Impromptu Road Trip- tips when traveling to Canada

Sometimes I feel like a College student who all of a sudden realizes that it is Spring Break or a 3 day weekend and they have a car.  Which really means Road Trip.  You open up a map and figure out where you can go on your limited budget.  This weekend was not much different.  I was visiting my husbands family in Syracuse, NY with my niece who is visiting me from Poland for 2 months.

The plan was to drive there for 9 hours on friday, my husband was going to play in a golf tournament for his favorite charity (a camp dear to his heart that he attended and was a counselor at) and I was going to take my niece to Niagara Falls.  When we came back to Syracuse I realized that I really do not need to go back home just yet, my husband can catch a ride back to Richmond with his friend and I can continue on.  So here we go.  Ottawa is mere 3 hours north of Syracuse passing by beautiful 1,000 lake region (maybe my next vacation spot).  Then off to Montreal for the night.  Some walking around during the day and back to Syracuse to sleep and wake up to drive back to Richmond.  That is all nice and beautiful if you do not count in one major factor: Toddler Twins.

No worries more details to follow but for now here are some things to keep in mind while traveling to Canada:

• Your 3G network does not work in Canada (unless you decide to pay for super roaming) which means your kids will not get any youtube movies on your phone.  It also means you can forget about your maps application, so be prepared to open a real one or call your husband frantically.
• When my kids are overtired they spill stuff, and when that stuff is whole milk, it ain’t pretty, unless you decide to travel in the middle of winter (WHY?).  Be prepared to wear a face mask or air out your car while driving.
• The plus in French speaking Canada is that if your kids are pleating to watch Spongebob or Sesame Street at 1 am and all you get is Simpson’s or Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World you can let them watch it. They will not understand a word of it.
• I don’t know about your kids but the more tired mine are the more they act like drunken college students.  Full of energy until they run or bump into something.  Thank goodness no emergency trips this time
• Make sure you call your bank ahead of time.  There is nothing worst then waiting in the lobby of a nice hotel in Montreal with your toddlers running wild after last 2 hours in the car and having to call your Credit Card company to explain that you are you and you are in Canada.  No one stole your identity and you made all the charges.  It works with debit cards also my bank called me 3 times the next day letting me know that I tried to make purchases in Canada and was denied because of fraud protection.
• Get your brain ready for some math: currency exchange rate, speed limit exchange rate, temperature exchange rate, gas mileage exchange rate and all of that with no phone application service.
• Remember to get a note from your husband allowing you to travel with your kids, just in case.  It is better to be safe then to have your car search with toddlers on board.  No it did not happen to me I was over prepared.