We have returned! Day 1-2 Sudbury to Pembroke

Well our journey to the center of the earth is now complete. We have finally arrived back safely from New Brunswick with everyone in tact for the most part. Our journey began Thursday May 17th when we finally managed to shove off around 11:30 am. A little later than I had anticipated, but Grandpa Howatt had a minor dental emergency from the overly-crisp french fries from night before. Jason, who was not joining us was thrilled at Grandpas misfortune as he automatically assumed we would be cancelling the trip. We think Jason purposefully gave Grandpa the super-crispy fries secretly knowing that Grandpa has weak teeth in hopes they would crumble in his mouth and we would cancel. But his plan was foiled and with his teeth fixed we hit the road. We made it to North Bay just in time for lunch and stopped at the Wendy's parking lot where everyone ate, pooped, and played for awhile. Our lunch stop ate up an additional 1 hour. By this time it was 2:40 pm. All my years of travelling with Jason Simpson has ingrained a new internal timing system. Anyone who has had the pleasure of travelling with him knows that what makes or breaks a trip is based on whether or not you are making good time. Well were were certainly not making good time at this point. So mommy got behind the wheel and made every driving second count. We finally made it to the cottage around 5:00 pm with Grandma Graham eagerly awaiting our arrival. The last leg of our journey found the girls in less than giddy spirits.

We stayed at the cottage for the whole day on Friday where Auntie Shannon, Karen & Mike joined us for a visit. Grandma & Grandpa Graham couldn't have been more thrilled that we were there. Grandpa Howatt and Mike took the kids for a 2-hour walk which gave Mommy a nice break. We had a number of visitors that day so the kids got a tast of what its really like being at the cottage. Although still a little young, I am sure they enjoyed it.

Being the beginning of a long-weekend, Grandma Graham figured to avoid any potential driving hazards we should leave on the following Tuesday and since we were planning to return on the Friday it really only left 1 day to visit New Brunswick so we might as well just stay at the cottage. I think her and Jason were cahouts. But since Grandpa Howatt 's carpentry skills were required in NB, we packed up the van, picked up our additional passenger Dawna, and started our journey east.