On our way back

Hi everyone

Yes, we are on our way back to Ontario and with that the first part of our trip is coming to an end. But that doesn't mean that we're done criss-crossing Canadian and US roads. It simply means that we will see our friends in Northern Ontario and take care of a few things before heading out again.

Traveling the way we did the last few months has been a learning experience. Not only with regards to history and geography but also as a new way of living. When we first moved to Canada we made a major change to our lifestyle and we just did that again. Not that we are sorry we did it. No way! We love it. But living in a fifth wheel full time, learning the ins and outs of camping (I guess we can't really claim to be roughing it), planing routes and other things can be challenging. One might think we now have all the time in the world which is true in a way. But we have come to understand that there is no such thing as too much time. There hardly is enough. We packed the most possible in every day until we reached an information overload a while back. So we had to cut back a little on what we wanted to do and see. Enthusiasm is great but we came to realize, that one has to take one's time, too or risk not seeing the forest for all the trees anymore. Good thing we have the opportunity to simply take it a bit slower as we don't really have any time restrictions. We are temporarily retired so to speak. Which brings me to another (kind of funny) realization: we are now the ones, one has to make an appointment with to meet. I used to joke about that after my dad retired and all of a sudden it wasn't so easy anymore to just meet with him for a beer. Oh no! If I wanted to do that, I better called ahead to make sure I would catch him. This seems to be a phenomena with retired people and now with us, too.

Anyhow, we did change our route and that took care of the "problem". Now we will spend a few days in our old stumping grounds and are really looking forward to seeing our friends. We will also have to take care of a few things and plan the next part of our trip before heading out again. This time the planing has another focus. We are more concerned with weather and temperatures as winter is just around the corner than with sightseeing destinations. Of course we want to spend the winter months in a nice location or nice locations. However, considerations for the climate will outweigh those for area attractions. There might not be many snow birds amongst you, our readers, who know what goes into the planning of the first winter on the road. But try to put yourselves in our shoes. How does one choose a campground or resort for a whole season? There are so many that comparing them seems impossible. Are we looking in the right places, on the right web sites? How do we narrow it down? What do we really have to have and what would be nice to have? What are we willing to "sacrifice" for a better price or what are our priorities anyway?

We've been looking at some web sites and to tell the truth, I was a bit overwhelmed with all the possibilities. Good thing that André keeps calm in such situations. I am so glad for that and confident, that we will pick a place we will be happy at. The decision has to be made shortly though as we don't have any idea or experience on how soon campgrounds in the south book up for the winter months. At the moment Florida looks very tempting. We will let you know in due time.

André and Sue

Somewhere on the road in Canada

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.

Stranded in Pennsylvania

Hi everyone

It's been a while since our last blog which came to you from New Brunswick, Canada. Since then we have crossed the border into the United States and spend a wonderful time with our friends in Massachusetts. We didn't do any sight seeing since we had been there several times before and just wanted to spend some time with them, catching up. It had been way too long since we've last seen each other. So we did greatly enjoy our time with them. But all good things must come to an end and so we finally drove on on our way to Michigan where we will see more friends.

After a very long drive (somehow we did underestimate the distance when looking at the map) we stopped at a very nice campground in Pennsylvania. While talking to our host we found out that an about 2 hours drive away, in Hershey (yep, where the famous Hershey Kisses come from) the "biggest RV show in America" was opening its doors the next day. So we added a night and took a day-trip down there. It was very impressive and we got some information regarding some parts for our fifth wheel we're still looking for as well as on long-term camping in the South. After all that's where we plan on spending the winter.

Then it was on to a new destination which unfortunately we never reached. Sue needed to use the facilities and so André stopped, let her out and then drove around the parking lot to turn the rig around. Where he had stopped, there now was a puddle on the ground and getting out to investigate he found the problem: our truck was leaking cooling-fluid like a sieve! Now, it's one thing to have roadside assistance tow the truck but we could not find anybody who could haul our fifth wheel away. And the flat bed was just long enough to load our truck.

So we are stranded on a truck stop in the middle of Pennsylvania. By now we found out that the garage needs to order a part which will arrive Monday earliest. The whole thing happened on Thursday. We also got the phone number of a customer of the gas station where we broke down who has a fifth wheel himself and who might be willing to tow us to a campground in Du Bois where the garage is, some 60 km from here. He is at work right now but we will find out if he can give us a tow later today. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

André and Sue

Somewhere on the road in Canada

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.

A thing or two about tides

Hi everyone

as you remember from our last post, we are on our way to Massachusetts to see friends before heading back to Ontario. Along the way we came through Truro, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and we couldn't resist to go see two really interesting sights with regards to tides: the tidal bore in Truro and the world's highest tides here in Hopewell Cape.

A tidal bore is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay against the direction of the river or bay's current. It can be just a very small wave, no more than a few inches or a bigger one. The one in Truro is not huge but big enough to clearly see it coming and what's impressive, is the speed with which it moves and fills the riverbed. In order to give you an impression of what we've seen we have included two pictures which were taken only about 20 Minutes apart. In the second picture the water is actually a few feet deep.

Our next stop was in Hopewell Cape in New Brunswick where one can witness the world's highest tides. The difference between low and high can be as much as 14 meters (46b feet). On the evening of August 31 we were down there walking on the ocean floor and the next day around noon we returned to see the same rock formations at high tide. It wasn't the highest possible that day. According to a park ranger it reached "only" 13 meters (43 feet) and left a small gap in the arch between two rocks. This can hardly be seen on our pictures but nevertheless they give an idea of the change. We were awed by this display of nature and will not forget looking down to where the night before we were walking and now there was several meters of water.

André and Sue

Somewhere on the road in Canada

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.

Nova Scotia

Hi everyone

Our stay on "the rock" came to an end after 3 more nights near Port-aux-Basques. We had to wait for our ride on the ferry and enjoyed the hospitality of Newfoundland at a beautiful campground about 40 minutes from the ferry terminal. Some sight seeing brought us to a fishing harbour where we, once again, got ourselves fresh cod. Then it was time to say goodbye to this wonderful province and set sail for Nova Scotia. The trip took only 5 hours since we had calm seas. It started kind of early though. We had a reservation for the 11:30 a.m. departure but received an e-mail telling us that we had been moved up to an earlier crossing which left Port-aux-Basques at 6:45 a.m. Since we had to be at the ship 2 hours prior to departure, that meant getting up at 3 a.m.

Once in Nova Scotia we drove up to Cheticamp where we visited friends and spent two nights. Originally we had planed a 3-night stay but the campground was booked up for the weekend. So we made the best of the time we had. Besides seeing our friends a day-trip along parts of the world famous Cabot Trail and tasting the Arcadian food were the other two highlights of our short stay. We then continued to Louisbourg

where we visited the fortress and lighthouse as well as the Miners Museum and Marconi in Glace Bay. All these visits once again offered us a tremendous amount of information on the history of this fabulous country. We were very impressed especially with the Fortress of Louisbourg and the Miners Museum with a underground tour guided by Sheldon who has himself been a coal miner for 32 years. Like so many times before we learned things we had had no idea about and which are so much part of Canada and Canadians.

After our return to the fifth wheel after seeing the Miners Museum and the Marconi we both came to admit that we have reached the point of information / history overload. We decided to change our travel plans a bit to "take a break" from seeing more historic sites and let sink in what we've seen and learned so far. It would be a shame to just rush through the exhibits which have been built with so much care and thought. Instead of just going "trough the motions" and not absorbing all the information, we will travel down to the US for some time before heading back to North Bay in October. We have friends in Merimac, Massachusetts whom we haven't seen in years and we are looking forward to spending a few days with them. We will take our time driving there and after a rainy day on the road, our first stop along the way is near Truro, Nova Scotia. Here we will stay for 3 nights and do some (last) sightseeing for the time being. This will include a trip to Halifax. After that we will add Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island to our Bucket List.

André and Sue

Somewhere on the road in Canada

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.

Corner Brooks

Hi everyone

After leaving beautiful St. John's we drove to Botwood where we found the nicest campground so far. Nice, big sites with trees offering shade and privacy from the sites left and right. A creek is running the property and we were told that, when the water level is right, one can find and catch salmon right there. The owners are very nice and they told us that they bought the place 5 years ago when it was somewhat run down and have been working on upgrading it every summer since. And they do a great job. We can only recommend Shanawdithit Campground and RV Park.
Anyways, the campground wasn't the reason for our stop in Botwood. We came here to see if our friends were back from P.E.I. On the way to St. John's we had called them because we wanted to go say hi to them. They have moved to Newfoundland after they retired and bought a nice house 44 km north of Botwood. But they were just leaving for a vacation themselves and so we hoped to catch them on the way back towards Port-aux-Basques. So we called them an got the answering machine. André left a message mentioning that we were in Botwood and wouldn't you know it, the next morning the owner of the campground came by our fifth wheel with a message from them. They had figured out what campground we must be at and called there. So we actually got a chance to go see them and spend the afternoon at their place. We had only planned to go for a short visit but ended up being invited for BBQ in the evening. We had a really nice time with them and the next morning they came by our fifth wheel on the way to do their shopping in Gander. Thanks so much, guys, it was great seeing you!
We then drove on to Corner Brook. Our plan was, to make reservations for the ferry to Nova Scotia probably for Monday or Tuesday but we found out that the ferry is not running for a few days due to technical problems. So we have to wait for a ride until next Thursday. This really is no problem. We don't have a schedule and will enjoy our stay here: 3 nights in Corner Brook then 3 more close to Port-aux-Basques. Meantime we have a chance to do some housekeeping (laundry, cleaning, writing blogs etc.) and just relax.
When we arrived in Corner Brook it was pouring and by the time we had set up we were both drenched and wet to the bone. So the laundry and some shopping actually got done the same day. There was no sense in keeping our wet clothes around and one thing got crossed off the list right away. There simply are no bad days. If one looks for the positive in any situation, one will find it!

André and Sue

Somewhere on the road in Canada

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.

St. John's and area

Hi everyone

We've arrived in Holyrood just outside of St. John's almost a week ago and have explored it and the surrounding areas since then. First of all, should you ever be in or near St. John's you just have to see it! This is a must. On the day of our arrival we drove to the visitor centre which is conveniently located in the harbour area in downtown St. John's. Great, this is the part of the city we wanted to see anyways and while looking for a place to park, we got a little tour by car. We decided to come back in another day to explore it some more. Until then we went for a drive along the coast with all its little fishing villages and visited several historical sites. It would make for a very long blog if I was to write about everything we have seen and learned so let me simply give you the basics and the links to check them out:

Hawthorne Cottage is the house in which explorer Captain Robert Bartlett was born. He was one of the figures in Arctic exploration and the skipper who prepared the way for Commander Peary on his trip to the North Pole in 1909. Bartlett spent many summers in the Arctic and once became a hero when getting help for the crew of his ship which had become ice-locked and subsequently was crushed by the ice and sank. He and some of his men walked for weeks to get help while the rest of the crew were left behind in a camp. Some of them tragically had died by the time the rescue operation arrived.

Castle Hill National Historic Site. In order to protect their interests in fishing the French founded a colony in what today is Placentia in 1662. In times of war they used the fort as a base to attack English settlement. The most famous battle was a bloody invasion of the English shore in 1696. While the French launched a number of attacks over the next 70 years, the English were able to blockade the colony and in 1713 gain control of it.

Cape Spear is the easterly most point in Canada. Its lighthouse has guided the way for mariners entering St. John's harbour and played an important role in protecting the entrance to the harbour during times of war throughout its existence. Signal Hill has been used for signalling since 1704. These two sites communicated with one another at times of peace and war first by flag or canon blast and later on by other technologies as they became available to human kind. Signal Hill, which is located on the other side of the entrance to the harbour of St. John's, was the other fortified lookout for St. Johns' protection. The picture shows André at Cape Spear.

Needless to say that we, once again, learned a lot not only with regards to Canadian history and geography but also about the way people lived in the early days.

I mentioned at the beginning, that we went to the visitor centre upon arrival in St. John's. This has a reason: we find that going to the tourist information / visitor centre is the best way to get lots of information and literature for a specific area. The staff generally is very knowledgeable and helpful and will direct you to places of interest. If you have specific interest they will know of the places that will correspond with them and give you information and answer questions you might have. The same goes for the staff at the sites we have been visiting. They will usually give you an introduction and quiet often Parks Canada sites will also have short movies (6 to 20 minutes) about the site. In our experience it is well worth listening to the introductions and watching those movies. They will give you an overview of the respective place and help you to better understand its history and significance as well as what you're about to see. We found that we would have missed out on a lot of details and how things and events are connected had we not gotten those introductions. So if you are traveling or plan to do so our advice is to take advantage of the knowledge of staff, don't hesitate to ask questions and take the few minutes for the introductions. It will make your experience tremendously better.

Tomorrow we will hit the road again and start our way towards Port-aux-Basques from where we will catch the ferry to Nova Scotia.

André and Sue

Somewhere on the road in Canada

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.

Gander, Bonavista and St. John's

 Hi everyone

It seems I'm slacking quiet a bit. Since my last blog we have traveled and stopped three times. So let me catch you up on those parts of our trip:
Another 387 km of road brought us from the Gros Morne National Park to Gander. This very interesting city was built in the middle of nowhere when man started to fly. After the pioneers of that new way of moving got better and better at it and had crossed the Atlantic ocean in "flying boats" with stop-overs along the way, the race was on for the first non-stop transatlantic flight. Newfoundland happened to be the closest to Ireland e.g. Europe and after exploring the different possibilities a location was found to become the jump-off point. Nothing was there but fairly secure weather conditions, enough land to build a runway and a lake close-by where the flying boats could land and take off. Work crews moved in, first living in tents and then building barracks and houses and started to clear the bush and build the airport. Gander had been founded. Up to 9'000 workers lived and worked in the new town at the peak of construction and the airport was stamped out of the ground in record time.

When World War I started Gander once again became most important. Newly built aircraft had to be brought to Europe from the US and shipping them by sea and then assembling them over there was too expensive and slow. Though the season was all but ideal when the first group of 7 planes took off from Gander, they safely reached the old world and by the end of the war over 10'000 planes had come through the town on their way to the war zone.

Gander also played a huge role after the attack of September 11, 2001 when all incoming flights to North America (not just Canada but also the US) which could not turn back were banned from entering US airspace and forced to land at the first available airport on the continent. Within hours and with no forewarning at all, the residents of the city and surrounding areas (about 10`000) saw the arrival of close to 7`000 passengers and crews. The airport was packed with planes and all those people had to be fed and housed. The people of Newfoundland stepped up to the plate: hotels, motels, B & Bs and makeshift shelters were soon overflowing and people started to open their homes to total strangers, giving them a place to sleep, food and what else they needed. A big party was held for everyone who had a birthday during their stay at Gander and friendships were built that will last a lifetime. Gander had always had a special relationship with aviation but who would have thought that this still hold true today as much as it did when the city was built?

Check Gander, the North Atlantic Aviation Museum and Gander's role in 911 out on their web sites.

From Gander we continued to Bonavista. We had heard so many great things about the Bonavista peninsula that we just had to go check it out. What we found is a nice little town with yet again a rich history and many attractions. We spent quiet some time there but also in Sandy Cove where we had found a campground directly on the sea. Once again we were welcomed by everyone we talked to with a smile and great hospitality. The young woman in the Elliston visitor center not only answered our questions but gave us great ideas and advice. She was the one to point out to us a little spot where one can watch the Puffins and so we went there, too.

Puffins are little black and white birds with bright red feet. They fish in the ocean and live in caves they dig into the ground, usually on cliffs where they are not disturbed. The place from where we watched these funny flyers was separated from their "rock" only a few meters which gave us a great look at them and their activities. Check out these pictures.


Now we are just outside of St. John's. where we will stay for at least a week. The first day we made a rest day. Today we took a drive along the coast on Hwys 70 and 80. This is the road along the coast of the peninsula northwest of St. John's. I just can't resist those little seaside towns with their harbours, fishing boats and mostly colourful houses. Simply gorgeous!

We will keep you posted on what else we will see and do here in St. John's and area as we go.

Writing a blog in St. John's

André and Sue

Somewhere on the road in Canada

PS: Don't forget to read our other blogs (listed on the side) and to follow us on facebook and our Google Map. You can also check our web site for new pictures.