In April of 2000 we set off on our Millenium Project. We have been across Canada many times (my family is in the Montreal area), and we have been to the Maritimes twice, but this will be our first visit to Newfoundland.

We left our home in 100 Mile House, with our motorhome and tow car, for what we anticipated would be a three-month trip. Here is our daily travelogue.

April 26: Drove from 100 Mile House to Kelowna, visited Jean’s family and had a few doctor’s appointments.

April 28: Left Kelowna for Calgary; the next three days are spent with family again doing some shopping for "western gear," as we are to attend a western-themed family reunion in Kipawa at a later date. While in Calgary, we were taken to Bragg Creek, a subdivision about 1/2 hour out of Calgary. A very pretty area surrounded by lots of trees and beautiful homes.

May 1: Left Calgary early morning, a clear sunny day, and reached Medicine Hat where it was 31.4 C. (I am keeping a tab on the temperature as long as I can, or until I forget.) Crossing into Saskatchewan, we will spend the night in Swift Current. We are in the Prairies, so unless we detour, we are bypassing most towns. And there is not much to stop for on the main highway.

May 2: It is still spring, we spotted some craft shops advertising "open," but some are and some are not. We arrived in Brandon Manitoba early and will spend the night here. (In a shopping mall parking lot as there are no RV parks open yet.)

May 3: As we are early risers, we are always on the road early. We left Brandon in the sunshine, 31 C. We are bypassing Winnipeg and stop at a woodshop, with all sorts of other things as well, called "Gappato." The name intrigued me. We arrived in Kenora Ontario around 4:30 p.m. We will spend the night here.

May 4: Leaving Kenora late this morning, as there is a time change of two hours there, we stop at the Golden Eagle Casino. (Jean tried his luck a little, to no avail.) From there we drove to Sunshine Ontario, staying at the Petro Canada Truck Stop, 29.8 C. This is the junction 102 for Thunder Bay. The name applies; it is very sunny. But there is nothing there but the truck stop and a few farms.

May 5: The weather has changed – it is raining all the way to Thunder Bay. We bypass it and follow the Terry Fox route for aways. Then we reach Lake Superior, wow, the scenery is suddenly different. We stop in White River, (still in Ontario) at May’s crafts and saw all kinds of interesting things. Then on to Wawa; we always stay there in an RV park. The sign said Not Open, and they would not allow us to stay in a mall parking lot, so to another truck stop we went. 27.4 C and it is 8 p.m.

May 6: Left at 7:40 this morning, 30.9 C, fantastic weather – arrived in Whitefish Ontario at 5 p.m. Since Wawa this morning, we stopped at Pancake Bay, for the Canadian Carver Store, but it is not open yet – so we will have to stop on our way back. (It is one of my favourite places for woodwork.) Then on to Serpent River; we stop at a trading post (a new one) that has all native crafts, plus the building itself is a work of art. I also browse around an antique shop in Blind River. After dinner, Jean went biking while I walked. Oh, by the way, the Ontario roads are much, much improved; we could not believe it.

May 7: We will stop early today and take a breather. We are between Petawawa and Pembroke in an RV park for a change; it is on Lac des Allumettes and the Ottawa River. Very warm, 30 C. We had one of those thunder, rain and windstorms that lasted about five minutes at dinner-time. After the storm – warm again. We’ll be crossing into Quebec tomorrow. We have to practice our French for the family, we do not use it much at home.

May 8: Left Pembroke for Quebec. Jean is a bit nervous crossing Ottawa with the RV. Fortunately, we had to fuel up in Cobden, so we asked the attendant the easiest way, and voila, very easy: just follow Route 1. In a few minutes, we are in Cumberland Onatrio where we will take the ferry to Masson Quebec, and arrive at my sister’s place at lunch time. (A lot of excitement!)

May 9: We are taking my two sisters along on our trip, so there are a lot of preparations to be made. (There will now be four of us in the motorhome for 41 days.) Everything went great; they were prepared and we were prepared. After doctor’s appointments, and some business to attend to, all is ready to go. In the afternoon, we went to get some maple syrup, as we always bring some back home to BC with us.

May 10: Today it is raining and cold, but I forgot to check the temperature. We went to Papineauville and got more towel bars, as we now will be travelling with more people. Also, we went to Plaisance to get some (fromage en crottes) curd cheese.

May 11: I went for a walk while my sisters pack their belongings into the RV. We are preparing for the Maritimes.

May 12: Today, it is not very warm and it is going to be a lazy day. Jean went shopping for golf balls as he is thinking of golfing. (He never did.)

May 13: Very cold this morning, we went to our brother-in-law’s entombment, it was a sad day.

May 14: A sunny morning, Mother’s Day, and my sister Muguette’s birthday. We are going for brunch, and we will spend the day with (large) family. Tomorrow we leave!

Next issue: Quebec to PEI.