Canals, Dinosaurs and Snowflakes

The last morning in Canada so we set off nice and early in search of the Bytown Museum, after trekking in the blustering (and literally freezing) wind we were disappointed to find it had closed up for the winter! Never mind we took some time witnessing the process of a fishing boat moving using the loch system to move up the canals before we hit the turf again, heading off to the other side of the city to the Natural History museum. Along the way, I couldn’t believe my eyes when we stumbled across the elusive Monument of Human Rights (so glad we had spent so much time deliberately searching for it!!). The Museum was absolutely fantastic. Apparently it has undergone a major multi million dollar renovation and we spent all morning wandering through an insectarium (probably has some other proper name, but I know you will understand what I am referring to) and interactive exhibits on dinosaurs, animals, birds, water, arctic animals and exploration, learning about natural disasters (even simulating our own volcanoes) as well as finding one of the 3 largest coins made of the most pure gold – we were most excited by this as we remembered learning about this coin when we visited the Royal Canadian Mint. We stayed until the last possible minute as we all thought the place was fantastic. The finale was the two boys taking a turn in a tornado simulator – which literally blew their mind!!.

As we walked back towards the hotel, we were all remarking how bitterly icy the wind felt when suddenly the wind eased to a light gust and the air was filled with white as snowflakes drifted through the air and gathered on our coats and hair…. ULTRA exciting with lots of photos. We decided that the occasion deserved a stop-in for a hot chocolate at Starbucks (like we need an excuse!) and then at Harvey’s for a true experience of a pulled pork sandwich Canadian style (thanks for the tip Alexi, they were great).

With bellies full (now there is a recurring theme…), we hiked it back to the hotel to meet up with Mark in time to make our flight to Chicago. After a slightly embarrassing moment at the check-in counter where we had to ‘evenly distribute’ our luggage weight (now there is a true experience of ‘airing your dirty laundry’!), we made it through security checks no problems and then much to our surprise we went through customs… without actually having left Canada! It was quite amusing as we completed the document process (including a finger scan) and the customs officer welcomed us to the USA, we paused to take a photo in front of the replica miniature Statue of Liberty before heading to the lounge to enjoy our last donut and coffee at Tim Hortons as the sun glowed in its descent on the day and our Canadian leg of the holiday. Next stop was O’Hare Airport, Chicago where we killed a few hours in the Admirals Lounge and airport shops before departing for LA. Arriving about 12.45 am, the patience and energy was running very low which made the wait for the Hertz courtesy shuttle ever so long – especially when the one for Alamo came around 3 times before ours turned up. Then came the interesting task of figuring out how to hire the car and then even more entertaining, trying to fit all the luggage in. Have to say ‘well done Mark’ as I was ever so cynical when I first saw the car…  Relatively easy trip to the hotel although once again we managed to be directed by Nuvi (the GPS) to a few exits were closed so she had some work to do ‘r-e-c-a-l-c-u-l-a-t-i-n-g’!!!! We finally got into bed around 3am – OH SO COMFY!!!