Above is our truck and trailer (hidden a little by the pine tree) in front of our home. We left mid afternoon on May 30 heading to Lethbridge for Stephanie’s convocation the next morning from the University of Lethbridge.

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Day 2 Lethbridge – Congratulations, Stephanie!!

Days 3 – 8- Destination: Kitchener. But with wonderful stops on the way!!

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We spent 2 nights in Regina and saw Uncle Bruce and Aunty Rosalie, Aunty Ruby and Shawn, Scotty and Salina – and had great eats, drinks and good company.

The next 2 nights were in Winnipeg with Gary and Sue with more good eats, drinks and laughs and got to see Cory and Lisa, Justin and Chantel and Darcy as well as Cory and Lisa’s and Justin and Chantel’s houses! They are lovely homes and they are making them their own! Another highlight was the Museum of Human Rights – it is a MUST do in Winnipeg!

After a quick sleep in Thunder Bay, Jenny in Sault Ste Marie spoiled us with supper at this cool old building that used to be a factory (print?) We even saw Jenny’s parent visiting from Edmonton!

Days 8 – 11 in Kitchener

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Our first longer stop was in Kitchener where visited Karen’s life long friend Loree who grew up next door to Karen in Red Deer. We enjoyed the hospitality of Loree and Jos. We got caught up in Raptormania and watched the exciting Game 4 win! Vanessa (their daughter) took us to St. Jacob’s farmer’s market where eating their Apple Fritter is a right of passage and their micro-brewery. Both were delish! We had a great afternoon and evening with the whole family including Stefan and his 3 growing kids. It was so great to be with all of them!

Days 12 – 16 in Thamesville

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We spent the next days with Don’s cousin Elaine and Pat at their sanctuary by Thamesville. Elaine’s bird feeder was a constant source of entertainment where cardinals, woodpecker, doves, finches, orioles, blue birds, hummingbirds and others visited all day long! We got to meet Scott, their son, (pictured with Elaine in the Tiki Hut) and Don’s cousins Brian and Rob with his wife Pauline. Elaine spoiled us with homemade bread (Grandma Farrants’ recipe), mud facials and great cooking! Elaine reminds Don a lot of his Grandma Farrants and cousin Donna.)

Day 17 – 20 Niagara on the Lake area – Wine Country!

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The sun continued to follow us to wine country. The campground (Shangri-la) had a dance our first night where we brought our own wine, danced to great music and then were fed jello and pickle shots! (se pic 1 above) We had so much fun!

We drove to Fort Erie where it was so awesome to catch up with Karen’s friend from Red Deer days, Chris, and her husband Bill and tour the sights of this pretty area. Of course no trip to wine country would be complete without wine tastings! There are some really great wines, especially close to our campground in Jordan. (OK – the truth be told of these few days – we replenished our wine reserves for our time in the four eastern provinces!)

Days 20-24 – Fredericton, Saint John, St Andrews

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After 2 long days of driving from Ontario to New Brunswick with an overnight in Levi Quebec we took the trailer through a covered bridge (pic 1), and arrived in Fredericton. The next day we toured the King’s Landing site with it’s excellent representations of the ways of life in 1840 and 1890 (water powered saw mill and grain mill) where we learned about the Black Loyalists and British Loyalists who came here from the former British colonies in North America.

Our campground (New River Beach) a short drive outside of Saint John was stunning with our own creek behind it(pic 2). We spent a fabulous evening in the city with Kathy (Myrna’s daughter – we have curled with Len – Myrna’s husband – for about 20 years) and John who showed us the sites, took us to a great restaurant and they both were so great to visit with.

St. Andrews is a quaint little town and Sara (Brandon Sim’s partner in Edmonton) told us the best stops! We had food and drinks on the wharf, checked out the beach, drove over to Minister’s Island (pic 4) and came back later and the road across to the island is gone (under water with the tide up)! (pic 3).

We took the ferry to Grand Manan Island the following day and spent time on a beautiful beach at Seal Cove, saw more lighthouses (pic 4) and had a great sea food platter. We didn’t have enough time to see the Puffins who were another ferry ride away. But did drive back to St. Andrews for a great evening meal overlooking the ocean.

Day 25-26 – Hopewell Rocks, and Fundy National Park

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Hopewell Rocks are very cool! You can walk on the tidal planes at low tide in the flower pots. They are shown at low tide (pic 2) and high tide (pic 3). At Alma (the town) at low tide the boats are beached!

Dickson Falls in Fundy National Park are spectacular – one of our favourite hikes. And the smells are just amazing!

On another note, I will explain the WO – or woah! It is Wilson-Oko, or “Woah” – an expression frequently coming out of Karen’s mouth as Don races up to the bumper of the bus in front of us!! 🙂

Days 27-30 – PEI

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After crossing Confederation Bridge (an experience in itself!) we had 4 days in touring PEI – unfortunately in the rain and cold. Not really beach weather! .

We started out seeing the south shore of this beautiful, colourful island and found superb seafood chowder at Victoria by the Sea. As a bonus we saw a black fox cub with 2 or 3 others. The day ended seeing an amazing fiddler at a PEI Ceilidh.

The beaches are spectacular. We learned a lot about the formation of our country – where and how it all started – Confederation. Don shared his views while talking with the Fathers of Confederation.

Days 31-37 Halifax and area to Yarmouth

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We stayed at Hubbard’s Beach, called the “party campground” where they have Lobster suppers and dances. What is questioned is who returns to whose trailer at the end of the night. 🙂 We did enjoy a great dinner and dance on Saturday night … and went home together.

At this great central location, we checked out Peggy’s Cove, the Citadel in Halifax, the waterfront including an amphibious tour of town and the harbour in the water on the ‘harbour hopper’ (Thomas Tugboat is also anchored there), and an excellent tour of the Alexander Keith’s brewery – best brewery tour ever (and not just because of the beer pourings!)

We toured this beautiful coastline to see Lunenburg and Mahone Bay and while cooling off at a microbrewery we were directed to a beach the locals use, Bachman Beach, where we cooled off on a hot afternoon. Of course we couldn’t miss a visit to Oak Island (pic 3) but didn’t see much as the tours are all booked for the summer.

Our trek continued west to Yarmouth and Cape Forchu – a beautiful lighthouse on the rocks. As this was a travel day, “Al” (as the truck affectionately refers to the trailer, Albatross) was behind us. Don demonstrated excellent driving skill maneuvering through the windy and narrow road to the lighthouse, worrying if he was ever going to be able to turn around! Pic 4 – the breakwater to our destination has lines as if there are 2 lanes – 2 smartcars might be able to pass each other! It was a little unnerving to cross! Karen said some more ‘woahs’! Don enjoyed the adventure, and we would have loved to tour the lighthouse grounds more – but there really wasn’t a place to park the trailer (but we could turn around! Yay!)

Days 38-40 – Wolfeville

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After a stop in Digby for Digby scallops (they were excellent!) we made our way to Wolfeville, stopping on the way at Port Royale’s Fort Anne, the first Fort built in Canada in the 1600’s. The history on the east coast is so rich and fascinating. We learned how the Mi’qmak helped the early Acadian settlers and how the French and British fought over the fort for many years until Halifax was declared as the capital of Nova Scotia.

Our campsite was beautiful with an amazing view of the Bay of Fundy. Of course we HAD to go to church!

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Our itinerary for the first day included wine, cheese and distillery visits. Of course we had lobster at Hall’s Harbour as well as taking in the beauty of the countryside, beaches, and waterfalls.

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Our history lesson continued at Grand Pre, a historic site of the Acadians that had over 200 kilometres of Dykes that they maintained to create over 3000 acres of fertile farmland. A sad part of our Canadian history is the Great Deportation – over 10,000 Acadians deported from their homes in 1755 by the British. The culture of the time by the colonizing countries was to punish those who were non-compliant – very sad to uproot families from each other their settlements. They now remember this with ‘Great Upheaval Day” in New Brunswick July 28th each year.

Lunch at Luckette’s was much cheerier where Don was pleased to talk to Pete Luckette of Pete’s Fruitique, and experiential Fruit Shop that is an example for experiential tourism. Lunch was yummy and the view is amazing!! You can see the Phone Booth in the vineyard – to call anywhere free in North America (sorry Mom – didn’t call, there was too much of a line!)

Days 41 – 44 Cape Breton

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We spent our next 4 days with Ryan, who used to live with us. A must-do is a visit to the French Louisburg fort, a fort they have excavated and reconstructed and reenact from the 1700’s. And … what would a reenactment of the time be without a proper rum tasting! The last picture is the view we woke up to each morning at Ryan’s. Wow!

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Following a very informative visit to the Alexander Graham Bell museum who did a multitude of amazing things including building airplanes and being heavily involved with establishment of National Geographic! Of course we drove the beautiful Cabot Trail with its deep valleys and magnificent coastline, stopping at Ingonish for dinner at the beautiful Keltic Lodge (picture 3).

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Back closer to Ryan’s is the Glace Bay Miner’s museum – another humbling history lesson to hear about the conditions and history of the miners who were ‘owned’ by the company and who were shot at and one man died when they tried to revolt just to get their power back to their homes after a work stoppage for cutting their wages by 1/3. The conditions in the mine, and the way they were treated, simply put – were awful. But the people were very proud and there was a strong bond with the men they worked with in the deep.

Days 44-48 Sydney NS to St. John’s NL

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We saw the rugged Newfoundland terrain (and 1 moose!) on the way to St. John’s, stopping at Castle Hill overlooking Placentia for stunning views and to learn more about this island’s history. In a nutshell, in the 1600’s Newfoundland was a fishing post where Basques, French and British stayed for summer months to fish, and then they each realized its value and the fighting for the fishing areas began here, with raids by the French and treaties to return it to the British. Parks Canada has very good interpretation centres where they use a variety of media to share the history and the stories. Castle Hill and Signal Hill (pic 2) .

We saw whales playing just off shore while visiting Signal Hill and Cape Spear, the most easterly point in Canada.

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It was too windy to go whale/bird watching, but Don did manage to see some Puffins! Ok – it’s a picture … of a picture :).

The beautiful Irish Loop has stunning views and a stop at Ferryland where they are excavating a village from 1620. While we were there they uncovered tortoise shell coverings from the handle of a knife.

Days 49 – 51 – to the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland

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On our way to the Northern peninsula we were really thrilled to see icebergs (and growlers – the size of a house) at King’s Point. A lunch stop with the most hilarious server at Port aux Choix was another history lesson. Europeans weren’t the first to stop in Newfoundland for the fishing. 5000 years ago Paleoeskimo people stopped here as their summer home to fish. Excavations have revealed their homes here from 5000 years ago!

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Our primary reason to go to St. Anthony’s was to see the Viking Settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows but also whales and icebergs (King’s Point). Our time there was very foggy, wet and cold – as low as 9 degrees. (So we missed some of the sights – whales.) But the visit to the Viking settlement, that appears to have only been used for about 10 years by Leif the Red (around 1,000 AD), was very interesting. Our guide, Clayton, was excellent, having lived his entire life in L’Anse aux Meadows and has been part of, or seen the digging, excavating and discoveries throughout his life – the Viking settlement had always been thought to be an indigenous camp site until it was excavated 1967. The Vikings were another group who stopped in Newfoundland for the summer – for them a stop between Greenland and Vineland (or wine land, a little further south in North America, likely New Brunswick where wild grapes grew).

As an extra, a wayward Polar Bear ended up in St. Anthony a few decades ago – likely riding an iceberg. Possibly Newfoundland’s first illegal immigrant (just a thought)? – No wait … all of those other groups came before the bear!

Days 52 – 53- Labrador and Matt’s Cabin

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In order to say we have traveled through the east coast, we had to spend at least one night in Labrador! We climbed the second tallest lighthouses in North America, Point Amour at 133 feet tall. The lighthouse has walls 6 feet thick and crystal for refracting the light is from the late 1800’s. At L’anse au Claire where we spent the night we walked the Jersey trail where we saw sea gulls diving for capelin (small fish the birds and whales feed off of), dozens at a time from quite high heights! We also saw humpback whales eating and got to see one breach! It was just so cool! In Newfoundland they are hiding painted rocks for kids to get outdoors and find – Don the big kid found one.

A friend of Melissa Sim’s, Matt Verge, has a tour company called Devil’s Bite at Parson’s Pond a community in north west Newfoundland. Matt took us on his boat to his hidden gem on the Pond which is like an inland lake fed by the ocean and I believe 4 rivers. It was a wonderful boat ride into this beautiful spot at the edge of the pond in Matt’s cabin with a mountain at our back. You have to see it for yourself – I’m not going to share all our pictures! We were very fortunate to have no wind for a gorgeous, glassy pond. Matt was a great host and we ate and drank too much! The hospitality in the small town of Parson’s Pond was terrific!

Days 54-56 Gros Morne and leaving Newfoundland

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At Gros Morn National Park Theatre we watched a play based on real life events from the fur trapping days – Double Axe Murder and a pub – sort of kitchen party – called Anchors Aweigh with great local music and humour – both were great! At the discovery centre we learned about the 500 million year old Ocean Bed that rose up and is now in Gros Morne called the Tablelands. Really cool to see! The views and landscape are varied and beautiful! We spent a lot of time driving but the hikes looked amazing!

On the way back to Cape Breton we saw Porpoises and lots of Whales! Don got a picture of two whales … and his finger!

Days 57-59 Ceilidh Trail (Cape Breton)

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Our trek took a decidedly western direction as we began the journey back home – but of course we had lots of great stops planned :). It didn’t take us too long to take in more of the Cape Breton scenery on the Ceilidh Trail, stopping at a campground overlooking the Northumberland Strait and soaking in the warm water on the beach. One of our destinations was the Rankin family’s Red Shoe Pub in Mabou. Apparently Monday night is Jam night, and after a delicious supper (food was excellent) musicians began to set up. At first there was a piano and 3 fiddles and an accordian, then more arrived including someone playing wind instruments and a guitar, and more and more fiddles. When we left there were 12 of them playing and they were having a great time, as were to crowd to hear them! Such a fun night of entertainment! We also stopped in the next day at a Canadian Whiskey distillery – they actually make scotch but cannot legally call scotch!

Days 63-68 Shediac and Caraquet, New Brunswick

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The sun was hot for our stay in Shediac where we enjoyed some beach time and ate wonderful lobster!

At Caraquet the wind howled through our campsite but didn’t stop us from visiting the Acadian Village. It is an amazing walk through history where we saw the Martin house, built in 1750 and saw other buildings and talked to the inhabitants of the eras from 1750 to 1800’s and another ‘village’ from the early 1900’s. The villagers told us about their homes and how they lived, including one house from 1850 that housed 13 people who slept in one room in the cold winter months. We couldn’t imagine sleeping with that many people – and they only bathed 2 times a year!

We visited the Quay (wharf) at Caraquet, seeing fishermen returning home and walking their beautiful wharf and sampling cold beer.

Days 69- 71 The Gaspe peninsula surprised us with its beauty!

As we made our way north for the journey home, we went to the Gaspe pensinsula and were awed with its beauty. Don scored an amazing campsite with a view of Rock Perce. It is really quite stunning! The first arch wore away in the 1940s.

Our day visiting Forillon National Park was full – stopping at Penouille Beach and watching Kite surfers set up and take off, and travelling up and down 15 degree hills on mountain roads to see Cap-Gaspe on the edge of the St. Lawrence Seaway, stopping for yummy Lobster Pizza and driving along the roadway with the seaway splashing right beside us.

Our final stop was the Reford Gardens and learning about a very fiesty and progressive lady from the early – mid 1900’s, Elsie Reford and going through the beautiful gardens. They also have the International Gardens which were very different and diverse and very cool!

Days 72- 74 The nation’s capital

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Our final stop before being homeward bound was Ottawa where we had fabulous hospitality with Steve and Kristine, Don’s former brother-in-law. We had lots of fun, experienced Skeet shooting with their daughter Brier, saw the Museum on Civilization, and loved the Northern Lights light and sound show on the parliament buildings. It was a fabulous show and we had lots of fun in Ottawa!

Days 72 – 80 It takes a long time to get home!

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We had several stops on our trip home, having a great time in Saulte Ste Marie with Jenny and Andrew, hanging out at the pool in Winnipeg at Chantel and Justin’s in Winnipeg, and relaxing on the deck in Regina.

En route, our only incident was a flat tire on the trailer in Thunder Bay (boo!) that set us behind our intended schedule. But we felt very fortunate to only have the one issue in 22,000 Kilometres!

We were met by Connie and Larry in Meadow Lake for 3 final days of our trek. We had lots of fun following their Geocaching route to find clues in little fairy houses in the woods and drinking Margaritas!

We had an amazing adventure and seeing the sights and learning more of our history and meeting phenomenal people as we trekked across this amazing country we are so very fortunate to call home!!