Road Trip - Calgary, Canada to Hershey, Pennsylvania

A few weeks ago I found myself boarding a plane at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning after booking a ticket the night before.  Sadly, Rebecca's long time pal and friend of 16 years, Basil, her dog, had to be put down.  Basil was supposed to make the trip with Rebecca from Calgary to Hershey but the universe had other plans.  

So, I spent a few days in Calgary and then Rebecca and I drove the 2300 miles from Calgary to Hershey.  The trip took us through Montana and North Dakota, where we stayed with some old friends.  We also passed through Minnesota and  Wisconsin, so of course we had to get some cheese.  It was definitely more of a driving trip as I had to get back for work.  My favorite stop along the way was Vulcan.  There were definitely some sights on the journey and here are a few of the photos!  Enjoy! 

(City of Calgary in the background)

(Car all packed and ready to go)

(Welcome to Vulcan - Live Long and Prosper)

(I got all dressed up in some Star Trek garb)

(Rebecca got her photo taken in a Princess Laila outfit with Star Trek characters - go figure)

(Check out their website - www.townofvulcan.ca)  

(Rebecca was more of a Spock...)

(Smaller version of the USS Enterprise or one of those Star Trek Ships)

(Spock and an Alien in a hot air balloon)

(Rebecca getting beamed up before getting a tattoo)

(Live Long and Prosper by eating ice cream and candies)

(A little wall art)

(One of the street signs)

(The town library...  the whole town gets into it and the Star Trek theme is evident everywhere!)

(Back on the road)

(Havre, Montana - Go Ponies and Welcomes Canadians.  Rebecca must have taken that photo!)

(Wind vane at the court house)

(The first night we tried sleeping in a Wal-Mart Parking lot)

(One of the great things about a Wal-Mart Parking lot is that you can check out all the cool stuff)

(Unfortunately, the sleeping conditions weren't actually conducive to sleeping.  So, that was the last night we slept in a parking lot.)

(A cool rock formation as we were driving along)

(Met up with some friends in North Dakota - Ms. Kliss and Helmsy.  This was a parking job by somebody but I won't say who...)

(Helmsy is all about the love)

(New buddies)

(Helmsy and Ms. Kliss were kind enough to let us spend a night with them!)

(You'll love our LUMPY YELLOW SOUP)

(Welcome to Minnesota)

(Oh yeah!)

(Not as excited)

(Lots of hay and wheat in this part of the country)

(Back in the car for some more driving)

(Wind farm)

(Welcome to Wisconsin)

(The land of large cows)

(And cheese.  We got sucked into one of the road side tourist traps - Ehlenbach's Cheese Chalet)

(And boy did they have lots of cheese)

(And the cheese lover just had to get some Wisconsin cheese!)

(Chicago Stadium)

(Welcome to Indiana)

(Uncle Sam, wouldn't be a road trip without him)

(A burrito as big or perhaps bigger than my head)

(You know you've made it to Hershey when you see the Kiss Mobile)

Gender Reveal Party

For the first time in my life, which is an experience I quite enjoy, I attended a gender reveal party.  Jokes aside and after releasing any preconceived notions... it was rather pleasant and a great moment shared with family and friends.  This party was also very well done!  For those of you who don't know, and trust me, I didn't either until a few weeks ago, a gender reveal party is an opportunity for the parents or parent to reveal the gender of her/his/their child.  

Now, there are several ways to do this:

1)  Popping a ballon with confetti inside.  This was the one I attended.

2)  Cutting into a cake to reveal either blue or pink.  This was also at the one I attended.

3)  Opening a gift box to reveal either a feminine or masculine item.

4)  Use your imagination, some surprise, and some object to indicate the child's gender and 1 person who knows the gender and is willing to keep a secret.  

Upon first arriving we were asked to grab either a blue tie or pink tutu pin.  These were our predictions as to whether we thought it would be a boy or girl.  The great grandmother even went as far as to dye her hair pink in the hopes of having a girl!  There was a list of Old Wives Tales to help influence decisions.  There were a lot of hopes and guessing as to whether or not it would be a boy or girl.  After hanging out with family and friends the moment of truth finally came.  One of my cousin's friends had been in touch with the doctor and went and had a balloon filled with confetti.  To find out whether it was a boy or girl, watch the video below (be sure to pay attention to the father's reaction...)...  

(A few photos of the baby and pins to guess the gender)

(My cousin helped out a bit by circling her 'symptoms')

(My choice)

(Super Pop Pop's choice)

(The dogs were dressed for the occasion)

(What is it going to be???  Have to be ready for both...)

(The moment of truth getting closer - the contents of the black balloon hold the answer...)

(It's a...)

Rebecca's First Trip to PA

The beginning of June Rebecca made her way to Pennsylvania for a week long furlough to see if it was a place where she could spend a few months.  The week went by rather fast, as is always case and after visiting family and going on a short camping trip, there wasn't much time for much else.  However, we did do the typical touristy things:  Chocolate World, The Ride (as I like to call it), a quick tour of Hummelstown, th State Capitol building in Harrisburg, etc.  The trip must have gone well enough because she decided to come back a few weeks later.  

Alas, here are a few photos from Chocolate World and our short camping stint on the Appalachian Trail:

Rebecca at the entrance to Chocolate World

(Somebody is super pumped for some free chocolate!)

(World's Largest Hershey's Bar)

(5 pounds of milk chocolatey goodness)

(As we prepared to take the ride at Chocolate World)

(Who wants to buy the photos when you get just take a photo of the photo?)

(Twizzlers photo opportunity)

(For some reason, Rebecca had this ideal of Waffle House.  I think she took a road trip years ago and remembers Waffle House as being the best thing.  So, we went...)

(Since it was my first time there, ever, I got a free hat.  Let's just say while the food wasn't bad, the best part of the meal was the free hat...)

(Our journey on the trail)

(Rebecca found Prince Charming...)

(An orange salamander of sorts)

(I'd been trying to explain to her about 'Trail Magic' and luckily we ran across some - pop corn and peanut butter eggs)

(Ferns, ferns, and more ferns)

(A view from one of the lookouts)

(A mega centipede of sorts)

(Four leaf clover, one of Rebecca's many talents is spotting these lucky charms)

(We took my nephew to Adventure Sports one day and played arcade games)

(A bridge shot as we walked across from City Island to downtown Harrisburg)

(The dome at the Capitol)

(One of the houses, can't remember which one...)

(Rebecca was enthralled with all the art work and details)

(Some more intricate details)

(Saw a groundhog which was big news!!!)

(Rebecca taking a look out at City Island)