This year 2002, I left for Canada August 4. Uneventful trip, even if I expected all the time that airport security would be a terrifying ordeal. Nothing to it, just run of the mill, hohohumdrum(yawn..)Which is, thank God for it! What was boring was Northwest re-routed my itinerary because of the delayed flight in Manila and I had to spend almost a day at Honolulu airport(not my original stopover) practically twiddling my thumbs. Instead of arriving on a Saturday afternoon in Toronto, I got in at lunchtime the following day, Sunday. Oh well.

The first week at Eric's in Mississauga was just pure lazying around the neighborhood. Every morning, Kyra and I would go out around 7, she on her bike or scooter, and me, just walking briskly - for some 40 minutes to an hour, in time before Eric and Jen left for work. The rest of the day I spent with the girls in the house, watching TV, preparing meals, playing in the park afternoons as the mood suited us - simply a time of relaxation for me.

Early Saturday of that same week (Aug.10), we set off by car to Chicago. Maning and family, and Boy Morala came along too. We arrived at Sal's house around 4pm same day - driving leisurely, not so fast, and stopping along the way for snacks and pee (hehe). But this will all be recounted on another page, if I can find the time.

Tuesday morning the week after (Aug. 13), all the Canadians (Eric, Maning, Boy and family) left Sal's place. We (Eric's) proceeded to Galesburg, Illinois to Manang Pepay's house for an overnight stay. To our surprise, it was an enjoyable stay and we wished we could have stayed longer. It had a quiet neighborhood, clean lakewaters, big park and playground. The afternoon we arrived, the girls (or mostly Kyra) flew a kite along the lakeshore. But this will be recounted in my other page (still to be constructed...).

Wednesday, Aug. 14, around 10am, we drove from Galesburg for home (Mississauga). After the usual stops, and dinner before crossing the bridge to Canada, we arrived at almost 11 or so. Straight driving would have taken 10-11 hours. We spent the night at home. (During all this time , Eric and Jen were on their one week vacation leave.) The following day, Thursday, we woke up late, tired from the past day's driving. Then after lunch, we packed again for our next weekend trip. This time, to Rockport, near Thousand Islands, Ontario.

After 4 hours of driving, we arrived at the Boathouse Country Inn located at the heart of the 1000 Islands at Rockport around 5:30pm, after getting lost a little. We called up our host for our overnight accommodation at the Amaryllis Houseboat to let him know we had arrived. But first, we had our dinner on the restaurant patio at the Boathouse Country Inn which was overlooking the docks for the boat cruises.



Peter Bergen, the operator/owner(?) of the Amaryllis Houseboat picked us up at half past 7pm on his small motor boat. It took around 15-20 minutes to cross the lake to their small island. The Houseboat was ancient-looking, but quaint. The room we got led to a living room which had a homey atmosphere, and surrounded with books - mostly old. At least, this was a different accommodation experience, The next day we woke up early to maximize our stay - took pictures and videos, explored the small island on foot (from end to end on a leisurely walk through the woods only took maybe 10 minutes or less), saw some deer pooh (deers often swam from island to island, they said). After a delicious breakfast of cereals, pancakes, fruit salad, fruits, etc., our host took us back to the Rockport docks around 10am, where we had planned to take a boat cruise to Boldt Island.

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We took the Island Heritage cruise, where the captain provided us with a live commentary while going through the Island maze - a 30 minute trip to the castle, where we could spend time at our own pace...... The Heritage tour is a one-hour tour with an optional unlimited stopover at Boldt Castle. It cruises the the St. Lawrence Seaway, Millionaires Row, Alexandria Bay, and past the shortest international bridge between the Canada and US side of the river. At Boldt Castle which is located in the US side, we had to pass through US customs immigration.

Boldt Castle was built in 1904, a monument to the memory of a man's love for his wife. While the 120-room construction was well underway, Beorge C. Boldt's wife died. Boldt left the castle unfinished. For 73 years, the castle and various stone structures were left to the mercy of the wind, the wind, rains, ice, snow and vandals. The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority acquired the property in 1977, deciding to continue construction to preserve it for the enjoyment of future generations. Today, major restoration is still ongoing to restore this magnificent piece of island history.

We took our lunch at the dockside snack counters after spending an hour or 2 touring the castle. The Heritage boat which leaves every 30 minutes from the Castle picked us up again going back to the Rockport docks.

It was not quite late in the afternoon that day (Friday), so we bought some souvenirs at the dockside shops before proceeding to our next accommodation place - Edgewood Farms, a farmhouse Bed and Breakfast Inn, somewhere along the way to Smith Falls, where we planned to pass through and stop the following day before going back home. It was still light enough when we arrived at the farmhouse, and the girls had to time to look around, jump and play at their trampoline. The house also had a small swimming pool, but the season was already getting too cold for outdoor swimming. After settling in our things, we went out to have our dinner at the town before going back to the farmhouse for the night.

After a full breakfast (country farm style, with fruits, eggs, pancakes, cereals, etc), our lady host/owner toured us through the chicken house, the horses, their honey-making building and their children's summer camp location, all in their wide spacious property. Nice place, and if it was only near Mississauga, it would be a great summer camp place for the girls.

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At around almost 10am (Saturday), we drove to Smith Falls - not quite far away, really, maybe less than an hour. Hoping to be going back home after lunchtime, we just visited the four main attractions there: Heritage Museum, Rideau Canal Museum, Smith Falls Railway, but stayed longer at Hershey's Chocolate House to browse around the chocolate-making operation and buy chocolates - temptingly displayed in their store.

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We took our lunch in a Chinese restaurant in Smiths Fall's "downtown", and then left for a leisurely drive home immediately after. The next day, Sunday, tired after those trips across US and back to Canada, we just rested the whole day. The rest of my 3-week Canada trip, I just spent at Eric's home, slipping out of the house occasionally in the mornings by myself or with Eric after work to do shopping for goods to bring back home. The next Monday, being a Canada holiday, only Eric and I went to the Fatima Shrine, passing by by Niagara on the Lake - beautiful scenic route, on the way home.(maybe I'll add the pics I took to my Niagara page) On the last 5 days of my trip abroad, I spent in LA. (another recount, if ever.)