Tomifobia Bike & Nature Trail

We drove down to Stanstead, QC to do the first section of the Timofobia bike trail today...what the heck is Tomifobia...the fear of Tommy?

The Tomifobia Nature Trail (TNT) is a 19-km rail-trail in the Tomifobia River Valley, between Rte. 141 in Ayers's Cliff, Quebec and Rte. 247 in Beebe (Stanstead), Quebec. Sentiers Massawippi, a non-profit charitable organization, purchased this property in 1993 from Canadian Pacific.

Commonly known as Sentiers Massawippi and running all the way to the U.S. border, the Tomifobia Nature Trail offers a ride through the heart of the Eastern Townships’ natural and architectural heritage. Running along a former rail bed, this trail offers cyclists a gentle excursion to Stanstead, where you’ll find the Colby-Curtis Museum, the Haskell Opera House and famous Canusa Street, with one side in Canada, the other in the United States.

The week before we started the search for the perfect nature trail in Ayers Cliff where we did a half dozen km's through the nature preserve...it was awesome! The first leg of the trip, from the information center to km 7 to be more specific, was lovely and flat and the sun shone as we drove along the Tomifobia river through forests and saw cows, ponds and flowers... it was so beautiful DD almost had a collision with another rider coming in the opposite direction. The second leg, from Stanstead to km 15 we had bike problems and I thought DD was going to rip a telephone pole in two pieces because her brakes jammed and the kick-stand was rubbing her tire!

Growwwwwl!!!

Next time we ride from Stanstead we will start at the head of the trail at km 19 instead of winding through town although we did get to see the locals and the houses for sale!

I think I liked the first section best but all in all it is a real nice bike ride on unpaved hard packed trails...no worry about roller bladers or high speed racers here...it's all about the beauty of nature!

Walt Disney World Rides - Hollywood Studios

On my last Trip to Walt Disney World I visited Hollywood Studios on my third day. I was there at 8:30 am and I'd say it's worth it to get there early because you get to see a little show. In this one it wasn't Mickey and friends but a crazy Director and we all said "Lights, Camera, Action!" and off we all went to our rides. I wanted to go to the Indiana Jones show but it was only starting at 11:30.

I went to " Star Tours", a thrilling Start Wars flight simulator. This was a very bad decision on my part. Not that the ride is a bad one but because I have motion sickness. I had to keep my eyes shut almost the entire ride so it was almost a waste of time for me. Thanks to this YouTube user I can now catch up and watch it at home!

My second ride was in the Streets of America Muppet Vision 3D, a 25 minute hilarious 3D film starring The Muppets. As a child I really liked muppets, especially Miss Piggy with her outfits and hats and makeup and Kermit. It was very funny and very good. There was an orchestra under the stage with musician penguins! I especially enjoyed the Live Monster who walked in front of the stage, the rabbit on the left side balcony, and the bubbles!

My third ride was The Streets of America "Studio backlot Tour", A 35 minute walking/tram tour of movie-making magic. they took people from the audience to perform a simulation of boat being attacked then showed us the montage. The train brought us to Catastrophe Canyon. I was sitting on the left side and stayed dry despite what said the person who shot this YouTube Video.


I was looking for "Sounds Dangerous with Drew carey" but couldn't find it because they closed it. I'm glad I wasn't able to go cause it looked like it was boring from what people say. I ended up doing "The Great Movie ride", a 22 minute travel through classic film scenes and Hollywood moments. That ride was awesome! I enjoyed it a lot. I liked the chic entrance decor with the carpet and the costumes.

I wanted to go to the Indiana Jones show but no Fast Pass were available and I woul've had to wait 45 minutes standin, and the show was 30 minutes. So I turned around and went back and left the Park. It was getting too hot and with all the cement retaining the heat it must be a baking oven in the summer!

Instead of taking the bus back to Epcot I took a boat shuttle that goes to the resort hotels. It was one of my favorite rides. It was refreshing and relaxing.

Walt Disney World Rides - Epcot Center

I hope you get the chance to go one day. It is a great experience. I recommend going in the low season, using the fast pass system and maybe getting a book to plan your stay. Pack light, have sunglasses for when you come outside in the bright sun from a dark movie ride. Bring a vest or something you can put on your shoulders when inside if the airconditioning's on high. Bring snacks, a bottle of water, sunblock, and some $$.

At the end of Day 1, after Animal Kingdom, I still had time before I took my shuttle back to the hotel so I decided to take a ride in the monorail. I was hoping I could sit down, my feet needed a deserved rest but no, I felt like riding in a full rushhour subway. I did get a seat once we arrived to Magic Kingdom. I enjoyed the ride back to Epcot.


And I did this ride, Spaceship Earth in the Future World. At the end of the ride they take a picture of you and ask you to fill in a questionaire on a screen in the car, and then they make a mini montage according to your answers. At the exit, like in the Dinosaur ride, they have big screens with pictures of everyone on the rides. They are numbered and they have computers where you can email the animation they made with your picture and answers. I enjoyed this free extra.


On day 2 the first ride I did was "Soarin". I believe it is the best ride that Disney has. I had tears in my eyes as it was so beautiful. It was worth my 3 day ticket with the park hopper option. If you ever go to Disney, this ride is a must. Oh, and they even lift your seat up so your feet are dangling. I'm not sure if they tilt you forward a bit but for sure I remember vividly that they spray you with scents of pine above a pine tree forest, and with the scents of orange above an orange tree grove. I felt like it was the most wonderful moment of my life.


My second ride was "Living With The Land", a boat voyage through amazing greenhouses with baby bok choi, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, lettuce and a fish farm. The rides in small cars are my favorites, after walking and waiting in lines for hours.

The next ride was "Journey Into Imagination with Figment": A Journey that will engage the imagination and the senses. The only thing I remembered after the ride was at the end we got sprayed with the smell of a skunk!

"Honey I Shrunk The Audience"In-your face 3D adventure film where I met a friendly woman from Lasalle or Lachine on the island of Montreal. Her boyish skinny daugter was so cute, asking while we waited sitting on the carpeted floor, if there would be monsters jumping on us. That woman kicked me in the legs a few times when the air shots coming out of the benches made you believe mice were running between your legs.

Canada: "O Canada", Circle-Vision 360 film. Hosted by Canadian actor martin Short. 14 minute shows. I liked this movie exept when Martin spoke a bit of french when he introduced the province of Quebec - in Part II of the YouTube video - and said "La Belle Provence" while what he meant to say was "La Belle Province". These are similar words but have totally different meanings. Provence is a region in the south of France, and Province, well, is a Province. I thought Martin should have made a bit more of an effort, being an actor he should have been able to rehearse and practice to pronounce Province right. But then maybe that was the Director's job to tell him . But I still thought he was a good host!

In the France pavillion, I saw "Impressions de France", a film celebrating the beautiful French country side.

I had lunch in Morroco, at the Tangierine Cafe, outside at a table in the shade, priceless! I had a Falafel Pita sandwich with lentil salad and couscous salad with a Dasani bottled water. I enjoyed the music and the setting.

In the Japanese shop, I saw the most exotic things. I got some paperclips in the shape of Penguins and some stickers.

In The USA Pavillion, I saw The American Adventure, a 30 minute show and inspirational story of America and its people. It felt like you were walking in the white house. It was something big and epic. The characters and their settings came out from the floor and I was wondering how much space it took to keep all of them, and how frequently they had to dust them. It was nice but I found it hard to stay awake and my eyes were shutting, it was so serious. One part they didn't show us about the hitory of America though is how the British and French killed the natives with their guns, their alcohol, and their diseases... I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them but I wouldn't know! And I would be somewhere else! Maybe somewhere in the south of France... with no snow! Yeah! On my way out the first thing I saw was the Espresso Coffee Sign!

In Italy and Germany it was mostly shops and restaurants.

In China there was the 360 Movie "Reflexions of China" with beijing, the Wall of China, the Yang-Tse and the weird mountains.

In Norway, there was "Maelstrom", A Viking boat voyage through dark places.

In Mexico, it was the "Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros. Donald Duck, Panchito and Jose Carioca host a musical boat tour. At the beginning of the ride, on the right there is the restaurant and it smells so good! You can see the people seated and eating in a setting simulating an evening in Mexico in a small village with outdoors shops and lanterns and lots of people. To the left, the is the Mayan Pyramids. It was very colorful.

These last two rides were not a good choice for somebody having motion sickness... But I just wanted to do all the rides! Back in Future World, I went to Test Track... In the single person lane. I was supposed to wait 20 minutes instead of 50 and waited only 5 minutes but I hated it! I shoul've known, I get sick in a regular car, imagine in a test drive car!I regreted I was on it but once the car had left there was nothing I could do but swear in my head ?%$#@!!

So the last ride had ruined this one because I was more vulnerable to feeling naucious. At Mission Space I chose the green team for a mild journey with everything but the spinning. There was an actor from the movie Mission to Mars. We were all assigned a role and tasks. I was the commendant. It's not so bad now just watching the video because my seat doesn't move and there's no bumps... I had to shut my eyes quite a few times.

As soon as I was out, my watch said 5:15 and I decided I was tired and wanted to catch the 5:30 shuttle back to the hotel. I ran to C-11 and made it on time! The same people as yesterday were there waiting, a familly from Scotland: a mother with her 2 kids and her parents. When I got to the hotel it was goolash night, a sort of macaroni with a meaty tomato sauce (which tasted like they had used the leftover breakfast pork patties), brought it upstairs, put my bikini and went for a quick swim. Thee was a Germany Movie Special on TV and it went well with all my memories of the day. At 10:00 I went to bed... tossed and turned.. that free goolash ended up costing me some rest!

At the end of the third day I went back to Epcot to do some rides I hadn't been on. I went to "The Seas with Nemo and friends" where we boarded a clamobile and did an inside ride.

Then it was Turtle Talk With crush. I didn't know what to expect in this interactive show and I was impressed! My question is how can they do that?! So there's Crush, the turtle with a British accent who says "Dude", "Toaaatally", "Awesome", "Right" all the time. The kids were very cooperative and it seemed like everybody enjoyed and had a good time. There was this little boy who was too shy to tell Crush his name "I understand totally dude, I wouldn't know what to say if a turtle spoke to me". So Crush asked the girl next to him and she said he was her brother, so crush said: "Oh, you're kinda like his representative right?" and later he called her the Rep. Crush is very quick and always has a good and funny answer. It's interesting to watch all the different Videos on YouTube with the different Crush versions... I mean all the versions are different because it's interactive, Crush doesn't always have the same voice.. he mutates!

My last ride of all was The Ellen's Energy Adventure, a 45 minute show where Ellen brings us to the Dinosaur era. I thought I was in for a movie only... So I had a big surprise when we started moving! I had seen the rails on the floor but I thought maybe we would just ride a bit forward or backword or in circle. The whole croud turned, the cars were all seperated we were riding like a train inside the dino era! It was awesome! I was so glad I came back to Epcot after Hollywood.

I had lunch at the Land, a ginger beef Thai chicken with stir fried vegetables and rice. I wanted to do Soaring again but I didn't have enought ime for the wait so I did Living with the land another time and saw "The Circle of Life", a short film with the Lion King.

I hope you get the chance to go one day. It is a great experience. I recommend going in the low season, using the fast pass system and maybe getting a book to plan your stay. Pack light, have sunglasses for when you come outside in the bright sun from a dark movie ride. bring snacks, a bottle of water, sunblock, and some $$ and voila!