

after our harrowing drive home in weather that didn't seem to have an end in sight, we've decided we're never driving to Ontario in the winter ever again! we'll fly next time and leave HayHay with someone else. if it wasn't for the weather on that trip home, we'd probably drive again, but that kind just ruined it for us. the way there the roads were great and I think we only dealt with a small amount of flurries. about a week after getting home, I went to the city to visit SIL and the kids and there were so many tracks from vehicles that had been in the ditch and a handful still in the ditch. I could only assume it was remnants from that weekend we drove home since we had decent weather our first week back. It made me incredibly thankful for the st. Christopher medal I wear around my neck when we do long distance travel. with how bad the weather we were driving in for those hours, I can't believe we weren't one of the vehicles in the ditch.




while out snowshoeing



my fav pic from snowshoeing