I Observe...

Yes, it is possible to go zip-lining in Manitoba, surprisingly. Who knew? It was super windy, so Megan got stuck halfway on one of the lines... Yeehaw!

Brooke, Meg's sis, lives in an Mennonite community here. A couple of days ago, Megan and I walked down the railroad tracks into town. 20 miles later we got there. The locals noticed we weren't from around those parts. They invited us to eat a strange new delicacy in which a thin layer of bread is covered with cheese, tomato sauce and meat. It was delicious! As we left, we noticed a construction worker putting up the town's first telegraph wire. Finally, they will be able to communicate with the outside world. We helped Brooke carry back fresh produce so that she would be ready for the upcoming winter; she's thinking of buying 5 huskies, to put together a dog sled team, so her daily walk into town won't take so long. How about that Malarkey? 

 

I have been known to embellish details sometimes. Less fiction to come later...

Manitoba-ing

Hy-Wire Zipline Adventure

Sisters....Brooke and I 

Mark and I bundled up pre-ziplining (it was about 5 degrees)

The first zip

The view from the top

The long way across...I got stuck about 30 meters from the end....had to get a tow

Contemplation

The infamous 'Mennonite salami'.... 

I'll take two...

When in Winkler....

The Forks, Winnipeg

Dinner at Deseo Bistro

First Oyster experience

Also, first Oyster experience

Skirt Steak, Grilled, Chimichuri, radish, horseradish crema....to die for!

Gnocci, black garlic, black quinoa, pancetta 

Spanish Mac and Cheese....hand rolled pasta, smoked Spanish paprika sauce, manchego,  chorizo crumble

Missed photos for two other dishes:
1. Caesar Salad, grilled romaine heart, grilled chorizo crumble, manchego cheese, fried bread, abodo and anchovy dressing
2. Rabbit ragout

THE FIRST LEG

G'day faithful readers,

PART I: BRAINERD

You betcha', Minnesota is quite a place.

As you may or may not know, Brainerd, MN was the main setting in the movie 'Fargo'. (There's only 1 scene set in Fargo, but the Coen Brothers thought 'Fargo' was a better title than 'Brainerd') To tell a long story short, we traveled an hour out of our way to mythical Brainerd to find the giant statue of Paul Bunyan from the movie, but low and behold, it was nowhere to be found! You darn tootin, we couldn't find it! The helpful folks at MACDonald's directed us to a park named 'Paul Bunyan Land', but still... no flippin' giant statue of Paul Bunyan even at Paul Bunyan Land! (Just a medium sized statue of his sidekick Babe the Blue Ox) Ah geez!

I googled this conundrum and found my answer: "the movie producers created the P.B. statue specifically as a 'set piece.' It does not exist in Brainerd, and to the knowedge of the Brainerd Visitor and Convention Bureau, it was dismantled." The heck do you mean? Ah well...

PART II: RANDOM THOUGHTS and BIG EATS

Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota sure do have a lot of billboards along their highways and byways! 1) Pro-Life billboards advertising that babies have a heartbeat at 18 days, and that YOU should consider adoption instead... 2) Family Restaurants! They're everywhere... you have your IHOPs and your Perkins, but there's more: Blondies Family Restaurant, Chitchats, El Patio, Erberts and Gerberts, Famous Dave's of America, Feed Mill Restaurant, Grandma's Sports Garden, Mr. Restretch, Remember When Family Dining, and many more! "Minnesota is like Siberia, but with family restaurants." 3) Political Ads! I learned a lot about all the state representatives, members of senate and such along the way! They sure do love their Romney! Where's all the Obama love? 

That's all for now, gumshoes. 

2200km's

Hey there all....

So after 2200km's or so we have officially arrived in Altona, Manitoba.  My sister Brooke, has so kindly offered for us to stay with her for as long as we like...(let's just wait till the first cat fight- jks).  We strolled around the Southern Manitoba town today....a touch different than the bustling metropolis of Ottawa.  Tonight Pizza Haven is on the menu; Brooke vows it is the BEST PIZZA EVER.  

So the drive across part of Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota, and north Dakota was rather uneventful, thankfully.  Other than the GPS going whack towards the last 7km of our 2200km drive (taking us down a back country mud road nearly causing me to ditch the car), we breezed across the country.  

Future plans are to get to Winnipeg to see Kate, Fernie to see Ryan, Banff to attend Lo and Jer's wedding, Salmon Arm to visit Mark's uncle Tim, Vancouver to visit Kamala, and perhaps beyond if all goes well.  

We are in the final stages of booking our flights to Malaysia....looking like the departure date from Toronto will be NOVEMBER 12th.  This gives 4-5 weeks to travel before looking for our living arrangements for Kuala Lumpur (before the start of the school year).  More news on that front to come in a future post. 

Hope all of you's are well! Keep in touch, 
Meg

PHOTO UPDATE...moving date to now :)

The moving crew :) 

 22 Melrose Ave....a now blank canvas

 Alice and Mike's (Mark's parents) reserved space for our stuff....yes, we have alot!

The 'turtle' packed to capacity from Kingston to Elmvale

 .

Tobermory, pre ferry to Manitoulin Island.

Sitting patiently awaiting the ferry. 

The view from the ferry (with a little pecan pie in the forefront). 

Amazing sunset around Sault Ste Marie, ON.

The menu at our first stop in Newberry, MI.  
Whatcha think of that JJ?

Mark's bed on the left, mine on the right....yeh, right! 

 Munising, Michigan

 The car that could....378,000km's and still kicking.

 Hotel #2....a little dungeon like, but right across the road from THE MALL OF AMERICA! (Minneapolis, Minnesota) 

 Drove 50 miles out of the way to Brainerd to see the Paul Bunyan statue from Fargo....non existent...but we didn't leave picture-less. 

 FARGO....no caption needed. 

 Margie...?

 Our third night's accommodation in ALTONA, Manitoba....courtesy of my sis, Brooker. 

There and Back Again

Hey there gumshoes!

Name's Auger, Mark Auger. As a famous hobbit once said, "It's dangerous business going out your door. You step into the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." 

Well, Meg and I are about to do just that. I won't be redundant to Meg's post, but perhaps I'll add some details that will prove to be indispensable. 

It's been an emotional goodbye over the last little while: saying goodbye to work, to Spanky the puppy, to our friends in Ottawa, to my folks. But as a more masculine man once said, "We don't say goodbye. We say good journey." Yes, that man's name was He-Man. And if anybody knew anything about saying goodbye, it was He-Man. 

Yes, I have just referenced a hobbit (one Bilbo Baggins) and He-Man. Meg says I should quote from Star Wars next. Mayhaps I will, Megan. Mayhaps I will. She is now threatening to separate our blogs if I keep quoting from comic books. 

But I digress. 

First: the road to the west coast. Second: Thailand and beyond. Third: Malaysia (for the long haul). It's going to be quite an adventure! I wish I had one of those maps used in Indiana Jones. You know what I'm talking about, the one where the red line moves from city to city as dramatic John Williams' music thunders in the background. 

Picture it: the map of Ontario, a red line drops down from Ottawa to Kingston, it pauses briefly, then veers westward to Toronto and then northward to Elmvale (near Barrie)! As this happens, a montage flies by composed of: a Uhaul truck driving down the road! then a Toyota Tercel! the trees changing colour from green to orange/red/yellow! the Elmvale Fall Fair having a parade in our honour! Meg, Rob and I putting snow tires on the Tercel in prep for the snowy weather ahead...! Dun-dun-dunt-da! (:(... it's difficult to write out how the Indiana Jones music sounds)

Lastly, a wise Jedi once said "My destiny lies along a different path than yours." Well, this is true of all of you who are reading this. All of us have different destinies... But if you are reading this, you are an important person to either Megan, myself or both. I know that our paths will cross again. 

Good journey.  

BLOGGIN' IT

Hey there all reading this post...
So yes, you have it right, Mark and I have started a BLOG.....now as we have heard from fellow travelers/friends people generally start blogs and usually post for a short while until the settle in their new location.  Well we are going to see how it goes and challenge ourselves to put up photos and write posts so that our friends and family can follow us throughout our journey. 

A quick update of the past week: 
We are now homeless....we moved out of our Ottawa apartment (special thanks to Abi, Ryan, and Dave)....we spent several lovely days with Mark's parents, and after a somewhat tearful goodbye we travelled to Elmvale to see my parents.  We have packed all of our possessions away, now have 2 bags to our names each and we are in nomad mode.....

After an evening spent in the garage prepping the 'turtle' (our 1997 Toyota Tercel 375,000km's) for quite a long journey ahead, we are now relaxing prior to a 7am departure in the morning.  With tomorrow's journey we will leave from Elmvale and head to Tobermory (along the Bruce Trail) to catch a ferry to Manitoulin Island.  From there we will make our way to Sault Ste Marie, then onto Michigan from there.  Our intention is to spend a few nights in the states before heading North to sunny Altona, Manitoba where my dear sister lives.  From there we plan on making stops in Winnipeg, perhaps Moosejaw, with the ultimate destination being BANFF for Lo and Jer's wedding at Storm Mountain Lodge.  After some time spent in Banff we'll head to Salmon Arm, Fernie, Vancouver, and if all goes well Vancouver Island.  

We'll be visiting some great friends along the way and are ready for alot of driving, but also the opportunity to see the beautiful fall colours, visit some new cities/states, and to enjoy each others company as we start the adventure before the adventure (Malaysia).  

So the cross country adventure starts in T - 9 hours....until my/our next post :) Be well all! 
Meg