Day 0: Ottawa to Burlington, Ontario

At long last, we’re on the road. It is hard to believe that after all the planning and anticipation our Great North American Road Trip (the Sequel) is finally here. The open road lies ahead and with it (almost) endless possibilities for adventure.

After a final day of school and work, we said one last goodbye to Grandma Susan (who we’re leaving in Ottawa) and to our house - and we drove away. Thank you to the many friends, family and neighbours who have stopped by over the last several days to wish us safe travels. We even got a drive by send off by Rusty and family as we rolled out of town.

We beelined straight for Toronto, putting the first kilometres between us and home. We stopped for the night at Grandma Cora’s in Burlington for our last night for a while with a traditional roof over our heads. Our new home for the next 163 days looks like this:

Tight quarters but as long as we’re together we will be home. Team Adventure or bust!

One Day to Go!

Almost all of our preparations are complete. We leave after school and work tomorrow. Our bags (well, blue bins) are packed and we’re ready to go! It has been a minute since we’ve introduced the members of “Team Adventure” (I am not sure this name will stick, maybe we should go with Team Kehoe MacLeod?), but here it goes - from smallest to tallest - we have:

Alistair 

Age: 7

Height: 4'2"

Favourite activities: lego and playing on the Nintendo Switch

Most excited for: the desert

Seamus

Age: 11

Height: 5'1"

Favourite activities: Minecraft and solving the Rubick's Cube

Most excited for: driving ATVs over the Oregon sand dunes

Liam

Age: 12 (almost 13)

Height: 5'2"

Favourite activities: Minecraft and hanging out with his friends

Most excited for: Disney World (go Star Wars!)

Krystal and Ian

Krystal is most excited for: hiking the Mount Saint Helen's lava tubes

Ian is most excited for: experiencing local cuisines and cultures

Glad to have you follow along as we travel for 163 days across Canada and the USA. We love reading your comments, so feel free to tell us if you’ve been to the same places that we’ve going and what you liked best about them. We’re happy to hear all about the must sees, must eats, and weird and wacky roadside attractions we will be driving by. Happy adventuring everyone!

T-Minus 17 Days

Easter has come and gone and we're on countdown until April 22nd.  More info to come!  Check out the new header bar and subscribe feature.  The guy driving that truck should be a little worried because it looks like he's on the wrong side of the road.

Day 17: Niagara Falls NY to Ottawa ON: A Long Drive Home

We woke up to our first rainy day of the trip! No matter - we were planning to get wet anyway.

It was breakfast inside for us today. Oatmeal again?! Breakfast of road tripping champions.

We started our final day of vacation with a splash (literally) at the Cave of the Winds on the American side of Niagara Falls. We experienced the power of the Falls firsthand, getting soaked in the process. Alistair: “My everything is wet!” We learned some new history too. It was certainly unforgettable!

Then it was time for the very long drive home. Drive, drive, drive, and drive some more. Our dinner was about three quarters of the way home in Marmora.

We were then treated to a rainbow sunset as we rounded the final bend to pull into our home, Gael Glen Farm in Carp. We travelled for 17 days, covered 5,000 km, touched the waters of four of the Great Lakes, and drove past all five of them. We are home safe and sound, reunited with the family pooch, Emily, and looking forward to planning our next epic adventure. What a journey. The past two weeks have been the best!

Day 16: Allegany State Park NY to Niagara Falls NY (via Bradford PA): Short Hikes, Lots of Driving, and a Luxurious Campground

Today began by heading back to Pennsylvania to visit the Zippo lighter and Case pocket knife museum and flagship store. The kids were enthralled by the fancy ball and track installation in the middle of the store, giving Ian lots of time to read and visit the exhibits.

Next we headed to Rock City Park in Olean NY. The sedimentary rock formations were very cool to walk through with the many cracks and crevices. The boys also appreciated the gift shop, each picking out a souvenir rock.

In the afternoon, we hiked to the eternal flame. This is a natural gas vent in the forest that stays lit year round. In the spring it is even cooler as the flame is behind a waterfall. No waterfall today but the flame was larger than I expected. Quite a neat thing to see.

Tonight we are camping at a luxury RV park near Niagara Falls. It boasts heated swimming pools, a fishing dock, mini put, and pedal cars. It is quite the place. We had an amazing last evening of the trip.

We are so sad this trip is almost over. We have one more adventure tomorrow morning and then a very long drive back to Ottawa.