The last couple of weeks have made for travel trials and tribulations that as a whole have become comedy…

Back to our cherished, humble home with plans to explore eastern Canada. Parked for 7 months through the Montreal winter, to our immense relief we found the RV bone dry, free of mice and it started immediately!! Helped by gusts of wind, once we unstrapped the unwieldy cover it practically blew off. After hugs and high-fives it was off to get insurance. (Montreal, QC, June 11)

Not so fast...our home province's ICBC wouldn't insure us because “the vehicle has been outside of BC for too long" and advised they would only re-insure if we returned the RV to BC. Quebec wouldn't insure us because we weren't residents. ICBC would issue us a 31 day temporary pass to return home, but required an associated in-transit permit from Quebec. Quebec wouldn't issue the permit because we weren't residents. Complicating the issue, no one in Quebec would provide their name and direct line so that ICBC could call them for validation of their position. After 2 days of disheartening phone calls and office visits, at the 11th hour ICBC took pity on us and offered an extension for 3 months!!! Thanks Mom for scrambling to pick up and courier our decal and paperwork so that we can make every one of those 92 days count! (Montreal, June 13)

Back on the road it didn’t take long to smell burning metal… one of the front brake calipers had seized and our inside back (difficult to see) dual tire was flat. Our first night back in the RV was spent in a parking lot waiting for repairs and 6 tire replacements (overdue). (Montreal, June 15)

Next up, flooding… one of the plastic pipes feeding the bathroom sink must have cracked over the winter and then snapped at some point during the drive along Quebec’s washboard highway. Arriving at our campground late into the night, Rick turned on the water to flush the antifreeze out of the lines and the pink fluid gushed everywhere. (Edmundston, NB, June 16)

It was the first time seeing family in over a year and what a perfect occasion - niece Allana's convocation to recognize her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering degree. She worked hard and we're all very proud of her!! (Edmonton, AB, June 8)

Our 6 hr flight from Orlando to Edmonton turned into 30hrs with a couple of diversions and a sleepless night in the Denver airport because (unbelievably) every hotel room in the city was booked. I was lucky enough to get one of the only 2 sets of connected seats anywhere – Rick unfortunately toughed it out sitting upright like everyone else (except the guy who went one step further and slept under me on the floor). Needless to say, we were pretty tired for the family get together. (Denver, CO, June 7)

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On the 4th day, after a 40+ hour quadruple theme park blitz, it was almost a blessing that the torrential rain hit. After paying the big bucks to get into the park, many donned their rain ponchos and weren’t going to give up so easily. We, on the other hand, lasted through a cup of hot chocolate and then called it a day. (Disney’s Hollywood Studios, June 2)

Even though we’ve never seen the movies, we recognized the signature Hogsmeade and Hogwarts references in the Harry Potter section of Universal’s Islands of Adventure. This park was definitely a do over if we ever found ourselves in Florida again – the rides were great and the lineups not near as long as Disney’s. (Orlando, May 31)

Just 4 days before our arrival, Disney unveiled a new section called Pandora. With the local natural flora it wasn’t too much of a stretch to design it like the Avatar movie. We stood in line for 2 hours for the one ride, but the other (somewhere around this massive suspended rock waterfall feature) was 4 hours! Who waits for 4 hours – we thought 2 was a stretch! (Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s, May 30)

Although we’ve passed many gated housing complexes, this was a new level .... homes sat safely behind walls in the several uniquely named gated neighborhoods that as a whole made up the town called The Villages. These were dotted among golf courses, schools and shops serving all needs from cradle to aged (plastic surgery) to grave (funeral home). Driving their golf carts along a myriad of designated paths, there seemed hardly a reason for the population of 160,000+ to leave their homogeneously designed haven. (The Villages, May 29)

Ticks!!! After a hike, we did our usual cursory once-over looking for ticks and for the first time we actually found one on Rick. A quick google told us how to extract it and all was OK, until we found another and another. By the 4th one, we’d moved from mild concern to outright paranoia followed by a literal fine tooth comb search and a load of laundry where the washer didn’t drown them, but the dryer set to “hot” was strong enough to kill any stragglers that may have been on our clothes. They were very difficult to kill – their hard shell took effort to crush. After we’d settled down, we read more information and found out that we should have kept them to show a doctor if needed….oops guess the toilet flush wasn’t a good idea. Fun fact: ticks are a relative of the spider and not an insect. (Fort White, May 28)

Gainesville’s Natural History Museum, complete with a research center, was filled with frogs and butterflies (more than ten million butterfly and moth specimens – the largest collection in the world) – the most stunning were the most toxic. Each of these dart poison frogs had enough skin toxins to kill 10 people. (Gainesville, May 27)

Three bat barns were set up on the University of Florida’s grounds and their residents have proven to be not only great for pest management, but also a tourist draw. Just after sunset we watched thousands of bats emerge from their homes to feast - 400,000 could eat one billion insects nightly. We followed warnings to wear a hat and kept our mouths closed. Getting into our car, we realized we reeked of something like cat urine from the microscopic waste that landed on us. (Gainesville, May 26)

​After seeing our favorite creatures so many times when kayaking, we got the chance to swim with them!  It was sublime just hovering so close and watching them munch on the sea-grass and to see close-ups of their faces as they rose for air.  It was baby season, so we spent time with a couple of cows with their calves.  This is the only place that the state has sanctioned such interactions and the rules were appropriately strict.  (Crystal River, May 26)

We took in an old style roadside show that has been around since 1947. The Little Mermaid was performed in the basin of a clear water spring. We were impressed with how easy they made lip syncing and acting, 20 feet below the surface, look in 5mi/hr current. Fun facts: Because so much of Florida sits on very porous sandstone near the land surface where the aquifers are, it has one of the most productive freshwater aquifer systems in the world. There are about 1,000 springs here and the larger ones pump out hundreds of millions of gallons of water per day. (Spring Hill, May 24)

The Weeki Wachee State Park had an education program that allowed us to touch a baby alligator and large snake – both felt velvety soft. (Spring Hill, May 24)

On our way up the west coast we stopped in at Dale Chihuly’s glass museum. As one of the most famous glass artists, his work has been shown around the world and a few of those pieces were here. (St Petersburg, May 23)

Clear glass takes its color from additions of metals or oxides and Chihuly had 300 hues at his disposal. This boat filled with floats used all of them. Interestingly, the color red uses gold and blue uses copper.

Beside the museum was the most in-depth glass work demonstration we’ve seen. For an hour, we watched the artist transform various crystals of glass into a decorative bowl. The clear glass was so hot it appeared orange.

The assistant held a water soaked wooden paddle between the artist’s arm and the piece being worked on to deflect some of the heat radiating off the glass that had just come from a 2500F oven.

For the final step, the "magic" happened very quickly - the artist removed from the oven a sphere with only a small circular opening on top and with practiced twirls and dips upside down and sideways at varying speeds the form opened up, thinned out and took on a fluttery shape.

We rented a scooter to explore this 15 mile thin strip of land bordered on each side by white sand and a lot of shells. To protect the resident turtles, there wasn’t a single street or traffic light - turtle hatchings would mistake them for the moonlight on water that leads them to the relative safety of the sea. (Sanibel, May 22)

In this exclusive enclave of Florida, it seemed there was a bylaw that your house had to have a playful name – every house had one. I wanted to take pics of a few so Rick would pull the scooter to the side of the road and I quickly took a clandestine shot. Then we saw this couple boldly scouting the strip with the guy loudly calling out to his girlfriend which homes to double back on for photos. It struck us as funny.

This mailbox won the prize for most detailed with two porches and rocking chairs.

The smallest (and still functioning) post office in the USA. (Ochopee, May 20)

We had to mention this place because it took the all-you-can-eat to a whole new level. On top of the multipage dessert menu, huge salad bar and every meat you could think of, each diner’s $32 charge included a bottle of wine! (Homestead, May 19)

Me and an alligator shared a little face-off time. Warned of an especially heavy mosquito presence this year, we made an Old Navy run to ensure we were covered head to toe. Options were limited, so Rick ended up with pajama pants and a hoodie and me oversized pants and a turtleneck. To say we were hot in the 90F heat would be an understatement. (Everglades Nat'l Park, May 19)

These striking and formidable lubber grasshoppers covered a tree – 4 inches long, toxic and impervious to insecticides.

Vultures pick at the car’s weather stripping because it contains fish oil - guess R&D didn’t think of that possibility.

After being spurned by an unrequited love, Edward Leedskalnin moved to Florida in the 1920s and over the next 28 years built the Coral Castle, a complete home out of limestone and a few automobile parts. The eccentric man worked alone, without heavy equipment, and was very secretive about the construction. Mystery remains about how he moved around the several ton pieces, with one section weighing 30 tons. After his death, a 9 ton piece had to be moved and it took 6 men and a crane to do it. (Homestead, May 18)

The Coral Castle had a water well and functional furniture for every part of a house - this table (in the shape of Florida) and the rocking chairs were doable, but the beds didn’t look comfortable. He also made a sun dial that worked to within 12 minutes.

With Ed Sheeran's new album playing in the background, I waited on the pier to take a sunset shot while Rick floated in the warm water - a sublime moment. (Key largo, May 17)

Over a week and a half, we stayed at places along the Florida Keys. Being here was like stepping back in time with it’s laid back vibe, family businesses, little plastic chair restaurants with marinas at the end of lanes, low rise hotels/motels with BBQs, kitchenettes, kayaks and SUP boards and only a rare McDonald’s or Starbucks sighting. (Key Largo, May 16)

Our paddle started out serene, but turned into a tough slog in open water with whitecaps and a strong headwind. (Key Largo, May 16)

Kayaking gave us a view of the white lines that criss-crossed the shallow water where boat propellers had ripped up the precious sea grass meadows. They are important nursery and feeding grounds for sea creatures and act as filters to keep the water clear for the reefs to survive. In an effort to regrow the grass bird stakes (PVC pipes topped by wooden blocks) have been stuck in the water for birds to perch on – their guano fertilizes the area. (Key Largo, May 16)

Over the millennia, as the sea levels rose, fell and rose and fell again, the reefs were exposed and died creating sandstone (fossilized coral). The 100+ miles of the Florida Keys are basically a series of ancient reefs connected by bridges. At the highest point above sea level this coral was quarried from the early 1900s to the 1960s. (Windless Key Fossil Reef, May 15)

Because the soil depth along the Keys was measured in inches at most, the tree roots grew down into the limestone which eventually cracked the porous fossilized coral. These crumbled rocks were everywhere - landscaping, fences, breakwaters, etc. (Tavernier Key, May 15)

A few decades ago, owners of a restaurant/marina stitched up a Tarpon after they’d found it injured by a fisherman’s hook. Each day they fed it and soon that attracted more - today there is a school of about a hundred who stop by for the easy life, being fed by tourists. Although they can grow up to 8ft, the largest we saw was about 6ft. (Islamadora, May 15)

One of the prettiest pelicans we’ve seen, with its brown mohawk. While we fed the fish, these guys were aggressively trying to crowd in on the action and up close their beaks looked like a chomp could hurt. (Islamadora, May 15)

Iguanas large and small, green and grey were everywhere along the Keys, yet we’d rarely noticed them last Summer. A local told us he hadn’t seen so many here before. (Marathon {Key}, May 12)

When a dock hand saw a manatee swimming around he pointed his hose into the water and the manatee reached up his snout to take a lengthy shower. It was the longest we’d ever seen one come out of the water so he must have enjoyed it. (Key Largo, May 11)

Frequently the water that we swam and kayaked in wasn’t very deep and these jellyfish were common. The good thing is that they mostly remained at the bottom and even though we weren't stung, we understood it’s mild. (Key Largo, May 11)

Mangroves grow in salt water, but are only nourished by fresh water so they adapted using two lines of defense - first their roots have a way of filtering the salt out through a system of reverse osmosis and second, any salt does that does make it through is absorbed by a few unlucky leaves that then turn yellow and die. (Key Largo, May 10)

Our first night in the Keys came through with a sweet sunset. (Key Largo, May 9)