Wagons East!

Matt, here.  We have begun our trip to Halifax.  As I write this, we are at the end of Day 4.  I attempted to update at the ends of Days 2 and 3 from our hotel room in Quebec City, but inevitably Magnus would be fussing and Karen would require some assistance in putting him down to sleep.  First time having all of us in one hotel room.  Don't know how my sibs do it with 3-5 kids!   

We are now in Fredericton, and as we put the movie Casablanca on hold and Karen tries to sooth Magnus back to sleep, I thought I would try to give an update on the first few days of our trek. 

On Sunday (Day 1) we stopped in Ottawa instead of adding an extra night in a hotel in Montreal.  The trip to Ottawa was pretty quick.  We simply pulled into town, watched Denver get crushed by my (extended) home town team, and then pulled out early on Monday.  Magnus did get in some time with Nan and Grandpa Raz.  Didn't get too many photos, but was able to get a little bit of Grandpa Raz singing to his youngest grandchild.   I need to apologize (especially to Grandpa Raz), as the quality of the video isn't too great, it is only about 3 seconds of Laird singing, and I have witnessed better episodes of Magnus staring at Laird while he was being serenaded.  Still, we got Laird, Mortimer, and Magnus, a scene I am sure will repeat itself in the future.

Monday and Tuesday were spent in Quebec City.  Great view from the 20th floor of the Hilton.  Could see Chateau Frontenac, Old Quebec, the Citadel, the Plains of Abraham, and the National Assembly.  Pretty much the birth of a nation (or two). 

Night view from Hotel (lights on the Plains were for Carnival)

Day view from Hotel (Citadel to the left, Plains on other side of road, National Assembly on the right)

On the Monday drive to QC, we discovered a couple of things.  The first was that Karen's eyesight is still not back to 100% post-baby, as she thought that she had spotted an odd car vanity plate saying: DOG BOX.  Was actually: DO6 BQX...

The second lesson was that our grasp of the French language is extremely poor.  Driving through Montreal, we constantly saw traffic sign updates stating, "Circulation Fluide".  Guesses at what it meant included: "Use your Washer Fluid" and "You are about to go into the tunnel, below water".  Eventually, I think we landed on, "Traffic on the highway is moving well", or something of the sort. 

Inability to read the signs not withstanding, we did make it to QC.  Tuesday was cold, but sunny, and we spent the day walking through Old Quebec and around the Plains of Abraham.  With Magnus's snow suit packed away and no mitts packed, Karen improvised, showing her creativity and Magnus's personal style at the same time.  Got to love Argyle!

We also ended up in a square that contained this church.  I am pretty sure that this is in "Catch Me if You Can", with Tom Hanks and Dicaprio.  Maybe the scene where Dicaprio surrenders and then all the French police show up?

Scene from "Catch Me If You Can"?

Magnus also got to ride the Funicular (which took us down to the pretty square with the church and the cobble stones).  For those who haven't been there, it is like an elevator or gondola attached to a track running down the side of a cliff. For those not too interested in heights, it could be a little scary.  Reminded me of a child's version of a ride I took in Australia's Blue Mountains (that really freaked me out!). 

Interestingly enough, the base of the Funicular (where it stops) is in the house that was originally owned by the explorer who discovered the Mississippi.   Like Champlain, it seems that the guy really got around.

Magnus in the Funicular

All in all, QC was a great stop on our trip.  Great food both nights (as Karen said, "Now I have a place in Quebec City that I can recommend to other people!" FYI, it is called the Hobbit), lots of fresh air, and saw most of the sights.  Would add more pics but too many issues with this blog!

Will say hi from Halifax once we get the chance!