The Ongoing Saga of the Life and Times of Denice and Dennis's Retirement - 2010/2011 version

Four New States -- and Counting

2010-10-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

Oct 27th
Left Winchester this morning by 9:30AM and headed down I 81. Went through several cities, Strasburg, Mount Jackson, Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Lexington. On the map all these places look like just small towns, but in reality they are fairly large urban centers along both sides of Highway 81. This freeway is another very busy one, with it seems a million trucks heading both ways. Speed limit is 65 MPH. You just need to watch you "P's" and "Q's", and keep in your own lane, and "Go with the Flow," and every thing will work out OK. We saw one car that did not follow the rules, and traffic was backed up behind him for a few miles, until the parts and pieces could be cleared away. For about 20 or 30 miles we got caught in a torrential downpour, so had to be especially careful during that time. This probably was the tail end of the "Tornado Watch Warnings" that were broadcast last night between 8:00PM and 3:00AM this morning . We were happy nothing materialized out of that other than some very heavy rain squals through the night. We arrived early at the Natural Bridges KOA RV Park, shortly after noon, and checked in. A nice park built on a hill and rolling lands. Each site is on its own contoured level. We are right on the top. Once settled in we checked out the weather for the next week, both here and where we plan on stopping for our next stop. We had registed for two nights, but after checking our route and timing to be in San Antonio about the 18th of November, we decided to expend our stay here for five nights, leaving Monday Morning, instead of Friday. The clerk had to to do some juggling of sites with other clients, but finally was able to sort it all out so that we would not have to move to a different side for the week end. Surprisingly, it seems things get quite busy here, even at this time of the year, down here. We found it very warm and humid this afternoon, about 75 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity must be 95%. We must be getting to warmer weather now as there are mosquitoes here.
Oct 26th
Went down town today to Valley of the Shenandoah Museum. Well done museum with lots of history. Also, the restored home and Gardens of James Wood, a governor of Virginia in the 1700's. The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) interprets the art, history, and culture of the great valley for which it is named.

An interesting item in the museum. An old authentic still. Some parts are missing.

The Zerkel Still operated in Shenandoah County into the 1900’s. Here is how Michael J. Zerkel recorded his mash recipe. (read it a couple of times and out loud to get a flavor of his speech pattern)
January 28th 1838 Shenandoah County Virginia Holman Creek

"For to still rye & corn first make you est take 6 quarts Boiling Watter. And than But 2 or 3 galling cole watter in you tup and than 12 galling watter and than 1 Bushel corn meal and stoir it ride will and let it stan one half hour and than take 24 galling watter and stur it well and than spret chop over it so the thumpt cant gid out and let it stan til till you can live you han in and than 2 or 3 galling watter put the Mold in stur it up and But the Rye Meal in and let it stan until you can live you han in and than you fil up tup with cold watter and than But you est on it. That all what Be Longs to it for to Mash."

MJ Zerckel

This regional museum complex in Winchester, Virginia, includes a historic house dating to the eighteenth century, six acres of spectacular gardens, and a museum designed by internationally recognized architect Michael Graves.

The Garden with its display of roses

You could easily spend the better part of a day at this museum site. Plan for about 45 minutes to tour the historic house, at least an hour to explore the six acres of gardens on your own, and another hour or so in the Museum galleries. One good approach is to experience the house and gardens in the morning, have lunch in the Museum Tea Room, and see the galleries in the afternoon. Or vice versa. The Museum Cafe is also a good place for afternoon tea. Don't miss the Museum Store during your visit. Home by 5:00PM
Oct 25th
No action today - Just relaxing

Nice Sunset this evening

Oct 24th
Planned on going in to Washington again today - even got up early to get ready, but after a coffee and giving it further thought we just decided against it. We had already seen the sights there, although if we had gone in we would have been closer to all the points of interest, but we can at least say we have been to Washington DC. Instead we decided to take a drive down the Shenandoah Skyline Trail.

The Skyline Drive runs 105 miles north and south along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park and is the only public road through the park. You can enter Shenandoah at four places: Front Royal near Rt. 66 and 340, Thornton Gap at Rt. 211, Swift Run Gap at Rt. 33, and Rockfish Gap at Rt. 64 and Rt. 250 (also the northern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway). It takes about three hours to travel the entire length of the park on a clear day.
As you travel along Skyline Drive you will notice mileposts on the west side (right side if you are traveling south) of the road. These posts help you find your way through the park and help you locate areas of interest. The mileposts begin with 0.0 at Front Royal and continue to 105 at the southern end of the park. The largest developed area, Big Meadows, is near the center of the park, at milepost 51. All park maps and information use these mileposts as a reference.
The maximum speed limit is 35 mph, so you can roll down your windows, feel the breeze and experience every curve and turn of this beautiful drive. There are 75 overlooks that offer stunning views of the Shenandoah Valley to the west or the rolling piedmont to the east. The park purposely leaves the roadsides unmowed so wildflowers put on a show all year long. In early spring you can see trillium peeking through the grass. June’s display of azaleas is spectacular, and cardinal flower, black-eyed susans, and goldenrod keep the color coming right into fall.
Deer, black bear, wild turkey, and a host of other woodland animals call Shenandoah home and regularly cross Skyline Drive in their daily travels.
When we decided not to go the Washington we were under the impression that if we took the Skyline road we would be rather remote and away from the crush of people. NOT SO! When we arrived at the Park Entrance traffic was backed up a mile waiting to get in. Once through the registration, the traffic did spread out somewhat, just by the fact of that the entry had evenly spaced the vehicles. The 35 MPH was good and the view points excellent. Colors are still great here, so we got another bunch of nice pictures.

We only drove about 1/3rd of the entire route, as time was starting to run short. We took highway #211 at Thornton Gap back to I 81 and back home by 6:00PM
Oct 23rd
Just another R&R&R Day - weather good, so just enjoyed a quiet day

A Great Harvest Moon Tonight - Where did the witch come from -- Denice ---- Not often you can catch a photo like that!

Oct 22nd
Well, we did go into Washington DC today. I guess this maybe was just a "thumbnail" visit. Drove the 80 or so miles into the Vienna Metro Station, bought an all day pass for $9 each, then boarded to high speed train into DC. Most of the route is underground so saw little of the 3/4 hour ride.

The Metro Station at the Smithsonian Station

Passed many "stop and go" stations along the way and exited at the Smithsonian Museum station. Here were only a couple of blocks from the Washington Monument, the very high obelisk in the center of Washington D.C.The Washington Memorial

The Capital Buildings

The White House

The Lincoln Memorial

The Smithsonian Castle

From here we were able to see the "White House," the "Capital," the "Smithsonian Castle," and the "Lincoln Memorial." Along the "Mall" are the Smithsonian Museums, and a bunch of other memorials buildings and Monuments. Denice's hip was bothering her today, so the amount of walking that would have been required to see them all was out of the question. The whole area is in the shape of a giant "X," each arm about one mile long. A person could easily walk eight miles to see it all in detail. From the center, with our telephoto lenses we were able to take shots of most of it. As it was now after lunch time we asked where we could find a place where we could get a hamburger or hotdog, and were told in the downstairs "Food Court" of the Regan Building, just a block away. Seems restaurants are a non item right along the mall or parks. We found the Ronald Regan Building and went inside. First time I have ever had to go through a Security Search to go to a McDonalds!!! There were a multitude of Fast Food vendors here, so we were able to fill our needs. Once back out, we assessed what our next move should be. It was now about 2:30 or so. If we wanted to see more we would have like to take a "Tourmobile" tour that includes 21 stops around the Capital, but we knew it was far too late for that. It was with some hesitation, that we decided the best option was to probably just catch the Metro and go home today and maybe come back another day and catch the "Tourmobile" immediately and try to choose the stops most important to us. The Smithsonian Museums are just out of the question, as they are huge, and we know that you could literally spend days going through them. We had got what we really came for, and that was to say we have been to Washington DC, and have pictures to prove it. Whether we go back again is still up for debate. After the Metro ride and out onto Highway 66 homeward bound, we were into the afternoon rush of traffic with 4 lanes each way and heavy congestion. This is not our "Cup of Tea," and we were gald to back home for dinner. An "Applee's is close by, so a steak with them was a nice ending of a rather hectic day!
Oct 21st
Just an R&R&R day - that's Rest, Relax and Read
And go the Wally World for groceries
We are planning a trip to Washington DC for tomorrow. Drive to the outskirts at Vienna on Highway 66, about 70 miles, then park at the Metro, and take it to the Capital. Apparently for about $8 you can have a day pass on the Metro and it has stops at all the places of interest. just hop on and ride to the next place you want to stop.
EASY EH!!!
We'll fill you in on the details after we get home tomorrow night -------------
Oct 20th
Today must have been a long, long day. We crossed four states. Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.

And now the rest of the Story: We only drove 96 miles. We had stayed overnight in Pennsylvania, so this morning drove 45 miles in that state, then 13 miles in Maryland, 23 miles in West Virginia, and the remainder in Virginia. For us Canadians who are used to driving for days through one province, we find this rather intriguing. I guess, something like European Countries. Anyway we were comfortably set up in Winchester, Virginia at Candy Hill RV Park by noon. We talked to the gal at the check-In about a side trip to Washington, and she filled us in on all the details, so we reserved for a week.
We may make a couple of trips in, to be able to see all that we wish, or maybe even three times with a days rest between each visit to rest up. In the afternoon Denice decided it was Laundry day, so she did that little - well not so little - task. Now we are good to go for another week -- or two.

A Chocolate Civil War

2010-10-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Oct 19th
Second day of adventure here in Carlisle, PA. We decided to take a run back to Hershey, where the famous Hershey Chocolate Bars are made.This was about 40 miles of back tracking, but with the assistance of the jeeps GPS, a fairly easy task. On the way, Highway 83 passes over the Sasquehanna River, and in the distant, some 10 miles away we were able to see the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant. If you don't remember the details of that News Item in 1979, there is an excellent article on it at:
http://www.pahighways.com/features/threemileisland.html

I borrowed this picture from the web, as we really did not get quite this close, but this is the #2 site that was the one with the problem that almost became a disaster, and is now shut down forever.

As we were on an Interstate traveling at 65MPH with no pull outs available, we of coarse did not get a picture of it. Even Denice, as quick a she is, missed it! Traveled another 25 miles on into Hershey and first to the Hershey Gardens. This is a large immaculately groomed garden in the heart of Hershey.
It was the original site where M.S. Hershey started the gardens away back in 1936. Here is a part of the history:
At a dinner for the Federation of Pennsylvania Garden Clubs, Milton S. Hershey was approached to sponsor a national rose garden in Washington, D.C.. he instead decided to open a rose garden in Hershey, PA where he and the community could enjoy it. Mr. Hershey's response was "Well, we have been planning a Garden of our own; and, before we give that amount of money for the politicians to play with, we better spend some of it at our own place . . . " The next day horticulturalist, Harry Erdman began staking out the garden. 12,000 roses were planted, The Hershey Gardens first opened to the public on June 2, 1937 as a rose garden occupying 3.5 acres. On the first day more than 20,000 visitors came to see the rose garden. In 1937, 1939 and 1941 Milton Hershey added more gardens. By 1941 the gardens had been enlarged to their current size, Then in 1942, the land to the east of the Rose Garden was deemed unfit on which to farm or build houses. At this Milton Hershey gave Erdman the orders to make another garden. He asked for no plans or cost estimates. Only telling Erdman he would tell him to stop if it got too big. In 1998 a Butterfly House opened. In 2003, the children's Garden opened. The Children's Garden covers 1 1/2 acreas and features almost 30 separate gardens designed to teach about plants through interactive, hands-on displays. Today the gardens include an arboretum, The Children's Garden, herb garden, Japanese garden, magnolia grove, oak grove, ornamental grass collection, perennial garden, conifer collection, two substantial rose gardens, and a seasonal flower garden. The rose garden contains about 7,000 rose bushes representing 275 varieties. The gardens also contain a butterfly house featuring 300 butterflies of some 25 varieties.

Hershey's also have a very large "Summer Playland," but now shut down for the winter.

From the gardens we went down the hill to the Hershey Chocolate factory. Here we bought about 100 lbs of chocolate! (that's not the weight of the purchase, but the weight it will add to our frames if we were to eat it all. I'm sure a bunch of our family will help us, but it will still will add up to a hundred pounds).

We went to a 3D animated show of the Hershey Chocolate Empire. It was very good with excellent 3D content and effects, including actually feeling rain drops and smelling Hershey's chocolate being made.

We ended our tour by making our own version of Chocolate bar, where we chose all the extra ingredients and toppings, as well as the packaging detail.To do this we had to don hairnets (even if no hair) and aprons to be allowed into the inside of the factory. The complete setup is controlled by computers and once you select all the items you want, on a computer screen, you can watch while the various machines put it all together.

Here is my Chocolate Bar being built!

First the bar base rolls out, then additives in the center, then different ones, now chocolate covering, then setting up a little, and sprinkles on top, then wrapping and packaging. Complete!!

The completed project is tastefully (not a pun) presented to you in a tin box with a Hershey's bag for you to take home for your memories. Not sure when I may be allowed to taste my concoction!!
Oct 18th
Note** Because of the multitude of pictures we are taking at some of these places it was necessary for me to figure out a way to display them without boring my audience with too many, so I have found a way to show the thumbnails of our pictures in pages of six at a time. Click on any one of them to enlarge for better viewing.
We were planning on moving farther south today , but you know those Jello castings! Found a lot of things in the area that we should visit while we are here, so delayed our next reservation for 2 days, and reserved here for two more. We decided since we are this close that we should go to Gettysburg. It's only about 30 miles away. Should be a short day to run down to the museum and look around and then return home. Well, we left home at 9:30AM, and just got back at 8:00PM this evening. There is just soooo much to see there!! We started at the Gettysburg museum. It is a large building with several corridors done with very life like scenes from the Civil War, depicting many of the historic events.

When you exit from these corridors, you ,of course, end up in the gift shop. We bought a few items and then the cashier advised us of the self guided tour, assisted by an audio CD, of the historic battle between the North and South, through the actual battle grounds around town. We bought the disk and started the tour. We had no idea how many monuments there were through out to tour.

We started taking pictures of each one, but by about 4:00PM, even Denice was by passing some of them.

The drive around tour must have been about 10 miles, and I'm sure there were at least 200 individual monuments.

The two on the lower left are taken from the Eisenhower Tower. It is about 100 feet high and you get a grand view of the surrounding Battle Field ! The lower center is looking down from the top at the 100 or so steps.

We have pictures of most of them for proof. I had forgot the battery for my camera, that was charging in ELTORO , so I was forced to use Denice's new "little" camera. About evening twilight time Denice's "Big" camera battery died, her second battery of the day. Soon the little camera battery also died. We were not quite done the tour yet, but we were out of camera power, We also had not stopped for lunch all day, so immediately after exiting the park we found a KFC, and went in for dinner. Chicken never tasted so good!! Then had to return to ELTORO in Carlisle in the dark. A great Day!! Do not ever miss Gettysburg if you have a chance!!

And Inland to Natures Paradise of Fall Colors

2010-10-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

Oct 17th
Left Belden Hill Campground and headed south again. Through Binghampton, New York and onto Interstate Highway 81, and into Pennsylvannia.

This is an interstate that runs all the way from the Canadian Border at Kingston to almost Knoxsville Tennessee where it merges with I 40. South of Knoxsvill I 40 heads west, and here I think we will take I 75, a more southern route towards to San Antonio. Today was an easy drive, although on freeway most of the time. The colors are still great although in places most of the leaves have fallen.
Traffic, of course, is quite heavy being a 4 or 6 lane interstate highway. Cities are numerous all along the way, but an interstate is the easiest way through. We got to Carlyle, PA and the Western Village RV Park by about 2:00PM and checked in. A nice Park!

The Susquahanna River near Harrisburg, PA. A big river that empties into the Chesapeake Bay only 60 miles from here

Oct 16th
Still some light showers this morning, but by noon the sun started to shine through. Didn't really know what to do today, but Denice needed some threads for her stitching, so I googled where there might be a "Michaels." Found one about 20 miles away in Vestal, PA. Decided to go for it! With the help of the jeeps GPS found it easily. Now to let Denice free in a craft store is a real challenge. Manage to heard her out after a hour. Seems $3.00 worth of thread added up to about $100!! Go Figure!! Then stopped at a "Staples" store. Dropped an other $100 there. I have to admit some of that was me. Bought a Hallmark Card program, the Deluxe Model, for $60. I always wanted this one, so now you can be assured you will be getting cards from "EL Cheapo" in your in basket from this day forward. Customized, of course!! Then stopped at Outback Steakhouse for lunch, before heading home. For dinner Denice made spaghetti , but neither of us ate enough to even justify te need after our lunch at Outback.
Oct 15th
Just hanging in here today. Nasty day outside, Rain and wind, 45 degrees.
Haircut Day - Denice does mine, I her's -------------- I know that is a little scary, isn't it, but it turned out rather well, we both agree

Next time a perm and a cut!! ------------ I don't think so!!
Oct 14th
Well, plans were for heading on farther south today, and had even made reservations with Western Village RV Park in Carlisle, Pennsylvania for the night. This morning, had a look at the weather for Carlisle and found that there was a 90% chance of heavy Rain today, showers and wind tomorrow and wind on Saturday. Evan the forecast for here in Binghampton, New York, they are forecasting rain for the next day or two. Now since we are something like the shifting whispering sands, and have no real sense of direction, we just decided to settle here until the weather improves some. We just had to move down from this parks upper section as Joe wants to shut that section down tomorrow for the winter, so we moved to the lower part and settled in again. We needed some groceries so went 8 miles into Binghampton and found a Weis Grocery store. Very nice large store layout. Bought what we needed plus a lot we didn't, and returned home for lunch. By the time we got back to ELTORO is was already starting to rain. Spent the rest of the day just reading and getting caught up on my blog, etc. Funny thing, after all the traveling we have done since we left southern Ontario, when I looked at the map and did a few calculations found we were only a little over 100 miles from the Canadian Ontario border. No wonder the weather is getting colder!! Those arctic winds from North of the 49th!! We have to get on moving south!! But not in the Rain!! And lets not even talk about that S____ word!
Oct 13th
Woke up this morning to frost on the widows and grass around the motor home. The thermometer says 29 degrees Fahrenheit. Just high lights our need to head on south ASAP. Headed out before 9:00AM this morning and drove down a rather steep grade for 9 miles into Bennington Vermont. Last night as I lay awake thinking what the issue with ELTORO's missing could be, my thoughts turned to the possibility of low octane gas that I have been using for all of our trip. In Bennington I filled with High Octane. It took about 25 gallons, so mixed with the other 30 or 40 gallons in the tank, should give a better quality. For the remainder of the day, we never seemed to have a problem, until just the last few miles before today's stop, has a couple of misses. Tomorrow I will again fill with High Test, and carry on. That may resolve the problem, but I have this nagging feeling that maybe something else is causing it. Some electronic module, or sensor, but will have to just see what happens. Of coarse this upsets Denice, but I just take it in stride. "What ever will be will be!"

Now that is one big kitchen cupboard and sink!!

But on the vacation side, we left the campground and went west through Bennington and on into Albany New York on highway #7, then switched to 87 for 6 miles, then to Toll Road #90 for 11 miles. When we went through the first Toll Booth, the attendant just gave us a 4" x 6" card and said, "Have a Good Day." that was nice of him and we really did not know why he did not charge, but we figured that just told the next booth where we got on to the Toll Road, and would have to pay as we left. We were really surprised when we stopped at the next booth and showed our card and the gal just said, "Have a Great Trip." I guess we just looked like good people, or maybe we looked too poor to pay. Anyway, what ever the reason, "Thank You New York State, we appreciate it" Now we were on Highway 81 and as we drove along it, down a long valley the colors just kept getting better and better. Difficult to decide what pictures to add to this blog, Denice was just a snapping and a snapping, but finally she even said, "How many can I take, every corner is just another great shot.

Just couldn't decide on the best ones to show, so put in a whole bunch. These are about 25 of the best shots that Denice took as we traveled down the road today
(double click to view full size)

Arrived at Belton Hill Campground by 2:00PM and checked in. Beautiful park with 4 ponds and over looking a golf course and a very picturesque valley.

The next 4 are sunrise at the Park - Yes we do get up in time to see the sunrise!!

And then Denice got a few pictures of Birds!

The day was great with calm conditions and a temperature near 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Most enjoyable!!
Oct 12th
Left York and the Atlantic coast this morning and headed inland. Our route took us south on I 95 into New Hampshire, but turned west onto highway 4 just prior to the Toll Booth, "Bonus." Followed 101, 3, & 93 to Concord New Hampshire. Then 89, 202, & 9 down through Keene NH and into Vermont at Battleboro. Then to Greenwood RV Park and Campsite near Bennington.

As we progressed westward the colors were great. What more can say from what I have already said in past days. But also the hills got bigger and steeper. Then we started to experience some difficulty with ELTORO. It was fine going level, but started to miss pulling the real steep hills. I stopped once and crawled under, but could find no problems so just chugged on as we only had a few more miles to the RV Park we had reserved. Once there I asked about the possibility of a mechanic and they gave me a name of one who had come out to there park several times in the past. I called him and told of the issue. I suggested it might be a fuel filter problem and asked if he would bring one with him. Within 15 minutes he was here. Hooked up ELTORO to his GM diagnosis computer and checked for codes. Found nothing significant. Changed the fuel filter, but it did not seem as was that dirty. Checked wiring and anything else that he could think of that might be an issue. Only $170 damages! We will have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens.

Mainly Maine

2010-10-10T14:14:00.002-07:00

Oct 11th
Today took a drive down along the coast through New Hampshire and into Massachusetts.

We stayed right on the coast. Here the highway is along the coast with the houses on the other side of the road. In a lot of coast towns we have found the houses get the ocean front property and the highway is behind the house, giving little opportunity for tourists to even see the beaches. Here it's much better. And those houses along here, I think they belong to some of those "not so poor" people, that we only hear about.

Maybe should throw in an offer for this one, EH! Should be within our range. How about a trade for a motor home?

Fort McLeary

Through the Rifle Slot at Ft. McCleary!

Where we turned back we were only about 40 miles from Boston, but had no real desire to go there. It would be nice to see some of the history there, but we would have had to try to find some sort of organized tour. For us to try to find our way around Boston was just out of the question. We turned back and returned home for lunch, and then went north along the coast for a few miles to Nubble Light House.

Nubble Light House

Took a few pictures, then at a restaurant at the sit bought some Lobster salad, and took it home to add to our "Turkey" Thanksgiving Dinner. Once home Denice cooked Yams, Mashed Potatoes, and White Shoepeg corn, while I Bar-B-Que'd that big Turkey, Boy what a meal, chased with a little bubblyl!!!

Check out that big "Turkey!!"

Oct 10th
Moved on south today. After reaching Bangor Maine on 1A, we took 395, and 95 all the way to almost the new Hampshire border before turning off and going out to the Atlantic and to Libby's RV Resort in York Maine. Route was partially on toll roads so had to pay 3 times, $3.50, $3.50, and $7,00. Twice we only had to travel a very short distance on the toll road, before turning off, but there are no exceptions, but to pass through their pay booths. Checked in at Libby's RV Resort, "Choke, choke," $75/ night. That I guess is the most we have ever paid, In Bend Oregon we paid $60, but there we had interlocking brick pads and all the amenities, Here, only a view of the Atlantic.

It was only 100 ft from the front of ELTORO!! Oh well. just the cost of doing business!! Remainder of day just relaxed and enjoyed the $75 view!!
Oct 9th
Spent the morning trying to get our new cell phone to work. It had been activated two days ago and all you need to do to call Canada is dial 1-800-706-3898, listen for message and then for Canada dial 1 for English, then the number in Canada. Easy!! NOT!! it would not go through. We tried several times. Call TracPhone Help line, Push 3, push 4, push 1, push 1 for representative, put on hold, finally talk to someone very far away in some almost foreign language. She asks number of phone, then serial number of phone, and then after consulting with her supervisor advises before dialing the Canadian number, clear the "1" for English, then dial Canada. OK. I hang up, try it. No Good!! Call help line again. Push 3, push 4, push 1, push 1 for representative, put on hold, finally talk to another person very far away in some almost foreign language. He asks number of phone, then serial number of phone. He says we do not have the phone set up to make International calls. Now how would I know that?? I search through the manual, and in very small print at the bottom of one page find the text saying that International calling must be set up. How am I supposed to do that. He says he will do it but will take 48 hours before activated. OK so much for that! We will wait 48 hours.
Back to Bar Harbor again, and drove down to south-western harbor to see a lighthouse, Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, on highway 102. It was a bit of a let down as it was quite small, but still an interesting trip down to there, just enjoying the fall colors. This road does a loop around the southern part of the Island along the coast. Some good picture taking point along the way, but today was cool and windy again, so stops were short and to the point! Then we changed coarse and went into Bar Harbor Town.

Here is outdoor Lobster Cooking Pots

More Colors

Another neat little tourist town with about a thousand restaurants, and the same number of tourist gimmick stores. We did stop and have lunch, Denice Oysters Rockefellar and I, the Clam Chowder. Today two Cruise ships were in the bay.

The Queen Mary II

The Costa Atlantica

The Costa Atlantica and The Queen Mary II. The one that was in yesterday has left. We returned to Trenton, where we are camped and bought a few groceries at Walmart. Then home
Oct 8th
This morning sunny, calm and 10 degrees C. Guess as we are in USA better change to F. OK, how about 55 degress F. Bar Harbor, here we come!
Bar Harbor is out on an Island, although there is only a very short causeway to get out onto it. About half the Island is private land with many, many tourist outlets. The other half is Acadia National Park. One of the unique things about the Island is the private and Park land is separated, and each has there own road system, although there are several cross overs, but they are almost non visible,hidden in the trees with stone bridges over intersecting points. Went down and into Acadia National Park and completed their entire loop Road of the park, after registering and buying a yearly National Park Pass. Lots of "Pull Outs" along the road and some great photo Ops.

Colors

Water tumbled gravel on a beach

The Thunder Hole

Sand Beach

The Aida above and the "Cat" below

In fact much of the route was one way, but two lanes, and you could stop at will anywhere in the right lane. Speed limit was 25, 30, or 35 MPH at the greatest.. Main points of interest were, Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Otter Point, Jordon's Pond, Eagle Lake and Cadillac Mountain.

From the top of Cadillac Mountain

It rises to 1530 feet and you are right on the top with a 360 degree vista of the entire area. It was sure nice, but it was a cool windy day, so didn't stay long enough to see it all. From the top a large cruise ship was clearly visable in the bay. It was the Aida, with a rather unique paint job, with lips and eyes on the bow. On the way home stopped at the Chart Room Restaurant for a lobster and shrimp dinner. A fine dinner it was too!!
Oct 7th
This morning went back to Walmart and had them activate our new phone. We will be sending an email to all our friends and family with our new phone number, but prefer not to put it in my blog. We are now official Maine Residents, at least we have a phone number! Returned to the RV park. It is a rather cold, windy, and wet day, so we decide to just sit it out. We were going to go down to Bar Harbor, but it would not have been very enjoyable so just stayed at home. I spend a fair share of the rest of the day planning our route ahead,

As a lot of the RV parks are closing in the next week or so, I had to do a fair amount of research to find ones that are open, at least until the end of October. Changed our route slightly, as we were going to go west through some crooked, hilly roads, but was unable to find RV Parks that were open on this route, so changed to a more southern, and more traveled route. We will go south on I 95 to just south of Kennebunkport, stay two nights there, and then head west, and eventually south. Looks like about 10 travel days to San Antonio, although will take much longer as we will be staying at several of the places longer than over night. Seeing as we did not get down to Bar Harbor today booked for another two days stay here. Its a nice park and are only charging $25 per night.
Oct 6th
Left Oak Bay by about 9:00AM and crossed into Maine in about 5 miles. Very little hassle crossing the border. The man asked a few questions about our timing and how long we were planning on being gone. I answered all his questions about what our plans are and He said, You know where I am going with this." I advised him we were well aware of how long we were allowed out of the country in one fiscal year. I told him the full story of the last year and this trip and that we would be out of Canada less that the 183 days allowed for 2010. He was happy with that, then asked me to move ahead 25 or 30 feet so he could v=come into the motorhome. I complied, and he took a quick look through and then opened the frig. We had made sure that we had no fruit that could be banned, but he took out tomatoes, peppers, limes and lemons. Not a big deal. Then we were on our way. Today was another short day, and already we had gained an hour as at the border we changed from Atlantic time to Eastern time. Then we took a "Short Cut" toward our destination. It was shorter alright, but slightly rural. Very narrow 2 land somewhat paved road. It was Ok, but not really recommended. At one point crossed a one lane bridge a couple hundred feet long with only a 10 foot width. We had 6" on each side of the mirrors, but there was no other traffic so slow and steady won the race, Denice panicked a little, but was happy to be across. Shortly we joined Highway 1 and passed though Ellesworth and arrived at Timberland Acres RV Park, Checked in by 11:30AM and got set up, Went back to town later and picked up a netphone and a 450 minute card with double minutes. Should last a while. The service person was rather surly and told us we had to activate it ourselves, but of course now that we are in the states, we have no phone. Will go back tomorrow and find a different person to activate it. That is their job!

--------- And on to the South

2010-10-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

Oct 5th
Moving Day . This to be our last day in Canada for a while! Left Shediac by about 9:45AM and just cruised along highway 15, #2 and #1 for a couple of hundred miles to Oak Bay, New Brunswick and checked into Oak Bay RV Park. Tomorrow we will cross the border into Maine at Calais. We notice a lot of the parks shutting down by Oct 10th to 15th, or right after the long Thanksgiving week end coming up. After checking in to this one we called ahead to a Good Sam one just out of Bar Harbor, to spend a couple of nights and they were already closed for the season. Called an other and they are still open, so reserved for a couple of days, as we are told "We just have to go to Bar Harbor" We will now have to start checking farther south to make sure we have places to stop!! Along the way today we did enjoy the fall colors as they are really starting to turn.

Vibrant yellow, reds, oranges and reds. Although in some places they had already fallen off, or changed to a duller shade of the above colors.

This is the best we could do for wildlife today!

Tides out on the Bay of Fundy

When the tide is out, - BEWARE!!

Oct 4th
Rest Day - Stock up on groceries - Laundry
Also disaster strikes - Electric Coffee Pot craters!!
Oct 3rd
Leisure drive today from Canso Strait to Shediac. Colors are good in Nova Scotia, but we maybe are still a little early, although some leaves are already falling.

Arrived back at ELTORO by 2:00PM. Nice to be "HOME!" Some of our neighbors who are near us have been concerned about our absence and have asked at the office if they knew where we were. Nice to know that people do lookout for others. We hadn't even thought to notify those around us, but certainly had made to office aware of our trip, so no harm was done.

Oct 2nd
Left Newfoundland in the fog. Six hour ferry ride with fog all the way.

The Following pictures might give you some indication of what the day was like!!

Finally arrived in North Sydney, but another ferry was in the dock where w had to land so we were delayed in the bay until they cleared, about 1 hour. Left Sydney immediately after we exited the ferry and drove straight back to Canso to the motel we stayed at on the way up. Just checked in and then went for supper. Denice had her Lobster feed, me ribs.

Aye Laddie, We are on the Rock

2010-10-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Oct 1st - Our last Day on the Rock
This morning is "Pea Soup" fog again, so we waited at the hotel until about 10:00AM before heading out. We wanted to go east along the south coast as far as the road goes. That is about 40 miles and ends at an old restored lighthouse and town called Rose Blanche.It was foggy most of the way down, but a few times the sun tried to peak through. It was still fog at the light house, but we did a leisure walk up to it with a guide who detailed all the history associated with it.
We took some photos, but were not the best, given the conditions. On the way back we just took our time, slow and easy. The fog was lifting, and along that southern coast there are lots of small fishing villages. These are more like the ones that we had envisioned for Newfoundland.

These are the REAL Newfoundland - at least what we had envisioned!!

We went into Harbor le Cou, Burnt Island, Isle aux Morts, Margaree and Fox Roost. Neat houses perched on rocky outcrops with boats tied up to docks into the coves. We were able to get a lot of nice photos of these for our memories. We returned to Port aux Basques by 3:00PM, and toured the downtown area. There are about 6000 hearty souls who live here. By the way, there are less than one half million in all of Newfoundland!! Main Street winds around every little rock out crop along the way for about a couple of kilometers before ending abruptly in the Gulf of St Lawrence.
We returned along the street until we found one of the portable Chip Stands where we bought burgers. Took them to our hotel and enjoyed dinner.
Sept 30th
This morning is "Pea Soup" fog. Had to scrap our planned tour to Cape St. George as we would not be able to see any thing any way. Headed back to TC#1 and toward Port aux Basques. By noon the fog did start to lift. As we got closer to Port aux Basques conditions continued to improve enough that we took a side road out to a couple of other coves. At the end of the road at Cape Anguille, another lighthouse . Most of these are still active, and on foggy days like today the fog horns are blaring every few minutes. This area is a bit of surprise as there is some nice farm land and very pastoral scenery.

The colors are changingA Residence sign - Well Done

Then closer to Port aux Basques we went out to another, Cape Ray. Another light house and some big waves breaking on the rocky shore line.

In to Port aux Basque by about 4:30PM and check into the hotel. For dinner we tried some local cuisine. Denice had cod and scrunchions. I, a cod tongue dinner. They were OK, but wouldn't recommend a steady diet of them. Still need to try the cod cheeks and brewis.
Toward sunset I took a walk down along the bay and onto the Trans Canada Hiking Trail. It starts its Newfoundland section here in Port aux Basques and uses to old abondoned Newfie Bullet Train rail bed all the way to St Johns, a distance of over 800 kilometers. I hiked a couple, and took some great sunset shots.

A Nice Sunset

The Newfie Bullet

Sept 29th
Woke up this morning to heavy rain. Must have rained all night as it was doing the same thing when we retired last night. Headed south toward Gros Morne National Park. The weather was intermittent showers all day with at times heavy rain most of the time and at other times Heavy Rain and at still other times heavy, heavy rain. There was no letup all day.
This was not a picture taking day, although we did get a couple of an old cow moose beside a slough, just enjoying the wet weather. We made no stops in the park, as there was no point. Next stop was at an info place in Deer Lake where we decided to take a side trip out to Stephenville. We had them reserve a room for us at the Stephenville Hotel. Lunch was at Tim Horton's at Marble Mountain just outside Corner Brook, then on south again. Turned west to Stephenville. The weather was real ugly. High winds and very heavy rain. Reached Stephenville after 20 miles and found the Hotel and checked in by 2:00PM. This is as far as we are going today!! Just crashed in the room and had a short nap. 7:00pM had a Chinese Cafe deliver some Chinese Food to us. All for today. Hope tomorrow is better!! No update on log tonight as WIFI is down due to wet weather.
Sept 28th
Left St. Anthony's this morning and headed back south along The Viking Trail Route 430. At St. Anthony's Airport turn off, turned east onto Route 432. This is a circle route that joins the Viking Trail some 100 miles south. On this section I wanted to see an underground Salmon Pool at a place called, Roddickton. We did find it, but after driving a few kilometers on a gravel road, and then walking in 1/2 kilometer found it was just a pool that flowed out from a limestone cave. Apparently the salmon come up river to this point, but can go no further. Today there was none that I could see, but the water here is almost black from coming out of muskeg type conditions.

This was a bit of a wasted effort, but still a nice walk. Denice opted to stay at the jeep, and I guess she was the smart one. After that the weather started to deteriorate and light rain started to fall. If the sun had been shining, the fall colors would have been better, but hopefully we will see lots of that when we head south into the States unless as reported, it as been too dry for them to get to the brilliant colors that are normal. We traveled south until we came to Hawkens Bay at about 1:30PM. We checked into the same Inn that we were in on the way up. Then we went out to a couple of little coves, namely Port au Choix and Port Saunders. At Port au Choix there is a National Historic site and light house.

The National Historic site detailed the habitation of the area going back up to 4000 years. Then the Light House that is still active is out on a rocky point, but the weather was rather wild today with strong winds, rain, and cool temperatures, so the visit was brief.

Then a quick tour of Port Saunders. Seems by the amount of large fishing boats in Dry Dock that this is a major fishing village, but we didn't stay around long enough to research further. No update on log tonight as WIFI is down due to wet weather.

Sept 27th

Headed north again by 8:00AM this morning along the rocky coast line of Newfoundland. We are surprised by the number of small coastal communities along the coast. Seems every couple of miles there is another Cove or Brook. There are away too many names to even try to repeat. The day was windy so the incoming waves were quite large breaking on the very rocky shore. It is no wonder there were so many ships wrecked along this coast. Many of them likely sought refuge from storms, into these somewhat protected coves, but once they entered, I'm sure they would have found them a way too shallow to navigate and were likely driven onto the rocks. There are several things that have surprised us. We had this picture of steep rocky coves with a windy little road down to it, with little room to even turn around. This is not the case, at least on this northern coast. Maybe it is for the southern coast. But here the coast line is actually quite flat. Lands away from the coast are tundra type flatland with ponds everywhere, and few trees. Neat fishermen's houses dot the shorelines and Lobster traps are stored by the thousands along the beach in every opening and flat place available. I'm not sure how they know whose is whose, or maybe it doesn't matter. Just use what you need?? Another surprise.
Firewood is piled along the road, even more often than Lobster traps. Now I am sure everyone does burn firewood for heat and cooking here, but I'm thinking there must be some kind of a "Government Make Work Program" here to help winter employment. The wood piles are everywhere and are large and neatly piled with no indication of any issues with just loading up what you need, and taking it on home. One other interesting item. The whole shoreline, as I stated before is solid rock, so nothing can be grown there near the houses, but it seems everyone wants a garden to grow some veggies. So where is the most topsoil? Well it would seem likely when the built the highway, the surface soil was scraped off and spread out along the ditches for revegetation. So where are the gardens? All along the ditches!!1 Most protected by a pole fence around their plot. Some are right up onto the shoulder of the highway. Anyway we worked our way north, and at one point pulled into St Barbe, where the Labrador ferry docks, and were just in time to watch it come in and unload. There were a few motorhomes and fifth wheels that disembarked from it and one motorhome was waiting too load. I suppose they had come all the way from the North shore of the St Lawrence at Baie Comeau, up through Labrador to Churchill Falls and then across to NewfeeLand. Would be quite a trip. We had thought of that but discounted it because of distance and unknowns. We continued on right to the most northerly point accessable where the Vikings sailed to about 1000 years ago. This is L-anse aux Meadows National Park

There is not a lot to see here, buy what there is is well done. Several structures have been built exactly as the vikings had built theirs. Archeolical digs have taken place to gather info and the original footings are still viseable today. It was acold windy day, and it is quite a walk from the park info site to the actual building site, so we welcomed an invitation from on site staff costumed in the togs of the day to enter into the large communinal house made of peat bog sod walls and dirt over a stick supported "A-Frame Roof" structure. Dense live grass covered the entire structure. The staff there answered all our questions and told us that the Vikings most likely lived there for about 10 years before abandoning it, and returning home to Norway. After leaving there we were ready for some lunch so stopped at Gunner's Cove at the Northern Delight Restaurant for some lunch. I selected "A Newfoundland Brewis" Didn't know what it was other that it was Cod and hard Tack with Scrunchions. Found out later that scrunchions are salt pork and onions, however the restaurant was out, and were not getting more in as it is too late in the sason, so had to change to fish and chips. After lunch worked our way back to St Anthony's and to the motel we had reserved.
Sept 26th
After having breakfast at the hotel we headed north and east on the TCH#1 Highway along the western shore of Newfoundland, as far as Deer Lake and the turned onto #430 on the Viking Trail.

We had decided to journey as far north as we could go, to the point where the Viking's first came to the Western World at L'Anse aux Meadows near St Anthony, as soon as we could reach that point.The weather forecast is good for the next couple of days, so we will try to see all that we can before it deteriorates later in the week, then we will work our way back at a more leisurely pace, and try to take in those spots that we missed coming up. For lunch we stopped at a Tim Horton's for a coffee and a sandwich "to go" as well as some doughnuts, to save time.

The Colors are starting to Change

At a tourist info booth reserved a hotel at Hawk's Bay for tonight and another at St Anthony's near the northern end for tomorrow night. Cruised along the highway with high lighted spots being some of the viewpoints in Gros Morne Park and at Arches Provincial Park.

A Light HouseShip Wrecked Parts of the Bessie Wreck of 1919
Through the Arch at Arches Prov. ParkA Natural Paved Beach at Hawkes Bay

We did finally see that elusive Moose Denice has been searching for ever since we were in Northern Ontario.

This was a good one and would have been a fantastic shot (with a camera, of course) if I had been able to get stopped a little sooner, and not tried to back up to get a better position, but we did get a couple of fair ones anyway, if only to prove we actually saw one. Arrived in Hawkes Bay by about 5:30PM .
Sept 25th
Up this morning and get in lineup for Sydney to Port aux Basque ferry by 9:45AM for a 11:30AM departure. Finally at about 11:00AM we were allowed to load.

We were directed to level #2 that is right in the bottom of the large Atlantic Vision ferry. We went into the lower deck #3, then made a loop completely around the inside of Deck #3 before going down a rather steep ramp into the deep hold of the ship. This deck only held about 25 cars. The we took the elevator to observation deck #7 where we found a table right at the front viewing area, with a great view of any thing approaching. For the next 5 hours we basicly saw nothing but waves and ocean.

Then at 6:00PM Newfoundland time ( after we advanced our watches by 1/2 hour) we arrived in Port aux Basque. This port is very small for such large ferries with rock outcroppings on all sides.

Just to complicates matters more, the ferry turns around right in the mouth of the port, and backs into the dock to allow disembarking. While rotating there couldn't have been much more that 100 feet clearance from the bow and stern to the rocks. We, being in the bottom deck were the last to get out. We had reserved at the Port aux Basque Hotel for the night and found it easily as Port aux Basque is not a very large town. Had dinner there after checking in.

Headed for the "Rock"

2010-09-21T16:46:00.001-07:00

Sept 24th

The Light House at Canso
A Ship Loading Crushed Rock at Canso

Up and had breakfast at our motel, then headed toward Sydney, but Lo and Behold as we were crossing the Canso Causeway Denice spotted what she thought was a "Tall Sailing Ship" way down the Canso Strait. We just crossed the Strait and then stopped at an info place and asked if they knew if any tall ships were scheduled to stop here. None were but we decided to go back to where the bridge crosses the Canal through the causeway. Once there and with the help of telephoto lenses on our cameras were able to see that in fact there was was a very large sailing vessel headed toward us.

As we were in no real hurry to get to Sydney as it is only a 2 1/2 hour drive we decided to wait awhile and see what the ship actually was. WE had to wait a couple of hours, but finally it was close enough that we could clearly see her drop her sails and turn toward the locks in the causeway canal. We watched her navigate through, and the highway and rail bridge turn vertical to the canal to allow her passage.

Traffic on both sides of the bridge backed up several miles during the 20 minutes it took for the ship to pass through. We found that an interesting event for today, then headed on down the road along Bras d'Or Lake. Nice leisure drive with great scenery! Colors on the trees are starting to change. Another week or so, and they should be real good. We pulled over in one spot where an eagle was flying by, and he honored us by landing in a tree right in front of us.

We were able to get some great shots of him! We arrived in North Sydney by 2:30PM. This is where the ferry leaves from tomorrow morning. We checked into the North Star Inn right adjacent to the Ferry terminal. At present two Ferry's are waiting in Queue at the docks.

At 5:00PM we went down to Rollie's Beachside Restaurant at the advice of the desk clerk at the North Star. She said tonight was 2 for 1 steak night, there would be some music and we could enjoy a little Ceilidh!! (this is pronounced Kaylee - and is a Scottish Party) She was not misinformed!
We did have a 2 for 1 steak dinner with a 16 oz steak, but the nice waitress allowed us to have one steak and the other to have a large portion of haddock, and we could share. The meal was excellent, the music great, the Kieth beer fine, and the caramel ginger spice cake delicious. While we ate we watched a ferry dock and unload. Another Great Day!!
Sept 23rd
Traveled from Shediac to Ault Cove on Canso Strait in Nova Scotia with the Jeep only. Left Shediac on highway 15 to Port Elgin, then highway 16 to Sackville, then #2 from there to the Canso Strait. Trip was rather uneventful with only stopping at the info Booth at the entry into Nova Scotia.
Just prior to the Canso Causeway found a nice motel right on the water with a restaurant included. We checked in and then took a few photos, then went for supper,

Denice had a Halibut Steak, me a Spicey Fish Hotpot. Both were good, but I'm not sure that I would choose mine over a prime Alberta Steak.
Sept 22nd
Today we took a tour to PEI, across the Confederation Bridge. Had lunch over there and then returned for $42.50 to cross the bridge.

PEI is smart as they do not charge to get on to the island but sure sock it to you to get off. We just went over and had lunch, and then returned to New Brunswick. It was still early so we decided to take a run down to the Hopewell rocks the other side of Moncton and then maybe Cape Enrage. We were at this cape about 10 years ago and remembered to light house in the fog and then the neat beach below the cliffs with course gravel "tumbled" with the endless waves, making them all like gem stones. When we got to Hopewell rocks decided to by-pass them and continue on to Cape Enrage first. We drove for about 10 miles, and then were concerned about how far it was to the Cape, so I stopped at a little store and asked. They said another 20 minutes, but since our time was running short we turned back and went to Hopewell. Even as it was we were only able to spend 3/4 of an hour there before closure at 5:00PM. It is quite a walk to the cliff edge, but there is as golf cart type shuttle for $1.50/person each way. We decided to take it in the interest of time. The girl at the ticket booth charged those just in front of us, but when we paid the entry fee she waived the shuttle charge, with a smile and a wink, and gave us the shuttle tickets. Not sure why we were so gifted, but we graciously accepted. Must be our good looks!!

So we made a flying trip down for some good photos. I ran down the stairs for some beach shots and Denice stayed on top. The tide was out. back up the stairs, and back onto the shuttle and back to the jeep. Returned through Moncton and back to Shediac to ELTORO.
Sept 21st

Shediac's "largest Lobster"

Purlee Beach at Shediac

Well, here we go with those plans "Cast in Jello" again. It was to travel to Sydney, NS with ELTORO from here in Shediac. Travel time was two days to get there. Then, we had found an RV Park that would store the motorhome in a non hook up area for $10/night or if we stayed a couple of nights would only charge $5/nights. We would then take the jeep across to Newfoundland and stay in B&B's or motels for about a week, before returning to the main land. Well, today we were discussing our plans and Denice comes up with this idea. "Why are we taking ELTORO all the way to Sydney, storing it there, and then returning all the way back here, a total driving distance of 600 miles on the motor home". I guess I had never thought of it that way, but she does have a point. She does occasionally come up with some good ones you know!! So now here are the new plans. The park we are in here will match the cost of the one in Sidney, so we will leave ELTORO here for $5/night while we are gone. We will just take the jeep from here Thursday after getting ELTORO settled in. Then we will get to Sidney Friday night, stay in a motel, be at the ferry terminal at 10:00AM to catch the one to Port aux Basque at 11:30AM. Its already reserved for about $140 for 2 seniors and the jeep. Once on Newfoundland we will tour as much as we can see, but have to return to Port aux Basque for the return trip on Oct 2nd. The ferry from Argenta to Sydney shuts down on Sept 25th, and only one operates during the winter months. We did have the option of reversing and catching the last ferry to Argenta on the 25th, but decided not to. After returning to Sydney we will drive back to Shediac, stay one more night and the head south toward warmer climes.
Sept 20th
On the road for fairly uneventful day. Left Point A la-Croix about 9:00AM, and crossed over the bridge over Chaleur Bay into Campbellton, NB. There is a bit of a snag there as just after you cross the bridge if you do not take the first ramp to the right you cross under a railroad bridge with a height of only 3.7 meters. Convert that to feet and it is only 12 feet and 2 inches. My motor home is 12 feet high to the top of the air conditioning units, so I would only have 2" of clearance. Too close for me!! Luckily we had been over to Campbellton in the jeep a couple of days ago so we new about the subway pass. I'm surprised that there is not a whole pile of RV air conditioner units beside the road near this pass as its on a fairly main thorough fare.We did a circle route to by-pass this and then back onto Highway 11 to Dalhousie, Bathhurst, MIramachi, and finally into Shediac. Found the Ocean Surf Trailer Paark and checked in , and set up. Went down town to get a few supplies at "No Frills". Grabbed a hamburger on the way home and then settled in for the evening. Looked like a great sunset, so I went over to Parlee Beach, but the sunset sort of fizzled out.

Did get a couple of OK ones at the marina with a lighthouse in the forground.
Sept 19th
Get ready to move day. Spent a good share of the up dating my blog, Finding our next RV Park and reserving same, and planning Newfoundland Trip. With the help of Nova Scotia Tourist information on a website chat with a nice person by the name of Meaghan. Here is the gist of our conversation:
Meaghan R: Thank you for visiting NovaScotia.com, how may I help you today?
Meaghan R: Are you still there? If you are having difficulty, please contact us by phone. You can contact us toll-free in North America at 1-800-565-0000, or in the U.K at 00-800-1565-0000. If you are outside of these regions, our local number is 902-425-5781.
Dennis Lang: Good Afternoon. My question is, "in a few days we are going to be in the Sydney area, and are planning on taking the ferry to Newfoundland, but leave our 35 ft motorhome somwhere near the ferry terminal. Is there a RV park that has storage for up to 10 days while we are away?
Meaghan R: Just one moment and I will check for you
Dennis Lang: OK Thanks
Meaghan R: There is a campground near by called Arm of Gold Trailer Park. They are the only ones that are close-ish by that may offer that. Their website is www.armofgoldcamp.com and their phone number is 866-736-6516
Dennis Lang: Thank you very much Meaghan. I will call them. Do you know how soon we need to reserve on the ferry before departure?
Meaghan R: I would say as soon as possible. It can be a very busy ferry so just to be safe I would say at least a few days in advance
Dennis Lang: Thanks again for your help. Have a GREAT Day

We remember that when we were here 10 years ago that the Maritimes Info was Great, and today was no exception. I like doing that kind of business on the web as you have a copy of your conversation to review at your leisure.
We then reserved a site in Shediac for two nights at the Ocean Surf Trailer Park

Lets's go to Gaspe

2010-09-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Sept 18th
Day started with Coffee, Juice, a fruit bowl, and Waffles at 7:30AM at Gite A' Abri du Vent. Then down Town to catch the first Boat tour around "The Rock" and Boneventure Island. We were blessed with another great sunny morning, and calm waters so had a good one hour tour. Went right up to the big hole through the Rock, and then around the back.

Although we got lots of good pictures, we are always amazed at the rudeness of other passengers vieing for the best spot to take pictures from. Seems nothing is sacred, and they seem to have no qualms about just forcing their way in front of you. Well, I have got just about as abrupt as them, so when I am first on the boat, as this morning, I just grab hold of the outside rail and stand my ground!!! Seems some nationalitiies are worse than others, but I'm not pointing fingers. Then we left the Rock and sailed around Bonaventure Island. This Island is well known for its population of gannets and grey seals.
All along its verticle rock walls and rugged coast there are lots of these seals (fuches in french, and this kind of shocked Denice). Then as we came around the south end of the Island, every ledge, and every crook and cranny was occupied by gannets.

For those that aren't familiar with the gannet, they are large black and white birds, adults having yellow heads, with long pointed wings and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, with a wingspan of up to 2 metres. Gannets hunt fish by diving from a height into the sea and pursuing their prey underwater. Gannets have a number of adaptations which enable them to do this: they have no external nostrils, they have air sacs in their face and chest under their skin which act like bubble wrapping, cushioning the impact with the water, and their eyes are positioned far enough forward on their face to give them binocular vision, allowing them to judge distances accurately. Gannets can dive from a height of 30 m, achieving speeds of 100 km/h as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds. There were thousands of them. I.m not sure if this is the only island that they migrate to, but there sure were lots. We could have stopped on the Island for a 2.3km walk to get personal with them, and then 2.3 km back, but in the interest of time decided to b-pass that.

From Perce we then traavelled on up to Gaspe, a distance of about 60 km and a futher 20 km to Forillion National Park. This is a Canadian National Park. In the Park we made a quick tour, taking in the main highlights. One of them was the Cap Bon Ami. Here I must tell you that in Quebec they are not shy about making steep highway grades, some up to 20%. Not a great place for motorhomes, but we just had the jeep, so we were OK. Well, on the way to this view point we ascended at about 50km one of these steep grades of 17% to reach an inverted "V" summit and then suddenly switched to a 17% down grade, so fast that we seem to be just falling. Denice's only comment was, "Holy Shit". But once there it was worth it, A great view point looking out into the Gulf.
The retrun trip was not so thrilling as we knew what was coming. From there we went another few miles up to Cap-des Rosiers light house, the highest in Canada at 285 feet, built out of white limestone, and still operational today.

A great picture! Then time was against us we had decidd to return to ELTORO, way back at Point A la-Croix a distance of a couple hundred miles. We had taken in all the points of interest on the way up yesterday, so we just boogied, and made it home by 7:00PM, just before dark. Another Great Day!
Sept 17th
Left ELTORO at the RV Park and headed east along the Gulf toward Gaspe. I had no idea this was such a populated coast line. It is almost continual urban communities all the way.
You hardly leave one town until you are in another. The towns are very narrow with only a couple of streets on each side of the main thoroughfare highway 132.

A Museum dedicated to the Cod Fishing Industry along the wayThe building is supposedly one of the largest of its kind in Canada with Hand Hewn Timbers and 5 floors high!!

When we stopped to visit this site we found parking around behind in the staff parking and sort of came in the back door. We toured all the buildings, but the last was the blacksmith shop where the old blacksmith would make you a square nail.

When we went in he asked where our tag was that indicated that we had paid our entry fee, and we had none. Now of coarse Denice was was unaware to this point that there was even a fee to be paid. I had been thinking that it was funny if there was no charge, but instead of just quietly sneaking away and returning to the Jeep, Old Honest Denice made it an issue to ensure we had paid our $12 dues.

Surprisingly speeds are not too slow, with most of the route at 90 Kph. Some short areas where traffic is congested is at 70kph, After starting at 9:00AM, and stopping for several photo ops we finally arrived at Perce Rock at about 3:00PM.

Over the last several days while in Quebec we have seen many signs advertising "Gites". Gite this and Gite that, and of course with our knowledge of French we knew not what that was, so finally I had to "Google" it. It means "shelter" in the broadest description, but is used for almost all French "Bed and Breakfast" sites. So since we had left ELTORO behind for one night we reserved at Gite A' Abri du vent, a 4 star "Bed and Breakfast" in Perce. We found the place and checked in. Them, little English, us French non existant. Lots of hand signals, and we got along just fine. Thier house is just up above Perce Rock, and today was glorious sunshine, so we got lots of great shots of the rock. Dinner down town at another non English speaking restaurant. I had the Fish and Chips, Denice, Seafood Soup.
Sept 16th
Went down to the "Battle of Restigouch" National Park today. This was the site of the last Naval Battle between the English and French.
(Copied from Wikipedia)
In September 1759 Quebec had fallen to the British, but French forces still remained in New France in large numbers. Several appeals to the French government for reinforcements met with indifference or neglect, partly because the French navy had been smashed at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759. On April 10, 1760, the frigate Le Machault under Lieutenant Francois La Giraudais sailed from Bordeaux with 5 merchant ships carrying 2,000 casks of provisions and 400 troops. Francois-Gabriel D'Angeac commanded reinforcement troops because of his familiarity with the area.
Things did not go well for the flotilla on the outward journey. On April 11, they were forced to disperse in order to run the British blockade off France. Two merchant vessels were seized, and two weeks later another ran aground in the Azores. The three remaining vessels rendezvoused in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on May 15, only to find that a British fleet had already arrived in Quebec. Seeking a safe harbour, they sailed for Chaleur Bay and anchored in the estuary of the Restigouche River near the Mi'kmaq settlement of Listuguj on May 18. Here they enlisted the help of the locals and some Acadien refugees in exchange for feeding and arming them. In the meantime, a force of Royal Navy ships under Captain John Byron sailed from Louisbourg to intercept the French flotilla. They arrived in Chaleur Bay on June 22, blockading any attempt by La Giraudais to escape. He responded by sailing further upriver where the deeper draft British ships would have difficulty following. There he turned Le Machault broadside, scuttled some schooners as a barrier and placed a battery of cannon ashore to strengthen his position.
Despite La Giraudais' positioning, Byron was able to negotiate the shallower waters and on July 3, confronted the French defensive line. At close range and in calm winds, the battle commenced. Despite being outgunned, the French inflicted heavy damage on the British before Byron succeeded in silencing the shore batteries. Le Machault and the merchant ships Bienfaisant and Marquis-de-Malauze then withdrew further upriver with the British in pursuit. For the next several days the two forces engaged in a running battle, but La Giraudais recognized that he could not win a battle of attrition and on July 8 he had Le Machault and Bienfaisant scuttled to prevent the capture of their cargo (the Marquis-de-Malauze was spared due to the prisoners that it contained in its hold). The remaining French force then withdrew to the shore and the safety of Listuguj while Byron returned to Louisbourg.

Well done historic site with a great collection of artifacts and even parts of the Hull, stern, and anchor are on display. They avised us that being tourists we had to go down the highway 20 miles and see Accueil Miguasha: In English this is Maguasa National Park. An interesting side line about this name. It is called a National Park, but that is only a Quebec National Park, not Canadian. When Quebec was determined to become a soveriegn nation of her own in about the 50's or 60's they decided to have their own National Park, and so the name has just remained as a "National Park."
It is located at the western end of the Baie-des-Chaleurs along the northern shore of the Ristigouche River, Miguasha owes its red colouring to the rocks of the Bonaventure rock formation. But the area is most famous for another series of rocks – the Escuminac Formation – which lies under the Bonaventure Formation at beach level. For more than 125 years, the Escuminac Formation has garnered worldwide acclaim among paleontologists. Thousands of beautifully preserved fossils have been extracted from the Escuminac cliffs, mainly of fish that lived 380 million years ago during the Devonian Period.

For more go to http://www.miguasha.ca/mig-en/index.php
On the way home stopped at a family owned Soap Factory. The soap is mae rif=ght there in the barn. The unique characteristic is it is made from Goats Milk. We (Denice) did but some while I petted the goats.

Sept 15th
More wet weather so we are just stalled for a few days until it clears. We're in a nice small RV park just inside Quebec across from Campbelton, New Brunswick. Went across the bridge to Campbelton for groceries today, then planned to see a small National Park that is here called The Battle of the Restigouch, but after coming home and storing the groceries we just settled in and stayed the remainder of the day.
Sept 14th
Wet weather so we are just sitting and enjoying ourselves - INSIDE - today
I am fighting a cold so just enjoying doing nothing
Sept 13th
On the road by 9:00AM. We would not have minded staying another day, but we had checked the weather and today looked better than the next few days. Showers and rain are forcast for all of this week. When we left, it was in between a couple of showers, but as soon as we were on the road it started again. Not too bad, but just slightly miserable. We stayed on Highway 20 for a while but then it narrowed to only two lanes on Secondary 132. Sometimes we were right on the banks of the St Lawrence,others behind a ridge away from the river. We by-passed Rimouski. It seems like a fairly large town right on the St Lawrence, and from what we could see appeared to be a rather nice place. We did pass through several small touristy towns, but it appeared, at least from whenI filled with gas, that English was not their forte. At Mont-Joli we left the riverand headed, still on 132, across the Gaspe Peninsula, to Chaleur Bay, but still part of the Bay of St Lawrence. It was about 100 miles across the peninsula, but was a nice change from the riverside. Good scenery was all along the way with fairly hilly topo. Leaves are noticeably starting to change colors, heralding the change of seasons, and nights now have a slight nip in the air. at 2:00p we reached our destination of Camping La Maison Verte Du Parc Gaspasien at Point-A-la-Croix, QC. When i had reserved, the lady I spoke to spoke no english, and had to get her husband to speak to me. So when I checked in no one was in the office and the directions were to just find a spot and park, and make payment later when the owners returned. We chose site #14, but found no WIFI, so moved closer to the office into site #8 where WIFI was better. Must be a low power WIFI Router! We got set up and relaxed the remainder of the day.
We are going to reserve here for four days. For the trip to Perce Rock, we will just drive up with the jeep, a distance of about 150 miles, and spend a night in a motel, rather than take the Motor Home, then have to back track to here anyway.
Sept 12th
Left Quebec City and followed TC 20 along the St Lawrence to Riviere Du Loup and into the RV Park. A nice place with a Kids Christmas Castle just across the street. Pretty neat!! Took some good photos.
Then took a little drive around town and down the road a few miles in the afternoon, and then out to St Huberts for chicken for dinner.

Found a Miniture Village.

And a Indian Head on the beach

Beautiful Old Quebec City

2010-09-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

Sept 11th
Rest Day, Get ready to move. Took a little tour around to make sure we knew how to get out of here. Stopped at Tim Horton's for a coffee and Doughnut, but once there changed to Burger King for a burger as it was lunch time. Back home in a short time and started to ready for tomorrows move. Made reservations for Camping Du Quai at Riviere Du-Loup. That just going to be a short day. We are planning on 3 short days to get to Perce Rock on Gaspe Bay

Sept 10th (A Whale of a Day!)
Went whale watching today. Took a shuttle bus from KOA to Down Town, then transferred to another that headed east along the North Bank of the St Lawrence. The bus was just one of those small shuttle type, much like a school bus, and our driver was good, BUT FAST!!! This is mostly a fairly narrow 2 lane road and the speed is posted at 90 Klm/Hr. I was seated on the opposite side only a couple of seats back and I was able to watch the speedometer. Almost all the time we were at least at 110 and sometimes above 120. Maybe he was trying to make up time, to allow more time for whale watching, or at least be sure to make it to the boat dock in time for it's departure. Anyway we did make it in time and even had time for lunch at a nice restaurant before boarding. On the way we passed through several neet little towns on the bank of the St Lawrence, such as Saint-Tite-Des-Caps, Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive, Point-au-Pic, Saint-Fidele-de-Mont-Murray, Saint Simeon, and finally arriving at Baie-Ste-Catherine, a little town of a couple hundred people. Total trip was near 250 kilometers and took almost 3 hours. The St Lawrence widens from about 1 mile at Quebec City to almost 20 miles at Baie-Ste-Catherine.

This is at the mouth of the Saguenay River. Baie-Ste-Catherine is on one side of the mouth and Tadoussac on the other. The river is tremendously deep here at the mouth in places 400 meters deep, and 1 mile across, so the only way to cross is on two free ferries that runs 24/7, every 20 minutes. At 1:15PM we boarded the whale watching boat, a fairly large vessel with a capacity of about 100 persons, and headed out to the center of the St Lawrence.

The Atlantic tides rush inland almost to Montreal, so as it passes this area it brings cold Atlantic Salt water in along a submarine Valley against the North Bank of the St Lawrence where it meets the warm water of the Saguenay. Here the currant hits the submarine wall of theSaguenay and is forced to the surface, bringing an abundance of kripp and nutrients to the surface. When these nutrients reach the surface, light and oxygen combine to produce a phenomenal quantity of microscopic algae that are eaten by crustaceans, which in turn are eaten by a multitude of small and large fish. The whales come to feast on this enormous quantity of food, that swirls around the area, trapped by the different currants. Whales love this food, and here they fatten up during the summer months. Almost all species of whale have been seen here, but the most common are Minki, baluga, and Fin. On the way out we passed through the very turbulant Rip Tide of the two opposing water forces. After we reached the calmer water we were treated with the viewing of many whales.

Likely as many as a dozen different ones. One Pod of about 6 swam directly in front of our boat and surfaced within about 25 feet of it. We did snap a lot of pictures, but you have to be very fast as they do not surface for long. Sometimes they will continue along the surface for several minutes, but when they arch their back they are gone deep for 10 to 15 minutes, before they rise again. We stayed with them for about an half hour, but then chose to swing to the west and out farther into the river to see the many, many grey seals cavorting around out here.Once every one had their share of photo ops we headed toward the mouth of the Saguenay.

We again had to force our way through the Rip Tide, even more fierce than before.

Even as large as our boat was the captain throttled right down to ride out the waves of at least 10 feet tall. We noticed that all the Zodiacs that were out watching chose to skirt the worst of the violent currents.

I can tell you that I would not want to try it in a very small boat. If you were ever to get thrown overboard it would certainly by the end of your life.

After about a mile or so of this current we were able to reach the calmer waters of the Saguenay, and made a forray up the river for a few miles before turning back and docking for some of the passengers to disembark at Tadossac, before we returned to Baie-Ste-Catherine.

Then came to 3 hour long ride back to Quebec, but the driver did not seem to have the same sense of urgency as on the way up. He returned everyone to their hotels and us to the KOA across the river.

Sept 9th
Another wet day so I think we will just vegetate again. We are retired and it is allowed you know!
Besides TODAY IS OUR ANNIVERSARY!!! Do you know how many??

This afternoon plan on Bar-B-Queing some ribs and have bought a bottle of Bubbly!!
Sept 8th
Domestic catch up day - Grocery day and Laundry - that just about completes this day!
Sept 7th
This morning is our scheduled City Bus Tour and in the Afternoon a Country Tour. The shuttle picked us up at the KOA at 9:15AM and delivered us downtown to the Tourist Info Booth, just across the street from the Chateau Frontenac. This was he start of the guided tour. We did quite a bit of circling around through the very narrow streets of Old Town, then out to many other areas of New Quebec. I must say that although the guide was good and spoke English very well, that from both our tour here and the one in Ottawa, that we do not believe that a city tour to be the best way to see a city. Now I cannot shed any light on a better way, but the bus tour only stops at a very few select places, and then to keep on schedule must move on. The Ottawa one probably was better, as it was a "Hop on. Hop Off" one. Our mistake there was not to allow ourselves enough time. The booking was for 3 days, and we should have used the whole amount. Here in Quebec, we did not have that option, so we did the whole down town in about 2 hours. Very little time to document our visit with any photographs. And then it was raining as well, so taking pictures through the windows, was questionable. At noon we were returned to the Chateau for a one hour lunch break. We grabbed a sandwich from an outside vendor, and then did a quick walk around the Chateau.

Monuments

Quebec Waterfront

Quaint Streets

The Plains of Abraham and the Citadel

1:15PM we were again picked up and headed to the North Bank of the River east of Quebec. First stop was onto Isle Ste Orleans, the Island is 20 miles long by 5 miles wide, just east of the City. We did a short tour of part of the Island and then stopped at a chocolate place. Of course we bought some chocolate!!, then onward, back off the Island and northward to a copper museum. Here one family makes copper impressions. Religious scenes, provincial emblems, plates, large and small with birds and animals inscribed onto them, and a whole assortment of other things. Of course we bought!! Then on north again to a little town of Ste Anne.

Does anyone know what this stair bannister is made from? This was the questioned posed to us by our guide. Give up? Look closely, and you will see that it is made from the remaining metal that ice skate blades are made from. This is a quite common railing here in Ste Anne.

The population of the town is only about 2000, but the church, Ste Anne De Beaupre Basilica is immense.

On the hill above the Basilica are the 14 sculpures of the "Stations of the Cross." Although I am not particularly religious, these are exceptional works of Art. I chose to show only one, the fifth one.

It was open and we were allowed to go in and take photos. Tourist donations amount to over one million dollars per year, and that is close to what is required to keep it up. I'm not sure how the money was raised originally to build it, but likely from the Catholic Church Diocese. I know that in todays world, construction cost would be in the tens of millions, or possibly to a hundred million. We were allowed a half hour here before heading back toward Quebec. Next stop, Marie's Bakery, where we all had a slice of just backed fresh bread with a Maple Sugar Spread on it. Ummm!!

The Outdoor Ovens

Then on the bus for the final stop of the day at Montmorency Falls.

This is a very high falls just on the out skirts of Quebec City. It is 1 1/2 times higher that Niagara. A cable car runs from the base to the top, but I chose to walk to the bottom of the falls. Niagara's "Maid of the Mist" has little on this ones. A viewing point is right at the bottom and without an umbrella you would get saturated. Well even with one, you still get wet. A boardwalk stairway of 477 steps, winds up an almost verticle shale slope to 3 viewing points. I only had time to make about 200 steps to the first wiewing point, but time was running low so returned to the bus. We were now delivered back to the Chateau where a shuttle bus picked us up and returned us to the KOA on the lower road along the river. I would not have an issue with driving in down town Quebec, although some of the streets in Old Town are so narrow that either they are one way, or if you meet another you have to pull into a parking spot until the other passes. But getting there, across the network of interchanges at each end of the old and new bridges across the St Lawrence would definitely be a challenge. Seems no rhyme nor reason to their direction. However we are here for a week so maybe give it a whirl another day.
Sept 6th
Another Rest Day - Denice still suffering from ear ache. Went to Metro to buy some groceries, but found its Labour Day and stores closed.
Sept 5th
Had an easy day today. Left Ste Madeleine about 10:00AM and drove to Quebec City on Highway 20. It is a busy highway, but being Sunday some what relaxed. It was only 120 miles to Quebec, so only took 2 1/2 hours. The KOA is just off the highway, and a couple of miles before the Bridge over the St. Lawrence River into the City, so we found that easily. Checked in for 5 days, and set up without an issue. They gave us some brochures of Quebec tours. Denice still suffering from an ear ache, so did little, the remainder of the day. We reviewed the brochures they gave us and decided on a couple of tours that we would like to take. I went to the office and reserved one for Tuesday for a city tour, and country side tour. It is an 8 hour tour, and takes us to all the sites of interest in the City and then out to the country to Montmorency Falls. It is touted as the highest falls in Canada, at leased according to them. Not sure I believe that!!! It is supposed to be 2 1/2 times higher than Niagara. We'll see. Then on Friday, we take a bus up the north side of the St. Lawrence up a scenic highway to Charlevoix, then board a whale watching boat tour for three hours near the mouth of the Saguenay River. This is an all day tour arriving back in Quebec City at 7:30PM. We increased our stay for a full 7 days.

Montreal

2010-09-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

Sept 4th
After yesterday we just wanted to vegetate, and so that is exactly what we did. Denice woke up this morning with an ear ache. I'm sure it was from ELTORO's air conditioner blowing in her face all day yesterday, We had to keep it on high the whole day to even get any semblance of it's cooling effects.
Sept 3rd
It was to be short day. We decided to take the Highway #2, that is the old highway, and is right on the St Lawrence River.

We did not want to follow the 401, and not see anything but freeway. Well, #2 was good, but too few places to pull over for pictures. Speeds were slow, but that was OK, and we went through all the small towns along the River. Narrow streets and 25 MPH were the order of the day.

The signage, although most of it is in French, a lot is self explanatory as the photos below show.

Then we hit Montreal!!! We had routed across the St Lawrence just prior to entering the city and by-pass all the traffic on the south side of the River. NOT!!!! We hit there just about 3:00PM when the Friday afternoon rush was beginning.

Somehow I had put in a wrong way-point, and that is how the problem started, We ended up in some residential areas and went round and round in circles for what seemed hours. A note to those that may use "Streets and Trips" for their navigation: When you put in your highway preferences in the Options section, be aware that on each segment of your trip you should review what your choice for that segment is, Preferred, Fastest, or Shortest. That is where I made my mistake as I had as preference: Low use of Freeway and Toll Roads, and high use of Arterial and Secondary Highways. This was so that we would be able to see more of the local lore on our touring. That was fine, but when we got into MOntreal we should have changed those segments to either Fastest or shortest. Preferred wanted to take us all over the city, on back roads, by passing major throughfares, and I was not smart enough to figure out what was causing the problem until that evening after I settled down somewhat. At one point she wanted to take us across the St Lawrence on highway #10 on the Jacque Cartier Bridge right into the heart of Montreal. It was only with a great effort that I was able to cut off cars in the two right lanes of the about six lanes across he bridge, and get onto a side street. A couple of times we were able to pull over and reconfigure the computer, but it seemed to have a mind of its own, and added some more wrong way points. Finally I just pulled into a small shopping mall of some sort and started a new trip from there to the Campground we had reserved at. From there on we were OK. Oh but first we had to jump a curb to get back out of this maal as there was only one entrance and we did not have room to turn around. It was either jump the curb, or unhook. I chose the curb!! But then on the right roads, the traffic was horrendous. Bumper to Bumper and 5 MPH, then stop, then move ahead 1 car length, and so on and so on. It was hot, and even ELTORO started to heat slightly, not enough to be worried about, but certainly higher than usual. As soon as we were able to pick up a little speed she cooled immediately. Finally we arrived at our Reserved camping spot at about 7:00PM. A trip of only a couple of hundred miles that should have only taken us, even with the slow traffic, about 6 hours, was now about 10. But our problems were still not over. Arrived at the RV gate to check in, and they had no record of my reservation. I told them that they did not take my credit card info as they said they did not need it, when I phoned. Strange!! Anyway they did find a spot for us, but their numbering system was all screwed up, and 164 was non-existant as far as we could tell. We just took the one that looked like it should be 164, and parked. We were too tired and cranky to argue any more, especially with the French receptionist, who spoke little English. WIFI did not work, (I paid $5 for it), no water at site, ( will run a hose to the next site) and only 30 AMP power. Enough for tonight. Denice called it the "Day from Hell"

Kingston, by choice, not by sentence

2010-08-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

Sept 2nd
When we left Lou and Ann's last night the plan was for them to go to breakfast with her sister and brother-in-law and then come over to see us. Then we would all go back to their place for the afternoon. Well, that didn't happen. We waited all morning and then until 1:30PM to see what happened. Somehow they had got their communications all screwed up, so we waited all morning when we could have been doing some sight seeing. But they finally did show up at about 2:30PM for a tour of ELTORO, then we went to Lou and Ann's for a couple of hours. We came home by 6:00PM, and started to get ready for the move tomorrow.
Sept 1st
Lazed around all morning until about 2:30PM, then went over to Lou and Ann's to visit. Later in the day Ann's sister, Teresa, and brother-in-law, Sean, arrived from Gataneau Park. They live in Kitchener, but had been holidaying in Gataneau Park for a few days.

They are both very Irish, as is Ann. Lou is very French-Canadian, so you have a whole range of accents to sort out when you are only Albertan. Anyway they were all a real hoot when they get together. We spent a great afternoon with them drinking Chandy. That is what the Irish call a drinka drink of beer and Ginger Ale. I remember drinking the same thing when we were younger, but do not remember if we had a name for it. Even Denice, the non beer drinker submitted to the chandy, and rather enjoyed it, maybe a new milestone in her young life! And then were treated to a fantastic dinner, complete with copious amounts of red and white wine.

The bubbly produced a lot of candid funny conversation. Sorry to see the end of day but, we returned home at about 9:30PM.
Aug 31st
Big Day!! Drove down the road from Renfrew all the way to Kingston, a distance of 115 miles. Pulled into our reserved RV Park of Rideau Acres RV Resort. Route took us down Highway 29 and then 15. Some good highway, some not so good!! Got set up and Denice called her friend Ann DeRasp that we were in town and set up. Lou, her husband, and Ann came over and visited us for a couple of hours at ELTORO. Ann and Denice became friends in Calgary when they both worked at the Deer Valley Mall. About four years ago, after Lou and Ann's three kids moved to Ottawa, they followed suite, sold their house in Calgary and moved east to be nearer their kids and grand-kids. Ann has had an ongoing health battle these last few years, but her and Denice have remained in close contact and are still good friends. We went with them back to their house and then to Dinner at a Chinese Buffet. Great Food and a Great Visit. After Dinner they drove us back to our motorhome.
Aug 30th
Rest Day - Nothing to Report

Heading for Harperville!! Ottawa that is!!

2010-08-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

Aug 29th
Up early this morning and in to Ottawa . We had booked in for a city tour on Greyline Tours. Included was a "Hop on, Hop off" bus tour of the city, and then a boat cruise on the Ottawa River. The bus tour started right near the Parliament buildings at the corner of Sparks and Elgin Street, every hour on the hour. We planned to be on the first bus at 10:00AM, so we left Renfrew shortly after 8:30AM. But by the time we got into the city and found parking under City Hall, we were too late for the first tour , so took the next at 11:00AM. The first was on a double decker, open air bus, the second on a Greyhound style bus, but air conditioned. It was hot at 32 degrees celcius! The bus tour took in a whole series of places where you could jump off. Included were many historic sights: the Canadian War Museum, Parliament Hill, Museum of Civilization, Notre Dame Basilica, Rideau Hall, RCMP Museum and Stables, National Aviation Museum, Royal Canadian Mint, National Gallery, Byward Market, Rideau Canal, Dow's Lake, Experimental Farm, Museum of Nature. To see all of these places would take many days. Our pass was for 3 days, but given the heat wave we decided to just get a good feel for Ottawa in one day. If it had been cooler we might have been tempted to spend a couple of days. We did stop at the Museum of Civilization, and spend a couple of hours there.

Denice and Pierre Hamming it up

Didn't have time to see everything there, but what we did see, was well done and most enjoyable. I guess the War Museum was also well done from reports we got from other people. I would have liked to see the Royal Canadian Mint, but you just can't begin to see them all unless you have a lot of time. While we were waiting for our bus in the morning, we did walk over to the Parliament Buildings, and got some great pictures.

The Chateau Laurier

Again could have spent a lot more time there and had a tour inside, and a walking tour around the grounds. Maybe next time ---. After the bus tour, it was now 3:30PM, we went down along the Rideau Canal, Watched a yacht being lowered through the hand operated, 8 locks from the canal to the Ottawa River.

The canal joins the River right in between the Parliament Buildings and the Chateau Laurier. It is here that the boat tour originates. At 4:00PM we boarded the Paula D, a 150 passenger cruiser.
They took us on a well narrated tour, both English and French, of the River, past the Parliament Buildings, and on up the river a few miles to see Ottawa's waterfront, then back down the river past all the Foreign Country Embassies along the river.

The Chateau Laurier

24 Sussex Drive - Where is Stephan?

Parliament Buildings from the River

An amphibian bus on the River

At the outlet of the Rideau River into the Ottawa, there is a very large water fall. It looks very similiar to Niagara, only on a smaller scale. Our tour boat nosed right into the spray from the falls. We were only feet from the actual curtain of falling water.

Great Pictures, and quite an experience!! Then on down the river, turned and went up the Gataneau River a mile or so, then worked our way back to the docking, Now ,5:30PM ,and still 32 degrees. Time to head home. To get back to where we were parked under the City Hall we had to pass Confederation Park where a very large "Gay" party was happening. Oh, in the morning on the bus tour, our guide told us we would have do some detouring, as a parade was in process. I asked what kind of parade, and he answered, "Well, you will see a lot of Rainbows" But we did get by the Park and into City Hall with some help from security and some OPP advice, and eventually back to the jeep. Returned to Renfrew by 8:00PM where we stopped and got some takeout Japanese "Chinese Food." It was good. A LONG DAY!!! Denice says, " Just as a note, we were pretty naive to think that we could see all of Ottawa in one Day!!"
Aug 28th
Back over to Shawville again this morning to meet Evelyn by 10:00AM at her house. When we drove up her daughter Elizabeth, my second cousin, was already there. Soon after two more second cousins arrived, Elson Schock and Elwyn Lang, as well as Lawrence Langs, now deceased, wife Margaret. We discussed family lineage for another couple of hours. Elwyn,tookus for a quick spin in the immediate are for us to see his, and his two sons land. Beauiful land and great corn crops.

He says they will produce 4 tons of corn/acre this year, a bumper crop. Then Elson offered to drive us out to the old original Lang homestead. It was oly a 15 minute drive out into to rural Quebec the where many of the Langs homesteaded after immigrating from Ireland. Seems 3 or 4 of them settled around a small lake, and it is fittingly called Langs Lake.

The photo above and below are from Google Earth of Lang's Lake

The original homestead is now owned by another quite senior man, but he graciously allowed us access to the property and into the old house.

The Old Homestead

Elizabeth Young (Hazel's daughter)- my second cousin, Hazel - My first cousin, once removed, and Elson Schock, My second cousin

This is all that is left of the Barn

I guess in those days it was quite serviceable, but now seems very small. We haven't been able to prove or disprove, but my Great-Grandfather had 11 or 12 children, and to think that large of a family was maybe raised in that small of a house is almost mind boggling!! Elson, Evylyn, Elizabeth and Margaret were great guides as this was there back yard, so the knew every crook and cranny in the road and who lived on each twisting corner. From Langs Lake we continued on to Greer Mount, where we visited the old Prespeterian church that my Grandfather was part of the construction organizing party in about 1886.

All doors were locked, but we had a look in the windows and admired from the outside the skill those loacl pioneers had with the solid rock construction. Sort of reminds me of the skill that the Egyptians had for pyramid construction. It is amazing how those people in those days were able to complete such fine workmanship, lasting with such little deterioration. From there we continued on over to Johnson's Lake, where Elson lives in a nice big house right on the shore and beach. Then into Ladysmith, Thorne and Charteris, where we visited another graveyard.

Found a couple more Langs buried here. One Fred Lang, my grandfathers brother is buried here and our guides were able to relate the story of how his brother-in-law, and he were on their way to work at a sawmill in the morning, but did a little deer hunting on the way, and Fred was mistaken for a deer and shot. He died 4 days later. Once back at Evelyns, we had a sandwich, and talked a while lot more. God, there are more Langs than I had ever envisioned. They have a picture of a family gathering with 63 in it, and these were just the ones close by.
Aug 27th
Today we went over into Quebec and to Shawville. First went to the cemetary to try and find some of my Roots. Found quite a few buried roots, but just brought up more questions than answers.

This is the headstone of my Great-Grandfather Lang's, My Great-Grandmothers, and 2 Great-Uncles and one Great-Aunt

I saw an older resident next to the cemetery, so I walked over to him and started a conversation with him. I asked if he knew any Langs around there. He responded that he did know some, and I should be able to find a Jack and a Elwyn Lang down at the fair grounds as they are heavy into agriculture and preparations are under way for their large fair next week. Also we could drive up the road a couple of miles and find an old second-cousin-once-removed, Evelyn Shock, in a house jusy off the road. We drove down and questioned a lady at the fair grounds, but neither Jack nor Elwyn were there at the time, so we backtracked and went to find Evelyn, We had here address and when we got there she was outside sitting on the step talking another lady. We backed into her driveway and walked over to talkto her. We hadn't even introduced ourselves, when she said "you are Langs from Western Canada, aren't you?" Amazing, and she is 95 years old! She had seen our licence plates. We agreed and were invited in and talked for a couple of hours. Sure a lot of Lang history here! Mind Boggeling!!! We are invited back tomorrow, and will take her with us to see the old Lang Homestead, where my Great-Grandfather settled after coming from Ireland. Returned across the Ottawa River to ELTORO with our heads swimming with "Lang" information.
Aug 26th
Well, we planned on going to Shawville today, but instead we just relaxed for most of the day.

Sunrise Mist on the Lake

Pink Sunset from our park

Went back into Renfrew to Wallyworld and bought some needed groceries. Then just read and sat around the rest of the day
Aug 25th
Up this morning to a slightly overcast sky. Its nice and quiet and peaceful here, but we want to move on. We have reserved at Renfrew KOA for 4 nights, just south of the Ottawa River, across from Shawville, Quebec. We want to go to Shawville to research some of my roots. We followed Highway #7 about 30 miles east and then swung north onto Highway 41 toward Renfrew at Kaladar. This 70 miles across country was a beautiful drive. The highway was good, the traffic light. Passed Bon Echo Provincial Park and Mazinaw Lake. We passed a neat little town of Denbigh and then at Dacre turned onto #132 to Renfrew. Checked into Renfrew KOA by about 1:00pm. Seems like a nice place. Park right on the grass with a nice little lake out the front.
Aug 24th
On the Road Again!! Left Waterloo by 9:00AM and headed North and East. We weren't even out of Waterloo yet when we got our first "Wake up Call". Some woman cut us off from the left lane. pulled right in front of us, slammed on her brakes and turned right onto a side street. We sure had a chance to check our braking system, and then an opportunity to check our blood pulse rate as well. Denice's was high!! Mine a little as well!! Went through Guelph on Highway 24 and on to Caledon, then on #9 NE to New Market and on up to Lake Simcoe on highway 48, then back down to Lindsey and on through Peterborough to Marmora where we reserved at a KOA. Todays trip was only a couple hundred miles, but took us over 6 hours of steady driving. Ontario highways confuse me. Seems no rhyme nor reason to their direction. Some areas are in sort of a grid running NE / SW, then the next is also a grid but in a different direction. There does not seem to be any highways that are direct from one city to the next, except maybe the 401, and that one we are trying to avoid as much as possible. The other thing that is rather surprising is that posted speed limits are quite slow. none are over about 90Kms/hr, some are only 80, and we have been on some that are only 70. I guess that makes since since it seems the whole southern part of the province is sort of semi Rural / Semi Urban. Along most highways you just get up to the posted 80 Klms and then have to slow down again for the next town.

And then there was Niagara and Beyond

2010-08-17T05:48:00.000-07:00

Aug 23rd
We were planning on moving down the road today, but after looking at the weather forecasting showers, we just decided to spend an extra day. Tuesday is forecast for full sun. I went to the office last night and requested an extra day, but was told the site we were in was booked, so would have to move. That's OK. Packed lightly this AM and moved back to #339. That's the site we were originally in when we arrived.
Aug 22nd
Today took a drive that was recommended by a man at the St Jacos Market yesterday. Went out to a town a few miles from Waterloo, called West Montrose. This is a place where the last covered Bridge in Ontario is. Drove through and stopped to take some pictures of it. While we were there several Mennonites crossed with their little buggies pulled by high stepping horses. Quite a sight to see this mode of transportation in todays world

Then we continued on for another 10 miles to Elora Conservation Area and Gorge. Here the Grand River flows through a narrow gorge for a few miles. Seems that this is a favourite place for the young to "Tube" down through the gorge and over the many rapids.

We walked along the top on a well shaded path and watched some of the fun they were having. Stopped for a hot Dawg at a local consession there before moving on. One of the brochures we had showed some sort of a mill in the town of Elora, right on the river, so we decided to see if we could find it. We did. It is now converted into an Inn.

Not sure what the original mill was used for, but it now is quite a picturesque place right above a falls on the Grand River. Then returned to ELTORO. Took longer than we had anticipated, but it was worth it!!
Aug 21st
Today out to St. Jacobs Farmers Market and Flea Market and Outlet Mall. It was only a few miles from home. Thousands of people flock here every day to sample the produce from mostly local Mennonite growers.

The produce is phenomenal!! Every kind of jam, jelly, sauces, relishes, preserves, pickles, that you could imagine.

Also beautiful quilts and home made crafts. Too bad ELTORO is saturated!!! But we did buy pickled sausage, eggs and asparagus and two huge dill pickles. YUM YUM -- pucker power! We will eat them ASAP. We also bought two goose down pillows. By the way, the goose down comes all the way from Alberta. We needed new ones to replace those we do not like in ELTORO. The lady there told us the best goose down pillows there are in the world come from the Hutterites in Alberta, but no, we had to come all the way to Ontario to buy them. I'm not telling the costs. We walked through the large Flea Market.

It was great, but much like so many other Flea Markets we have see before. Also the big Outlet stores, are much the same, but we did pick up a few things in the Kitchen store. Denice, well me too, have a slight addiction to all types of gadgets, and we did need a coffee carafe to keep our left over coffee warm. On our way home, just at the corner turning into Green Acres RV Resort, we came upon a whole contingency of Ontario Police. They had set up a posting in two spots along the Conservation Drive about a half mile apart. They did not have their lights flashing and were only waving motorists by at a slow rate. Nothing seemed to be amiss. No accident. Nothing. We could not imagine what the ruckus was about, until mid-way between the two sets of congregated officers, just off the road we saw a large farmyard with a whole bunch of Motor Cycles and a bus with a large banner on the back saying, "Hell's Angels" Ontario Branch" Now we knew!!!

The police were there just to have a presence, and to make sure nothing erupted, I guess. Nice neighbors we have here!! They must have been having some sort of gathering at that farmyard.
Aug 20th
Today was maybe a little slow. Didn't do much in the morning, but after lunch decided to take a drive down rural roads to Stratford to see what was there seeing it was only about 25 miles away. The rural scenery is great here.

Sooo green and yards so well manicured. Every farm seems to have a acre or two of well maintained lawn and flowers. Some have ponds and fountains. I don't think too many of the Ontario farmers are suffering economically. Once in Stratford we stopped at Shakespeare's Park at the info hut, then found free parking near by. Spent an hour or so just walking along the Avon River.

Again the park is well kept and flowers are everywhere. Ducks and swans cruised up and down the silent, smooth waters, as did the tour boats. A most enjoyable afternoon!!
Aug 19th
At 8:15 took Jeep down to Bustard Jeep Chrysler for window repair. Brought home via their shuttle. Originally we had reserved our RV Site for only 3 nights, but since we liked the Park had requested an increase it to 1 week. They accommodated us, but we had to move to another site as the one we were in on the lake had been previously booked, so as soon as I got home from the Jeep Dealer, we packed up and moved, but only a few sites to the east. Not a Big Deal!! And then settled in again. At about noon Bustard Jeep called with the "Good News, Bad News" story. The "bad" was to advise that the whole window controller and glass had to be replaced as there was an update. Cost $560 before Tax. The "Good" was that yesterday they had ordered two of the windows for another customer, whose window would not go down, and they would use the "Steal from Peter to Pay Paul" scenario as the other customer was unaware that the parts were there, and they would re-order for his parts. So we are without wheels today, so another day of relaxing. So today is sort of an expensive one, but I guess, "That's just the cost of doing Business".
Shuttle picked me up again at 4:45PM and delivered me back to Bustards. Paid the "Bad News" at $616.93. $70 to our good friends in Ottawa!! The Gal at the payment booth at Bustards wrote in large letters on their copy of the invoice, "Because of this bill this gentleman will not be able to afford to go to Newfoundland!!"
Aug 18th
Had email first thing in morning indicating they would schedule an appointment for 9:00AM tomorrow morning, if that was OK. I emailed back it was. Then spent the rest of the day just kind of schmoozing. Nothing very exciting. Went down to a nearby Sobeys for some needed groceries. Came back home and stowed them. Larder is full again.
Aug 17th
Drove down to Niagara today, about 100 miles from here. Routed Jeeps GPS to use secondary highways rather than Freeways. It took us longer but took us right through down town Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, and Hamilton. Not sure if that was a good idea or not!! Anyway arrived at the Falls in about 3 hours. Paid $20 to park while we took the photos that we came for. There were thousands of people there. I suppose there always is, but it was crowded.

We had planned on staying the night down there, but decided just to make the drive back to ELTORO instead. Took a longer route back as we wanted to at least see Lake Erie, so we headed south to Port Erie, and on the Port Colburne where we crossed the Welland Canal for a second time. Just prior to Port Colburn, took a run out to a local beach along the Lake. It was a nice sandy one, so Denice was able to add to her collection of sands from various point where we have been, Took a few photos and continued on. From there we headed north again toward home. Set the GPS to take the "quickest" way home. She routed us almost the same way we had come, except part of the way was on freeways. Stopped in Cambridge for a quick drive in lunch. Rolled down the window to order, but after getting our dinner, the window refused to roll back up. I tried several different scenario's, but with no luck. Well, it was lucky that it was a warm evening as we had to drive the last 25 miles or so with the window open. Arrived home 8:00PM. Got right onto the web when home to find a Jeep Dealer in Waterloo. Found Bustard Chrysler not too far away. They have an email site to request service so I told them of my problem, and got a prompt reply that they would be getting back to me soon. Went to bed shortly there after without any reply.
Aug 16th
Left Keith's place at 10:00AM this morning. Sure hated to leave, it was such a nice setting and Keith was such a great host, but time marches on, so down the road we went toward Waterloo, our next planned stop. Our preference of secondary highways led us through rural Ontario, down highways 6, 12, 10, 17, and 16. These are all well paved 2 lane highways, most with a speed limit of 80 km/hr. The speed is fine with us as we have a chance to enjoy the passing sights. We did notice that vehicles very often passed on double solid lines as there are more of them than dotted ones. we were travelling slightly over the posted speed limit, but people seem to have what we call the RV syndrome, and have to pass every motorhome and then slow down. In response to this Denice wrote this little joke.
"A man from Ontario was stopped in Alberta for passing on a double solid line going up hill. He asks "What did I do wrong Officer?" The Officer replied "You passed illegally on a double solid line going uphill." The man from Ontario replied, "Oh, sorry officer, I thought that double solid line meant, OK to pass, but go faster." We saw a lot of that!!

Our concept of Ontario is changing. Since we had never been here before, we were under the impression of a much more heavily populated area from the maps that we had looked at, when in reality although it is heavily populated, it is quite rural. I'm sure a large farm here is something much less than a quarter section. The land is rolling, strikenly green, lots of trees, and manicured yards. Towns are small and quaint. Mennonite and Amish people seem to make up a fair amount of the population. Highways are shared with horse and buggies. We only had about 90 miles to travel today, but it took us almost three hours, but a very enjoyable three hours, indeed. We checked into the GreenAcres RV Park on the northern outskirts of Waterloo for a three day period, and were escorted to our site by a nice young lady. We originally had planned for only three days, but once settled in, and found what a nice park it was, decided we would like to make it a week. I went back to the office and requested an extension, but the spot in is not available as it is reserved by someone else. However the receptionist was able to accomadate us by moving us a couple of times. Not our preference, but we will live with it.

Owen Sound Surround

2010-08-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

Aug 15th
Today just spent time around Keith's Ponderosa. Day before yesterday we went over to a nice cemetery, close to their home, where Linda is buried. Keith pointed out a very large stump from a Maple tree, and detailed how he and his brothers had taken it down as they were afraid that it was starting to die and could fall into the cemetery damaging some of the tombstones. They loaded up the tree in movable pieces and hauled it to Keith's yard for fire wood.

I am always on the lookout for good wood for "turning" Bowls, and here was a whole tree, with a base of approximately a two foot diameter, just waiting to be taken. Well with nothing to do today, I dug out my little electric chain saw with a 14 inch bar,and attacked that big tree. Now I see-sawed back and forth, from one side to the other and back again, until I finally worried it to death, and chiseled off a 14 inch section. Now I had to split this into 3 equal sections that would fit in ELTORO's storage, and all the bark had to be removed for transporting all the way to Texas and back again to Alberta. Finally all was completed, the pieces wrapped in plastic to keep it from drying too fast, and stored in the back compartment. I sure hope it makes some great bowls!! A lot of work, but the result may be worth it.
After dinner Barry and Donna Morton came out to see us. Barry is another of my second cousins. Keith had called them and asked if they would be interested in coming out to meet us and fill Denice in on some more of her family tree. They arrived and for the next couple of hours Morton history was the conversation theme. They brought with them a bunch of photos, so we scanned them into Denice's computer, and put names and relationships to all that they could. Barry and Donna winter at Harlengen, Texas, just north of Brownsville. A year ago we were through Harlengen, and went to the Iwo Jima monument, and were likely within a few blocks of their Fifth wheel site. They leave it stored there for the year, and go down each winter. We hope to see them this winter if we get into that general area.
Aug 14th
We really lucked out today, as Raymond, Linda's brother, and also a second cousin of mine is having a large Bar-B-Que at his "Farm" outside Wiarton, Ontario. That is the Wiarton of "Wiarton Willie" fame where every February 2nd Willlie looks out to see his shadow to advise if there will be 6 weeks more of winter or if summer is 6 weeks away. Raymond, is well known around Wiarton for his Barbeques, and has organized and done them for very large gatherings

The Roasts are just about ready!

This is Keith, Raymond and Marj ( Left to Right)

This is Amanda, the girl who was just to India for an MS treatment
Raymond with a well deserved drink!
And of course there were lots of little ones. Ashley, Heather's daughter is in the front right.This one was to celebrate some birthdays and more to welcome his daughter Amanda back from India where she underwent the treatment for MS. The procedure seemed a success, and Amanda says she feels much better. She is relatively young and had been stricken with that dreadful disease for several years, and had progressed to the stage that some treatment was almost necessary, if any sort of normal life was to be achieved. The "Farm" as Raymond calls it, is a small plot of land some miles out of Wiarton in a bushy atmosphere, more of a hunting type area, but a great place for a get together. Rays residence is right on the Georgian Bay, closer to Wiarton. They had a great Bar-B-Que, probably with a hundred of their friends and families. Roast Beef, Caesar salad, potato salad, and all the other trimmings followed by Chocolate cake and carrot cake.

I'm surprised there was not Pumpkin Pie

Or Tomatoes

What a feast!! We had arrived about 4:00PM and stayed until 8:00PM. Met with a whole bunch of distant relatives. Denice was able to glean a bunch of Family tree stuff, so that will keep her busy for a while updating her data bank. Keith left with us as we headed home, but we could not pass through Wiarton without going to see "Willie."

Now there is a real live albino Willie, housed in a Remax supported plot. As it was late in the day Willie had already bedded down into one of his underground abodes, so we did not see him in the flesh, however near the beach in a nice park there is a large statue of him, so we were able to get some photos of him there. Then on the outskirts of Owen Sound we went to see Inglis Falls. Here the Sydenham River falls over the Niagara Escarpment. before it reaches the Georgian Bay.

The Containment Pond above the FallsA beautiful falls in a nice park! Arrived home at 9:00PM.

Aug 13th
A couple of days ago we had called ahead to the Gambles in Chatsworth , Ontariio to advise them that we would be calling on them. Now for those who don't know, Linda Gamble is a second cousin of mine. Here maiden name was Marklevitz, parents, Olive and George Marklevitz, Olives Maiden name was Morton, whose father was brother of my grandmother Lang, and so second cousin of mine. When I called, Keith, Lindas husband answered. Now we had met these people before, but at least 25 years ago, and had not remainded in any contact with them. After initial introductions, Keiths advised us that Linda had passed away March 7th of this year, from that dreaded cancer. We were shocked. We remembered them as such a nice couple when they last visited out west. We promised to come and see him at least, so he had given us directions to his acreage a couple of miles outside Chatsworth, and said we could park ELTORO right in his yard. So this morning I made a route from Tobermory right to his address, and by about 10:00AM we were on our way. It was only a 75 mile trip, so by noon we were at his door. He has a beautiful yard on a hilltop, surrounded by trees, and a rural setting of small farms growing mostly soy beans. He had great place for us to park out on his lawn in front of his house and behind a screening of big spruce trees.

What a setting!! After passing on our condolences, and getting reacquainted with Keith, we chatted for a good part of the afternoon. Denice, being heavily into "Family Tree" had wanted to know a whole lot about the Morton lineage. Keith was able to fill in a lot of details, but I'm sure Linda would have known even more. Tomorrow we will meet their daughter Heather, and she may be able to help as well. We went out for dinner to the "Kettles" restaurant in Chatsworth, and had a great meal. Denice chose the sausage and Kraut, I the barbequed ribs. After dinner and a quick tour of Chatsworth, its just a small town of about 400 souls, we returned to Keith's and chatted until bedtime.
Aug 12th
Ok, I'm behind, but not my fault. Been out of WIFI contact for a few days. I'll get the text done now, but the photos may take a while. OK??
Woke up to a glorious sunny morning this morning, Darn, should have booked the Island hopping cruise for this morning rather than yesterday! Guess you can't win them all!! But we did some sight seeing around the area anyway. First, before sight seeing, we need a few groceries so went an purchased them at the local food store. Not too big, but had most everything that we needed. Then in the afternoon we went to Bruce Peninsula National Park. Denice did some memorabilia shopping in the little shop, while I climbed an observation platform some 150 feet above the ground and well above all the trees around.

Construction was of an expanded type metal paneling, so at any time you could look through the floor to the ground way below. There was no way that Denice would have followed me to the top. However, once at the top the view was great. Several islands were visible, and the clear waters of Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay. After some photos shots climbed back down anf heared south down the Bruce Peninsula for a few miles and then turned right, and went out to Singing Sands Beach.

What a great place for kids!! The beach is fairly hard sand and the water is shallow. An adult could walk a half mile out in the bay and still be only up top his waist, I'm sure. Kids as small as a couple of years old can even walk away out and still be in safe waters. And it is warm. Like in a bath.. Also on the beach the Monarch Butterfly migration was in full swing. Hundreds were flitting around everywhere.
Denice spent a fair amount of time photographing them, until the high heat and humidity got to here. We then wandered down a local gravel road and finally crossed #6 Highway and continued on east for about 5 miles until reaching the Georgian Bay coast again, and then followed it back north for about 5 miles to Cabot Head Light house.

Very few lighthouses are active anymore with GPS and other new navigational instrumentation that is available today, and Cobot Head is no exception. It is now maintained as a tourist facility and run by volunteers. Here I was able to climb the 40 feet to the observation deck for a look around. More Pictures!! Then I took a short 15 minute walk to a small inlet horseshoe shaped bay that in days past had afforded shipping traffic protection from storms, although a few were sunk near the mouth while trying to navigate into the narrow channel.

Returned to Tobermory and had dinner at ELTORO. At 7:45 went down to the marina and were blessed with some great photo ops of sunset.

The Chi Cheemaun ferry had just arrived and was unloaded and then reloaded for the return trip to South Bay.
A great photo opportunity at sunset!!

To the Bruce Peninsula on the Big Canoe

2010-08-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

Aug 11th
Foggy this morning again. Wait until noon and then go down to Info booth and find if any boat tours available. There is so we book into a 3:30PM Great Blue Heron Boat tour. It takes 2 hours to tour through some of the Islands. We waited around for that, and right on time loaded onto the Great Blue Heron. It is a 125 passenger boat about 50 ft long with 3 Diesel waterjet engines.

As soon as we left harbor fog surrounded us again. It was OK close to land or the islands but anything more than a couple of hundred feet from shore as completely obscured.

Notice the sunken vessel in the lower center

Here is the Che-Cheemaun with her maw open loading cars

Our boat was glass bottomed so we were able to see a couple of sunken shipwrecks that were in shallow waters. Then we followed some of the Island shores, but really could not see much. Our route took us by a couple of old light houses, and we were able to get close enough to at least see them.

Also a couple of Flower Pot Formations that were rather neat.

Returned to harbor by 5:45, and then home.
Aug 10th
Up and away at the break of dawn this morning. Need to be at the South Bay Ferry Landing by 8:00AM and it is 25 miles away. Arrived without incident although many fog patches along the way. Once at the check-in, the first attendant greeted us with, "Hello Mr Lang" even before I had time to speak. He had seen that we were registered as a motorhome pulling a vehicle. We were advised several times that if we unhooked TOAD it would save us quite a bit of money, but Denice promised to pay the difference, if she did not have to drive TOAD on. Total for the ferry trip was $202.15 including 2 seniors @ $27.60, a high vehicle @ 74.40, a high trailer @ $74.40 (not sure how they arrived at that), and 5 over length feet @ $25.75. Once in line we wandered over to a gift shop. Need to have one of those where ever people congregated and have to wait in line. We bought!

Then out of the fog arrived the Big Canoe, the ferry to Tobermory. Loaded on, and had a good breakfast, and a good ride, although shrouded n fog almost the entire trip. Came out of it just prior to arriving at the docks of Tobermory. Exited the ferry and only had to drive a couple of miles to our RV Campground destination at the Tobermory Village Resort.

Were completely settled in by 11:30AM, a short traveling day. Just relaxed the remainder of the day.

Along the Great Gitchi Goomee

2010-08-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

Aug 9th
Today from Sault Ste. Marie along Lake Huron for about 150 miles to Espanola, then turned south on Highway #6. Penny, our Streets and Trips, verbal Guide, almost got us off on a wild Goose Chase. Oh a word about Penny. She wouldn't talk to us all day yesterday and I thought she was just "Being a Woman", but then by chance last night I looked at my computer and Low and Behold, I had the speaker shut off. Sorry Penny for all those things I said about you. It was all my fault and I apologize for that. But then today I had just routed her from the Sault to our next campground on Manitoulin Island. Penny took it apon herself to take the shortest route. Now I must tell you the shortest is not always the best, so when she said turn right at Government road 20 miles west of Espanola, We for a minute or two did not question her and started to turn, but before we committed ourselves, it was obvious that this was nothing more than a narrow little dirt road. Closer investigation on the map showed it would have eventually taken us to Highway 6, but this was not the route we wanted to follow. I think maybe this was Penny's way of getting back at me for the things I said about her yesterday. We are even now!! Anyway we grabbed a hamburger and milkshake at Dairy Queen in Espanola, and then continued south.

This is huge bridge that turns to allow big boats to pass on the north Channel.
Now this peninsula is just "All Rock". The road was not bad, but a lot of corners and up and down. We arrived at or Manitoulin Campground at about 2:30PM and checked in. Their sites are quite small and so they gave me a choice of about 5 sites. I looked them all over and decided #46 was probably best, but I would have to unhook Toad, and I really did not want that as we are booked onto the ferry at 9:15 in the morning and we need to be there at least an hour in advance and we have at least a 30 minute drive from here to the ferry. However I did unhook Toad and wiggled into the site. The back end was almost touching another trailer and the front was almost on the street. But before we got hooked up the owner roared up in an ATV and said another pull through site was open as the people that had reserved it never showed, so we could have it. Wiggled out again and moved, but this is a good large site. End of another day, but I did walk down the the beach and enjoyed a sunset over the little inlet on the Lake. A great place for kids to swim, as I don't think there was anywhere on the little bay that was over 4 feet deep.

Lots of kids and adults just enjoying the water.
Aug 8th
Left Wawa this morning by 10:00AM and traveled along the shores of Gitchi Gumee (Superior's nick name). We had only 134 miles planned for today to the Sault Ste. Marie KOA Park so we traveled quite slow with several stops where ever we were able to. Stopped at Alona Bay.

Here the gravel beach reminded us of the one we saw several years ago in New Brunswick called " Cape Enrage." All the rocks have been "tumbled" by the severe wave action until smooth and round. When wet they exhibit many unique colors and designs. Denice had to pick a few of these and stow them away for future enjoyment.

Also stopped at Agawa Native Craft store. Lots of wood carvings and an array of other neat stuff that tourists collect. We bought a few!!
Now a little about Lake Superior:
Name
The Ojibwe call the lake Gichigami, meaning "big water." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the name as "Gitche Gumee" in The Song of Hiawatha. "The first French explorers approaching the great inland sea by way of the Ottawa River and Lake Huron during the 17th century referred to their discovery as le lac superieur. Properly translated, the expression means "Upper Lake," that is, the lake above Lake Huron.

Hydrography
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, and empties into Lake Huron via the St. Marys River and the Soo Locks. Lake Baikal in Russia is larger by volume, as is Lake Tanganyika. The Caspian Sea, while larger than Lake Superior in both surface area and volume, is brackish; though presently isolated, historically the Caspian has been repeatedly connected to and isolated from the Mediterranean via the Black Sea.

Lake Superior has a surface area of 31,820 square miles (82,413 km2)[1], which is approximately the size of South Carolina. It has a maximum length of 350 miles (563 km) and maximum breadth of 160 miles (257 km). Its average depth is 482 feet (147 m) with a maximum depth of 1,332 feet (406 m).[1] Lake Superior contains 2,900 cubic miles (12,100 km³) of water. There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire land mass of North and South America with 1 foot (30 cm) of water.[5] The shoreline of the lake stretches 2,726 miles (4,387 km) (including islands).

American limnologist J. Val Klump was the first person to reach the lowest depth of Lake Superior on July 30, 1985, as part of a scientific expedition, which, at 733 feet (223 m) below sea level, is the lowest spot on the continental interior of the United States and the second-lowest spot on the interior of the North American continent after the much deeper Great Slave Lake in Canada (458 metres (1,503 ft) below sea level). (Though Crater Lake, not Lake Superior, is the deepest lake in the United States, Crater Lake's surface elevation is much higher and its deepest point is 4,229 feet (1,289 m) above sea level.)

The average temperature of the lake during the summer is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 °C). Lake Superior is the largest, deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes. Superior could contain the volume of all the other Great Lakes and three more Lake Eries. Because of its size Superior has a retention time of 191 years.[6]

Annual storms on Lake Superior regularly record wave heights of over 20 feet (6 m).[7] Waves well over 30 feet (9 m) have been recorded

Winnie the Pooh Land

2010-08-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

Aug 7th
Toured around Wawa today. Went downtown and took pctures of the large Wawa Goose, that is their symbol, and went tho the water front Park to look at the fountain in the lake and an old drilling rig that was used at the old iron mines.

Stopped and had a hamburger at Mona's Kitchen. Couldn't eat it all!! Then went to Magpie High Falls to take some more pictures.
Seems rather strange that the River and Falls are called magpie, since there are no magpies in this part of the country. From there went on south a few miles to another falls called Silver Falls.
More pictures. Then to the Sandy Beach, a nice beach with soft clean sand on Lake Superior. Returned home by 4:00PM
Aug 6th
We were on the road again by about 10:15AM after saying our good-byes to Bill and Laverne. We hope to maybe meet up with them towards spring somewhere in Arizona. They are unsure if they will be traveling that way or not, as Florida is their spring preference being that they have a daughter living there. We'll see! Traveled east along Superior to Nipigon, where the Trans Canada splits to 17 to the south and 11 to the North. Something that struck us as rather disturbing was that from Nipigon to west of Thunder Bay, there is only one road tying Canada together, There is not another by pass route in case of some disaster in this section!! Plans and construction is underway to increase this to a 4 lane highway, but will take some time to complete. We followed 17 near the lake shore to about Marathon. Then the highway swings inland, crossing many hills, although fairly low are quite steep grades. On this section we passed White River. It was here that Winnie the Pooh originated.
Christopher Milne had named his toy bear after Winnie, a Canadian black bear which he often saw at London Zoo, and "Pooh", a swan they had met while on holiday. The bear cub was purchased from a hunter for $20 by Canadian Lieutenant Harry Colebourn in White River, Ontario, Canada, while en route to England during the First World War. He named the bear "Winnie" after his hometown in Winnipeg, Manitoba. "Winnie" was surreptitiously brought to England with her owner, and gained unofficial recognition as The Fort Gary Horse regimental mascot. Colebourne left Winnie at the London Zoo while he and his unit were in France; after the war she was officially donated to the zoo, as she had become a much loved attraction there.Then the highway returns to the Superior lake shore at Wawa. It would seem to us that Canada should be working more diligently to develop better roads through this Ontario section to encourage more vacationers to use the Canadian Route rather than the American one. The scenery is good here and lots of land along the shorelines where tourist facilities could be easily developed. Oh well, nobody asked me, and what would I know! We had reserved at the Wawa Resort, and arrived at 4:45PM