Roll on Saskatchewan

We had a goal to make it to Regina today and we did! The drive was long and straight and filled with lots of green hills and yellow canola fields. We had an 8 hour day! There were lots of trains winding along the hills as well. The roads were fairly empty. Lots of people warned us about the absolute boredom we would encounter while driving this route. While it wasn't as scenic as the mountains, it was an easier drive and somehow, seemed more Canadian. Untouched. Large abandoned barns. Bison in the fields. Men wearing cowboy hats while on a horse in a field...not walking down the street wearing an Ed Hardy shirt from Stampede! It was an authentic, Canadian experience. We enjoyed it. Which is good as there is the other half tomorrow! Enjoy the slideshow of photos of the world's largest teepee. The kids loved looking at the art and hunting for prairie dogs...who were kind of toying with the kids...popping up from random holes in the ground and then scurrying away! The song is Roll on Saskatchewan by Stompin Tom ! Calgary to Regina on PhotoPeach

Calgary

Well we left the Rockies behind us as we made our way to Calgary to meet up with Gillian, Steve, Liam, Lola and Riley the dog! We hadn't seen each other since our boys were 2 - they're now 11! Our families got along instantly. Gillian and Steve are both so easy going and fun. She had bought the kids lots of Canadian treat foods...and fruit...yummo cherries! We just hung out and chatted and laughed and made new memories. We had a tiki tour of Calgary but the thing I will remember most is what an incredible mother Gillian is. You don't think, while you're in high school, that your goofy, forever joking friend, would end up being this amazing mum and teacher and most of all, a long distance, very missed friend. Liam and Theo hit it off and Lola loved hanging out with Filo and climbing onto my knee for cuddles. She is very easy to cuddle with! Steve has a lot of facts about Canada and gave us heaps of things to look at and stop at along our way. He has passed on his sense of adventure to his son Liam and they love biking down mountains together! We had an amazing time and we could have stayed. We fit in and it felt right! We of course topped the trip off with the traditional ugly cry outside while our kids just stared at us! One day they'll know and they'll ugly cry too! Til we meet again! Love The Fales The song is Good Mother by Jann Arden. A Calgary girl and a favourite of both mine and Gills. Calgary with The Exleys on PhotoPeach

Day 2 - Banff

Heading to Banff. The kids are excited to see where Uncle Kieran lived all those years ago. I am excited to see what I can remember of the Banff I saw years ago. Enjoy the photos. xx Banff Alberta on PhotoPeach

The Fales Road Trip

Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First leg - Comox - Nanaimo. Ferry to Vancouver. Vancouver - Kamloops! The Fales Road Trip on PhotoPeach

Banff Canada Day

Well we are Day three into our Fale Road Trip. Banff has been beautiful. Mountains, mountains and did I mention mountains. We did see wildlife. As we driving into Banff we saw a sign saying, "Bears on the highway. NO STOPPING." We all got excited. We wondered if we would see one. Well we did. Right where people were STOPPED! Some of the people who had stopped were cyclists. Now...they must have been great cyclists because they would need to out-cycle a bear. The bear was a blondy colour which I have now learned means it was a young grizzly. WOW! We went on a tiki tour the next day and saw a mummy coyote playing with her pups. At first it looked like someone had let their dogs run onto the golf course but when we asked the people who had stopped to take photos, they told us they were coyotes. AGAIN with the STOPPING. We celebrated Canada Day in Canada. The first one in 9 years. Awesome. And it was in Banff. A huge National Park surrounded by mountains and filled with wildlife that casually wander the streets. We sat an elk on the main street. So cool. The kids played games and ate festival food like candy floss, candy and beaver tails. A beaver tail is a deep fried, flat doughnut covered in cinnamon sugar or whatever you wanted. Cohen had an Oreo one and Madeline had the original - cinnamon and sugar. Theo opted for a smoothie under the guarantee he will get one on a future date! LOL! Well. Here is our slide show for Canada Day. The song is Blow at High Dough - a favourite of mine by The Tragically Hip - an epic Canadian band. Enjoy, eh! Canada Day 2014 - Banff, AB Canada on PhotoPeach

Cohen's Recount

IMG 6188 from The Fales on Vimeo.

After a day at the beach, it's always a good idea to sit down and write about it! Well, if you're mum is a teacher, that's what happens!

Here is Cohen's recount of his day at Comox Lake.

Getting Ready for the Big Cross Country Trip

Well The Fales are almost ready to be on the move. In 26 days we will pack up the van and head off across Canada...ending up in Toronto with my brother. There will stops along the way to see friends and family and just things like - the biggest Canada Goose...and maybe the big Nickel. I will let you look both of those up.

We will be posting along the way. The kids will be posting some of the highlights and lowlights of the trip. We recently went on an hours road trip and Cohen asked, "are we there yet? " 7 times. Wow. We better get some good movies for the DVD player or some good earplugs! LOL!

Here is a map of our journey starting in Comox, BC and ending in Toronto Ontario.

We look forward to your following our journey. We cannot wait to explore Canada and learn more about the country I(Andrea) called home for 26 years.


I have made a map of our journey. There were a few hitches with Manitoulin and Forest...meaning the mapping programme did not recognise those places. Sorry Ruth Ann! LOL! Here is our itinerary as it stands now. We have factored in a couple of days for going slower than intended and we are going to do our best to arrive safe and on time!
June 28 - Comox to Kamloops BC - overnight in Kamloops
June29 - Kamloops to Banff - 3 days in Banff(for Canada Day)
July 2nd - Banff to Calgary to The Exley's - 2 days
July 4th - Calgary to Regina - overnight in Regina
July 5th - Regina to Winnipeg - Overnight in Winnipeg
July 6th - Winnipeg to ThunderBay - Overnight in ThunderBay
July 7th - ThunderBay to Wawa - Overnight in Wawa
July 8th - Wawa to Manitoulin - Overnight in Manitoulin
July 9th - Manitoulin to Goderich - Overnight in Goderich
July 10th - Goderich to Sarnia to The Mc Canns until July 18th
July 18th - Sarnia to Forest to The Jensens until July 20th
July 20th - Forest to Burlington to Uncle Paul and Aunt Colette until 27th(ish)
July 27th(ish) - Toronto to Christopher and Aunt Helen and Lorna until August 9th(ish)

 That's all that is planned so far. We will probably head from Toronto to Ottawa and then Sudbury and head back to BC that way with a stop in Edmonton to see Brian Mc Grath and his family. We will also stop and see The Beggs family in Langley BC and The Bouley's in Victoria BC. We haven't mapped that journey yet but when we do we will send it along! The map isn't perfect but neither are we!


Thanks to everyone who is opening their doors to us and helping us out along the way. The kids are excited although I am sure they have no idea just how ling it is going to take to get there! My mobile number is 250-882-7024 and we will be on internet when we find wifi! We will update as often as we can and will be doing this on our blog: http://thefales.blogspot.ca/ 

Please send through your mobile numbers and addresses etc so we know when and where to stop! haha! Also we can send a text every so often so you know where we are! We cannot wait to see you all. Prayers and good luck for a safe journey! xoxoxox Love The Fales A MapQuest map has been sent to you by thefales5@gmail.com. To view your map, click on the link below or copy and paste it to your browser: http://mapq.st/1n2vBMD MapQuest - Helping People Find Places http://www.mapquest.com