Leading up to departure, we received a lot of support from a number of people back home.  We would like to acknowledge with special thanks the generosity of a these people.

Bob and Debbie

Firstly, without a doubt, we would like to thank Jenn’s parents Bob and Debbie, and for probably more things than we have noted here.  Having packed up our lives in Toronto and moving our remaining belongings into a storage locker, the original plan was to stay with Bob and Debbie for about three weeks.

Delays

And then we delayed a day.  And then a week.  And then another.  And… exactly one calendar month after our original departure date, we rolled away.

Bob and Debbie have been very kind in opening up their house to us, making sure we were (well) fed and that all our needs were met.  They truly went above and beyond for us.  We have many memories sitting around “Bob’s Bar” and “Margarittaville”.

 Open doors

Their open door, however, did not start here.  While we spent just under two months with Bob and Debbie, we also inhabited their garage (Debbie might say “Bob’s garage – I don’t go in there”) with one or more bikes for close to a year while were prepping for this trip.  We made many weekend trips up to Beaverton to work on the bikes (even xmas day) and were always welcome.  Specifically related to the bikes, we would like that thank Bob for his assistance with various projects.  Bob now has his garage back and has the space to work on his own bike.

 So, thank you!

So thank you Bob and Debbie for us up, (or is that putting up with us?).

The Move

Further to this we would like to again thank Bob and Debbie for numerous trips down to Toronto to help us move out of our apartment.  Special mention also goes out to “cousin” Ed.  Working on an oil rig in Alaska, Ed offered up more than one day of his presumably much need vacation in Ontario to tag along with Bob and Debbie and assist with our move, no questions asked. Honourable mention goes to Paul who offered to help us move while he was on holiday/family business in Australia.

Carnet de Passage

We would also like to thank both Adam and Jenn’s parents for pledging to loan us some funds in the event that we require a “Carnet de Passage” for our bikes.  This is is essentially a passport/bond/insurance policy required by countries to import vehicles.

Bon Voyage Party

We also want to thank Jenn’s parents for the wonderful “bon voyage” party they threw for us (in quotes because we actually left a month later).  On that note, many family and friends came from all over including over-nighting in camper trailers in the rain.  We received numerous unexpected gifts including cash, gift cards for restaurants and gas, and others.   We have already offered up our individual thanks to our generous family and friends, but if we have missed anyone let us know and we will send you a postcard.

Wellesley Street/Hamilton/Bronte

We want to make special mention of our Wellesley Street/Hamilton/Bronte friends for the support over the years.  While we have been carefully pinching pennies, and perhaps coming up a little shy during gift giving, they have most generously been “sneaking” in trip related items and gift cards at any available occasion.  Included here is Gab for several iterations of custom T-shirts:  “Farkles” and “Los Farkles”.

Heather

Last but certainly not least, we want to thank Heather R. for designing and embroidering our “Trans-Continental Mambo” patches and name patches.  Heather drove from Barrie to Beaverton on at least four occasions as part of the process to make sure that they were perfect.