A Final Few Fascinating Factoids for the Finale

Saturday started out fine, with a forecast for moderate to heavy winds later on in the day, so we sailed out of Refuge Cove and headed south, with the wind, and anchored in Grace Harbour, about an hour and a half south of Refuge. It was a peaceful anchorage, with couple of other boats also in there. We just relaxed for the day on Saturday, and spent the evening listening to CDs, sipping wine, and playing a bit of Scrabble, before retiring. Sunday was another mostly-lazy day, with a bit of cleanup on the boat. On listening to the weather forecast, it seemed appropriate to sneak out of Desolation Sound to the Copeland Islands, where we could easily jump over to Lund to drop off Linda for the car, and then head back, when the gales of the next couple of days had blown out. So that's what we did, and anchored in an quite blustery Southeast wind. With a change of direction forecast for later in the night, we also set out a second anchor to hold us safe in a Northwest Gale. Then we settled in, even turning on our diesel heater as the temperatures dropped. Off and on rainshowers and gusty winds prevailed through the day and night, but the forecast for the northwest gales changed, and got delayed a day. So instead of crossing for home on Wednesday, as planned, we decided Tuesday morning was the day for that......up early, we motored into Lund, and Linda leapt off the boat onto the dock at Jack's Boat Yard, to get the car, and drive home using the ferry from Powell River. I sailed off, and arrived at our berth at Comox Marina by early afternoon, after a very pleasant sail in light to moderate breeze. Linda arrived shortly after. We had agreed to leave our house to the house-sitters until the end of the month, so we will spend the night on the boat in Comox, before arriving home on Wednesday. We'd managed to not spend a lot while staying on the boat, with just a few groceries our expense for the 8 days, and Linda's ferry trip. So time to see how we did at the end, and overall for the trip.
Week 19: (plus 1 day -Wednesday): Distance travelled: 109.7 KM plus 56.7 Nautical Miles (on the boat) Gas: $20.00 Food: $212.65 Accommodation: $0.00!!! Other: $45.65 Total: $278.30 Over $400.00 under.
And for the trip, our totals to Wednesday, Sept 30 (one extra day over the 19 weeks):
Time on the trip - 134 days/nights - At $100.00/day, total budget is $13,400. Total spent : $13, 374.00 - We made it, with $26.00 to spare!
We rode on 8 ferries in total - cost for all 8 was $925.30
One bridge (PEI) with a toll: $42.50
For accommodation, in total, we spent 76 nights in a tent, 24 nights in peoples homes (friends and relatives), 1 night in a ferry (to NFLD), 19 in Kamping Kabins, 5 in Motel/Hotel room, and on our boat - 9.
We visited 44 relatives, and visited 50 friends, of whom 31 were "old" friends, from past days.
Total Distance travelled over the whole trip: 26,996 KM. (this total is from our odometer in the car.....by adding up our weekly totals, we get 26,135 - obviously we missed a few days of addition somewhere!

Refuge

The boat launch went well, although the previous Blog entry didn't get uploaded until a bit later.....the boatyard wifi couldn't handle the bandwidth. Thursday morning we had the boat all done with what could be done (a few more things to do in the water). The travel-lift hauled the boat back down the hillside and lowered her into the water, and we tied up for a short time to change the water in the tanks, and set up the sailing rigging. Then we were off, heading up Thulin Pass to Desolation Sound. The wind was brisk, but directly against us, so we motor-sailed until we got into the Sound, and then sailed for Refuge Cove, where our friends John and Janet have a floathome and a sailboat. We were tied to the dock in Refuge Cove by early afternoon, and spent a pleasant, warm, sunny afternoon visiting with them and sipping on Vino Tinto.


Refuge Cove





John has made friends with a local heron, "Harry", who comes to the dock each day, and waits for John to throw some pieces of bread or scraps of food in the water. This attracts lots of little fish, which Harry then fishes out of the water.




John, Janet and Linda watch Harry fishing





We had J & J over to our boat for dinner, and even enjoyed a wee dram together. John has wireless, so the following morning I was able to upload the week 18 section of the blog (finally). Friday morning was spent on finishing off the various jobs left to do on the boat (going aloft to check the standing and running rigging, cleaning up after the boatyard boots, adjusting the stern gland to allow less water ingress from the shaft)



John and Janet prepare a bbq






John and Janet had us over for a Friday bbq, which we finished off with a wee dram, and some more vino tinto. By Saturday morning, the wind was up to Northwest 20-25.
Time to sail southbound, for a small harbour in Desolation.....Grace Harbour.
We said farewell to John and Janet, and sailed off at noon for a fair anchorage, not too far away.

Week 18

Friday night in Hope was a wash-out - literally. When we set up camp and went to bed, it was a clear and beautiful sky, so we didn't set up our tarp. Sometime around 3AM the rain started. In spite of getting the tarp out, it was too late, and the water managed to collect around and in the tent. We broke camp while it was still raining, and headed out on the highway, stopping in Chilliwack for a bite of breakfast. In the immortal words of our buddy Stan, who we were planning to visit in Langley: "Don't camp in a Valley" . Good advice! Instead of stopping into Langley to visit, we decided we'd best just continue on through, to get to the boat where we could dry out our stuff, and have a dry berth. By the time we got to Horseshoe Bay, waiting for the ferry to Langdale and Gibsons, the sun was out and it turned out to be a beautiful warm day. So instead of continuing to the boat, when we got to Sechelt, we took a campsite again, and set out our things to dry all over the camp, moving foams and tarps, tents and blankets, into sunny areas. Most of it dried, and we set up camp again. There was no rain in the forecast, but just in case, we set up the tarp. Good thing, too - we got a few showers overnight, but nothing got affected this time. We packed up and continued north along the Sunshine Coast, crossing Jervis Inlet into Saltery Bay.
Crossing Jervis Inlet on the ferry



We found a very pleasant picnic spot near Saltery Bay, and made our lunch, and basked in the warm sunshine. From here it was less than an hour to Lund, to the boat. We arrived Sunday afternoon, opened up the boat, and settled ourselves in. Jack's Boat Yard is a very traditional style yard, with lots of help and locals to keep one entertained.



The boat awaits us in the boatyard






Monday was a workday....sanding the boat's bottom in preparation for painting, and checking out the various systems to make sure all was working well. Tuesday was another day of working on the boat, with the first coat of antifouling paint for the bottom, and cleaning the decks and hull. We also managed to do a bit of work on the battery/electrical system, and recheck the stuffing box. As I sit in the main saloon of the boat, typing this portion of the Blog, we are both feeling a bit sore from doing a bit of work rather than just sitting and driving, or walking. One more day of painting and readying, and we will launch the boat Thursday back in the water for a short cruise to Desolation Sound. We can't go home until the end of the month, because of our house-sitters....so a short sailing cruise is in order.
Today being a Tuesday, it is another Day of Reckoning. So here are the totals for week #18:
Distance Travelled: 671.0 Km Gas: $88.07 Food: $273.64 Accommodation: $108.20 Other: $122.18 Total: $592.09 This week was $108.00 under budget! With one week to go, I don't think we can save enough to make up for all of the over-budgets, but we don't have gas or accommodation costs, with the boat. One more ferry to go, for the run across the Gulf to Comox.

Kelowna

Albert, in happier times, when he was sailing with me around the north end of Vancouver Island






The news of brother-in-law Albert's passing left me in a bit of a funk for the rest of the day on Wednesday. We have a very close family, and I felt a need to travel back to Southern Ontario to be with my sister, nieces, and nephews during this time. However, having thought about it for awhile, it struck me that with the family closeness comes the support that wouldn't really need me there.....I'd be best off to continue, to get Linda and our car home, and rather than spend a lot of money on air travel, could donate that toward his memory....to the Niagara Hospice.
So we continued southbound out of Vernon, stopping at a cemetery overlooking Duck Lake, near Kelowna. Here we found the resting spot for my uncle, Ray. We then went into Kelowna itself, and set up camp in a park near the lakeshore of Okanagan Lake.





These ducks kept mooching around the campsites, looking for handouts





There was still time left in the afternoon for some family research, so we arrived at the city Museum, with its archives, and spent the afternoon sifting through documents, voters lists, city directories, old school yearbooks, and such, to find traces of Linda's family. Then back to our camp for an early night.
Thursday morning we called Linda's cousin, Ernie to set up a visit, and decided to meet at a local coffee shop. Ernie and Linda have been mostly in communcation via email, but had met many years ago. The meeting was quite a friendly get-together, and after a bit of a visit, Ernie joined us for our trip to the Kelowna Cemetery. The people at the Cemetery were extremely helpful in helping us find the many relatives we had to locate, and with their help we were able to track most of them down within 3 hours.



Linda with cousin Ernie, checking out the Kelowna Cemetery







We dropped off Ernie at his home, promising to return later for dinner. Then back into town for a quick internet check, a bit of shopping, and a change of clothing. By 1700 we were back at Ernie and his wife Alma's home, where we had a scrumptious dinner, and a great visit, including viewing of many family photographs which Linda hadn't seen before. We made it back to our camp for a later bedtime of 2300.
Friday morning it was time to tackle the city Library where the newspaper archives are held. We spent much of the day there, finishing up our family research around 1500. A short walk around town to stretch our legs, and to photograph the war memorial which has several of Linda's relatives named on it - and then we were off to find another campground a bit closer to home. We headed west again, crossing over the Coquihalla Connector for Merritt. When we got there, however, it was still reasonably early, and the closest campsites would require a bit of a backtrack.....so we continued on, over the Coquihalla Highway, and arrived in Hope just in time to set up camp, make dinner, and finish up this section of the Blog. We are now in easy range for the lower mainland tomorrow, and then on to the Sunshine Coast, eventually ending up in Lund to put the boat back in the water.

A Night to Remember

We dawdled getting out of Revelstoke the following morning, having a leisurely breakfast and showers. But by 11:15 we were on our way, and turning south toward the Okanagan Valley a short time later, as we passed Sicamous with hundreds of houseboats moored up for the season. By 13:00 we'd arrived at Vernon, Linda's home town. On the north edge of town is a nice little RV/camping park, lying along Swan Lake (although we couldn't see any swans.....just ducks), so we set up our camp there. As I prepared lunch, Linda called her cousin Janet to see if we could meet up for a visit and a chat - and got invited out for dinner that evening. It was then time to get our exercise walking the local graveyard, photographing family members at rest (Linda's family this time). The Vernon Museum has a very good display of the area's history, and also houses the archives for local newspapers and photos. Coincidentally, it is also located on the site of Linda's family home - in fact, I think I was sitting in the location of their old kitchen, while we were researching the archives! (You gotta have a bit of imagination here, as the house has been gone for over 30 years). We did manage to find a few tidbits of family history from the newspaper archives, and finished up by late afternoon. With a bit of a cleanup back at the campsite (I don't clean up very well - but I try), we were ready to go and visit cousins Janet and Henry. They made us feel quite welcome, and served us a beautiful dinner - enough, I think, for us to have brought along 6 or 7 more people. It was a night of reminiscing about growing up in the Okanagan, and stories about the Smith/Badley/Craig Family histories. Linda, Janet, and Henry all had stories and memories of the area, and Linda elicited more family information with her tree and photos flashing out from our computer. Unfortunately, we forgot to take any photos of the event, so this entry will have to remain pictureless. We even managed to find a few drams of Bushmills's, which meant that Linda had to drive home to our tent later on. I now sit at a picnic table under the willow trees, looking at the ducks swimming by on the lake, and typing up this short entry......it is Wednesday morning, so that means that yesterday was the end of another week of travelling (week 17), and hence a day of reckoning.
Last night also marked night 70 spent in the tent - the rest of the nights having been spent under a roof of some sort (friends homes, Kabins, etc). So here are the totals:
Distance Travelled: 1371.3 Km. Gas: $$258.87 Food: $ 137.53 Accommodation: $ 277.72 Other: $42.74 Total: $716.86 Close - but still over by almost $17.00 for the week! I really thought we might be able to make it this time, but the oil change for the car added a bit of extra expense and put us over - or was it one night too many in a Kabin, instead of a tent????
We will be continuing with our genealogical quest here in the Okanagan for a few days, heading down to Kelowna later today. By the weekend we should be headed back toward the coast.
After having uploaded the blog this morning, I downloaded my emails. I am very saddened to hear of the passing of my brother-in-law, Albert. He passed away quietly last night, and although he was still young (67), he had lived a very fulfilling life.

Spectacular

Friday morning was another very cool morning, but promised to continue with the bright sunny day. We went to the West Edmonton Mall - just to see it. At first, it just seemed another mall, but bigger. But as we walked around it, the differences were apparent. We passed an ice-rink, with people skating around.




Skating in the Mall


And a huge wave pool, with palm trees and bikini-clad swimmers. There is a ship - Columbus's "Santa Maria", in a large pool surrounded by submarine tours of aquatic life. We watched a sea-lion show, and passed a casino, several hotels and gaming areas for kids and adults alike. One wing of the mall is made up like chinatown, another like a street in Paris. And there actually stores in the mall, too - over 800 of them. One of them was a specialty liquor store, which actually carries my favourite kind of rum (Pyrat) - something not seem in the other provinces we've visited (all of them). We managed to kill over 5 hours in the mall, just wandering around. But then it was time to hit the road - so westbound we went, to the Pembina River Provincial Park, about 120 Km. west of Edmonton, and set our camp up alongside the Pembina River.




Pembina River Gorge




Our latest travels had been a lot of driving, and not much exercise - so we decided it was time to get our legs back in gear, and took a short hike to a scenic lookout over the 200 foot gorge carved out of the landscape by the river. Being a Friday, the campground filled up quickly, as campers arrived through the late afternoon and early evening - it was a good thing we'd arrived reasonably early! Once the sun had set, the temps dropped quickly, and we snuggled up in our tent.
Saturday morning was another fine day, and again frosty. We continued on to the west for a couple of hundred kilometres, to the KOA campground, where we had a Kamping Kabin reserved for the Saturday and Sunday. These Kabins were similar to the ones we'd used before, but also had heaters, small refrigerators, and a television - so we were set in luxury for the weekend. We met the couple in the Kabin beside us, who were returning to Victoria after he'd just completed biking across the country from Victoria to Halifax, in a bid to raise funds for diabetes - he being a diabetic himself. Yves Provost (try Googling him - you'll find lots of stuff about his amazing trip) kept us entertained with stories of his trip, and the many trials of dealing with his illness, trying to raise funds, and maintain the energy and will to complete the gruelling trip. His website, if you're interested, is: http://www.oneguyonecanada.com/ The KOA people were also doing a bit of fundraising, and sponsored a hot-dog barbecue/corn roast around the campfire pit....so we joined into that for supper and at the same time helped in their cause for Cancer. The night again was cold and frosty, and we were glad of the heated cabin we had for the night.
Sunday, the fine weather was continuing, and we left our stuff at the cabin, driving out into Jasper and Jasper Park to view the sights. Although a few words might describe the scenery around here, and into the Columbia Icefield Parkway (Rugged, Majestic, Awesome) I think the most appropriate might be spectacular. We'd seen a lot of very impressive scenery across Canada, but this, so far, was the most spectacular.

Athabasca Falls



We spent the day viewing the peaks and waterfalls, the glaciers and icefields, and all the time kept our eyes peeled for the wildlife. The scenery, as I said, we saw in spades.

Athabasca River Valley



The only wildlife, however, was the tourists grazing at the roadside stops, or wandering around the scenic viewpoints - where we joined them. By the end of the day we'd driven over 350 km and hiked hither and yon. We refuelled in Hinton and returned to our Kabin for the evening, this time visiting with new neighbours from Austria and Taiwan who also seemed impressed by the local scenery.
Monday morning found us back on the road. Linda started the driving as I sat in the passenger seat, typing up this section of the Blog for upload tonight (I don't know how I manage to get so far behind, so quickly!). Today we are headed back down the Columbia Icefield Parkway, from Jasper to Banff and Lake Louise, and then westbound again into British Columbia and Revelstoke for the night.
We continued through gorgeous scenery, past Lake Louise, and west, through the Rogers Pass.
We were now back in BC, had crossed into the Pacific Time Zone and over the Continental Divide where now all the water flows into the Pacific. By 1700 we were happily ensconced in our Kabin at Revelstoke. The next couple of days are forecast to remain good, so we may be able to go back to the tent. We'll be on to the Okanagan Valley for a few days, where we have ancestors to find, and friends and relatives to visit.

Alberta Bound

We continued out of Lanigan at about 10:30, still on the Yellowhead Trail. North Battleford had an ancestor who'd died in an industrial accident in 1920, so we had to pop in.


"Don't Fence Me In" Sculpture of a Bison,
created from barbed wire.









At the city library, we met a very bubbly librarian who was extremely eager to help us in our search. We found the report of the accident and the ceremony commemorating his death (he ended up back in Tiverton for his final rest) in the archives of the local newspaper, and Wendy, our librarian, looked up his old address and directed us to it, as it still exists. In fact, the house is for sale, so we stopped and took some photos of it. Then it was onward to the west, eventually crossing another time zone into the Mountain Zone, and entering the town of Lloydminster, which straddles the Saskatchewan/Alberta border. We found a grocery store for some dinner staples, and then continued on into Alberta for about 50 Km, stopping at a campground in Vermilion. The campground was basically shut down from Labour Day on, but still had sites available, and washrooms - so we set up under an ominously overcast sky, putting out Linda's new tarp for extra cover, and cooked our supper. We went to bed shortly after dark, just as the rain started to patter down on us. It was a showery night, but by early morning the rain had stopped, and in spite of the cold (we could see our breath - I'm guessing about 5C) it was a pleasant morning.



Southbound Vee's Like This keep us
Westbound.






In spite of the rainshowers overnight, it was quite dry all around us. We got the camp all packed up again, and were underway again around 0930. Just in time, too - by 1000 it was spitting rain again.


A distant rainbow over a hayfield....typical
scenery in central AB.





We stopped at the town of Vegreville, to view the giant Pysanka (Easter Egg) - we hadn't stopped at anything "biggest" in quite a while! I'd been hoping to get to the world's largest beaver, but that would have meant a very large detour to the north reaches of Alberta. Instead, I settled for an overdue oil change (for the car).



This is a Pysanka....an Easter Egg, this one very large indeed!








Then it was onwards to Edmonton. We found the Alberta Archives by 1400, and had very little success in finding our ancestors. We did find a few newspaper articles on fiche, but the reference system for birth/marriage/death is not totally user-friendly, and they will not allow any photocopies of the information....only handwritten notes (in pencil) of whatever is found. We spent a bit over 2 hours there, and decided to give it up and find a camp for the night. At the Southwest side of Edmonton is a park/skihill which also has campgrounds - so we set up there for the night. Compared to last night, it was much busier with numerous campers in the park. We plan to spend the night, then we have to go and see one of the world's largest malls - West Edmonton Mall. It is unlikely we will need to return to the archives, so we will spend a few hours at the mall, and then head out of town for the night. We've reserved a KOA Kamping Kabin near Jasper for the weekend, before we return to BC.

West to the End of the Recession

By the time we were about 50 Km East of Thunder Bay it was getting time to find another campsite, so we turned off the highway to the south, and found a site in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. The topography of the land on this peninsula which juts into Lake Superior looks like a Sleeping Giant Warrior, most often as viewed from Thunder Bay. Today we were camping on the Giant.



The sun setting on the Sleeping Giant....actually, this is the bottom of his head, and his chest...the panorama I took didn't work - but you get the idea!





After setting up camp and having dinner, we walked to the nearby lake, Louisa, and watched the sun set over the Giant's head. Being a Saturday evening, and a long weekend (Labour Day), the park had a talk in the ampitheatre by a visiting amateur astronomer, followed by a session on the beach viewing heavenly bodies through a telescope. The moon, being just past full, was one of the objects we viewed, as was Jupiter, which we could see clearly, with several red bands and 4 of her moons. We also viewed a double, two-coloured star.....most of the nebulae and galaxies were too faint to be seen with the competing moonlight. I did find the presentation quite fascinating.....as a much younger person, I'd taken a keen interest in astronomy, but had let things lapse in the course of over 45 years.
The following morning, summer continued.....and so did we. Occasional fog banks greeted us in the morning drive along the rest of the north shore of Superior, but dissipated as we left the lakehead behind, continuing west through Dryden, and finally stopping at a campsite near Vermilion Bay, at Crystal Lake. We crossed into the Central Time Zone, as well as out of the Atlantic Watershed and into the Arctic Watershed, where the rivers flow into the Arctic Ocean. Crystal Lake was another beautiful site, with a sand beach on a small lake (with resident loons calling). Wifi was reasonable, although the Blog wasn't ready for upload yet. The summer weather along with the previous weeks of rain had created a large mob of mosquitoes, however, so as the sun set, we zipped ourselves safely into our tent, safely away from the busy biters, and called it a day fairly early.
Monday morning we continued out of Ontario, and into Manitoba. Rain and thundershowers were forecast for late night/early morning, and we had ancestors to investigate in Winnipeg, so we opted to drive into town and find a reasonably-priced hotel - which we did. At $68.00/night, it was almost within budget range, and it was only three blocks from the Manitoba Archives building where we planned to do our research. Linda was a bit nervous about some of the clientele in the hotel, and the people lurking around the streets and parking area. We emptied out much of our "irreplaceable" things (mostly genealogical paperwork, etc) from the car and settled in. We were only a few blocks away from Portage Avenue, right downtown, so we took a walk through downtown, and had extremely plain fare for dinner in our room. We don't get much tv while camping across the country, so we watched a couple of hours of that before retiring. A fine Labour Day it was.
Tuesday, although not officially the first day of fall, seemed a bit like it. The sky was dark and cloudy, but the rain hadn't started yet when we got up. We walked to a nearby Tim Horton's for a quick breakfast, and then reloaded the car, which had thankfully not been broken into. The Archives building was a bit unlike the other ones we'd visited, and they could not help us with birth, marriage or death records. The only will we were interested in didn't seem to exist. The referred us to the Legislative Library next door, to look up obituaries and wedding notices, and to the Vital Statistics Building on Portage Ävenue, for birth, marriage and death records. By 1300 we had scanned numerous old newpapers via microfiche, with the help of the friendly staff in the Legislative Library, and we then set out to find the Vital Stats office. Find it we did, but the Province of Manitoba requires requests for the records needed, and then produces Certified Copies or Certificates for each birth, death, or marriage, at $25.00 each. Since our budget could not stand that kind of strain, especially with some of the requests being for people we are fairly sure are correct, but not certain, we decided to go with what we have and do a bit more home research before sending in any expensive requests like that. Everywhere else in the country, it is possible to photocopy the records from fiche for a very small (comparably) fee - but Manitoba seems to think that only certified records will do. Hmmmmmmmm.......
The rain had come and gone while we were researching, so it was time to leave Winnipeg. Westward we went, through Portage la Prairie, and then turned northwest onto the Yellowhead Highway, which runs through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and BC, north of the Trans Canada Highway. Not only the scenery is Prairie, but the ads on the radio are quite different and local as well - Boston Pizza was advertising free deliveries to your farm for the harvest, and soybean and corn prices were the top issues for the stations.



Prairie Landscape





The Yellowhead gets its name from an Iroquois trapper who had a touch of yellow hair, and led the settlers and trappers westbound through the Yellowhead Pass in the Rockies. The route he followed stuck. The plan was to get a few hundred Km west of Winnipeg, and set up camp, but we continued to drive in and out of rainshowers, so decided to celebrate 16 weeks of travelling, and to reward Linda for her bravery in the "less-than-ideal" hotel the previous night. We have some ancestors we wanted to photograph, in the cemetery in Langenburg, Saskatchewan....and according to our CAA book, there is a reasonably priced motel there. As it's just over the border from Manitoba, we headed there. For the first time in our trip, as we approached Russell, Manitoba, near the border, we started to see No Vacancy signs on all the motels. Okay.....it's kind of scenic here, so I guess lots of tourists enjoying the end of summer! We arrived in Langenburg late afternoon/early evening, and found our motel full. So we found the cemetery and took photos of Gt-Aunt Polly Berger, and Ralph Schentag, and their family, and then headed west again. It was getting too late to consider setting up camp (I HATE setting up in the dark), so we continued on to Yorkton, a much larger town. Enroute, the towns had some motels, all full. Same story in Yorkton. Apparently there are construction crews building pipelines and some kind of Potash plant, and the crews are taking up all available accommodation. Recession? What Recession? None apparent here in North-Central Saskatchewan! We were getting hungry by then, and the sun was setting, so we dropped into Boston Pizza for a bite, tanked up on fuel, and continued west. All motels for several hundred Km were full. At 23:30 we were passing the town of Lanigan, about 100 Km east of Saskatoon. They still had a vacancy, so we took it. So here we are, halfway across Saskatchewan already. We really blew the budget this last week, which was week 16 of our trip. Being a Tuesday, it is again a Day of Reckoning. Totals:
Distance Driven: 2716.4 Km Gas: $300.26 Food: $ 331.89 Accommodation: $300.71 Other: $109.85 Total: $1042.81 Wow! Almost $350.00 over budget - sometimes I wonder if I need to continue this test....but for continuity, and for general interest, we will see it through to the end. For some reason, I am unable to upload my photos for this section of the blog, so this one is read-only! Edit note Sept 10 - added a couple of pics from Edmonton, to complete this section. dj

Backtracking

The ferry trip on the "Big Canoe" (that's what Chi-Cheemaun means in Ojibwe) was a pleasant two hour ride across the mouth of Georgian Bay and past the north tip of the Bruce Peninsula, to South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island, home of the Great Manitou. Our drive from the ferry landing across the island was uneventful, with a short 15 minute stop at the swing bridge at the North Channel, where several sailboats were making their way along the channel.



The lighthouse at the end of the Bruce Peninsula








We arrived in Espanola by early afternoon, and picked up some groceries for later. Then we were back on Highway 17, westbound toward Sault Ste Marie, on our first backtrack of this journey. Most of Northern Ontario will be a backtrack, at least to Thunder Bay. We found a campsite just east of Thessalon and a few km north of the highway, on Brownlee Lake. This spot was good value for the money, as their rates were reasonable, the site was very clean, quiet, and nicely laid out. They even had a sand beach and swimming area at the lake. We've been noticing the leaves on the trees are now noticeably going into autumn mode, with lots of reds and yellows evident in the forests. And the geese are definitely practising their formation flights. Just as well we're heading back - we won't be dawdling much now, until we get to Winnipeg, where we start looking for ancestors again.
Friday morning was yet another fine day - this is the longest and nicest run of summer we've seen yet, extending almost to a full week, with several more forecast to continue. The nights are cool, but our sleeping bag is warm enough to belay that problem. After a leisurely breakfast, we de-camped and headed into Thessalon, for a quick bank stop and email check (libraries often have good, free wifi). Then we continued the 60 Km westbound to Sault Ste Marie, where we set up camp again at the north end, returning to the Glenview Campground where we'd stayed on our first stop into the Soo. We'd organized a lunch visit with cousins Jarrell and Arlene, and ended up not only doing lunch, but also sharing the best part of the afternoon with them, catching up on summer happenings, and visiting. They'd taken photos of the 5 gravestones we'd missed on our first trip, so we were able to get those from them, rather than return to the Cemetery.



Cousins Jarrell and Arlene pose for a farewell picture









By late afternoon, we were stocking up on butane and UHT milk, both of which we'd found in short supply through the prairies. We also needed to replace a few refrigerables, as yesterday we'd managed to reverse-plug our plug-in cooler, and turned it into a heater - which made a bit of a mess of our butter and such (Happily, we'd been travelling reasonably light in the grocery department). Then it was time to meet up with Anna and Hal, our friends from some years back. Hal was working long hours, and decided not to join us, so Linda, Anna, and I went out for a dinner and a get-together. By 10 PM we'd said our goodbyes, and headed back to our camp for the night.
Saturday morning was a continuation of the good summer weather. We decided to get up a bit earlier, today, and break camp, and skip breakfast (still full from last night's big meal, I guess!). We parked in front of the campsite office to get our wifi, and sent a congratulatory email to Linda's sister, who is celebrating her 50th Anniversary today. As we drove along the shore of Lake Superior toward Wawa, Linda was driving, as I typed up the blog for later. Salmon seem to be running, as fishermen are casting their lines in the rivers, and boats are trolling. Panoramic vistas pass by us at Batchawana, Old Woman River, Montreal River. We stopped for brunch at Tim's in Wawa, switched drivers, and then continued westbound.


Someone with a sense of humour named this road, which leads to the Barrick Gold Mine.









I now sit at the Information Kiosk in Terrace Bay, halfway across the top of Lake Superior, where we are stretching our legs before switching drivers again and continuing toward Thunder Bay.

Leaving Bruce

The motel was expensive for the budget, but cheered Linda up quite a bit. Monday was a bright sunny day, and we set off for a campground in town.....nobody there for check-in yet, so off to Kincardine Cemetery to find some more graves. The caretaker there, Terry, was helpful in telling us where many of our sites were located, but we were still going to walk the entire cemetery (1500+ graves) to try and get every one that would be relevant. We phoned Aunt Orlo, back from a bit of a holiday, and organized a lunch break with her at Tim Horton's. We had a very good visit with her, and she had an old family photo for me, as well.








Visit with Orlo



After lunch, it was back to the cemetery. By late afternoon, we'd "bagged" over 110 ancestors. Then back into town, to check into the campsite just down the street from my Mom's old house. We fixed up a dinner, and then as the sun set over Lake Huron we walked out onto the pier to the Bagpipes coming from the Lighthouse.....the Phantom Piper. There is a legend of a piper who, during a fog, piped his family safely home into the harbour. Now, in the summertime, there is a Phantom Piper who plays from the Lighthouse each evening at sunset.









The Phantom Piper
















A Lake Huron Sunset





Next morning was another fine sunny day, and we wasted no time in getting out to the South Kinloss Cemetery, Armow Cemetery, Bervie, Glammis, Cargill, Tiverton, and Inverhuron Cemeteries. We managed in all to bag another 130 ancestors. Back to our campsite for a quick shower, and then we dropped in on cousin George and his wife Mary Lou, for a short visit. We organized to meet back at the campsite for a continuation of the visit over a bottle of wine and KFC, while we watched another spectacular Lake Huron sunset.





Visit with George and Mary Lou




George and Mary Lou are keen sailors, and keep a boat similar to ours, in Florida. We also discovered that not only was I related to George (which I'd always known), but also to Mary Lou on my father's side of the family. After the sun went down, it cooled off considerably, and we said our goodbyes to George and Mary Lou, and crawled into our (thankfully) warm sleeping bag.
Being a Tuesday, this is another day of reckoning. Totals for this week:
Distance driven: 683.3 Km Gas: $ 76.01 Food: $232.30 Accommodation: $317.70 Other: $80.56 Total: $ 706.30 Over budget by 91 cents a day! Close....but no cigar.
Wednesday morning was yet another bright and sunny day. As we were sipping our morning coffee, George drove in and dropped off some family history sheets to detail our relationship to Mary Lou and her Norman family lines. Then a short visit with Uncle Jack, before setting off down the road to Southampton, where the Bruce County Museum has an impressive archives. The archivist on duty, Sue, was extremely helpful in suggesting places to research, and helped us a great deal. We were able to glean a bit more information on various ancestors, including a copy of Gt-gt-grandfather Alex McKinnon's will.....but our attempts to further information on BlackJack McKay proved fruitless. By 16:30 we left the museum, and decided to head further north, to the end of the Bruce Peninsula, From here, we could take a ferry the Chi-Cheemaun, to Manitoulin Island and start our trek back across northern Ontario. A fresh fruit/veggie stand provided us with fresh corn, and after setting up camp in Tobermory, we had a bbq with freah corn, then walked to the beach to watch our last Lake Huron sunset....again photo perfect.







Our Last Lake Huron Sunset, this time in
Tobermory.











Thursday morning was a continuation of the fine weather we'd been seeing, and we lined up for the ferry at Tobermory.....where I presently sit, in a lineup, catching up on the Blog.

Rooting around for Roots

At 5AM we woke up to the patter of rain on the tent.....so we quickly grabbed our tarp, and pegged it down over the tent, and then back to bed for a few more hours. When we finally got up at 8:30, we were between showers, so packed up the camp, and then had a quick breakfast before heading into London for some more family research. Timing was good....the rain started seriously to pour, and stayed that way while we were in the London Library downtown, studying microfiche films of old newspapers and historical records. We were able to find some of what we were looking for, but we still have a few mysteries which will need to be solved elsewhere......perhaps in Kincardine, or Southampton. By early afternoon, we were visiting my gt-uncle and aunt, Bill and Grace, and my cousin Linda, all interred in the St. Peter's Cemetery. We also found Grace's father there. Then, with a short stop for groceries, we were northbound out of London. There are numerous sweet corn stands along the road, so we had to pick up a few cobs of freshly picked corn for dinner. As we passed the village of Birr, just north of London, we searched for some Hodgins ancestors, but we either had the wrong cemetery, or our people are not marked there. The general store in Birr specializes in ice cream, though, so we refreshed ourselves with a big ice cream cone each, before continuing north, and finding a campsite just north of Goderich. We set up camp, and barbecued some trout we'd bought, along with our corn, and then sat overlooking Lake Huron to watch a lovely sunset - something this side of Lake Huron is famous for. Thursday morning was overcast, but no rain was in the forecast, so we packed up, and headed into Goderich for a look around. We visited the town museum, which is surprisingly large, and very thoroughly presents the history of the Huron Tract and Goderich area. Included in our $5.00 admission was entry into the Marine Museum, at the harbour. The wheelhouse of an old freighter serves as this part of the museum, and has many interesting photos and paraphernalia relating to the history of Goderich area marine life.






Goderich Marine Museum



I was unable, however, to shed any further light on my gt-gt-grandfather, John McKay, who was a captain in schooners and steamers in Lake Huron in the mid to late 1800's. We then set out to find some more of our interred ancestors, this time in Ripley. We found many, but a few still eluded us. One in particular, Allen McKinnon, was the first person buried in Ripley.....but we found no sign of him. There was rumoured to be an older, pioneer cemetery near Ripley, however, so we set out on a quest to find it. I questioned the postmistress who thought there might be the remains of an old Presbyterian church just south and east of Ripley on the 6th Concession, so we set out. A farmer passing by us (we looked lost, so he stopped to help us) advised that his boys played at an old cemetery back in the bush.....he pointed the way, but didn't know any easy way to get to it. So we set out, walking the fields between rows of Soy Beans and Corn, and then followed a riverbank, crawling under a fence-gate, and then over an electrified fence, before we found the cemetery. Somebody has gone to a lot of trouble to preserve the remaining stones, and some are even restored.....but I'd be surprised if many people make it here, a little over a half-mile from any roads, and well-hidden in the bush.




Linda crawling under a gate to find the old Pioneer Cemetery







We found it, but none of our ancestors. From the looks of it, most of those interred here are Scots from the Lewis migration to Bruce. We had time to search the Lucknow cemetery, as well, and found a few more of our people there. Then it was time to camp for the night. So west and north we went, to the south edge of Kincardine, setting up camp in the Aintree Park, near Boiler Beach. We're to meet my brother here on Friday night, when he drives a camper in, and we will spend the weekend visiting, and seeing my aunt and uncle who still live here. This is also the weekend of the mass bands, when the Kincardine Pipe Band joins up with many other pipe bands for a Scottish extravaganza. I do happen to have a fair bit of Scottish blood in my veins, so a weekend of pipe bands sounds pretty good. We took a walk along the almost endless sands of Boiler Beach, before going to bed.
Friday morning we moved our tent to the site next to the one we'd stayed in, in preparation for meeting up with brother John in the evening. Then we headed south and east again, to find more cemeteries. It took us quite a while to find the one in Kinlough, where we were looking for ancestors of a cousin we'd offered to help......unfortunately, although we found the cemetery, most of the stones are gone or unreadable, and most of those we were looking for were unfindable. Whle searching for the cemetery, we'd stopped at Lois's Hairdressing Salon for directions, and got Linda a haircut. Then it was time to investigate the Kinloss Cemetery. You'd think that it would be in the village of Kinloss, but it isn't - it's actually the South Kinloss Presbyterian Cemetery, and it's in the north end of Lucknow. We had just arrived, and found the first of several ancestors we were trying to find, when the rain started. I don't mind walking in the rain, but the lettering on the headstones disappears when it's all wet - so we had to call it a day for that, and headed back to Kincardine. I called my Uncle Jack to invite him out to dinner, and he and his partner, Myla, asked us to come for a visit first. They live only a few blocks from the phone booth, so we were there in less than five minutes, and enjoyed a good visit. We ended up sharing a couple of wee drams, and got a pizza and wine for dinner. I also managed to hand off the audio books we'd been listening to in the car, as Jack, in his 90th year, is losing his eyesight, and I felt he might enjoy listening to some books. My aunt, Orlo, was away on vacation, but due back soon......so perhaps a bit later on we can get a visit with her. By 8PM it was time to head back to our campsite, to meet with brother John on his arrival. He rolled in with a beautiful big motorhome, and rolled out a big awning over the picnic table - at least we'd be able to eat and stay dry in the numerous rainshowers we were still getting - and which were forecast for the weekend.




Camping with John's Motorhome






By the time he was all set up, and we'd had a few beers and rum drinks over a catch-up, it was after 1AM, and time for bed, so we crawled off under our tarp for the night.
Saturday morning was still cloudy with occasional rainshowers, but we still managed to fit in a walk on the beach with the dogs, and to visit with John and Louise. We then piled into our car and headed into town, stopping for a visit with a family friend, Gordon Campbell, and then continuing on to the Legion for a few beers and to have a go at winning dinner through the Meat Draw. The beers went down well, and we got in touch with Uncle Jack, who walked over the two blocks to join us for a short time.



Visiting at the Legion with Louise, John, and Uncle Jack







Then back to our camp for a quick bite to eat (bbq'd hamburgers and salads), and back to town for the event of the summer - the mass bands. Kincardine has a very traditional Scottish air about it, and every Saturday in the summer, the Pipe Band marches down the main street and then throws a concert in the park. The last weekend of August, they host a Highland competition for Pipe Bands from all over, and in the Saturday evening, the bands mass together for a giant parade. In spite of the pouring rain, it was well attended by both bands and onlookers - likely about a thousand people lined the street and followed the huge band down the street and back, and listened to their selections. It took me back many years to the days I used to do the same thing. We managed to sleep very well that night in spite of the pouring rain. Sunday morning, the rain had not yet let up, and we huddled under John's awning for a bit of breakfast, then gathered up our tent from under the tarpaulin and got it put away without our bedding or foams getting too damp. The tent, however, was by then lying in a pool of water, as the ground had finally become saturated. Our next campsite will need to be dedicated to drying things off a bit. The showers finally abated, and John, Louise, Linda and I took the dogs to the beach for a romp, and then we packed up John's motorhome and bade them farewell.


Walking the dogs along Boiler Beach









We drove a couple of blocks to a small motel nearby, to reorganize and dry off, and catch up on laundry and internet. It is now August 31, and it appears we may need to occasionally do a motel to maintain our sanity, as fall is now approaching - and it wasn't exactly a great summer for camping! With a month of travelling left before arriving home, we will no doubt be in need of occasional comfort stops.....but the weather will dictate that more than anything.

One day at the archives was not nearly enough......so we returned for another day on Wednesday, followed by a visit to Brampton and a friend from the "old days", Carol.





Carol made us welcome in Brampton








We shared a pizza and beer before heading back to our Kamping Kabin again. Then again on Thursday, we spent the best part of the day scanning microfiche and getting what we could. By Thursday afternoon, however, we were at a point where anything further would require extensive time which we didn't have....so left that, and headed out, this time to Burlington, to visit cousins Ray and Susan, who'd invited us for dinner. We had a lovely visit and dinner with them, while a torrential downpour hit the area outside.


Cousins Ray and Sue in Burlington









It was then time to head back to St. Catharines, to sleep over at my brother John's house. My niece Kelcy was there, so we managed to get in a visit with Kelcy and her partner Shane. Friday morning was showery, and apparently the storms last night had become tornadoes in several areas of Ontario. We had a few projects......pick up my suit from the dry-cleaners, who were pressing it after being balled up in the Thule throughout the trip.......and pick up a blouse for Linda's new outfit - all in preparation for Saturday's wedding festivities. We had a lunch visit with Mom, as well.



visiting with Mom and brother John








With visits to the two main malls in St. Catharines we were able to find Linda a blouse, and then head out to Oakville, to meet up with Linda's cousin for dinner at a very nice restaurant. The waiters were very understanding about our slow speed of dining, as we were getting such a good visit with Diane and Steve. When we finally left, it was extremely coincidental to find that although we'd arrived about 20 minutes apart, in a very large parking lot we'd managed to park our cars beside each other!


Steve and Diane met us in Oakville for a pleasant visit and meal.








We drove back to St Catharines in time to take the dogs for a bit of a walk, before my brother arrived back from a Pink Floyd tribute concert. Time for a short drink/visit, and off to bed.
Saturday morning was one of the only dates we'd actually preplanned for the entire trip......so we left brother John's place in the morning to arrive at Port Colborne for late morning, to old buddies "Jaybee" and "Freddy", whose only daughter Jocelyne was being married this evening. We arrived in time to give Jaybee some meaningless advice for his Father of the Bride Speech, and then we all trooped out to the Niagara Parkway to attend the ceremonies.




The newlyweds with flower girl, Brooke









There was barely a dry eye in the church (did I tell you that I always cry at weddings?), and with Jocelyn and Jason all married off, we visited with some of Jaybee's pilot friends before heading out for a night of frivolities at the reception.





Jaybee and Freddie - proud parents!








Luckily, Jaybee had pre-arranged a limo for the drive home for the lot of us staying at his place, so we didn't need to worry about DUI problems. Arriving home, we managed to tuck into a few wee drams of scotch before actually calling it a night at 4AM. By 10AM we were sort of up and about, cooking up a storm of breakfast for the myriad people staying or dropping in, and by early afternoon we were off to pick up the cars and items left behind at the wedding the night before, and to visit a local airstrip, run by friends of Jaybee and Freddy. I was amazed to find an old friend sitting there, Leon, who'd been a flying instructor with me some 40 years ago. He'd just flown a Harvard in, and was chatting with a group of people there ....very nice to catch up again.
Back to the home in Pt. Colborne, for a pizza night, with beer and scotch (of course), and then an early sleep for all.
Monday morning we bade farewell to our friends, and drove across the Peace Bridge into Buffalo, NY (the only part of our trip in the USA), to visit with Linda's Aunt Ruth. Although she is over 90 years of age, she is more able, physically or mentally, than either myself or Linda. We went out for a lunch of Thai Food, and picked up a few groceries for dinner, then went back to her home for a visit. I was honoured to help her lay to rest the ashes of her beloved dog. It was a very nice visit, and made us appreciate that retired life really can be quite good for some time.
Tuesday morning found us back in Canada, westbound toward London, where we plan to visit some more graveyards in search of our family history. Enroute, we were able to meet up with cousin Sharon, who lives in London, but was travelling the opposite direction to us. But we at least got a catch-up over lunch, in Brantford, before continuing on and finding a mostly vacant KOA campground for our tent. It's been awhile since we've actually tented, as all of last week has been under a welcome roof....but the weather is fine, and forecast to remain so for at least a few days.
Being a Tuesday, this is also another day of reckoning, so here are our totals for Week 14:
Distance driven: 845.8 Km Gas: $101.52 Food: $216.41 Accommodation: $85.28 Other: $29.00 Total: $432.21 Almost $300.00 Under Budget for the week, thanks to generous accommodation and food help from friends and relatives, and less driving costs!

Into Southern Ontario

Holy Cow (or should that be wholly cow?)......a whole week just flew by, and NADA entered into the Blog! Sorry about that, to those of you following our trip. This entry, although it covers the entire week, will be rather short, but at least it will get us up to date again.
We had a cool night surrounded by fog from the St. Lawrence. The wifi didn't work at all here at "Rayon de Soleil" so nothing got uploaded on the blog. It was a nice bright sunny day, however, and we decided to push on past Montreal. By late morning we were crossing the St. Lawrence on a huge bridge, looking at the city of Montreal....but we continued on past it, heading for Ontario. We made a short stop in Cornwall, on the Ontario side of things, where I managed to find a barber and get a haircut which was badly needed - I was really getting into a "Bushman Look". Then on to Kingston, where we cruised along the waterfront, and made a quick lube stop (third oil change for the car so far). From here it was a short drive into the picturesque mill town of Spencerville, where we were able to track down a gt-uncle, Bert Jarrell, who was buried here, along with his family. Genealogy duties complete, we treated ourselves to an ice cream cone - the weather was definitely feeling summery (actually, quite warm and sunny) - and then continued a short distance to Mallorytown, where we pitched our tent for the night. From here I was able to contact some friends, Heinz and Marie, who live in Oshawa, and organized a visit for the following day.
In the morning, it was still summer, and threatening to continue for some time! We continued our westward trek, stopping for a memory-lane-moment in Port Darlington, Bowmanville, where we'd spent our first days together on our first boat, "Bronwen", a 37 ft Alberg which was our first home together, for 3 years. The place has changed a lot....not enough water for sailboats, and beer in the patio lounge priced for the upper-crust crowd (we had two draught beers for $16.00). Then it was a short hop into Oshawa, to visit our friends Heinz and Marie, who we'd first met in our Pt. Darlington days, and since remained good friends.



Heinz is showing us his woodwork.....Marie had already left for work.










We had a very nice visit into the night, and camped on their living room floor for the night. We saw Marie off to work in the morning, said our goodbyes to Heinz, and continued on through Toronto and around the Horseshoe at the end of Lake Ontario, into St. Catharines, to my brother John's home.






Pool cleaning and family bonding - brother John and myself.










This became our "base of operations" for the next few days, with visits with my brother and his partner, and my niece. My mom also lives in St. Catharines, so we also got in some serious family visiting time there. One evening, while walkiing the dogs (4 dogs at my brother's place), we had a "skunk encounter", and had to do a bit of dog-washing.


Brother John, Niece Elyse on de-skunking duties










My sister Marg, and her family, are going through a very rough period with Albert, my brother-in-law, and friend, being quite ill. We were able to get in a couple of short visits there, and nephew Jonathan managed to squeeze in a family dinner get-together for one evening which gave us a great chance for a catch-up and visit with much of my sister's family. Through these four days summer continued hot and sunny, and we managed to get a lot of quality family time in. As well, we managed to find Linda an outfit for the coming wedding, which we'll be attending next weekend in Pt. Colborne. And we also managed to get some preparation time in for our genealogy trek back to Toronto, to visit the archives.
Tuesday morning we headed back into Toronto, and found the Ontario Archives waiting for us at York University. It's a very modern and new building, and took us awhile to familiarize ourselves with the details of doing our research here. Due to the huge numbers of records here (Births, Marriages, Deaths, Wills, Property records, and County Histories) everything is indexed on microfiche, and to find anything takes a process which is a bit time-consuming, but reasonably efficient. We managed to find a number of our ancestral records, but left by early afternoon because of the rush hour traffic. About 45 minutes west of the city we set up camp near Milton, in a KOA Kamping Kabin (possible thundershowers and we needed more room for organizing the records than a tent could provide). Having another blown budget for the week, we decided " What the Hell" anyways, and had our dinner at a local pub, before adding up our final figures for the week:
Distance driven: 1487.9 KM Gas: $ 153.47 Food: $ 418.50 Accommodation: $ 90.01 Other: $ 91.29 Total:$ 753.27 Another over-budget week!

Goodbye to the Maritimes

Monday morning we woke up to steady, solid rain. It was a bit of a challenge to dismantle the bedding and tent under the tarp to keep it from getting wet, but managed - then breakfast in a camp shelter. By 0815 we were driving out of the Park, heading for Hopewell Rocks. On cue, the rain started, and we continued to this geologic wonder under cloudy skies. Reddish-coloured sandstone cliffs with caves, and pillars carved by the tides, which are quite high, are the attraction here. We walked to the site of Flowerpot Island, walking on the seabed, and continued along the trails, viewing the caves and arches etched out of the shoreline. Our timing was good, as we'd managed to arrive at low tide, when all was uncovered for a few hours.





Hopewell Rocks





By 1100 we were heading back to our car, and managed to find a phone where we could phone back to Victoria to chat with our friend and financial advisor, Keith - all seems well on that side of things. From Hopewell, we continued north to Moncton, where we were able to find some groceries, and a new regulator for our BBQ. Then south and west, through Petitcodiac. We had to phone our friend Ambi from there to get directions, and determined the best way to find him was to meet him someplace. He suggested we wait for him in Elgin, which we did.....and yes, it IS that small that we needed no further directions as to where in Elgin. Ambi drove up a couple of minutes after our arrival, with his three dogs in the car, looking just like we always remember him.





Ambi with his 3 dogs








His post office is in Elgin, so we dropped in there to get our address book which had arrived there, thanks to Gord in Sydney forwarding it for us. Then we followed Ambi along some winding country roads back to his home. After getting settled, we took the dogs for a run, and then repaired our barbecue with the replacement regulator - thankfully, Ambi had all the correct size tools for the job. We were then able to use the barbecue to make dinner and visit.







2 old buddies visiting











Tuesday morning was another cloudy day, but considering it had rained most of the night, that was fine with us. We packed up our things, and bade farewell to Ambi, and his dogs Dulcie, Jethro, and Shadow, and his friend Gary who'd dropped in for a coffee. It would be quite possible to spend many more days in New Brunswick, but time now dictates a drive to get to Ontario in time for our friends' wedding, and to complete some genealogy, and visit friends and family. So today we forgo the back roads and take to the main highways, west and northbound, past Fredericton. We took a short detour about 30 KM northwest of Fredericton to view another of the world's "est" things - in this case, the world's largest Axe. It stands over 49 feet above the St. John River, and is built from several tons of stainless steel. Having done that, we continued enroute, stopping for a short lunch at Tim Horton's, and passing the World's longest Covered Bridge (yup....still in New Brunswick!) in Hartland. The goal here is to continue out of New Brunswick, and a short way into Quebec, which will make a fairly long day of over 500 KM (long for us, at least). Then another long day for Wednesday through Quebec, to get closer to our scheduled timing for Southern Ontario. By 1700 we had crossed over the border from NB to Quebec, via Edmunston, and picked up some food for dinner, then continued on to Riviere du Loup, on the St. Lawrence River. We turned west again along the south shore of the river, and found a campground about 25 KM west of Riviere du Loup. By crossing into Quebec, we'd moved from Atlantic to Eastern time zone, so gained an hour, and were cooking our supper by 1800. The site has wifi, so with any luck we can upload this Blog and stay current for yet another day. Being a Tuesday, we have yet another day of reckoning, and again we will be over our budget, mainly because of the ferry to St. John (I know I've been maligning the cost of ferries lately, but it can sure wreak havoc on a tight budget!). We also treated ourselves to a couple of meals out, and bought a regulator for the barbecue. So for this, week 12 of our trip, the totals are as follows:
Distance driven: 1608.3 KM Gas: $ 187.18 Food: $ 350.67 Accommodation: $ 174.06 Other: $ 269.04 Total: $980.95 This week we were over budget by almost $281.00!

Fundy Sunday

The ferry thing worked! Just off St. John, New Brunswick, the wifi speed increased to a speed where I could upload the Blog and a few pictures. There was just enough time to get that done, pack the computer away, and jump in the car to get off. The ferry, although leaving on time, had to wait outside St. John Harbour for a while for an outbound cruiseship, so we arrived a bit late - just as the sun was setting. That made finding our campground interesting, as we don't know our way around the town at all. The campsite is in the city itself, on a hill and beside a lake, overlooking the city. Quite picturesque. They don't take reservations- not that we were in the habit of making them, but for a Saturday night, we were a bit concerned about finding a vacant spot. No problem.....we found the place, and set up (it took a bit longer, as we'd reconfigured our car for the ferry crossing and put the Thule car-carrier inside, due to overheight costs). But we'd eaten our sandwiches on the ship, so had lots of time. It turned out to be a fine campground, with all the amenities one could wish for, and a view, for 30% less than the previous evening. We didn't spend a lot of time in St. John, however, as the Reversing Falls struck us as a version of several of the tidal bores we have on the West Coast, and to time the reversal from the tide, we'd have to spend half a day there, waiting.....otherwise it would just be water flowing one way or the other.

St. John






The other sights of the town would not be available on a Sunday, so we headed out of town, bound for the Fundy National Park. On the way, we passed the village of St Martin, with sea caves gouged out of the red sandstone cliffs.




St. Martin Shoreline








We also passed our first covered bridge, something the area has lots of. We walked the shore at low tide, and viewed the caves from the seabed we were walking on.


A covered bridge, and low tide for the boats










Then, a short time later, we were passing the town of Sussex, which has over 16 covered bridges in the county (more than half within a 12 kilometre radius of the town). We stopped here for a bite of lunch at (you guessed it....Tim Horton's), and then a grocery store for tonight's dinner feast. Sussex also claims to be the place where Ice Cream Cones were invented, accidentally, when a bad batch of dough turned to hard, crispy pastry and baker Walter Donelly went next door to the ice cream parlour. Being a hard-core ice-cream lover, I was determined to find an ode to this event, but couldn't.....until, a short time out of town, we came across a sign advertising home-made ice cream. I had to stop and check it out, and discovered the best ice cream I've ever tasted, albeit a bit expensive ($5.00 for a single scoop cone). Mr McCabe, who made the ice cream, was an interesting fellow in his own right, as he chatted to us about politics and history. He had email attestations to his ice cream from all over the world, as well as interesting pictures of mummies and photos of reliefs from the ruins of Persepolis (ancient Iran). When I commented about one of the relief characters looking like the Gnome from Travelocity, he gave us a very interesting and educational lecture on the lost tribes of Israel, and how the reliefs shows historic proof of the actual nature of the people called "Scythians" . The ice cream was well worth the price, and the rest of the visit was worth much more!





We must be in New Brunswick....another covered bridge!










Following this entertaining stop, we continued on our route, ending up at Fundy National Park, setting up camp for the evening, and then hiking along several of the area trails. The views from the park are very panoramic and inspiring.

View from Point Wolfe Campground in Fundy Park









We took a short drive to the village of Alma, where we found we could get wifi, so on the way out tomorrow,we will upload this next segment of the Blog on our way to Hopewell Rocks, which are sandstone sculptures and islands which become accessible from the seabed at low tide. Then we will leave Fundy, travelling inland to visit with our friend Glen, AKA Ambi. We are running out of time for our committments in Ontario, so following that, the plan is to start leaping westward into Ontario to visit family and friends, and attend a wedding in Pt. Colborne.