Our Summer Travel Destination Will Be...

Europe! Yes, we are taking the boys on a 9-hour flight at ages 18 months and 4. Austen, who has difficulty with sitting still for all 10 minutes of circle time at preschool is probably going to love sitting in his seat for an entire day but what can I say. We're gluttons for punishment.

The plan is to spend a chunk of time in Italy somewhere in Tuscany. We will be having a little reunion with some dear friends we miss so much from our time in Singapore. We'll also be finishing our travels with a week in London. Nothing is booked yet, no dates are set in stone but the wheels are churning.

Nine days in Victoria

July 2nd was our first travel day of our big Summer Canadian extravaganza. We took a taxi van to the airport and then flew into Victoria via Vancouver with about a two hour stopover. It was a full day for the kids but they were so chilled out. Austen just adored the planes and the airports requiring little else to amuse him. He did watch part of his movie and was pretty thrilled with the presents (a bouncy ball, stickers and wind-up toy) I had wrapped and tucked into my bag for a dull moment. Caelen literally just slept the whole way there. We were able to use the double stroller to get them up to the gate despite some confusing warnings from the airline website saying they don't gate-check double strollers. I think it's at the discretion of the person checking you in.

Despite the efforts I made to streamline our packing we were a hot mess of luggage at the airport because at the last minute Joel needed his bike...

Do not travel like this

Austen did carry his own carry-on bag #winning

Austen also used my phone to take pictures along the way

Our week and a half in Victoria has gone by faster than we could have anticipated. We gave each set of grandparents three days each to plan for us and have divided our time between them that way with a couple of rest days in there for good measure. The kids have enjoyed the beaches, Butchart Gardens, walks around Oak Bay and time with their grandparents. We haven't even taken them into Victoria's downtown at all this trip. 

The weather has been cold, damp and at times windy. I'm ready to turn up the heat with the weeks ahead in Montreal and Ontario.

The arrival

Here's the end photo taken this morning. Joel with 7 days of beard and Marcel with 31.

Safe and sound

I picked the boys up from the airport this evening. They fell asleep before I had a chance to snap a picture of their beards. More to follow!

Helena, timeless icon of style

The boys camped out on a mountain top last night and then hit the road again today for their final mountain pass. Joel says they arrived in Helena, the state capital, quite early and have been making friends with the locals. People are pretty interested in who they are and where they came from. At this very moment the boys are on their bikes part way though a "tour" of all the local bars. They were just passed on the road by the "Helena Limo" which is a 6 door suburban with an animatronic deer on the roof that dances to music. You can't buy class like that.

Day 4: Wild Horses

The boys left their campsite at the crack of dawn (so they could avoid paying for their campsite) and headed across flat flood plains. Joel described the amazing experience of riding right through a herd of wild horses.

After the plains they crossed a river and then rode over a mountain pass and arrived in Lincoln, MT in the afternoon. Now they're checked into a crappy motel to get cleaned up and recharge some gear. So far all their equipment is holding out, even after a river crash. Tomorrow they ride to Dead Man Creek Campground and the following day they ride into Helena where they plan to spend a couple of nights before flying back here.

Day 3: mosquitoes larger than Grizzly bears

Joel and Marcel just arrived in Ovando, MT and are currently warming the bar stools at Trixie's Saloon. They left the Palm Lake Campground at 7:30 this morning after a night of torrential downpours and lightening. Their hilly ride began at 2000' topped off at 7000' and then they "bombed down some gnarly single track trails" to arrive at 4000'. Thus far they are doing the triap at double the speed of the guide they brought with them and may have to figure out some ways to kill time before they get to Helena. Joel made the shocking suggestion of a rest day but also thought they might add a side trip in somewhere.

Their ride today took them past "Grizzley Basin" but they didn't see anything but a few deer. They are being "eaten alive" by mosquitoes but all in all are in good shape and are having the time of their lives.

Day 1 & 2 Recap

I just got off the phone with Joel and he has instructed me to write this little recap of the past two days.

Day one, yesterday, they set out at 1:00 and actually did twice the amount of riding their guide book suggested (about 120km). Along the way they were chased by dogs and stole "the most amazing cherries ever" from someone's yard. Marcel actually took a whole branch. They got into Cedar Creek Campground at 10 at night and shared a hot night with some extremely friendly insects and hungry mosquitoes. Sounds dreamy.

Today they did a shorter ride, 60km of rolling hills. Some of it was gravel roads and the rest was single track mountain bike trails. They ended their day at a swanky hunting lodge called Holland Lake Lodge. They just had an amazing multi course meal and a bottle of wine and are now looking out over the lake as the sun goes down.

Tomorrow they are heading straight uphill right into Grizzly territory. They have an air horn and Joel also has assured me that his real goal for the trip was to "sucker punch a bear in the neck." A well thought out plan I'm sure.

That's all for now!

11:30am Day One

A short voicemail from Joel came in letting me know he found Marcel and the two are waiting in the airport for Joel's bike to arrive.

Neither of the boys had any idea if the significance of this starting location before planning this part of the bike trip. Kalispell, Montana was the original location of the DeStaffany family homestead. This is where Joel and Marcel's Grandfather, Gus DeStaffany came from. Gus was an explorer in the North and tales of his travels are the stuff of survival legends. While he unfortunately didn't live long enough to meet Joel or Marcel I think we can see where the adventure bug originated. So this morning, at the beginning of this trip lets raise a glass to Gus DeStaffany. Wherever he is I'm sure he would approve of any kind of adventure.

Joel & Marcel's Ultimate Bike Trip

For over a year Joel and his brother Marcel have been planning to ride the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Banff to Mexico. If you are not a Pennington by blood this might sound like hell on a bicycle but to these two, it's pure rugged heaven. Riding till your bones hurt, sleeping on the ground, eating dehydrated stuff. In Joel's words, "It's the perfect holiday." I'm sure that's what you were thinking too.

At the beginning of June Marcel set out from Victoria by bike, heading across the country to the trail head in Banff and then headed South over the border into Montana. Tomorrow Joel will fly from Oakland to Montana to meet Marcel and then the two will spend the next seven days riding from Kalispell to Helena. That's about 400 bumpy miles of that stuff heaven's made of.

I'm going to post some updates from their travels whenever I hear from them along the way. To send along any wishes just reply to this post.

-Stacey