Dipping our feet in the Pacific Ocean (posted August 13th)
To the Cabin and Jasper (posted August 26th)
Trip to the cabin to pick up the trailer was uneventful. Trailered to Jasper and spent two nights there and saw just a tiny bit of the park. Lovely spot. Rosa spotted the Tim Horton's right away. She also spotted a mother black bear with three cubs. What a delight. They crossed right in front of the truck with the video rolling and then foraged for some time quite close to where we were stopped. The cubs were really cute. Click photo to go to slideshow.
Edmonton and Calgary (Posted September 1st)
Meantime, we spent time visiting the Provincial Museum in Edmonton which is a valuable source of information to get us started on the pre and post-contact history of this side of the Rocky Mountains. At Ft. Edmonton, there is a series of displays which highlight the various stages of growth in Edmonton. First is a replica of the Hudson's Bay fort, then pioneer days followed by early 20th century displays. It was a day of looking.
Calgary to Winnipeg (posted Sept. 11th)
Leaving Edmonton on the Friday of the long weekend was quite an experience. A river of cars flowed all the way to Calgary. Everyone trying to do the best time they could. We arrived at Bill and Kathleen's feeling a bit stressed out as a Semi had nearly ran us off the road. Luckily, together with the dog Jake they made us welcome and we had a great dinner and visit. We spent three nights in Calgary, going to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump (or as Rosa calls it: Smashing Heads) and to the Tyrell Museum in Drumheller the next day. Both sites are class acts and Rosa and I truly enjoyed them.
Leaving Calgary, we traveled to Dinosaur Provincial Park where we spent 3 nights and hiked the several trails which they have set up to tell the story of the Badlands. Then we went to Cypress Hills Inter-provincial Park and spent a couple of nights there. The idea was to see this unique environment and to visit Ft. Walsh, the RNWP Fort that was built to bring Canadian law and order to that part of the territory. In 1873, American whiskey trading was rampant and a massacre of the local indians occurred there , killing 20 people. The first RNWP officer was killed while on duty there as well, so it is a truly historic site.
Travelling into Manitoba, we stayed at Spruce Wood Provincial park and hiked the Spirit Sands trail. The geographic history here is one much younger than the badlands or Cypress Hills. Here, as the last glacier was retreating, a huge river formed, the Assiniboine, and a very large delta was produced. Imagine a map of your home town with the hospital grounds highlighted. The highlighted area is like the provincial park as the area of the city is to the ancient delta. Of course, today, the Assiniboine still floods with devastating consequences and the park is still rebuilding from the last flood of 3 years ago. Then, it was off to Winnipeg where we stayed at Birds Hill Provincial park. We will be visiting the city tomorrow. As usual, if you click on the photo, it will take you to a collection of images taken the past few days.
Winnipeg to Thunder Bay (Posted Sept. 14)
Winnipeg was a fantastic city and we had a great visit there as well a nice time visiting Kendra and her mom Judy. By the end of a day of museums, walking and a big dinner out with the two of them, Rosa and I just crashed hard. The next day, we had to stock up on cinnamon buns at the Upper Crust Bakery in Selkirk, soon to be famous because so many people are reading our blog. We left town and headed into Ontario, as I said. Then, the long distances that we were warned about began to unfold. Two days into Ontario and we are only in Thunder Bay. Hearing about it is one thing, but driving for mile upon mile with no sign of any habitation is surprisingly monotonous. As usual, if you click on the photo of Kendra, it should take you to a few photos of the last few days. The Manitoba Museum was quite spectacular, but one visit did not do it justice. The Forks and St. Boniface were also interesting for me as I am an admirer of Louis Riel.
Unfortunately, tonight we hear that Rosa's mom suffered a heart attack.
A day in Thunder Bay (Sept. 15)
Speaking of grand kids, we were on a walking tour of Ft. William when a baby woke up from his nap and soon after held out his arms for Rosa to pick him up. Later he reached for me as well, so we both enjoyed some baby time this afternoon courtesy of 14-month-old Heath.
Ft. William was the entrepot for the North West Trading Company. This group was in direct competition with the Hudson's Bay Company and the animosity, indeed a bitter rivalry, led to some 20 people being killed in the Red River area. No details on that yet, but I will definitely research it. At any rate, Ft. William was the company's main supply base, being well positioned to supply the interior trading posts. Each summer, the interior voyageurs (hivernants) would come down to the fort with loads of furs and meet the company workers at the fort as well as the voyageurs who had traveled up from Montreal with fresh loads of trade goods and news from home. You bet there was some serious drinking that month. It was called a rendezvous, but it might just as well have been called Mardi Gras.
Ft. William fell in importance when the two companies amalgamated in 1821. Clearly, it was better to cooperate than to compete but there were stark differences between the two entities. HBC was British-based and used Orkney and Quebec workers and to a great extent shut out Natives. The NWC was Scottish-led and used mainly Quebecers as well as some Africans who had fled American slavery. They were more open to native interaction and the contacts and intermarriages between mainly french men and native women worked to the company's advantage. Arguably, David Thompson, a Nor'Wester, would not have made it to the West Coast if not for his native wife and entourage. The offspring of these intermarriages are today's Metis and they formed a sub-culture in the Northwest Territory (any land not Quebec or Ontario). Louis Riel is the most famous of the Metis.
After our visit to the fort (and a tailgate lunch), we took a drive to and short hike around Kakabeka Falls. This was totally in tune with the morning's tour as the falls was the first portage that the voyageurs had to overcome after they left Fort William. When you see the photos, you will know what they were up against. Each man had to carry 180 pounds (two bundles of cargo) and then they had to portage the canot du nord as well. I am deliberately using the french word for "canoe", the NW Company had to build 30-50 of these each year. It is said that more men died from strangulated bowels due to hernias than anything else. Drowning, of course, came second as seldom could they swim. The voyageurs wore a colorful sash which they bound tightly around their abdomen to prevent hernias whenever they were portaging the heavy loads. Not to suggest that they didn't also use them to give themselves a jaunty air in the company of women. They did. We could learn a few things from the french. Like, to talk french for example. Women like that even more than a fancy sash.
It was a fun day and it was really peculiar to see cargo ships at anchor as if in English Bay, but thousands of kilometers from the ocean. Lots of prairie grain is shipped from Thunder Bay as evidenced by the several grain elevators at the waterfront. Thunder Bay is the largest grain handling port in the world. Traversing the great lakes and going through the locks of the Seaway is easy now but we have to admire the voyageurs who started it all over 200 years ago.
A Day in Sault Ste. Marie (posted Sept 17)
The Soo (as it has long been called) is the home of Dr. Roberta Bondar, Canada's first woman in space. Civic pride is high for her and she and her accomplishments are showcased in one of the city's other attractions, the Bush Plane Museum. This is quite a place to visit, for the Soo was always the epicenter of the province's forest-fire fighting efforts. In addition, there is Roberta Bondar Place which provides a covered facility (but with open sides) in the centre of the city. Events like the Farmer's Market, for example, are held there and West Coast cities would be wise to copy the format because the fabric roof provides very good shelter.
Beside the lock, the waterfront, the bush planes and a lovely tailgate lunch while sitting in the sunshine, we also visited the municipal museum. Although not as sophisticated as the provincial museums we have visited while travelling across Canada, it nevertheless serves to highlight the history of the local area. And, being seniors, the entry fee was a deal! We hope that you enjoy the photos when you click on Rosa and her convertible.
Sault Ste. Marie to Ottawa (posted Sept 19)
Sault Ste. Marie brought us the opportunity to meet with Lori and Wayne. They are travelling west from Ottawa via the US to Alberta and BC. Then, they are southbound to the deserts of Arizona and Utah and across to Tennessee prior to returning home. It may even be possible to hook up with them once again on this trip as we pass each other in the USA. We had a pleasant visit over breakfast at our campsite, before each of us got on our way. They headed south into Minnesota and us eastward toward Ottawa.
We were now driving along the north shore of Lake Huron and occasionally a view of the lake opened up that was more spectacular than the last. The shoreline here, unlike Lake Superior, is dotted with small communities and small boats are everywhere in people’s yards reflecting how popular boating is. Going inland toward Sudbury, the bush gets increasingly scrubby-looking, but the temperature warms up as we get away from the Great Lakes. Although we hoped not to have to stop there, it being 5 pm, the pinging of the “low-fuel” warning necessitated a change of strategy. There were no gas stations by the highway, so we had to drive into town. How jarring it was to be in rush-hour traffic, to be manoeuvring at a tight gas bar and to have car alarms going off nearby. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
The route from when we left Lake Huron to North Bay (at Lake Nippissing) and on into Ottawa parallels that of Samuel de Champlain when, in 1613, he set off from the St. Lawrence and up the Ottawa river. Then, he traveled across the area we presently find ourselves in and thence to Lake Huron. It was a very rough trip and he lost his astrolabe at some point, which rendered him helpless in determining his position. I can imagine his reaction when he reached Lake Huron: “WTF! dis water she is no salty!” Interestingly, in the 1867 a young man came across an astrolabe in a field and it is at the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa today. Whether it is Champlain's is in question.
North Bay is also famous for being the birthplace of the Dionne Quintuplets in 1934. Rosa and I went through the museum and it was very touching. From there, we went on a short hike in Samuel Champlain Provincial Park. Along the route to Ottawa, we stopped for lunch and a I had a nap. It was good I did because we again reached Ottawa at rush hour and there was construction on the freeway which resulted in an hour of bumper to bumper. It felt good to reach my little brother's house and get comfortable. We anticipate being here a week visiting the family and seeing the attractions of the nation's capital.
Kilometers driven: 6456
Hours behind wheel: 98
Fuel Consumption: 24.5L/100 km or 11.5 mpg (Imperial) or 9.6 mpg (US)
Ottawa - posted Sept. 23
Our first outing in Ottawa was to the Cold War Museum which is known here as the Diefenbunker. This was an underground shelter completed in 1962 which was designed to keep the government of Canada functional for 30 days in the event of a nuclear conflict. From there, the various departments, a war cabinet and the CBC could still function. It remained an operational base for 32 years until 1994. (The Berlin Wall had "fallen" in November 1989).
It was enlightening for us to look at this period in the political life of Canada and to see that Canada was involved in such a significant way. For example, for many years our military had a nuclear arsenal although it was "dual keyed". That is, Washington had to first provide an arming code before Canada could enter its own arming code.
Our other outing was to Kingston where the military installations there hearken to an earlier conflict when the enemy was the USA. It was the war of 1812 that was messing with people's lives 200 years ago. Kingston is also the home of Sir John A MacDonald, our first Prime Minister. He is celebrated in this town even though, or perhaps because, he was a drunk. "In 1857 there were 37 taverns alone on Ontario St, the town's main thoroughfare. Nearby street, Wellington had another 9, King Street 14, Princess St. had 20, Johnson St had 12 while the market square had another 19. Another 61 taverns were scattered through the town including two right inside City Hall!" This is the milieu in which Sir John lived and worked.
Kingston is also the home of Paul Bernardo nowadays who is not celebrated and resides at the Kingston Penitentiary. The prison lies on the waterfront where Lake Ontario gradually becomes the St. Lawrence River but its walls are too high to take advantage of the view.
The weather is starting to become cool in the day time now and the wind at Fort Henry cut our visit short. It was nicer in downtown Kingston and the city was very delightful. Today is a day off from being tourists and tomorrow, Rosa is flying home to visit her Mom who remains hospitalized after suffering a heart attack. Meantime, I will remain in Ottawa where, being with family, I shall suffer neither hardship nor loneliness. Click on the photo for further pictures.
The week without Rosa (posted Sept. 30)
Niagara Falls is overwhelming. The volume of water as the collective outflow of four of the Great Lakes dumps into Lake Ontario is pretty amazing. I was a picture-snapping fool as we walked along the promenade that gives wonderful vantage points of the Canadian and American falls. Later, we went on the Maid of the Mist, which is a thrill to say the least. The boat goes close to the foot of the falls and passengers are drenched as the mist condenses into drops. The surface of the water is incredibly turbulent as is the air all around. Although drenched with wind-driven spray we felt exhilarated by the experience. Sadly, I lost my cherished Ranger Tugs cap. In the evening, spotlights come on and the splendor of the falls continues to be showcased .
The next day, we traveled to Toronto early on a Sunday morning. Traffic was light and we opted to go visit the CN Tower as the crowds were minimal and the weather was spectacular. Everything about the visit was fascinating starting with the elevator ride up. Ears pop. The view was incredible, especially the continuous activity at the island airport which lies below. The highlight is the glass floor which takes a bit of courage to step out onto. Directly below one's feet, wee little people move about, some lining up for the last game of the season for the Toronto Blue Jays. It was only after we came down that we noticed that the dome of the stadium was being retracted. Too bad we missed the bird's eye view of the open stadium.
This was followed by figuring out the transit system so that we could go to Kensington Market. $10 gets you a Day Pass for two people when travelling together. The day was beautiful still and we had a great visit to the pedestrian-only streets where many people were enjoying the Sunday open market. From several blocks away, I smelled Portuguese sardines roasting on a brazier which drew us to Amadeu's Restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious lunch. Washed down with corn bread and red wine, I was in a state of gastronomic delight until some time later when lunch began to repeat (as I knew that it would).
Returning to the waterfront, we spent the late afternoon sight-seeing while the crowds from the ball game thinned out. As a result, when we left the city, the traffic flowed smoothly and we had a pleasant but long drive home. What a treat, all thanks to my brother, Miguel.
Visit to Montreal (posted Oct. 6)
Down the St. Lawrence River (posted Oct. 10)
Oh, but I forgot to mention that, because the day was such a pretty one, we first drove across the bridge to Ile D’Orleans which is, I am sure, why the word “bucolic” was invented. At its northern tip, we walked along the water from where (from whence?) one can see Montmorency Falls in the distance as well as the City of Québec. Marine traffic moves along the southern channel between the island and the community of Lévis. “Fall Rhapsody” was in full swing and we were blessed to see the island at its peaceful best.
Leaving Québec City the next day, we made a long leg to place ourselves within the Gaspésie at Matane. We strategically parked at the local Wal Mart which has a Tim Horton’s nearby. Waking early, I verbally struggled through my order of coffees and Sesame bagels (grillés, avec du fromage nature) and then we hit the road. Along the roadside, we witnessed great displays for the Orange Road-Cone Festival which is being celebrated throughout the province of Québec as they struggle with repairs to the infrastructure. By afternoon we were in Percé where we enjoyed spending our time photographing its famous rock in the evening light. As usual, if you click (not lick) the above photo, it will take you to a slide show.
Into the Maritimes (posted Oct. 15)
In New Brunswick we started to get a real sense of the Acadian people. Their symbols are everywhere; the red, white and blue horizontal tricolour, the 5-point star on their homes and, of course the French language being spoken everywhere we went. They are quick to switch to English when they see that I can't speak French. We spoke at length to a woman in Caraquet who was decorating her home for Halloween. It was sunny and warm in her front yard and her friendliness was genuine as we unhurriedly exchanged stories. Picturesque New Brunswick gave way to even more picturesque Nova Scotia as we made our way to Cape Breton Island. There, we visited Fortress Louisbourg (unlike a fort, a fortress protects an entire town). We visited the Alexander Graham Bell historic site at Baddeck and we circumnavigated the Cabot Trail. The days were full from morning til dark as there was so much to take in. Of course, we had a lobster dinner too.
Walmart camping is a bargain, but they don't have WiFi. We stop in at Tim Horton's to check our email (by the way, you haven't been writing!) but that's about all we can do. I do like to make an effort to post my photos and ramblings so that the folks back home can keep track of our progress. Click on the photo above to see our progress through Gaspé and New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia (posted oct. 16)
Our arrival at Peggy’s Cove could not have been more well-timed if we had planned it. We drove all day and arrived at our campground in time to set up and wash our grimy truck. [You know how fuelling-station squeegees merely smear the windows so that the setting sun brings it all out? Well, that’s the point we had reached. So, with clean windshield we set off to see the iconic Peggy’s Cove.] Our first stop was at the Swiss Air Flight 111 Memorial which went down in the ocean nearby in 1998. The site is understated but stunning in terms of its setting. Photos don’t do it justice. From there, we drove into the village and were tickled by the quaintness of it. Arriving at the lighthouse, we strolled along the rocky shore taking many, many photos. As the sun went down, the sense of wonder got more and more intense and that’s when Rosa was moved to tell me that her expectations for this trip had been entirely met.
Louisbourg is a fortress built by the French to protect their interests in the cod fishery. A guide there told us that the cod fishery was more valuable at the time than the fur trade. Go figure! That is something that I did not know. Here is what Wikipedia says about Louisbourg:
The Fortress of Louisbourg (French: Forteresse de Louisbourg) is a National Historic Site of Canada and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th-centuryFrench fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Its two sieges, especially that of 1758, were turning points in the Anglo-French struggle for what today isCanada.[1]
The original settlement was made in 1713, and initially called Havre à l'Anglois. Subsequently, the fishing port grew to become a major commercial port and a strongly defended fortress. The fortifications eventually surrounded the town. The walls were constructed mainly between 1720 and 1740. By the mid-1740s Louisbourg was one of the most extensive (and expensive) European fortifications constructed in North America. It was supported by two smaller garrisons on Île Royale located at present-day St. Peter's and Englishtown. The Fortress of Louisbourg suffered key weaknesses, since it was erected on low-lying ground commanded by nearby hills and its design was directed mainly toward sea-based assaults, leaving the land-facing defences relatively weak. A third weakness was that it was a long way from France or Quebec, from which reinforcements might be sent. It was captured by British colonists in 1745, and was a major bargaining chip in the negotiations leading to the 1748 treaty ending the War of the Austrian Succession. It was returned to the French in exchange for border towns in what is today Belgium. It was captured again in 1758 by British forces in the Seven Years' War, after which its fortifications were systematically destroyed by British engineers. The British continued to have a garrison at Louisbourg until 1768.
The fortress and town were partially reconstructed in the 1960s and 1970s, using some of the original stonework, which provided jobs for unemployed coal miners. The head stonemason for this project was Ron Bovaird. The site is operated by Parks Canada as a living history museum.
Parks Canada has done a good job of taking some artifacts from the era and putting together a historic site dedicated to Alexander Graham Bell. The visit to the building really makes the man and his wife real to the visitors and I could not help but make a comparison to Leonardo da Vinci when I read about his many accomplishments. Of course, everyone knows Alec as an immigrant Scot who settled in Canada before going to Boston to teach the deaf. Then, he invented the telephone and started the Bell Company. But I had taken a wider interest in him after I found out that he built the Silver Dart, the first airplane to fly in the British Empire and co-founded the National Geographic Society. The Silver Dart first flew near Baddeck, Nova Scotia (where the Bells had a recreational home) in 1909. Then, in 1959, a young airman, Lionel McCaffrey, built a replica of the plane and it flew again at the 50th anniversary. The original pilot was present for the occasion as were representatives of the National Geographic Society and a story of the re-creation was published in the magazine. “Mac” McCaffrey was my first wife’s father.
Lunenburg & Halifax (posted later Oct. 16)
Somewhere in Ohio (Oct. 23)
Although different, travelling through Maine is a bit like travelling through the Cariboo back home. The country is rural with smatterings of agricultural land. We spotted several marginal homes and several that were clearly abandoned. Once, a truck passed towing a trailer that had a dead deer, indicative of the hunting season now underway. By the time we reached the southern parts, though, we were into freeways and “turnpikes” a word used here to label those corridors that charge a toll. We ran into another turnpike in New Hampshire and then several more in Massachusetts, including a toll bridge to get into Boston. Our GPS inadvertently got us lost and so we drove into downtown Boston towing our 25 foot trailer behind us, going into tunnels and across bridges. Like in Québec, Massachusetts also celebrates the Orange Road-Cone Festival and this made for narrow lanes in construction areas.
At last we found a campground that was open in Cape Cod. We settled in for 3 nights but at a high cost. It is $42/night which is by far the most expensive we have encountered. From this base, we visited the New Bedford Whaling Museum where there is a significant emphasis placed on the Azorean whalers who contributed so much to the local industry. An industry that was a leader in world whaling until it was recognized that the species were being depleted. Today, only Japan and Iceland hunt whales on a large scale. The visit to the museum tied up nicely all the questions that I previously had relating to Portuguese immigration to New England and to Hawaii. Hawaii was an important provisioning port during the whaling days and many Portuguese settled there and introduced the ukulele. In addition, there was a connection to the west coast of BC where, at Rose Harbour on Haida Gwaii, there was a whaling station. Vancouver’s Portuguese pioneer, Joe Silva, arrived there aboard a whaling ship and made it his home. His is a fascinating story of connecting with the indigenous population and his memory is celebrated by his mixed-race descendents to this day.
Later that same day, we visited with Rosa’s cousins in Seekonk, MA. As most live close, they all came to one house where we could meet them all. It was a pleasant afternoon for Rosa and she was glad that she had the opportunity to reconnect.
Next day, we travelled to the tip of Cape Cod and really dipped our feet in the Atlantic. Sure, Nova Scotia was nice, but here we could actually take our shoes off and walk in the sand. The town on the tip is Provincetown and it is clearly a tourist destination. Although the season is over for accommodation and long stays, it was obviously still a destination for day trippers who were taking advantage of the beautiful day and the plentiful eateries. There is a preponderance of rainbow flags and the town clearly draws a particular crowd.
We meandered our way back “home” making stops such as Hyannis where the JFK Memorial is located. It left us underwhelmed. The drive, however, was quite pretty and everywhere there were beautiful homes. Unlike Canada, the beaches can be privately owned, so not all of the seashore is accessible to the public.
I expect that this may be our last entry. We are bee-lining home on account of the fact that we are pretty tired of the road and the grandchildren (especially) are tugging at our hearts. We have greatly enjoyed this trip and found that for us, fall is the best time to travel. Although some venues are closed, there are still enough open and there are no crowds nor mosquitoes. Well, today we saw our first flakes of snow, so it's time to go home. Thank you for following our trip on this blog. Following is our last installment of photos.