For years I've been bugging my dad to do some travelling and in the past couple of years he has actually taken the time to do so.

It didn't surprise me that he soon decided to start planning a bigger trip, what I think of as his dream trip. He told me this would include visiting our family in Ontario, Canada but also involve crossing the border to visit New England during the Fall.

After his telling me this in the beginning of 2013 I soon invited myself with him :) I was happy to do my own thing in Canada if he wanted to do America on his own but he was fine with my tagging along and so he gave me a tentative date for September/ October 2014 and here we are, September 12th 2014, sat on a plane about 2 hours outside of Toronto! It came around so quickly!

Here's the story so far...

September 12th 2014- London to Toronto

(6.30pm UK time/ 1.30pm Toronto time)

So the weeks leading up to our 3 week trip have been extremely hectic for both my dad and myself. So despite our both having spent some time researching our destinations and things we'd like to do, we're pretty much going to be winging it for the most part!

I was on close at work the last 2 days meaning I tried to do the majority of my packing yesterday morning but by the time I finished it off after work I was wide awake and ended up with only about 1 1/2hrs sleep before our 5am departure for Gatwick. A long day ahead!

So the drive was easy as was check in, security and getting to our departure gate. On a plus note when we checked in my bag which I'm trialling for my sabbatical trip, had fitted everything I wanted and abit more and still came in at under 13kg. Win!

Having flown with Air Transat the year before and found that I liked them as Airlines go, I'm pleased to say this remains true and I'm sure I will be using them again on my future trips to Canada.

I passed the time on the plane watching films and trying not to consider the fact that I'm easily intimated by my family...after all it's been 5years since our last visit out..Im more confident now...right? :p Either way we're looking forward to seeing them and meeting the new additions to the family.

After landing we picked up our tank of a rental car and dad did his best to get adjusted to it. I think the biggest issue for him was that it was an automatic but after 10mins or so he had the hang of it- so much so that I managed to doze in the car for 20 mins or so!

On arriving at my Uncle Terry's house we found it was only him at home at the moment. We spent an hour or two catching up before my cousin Jenn arrived with her family. It was so great meeting her two girls especially her eldest Layla as the last time we had been over Jenn had been pregnant with her.

Awhile later my cousin Matt and my aunt Lynne both arrived home from work so we spent a while chatting before calling it a night. At this point we had been awake for about 23hrs so at least we knew we would sleep well!

Saturday 13th September- Bullington, Ontario

Our first day in Canada I slept in until 8am and then took my time getting up and showering. Once downstairs I got a cuppa and some breakfast while my dad and I tried looking up the line up for AFCBs game which would soon be starting...yeh I know, so Sad, so sad :p

After breakfast the guys headed out for awhile and Layla, who was feeling a lot less shy today, asked me to play with her. She showed me a lot of her dolls before we took to launching them down the banister..as you do :p Layla is full of energy so after playing with the dolls, we also had a quick game of hide and seek.

As the day went on my other two cousins Kristina and Gill turned up with their families. Whereas we hadn't met Layla or her sister Evie before, we had met all 3 of the other kids when they were younger.

Its crazy how quickly the times past! Myles was 4 when we last saw him and his sister Zoe was just 1- now their 9 and 6! And Tea wasn't even 1 when Gill and Lorcan visited us a few Christmas' ago. Now she's running around with her cousins and seems so much older than her 3 years!

During the day Kristina and Jenn took Layla to get her hair cut- her hair was almost waist length when she left and shoulder length when they returned...I think the change was a lot harder on her parents than it was on her!

And in the afternoon some of the guys took the kids across to the park...Though Dave returned fairly early with little Evie...he said she wore him out which is entirely possible, but I think he really just wanted a beer :)

We ate dinner and had these amazingly huge cupcakes as desert..chocolate overload! And the cousins drew names for who they would be buying christmas presents for..this was pretty amusing to watch as they had to redo it a few times and there may have been a little cheating going on..apparently everyone wants Matt as their gift giver as he goes big with his presents lol.

Soon it was time for the Hancocks to leave though Tea was sleeping over with her cousins. By this point I was beginning to feel a little tired so it wasn't too long before I called it a night.

Sunday 14th September- Burlington Ontario

On Sunday morning after breakfast, my dad and I went for a wander to get some cash out. Despite it being 5yrs since our last visit, as soon as we started walking we felt as though no time had passed because this area is just so familiar to us.

I was most excited to see a starbucks straight across from the bank so needless to say I made a quick pit stop to get a chai latte..not that I'm addicted or anything :p

We then continued on down to the waterfront and saw that not only was there a new pier area but also a family run/walk taking place all along the promenade.

We walked on out onto the pier,stopping to read the plaque which told us that the pier had been completed in June 2013. We found this curious as dad remembered they had started to build it 5yrs ago when we visited...We later found out from Uncle Terry that it's budget had been 3million and it ended up costing 5 times that and didn't even include a lot of the other features it was originally meant to!

Once back home we quickly got ready as we were joining Jenn and Dave on a trip to a Blue Jays ball game. Its Daves mums 60th birthday so their whole family was going to surprise her by being there and they kindly invited us.

We made good time into Toronto and I have to admit Dad is a lot calmer and more confident with the driving this time...the road signs being in English and all :)

It took us a while to park but we ended up pretty much right under the CN Tower. On our way to the gate we met up with Daves aunt and uncle,plus 2 of his cousins. We all made our way in and got sorted with our beer ( $10 a can- wowza!) before finding our seats and meeting more of Daves family.

It was a while before his mum arrived with his brother...apparently their the worst for being late and yet they were left to their own devices :)

The game got off to a really slow start but we had good entertainment in the form of a proposal just a little in front of us..then the same guy ended up catching a fly ball! Dave was waiting the whole game for his chance..he even bought his mit with him!

The Blue Jays ended up losing but at least they got back into the game to finish 6-5 after having trailed 5-1. There was a good moment when they had to review a call as a fan made the catch infront of the outfield player! Talk about awkward!

After the game it took us 40 minutes to just get onto the highway. It was insane traffic wise.

Back home we found out Kristina had just left and Lynne was exhausted from chasing Evie around all day. We got leftovers for dinner and just chatted until calling it a night.

Monday 15th September 2014- Burlington, Ontario

Monday morning we had a quiet start as Lynne and Terry were back to work. Jenn, Dave and the kids were still about but planning to head home about lunch time.

Since it would be a long drive, we decided to take the kids and the dogs to the park beforehand. We all took jackets but we only got about 10ft from the house before putting them under the stroller! We continued on towards the Lake but dad and Midge only made it part way as it was a bit too far for poor Midge.

Once at the park Layla climbed everything she could and barley stopped- that kid has boundless energy and never gives up on getting snacks! Yet she's so patient with Evie and as Jenn said, it's like she understands exactly what Evies babbling :)

Back at the house we got some lunch and helped Layla with her new kinder toy. Soon after, they hit the road and Uncle Terry suggested we go with him to see Gill and Lorcans new house.

They live in Toronto so it took us a while to get there but again walking through the house we were amazed at what a difference having the basement can make to living space.

On leaving the new place we headed for Gills current flat and spent 30mins or so with the family. Tea was more lively knowing our attention wasn't divided between her cousins. She feed us chocolate and biscuits while 'testing' them herself :) She then introduced us to the majority of her toys. We even got hugs upon leaving which was nice but damn it's hard to believe that this is the same girl I chased around for 2 days as a toddler!

When we got home we had burgers for dinner and Lynne told us different stories of the family- both of the kids growing up as well as visits made by nan over the years. We ended the night showing Lynne pictures of our trips and comparing tablet covers :p

Tuesday 16th September 2014- Burlington, Ontario

Tuesday was our first day to ourselves which got off to a rocky start when neither myself or my dad could make a decision on where to go or what to do.

In the end we headed south of Hamilton and went through the farmland towards Caledonia where we stopped to walk along the river and through the small town.

We then continued down to the edge of Lake Erie and through some odd settlements along the water. I say odd because there was a mixture of run down and well maintained; old and new builds; mansion size and shed size. It was a really unusual community but it somehow seemed to work.

Along this area we also lost count of the number of eagles we saw. They were everywhere and we stopped a few times just to watch them fly as they were so graceful and their wingspan was amazing!

Our next stop (and last) was Port Dover where we walked out to the lighthouse. There was a nice sandy beach here and plenty of summer eateries- you can easily imagine how well the place does during the school holidays.

We had something to eat and drink at Tim Hortons before driving back via the First Nations Reservation.

Arriving back in Burlington we went for a brief walk along the promenade and stopped to get some supplies in No Frills.. a similar, if more upmarket store to Lidl.

Back at the house Uncle Terry suggested eating out as it would just be the 3 of us. We ended up in a sports bar/ restaurant over the mall which had really nice food and service...but for obvious reasons it wasn't the best for conversation.

Wednesday 17th September 2014- Burlington to Trenton

We had decided at the beginning of the week that wednesday would be the day we would head north.

Our original plan being to spend the day working our way through the 1000 Islands and end up in the Cornwall area overnight, leaving us Thursday to explore Montreal.

As with all good plans though, this one went awry early on...

After saying goodbye to Uncle Terry at the house we fuelled up and added more candy to our road trip stash. Soon we had made our way past Toronto and up the shore of Lake Ontario.

Our first stop of the day was at Port Hope, a quaint little town with a nice sandy beach upon which we took a quick stroll.

Wearing flipflop I soon tested the water and found it wasn't too bad but then we were lucky enough to have blue skies. We wandered past a couple of guys fishing and saw another half a dozen across on the seawall.

Back in the car we continued along the shore, stopping here and there for pictures. We enjoyed spending 20mins or so exploring Wicklow beach, walking on the rocks to get a view of the coast. Then moving across to the other side of the road to look at the marshland...who would have thought it could be so pretty?

There were dozens of butterflies and even more dragonflies here and it was fantastic just to stand and see them shimmer in the sunlight.

The one downside was that we saw our second dead fish of the day (the first being in Port Hope). This might not be anything, afterall fish do die, but it's the fact that their big fish, washed up on areas with lots of sea birds and yet remaining intact..makes me wonder if perhaps their diseased?

Our longest stop of the day was at Presqu'ile Provincial Park which is deceivingly big and spread out.

We began at the beach area and walked down, stopping to admire the Monarch Butterflies on the flowers along the way. Once on the beach we took a few pictures and I then decided I wanted to do a 'jump' picture...

...the next 40mins were mostly spent with me laughing hysterically while my dad attempted to get to grips, first with my camera, which was somewhat successful; then with my phone, on which he somehow managed to get a locked symbol up, whenever he tried to take a shot; and finally on his own phone which neither of us were terribly enamoured with.

After having worked our way up the beach and still not gotten the shot on either of our phones, we gave up and went back to pictures of the Canadian Geese lining the sand and the kitesurfers enjoying the waves- one of whom seemed pretty adept at jumps himself :p

It wasn't until we were on are way back to the car that I accidentally worked around the issue with my phone and finally managed to get 'that' pic!

Next up was a walk through the vegetation. We didn't really get much more in ways of views but we did get to see hundreds more butterflies, dragonflies, normal grasshoppers, band winged grasshoppers (look like butterflies when they fly), frogs and in my lucky case a snake too! I could have done without that last one though!

While in Persqu'ile we also stopped at another trail spot, the lighthouse and a bird watching spot too. But by the time we finished here it was already getting late so we made straight for Trenton.

Once we had found a motel we went looking for some dinner. Luckily the motel was in the middle of about 8 different eateries! We ended up at A&W so I could get some yam fries but boy do I wish we had checked the other side of the motel first..Dairy Queen anyone? :) This was pretty much the end of our first day on the road as I just spent a few hours reading before bed.

Thursday 18th September 2014- Trenton to Cornwall (1000 Islands)

After leaving the motel thursday morning we made straight for Tim Hortons for breakfast...and our daily fix of wifi :)

We spent a good 40minutes here before hitting the road and doubling back slightly to drive via the loyalist parkway.

It was a very cold morning- our best guess being about 6c...!

We drove through farmland and quiet roads before taking a turning off towards the water. It turns out this road is about 3miles long with a dead end, rather than a pull in. Still we got out and walked through the trees to get a glimpse of Nicholson Island and a beach towards the right. It was a pretty area but given how cold it was we soon got back in the car. But this time I was driving!

Now people, don't freak out- I only drove the length of the road to get used to driving an automatic for the first time...we survived just fine :)

And after switching back, we continued on with our next brief stop being at the sand dunes in Sandbanks Provincial Park.

We followed the road across the open country, again swapping so I could drive on the quieter roads...

The plan had been to head for what we thought would be a light house viewpoint...we were wrong. Instead it was all fenced off courtesy of the army with 'no trespassing' signs and radiation warnings!

But we did at least walk down to the shore and get a look at the beach which with the sun now shining looked as though it belonged somewhere in the south pacific- or at least it would if it weren't stoney :)

And of course the road we took to get there had been resurfaced so there was loose gravel everywhere. Great fun in a rental car especially as there wasn't a good alternative route as we drove back.

Time was getting on so we made for Lake upon a Mountain, only stopping at a lookout along the way to switch drivers before we hit any possible built up areas. I'm still unsure about the junctions over here so I didn't want to drive into any towns!

One thing we found so odd over the course of this journey is the amount of land surrounding these huge properties and the fact that it's all mowed... acres of it in some cases. It looks brilliant but given the houses back home, the lack of fences and the care given to all these properties is amazing. Plus being the beginning of fall, a lot have autumn decorations/ wreaths up plus pumpkins already line a fair few houses :)

While waiting on the car ferry in Glenora we played with the cars bluetooth and linked it up to my phones music as the stations weren't great over here (the day before the one station I half liked, played the same 6 songs over and over again) I found it pretty funny when it suddenly dawned on my dad that this meant he would be subjected to my music! I did try to take it easy on him with some of my more popular music....for the first few hours anyway :)

The car ferry at Glenora took us across to Adolphustown and we only stopped again upon reaching a picnic area where we stretched our legs. We then drove straight through Kingston though we could see the appeal of the town, and on to Grananoque.

We hadn't planned on stopping here but as we drove through we saw a lovely bit of the river and a market taking place so we pulled over.

After figuring out the meter we walked down and got talking to a lady selling maple syrup...she may also have had some samples :) Apparently the farmers market is every thursday from 4pm to 7pm. They have live music and a selection of wares. From cakes to veg to local wildlife photographs and hand crafted jewellery.

We took our time walking down to the park and across the bridge before coming back up to the market.

Dad got talking to a lady and found out the stand with free hot snacks and apple cider was actually part of a school project and all the ingredients had been donated by the local farmers. We found that this really was a community of old with neighbours trading like for like depending on what they needed.

By the time we left Grananoque it was past 5pm and we still had a lot of driving ahead of us. We decided to follow the 1000 Islands parkway while the light lasted and we even managed to cut down on our stops, making only two more :)

The first of which was my dad trying to kill us..he got rather frustrated that he passed so many of the pull ins before realising they were there. So when he spotted one at last minute he dived in.

Now I like a bit of an adrenaline rush and driftings pretty good for that but damn, not in this car and my dad driving! While I had been driving on the newly gravelled roads earlier I had taken a 90degree angle a wee bit fast and found this car just doesn't grip. I'm not sure if it's the car or that it's an automatic but needless to say I wasn't impressed when my dad dived off the highway barley slowing so we fish tailed...hmmm..

And the last stop was at a gorgeous little stop where we had a nice view of the little Islands with lone houses on them.

Having pretty much eaten my body weight in candy the last few days I wanted some proper food while my dad was fine making do with the cakes we'd picked up at the market. So on arrival in Cornwall we stopped at a supermarket and then checked into a motel... this one wasn't as good as our last.. I was very careful not to disturb the spiders calling it home!

It semi redeemed itself though by having wifi which I then had to go ask the guy about..and spent the next half an hour trying different combinations to get the damn thing to work... I got there eventually though! And that was our last few hours done.

Friday 19th September 2014- Cornwall, Canada- Smugglers Notch, Vermont USA

Since we had a tonne of goodies still leftover we decided to have those for breakfast rather than eat out again. For me the maple syrup I'd brought in Grananoque and drizzled on my cinnamon bun was the best part :)

Once on the road we kept heading north into the province of Quebec. Here we got lost more times than we'd care to admit!

We did pull over a few times to stretch our legs and take some pictures but as to where we were, I'm not entirely sure! I think one place was Saint Zodique but after that I've no clue.

Later in the day we stopped in Saint- Jean- sur- Richelieu after taking a wrong turn and walked down to their pretty little river with the church behind us.

Dad had already decided where he wanted to cross the border into the US, so we headed south upon reaching Cowansville. It was easy enough to cross with us just having to fill in some paperwork and have our picture and fingerprints taken.

Having now reached Vermont, we made for Lake Carmi State Park and spent a good hour or two exploring the lakeside and the campsite...The enormous RVs they manage to get under the trees here are ridiculous. Of course they also have lean-to's incase you don't want to bother with all that.

While exploring the park we saw what we think may have been a golden eagle but it was differcult to tell from a distance. And once back near the car I regressed about 20yrs and messed around with the swing set by the lake :) ...it always was my favourite thing in a playground!

Back in the car we headed for Smugglers Notch, the resort we would be staying in. Given that it's part way up a mountain we planned to get some groceries from Jeffersonville as we passed through...which we did but we were surprised at just how small a town it is and so the only place to get anything was Hanleys General Store, which thankfully was a bit like a tardis in being bigger than it looked!

It was dark by the time we reached Smugglers but we got checked in quickly and drove up to the Tamaraks where we would be staying. With this being a timeshare exchange I knew the accommodation should be pretty good but wow I did not expect something so posh. Huge open kitchen/ dining / living area with access to our own deck looking across to the mountains. One huge bedroom which my dad took that will sleep up to 6, with the main bathroom next door; then my room a huge bed in the middle with the ensuite having both a shower and a tub with jacuzzi jets! Win!

We spent what was the rest of the evening trying to access the wifi and after having no success with that we settled in to read.

Saturday 20th September 2014- Smugglers Notch, Vermont, USA

Our first day in Vermont we didn't do too much. Dad went down to reception and got another wifi code and with it now working we checked up on the football results :) He then went walking while I enjoyed our balcony for awhile.

Having agreed to head into Burlington later that afternoon I did go exploring along the river for about 45minutes before returning to our apartment to get ready to head out. The weather was actually pretty good so I decided to brave cutoffs and off we went making the long drive to Burlington.

We stopped awhile in Winooski and climbed out onto the rocks before walking alongside the river a while. Uncle Terry had told us that in southern Ontario a lot of the trees had a disease that had spread across the area and we both saw evidence of the same thing here with black marks covering leaves on particular trees.

On arriving in Burlington we headed through what must have been an older quarter with some lovely houses which had seen better days... of course my view may be a little biased given my dislike of some of the very bright colours the properties were painted. I'm talking bright purple with a lime green trim, yellow and red, 3 different shades of pink on the same house...need I go on???

We spent an hour down at the waterfront where there was some Morris dancing going on as well as a wedding party arriving by the pier. It was windy but still warm so we enjoyed a stroll along the park before returning to the car.

The main reason we had headed to Burlington was to search for a supermarket. Of course it wasn't until we reached south Burlington and were about to give up that we finally spotted one.

After spending far too long in a food store (I do work in one afterall!) we made our journey home in the fading light. Once we got away from the big junctions and such we switched drivers again and dad had the pleasure of being my passenger in the dark on roads we didn't know :)

Back at the unit we spent another evening reading, though I made the mistake of getting into a book and so I remained up until 2am to finish it! Oh well I don't sleep well anyway :)

Sunday 21st September 2014- Smugglers Notch, Vermont, USA

Today dad suggested going the

opposite way outta Smugglers and making our way to Elmore State Park.

On our way through Stowe we saw a farmers market taking place so we found somewhere to park and walked across for a nose around.

I have to say I absolutely love these Markets, both the one here and the ones in Canada that we came across. You really get a sense of community and there's a real variety of foods and crafts, unlike the ones at home which in most cases have only a handful of different stalls, usually in direct competition with each other.We both found a couple of things to buy and could have easily gotten a few bits more but we managed to resist :)

Back on the move we found Elmore without too much trouble and after paying the small day visitor fee of $3 each, we made a quick trip down to the beach before heading onto the hiking trails.

There were 2 on the map we were given and we decided to do both as they could be interlinked. We headed off through the forest paths eager for some exercise...only to find the next hour or so being inclines up the Elmore Mountain with little to no views through the trees!

As anyone who knows me will know...I'm not good with inclines :) But I did well enough jogging/ climbing my way up- personally I find this so much easier than plodding steadily uphill...so long as I can stop between the inclines that is!

Despite claiming to be only a little over 2 miles to the lookout tower at the top, both my dad and I agree that it seemed a longer distance, probably closer to the 3miles. Either way though we made it to the Balancing Rock, our first proper lookout point.

Here we sat for a few minutes. Taking pictures and listening to a dad with his two young kids try to explain why taking a flying leap off the rock like in the lion king, was just not a feasible idea no matter how much his daughter wanted to explore the caves below :)

We had been playing leapfrog with this family from about half way up the trail and listening to the kids had been pretty entertaining but this was by far the best they came out with! And the dad being the good guy he was, must have found a fairly safe way to climb between the rock crevices as we soon heard them exploring below us.

Reaching the lookout we made the climb up for the stunning 360 view. With my balance I made sure to hang on tight as it was so blowy. I also had to remind myself that it wasn't a ladder I was climbing. I may be able to jump out of a plane at 15,000ft without feeling a rush but Ive found through work that ladders freak me out- go figure!

Back on solid ground we joined the other trail to make our way back to the car park and we soon found that while it was half the distance of the other, it was also twice as steep. Dad said if he were to do the trails again he would take the same route... But I quite like the thought of doing it the other way around because at the very top it would mean climbing and scrambling over rocks...I have mentioned that I'm not normal, right? :)

Back at the car we ate some fruit while deciding what to do next. It was meant to be Waterbury State Park but for some reason it's only signposted coming from the south, so we ended up at Little River State Park instead which is part of the same forest - Mt Mansfield.

Here we did the nature trail along which we saw many a Blue Jay. My dad loves these birds and they are extremely pretty in the sunshine so it was well worth the stop. Plus we saw a few American Red Squirrels which are smaller, quicker and seemingly more mischievous than others :)

Before leaving the park we drove around the campsite stopping at a couple of the beaches to take photos. We didn't hang around too long though as the pesky Mosquitoes were out in force.

Monday 22nd September 2014- Smugglers Notch, Vermont, USA

When I woke up this morning it was raining and continued to rain for a good few hours. It wasnt heavy storms as had been predicted for the night before, but it was persistant, with low cloud covering the mountains.

It seems so odd to describe these hills as mountains because after countless trips to scotland, plus spending time in the Canadian Rockies last year, they really arnt what I picture when I think of them. Still, I wouldn't like to try climbing one!

Since it wasn't too clear a morning we decided to laze around the apartment and then head off towards the Ben and Jerry's Factory for a tour.

Along the way we stopped at Calbots creamery and tried lots of goodies, ranging from their cheeses, to their syrups, to their cheesy popcorn. My favourites of everything we tried were the artisan cheese and the autumn spice syrup. I came away with a lot more than that though :)

On leaving Calbots we then crossed the parking lot to Lake Champlian Chocolatier... It would be rude not too!

I did get a chocolate covered marshmallow stick as well as a cherry, raisin and apricot white chocolate bark slice to try. But luckily (or unluckily, I haven't quite decided!) the majority of the chocolate was dark which I don't particularly like. Its a shame as I would have liked to try their special Pumpkin chocolate. But over here they go all out on Fall and Halloween so I'm sure I'll find many other mediums to try- if nothing else, Starbucks has a huge range of Autumn drinks and cakes :)

On reaching Ben and Jerry's (or as I'm forever thinking of them Tom and Jerry's (What? I can't help it :p) we paid the $4 tour fee and inspected the wall of favourite flavours while waiting for the tour to begin.

A minute or two later our guide John led us upstairs to watch a video on how it all began. While I was aware that B&J started in New England, I didn't know that it was actually in Burlington, Vermont or that the original testing room was in the same location as we now sat.

As well as this I found out that in order to widen their distribution area, Ben and Jerry embarked on a cross country roadtrip giving out free samples everywhere they went. It was only after their van caught fire on the way home, making all the newspaper headlines, that they became a household name. What's interesting though, is that every year they still have a customer appreciation day where they give out free ice cream. Unbeknown to me I actually experienced this last year with my friend Felix at the concession in Odeon back home...we just thought it was a promotion for the cinema, not a world wide thing!

After the amusing video with lots of bad cow jokes, we got to watch the production taking place in this particular factory. Surprisingly there's only 6 factory's in the world. This one, another in Burlington, one in Nevada, one in Holland and two in Israel. The other 5 must be HUGE to match the demand, especially with this one being so small as its mainly for tours. That said it's still a 24hr operation with 3, 8hr shifts, 5days a week.

We saw where the different mixes were added to the milkshake type texture; where the syrup was added to heighten particular flavours; where the mixture filled the containers as they dropped from a water cooler like system; where the lids then dropped down like in penny slot machine to drop onto the containers and finally after passing the two person inspection, where they flip upside down on the conveyor belt to get their best before date added on the way to being packaged.

John ushered us into another room where we would be getting to sample some of their ice cream. This includes where one of the workers, Hayley, sometimes tests new flavours and has just recently come up with a Maple and Walnut flavour just for Vemont during the Fall months.

Given the small tour fee I was surprised at the generous size of our Triple Caramel Chunk sample and because we didn't rush off with this being the end of the tour, John offered me another sample which was left over...don't mind if I do :)

Next we spent some time in the gift shop before heading up to The Flavour Graveyard. These were a collection of gravestones marking the odd past flavours which have been taken off, to make room for newer ones. The inscriptions were all pretty quirky and fun to read.

While I was quite honestly stuffed from the Ice cream samples, we decided there was no way we could leave without a proper Ice cream. Dad picked the Turtle Cheesecake at random which turned out to be cheesecake flavour ice cream with pecan nuts, fudge flakes and caramel swirl syrup.

I went with the Cherry Garcia which has, you guessed it- Cherry Ice cream :) It also has actual cherries and fudge chips in it and it was delicious! Although at first glance I wasn't sure they'd got my order right as it was a beige/ brown colour, similar to dads.

Feeling slightly queasy we headed back to the car and made our way back to Smugglers with only a brief stop at Cold Hollow Cider Mill. We restrained ourselves as much as possible here...and by that I mean we only left with some Maple Cotton Candy and Cider Donuts!!!

We stopped to get fuel and it's amazing how cheap it is compared to back home. On our last tank of gas we had covered roughly 400 miles and it cost us only $42 to fill it back up. Happy days :)

I drove the rest of the way back to Smugglers and on reaching home I decided I must try and get a run in. Unfortunately there are no decent paths for this and despite being a big resort they don't seem to believe in lighting- not even on the paths they've designed to link the units with the main centre! Oh well, I tried :)

Tuesday 23rd September 2014- Smugglers Notch, Vermont USA

On tuesday we decided to head south to Montpeleir which had been recommended by my friend Annie.

We found a parking place and spent almost an hour wandering the town. Montepelier which is the state capital is a nice little place with a good selection of shops. The state house itself is stunning with its golden dome and pretty facade, having been there since 1859- the 3rd state house to be built there.

On leaving Montpelier town, we went looking for Hubbard Park just a few minutes drive away. Here we walked through the forest up to the stone Tower giving decent views of peaks in the distance.

On leaving Hubbard we had decided to head to Camel Hump State Park. Along the way though we decided to keep going south so we could search out some of Vermont's covered bridges.

We did eventually head through the mountain range, seeing some of our best Fall colours so far. It was so pretty with the reds and oranges out in force amongst the yellows and greens.

We found a nice view point along the Appalachian Gap, with mountain peaks all around and a view of a pond below.

During the rest of the drive we also pulled over at another pond where we saw a beaver pulling branches across the water to help build his den. This was pretty awesome despite the distance as it was a first for me...I've seen plenty of old beaver lakes, dams and dens (supposedly) but never a real LIVE beaver.

We weren't back on the road long before spotting a waterfall. So again we got out and had a good poke around before heading on our way.

Making our way slowly back north we diverted off again to check out a couple more covered bridges. I had been hoping to stop at Ben & Jerrys again when we passed through as I wanted to buy a carton of Red Velvet to try, but we were just a few minutes too late.

The silver lining to this though, was that we stopped at a supermarket to see if they had any and I ended up coming out with three! What?! It was a good offer :)

Wednesday 24th September 2014- Smugglers Notch, Vermont USA

Waking up we saw it was a beautiful day so we had to make a choice. Did we head up to the Islands on Lake Champlain or do the Gondola at Stowe?

Since the weather forecast was the same for Thursday as well we decided on doing the Islands as we knew Friday would be a long day in the car down to Cape Cod. This way we would avoid too much time in the car on consecutive days.

We were lucky as the weather stayed nice all day as we made our way up through Fairfax before heading down the Roosevelt highway to cross to Grand Isle.

Making plenty of stops at view points and state parks, we spent the whole afternoon driving (me again with the driving!) north through all 5 islands.

We saw lots of chipmunks and Red American squirrels, especially at North Hero Park. And I have to say I love how curious and mischievous they are! Just too cute!

We made sure to visit Isle La Motte too despite its lack of State Parks and were rewarded when we came across Fort Saint Anne which was next to the beach and held such a pretty little chapel.

We crossed back to the mainland so to speak in the late afternoon and made our way back to Smugglers. This time with dad driving!

Thursday 25th September 2014- Smugglers Notch, Vermont USA

Thursday we got up to a somewhat cloudy start.. this was slightly disappointing as we were going up the Gondola at Stowe, but it was dry with the sun trying to break through, so off we went.

I had seen the colours along this part of the road a good half a dozen times but I don't think dad believed me about how good they were until he saw them for himself.

Looking up at the top of the gondola it didn't look too high or long a distance but this was definitely deceiving as it took close to 10 minutes to ascend.

Once up there we began our hike up to the 'Chin'- aka the Summit. This was actually more of a climb than a normal hike but as I've already said I much prefer this, though some of the distances we had to reach across/up to climb were fairly challenging- my balance is less than good at the best of times!

I also had to watch my shoulder as I had hurt it badly at work a month before and while I had hoped rest would let it heal on its own, it had began to hurt just as badly as when I was doing heavy lifting for hours on end at work. Luckily today it was a lot better than the day before!

It took us around 40minutes to climb approximately 1000 ft up, with a fair few stops in between. On the last little push to the top I was amused to see a bad weather bypass called the 'Profanity Trail'... it sure beat the less than amusing 'it's harmless' snake we had just passed!

After stopping for maybe 15 minutes at the 'Chin' we headed back down and made our way across on the Long Trail to the visitor centre. This part of the trail was a hike more than a climb, giving us a nice little break.

At the visitor centre, we decided since we were up here we may as well continue across to the 'Nose' but the path was not exactly clear so we made it to the TV towers but no further.

Turning around we headed back to find the 'Cliff Trail'- our alternative route back down to the Gondola.

This would prove to be a mistake!

While the other trail had required some climbing, that's ALL this one really was. With huge distances to cross, I found myself on more than one occasion, lying on a rock trying to find hand holds to lower myself onto narrow shelfs that were still a good foot lower than my dangling feet!

On top of this it was wet making the rocks we were climbing on, slippery. I often ended up on my hands and knees as I couldn't find purchase to grip. For a good 20minutes when I was ahead of my dad, all I heard from him was 'for f***s sake' repeatedly...though he did throw in one 'for Christ's sake', changing it up a little :)

Twice I had to grab hold of trees as the drop was too big and the landing spot too small to make my own way down. Luckily I managed to swing down without issue when I had to hug the tree with my right arm but I did manage to wrench my left shoulder some with the bigger drop to my left. Symmetry is important, don't you know?

The path seemed to go on and on with us constantly going up and down ridiculous heights but even if we had decided to turn back 10minutes in, I doubt I would have made the climb UP the first rock I jump down. Nothing to do but carry on.

We had ladders taking us down, just for us to have to climb back up or vice versa. One ladder was a vertical climb of about 15ft. While ladders make me nervous these days, the main issue was there was a huge rock with a smooth surface we had to balance on (sheer drop and all) while trying to reach 2/3ft across empty space to grab hold of it! I'm still not quite sure how I managed to reach it! Sheer relief when I did... at least until I saw the 30ft scrabble back up we had to make on about a 70degree angle..did I say I liked climbing?!?

As if this wasn't enough we then had a cave crevice to 'pass' through. This was a tight fit with us pressed against the wet surface as we tried to manoeuvre our way through without dropping our backpacks.

After about 45mintues we still seemed to be a long distance from the Gondola but with fewer things to be clambering over we did make better time. Making it back maybe a little under an hour and a half after starting on the trail.

We hid on a picnic table under the terrace while we took a much needed break. Making the most of our chance to clean up a bit and for dad to check out the 2 cuts he had acquired as well as a scrape on his ankle after getting caught in a crevice while trying to climb across a rock. How he managed this when I'm the clumsy one, I don't know.

We then took the relaxing trip back down the Gondola before trying to work out what to do next.

We had originally thought to do a hike off the road between Stowe and Smugglers but since neither one of us felt the need to expand any more energy we instead decided to go back and buy a few bits we'd seen in the week that we wouldn't mind having.

This way we could try a different road out upon leaving in the morning.

Arriving back at Smugglers a little after 6- the earliest we had been back all week- we enjoyed our last evening in the resort. I worked on the blog while I sat on our terrace watching the sun go down behind the mountains- pale pink streaks crossing the sky. I followed it up with some reading and using the Jacuzzi jets one last time before finishing my Ben &Jerrys - delicious!

Friday 26th September 2014- Smugglers Notch, Vermont to Mashpea, Massachusetts USA

Friday morning we began packing up our stuff ready to head south to Cape Cod. Its so crazy to think we've had a whole week in Vermont, as its passed by in such a blur!

Having read that Johnson was one of the best areas to see the Fall colours, dad decided to drive southeast to St Johnsbury before joining the highway south.

The books were right, as while we've seen patches of the colours before, it seemed like the whole area was well on its way to turning here. On top of this we also found some covered bridges and even a covered railway bridge along the way to have a look at.

Once on the highway I drove for a little while but we swapped back before too long as I really struggled to stay awake after finally having sleep half decently for a few hours.

In fact, with the rest of the journey being pretty much straight down- only a small side trip off at windsor- I found myself dozing by the time we crossed into Massachusetts.

I did wake up fully though as we were crossing the bridge to Cape Cod and along with dad I was surprised at just how forested the area was, looking down on it.

On reaching Sea Mist, we checked in and I was pleasantly surprised to see a pool. Yeh, I know. I never made use of the one at Smugglers but who knows, this could be the week :)

After settling in we went off to the supermarket to get some food and for the first time in 3 weeks I was in bed trying to sleep before midnight!

Saturday 27th September 2014- Mashpee, Cape Cod USA

Our first day in Cape Cod we decided to stick close to home and just head down the road to South Cape Beach, to begin with.

On arriving we tried to work out if we still had to pay to use the area- the Americans don't seem too big on their signage- before heading down the boardwalk to the water.

It's a sandy beach and goes on for miles in each direction, with the Islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket on the horizon.

We paddled along in the water, heading right. We were surprised at how quiet it was, both on the beach and out on the water. It was a gorgeous Saturday in September, after all.

The weather forecast had predicted that it would be good weather for the next 3 days...and clearly me being me, I misinterpreted this to mean warm when really it meant hot! ...so queue sunburn....

As we walked along the beach, we saw huge shells scattered about, in all different kinds of sizes. I would later find out that these are Horseshoe Crab shells and are common in the Cape as they molt their shells multiple times, so they can continue to grow....

...Eck, I'm one of these people that really hates it when I'm in the water (which I haven't been, in like, a decade) and get seaweed or some such touching my feet. My mind immediately goes to Jaws (which coincidentally was filmed on Martha's Vineyard) and given the size of some of these horseshoe crab shells, ignorance really can be bliss! Especially considering that great white shark sightings are on the rise in the Cape area, as the seal population has boomed in the past decade!

After a while we turned back, retracing our steps until we decided to walk up and join a trail walk. We then ended up turning around again and following the trail out to the point, passing Sage Lot Pond along the way. After stopping and taking some pictures, we decided to walk the mile and a half back in the water again rather than on the upper trail... Not going too deep in said water you understand :)

I've always been of the opinion that people are mad for running on beaches and this walk confirmed it for me. Silly, silly people :) Walking any distance in deep loose sand is difficult enough, let alone running!

Next up we headed to Falmouth where it turned out the Capes Classic Car Club were having a meet on the main town lawn.

Leaving the main drag we wandered down to the water before coming across a few crates of books being given away.. dangerous for book lovers like us! I think the cousins will be getting some books for the kids when we arrive back in Canada :)

Back up in the town we spent an hour or so exploring this quaint shop lined street. It was a mixture of eateries, upscale clothing shops and unique little boutiques.

We entered one shop thinking with the name 'Celebrations' that it would cater to birthdays, weddings, births etc..Instead we found while it did have cards for these occasions, a quarter of the shop was taken up with Halloween and Christmas decs!

Having passed an Ice cream shop with huge queues we eventually made our way back to it catching it during a lull. $5 for a huge ass ice cream, the only problem being that the cherry chip flavour I chose was so difficult to scoop, I ended up having it in a cup with a cone on top... starting a new craze as a granddad suggested it to his grandson as I passed by :)

...I've eaten more Ice cream in the past week than I think I have in the last yr!

On the way back to Mashpee we stopped at a shopping centre as we saw a huge Pumpkin Patch which we just had to investigate closer. And then we moved on to the shopping centre closer to us and realised it was way bigger than we had thought. A real town in and of itself. They even had an organic supermarket. First time I've seen one that big!

Back at the unit we chilled out for a while before I went for a swim. Luckily it was nice and quiet in there with only two kids in the pool. Its been a year since I last spent any time in a pool and while I know it's good for you and works all different kinds of muscles I really am not a huge fan. Half naked around strangers is just not my thing! Plus I'm a messy swimmer, surprise surprise!

After 25mins I moved on to the Jacuzzi before heading out when a couple arrived replacing the family that had left 10 mins before. After showering I went in search -again- for the elusive exercise room which Sea Mist was supposed to have.

Still not finding it, I eventually asked the guy at the front desk and was given the key and directions to have a quick peak- damn my wearing flip flops! Oh well I will definitely be making use of that over the next few days! And yeh maybe the pool too though the gym is my first choice :)

Sunday 28th September 2014- Mashpee, Cape Cod USA

Since we already had an idea of what we were doing each day while in the Cape, we were on our way out the door by 10am, heading for Provincetown.

We knew it would take roughly an hour and a half to make the drive and I have to say it was pretty boring along the highway. There's trees lining either side of the road, so even if there was something great 50 yards away, you wouldn't know about it.

Provincetown itself is at the tip of the Cape and is well known for its artsy vibe. And as soon as we arrived we got caught in a one way traffic system which was somewhat cramped given that it was down commercial street (the main shopping district) with pedestrians playing chicken. Eventually untangling ourselves we found somewhere to park and made our way back on foot.

Deciding we didn't wanna be dragging each other around, dad and I split up and agreed to meet up a little later; so off I toddled, heading down to some of the many art studios we had driven past. They have all kinds of art here, from mosaics to watercolours; photography to blown glass. You name it, they have it.

It doesn't just stop with the art though. Provincetown has so many unique shops, from clothing boutiques to hand crafted jewellery; pet boutiques (yes im serious) to bookstores ; fudge shops to a Portuguese bakery. It goes on and on and whether your looking for souvenirs, a new wardrobe or that unique gift, Provincetown will have just the place.

On top of this, the town is lined with a long sandy beach and has restaurants and bars galore and is also well known to be a gay friendly place- adding to its fun, eccentric buzz.

On meeting up with dad we decided to take some more time flying solo. I used the time to walk down to the pier and get the view looking across the harbour back to town.

On my way to meet dad once again, I saw a parade coming down the street. A Pet Appreciation Parade, no less. It was led by animal control and ended with the 'Funk Bus'..not quite sure what that is and not sure I want to find out!

Leaving Province town we made a few stops at the lighthouses, as we headed south. These were all pretty disappointing- instead of being on the edge of the coast, they were way inland and so short I have no idea how they could be of use. Given the pictures you see of Cape Cod with the lighthouses, we both expected a lot more.

Back at the unit I had planned to go to the gym...maybe tomorrow!

Monday 29th September 2014- Mashpee, Cape Cod USA

One thing I knew I wanted to do while in Cape, was to go whale watching. So last night I had booked onboard the Hyannis Whale Watch for the 11am sailing.

A little after 10am I arrived and joined the end of the safety/ information talk. Within a minute or two we were boarding and just waiting to sail out the harbour.

I hadn't originally planned on joining the Hyannis whale watch tour but it's the closest to Mashpee- if a little more expensive than the others- but looking on tripadvisor it had really good reviews so I was looking forward to what I might see.

We motored out of the harbour heading towards Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the area most likely to yield whale sightings. We first came across a lone Humpback, cutting the engine we spent some time with him. Funnily enough our closest sighting was as he surfaced just behind me, maybe 30ft from the boat! I was lucky enough to be one of the first to spot him so I got a good look but I wasn't quite quick enough to get a picture!

Moving on after his second dive we continued on until we met up with two adult males travelling together. Apparently Humpbacks being baleen whales, means that once they've severed the cow/calf bond, they will travel alone for the most part, just hooking up with others occasionally to travel awhile.

We continued on, a short time later spotting two more whales to the front of the boat. While I didn't have a clear view of these I did have one of two more a little further away to the south of us.

We were told that two in this group were calf's, most likely to be in their last year with their mums. Pretty soon we spotted other whales and a couple of which, the crew were able to identify by their tail markings. One of them was Milkweed and her calf and the other was Salt, again with her latest calf.

We learnt that Salt is a well known whale who has had 13 calf's that the worlds aware of; and every one of them has survived to adulthood. Not an easy feat! In fact because of the high morality rate, whales arnt named until they reach 2 yrs old, unless of course, their one of Salt's Calf's!

With us drifting with engines cut and the whales diving under the surface for anywhere between 4 to 8 mins, I soon lost track of which whale was which.

While on the water, we were shown a sample of belean whales teeth...well the alternative to teeth as Humpbacks are toothless whales and filter rather than chew their food. It was rather odd with straw/ brush like ends for the filtering.

And we were told that each whale needs to consume a literal tonne of food a day so that when they migrate to the Caribbean in the coming months, they'll have the fat to survive when there's no food for them to hunt.

It may seem odd that they migrate to an area without food source for months on end but it's all about the calf's. The whales spend the winter months there so the newborns have a better chance of survival. The warm waters are like a natural incubator and the salt content in the waters helps them float as they grow stronger as conscious breathers.

A while later after tired himself out the independent calf decided to rest and float by a fishermen's boat...most likely scaring all the tuna he was trying to catch, away :) But the fisherman did everything right -according to our crew anyway- by pulling in there lines and waiting on him to move off. An hour later though, he was still there!

In the meantime we watched the other whales. My attention mostly being spent on a whale a little further away who caught our attention by breaching. He repeated the action a good half dozen times and spent considerable time on his side flapping one of his pectoral flippers before turning on his back and and waving both of them at the same time! This was amusing and great to see.

After spending awhile with him, we watched him dive under the surface. He did one last breach before giving up his active ways to socialise with one of the other whales that had come to check him out. By now most of the whales were a distance away so when these two dived under we started slowly moving out of the area.

As we did so a small jet boat came racing across the water, not slowing any when he got up close and personal with the two newly surfaced whales we had been watching. He kept going heading for the group with the calf's, causing one of the adults to breach - most likely feeling threatened- before they all dived under and that was the last clear view we had of them.

While it was unbelievable that someone who was clearly wanting to see the whales up close would endanger them the way he did, the crew felt pretty sure the other boaters (all of which cut their engines as soon as any whale got within 400yards of them) would 'teach him some manners' as they put it... I wouldn't be too sorry to see them have a little accident and end up in the water with these huge creatures..and any sharks that might be about... they may come away with a new found respect for animals and their habitats :)

While on the journey back I went to get a hot chocolate to help warm me up and sat downstairs enjoying the views while sorting through some of the pictures and videos I had taken. I ended ordering a video of our trip from the professional videographer on board so hopefully that will turn up in a few weeks and she'll have caught more than I did!

Once back on land I met up with dad and we headed for Hyannis itself for a look around (the whale watching was out of Barnstaple). Along the way we stopped at the JFK Memorial and the Korean War one too. Both of which were well kept and quite touching.

We wandered along the street in Hyannis and went in a few shops. My favourite being the record shop.

They had all kinds of music from all eras including a large collection of vinyls. As well as this they had quite a collection of badges, poster and doll collectables. Again music related but also from TV shows and movies. They had a fair bit- posters, doll etc- of NCIS Abby stuff but just my luck all they had of the Supernatural boys was a huge poster... No I didn't get it- Honestly I resisted. It would be a bit too creepy size wise... Now if it was smaller .. :)

Leaving Hyannis we headed home with just a brief stop at the supermarket and fuel station. Once back in the unit we quickly changed and headed out again.

Dad was going to spend some time swimming while I worked in the gym.

I only did a little more than 40mins but the TV kept me entertained with all the political smear campaigns going on. I thought the military guys was the best (and less slandering than the others) until he referred to America as 'The Homeland'. Now I know technically there's nothing wrong with this but as far as I'm concerned it sounds plain stupid in this day and age and just succeeded in making him sound like an arrogant dumbass.