Wednesday, May 31, 2000. After going to Jiffy Lube for an oil change and tire rotation, I made my way home just in time to take my girls to day care. It was hard to say good-bye to them, knowing that it would be nearly a week before I saw them again. I had explained to Taryn that I was taking the compass back to Empress of Ireland and that I would not be home for a few days. She understood, but was not happy about it. It just about broke my heart knowing that what she really wanted was to go with me. She was very interested in the ocean liners I studied and could identify several on sight. Skyler, too young to understand that she would not see me again for a while, was her usual cheerful self. She gave me a big hug and a kiss and scrambled off to play.

I slowly exited the day care, stealing one last glimpse of my girls before I headed back to the house. Deb helped me finish packing and we loaded up my car. The compass found a home in the back seat, belted in and wrapped in blankets so as to protect it. I kissed my wife good-bye and started out. It was about 2:00PM. My first destination was Woodbury, Connecticut where Dianne Strong was visiting her sister Mary. Dianne had emailed me the previous August telling me she owned the main bridge compass from Empress of Ireland. She had recovered it from the wreck in 1970 while diving with her late husband Ron. She wanted to donate the compass to the Musee de la Mer in Pointe au Pere, near the wreck site in Northern Quebec. I located the museum online and contacted them, opening a dialogue between them and Dianne, who lived in Guam. Eventually, the donation was set up and the plan was for the compass to be unveiled at the opening cermonies dedicating a newly constructed Empress of Ireland Pavilion. The compass was, at the time, in a dive shop in West Chester, PA. Dianne also invited Chris, my Canadian partner in the LostLiners Foundation, and I to attend the ceremony with her. As it had been I who had helped get the ball rolling, she decided to make the donation in the name of the LostLiners Foundation as well as in her late husband's name. I agreed to store the compass at my house until it was time to head north! Of course I wouldn't mind! Having a piece of ocean liner history on my coffee table for a few weeks!

Anyway, back to the story.....The drive up was fairly uneventful. I hit a little bit of rush hour traffic going through the New York area, but traffic in and around the Big Apple pales in comparison with that of Washington D.C. so I was through it in no time.

I arrived at the Tyrell's home about 7:30PM. Dianne and I talked for some time, planning our early departure the next day. Her sister's house sat on 18 acres of heavily wooded land in the Connecticut hills. When the sun went down, I was amazed at how dark it was. It was pitch black outside. I did some star gazing and then headed back inside. I hadn't started taking any pictures at this point, hence the lack of photos on this page. I was saving all my film for Canada.

We woke up about 6:00AM the next day; June 1st. We packed up my car and departed about 6:45. We stopped for gas, Dianne took the first driving shift. An hour and a half later we entered Massachusetts

I was taken by the beauty of New England. Trees, trees and more trees! The mountains and lakes were breathtaking. At about 9:00 we entered Vermont and stopped at a rest stop in Guilford. The view of the surrounding countryside was fantastic. I took my first picture here. Well, actually Dianne took it; of me!

We picked up the pace a little and didn't make another pit stop till about 11:30AM. We realized we were close to the border so I stopped at a liquor store to pick up some beer for Chris. He had insisted that I bring up some Busch Beer. I bought a 12 pack and we headed for the border.

About 12:05PM we arrived at the Canadian Border. Little did we know that our "Adventure" was about to really begin...