Author: 1952june

Thursday July 13, 2017

Left St. Martin first thing in the morning before anybody was up.  I like to get an really early start so I don’t have to drive late in the day.  We also like to stop and get something to eat and/or drink and if there are any sights to see we can stop and take our time.  The drive went well and was very scenic – especially when we got close to the water.  We pulled into the RV Park with plenty of time to set up and prepare leftovers and relax during the late afternoon and evening.

Friday July 14, 2017

First thing in the morning we drove to Peggy’s Cove lighthouse for breakfast.  It is beautiful and has the lighthouse that is in the picture on the title page of our blog.   We were very behind on the blog and were determined to get caught up.  The restaurant at the lighthouse is called the “Sow Wester. ” They let us stay at our table after we ate breakfast and work on the blog as they had good internet service.  Then a bus of tourists arrived from one of the cruise ships and they asked us to leave as they needed the table.  So we moved to a coffee shop which was the old train station – we closed the place down at 5:00 pm and then moved to the public library – they closed at 6:00 and we finished the blog at 6:15 – they waited for us to finished – they could tell we were determined to do so.

Saturday July 15, 2015

We decided to go into Halifax and go to the casino as they had an all-you-can-eat lobster and prime rib dinner – geez who could pass that up.  We decided to make a stop at the new library which I discussed briefly in the opening of this post – it is a very impressive building with an  ingenious blend of architecture, state of the art environmental features and world class technology.  We loitered around there for a couple hours as they had live music in one section along with a coffee bar on the first floor and on the rooftop patio.

We left the library and headed for the casino.  The lobster and prime rib dinner was $9.50 with a players club card which were free.  You need a government issued ID to get the card and June Yvonne had left her ID back at the trailer so she was going to have to pay the full price of $29.50 – we decided to do it anyway.

The Lobster tails were small but you could get as many as you wanted so it didn’t matter – the prime rib was actually roast beef but all in all it was good. When it came time to pay the bill the waitress gave me the wrong check which was two people with the club card – I pointed it out to her and she left – moments later and came back and told us it didn’t matter and that we could have both dinners for $9.50 each – wow!

After dinner it was back to camp and to bed – had lots of things to do the next day.

Sunday July 16, 2017

We drove to the lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove to get a better look at the lighthouse and the surrounding area.  The weather was relatively good with patches of fog drifting in and out which is not uncommon.  After visiting the tourism office we decided to take a 1 hour cruise around Peggy’s Cove and down the coast to another seaside fishing village.  We each had a turn at steering the boat which was cool.

When we got back to the lighthouse the fog did settle in pretty good and from the restaurant you could barely see the lighthouse.  We drove back to camp. We had made friends with two other groups of campers and decided to have a pot luck – June Yvonne had volunteered to make guacamole, so we stopped at the local grocery store, Sobeys, and picked up the supplies we needed.

Dinner was great and we all had a good time, then sat around the campfire until we were all tired and straggled off to bed.

Monday July 17, 2017

We drove into Halifax to visit the Maritime Museum and  see the exhibit on the Halifax explosion in 1917 in which 2,000 people were killed almost instantly and 9,000 where injured.  The blast leveled 2.5 square miles of the city.  When the fire started on the munitions ship many people ran down to the waterfront to witness the fire and many more stood at the window off their homes to watch.  Unknown to almost everyone the ship was loaded with tons of explosives bound for the war in Europe. When it went off the majority of the people were killed and those watching behind the windows were permanently blinded by the glass shards from the shattered windows. We went back to the casino for their brunch which was so-so.  Then back to the museum to see the Titanic exhibit which was small but very interesting.  On the way back to the casino we purchased some jewelry for June Yvonne.  Back at camp we sat with our new friends around their campfire.

Tuesday July 18, 2016

We headed back into Halifax for the Harbour Hopper amphibious tour.  it was noon when we got started and it was an hour tour.    From there we walked to Pier 21 which was a lot further away than we were  told to the Canadian Immigration Museum which is the equivalent of the American Ellis Island.  It was a sobering experience. Our guide immigrated through this building 60 years ago.

Wednesday July 19, 2017

We went into Halifax to see the Royal Canadian Mounted Police musical ride which is very special to Canadians.   PRC

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Peggy’s Cove

It’s difficult to believe that we have been in the province of Nova Scotia for a full week. We have not blogged since last Friday because WIFI at our RV Park is practically non-existent. Plus, we have been doing lots as you will see.  We are back at the library in the town of Tantallon, about 20 minutes from “home.” We are determined to get caught up again since this week will be full of activities also.

So, the Nova Scotia license plate says, “Canada’s Ocean Playground.”  Nova Scotia has 4,625 miles of coastline. N.S. is 375 miles long and 60-100 miles wide. N.S is Latin for New Scotland. There are lots of Scots and Irish here. The province is known for its lobster. There is a friendly rivalry between Nova Scotia and Maine for the best lobster.  Very good blueberries are grown here which makes blueberry desserts very common.

The “Buen Camino”, our trailer, is parked in Glenn Margaret, about 45 minutes from Halifax and minutes away from Peggy’s Cove. Peggy’s cove is a very popular tourist destination. In addition, it is an excursion destination for cruise ships. The area becomes even more crowded when there are cruise excursions in town. The year round population of Peggy’s Cove currently numbers about 35.  The light house in Peggy’s Cove was built in 1868. During WWII it was used by the Royal Canadian Navy as a radio station. The present lighthouse was completed in 1916 and was manned until 1958 when it became fully automated. Of course everyone wants photos of the lighthouse. The first time we took photos the fog had come in which is very common in the area. The lighthouse looks like a ghost in the background.

The ocean and rocks can be very treacherous, particularly if you wander to the water’s edge at low tide and cross the dark, slippery surface covered by the ocean at high tide. Rogue waves can occur during storms; then even distances far from the water can be dangerous when marine conditions are more severe. There are signs posted everywhere warning people not to walk on the dark surfaces of rocks as they are so slippery.  Nonetheless, many people do not heed the warnings and venture on to the dark rocks.

There is a memorial site for the 1998 Swissair Flight 111 which crashed in the ocean off the shores of St. Margaret’s Bay near Peggy’s Cove. All the passengers were lost. Local fisherman retrieved many of the bodies. We were told that many of the rescuers suffered from PSTD as the rescue was quite gruesome.

On Sunday, July 16 we went on a boat tour of Peggy’s Cove around noon so most of the fog has burned off. Both Peter and I had a chance to drive the boat for a short time. From the boat we were able to get more clear photos of the light house.

Another highlight of Peggy’s Cove and our stay in Glenn Margaret were the friendly, fun folks we met at RV Park, “Wayside Camping.” The two couples live in Nova Scotia, but spend a lot of time in this RV Park. Bill and Nancy use their 5^th wheel as a summer cottage. Kathy and Jerry use Wayside Camping and other RV parks when they can get out of town. We have shared campfires and one night had a potluck. My contribution was guacamole. Nancy had never had it, but did seem to enjoy it enough to ask for the recipe. This is not the first time I have been asked for my recipe so next time we do another long trip I am going to print out the recipe.

Halifax

We decided to drive into Halifax on Saturday to get “the lay of the land” and take advantage of the All- You-Can-Eat lobster tails and prime rib (roast beef) at Casino Nova Scotia.   First, we spent a couple of hours at the new state of the art Halifax library. You may have noticed that we tend to spend more time at libraries than most tourists. The main reason has been to work on our blog since RV sites seldom have reliable WIFI. Here in Nova Scotia it has been to check out DVD’s. This is convenient as we can return rentals to any library in the province.

We had dinner at Casino Nova Scotia after waiting in line for a couple of hours. This was Peter’s first lobster in the province of Nova Scotia. I liked it because it did not involve a lot of work and I didn’t have to deal with the tomalley of the lobster. It was good, but we won’t be doing that again. No food is worth that long of wait.

We didn’t think we would be visiting the Casino again as we do not gamble and will not wait that long for lobster again. However, we were at the Casino a couple of times after that as we realized we could park for free and the location was fairly convenient to many interesting sites in the city.

So on Monday we went into the city again, parked and went to the Maritime Museum. The two main exhibits were the Halifax Explosion and Titanic. Both were quite sobering. The explosion occurred in 1917. I had never heard of it, but Peter learned about it in school since he is a Canadian citizen. The “Narrows” in the harbor of Halifax is a particularly dangerous area for ships. There have been a number of ship wrecks there. The collision occurred between a French cargo ship laden with high explosives and a Norwegian vessel, the SS Imo in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbor to Bedford Basin. The cargo ship was loaded with explosives bound for the battlefields of WW I. The result was the largest human-made explosion prior to the detonation of the first atomic bombs in 1945. The explosion wiped out six square kilometers of the city which was thriving at the time. I’m sure Peter’s brothers have heard of this disaster. Anyone else?

We then went upstairs to the Titanic exhibit. You probably know quite a bit about this disaster. The “unsinkable” ship was headed for New York from Southampton, England. It hit a giant iceberg and sunk within hours. Most of the life boats were reserved for First Class passengers. The first vessel to arrive was able to rescue 700 passengers and take them to New York. Three days later, four Canadian Steamers were dispatched to retrieve bodies of passengers that did not survive.  The first steamer, the Mackay –Bennett set sail with a minister, an undertaker, a cargo of ice, coffins and canvas bags. Church bells tolled as cable ships steamed into Halifax Harbor laden with grim cargo.  The remains of 150 victims were buried in three Halifax cemeteries. As indicated, the exhibits presently at the Maritime Museum were quite grim. I could relate many more sad stories, but will refrain.

The next day, July 18, we drove to Halifax again for two different activities.  After parking at the Casino, we did a “Harbor Hopper” tour of the city and harbor.  Our pert narrator, Jane, provided interesting facts about Halifax history including the official food of Halifax. It is “Donair” which we will try before leaving Nova Scotia. Donair was introduced to city of Halifax by a Greek restaurateur in the early 1970’s. It is made with beef and spices and sweet donair sauce. This surprised me as Nova Scotia is so famous for their lobster.

Next, we walked to Pier 21 to the Immigration Museum. I imagined this was similar to the US’s Ellis Island. Halifax was the port of entry for many immigrants over the years. The exhibit is particularly pertinent as it it Canada’s 150^th birthday. I appreciated that the museum did acknowledge that First Nation people have lived here long before the first explorers. The exhibit provided summaries of newcomers experience entering the seaport of Halifax. Many then boarded trains for different parts of Canada. Canada has voluntarily taken in immigrants from many countries. Canada is a very diverse and welcoming country for the most part.

The next day, July 19 we went into Halifax again. The day before when we were on the Harbor Hopper, we went by the Citadel. It includes a venue for concerts. Our guide told us about the next day’s event. We invited one of the neighbor couples we met from our RV Park to the RCMP Musical Ride. I had never heard of this before but Peter was anxious for me to see it. The concert was Mounties on well trained gorgeous horses dancing/marching to popular, mostly Canadian music.  It was an extravaganza. At the end, Canada’s national anthem was played. It was a very patriotic moment. Even though I am a loyal American citizen, I have developed a soft spot and appreciation of Canada and its citizens. “Oh Canada” actually brought tears to my eyes… Our new friends, Nancy and Bill enjoyed the event also.

Today, July 20, we have devoted to updating the blog and doing laundry. We have spent several hours working on the blog at the library. When we get home tonight we will pack for a three day trip away from the trailer. Tomorrow we will be driving to Yarmouth for a foodie tour and a 3-hour kayaking trip. Then we will return to our RV Park for a couple of days. Then we will head to Sidney and take the long ferry ride to Newfoundland.   JY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do not know if it this particular area there is some sort of bizarre Canadian vortex or whether there are super solar flares but the internet is not working well at all.  The blog is becoming harder and more difficult to manage especially adding pictures and videos.  We are at the library in Moncton, New Brunswick and the internet is very slow.  Neither the library’s WiFi nor our hot spot are performing very well at all. Back in St. Martins, where our RV is parked, last night I could not even open the blog whereas the day before it zipped right along with no problems.  So for the next little while updates might not be coming as regular as they have in the past.

After two days in St. John we returned to St. Martins – neither of us were impressed with St. John and probably will not return.  It is an old sea port and is very industrialized.  There is nothing to draw us back there.  When we got to St. Martins we went to the wharf just to check it out and to see if there were any lobsters for sale.  Well there was a guy selling live lobsters – he opened up his storage shed and he had tanks full of lobster.  I asked him the weight of the biggest one he had – he reached into the tank and pulled out an 8 pound lobster at $9.99 per lb.  I asked him how old the lobster was and he did not know but said a 5 pound lobster is about 20 years old – he said marine biologists he has talked with say that the growth rate of a lobsters is not linear.  The largest he has ever had in stock weighed 19 pounds and the largest he has seen weighed 22 pounds. So the question is – how old is a 22 pound lobster?

Right beside the wharf there is a covered bridge that goes to the beach and the caves that we can see from the RV Park.  We drove over there and it was beautiful but we were not prepared to go walking on the beach or to the caves.  We did stop at a place that advertised the “World’s Best Seafood Chowder” – we each had a bowl and it was the best seafood chowder either of us had ever tasted.  It was great with large chucks of haddock, lobster and shrimp.

We drove back to the wharf and went to the visitor center after looking through the gifts shops in the shacks along the wharf.  I visited the information center which was a non-functional 3 story light house.  From the third floor you could see two covered bridges and a couple of gazebo’s that were both being used for pictures by two pleasantly competing wedding parties.  I tried photo bombing one wedding picture but they caught me and I decided to leave the area before getting thrown in the water.  In the two photos below you can see the two covered bridges and the lighthouse – I was told by a local artist that this is the only place in North America where you can see two covered bridges and a lighthouse in the same photograph.  I could have taken a better picture but that vantage point is on private property and this was as close as I dare go.

Back at the RV we made plans to journey to Fundy National Park the next day.  It was a two hour drive to the park but we got started late so there wasn’t much time to do anything once we got there.  It turned out that there wasn’t much to do anyway because it is almost exclusively a hiking park with trails of various length a levels of difficulty.  We picked up some brochures and sat at a table in the visitors center and hatched a plan for the next two days.  We decided to go to Moncton on Tuesday and watch the tidal bore come in at 12:15 pm and then check out some of the shops in the old town area.  From there we would drive to Hopewell Rocks and stay overnight in a B&B and book a kayak trip through and around the Hopewell Rock or flower pot formations.  We locked everything in with reservations and and drove a mile into the village of Alma and had pizza for lunch.

We were on the road early and arrived in Moncton with plenty of time to spare.  We located Bore Park and decided where we wanted to be witness to the bore tide.  There were probably 40 to 50 spectators when the bore started.  It was very interesting to watch although one might think it isn’t anything spectacular.  It is caused by the tide water’s moving up the Bay of Fundy.  The bay gets narrower and shallower which compresses the water which makes the tides higher and more forceful.

We ate lunch and I spent a couple hours hanging out at the library in Moncton Public Library hoping to get caught up on the blog but their WiFi was not very good so I was spinning my wheels.

We drove to Hopewell and checked into the Hopewell Motel and Inn.  I had a lobster for dinner then we turned in.  The Hopewell Rocks park opened at 8:00 am so we were there early.  The shuttle drove us down to the stairs you descend to the ocean floor.  It was amazing to see the rocks before going down the stairs.  Once on the ocean floor we were free to roam around and explore.  At 10:30 am we walked with a park ranger who gave a 45 minute interpretive lecture on the rocks, the tides, the vegetation and the history of the park – it was extremely interesting.

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MARTINS, NEW BRUNSWICK JULY 8

We arrived in St. Martin’s on Friday. Our RV site is on the Bay of Fundy. It was interesting to see the dramatic differences in high and low tide just 200 yards from our trailer.

From our site, we could see the “sea caves.” From the beach at low tide you can walk into the sea caves which we did one afternoon. Afterwards, we had excellent fish and chips at a seaside café.

We had two overnight excursions while in St. Martins. The first one was to St. John (see previous blog). The next was Hopewell Rocks.

From our RV site, we took a day trip to Moncton I enjoyed this city. Here we saw the Tidal Bore. This is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of an incoming tide forms a standing wave of water that travels upstream, against the current of a river or narrow bay. The tidal bore in Moncton is caused when the unparalleled tides in the Bay of Fundy begin to make their way up the historic Petitcodiac River. We watched the tidal bore from Bore Park in Moncton. This occurs twice a day. Sometimes with a particularly high tide, someone surfs it.

I managed to get an appointment for a mani-pedi while in Moncton. (Color turquoise of course.)  Not only did Josée do a great job, she was a lot of fun.  She is Acadian and as you know I am quite interested in this culture. I learned lots of information from her regarding Acadian games and food. I learned about Washer Toss.  Some folks at the RV Park where we were staying were playing this game. Another one is “Flying Testicles” played with golf balls.

She told me about some Acadian foods such as Acadian Poutine which is different from other poutines which we have tried. She showed me a picture of it. I guess it is an acquired taste. Another traditional Acadian dish is “fricot” which is a stew with chicken and vegetables. The word fricot has its origins in 18^th century France where it was used to mean feast. Evidently Fricot is such an important part of Acadian food culture that the call to eat in Acadian French is “Au fricot”! Some products popular in this part of the world are ketchup potato chips and Maple Cream (fudge.)

The next overnight excursion we took was to Hopewell Rocks. This was definitely a highlight of our Canadian trip.  We spent the night at a motel only a few minutes away from the Hopewell Rocks Park.  Peter had his last lobster in the province of New Brunswick at the motel’s restaurant.

Hopewell Rocks is such an iconic site in New Brunswick that we bought a photo to commemorate our visit there. The photograph shows the Hopewell Rocks at low tide and high tide. In the morning we visited the park at low tide. We took pics walking around the famous rocks on the ocean floor and had an interpretive tour by a park guide. It was so informative and interesting. The park is very careful to make sure that the beach is cleared before high tide begins. There can be up to a 47 foot difference between low and high tides. The park has erected an emergency platform if someone does not have the foresight to leave before it’s too late.

Our next activity at the park was kayaking around the rocks. This allowed us to experience Hopewell Rocks from two different perspectives. This time we kayaked around the famous rocks we had walked around in the morning.  There was a film crew filming when we were kayaking. Of course there were people from around the world joining us for this activity.

We arrived yesterday (Thursday, 7/14) to the province of lovely Nova Scotia. We are staying approximately two weeks in the RV Park – Wayside Camping Park in Peggy’s Cove. We will be in Nova Scotia for approximately 3 weeks. Peggy’s Cove is so incredibly picturesque. For the next two weeks we will be exploring the area, the city of Halifax and southern Nova Scotia.

Our goal for today is to get caught up with the blog. It’s been next to impossible to work on the blog in the past two weeks. We were hoping that it would be easier here at the RV Park in Peggy’s Cove.  However that has not been the case. Consequently we started our catch up work at breakfast in a restaurant overlooking the cove and lighthouse. Then excursions from cruise ships arrived and we were asked to leave. Now we are at a cute coffee house with WIFI finishing up.

The next blog will cover our first couple of weeks in Nova Scotia. After our time at this particular site we will spend time driving around the northern coast of the province. After that we will be taking the ferry (without the travel trailer) to Newfoundland for about a week. We will staying in Airbnb’s while in Newfoundland.  JY

 

We left P.E.I. on Thursday morning about 7:00 am – before any of the other campers were awake.  I did not trust the GPS so the night before I did it the old fashioned  way – I used a paper fold up map and carefully plotted our route to the bridge leaving the island.  We were doing great until we could see the bridge – then I screwed up – I thought what harm could it do and turned on the GPS and followed the instructions she was giving – instantaneously we were lost down some back road leading away from the bridge – I turned her off and found an old trucking yard to turn around in and we were back on track after a few corrections.   It is interesting they let you on the island for free but it cost us $62.00 to leave.

The drive to St. Martins was uneventful and little Miss Know-It -All did not lead us astray.  Lots of forest and lakes that all look like they would be good places to do some fly fishing but it is just not feasible when pulling the trailer.

Sunday July 9, 2017

It’s been a couple of days since we have done the blog so today is a catch-up day.  We are doing the laundry and there is an attached kitchen with some tables so we are catching up.  The weather here is dreadful – it’s about 70 degrees with a good stiff wind blowing.

We relaxed a little after we arrived and started planning our activities for St. John.  We decided to find a B&B in St. John and June Yvonne found a gem.  It was two homes build on a hill by a man who owned a ship building company in 1858.  The houses were on the same level and mirror images of each other.  In 2000 the owner of the two houses decided to join the two houses with a huge living room and basement area.  The house is beautifully decorated and still has many of the pieces of furniture and decorations from 1858.  There are new owners who just purchased the property 4 months ago – they are a young couple from Beijing – he was a programmer with IBM for many years and was looking for a change.  The previous owner also used it as a B&B for 25 years prior to selling but was getting too old to keep up with it.  Having a little construction experience I looked around the place and I don’t think the new owner realized how much work will need to go into the structure itself.  They are very nice people, kind, gentle and great hosts – we wish them all the best.

We visited the City Market which was interesting but very small – they have tried to follow the model of Pike Market in Seattle and Faneuil Hall in Boston but haven’t come close – we were through it in about 45 minutes.  After getting a bite to eat we walked along the boardwalk for a short way and stopped for a coffee.  Decided to check into the B&B and once we were settled went for Chinese.  Our host, David, recommended a place nearby for great Chinese food so we went there – on a scale it was maybe a “B”.

On the way back to the B&B we stopped in at the Reversing Falls which is a local tourist attraction here – it is quite the site.  It is hard to explain but I will take a shot at it.  I hope that I can attach the three videos that I took so they will help with the explanation.

Two tectonic plates have come together over the last 700 million years creating a very narrow gorge for the waters of the St. John river and the tide from the Bay of Fundy to pass through – in the opposite direction.  In addition there are a series of three underwater steps below the surface with some sections 175 to 200 feet deep.

The St. John River is the only outlet for Northern Main, Vermont and New Brunswick – a total of 55,000 square miles – consequently 2.2 million cubic feet of water pass through this gorge every second – with just that alone you can imagine the turbulence that is created by the force of this capacity of water as it passes through the gorge and over the subsurface topography. Those tides and the volume of water are driven by the Atlantic Ocean so that is a force that will not be denied.

Well the two forces meet at the gorge and it is a battle that occurs twice a day.  When there is a low tide the water from the river flows over the underwater escarpments with such force that the turbulence created class 5 rapids and because it is flowing down stream ii is referred to as “falls” although the falls are underwater.  At high tide the force of the tide water is so powerful that it overcomes the force of the river water and pushes the river water back up the river for 90 miles.  At high tide the tide waters rises 29 feet.  The force of the water going upstream against the underwater escarpments creates such force and turbulence that the rapids are also considered class five and have taken a few lives over the years.

There is also a period of calm in this battle between the two forces and that is called the slack tide.  That is when the river and the tide are at the same height and on the surface the waters are deceptively very calm.  It is the only time that boats can navigate safely through the gorge.  The slack tide is only a momentary point in time as the waters change direction as one overpowers the other.  Almost like throwing a ball straight into the air – it goes up but before it can start coming down it has to stop for just a millisecond before it changes direction and starts coming down.  The change in the flow of water happens and gradually picks up speed and force over the opposing current whether it is low tide or high tide.

The tidal schedule is what determines the timing of the event so it happens twice each day everyday and can be witnessed from several vantage points.  Trouble is you have to show up at specific times during the day to catch the water flow at it’s peak.

The three video clips at the bottom illustrate this phenomena   PRC

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LAST NIGHT IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND (Wednesday, July 5)

We celebrated our last night in PEI with lobster of course. That is, Peter had lobster, I had scallops. When ordering we asked about the gender of the lobster. Our waiter told Peter it would be fortunate if he got a female lobster as the eggs are considered delicious by many.  OK, enough about lobsters for now. FYI: Peter’s goal is to have at least one lobster in each Maritime province.

St. MARTINS, NEW BRUNSWICK (Thursday, July 6)

We arrived in St. Martins, New Brunswick to very windy weather. We ate chili beans for dinner (not lobster) as they are relatively easy to make in the trailer.

St. JOHN (Friday, July 7)

As the weather forecast predicted decent weather for two days we decided to drive into St John, about an hour drive from St. Martin. Peter suggested spending the night there and seeing some of the sights that interested us. I found a really cool B and B – Homeport Historic B&B. It really was quite lovely. It was the highlight of our getaway.

The new owners of the B &B are from Beijing, China. The husband, David previously worked for IBM. They are a very gracious couple who are lovingly restoring and maintaining the inn. It’s a lot of work, as it was built in 1858. They provided a delicious breakfast of fruit, muffins and eggs Benedict. Friday night Peter asked the wife, Anne what was for breakfast the next day – she said “bent eggs.” I had no idea what that meant but was presently surprised in the morning.

Before checking into the Inn in the afternoon, we spent the morning at the St. John City Market. I was hoping for something like Pike’s Market where I could pick up some smoked fish. No such luck. It was colorful but not very big.

After some coffee, we walked to the Saint John Jewish Museum. As  Sephardic and “crypto-Jew, I was interested in Jewish history in Canada. We were given a tour by an engaging young woman who belongs to what now is the only synagogue in St. John. The St. John Jewish Community was founded in 1858 by a family from England. The second wave of Jewish immigration began in 1892 . By the 1960’s, the grandchildren of the immigrants were leaving the city to pursue educational and employment opportunities  in larger Canadian and American cities. Consequently it is a small community now days and they don’t have a rabbi.  For High Holy Days, a cantor from Montreal drives down to do services.

The inn where we stayed had an extensive collection of DVD’s. We saw the movie “Snow Walker,” filmed and produced in Canada. The location was Nunavik close to the Arctic Circle. It was excellent and I would highly recommend it. (By the way, Canadian singer  Michael Buble had a cameo in the movie.) We have not watched TV since leaving Phoenix on May 11. Consequently watching a movie is kind of exciting and a novelty for us.

Saturday we went to see the “Reversing Falls Rapids,” another attraction we planned to see in St. John. It’s not quite as dramatic visually as it sounds although the geological phenomenon is quite spectacular. The reversing waterfalls occurs underwater. The Reversing Falls Rapids are created by the daily collision of the Bay of Fundy and the Saint John River.  At different times in the tide cycle, there are three distinct interactions between these two bodies of water. They are low tide, slack tide and high tide. We managed to get photos of all three tide conditions.

St. John is an old port city. It is my least favorite  of the Canadian cities we have visited. It’s very industrial looking. We visited the Falls View Park and enjoyed watching the reversing rapids, the seals and the cormorants. However, the scenic views were marred by the refinery or maybe a pulp mill in the background.  (See pic.)  JY

 

 

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Video 1 – high tide – incoming tidal flow moving from right to left – the tide raises the water level 28 feet above the surface level of the river over powering the force of the 2.2 million gallons per second flowing out of the river

 

Video 2 – slack tide – when the surface of the two opposing water flows are at the same level there is little to no surface turbulence.

 

Video 3 – low tide – as the tide goes out the water level drops 28 feet and the surface of the tide becomes lower than the surface of the river – this allows the 2.2 million gallons per second of river water to flow through the gorge unabated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND  (Monday, June 3; Tuesday, June 4; Wednesday, June 5)

Such a romantic name and such a pretty place.

On Monday morning Peter woke up early to go deep sea fishing which was on his list activities for our Canada trip. I’m sure the opportunity will present itself again.

Instead of lamenting I had not read Anne of Green Gables as a kid, I finally bought the book and started reading it. I’m glad I did as it provided me with some background for the musical which we saw Monday night. It was a perfectly lovely evening, kind of a date night. We drove into Charlottetown to have dinner and see the musical.

The musical has been running for 53 years to almost sold out crowds.

PEI (Prince Edward Island) is almost a theme park for Anne of Green Gables. We have seen the Green Gables house, the museum, and the author’s home. The author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, has definitely put PEI on the map. I do appreciate Anne’s irrepressible spirit.

 

 

As Canada Day was such a big deal we almost forgot today was our beloved country’s birthday. We have some Canadian flags strung up in our RV site. I wish we had some American flags to include in the decorations to celebrate both birthdays.

 

We spent Tuesday exploring part of the island. After visiting the themed locations we drove  the northwest side of the island. We went to North Cape which is the farther northwest point of PEI. There  was a light house but unfortunately it was not open. Looking out to sea we did see what looked like a pirate ship. It had 3-masts  and green sails. Our imaginations have probably gotten the better of us with these fanciful thoughts. I wish we could have taken a picture through the binoculars.

It was a beautiful day.  You could have left me in a hammock somewhere on the island and I would have been happy. (As long as someone picked me up when it started raining.)

It was a long day driving so we will probably not explore the east part of the island tomorrow. We’ll do some laundry and visit some local sites. Peter is talking about boiling another lobster tomorrow. This will be his 6^th…

More about lobsters. In our blog when we were staying at Capitaine Homard’s RV Park you may recall that we were surprised to be served a female lobster with eggs. It was a bit disconcerting and unappetizing and has not occurred since then.  We have been told that usually fisherman release a female lobster if it is less than two pounds. Unfortunately Capitaine Homard’s restaurant did not do that as the lobster we ordered was only 1 ½ pounds.  Only boy lobsters from now on.

There is more. Living in Phoenix all my life I do not have much experience with lobsters or eating them. There is another part that I did not know about called the “tomalley.” The tomalley comes from a Caribbean word tumale meaning sauce of a lobster. To me, it is really unappetizing and has discouraged my appreciation of lobster. It functions as both the liver and pancreas of the lobster. Some say it is a delicacy. I would just  as soon not have anything to do with it…Apparently it is included in making lobster chowder. (I wish I didn’t know that.)  Sorry for recounting an apparent morbid curiosity with lobster body parts. There is a lot of other seafood in the Maritime provinces thank goodness.  Although I do like a few bites of  succulent lobster.

PREP DAY

Today (Wednesday) is Prep Day as we are getting ready to leave our campsite in pretty New Glasgow Highlands. We will leave early in the morning tomorrow for our next destination. Thursdays are usually travel days.

Our goal today is also to get caught up with the blog. As in many other sites, it has been a challenge due to spotty WIFI. We often have to work on it in a specific location in the RV park.  Last night we were up late doing one of the postings in the lodge where there is  better connection. Other places it depends on the time of day. We put a lot of work in into it, especially Peter when he decides to inbed a video. So, we really appreciate when you check in with us at least once in awhile. We really, really like it when you leave a comment. We do get homesick and lonely especially since we are so far from home. There is another benefit to keeping the log as a travel diary. We get to look back on it when we get home.

So tomorrow we are returning to New Brunswick where we will spend a week in St. Martin and nearby locations.  This includes Hopewell Rocks where the tide comes  in and out twice a day. It can be up to fifty feet. After that we will go to the province of Nova Scotia where we will spend a few  weeks.  Eventually we will be taking a ferry to Newfoundland.  More about this later.

Next blog will be from a different province.  (I’m certainly learning a lot about Canadian geography)  JY

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Sunday July 2, 2017

This was a utility day – we BBQ’s some mackerel fillets that I picked up for free down at the dock when one of the fishing boats came is – they were yummy!

Monday July 3, 2017

Got up early and went into North Rustico to the wharf.  Today was my deep sea fishing trip.  It was nothing spectacular with 10 people on board – the day before they had caught more fish than they knew what to do with so there was some hope we’d get into some good fish.  Unfortunately that was not the case.  I caught two mackerel and several perch and it was a slow 3 hours for everyone.  We all had a good time as everyone was cutting up and telling fishing jokes.  The best catch was a wolf fish – vicious thing with teeth to prove it – the guy that caught it was going to take the hook out of the mouth but the captain and 1^st mate were all over him with don’t touch it.  They used pliers to remove the hook and the captain put a mop handle in the fish’s mouth.  The fish bit down on it and would not let go even when the captain held the handle over the side and tried to shake him off. He finally let go and there were some pretty good teeth marks in the mop handle – if the fish had got a hold of the guys fingers they would have been pretty messed up.

When I got back from fishing we showered and got ready to head into Charlottetown.  Months before we started our trip I reserved to VIP seats for the “Anne of Green Gables” play at the Confederation Center.  We had visited the house where Lucy Maude Montgomery (the author) got the inspiration and the encouragement to write the Anne story.  She was a very prolific writer with 20 novels, 530 short stories, 500 poems and 30 essays.  In spite of all that she never felt she achieved the great novel she desired.  Her books have been translated into 17 different languages.  Japanese especially study and admire her work so much that they organize pilgrimages to PEI to visit Green Gables, Montgomery’s birthplace, the house she grew up in  and her grave site.  We have visited all of these places and we have OD’d on “Anne of Green Gables”.

We were very lucky when we got to Charlottetown as there was free parking directly across the street from the theater. We dined at a delicious Italian restaurant across the street in front of the theater.  Our seats were excellent and the play was very very well done by some very talented performers.  This is the 53^rd consecutive year the play has been running.  Lucy Maud Montgomery had no idea what her legacy would be and without knowing it put PEI firmly on the map and to some extent bolstered the economy significantly.

Tuesday July 4, 2015

We decided to drive to North Cape which is the most northerly and westerly point on the island.  It was an all day trip with additional stops at  more Anne of Green Gables tourist sites.  At the teeny tiny house where Lucy Maud Montgomery was born the house was crowded with lots of people.  The house had only one way in and the same way out – one set of narrow stairs up and the same set of stairs coming down – it was packed.  We vacated when a large tour bus pulled up to the parking lot – it was an excursion from a cruise ship docked in Charlottetown.

As we left Canvendish, location of Green Gables, I was flabbergasted to drive by two amusement parks The one on the north side of the road had roller coaster, huge water slide, Ferris wheel, etc. – the whole nine yards.  On the other side of the road was the other park which featured things like Ripley’s Believe it or not – a wax museum – an arcade – a paint ball area the size of a football field with trees, building, bunkers and boulders.  In front of the admission stand there was a giant statue of the Transformer Optimus Prime – actually was done very well and looked just like the one in the movie.

There was also a grizzly beat sculpted out of nails.  We didn’t go into either park as it seemed they were geared for children although the ice cream parlor looked inviting.

The trip to North Cape was long and uneventful however navigating all the roads even with a map was tricky – had to stop and turn around and ask questions several times.  Then just when you think you are getting the hang of it there is construction and a detour with an arrow and you are on your own from there – no signs to help you get back to where you are supposed to be.  We drove up along the north shore of the island but you couldn’t see much of the ocean along the drive and drive back along the south shore of the island.  The North Cape was interesting but the lighthouse was automated and there were no tours.  We ate lunch at the restaurant there, walked around a little and the headed back.  I had planned to drive to the East Cape the next day but after driving to the North Cape abandoned that plan for a quiet day at home. And it is prep day for moving tomorrow.

When we were driving into Charlottetown to theater we were warned about 5:00 traffic to which I had to laugh.  There are 150,000 people on the entire island whereas at home there’s 150,000 people on the I-10 and I-17 at rush hour – driving into Charlottetown at 5:00 was like driving to church on Sunday morning.  Another thing that’s different is they do not have soda fountains in the Circle K type convenience stores – if you want a soda you buy a bottle or a can and there is definitely no ice – if you want ice you have to buy a 3 pound bag.  In restaurants when you order a soda with your meal you buy it by the can and if you want a refill you buy another can – rarely is there ice.    PRC

We are now in Prince Edward Island and the WiFi where we are is horrible and on many occasions we have been unable to not only post but open the blog so we are trying first thing in the morning to see if that works better – so far it seems better.

Wednesday June 28, 2017

Our last day in Dalhousie was a bit rainy but by the end of the day it was sunny.  My small pile of driftwood I was planning to use as firewood got soaked so I figured we would have to abandon our plans for a late evening fire.  We drove into Campbellton, NB to purchase a new heater as the one we brought with us quit working.

 

The region we are in is economically depressed – there are very few jobs other than part-time minimum wage service industry jobs.  I talked with the guy who cuts the grass at the RV Park and he said he has to work hard to keep this job as the situation is so bad you couldn’t buy a job …. if you had the money.  The city has had to lay off 10 employees in the last month including the night security guard for the RV Park.  The provincial government shut the lumber mill down and the population of the town dropped from 34K to 8K in 3 years.  You can buy a really nice home in Dalhousie for $40K.  I don’t think you would want to as the winters are fierce – it is very cold and windy with ice and lots of snow.

 

It is amazing how many “moose crossing” signs there are as you drive through the countryside and even through towns.  The lady in the admin office at the RV Park said you would be surprised at how many people are killed each year by hitting a moose.  She said if you can avoid it do not drive at night because you can’t see them standing on the road until it’s too late – especially the highways where you tend to be driving a little faster and the roads are icy during the winter months.  Normally you would see a yellow deer crossing sign with a deer jumping – here the yellow signs are at least 4’ x 8’ with a large moose and a small car and flashing yellow lights on each corner of the sign.

We got all our chores done including laundry – we had a rotisserie chicken for dinner but it wasn’t like Costco.  Every Saturday and Thursday the park provides live entertainment for the campers and everyone gets up and dances to the oldies.  June Yvonne and I went for a walk to the nearby lighthouse and then I managed to get a campfire started and we sat and watched it and the flickering lights on the distant shoreline for about an hour or so.  We had the RV packed up and ready to go first thing in the morning.  I like to get as early a start as I can so there’s time to stop, eat, get gas and take short walks.

Thursday June 29, 2017

Drive from Dalhousie to Prince Edward Island (PEI) was only 259 miles – it should only take 4 1/2 hours but ended up taking over six because in many places you have to drive slower.  To get to PEI from New Brunswick you have to cross an 8 mile bridge which is not the longest in the world but it is the longest bridge in the world over frozen sea ice.  The people who live here like to point that out.  You can cross the bridge for free however it costs $46 CDN if you want to leave the island.  Anyway crossing the bridge was cool however once across that’s when the trouble started.  PEI is laced with little back roads – some paved others not – the road system hear really messes with the GPS so following verbal directions and following the GPS are completely different things.  I had to stop three times to get directions – how can you get so lost on such a small island – we finally made it to our campground and I was slightly lathered up from being so frustrated.

 

Friday June 30, 2017

We are getting in the habit of sleeping late even though were are lights out by 10:00 / 10:30.  We decided to venture out and visit the “Ann of Green Gables” house in Cavendish which is not far from where we are camped.  There is normally an admission fee however with this being the 150^th anniversary of Canada being a country all national and provincial parks, monuments and historic sites are free to the public.  We toured the house, the gardens and walked through the “haunted woods”.  At a nearby cemetery I followed the path that led to Lucy Maud Montgomery’s grave site – she is the author of “Ann of Green Gables”.

Now here is the interesting part – this book has become a popular classic around the world.  People from as far away as Japan make pilgrimages to the house and the grave site.  One of the employees said sometimes they show up by the bus load and this is their goal in coming here – to actually walk on the grounds, walk in the woods and visit the grave site.  Some people book well in advance to get married in the garden and come from all over the world to do so.  While we were there today the Children’s Choir from Victoria BC were there and singing in the garden at the back of the house.

After the tour we drove back to New Glasgow for an early dinner.  We stopped at a place called Fisherman’s Warf where we celebrated my 68^th birthday.  I had another lobster and June Yvonne had scallops.  They also have a 60 foot salad bar with fresh hot mussels, soup, deserts, ice cream and beverages.  I ate about a bucket of mussels and a one and a half pound lobster along with a little salad.

I  booked a 3 hour deep sea fishing trip for Monday morning – we’ll be fishing for mackerel and cod.  I talked to some of the people getting off of the boat and they said after 45 minutes they caught so many fish they were throwing them back.  The cod fishing season doesn’t start until Monday so if I catch a cod over 19” in length I’ll be able to keep it (unlike the people fishing today).  While I was standing by the boat the captain asked me if I would like some mackerel fillets and he gave me a bag of them which we will BBQ.

I was talking to one of the camp ground workers about the my GPS problems. She said not to follow the GPS because there are so many back country roads the GPS the shortest route which will zig-zag all over the place and it will take longer.  She said she and her husband were out driving and just for a lark decided to use their GPS to see what would happen.  Before long they were driving down roads they had never seen before and she’s lived here most of her life.  The few peoplw we have talkedd to about the

Tomorrow is July 1^st which is Canada’s 150^th anniversary as a country and boy if you don’t think they take it seriously you would be wrong wrong wrong.  As you can see by the picture of they, as some might say, go a little overboard but hey are very proud of their country.  PRC

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Wednesday June 28, 2017

Before leaving Dalhousie I managed to get an appointment for a hair cut and color. The ladies (staff) at the RV Park facilitated this appointment for me. The hairdresser did a great job. And, not only that she offered to take Peter and I out on the family boat. Have I mentioned how friendly and helpful these Canadians are?

Thursday June 29, 2017

We left Dalhousie, New Brunswick on Thursday (6/29) early morning. We arrived on Prince Edward Island in the afternoon. We crossed an eight mile bridge to get here. This is one of the world’s longest bridges over water. We had a difficult time finding our RV Park – New Glasgow Highlands. Getting lost in an area that’s not familiar is difficult especially when hauling a trailer. We learned from the locals not to depend on GPS on the island. Apparently, there are many backroads that GPS is not aware of. We already call her “Little Miss Know It All.” Peter was not happy with her for getting us lost and was not speaking very nice to her. We now know it was not her fault. We were led into many locations we hadn’t planned on.  It was a challenge backing out of a farmer’s grounds and a hilly gas station. Peter was a trooper – he backed our trailer in and out of many challenging locations. He and Ms. GPS may be friends again.

 

Friday June 30, 2017

To my favorite Canadian!  Today is Peter’s Birthday. His birthday present is Canada.

And, tomorrow is CANADA’S birthday. She is 150 years old. And is it ever a big deal here. There are Canadian flags everywhere and lots of festivities tomorrow including parades and fireworks.

We went out to dinner for Peter’s birthday. Peter had lobster of course. Lobster is everywhere especially now that we are in the Maritime Provinces. Lobster season ended yesterday. It will begin again in New Brunswick in August. We might have to have salmon for awhile…

 

 

 

 

Have any of you read “Anne of Green Gables”? I didn’t, but many others read it in grade school. We toured the setting where it took place today. Now, I’m kind of sorry I didn’t read it as a young person. The author, Lucy Maud Montgomery was born and raised on Prince Edward Island. Anne is imaginary, but was very much alive in Montgomery’s mind and heart. She was a beloved character to many young readers. Anne was an orphan who arrived at Green Gables by mistake; the Cuthberts wanted a boy. But to Anne, Green Gables was a dream come true. The author based much of the setting of the book in the area where she was raised. The house we toured actually belonged to some of her relatives. Please let me know if you read the book.

Apparently the book was turned down five times before it was published. Once published it became an international bestseller. People actually make pilgrimages to the area.

When I visit somewhere new, I like to see, do, taste and experience something iconic of that location. So, Monday night we are going to the play, Anne of Green Gables. Also, I bought the book and reading it now as an adult…

 

Along this subject, we asked the owner here in PEI if the RV Park had any videos to rent. She said no, but offered to lend us some of her own. These Canadians…

Tomorrow we are up early to take in the festivities in Charlottetown, the capital of PEI, about 30 minutes from here. We don’t want to miss the celebrations for Canada’s birthday.  JY

 

Went into Charlottetown early to see the “tall ships” as they are referred to – these are all sailing ships with masts and sails.  There were 12 to 13 tall ships, a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker and a HMCS naval ship.   It was drizzling a little in the morning when we went to the ships so we stopped in at a local restaurant and had breakfast.

After breakfast we made our way over to the ships and stopped by the kiosk for the “Hippo” amphibious tour we always like to take where ever we go if they are available.  The “Hippo” gave us a tour of all the landmarks in Charlottetown along with an exuberant narrative of all the history.  In the process we went down a very narrow street and ripped the side mirror clean off of a BMW.

There was a slight delay in the tour while the driver of the Hippo and the BMW owner “calmly” worked our the details.  Tour continued.  We soon drove into the water and sailed alongside all the “tall ships” which was really cool – I took a video of it but it is two and eight seconds long and I don’t know if I can compress it down small enough for the blog.

After the Hippo tour we made our way over to the tall ships and I made friends with a potato – moments after this picture was taken I backed up and tripped over a big piece of iron on the sidewalk.  Fortunately I fell straight back and the only injury was a cut on the tip of my index finger which bled profusely making it look worse than it was – but it did attract a lot of attention from pedestrians.  A little hydrogen peroxide and a bandage from a nearby first aid station and I was as good as new.

At the tall ship I had to check my backpack so there were  no suspicious packages in the area.  We passed through the gate and immediately set upon by a band of 7 pirates.  We posed together for several photos and they were a nice group of guys who put on a good show.

We later ran into them at the restaurant where we decided to have lunch and there was a long line and the manager would not let them go to the head of the line – having little time to spare before returning to work they decided to go somewhere else.  None of the 20 or so groups waiting for a table was going to allow that to happen so everyone raised their voice in protest and told the manager that they could and should be bumped right to the head of the line.  The manager did just that and they were seated almost immediately.  Throughout their lunch they were approached by many children who wanted to have their picture taken with them and they accommodated every wish.  I had a conversation with them as we left and told them how great they were and they would be featured in our blog.  They wanted the blog address and have already registered a comment.

Then we toured the Peruvian ship and the US Coast Guard ship.  The Peruvian ship was the most impressive sailing ship I think I’ve ever seen.  It was huge – it is the largest of it’s type and class in Latin American and is a training vessel for navy cadets.  It is 379 feet long and has over 36,000 square feet of canvas sail when fully deployed.  The crew numbers 243.  I asked how much rope was used and they had no idea and wouldn’t even make a guess.  The US Coast Guard ship has a crew of 150 cadets and 50 navy seamen.  The Cadets basically operate the ship for 6 months with instruction from the navy crew but the cadets are 100% accountable and responsible for their duties.  Men and women serve equally on board doing similar jobs and working side by side.

After walking through two of the tall ships we walked over to Victoria Park to take in the festivities – it was a longer walk than we anticipated – we did hear the last two numbers from the band on stage and we thought they were really good but the walk was not worth it.  Everyone was going all out for Canada Day – flags and banners everywhere and 12 out of every 10 people were wearing some sort of clothing with Canadian emblems, children had face paint, older people had flags stuck in their hair and a storm trooper from the dark side side even got into the spirit.

After a long walk back to the car we decided to head back to New Glasgow and the into North Rustico where all the fishing boats (about 25 boats altogether) are docked – each captain had decorated his boat for Canada day and they were going to parade their boats around the harbor and a panel would select the best decorated boat.  I started at one end of the wharf and asked each captain if they had room for two more passengers and finally found one that did.  We got to ride around the harbor for free and the captain kept handing out beer the whole time – if you weren’t finished the last one he’d tell you to hurry up as we didn’t have all day to drink everything he brought on board.  It was a fun ride as with the Canada Day festivities and celebrations along with ample beer it was a good time.

We were both beat by the end of the day but went to a local restaurant and shared a plate of scallops.   PRC

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We woke early and drove into Charlottetown which is about thirty minutes from our RV site, near North Rustico.  Charlottetown is the capitol of Prince Edward Island.  It also has important historical significance as the talks began here to unify the provinces into the country of Canada. We went early as we knew it would be crowded and wanted to make sure to find a parking space. Once we secured a parking space we had breakfast in a little café.

We planned to see the tall ships that were in harbor but ended up first taking a tour with the amphibious bus that tours the city and the harbor. We learned that Prince Edward Island is the smallest of Canada’s provinces with a population of 150,000.  A significant number of folks are of Irish and Scottish ancestry, including our guide. The population of the province has decreased quite a bit. Consequently PEI has recruited from students from several Asian countries to increase the population. This is the reason for a number of Asians of college age.

Then we toured the tall ships. There were a number in harbor including ones from Peru, UK, Finland, Holland and the US. The two largest were the Peruvian and American ships. By far the Peruvian ship was the largest and most impressive.     

There was also a pirate ship in port. (Peter made some new friends as you can see by the pic.)  We went to lunch for lobster bisque and there was a long line. The pirates were on a short lunch break so all the people waiting in line, including us let them go ahead. See, I told you Canadians are just so nice, even to pirates.

I thought that poutine was the most Canadian dish ever, but I was mistaken. There are dessert shops called Beavertails that sell scrumptious treats. (The beaver, not moose, is Canada’s official animal). Someone told us that you’re not Canadian unless you like beavertails. And, all this time I thought it was poutine which I tired of quickly. This is a challenge I could not ignore. So, Peter and I split a brown sugar and apple beavertail.  They come in several different flavors. I did see a t-shirt yesterday that said “Sex, drugs and lobster rolls.”  (No comment)

Fortified, we decided to walk to Victoria Park where there were more festivities. The park had the atmosphere of the state fair with lots of booths and kiddie rides. We did enjoy the entertainment though. It started to rain and we walked back to our car.

We headed back “home” which is near the fishing village of North Rustico where there were more activities going on including local entertainment and food booths. The entire town must have been there. We were there to see the boat parade and maybe the fire works. Little did I know that we would be part of the parade.  Peter talked to one of the fishing boat captains and we ended up as part of the crew. A few local people and tourists joined us. The captain had an ice chest of pop and beer for his passengers. Remember, these Canadians are friendly.  The best part of the boat ride was meeting and talking to some of the young people on board. This included a sweet, friendly couple, both 17 years old. They wanted to know all about AZ. Was it in the middle of the US? And of course what about the scorpions and rattlesnakes?  We also got to hang out with a group of (east) Indian Canadians. They were a lot of fun.

The day wasn’t over yet (although my back had just about had it.) We walked across the street to have a light dinner which was salad and seared scallops which we split.

We opted out of watching the fireworks as were beat after a long exciting day.  Tomorrow we will take it easy and do laundry. We also have some mackerel to grill.   JY

 

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Early drive to Village Historique Acadien Village whichis a reconstructed Acadian Village with original buildings relocated to this site from their original location.  It was a very interesting day as the buildings were set up in sequence with that started with those from the earliest period to the most recent.  In almost every building there were people dressed in authentic period costumes doing the same tasks with the same tools and equipment that was used in that time period.   You would enter the building and there would be a fire in the hearth and coffee or some food cooking.  At a couple of places the people were sitting at a table eating a meal that had been cooked in the hearth or on a wood stove.

The day was cloudy with intermittent rain.  The dirt roads within in the village were muddy and our shoes were soaked by the time we were finished.  June Yvonne relates the story regarding our reservations at the Hôtel Château Albert.  There was a snafu with the hotel being overbooked and even though we had a confirmation for the room they relocated us to the Motel 8 in Caraquet.  A much much better and more comfortable deal that what we would have had at the Hôtel Château Albert.

We were greeted in the main lobby of the entrance to the park by their silly mascot and the very embarrassed Assistant Manager of the Village.  She made all the arrangements for use to transfer to the Motel 8.  We said no problem and did our best to make her feel better about the situation.  I gave her our vacation business card with our address and told her if she is every in Phoenix to look us up.  She said that was very sweet and said so I can stay with you while I’m there?  I said no – we would get her a room at the local Motel 8.  We all laughed.

As we walked through the village it was incredible to see how they used every possible part of the land to survive.  We look and think boy they had it rough but when you think about it what they were doing when they were doing it was the most modern way of doing things.  They had nothing better to compare it to.

This Dutch Oven is a good example – they would put the biscuits or bread in it and set it in a raised trivet and set it on some coals then using a small shovel or scoop would cover the top with coals and it would be like and oven.  Notice the lip around the edge of the lid so it would hold the coals.

As we walked through the village and met many of the actors we found out that they are all Acadians trying to preserve their heritage.  The little girl you see in the pictures below works in the village whenever she can – sweeping – bringing in firewood – cleaning – however we found out that her grandmother works at another exhibit making bread while her mother works at another exhibit telling the story of the man who owned the flour mill – it is truly a family affair.  The tinsmith made me a whistle and the blacksmith made me a nail.

As the day ended the clouds started to clear up and the sun came out and the rest of the day was beautiful and it ended with a dramatic sunset.  We had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant, spend some time walking on the dock the returned to the hotel for a nice warm shower and a good night sleep.   PRC

For the first day of our trip we had reservations for the Acadian Village (Village Historique Acadien) and for the Chateau Albert on the grounds. We were already on our way when “Judy” Assistant Manager of the Facility called us. She said the chateau was going to be very crowded that night with families with children and wanted to know if we wanted to change our reservations for the next night. We told her it would be OK as we like children. She said OK, then called again a little while later. This time she said it would be rainy today. We assured her that this would be OK as we had rain coats. It was obvious by this time that she had probably overbooked and wanted us to change our reservations.

We probably would have but we already had reservations at an Airbnb the following night. Sure enough she called again and confessed to mistakenly overbooking. She was miserably embarrassed and offered to book another “beautiful hotel with spectacular views of the sunset.” We graciously accepted and are we glad we did.

The original Hotel Chateau Albert was built in 1907.  Most of the rooms include a shower and toilet except for two. Our room was one of these. The bathroom was down the hall. We had to deal with this situation many times on the Camino but truthfully I was not looking forward to it this time. As one of the employees was giving us a tour of the Chateau we told him that we almost were going to stay there that night. He had heard about the situation. He said that if we had shown up and hadn’t heard about the overbooking he would have shot himself. In any case he received permission to show us the room we might have had. It was a very small room with a small bed and of course with the bathroom down the hall. After a long, rainy and humid day this would not have been ideal.

We spent the day touring the Village. No paved roads as that would not have been historically accurate. Each site portrayed a village and person who lived during a particular time period from 1773 to 1944. This included a one room schoolhouse (1869), blacksmith’s shop (1874), printer’s shop (1880) and a  tavern (1880) where no women or natives were allowed. There were many more sites as you can see by the pics.

Judy booked us into a suite at Super 8 Motel in Caraquet. It definitely was more comfortable as I wanted a shower after a muddy and mosquito bitten day.  After dinner we retired without doing the blog. (We were on vacation from our vacation after all.) The hotel was on the wharf. As you can see by the pics, the views were spectacular. There was a restaurant within walking distance where I had an excellent bowl of French Onion Soup.  I guess they don’t call it French Onion Soup in Quebec as that would be redundant …. JY

Sunday, June 25, 2017

This is the third time we have stayed in an Airbnb. The first time was in Bilbao after the Camino, then a Yurt in New Mexico and now in the Acadian Peninsula.  You never quite know what you are in for when you stay at one of these which is part of the adventure. The hostess had recently purchased this house and was still in the process of renovating it. It was so charming and cozy I hardly wanted to leave.

Our hostess couldn’t have been nicer. She apparently lived in a “camper” down the road in the winter. She decided to rent her house during the summer. The bedroom had an old fashioned, really high double bed. I practically had to take a running leap to reach the top.

We enjoyed the amenities of the lodging we had away from our trailer especially regular size showers and bigger rooms.

However, we missed the bed in our travel trailer. It is much bigger and more comfortable than the one in the motel or the Airbnb. We will sleep good tonight.

We had access to VCR in our cozy little house which we were excited about as we have not seen TV since we started this trip. The hostess (Louise) had one of our favorite foreign films, “The Intouchables.” We saw this French film originally at the Camelview Theater with English subtitles. I absolutely recommend it. However the one Louise had was the French film, but with French titles which didn’t do us much good.  She also had a few movies in English thank goodness.

Speaking of French, I read that the province of New Brunswick is officially bilingual.  33 % of the New Brunswick population is French speaking. It seems that we speak to most of these folks. The signs in this province are now have the English words before the French whereas in Quebec it was the opposite. Many people speak at least some English even if their first language is French.

We had a good vacation from our vacation. We will remain in Dalhousie, New Brunswick a few more days. We leave Thursday for New Glasgow Highlands in the province of Prince Edward Island. The next few weeks we will mostly be in Nova Scotia. Then we will take an 8 hours ferry to the western shore of Newfoundland.  A week later we will take a 16 hour return ferry from the eastern shore of the province back to Nova Scotia. JY

Monday, June 26, 2017

So, we are returning from our 3-day vacation from our vacation.  We keep seeing cars pulled over on the side of the highway. Peter finally stops to see what‘s going on. All these people are picking wild strawberries.  Of course we had to pick the berries also.  I’m not crazy about strawberries, but these are really sweet and so little.

You can see we had a salad with wild strawberries with our dinner.

 

 

AND, then we stopped off for lobster. This coming Saturday is the end of lobster season. It begins again at the beginning of August. We bought an already cooked lobster (2.5 lbs) to split, a lot less trouble of course. My lobster skills are improving.

While at the Airbnb Peter got a chance to do a little fishing – he wasn’t doing any catching. JY

The drive from Riviere-au-Renard (Gaspé) was not a very long distance but it is a two lane highway (with a lot of road repair and construction) through the countryside so it took a while to get to Parc Inch Arran Camping here in Dalhousie, New Brunswick.   This is our RV set up and is our home for the next week.

 

There was much to see as June Yvonne describes in her section of the blog – she describes many of the things we saw over and over again.   One of the things I find fascinating is the bright colors that people use to paint their houses.  They are colors I would never dream of painting a house as the colors are very bright and seem to contrast – here is a picture we took in Saint Luce last week when we stopped for a coffee and pastry.

Along the way to Dalhousie June Yvonne wanted to stop at the Mussée Acadien du Quebec – they were closed for lunch so we went to a nearby restaurant called Dixie Lee.  They specialize in chicken and to a small extent are trying to be a KFC.  They are a franchise restaurant but the chicken was not very good.  PRC

 

June Yvonne and I both write our own sections of the blog because we see things different and we each see things the other doesn’t so we both contribute – we put a lot of time and effort into it and hope that you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy writing it.

If I were a professional writer this would be the place to do it. I’m sitting at the picnic bench with my lap top looking out at the sea in between typing in a few words for today’s blog.  If I were that professional or semiprofessional writer and had writers block I could get up and walk along the boardwalk for inspiration.  And did I mention the cool sea breeze?  In fact I am going in to get a light jacket… The weather here changes very frequently.  In spite of this, there are kids and teenagers playing in the water park wearing swim suits.

 

This RV Park has all kinds of amenities although some are not open as the summer season has not started yet.  (Imagine that, friends at home.)  What is open now includes an indoor pool and workout area, snack bar (with poutine of course). There is a an ice scream parlor so there are always people walking round with ice cream cones, rain or shine.  There is a baseball park, boutique selling locally made items and a fresh fish market. We were tempted to buy some scallops or maybe try lobster again but were quickly dissuaded by the prices. There is also a bistro that does not open until July 1.

 

Speaking of July 1 – that is Canada Day.  It is their Fourth of July commemorating 150 years as a country depending on who you talk to.  In Quebec we were told it is much longer than that. Then, the similar situation we have in the US. The US and Canada were here way before Europeans discovered these lands then colonized them and declared them a country, not through peaceful means.

Yesterday on the way to Dalhousie we went to Mussée Acadien du Quebec. I have a particular interest in this topic as I have a friend who is Acadian that curates an Acadian museum in Louisiana.  It’s a tragic history. Yet, the Acadians remain a determined, resourceful and fun-loving people.

Since we have been in eastern Canada for over a month, here are some of my observations.  We’ve seen piles and piles of cut and stacked firewood. (The winters are brutal and preparation is absolutely necessary). Since it rains so much and it is green, there are always people mowing the lawns, the majority with riding lawn mowers. Despite the often inclement weather, there are lots of walkers, joggers or bikers.

Much like Star Bucks, there’s a Tim Horton’s on every corner. We’ve observed many brightly painted houses. (Maybe to brighten up all the gloomy rainy/snowy weather.) And, of course, poutine is served everywhere…

 

I’d like to give my fellow Phoenicians a shout out. You have been enduring a record breaking amount of really HOT days. Is it still 118 degrees? So, I will (try) not to spend too much time writing about the COOL weather we are experiencing.  I love my beloved Arizona, but we are here for a reason this summer.

We are taking a three day vacation from our vacation. Tomorrow we will be staying at Chatteu Albert. This is Village Historique Acadien. This is a 2.2 interpretive village depicting Acadian life in the 18th century. 

After a couple of days learning about Acadian life we will spend some time in the Acadian Isles. There, we will spend the night at an Airbnb.

We will let you know about these adventures when we return to Dalhousie.  JY

WE REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYONE’S COMMENTS ON THE BLOG – LOVE TO READ THEM – KEEP THEM COMING 

 

This morning we went to a MicMac Interpretive Site. We had a guided tour through a village with wigwams, round fires, hunting traps and historical objects that demonstrated their traditional know how. It was a reconstructed village to provide a history of this community from 1675 to present time. The MicMac have pre-historic roots. Their traditional way of life is closely tied to the sea.

Bianca was our tour guide. She and many members of her family work at the site. Her dad is MicMac and her mother is English. Her father works on site as well as her aunt and uncle. As we entered the museum in the morning delicious smells were coming out of the kitchen. After the tour we were treated to moose soup and bannock (bread) that could be dipped into maple syrup. Bianca’s aunt was the cook. Her uncle provided us with our own personal performance singing and drumming a song greeting the dawn.

After visiting the interpretive site we went to a café for a latte. Then we went to a fish market to buy a lobster.  Peter cooked the lobster in sea water. He also grilled steaks as a backup in case the lobster did not turn out. However the lobster was just fine. In a prior posting on this blog I described the rather negative experience we had with a female lobster. Thank goodness this was a boy lobster so it did not have eggs inside of it.  It still was a lot of work for a few bites of lobster.  Peter has a lot more patience for the process than I do.

Tomorrow we will be cleaning and doing laundry to prepare for our departure Thursday. Staying along the St. Lawrence Seaway has been beautiful and peaceful.  The weather here fluctuates dramatically. Yesterday the high was 85 degrees without rain during the day. By nightfall it had cooled down considerably.   Today it was forecast as 75 degrees and cloudy. It was warm until early evening when it rained and cooled down dramatically.  We just expect all kinds of weather and prepare for rain or shine,

No reason to complain as we hear reports of the weather in Phoenix.  Almost 120 degrees?!  This is why we are in Canada.   JY

Today was another fun day.  We got up early to head into Gaspé to visit the MicMac Interpretive Center.  The is a gift shop on the ground floor then on the second floor their is a small museum with artifacts about the history and culture of the MicMac people.  We met our guide on the second floor and she was about 27 years old and her fathers side of the family are all decedents from MicMac Nation.  Many members of her family have worked very hard to create this center and are deeply committed to revive their original culture and language.

The tour involved going through the seasons of the year and visiting full scale recreations of the types of dwellings, tools and techniques they used in their everyday life.  Life was hard, especially in the winter so these people had to be tough and well prepared for day to day life in a very inhospitable environment.  The wigwams were constructed of original materials and using the same materials and techniques in the assembly.  The dwellings we visited were constructed some twenty years ago and are still in good shape today.  Our guide’s father was one of the main builders twenty years ago and still works at the site.

When the tour was over our guide’s aunt was working in the kitchen making moose soup and we were treated to a cup of it.  I heard some drumming from the tour ahead of us and wanted to see if I could get a video of the performance.  Our guide asked the performer if he would come out and do a performance for us and he agreed.

He is quite well known in this region and performs a lot at official ceremonies, performs at the museums and is scheduled to do a big regional performance on the beach at Percé to celebrate the summer solstice – the longest day of the year and the beginning of summer.

From the MicMac center we went into Gaspé for a coffee and cinnamon roll.  We picked up a couple of supplies at the grocery store and headed back to camp.  Today was the day that I decided it was time to bite the bullet and prepare our own lobster.  We had everything we needed except for two things – a bucket of seawater and a lobster.  We stopped at the local fish market and bought a 1.5 lb lobster and they filled my bucket with seawater and then dropped the lobster in it.  Fortunately I had a lid for it as June Yvonne had it between her legs all the way back to camp.  (Don’t read more into this than is written!)

I brought with us a canning pot that our good friend Kay gave us and it was just the right size.  I also brought my Coleman stove so I could boil the water outside.  We decided to go all out and had a couple of rib eyes on the grill while the lobster (who I named Remington) was boiling away in the pot.  Boiled him for 8 minutes then plunged him into cold water to stop the cooking process so the meat wouldn’t get tough.  Had a couple of baked potatoes and we were set.  We found out that getting the meat out of the lobster shell is a lot more work than we expected so next time we are going to get a much bigger lobster (maybe two) so the reward is greater with a lot more meat.  Anyway it was an experience and we will be sure to repeat it several more times over the next 2 months.

Tomorrow will be a utility day – laundry – clean the trailer – a few repairs – paperwork – packing up the trailer – etc. etc. etc. – then Thursday we will head for Dalhousie, New Brunswick.  PRC

 

 

 

 

 

Got up early and went out for breakfast.  The breakfast was great but the yard outside the restaurant was whimsically goofy with scarecrows mannequins dressed up in funny clothes.  So we had to get in on the fun.

Found out the local shrimp processing plant was just next door to the restaurant and they told we could buy fresh shrimp caught that day.  After breakfast we went   over to check it out.  The lady at the restaurant said to go into the main office and see the receptionist and she would sell us the shrimp.  We did just that – the shrimp are the small northern shrimp and sell for $9.00/lb.    We were going into town so we decided to pick some up on the way back to camp.

We stopped at the Musée De La Gaspé  (Museum of Gaspé).  There were two exhibits open to the public – the first was “Gaspésie …. A Grand journey” which was a history of the local people and of the Gaspé in general.  There are artifacts from 1534 when Jacques Cartier discovered the Saint Lawrence to a German torpedo that hit a cliff in the village of Saint-Yvon.  In the back of the museum there is a monument to Cartier consisting of 7 steel plates depicting scenes that try to portray his initial discovery.

The second exhibit was the history of the First Nation in the Gaspé – the Mi’gmaq (pronounced MicMac).  There were many artifacts used in their everyday life in this rugged and inhospitable country during the winter.  Tomorrow we are going to a Mi’gmaq village for a guided tour of how they lived.  PRC

I must start by saying how blessed I am. I never imagined I would enjoy a retirement such as this. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be traveling in eastern Canada in a travel trailer. I also never figured on marrying a Canadian either. It’s a marvelous life. Our pilgrimage three years ago on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain was a life changing experience. I aspire to maintain the attitude I developed as a peregrine (pilgrim) on the Camino. It’s still rather difficult to articulate but it is an attitude of positive expectation. Everything is infinitely interesting including travel – new places, people, cuisine, culture, language, identity – all of it and I don’t want to miss a moment of this fascinating life.

Both Peter and I have become more and more interested in history so of course we enjoyed the Musée de la Gaspésie. We are particularly interested in indigenous cultures. The first people to be called Gaspésians were the Mi’gmaq people as their territory included what is now the Maritime Provinces and parts of Quebec. Many believed it also include a part of Newfoundland and part of the state of Maine. We look forward to a tour of a Mi’gmaq village tomorrow.

The museum also included a virtual reality experience on board an authentic cod fishing boat. With headset and earphones we were able to step into the past with a 360 degree surrounding experience.

On another topic, you may know I have a weakness for earrings and t-shirts. We have been on the road for over a month and I have not bought one t-shirt nor pair of earrings. Today I finally bought some cool earrings from the museum gift shop.

As Peter indicated we bought fresh shrimp (caught today). We decided to share our bounty with our friendly neighbors who we met last night (Joanne and Andy) and shared their campfire. We feasted on shrimp cocktail and guacamole – a Maritime/Mexican fiesta!

We are leaving the province of Quebec on Thursday and entering one of the Maritime Provinces – New Brunswick. More adventures await us!   JY