-32 Celsius, less than -40 with wind chill

When I was young I played outside in temperatures like this, but ... it never seemed this cold. Could be I was wearing better jackets, touques, gloves, etc ... and not suits and dress shoes ... but - ouch, nippy. Or could have been I was just young and stupid ... either way, the Florida winters haven't helped.

Joe gets his first taste of a real Canadian winter

Watch it ... those roads are icy

1916 - 2006

We will miss you.

These are times when you reflect on your family, your loved ones, your treasured memories. Those memories of musty basements, grazing fields, and ski slopes. The times together which now never seem to have been enough, but will be held in our stories for generations to come.

We travel home tomorrow to say good-bye, but you are not really gone are you. We love you.

So, it is now official. We are at our new place. Thanks to our crew of helpers - Ron, Kai, Louis, Tory, Christopher, Shannon, Darren and of course Krishen - we managed to successfully pack the 17' truck and several cars full of goods and ship it the 7 miles to our new pad. Funny, Melissa thought the truck was going to pack it all with room to spare - oh well, guess we store things well.

The move went really well, packed up easy and unpacked easier. It wasn't until after we ate and we went to take the truck back that our problems began. Apparently the alternator was dead - and we no longer had the juice to start the engine. Six hours of trying to get support from U-Haul they finally sent out a tow ... who came 45+ miles from St. Pete, was given the wrong information on the truck size and thus could only attempt to jump it -- which failed.

Another mechanic showed up and tried again in the morning - this time successfully - and were able to return it to the office. The people at the office were friendly and helpful ... but there roadside assistance folks were crap!. First they told us that the truck must be out of gas - thus any service would be on our bill. Ahh -NO - we drove the truck 16 miles, it better be able to go farther than that on 1/4 of a tank. But ... it was all our fault ... and they would hear nothing different. GAH! Whatever ... we had moved ... it was just an annoyance at this point.

Now that we are in - and the unpacking and hookups begin, not to mention the cleaning of the old place. It is a fun process that sucks hours of time that could be better spent relaxing. We, however, did get a chance to take a little break and tour the area a little more.

Are you sure it goes that way day?

Weeee ... when can I get one of these?

The fun and adventure is just beginning ...

We now have the keys to our new life. The whole process was relatively smooth and simple compared to a lot of horror stories that we have heard over the years - but I guess we had gotten it in our heads a while ago and were just waiting "for the right time".

So, our shoes are at the door and we have begun the process of moving in. Comcast should be here today to hook up the cable/internet/phone - though it will be a week before the phone comes through (enter the VoIP age). Verizon should be here to transfer the new phone number - which is likely to disappear shortly. We don't yet have a phone number - but our address is set. We will be sending out an email once we know our phone number - but if you would like an email address before then just drop us an email.

We love this place - feels so much like home.

Cooking over an open fire. (click for more pictures)

This year for halloween we took a trip to Hillsborough River State Park. Every year they put on a 'haunted woods' walk which becomes just a huge family event for the weekend. And this year we joined a group heading up from work. And it was filled with thrills right from the start ...

As we were exiting the I-4 we blew the rear tire in the van we were borrowing - fixing a tire on the exit ramp during rush-hour is fun, fun, fun. (Turns out we were struck by a hallow nail) So, we were once again left to pitching out tent in the dark by carlight. And since we had the space, up went Mr. Big and out came the hot-dogs and marshmallows. By the time we were "thinking" about bed ... out came the rain. The skies opened up and dropped buckets on us, so it was a quick cleanup of the site and into the tents.

Whats that ... a leak ... and another? Gah! The seems had not been fully watersealed, the fly was missing three ropes thus not doing its job, and the rain ... well it was pouring. So ... back-outside. We bungied the fly, grabbed our "second" tents' fly and pitched it over a weak point, and then ... pitched the tent inside out tent. Our three-man tent fit inside one room of the new tent and did not touch the roof or any side - crazy. Our camping guests (Krishen and a couple we just met) we lucky enough to have brought mattresses so were up of the damp floor - and we, well were in a our tent-in-a-tent. With all the leaks managed it was bed time. Breakfast in the morning was a breath of fresh air as the sun was again shining.

After eating, we took a short hike around the area. It is a gorgeous park, we are going to have to go back. We found a suspension bridge, what appears to be a very peaceful river for canoeing, and some great hiking trails. At the main park area there was a play-ground with live music - Joe enjoyed. We really took to the slide this time, sorry no pics ... mom and dad were occupied keeping up with stair-climbing Joe :)

Night time was the hallo-adventure. We dressed up a little, goofed around, and then enjoyed more campfire marshmallows and hot-dogs. By morning it was time to pack up and header home - it was a great, relaxing experience that was needed to recharge some batteries.

Check out our pictures of the weekend.