The Great Szerminski Adventure

The last couple of nights around the campfire we have been making lists of our favourite things about the trip, as well as some ‘non-favourite’ things. The list is for us more than anything, but if you like lists this post is for you too! Each list is in no particular order, and we all contributed. Summary Stats: 127 nights: 88 of them spent in our tents, 93 in our sleeping bags (some cabins and yurts did not have beds!) 14 states and 5 provinces ~27 000 km driven At least 317 km hiked Favourite Campgrounds Fruita (Capitol Reef National Park, UT) Indian Garden (Grand Canyon National Park, AZ) Lake Pleasant (near Phoenix, AZ) Skidaway Island State Park (GA) Needles Outpost (near the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park) Agawa Bay (Lake Superior Provincial Park, ON) Sleeping Giant Provincial Park (ON) Echo Lake Provincial Park (SK) Favourite Non-camping Accommodations Ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert (BC) Earthship (NM) Chelsea ...

We have been collecting some fun trip stats to share as we finish up our journey. This shorter post is dedicated to the Canada portion of our journey. Number of nights: 34 Nights in a tent: 23 Nights on a ferry: 3 Provinces: BC, AB, SK, MB, ON We have stayed in 9 Provincial Parks and 3 National Parks. ~7000 km driven No major car problems, though a red squirrel stole something from under the hood. Insulation? Cabin filter? We can’t be sure. Watch out for red squirrels at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park! :)  Animals spotted in Canada: Sand dollar, deer, slug, bear, raccoon, Richardson ground squirrel, dog tick, chipmunk, black fly, mosquito, bald eagle, sea otter, crabs, elk, big horn sheep, rabbits, crayfish, ravens, bison, leech, garter snake, red squirrel We have had the pleasure of seeing friends 3 times! (Yes, we have friends. Sort of.) Tom and Nicole graciously hosted us in Vancouver. We apologize for the bloody nose. We feel responsible. ;) Th...

Blogger: Miriam   SO many Crabs Watching crabs move is one of the most interesting things. Near the start of the trip we would be walking near a beach and then see a crab smaller then a penny scuttling sideways. You need good eyes to see the tiny little guys crawling all over the place. For awhile we did not see and crabs at all. That’s why when we went to a beach in a park called Humbug Mountain State Park the crabs were a surprise.  We were looking for pretty rocks when Lucy called us over to see something. It was a crab huddled under a big rock looking at us like ‘really guys?’ We looked at him for awhile and then I went to the washroom and when I came back Lucy and Mama were showing  me crabs all over the place. If the crab moved you would be surprised that it moved sideways. They look like they could move forwards but somehow they legs make them go the other way. Most of the ones we saw were purple coloured but there would be the odd greenish or yellow. The ...

Blogger:Miriam Today we have ten nights left until the trip ends. We are at Riding Mountain National Park where, I am glad to say, we saw three more animals. The first we wished not too see. I was sitting in the tent when I heard someone running as fast as they could. Then I realized it was Lucy and she was going quicker then normal. When she came to the tent and caught her breath again she said        “It’s a tick! It’s on my neck!” Mama saw it there and daddy went to go and get things to remove it. After we got it out we all checked our body’s for ticks to make sure nobody else had any. That was yesterday. Today we were driving and we saw a black bear on the side of the road. We slowly drove by it but rolled down to windows first to take a picture of it. Mama and Daddy had already seen a bear on the trip but this was me and Lucy’s first time. Then we went to a bison enclosure where we saw so many bison. They sat there at the edge of the road wa...

The Northern Adventure Blogger: Miriam  Our first time going on a sleeping ferry! But first we had to wait in long lines of cars and find our parking spot. But finally we grabbed our things and got out of the car. When we got inside we grabbed our cabin keys and went to our room, 702. Lucy and I were to sleep in the bed and Mama and Daddy on the floor on deck five but then we saw the space inside our cabin. There was room for like ten people to sleep on the floor even though it wouldn’t be comfortable. Lucy and I would have slept on the floor but Mama and Daddy were the ones with the mats and sleeping bags so they were to sleep at the foot of the bed. We had a bathroom and a shower inside and two big circular windows looking at the side and bow of the boat. We had a fridge, a TV, small desk, a desk chair, double bed, two comfortable chairs, a phone, two pictures, one mirror, a closet, a circular table, two bedside tables (that had lips on the edges so that nothing fell off), t...

What an unforgettable 13 weeks we’ve had visiting the USA. We spent the last couple of days thinking about the highlights and making lists of our favourite things. It’s wonderful to be returning to Canada, but also sad that our trip is getting closer and closer to the end. There are some common stereotypes about Canadians being polite and Americans being rude and obnoxious. We have no evidence of this. We admit that our sample size isn’t that big, and that it may not be representative of the general population (not everyone hangs out in national and state parks, for example). So, here are some things we have noticed about Americans. First, they are more open in their friendliness than Canadians. People all across the country were happy to strike up a conversation, offer advice, or just share a smile. Maybe it’s part of campground culture? It wasn’t only in campgrounds, though. Everywhere we went, people were kind and helpful. The places we visited were clean and well cared for. ...

Galveston Island state park was wonderful. It had just everything that we needed and so close. The comfort station was near and not too far away, and it was only a three minute drive when we wanted to go to the beach. The water was awesome, and one of me and Lucys favourite things to do was walk around the beach to look for Sand Dollars and shells. Lucy is the shell master though. Me and her have invented currency in shells. Shell Currency. We buy shells from one another that do not belong in our currency. Lucy normally would only collect shells that she likes and does not already have, but now she collects most currency shells so that she can buy more things from me. Me and Lucy also used some fabric from old shorts that don't fit me to make Lala and Purple Bear new dresses.        Anyway, the beach itself is wonderful, and it seems to have some sandbars. Me and Lucy walk out for quite awhile and finally the water came back to our knees. We never even ended up ge...