Friday, September 21, 2012

Day 6, Aug 16th, 2012 - Jessica Sauer

After a long night of tossing and turning, it was a struggle to move from my warm sleeping bag. I soon remembered our plan for the day quickly found the motivation to pack up my things and help load the van. After a delicious, but quick breakfast we said our goodbyes to the Gates’ and Jeff’s mom and dad and our journey began. After a very nice nap in the can I felt like I was waking up in a dream land. Seeing cases of beer sold in 9’s and 15’s, and carpet stores named “Just Walls.” Our excitement grew the closer we got to the border, and we all anticipated our first time in Canada. We were lucky enough to smuggle Ruby through the border, and I think we were all a little surprised when greeted with strip clubs and steam baths but we had finally made it. Our eyes were peeled, as we traveled deeper into Canada and our usual U.S.A. deer crossing signs were now moose crossing signs. The scenery changed drastically the more we kept driving and I was amazed by the beauty of Canada. Jeff mentioned to us before that the weather has been much different than the drought we were experiencing in Illinois, but I didn’t process it until we were heading further into the dark clouds and the rain began to fall. It was then I realized that we may have a very wet and gloomy 32 days ahead of us. Finally arriving, setting up camp was a bit of a challenge due to the rain but we worked through it and didn’t let it bring down our spirits. With not much planned for the rest of the evening, we were all very excited when we were invited to an interpretation on Lake Superior. This was the lesson that I was most confused about so we could not have been offered a better opportunity. After a good brief and debrief we headed towards the lodge not quite sure what to expect. The interpretation could not have gone any better. It was 45 minutes long and it had our group engaged and interested the whole time. With stories and facts, and singing and music, it was better than I could have imagined. Overall, the day had its ups and downs but after today I can fully say that there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be than here on this journey with this group of wonderful people. This was an amazing first day in Canada and I cannot wait to continue our adventure and grow as the 2012 ECOEE family. -Jessica Sauer

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