Sept 11th - Thurs - Bangor
“Catch up” day today. Terry helped Terry H install a Sirius satellite radio system in his truck and then Judy & I took the truck to do laundry while the guys installed the rest of the Sirius system in their 5th wheel. The RV park only had a couple of washers so we went to a laundromat. We ran a couple of other errands and got back in time to each make a late lunch. Terry had taken the truck to a car wash but it still looked dirty so he dry washed it by the time I had lunch ready.
I pulled out the sewing machine and did some mending while Terry took a nap. We walked around the park before dinner and picked the brains of some people from Texas about where to stay for the winter.
We keep changing our minds about where we are going next and Terry & Judy haven’t decided when they are heading more west than south. So we did a bunch more research about where to go and where to stay.
Sept 12th - Fri - to New Hampshire
We finally decided to go to Vermont with Terry & Judy staying with us for a while longer. Terry & I had an eventful day:
-we decided to go against Wanda’s directions and use a main highway rather than a state road. Oops, turned out to be the turnpike (toll highway). Good news was a toll of only $1.50.
-when we were going through downtown Lewiston , a delivery truck blocked the street and I had to get out and watch to make sure the truck’s mirrors would clear our awning arms - an inch to spare!
-pulled in for diesel a few blocks later and another truck was blocking the only diesel pump while the driver was inside getting something to eat - a 10 minute wait.
-Wanda directed us on a route that ended up having a bridge closure and we had to come about 7 miles back and take a different route - passed “bridge closed” sign on the next highway.
-Terry saw Terry & Judy’s rig parked in the lot of a closed store in Gorham and decided to pull over and see if they were OK. Pulled into a dead end street and had a heck of a time turning around in a small cul de sac. I heard a strange noise and when he got straightened out, we discovered that we had an inverted spring on the driver’s side of the 5th wheel and the tires were right together and rubbing.
Anyone who knows Terry will know before they read this that he set to work to fix the spring! I walked back and found Terry & Judy just finishing lunch in a restaurant and told them our sad tale. Terry H borrowed a couple of jacks from a nearby repair shop and a couple of residents of the dead end street showed up with another jack and other tools as needed - and with much needed opinions on what needed to be done. About 2 ½ hours later, Terry was filthy & exhausted and the rig was back together. The locals directed us to a WalMart where we gratefully stayed the night.
We had a drink and went to see what McDonalds had to offer. No McDonalds at this WalMart so we bought deli lasagna, salad mix & bread. While the lasagna was cooking, we taught Terry & Judy how to play the card game Golf. Had a great evening.
Sept 13th - Sat - to Vermont
Terry & I had a terrible night’s sleep. The WalMart closed at 10 and it was very quiet but I woke at one and was awake more than asleep for the rest of the night. Terry had several mosquito bites that he kept scratching. Got up early and walked to get coffee & doughnuts for all of us. On the road about 8:30. Terry pulled off into a viewpoint about 9 to check the tires and they were back together and rubbing again. We all wanted to cry! This time Terry finally found a broken shackle on the rear wheel which was jammed ahead of where it belonged. We made a few phone calls and decided to try to drive about 2 miles to a small town. No go - the tires started smoking not far down the road so we slowly backed down the road to the viewpoint again.
Terry considered taking one tire off and limping in on the other tire but figured the axle might drop down. Tried driving up on a ramp to release weight on a tire and only succeeding in breaking a chock that I had placed on the other side. Then we placed a couple of boards on the ground between the tires and Terry jerked ahead which succeeded in moving the back axle enough to separate the tires. Then the Terrys drove in Terry H’s rig to the small town to check out the road (in case we had to stop again) and tracked down a welder who would fix the rig. We used some tie-downs to tie the axle to the bicycle rack hitch to hopefully keep it from moving forward again and drove slowly about 8 miles to the welder’s shop.
Success! 4 hours later we were on the road again with a secure shackle created by our welder. We decided to go to the RV park in Vermont that we were headed for yesterday so only had about an hour drive - which was plenty after what we had been through the last 2 days.
Vermont is beautiful. Still lots of trees but more rolling hills than in New Hampshire and farms are starting to show up. Sunshine also helps make scenery more attractive.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sept 8th to 10th - Bangor, Maine
Sept 8th - Mon - to Bangor, Maine
We had a lovely, sunny day for driving to Maine. We had no problems at the border crossing so Terry’s worrying was all for nothing. The usual questions about how much money we had on us, what fruits & veggies we had, what we were bringing back from Canada and how much alcohol but no questions about meat.
We had planned (with Terry & Judy) to camp at Calais which is just across the border but we were there so early that we called them and said how about continuing on to Bangor. They were agreeable so I picked a PA park and away we went. The landscape has changed to lots of forests with larger trees. We are staying at The Pumpkin Patch which is a few miles out of Bangor and is a great park. Very clean, organized and quiet with the best wifi & cable TV that we have had for ages.
We were set up with the lawn chairs out by the time Terry & Judy finished checking in. They set up and then we all enjoyed the opportunity to sit out in the sun and use the barbeque for dinner.
We filled up with diesel just out of Bangor - $4.24 a gallon as opposed to the $5.30 we have been paying.
Sept 9th - Tues - Bangor
Good thing we enjoyed the sun yesterday as it started raining again last night. We went to a couple of tire shops to get quotes on tires for the 5th wheel. A couple of tires had worn unevenly and badly when we had the suspension problem earlier this year so we decided to get all new tires. This meant coming back, packing everything up, sitting at the tire shop for an hour and then setting up again. Just as we backed in, it started to pour. Terry was wearing shorts and thought he should put on long pants but I suggested he might as well get wet and then change clothes. And get wet he did! We thought about going to Terry & Judy’s to wait for the rain to let up but who knew how long that would take.
Of course, there was a lull in the rain right after Terry came in and we had a bowl of soup. Then we all went shopping. Drove through downtown Bangor on the way - it is a very pretty, quite large town with the Penobscot River running through the town.. By the time we finished going to several stores and trying to fit all our groceries inside the truck in case it rained, it was time to head back and unload. A short happy hour, individual dinner plans and early to bed. We are still adjusting to the time zone change - now 3 hours ahead of BC and WA.
Sept 10th - Wed - Bangor
Planned on going to Acadia National Park today and picked a good day to do it - sunny and breezy. Terry H. had driving duties today and their GPS looked after us again.
Acadia Ntl Park is on the ocean and has a beautiful coastline. We detoured first to Bar Harbor which is a lovely, touristy, “summer people” town built on hills around a harbor (the town name is a clue!). We found a parking spot and wandered up and back down several blocks of shops. By this time, we were wanting a picnic spot for lunch. A picnic area on the map was on the side of the road away from the ocean and in the trees so we took our lunches out to some rocks on the beach side instead. What a magnificent view to enjoy our picnic.
We continued driving around the loop road that is a narrow, two lane road but is one-way for most of the way so is comfortable driving. We took a road to the Cadillac Mountain summit. This was narrow, windy and single lane each way which was only a problem when a bus coming down used more than his half of the road on a curve - got all our adrenalin going! The views from the road and from the viewpoints on the top were wonderful. It was very windy and cool on top so we didn’t stay too long.
It took a little longer getting back than we figured as we were in a long, slow line of traffic for quite a ways out of Ellsworth - rush hour? We each started dinner, got together for a drink, had separate dinners and then I made dessert for all of us. We spent time planning our next destinations.
We had a lovely, sunny day for driving to Maine. We had no problems at the border crossing so Terry’s worrying was all for nothing. The usual questions about how much money we had on us, what fruits & veggies we had, what we were bringing back from Canada and how much alcohol but no questions about meat.
We had planned (with Terry & Judy) to camp at Calais which is just across the border but we were there so early that we called them and said how about continuing on to Bangor. They were agreeable so I picked a PA park and away we went. The landscape has changed to lots of forests with larger trees. We are staying at The Pumpkin Patch which is a few miles out of Bangor and is a great park. Very clean, organized and quiet with the best wifi & cable TV that we have had for ages.
We were set up with the lawn chairs out by the time Terry & Judy finished checking in. They set up and then we all enjoyed the opportunity to sit out in the sun and use the barbeque for dinner.
We filled up with diesel just out of Bangor - $4.24 a gallon as opposed to the $5.30 we have been paying.
Sept 9th - Tues - Bangor
Good thing we enjoyed the sun yesterday as it started raining again last night. We went to a couple of tire shops to get quotes on tires for the 5th wheel. A couple of tires had worn unevenly and badly when we had the suspension problem earlier this year so we decided to get all new tires. This meant coming back, packing everything up, sitting at the tire shop for an hour and then setting up again. Just as we backed in, it started to pour. Terry was wearing shorts and thought he should put on long pants but I suggested he might as well get wet and then change clothes. And get wet he did! We thought about going to Terry & Judy’s to wait for the rain to let up but who knew how long that would take.
Of course, there was a lull in the rain right after Terry came in and we had a bowl of soup. Then we all went shopping. Drove through downtown Bangor on the way - it is a very pretty, quite large town with the Penobscot River running through the town.. By the time we finished going to several stores and trying to fit all our groceries inside the truck in case it rained, it was time to head back and unload. A short happy hour, individual dinner plans and early to bed. We are still adjusting to the time zone change - now 3 hours ahead of BC and WA.
Sept 10th - Wed - Bangor
Planned on going to Acadia National Park today and picked a good day to do it - sunny and breezy. Terry H. had driving duties today and their GPS looked after us again.
Acadia Ntl Park is on the ocean and has a beautiful coastline. We detoured first to Bar Harbor which is a lovely, touristy, “summer people” town built on hills around a harbor (the town name is a clue!). We found a parking spot and wandered up and back down several blocks of shops. By this time, we were wanting a picnic spot for lunch. A picnic area on the map was on the side of the road away from the ocean and in the trees so we took our lunches out to some rocks on the beach side instead. What a magnificent view to enjoy our picnic.
We continued driving around the loop road that is a narrow, two lane road but is one-way for most of the way so is comfortable driving. We took a road to the Cadillac Mountain summit. This was narrow, windy and single lane each way which was only a problem when a bus coming down used more than his half of the road on a curve - got all our adrenalin going! The views from the road and from the viewpoints on the top were wonderful. It was very windy and cool on top so we didn’t stay too long.
It took a little longer getting back than we figured as we were in a long, slow line of traffic for quite a ways out of Ellsworth - rush hour? We each started dinner, got together for a drink, had separate dinners and then I made dessert for all of us. We spent time planning our next destinations.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Sept 6th & 7th - Shediac, NB
Sept 6th - Sat - Shediac
The weather forecast changed (as usual) with Hanna not to arrive until tonight so we all went sightseeing again. Headed north(ish) this time, taking the coastal scenic routes for the most part and ended up at Kouchibouguac National Park. On the way we stopped at a Farmers’ Market in Bouctouche where we bought some huge cinnamon rolls and listened to a couple of songs performed by a small group. At the Eco Center near Rexton and again at the national park, we strolled on boardwalks and white sand beaches.
Like the rest of the maritimes, the New Brunswick areas that we have seen are all very tidy. No old cars sitting around and very few lawns needing mowing badly. Judy enlightened me on the stars that are displayed on many houses - they are used to denote Acadian ancestry or affiliation.
Judy had some frozen lobster that she took out for dinner so we stopped at a market to get some shrimp to deep fry and add to the menu. For dessert - which none of us needed! - Judy made toutin which is fried bread dough served with butter & molasses/syrup/jam. Good.
Sept 7th - Sun - Shediac
It started raining before we went to bed last night and continued all night. I waited for a lull to quickly take Dolly out - and then went back to bed. We spent the morning inside - me on the computer & internet, Terry watching TV, looking at maps and dozing once in a while. After lunch the rain let up and we wanted to get out so we grabbed Terry & Judy and went first to the dollar store which was one of the few stores open. Then we went to the huge lobster monument and took pictures. We were goofing around with hammy poses to the amusement of a young couple nearby.
We went to Terry & Judy’s for a pre-dinner drink and didn’t leave until 7:30. On the way to our rig, Terry started talking to a couple with BC plates and invited them in for a drink. They (Doug & Louise) are from Cranbrook and have been traveling for 6 weeks. Doug is trying to convince Louise to sell the house and hit the road. She is reluctant so they rented their house until April to try out the nomad lifestyle.
Needless to say, dinner was quite late. I did persevere and got more pictures posted to the internet so check them out.
The weather forecast changed (as usual) with Hanna not to arrive until tonight so we all went sightseeing again. Headed north(ish) this time, taking the coastal scenic routes for the most part and ended up at Kouchibouguac National Park. On the way we stopped at a Farmers’ Market in Bouctouche where we bought some huge cinnamon rolls and listened to a couple of songs performed by a small group. At the Eco Center near Rexton and again at the national park, we strolled on boardwalks and white sand beaches.
Like the rest of the maritimes, the New Brunswick areas that we have seen are all very tidy. No old cars sitting around and very few lawns needing mowing badly. Judy enlightened me on the stars that are displayed on many houses - they are used to denote Acadian ancestry or affiliation.
Judy had some frozen lobster that she took out for dinner so we stopped at a market to get some shrimp to deep fry and add to the menu. For dessert - which none of us needed! - Judy made toutin which is fried bread dough served with butter & molasses/syrup/jam. Good.
Sept 7th - Sun - Shediac
It started raining before we went to bed last night and continued all night. I waited for a lull to quickly take Dolly out - and then went back to bed. We spent the morning inside - me on the computer & internet, Terry watching TV, looking at maps and dozing once in a while. After lunch the rain let up and we wanted to get out so we grabbed Terry & Judy and went first to the dollar store which was one of the few stores open. Then we went to the huge lobster monument and took pictures. We were goofing around with hammy poses to the amusement of a young couple nearby.
We went to Terry & Judy’s for a pre-dinner drink and didn’t leave until 7:30. On the way to our rig, Terry started talking to a couple with BC plates and invited them in for a drink. They (Doug & Louise) are from Cranbrook and have been traveling for 6 weeks. Doug is trying to convince Louise to sell the house and hit the road. She is reluctant so they rented their house until April to try out the nomad lifestyle.
Needless to say, dinner was quite late. I did persevere and got more pictures posted to the internet so check them out.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Sept 3rd to 5th - PEI to New Brunswick
Sept 3rd - Wed - to Darnley, PEI
We moved a short ways northeast to Twin Shores Camping Area, a large campground. An employee marked some available sites on a map and sent us out to choose one. The first area had lots of trees along roads and between sites - too many trees for us. We looked down a couple of roads and figured we would be hitting branches IF we could make the 90 degree corner to get on the road. The map showed a loop at the end so I told Terry we could turn around there. We couldn’t quite make a corner and Terry had to back up a couple of times and still scraped branches on both sides. We went to the open area of the campground and selected a site with a great view of the water. After we paid (and told the employee not to send long rigs down those roads without a warning), Terry cleaned the marks on the moldings and removed a couple of branches caught in the awning.
We hooked up to the internet and started reading emails. Then AOL quit responding and we could not get back to it. Could get to any other website but not AOL. We drove to the office to see if the signal strength would make a difference but it didn’t. I messed with it for a while and then decided to leave it for now and go driving.
Wanda sent us on a very narrow, dirt road to get to Kensington - good thing we weren’t towing. But it opened to a great view so it was worth it. We went to Summerside and wandered a cute tourist area on the waterfront. Back to the RV park in time to hit the laundry room before dinner.
Nice surprise - AOL was accessible again when we got back - go figure!
Sept 4th - Thurs - PEI
Poured rain last night & this morning so we stayed in bed and watched TV until it let up. When I took Dolly out, the outside mat was floating in a small lake by the rig.
The rain stopped about 11 (soon became warm & sunny) so we set off to explore the western third of the island. We stopped in Tyne Valley to see if Wendy’s (friend met in Mexico) brother was around but he was still in Costa Rica so we could not take advantage of his knowledge of local sights to see. We followed a scenic route for a while, then cut across the island to have lunch at a café recommended in a guide book. We had seafood chowder (not exceptional) with biscuits (ordinary) and tried the Seaweed Pie. Seaweed is harvested nearby and is used as a thickening agent in many foods. The “pie” was like Boston Cream Pie with a cake bottom, custardy filling, whipped cream and raspberry “drizzle”. OK but I would not order it again.
We continued on to the North Cape - fishing boats, walking trails & wind machines. We took a combination of main highways & scenic routes to again cross the island to a southern loop on the way back to Summerside and then to the RV park. It was now very windy so we weren’t able to have a fire as we had hoped.
More PEI notes:
Acres & acres of potato fields.
Very red dirt & sand due to iron content which rusts.
Sept 5th - Fri - to Shediac, New Brunswick
(Notice how I initially spell out the province for our American friends?!)
We left at 8 for the short drive to Shediac today. We left PEI on the Confederation Bridge which is 13 km (8 miles) long and cost us $55 to cross. You pay only to leave PEI, not to get there, and the bridge is cheaper than the ferry - at least for longer rigs. We met Terry & Judy again here and luckily they arrived yesterday and reserved a spot for us as the park is quite full. PA, close to town, wifi, cable TV and with a view of the water - nice.
We set up, had a quick breakfast sandwich and, with Terry H at the wheel, set out to Hopewell Rocks south of Moncton. There is a huge tide variance in the Bay of Fundy which allows you to walk on the ocean floor by some spectacular “sea stacks” (rock pillars) at low tide. Low tide was at 10:50 so we wanted to get there as soon as we could. There is a ¾ mile walk down to the beach. We took tons of pictures and then wimped out (thanks to Terry M & Judy!) and took a shuttle back to the top.
We had taken a “snacky” lunch so we sat at tables on a restaurant patio to eat. We figured we should buy a beer to justify using their table. Found out that you cannot buy just alcohol at a restaurant so we ended up with fries as well.
We went to Magnetic Hill on the way back. This is an interesting tourist attraction which makes you think your vehicle is rolling uphill. You drive down a short hill which changes to a dirt road at the bottom. You stop on the left side of the road where it becomes dirt, put your vehicle in neutral, take your foot off the brake and steer as your vehicle backs “up” the hill with no power. It is an optical illusion but quite effective. We drove up a second time and Judy & I walked back to feel the slope. There is also a group of shops that we checked out. There is a huge water park and a zoo so it would be a great place to take kids.
It was warm enough to sit out, visit with some neighbors, barbeque and eat out - what a great change. But the remains of Hurricane Hanna are due to hit the maritimes tomorrow so we are expecting wind & rain.
We moved a short ways northeast to Twin Shores Camping Area, a large campground. An employee marked some available sites on a map and sent us out to choose one. The first area had lots of trees along roads and between sites - too many trees for us. We looked down a couple of roads and figured we would be hitting branches IF we could make the 90 degree corner to get on the road. The map showed a loop at the end so I told Terry we could turn around there. We couldn’t quite make a corner and Terry had to back up a couple of times and still scraped branches on both sides. We went to the open area of the campground and selected a site with a great view of the water. After we paid (and told the employee not to send long rigs down those roads without a warning), Terry cleaned the marks on the moldings and removed a couple of branches caught in the awning.
We hooked up to the internet and started reading emails. Then AOL quit responding and we could not get back to it. Could get to any other website but not AOL. We drove to the office to see if the signal strength would make a difference but it didn’t. I messed with it for a while and then decided to leave it for now and go driving.
Wanda sent us on a very narrow, dirt road to get to Kensington - good thing we weren’t towing. But it opened to a great view so it was worth it. We went to Summerside and wandered a cute tourist area on the waterfront. Back to the RV park in time to hit the laundry room before dinner.
Nice surprise - AOL was accessible again when we got back - go figure!
Sept 4th - Thurs - PEI
Poured rain last night & this morning so we stayed in bed and watched TV until it let up. When I took Dolly out, the outside mat was floating in a small lake by the rig.
The rain stopped about 11 (soon became warm & sunny) so we set off to explore the western third of the island. We stopped in Tyne Valley to see if Wendy’s (friend met in Mexico) brother was around but he was still in Costa Rica so we could not take advantage of his knowledge of local sights to see. We followed a scenic route for a while, then cut across the island to have lunch at a café recommended in a guide book. We had seafood chowder (not exceptional) with biscuits (ordinary) and tried the Seaweed Pie. Seaweed is harvested nearby and is used as a thickening agent in many foods. The “pie” was like Boston Cream Pie with a cake bottom, custardy filling, whipped cream and raspberry “drizzle”. OK but I would not order it again.
We continued on to the North Cape - fishing boats, walking trails & wind machines. We took a combination of main highways & scenic routes to again cross the island to a southern loop on the way back to Summerside and then to the RV park. It was now very windy so we weren’t able to have a fire as we had hoped.
More PEI notes:
Acres & acres of potato fields.
Very red dirt & sand due to iron content which rusts.
Sept 5th - Fri - to Shediac, New Brunswick
(Notice how I initially spell out the province for our American friends?!)
We left at 8 for the short drive to Shediac today. We left PEI on the Confederation Bridge which is 13 km (8 miles) long and cost us $55 to cross. You pay only to leave PEI, not to get there, and the bridge is cheaper than the ferry - at least for longer rigs. We met Terry & Judy again here and luckily they arrived yesterday and reserved a spot for us as the park is quite full. PA, close to town, wifi, cable TV and with a view of the water - nice.
We set up, had a quick breakfast sandwich and, with Terry H at the wheel, set out to Hopewell Rocks south of Moncton. There is a huge tide variance in the Bay of Fundy which allows you to walk on the ocean floor by some spectacular “sea stacks” (rock pillars) at low tide. Low tide was at 10:50 so we wanted to get there as soon as we could. There is a ¾ mile walk down to the beach. We took tons of pictures and then wimped out (thanks to Terry M & Judy!) and took a shuttle back to the top.
We had taken a “snacky” lunch so we sat at tables on a restaurant patio to eat. We figured we should buy a beer to justify using their table. Found out that you cannot buy just alcohol at a restaurant so we ended up with fries as well.
We went to Magnetic Hill on the way back. This is an interesting tourist attraction which makes you think your vehicle is rolling uphill. You drive down a short hill which changes to a dirt road at the bottom. You stop on the left side of the road where it becomes dirt, put your vehicle in neutral, take your foot off the brake and steer as your vehicle backs “up” the hill with no power. It is an optical illusion but quite effective. We drove up a second time and Judy & I walked back to feel the slope. There is also a group of shops that we checked out. There is a huge water park and a zoo so it would be a great place to take kids.
It was warm enough to sit out, visit with some neighbors, barbeque and eat out - what a great change. But the remains of Hurricane Hanna are due to hit the maritimes tomorrow so we are expecting wind & rain.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Aug 31st to Sept 2nd - PEI
Aug 31st - Sun - to Harrington (Charlottetown), PEI
Left at 8 under cloudy skies. New friends Doug & Ellie are staying in Nova Scotia for a couple days and then we plan to meet on PEI. Encountered heavy rain on an otherwise uneventful drive to the dock for the ferry to PEI. We had to wait an hour for the 1:00 ferry so we went to a gift shop, tourist info booth and got coffee - just in time for the announcement that people return to their cars in preparation for loading. And then we got to sit while almost everyone else loaded first. The car lanes were really skinny on this ferry but we (and a few other large vehicles) were given 2 lanes.
We had some lunch on the ferry and then Terry found a slot machine (!) while I read a book. Before we knew it, the 75 minute ride was over and Terry had won enough money to pay for lunch. We were front & center on the ferry so we got off first and were in the campground just after 4. It is a PA park and is pretty “basic” - only 3 other RVs and a group of 3 tents.
After setting up (in rain), looking at brochures & maps and chatting a bit with our neighbors, we headed for a grocery store. I had let everything run out and figured I would be doing the “up & down every aisle” shopping trip. We just got started when employees turned off lights in the meat display case and we realized that because it was Sunday the store was closing at 6. We hurriedly grabbed a few essentials, fueled up (diesel down to $1.38 per liter) and headed back. Put away groceries, made dinner and then went to visit our neighbors.
Sept 1st - Mon - Harrington
We had a huge wind & rain storm last night so we did not get much sleep. Still raining this morning so we decided to finish grocery shopping and then go to the casino rather than trying to go sightseeing in limited visibility. Almost all stores were closed because of Labor Day and the casino did not treat us too well - not a great day! We returned to the rig for a late lunch and then went driving. The waves were really crashing on the beach at PEI National Park. We started driving west and soon ran into rain that made it hard to see the road, never mind the scenery. So we turned around and found some clearing skies on the way back to the campground. What else could I do now but bake cookies!
A couple of motor homes were checking in when we came back. One driver asked Terry if the sites were soft (grass sites) where we are parked and Terry said he thought the sites at the very end (bottom of the hill & just a few sites from us) were the most solid. The driver decided to park at the top of the hill and buried his front wheels to the axle. A very large tow truck soon showed up and the 2 motor homes ended up parking on the side of the road where it was solid.
Our neighbors (Lloyd & Cathy) came over for coffee & cookies. Cathy brought Godiva chocolate liqueur and whipped cream so we ended up with 2 desserts - one to drink and one to eat.
Sept 2nd - Tues - PEI
Sunshine!!! Lloyd & Cathy joined us today for a sightseeing trip. We drove east to the lighthouse at East Point, stopping at a few places along the way including a walk to a beach on another section of PEI National Park. We had a light lunch at East Point. Shortly after, we left the scenic route and headed back across the island to Charlottetown to see some sand sculptures that we had seen advertised. First we got some ice cream cones at Cows, which is claimed to be the best ice cream on PEI. The ice cream was better than the sand sculptures. We were very disappointed. Even allowing for rain damage, which was inevitable, the sculptures were so basic - especially compared to the wonderful pieces of art that we saw at Parksville on Vancouver Island last year.
We stopped at a couple of grocery stores on the way back - a couple because the first one did not have an item that we especially wanted. It was still sunny when we got back about 4:30 so Terry got out the lawn chairs. It didn’t stay warm very long however, so we moved inside and Terry just went out to barbeque steaks.
Misc PEI notes:
A lot of homes have HUGE lawns. Acres would not be an exaggeration.
There are lots of mussels farms in bays. Mussels are grown on strings suspended from buoys.
Cemeteries often seem too large for nearby towns. Figure it is because the towns are so old.
Left at 8 under cloudy skies. New friends Doug & Ellie are staying in Nova Scotia for a couple days and then we plan to meet on PEI. Encountered heavy rain on an otherwise uneventful drive to the dock for the ferry to PEI. We had to wait an hour for the 1:00 ferry so we went to a gift shop, tourist info booth and got coffee - just in time for the announcement that people return to their cars in preparation for loading. And then we got to sit while almost everyone else loaded first. The car lanes were really skinny on this ferry but we (and a few other large vehicles) were given 2 lanes.
We had some lunch on the ferry and then Terry found a slot machine (!) while I read a book. Before we knew it, the 75 minute ride was over and Terry had won enough money to pay for lunch. We were front & center on the ferry so we got off first and were in the campground just after 4. It is a PA park and is pretty “basic” - only 3 other RVs and a group of 3 tents.
After setting up (in rain), looking at brochures & maps and chatting a bit with our neighbors, we headed for a grocery store. I had let everything run out and figured I would be doing the “up & down every aisle” shopping trip. We just got started when employees turned off lights in the meat display case and we realized that because it was Sunday the store was closing at 6. We hurriedly grabbed a few essentials, fueled up (diesel down to $1.38 per liter) and headed back. Put away groceries, made dinner and then went to visit our neighbors.
Sept 1st - Mon - Harrington
We had a huge wind & rain storm last night so we did not get much sleep. Still raining this morning so we decided to finish grocery shopping and then go to the casino rather than trying to go sightseeing in limited visibility. Almost all stores were closed because of Labor Day and the casino did not treat us too well - not a great day! We returned to the rig for a late lunch and then went driving. The waves were really crashing on the beach at PEI National Park. We started driving west and soon ran into rain that made it hard to see the road, never mind the scenery. So we turned around and found some clearing skies on the way back to the campground. What else could I do now but bake cookies!
A couple of motor homes were checking in when we came back. One driver asked Terry if the sites were soft (grass sites) where we are parked and Terry said he thought the sites at the very end (bottom of the hill & just a few sites from us) were the most solid. The driver decided to park at the top of the hill and buried his front wheels to the axle. A very large tow truck soon showed up and the 2 motor homes ended up parking on the side of the road where it was solid.
Our neighbors (Lloyd & Cathy) came over for coffee & cookies. Cathy brought Godiva chocolate liqueur and whipped cream so we ended up with 2 desserts - one to drink and one to eat.
Sept 2nd - Tues - PEI
Sunshine!!! Lloyd & Cathy joined us today for a sightseeing trip. We drove east to the lighthouse at East Point, stopping at a few places along the way including a walk to a beach on another section of PEI National Park. We had a light lunch at East Point. Shortly after, we left the scenic route and headed back across the island to Charlottetown to see some sand sculptures that we had seen advertised. First we got some ice cream cones at Cows, which is claimed to be the best ice cream on PEI. The ice cream was better than the sand sculptures. We were very disappointed. Even allowing for rain damage, which was inevitable, the sculptures were so basic - especially compared to the wonderful pieces of art that we saw at Parksville on Vancouver Island last year.
We stopped at a couple of grocery stores on the way back - a couple because the first one did not have an item that we especially wanted. It was still sunny when we got back about 4:30 so Terry got out the lawn chairs. It didn’t stay warm very long however, so we moved inside and Terry just went out to barbeque steaks.
Misc PEI notes:
A lot of homes have HUGE lawns. Acres would not be an exaggeration.
There are lots of mussels farms in bays. Mussels are grown on strings suspended from buoys.
Cemeteries often seem too large for nearby towns. Figure it is because the towns are so old.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Aug 28th to 30th - Louisbourg NS
Aug 28th - Thurs - to Louisbourg NS
Got going early to catch the 9 am ferry today. We were on the smaller ferry this time and the wind whipped up some pretty good waves so it was rough. The captain took a route that kept the rolling down as much as possible but when he had to turn he issued a warning that the rolling would get worse for a while and it did. The bow of the ferry was slamming down on the water and caused one motorcycle to fall over. The bike owner told Terry later that when he was called down to check for damage, our truck and 5th wheel was moving back and forth about 4 inches with each large swell. But we arrived on time and had about a 45 minute drive to our campsite in Louisbourg.
The wind was quite hard and very cold when we were setting up. Another 5th wheel from the ferry was ahead of us driving here and came to the same campground. They are from Revelstoke, B.C. I had hoped to talk with them but we got tickets to a show tonight so don’t know if we will get together.
The show was enjoyable - 5 very good musicians with a couple of comedy routines included. Tea & oatcakes were served at intermission. The playhouse is right beside the campground so we didn’t get too wet walking over in the rain but there were some pretty big puddles to navigate in the dark coming back.
Aug 29th - Fri - Louisbourg
It was still raining this morning but forecast to be nicer tomorrow so we decided to take advantage of a “stay 2 nights and get another night free” offer, stay here another day and delay going to the fortress until tomorrow. I gave Terry a haircut and then we checked out the couple of small gift shops in town and went to the S&L (Sidney & Louisbourg) Railway Museum. The museum is in 3 buildings, 2 of which were built in 1895. A model railway of the S&L line is in one building and there are lots of artifacts, newspaper clippings, original paperwork and a couple of rail cars. We drove out to the lighthouse site but there was too much fog to even see across the harbor to town. When we got back from a short drive to get diesel, the weather was clearing so we had a quick lunch and went to the Fortress of Louisbourg. We have our annual National Historic Site pass so we figured if the rain came back we wouldn’t be out anything.
The weather cooperated and we were able to spend the rest of the afternoon at the Fortress. We started on a tour but the tour leader was having a terrible time trying to remember her presentation and finally admitted that she was not doing well. She said she would understand if we wanted to attend another event starting soon - so we and everyone except one older couple left the tour.
The fortress was built by the French to defend fishing grounds. It changed hands with the British a few times. About ¼ of the entire fort has been excavated and reconstructed. Employees in period costumes are in most of the buildings open for touring and provide lots of information. The also enact different events - punishment for stealing, defending the walls, firing a cannon, herding geese and cooking in a fireplace for example.
Rain started again in the evening.
Aug 30th - Sat - Louisbourg
Good thing we didn’t wait for the nicer weather to go to the fort as it showed up for about a hour in the late morning. It was a great day to get some sewing & ironing done. I also got a much needed haircut. By this time the sun had appeared so we drove out to the lighthouse again to take some pictures and watch the waves. I needed a couple of grocery items and by the time we got back to town it was raining so hard that we sat in the truck for a few minutes before running into the store.
Spent the rest of the day ducking in & out of the rain - there is a waterfront boardwalk beside the RV park. We watched people catching mackerel on nearby docks and watched boats getting ready to go snow crab fishing. After dinner, the rain finally quit and we went for a walk again to watch people fishing. Our “neighbors” from Revelstoke (Doug & Ellie) were also on the dock so we started talking with them. They have just started full time RVing. We had so much to talk about that we invited them in for coffee and are hoping to meet up with them again soon.
Got going early to catch the 9 am ferry today. We were on the smaller ferry this time and the wind whipped up some pretty good waves so it was rough. The captain took a route that kept the rolling down as much as possible but when he had to turn he issued a warning that the rolling would get worse for a while and it did. The bow of the ferry was slamming down on the water and caused one motorcycle to fall over. The bike owner told Terry later that when he was called down to check for damage, our truck and 5th wheel was moving back and forth about 4 inches with each large swell. But we arrived on time and had about a 45 minute drive to our campsite in Louisbourg.
The wind was quite hard and very cold when we were setting up. Another 5th wheel from the ferry was ahead of us driving here and came to the same campground. They are from Revelstoke, B.C. I had hoped to talk with them but we got tickets to a show tonight so don’t know if we will get together.
The show was enjoyable - 5 very good musicians with a couple of comedy routines included. Tea & oatcakes were served at intermission. The playhouse is right beside the campground so we didn’t get too wet walking over in the rain but there were some pretty big puddles to navigate in the dark coming back.
Aug 29th - Fri - Louisbourg
It was still raining this morning but forecast to be nicer tomorrow so we decided to take advantage of a “stay 2 nights and get another night free” offer, stay here another day and delay going to the fortress until tomorrow. I gave Terry a haircut and then we checked out the couple of small gift shops in town and went to the S&L (Sidney & Louisbourg) Railway Museum. The museum is in 3 buildings, 2 of which were built in 1895. A model railway of the S&L line is in one building and there are lots of artifacts, newspaper clippings, original paperwork and a couple of rail cars. We drove out to the lighthouse site but there was too much fog to even see across the harbor to town. When we got back from a short drive to get diesel, the weather was clearing so we had a quick lunch and went to the Fortress of Louisbourg. We have our annual National Historic Site pass so we figured if the rain came back we wouldn’t be out anything.
The weather cooperated and we were able to spend the rest of the afternoon at the Fortress. We started on a tour but the tour leader was having a terrible time trying to remember her presentation and finally admitted that she was not doing well. She said she would understand if we wanted to attend another event starting soon - so we and everyone except one older couple left the tour.
The fortress was built by the French to defend fishing grounds. It changed hands with the British a few times. About ¼ of the entire fort has been excavated and reconstructed. Employees in period costumes are in most of the buildings open for touring and provide lots of information. The also enact different events - punishment for stealing, defending the walls, firing a cannon, herding geese and cooking in a fireplace for example.
Rain started again in the evening.
Aug 30th - Sat - Louisbourg
Good thing we didn’t wait for the nicer weather to go to the fort as it showed up for about a hour in the late morning. It was a great day to get some sewing & ironing done. I also got a much needed haircut. By this time the sun had appeared so we drove out to the lighthouse again to take some pictures and watch the waves. I needed a couple of grocery items and by the time we got back to town it was raining so hard that we sat in the truck for a few minutes before running into the store.
Spent the rest of the day ducking in & out of the rain - there is a waterfront boardwalk beside the RV park. We watched people catching mackerel on nearby docks and watched boats getting ready to go snow crab fishing. After dinner, the rain finally quit and we went for a walk again to watch people fishing. Our “neighbors” from Revelstoke (Doug & Ellie) were also on the dock so we started talking with them. They have just started full time RVing. We had so much to talk about that we invited them in for coffee and are hoping to meet up with them again soon.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Aug 25th to 27th - St. John's to Doyles
Aug 25th - Mon - St. John’s
We all went to Cape Spear National Historic Site today. It is the most easterly point of land in North America. We checked out the visitor center & gift shop and the lighthouse and walked along several trails. There is a defense battery with two 10” guns at the tip of the cape that was installed and manned during WW II. The weather was beautiful.
We returned to downtown St. John’s to visit a music shop and buy nose flutes - don’t ask, you have to see them to understand. Terry also bought a Jaws Harp which he can’t play - yet?
Next to Ches’s restaurant for lunch. This is small chain that has been around for 50 years. Wonderful fish & chips. Terry had chicken fingers that were deep fried in the same crunchy batter as the fish and were excellent. A stop at the liquor store and grocery store before heading back to the park.
We watched Terry H. give both their dogs a bath using the outside shower on their 5th wheel and then shared another dinner made mostly by Judy. I used the time when I wasn’t making dinner to put more captions on pictures and then posted another 100 pictures to the internet after dinner.
Aug 26th - Tues - to Corner Brook
We left at 8 this morning for the 8 hour drive from St. John’s to Corner Brook. We experienced all kinds of weather during the drive - overcast, foggy, rainy, overcast again, some sun and more overcast. We stopped somewhere along the way and I made a late breakfast. A stop for diesel and we discovered that it had gone down to $1.44 a liter.
I picked a campground out of the Trailer Life book that had Terry wondering where we were going as it was across a river from Corner Brook. Turned out to be OK. We drove into Corner Brook for diesel and to have a quick look at the town. It is the second largest city in Newfoundland (St. John’s is the largest) with a large pulp & paper plant. Built, like many other towns, on slopes above bays & inlets with hardly no square intersections so it can be hard to retrace your route.
Dinner, a short walk around the park and early to bed. I had a nice long chat with friends Dan & Dottie in Spokane. It is so nice to catch up once in a while. Terry called his Mom and she is continuing to improve.
Aug 27th - Wed - to Doyles
2 ½ hour drive this morning to St. Andrews which is 17 miles before Port aux Basques. We set up and when I tried to vacuum I discovered that we had no electricity. Terry tracked down the owner and she reset our breaker. But it was on a GFI breaker and each time we plugged in (with our 50 amp to 30 amp connector) we tripped the breaker. The owner said we could move to a spot beside the breaker panel and she could connect us to 110 without a GFI but we figured if we were going to pack up to move that we would go 5 miles back to the park where we stayed when we arrived in Newfoundland. I just love packing up and setting up twice in one day!!
We had a quick lunch and then went to see Rose Blanche lighthouse. It is 26 miles on the other side of Port aux Basques so it was a 48 mile drive each way. The countryside was different from any that we had seen on the island - a lot of small hills without trees, just grass and boulders. Also lots of small lakes that looked black rather than blue. It was very pretty.
The town of Rose Blanche is lovely - set on hillsides around small coves. The lighthouse is made of stone. It has been rebuilt after being destroyed except for the central stone spiral staircase. It is a nice walk out to the lighthouse and the return trip is via a second path that includes a viewpoint over the town.
The campground where we are staying has only a couple of other rigs. When we were here earlier it was probably ¾ full. We washed both the 5th wheel and the truck when we returned. It is finally sunny and not windy so we sat out and ate dinner outside. Updated the blog and we are going up to the office to post it.
We all went to Cape Spear National Historic Site today. It is the most easterly point of land in North America. We checked out the visitor center & gift shop and the lighthouse and walked along several trails. There is a defense battery with two 10” guns at the tip of the cape that was installed and manned during WW II. The weather was beautiful.
We returned to downtown St. John’s to visit a music shop and buy nose flutes - don’t ask, you have to see them to understand. Terry also bought a Jaws Harp which he can’t play - yet?
Next to Ches’s restaurant for lunch. This is small chain that has been around for 50 years. Wonderful fish & chips. Terry had chicken fingers that were deep fried in the same crunchy batter as the fish and were excellent. A stop at the liquor store and grocery store before heading back to the park.
We watched Terry H. give both their dogs a bath using the outside shower on their 5th wheel and then shared another dinner made mostly by Judy. I used the time when I wasn’t making dinner to put more captions on pictures and then posted another 100 pictures to the internet after dinner.
Aug 26th - Tues - to Corner Brook
We left at 8 this morning for the 8 hour drive from St. John’s to Corner Brook. We experienced all kinds of weather during the drive - overcast, foggy, rainy, overcast again, some sun and more overcast. We stopped somewhere along the way and I made a late breakfast. A stop for diesel and we discovered that it had gone down to $1.44 a liter.
I picked a campground out of the Trailer Life book that had Terry wondering where we were going as it was across a river from Corner Brook. Turned out to be OK. We drove into Corner Brook for diesel and to have a quick look at the town. It is the second largest city in Newfoundland (St. John’s is the largest) with a large pulp & paper plant. Built, like many other towns, on slopes above bays & inlets with hardly no square intersections so it can be hard to retrace your route.
Dinner, a short walk around the park and early to bed. I had a nice long chat with friends Dan & Dottie in Spokane. It is so nice to catch up once in a while. Terry called his Mom and she is continuing to improve.
Aug 27th - Wed - to Doyles
2 ½ hour drive this morning to St. Andrews which is 17 miles before Port aux Basques. We set up and when I tried to vacuum I discovered that we had no electricity. Terry tracked down the owner and she reset our breaker. But it was on a GFI breaker and each time we plugged in (with our 50 amp to 30 amp connector) we tripped the breaker. The owner said we could move to a spot beside the breaker panel and she could connect us to 110 without a GFI but we figured if we were going to pack up to move that we would go 5 miles back to the park where we stayed when we arrived in Newfoundland. I just love packing up and setting up twice in one day!!
We had a quick lunch and then went to see Rose Blanche lighthouse. It is 26 miles on the other side of Port aux Basques so it was a 48 mile drive each way. The countryside was different from any that we had seen on the island - a lot of small hills without trees, just grass and boulders. Also lots of small lakes that looked black rather than blue. It was very pretty.
The town of Rose Blanche is lovely - set on hillsides around small coves. The lighthouse is made of stone. It has been rebuilt after being destroyed except for the central stone spiral staircase. It is a nice walk out to the lighthouse and the return trip is via a second path that includes a viewpoint over the town.
The campground where we are staying has only a couple of other rigs. When we were here earlier it was probably ¾ full. We washed both the 5th wheel and the truck when we returned. It is finally sunny and not windy so we sat out and ate dinner outside. Updated the blog and we are going up to the office to post it.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Aug 22nd to 24th - St. John's
Aug 22nd - Fri - St. John’s
Another full day.
We followed the “Admirals’ Coast” on the south end of Conception Bay and then the “Baccalieu Trail” which makes a loop around one of the Northern Avalon peninsulas between Trinity Bay and Conception Bay. We hit the Admiral’s Coast road (Hwy 60) at Chamberlains and followed it until Holyrood where we stopped by a lovely boardwalk for some pictures and a short walk. From here we went to the TCH and west to Whitbourne (Hwy 80) where we headed north on the west side of the peninsula. Our first stop was at Dildo where there is no consensus as to the origin of the name of the town. We stopped at a nice restaurant in Whiteway for lunch. Today was Terry & Judy’s anniversary so we figured it was appropriate that we go to Heart’s Desire where we turned to go across the peninsula rather than driving the whole way around.
On the east coast of the peninsula, we stopped for some pictures of Carbonear, visited the information center at Harbour Grace, tried to spot rock walls at Spaniard’s Bay and took a quick driving tour around Brigus with a thought to come back another day as we needed to “head for home”.
When we were on the TCH on the way back, we were held up very briefly by a car accident on our side of the highway. We heard later that traffic had been blocked for about an hour so our timing was good. The opposite side of the highway had a huge backup of traffic due to construction closing one lane at rush hour.
We had thought about going downtown to George Street but we had both purchased baby back ribs and planned a shared dinner. By the time we were done with that we were all too relaxed & tired to go out.
Aug 23rd - Sat - St. John’s
Decided to explore Bell Island and go on a mine tour today. Bell Island is in Conception Bay and is reached by a 20 minute ferry ride. We arrived at the departure town of Portugal Cove-St Phillips about 10:20 and encountered a line up of cars for the ferry. We couldn’t get on the 10:40 ferry and had to wait for the 12 o’clock sailing. Bell Island is only 10 km long by 2 km wide so it didn’t take long to get to the mine for a tour. This mine started in 1895 and had tunnels running at a 10 degree slope following the vein of ore under the bay. The ore was shoveled into cars by hand so eventually they could not compete with heavy equipment in open pit mines in Labrador and it closed in 1966. The tour goes 650 feet along the main tunnel and a short ways into some side rooms. The ore vein is 17 feet high so that is the height of the ceilings. 40 to 60 percent of the ore is left as support columns in the tunnels & rooms.
After the tour we drove to a cove and had a picnic lunch. The 2:40 ferry was just pulling out as we drove down the road so we went to view a lighthouse. When we returned in a short while to the ferry dock, the 3:20 ferry was loading. We wanted to get ice cream so we drove on the ferry and then walked back off to a little restaurant to get cones - after checking with ferry workers that the ferry would indeed not leave until 3:20. They said if the whistle blew we had to run back as fast as we could.
When we got off the ferry, we continued on a loop drive around the eastern Northern Avalon peninsula which is called the Killick Coast.
We had leftover ribs from last night and we each made a salad for another shared dinner. Then we were off to George Street which, for a couple of blocks, is solid bars & restaurants and is supposed to be the prime area for nightlife. We figured we were there a little early so we walked up & down the couple of blocks to decide where we wanted to have a drink. We ended up in a place with a couple of guys singing traditional songs and a band to show up later. We didn’t stay until “later” as the drinks were pretty expensive and the only table that we could get was a couple of steps down from the entertainment. Guess we are just all too old for partying in a bar!!
Aug 24th Sun - St. John’s
Exciting morning today - a trip to a laundromat. We timed our trip just right as there were enough washers for both of us when we arrived but people waiting in line when our wash finished. Terry had one of our propane tanks filled while I was doing laundry - $33.25 which in the US is the price for both tanks.
We returned to the rigs to put away laundry and have a quick lunch before going to the Johnson Geo Centre. This is a “geological showcase” with the main exhibit area dug into the rocks near Signal Hill. The rock formations of Newfoundland are much older than other areas of Canada and are therefore interesting to geologists.
There is a 16 minute introduction video and then 4 major display areas - Our Planet (how was the earth formed?), Our Province (why this area is “Earth’s Geological Showcases”), Our People (where did humans come from?) and Our Future (are our choices good for our future?). In addition, there is an ExxonMobil Oil &Gas Gallery and “The Titanic Story”. The Titanic is relevant to this area as it sank only 350 miles from here and Newfoundland received the first distress call. I enjoyed the Titanic story most of all. There are just so many facts about the sinking that I didn’t know and found very interesting.
We drove through downtown on the way back and saw a huge Holland Line cruise ship in the harbor. The store that we wanted was closed so we continued on to Costco and WalMart.
Individual dinners tonight. I am catching up on the blog, putting captions on pictures, catching up on our expenses spreadsheet and posting pictures - while the others are playing cribbage!
Another full day.
We followed the “Admirals’ Coast” on the south end of Conception Bay and then the “Baccalieu Trail” which makes a loop around one of the Northern Avalon peninsulas between Trinity Bay and Conception Bay. We hit the Admiral’s Coast road (Hwy 60) at Chamberlains and followed it until Holyrood where we stopped by a lovely boardwalk for some pictures and a short walk. From here we went to the TCH and west to Whitbourne (Hwy 80) where we headed north on the west side of the peninsula. Our first stop was at Dildo where there is no consensus as to the origin of the name of the town. We stopped at a nice restaurant in Whiteway for lunch. Today was Terry & Judy’s anniversary so we figured it was appropriate that we go to Heart’s Desire where we turned to go across the peninsula rather than driving the whole way around.
On the east coast of the peninsula, we stopped for some pictures of Carbonear, visited the information center at Harbour Grace, tried to spot rock walls at Spaniard’s Bay and took a quick driving tour around Brigus with a thought to come back another day as we needed to “head for home”.
When we were on the TCH on the way back, we were held up very briefly by a car accident on our side of the highway. We heard later that traffic had been blocked for about an hour so our timing was good. The opposite side of the highway had a huge backup of traffic due to construction closing one lane at rush hour.
We had thought about going downtown to George Street but we had both purchased baby back ribs and planned a shared dinner. By the time we were done with that we were all too relaxed & tired to go out.
Aug 23rd - Sat - St. John’s
Decided to explore Bell Island and go on a mine tour today. Bell Island is in Conception Bay and is reached by a 20 minute ferry ride. We arrived at the departure town of Portugal Cove-St Phillips about 10:20 and encountered a line up of cars for the ferry. We couldn’t get on the 10:40 ferry and had to wait for the 12 o’clock sailing. Bell Island is only 10 km long by 2 km wide so it didn’t take long to get to the mine for a tour. This mine started in 1895 and had tunnels running at a 10 degree slope following the vein of ore under the bay. The ore was shoveled into cars by hand so eventually they could not compete with heavy equipment in open pit mines in Labrador and it closed in 1966. The tour goes 650 feet along the main tunnel and a short ways into some side rooms. The ore vein is 17 feet high so that is the height of the ceilings. 40 to 60 percent of the ore is left as support columns in the tunnels & rooms.
After the tour we drove to a cove and had a picnic lunch. The 2:40 ferry was just pulling out as we drove down the road so we went to view a lighthouse. When we returned in a short while to the ferry dock, the 3:20 ferry was loading. We wanted to get ice cream so we drove on the ferry and then walked back off to a little restaurant to get cones - after checking with ferry workers that the ferry would indeed not leave until 3:20. They said if the whistle blew we had to run back as fast as we could.
When we got off the ferry, we continued on a loop drive around the eastern Northern Avalon peninsula which is called the Killick Coast.
We had leftover ribs from last night and we each made a salad for another shared dinner. Then we were off to George Street which, for a couple of blocks, is solid bars & restaurants and is supposed to be the prime area for nightlife. We figured we were there a little early so we walked up & down the couple of blocks to decide where we wanted to have a drink. We ended up in a place with a couple of guys singing traditional songs and a band to show up later. We didn’t stay until “later” as the drinks were pretty expensive and the only table that we could get was a couple of steps down from the entertainment. Guess we are just all too old for partying in a bar!!
Aug 24th Sun - St. John’s
Exciting morning today - a trip to a laundromat. We timed our trip just right as there were enough washers for both of us when we arrived but people waiting in line when our wash finished. Terry had one of our propane tanks filled while I was doing laundry - $33.25 which in the US is the price for both tanks.
We returned to the rigs to put away laundry and have a quick lunch before going to the Johnson Geo Centre. This is a “geological showcase” with the main exhibit area dug into the rocks near Signal Hill. The rock formations of Newfoundland are much older than other areas of Canada and are therefore interesting to geologists.
There is a 16 minute introduction video and then 4 major display areas - Our Planet (how was the earth formed?), Our Province (why this area is “Earth’s Geological Showcases”), Our People (where did humans come from?) and Our Future (are our choices good for our future?). In addition, there is an ExxonMobil Oil &Gas Gallery and “The Titanic Story”. The Titanic is relevant to this area as it sank only 350 miles from here and Newfoundland received the first distress call. I enjoyed the Titanic story most of all. There are just so many facts about the sinking that I didn’t know and found very interesting.
We drove through downtown on the way back and saw a huge Holland Line cruise ship in the harbor. The store that we wanted was closed so we continued on to Costco and WalMart.
Individual dinners tonight. I am catching up on the blog, putting captions on pictures, catching up on our expenses spreadsheet and posting pictures - while the others are playing cribbage!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Aug 18th to 21st - Gander to St. John's
Aug 18th - Mon - Gander
We were at the office last night to connect to wifi when we heard that the highway was closed at Gambo due to rain building up because of clogged culverts creating a dam. Gambo is 25 miles east of here which is the direction that we were heading. The only way to get around is 180 miles so we chose to stay another night and hope the highway gets fixed in a hurry.
It was clear & sunny this morning so we took over driving duties to go for another sightseeing tour. We actually drove over half of the “detour” route to Newtown. The coastline is quite different with large red rocks. We tried to find a couple of sand beaches that we had been told about but we had to wade to get to one and never found the other. We took a short walk and found a great spot for our picnic lunch. Picked wild blueberries, blackberries and raspberries for dessert. The blackberries look like black blueberries and are not as sweet. The black & blueberries are small and grow very low to the ground.
We saw many examples of another Newfoundland oddity today. Front doors are often not used and so frequently do not have steps leading to them even when the door is on the second floor. Terry H. called them ‘hanging doors”.
Parts of the route we took are very rough so we were happy to hear on the radio on the way back that the road is opened so we don’t have to take the rigs over the detour tomorrow or stay another day.
Aug 19th - Tues - to Charleston
Our plans for an earlier start today didn’t materialize when our large slide started going in crooked. It was another broken bolt but neither we nor Terry H. had the right size so Terry had to make a quick trip to the nearby Canadian Tire. We were on the road a little over an hour later than we hoped.
Short trip today - just over 2 hours to the Bonavista Peninsula. We were planning on spending 2 nights here but since we lost a day to the closed highway we decided to get here early and do our sightseeing in the afternoon.
We set out after lunch and went first to Trinity which is a very picturesque little village. We walked a bit and went into the museum and a huge old church. Next was Elliston - the Root Cellar Capital of the World. We actually went there to see puffins which are cute little birds related to penguins. We walked out to a viewing spot near their nesting area. They were not as close as Judy hoped but she had binoculars so we could easily watch them. The root cellars are set into hillsides with rock fronts supporting the roof & door. Many have been restored to a useful state.
We continued all the way to the end of the peninsula to Cape Bonavista where there is a large lighthouse. We were too late to make it worthwhile to buy a ticket and climb the lighthouse so we just checked out the interpretive center and took pictures. Took more pictures just down the road of a statue of John Cabot who “discovered” this “new found land” in 1497. There is a full size replica of his ship, the Matthew, in Bonavista but, again, it was too late to tour the ship.
We stopped for dinner at a little restaurant on the way back. I think there were 6 tables in all. Terry H. tried the “cod tongue” dinner. He gave me a sample - too “fishy” for my taste. A stop for fuel and we arrived back about 8:30 - a long, full day.
Aug 20th - Wed - to St. John’s
St John’s is the capital of Newfoundland and the largest city. The drive was short again, about 2 ½ hours. It was quite foggy for much of the way but cleared by the time we got here and was warm and muggy. We are staying at Pippy Park which is right in town. It is a huge park (3400 acres) which contains more than you would normally think of in a park - legislative buildings, a university, a trout stream with underwater viewing, a very large campground and lots of “green space”.
We set up, had a late lunch and then all went to Costco. Ended up taking us a while there as our card was expired and Judy decided to get a card as she wanted one before they head for the U.S. this winter.
Terry got ambitious when we got back and washed the truck and got the bugs off the front of the 5th wheel while I was dealing with food purchases and making brownies.
Judy & Terry had us over for dinner tonight - chicken with their special sauce. Very good.
Aug 21st - Thurs - St. John’s
We certainly cram a lot into a day.
Started out about 10, went downtown and did a lot of walking and shopping in gift/souvenir type stores - and took lots of pictures. One of the “trademarks” of St. John are the “jelly beans houses” which are rows of tall, connected houses painted different bright colors. The city is built on hills & rocks so the streets are different levels and often not square to each other.
Next was a visit to Signal Hill National Historic Site. Signal Hill is a high spot of land near the mouth of the harbor and was used to signal the town when ships - naval & commercial - were entering the harbor. It is also the location of several fights to gain & keep control of the town and thereby have control of the fishing. Cabot Tower, which was built in 1897 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s landing, is now on the site. We viewed a good film in the interpretive center about all the history of Signal Hill.
Then on to Quidi Vidi Village and the Quidi Vidi micro brewery. We took a tour of the brewery which started with tasting 7 beers - Iceburg, 1892 Traditional Ale, Erick’s Red cream ale, “7”, Honey Brown, QV Light and Cranberry Cloud which is a beer cooler - while the tour guide related some history & anecdotes. We each got to select a bottle to drink while on the rest of the tour through the processing & bottling areas.
We had taken a lunch so we sat at a picnic table outside the brewery to eat our lunch and finish our beer.
We stopped at a grocery store, brought the groceries back to the rigs and went to the Fluvaium to watch the feeding at 4:00. The Fluvarium is a trout stream with a viewing area wrapped around a building. There are also tanks inside with different species of fish, frogs and one eel that are included in the feeding. The facility is really geared to kids with different activities so we were less than overwhelmed.
We were going to have a shared baby back rib dinner but the weather got colder and windier during the day so we decided to wait for a better day for barbequing and went our separate ways for dinner.
Oops, not done yet. I was just working on the blog when Judy came over and asked if I wanted to go shopping with her. I said no and she twisted my arm - NOT! So off we went, leaving the Terrys to do their own thing.
We were at the office last night to connect to wifi when we heard that the highway was closed at Gambo due to rain building up because of clogged culverts creating a dam. Gambo is 25 miles east of here which is the direction that we were heading. The only way to get around is 180 miles so we chose to stay another night and hope the highway gets fixed in a hurry.
It was clear & sunny this morning so we took over driving duties to go for another sightseeing tour. We actually drove over half of the “detour” route to Newtown. The coastline is quite different with large red rocks. We tried to find a couple of sand beaches that we had been told about but we had to wade to get to one and never found the other. We took a short walk and found a great spot for our picnic lunch. Picked wild blueberries, blackberries and raspberries for dessert. The blackberries look like black blueberries and are not as sweet. The black & blueberries are small and grow very low to the ground.
We saw many examples of another Newfoundland oddity today. Front doors are often not used and so frequently do not have steps leading to them even when the door is on the second floor. Terry H. called them ‘hanging doors”.
Parts of the route we took are very rough so we were happy to hear on the radio on the way back that the road is opened so we don’t have to take the rigs over the detour tomorrow or stay another day.
Aug 19th - Tues - to Charleston
Our plans for an earlier start today didn’t materialize when our large slide started going in crooked. It was another broken bolt but neither we nor Terry H. had the right size so Terry had to make a quick trip to the nearby Canadian Tire. We were on the road a little over an hour later than we hoped.
Short trip today - just over 2 hours to the Bonavista Peninsula. We were planning on spending 2 nights here but since we lost a day to the closed highway we decided to get here early and do our sightseeing in the afternoon.
We set out after lunch and went first to Trinity which is a very picturesque little village. We walked a bit and went into the museum and a huge old church. Next was Elliston - the Root Cellar Capital of the World. We actually went there to see puffins which are cute little birds related to penguins. We walked out to a viewing spot near their nesting area. They were not as close as Judy hoped but she had binoculars so we could easily watch them. The root cellars are set into hillsides with rock fronts supporting the roof & door. Many have been restored to a useful state.
We continued all the way to the end of the peninsula to Cape Bonavista where there is a large lighthouse. We were too late to make it worthwhile to buy a ticket and climb the lighthouse so we just checked out the interpretive center and took pictures. Took more pictures just down the road of a statue of John Cabot who “discovered” this “new found land” in 1497. There is a full size replica of his ship, the Matthew, in Bonavista but, again, it was too late to tour the ship.
We stopped for dinner at a little restaurant on the way back. I think there were 6 tables in all. Terry H. tried the “cod tongue” dinner. He gave me a sample - too “fishy” for my taste. A stop for fuel and we arrived back about 8:30 - a long, full day.
Aug 20th - Wed - to St. John’s
St John’s is the capital of Newfoundland and the largest city. The drive was short again, about 2 ½ hours. It was quite foggy for much of the way but cleared by the time we got here and was warm and muggy. We are staying at Pippy Park which is right in town. It is a huge park (3400 acres) which contains more than you would normally think of in a park - legislative buildings, a university, a trout stream with underwater viewing, a very large campground and lots of “green space”.
We set up, had a late lunch and then all went to Costco. Ended up taking us a while there as our card was expired and Judy decided to get a card as she wanted one before they head for the U.S. this winter.
Terry got ambitious when we got back and washed the truck and got the bugs off the front of the 5th wheel while I was dealing with food purchases and making brownies.
Judy & Terry had us over for dinner tonight - chicken with their special sauce. Very good.
Aug 21st - Thurs - St. John’s
We certainly cram a lot into a day.
Started out about 10, went downtown and did a lot of walking and shopping in gift/souvenir type stores - and took lots of pictures. One of the “trademarks” of St. John are the “jelly beans houses” which are rows of tall, connected houses painted different bright colors. The city is built on hills & rocks so the streets are different levels and often not square to each other.
Next was a visit to Signal Hill National Historic Site. Signal Hill is a high spot of land near the mouth of the harbor and was used to signal the town when ships - naval & commercial - were entering the harbor. It is also the location of several fights to gain & keep control of the town and thereby have control of the fishing. Cabot Tower, which was built in 1897 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s landing, is now on the site. We viewed a good film in the interpretive center about all the history of Signal Hill.
Then on to Quidi Vidi Village and the Quidi Vidi micro brewery. We took a tour of the brewery which started with tasting 7 beers - Iceburg, 1892 Traditional Ale, Erick’s Red cream ale, “7”, Honey Brown, QV Light and Cranberry Cloud which is a beer cooler - while the tour guide related some history & anecdotes. We each got to select a bottle to drink while on the rest of the tour through the processing & bottling areas.
We had taken a lunch so we sat at a picnic table outside the brewery to eat our lunch and finish our beer.
We stopped at a grocery store, brought the groceries back to the rigs and went to the Fluvaium to watch the feeding at 4:00. The Fluvarium is a trout stream with a viewing area wrapped around a building. There are also tanks inside with different species of fish, frogs and one eel that are included in the feeding. The facility is really geared to kids with different activities so we were less than overwhelmed.
We were going to have a shared baby back rib dinner but the weather got colder and windier during the day so we decided to wait for a better day for barbequing and went our separate ways for dinner.
Oops, not done yet. I was just working on the blog when Judy came over and asked if I wanted to go shopping with her. I said no and she twisted my arm - NOT! So off we went, leaving the Terrys to do their own thing.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Aug 16th to 17th - Gander
Aug 16th - Sat - to Gander
Lovely day for a drive. We stopped at the Mary March Museum in Grand Falls as Terry was interested in seeing where the name originated. Mary March was actually a Beothuck Indian and was given the name when she was captured by Europeans in the month of March. The Beothuck are now extinct with the last known woman dying of TB in 1829. The museum also had a traveling display about the town of Tilting with some stories/quotes from residents that were fun to read.
We arrived first at our agreed upon campground to find that they were full. We had driven past a campground closer to town so we returned and got 2 sites. Luckily, I had Judy’s cell phone number so we were able to tell them the new plans. We all went to a nearby grocery store and Canadian Tire before having some appies & a drink. We each fixed dinner and then we took our plates over to eat together. Sat around for a bit with the propane “campfire” and then caught some Olympic coverage.
Aug 17th - Sun - Gander
Rain started about 3:30 last night and it was still raining a bit this morning. Terry H. drove today to go to Twillingate which is at the end of a “finger” of land and a string of 4 islands joined by causeways. On the way there, we stopped at the Beothuck Heritage Centre in Boyd’s Cove. The remains of a Beothuck settlement was discovered here in 1982 and partially excavated. There is a very nice building with information panels, artifacts and a film. A walking trail leads to the site of the settlement which is only depressions showing building sites and it was still raining so we did not go on the walk.
Twillingate is a very pretty town but the rain continued so a stop at a view point did not yield good pictures. We did see some whales fairly close in and did buy some fudge at a gift shop so the stop was not all a waste of time!
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in Twillingate that had a lot of cars parked in front and we had a good lunch. We tried a sample of a traditional dish called “Fisherman’s Brewis”. It is hard bread that has been soaked & broken up and then mixed with cod and “pork fat”. The pork fat has been cooked until crisp and then softened & chopped. It is an interesting combination but I would not like an entire meal of the dish.
We took a different route back but the rain continued so we did not stop anywhere.
Terry & Judy came over for a bit while we made some campground reservations and then we each did our own thing for the evening.
Lovely day for a drive. We stopped at the Mary March Museum in Grand Falls as Terry was interested in seeing where the name originated. Mary March was actually a Beothuck Indian and was given the name when she was captured by Europeans in the month of March. The Beothuck are now extinct with the last known woman dying of TB in 1829. The museum also had a traveling display about the town of Tilting with some stories/quotes from residents that were fun to read.
We arrived first at our agreed upon campground to find that they were full. We had driven past a campground closer to town so we returned and got 2 sites. Luckily, I had Judy’s cell phone number so we were able to tell them the new plans. We all went to a nearby grocery store and Canadian Tire before having some appies & a drink. We each fixed dinner and then we took our plates over to eat together. Sat around for a bit with the propane “campfire” and then caught some Olympic coverage.
Aug 17th - Sun - Gander
Rain started about 3:30 last night and it was still raining a bit this morning. Terry H. drove today to go to Twillingate which is at the end of a “finger” of land and a string of 4 islands joined by causeways. On the way there, we stopped at the Beothuck Heritage Centre in Boyd’s Cove. The remains of a Beothuck settlement was discovered here in 1982 and partially excavated. There is a very nice building with information panels, artifacts and a film. A walking trail leads to the site of the settlement which is only depressions showing building sites and it was still raining so we did not go on the walk.
Twillingate is a very pretty town but the rain continued so a stop at a view point did not yield good pictures. We did see some whales fairly close in and did buy some fudge at a gift shop so the stop was not all a waste of time!
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in Twillingate that had a lot of cars parked in front and we had a good lunch. We tried a sample of a traditional dish called “Fisherman’s Brewis”. It is hard bread that has been soaked & broken up and then mixed with cod and “pork fat”. The pork fat has been cooked until crisp and then softened & chopped. It is an interesting combination but I would not like an entire meal of the dish.
We took a different route back but the rain continued so we did not stop anywhere.
Terry & Judy came over for a bit while we made some campground reservations and then we each did our own thing for the evening.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Aug 12th to 15th - Newfoundland
Aug 12th - Tues - to St Anthony
Dumped our tanks and headed north by just after 9. We are happy to have Terry & Judy continuing to travel with us. We made a stop to look at The Arches which are natural stone arches right on the shore. The tide was out so we had a good view for some nice pictures. We were thinking about walking in to look at salmon and fish ladders but it would have added a couple of hours to a longish travel day so we skipped it. Terry & Judy passed us when we stopped for diesel and decided to join us viewing the salmon so they were waiting for us (1 ½ km off the main road) when we drove by!
Some of the road was fairly rough but then we hit a newer section of highway which was very nice. A notable feature of the drive was the huge piles of firewood stacked along the roads. Most people heat with wood and it is mostly small rounds. I guess that it would burn pretty fast and the winters are cold so the wood piles are huge.
We put our rig in a spot at the RV park, reserved a site for Terry & Judy and headed in to town since they weren’t here yet. Very interesting liquor store in St Anthony - it includes electrical supplies, videos & CDs, ice cream snacks and lottery tickets.
We bought a couple of bundles of wood and enjoyed a lovely fire before and after dinner. Our sites are treed and somewhat protected from wind so it was pleasant. We had a visit from the friendly campground moose and Terry H. got a lot of pictures.
Aug 13th - Wed - St Anthony
Foggy and drizzly this morning so we changed our plans and went into town instead of going to L’Anse aux Meadows. We hoped the fog would lift by the afternoon. We checked out the few stores, watched (and watched for) whales and walked on some paths & boardwalks. The weather had gotten worse so we came back to our rigs, had a light. late lunch and kicked back before getting together for a pre-dinner drink at the Hubers’.
Back to town (7 km from here) for a dinner & music evening (Kitchen Party) at the Legion. Terry H. & I had the Jiggs’ Dinner which is a traditional Newfie meal - lots of boiled potatoes, carrots, turnips; sautéed cabbage, peas pudding, bread pudding and a small amount of salt beef. Not something I would order again! The peas pudding is dried yellow peas put in a pudding bag and boiled with the rest of the meal before being mashed. The bread pudding was like steamed stuffing - not bad. The salt beef was very stringy with lots of fat. Judy & Terry M. had a seafood platter with shrimp, cod, salmon & scallops.
The band started about 9:30 and it was very loud. After a break they finally turned down the instruments so you could sort of hear the vocals. One accordion player was also the designated dancer and made sure he danced with every woman (not a huge crowd) at least once.
And we all got “Screeched In” and became honorary Newfies. It is quite the little ceremony. You have to “talk like a Newfie, eat like a Newfie, romance like a Newfie, drink like a Newfie and dance like a Newfie”. There were 10 of us going through the procedure.
“Talking like a Newfie” involved the “designated dancer” (now dressed in fisherman’s oilskins) quickly speaking a typically convoluted phrase and everyone having to individually repeat it. “Eating like a Newfie” was a three part process. First a disgusting dried small fish (carapin) like a sardine (didn’t have to eat the head and a lot of the rest ended up in a paper towel), then a piece of bologna (VERY popular in Newfoundland) and finally “lassie loaf” which is molasses on bread. “Romancing like a Newfie” is complimenting and kissing a cod - frozen in this case. “Drinking like a Newfie” is where the ceremony gets its name - you down a shot of dark, Screech brand rum. “Dancing like a Newfie” is any stomping/hopping type step that you wish to do to fast music. We all then received our certificate.
Aug 14th - Thurs - St Anthony
Two of the people that we met last night (Glen & Theresa) are traveling on a motorcycle and staying in a tent across from us. It was pretty cool this morning so I had Terry go over and ask them if they wanted to come for coffee and to get warmed up. They came over and I ended up making breakfast for all of us.
By this time, Terry & Judy were waiting for us so we headed up to L’Anse aux Meadows. This is a site where Vikings were found to have lived 1000 years ago. The spot was discovered by a couple from Norway and then excavated by them and later by the Canadian government. There is a large visitor center, some mounds where the original remains were found and some recreated sod buildings. I am not a huge history fan but this was very well done and interesting.
We stopped at a recommended restaurant for lunch and had to try the deep fried ice cream for dessert - yum! Then we drove to a spot called Cape Onion with a lookout area on a hill. Wonderful views and lots of little wildflowers along the path. Yes, I will post pictures some time.
We had some time so we continued past the RV park to St Anthony and went back to where we had seen whales. Saw one blow a long ways out but that was all.
It was nice enough to have a fire when we got back. Judy & I both did some laundry before we got together for a dinner mostly provided by Terry & Judy. It had cooled down a lot so we played some cards rather than going back out to the fire.
Aug 15th - Fri - to Deer Lake
We headed back down the Northern Peninsula today. We took a different route for the northernmost part and went along the coast. There was too much fog and clouds to see Labrador across Davis Strait. I mentioned all the wood piles on the side of the roads. There are also many small garden plots on the highway right of way. Soil is at premium in most parts of Newfoundland so people plant gardens wherever they can. When the roads were built, fill was brought in so people use it (enriched with seaweed) for gardens. They are roughly fenced to keep out the moose and often have scarecrows or plastic bags for additional “protection”. A lot of potatoes are grown in these plots.
We are staying at Deer Lake which is at the junction of the TCH and Hwy 340 which goes north. We got the last 2 drive-through sites as there is a caravan staying here. Our site is “waterfront” thanks to a huge rain storm before we got here which left some large puddles.
We have been without phone service and internet access for 3 days so I called Dad when we got here. Marg is away fishing so I got to talk to Dad for a change. All is well with them.
We sat out with Terry & Judy and started to plan the next few days so we could reserve an RV site in St Johns. We got together for another shared dinner and finished our trip planning.
Terry’s Mom is home from the nursing home now. She has only been home a couple of days and sounds good.
Dumped our tanks and headed north by just after 9. We are happy to have Terry & Judy continuing to travel with us. We made a stop to look at The Arches which are natural stone arches right on the shore. The tide was out so we had a good view for some nice pictures. We were thinking about walking in to look at salmon and fish ladders but it would have added a couple of hours to a longish travel day so we skipped it. Terry & Judy passed us when we stopped for diesel and decided to join us viewing the salmon so they were waiting for us (1 ½ km off the main road) when we drove by!
Some of the road was fairly rough but then we hit a newer section of highway which was very nice. A notable feature of the drive was the huge piles of firewood stacked along the roads. Most people heat with wood and it is mostly small rounds. I guess that it would burn pretty fast and the winters are cold so the wood piles are huge.
We put our rig in a spot at the RV park, reserved a site for Terry & Judy and headed in to town since they weren’t here yet. Very interesting liquor store in St Anthony - it includes electrical supplies, videos & CDs, ice cream snacks and lottery tickets.
We bought a couple of bundles of wood and enjoyed a lovely fire before and after dinner. Our sites are treed and somewhat protected from wind so it was pleasant. We had a visit from the friendly campground moose and Terry H. got a lot of pictures.
Aug 13th - Wed - St Anthony
Foggy and drizzly this morning so we changed our plans and went into town instead of going to L’Anse aux Meadows. We hoped the fog would lift by the afternoon. We checked out the few stores, watched (and watched for) whales and walked on some paths & boardwalks. The weather had gotten worse so we came back to our rigs, had a light. late lunch and kicked back before getting together for a pre-dinner drink at the Hubers’.
Back to town (7 km from here) for a dinner & music evening (Kitchen Party) at the Legion. Terry H. & I had the Jiggs’ Dinner which is a traditional Newfie meal - lots of boiled potatoes, carrots, turnips; sautéed cabbage, peas pudding, bread pudding and a small amount of salt beef. Not something I would order again! The peas pudding is dried yellow peas put in a pudding bag and boiled with the rest of the meal before being mashed. The bread pudding was like steamed stuffing - not bad. The salt beef was very stringy with lots of fat. Judy & Terry M. had a seafood platter with shrimp, cod, salmon & scallops.
The band started about 9:30 and it was very loud. After a break they finally turned down the instruments so you could sort of hear the vocals. One accordion player was also the designated dancer and made sure he danced with every woman (not a huge crowd) at least once.
And we all got “Screeched In” and became honorary Newfies. It is quite the little ceremony. You have to “talk like a Newfie, eat like a Newfie, romance like a Newfie, drink like a Newfie and dance like a Newfie”. There were 10 of us going through the procedure.
“Talking like a Newfie” involved the “designated dancer” (now dressed in fisherman’s oilskins) quickly speaking a typically convoluted phrase and everyone having to individually repeat it. “Eating like a Newfie” was a three part process. First a disgusting dried small fish (carapin) like a sardine (didn’t have to eat the head and a lot of the rest ended up in a paper towel), then a piece of bologna (VERY popular in Newfoundland) and finally “lassie loaf” which is molasses on bread. “Romancing like a Newfie” is complimenting and kissing a cod - frozen in this case. “Drinking like a Newfie” is where the ceremony gets its name - you down a shot of dark, Screech brand rum. “Dancing like a Newfie” is any stomping/hopping type step that you wish to do to fast music. We all then received our certificate.
Aug 14th - Thurs - St Anthony
Two of the people that we met last night (Glen & Theresa) are traveling on a motorcycle and staying in a tent across from us. It was pretty cool this morning so I had Terry go over and ask them if they wanted to come for coffee and to get warmed up. They came over and I ended up making breakfast for all of us.
By this time, Terry & Judy were waiting for us so we headed up to L’Anse aux Meadows. This is a site where Vikings were found to have lived 1000 years ago. The spot was discovered by a couple from Norway and then excavated by them and later by the Canadian government. There is a large visitor center, some mounds where the original remains were found and some recreated sod buildings. I am not a huge history fan but this was very well done and interesting.
We stopped at a recommended restaurant for lunch and had to try the deep fried ice cream for dessert - yum! Then we drove to a spot called Cape Onion with a lookout area on a hill. Wonderful views and lots of little wildflowers along the path. Yes, I will post pictures some time.
We had some time so we continued past the RV park to St Anthony and went back to where we had seen whales. Saw one blow a long ways out but that was all.
It was nice enough to have a fire when we got back. Judy & I both did some laundry before we got together for a dinner mostly provided by Terry & Judy. It had cooled down a lot so we played some cards rather than going back out to the fire.
Aug 15th - Fri - to Deer Lake
We headed back down the Northern Peninsula today. We took a different route for the northernmost part and went along the coast. There was too much fog and clouds to see Labrador across Davis Strait. I mentioned all the wood piles on the side of the roads. There are also many small garden plots on the highway right of way. Soil is at premium in most parts of Newfoundland so people plant gardens wherever they can. When the roads were built, fill was brought in so people use it (enriched with seaweed) for gardens. They are roughly fenced to keep out the moose and often have scarecrows or plastic bags for additional “protection”. A lot of potatoes are grown in these plots.
We are staying at Deer Lake which is at the junction of the TCH and Hwy 340 which goes north. We got the last 2 drive-through sites as there is a caravan staying here. Our site is “waterfront” thanks to a huge rain storm before we got here which left some large puddles.
We have been without phone service and internet access for 3 days so I called Dad when we got here. Marg is away fishing so I got to talk to Dad for a change. All is well with them.
We sat out with Terry & Judy and started to plan the next few days so we could reserve an RV site in St Johns. We got together for another shared dinner and finished our trip planning.
Terry’s Mom is home from the nursing home now. She has only been home a couple of days and sounds good.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Aug 9th to 11th - Doyles & Rocky Harbour
Aug 9th - Sat - Doyles
We went exploring today. Drove back to Port aux Basques (where the ferry terminal is). It is a small town built on hills of rocks around the ice-free harbor with the houses very close to the streets. We stopped at the tourist information, talked to a very knowledgeable employee and ended up with enough reading material for a week. On the way back to the RV park, we took a route off the TCH (Newfoundland’s terminology for the Trans Canada Highway - certainly less of a mouthful) which was very pretty. The sun came out for a while which was wonderful.
Back at the RV park, we chatted with a guy (Terry Huber) from Summerland B.C. He didn’t know Aunt Jessie, would have been too much of a coincidence. Later, we walked to the office to post the blog and then stopped by and met Terry’s wife Judy. Ended up getting along really well and having a drink with them. After dinner, Terry & Judy joined us at our campfire and it was midnight before we knew it. A young neighbor traveling with his wife & 4 children stopped by for a while and told us about some places that they had really enjoyed.
Aug 10th - Sun - to Rocky Harbour
Yes, Harbour has a “u” in Canada!
We had a lovely day for the 3 hour drive to Gros Morne National Park where Rocky Harbour is located. Terry & Judy were planning on stopping sooner but decided to join us which is great. After setting up, we had a beer while we looked at maps and information books. Next we all went into (the small) town , stopped at a couple of stores and then found a great lookout with beautiful views of the town.
We decided to eat out, found a small restaurant that had a lot of cars parked in front of it and had great fish & chips.
No fire pit here but Terry & Judy have a propane “campfire” so we put on jackets and sat out. Unfortunately, their “campfire” wasn’t working too well so we pulled out our buddy burner to add some more flames. It really cooled down so we called it a night about 10.
Aug 11th - Mon - Rocky Harbour
We had an absolutely wonderful day!
After breakfast, the Hubers took over the driving duties and we first bought tickets for a boat tour on Western Brook Pond. We didn’t know that we should have made reservations but we managed to get some of the seats that they keep for walk-up customers.
We were early so we drove a little further and walked on a beach for a while. The water is so clean.
For the boat tour, you have to walk in 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) on a boardwalk and gravel trail through bogs and forests - very pleasant. The lake (pond) is very deep and surrounded by very steep mountains. It is still referred to as a fjord even though it has been cut off from salt water for many years. The tour was 2 hours and was made most enjoyable by the sunshine.
We took a scenic loop that added a kilometer to our walk back to the parking lot. We decided to make baby backs for all of us for dinner but were going to a musical show so had to hurry up and get the ribs boiled when we got back.
We “ate & ran” to get to the pub at 7 for a 9 o’clock show as we were told that it fills up early. We didn’t have to be quite that early but got a good table. The show was a 5 man band (Anchors Aweigh) which provided local bits of information and comedy as well as maritime music. It was great and highly recommended to anyone who visits here. The show lasted until 12:15 so we canceled our plans for dessert and hit the hay.
We went exploring today. Drove back to Port aux Basques (where the ferry terminal is). It is a small town built on hills of rocks around the ice-free harbor with the houses very close to the streets. We stopped at the tourist information, talked to a very knowledgeable employee and ended up with enough reading material for a week. On the way back to the RV park, we took a route off the TCH (Newfoundland’s terminology for the Trans Canada Highway - certainly less of a mouthful) which was very pretty. The sun came out for a while which was wonderful.
Back at the RV park, we chatted with a guy (Terry Huber) from Summerland B.C. He didn’t know Aunt Jessie, would have been too much of a coincidence. Later, we walked to the office to post the blog and then stopped by and met Terry’s wife Judy. Ended up getting along really well and having a drink with them. After dinner, Terry & Judy joined us at our campfire and it was midnight before we knew it. A young neighbor traveling with his wife & 4 children stopped by for a while and told us about some places that they had really enjoyed.
Aug 10th - Sun - to Rocky Harbour
Yes, Harbour has a “u” in Canada!
We had a lovely day for the 3 hour drive to Gros Morne National Park where Rocky Harbour is located. Terry & Judy were planning on stopping sooner but decided to join us which is great. After setting up, we had a beer while we looked at maps and information books. Next we all went into (the small) town , stopped at a couple of stores and then found a great lookout with beautiful views of the town.
We decided to eat out, found a small restaurant that had a lot of cars parked in front of it and had great fish & chips.
No fire pit here but Terry & Judy have a propane “campfire” so we put on jackets and sat out. Unfortunately, their “campfire” wasn’t working too well so we pulled out our buddy burner to add some more flames. It really cooled down so we called it a night about 10.
Aug 11th - Mon - Rocky Harbour
We had an absolutely wonderful day!
After breakfast, the Hubers took over the driving duties and we first bought tickets for a boat tour on Western Brook Pond. We didn’t know that we should have made reservations but we managed to get some of the seats that they keep for walk-up customers.
We were early so we drove a little further and walked on a beach for a while. The water is so clean.
For the boat tour, you have to walk in 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) on a boardwalk and gravel trail through bogs and forests - very pleasant. The lake (pond) is very deep and surrounded by very steep mountains. It is still referred to as a fjord even though it has been cut off from salt water for many years. The tour was 2 hours and was made most enjoyable by the sunshine.
We took a scenic loop that added a kilometer to our walk back to the parking lot. We decided to make baby backs for all of us for dinner but were going to a musical show so had to hurry up and get the ribs boiled when we got back.
We “ate & ran” to get to the pub at 7 for a 9 o’clock show as we were told that it fills up early. We didn’t have to be quite that early but got a good table. The show was a 5 man band (Anchors Aweigh) which provided local bits of information and comedy as well as maritime music. It was great and highly recommended to anyone who visits here. The show lasted until 12:15 so we canceled our plans for dessert and hit the hay.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Aug 7th & 8th - Nova Scotia to Newfoundland
Aug 7th - Thurs - to North Sydney NS
We only had an hour drive today so took our time getting up & going. We checked into the Arms of Gold RV park just out of North Sydney - more grass sites that were pretty waterlogged. The guy leading us to our site asked Terry to put the truck in 4-wheel drive BEFORE he started spinning so he wouldn’t tear up the campground like the guy beside us did when he left.
The sun came out so we took a walk and ended up chatting with a couple (brother & sister) from Kelowna until Terry had to take the truck into Sydney. I puttered around the rig and enjoyed some quiet time with a book while he was gone. It didn’t take long to fix the truck (to the tune of $639 - good thing there was only an hour of labor on top of the $401 for the part!) so when Terry got back we headed out to find a grocery store and some diesel.
We had planned on barbequed ribs for dinner and stuck with it even when clouds moved back in. Terry only got sprinkled on a little bit.
Aug 8th - Fri - to Newfoundland
We had a reservation on the 12:30 ferry and had to be there at least one hour ahead. We killed some time by walking a short ways to a discount store and browsing around. Saw many items there that I had bought yesterday and they were all cheaper at the discount store.
Got to the ferry terminal about 10:30 and there were already a lot of vehicles there. I used some of the wait time to make some a lunch to eat on the ferry and we chatted with several people. Terry was so happy when we arrived to see that the whole nose of the ferry opens and lifts up for level vehicle access. The ferry has two entire vehicle decks with a permanent ramp leading to the top deck.
We were late loading but it didn’t take too long and we were on board at 1:00. We were parked so close to a semi trailer (no tractor, just the trailer supported on a big metal stand) that I could barely squeeze between and open the door to put Dolly in the 5th wheel.
I am glad that the trip was only 6 ½ hours. We watched a movie (The Bucket List - again) and spent some time in the bar listening to 2-man band perform a wide variety of music with one of the guys playing an accordion for most of the numbers. Had Poutine for a snack just before we arrived but it is nothing special without Lamaire cheese.
The weather was nice when we arrived and we had a short 20 mile drive to the RV park. After we set up, Terry went to a free pile of wet firewood and stocked up. He was having a hard time getting a fire going so a neighbor came over with a bag of shavings which did the trick. The neighbor is from Newfoundland and he and another guy (from Peachland B.C.) from right beside us joined us for a while by the fire.
We only had an hour drive today so took our time getting up & going. We checked into the Arms of Gold RV park just out of North Sydney - more grass sites that were pretty waterlogged. The guy leading us to our site asked Terry to put the truck in 4-wheel drive BEFORE he started spinning so he wouldn’t tear up the campground like the guy beside us did when he left.
The sun came out so we took a walk and ended up chatting with a couple (brother & sister) from Kelowna until Terry had to take the truck into Sydney. I puttered around the rig and enjoyed some quiet time with a book while he was gone. It didn’t take long to fix the truck (to the tune of $639 - good thing there was only an hour of labor on top of the $401 for the part!) so when Terry got back we headed out to find a grocery store and some diesel.
We had planned on barbequed ribs for dinner and stuck with it even when clouds moved back in. Terry only got sprinkled on a little bit.
Aug 8th - Fri - to Newfoundland
We had a reservation on the 12:30 ferry and had to be there at least one hour ahead. We killed some time by walking a short ways to a discount store and browsing around. Saw many items there that I had bought yesterday and they were all cheaper at the discount store.
Got to the ferry terminal about 10:30 and there were already a lot of vehicles there. I used some of the wait time to make some a lunch to eat on the ferry and we chatted with several people. Terry was so happy when we arrived to see that the whole nose of the ferry opens and lifts up for level vehicle access. The ferry has two entire vehicle decks with a permanent ramp leading to the top deck.
We were late loading but it didn’t take too long and we were on board at 1:00. We were parked so close to a semi trailer (no tractor, just the trailer supported on a big metal stand) that I could barely squeeze between and open the door to put Dolly in the 5th wheel.
I am glad that the trip was only 6 ½ hours. We watched a movie (The Bucket List - again) and spent some time in the bar listening to 2-man band perform a wide variety of music with one of the guys playing an accordion for most of the numbers. Had Poutine for a snack just before we arrived but it is nothing special without Lamaire cheese.
The weather was nice when we arrived and we had a short 20 mile drive to the RV park. After we set up, Terry went to a free pile of wet firewood and stocked up. He was having a hard time getting a fire going so a neighbor came over with a bag of shavings which did the trick. The neighbor is from Newfoundland and he and another guy (from Peachland B.C.) from right beside us joined us for a while by the fire.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
August 4th to 6th - Baddeck NS
Aug 4th - Mon - to Baddeck NS (Cape Breton Island)
On & off showers all of the way today. We were heading for a PA park but after Terry drove for a few miles on a rough road into “nowhere”, he decided that we would pay more for a site that was more centrally located and on a good road. So we came back to a nice park just south of Baddeck which has the same problem right now as every other park in the area - more rain than the ground will soak up. We are tiptoeing through muck & puddles again.
We chatted with a neighbor as we were setting up and then made a trip into Baddeck for a few groceries and some more pieces to fix our falling apart lamp. I would buy a new lamp if I saw one just like the old one! Made a couple of trips to the office & laundry room to get an internet connection - turned out it needed resetting and then we could get it at our site.
Lightning and thunder started about 8 and lasted almost 2 hours with just a few short lulls. I have never been in a lightning storm of such long duration. Of course, the rain had to intensify also but let up so we could sleep.
Aug 5th - Tues - Baddeck
Still overcast and drizzly today so a good day to do laundry, internet stuff & read. We made another trip into Baddeck for fuel, booze and a visit to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. Alexander Graham Bell had a home in Baddeck for part of his life which explains the location of the museum. I was not aware of his many accomplishments. The invention of the telephone was just the most well known and provided him an income to do other things. Before the telephone, he developed a very successful system to teach deaf people to speak. The museum was very well done and a great spot to get out of the nasty weather.
It quit raining before dinner so we decided to check out the line marked “river trail” on the campground map. A faded sign called it a “nature walk”. In spite of the incline down to the river, many spots were mud holes. But it was a fun change and I got a picture of the prettiest little plants that I found out were called “bunch berry”. They look like a ground dogwood but at this time of year the blossoms have turned to bright red berries.
Aug 6th - Wed - Baddeck
We were excited to hear the weather forecaster last night say “clearing skies for Nova Scotia” until she went on to say “except for Cape Breton Island”! But in spite of the low clouds, we headed out for a drive on the Cabot Trail today. It is a 195 mile scenic loop around the north part of the larger, more westerly portion of Cape Breton and includes (in the northern third or so ) Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The roads are good and the scenery, when the fog lifted, was lovely. We stopped at a spot called “Joe’s Scarecrows” which is a restaurant & gift shop that has a huge circle of “scarecrows” in all manner of clothing. Some are seated, kids are on bikes, some are set up so you can stand behind and include your head as part of the scarecrow and most have a printed tag with their name and a little blurb. Just the goofy, fun type of thing that we enjoy. We stopped for a late breakfast and walked a couple of short trails.
About halfway through the drive, Terry decided that we should detour to Sydney and get someone to diagnose a “not normal” sound from the front end of the truck. He thought it might be a wheel bearing. A guy at the Chev dealer took the truck for a short drive and agreed with Terry so we have an appointment to take it in tomorrow afternoon.
We took the shortest ferry ride I have ever seen (the trip was about 4 times the length of the ferry) to cut off about 20 miles of the bumpy drive from the Cabot Trail to Sydney.
On & off showers all of the way today. We were heading for a PA park but after Terry drove for a few miles on a rough road into “nowhere”, he decided that we would pay more for a site that was more centrally located and on a good road. So we came back to a nice park just south of Baddeck which has the same problem right now as every other park in the area - more rain than the ground will soak up. We are tiptoeing through muck & puddles again.
We chatted with a neighbor as we were setting up and then made a trip into Baddeck for a few groceries and some more pieces to fix our falling apart lamp. I would buy a new lamp if I saw one just like the old one! Made a couple of trips to the office & laundry room to get an internet connection - turned out it needed resetting and then we could get it at our site.
Lightning and thunder started about 8 and lasted almost 2 hours with just a few short lulls. I have never been in a lightning storm of such long duration. Of course, the rain had to intensify also but let up so we could sleep.
Aug 5th - Tues - Baddeck
Still overcast and drizzly today so a good day to do laundry, internet stuff & read. We made another trip into Baddeck for fuel, booze and a visit to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. Alexander Graham Bell had a home in Baddeck for part of his life which explains the location of the museum. I was not aware of his many accomplishments. The invention of the telephone was just the most well known and provided him an income to do other things. Before the telephone, he developed a very successful system to teach deaf people to speak. The museum was very well done and a great spot to get out of the nasty weather.
It quit raining before dinner so we decided to check out the line marked “river trail” on the campground map. A faded sign called it a “nature walk”. In spite of the incline down to the river, many spots were mud holes. But it was a fun change and I got a picture of the prettiest little plants that I found out were called “bunch berry”. They look like a ground dogwood but at this time of year the blossoms have turned to bright red berries.
Aug 6th - Wed - Baddeck
We were excited to hear the weather forecaster last night say “clearing skies for Nova Scotia” until she went on to say “except for Cape Breton Island”! But in spite of the low clouds, we headed out for a drive on the Cabot Trail today. It is a 195 mile scenic loop around the north part of the larger, more westerly portion of Cape Breton and includes (in the northern third or so ) Cape Breton Highlands National Park. The roads are good and the scenery, when the fog lifted, was lovely. We stopped at a spot called “Joe’s Scarecrows” which is a restaurant & gift shop that has a huge circle of “scarecrows” in all manner of clothing. Some are seated, kids are on bikes, some are set up so you can stand behind and include your head as part of the scarecrow and most have a printed tag with their name and a little blurb. Just the goofy, fun type of thing that we enjoy. We stopped for a late breakfast and walked a couple of short trails.
About halfway through the drive, Terry decided that we should detour to Sydney and get someone to diagnose a “not normal” sound from the front end of the truck. He thought it might be a wheel bearing. A guy at the Chev dealer took the truck for a short drive and agreed with Terry so we have an appointment to take it in tomorrow afternoon.
We took the shortest ferry ride I have ever seen (the trip was about 4 times the length of the ferry) to cut off about 20 miles of the bumpy drive from the Cabot Trail to Sydney.
Monday, August 04, 2008
July 31st to Aug 3rd - Quebec to Nova Scotia
July 31st - Thurs - Drummondville
Lots of rain, lightning and thunder last night.
We had another wonderful day with Claude & Val. I took enough time from reading a book to vacuum the floor before they picked us up to go to lunch. I wanted to try the dish “Poutine” which I mentioned in a previous blog so we went to the place where they make the cheese and also have a restaurant. I enjoyed the dish, Val loves a version with hamburger added and Terry liked the same version as Val but he got a larger size which turned out to be too rich & cheesy for him to finish.
Then we went for another sightseeing drive, this time ending up in Sherbrooke. I had mentioned that I was looking for a used poker to use on campfires so we used that as a thin excuse for the drive. We came across the most amazing junk collection that you have ever seen. It had bright advertising signs all over and stands with “merchandise” spread around a grassy area - as well as a rickety building with lots of paint, antiques, dust and cobwebs. I did not have my camera but Claude took some pictures which I have and will get posted sometime.
In Sherbrooke, we hunted down some incredible murals on the walls of buildings, viewed great old churches and other buildings and “took a load off” while we had a beer. The landscape is very picturesque in this area - rolling hills, lots of farms and lovely old brick houses.
Val had us over for dinner again and then we got to enjoy pictures of their trip to the Maritimes and received lots of tips on where to go and what to see.
Aug 1st - Fri - to Levis, QC
Short drive today to Levis, Quebec which is across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City. We arrived at the campground about 10:15 (without a reservation, of course) and they were pretty much booked up. They had one site but the previous occupant hadn’t left yet. So they parked us out of the way and I made breakfast while we waited. Still had time for a walk all around to roads of the park before our spot became available shortly before noon.
We set up quickly and went to catch the ferry to Quebec city. The ferry takes cars and passengers and right now runs every half hour. The actual trip across is 10 minutes and you end up in “Old Quebec”. We walked along the narrow streets with shops & restaurants in wonderful old buildings. Took the funicular (box on a rail as explained by Val!) up a steep hill to the walled portion with the Chateau de Frontenac, horse drawn carriages, a partially excavated ruin open to tours and many more stores and restaurants. We watched a street juggling/etc show before walking back down several sets of stairs to the lower level. We sat outside under awnings (it had started to rain) and had an early dinner before catching the ferry back.
Aug 2nd - Sat - to Charlo, New Brunswick
Long driving day today. We left about 8, drove along the St. Lawrence River and took the first main road to Edmunston, NB. From there we headed NE to the top NE corner of NB and ended up at Charlo which is not far from Campbellton if anyone is trying to find it on a map.
The weather continued gloomy and rainy all day. There were some steep hills (11%) through the wooded, unpopulated countryside that was most of the NB part. When we arrived in Charlo, the wind was really blowing so we did not even take advantage of the nice park to walk around.
Aug 3rd - Sun - to Pictou, NS
The wind and rain did not quit last night. We had a terrible night’s sleep. Terry took advantage of a lull in the rain to undo the power and water and we were on our way - didn’t even unhook the truck last night.
We started out in fog this morning so don’t know if we could have seen the ocean along the drive for a while. The fog cleared when it started to rain. We stopped at a pullout along the way so I could make lunch and then stopped for fuel and an ATM. It is so great that Wanda can find a Scotiabank ATM when we need one.
We left the main highway just south of Moncton to travel closer to the coast - MISTAKE! The road was very rough and probably not a lot more scenic than the main road would have been. We are in a PA park just out of Pictou. At this time of year the discount is 25% rather than 50% but it all helps. The park and manager are very casual. He walked us to our site on a corner and said we could park whichever way was best for us and then told us to set up and have a drink before coming over to pay. It is a large park and we took a nice walk before the rain interrupted a chat with a summer resident down the road. The rain continued to pour all evening. I took advantage of the “inside time” to phone brother Bob and friend Georgia. We have wifi at the site so Terry did some surfing while I was yapping.
Lots of rain, lightning and thunder last night.
We had another wonderful day with Claude & Val. I took enough time from reading a book to vacuum the floor before they picked us up to go to lunch. I wanted to try the dish “Poutine” which I mentioned in a previous blog so we went to the place where they make the cheese and also have a restaurant. I enjoyed the dish, Val loves a version with hamburger added and Terry liked the same version as Val but he got a larger size which turned out to be too rich & cheesy for him to finish.
Then we went for another sightseeing drive, this time ending up in Sherbrooke. I had mentioned that I was looking for a used poker to use on campfires so we used that as a thin excuse for the drive. We came across the most amazing junk collection that you have ever seen. It had bright advertising signs all over and stands with “merchandise” spread around a grassy area - as well as a rickety building with lots of paint, antiques, dust and cobwebs. I did not have my camera but Claude took some pictures which I have and will get posted sometime.
In Sherbrooke, we hunted down some incredible murals on the walls of buildings, viewed great old churches and other buildings and “took a load off” while we had a beer. The landscape is very picturesque in this area - rolling hills, lots of farms and lovely old brick houses.
Val had us over for dinner again and then we got to enjoy pictures of their trip to the Maritimes and received lots of tips on where to go and what to see.
Aug 1st - Fri - to Levis, QC
Short drive today to Levis, Quebec which is across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City. We arrived at the campground about 10:15 (without a reservation, of course) and they were pretty much booked up. They had one site but the previous occupant hadn’t left yet. So they parked us out of the way and I made breakfast while we waited. Still had time for a walk all around to roads of the park before our spot became available shortly before noon.
We set up quickly and went to catch the ferry to Quebec city. The ferry takes cars and passengers and right now runs every half hour. The actual trip across is 10 minutes and you end up in “Old Quebec”. We walked along the narrow streets with shops & restaurants in wonderful old buildings. Took the funicular (box on a rail as explained by Val!) up a steep hill to the walled portion with the Chateau de Frontenac, horse drawn carriages, a partially excavated ruin open to tours and many more stores and restaurants. We watched a street juggling/etc show before walking back down several sets of stairs to the lower level. We sat outside under awnings (it had started to rain) and had an early dinner before catching the ferry back.
Aug 2nd - Sat - to Charlo, New Brunswick
Long driving day today. We left about 8, drove along the St. Lawrence River and took the first main road to Edmunston, NB. From there we headed NE to the top NE corner of NB and ended up at Charlo which is not far from Campbellton if anyone is trying to find it on a map.
The weather continued gloomy and rainy all day. There were some steep hills (11%) through the wooded, unpopulated countryside that was most of the NB part. When we arrived in Charlo, the wind was really blowing so we did not even take advantage of the nice park to walk around.
Aug 3rd - Sun - to Pictou, NS
The wind and rain did not quit last night. We had a terrible night’s sleep. Terry took advantage of a lull in the rain to undo the power and water and we were on our way - didn’t even unhook the truck last night.
We started out in fog this morning so don’t know if we could have seen the ocean along the drive for a while. The fog cleared when it started to rain. We stopped at a pullout along the way so I could make lunch and then stopped for fuel and an ATM. It is so great that Wanda can find a Scotiabank ATM when we need one.
We left the main highway just south of Moncton to travel closer to the coast - MISTAKE! The road was very rough and probably not a lot more scenic than the main road would have been. We are in a PA park just out of Pictou. At this time of year the discount is 25% rather than 50% but it all helps. The park and manager are very casual. He walked us to our site on a corner and said we could park whichever way was best for us and then told us to set up and have a drink before coming over to pay. It is a large park and we took a nice walk before the rain interrupted a chat with a summer resident down the road. The rain continued to pour all evening. I took advantage of the “inside time” to phone brother Bob and friend Georgia. We have wifi at the site so Terry did some surfing while I was yapping.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
July 27th to 30th - to Quebec
July 27th - Sun - to Nipigon, Ontario
Left at 8 this morning and arrived at Nipigon in Northern Ontario about 5:30. We crossed another time zone and lost another hour so now I really have to think about the time difference when I want to call anyone in B.C.
It was nice to leave the rough roads that we encountered in much of Winnipeg. It seems as if there are expansion joints or something that the truck and the 5th wheel hit at different times. It did not feel as rough with just the truck.
We had wifi at the RV site so were able to contact friends Claude & Val about the upcoming trip through Montreal.
July 28th - Mon - to Val d’Or, Quebec
Got an earlier start at 7 today. The roads continue to be good with very little traffic - mostly semis. Most drivers obey the 90 km (55 mph) speed limit. The scenery does not vary much - mostly forested but smaller trees than we are used to in BC and Washington.
We were surprised when we entered Quebec to see road signs only in French when signs in Sask & Manitoba had both English & French. Luckily, Wanda still speaks to us in English! And my ancient high school French helps some. We lucked out and found diesel at $1.34 per liter but then got into Quebec and paid $1.50. We have been paying about $1.43.
When we approached Val d’Or just before 6, some very black clouds started moving in. We spotted a Wal Mart and decided that was our spot for the night. There were some other rigs in the parking lot so we pulled up beside them and got into the 5th wheel just as the heavy rain started. Dinner and early to bed.
July 29th- Tues - to Drummondville, QC
REALLY early start this morning (4:45) as Terry was wide awake and we wanted to get through Montreal between rush hours. We hit a stretch of rough road that Claude had warned us about but slowing down a bit helped. Quebec drivers do not obey the speed limit like their Ontario neighbors.
There are a lot of pretty lakes here, both large & small. They were totally calm in the early morning with wonderful reflections.
We saw an interesting piece of equipment working on a busy highway north of Montreal. There was a concrete divider with 3 lanes going south and 2 lanes going north. The divider was made of sections about 4 feet long. The piece of equipment drove along the lane beside the divider, lifted each concrete section barely off the ground, sent them around a turntable device and set them down on the other side of the lane, thereby changing the highway to 2 lanes south and 3 lanes north. I think this might be a reversible lane mechanism while the highway is under construction.
A section of highway through Montreal was nerve-wracking with 3 very narrow lanes. A tunnel takes you under the St. Lawrence river and then it is another hour or so to Drummond Ville (arrived about 12:30) where Claude & Val are staying in Claude‘s brother‘s yard. We are staying in an RV park right across the street from them so we can ride our bikes a couple blocks around to get there.
Claude’s brother, Gilles, lives on a small man-made lake so we sat in the yard, enjoyed the sun and caught up with each other before a lovely dinner prepared by Val.
July 30th - Wed - Drummondville
We had a lovely day today. Claude & Val came over on their bicycles just before noon and we went for an 8.5 mile roundtrip ride along the St. Francoise River. A lot of streets in Quebec have wide bicycle paths on one side so it is very nice to ride. After we returned, cooled off and Claude & Val had some lunch (we had a late breakfast), we all went to downtown Drummondville for some grocery shopping and sightseeing. Claude grew up in Drummondville so he gave us a tour of the area including the house where he grew up, the schools he attended, churches, the old “main drag” and areas where he played but was not supposed to be.
I did some dinner prep while Claude & Val put away their groceries and then they returned to have dinner with us. The weather was getting cool and cloudy so we just sat outside until Val & I came in to make dinner and Terry finished cooking some corn outside. We were supposed to return to Gilles’ place for a fire but it started to rain so we stayed here, watched a little TV and chatted until nearly 11.
Val introduced us to an interesting cheese. There is a dish served here (and elsewhere in Canada) called “Poutine” which is French fries, cheese pieces and gravy. The cheese used here is made by a company called LaMere and apparently is unique to this town. It is uncured, white curds that are very firm, kind of salty and squeak on your teeth when you chew it. Very good.
I was supposed to use Claude’s internet connection to post my blog today but we just ran out of time so must do it tomorrow.
Left at 8 this morning and arrived at Nipigon in Northern Ontario about 5:30. We crossed another time zone and lost another hour so now I really have to think about the time difference when I want to call anyone in B.C.
It was nice to leave the rough roads that we encountered in much of Winnipeg. It seems as if there are expansion joints or something that the truck and the 5th wheel hit at different times. It did not feel as rough with just the truck.
We had wifi at the RV site so were able to contact friends Claude & Val about the upcoming trip through Montreal.
July 28th - Mon - to Val d’Or, Quebec
Got an earlier start at 7 today. The roads continue to be good with very little traffic - mostly semis. Most drivers obey the 90 km (55 mph) speed limit. The scenery does not vary much - mostly forested but smaller trees than we are used to in BC and Washington.
We were surprised when we entered Quebec to see road signs only in French when signs in Sask & Manitoba had both English & French. Luckily, Wanda still speaks to us in English! And my ancient high school French helps some. We lucked out and found diesel at $1.34 per liter but then got into Quebec and paid $1.50. We have been paying about $1.43.
When we approached Val d’Or just before 6, some very black clouds started moving in. We spotted a Wal Mart and decided that was our spot for the night. There were some other rigs in the parking lot so we pulled up beside them and got into the 5th wheel just as the heavy rain started. Dinner and early to bed.
July 29th- Tues - to Drummondville, QC
REALLY early start this morning (4:45) as Terry was wide awake and we wanted to get through Montreal between rush hours. We hit a stretch of rough road that Claude had warned us about but slowing down a bit helped. Quebec drivers do not obey the speed limit like their Ontario neighbors.
There are a lot of pretty lakes here, both large & small. They were totally calm in the early morning with wonderful reflections.
We saw an interesting piece of equipment working on a busy highway north of Montreal. There was a concrete divider with 3 lanes going south and 2 lanes going north. The divider was made of sections about 4 feet long. The piece of equipment drove along the lane beside the divider, lifted each concrete section barely off the ground, sent them around a turntable device and set them down on the other side of the lane, thereby changing the highway to 2 lanes south and 3 lanes north. I think this might be a reversible lane mechanism while the highway is under construction.
A section of highway through Montreal was nerve-wracking with 3 very narrow lanes. A tunnel takes you under the St. Lawrence river and then it is another hour or so to Drummond Ville (arrived about 12:30) where Claude & Val are staying in Claude‘s brother‘s yard. We are staying in an RV park right across the street from them so we can ride our bikes a couple blocks around to get there.
Claude’s brother, Gilles, lives on a small man-made lake so we sat in the yard, enjoyed the sun and caught up with each other before a lovely dinner prepared by Val.
July 30th - Wed - Drummondville
We had a lovely day today. Claude & Val came over on their bicycles just before noon and we went for an 8.5 mile roundtrip ride along the St. Francoise River. A lot of streets in Quebec have wide bicycle paths on one side so it is very nice to ride. After we returned, cooled off and Claude & Val had some lunch (we had a late breakfast), we all went to downtown Drummondville for some grocery shopping and sightseeing. Claude grew up in Drummondville so he gave us a tour of the area including the house where he grew up, the schools he attended, churches, the old “main drag” and areas where he played but was not supposed to be.
I did some dinner prep while Claude & Val put away their groceries and then they returned to have dinner with us. The weather was getting cool and cloudy so we just sat outside until Val & I came in to make dinner and Terry finished cooking some corn outside. We were supposed to return to Gilles’ place for a fire but it started to rain so we stayed here, watched a little TV and chatted until nearly 11.
Val introduced us to an interesting cheese. There is a dish served here (and elsewhere in Canada) called “Poutine” which is French fries, cheese pieces and gravy. The cheese used here is made by a company called LaMere and apparently is unique to this town. It is uncured, white curds that are very firm, kind of salty and squeak on your teeth when you chew it. Very good.
I was supposed to use Claude’s internet connection to post my blog today but we just ran out of time so must do it tomorrow.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
July 25th & 26th - Winnipeg
July 25th - Fri - Winnipeg
We spent most of the day cleaning after getting up late and enjoying coffee & breakfast. Terry worked on the outside of the 5th wheel and inside & outside the truck. I spent hours cleaning blinds. I don’t have a brush attachment for the vacuum (and I’m not sure it would work) so I wiped every fold of the “day” pleated shades with a wet micro fiber cloth. I’m glad I don’t have to do that again for another 3 or 4 years! Then, since the furniture was pulled out of the way, I cleaned walls & windows.
We made a trip for groceries as we are going to be leaving on Sunday and driving quickly across Ontario & Quebec. Ontario is a huge province and we decided that we have left the trip to Newfoundland a little late as campgrounds start closing for the winter in early to mid September. We will see Ontario & Niagara Falls on another trip.
I made a batch of pepper jelly after dinner and it did not set up. The first batch that I made at Marg’s was perfect so I’m not sure what went wrong. I think the peppers were quite a bit larger which probably altered the proportion of veggies/sugar/pectin.
July 26th - Sat - Winnipeg
More “chores” today - washed all of Terry’s cleaning cloths (twice by hand and then in the laundry), made chocolate chip banana muffins (and left out the chips until after they were in the oven!), searched the internet for ways to fix the pepper jelly, gave Dolly and bath & a haircut, went to town for a haircut for me and a couple more grocery items that I forgot (or used up since yesterday) and fixed the pepper jelly by reboiling and adding sugar & pectin. Also spent time catching up on emails.
It was hot today. Started out with quite a bit of wind but still warm. It is nearly 9 pm and the breeze coming in all the open windows is finally cool.
We spent most of the day cleaning after getting up late and enjoying coffee & breakfast. Terry worked on the outside of the 5th wheel and inside & outside the truck. I spent hours cleaning blinds. I don’t have a brush attachment for the vacuum (and I’m not sure it would work) so I wiped every fold of the “day” pleated shades with a wet micro fiber cloth. I’m glad I don’t have to do that again for another 3 or 4 years! Then, since the furniture was pulled out of the way, I cleaned walls & windows.
We made a trip for groceries as we are going to be leaving on Sunday and driving quickly across Ontario & Quebec. Ontario is a huge province and we decided that we have left the trip to Newfoundland a little late as campgrounds start closing for the winter in early to mid September. We will see Ontario & Niagara Falls on another trip.
I made a batch of pepper jelly after dinner and it did not set up. The first batch that I made at Marg’s was perfect so I’m not sure what went wrong. I think the peppers were quite a bit larger which probably altered the proportion of veggies/sugar/pectin.
July 26th - Sat - Winnipeg
More “chores” today - washed all of Terry’s cleaning cloths (twice by hand and then in the laundry), made chocolate chip banana muffins (and left out the chips until after they were in the oven!), searched the internet for ways to fix the pepper jelly, gave Dolly and bath & a haircut, went to town for a haircut for me and a couple more grocery items that I forgot (or used up since yesterday) and fixed the pepper jelly by reboiling and adding sugar & pectin. Also spent time catching up on emails.
It was hot today. Started out with quite a bit of wind but still warm. It is nearly 9 pm and the breeze coming in all the open windows is finally cool.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
July 21st to 24th - Manitoba
July 21st - Mon - Riding Mountain Ntl Park, Manitoba
Quite a bit of wooded, hilly terrain today. We drove through Riding Mountain Ntl Park, quickly checked out the campground and thought we might find somewhere a little less expensive outside the park. There was an RV park right outside the Riding Mountain park but it turned out to be just about as expensive - $37 for complete service which is all they offered.
After setting up we drove back into the park to Clear Lake. We wandered around the town and then took our chairs and beer to the beach where we enjoyed the sun and people watching. When we got back to our site, our neighbors were sitting outside with some friends and invited us to join them for a beer. We had a very nice time chatting with them for a couple hours until it was time for everyone to go their separate ways and make dinner. They live just across the border (about 100 miles) in Saskatchewan and have a spot here for the summer season. They answered the question about the little shelters/huts in some fields. They are for leaf-cutter bees that pollinate a certain type of alfalfa fields.
July 22nd - Tues - to Winnipeg
Uneventful drive to a PA park in Ile des Chenes just south of Winnipeg. We called our friends Clem & Marlene from South Dakota to see if they could join us here for a few days but they are selling a house which is closing tomorrow so didn’t think they would make it.
We had lunch after we set up, headed to town to find a grocery store and then ran the truck though a wash. We have wifi here so I caught up on some email.
July 23rd - Wed - Winnipeg
Lazy morning and a nice breakfast before going back to town in search of an RV place for some parts for minor repairs. Then we were close to a casino so had to go check it out. It was very impressive. They have a “walk through” aquarium (fish swimming overhead and on either side of a tunnel) leading from one room to another. There is also a very high waterfall feature.
When we returned, Terry did the repairs before dinner while I did some laundry. There are only 2 washers & dryers here so we had to make a few trips back & forth but it is a small park so didn’t have to walk too far each time. We were going to barbeque but the weather was not nice so changed the menu. It ended up raining quite hard for a while and was very windy all evening while still staying quite warm.
July 24th - Thurs - Winnipeg
We didn’t sleep too well last night as it was warm and we didn’t run the air conditioner. So we were lazy and got up late. Back to town for a tour of the Royal Canadian Mint. We timed it just right and only had to wait about 15 minutes before the tour started. Very interesting and surprisingly little security compared with the facility in Fort Worth, Texas that prints paper currency.
On the way to The Forks (an area downtown where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet) we stopped at the legislature building to view “Golden Boy“ and the building. “Golden Boy” is a 14 karat gold plated statue on the top of the dome of the building. We very cleverly picked a day to go to The Forks when there was a baseball game at the nearby stadium so there was a lot of traffic and parking lot usage. We had lunch in an old warehouse section that has been converted to shops and eateries. Listened to some music, wandered through shops & along paths and watched some boarders in a skate park.
We were now close to the other casino in Winnipeg so had to check it out also. This one is done in a train theme. Not nearly as impressive as the other one. I lost my “allowance” quite quickly but Terry played for quite some time. On the way out, I decided to spend another $10 and ended up finally getting to play for a while and getting some money back.
Quite a bit of wooded, hilly terrain today. We drove through Riding Mountain Ntl Park, quickly checked out the campground and thought we might find somewhere a little less expensive outside the park. There was an RV park right outside the Riding Mountain park but it turned out to be just about as expensive - $37 for complete service which is all they offered.
After setting up we drove back into the park to Clear Lake. We wandered around the town and then took our chairs and beer to the beach where we enjoyed the sun and people watching. When we got back to our site, our neighbors were sitting outside with some friends and invited us to join them for a beer. We had a very nice time chatting with them for a couple hours until it was time for everyone to go their separate ways and make dinner. They live just across the border (about 100 miles) in Saskatchewan and have a spot here for the summer season. They answered the question about the little shelters/huts in some fields. They are for leaf-cutter bees that pollinate a certain type of alfalfa fields.
July 22nd - Tues - to Winnipeg
Uneventful drive to a PA park in Ile des Chenes just south of Winnipeg. We called our friends Clem & Marlene from South Dakota to see if they could join us here for a few days but they are selling a house which is closing tomorrow so didn’t think they would make it.
We had lunch after we set up, headed to town to find a grocery store and then ran the truck though a wash. We have wifi here so I caught up on some email.
July 23rd - Wed - Winnipeg
Lazy morning and a nice breakfast before going back to town in search of an RV place for some parts for minor repairs. Then we were close to a casino so had to go check it out. It was very impressive. They have a “walk through” aquarium (fish swimming overhead and on either side of a tunnel) leading from one room to another. There is also a very high waterfall feature.
When we returned, Terry did the repairs before dinner while I did some laundry. There are only 2 washers & dryers here so we had to make a few trips back & forth but it is a small park so didn’t have to walk too far each time. We were going to barbeque but the weather was not nice so changed the menu. It ended up raining quite hard for a while and was very windy all evening while still staying quite warm.
July 24th - Thurs - Winnipeg
We didn’t sleep too well last night as it was warm and we didn’t run the air conditioner. So we were lazy and got up late. Back to town for a tour of the Royal Canadian Mint. We timed it just right and only had to wait about 15 minutes before the tour started. Very interesting and surprisingly little security compared with the facility in Fort Worth, Texas that prints paper currency.
On the way to The Forks (an area downtown where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet) we stopped at the legislature building to view “Golden Boy“ and the building. “Golden Boy” is a 14 karat gold plated statue on the top of the dome of the building. We very cleverly picked a day to go to The Forks when there was a baseball game at the nearby stadium so there was a lot of traffic and parking lot usage. We had lunch in an old warehouse section that has been converted to shops and eateries. Listened to some music, wandered through shops & along paths and watched some boarders in a skate park.
We were now close to the other casino in Winnipeg so had to check it out also. This one is done in a train theme. Not nearly as impressive as the other one. I lost my “allowance” quite quickly but Terry played for quite some time. On the way out, I decided to spend another $10 and ended up finally getting to play for a while and getting some money back.
Monday, July 21, 2008
July 17th (cont'd) to 20th - Sask to Manitoba
July 17th - continued - Saskatoon
Unknown to me, the campground directory had a downtown office address for Gordon Howe Campground so that is where Wanda directed us. Also, the main downtown exit from the highway was closed so we wandered around a bit before figuring out where we were on a map and where we had to go.
Like I said in my brief entry, the campsite was full so we got an overflow site with no hookups - fine for one night. We then went downtown to “A Taste of Saskatoon” which was an event where many local restaurants set up tents and offer 3 food items for sale. We had eaten lunch so we both had dessert. There was also live music but it was not to our taste so we carried on. This took place in a park downtown that was right on the river (North Saskatchewan) that winds though the town so it was pretty.
We walked a bit downtown and then did some exploring in the truck before picking up some groceries and going back to the park. Updated the blog entries and got on the internet.
The county around here is pretty flat with lots of the bright yellow canola fields.
July 18th - Fri - to Prince Albert National Park
We headed north and slightly east to Prince Albert Ntl Park this morning. We saw an interesting row of empty rail cars (miles of them) that we assumed were waiting for crops to be harvested. There were breaks in the cars to allow vehicles to use access roads crossing the track.
I learned a lesson on the GPS system - you get what you ask for! I entered “Prince Albert Park” instead of the town of Waskasui so Wanda sent us to the nearest park border which meant we drove the rig on the scenic route for 30 miles inside the park instead of using the highway and entering through the northern entrance. Oh well, the road was only windy, nothing Terry couldn’t handle.
We had tried to find an RV site by phone and everything was full. But one park at Waskasui has 40 percent of the sites set as “first come, first served” so we gave it a shot. All those sites were full so they have a waiting list system and an overflow area. We filled up with water and headed to the big, grassy overflow site - quit nice and quiet in the trees. There was only one other rig there so we picked the most level spot , set up and had some lunch. A couple more rigs came in including one right beside us.
Then into town for sightseeing. Waskasui is on a large lake and has a nice, large, sandy beach which was being used by a lot of people. I took off my shoes to test the water and figured it was too cold for this pansy to go swimming.
There were more rigs set up when we got back. There were tons of black flies and mosquitoes but we could sit in the sun a bit before dinner without them bothering us. Our neighbors came back and invited us bring our drinks & chairs over. They (Larry & Lorraine) are from Kindersley, Sask - a town that we drove through on the way from Calgary. We moved to a nearby firepit and enjoyed a fire with wood supplied by the campground until the mosquitoes drove us in about 10.
We were planning on leaving tomorrow but Larry & Lorraine talked us into staying and playing golf.
July 19th - Sat - Waskesui
What a wonderful day!
It rained a lot last night so I wondered if we would be able to golf. It was totally cloudy when we got up but started clearing. Oops, when it was our tee time, the starter said the impending rain was due soon and sure enough, the guys teed off in a shower. But it immediately lessened to a sprinkle for Lorraine & I to tee off and it didn’t rain again. The golf course is set in trees and the cart paths wind around from one hole to the next - very picturesque. The greens were not in great shape but none of us could blame that for less than stellar games. But we all had a great time.
Larry & Lorraine had to show up at the RV park at 2:25 for the “waiting list system” so we had a drink at the clubhouse and we went back to our rig. Larry & Lorraine came back shortly and they did get a site so they invited us to dinner.
We taught Larry & Lorraine to play Sequence before dinner and then the “Golf” card game after dinner. Lorraine is a professional gospel singer and we were pleased to be able to hear a few songs from some CDs that she has recorded. Very talented! And Larry isn’t too bad a singer either. We do hope to meet up with them sometime down the road.
When we drove here, we saw some huge fields with a crop that was blooming purple-blue. Larry identified it for us as flax. It looks really great beside a yellow canola field. We have also seen fields that have various forms of small shelters scattered around and do not know what they are. Will let you know when I find out.
July 20th - Sun - to Swan Valley, Manitoba
Got an early start today as we slept well last night. The night before last, we ended up with a lot of mosquitoes in the rig. I got some sleep between 1 and 4 and very little after as just about the time I would get relaxed, another mosquito would show up. Last night, when we got back we turned on lights and went mosquito hunting with the fly swatter before going to bed. Much better.
Back through the town of Prince Albert and then east. Started out flat, then rolling treed areas, then back to flat. No traffic, good roads. Larry describes the flat parts of Saskatchewan as “so flat that you can watch your dog run away for 3 days”.
We stopped for a lunch break and got to Swan Valley about 2:30. The service station attendant directed us to a nice RV park so we got a spot, set up and relaxed after a bit of cleaning up & organizing.
Saskatchewan does not go on daylight savings time so even though Sask. & Manitoba are in the same time zone, we lost an hour today. So we are now 2 hours ahead of our Pacific time zone friends & relatives.
Unknown to me, the campground directory had a downtown office address for Gordon Howe Campground so that is where Wanda directed us. Also, the main downtown exit from the highway was closed so we wandered around a bit before figuring out where we were on a map and where we had to go.
Like I said in my brief entry, the campsite was full so we got an overflow site with no hookups - fine for one night. We then went downtown to “A Taste of Saskatoon” which was an event where many local restaurants set up tents and offer 3 food items for sale. We had eaten lunch so we both had dessert. There was also live music but it was not to our taste so we carried on. This took place in a park downtown that was right on the river (North Saskatchewan) that winds though the town so it was pretty.
We walked a bit downtown and then did some exploring in the truck before picking up some groceries and going back to the park. Updated the blog entries and got on the internet.
The county around here is pretty flat with lots of the bright yellow canola fields.
July 18th - Fri - to Prince Albert National Park
We headed north and slightly east to Prince Albert Ntl Park this morning. We saw an interesting row of empty rail cars (miles of them) that we assumed were waiting for crops to be harvested. There were breaks in the cars to allow vehicles to use access roads crossing the track.
I learned a lesson on the GPS system - you get what you ask for! I entered “Prince Albert Park” instead of the town of Waskasui so Wanda sent us to the nearest park border which meant we drove the rig on the scenic route for 30 miles inside the park instead of using the highway and entering through the northern entrance. Oh well, the road was only windy, nothing Terry couldn’t handle.
We had tried to find an RV site by phone and everything was full. But one park at Waskasui has 40 percent of the sites set as “first come, first served” so we gave it a shot. All those sites were full so they have a waiting list system and an overflow area. We filled up with water and headed to the big, grassy overflow site - quit nice and quiet in the trees. There was only one other rig there so we picked the most level spot , set up and had some lunch. A couple more rigs came in including one right beside us.
Then into town for sightseeing. Waskasui is on a large lake and has a nice, large, sandy beach which was being used by a lot of people. I took off my shoes to test the water and figured it was too cold for this pansy to go swimming.
There were more rigs set up when we got back. There were tons of black flies and mosquitoes but we could sit in the sun a bit before dinner without them bothering us. Our neighbors came back and invited us bring our drinks & chairs over. They (Larry & Lorraine) are from Kindersley, Sask - a town that we drove through on the way from Calgary. We moved to a nearby firepit and enjoyed a fire with wood supplied by the campground until the mosquitoes drove us in about 10.
We were planning on leaving tomorrow but Larry & Lorraine talked us into staying and playing golf.
July 19th - Sat - Waskesui
What a wonderful day!
It rained a lot last night so I wondered if we would be able to golf. It was totally cloudy when we got up but started clearing. Oops, when it was our tee time, the starter said the impending rain was due soon and sure enough, the guys teed off in a shower. But it immediately lessened to a sprinkle for Lorraine & I to tee off and it didn’t rain again. The golf course is set in trees and the cart paths wind around from one hole to the next - very picturesque. The greens were not in great shape but none of us could blame that for less than stellar games. But we all had a great time.
Larry & Lorraine had to show up at the RV park at 2:25 for the “waiting list system” so we had a drink at the clubhouse and we went back to our rig. Larry & Lorraine came back shortly and they did get a site so they invited us to dinner.
We taught Larry & Lorraine to play Sequence before dinner and then the “Golf” card game after dinner. Lorraine is a professional gospel singer and we were pleased to be able to hear a few songs from some CDs that she has recorded. Very talented! And Larry isn’t too bad a singer either. We do hope to meet up with them sometime down the road.
When we drove here, we saw some huge fields with a crop that was blooming purple-blue. Larry identified it for us as flax. It looks really great beside a yellow canola field. We have also seen fields that have various forms of small shelters scattered around and do not know what they are. Will let you know when I find out.
July 20th - Sun - to Swan Valley, Manitoba
Got an early start today as we slept well last night. The night before last, we ended up with a lot of mosquitoes in the rig. I got some sleep between 1 and 4 and very little after as just about the time I would get relaxed, another mosquito would show up. Last night, when we got back we turned on lights and went mosquito hunting with the fly swatter before going to bed. Much better.
Back through the town of Prince Albert and then east. Started out flat, then rolling treed areas, then back to flat. No traffic, good roads. Larry describes the flat parts of Saskatchewan as “so flat that you can watch your dog run away for 3 days”.
We stopped for a lunch break and got to Swan Valley about 2:30. The service station attendant directed us to a nice RV park so we got a spot, set up and relaxed after a bit of cleaning up & organizing.
Saskatchewan does not go on daylight savings time so even though Sask. & Manitoba are in the same time zone, we lost an hour today. So we are now 2 hours ahead of our Pacific time zone friends & relatives.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
July 13th to 17th - AB to Saskatchewan
July 13th - Sun - Calgary
We had a brochure for a flea market/antique mall that was open on the weekend so we went to take a look. It was indoors and there was a lot of stuff but we got away light with a hatchet - ours disappeared somewhere along the line. Filled up with diesel & propane on the way back to the RV park.
We looked for a car wash for the truck but decided to do it ourselves at the park since the weather was nice and our neighbors had left. I also did some cleaning inside the 5th wheel.
After dinner, Terry went to the office to ask about the wifi which had just been changed to have a password. The office was closed so he stopped to ask a couple if they knew the password. He chatted with them for a while and then came to get me to join them. They are Rob & Sue from Victoria, BC and are on their way to Alaska. They are new to RVing and think they might like to full time for a while so we had a lot to talk about. The weather suddenly got cold and windy so we put up their awning and headed inside in our rig to continue talking. They were thinking they should leave when a storm hit with lightning, thunder and mega rain. So what could they do but stay until the rain let up! We enjoyed them so much and really hope to meet up with them in the future.
July 14th - Mon - to Rosetown, Sask
Can you say gumbo? No, not the southern stew but the sticky Alberta mud!
Got away at 9:20 after talking with neighbors and our new friends and dumping our holding tanks. Just before Drumheller I saw a sign for a scenic viewpoint. There was a tour bus parked in the lot so we drove back around onto the road and parked on the wrong side since it offered more room. Terry stepped out onto mud but I was mostly on gravel. By the time we were in the parking lot, Terry had an inch of mud stuck to his shoes. Everyone from the tour bus was trying to clean off their shoes. When we got back to the truck, I got our Crocs out of the rig so we could just change shoes. There is a dinosaur museum in Drumheller but we decided that we have had enough of that sort of thing for a while so gave it a pass.
We saw diesel for $1.29 a liter in (small town) Hanna so topped up. We paid $1.43 in Calgary. I took the opportunity of the stop to make some sandwiches for lunch. We stopped in Kindersley Sask as there was a golf course that we thought we would play but the RV parks turned out to be not where we wanted to stay so carried on. We stayed in Rosetown in a park just out of town and off the highway. There was also a nearby golf course but it was so windy that it would not have been fun. Got all the fun I needed cleaning the gumbo off our shoes! The wind finally died down about 9:30. Neither one of us slept well last night so we turned in fairly early.
July 15th - Tues - to Watrous, Sask
At the Calgary stampede, there was a large booth with tourist information for Saskatchewan. A guy who helped us was from Watrous and said there was a salt lake with supposedly therapeutic qualities and a nice golf course nearby at Manitou Beach. We needed no better reason to head this way.
About 30 miles of our trip was on a pretty beat-up, bumpy road but it was a short day of driving. When we checked into the Manitou & District Regional Park, our first assigned site was muddy. Terry backed part way in and had to use 4 wheel drive to get out so we got a different site. We paid $2 a night more for a pull-through site and it is lovely - large, treed and not stuck in the back corner of the park.
I made lunch before we headed in to check out the town and pick up some bits to stabilize our reading lamp.
On the way back, we continued on to the lake at Manitou Beach which is just past the park. There is a nice sandy beach but the lake is covered in green “crud”. There were a few people swimming so we stopped and talked to a couple in swim suits who were sitting on a bench. We asked if the lake was always like that and if they swam in it. They said earlier in the day it was not so bad and, yes, they did swim in it. They were from Quebec so we chatted a while and decided we needed to see if Terry could float in the lake as the literature says.
So, back to the rig to put on swim suits and then walk slowly into the junky lake. The top was warm but it was cool underneath. Very shallow so I walked out to where I couldn’t stand. I was definitely more buoyant than normal but didn’t want to lay back and put my head in the floating ick. I tucked my legs under me in a upright position and paddled back to shore with my arms. Had to shower & wash the green/brown stuff off me and my suit when we got back. Terry just waded a bit and said he didn’t have to float.
July 16th - Wed - Watrous/Manitou Beach
When we checked into the campground, a sign said to ask about the “stay & play” golf package - so we did and took advantage of it. 2 nights of full hookups, entrance to the park, 2 medium buckets of balls and 2 rounds of golf & a cart at the 9 hole course across the road for $70 sounded OK. It was cloudy this morning so we put on long pants to go golfing. By the second hole we were wishing we had put on shorts. We did not play particularly good golf but the course was in great shape and very pretty so it was fun.
Just after we got back, it started to rain but was still fairly warm. The rain quit by the time we finished lunch so we unloaded the bikes and rode around the park which is quite large as there is lots of room between sites.
We drove back to the beach and along the lake for quite a ways, checked out an antique/junk store and had an ice cream cone. Then we went back into Watrous for a couple of items at the Bargain Store. Chatted with some neighbors before dinner and then cooler temperatures sent us inside for the rest of the evening.
July 17th - Thurs - Saskatoon
We are staying in overflow camping as the Gordon Howe Campground is full. We have internet but have to walk to a table outside of the office. Will finish this entry later.
We had a brochure for a flea market/antique mall that was open on the weekend so we went to take a look. It was indoors and there was a lot of stuff but we got away light with a hatchet - ours disappeared somewhere along the line. Filled up with diesel & propane on the way back to the RV park.
We looked for a car wash for the truck but decided to do it ourselves at the park since the weather was nice and our neighbors had left. I also did some cleaning inside the 5th wheel.
After dinner, Terry went to the office to ask about the wifi which had just been changed to have a password. The office was closed so he stopped to ask a couple if they knew the password. He chatted with them for a while and then came to get me to join them. They are Rob & Sue from Victoria, BC and are on their way to Alaska. They are new to RVing and think they might like to full time for a while so we had a lot to talk about. The weather suddenly got cold and windy so we put up their awning and headed inside in our rig to continue talking. They were thinking they should leave when a storm hit with lightning, thunder and mega rain. So what could they do but stay until the rain let up! We enjoyed them so much and really hope to meet up with them in the future.
July 14th - Mon - to Rosetown, Sask
Can you say gumbo? No, not the southern stew but the sticky Alberta mud!
Got away at 9:20 after talking with neighbors and our new friends and dumping our holding tanks. Just before Drumheller I saw a sign for a scenic viewpoint. There was a tour bus parked in the lot so we drove back around onto the road and parked on the wrong side since it offered more room. Terry stepped out onto mud but I was mostly on gravel. By the time we were in the parking lot, Terry had an inch of mud stuck to his shoes. Everyone from the tour bus was trying to clean off their shoes. When we got back to the truck, I got our Crocs out of the rig so we could just change shoes. There is a dinosaur museum in Drumheller but we decided that we have had enough of that sort of thing for a while so gave it a pass.
We saw diesel for $1.29 a liter in (small town) Hanna so topped up. We paid $1.43 in Calgary. I took the opportunity of the stop to make some sandwiches for lunch. We stopped in Kindersley Sask as there was a golf course that we thought we would play but the RV parks turned out to be not where we wanted to stay so carried on. We stayed in Rosetown in a park just out of town and off the highway. There was also a nearby golf course but it was so windy that it would not have been fun. Got all the fun I needed cleaning the gumbo off our shoes! The wind finally died down about 9:30. Neither one of us slept well last night so we turned in fairly early.
July 15th - Tues - to Watrous, Sask
At the Calgary stampede, there was a large booth with tourist information for Saskatchewan. A guy who helped us was from Watrous and said there was a salt lake with supposedly therapeutic qualities and a nice golf course nearby at Manitou Beach. We needed no better reason to head this way.
About 30 miles of our trip was on a pretty beat-up, bumpy road but it was a short day of driving. When we checked into the Manitou & District Regional Park, our first assigned site was muddy. Terry backed part way in and had to use 4 wheel drive to get out so we got a different site. We paid $2 a night more for a pull-through site and it is lovely - large, treed and not stuck in the back corner of the park.
I made lunch before we headed in to check out the town and pick up some bits to stabilize our reading lamp.
On the way back, we continued on to the lake at Manitou Beach which is just past the park. There is a nice sandy beach but the lake is covered in green “crud”. There were a few people swimming so we stopped and talked to a couple in swim suits who were sitting on a bench. We asked if the lake was always like that and if they swam in it. They said earlier in the day it was not so bad and, yes, they did swim in it. They were from Quebec so we chatted a while and decided we needed to see if Terry could float in the lake as the literature says.
So, back to the rig to put on swim suits and then walk slowly into the junky lake. The top was warm but it was cool underneath. Very shallow so I walked out to where I couldn’t stand. I was definitely more buoyant than normal but didn’t want to lay back and put my head in the floating ick. I tucked my legs under me in a upright position and paddled back to shore with my arms. Had to shower & wash the green/brown stuff off me and my suit when we got back. Terry just waded a bit and said he didn’t have to float.
July 16th - Wed - Watrous/Manitou Beach
When we checked into the campground, a sign said to ask about the “stay & play” golf package - so we did and took advantage of it. 2 nights of full hookups, entrance to the park, 2 medium buckets of balls and 2 rounds of golf & a cart at the 9 hole course across the road for $70 sounded OK. It was cloudy this morning so we put on long pants to go golfing. By the second hole we were wishing we had put on shorts. We did not play particularly good golf but the course was in great shape and very pretty so it was fun.
Just after we got back, it started to rain but was still fairly warm. The rain quit by the time we finished lunch so we unloaded the bikes and rode around the park which is quite large as there is lots of room between sites.
We drove back to the beach and along the lake for quite a ways, checked out an antique/junk store and had an ice cream cone. Then we went back into Watrous for a couple of items at the Bargain Store. Chatted with some neighbors before dinner and then cooler temperatures sent us inside for the rest of the evening.
July 17th - Thurs - Saskatoon
We are staying in overflow camping as the Gordon Howe Campground is full. We have internet but have to walk to a table outside of the office. Will finish this entry later.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
July 10th to 12th - Calgary
July 10th - Thurs - Calgary
We waited for the office to open at 9 to check for our forwarded mail - it got here - and then went to Heritage Park Historical Village. We made it there in time for the free sausage & pancake breakfast and then spent a few hours walking & enjoying the park. It is advertised as “Canada’s Largest Living Historical Village”. One of the fun things about it is the old vehicles used by the maintenance employees in the park. There is a steam train, a steam paddle wheeler and a horse drawn wagon for rides. Most of the buildings have employees in period costumes to provide more information than the placards in front of the buildings.
Later in the afternoon a huge rain/hail storm hit Calgary again. We were driving on the freeway and both of us jumped when the first hail hit as we didn’t immediately realize what it was. Lots of vehicles with Alberta licenses (natives in the know) stopped under overpasses to let the worst of it go by but we just drove slowly. It remained cool and breezy for the rest of the day.
July 11th - Fri - Calgary
Kind of a laid back day today. Windy and cool today so not too inviting to be outside. I did some things on the computer and both of us worked Sudoku puzzles and dealt with our forwarded mail.
Our satellite signal was scrambled last night and again today. I spent some time looking around on the internet and discovered that our receiver was being phased out because repair parts are not available. Because of this, new software is not being released as quickly as for other units. We had a newer receiver that we obtained from our friend Barry so we decided to switch to it. This required some reading of manuals and downloading different programs but we finally got it to work - and new software was available for it.
We had 3 loads of laundry to do which is the same number as washers here in the park. It took us 4 trips to the laundry room before we finally found the washers empty after dinner.
July 12th - Sat - Calgary
Lovely, sunny day today so we headed back to the stampede grounds. We went fairly early so we wouldn’t have to walk too far from a parking spot and planned to have a funnel cake for breakfast. We found that the food stands weren’t open until after 10 when we finally bought a bag of little doughnuts - which were great. It was a wonderful day to wander around to spots that we hadn’t found on our previous trip and to catch different performances.
I had looked up a location for Costco on the internet but we ended up finding only a Canadian Superstore so went there instead for some baby backs and a few other groceries since we will be hitting the road on Monday.
Calgary seems to be a growing town - lots of road and house construction. The road construction causes delays so it is nice that we are not usually in any hurry.
We waited for the office to open at 9 to check for our forwarded mail - it got here - and then went to Heritage Park Historical Village. We made it there in time for the free sausage & pancake breakfast and then spent a few hours walking & enjoying the park. It is advertised as “Canada’s Largest Living Historical Village”. One of the fun things about it is the old vehicles used by the maintenance employees in the park. There is a steam train, a steam paddle wheeler and a horse drawn wagon for rides. Most of the buildings have employees in period costumes to provide more information than the placards in front of the buildings.
Later in the afternoon a huge rain/hail storm hit Calgary again. We were driving on the freeway and both of us jumped when the first hail hit as we didn’t immediately realize what it was. Lots of vehicles with Alberta licenses (natives in the know) stopped under overpasses to let the worst of it go by but we just drove slowly. It remained cool and breezy for the rest of the day.
July 11th - Fri - Calgary
Kind of a laid back day today. Windy and cool today so not too inviting to be outside. I did some things on the computer and both of us worked Sudoku puzzles and dealt with our forwarded mail.
Our satellite signal was scrambled last night and again today. I spent some time looking around on the internet and discovered that our receiver was being phased out because repair parts are not available. Because of this, new software is not being released as quickly as for other units. We had a newer receiver that we obtained from our friend Barry so we decided to switch to it. This required some reading of manuals and downloading different programs but we finally got it to work - and new software was available for it.
We had 3 loads of laundry to do which is the same number as washers here in the park. It took us 4 trips to the laundry room before we finally found the washers empty after dinner.
July 12th - Sat - Calgary
Lovely, sunny day today so we headed back to the stampede grounds. We went fairly early so we wouldn’t have to walk too far from a parking spot and planned to have a funnel cake for breakfast. We found that the food stands weren’t open until after 10 when we finally bought a bag of little doughnuts - which were great. It was a wonderful day to wander around to spots that we hadn’t found on our previous trip and to catch different performances.
I had looked up a location for Costco on the internet but we ended up finding only a Canadian Superstore so went there instead for some baby backs and a few other groceries since we will be hitting the road on Monday.
Calgary seems to be a growing town - lots of road and house construction. The road construction causes delays so it is nice that we are not usually in any hurry.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
July 7th to 9th - Calgary
July 7th - Mon - to Calgary
Not a long drive today and we watched the rodeo on TV until late again last night so we were still lazing in bed when Aunt Jessie called at 8:45.
Arrived at the RV park just after noon and the office was in a mess. Reservations, including ours, were missing from their computer system and they were scrambling to find sites for people. The first one that they gave us was just too small so they got a larger site for us. No sewer hookup so we emptied at the dump station before setting up. Had a late lunch and went exploring in town.
We were in a grocery store when we looked outside and it was pouring rain. Terry said “keep shopping”. The rain did stop soon and we headed back. There were puddles all over the RV park so it got hit with the rainstorm as well.
But it cleared and allowed us to cook a nice steak dinner on the barbeque.
We have wifi at our site for a nice change. The antenna is right beside our rig so the signal is strong. I will get my pictures posted while we are here.
July 8th - Tues - Calgary
We went to the stampede today. Terry does not like buses, trains or shuttles so we drove. We didn’t know if Wanda was taking us to the right place so we turned her off & “winged it”. Marg phoned while I was supposed to be navigating so we did a little unexpected sightseeing. But we ended up on a road that allowed parking and we had a not-too-long walk through a cemetery to the stampede grounds.
The weather was perfect - not too hot and the forecast rain did not appear. We checked online for grandstand show tickets and it appears as if we won’t able to get any. So much for Terry being sure the shows would not be full! Oh well, there are so many other good, free shows that we had a great time and will probably go again to see more.
We set up the satellite dish this evening as we only had 3 stations and we have wifi to get an updated program for the receiver. It took me longer to find coordinates than it took to find the satellites.
July 9th - Wed - Calgary
I ruined a trip to the Deerfoot Outlet Mall by having to shop for bras (this may be TMI and only really appreciated by women readers!). Actually found a couple and then checked out the rest of the mall and had lunch there.
We stumbled upon a casino on the way home and spent a couple of hours on very little money thanks to Terry’s winnings.
When we got back to the RV park we found a new rig beside us which left no room to park our truck. We are now parked in the empty site beside us and the guy who directs the parking will have to tell us where to park if someone else moves in.
I posted pictures to the internet today. Check out the last 26 pictures in 2008 #2, all of 2008 #3 and 2008 #4.
Not a long drive today and we watched the rodeo on TV until late again last night so we were still lazing in bed when Aunt Jessie called at 8:45.
Arrived at the RV park just after noon and the office was in a mess. Reservations, including ours, were missing from their computer system and they were scrambling to find sites for people. The first one that they gave us was just too small so they got a larger site for us. No sewer hookup so we emptied at the dump station before setting up. Had a late lunch and went exploring in town.
We were in a grocery store when we looked outside and it was pouring rain. Terry said “keep shopping”. The rain did stop soon and we headed back. There were puddles all over the RV park so it got hit with the rainstorm as well.
But it cleared and allowed us to cook a nice steak dinner on the barbeque.
We have wifi at our site for a nice change. The antenna is right beside our rig so the signal is strong. I will get my pictures posted while we are here.
July 8th - Tues - Calgary
We went to the stampede today. Terry does not like buses, trains or shuttles so we drove. We didn’t know if Wanda was taking us to the right place so we turned her off & “winged it”. Marg phoned while I was supposed to be navigating so we did a little unexpected sightseeing. But we ended up on a road that allowed parking and we had a not-too-long walk through a cemetery to the stampede grounds.
The weather was perfect - not too hot and the forecast rain did not appear. We checked online for grandstand show tickets and it appears as if we won’t able to get any. So much for Terry being sure the shows would not be full! Oh well, there are so many other good, free shows that we had a great time and will probably go again to see more.
We set up the satellite dish this evening as we only had 3 stations and we have wifi to get an updated program for the receiver. It took me longer to find coordinates than it took to find the satellites.
July 9th - Wed - Calgary
I ruined a trip to the Deerfoot Outlet Mall by having to shop for bras (this may be TMI and only really appreciated by women readers!). Actually found a couple and then checked out the rest of the mall and had lunch there.
We stumbled upon a casino on the way home and spent a couple of hours on very little money thanks to Terry’s winnings.
When we got back to the RV park we found a new rig beside us which left no room to park our truck. We are now parked in the empty site beside us and the guy who directs the parking will have to tell us where to park if someone else moves in.
I posted pictures to the internet today. Check out the last 26 pictures in 2008 #2, all of 2008 #3 and 2008 #4.
Monday, July 07, 2008
July 1st to 6th - Wetaskiwin to Banff
July 1st - Tues - Wetaskiwin- HAPPY CANADA DAY
We had a long drive today - 36 miles! We took our time packing up and got to the Prairie Breeze RV park about 10:45. Set up, made breakfast/lunch and went across the road to the Reynolds Alberta Museum which is why we stopped here.
It is a wonderful collection of vintage cars and farm equipment. Right now they also have a collection of Model T’s on display. It is a great place to visit - highly recommended to anyone traveling nearby. There is also an airplane museum and aviation hall of fame building but it was not nearly as interesting to us even though it was very well done too.
We drove into town for a couple of items and then came back, relaxed and walked around the park before dinner. I was hoping to see some fireworks for the 1st and sure enough, just after 11 when it was barely getting dark, we stepped outside and watched the fireworks put on by the museum. Quite a respectable display.
Terry spoke with his Mom who is still in the nursing home. She is doing very well and can walk a bit with a walker. She sounded great on the phone so we were really encouraged by her progress.
July 2nd - Wed - to Rocky Mountain House
Left reasonably early this morning and stopped at Em-Te Town on the way to Rocky Mountain House. It was a 10 mile drive on a dusty gravel road to a strange, empty, “old West” town in the middle of nowhere. Sometime in the 1950’s, a guy decided it would be fun to build a town. Other people kicked in with labor, material and artifacts and the “town” was built. There was no literature available but a worker gave us this short version of the history of the town. There is a saloon and restaurant but they did not appear to be open for business when we were there.
We got an RV site and got set up in time for a late lunch. The RV park has two areas - one with the office and full service sites and the other down the road - all grass with trees around. The sites are power/water or unserviced. We are in the grass area which is joined to the other by the main road and a narrow, windy road along the North Saskatchewan River.
We rode our bikes to the other area to check out the laundry room. It was empty so we came back to round up the laundry and drove back. There are only 3 washers and we had 5 loads so it took us the rest of the afternoon to get it done. Also defrosted the freezer - another overdue job done.
Terry wandered down and chatted with a young couple in a 2008 Challenger. We are in a spot that is shaded in the afternoon so we sat out & enjoyed a fire.
July 3rd - Thurs - Rocky Mountain House
We started with a visit to the info center/museum this morning. Then checked out the town and made the inevitable stop at the grocery store. A wander around Canadian Tire netted us a mop/squeegee with an extension handle. Back to the rig to drop off perishables and have lunch. Terry took advantage of the nice weather and the new mop to clean the dust off the back and driver’s side of the 5th wheel.
Then we were off to explore more of the area. Drove to Twin Lakes and Crimson Lake - both with campgrounds. Twin Lakes has fishing and Crimson Lake is very shallow by the shore with a large beach area. Lots of families there cooling off in the water.
We drove into a nearby golf course and decided that it might be too challenging to be fun - lots of water & hills. We returned to town via a different road and had to stop at another grocery store for a couple of items that the first one did not have.
After dinner we rode our bikes to the office where Terry got an ice cream bar. On the way back, we stopped to talk to the couple in the other Challenger. Viewed their rig and then they came to see ours. They have a second bedroom and bathroom as they have a daughter. Makes the living area small but it is really nice not to have to pull out a hide-a-bed all the time.
July 4th - Fri - Rocky Mountain House
There was a lot of lightning and thunder last night but most of it quite a ways away so you could just see the sky light up. It was clear again this morning.
We went to the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site today. We had purchased an annual national park pass when we went through Jasper but the lady did not tell us that you could get a discounted annual pass for national historic sites if you purchased both at the same time. So we took our park pass in to the historic site and they let us buy the annual historic site pass at the discounted rate.
We walked along some trails and spoke with an employee about the history of the site and area. David Thompson was a prolific map maker and was based in this area for a while at one of the last large trading forts of the Hudson Bay Company after it merged with the Northwest Company. We were lucky enough to be there for a very cute & informative puppet show about David Thompson.
We picked up makings for hamburgers for a late lunch and then just relaxed with a fire. The wind came up so it was a good thing that we had run out of firewood.
The RV park really started filling up this evening. We are heading towards Banff tomorrow so I hope we don’t have a problem finding a spot to stay.
July 5th - Sat - to Banff
We drove into town to dump our holding tanks this morning. The RV park had a dump but it was pretty tight getting in & out. We took a drive into Nordegg but decided not to do any exploring there. Might have played golf but we wanted to carry on and get an RV site.
We decided as we were driving to go to Banff and I saw some campgrounds that were NE of Banff so I thought we would go past them on the highway. Not so! We drove blindly into Banff and then I remembered & uncovered a national park brochure with a map of the town. Just in time as we were heading up a narrow mountain road and I was able to see that it was OK and we would end up at the campground. I don’t know how we get into these places, and more to the point, how we get out!
The campground is strangely laid out because it is on a hillside - as is most everything here. You pull up straight along both sides of wide roads that have electric posts and picnic tables in gravel sites. They put us on an end site as we are so long but we couldn’t stay further back as with this configuration the electric hookup is on the wrong side and our cord would not reach. There is no one in front of us so we are OK for now.
We drove into town, finally found a parking spot and went browsing. Banff is much bigger than I remembered and is filled with tourists. The main street is under construction to add to the congestion. We went to a spot where a trail leads to some hoodoos but since we could see them from the parking area, we chose not to take a walk.
By the way, there are a couple of other routes to the campground that do not include the mountain road.
July 6th - Sun - Banff
We watched the Calgary stampede on TV until late last night so we were lazy this morning. Finally got going and headed to the Cave & Basin National Historic Site. It is on the location of the first hot springs discovered in this area. The hot springs and the subsequent legal wrangling led to the formation of a national park here and elsewhere in Canada. Got back to the truck just as some rain started.
Checked out the Banff Springs Hotel, Bow Falls and finally were able to find a parking spot at a lookout where we could get a good picture of the Banff Springs Hotel. We returned to town for lunch and some more shopping. The rain did not last long so it was nice wandering in town.
I spent a couple of hours putting captions on pictures in preparation for putting them on the internet - hopefully sometime soon since I am a little behind. Caught up the blog also so I am ready to post it as well.
We had a long drive today - 36 miles! We took our time packing up and got to the Prairie Breeze RV park about 10:45. Set up, made breakfast/lunch and went across the road to the Reynolds Alberta Museum which is why we stopped here.
It is a wonderful collection of vintage cars and farm equipment. Right now they also have a collection of Model T’s on display. It is a great place to visit - highly recommended to anyone traveling nearby. There is also an airplane museum and aviation hall of fame building but it was not nearly as interesting to us even though it was very well done too.
We drove into town for a couple of items and then came back, relaxed and walked around the park before dinner. I was hoping to see some fireworks for the 1st and sure enough, just after 11 when it was barely getting dark, we stepped outside and watched the fireworks put on by the museum. Quite a respectable display.
Terry spoke with his Mom who is still in the nursing home. She is doing very well and can walk a bit with a walker. She sounded great on the phone so we were really encouraged by her progress.
July 2nd - Wed - to Rocky Mountain House
Left reasonably early this morning and stopped at Em-Te Town on the way to Rocky Mountain House. It was a 10 mile drive on a dusty gravel road to a strange, empty, “old West” town in the middle of nowhere. Sometime in the 1950’s, a guy decided it would be fun to build a town. Other people kicked in with labor, material and artifacts and the “town” was built. There was no literature available but a worker gave us this short version of the history of the town. There is a saloon and restaurant but they did not appear to be open for business when we were there.
We got an RV site and got set up in time for a late lunch. The RV park has two areas - one with the office and full service sites and the other down the road - all grass with trees around. The sites are power/water or unserviced. We are in the grass area which is joined to the other by the main road and a narrow, windy road along the North Saskatchewan River.
We rode our bikes to the other area to check out the laundry room. It was empty so we came back to round up the laundry and drove back. There are only 3 washers and we had 5 loads so it took us the rest of the afternoon to get it done. Also defrosted the freezer - another overdue job done.
Terry wandered down and chatted with a young couple in a 2008 Challenger. We are in a spot that is shaded in the afternoon so we sat out & enjoyed a fire.
July 3rd - Thurs - Rocky Mountain House
We started with a visit to the info center/museum this morning. Then checked out the town and made the inevitable stop at the grocery store. A wander around Canadian Tire netted us a mop/squeegee with an extension handle. Back to the rig to drop off perishables and have lunch. Terry took advantage of the nice weather and the new mop to clean the dust off the back and driver’s side of the 5th wheel.
Then we were off to explore more of the area. Drove to Twin Lakes and Crimson Lake - both with campgrounds. Twin Lakes has fishing and Crimson Lake is very shallow by the shore with a large beach area. Lots of families there cooling off in the water.
We drove into a nearby golf course and decided that it might be too challenging to be fun - lots of water & hills. We returned to town via a different road and had to stop at another grocery store for a couple of items that the first one did not have.
After dinner we rode our bikes to the office where Terry got an ice cream bar. On the way back, we stopped to talk to the couple in the other Challenger. Viewed their rig and then they came to see ours. They have a second bedroom and bathroom as they have a daughter. Makes the living area small but it is really nice not to have to pull out a hide-a-bed all the time.
July 4th - Fri - Rocky Mountain House
There was a lot of lightning and thunder last night but most of it quite a ways away so you could just see the sky light up. It was clear again this morning.
We went to the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site today. We had purchased an annual national park pass when we went through Jasper but the lady did not tell us that you could get a discounted annual pass for national historic sites if you purchased both at the same time. So we took our park pass in to the historic site and they let us buy the annual historic site pass at the discounted rate.
We walked along some trails and spoke with an employee about the history of the site and area. David Thompson was a prolific map maker and was based in this area for a while at one of the last large trading forts of the Hudson Bay Company after it merged with the Northwest Company. We were lucky enough to be there for a very cute & informative puppet show about David Thompson.
We picked up makings for hamburgers for a late lunch and then just relaxed with a fire. The wind came up so it was a good thing that we had run out of firewood.
The RV park really started filling up this evening. We are heading towards Banff tomorrow so I hope we don’t have a problem finding a spot to stay.
July 5th - Sat - to Banff
We drove into town to dump our holding tanks this morning. The RV park had a dump but it was pretty tight getting in & out. We took a drive into Nordegg but decided not to do any exploring there. Might have played golf but we wanted to carry on and get an RV site.
We decided as we were driving to go to Banff and I saw some campgrounds that were NE of Banff so I thought we would go past them on the highway. Not so! We drove blindly into Banff and then I remembered & uncovered a national park brochure with a map of the town. Just in time as we were heading up a narrow mountain road and I was able to see that it was OK and we would end up at the campground. I don’t know how we get into these places, and more to the point, how we get out!
The campground is strangely laid out because it is on a hillside - as is most everything here. You pull up straight along both sides of wide roads that have electric posts and picnic tables in gravel sites. They put us on an end site as we are so long but we couldn’t stay further back as with this configuration the electric hookup is on the wrong side and our cord would not reach. There is no one in front of us so we are OK for now.
We drove into town, finally found a parking spot and went browsing. Banff is much bigger than I remembered and is filled with tourists. The main street is under construction to add to the congestion. We went to a spot where a trail leads to some hoodoos but since we could see them from the parking area, we chose not to take a walk.
By the way, there are a couple of other routes to the campground that do not include the mountain road.
July 6th - Sun - Banff
We watched the Calgary stampede on TV until late last night so we were lazy this morning. Finally got going and headed to the Cave & Basin National Historic Site. It is on the location of the first hot springs discovered in this area. The hot springs and the subsequent legal wrangling led to the formation of a national park here and elsewhere in Canada. Got back to the truck just as some rain started.
Checked out the Banff Springs Hotel, Bow Falls and finally were able to find a parking spot at a lookout where we could get a good picture of the Banff Springs Hotel. We returned to town for lunch and some more shopping. The rain did not last long so it was nice wandering in town.
I spent a couple of hours putting captions on pictures in preparation for putting them on the internet - hopefully sometime soon since I am a little behind. Caught up the blog also so I am ready to post it as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)