Rush-hour traffic in Ottawa is awful! We got up early. We packed up the car, showered and were out the door at 6:30 in the morning and we still got caught up in the ugly traffic that surrounds this capital city every day. I'd compare it to D.C. traffic, and those of you who live in or have visited Washington know we have some of the worst in the U.S.

We made good time, almost running out of gas at one point! We ended up driving (forever) down this back road till we found one. We made it to the U.S. border about 10AM and were back on American soil with no problem.

The trip back to Woodbury was pretty uneventful. Oh, there was that tractor trailer that cut us off, nearly sending us over the side of a mountain! A-hole! It was a Penske truck. (We got the numbers and Penske got an earful from me when I got home).

We arrived in Woodbury about 3:30PM. I made the decision to continue on to home. I was still early and if I put the pedal down, I figured I could make it home by 9/9:30 that night.

I caught a little traffic outside New York City, but that's to be expected. New York traffic is nothing and I was in New Jersey by 6:00. I found a few "speed buddies" on the Jersey Turnpike; we took turns in the lead, with the lead car of course having the responsibility of looking for speed traps. It worked well and by 8:15 I was in Maryland!

I pulled up to my house at 9:35. I'd never been so happy to see home. Deb was still at work and our friends Jill and Jose were watching the girls. Taryn was still up in her room and tears rolled out of my eyes when I saw her. She leapt from her bed into my arms and I held her for a long time. I laid down on her bed with her and watched Wizard of Oz for a while. I was actually happy to hear Skyler crying next door. I didn't want to wait till the next day to see her. I went into her room. I guess she was a little surprised to see me; she started crying even harder. I cried too, so happy to see her and she jumped into my arms the same way Taryn had. Taryn then came into Skyler's room and I just sat there holding both of them. It was good to be home.

Deb came home later that night after I'd put the girls back to bed. I'd parked my car in one of the guest spots under a tree, but Deb knew I'd come home that night (I'd told her I was staying in Connecticut so I could surprise her); there was no pulling one over on her. It felt like I hadn't seen my wife in years. I told her all about my adventure and showed her the video I had shot. As much as she would have liked to have been there with me, Deb knew this was something I had to do alone. Just another one of the many reasons I love her. Finally being home after a week on the road, I loved her even more. It was really good to be home...