March 29 & 30, 2006 - St. John, New Brunswick

We were back out on the road by 10, really 11 because we were going to lose an hour at the border. Not before we swung into town for a one last Starbucks. We arrived in Calais about 1 or so, decided to eat in case we were stopped at the border...sometimes you hear horror stories of people being held up in Customs for hours so wanted to arrive there with a full tummy.

The border was a breeze...asked us a few questions and didn't even ask for our IDs..couldn't believe it...

We arrived at Sue and Wendy's in St. John at 6 or so and had a lovely visit with them. They had just moved to St. John from Bangor so they were still getting settled...

We had a nice supper and slept in a bit this morning...had some pancakes for breakfast and Darlene helped Wendy setup her wireless router.

We were on the road for NS and arrived on NS soil about 4:00pm today, this Adventure is officially over!!!!!!

Stay tuned for the next Adventure...coming soon to the web site http://twogirlsfromns.blogspot.com The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls From Nova Scotia II

March 28, 2006 - Freeport, Maine

Had another successful day on the road. We drove as far as Freeport, Maine and decided to call it a day. Had a nice supper at Gritty's Pub and went to LL Bean and stopped by Starbucks for a Latte.

Took everything out of the car and sorted through the 1,000 receipts to prepare for the border crossing tomorrow.

March 27, 2006 - Danbury, Conneticut

Not much to report today. We started out about noon and drove for a couple of hours, stopped for a bite to eat at a Perkins Family restaurant. It is a typical family type restaurant, similiar to a Bob Evans or Cracker Barrell or an Irving Big Stop at home.

We stopped about an hour outside Hartford. The traffic was starting to build up so we stopped about 5:30pm.

Had a quiet evening of playing on our computers and watching TV...quite a change from the last few days but we were due for a much needed rest.

We are heading to New Hampshire today and the biggest thing we want to do today is find a place to get our hair cut, we are both in need of a hair cut.

One more night in the USA and then we will be home in Canada...Yeah!!!!!!

March 26, 2006 - New York City!!!

We were up and on the go early. We all headed for the bus about 8:30am and arrived in NYC just before noon. Our first thoughts, where do we start??? We headed for Times Square, it was unbelievable! This is something you have to see to believe. Huge billboards everywhere you look and tons and tons of people...I never seen the likes. We slowly walked around for awhile looking high in the air at the massive billboards and buildings then decided to head down to Rockerfeller Centre and St. Patricks Cathederal..
We had lunch at The Jekyll and Hyde Club That was an interesting experience. Then we walked to Central Park and took a horse and carriage through the park which was nice. We then decided to be very brave and head for the subway.

Took us awhile to figure things out but between Darlene and Michelle they got us going in the right direction. We wanted to go down and see Ground Zero. After a walk around down by the Ground Zero site we all decided we were starting to become quite weary and it was time to go back to Times Square. We stopped into a pastry shop to have some cheese cake and then it was back to the bus station.What a day...although we took pictures, they really don't capture the true picture of what we saw with our own eyes...the whole atmosphere of the city is sure something you have to actually experience in person, movies and pictures just can't capture it.

March 24-25, 2006 - Allentown, Pennsylvania

Once we had a look at the map we initially thought we would go to Conneticut and stay there for the night and drive into New York City tomorrow morning. Then I saw that Allentown, Pennsylvania was just west of New York City and I have a couple of friends who live there...so we decided to contact them and stay near them. I called Arlene when we arrived in the afternoon and she invited us to stay with her and Michelle.

We went out for a little tour in the car and had supper at a wonderful Italian restaurant, then we went out to a bar, Diamondz and played some pool. We had a great night and so enjoyed spending time with Arlene and Michelle.

On Saturday, Michelle had to work so Darlene and I just chilled with Arlene at the house. They were having some problems with their computer so Darlene spent part of the day fixing that for them. Arlene and I went out and ran a few errands and picked up some lunch. I also took the opportunity to do a couple of much needed loads of laundry.

We then went out to a Middle Eastern restaurant, Aladdin...it was awesome...the food was soooooo good and we were entertained by a belly dancer while we ate. Her performance was so well done complete with the music and the little clickers in her hand.

We then went out by the airport to The Downs. What a place that was. It was a horseracing type place that had tons of TV's with horseraces from all over North America. Well, what a night we had...Madame Luck sure was running for us. The only racetrack I recognized was Woodbine from Toronto so Darlene and I decided to bet all the races from that track for the night instead of jumping around from place to place. We arrived during the 4th race and I bought an exactor ticket on the first race and won $80 right off the bat...imagine...Anyway, it gets better....a couple of races later Darlene and I end up buying the same ticket without realizing it...a triactor ticket 7-3-2 which was the number of our hotel room at the World Golf Village, that is why we choose that sequence...IT WON!!!!!!!!! We each won $388.80...we couldn't believe it....

Arlene and Michelle cashed some tickets as well and we ended the night with Darlene cashing a $10 show ticket and Arlene cashing a $12 win ticket....so we all had a great night...a wonderful meal, entertainment and a night out with two very lovely people...We are so glad things worked out that Arlene and Michelle were home and didn't have any plans this weekend...

The four of us are taking the bus into New York city for the day tomorrow. We are so lucky to have Arlene and Michelle to come with us tomorrow...They also mentioned there is a Musikfest (music festival) here in Allentown this August so we are planning to come back for a week then to go to the festival with them and plan a day or two in Atlantic City as well...

March 23, 2006 - Laurel, Maryland

What a day! We left early this morning and arrived in Washington DC about noon or so. What a place! We were so lucky to find a parking place near the White House. Here is a picture of the White House. We then made our way over by the Washington Monument and walked down past the War Memorials and ended up on the steps in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
What a view from there as you can see. Here is the Washington Monument, it is a massive structure and see the reflection of it in the reflection pool in the foreground, pretty neat hey?
We then made our way over to the Korena War Memorial...I wanted to take some photos of that because my Dad is a Korean War Vet and thought he would be interested in seeing it...Darlene took some wonderful pictures today. It was ideal conditions for pictures with the sun shining and not too cool. The joggers were in shorts. It was definately worth the trip in off the highway. We are settled in a hotel in Laurel, Maryland, about half way between Washington DC and Baltimore. We are heading for the Big Apple tomorrow....NYC here we come!!!!!

March 22, 2006 - Halifax, North Carolina

No golf today, too cold...there is a cold snap going throug South Carolina and the weather didn't look good right through to the weekend so we headed back out on the road. Went north a few hours and are settled in at the North Carolina and Virginia border.

We are going to Washinton DC in the morning and hope to check out the Washington monument and the Arlington Cemetary...should be interesting...will be sure to take some pictures and post to the web site.

We intended to go all the way to Richmond, Virginia tonight, but this exit had a Starbucks and we decided to stop. What a treat those Lattes are. We found a hotel and are settled in for the night...lots of restaurants and shopping at this exit...so a good choice.

We picked up some cables for the video camcorder. Seems you need a firewire and download the video through that port instead of the USB. This allows the video to be transferred in digital format, with the USB, the digital format is converted to analog which means less quality...learn something new every day.

March 19 - 21, 2006 - Kingsland, Georgia

We spent a couple of days in Kingsland, Georgia. A very nice area...we had a walk along the waterfront in a nearby town, St. Mary's yesterday morning. Then went to the show last night, V for Vendetta, was a good movie, a little different, but worth seeing.

We decided to get back out on the road this morning, and drove up to Florence, South Carolina. Were were out to Ruby Tuesdays for supper and met up with Dan and he told us about some good golf courses in the area...we are going to check one out tomorrow and may spend a couple of days around here, hopefully the weather will hold.

March 18, 2006 - Jacksonville, Florida

Well, we drove a little over an hour and decided to stop in Jacksonville. We are downtown Jacksonville right now at The Jacksonville Landing...down on the waterfront overlooking the St. John River and listening to a live band performing on the stage here. We had some lunch and are just going to wonder around downtown for the afternoon. It is the end of March Madness, so the Basketball fans were milling around, all wearing their team colours....lots of Florida Gators fans and LSU fans...
We left Jacksonville late in the afternoon and stopped about 3 miles from the Florida border, Kingsland, Georgia..we are booked in here till Wednesday.

March 17, 2006 - Kennedy Space Center, Florida

We had a fairly early start this morning, Darla, Darlene and I went to Kennedy Space Center. It is an interesting place to visit. We saw the movie Magnificent Desolation at the Imax theatre and then went to the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

We returned to Daytona Beach to say our goodbyes to everyone and started heading north. Drove about a half hour or so and decided to check in for the night. We were both pretty tired from our busy day.

March 16, 2006 - Daytona Beach, Florida

Another day with the family! We met Geraldine, Darla and Kalen and went to the beach, they were booked to go parasailing. We stayed on the beach and did the video taping.

Check out the Parasailing!

View Video

You will require Quick Time to view the video and also be sure to turn your sound off, not sure what happened why this pecular sound was included in the video...still in the learning process with all this video stuff... :-)
Then it was off to pick some grapefruits. Here is Geraldine in the tree picking the grapefruits! Darlene and Darla are up there too!!!!Pretty brave souls to be way up in that tree, I was happy with both feet firmly planted on the ground :-)))...

March 15, 2006 - Daytona Beach, Florida

We took a drive down to Daytona Beach today and spent the day with my Aunt and Uncle, Gordon and Geraldine and my cousin Darla and her daughter, Kalen...We had a wonderful time with them, Geraldine made us lunch, then Geraldine, Darla and Kalen went for a walk on Daytona Beach for about 2 and half hours.
We are checking out of the Golf Village tomorrow so are heading down to spend a couple of days with Gordon and Geraldine before they leave on Saturday. Geraldine, Darla and Kalen are going parasailing tomorrow so we are hoping to get out in the boat with them and take some video...should be fun.

Ok, can't write much tonight, have to get back to the room and do some packing...

March 12 - 14, 2006 - World Golf Village, Florida

We have been so busy enjoying ourselves at the Golf Village we have had no time for computers. This is a good thing. The weather has been lovely and always something to do. We played golf twice while we were here and hope to play 9 holes in Daytona Beach today if we can find the course where Geraldine and her sister play and perhaps hook up with them later today.

It is much cooler here today, first day it was below 80 since we arrived.

There is a huge golf store here in the Village, two floors of golf equipment, apparel, etc...and prices very reasonable...in fact some deals...$199 for a Callaway Big Bertha driver which is likely about $500 at Golf Central...
We have been spending most of our time on our deck, the view from our deck is so beautiful. We are overlooking the 18 hole putting course and the challenge hole. I tried the Challenge Hole on Tuesday, could not resist...no hole- in-one but did manage to hit the green. I remember hearing about Marlene Streit being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame and her being the only Canadian, but had no idea where this place was...sure do now...and wow, what a place it is!!!!!

March 11, 2006 - World Golf Village, Florida

We called St. Johns Golf Club and made a tee time for 1:23pm, it was nearly 11 so we decided to go to the golf course and have breakfast, hit balls, etc…It was a beautiful day for golf. They called us to the tee a little early and we were paired with Al and Don.

Al was 87 years old and as sharp as a tack and Don was his retired son in law. They were very gracious and a joy to golf with. Nice to be back on the course again…another 9 holes of golf sure felt good.

We arrived back at the hotel and had supper at Caddyshack and spent the evening on our deck overlooking the village. What a view!

It is time to do a wash, starting to run out of clothes! So, we are spending the day at the hotel, resting, swimming, etc…a quiet Sunday. We have a tee time for 3:45 on Monday, looking forward to another 9 holes of golf.

We took the video camera with us yesterday and I recorded Darlene’s golf swing while she was hitting balls on the driving range. We hooked the camera up to the TV this morning and were able to view it in slow motion…she now has a thing or two to work on with her swing.

We talked a bit about our plans last night and have decided not to go west from here, we are scheduled to leave here on Thursday, March 16th and have decided to go back up the I95 and stop in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a few days and play some golf there, we have the golf bug now!

March 10, 2006 - World Golf Village, Florida

What a sleep! Even the sleeping is better at the Golf Village :-). We went to IHOP for brunch and then I went for a swim. We then played the 18 hole putting course which was quite interesting. The greens are of natural grass and very few straight level putts...every green has either an uphill or downhill grade and a break of some sort...some with pretty large breaks...have to have your wits about you, very easy to double bogey if you are not careful. Each hole is a par 2 and let me tell you, this course is a great test for anyone's putting.
Came back to the room and I had my usual afternoon rest and Darlene went for a walk around the Walk of Champions, then we had supper at the hotel...they had a seafood buffet on tonight which was absolutely lovely...the variety was unbelievable...tons of every seafood you can imagine, and other food as well, pork, prime rib, etc...and the desserts...well...lot's of chocolate things and cakes, etc...
Here are some pictures Darlene took today of the view from our suite...it is spectacular and wanted to share to give everyone an idea just how beautiful this place is....Pretty nice hey? We are feeling pretty fortunate this week.

March 9, 2006 - St. Augustine, Florida

We had to check out by 11:00am. It was off to Starbucks for our morning coffee. We met a couple of guys from Niagara Falls at Starbucks. There were down to Florida for Biker week. This Biker Week is really something else, motorcycles everywhere…people of all shapes and sizes and bikes of every kind. The Harley’s are the loudest and their owners are sure to let you know they are around, reving their engines, what a racket!
We visited the Fountain of Youth for a couple of hours. This is a park that is dedicated to Colonial history, the landing of Christopher Columbus and the oldest archeological discovery in North America. It was quite interesting.

We went to the Cracker Barrell for a late lunch, early supper, then it was off to the World Golf Village. We were met at the door by Eugene who helped us in with our luggage and gave us a verbal tour of our surroundings.
We have a suite overlooking the entire village. I will post a video of our view tomorrow to show everyone how beautiful it is here….all the golfers will appreciate this place as much as we do…Some highlights around here is, the World Golf Hall of Fame, an Imax Theatre, an 18 hole (real grass) putting course, the challenge hole which is a replica of the 17th hole at Sawgrass, the famous par 3 with the island green, by the way, the TPC is being played at Sawgrass in a couple of weeks. Next door is the Caddyshack, it is a restaurant owned by actor Bill Murray and his 5 brothers…tons of memorabilia on the walls form the Caddyshack movies and golf in general.

The golf courses here are pretty impressive as well, two close to the village are the Slammer and Squire (designed by Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen) and the King and Bear (the only course in the world designed by both Nicklaus and Palmer)

The high speed internet is a bit of a challenge here, with it being a resort it is not free, so we opted for the wireless, which is only available in the Links Lounge on the main level. I find with resorts they tend to nickel and dime you…like the $4 bottle of water in our room…best to make a trip to the grocery store and stock up on bottles of water for our fridge…

When we were checking in, Eugene gave us each a drink of Arnold Palmer’s favorite drink, it is a combination of lemonade and iced tea….they have a cooler setup in the lobby with cups and they offer this between 3 and 6 every day…likely for the golfers finishing their rounds for the day can stop on their way to their rooms and pick up a drink to refresh themselves…it was ice cold too…would be a nice treat after a long hot day of golf…they think of everything here…

March 8, 2006 - St. Augustine, Florida

We visited the World Golf Village today and what a place. It is amazing...certainly a golfers paradise. We liked it so much, we have checked in at the .Renaissance Hotel Resort at the WGV for a week...we check in tomorrow by 4 and have a tee time at the Slammer and Squire for 1:15 on Friday.
The World Golf Hall of Fame was a real pleasure...here is a painting of Marlene Streit taken the year she was inducted...she is the only Canadian inducted to this Hall of Fame and is among 109 inductees...quite an honour.

March 6 & 7, 2006 - St. Augustine, Florida

We can't go to The Villages, seems you have to be 55 or older...so will have to wait a few years for that one. We arrived in St. Augustine, Florida today and are here till Thursday. We toured an allegator farm this afternoon. Was a beautiful place, took about an hour and a half to see the entire park. Tons of wildlife to observe. It was a nice day, sunny but windy.Had supper at the Cracker Barrell and are settled in the hotel for the night. So nice to have the internet back. We are actually staying on Anastasia Island, at the Anastasia Inn, very beautiful here. Tons of bikers in town, seems it is Biker Week and 150,000 bikers are going to Daytona Beach this week...so we have decided to head for the other coast. Although we enjoy the roar of a Harley as much as the next person, it does get a little tiring, one after another going down the street.We plan to see a couple of Forts, the Ripley Believe It or Not museum and visit the World Golf Hall of Fame...can't wait to see that...Marlene Streit was inducted a few years ago...I will be sure to take some pictures if I am allowd.

Who won the Tournament of Hearts???????

March 4 & 5, 2006 - Savannah, Georgia

Happy Birthday Rick! March 4th already, I can't believe how fast the winter is passing. We had a quiet day at the hotel yesterday. We met a nice couple from Niagara on the Lake at Breakfast, Kathi and Gary Rees. We talked to them for about an hour down in the breakfast lounge. They were on their way home from Florida.

Jamal and Lauren called in the afternoon and we arranged for them to meet us for supper. We went to Ruby Tuesdays. We had a nice evening of chatting and getting to know more about life in Georgia.

We are having so much trouble with our internet connection we decided to go for a drive this morning and find a Starbucks and have a coffee and hope to find a wireless connection somewhere, no luck. We then stopped at the Savannah Mall and had lunch at the food court, still no luck on an internet connection.

Gary had given Darlene a brochure about a gated golf community in Florida called The Villages. Him and Kathi were investigating it while they were in Florida. It is a community with access to 5 golf courses. We are going to call tonight and see about arranging a 6 day stay there to check it out and play some golf. If we are able to get a reservation there, then we are heading down to Florida as early as tomorrow. If not, we may go with the plan of going to Talahassee and then along the gulf coast of Frorida and onto Alabama and Louisianna and come home from there.

I have included a few photos from our downtown tour earlier in the week. Savannah sure is a beautiful city.

March 3, 2006 - Savannah, Georgia

Another great day in the South. We moved today. Here is a picture of Darlene with some of the staff at the hotel we are leaving...they were a nice bunch of kids, was nice to chat with them each morning when they came around to the rooms.

We checked in at the new place then played 9 holes at the Henderson Golf Club, they are starting to know us there now. We have a game with Kenny on Monday, a member of the club. We met him on the driving range the second time we were there and the Starter knows us now too, they are all so nice.

We went to the Olive Garden for a late lunch and it was the best meal we had since we left home and also the best service. The people down here are so polite and friendly...no wonder we have stayed so long, hard to leave all these wonderful people.

We are all settled in our new place. Our internet connection is a little unstable so have to cut our update a little short tonight, want to post this before I lose the connection to the internet again...may not be on MSN the next few days, just to let everyone know...

March 2, 2006 - Savannah, Georgia

Our day started fairly early again and we started looking through some of the tourist brochures to see what might be interesting to do today. There were so many choices. We decided to go downstairs and have some breakfast and then decide what to do with our day. We then determined that we had to find a good cup of coffee, not an easy chore in the south. I did see a Starbucks on Bull St. downtown but that is at least 30 minutes away, we didn't need one that bad.

We took a drive down to the Piggly Wiggly, the local grocery store. Picked up some healthy snacks and laundry detergent. Figured we would have a quiet day at the hotel doing laundry and playing on the computers...always something to do on the commputers :-).

Anyway, no luck with getting a laundry done, we soon discovered the laundry room was out of order, seems it has been out of order for the last month. There was police caution tape on the door and a sign that said, "Do not Remove, Crime Scene". Yikes!!!!!We took a drive over to the hotel up the road and decided it was time to move...actually it was quite funny, Darlene went to the front desk of the new place and asked if they had a laundry facility that was operating and they said yes, and she said great, we would like to check in tomorrow...so we are heading up the street and planning to stay there till Tuesday.

We had a very relaxing day, we were due for a day off, have been on the go pretty steady since we arrived here.

We ordered supper in tonight and went for a walk after supper. We have a tee time at the golf course tomorrow at 11:15am so will have to be on the go early tomorrow to get packed and moved to the new place before going golfing.

I see Coleen is still in first place at the Scott, she is something else...

I talk to my Mom every day and Darlene talks to her parents every day as well...we are so lucky to have MSN to keep in touch, makes it so easy. My Mom was telling me the weather has been pretty cool, although we are missing home and everyone there now, we sure don't miss the cold weather. My Mom is taking fiddle lessons, she started in September, imagine, 71 years old and just learning the fiddle. She is enjoying it and has my Dad interested as well...they both have their own fiddles now...and she is teaching him. The latest song she is learning is Out on the Mira, which happens to be my favorite...Here is a little clip of her and Dad back in the fall (they were just rookies here, you should hear them now!)...can you guess what they are playing? View Fiddlers Here

March 1, 2006 - Savannah, Georgia

We had another early start this morning. We started with the buffet at Shoney's then came back to the hotel and relaxed for an hour or so then made our way to Henderson Golf Club. We played another 9 holes today, were lucky enough to have the Starter put us off the back nine. It is only a par 35 with one par 5 but a more difficult layout than the front nine. We took some video today and Darlene is working on that right now...so hopefully I will have it to include on here soon. The temperature was perfect for golfing, we had a high of about 73 today. Was so nice to wear a tee shirt and shorts only. We played 9 holes then picked up a bag of range balls and worked on chipping after the round. We then went back to the hotel and had a much needed rest. View Our Golf Video

We walked over to Ruby Tuesdays for supper and are back in the hotel for the night. We are trying to figure out a long range plan for the rest of the trip right now...when to leave and where to go from here, etc....I brought out the Powerbook again tonight and signed up at .mac, pretty neat site. This Apple platform is something else compared to the PC platform. Apple sure has a lot of glitz and glamour, the thing now is just get through it and figure out what I can use to help with my everyday work, etc. It appears Apple stresses music, pictures and videos...so we may start using some of these programs to help with editing all these videos we are taking. Just so much to learn.

Ok I am finishing the posting for the night...once Darlene has our golf video finished I will add that here either later tonight or tomorrow.

Had an email from my friend Joan Fanning today and she mentioned the Scott Tournament of Hearts is on right now and Coleen is doing well...I must check out the Herald's web site and keep an eye on how things go with that this week. Go Coleen Go!!!!

February 28, 2006 - Savannah, Georgia

We started our day very early. Stopped at Denny's for a big breakfast on our way to get the car in for an oil change and check all the fluids, etc... this morning. We stopped on the way back to the hotel and Darlene had a pedicure and manicure. Then it was off to the golf course..it just so happens there is a golf course less than a mile from us and what a great facility they have...we have a driving range, a practice area and a beautiful 18 hole championship golf course practically outside our door...what a dream....
A nice gentleman met us in the parking lot and took complete care of us. We were set up with a bag of range balls and hit those, then made our way to the first tee. We played 9 holes and it was wonderful. We enjoyed ourselves so much, we are going back tomorrow to practice our chipping and putting in the morning and playing the back 9 in the afternoon. We stopped for supper on the way home and we are both pretty beat up...so tired...but such a good tired...time for a shower and some much needed sleep. Good Night Everyone! P.S. Darlene borrowed one of my golf shirts to go golfing, so if she looks bigger than usual, it is not her, it is the shirt...she didn't want me to put the picture on the blog...but I thought I better show the both of us golfing today :-)

February 27, 2006 - Savannah, Georgia

Our day started early, we had breakfast and then booked a shuttle into Savannah. We had quite a laugh at the front desk waiting for the shuttle. One of the guests arrived and asked to buy a pillow like the one she had in her room. The poor woman at the front desk was so busy, trying to book our shuttle, answering the phone and checking out another guest...so she is trying to contact someone from housekeeping to sell this woman a pillow and the front desk clerk finally says to the woman, perhaps since you liked the one you had in your room so much, just take that one...imagine how many people slept on that pillow...the poor front desk clerk was at wits end and was just willing to give the pillow to the guest...anyway, she did get another employee to help her and looked like they were going to find the guest a "new" pillow. The guest did say, "well, I would rather have a new pillow"...I guess it was one of those situations where you had to be there.
Miss Latoya picked us up at about 9:30 and dropped us down by the waterfront in Savannah. She told us to talk withMiss Susie to purchase bus tickets to tour the city later. We had a nice stroll down River Street, then made our way up a couple of blocks away from the waterfront and wandered around till we started to get hungry, then we made our way back to River Street and went to Spanky's (Miss Susie's recommendation) for lunch.
Mr. David picked us up for our tour of the city. We had about a 90 minute tour of the historic district of Savannah, it was a unbelievable, the history and architecture is majestic. So many buildings and so much history, we are returning tomorrow to see some of sites we are most interested in. There are many little squares scattered throughout this district, here is one of them, Johnson Square.
Seems as though River Street is the most popular street to find tourists, it runs right along the river front, lots of watercraft milling about and people wandering around, it was quite peaceful.
We arrived back to the hotel about 3:30pm, cleaned out the car and then went for a swim. We are just heading out the door now for some supper.

February 26, 2006 - Savannah, Georgia

We are here! Finally made it to Savannah. We are booked in till next Saturday. It is so nice to be off the road and settled in for the next 7 days or so. We had an opportunity to stay in a furnished apartment right in the Historic district of Savannah at a very reasonable price but we had to commit to stay for two weeks and also there was no internet connection. So we have decided to stay at a hotel just outside Savannah. There is a free shuttle service to the downtown area from here and they have high speed wireless internet and an indoor heated pool, so everything we want.

We arrived shortly after lunch, got settled in and had some lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and went for a swim in the pool this afternoon and had supper at Hooters tonight. There are about a dozen restaurants within walking distance of our hotel.

Tomorrow we plan to find a place to get the oil changed in the car and get all the fluids checked, etc...and we are starting to plan our week. Look for some fun and interesting photos as the week unfolds.

I did some updates to the Bosom Buddies web site tonight, a web site that I maintain for a Breast Cancer Survivors Dragon Boat team in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

February 25, 2006 - Manning, South Carolina

We have decided to stay here in Manning another night. It is pouring down rain here today so a good day to stay put and watch movies. We had a nice chat with the folks from Conneticut, Richard and Joan this morning before they headed back out on the road. Darlene has some movies downloaded to a portable hard drive we picked up before we left home and we are able to watch them on her laptop. We have to buy a memory stick for the carmcorder and we will pick up a cord for the computer that will allow us to watch the movies on the TV from now on. We were out and had lunch at Zaxby's, a chicken type restaurant but much better tasting than KFC, I had the best chicken salad sandwich I have eaten in a long time. We then took a little drive around and happened on the local golf course, Clarendon Golf and Country Club. We took a couple of pictures by one of the greens. I am starting to get the golf bug again so plan to get out and play a little golf in Savannah.
Also, we plan to go to The Lady and Sons restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, featuring Food Network chef Paula Deen's famous Southern home cooking. Savannah has a historic properties area, so we will likely arrange a trolley tour around there one day as well. Another funny comment this morning I wanted to share: Darlene asked the woman at the front desk if there were any tourist attractions around here, her response was, "Walmart" :-)...you have to love these southerners, they are so polite and friendly...

February 24, 2006 - Manning, South Carolina

Here we are at the Tourist Information Centre just outside Manning, South Carolina. We stopped for a break and picked up some hotel coupon books. The weather is lovely, with a temperature in the low 70's, a perfect temperature. So, we have decided to just go as far south as Savannah, Georgia tomorrow and stay there for 4 or 5 days, tour a cotton plantation and do some sightseeing. Then we plan to head west to Louisianna and spend a week or so in New Orleans.
We met a nice couple from Conneticut when we were registering at the hotel here. They are going down to Florida to visit their son. We are just chilling in our room right now, watching the Men's Curling gold medal game. Go Canada Go! Right now we are not planning to go to Florida, it is warm enough here to do what we want too, a little golfing, swimming and sightseeing. It is warm enough for short sleeves and shorts and we are happy with that, considering it was -30 with the windchill when we were in St. John last Saturday, brrrrrr.

February 23, 2006 - Wilson, North Carolina

We were a little late getting away and we had to stop in Richmond, Virginia to return the Powerbook I bought in New Hampshire. The unit I bought was defected and we found an Apple store that was only 1 mile off the highway so thought we would stop in and get it exchanged...no problem at all, have another one, hopefully one that works ok. Will have to check it before we leave the States, just in case. We stopped at the Virginia and North Carolina border for supper, Darlene had Liver and Onions and I had Porkchops, complete with potatos and green beans...a meal just like we would get a home...was a nice change from the ribs and chicken and shrimp we have been eating the last few days. We stopped in Wilson, North Carolina and are staying at Jameson Inn We have a room that we could drive the car right up to the door so makes it easier to cart the stuff in and out. We are planning a quiet evening of computers and TV. This is the first hotel room I have ever stayed in with a lazyboy chair, what a treat with the laptop. Oh, a funny little story before I sign off...we went to check into the hotel in Harrisonburg a couple of days ago and they always ask for a drivers license and credit card imprint, well the little one behind the desk took Darlene's driver's license and hesitated for a few minutes, then finally said, "Sorry Ma'am, what State is this driver's license from"? :-)))))...we had quite a chuckle later.

February 22, 2006 - Harrisonburg, Virginia

We are still in Harrisonburg, Virginia. We had a very relaxing day, spent the entire day at the Hotel, playing on our computers and resting. We went out for supper tonight to Applebees then stopped by Circuit City and Staples and picked up a camcorder and a computer game. We are excited about the camcorder, looking forward to taking some video in Florida and will post on here as we develop it. I am using my new Powerbook I picked up in New Hampshire to post to the blog tonight, pretty exciting. I just took a picture of Darlene playing her new game, Age of Empires III. She stopped long enough to pose for me :). We are hoping to get on the road fairly early and are heading for the South Carolina/Georgia border.

February 21, 2006 - Harrisonburg, Virginia

What a great day we had. We made terrific time on the road and drove approximately 8 hours straight, with a couple of stops for gas and food. We arrived in Harrisonburg about 6:00pm and found a room at the Courtyard Marriott. We went out and had some supper at Ruby Tuesdays and arrived back to the room shortly after 10. We were both very tired and went to bed early. We have decided to stay here an extra day. It is a nice city and tomorrow we will do a little sightseeing. Everyone here is very friendly and polite, feels like home :-).

February 20, 2006 - Wells, Maine

Sue was over for a visit with us at the hotel. We had an early night were up by 7, Darlene made coffee and I ran over to Dunken Donuts for more coffee and begals and muffins. We were on the road by 9:30am or so. We headed for the New Hampshire border and figured the stores would be closed because of the holiday, it was President's Day here today. We drove toward Mass. and decided to try an exit to Salem, NH and see if there was any stores open, possibly a mall. We were in luck, we found a mall and did some shopping, took advantage of the tax free prices. We then got a foolish idea to head for Albany, NY at around 3 and possibly keep going and drive till 10 or so and stay two nights where we stopped. But this plan did not work out too well :). We were getting tired and I was having trouble with the map, had trouble finding the right connections to each of the highways we had to get too and we ended up driving about 2 hours out of our way...we are back safely in Albany, NY, and pretty beat up...so we are laying low tonight...and going to regroup in the morning...Good night everyone!

February 19, 2006 - St. John, New Brunswick

We left Fall River shortly after 1:00pm and it was a pretty smooth trip to St. John. There was a bad fire just outside Moncton, a Shell Service Station and Tim Horton's was completely engulfed in flames...about 6 fire trucks on the scene and about 100 vehicles parked up on the highway watching the situation unfold. When we arrived at Pat and Dave's we had the pleasure of also seeing Lisa and dear little Sophia, what a sweetie! Robbie arrived soon after and we had a nice visit with the 5 of them. We settled down to a nice dinner and conversation with Pat and Dave reminising about their days in Toronto back in the 60's, remembering their times at the Purple Onion and sharing some fun memories with us. What a treat! It was also nice to chat with Pat about dragon boating and also were grateful to have them talk with us about the route we would take down to Florida. Darlene and Dave reviewed the maps together so we would be clear on where we would be heading.
We had breakfast with Pat and Dave and started back out on the road shortly after 10 this morning. The boarder was a breeze and once we passed through Calais and were on the road to Bangor we had a little celebration realizing we were on the road to warmer weather...the excitement grew! We stopped in Brewer for gas and took the I95 as far as Wells, Maine. We checked into the
Village By The Sea. We touched based with Sue and she invited us out for supper but we decided to pass and go to the pool for a swim and a rest in the hot tub...much needed after sitting in the car nearly 7 hours today. We ordered supper and just had it delivered and are now waiting for Sue to call and she is coming over for a visit later this evening.

February 18, 2006 - Fall River, Nova Scotia

Here is Darlene and I with Krista's dogs this morning. I went into Sobeys and picked up some lunch for us and filled the car with gas while Darlene continued with finalizing things around the house. We had to arrange for dog sitting for the next couple of days because Krista is not due back till Monday night. We spent the morning watching the Olympics and packing. Everything is all set and striking for St. John, NB around 1:00pm.
I spoke with my Aunt Geraldine in Florida last night and she said the weather was lovely in Daytona Beach, in the 80's and also said the drive is about 30 hours. Darlene called her Aunt Pat to confirm us arriving at their place tonight around 6:00pm.