Author: 1952june

This will be our last post for this blog.  We decided to individually write down our final thoughts about our trip from our own perspective.  Sorry no pictures or videos to post this time – just memories.

JUNE YVONNE

Well, we are almost home. We are in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the night. Flagstaff, Arizona is our next destination. We will be home on Thursday, 9/5. We know it will be hot, but we are so ready to be in our home which will seem quite spacious compared to our little trailer. We will get to see our family and friends who we have missed.

We felt a need to provide closure to this remarkable trip we have taken to eastern Canada. (There are plenty of pics of everything we have referred to in previous postings on our summer blog.) This is the “Reader’s Digest” version of our four-month journey.

How was the trip?

Almost indescribable, although we did our best to describe our experiences in this 4-month blog.

We loved Canada and not just because Peter a Canadian born in Ottawa, Ontario. We are sad to leave. Once we crossed the border into Canada, I felt a sense of relief and peacefulness. This was due in large part to the turmoil we were leaving in the US. Not to mention the beauty we encountered not only in the landscape, but in the diversity of Canadians.

How long were you gone?

We left Phoenix on May 11, 2017 which was our 15 year wedding anniversary.  We arrive home on 9/7. Altogether we will have been gone 4 days short of four months.

Where did you go?

We went to the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick,  Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland/Labrador. Newfoundland and Labrador are considered one province. We didn’t make it to Labrador on this trip.

How was the food?

We filled a 2.9 cubic foot freezer with food from home which we attempted to eat instead of going out too much. However, we ate out a lot especially when we reached the Maritime Provinces. There we ate a lot of seafood. As you may have read, Peter ate his fill of lobster which is a specialty of the Maritimes. He ate at least one in every province, except Newfoundland. Altogether he ate 8 and then lost his appetite for them. We boiled one of the lobsters ourselves. We did eat lots of seafood especially fish and chips, scallops and seafood chowder.

What was your favorite food?

• Probably the seafood chowder we had in Saint Martin, New Brunswick.
• I really enjoyed the lobster roll that Nancy made for us while we were in Glen Margaret, Nova Scotia. It was the best ever, not only because of the ingredients, but because it was made with love.
• The best pastrami sandwich I ever had was in Montreal at Schwartz’s Deli.

What were your favorite destinations?

• Newfoundland by far. We really did not know what to expect and were blown away by the wild, rugged beauty of the Atlantic coast.
• We also loved Nova Scotia. Peggy’s Cove was the most picturesque fishing village you can imagine. We also loved the couple we met at the RV Park we stayed in at Glen Margaret. We will always remember Nancy and Bill.
• We enjoyed Quebec, in particular Quebec City. Montreal was an interesting city but way too big for us. We preferred Quebec City which we thought was more charming. We could have spent at least two weeks there.

What were your favorite activities?

• Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. We walked on the ocean floor in the morning around the rocks and arches.  At high tide (39 feet) in the afternoon we kayaked around the rocks and through the arches we had walked around in the morning.
• Picking wild strawberries on the side of the road in New Brunswick and having them in a salad for dinner. This was a new experience for me – they were small and so sweet.
• Quebec City – This is said to be one of the most beautiful cities in North America. There was so much to see here. I particularly enjoyed the Musée de la Civilisation. And the Québécoise meal we had at Aux Anciens Canadiens.
• The musical of Anne of Green Gables that we saw in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
• Getting “screeched in” in St. Johns, Newfoundland – It was a lot of fun.
• The whale watching tour in Trinity, Newfoundland – magical.
• Gander, Newfoundland – learning the story of how this small town helped thousands of passengers and crew of the international flights that were diverted here on 9/11. I bought the book, “The day the World Came to Town” and read it to Peter when he was driving.  We enjoyed sharing this book and shed a few tears to read all the back stories of that day.
• We met Rose and Jim, an American couple, at Capitaine Homard’s in Quebec at the beginning of our trip. We met up with them later in another part of Quebec at another time. And again at Margaret Glen in Nova Scotia. We shared many an enjoyable conversation, outings and meals with them.
• Meeting Nancy and Bill (a Canadian couple) at the RV Park in Margaret Glen in Nova Scotia – we have a special place in our heart for them.
• Even though it was not in Canada, we were able to renew our friendship with Ken and June in Angel Fire, New Mexico. It was a sad parting as we will probably not be be returning to Angel Fire again in the near future. We hope they will come see us in Phoenix sometime soon as they are very special to us. (We plan to go to Western Canada next summer.)

I could go on and on as we loved our time in all the provinces of eastern Canada.

What were the people like?

• Canada has a very diverse population as they have a history of being very welcoming to immigrants of all countries. There are a few notable exceptions, but it is not their tradition to be exclusive.
• For the most part, Canadians from every province have been friendly, helpful and generous.
• I felt so much safer in Canada. Outside the city, few people lock their doors.

What would you do different?

• As previously indicated, we would spend more time in Quebec City.
• If we could do it again, we would spend at least a month in Newfoundland and two weeks in Labrador.
• I would have probably packed differently. The weather was so unpredictable, sometimes changing by the hour. I would have packed more shorts and lighter jackets.
• We would probably spend more time in Nova Scotia. Peter was in 7^th heaven in the small fishing villages of this province. We did fantasize about keeping a larger RV and spending summers here. Plus, we would get to see Nancy and Bill as their fifth wheel is there permanently. They use their RV as a cottage getaway.
• I would bring copies of my recipe for guacamole. I was asked several times for that recipe and others.
• I would buy more Smoked Salmon by Willie Krauch at Comeau’s Sea Foods Ltd in Saulnerville, Nova Scotia.  It was relatively inexpensive there. Apparently it can not be shipped across the border. I bought a cookbook in Newfoundland that has a killer recipe for smoked salmon dip. I tried it and it was great.

Did you get homesick?

• Yes, and it didn’t take long for me to start missing home as we lived such a vagabond existence. We did not remain in one place for long. I read a quote that somehow helped me appreciate our life style this summer. “The journey is my home.” Muriel Rukeyser
• Every time I started feeling homesick; I remembered how hot it is in Phoenix

How did you two get along living for almost four months in a small trailer?

• I won’t lie, it was often a challenge. The trailer seemed to get smaller as the trip went on. As my dear husband has indicated, we got through challenging times with humor and deliberate patience.
• The antidote to relationship challenges was gratitude. We were on a fantastic journey and I just had to look around to realize how blessed we are.   JY

 

PETER

Final thoughts!  After nearly 4 months of travel through the Maritime Provinces of Canada we are amazed by all the wonderful things we have done and seen.  We have been overwhelmed by the kindness, generosity and courteousness of 99% of the Canadians we have come in contact with.  In planning this trip we had some expectations of what we might see and do but everything that has happened in these past 4 months has wildly exceeded any expectations we may have had in the beginning.  We have made many new friends and enjoyed many campfires and conversations with so many others.

Reflecting back on our trip we’ve asked ourselves: “what would we do different”.  We would like to have spent longer in Quebec City – we were there for one week and could easily have spent two – so much to see and do.  We loved Newfoundland.  We spent 8 days in Newfoundland and of all the provinces we visited Newfoundland captured our hearts and we could easily spend six weeks there with no problem and are hoping to do just that at some time in the future.

What has this journey done for us?  We’ve spent 90% of our time living in this 26 foot trailer and have seldom said a cross word to each other.  Although we have been married 15 wonderful years this trip has truly increased the bond that we have between us.  When you live in a confined space like this trailer you almost have to choreograph your movements so you are not bumping into each other all the time.  You also become more tolerant and realize some things are less important or more important than they might seem at home.  Ample amounts of courtesy, tolerance and forgiveness are characteristics you need to bring with you on a trip like this.  We have also learned that we don’t necessarily need a lot of the “things” we have at home.  On the other hand there are some “things” at home that now have more value than we were aware of like an oven, a two person shower, a washer and dryer that don’t require coins to operate and dishwasher to list just a few.

We have lived for all these months with little or no TV and have not suffered at all for it.  We have wondered what is going on at home in the USA but haven’t really gone out of our way to watch TV.  We’ve rented or borrowed some moves – watched a few programs on cable when it was available – however we really don’t have too much to complain about.  Personally I’ve never been a big reader however I have been doing a lot of reading at nights before turning out the light and managed to read at least 9 or 10 books.  Without TV I’ve developed a reading habit.

We have eaten lots of food and unfortunately it shows.  We will have to work on losing the vacation weight we have accumulated over the last 4 months.  We have eaten lots of great food and lots of junk food when we were on the run – and we don’t regret it at all.  We have also experienced an interesting phenomenon – once you cross the border into Canada your clothes progressively become smaller and tighter …. who knew!!!

We have seen things we never thought we’d see or do – whales performing and feeding only 30 feet away from our zodiac – unrelenting swarms of mosquitoes – being 3 feet from 80 to 90 thousands large birds in one colony – deep sea fishing – boiling and eating our own lobster – touching some of the headstones from people who perished on the Titanic – drinking Newfie Screech and kissing a cod – picking wild strawberries on the roadside – touring a submarine – kayaking and then eating a hot lunch in our kayak – meeting a family of Coleridge’s I never knew existed – finding a headstone with my name on it – seeing two plays – walking on the sea floor at Hopewell Rocks and then kayaking around the same rocks after a 39 foot tide – witnessing a bore tide –  ice skating – visiting the elementary school I attended as a child – sampling Meade – putting our hands on twisted steel beams from the World Trade Center – fly fishing in mountain streams at 10,000 feet elevation – sitting around campfires with many new friends – seeing the RCMP musical ride – and so so so much more.  PRC

FROM BOTH OF US

Many thanks to all of you who have read our blog and have made comments.  We put a lot of work into each post and we are glad we could share this journey with you.  Comments from family and friends were always read with enthusiasm and delight every morning when we woke up and checked our email.  We texted many of you and chatted on the phone and enjoyed the sound of your voices.

We are two days from our home in Phoenix, Arizona.  We are anxious to be home once again.  We are looking forward to reuniting with our son Dan and beautiful granddaughters Maya and Lilia.  We are also looking forward to seeing our friends again and sharing our stories.  This has been an incredible journey – in a way we are sad to see it end but in another way we are looking forward to being home – as a friend of ours said; “Stories for a lifetime”.

Ironically we are already planning on touring western Canada next year – we’ll keep you posted!!

With much love we sign off with this last post on our Canadian Maritime Provinces blog

rv-canada.blog

Once we left Montreal we started our journey home.  We had planned to spend one night at each of the RV Parks we stayed at on our journey to Canada.  We had made reservations in advance for a pull through site so we would not have to unhook the trailer.  At each of our one night stops we were able to hook up water, electric and sewer so we able to cook,  shower and watch movies on our TV. Most important of all we were able to run the A/C which made it very comfortable for sleeping.

Our first stop was at a KOA campground in Brighton, Ontario.  This was the first KOA  campground we have stayed.  It was pleasant with lots of activities for both adults and children which included a pool and a couple of giant trampolines for both kids and adults.  They also had a huge selection of DVDs  for people to borrow and watch in their RV’s.  We got up early the next morning and as we starting driving down the road to the freeway we crested a hill and witnessed a spectacular sunrise.  We watched that until the sun cleared the horizon.

Our plan was to head for the Windsor/Detroit border crossing however for some reason that did not go according to plan.  Either I made a wrong turn somewhere or Little Miss Know-it-all thought we needed to see something new.  Anyway we ended up at the Niagara/Buffalo border crossing which took us on the longest route possible to our next overnight RV Park.  We ended up driving through the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and finally Michigan where we had overnight reservations at Sterling State Park in Monroe, Michigan.   We knew it was going to be a long day from Bright KOA to Monroe, MI via the Windsor/Detroit border crossing (a distance of 364 miles and an estimated drive time of 7 hours) however our odyssey from Brighton to Monroe via the Niagara/Buffalo border crossing was significantly longer (514 miles and a drive time of almost 11 hours).

As Peter said Ms. GPS (Little Miss Know It All) led us into the US through a different route than we entered Canada back in May. For whatever reason we went through Niagara and crossed into Buffalo, New York instead of through Detroit the way we entered Canada. This did not seem so bad as I hadn’t spent much time in upstate New York. For the first 50 miles or so, the towns and scenery reminded me of Canada. This is until we passed an Amish family heading to church in a horse drawn carriage. It was a Sunday morning and there wasn’t much traffic. In fact we were on the New York Amish Trail. I’ve learned so much on this trip. Today over 12,000 Amish live in New York. Who knew?

As we neared the end of our odyssey we came to Toledo, Ohio one of the most depressing places we have ever traveled through.  There is a two stack nuclear plant there that is right next to the road with an unguarded perimeter fence and gate.  For some reason it seems we spent an ungodly amount of time in Ohio, especially the city of Toledo. As we were leaving Sterling State Park in Monroe, Michigan somehow we ended up back in Toledo again. There was lots of construction and detours.  It seemed like a cruel joke that we were caught up in this vortex of Toledo Ohio. You’ll get a kick out of John Denver’s song about this city.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npC9c1hXVkQ

After a good nights rest we quickly packed up and headed down the road and stopped at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  Our next stop was in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lake Haven RV Park.  Immediately after we arrived and finished setting up there was a thunderstorm and rain.  I was standing in the doorway of the trailer looking out and there was a lightning stick somewhere within the RV Park that sounded like someone shot a 44 magnum revolver inside the trailer.  Scared the b-jeez-us out of both of us and we were glad we were not standing outside.

Next morning we headed to Cottonwood RV Park in Columbia, Missouri where we spent a peaceful night then up early the next morning and off to Air Capital RV Park in Wichita, Kansas.  Air Capital is where June Yvonne and I ran into the guy who asked if we were afraid of Mexicans because we lived so close to Mexico.  However we did not see him this time as we ate at the same subway we had eaten at at the beginning of our journey back in May.  The next morning it was off the to Corral Drive-In RV Park in Guymon, Oklahoma.

On our way from Phoenix to Canada we stopped at a small gas station in Kansas where we grabbed a bite to eat.  On the counter was a picture of one of the local farmers who captured a rattlesnake on his farm.  I was impressed with the picture and just by chance we stopped at the same gas station on our return trip.  The photograph was still there and I took a picture of it.  I did not know that a rattlesnake could get that size – very impressive – glad I didn’t come across it in the woods.  Seems to me this snake eats pretty well and is very old.

From Guymon we headed to Angel Fire RV Resort in the small town of the same name.  We love this place and booked a site for 7 days but extended it to 11 days so we would not have to travel during the Labor Day weekend.

Our journey was relatively uneventful as we made our way to Angel Fire, New Mexico where we planned to have some R & R from our non-stop trip through eastern Canada. We spent a couple of weeks here last summer on our 3-month trip through the Southwest. It is located in the mountains of northern New Mexico with nearly perfect weather. Last year Peter met Ken who worked at the RV Resort. We were able to spend some time with Ken and his wife, June this year. We treasured our time together.We like this place because there is very little to do here.

It was not our intention to do a lot while in Angel Fire and we didn’t. We did drive to Santa Fe to take our truck in for scheduled maintenance. On the way to Santa Fe we stopped for breakfast in Taos, another fun artsy town. I told the waitress that we had been in Canada for over three months and she said; “We need to get some green chili into you.” My huevos rancheros were smothered with ambrosial hot Hatch chilies.  With this typical New Mexican breakfast I felt I was truly back in the USA.

Angel Fire RV Resort in Angel Fire, New Mexico

One of our late night campfires – From the left – Ken, June, Mark, Janet and June Yvonne

After the truck was serviced in Santa Fe, we decided to purchase some of the turquoise they are known for. Several of our loved ones are getting some of the bounty from our foray into the city.

Back at Angel Fire we relaxed which was the whole objective for coming here– went to Farmers Market, Library, Sporting Goods Store and campfires with friends.  I spent a day fly fishing with a guide and that was a lot of fun – caught about 20 rainbow and cutthroat trout in some high mountain streams.

The RV Resort has a weekly wine and cheese tasting reception every Thursday evening which we attended. It included entertainment by a local duo called “High Country Junkies.”  I met the husband of Melody, one half of the duo. He invited us out to their 600 acre ranch not too far from the RV Resort. In addition, Melody (aka Mel) also paints, mostly horses. We were able to see some of her paintings including one in progress.

What a treat! Cipriano (aka Cip) made us Chilies Rellenos and Spanish Rice for dinner. I’m going to try making them when we get home as they were “muy sabroso.” I made guacamole in their kitchen and it turned out perfect.  Then, he and Melody took us out to meet their horses.  That was magical.

It is now September 5^th and we have arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico where we will stay for the night.  Tomorrow, September 6^th, we’ll travel to Twin Arrows Casino just east of Flagstaff, Arizona where we will boon dock for one night.  The next morning, September 7^th, we will have a 2 and half hour drive to Phoenix and will sleep in our bed at home that night.  We have had an absolutely amazing summer and our journey will be 4 days short of 4 months

After we left Sydney, Nova Scotia we headed for Moncton, New Brunswick where we boon docked in the Casino New Brunswick parking lot for one night.  Got up the next morning and headed for Edmundson, New Brunswick and boon docked in the Grey Rock Casino lot.  After breakfast we headed for Montreal.

Montreal was our last planned destination in Canada. We were returning to French-speaking Quebec. It was time to get myself in a French frame of mind again. Our RV Park was outside Montreal in the village of Saint-Phillippe – Le Clé des Champs Complexe VR.  As we approached our destination we began to worry. Ms. GPS had taken us off the main highway into cornfields. We appreciated the pastoral countryside but wondered where our RV Park was among the cornfields.

Trusting the GPS, she finally led us to a beautiful RV Resort, probably the nicest one we had stayed in all of Canada. There were many Quebecois that were there for the summer. I wished we had more time to spend there to enjoy all the amenities and the relaxing atmosphere.  There are residents there that own their lots and they are decked out so nice you would think you were in Beverly Hills.

 

 

 

I was looking forward to seeing the Basilica in Montreal. We had been told by people we had met from Montreal that they are known for their bagels (?!) and smoked meat. Since we did not want to take our truck we took a bus into the city. Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec with a population of about six million. Our destination was the old city where the Basilica was located. In the line for the bus we met a lovely young man – Kareem. He told us that he would walk us to the area as his office was located close by. He would also give us a tour of that part of town. I noticed it was about 1:30 in the afternoon and mentioned that it seemed late arriving to work. He said it was OK as he owned the company.  We appreciated the information Kareem provided us but particularly enjoyed his company. He said it was very fortunate that we met each other on the bus. (It sure was.) Besides French and English, he spoke several other languages and had been to 40 countries. I believe his mother was Pakistani and his father was Scottish.  Kareem apparently means “generous” and he certainly had a generous manner. When we parted ways he gave us his business card and told us to contact him if we ran into any problems, day or night. Needless to say, our introduction to Montreal was very pleasant due to meeting this generous and kind young man.

 

 

 

 

I was on a mission to Fairmont Deli known for it’s bagels. Locals say they are even better than NYC bagels. Kareem gave us general directions which ended up much farther than expected. We were told by a local about a Jewish deli called Schwartz’s, also called Charcuterie Hebraique de Montreal ( Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen). Schwartz’s is the most famous remaining Montreal style smoked meat restaurant in the city. Well, I could get smoked meat here and by this time we were very hungry.  It was the best pastrami sandwich ever. We certainly walked far enough for this world famous sandwich.

Futher information about Schwartz’s: 1) It has been the inspiration for a theater production – “Schwartz’s: The Musical; 2) It’s been the subject of two documentaries – The Concert Man and Chez Schwartz; 3) Celine Dion is a part owner of the restaurant.

After our scrumptious sandwiches we made our way back to the City Center. We were not able to make contact with Uber so we hoofed it back to the City Center. We skipped going to the Basilica as the line was long. Instead we took a horse drawn carriage ride around old town and down to the wharf. (I admit I felt sorry for the horse, Jessie, but the driver seemed to treat her well.) We enjoyed the tour and our guide who was born in Montreal had much to say about the city. After this, we walked back to the bus station and went back to our trailer at the pretty rv park.

The next day we took the bus into Montreal again. We went to the Notre-Dame Basilica. It is built in the gothic-Roman style and highly decorated. It’s considered one of the crown jewels in Quebec’s rich religious heritage. I lit a candle of course in the Basilica. The vaults are colored deep blue and decorated with gold stars. It’s a sensory experience as you sit in a pew bathed in the different shades of blue.

Miscellaneous information regarding the Basilica: 1) In 2000, the state funeral was held here for former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre  Elliot Trudeau. His son, Justin Trudeau gave the eulogy. Justin Trudeau is now the Prime Minister;  2) Celine Dion and Renee Angelil were married here in 1994; 3) Rene Angelil’s funeral was held here in January 2016.

After this we appropriately went for a bagel just a few steps from the Basilica. I don’t think it’s the best bagel I have ever had, just different. “In contrast to NY-style bagels, the Montreal bagel is smaller, thinner, sweeter and denser, with a larger hole, and is dipped in honey sweetened water before being baked.”

We decided to tour the city by taxi which allowed us to see more of Montreal and have the benefit of a native. Tony (our taxi driver) took us to Mount Royal which is a volcanic-related small mountain, immediately west of downtown Montreal. It is a year-round public park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead famous for his work on Central Park.

It is 200 hectare (495 acres) which occupies part of the mountain. It lies in the midst of Montreal Island and includes the highest point in the city.  We took photos at a couple viewing points. Peter climbed to the top of the summit and took a video of the city from that vantage point. (I climbed part of it.)

 

 

The summit of Mount Royal – 360 degree video

As a part of the tour of the city we went by the University, the biosphere, and Olympic Park. There was so much we could do, but we were running out of time.  At the end of the end of day, our taxi cab driver dropped us off at the at the bus station so we could head back to Sainte-Phillippe. The bus and metro station is an elaborate facility which includes shops, a large food court, and an ice skating rink. We decided to grab a quick dinner before catching the bus home. Meantime Peter informed me that he was going ice skating. “How can I be in Canada and not go ice skating?”  JY & PRC

Not quite the Olympic skater I use to be – (ha) – didn’t stick the landing

 

 

 

 

We ended up spending more time in St. John’s than we expected. We thought we were scheduled to take the ferry back to Sydney, Nova Scotia on Monday. We were mistaken. And the next ferry was not scheduled back to Sydney until Thursday night. It could have been a lot worse. We loved Newfoundland including St. John’s. So we made the best of it as there was still more we wanted to do in this unique area. We were comfortable in our dorm room at Memorial University which was centrally located.

 

We decided to go to the Johnson Geo Centre as we hadn’t had time to spend there previously. We were under the impression that the museum was mostly for kids. Truthfully we weren’t expecting much so we were very pleasantly surprised with the exhibits and lectures/talks.  The Centre is a geological interpretation centre located on Signal Hill. The exhibits we visited included one about ocean drilling platforms and the Titanic. We know the Titanic sunk because of a collision with an iceberg. However, this exhibit went further into detail of the actual causes of the sinking – one important one was Greed. This was the second exhibit we had been to regarding the Titanic while in Canada.

We particularly enjoyed the lectures on the geological history of Newfoundland. We were able to touch an iceberg. The lecturer/scientist had a small portion of an iceberg in the museum’s storage freezer. The same scientist gave a lecture on the solar system and I learned facts that were not taught to me in grade school. I always thought that Saturn was the only planet in our solar system that had rings. Boy was I wrong! There are four giant gas planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Apparently Saturn has the largest ring system which was known for a long time. However it was not until the 1970’s that rings were discovered around the other gas planets. Did you know this???

Since we now had extra time in St. John’s we decided to participate in the infamous screeching in ceremony. It is a non-obligatory ceremony performed on non-Newfoundlanders (known to Newfoundlanders as “come from away” or “mainlander.”)

Now that we had the time, we didn’t want to miss out on such an iconic Newfoundland tradition. The ceremony involves a shot of screech, a short recitation in “Newfie” and the kissing of a cod. In our case, the cod was frozen. We participated in this at a bar on famous “George Street.” This is a small street in St. John’s that is known for its many bars, restaurants, pubs and music venues.

 

So we left Thursday morning to make our way to Argentia to catch the ferry we did not want to miss a second time. It took about two hours to get there. We boarded the ferry at 5 pm. This ferry crossing was not nearly as pleasant as our trip to Port aux Basque’s which was about 7 hours. We had traveled across Newfoundland so were leaving from a different location. This was an overnight crossing and we didn’t arrive into port until 7 am the next day.  Upon arrival we stopped for breakfast and went back to our trailer and took a long nap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve neglected the blog for awhile and are just catching up – we were doing so many things we couldn’t keep up then we were just too tired – so we’ll pick up where we left off. We are now at one of our favorite RV parks in Angel Fire, New Mexico.  We stayed here last year for a couple weeks and really enjoyed it because there is little to do but sleep, take walks, read and look at the scenery.  We are finishing up postings for Newfoundland, Montreal and a summary of our trip.

St. John’s is the oldest city in North America. We enjoyed the sights, activities and people in St. John’s. (Not to be mistaken with St. John, New Brunswick where we also stayed.)

We stayed at Memorial University in a dorm room with the program “Summer Accommodations.” It was like being back in college and actually very comfortable as compared to the hostel in Trinity.

We arrived in the capital of Newfoundland on August 6, planning only to stay three days. This seemed unfortunate as there is so much to do in St. John’s and the surrounding area. As it turned out, our stay was extended as we missed the ferry and had to reschedule to a later date.

Our stay at the dormitory included a continental breakfast each day, laundry facilities, free parking, and a coupon for a discount at a restaurant within walking distance.

After checking into our room, we took a taxi to Signal Hill and Cape Spear. Signal Hill overlooks the city of St. John’s. Due to its strategic placement overlooking the harbor, fortifications have been built on the hill since the mid 17^th century. It is topped with a windswept stone tower overlooking the wild Atlantic coastline. It was here that French and British troops vied for control of the continent during the Seven Year’s War.  (I have learned so much of Canadian history. Although this is really OUR history – all of North America.)

Cape Spear is the eastern most point in Canada, and North America, excluding Danish-controlled Greenland. The Cape Spear Lighthouse is the oldest surviving lighthouse in the province and an iconic symbol of Newfoundland and Labrador’s mariner history.

Cape Spear has majestic views of the Atlantic Ocean. It was a perfect vantage point to view whales which many people were doing. We joined them as there is not a more beautiful sight than whales breaching. We could have watched for hours.

We ended the evening with dinner at Ches’s Fish and Chips. We tried another variation of poutine – chips with “snarl” which is fries,  grilled onions, hamburger meat and gravy. I have to admit, it’s pretty good.  And, so were the fish. As I’ve indicated before, Peter seems to have lost his taste for lobster. I think it’s been replaced by Fish and Chips.

 

The next day, 9/7, we hired our taxi cab driver from the night before to provide us tours of St. John’s for the next two days. This actually worked out for both our cab driver (Nancy) and for us. She knew the area and we didn’t have to deal with parking.

We visited the neighborhood of Quidi Vidi which is a historic fishing village. The Quidi Vidi Brewery Plantation is located in the neighborhood. It’s actually a micro brewery which gives tours. We didn’t do the tour but checked out the gift shop. I considered bringing home some Iceberg  Lager for Dan. I regret not doing so since I haven’t been able to find the lager once we left Newfoundland. Sorry Dan, it’s pretty good.

Checked out the gift shop. I considered bringing home some Iceberg  Lager for Dan. I regret not doing so since I haven’t been able to find the lager once we left Newfoundland. Sorry Dan, it’s pretty good.

We also went to the fishing village at Paddy Harbor where they filmed the 1977 movie “Orca”.

From there we went to the “Rooms” which is a museum in the heart of St. John’s.  This museum tells the stories of Newfoundland and Labrador and its diverse people. It included artifacts, historical information and videos of the Newfoundland and Labrador peoples of diverse heritages telling their stories. There are several indigenous groups in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador including the Innu, Inuit, Metis and  M’kmaq. Other groups are English, French and Irish. There are lots of Irish. The Vikings apparently came about 1000 AD. You can also see the influence of Basque explorers, mostly fisherman and whalers in many of the city names such as Port aux Basques.

Another exhibit was regarding the fishing industry, “King Cod.” Large scale fishing began shortly after the European discovery of North America in 1492. However it ended after  intense over fishing and  with the collapse of the fisheries in 1992. Fishing is now regulated and has affected the economy of Newfoundland and  Labrador.

 

Whale watching at Cape Spear – could have stayed for hours

Batter Hill right across the harbor entrance from Signal Hill –  hear the fog horn -you can see the base of Signal Hill in the fog – the rugged shores of Newfoundland 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, Aug.3 , 2017 – forgot to include this with the last post about Gander

The next day we visited the North Atlantic Aviation Museum. It told of how the airport in Gander was at one time the largest airport in the world.  In addition, it told more of the events of 9/11 in Gander. There was a video that I highly recommend you watch if you haven’t already.

It’s the story of Gander and its people and the assistance they gave to complete strangers who were worried and somewhat orphaned with nowhere to go for a week in September. The museum also had a piece of wreckage from the World Trade Center Towers that NYC had given them. We were able to touch this remaining piece of devastation. It was an emotional experience for us. There are pics of us at the museum and airport. You may not be able to tell, but we were a little teary eyed.

 

After this, we headed for our next destination – Trinity. I wasn’t prepared for these lodgings, but sure enjoyed Trinity. Check out the next blog to learn about the three days of adventure we had in lovely Trinity. After that we drove to St. John’s and spent several nights in a dorm. St. John’s is a fun and interesting city.  JY

TRINITY, NEWFOUNDLAND – August 3 – August 5, 2017

Newfoundland and Labrador are one province and the last one to become part of Canada. The province is in the most eastern part of North America.

We arrived in East Trinity on 8/3. Peter had indicated we would be staying in a hostel at this location. We stayed in a few hostels when we did the Camino in Spain. Hostels can range in comfort and privacy. However the Skerwick Hostel was more like an albuguergue which we stayed in many times on the Camino. It was rustic. We stayed in a room with three bunk beds. The room was thankfully right across from the washroom/shower. It was a bit of a shock especially after staying in such nice Airbnb’s when we started our road trip in Newfoundland.

I did my best to maintain my Camino attitude of positive expectation. The surroundings almost trumped the lack of privacy and comfort. It’s a gorgeous area. We were probably the oldest people in the hostel. The first night many of the people from the hostel went to a nearby bar. We did too and played a fun game of Trivial Pursuit. It was a good atmosphere to meet new people, some also staying at the hostel. We were back to the hostel and asleep in our bunks at a decent hour as we had a whale watching tour early the next morning.

Just as I was falling asleep at about midnight, one half of a couple came to the room. She was slightly drunk. I figured her partner would eventually show up. He did, a couple hours later drunk and disorderly. Needless to say, I hardly got any sleep that night. Thankfully the couple checked out the next day. (Peter sleeps with ear plugs so missed out on most of the action.)

 

We really liked our room mates the next two nights. The next night a couple that had done the Camino two years ago stayed in the bunk across from us.  In the other bunk was a young woman from Montreal. We enjoyed their company and slept better the next two nights. The third night two women stayed in the bunk next to ours. One was a physician in St. John’s and the other was a nurse in Toronto. We really liked them and could have talked all night but we needed to get up early the next day.

The next morning we went early into Trinity Harbor to go whale watching. There is no guarantee to see whales when you do this especially when the yearly migration is coming to an end. We were lucky though.  The captain and guide for the tour knew the whales by name. In fact he travelled to the Dominican Republic at a different time of year and saw “Steve and Louise.”

Steve and Louise (and a couple of other whales) visited us for about an hour straight.

The boat ride was wet, windy and cold. We were wearing wet suits which helped keep us warm.  A part of the trip was the rolls and coffee the captain offered halfway through the trip. So, I can say I had coffee with the whales that morning.

The whales seemed to be putting on a show for us. This included flapping their flukes. The captain said that this might have been to stretch and aid digestion. It was delightful to watch especially so close to the boat. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Later that day we did some exploring around the area. This included driving to Elliston to see the puffin colony. Elliston is the Root Cellar Capital of Canada. As you can imagine root cellars are necessary for protecting vegetables so growers can use them all year round including the frigid winters..

 

We also went to Cape Bonavista where a lighthouse is located. From high on a rocky perch we were able to see many whales breeching before the sun set. It was magical.

Peter had a kayaking trip with whales the next day. While he was kayaking, I explored the lovely fishing village of Trinity. I enjoyed having coffee in a local coffee house and taking in the Trinity atmosphere. I also purchased a Couple local handicrafts including the first toque (a knitted cap or beanie) I have ever purchased. Perhaps it will be cold enough in Phoenix this winter so I can sport it. I also bought a Newfie cookbook. I tried a recipe for smoked salmon dip which was very easy and very good. If I can take the special smoked salmon I purchased in Nova Scotia across the border, I will make you some. This particular brand of smoked salmon is very special.  Purportedly it was the only smoked salmon the Queen would eat.

I failed to mention that on the day we booked the whale watching trip, Peter was asked if he had relatives in town. He replied in the negative. The woman taking our reservations pointed out where the Coleridge’s lived. Trinity is a very small fishing village. So after lunch, we went to visit Eric Coleridge who owns a saw mill. He was pleased to meet us and took us to meet his mother and son. After that we went to meet his wife. The couple owns a B&B. Eric said that it seemed the Coleridge’s were a dying breed. Peter reassured them that his brothers had children. Kenneth Coleridge, Peter’s stepfather was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Who knows if there is actually a connection with the Coleridge’s in Trinity.

 

Mrs. Coleridge’s husband, Boyd, had died only a year before. We went to visit the local cemetery where the family plot is located. There was a gravestone for one of the deceased relatives, Peter Coleridge. It  was weird so we had to take a photo.

 

That night we had reservations at the Rising Tide Theatre in Trinity which is located on the harbor. The play was based on vignettes of the goings on in the town. Lots of songs and Newfie jokes. It was a dinner theater which offered cod casserole which was very good. Peter had the roast beef. I was interested in going to this play so I could experience Newfie culture. The original songs reminded me of Irish ballads. The play concluded with Mummers paying a visit to the family. One of the actors dressed up as a Mummer invited me to dance… it was an enjoyable evening, but not over yet.

 

We returned to the hostel where a group of the residents were conversing over a bon fire. By the way, the person who runs the hostel is from Scotland. After socializing for a bit, we retired to our room and met and visited with our new roommates for the night before calling it a night.

The lodgings in Trinity were a bit challenging but the surroundings more than made up for them. Trinity is a beautiful friendly fishing village. If we ever come to Newfoundland again we will spend more time there. Perhaps in the Coleridge’s Bed and Breakfast Inn. JY

Friday August 4, 2017

We got up early to get ready and drive into Trinity for our whale watching adventure.  We arrived and were given survival suits to put on which looked and felt like space suits.  This was a precaution just in case we ended up in the water.  There were 11 suited up for the adventure and then we walked through town looking like a bunch of astronauts.  We boarded the zodiac raft and headed for the open ocean – our guide Chris was telling us all what to look for and soon after we started seeing whale blows so Chris and his first mate gunned the motors and we sped off in that direction.  As we approached two humpbacks feeding they slowed the engines and shut them off.  The two whaled did not seem at all disturbed by our presence continued to feed about 30 to 40 yards from the zodiac.

We were all thrilled to death being this close to the whales but then it got better.  Apparently the whales finished gorging themselves on the little capelin fish about 20 feet below the surface and then came closer to check us out.  They came as close as 50 feet from the zodiac and for about an hour and a half swam around us flipping the tails, swimming directly towards us then diving, raising their giant arms out of the water and slapping them down with a mighty splash.  Chris and his wife have been observing, photographing and cataloging whales in Trinity for over 15 years and Chris recognized these two whales as Steve and Louise.  It was a thrilling experience to watch the whales perform that close to our raft.  They would swim upside down with both arms in the air and sometimes with their tails out of the water.  It was a site to behold – spectacular – one of those wow moments in our lives.

Steve and Louise finally got bored and drifted away so we sped off to look for more whales and came across three Fin whales and a Minke whale.  Fin whales are the second largest whales at 80 feet with the longest being the Blue whale.  The Minke are among the smallest.  Neither of these species are as playful as the Humpback which all tour guides look for because people and boats with motors don’t bother them and they like to perform or show off.  Towards the end of our 3 hour excursion Chris told us that last year he took out a 11 people from a choir from Dublin and with the whales so close they all started sing and the whales came right up to the zodiac.  Sadly the whale watching came to an end but we will never forget our experience with the whales.

After we shed our space suits we went to a local restaurant for a lunch of fish and chips.  It was cooked perfectly and there we other people there from our excursion.  After lunch we drove back to the hostel to find we had two new roommates.  A couple who had walked the Camino a year ago so we had lots to talk about.  They were the only other people in our room that night so it was a better sleep night.  After a short nap we headed off to Elliston to look at the Puffin colony.  It was a nice drive along the seashore and we learned that not only was Elliston the location of one of the largest Puffin colonies it was also the “root cellar” capital of the world.

Some kind people allow people to walk through their property to the edge of the cliff overlooking the colony.  Puffins burrow into the ground and make a nest which would make them very vulnerable if they were not on an island.  There were thousands of them on two islands and many would flight right in front of us on their way out to sea to catch capelin.  We watched them for about 45 minutes and aside from the puffins were mesmerized by the scenery and the crashing waves on the cliffs and fractured rocks of the rugged coastline.

We left the Puffins and on the way back peeked into a root cellar and were surprised to find that the people who owned it had decorated it for tourists.  They had placed about 50 bottles on two long large tables.  Each bottle had a preservative liquid in it along with a single plant or flower.  The bottles were lit up by an LED which was under the bottle.  The person who owned the root cellar had drilled holes in the tables and inserted LED light to illuminate the bottles seated over them.  It was very pretty.  I shut the root cellar door so that the only light was from the bottles.

 

From Elliston we drove to Cape Bonavista to see the lighthouse.  We arrived and walked out to a point where there was a bench overlooking the ocean.  We could see and hear the whales feeding right below us.  Off in the distance (on the horizon) what looked like a ship was actually a large iceberg once you looked at it through the binoculars.  Up a hill by the lighthouse were hundreds of rock cairns – it was impressive to see the size of some of them and the effort that went into creating them by visitors.

After Cape Bonavista we had dinner in a little café in Bonavista.  We drove home in the dark back to the Hostel in Trinity.  We kept our eyes peeled for moose and drove slowly.

Saturday August 5, 2017

This was the day I was going for a 4 hour kayak trip in the open ocean and with a little luck meet up with some whales.  The trip started at 8:00 – we were using sea kayaks and were dressed warmly with T-shirt, shirt, wet suit, wind jacket and life preserver.  Our guides where two young very healthy women who wore shorts, a sports bra and a sleeveless wet suit.  Made the rest of look like wimps – the cold air and water didn’t seem to bother them at all.   We kayaked along the shoreline and stayed away from the waves crashing against the cliffs and rocks.  On a couple of occasions we came across some sea caves and tunnels – our guides said it was our option to venture into them or through them – of course we did everyone we came across.  We were making good time and the guides asked us if we wanted to kayak out into the open ocean to a point off in the distance – of course we did and away we went.  The waves were high enough so when you were in the trough between the waves you couldn’t see the kayak in front of you. It was an adventure even though we did not encounter any whales.  We finally made it to shore and carried our kayaks to the kayak racks.

 

I met up with June Yvonne and after the careful selection and purchase of some jewelry we decided to go and meet some of my relatives I didn’t know existed.  When we signed up for the whale watching the lady there asked if we had relatives in Trinity – I said no – she said do you see that house over there – that is where the Coleridge’s live. After a lite lunch we walked over and I asked the man running the saw mill if he was Mr. Coleridge – he said yes and what can I do for you – I said I am also Mr. Coleridge and his eyes lit up with surprise.

His name was Eric – we talked for about 10 minutes and he said you have to meet my mother.  Her house was right next door to the sawmill and was she glad to see us.  She came right out and gave me a hug and then we started working backward on the genealogy.  Her husband of 50 years had died the previous year and she was still suffering from the loss – she was encouraged to learn there were more Coleridge’s out there and the name wouldn’t die out.  Eric, her son, told us there were other Coleridge’s in the newer cemetery so on the way out of town we stopped to check it out – there were indeed other Coleridge’s and it looked like I was one of them.

From the cemetery we drove back to Trinity to take a shower and get dressed for a dinner theater at the “rising tide theater”.  It was an OK dinner put on by the community and the show after was a combination of music, singing and skits.  It all ended with a group of “mummers” coming out amongst the audience and dance with the guests.  June Yvonne was one of them.  We headed back to the Hostel and we had three new roommates.  It was a peaceful night sleep.  In the morning we got up early and headed out for St. John’s.   PRC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corner Brook – August 31 thru September 1, 2017

We left Margaree after we ate the breakfast our host had left out for us before she went to work in Port aux Basque.  We cleaned the kitchen up and headed down the road.  We were captivated by the landscape and the scenery.  Our first intended stop was the small town of Stephensville where we wanted to poke around and have some lunch.  On the way we came across a side road leading to a lighthouse and decided to check it out.  When we got there we were so close to the rugged shore line we spent more time looking at the crashing waves than thee lighthouse – as a matter of fact we almost forgot to take a picture of the lighthouse.

 

Stephensville was a little larger than we expected with an airport and some Canadian Military facilities.  We ate lunch at a small restaurant in the middle of town and took in some of the sites.  For the size of town and the population it was very busy and you could hardly cross the street.

On we drove to Corner Brook where we drove up the coast to Lark Harbor where we met 3 fisherman  jigging for mackerel.  They were doing very well with a 5 gallon bucket full of them.  They are full time fisherman with their own boats and they immediately opened up a conversation and offered beer.  I thank them and said I still had to drive and aside from not being safe I told them my wife would not like it if I was drinking and then driving.  Then they got excited and said, “That’s easy to fix – come on over have a beer and let your dern wife drive – that should be alright”.  We stayed and chatted for a while then headed into Corner Brook and found our Airbnb.  This was the nicest Airbnb we probably ever stayed in.  It was a full apartment with washer and dryer.  PR

Newfoundland’s nickname is the Rock.  Most people mispronounce Newfoundland. The key is to say it fast. A simple mnemonic device helps: “Understand Newfoundland.” The words rhyme and the cadence is similar.  Newfoundland has a rugged and wild beauty which is no surprise as it was formed from the merger of two continents and forged by glaciers and tectonic plate’s scraping against each other along with lots of wind, snow and rain.

We were told of the uncommon friendliness of the “Newfies.” They are a sturdy bunch – they work hard and party hard. They have a language all their own. Apparently it’s a combination of early the English, Irish, and French settlers , preserved by isolation. There were times we had a difficult time understanding these folks. A traveler in Newfoundland is known as a “come from away.”  There is even a Newfie dictionary.

Newfies are known for their extreme friendliness.  Their willingness to help others defines them as Newfoundlanders. Isolated on such a harsh island , they have learned to count on each other as a means of survival. They have their own traditions, food and music.

Mummering or mumming is commonly known in many communities. It’ also called jennying or jannying. It’s an old English Christmas tradition which involves a group of people disguised in ridiculous attire who call on local homes during the holiday season. We went to a dinner theatre in the small fishing village of Trinity where I was called to dance with one of the actors dressed like a mummer

 

We learned about several local delicacies including cod tongues and cod cheeks. Another very popular dish is a jigs dinner. This consists of salt beef and boiled vegetables. I might try this one but probably not the cod parts.  Desserts and jams made with different berries are also popular such as bakeapple (cloudberries).  I’ve tasted bakeapple jam and it is very good.

An interesting  Newfoundland tradition is to be “screeched in.” It’s a ceremony performed on non-Newfoundlanders (mainlanders) involving a shot of screech, a short recitation in Newfie and the kissing of a cod.

We stayed in a variety of lodgings through Airbnb throughout Newfoundland. The lodgings are always a part of the adventure. It was a relief to spend time away from the trailer not having to haul it throughout rugged Newfoundland with notoriously bumpy roads.   JY

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

We spent two nights in an AirBNB in Corner Brook, not far from beautiful Gros Moren National Park where we took a boat tour in Western Brook Pond. This is a Canadian fjord that has become a lake since it was cut off from the ocean and no longer contains salt water.

It is also part of the Long Range Mountains, the most northern section of the Appalachian Mountains. In order to arrive at the dock where the boat departs, it’s necessary to hike in about 2 miles (and back out again). This isn’t so bad except that it was raining the day of the boat tour. Despite the rain, fog and cold the scenery was spectacular.

 

While in Corner Brook, we also took a drive to Lark Harbor where Peter spoke with some fisherman. They generously offered Peter some beer which he graciously declined. Remember, these Newfies are super friendly and generous.

The Airbnb in Corner Brook was a real treat as it was basically a small self-contained apartment attached to a large house in an upscale neighborhood.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

We spent  the night in another really nice Airbnb in Gander. I wanted to see the airport in this small town. . Have you heard the story of what occurred on 9/11 in Gander? As you know, the airspace over the US was shut down, and every plane in the sky was ordered to land immediately at the nearest available airport. More than 250 aircraft, carrying 43,895  passengers were diverted to fifteen Canadian airports. American-bound planes were forced to land in Halifax, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg and Calgary. In each of these cities volunteers and social service agencies came together to help stranded passengers in any way possible – from offering them a place to stay or a change of clothes to cooking them meals and taking them sightseeing.

The story of what happened in Gander is especially notable and demonstrates the kindness of Newfoundlander’s. At one time Gander was the largest airport in the world as trans-Atlantic flights needed to refuel when bound for North America from Europe. The aviation industry has improved considerably since then and planes now can carry the necessary fuel to cross the Atlantic. Gander is in the central highlands of Newfoundland . Thirty-nine planes landed there on September 11, depositing 6,595 passengers and crew members in a town whose population was barely 10,000.

Nearly every man, woman and child in Gander and the surrounding small communities stopped what they were doing so they could help. They placed their lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing in return.

We visited Gander Airport at night and most everything was shut down as it is no longer the hub it was at one time. We spoke to a  young woman who remembers very well 9/11 in Gander even though she was just 2 years old. She remembers there were lots of people staying at her house and her entire household was cooking for lots of  strangers.

New York City gave the airport a piece of metal from the ruins of the World Trade Center Towers. We were able to see and touch it at the airport.  The citizens of Gander have made it perfectly clear to town and provincial counsels that they will allow the terminal to be repaired but not modified in any way – it remains the same as it did on 9/11.  To this day the people of Gander and their children are intensely proud of what they did during the 9/11 crisis.  JY

 

We have been off the grid for the last 12 days as we have been busy traveling.  We have been in Newfoundland which is a spectacular adventure in itself.  We traveled through this massive and beautiful province in a short period of time and could have easily stayed a month and still only have scratched the surface.  We both agree this is a place we would visit again and stay for a month or two – so much to see and do.

Sunday July 30, 2017

Port Aux Basque/Margaree

We left our RV at the park this morning at 7:00 am and drove to the ferry terminal.  It was raining but the terminal was very nice and we could leave the terminal to get something to eat on Main Street in the town of Sydney – at that early hour our best and only option was Tim Hortons.  After a long wait to board we set sail and docked in Port aux Basque 7 hours later.  As it turns out our truck was the first one on the ferry and we were going to be the first ones off.  Matter of fact no one could get off until we did.

I made all the plans and reservations for this trip in February and March when most of our destinations were locked in the cold bite of winter.  I did not want to stay in Port aux Basque but chose a small fishing village of Margaree about 30 minutes away right next to the coastal waters.  It has a hefty population of 300 people on a busy day.  Although still considered a fishing village there is little fishing done here ever since the cod were over fished and are now a protected species from commercial fishing.  Most of the people here are retirees and some work in Port aux Basque.

For those who are OCD trip planners (Steve G.) it is surreal to plan a trip, do all the research, make reservations and put together an itinerary with dates and time.  I like to even look at the places we are going to stay on Google earth and zoom in on what the buildings look like and reference where they are located.  During the planning stages places are just dots on the map and reservation and bookings are things that are going to happen.  It is surreal to finally arrive and see, feel, taste and smell the place you made plans to be, to meet the people you talked to and walk up and touch the buildings that were 2 dimensional on Google earth.

We are staying in this cool little Airbnb run by a mother and daughter.  Nobody locks their doors here and everyone is friendly.  We walked all the way into town, about 300 yards, to the only restaurant and had dinner.  After dinner we stopped an older gentleman who was out taking a walk and asked him if he would tell us a little about his town.  He was born and raised here and will retire from the Royal Canadian Navy in a couple of months.  He pointed to a small road heading out of town and said when he was a kid that was the only in and out of Margaree.  It is a narrow road overgrown a little on the sides but still narrow.  He said he remembered one winter when it snowed 27 feet and the town was cut off for a month.  Now there is a new road that connects to the main road and it cuts the trip from 25 miles down to 9 miles which makes the going to and coming from town much quicker.  Margaree is a beautiful location.  PRC

 

Our adventure began Sunday when we boarded the ferry. Although the ferry was huge it was difficult to imagine that it could hold the multitude of vehicles making the crossing with us. Besides cars and semis, there were all the RV’s and vehicles they were towing.

Surprisingly the trip went quickly and we soon docked into Port aux Basques. We went directly to the AIRBNB that Peter had booked for us in the small town of Margaree. It was good to spend time in a small Newfoundland town. Margaree used to be a fishing village and now only numbers 300 people. This time our AirBnB was in the basement of a house. The hostess left breakfast for us in the kitchen upstairs.  It  consisted of breads and homemade jams. The view from the kitchen window was spectacular. We took a lovely walk along the road behind the house which used to be the highway that ran through Margaree.  JY

HALIFAX

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

We spent the day in Halifax, knowing it would be the last time we would spend any time in the city. (I suppose I should never say never.) We went back to our familiar parking in the Casino where we can park for free. Today was rainy and cold.

 

Nevertheless, we spent a soggy day touring Halifax on the “hop on, hop off bus.” We spent a couple of hours at the Citadel learning about the part Canada played in wars around the world.

 

We also spent some time in one of the cemeteries where about 150 bodies from the Titanic are interred. There is also a Jewish and Catholic cemetery with other victims of the Titanic. Many people don’t realize the role Halifax played in receiving the bodies of those who did not survive the sinking of the Titanic.

It was very emotional for Peter – touching the headstones and reading those who had names instantly links you to a horrendous tragedy you’ve read about but have never touched until now.

 

 

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

We had company from out of town today(!)   Rose and Jim, who were neighbors at Capitaine Homard’s RV Park, in St. Flavie, Quebec will be coming to the park we are staying at now. We have not seen them for almost two months but have kept in contact. We made plans for dinner and had a great time catching up with each others travels.  It’s possible that we may be able to meet again in Montreal.  After dinner we went to their motor home and traded stories and details about our trips.  We are going where they came from and they are going to where we have been.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Today we said good bye to Wayside RV Park near Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. So far, Nova Scotia has been our favorite province. We have even entertained the idea of getting a larger trailer or 5^th wheel and parking it at Wayside and spending the summer there…Maybe someday, in the meantime there are many other places to see.

The ride to Sydney was uneventful.  This is a peaceful RV Park overlooking the river, with a walking trail overlooking the shore. There is a food truck on the grounds that sells hamburgers and of course poutine. We are trying to avoid eating out since we have heard rumors that you cannot cross the border with food. If that is true we have quite a bit of chicken and ground turkey in our freezer that we need to finish before we leave Canada.  You may have noticed the lack of recent pics of Peter and lobsters…  The last one he had was three weeks ago.

Friday, July 28, 2017

We spent the day in Sydney doing errands including going to the bank, filling up the gas tank, having lunch and spending time at one of our favorite hangouts – the library. We went to check out a video but didn’t find any that interested us.

Saturday, July 29. 2017

This morning we moved our trailer to a more out of the way site within the RV Park. The owner will give us a discount if we park at this location while we are in Newfoundland for a week. There is a RV caravan in the park with about twenty travel trailers, fifth wheels, coaches along with the vehicles they are towing.  The caravan is also boarding the ferry tomorrow.  Consequently we will be leaving about 8:45 for the 11:45 departure time.  The ferry terminal is only 5 minutes from this RV Park.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

We have been looking forward to spending time in Newfoundland – the land of Vikings, puffins, icebergs, whales, moose and screech.  We will spend nine days there. Tomorrow we spend 8 hours taking the ferry to Port aux Basques. We travel around the island and end up at Argentia. Here we will take a 16 hour (overnight) ferry back to Sydney. We will see what adventures await us in Newfoundland.

“The journey is my home.”       JY & PRC

 

Where we do we begin – we are experiencing so many things it is hard to keep up and get the gist of it all in the blog.

We headed for Yarmouth which is at the very bottom of Nova Scotia.  The trip was well worth it and the scenery was unbelievable.  We drove right along the coast – right next to the Atlantic Ocean.   We drove around cove along the shoreline that provided safe harbor for many fishing boats and private sailboats.  The weather was sunny and the tide was in – all the boats were bobbing gently up and down in the rippling water.  Almost all the fishing boats are painted bright colors which makes these little harbors so colorful and picturesque.  This also partly answers the mystery of why so many houses are painted with such bright colors.  Regular house paint is a taxable commodity whereas boat paint is not taxable as it is used for business purposes with the product of the business being taxed.  It turns out that when the fishermen paint their boats they order more paint than they need and use the left over paint to paint their houses or black market the extra paint to a third party.

We stopped at Lunenburg where there is a Fisheries Museum.  There was very interesting film about building boats – there were two model boat builders working in one of the exhibits building replicas of two ships based on the original drawings.  One of the model builders had over 700 hours of work into the boat he was building and it was only half finished.  Amazing attention to detail – not your average hobby shop boat kit – all the pieces this guy was using were created by him from the same type of wood used to build the ship.  At the museum they had a lobster that was 25 pounds – he died just last year.  They had no idea how old he was but he was probably born long before I was.

While driving the meandering road down the coast there was a long narrow inlet stretching many miles inland – this would have taken an hour or more to circumnavigate but we lucked out.  We discovered that there was a cable ferry right at the mouth of the inlet – for some reason the road to get to this ferry was not on our route and was not well marked so we had to stop a couple of times to get directions but finally found it.

We pulled up and got in line to board and the guy waiting in front of us struck up a conversation and was surprised that we were from Arizona and that we had found the ferry.  When we boarded the ferry he paid our ticket and the Captain invited me to join him on the bridge.  The trip across took only 15 minutes but it saves the locals hours and hours of time.

The Captain suggested we stop at the LaHave bakery on the other side of the inlet as their pastries were excellent.  They may have been but we did not see anything we liked. While we were there a couple from Maine pulled up to the dock in their very nice sailboat – ordered a couple of scones to go – got back in their boat and sailed away. Life is tough.

We finally got to Yarmouth and our first night was at the Comfort Inn and Suites – the Airbnb had already been booked that night – so we stayed at the motel until the next day.  We woke up and drove to the Rodd Grand Hotel where we were scheduled to take a “foodie” tour of Yarmouth.  We met our host, Carol, and had a great time sampling foods all over town.  Fortunately we were the only two on the tour so that made it even better.

We checked in at the Airbnb and met the hosts.  The hostess, Sue, lingered on the cottage patio with us for about an hour and we really had a great conversation.  We had a lot of common interests.  We told her we were going kayaking the next day and we invited her to come along with us if she could make the arrangements with the kayak guide – and she did.  That night we relaxed and watched a movie and went to bed.  Up early and Sue was waiting in the driveway for us.  We met our kayak guide, Becky, at the dock and she briefed us on all the safety issues along with what and what-not to with regards to paddling and steering a kayak.  We launched and had a great time.  We kayaked under the pier for about 200 yards, went to an island with a ship wreck and around another island where cormorants, seagulls and great blue herons were nesting or just hanging out.  Then we paddled over to the dock and were provided with lunch that we ate in our kayaks.

We watched another movie that night.  In the morning we had a wonderful fruit breakfast on the cottage patio with the rooster crowing and watched as the sun burned off over shallow bay in the distance. Perfect.  It was soon time to go as we had more adventures planned for the day.  We packed up the truck and headed up the west coast of Nova Scotia.  We stopped to visit the second largest wooden church in the world which is also the largest wood church in North America – it is massive and very beautiful on the inside – it took 1,500 volunteers 2 years to build it.

Church interior.

The only time it is used now is for tourists and special ceremonies.  Typically there is a small service in the basement.   PRC

 

 

 

 

ABUNDANT BLESSINGS

Truthfully, this could be the title of any one of our blog postings; and how we start each and every day. I was just so overwhelmed with gratitude today, sometimes it is overwhelming.

So, this posting gets you caught up with our time away from the (Buen Camino) our travel trailer. You may recall that we spent last Thursday doing laundry in the morning. We spent 3pm – 9pm catching up with our blog at the library. We wanted to get this done as we knew we would be away for a few days.

But let me back up for a moment. Our neighbor, Nancy, here at Wayside RV Park told us that McDonald’s had McLOBSTER sandwiches. I could hardly believe that this fast food place sold lobster rolls! They did but no longer do this due to the rising prices of the crustacean. We were slightly disappointed…

And let me digress a tiny bit more. Our last blog entry included the RCMP Musical Ride which we saw in Halifax. We invited our neighbors Nancy and Bill.  Bill has had some ongoing issues with his knee.  We invited them to join us. The plan was for Peter to drop us off at the venue (the Halifax Citadel) and find parking as getting around is difficult for Bill.  As it turned out we were able to park close by in handicapped parking. It was perfect and we all had a good time.

As I indicated, we did not leave the library until 9 pm Thursday night. Upon our return, guess what awaited us?  Nancy made lobster rolls! I can guarantee that they were much better than any McLobster roll. This was their thank you for taking us to see the RCMP Musical Ride. What a treat! Thank you so much Nancy and Bill!!

And, speaking of the RCMP, here’s a joke we came across regarding differences between Canada and the U.S:

“Canada has the Mounties, the US has the FBI. Can you imagine the FBI doing the Musical Ride?”

Friday, 7/21

We left in the morning and took our time making our way to Yarmouth taking the coastal route which can take all day.   This was one of those vacations from our vacation. We left the trailer at the RV site and traveled with the freedom of not hauling it. On our way we stopped for breakfast (Kiwi’s) in Chester, a very pretty town on a harbor. We went through many fishing villages which Peter loves.  They are quite charming and picturesque.

We heard from one of the locals that there was a ferry that we could take, cutting miles from our trip. We hadn’t planned on that, but it sounded like a lark.  Sure enough we found the ferry landing. It was a cable ferry which I had never experienced. While waiting to board we spoke with a gentleman also crossing by ferry.  Any way, he ended up paying our fare. These Canadians…

We were back on the road again and drove to Lunenburg. Here we stopped at the Fisheries Museum where we learned about local fishing and the making of fishing boats. See the pics of a rare blue lobster and a 25 pound lobster. Apparently the largest lobster on record is 44 pounds!  We spent our first night in Yarmouth at the Comfort Inn which was quite adequate and comfortable.

Saturday July 22. 2017

Next morning we appeared at the Rodd Grand Hotel for a “Foodie” tour of the city. Our good fortune was we were the only two on the tour – so we got all the attention.  It started at the hotel’s dining room with a sampling of Acadian food. The cook, who is Acadian talked about the dishes which included seafood chowder, bread pudding and rappie pie. It’s really not a pie at all but reminds me of hash browns. Apparently it is a well-known and loved Acadian dish made of chicken and potatoes. It was quite good. We also had coffee and mimosas. And this was just the start. Our guide, Carol, took us to at least six other eateries. Remember, we were served samples, not full course meals. But still.. The day ended at a seafood restaurant with two (small) glasses of beer and delicious fish cakes.  Carol was a delightful guide who knew all the folks at the eateries and told us interesting history and facts about Yarmouth. She seemed to know everybody, which is no surprise as she is very active in the community.

It was a good thing we walked from place to place which maybe helped to burn off some of the calories. The food was great but her delightful company and commentary was even better.

The next highlight of Yarmouth was the Airbnb we stayed for the next two nights on Chebogue Point. The hosts are both artists with a farm house just outside the city. They built a “cottage” on the grounds which they use for entertaining and “movie night.” It is decorated lovingly with their own paintings and photographs and that of local artists and artisans.

There is also a beautiful garden where we had a lovely breakfast one morning – fresh fruit, tea and muffins provided by the hosts. Most Airbnb hosts provided a comfortable and unique place to spend the night. However these folks also provided wine, cheese, crackers, and fresh eggs from their own chickens. Best of all, we had the opportunity to spend time with Sue and had much to talk about.  She and her husband are kayakers and in fact have taken very long kayaking trips. We told her that we were going kayaking the next day (Sunday). She expressed an interest in joining us and of course knew the owner/tour guide (Becky) of the kayaking business.  It was fun to have her along on the trip as we were able to spend more time with her.

Sunday, July 23. 2017

Sunday morning the three of us met business owner and tour guide Becky where at the dock where we embarked on our kayak trip of Yarmouth Sound. Before we left Becky gave us instructions regarding how to maneuver our kayak. This was much more detailed and helpful than what they told us when we went kayaking at Hopewell Rocks.

Before I go any further, let me tell you that Peter told me about the kayaking trip several days ago and said they our lunch (fish and chips) were going to be lowered down to our kayaks from the dock. I didn’t believe that we were going to eat our lunch in a kayak. However, this was truly a part of our tour.

Becky provided a tour of the bay including “Bird Island” where several species of birds nest. There is also a ship wreck. We also paddled around a ship that had been maliciously torched. The owners spent much of the year living there but were not in residence when on October 31 someone set it on fire. Becky’s told us of the history of Yarmouth harbor – past and present. In addition, we learned more about the city itself.

I gained so much more appreciation of Yarmouth because of the information provided by Carol, Sue and Becky. They are all movers and shakers of the community.

After the kayak tour and lunch shipboard we went home for a shower and rest. Later that afternoon we drove out to the lighthouse at Cape Forchu on the east side of Yarmouth Sound. We then stopped for dinner before heading back to the AirBnB. It should be noted that Peter seems to be losing interest in lobster. He has only had it once in Nova Scotia, over a week ago. Don’t get me wrong, we still love and appreciate seafood such as scallops, shrimp and fish, mostly haddock.

Monday, July 24, 2017

Monday morning we had breakfast in the garden and said our farewells to Sue and Dan. We headed back to our trailer at Glenn Margaret taking the Evangeline Trail which is scenic roadway along the western part of Nova Scotia. I was interested in making a stop in Saulnierville for a particular reason. Since coming to Canada I have wanted to pick up some really good smoked salmon. I mentioned this to Carol on the Foodie tour and she told me about a fish market in Saulnierville. The product she recommended was by Willie Krauch sold by a company named Comeau’s. We did find it but were surprised that it is located in an automotive parts store. I did purchase some frozen smoked salmon and herring.

Our next stop along the Evangeline Trail was St. Mary’s Church in Churchpoint. This is the largest wooden church in North America. It was built in two years between 1903 and 1905 with the help of 1599 volunteers. The master carpenter could neither read or write. He built the church from the blueprints of a church made of stone in the parish priest’s native home in France. There are 41 stained glass windows, some of which depict events in the life of the Virgin Mary to which the church is dedicated. The windows were shipped from France in crates of molasses. The church is beautiful along this Acadian part of the country.

I lit a candle to all my friends and family, people we have met along the way and a special Acadian friend in Louisiana. I also reflected on my multitude of blessings including this trip through eastern Canada and the Maritime’s. In addition, I prayed for all the people who nobody is praying for. These few moments in this church built by Acadiens provided a “still point” for me on this long journey into Canada.

There have been several times on this trip we have called upon St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost things and lost causes. Peter is not a religious person. However his faith may have increased because of the help we have received from St. Anthony (God, the Universe). When we are in need, he tells me, “Talk to your friend, Tony.” Consequently, we bought a small medal of St. Anthony.

We had lunch in Digby which ids known for it’s scallops. This is what we both had for lunch.

We arrived home tired but refreshed from our sojourn to Yarmouth appreciating it’s history, culture and people.   JY