Canada day 13

An early morning today since we wanted to make sure that we had both time for some sightseeing in the North Conway (NC) area as well as shopping in the Outlets.

The view from our balcony, unfortunetly the weather seemed to be quite grimm. Rain and thunderclouds and that seemed to be the weather for the whole day. But the plan is anyway to go up the mountain...



The hotel really had some beautiful flower arrangements, lovely purple Petunias.



The hotel didn't serve breakfast but that's good since the nicest breakfast place in the north is located NC, Peach's. They open at 7 a.m. And close at 2.30 p.m. They serve everything from omeletts, pancakes, breakfast buritos, french toast, soups, crepes and so much more.



Oh the difficulty of choosing what to eat. Andy and I still hadn't had American pancakes so that was an easy choice, but what kind was harder to figure out.



There were plain, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, chocolate chip, banana brown sugar, apple butterscotch and about 10 others... Andy isn't a filling type of a guy and loves his pancakes plain with maple syrup.



I love me some blueberries, with maple syrup, obviously... Ah, beautiful.



My Mother-in-Law ordered the french toast.



And my Father-in-Laws sunny side up with bacon.



After breakfast we literary ROLLED Out to the car and back to the hitel for a quick stop. Then we started a sightseeing trip towards The Kancamungus higway. Up into the mountains and down among the streams. It was truely a beautiful road but i took all my pictures with the SLR, so I'll show you those at a later time.

When we got back to town it had started to rain quite a bit and and it was perfect shopping weather. The Shopping Area is huge so visiting all the stores was impossible, but we had a couple that we already planned, like Yankee Candle and Famous Footwear.

After a few hours of shopping shoes, clothes, candles zand other things we left the shopping area with 13 large Yankee Candle candles!!! Insane!

Then we went on to L.L. Bean and the Army surplus store. Andy was in heaven. Lots of army and hunting gear, lots of weapons and other good to have stuff.

At around 7 p.m. we thought that it might be time for dinner, so we went straight to the Merlino's in NC.



As we walked in we got the table after about 25 minutes but we took a drink in the bar instead. Andy's Mom and I had the Virgin raspberry margarita and Andy's Dad had a beer, and Andy a coke.

Once we were seated we ordered some appetizers. Andy,s parents ordered the garlic bread and Andy and I wanted to share some nacho's. We had learned fromprevious days overeating and decided that we needn't have our own appetizer.



When Andy's and my nacho's came out we thought that they might be kidding or we missunderstood the menu - the nacho's were huge and couöd feed a small army. But no, theis was a one person nacho plate...it's an oval plate, length about 40 cm, huge!



We almost dreaded the main courses being served since we couldn't even fathem that we'd hsve room for anything after the nacho's but luckrly our mains came quickly so that we didn't fill up on nachos.

We had all ordered burgers, which was unusual since we usually never eat the same things.

I ordered the Attitash burger with guacamole and spicy salsa and pepperjack cheese. It was a great burger but I totally ignorder the bread and the fries and ate the meat pattie instead.



Andy and his Mom both ordered the Wildcat burger with blue cheese and hot sauce. Also this was a nice burger. Andy's Mom ordered with sweat potatoe fries.



Andy's burger with regular fries.



Andy's Dad ordered the Tuckermans burger with bacon and BBQ sauce.



After dinner we took the car home to the hotel and had a quiet drink on the balcony in the sunset. A really nice way of ending a nice day and since the rain had stopped it really was very pleasent outside.

Location:McKown St,Boothbay Harbor,USA

G.T.

...on the balcony in the sunset...


We've had a great day in North Conway with sightseeing on the Kankamangus HWY and shoppibg in the large outlet stores.

Location:Echo Acres Rd,North Conway,USA

Canada day 12

Off on a new adventure, this time together with my In-laws. We're off to the U.S to do some shopping, see the sights and visit Boothbay Harbor (one of their favorite stops) for the 4th of July.

We were off on the winding roads of Quebec after breakfast, wheels up at around 9.30 a.m. From us it was about 9 km to Vermont and 108 km to New Hampshire.

We turned of Road 10 towards Magog and then on to Coaticook where we bought coffee and some Timbits. We brought the with us along he road to a really pretty rest stop close by the border, Hareford/Canan (on the U.S side). The rolling hills in this area are tremendous -what a view.

We crossed into Vermont, US and started to make our way to the first goal of the day, The town of Errol and the store Toys for Big Boys and Girls. A sporting goods, hunting, all-in-all store filled to the brim with stuff. But first we witnessed 4th of July parade (they had it today since the fourth is a Monday). It's a cool feeling to see such an American staple...

After a few hours in the store, Andy's I-WANT was hurting soooooo bad...He couldn't buy any of the guns or amunition, but he really wanted to.... I felt so bad for him since he was like a kid in a candy store, all the things he wanted for great prices but no way of buying them...

We bought some Subway sandwiches with us and had a pique-nique lunch along a river in the 13 mile woods area.

Then we started our drive to the second goal ofthe day, the highest peak in the northwestern U.S, Mt. Washington -also "The home of the worlds worst weather".

The mountain is actually part of the Apalachian mountains and the suummit, Adjeakatchuck is over 1917 m high. There is a around 12 km road (autoroad) winding up the mountain side and at times it is really steep along the edges... More than one scream came out of my mouth on the way up and down.

Once up almost at the top one parks the car and walkes the couple of meters to the top, where the view over the world below is breathtaking. Unfortunetly the clouds kept on rolling in so we didn't see all the way around but since the weather changed every few minutes we didn't have to wait to long to see other parts of the mountain side. It was quite chilli up there though and the wind was very strong...

After Mt. washington we decided it was time to get to our hotel. The hotell was in North Conway, also a favorite spot of my In-laws. The North Conway Mountain Inn is a lovely inn with all the neccessary facilities. One great thing is that the rooms have balconys that look out onto a great view. We got settled and had a pre dinner drink with the In-laws in the sunset.

We decided to have dinner at The Homestead Restaurant. The In-laws had previously eaten there and liked it.

Andy ordered the Homemade "potato chips" nachos - hand sliced potato chips, topped with Monteray Jack and cheddar cheese, served with sour cream and salsa as an appetizer.

I ordered the Jalapeno poppers stuffed with cream cheese.

The In-laws shared some garlic bread.

For entre I just had to try the Tijuana chicken and shrimp - boneless breast of chicken and shrip sauteed with peppers, onion, mushroom, tomatoes and black olives. Finished with a tequila BBQ sauce, served over rice. It seemed fun with the tequila BBQ sauce and it sure was! Yum - it was kind of like a ragu with chicken...

Andy ordered a Steak with french fries.

The In-laws both chose the Lobster fettuccine - lobster meat sauteed with fresh basil and topped with Parmesan and romano cheese. They had had it before and when it came in I almist regretted taking my food. It was really delicious with the lobsters and the cheeses.

After a beautiful dinner, we were stuffed, and went back home and sat in the balcony for a while before we decided to have an early morning with breakfast at Peach's at 7 a.m. Long day awaits....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Karoleen - Photographer © 2005-2011 All Rights Reserved.
Contact me at mail@karoleen.se .

Good morning day 13

New town, new state, new country and new adventures...


Early morning today, no breakfast at the hotel and the weather might be pretty bad later on in the afternoon, hailstorms and thunderstorms. Breakfast at peaches and then sightseeing in the Apalachian mountains and then shopping in the afternoon.

Location:Blinden Dr,Madison,USA

Pre-dinner drinks...

on the balcony...


We just got to our hotel and are preparing for dinner.

Location:White Mountain Hwy,North Conway,USA

Good morning day 12

We're on the way on our little adventure...


Preparing breakfast and food for the road.

Location:Rue de la Grande Allée,Verdun,Kanada

Canada day 11

Ah, after our really long drive from Niagra Falls yesterday, none of us were especially wired. We just wanted to sleep, for a really long time, but I guess our bodies didn't want the same, since we woke up quite early any ways. Today is Canada day, the national day of Canada, celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act, which united three British colonies into a single country, called Canada. Originally called Dominion Day, the name was changed in 1982, the year that Canada gained full independence from the United Kingdom. We aren't quite sure how the day is celebrated here, but we are aware that it is a national holiday, which means that a lot of stores are closed. We thought we'd use today for some shopping, especially going to Canadian Tire and buying more Kitchen Aid products, but because of the holiday, we stayed home and the In-Laws had time to start thinking about what things they need to fix before the big move back home to Sweden in less than 2 weeks...

First off we had breakfast and then we pretty much just lounged around the house. Outside it was warm and sunny and the terrace was a beautiful spot to hand out if it hadn't been for the really load neighbors kids, swimming in the pool. We did some planing for our next trip, were going to the US tomorrow and staying there until the 5th of July, so we're spending 4th of July in Booth Bay Harbor in Maine. Which will be a nice experience!

Lunch on the terrace, in between emptying memory cards and charting routes on the gps and the iPad for the trip. Also we tried to help the In-Laws with their packing, but it's hard to help... It was beautiful outside in the sun...

Andy went to the store to make sure we had travel food for tomorrow as well as some stuff for dinner... And as he is the best husband ever, he brought me back something Yummy! Nostalgia again!

Then after a couple of hours in the sun and doing the things that had to be done, it was time for dinner. Andy's Mom had bought pepper steaks that we were to grill together with large portabello mushrooms, served with a cognac sauce. And served with it a lovely red wine. But first some Amuse-bouche of grissini with parma ham and basil and rye bread sandwiches with salmon. Very yummy!

The meat grilled to perfection, medium rare, by Andy's Dad...

Good night good folks, tomorrow is going to be another one of those long days... We're off to another adventure to the US!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Karoleen - Photographer © 2005-2011 All Rights Reserved.
Contact me at mail@karoleen.se .

Dinner is on the grill...

Amose-bouche before dinner...

My husband knows me!

Andy has been to the store and brought me home something... He really does know me...

Location:Rue de la Grande Allée,Verdun,Kanada

Lunch day 11

Pasta Carbonara


And melon for desert

Location:Rue de la Vigne,Verdun,Kanada

Good morning day 11

Back in Montreal for a day, Canada Day. Och trip to Niagra Falls was amazing, but more about that later...

Location:Rue de la Vigne,Verdun,Kanada

Canada day 10

After a beautiful night at the Four Points in Niagra Falls we decided to make our way back home to Montreal via the U.S. Just so that we'll have a change of scenery. It feels like a really strange thing to do but since we are driving alomst 650 km one way, we would like to see different things. But first breakfast. We decided not to have breakfast at our hotell but go to the "All you can eat buffé" across the street, breakfast American style...

We were up early and at the restaurant at 8 a.m. Bright and early. They pretty much had everything you see in the movies - pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, bacon, sausages, donuts, muffins and lots more. Served with bad coffee, just like the movies... 

After breakfast we packed up and got our car from the valet and started our trip back home. We took the road towards Fort Erie and the boarder crossing in Buffalo. But first we grabbed the Sailor Power cache in Niagra Falls. The boarder crossing is kind of cool, since you drive over a bridge and half way over you find the three flags, The Maple leaf (the Canadian), the Stars and Stripes (the American) and the International Waters flag. 

On the Canadian side the boarder crossing is called Fort Erie and on the American side Buffalo. At the crossing we encountered a slightly overzealous female Border Security Officer who really just was too much. Since we have the same last name, but I've also kept my maiden name, one would assume us to be married, but she didn't seem to believe us. And I was wearing my sunglasses since it was a very sunny day and the sun was in my eyes, she got mad and ordered me to take them off. A please or a "could you..." would have worked much better :-)

But all-in-all we didn't have too much of a hassle and they let us into the U.S. Driving through Buffalo might have been any larger city in the U.S or any city in the world. They did have some great buffalo sculptures along the highway that looked very lifelike. We drove on I90 for quite some time, it's quick but surprisingly scenic. We had decided to take the roads via the Finger Lakes, at least see a couple of them, on recommendation from my In-laws. We headed towards Canandaigua and Canandaigua Lake. What a gourgous place! 

The weather was brilliant so we decided to stop and have an ice cream. Luckely we found a great place right along the water and could sitt for a while admiring all the sunbathers, swimmers and wind surfers. The soft serve ice cream, we didn't want a big ice cream to share so we asked for a medium. What we didn't realise was that a medium soft serve with a chocolate twist was 25 cm tall, without the cone...It was HUGE.

After a half an hour of sun we continued our trip. We took the road on the east side of the lake and managed to grab a cache along the road, Lakeview. Then we drove south and west towards Pen Yann and Keuka Lake. The lakes area really beautiful. Then over to Dresden on the west side of Seneca Lake and we followed the lake north towards Geneva, on the northern tip of the lake. 

One of the goals of the trip was to visit the Waterloo Premium Outlet in Waterloo, NY. But unfortunetly we had a really hard time finding the Outlet and drove all around the city to find it. Our energy was slightly depleated and we were really tired and cranky so we stopped of at PizzaHut for lunch. We ordered a Super Supreme and even got a doggy bag to go, since we couldn't finnish the pizza. We did eventually find the Outlet but we only spent about an hour there. It was just too much to see and buy. We were just not in a shopping mood. And since we knew that we'd be goingto the U.S with my In-laws just a day later, we didn't feel the pressure. Instead we decided to drive onwards and enjoy the nature and the fact that the weather was brilliant.

We took Hwy 104 north towards Clyde and furter on towards Oswego. In Oswego we tried grabing a cache but couldn't find it so we bough ourselves some coffee and donuts from Dunkin' Donuts instead. 

Along the roads of NY, there are lots of Amish people and it's such a joy to see them driving along in the horse-drawn buggie. It's such a different culture from ours so I think it's very interesting. Then we entered the into Mexico, the town not the country ;-) and continued along through lots of great little villages and towns. The beautiful houses with large porches and flags adorning their gardens. After a while we followed I81 north towards Colins Landing but didn't cross the border back to Canada instead we decided to take the scenic route along Route 12, along the south shore of the St. Lawrence river. Sunset along the river was beautiful. We passed by Alexandria Bay and Morrisburg, and then changed to Route 37. 

We took the Ogdensburg/Johnston border crossing and connected to Hwy 401 in Ontario, which becomes hwy 20 in Quebec. We stopped of for some dinner at Burger King and then continued the end of the trip back home to Montreal. It had been a really great trip with lots to see and a true dream come true moment for me! Niagra Falls were amazing and the beatiful scenery made the trip rush by!