Day 17 - The beginning of the end

Today we began the trip home. This morning we still didn't know how far we wanted to drive, part of me wants to just get home, part of me wants to drag it out as long as possible. We ended up stopping in Edmunston at Riverside Iroquois RV park. A good place for overnight camping, listening to the sounds of trucks in the distance (miss the ocean waves already) Just another 8 hours and we should be home. The kids have been amazing. It's been so fun spending so much leisure time with them. I love how Brent always wants to hold a hand when walking; Devin is always trying to make us laugh, and Shannon is the one that discovers the neat stone, or flower, or shell.

Day 16 - Halifax

Today was HOT! We helped Martin and Emily pack some things and move them to their new house, hit the beach, helped a little more, then took the ferry over to Halifax and walked the boardwalk. (See previous posts on how much I've enjoyed evening walks along the ocean...tonight was another repeat) The ferry ride was an added bonus. Today is our last day of touring...don't want to think about tomorrow.

Day 15 - Brent hits 2 digits

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY BRENT!!!!!! He's been talking about this day for months, and was excited to be spending it in Halifax.

We went to church in Halifax, and had planned to return to the trailer for lunch, but then decided to just tour directly from there, and save some time. Brent had asked for pizza for his birthday, so we found what turned out to be an amazing gourmet pizza place for lunch. We then headed out to Peggy's Cove. It had been the big debate whether we really needed to go and see this lighthouse on the rocks, but it did not disappoint! I could have sat there for hours, and the kids could have jumped from rock to rock just as long.

On of my hesitations of this trip is that I don't really like windy days, but the weather (I know...here I go again, but seriously) has been soooo warm that the winds we have had (which haven't even really been all that bad) have been welcoming, and the only thing that keeps me from packing up and moving out here is that the locals keep telling us this is the warmest it has been in over 50 years. So I'm just being thankful that I got to enjoy it!

The only downside of leaving directly from church was that the camera was still at the campsite...so we went to the most photographed lighthouse in Canada, and didn't get a picture. Emily said I can copy some of hers.

Oh, and if you go to Peggy's Cove you HAVE to get ice cream from DeeDee's. Brent got his for free (after he asked the lady if they gave discounts on your birthday)

When we got back to camp, M&E and the girls came for supper and birthday cake. As he was heading to bed, I asked Brent if he had enjoyed his day and he said "Yes, I especially liked it that we had other family here to celebrate with us." That's our Brent. Love you son!!!!

OH!!!! and after church Mark stuck his head under the hood and found 2 clamps that weren't where they should be...that is that weren't sealing hoses the way they should be...the source of our leak!!!!! Fixed with a vice grip...YAY!!!!!!!

Day 14 - 3 in 1

Today we traveled from PEI to Darmouth, NS...and hit 3 provinces in one day...but still didn't get good pictures of the "Welcome to..." signs. Dartmouth is home to Mark's nephew Martin, and his wife Emily, and their 2 DARLING little girls. How could we not stop in when we were so close?! We parked in a campground close by and headed out to Pleasant Park after picking up some fish and chips for dinner. Pleasant it was! The weather, I must repeat, as been absolutely perfect, and once again we enjoyed a beautiful evening along the water, cooled only slightly by the ocean breezes. The kids fought over who got to push Maria in the stroller! Fun watching them, especially the boys, interact with their little cousins (Maria being 22 months and Nicole 8 months...or there abouts)

Day 13 - Plans?!

The best thing we planned for this trip, was to have days without plans. Today was one of them. Long walk on the beach, reading as we soak up the sun and the sound of the waves, making sand castles, sunsets over the ocean, LOVING PEI...

Day 12 - Charlottetown

Today we woke up and noticed the sky looked different. There were these strange looking grey puffy things floating all around. Weird. We headed out to Charlottetown. Today was to be a history day. As we drove through the LOVELY country side (I LOVE PEI) we turned on the heat to defrost the windows a little, as there appeared to also be this strange wet stuff falling from the sky. It was then that we noticed that we had no heat...and that the temperature gauge was rising. Hmmmm. Providentially we were stopped at a light, right by a Canadian Tire, so we pulled in and Mark bought some coolant. And proceeded to put a whole jug, plus some, into the cooling/heating system. Those of you who know anything about engines (unlike me) will know that you shouldn't be loosing coolant, certainly not that much. More concerning was we (well, Mark) couldn't see where it was leaking from, which made him think that it could be something quite serious...and we may need to decide on spending WAY more than we wanted on vacation...or go truck shopping. We decided to drive a while longer and see what happens.
In Charlottetown we visited Founders' Hall, a museum on confederation and the joining of all the provinces into Canada. A neat multi-media presentation, with headsets, which kept the kids interested, and actually listening to the information. Time and money well spent.
We then walked up to Province House, where the current legislature sits, and where the first meetings discussing Confederation took place. Neat to walk the halls. They also did a reenactment depicting the mood of the people during the time of the discussions. Well done. Devin surprised us by entertaining thee crowd with a juggling act prior to the show. He's always got something up his sleeve.
We opened the doors to Province House to see it POURING!!!! Of course we had lots of rain gear...in the truck. We walked around a mall waiting for it to let up, decided to try COW'S ice cream another day, and headed back. The rain only got heavier, and the roads were like trying to cross rivers. Even those of us with minor rain protection were soaked.
We arrived at my Aunt Trudy's dripping wet. She was kind enough to offer t-shirts to the kids to replace wet pants, we had some dry things in the truck, we left our soggy socks and shoes at the door, and had a great meal/time together. The kids got a kick out of how she said many things the same as Opa, and her sense of humour kept us all laughing. What a great visit.
The truck got us back to the campsite, but I'm not sure Mark is going to sleep very well....

Day 11 - AVONLEA

Today we met up with my cousin Cindy (from Cambridge) and her family and headed off to Avonlea Village. We both were vacationing in PEI (in close proximity), both have girls that wanted to go to Avonlea and both had boys that didn't really want to admit that they wanted to go...but were eager to go to be able to see each other. PERFECT! We were there right at 10am as Anne was being picked up at the train station. we watched her and Dianna drink raspberry cordial (and tried some ourselves), went to school, dressed up like Anne, watched a pig race, went on a picnic...and more! A full day. And...the BOYS were the ones that made sure we didn't miss any of the dramas! (but don't ask them if they enjoyed it ;-)

After wards we went to Cavendish for fish and chips and then headed over to Cindy's cottage for a swim and hot tub. Another fun filled day!

Day 10

We've had not great internet, and have simply been enjoying our time to much to keep up to date. I was typing a review at the end of each day, but started into a great book, and preferred that to thinking...or simply went to sleep...all this sun and ocean air makes one ready for bed at night!

Day 10 was a perfect day for hanging out on the huge beach at Twin shores, reading a book, watching the kids in the waves, and walking the sea shore. I wonder if I would ever get tired of it. The shores here is amazing, with red cliffs and sandy dunes. Finally also did some laundry. In the evening we took the boys out go-carting. I sat on the bleachers and watched, along with a guy from Orleans!

FUN!!!!!!

 

Look what we lost on the way to PEI!

 

Day 9 - PEI!!!!

Today we traveled from Fundy to Twin Shores campground (on the Gulf Side of PEI - ½ hour from Cavendish). We stopped before crossing the bridge for lunch, and walked around the interpretive center there...which we hoped would have info on building the bridge...but didn't...but other interesting things. Our campground is very different from Fundy. Our site is very open, but literally steps across the dunes from the ocean!!! The park is geared for families and has lots of activities for the kids...as if sea, sand and waves are not enough! We've already swam, body surfed, beach combed, played ball hockey, and were only 2 numbers away from winning the jackpot in Chocolate Bar Bingo...grand prize would have been 83 chocolate bars...think I'm glad we didn't win. Tonight the waves will definitely lull us to sleep...and I haven't heard a fog horn yet!

Day 6-8 Catching up

MANY up's and down's at Fundy. After our bike tour, we decided that hiking would have to do in these hills. We went on several, through the forest and to the beach, at high and low tide. We walked around Alma and tasted the seafood and sticky buns. Seafood – excellent; Sticky buns – will have to send them my recipe... We went to Hopewell Rocks and got a mud pedicure. We packed up Monday morning, thinking we could easily stay longer, but PEI is calling, and the kids are ready for sandy beaches! Nothing but SUN!

Day 6 - On to Fundy

Today we woke to peasoup fog, and as we started to pack up it began to pour. THIS is the East Coast I remember from our trip as a child (but thankful we haven't experienced much of yet) It soon let up and we were on the road without being totally soaked, and the rest of the day was glorious sun. We followed the advice of others and stopped just outside of Pennfield at a Blueberry stand. VERY good advice!!! Blueberry pie, muffins, ice cream, shortcake, and just plain ol' fresh from the field. Nummmmo! Hope our trip home brings us there again. We arrived at Fundy National Park at 3:30, suppered, biked, took at little tour of Alma, watched the tide come in...literally sat and watched a rock get covered by water...amazing!

Day 5 - Ahhhhh Vacation

Today was booked as a quiet day. Sleep in, leisure breakfast, watch the porpoises and seals off the coast, explore the lobster ponds on the island, and the kids played with the other children in the campsite. A great day to dig into some of the books we brought along and enjoy yet another glorious, sunshiney day. Ahhhh, vacation!

Day 4 - Adventure!!!!

Being typed as I sit overlooking Passamaquoddy Bay from our campsite, on the morning of day 5. Yesterday we again woke to glorious sun, and Mark and I wandered around the shore since we could no longer sleep...that fog horn...no so quaint at 5 in the morning! We enjoyed watching the sea life and the fishermen, and I even saw, what I would later learn was a porpose jump!

We had breakfast, put on long pants, socks, shoes, and shirts, packed sweaters, coats and gloves, and headed out (!?!?!?!) We were going to go WHALE WATCHING! We arrived just in time to watch the 9:30 ferry pull away from shore. Oh, the stresses of living by ferry time! Fortunately, it runs every half hour, and we have given ourselves enough time so we could just enjoy the sun and the shore until the next one. We had a quick lunch and walk around town, and then boarded the Jolly Breeze for our adventure. Here's a picture of the ship:

And the seals we saw:

And the Finbacks we saw. They are huge!!! (40-80 ft long) and break the water so slowly and gracefully. Beautiful!


We also saw many proposes, but they were too quick to get pictures of.

They did a great job keeping the kids busy, dressing up as pirates:

Driving the ship:

and showing them various sea creatures:

For extra excitement they even drove over a rope, which got caught in the propeller. Called another boat over to try to pull it out, and then finally called over a scuba-diver who was finally able to free us! All that for no extra charge!!!

We met up with my cousin's daughter Allissa, who is working at the Fairmont Algonquin for the summer. After pizza and ice cream it was time to head home...a long, memorable, enjoyable day!!! (and yes, we wore almost all of the extra clothing we brought along...the winds get VERY chilly on the Bay of Fundy...even when the temp on shore is in the high 20's!)

Sorry...the pictures are taking too long...will wait for a rainy day...maybe...

Day 3 - Chips and Chocolate!!!!

Today we woke up to beautiful sun and warm temperatures. Warm enough that Devin, Shannon and Mark went for a quick, refreshing dip in the Upper Kent River. Brent and I sat and watched them shiver.

We packed up and headed out around 10:30, and arrived in St. Stephen at 1:30. The trip down was lovely, climbing our way through the hills/mountains of NB. We made a quick stop at “Potatoe World” but decided to forgo the tour and just buy some “Covered Bridge” chips...NUMMY!!!! We were going to by pass St Stephen, but still needed to find a spot to stop for lunch, so we headed downtown to the tourist information center. The down town was lovely. AND it calls itself the Chocolate Capital of Canada, because Ganong has its factory there. Of course we had to sample a few. Here the kids are trying to pick their favorites. DOUBLE NUMMY!!!!!!



We arrived just in time to catch the 4:30 ferry to Deer Island. We stopped here as a family when we came out East in 1979. I must ask Dad why he chose to come here as it is quite off the beaten path. (yet the path looks rather beaten!) Although rustic it is quite quaint and we look forward to exploring more of the island on Thursday. Tonight we took a short bike ride, skipped some stones, collected some shells and squished some seaweed (just like I remember). Unfortunately it was an hour away from high tide when we arrived so the children haven't seen the full extremes yet, but that will come. They have tasted the salt though! Off to sleep, lulled by the sounds of the waves and the fog horns.

Day 2 - Hartland Bridge

It rained through the night and continued to be a foggy, drizzly day, with a few showers. Today we left the KOA at 10 and arrived at River Country Campground in Clearwater, NB at 3:40 EST/4:40 AT. We were disappointed that the GPS didn't seem to recognize the time zone change...will have to figure that one out tomorrow. Along the way we enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the Quebec farms, the hills that seemed to pop out of nowhere, and the expanse of the St. Lawrence River. After supper we headed out to see the World's Longest Covered Bridge in Hartland. We enjoyed a walk across it (just a little freaky...especially when Brent kept saying “I really hope they've checked out these boards recently. Wouldn't want to fall through. That would cost us $170 for new glasses for me and $200 for new glasses for you.” THAT was the worst of MY fears :-P )

River County is a lovely little campsite right along the river. Unfortunately we haven't explored it much because it's wet and icky out. We treated the kids to a new DVD and popcorn after our little excursion. I had bought them the Beverly Hillbillies! 40 episodes. They sure don't make TV shows like they used to. Wonder if we'll find a cee-ment pond on our adventures!

On the Move

Well, the big day has arrived, and we have begun our 3 week (almost) trek across Eastern Canada! I'm not sure how often we will have internet access, but I will do my best to keep you up to date on where we are and what we are doing. Or I may get so busy having fun that this may be the last post for a while (but you are used to that from me!) We'll see.

We left yesterday, Sunday August 15, 2010. Went to church, had a good bowl of Dutch soup for lunch and then headed out. In all the excitement, I totally forgot to wish my Mom and Dad Happy Anniversary...46 years. What a tremendous blessing to have them as such a great example of Christ's love in our lives! So if you see them, please give them my deepest apologies, and an even biegger hug than the one I gave them when we left, and tell them that I love them very much (but I think they know that...)

Here's our rig all set and ready to go...
Heading East, of course the first entry is Quebec. A quick shot through the window. A little rain, but nothing serious.
We travelled along the 40 through Montreal, took the Lafontaine Tunnel, which was very cool for the kids, saw the BigO through the window and continued on to Quebec City via the 20. We arrived at the KOA in 5 hours, which included a 20 minute stretch/pee/snack stop.

A quick supper, walk around the park, playing at the park and it was bed time. A beautiful night for city outside reading a book, and checking out Facebook on the free WIFI while the bugs crawled over the screen.
The campground is nice and clean, and the trailers look pretty all lined up in a row. Certainly not backwoods camping. But we'll get there. There are MANY Cruise America RV's here. Guess there must still be some people with money in the USA, saw plates from all over. One family from Arizona entered the office with their French-English dictionary clutched to their chest. I think they were a little disappointed that the staff spoke very English very well ;-)

If you use this campground as a stop in your travels, be sure to bring your own water. Even Brent wouldn't drink it. (Thanks for the tip, Gwen!)

Hometown Hero

Matt Carkner: born and raised in Winchester, played minor hockey with my brother Carl, now plays for the Ottawa Senators, scored the winning goal in triple overtime against Pittsburgh. Pretty exciting!

His family runs a local body shop and he graciously came and signed autographs at their recent open house. Of course the boys had to go...not sure they learned to much about the auto body industry...