Window to my World - Canada Is...

As many of you know, my husband, myself, and our three (at the time) furbabies came to Kitimat from the Canadian East Coast.  To get here, we drove across the entire country, hitting every province except Newfoundland, PEI, and the Territories (hey, there's time!).  It was a fabulous journey, one which I often say every Canadian should do at least once.  

If you aren't Canadian, our country is wonderful and welcoming and you should come and see it!  As you pass from one province to the next, you will be amazed at how very different our various regions are.  In the East, you can see whales and icebergs in Newfoundland and Labrador, and continue on to gentle mountains, breathtaking coasts, and gorgeous farmland in the Maritime provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.  In Quebec you can enjoy amazing culture, beautiful countryside, and spectacular city life in Montreal and Quebec City.  Ontario, a huge province, has a bit of everything, from the metropolis of Toronto to the remote Canadian Sheild.  Passing into Manitoba you will feel a real change as the prairies begin.  Saskatchewan is a true prairie province with wheat fields, grain elevators, views that go on forever.  Alberta is another province with a bit of everything; it begins with wide open prairies and then ends in the majestically beautiful Rocky Mountains.  "Super, Natural British Columbia" is almost indescribable in it's sheer natural awesomeness.  We entered from the North, through the Rockies, and followed the mountains to our new home.  To the south, there is the Okanagan Valley, Whistler, and, of course, Vancouver!  So come and visit us!

One thing you will find of interest is our uniquely Canadian fascination with GIANT OBJECTS!!!!  Hey, we never said we weren't quirky!

 We set out on our journey determined to see as many of these objects as possible.  However, we, with assistance from our trusty GPS, planned too efficient a trip, and we missed out on a lot of these unique landmarks.  You can check out this great slideshow of Canadian Giant Objects.  For several years I lived across the street from Sydney's Giant Fiddle, and I have visited the Giant Glooscap on several occasions. Sadly, we did not think to get a picture of ourselves at the Giant Fiddle before we left home, and the only Giant objects we managed to find were these less well known ones.  How we missed the giant Canada Goose in Wawa, Ontario I will never know.  Anyone who's been to Wawa knows that it's a very small town, and that goose was probably impossible to miss.  

Above, you can see Molly and I posing with the Giant Blueberry in Oxford, Nova Scotia.  We are only about 5 hours into our journey here, so we look relatively fresh, if not a little sad (giant sunglasses are a homesick girl's best friend!)  Below, I am striking a pose with a giant sheep somewhere in the farm country of Ontario.  I can assure you I was heartily sick of that hoodie by the time we reached British Columbia.

 What a trip!  When we were children, Roger Whitaker was popular, and one of his 8 Tracks (remember those?) always seemed to be in the car, ready to play our favorite, "Canada Is..."  We sang that song in our grandparent's backyard in Cape Breton, and on a playground in Swift Current, Saskatchewan where you slid out of a clay buffalo's mouth!  And as an adult traveling West to an unknown new home, I hummed it to myself many times.  I did a search to see if I could find this song to share with you, and I found this wonderful slideshow prepared by the Vendramin family after their 2007 cross Canada trip.  I don't know them, but I thank them for posting this wonderful gift of a video to YouTube.  In it, you will see many of the giant objects that pepper our wonderfully diverse country.  I will admit to getting misty when the Nova Scotia pictures started playing, especially the Cape Breton pictures of the lobster and Baddeck.  And of course, any pictures of Mounties or their training facility in Regina fills me with pride.  So enjoy, and we hope you visit our beloved country.  We're a little proud of her!!

Have a wonderful week!