Kibo Navigating in the Storm
Ottawa is an elegant city with a distinctly British flavor to the government buildings. We enjoyed our tour of the Parliament building . . . learned a lot about Canadian government we hadn't known, like Senators are appointed for life! That was a surprise . . .
Canadian Capital of Ottawa
We got to Quebec City at a very busy time - it was the Fete de Nouvelle France, the Festival of New France, celebrating French colonial times and culture. There were lots of people, all speaking French, all in a very festive mood - great fun!
Fete de Nouvelle France
We visited the historic Citadel, an 1800's fort built by the British to defend against possible United States attacks that never materialized, and watched the pageant of the Changing of the Guard. One of the best parts of this spectacle was the mascot Batisse, a Tibetan goat descended from an ancestor given to Queen Elizabeth by the Shah of Iran, then given to the 22nd Regiment by Her Majesty because they're a Royal regiment. Batisse was magnificent - long white flowing fur, especially his beard - maybe he's channeling Gandalf . . .His job was to stand at attention, very still, and review the troops as they paraded, marched, and changed places many times during the ceremony, often marching to the band. Batisse stood at attention like the best ever soldier, head still, tail straight out, feet moving not at all. At intervals he and his soldier companion had to march around a bit with the other soldiers, and he was excellent at that too - never wavered. He was a star! At one point his duties included being led around the perimeter of the parade field, stopping to let small children (and one older person, namely me) pet his handsome head.
Batisse Leading the 22nd Regiment
Quebec is a charming city, with lots of old stone buildings, flowers everywhere, many patisseries (bakeries), and lots of impressive churches and cathedrals, and a wall around the city! Many street restaurants, with lots of people sitting outside watching the passersby and enjoying lunch . . . street performers, shops, art displayed for sale on the sidewalk . . .We learned about the 3 periods of Canadian history – the French period (1608 to 1759), the British period (1759 to 1867) and the Canadian period (1867 to present). The French tradition and culture is still very much in evidence, as everyone here speaks French, and the people are very protective of their culture . . .there is still an active separatist movement trying to gain independence from Canada.
Quebec City
The last evening we were there we went to an international fireworks competition - it was the United States' night to shine, and it was fabulous! The fireworks were intense and creative, featuring some kinds we’d never seen before – great sparkly showers of light that hung in the air for a long time, and little rocket-type things that went up and exploded then drifted down a ways , then went up again! Terrific show . . .
Fireworks Competition
It's still quite warm here - Kibo and Moshi do what they can to keep cool and entertained.
Moshi Keeping Cool
I'm Kind of Bored. . . .
The View From the Cupboard
Two Can Play That Game
Moshi's Turn for Guard Duty
We finally got to the Maritime Provinces when we crossed into New Brunswick. Our first stop was the little town of St. Leonard where we stayed in a great campground run by a young couple named Eric and Josee. In its previous life the campground had been a Provincial Park, so it was spacious and woodsy with its own small lake, and supposedly moose, although we didn't see any.
Camping St. Leonard
It was here in this lovely spot that we had our first serious motorhome "issue" - one of the slideouts got stuck out, which for you non-motorhome people is very bad - it means it's sticking out on the side of the motorhome and so no one is going anywhere! Bob found a sheered bolt in the downstairs compartment, and called Tiffin (the manufacturer) to get some help. Meanwhile Mark found Eric and they located a couple of right sized bolts in Eric’s shop. Between Stacy at Tiffin, Bob, Mark and Eric they actually got the bolts back in and secured and the slide came in! A miracle . . . ..By now it was lunch time, and Pinky’s was open (a small drive-in on the premises), so the boys had well-deserved burgers. Eric and his Dad entertained us with tales of hunting moose – Eric’s Dad went home to get his electric moose-caller to show Penny and I. We were so impressed he gave it to us on the spot – we couldn’t talk him out of it! Now we can call moose . . . .
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| Fixing the Slide |
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| The Boys at Pinky's |
We moved on to Fredericton, the capital city of New Brunswick. Out walking in the evening, we admired an historic church reflected in the St. John River and enjoyed another Changing of the Guard ceremony complete with bagpiper.
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| Changing of the Guard with Bagpiper |
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| Watery Reflection |
A drenching rainstorm greeted us on our entry into Nova Scotia, but it didn't last long, and soon we were off on our extensive exploration of this lovely province.
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| Welcome to Nova Scotia! |
We spent a VERY full day exploring the South Shore of Nova Scotia! Tiny fishing villages with colorful houses and boats and friendly people - and so photogenic . . . .we must have stopped a thousand times and jumped out of the car to take pictures of yet another charming little harbor - it was addictive! And so peaceful and serene . . . .
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| Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove |
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Peggy's Cove |
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| Lunenberg |
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| Blue Rocks The next day we drove over to the Fundy Coast where the tides are the highest and lowest in the world (at least the greatest difference between them). At Cape Split we saw fishing boats high and dry, waiting for the extremely low tide to begin coming in - quite a sight, but I guess they're used to it! |
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| High and Dry at Low Tide |
The Digby Peninsula stretches long and narrow down along the Bay of Fundy, with tiny villages and water on both sides. We stopped at historic Annapolis Royal, the one-time early capital of colonial France, and admired the family home of Pat's mom's family as well as the old British fort there, Fort Ann.
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| Pat's Mom's Home - The Queen Anne Inn We loved the tiny town of Sandy Cove further on down the Peninsula. The little old church there had its graveyard all around it and right in front of the door! I guess that's one way to make sure no one forgets exactly what's ultimately in store for them . . . .helps them to take the sermons seriously I'm sure! |
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| Church at Sandy Cove The harbor at Sandy Cove was calm and quiet, with a couple of fishing boats moored at the wharf. We couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to live there - peaceful for sure, but you'd sure feel like you were at the end of the earth . . . |
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| Sandy Cove Harbor Halifax, the capital city of Nova Scotia, is a busy modern seaport with a rich maritime heritage. We took a short tour of the harbor and admired the bustling waterfront and graceful sailboats - Seattle could learn a few things from the Haligonians about how to make a waterfront beautiful, fun and exciting. There was a festival of street performers called the Buskers Festival, so there was plenty of action on the streets, along with lots of sidewalk cafes and pubs - many with live music going on. We discovered the Garrison Brewery - we're famous!! Bob didn't really like their beer, though . . . . |
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Sailboat in Halifax Harbor  From Halifax we moved our base camp north a ways onto Cape Breton in the town of Baddeck. Cape Breton is the heart of Gaelic culture in Nova Scotia - has lots of traditional Cape Breton music, which is mostly Scottish and Irish . . . lots of fiddling!!! And more charming fishing villages with colorful boats . . .and the world-famous Cabot Trail, a driving route around the peninsula with panoramic views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean from the tops of the rolling hills, some 1500 feet high. Needless to say we loved it here, especially me . . .music everywhere! And fabulous fiddlers . . . |
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Fishing Fleet at Mabou  Meat Cove is at the very end of the road at the northernmost tip of Cape Breton - there's a lonely windswept campground here with a spectacular view . . .where the Gulf of St. Lawrence meets the Atlantic Ocean. You have to drive on a steep and winding dirt road with precipitous dropoffs to get here, but it's well worth it. On the way we stopped at a little chowder house on a bluff - the seafood chowder was magnificent! On the west side of the Cabot Trail we stopped for a couple of hours to hike on the Skyline Trail - a 5 mile roundtrip hike through the sparse forest out to a panoramic lookout over the ocean. Penny and Mark and I decided to take a slightly less travelled route back in hopes of seeing a moose, while Bob decided to return the way we came . . . .guess who saw a moose??!!! Yep, Bob . . .two moose in fact, one a huge one with a 6 foot rack, or so he says . . .he didn't have a camera so we'll never know for sure, but the thing is he had witnesses . . other people saw them too, so we have to accept the fact that they were real . . .we were happy for him, but mad we didn't get to see them too! |
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Skyline Trail The Cabot Trail One day we went to the east side of Cape Breton to visit historic Louisbourg, a French colonial town abandoned in 1753 after the British took it over, and restored in the 1960's on the original foundations. It's now a Canadian National Historic Site staffed with people in period costume who have an encyclopedic knowledge of its history and give tours and demonstrations and answer any questions you might have about what it was like to live in a French colony in 1744 - fascinating and educational . . .   Louisbourg Our campground was near the small town of Baddeck which is on Lake Bras d'Or, a giant lake which opens to the ocean in three places and is 75% salt water. One sunny day we rented kayaks and paddled out to a small island with a lighthouse. The kayak that Bob and I had seemed to be getting lower and lower in the water til it felt like paddling a bathtub. . . when we reached the island I checked the back and noticed some duct tape that was kind of torn and ragged and coming loose, so when we got back I told the guy we might have a leak and he said, "Oh yeah, that's the one that's patched - I guess it's coming off" !!!!! We enjoyed the trip anyway - it was a beautiful day and the views were lovely, and we really didn't get too wet!  Baddeck Lighthouse  We're sorry to be leaving beautiful and musical Nova Scotia, but excited for our next stop - Newfoundland!!!!!! |
Poem Carved in Stone by Jeff
