August 7, 2017, Over night ferry to Argentia, NFLD
81.8 miles, Pippy Park Campground, Newfoundland

The ferry arrived in Argentia Bay, Newfoundland around 9:00am, we were instructed to have our things ready to disembark, and there would be another announcement to let us know when we could go to the coach. Guy and I along with LaciLou headed up to the upper deck to watch the arrival and docking process. It had been raining all night and had just let up, we were hoping to see what the area would look like but there were low lying clouds, which gave the marina a very erie feeling. At about 10.00 we got the ok to head down to the coaches.

We had been very amazed with the loading process of the ferry, the parking lot was full of cars, trucks, motorhomes, motorcycles and even Polaris razors. It was fun watching the cars loading on the 2nd deck while the big trucks and motorhomes on the 3rd deck. Entering the ship we were behind Paul and Steve and Sharon and Steve, their motorhomes looked so small when compared to the size of the inside of the massive ship. We were lucky as our coach was 2nd in our line to head out the next day.

Our state room was on the 8th floor, we had twin beds, a desk and chair, a full bathroom and tv. There was a window but due to the rain and wind all we could see was the dark stormy sky and the rocking and rolling ocean. We had taken some meds the doctor had given me for sea sickness and my vertigo, so we breezed right thru the storm.

The ship had everything you could want, 2 bars, a lounge, casino, and 2 restaurants. The first place everyone converged in was the lounge, where we all had a little adult beverage. It was now 6:00pm and the line for the restaurant was long and slow, so there was no rush to head there.

Once we left the ferry the rough roads started, it was a little slow going. Our drive was not to far, we passed many campgrounds and beautiful ponds (we would call them lakes) along the way, with massive boulders and trees surrounding them. We thought yea, this is camping, but then we arrived at ours!! There were beautiful trees and shrubs in-between most of the sites if you were in a tent or small rig, with our large group and large rigs, we were out in the group section, no trees or a single shrub!! We also were in the row that had 50amps but it did not work most of the time. The electrician would arrive and said he fixed it but it stopped as soon as he drove away. I will say having solar sure does help keeping those batteries charged, thanks to RV Solar and Greg!!

 

St. John’s was surpirsing as we didn’t expect to see such a large city, there was every store and shopping mall that we have in the states. Our campground was surrounded with large government buildings.

Once we were settled we hopped in the truck with Steve and Sharon and headed to Quidi (Kiddy) Vidi Brewery which was in the quaint fishing village of Quidi Vidi. We took the factory tour and also the beer tasting. They brew 8 different kinds of beer. The most well known is “Iceberg” which is bottled in IceBlue bottles. What makes the beer so special is that its made with Iceberg water. They harvest the water from “Icebergs” called “Bitty Bergs” which are pieces broken from large icebergs. I am not a beer drinker so I was not impressed with the beer but the rest drank theirs.

The village sits at the mouth of the harbor that is surrounded by steep cliffs, the fishing sheds line one side of the harbor. In winter icebergs will get stuck in the mouth of the harbor and close it off. The streets are so narrow only one car at a time can drive on them. The houses are hundreds of years old, most needing rappers of some kind. They sit so close to the street there is no sidewalk, the front doors open onto the street. Down the side of the houses and in the back are rows of firewood ready for the winter season.

One night we were invited to a:                                                                                                 “Newfie Screech-In and Kitchen party and Newfie Ceremony”.

What is that you ask…..The kitchen party consisted of dinner, Newfie style, yellow pea soup and biscuits.

In order to be an Honarary Newfoundland (NFLD) you must wear a sou’wester (yellow slicker hat) , the host then asks the question, “ Is ye an honorary Newfoundlander?”, we answer with “Deed I is me ol’ cock, and long may your big jib draw”  You then drink a shot of Screech rum and  kiss a Cod fish or the arse of a puffin!! We then received a Newfie Certificate!! 

 An other lady showed up with “Ugly Sticks”, and a cd player.

What is an “Ugly Stick”? Well, it consists of a carved stick, with multiple bottle caps placed on screws on the stick, a head of some sort (can painted with a face, or a doll head), there is usually a boot or shoe on the other end. You shake these and pound the floor with them to the beat of the music. Let’s just say they make lots of noise but keeping time with the music…not so much!

A bus tour was lined up for the next day for our sightseeing  St. John’s highlights. We had a short stop at the Lieutenant Governors home. Then on we went to Signal hill, this is where a fort was built in the 17th century, it overlooks the city and out into the ocean.

When we arrived we could see 25-30 whales not to far off shore, they were blowing water, splashing around,  but they did not breach nor did we see their tails come completely out of the water, I think the tour guide was a little disappointed as no one was listening to her. I have lots of ocean pictures with black dots in them…could be anything! Everyone stood trying to capture that perfect whale picture!!

We then headed out to Cape Spear lighthouse, which is the eastern most point in North America. The lighthouse was completed in 1835 but was not activated until 1836 as the lantern and lighting had not arrived from Britain.

The area around the lighthouse was pretty barren, with  lots of rocks with low lying shrubs. From where we stood we could look back to where we had just been at Signal Hill. The views were outstanding of the coastline and surrounding area.

There was a stop at the Presentation Convent at Cathedral Square to view the

“Veiled Virgin” .

The statue is carved from Carrara marble by Giocanni Strazza and was imported from Rome in December 1856. The work is meticulously crafted, the facial features and the braids in the hair are clearly visible through the stone veil. When standing at the side you can see her eyelashes. The sisters at the convent kept the statue on a small rickety table in the center of their living room and could have been knocked over at any time. They decided to have it appraised and were astonished at its worth, it now sits in a glass enclosed case.

Newfoundland and Labrador are deeply colorful places, slightly off-kilter with the rest of the world. Around here, there is no beige. Instead, you will find colourful place names, colorful houses, colorful landscapes, a colorful culture, and colorful characters – more shades, tones, and hues than you ever thought possible. You will not find this much color in any town in the States.

As we were driving around the city of St John’s which is known for the vibrantly colored row houses, called Jelly Bean Row, Sharon and I were hanging out the windows with our cell phones snapping pictures like crazy. We were trying to capture all the colors that line the streets. The candy colored houses help give the city is distinctive character. Jelly bean row is really a visual site to see. There is really not just one row of the candy colored houses and businesses they are every where thru the city.

No matter where you walk in downtown St John’s, around every corner, you will come across houses that are vibrante in color. Even in dullest of days your spirits will be lifted with all the color. It sure was delightful to see all the different colors mixed together.

None of the colors match…there could be a vibrant green door on a purple house, or red with bright blue. The streets are steeply graded with all the houses connecting to one another lining the streets. These houses are often crooked and in need of repairs, but they are sure unique and capture the spirit for which they were meant to be…a happy place.

Artists have now been capturing the essence of Jelly Bean Row with paintings, stationary, cards, coffee mugs, wooden blocks, placemats, teeshirts.

Our stay in St John’s was a wonderful time but went by so fast, it was now time to head to  Bonavista, Newfoundland to see the Puffins.

Y’all come on back to check out what it’s like and what fun things we do while there. Y’all have a Blessed Week until next time.

August 2, 2017, 247.2 miles
Arm of Gold Campground, North Sydney, NS

We knew our drive today would be a long one, 247 miles, but we did not get up very early and ended up being the last to leave the park about 10:00am. We usually like to head out early so we can get to the next spot and set up before dark and time to relax before dinner. We have turned inland away from the coast and traveling on highways which we means can travel a little faster.

At the 38.4 mile on our speedometer a sign showed that we were 1/2 way between the North Pole and the Equator- 45 degrees North. The 45 degree also passes through Oregon, Montana and New York. In Asia it crosses Hokkaido, the northern most island in Japan.

When we arrived at the campground in Sydney we noticed there were no trees, with all the camp sites in the sun. It was sure a surprise as we parked and looked out our front window and could look at the bay with trees and rocks surrounding it. On one side we could view another part of the bay and see the sailboats tied at their moorings, gently swaying in the breeze, it was such a peaceful sight.

We started our traveling day with Lou and Karen and Rosemary and Fred, but at the first stop for the dog break we got a text from Steve, saying there was a great quilt museum  at the Atlantic Museum of Industry. Guy and I changed plans and headed to the  Museum  which was only 4 miles from our first stop.

This museum is Canada’s largest museum on the former site of the Ford Coal mine. The museum chronicles the impact of industrialization on the Nova Scotia people. It features Canada’s oldest steam locomotives, a model railway layout, a belt driven working machine shop, hair salon and an exhibition on coal mining and many other industrial businesses from the 1800’s through the 1940’s.

The quilt museum was in the main room. There were 4 women working on different projects, rug hooking, piecing a quilt, and hand quilting in a quilting frame. It took Guy and I about an hour to go thru the museum, we would have taken longer but time was ticking on….we still had 152 more miles to go.

At 161.00 miles we crossed the Canso Causeway, which is the deepest causeway in the world at 217’ deep and was built in 1955. It took 10 million tons of rock to build. The bridge opens to allow boats to go thru, we were hoping that there was a boat going thru but…no such luck..

A little later at mile 236 we started down a steep 8% downgrade with a 180 degree curve and a the end we were heading over the Seal Island Bridge. The bridge goes over the Great Bras d’or Channel. The bridge is 2,475 ft long and is 120 ft above sea level. Below the bridge was a small lighthouse.

Adventure Caravans sends out crews to check the routes, campgrounds and places of interest before sending out caravans. When we arrived one of the couples, Barry and Terry, were there and had prepared a dinner for our group. They gave a talk on what we should expect on the ferry ride and what we would experience while in Newfoundland, like no internet or cell phone service, limited tv, campgrounds with no hookups or water. The roads would not be like the states, pot holes, rough roads, and frost heaves! Yikes!!

The Alexander Graham Bell Museum was in the next town over right on the bay. We spent a few hours going thru the museum. I think Guy and I were on overload and maybe tired of museums, we tried reading about his life and his inventions but it was so hard to concentrate. There were a couple of movies that gave a more in-depth story but this was an extra fee, every other time the movies played is English and/or French.

Alexander was born in Scotland but lived most of his life in Canada as well as a few years in Boston. He was a scientist, inventor, engineer. He was an innovator who is credited with patenting the first telephone. His wife and his mother were both deaf, that lead him to experiment with hearing devices and did research on hearing and speech. He was also credited with developing the early versions of a metal detector in 1818. In 1908 Bell began sketching concepts of the hydrofoil boat, he also was experimenting on air craft.

We left the museum with Sharon and Steve looking for some lunch in the town of Beddeck. We checked 3 different restaurants and ended up with chinese, it was ok..lefts just say I wouldn’t go back. There were a few clothes stores that we walked thru but were amazed at the cost…so no new clothes for us!!

After our tour of the museum Sharon and I decided to visit the information center to see what we could do around the area. They suggested we take a ride on the Cabot Trail to the coast and stop at the Glenora distillery as well as the Celtic Music Museum. It turned out to be a very long ride, passing wide open spaces of green grassy hills, pine trees covering the tops of the hills, with farms interspersed along the way, brightly colored houses mixed with bright white ones. We finally came to the ocean after about 1/2hr. We stopped in the town of Inverness and headed to the beach so we could at least put our feet into the water. Which was pretty cold.

The distillery had a great tour and a shot glass tasting of their famous 10 year old single malt Scotch. All I could do was smell it and knew there was no way I could get that down…Guy had mine and his. Most of the guys liked it and wanted more. When we checked out the price of the scotch it was $700.00 per bottle.

 

The Glenora restaurant was right there at the distillary, since everyone was hungry  we decided not to drive any further trying to find a place and decided to eat there. We were all seated around the table enjoying the atmosphere, the room had a fireplace and lots of wood, with a wood bar at one end of the room, when all of a sudden the music started.

 

We looked around and there was the musician in the corner with a guitar, harmonica, banjo and mandolin, he really was good, he played some country tunes but we really loved the Irish music. Before long the whole room was singing and clapping. Soon a lady eating at one of the tables got up and started playing the piano, and then another lady rose up and started singing.

The next day the group took one of the longest most boring bus trips along the Cabot Trail thru the Cape Breton National Park. There aren’t many towns or places to stop,  every once in awhile we would get a glimpse of the ocean thru the trees, which was beautiful, in some places the road was along the very rugged coast and high up the mountain which helped us see the spectacular rocks and trees along the coastline.  The Cabot road is a very narrow, windy, with lots of pretty sharp curves. The Cabot Trail is named after the explorer John Cabot who landed in Atlantic Canada in 1497.

The driver had a lead foot as he drove way to fast taking the corners way to sharp. Since the bus was not full Guy and I sat in the back where we could spread out, but looking out the window it was terrifying watching him take those corners with the wheels off the pavement or narrowly missing the guardrails.  We ended up with some very car sick folks. Will, our fearless leader, talked to the driver a couple of times to slow down. We all drive coaches that size with a tow car behind and could have done a better job.

After our visit to North Sydney is was time to board the ferry to Newfoundland.  We had a short briefing in the morning, and were all packed and ready to go by 11:00am. We were not leaving the campground until 2:00pm. When it was finally time to head to the ferry and Newfoundland, Pat, our tailgunner walked the line of coaches helping get everyone out. Will wanted all the rigs to head out together so all the coaches could be in line together at the ferry and make sure everyone made it. We all made it and lined up…it was 2:30pm the wait was a few hours…we started loading at 4:30pm…the ferry would leave at 5:30. Not knowing what to expect we found it to be an easy experience. Guy and I were lucky as the lane we were in on the ferry,  put us first to leave the ferry in the morning.

Come on back to see how the ferry ride went and about our time in Newfoundland, playing with Ugly Sticks, wine tasting, butterfly insectarium, and enjoying the Split Peas!!

Until then y’all have a Blessed Day!

July 31, 2017, Halifax/Dartmouth

We were excited to head out this morning as we were headed to the Halifax waterfront as vessels from around the world, Chile, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, USA and over 30 more would be in the harbor for 4 days. The tall ships will visit 11 ports around the province of NS, Lunenburg, Sidney, Annapolis Basin, Halifax and others. The Rendes-Vous 2017 brings together ships present and future have sailed from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Bermuda, Boston and Quebec City as well as other ports across Canada on a 7,000 miles trans-Atlantic race.

Have you ever wanted to sail on a ship or want to sail on a tall ship? There is a program that allows you as a guest or trainee to take part in five different international races if you want to go on a ship as a guest or as a trainee. This gives you the opportunity to enjoy different maritime heritage and culture and take part in many team activities and parties.

This party in Halifax has lasted for 4 days, with concerts, ship tours, the best culinary chiefs around! The grand finale will be with cannons and fireworks. The ships will sail out of the harbor at 12:00 pm Tuesday, Aug 1st, 2017.

 

We had free time in the harbor until 1:45 when we would meet back up to go on a tall ship “Silva” for a ride around the harbor. We had taken LaciLou with us again today, thinking that she could walk with us along the board walk and would enjoy the outside, it turned out to be another very warm day, and walking along the board walk was hot and humid. I took my shoes off to feel how hot the walk was….yup, to hot for LaciLou’s feet…luckily we had brought her backpack.

She loved looking out and watching all the people from their height rather from the ground up. But as the day went on she started getting hot and wanted out. I ended up taking turns with Guy holding her.

So, it was a relief when we boarded the ship and could feel the cooler breeze on our faces, LaciLou also loved laying in the shade. Our friend, Paul came and took her from us and made sure she stayed in the shade to keep cool. I need to keep and eye on him as I think if I turn around he will be taking her to South Carolina with him…lol!!

Moving along the coastline gave us such a great view of the tall ships that we couldn’t get with the thousands of people that were milling about on the boardwalk. Also the view of the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth from the water was more dramatic, the sky was so blue, with the contrast of the buildings it was amazing.

Leaving the harbor we headed to Alexander Keith’s Brewery for a beer tasting and tour. It was kinda wasted on me since I don’t drink beer…and Guy didn’t have any either as he needed to drive our coach back from the repair shop.

This brewery will be 200 years old this year as well as the harbor. The founder of the company Alexander Keith had lived in the brewery building, and many of the rooms were still set up as they were in 1817 when he started the brewery.

They make 4 different beers, everyone had a chance to taste them all. It started with a pale ale and went to a very dark coffee, chocolate beer. This was a very different tour then others we have gone on. We started at an old fashioned bar with the first beer tasting and a brief history,  then another tasting in the room where all the herbs and spices were kept, in the brewing room was another tasting, the last beer was served in a wonderful rock enclosed room with a large bar, where the servers played the guitar, a hand held drum, and sang a couple of songs, then it was last call for another beer. Since no one was driving it didn’t matter how many were consumed.

 

Someone said that if you drank all the tasting samples and the 2 glasses of beer then you would have drank 30oz of beer. Yikes!! Another fact for NS: No bottle of wine can be sold for less than $10.00, and no beer can sell for less that $2.75.

Our next day was a free day…yea…there were many that went back to the harbor for the sailing of the ships…some played golf…others took a ride up the coast…while others went back to Peggy’s Cove….Guy and I decided we needed some time to just veg…I went and got a hair cut and wrote this blog.…Guy took the truck to chevy and worked on a project then took a nap….

We have a big 250 mile drive tomorrow into Sidney, NS, so sometimes it’s just nice to relax and enjoy the quiet. So until next time y’all have a Blessed Day.

Theodore Tugboat began in 1989 as a children’s television series. The stories tell the adventures of Theodore and his many floating friends in The Big Harbor.

July 29, 2017, 50.0 miles
Woodhaven RV Park, Halifax, NS

The trip to our next campground was a big 50 miles, it was almost not worth packing up and moving. This is a nice campground, our rig is under the trees with good shade, the temps are starting to rise so any shade helps keep this coach cooler. The downside that we don’t like is our tv dish cannot find the western arch, that means no tv for Guy.

Somewhere along our travels we have developed an airleak in our airbags system, the air pump goes off 3-4 times a day pumping the airbag up to keep us level. Guy made an appointment at the freight liner dealer in Dartmouth. We also found that the air conditioner in the truck is not cooling…yuck…so he made an appointment with Chevy for another day in Halifax at the Chevy dealer. Packing up the coach and heading out 2 days in a row at 7:00am was not my idea on how I wanted to spend the morning. We also needed to be back at the campground to board the bus for our day to spend in Halifax. The sad part is neither were fixed. The truck needs a condenser which will take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to get the parts. At freightlliner they looked for 3 hours and could not find out why the air bags are leaking…we will deal with both issues when we arrive back in Ga.

We made it back in time for our tour which left at 8:30am. Our first stop was at the Acadian Maple Products factory. The owner and founder of the company explained how they started the family run company in 1982. He also explained the process of collecting, grading and packaging the maple sap.

The room we sat in had a glass wall where you could watch the production of maple syrup but as it was a Sunday they were not working. There is also a store connected where they sell everything from maple syrup, blueberry syrup, candy, maple nuts and even maple coffee. He explained that it takes 40 parts maple sap to 1 part water to make 1 qt maple syrup.

The tree sap in winter flows down into the root system and in the warm months moves up into the tree and branches, which is when they tap the trees. There can be up to 3 taps per tree if the tree is atleast 65” round.

I was so excited to arrive at our next stop which was Peggy’s Cove. Guy and I had taken a road trip thru Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Nova Scotia about 15 years ago. We had stayed at a B&B that was not far from the Cove, when we drove by it was still there. I could not find my pictures to compare what we had seen before.

Peggy’s Cove is located on the eastern shore of St. Margarets Bay. What makes Peggy’s Cove famous is the Peggy’s Point Lighthouse, which was built in 1868.

The folklore of Peggy’s Cove: The name of the cove comes from a small child or women who was the sole survivor of a shipwreck. They say she could not remember where she came from nor what her name was. She married a local resident of the cove in 1800 and became known as “Peggy of the Cove”. This attracted visitors from around the bay who eventually named the village what it is today.

 

The cove has been declared a preservation area to protect its rugged beauty. The area includes barren bogs, inland ponds, and rocky coastline. There are large sections of boulders, space vegetation and topsoil, the tidal flows and rising sea levels have scarred the rocks and formed cove and inlets in the rocks.

 

This is a big tourist area, and one of the most photographed in Canada. There are only 230 homes in this area with no more to be built, there are about 500-600 people that live in the surrounding area. It is still a working fishing village, as well as having boats to take visitors out for tours of the coastline. There are a few stores, coffee shop, and two restaurants, on being Peggy’s Cove Sou’ Wester restaurant (where we had lunch).

This is also the area of the Swissair Flight 111, which crashed into St. Margaret’s Bay on Sept 2, 1998. There were 229 men, women and children that were aboard the Swissair flight. There are three notches in the rock that represent the numerals 111. The sight line from the three grooves in the stone points to the crash site, which also point to the area the plane went down.

Leaving Peggy’s Cove we headed to Fairview Lawn cemetery where the remains and headstone of the Titanic were buried. The Titanic sank off the coast of New Foundland in April of 1912. The head stones were arranged in such a way as to represent the shape of the hull of the ship.

All the head stones have numbers on them, the numbers corresponed to when each person was recovered from the ship, some still have numbers with no name, as they were never identified, while other stones had names as well as their number. The shipping company donated all the same size stones for all but if a relative wanted a larger one they could pay the extra cost.

We then headed to the town of Halifax driving thru the town to get a feel for the area. We were headed to the Citadel. We stopped first at the Public Gardens and walked thru, they were beautiful and filled with numerous flowers.

Every weekend in the center gazebo music is played which can be heard through out the gardens. There were numerous people sitting on blankets on the grass, or sitting on the park benches. The band played some Duke Ellington while we were listening.

The Citadel is located on a hill above the Halifax waterfront with an astounding view for miles. The Citadel is a National Historical site, it was founded in 1749 as a base for the British Royal Navy to help protect the Halifax harbor.

The Citadel was an active fort until 1951, but the fort never saw any war nor was it used for that. It is used now for re-enactments from the times. While we were visiting we watched the changing of the guard, a bag piper and drummer, many people in period costumes. There was a rifle and cannon firing demonstration.

We had taken LaciLou with us on this trip but when the rifles started firing she was ready to bolt for parts unknow. I had a hard time calming her down and just as I did, they started all over again. We needed to leave the area for a while.

This was such a long day filled with lots of information, it had gotten extremely warm and very sunny, I was so very glad to finally head back to our home. We needed to rest up as there was to be another tour the next day. The tall ships were in the harbor for a few days and we were to see them and also to ride on one!!! It would be another awesome day. So come on back and check out the Tall Ships here in Halifax, NS

July 27, 2017, 89.0 miles
Lunenburg Board of Trade Campground, Lunenburg, NS

We arrived in Lunenburg early in the afternoon, our campground was on top of a hill, we were following GPS, and our log book, there was a campground sign that points right, GPS and log book says go straight, we go straight, we are now on the downhill side heading into a very narrow car lined street going into down!! Now What? We stop on the side of the street just before  a line of cars, proceed to unhook the truck, so we can turn around, all the while a man up the hill on his back deck, yelling down “you missed the turn”!  All we could do was laugh.!! Instead of turning around, Guy decides to back into the other lane and back this beast of 45′ coach up the hill…wish I could have taken a picture….he gets far enough up that he can make the right turn and off we go to the campground. The guy on the deck just standing there with his mouth open, shaking his head.

Our site was over looking the water, with a wonderful ocean breeze, the air had a fall crispness to it, we could see the bay thru the trees, the smell was so fragrant from wild roses that grew behind our coach. We could not hear the crashing of the waves but knew they were waiting for us to go check out.

The town of Lunenburg began in 1753 when the Germans and Swiss settled here. The founding families were known as Foreign Protestants, mainly German speaking with a strong ethic. They survived then thrived, moving from farming and into fishing. In 1995 the United Nations designated Lunenburg Old Town as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The purpose of the organization is to, “contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through educational, scientific and cultural reforms…” The designation ensures protection for much of Lunenburg’s unique architecture and civic design, planned by the British colonial settlement and its authenticity as a working town. The entire 48 blocks of Old Town Lunenburg is also a National Historic District.

The houses are of the Cape Cod style to stately Georgians and Victorians. You can see the German, French, English and Dutch influence in the town with the food, local wines, art and architectures. The colors are amazing, and so vibrant.

Each house has its own style and color, very steep pitched roofs, textured shingles on the walls, porches, and asymmetrical designs, with towers and turrets, with lots of gingerbread trim. The streets are very narrow allowing one car at a time to pass, the houses and business sit on the sidewalk or on the curb, sitting so close together they almost touch.

The waterfront is still a working marina with many large fishing boats, coming and going. The waterfront is beautiful, looking across the bay you see the golf course on the hill, with the sailboats sitting at anchor. There were a few wooden sailboats with colorful sails just peacefully bobbing at their anchor. Across from the harbor are many restaurants, shopping as well as the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

Our first stop of the day was to the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, the group divided into two groups each with a docent to explain about the Blue Nose Racing Schooner. The museum helps to provide you with information about life in a fishing village and discover life at sea. The museum has 3 floors, with an aquarium and artifacts and exhibits. In the harbor the schooner, Theresa E. Conner and the trawler, Cape Sable are there for you to explore to experience what life about would be like.

One of the exhibits told the story of the Bluenose schooner. The town of Lunenburg is the birthday place of the Bluenose, a famous schooner fishing vessel. It was built in 1921, and nicknamed “Queen of the North Atlantic”. She was used for fishing for many years and also as a racing schooner. She was wrecked in 1946 and the Bluenose ll was built 1963 to take her place. Fishing schooners became obsolete during the 1930’s and replaced by motor schooners. In 1942 she was sold to the West Indies Trading Company, the vessel was stripped of masts and rigging and started carrying cargo between islands. In 1946, she hit a coral reef and was abandoned on a reef. The Bluenose image is on the Canadian dime. Bluenose was the undefeated champion of the North Atlantic fishing fleet and winner of four international schooner races.

After checking out the schooners we hooked back up with Sharon and Steve and decided it was time for lunch, hiking up the hill looking for some seafood. There were many restaurants to pick from but The Fish Shack had what we wanted, fish and chips, with outdoor seating overlooking the harbor.

 

Our map showed that there was blue rocks along the coastline, it sounded interesting, so we headed in that direction. We  found a wonderful coastline, but no blue rocks, stoping along the road to take pictures, a local man came, we asked where were the Blue Rocks?Come to find out…we were looking at it…Blue Rocks was the fishing village we were taking pictures of. We drove to the end of the road took a few more pictures of the beautiful area, it was exactly what you wanted a New England village to look like.

We heard that at 7:00pm down at the harbor there would be a free concert, Paul and Steve asked if we wanted to walk down and listen. Most people had taken their own chairs, but we had not thought to bring any, luckily, there was some stadium seating where we found seats. We did not stay long as it turned out to be some musicians playing “Scottish/Irish music” with a few women teaching the crowd how to dance to the music.

Off we went to find an adult beverage, and something to eat. Steve, Paul and I decided on desert, while Guy choose a ceasar salad with scollops…dang he sure scored…we tasted his scollops…yum!!!

Tomorrow is another travel day, we head off to Halifax, NS, we have heard that the tall ships will be there in the harbor, and that we will be taking a trip in one of the schooners. Wahoo!!

Some of the houses in town

Most of the homes in town are so close to the street that there is no sidewalk and the steps of the homes go right into the street. There is a reason for this, many years ago your taxes were decided on how much property you had for a front yard, not wanting to pay lots in taxes the homes were built right up to the street. It didn’t matter how much you had in the back, just the front yard.

So stay tuned to our adventure next in Halifax, NS, but in the meantime, y’all have a Blessed day!

July 25, 2017, 164.4 miles
Dunromin Campsite and RV Trailer, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia

Our journey took us on the Evangeline Trail through the Annapolis Valley, known for its apple growing. We passed by the bustling town of Windsor, which is considered the birthplace of ice hockey. The game was first played around 1800 by the students of King’s Edgehill School.

We stopped at The Grand Pre National Historic Site which is a memorial to the Acadians who were forcefully exiled from their homes and farms during the Expulsion in 1755. We watched a movie that explained what the Acadians went thru during this time. This Site was once the largest Acadian community that exisited in Canada in the 1700’s. The British exiled the Acadians due to they not taking an oath of allegiance to Britain and to take up arms to fight the French. It seemed to have many similarities to what happened to the Indians in the US.

There was a line of motorhomes from our group waiting to park in campsites when we arrived in Annapolis Royal.  Will (our fearless leader) was trying to park the big rigs and small rigs into the proper size sites.

Unknown to us there had been a water leak on the back row, and it had also rained all night, the grassy area was very wet and muddy. Will was helping Guy park the coach as I was driving the truck, and this time, was I glad it wasn’t me directing. Guy had to back into the site behind ours, into the grass to make the sharp turn.

When he was trying to go forward all 6 back tires just slid on the grass and dug down!! It took about 2 hours and 20 people trying to put wood under the tires, putting the jacks down on wood trying to raise the tires, but every time he would try to drive forward the wood just flew out behind the coach.

Finally, the campground host brought about 10 buckets of gravel, Pat put down layers of wood blocks, and lowered both back jacks, poured in the gravel and more wood, attached a tow strap to Wills truck, and pulled the coach out!! Wahoo, no one got hurt, the truck and coach made it with little damage!! Our jack now leaks and needs to be repaired.

That evening we went to Forte Anne, a national historic site for a candle light tour of the old cemetery. Each couple were given lanterns to carry as the walk started at 9:30pm and was getting pretty dark. The tour was conducted by an 11th generation descendant of an Acadian family, who to this day still owns land that his for-farthers owned. It was fun watching the lanterns bob around not really able to see who was carrying them, walking under the trees, over tree stumps, up the stairs and hills, thru the grave sites.

The night couldn’t have been any better, so many brightly lite stars were shinning, no wind, it was so fall like, a little crispy, and fresh smelling. Our guide told the history of some of the people buried there as well as the Acadians. There were over 2000 Acadians buried in the area, there were no head stones, wooden crosses were used in the 1700’s which are long gone. What is there now is one granite cross commemorating the Acadians.

 

Another Acadien settlement site was nearby, so the group headed there the next day. The site was the settlement of the Acadians in1605.

The French in 1603, arrived in Port-Royal to establish the fur trade in North America and start French colonies. The Mi’Kmaq indians lived in the area at the same time and shared their knowledge, and customs and became military allies.

The reconstructions of Port-Royal Habitation opened in 1941. The recreation had captains quarters, kitchen, dining hall, trading post, Governors home, a bunkhouse for the single men.

We were to tour the Annapolis Royal Gardens before lunch, but some where I had misplaced my new glasses…I have a habit of taking them off, as they drive me nuts…and then it drives Guy nuts when I do that..I really wasn’t sure I had even brought them…Guy and I went back to the coach to see if by chance they were there…I looked….and at the same time checked the dryer and removed the dry sheets, added sheets from washer…took LaciLou out for a potty break…and got my phone. But no glasses…back to the settlement…we stated looking….then Guy went and asked if they had been turned in…no….we were just getting ready to call it quits…when someone turned then in!!! Wahoo…

Off to lunch we went to the German Bakery in town where we met up with the group. The restaurant is run by a husband and wife team and their daughter from Germany. We had preordered, sandwiches and chicken soup, with rhubarb custard crumble for dessert.

We then walked the town, along the boardwalk looking at the river, and down to a farmers market at the end of the street. Heading back to the car we stopped at Fort Anne and the cemetery so I could get a few pictures in the daylight. It was getting hot and we were tired so we decided not to take the tour of the forte and headed home.

On the way back we could see that the tide had changed and the water was now running thru the Tidal Power Plant. The plant uses the tide to fill a holding basin then lets the water back out as the tide recedes which drives a generator that produces 1-20 megawatts of power.

The facility is not bidirectional so it only produces electricity twice a day for 12 hours a day. We did not take the tour but watched the water flow in the opposite direction, also to watch the sail boats that were using the water flow to sail. We did watch a few of the sail boats get towed away from the current as it was taking them in the wrong direction.

Our next day we would be traveling to Lunenburg, NS, since it was only 89 miles away we could take our time. So off to Nautical Seafoods we all went. Wow!! This was a great tour, learned so much about lobster.

There are 2 seasons to trap lobster, Spring and Fall. The only restriction to catching lobster is, how many traps the lobster fisherman has a license for, (no more than 250 traps), and a female that has egss, she will be marked on the tail, put back in, and will not be kept again until she sheds her shell. This company is the only one in NS that buys and sells lobsters.

They do blood testing, grade them, and sorted by their weight. The ones that don’t measure up are sold to be canned or used in other ways. They will then store the best and heartiest in tanks for up to 6 months. They are stored in salt water that is extremely cold, 37 degrees, with water circulating thru the tanks from the river at all times.There can be up to 500lbs of lobster in each crate, once they are in the crate they hibernate and don’t eat or continue to grown any larger.

different color lobsters

In the ocean lobsters will shed their shell, but once in captivity they no longer shed. Bejing, China is one of the largest buyers of large lobsters, the 8-10lb ones. The males are kept separate from the females in the crates. We also found out that to cook lobster you don’t boil them, but steam them in about 2”s of water with salt, for about 15 mins, to check if done pull on the long whiskers and if it comes out then they are done.

 

Leaving the campground today was tricky, the front row needed to leave first as the back row did not want to back out and get stuck in the mud. It worked just fine, Guy and I were almost the last to leave, which we hoped by the time we made it to the next campsite everyone would be settled!!

Until next time y’all have a very Blessed Week. Come on back as we make our way to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

July 23, 2017, 152.7 miles
Scotia Pine Campground, Hilden, Nova Scotia

Spending four days in one place was so nice not having to pack up every other day and leave felt good. The campground we were in was so busy and full. They had so much for the kids to do, nice big pool, camp counselor who helped with arts and crafts, large park with all the swings and slides. Fri and Sat nights was movie nights, there was a large outdoor screen set up, kids and parents sat with their chairs in the grass watching the movie. There were kids riding bikes up and down all the roads. One of the biggest attractions was the big jumbo blob where the kids could jump to their hearts content. I would walk LaciLou at night around 10:00pm and people were still out walking around, having campfires, and just enjoying the camping life.

We have noticed that the campgrounds here in Canada are not like the states. The campgrounds in Canada it seems  are of the bare minimum, most have no swimming pools or club houses nor are there many amenities. Where there is abundance of activities and pools or club houses in the states. Of course, here in Canada they only have 9 weeks of tourist season with which to make their money then they are closed for winter.

The trip to Hilden was only 152.7 miles, we needed to go back over the Confederation Bridge, which on the way over was blocked for construction. We all decided to leave a little early just in case there was another line to get across. There was not a toll as we entered into PEI but to enter back into New Brunswick, there was a toll, which turned out to be $70.50!!! Yikes. We would actually cross another bridge with a small toll of $8.00.

After crossing the first bridge we stopped at Cape Jourimains Nature Visitor Center. Louise and I walked our dogs out on the boardwalk to view the 8 mile bridge from below and took a few pictures.

Hilden, Nova Scotia, is a rural community located in Colchester County. The population is approximately 1,200. The Hilden Volunteer Fire Brigade’s building serves as the community center for weddings and receptions. The Hilden Volunteer Fire Brigade had prepared a dinner for us on the night we arrived, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans and bbq pork chops. We could also spend time checking out the fire trucks but after our late night the day before and driving the guys were tired and wanted to get back for some down time. We also received a certificate, “Order of the Good Time”. This is a tradition that began in 1606 in Nova Scotia. The Order of Good Time” was established to “keep our table joyous and well provided”. The Order was started to keep up the spirit and good cheer of the men and women who created a new home in the uncharted wildness and laid the foundation of a mighty nation. Each day one member of the group assumed responsibility of the menu, such as moose-meat pie, beaver tail, fresh salmon, roast caribou or breast of goose. Today, the order still exists, it collects no initiation fee, no dues and has no formal meetings. The only requirement is a member must have visited Nova Scotia for 3 days.

Everyone had received an email from Will and Cyndi,  before we met up for this trip, wanting to know if anyone was interested in a rafting trip in the Bay of Fundy. Well, I think the response was almost a unanimous, yes!! Guy was not to sure because we knew the weather could be cold as well as the water. But how many times will we ever be able to do this again. So we signed up!!!

 

Today was the day for our raft trip…we were told to bring clothes that were old and we didn’t care about them as the water is very silty with red mud which would not come out of the clothes. So that morning early after a wonderful pancake breakfast put on by Will, Cyndy, Pat and Holly we headed to the Good Will store for clothes we could throw away.

If you have not heard of the tidal bore..here is a description…tidal bore is a phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave or waves of water that travel up a river or narrow bay against the direction of the river or bays current. In the Bay of Fundy the tide can be 10 to 15’ high. The tide height is determined by the moon, full moon higher tide.

The Bay of Fundy is one of the 7 wonders of North America with the highest tides on earth, the rarest whales in the world, semi precious minerals and dinosaur fossils. The Bay of Fundy funnels into the Minas Basin and then into Cobequid Bay which is where we rode the tidal bore. A tidal bore is formed when the incoming tide is funneled into a narrow opening into the river and the incoming tide meets up with the receding tide. In order to form a tidal wave there is a 20’ or more difference with the high and low tides. The river is shallow with numerous sandbars as the tide comes in you can see the wall of water heading your way and covering the sandbars as the water washes over the sandbars and hits the cliffs on the sides of the river which forms the waves. Some waves can get as high as 10 – 15’.

 

Once arriving we signed our waiver, made sure our bill was paid, got our life jackets on and headed down to the rafts. The walk was down a hill that was slippery and extremely deep mud, seriously muddy that when you walked your shoes would get stuck and come off and get left behind, you almost could not find them. We had six in our raft, with Amy as our skipper. There were four rafts that headed up stream to where the bore would start. When we landed we walked out on a sand bar, which went on for miles. We could hear in the background some boats heading down our way which signaled that the tide was coming in, we had a small meeting on what to expect and climbed back in our rafts.

We could actually see the water rising and heading towards us, where we had just walked was starting to go under water, then we could see some of the rafts start to get lower than us as they were in front of the wave.

As the wave came in the rapids increased and got bigger, we would head into the rapids and of course would get totally soaked. Our skipper would turn the raft around as the rapids decreased and would wait for the next wave to arrive, and we would do it over again. We would either go over the waves or thru them, which allowed the waves to wash over us with ugly red water. Needless to say we had a great time and laughed till our faces hurt.

When the tide was over, they headed the boats to the sides of the cliffs where there was pure mud, some of us climbed out of the rafts, slipped and slide up the muddy cliffs and slide down on our bottoms or stomachs landing in the water, then doing it all over again. We did not have cameras or phones to take pictures but you can just imagine how muddy we all were…we all then realized why we were throwing away our clothes, which made it more fun getting muddy. Let me ask…how many people aged 65 – 80 who would put away your inhibitions, laugh like little kids,  getting muddy, sliding down the mud hill? One statement from Paul, “I felt like I was once again a 5 year old”.

We are head off to Annapolis Royal, NS tomorrow for another exciting adventure! If you want to hear more about our trip come on back. Y’all have a blessed week!!

July 19, 2017, 240.7 miles
KOA Cavendish, Cavendish, Prince Edward Island

 

Our group seems to be the last group out of the campground on our travel day, there are some that are very early risers. At our briefing Will, will give us the times out of the campground. He leaves first and needs to be at the next place before any others, in order to organize the sites and get his own rig set up before every one arrives. There are times when some of our group arrive before he does. Our time out today was 7:00 and last out at 9:00, with arrival to not be later than 7:00 pm.

When crossing over from New Brunswick we all had been briefed that there was an 8 miles bridge to cross, and of course, it was under construction. The traffic could be bad with a long wait…with that warning our group decided to leave a little early, we thought!! We left the campground at 7:50 am, but we sure weren’t the first, we once again we almost the last ones to leave. When going over our trip log decisions were made on where we wanted to stop but as we traveled along and it got later in the day we were worried about the bridge and how long we would wait, so another decision was made no stopping.

 

When we arrived at the bridge there was a long line but the wait wasn’t more than a half hour, the first 2 coaches made it thru the first red light, but the second two had a 15 minute more wait.

 

 

Prince Edward Island(PEI) is one of eastern Canada’s smallest maritime provinces. The island has red-sand beaches, lighthouses, lots of farmland, mussel farms off the coast.

There are more shades of green here on the farms than I have ever seen. The farms stretch as far as the eye can see, there are no large mountains, but lots vast green rolling hills. PEI is one of Canadas oldest settlements, there are 142,907 residents that are Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and French. The island is 2,170 sq miles, and slightly larger than Delaware. The capital is Charlottetown which is a very urban city.

We took a guided tour of Queen’s Square where we were met by two period dressed ladies who divided up our group. We then walked around the sq as she gave us a talk about the area and history of Charlottetown. Charlottetown is the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island. The confederation of Canada took place in Province House (which was under construction) in 1873. PEI was the 7th Canadian province.

The coastline has long sandy beaches, dunes, red sandstone cliffs, salt water marshes, bays and harbours. There are no large animals such as bear, moose, caribou or wolf found on PEI. There are only 2 kinds of snakes and both are non-poisonous, you can find red fox, coyote, skunks, or raccoons.

Our first day in PEI was a guided tour of the area, touring the marina and watching a lobster fishing demonstration. Commercial fisher man are the only ones that are allowed to set traps for lobster, they do not have a set area and can pick where they want to set the traps. There are only so many lobster licenses given out, the only way to get a license is to buy one from who has a current license. There are two seasons for catching lobster summer and fall, the season was over while we were there. There are certain sizes that a lobster must be to keep it, no female lobsters with fertilized eggs can be kept.

 

Next was into the PEI National Park, where we stopped along the shoreline to view the red-sandstone cliffs.

We made a stop at Anne of Green Gables, grandparents uncles home, where Lucy Maud Montgomery found her inspiration for the books she wrote. The author Lucy Maud Montgomery who wrote the classic novels “Anne of Green Gables” in 1908, grew up on PEI. She wrote 20 novels, 530 short stories, 500 poems and 30 essays. Most of her novels were set in PEI. Lucy at the age of 21 months was raised by her grandparents after her mothers death. She spent much of her childhood alone, and created many imaginary friends and worlds to cope with her loneliness, which helped with her creativeness.

Our lunch was at the PEI preserve company, in New Glasgow, we had preordered our lunch before we got there, there was also easy listening music while we ate. After lunch everyone headed to the gift store to sample the jelly and jams that are known and sold around the world. Guy and I bought a few, one was raspberry with Champagne, blue berry and raspberry, and garlic and horseradish.

 

We then headed to Summerside, the 2nd largest town on the island where we toured the town. Our stop was at the College of Bag Piping where we watched a bag piper, drummer and Celtic dancer put on a great performance. They each explained a little about their life and why they chose to attend this college. We found out that they do not reside there, they must continue with their schooling at home town, and only attend the college from 4:00pm until 10:00pm.

That night a few of us went to the Lost Anchor for dinner and adult beverages. The only spot big enough for all 7 of us was on the roof deck, at first it was sunny and hot but as the night went on it was very pleasant. I had the lobster roll which was excellent and a nice cold Pinot!!

We had a free day on Thursday, some of the guys decided to go out fishing, called bottom fishing. They were gone about 4 hours, and brought home lots of mackerel. We will be having a fresh fry on Monday. Guy and I have already tried some of it and not sure we want any and might take something else instead.

So whats a girl to do while her man is gone…….you guessed it…..shop….so 4 ladies and 2 men decided to head to Charlottetown and find us a few quilt shops. We had also picked up a brochure about a quilt trail and we were off to explore it as well.

We stopped at 2 quilt stores, only 2 of us found and purchased some goodies. I found a wall hanging pattern and fabric to make my granddaughter a Christmas present and Sharon bought fabric to make pillow cases for her granddaughters. (there are no pictures as I decided to make it a camera free day) We also stopped for lunch at a train station for lunch before heading back to camp.

 

The next day we took a bus tour thru Charlottetown, by the Red Shores Race Track, Victoria Park, Historic George Street, the Charlottetown waterfront, with many things in between. Our firs stop of the day started off with Cows Ice Cream for a factory tour and a big ice cream cone. Guy decided on Blueberry, while I had mooey gooey, vanilla, chocolate chucks, walnuts and caramel. Our tour was self guided, the factory was not in operation but we watched a short video on how they make their cheese and butter. Then another on the making of their ice cream.

We stopped at the waterfront to take a few pictures and while there a big black limo stopped just behind us with a sign “just married”! The bride and groom climbed out with the whole wedding party. The photographer began posing everyone for pictures with the river in the back ground. It was a great day for it with the sun and big puffy white clouds, the green grass and blue river made for some nice pictures.

That night we headed to the marina for a lobster dinner and a musical show at the Emerald Community Center in another town about 1/2 hour from where we had dinner. The music was great and very lively, with a fiddler and guitar, singer and Celtic dancer. (still no pictures as it was a non camera day for me).

It was a pretty late night and driving back in the dark over roads we did not know was a little dicey. We started following each other but ended up loosing them at the lights. But alas we made it back to look forward to our next day… so stay around and check out the fun time we have at the Tidal Bore in Hilden Nova Scotia.

July 17, 2017, 258.5 miles
Camping and Motel Colibri, Caraquet, New Brunswick

(Due to slow or nonexistent internet while we were in Canada I am behind on the blog I will be catching up now that we are back in the states. I hope you enjoy your trip with us thru the Canada and the Maritimes.)

Today was a long travel day, 258.5 miles, our route was still following along route 132 along the Gaspe coast line. There were still 4 coaches following along together. We all check our travel logs we received at the beginning of our trip, each of us deciding where we want to stop for the day, (gas, grocery, or potty breaks for us and dogs)! This trip we would find a Walmart at our 216.2 mile where we all decided it would be a great place to replenish our pantries. There are social get togethers every afternoon, decided by your coach number, either odd or even, we are number 3…so we turn out to be odd…LOL!

They called this a Walmart Superstore and maybe for the area it is, it doesn’t even come close to the super stores in the states. Guy has been looking everywhere for a mexican restaurant but they don’t exist. So I thought I would make him some enchiladas…there was no corn tortillas, or enchilada sauce, or chilies. I guess he will need to wait until we get back to the states.

Our group had a free day the next day to tour the Village of the Acadians, this is a village with a display of houses, farms, church, blacksmith shop, carpenter shop as well as a school that portray the way of life for the Acadians from the 1700’s to 1949. There are more than 40 buildings which are each staffed with interpreters in period costumes. One building is the Hotel Chateau Albert, a replica that once existed in Caraquet but was destroyed in 1955 and recreated at the Village.

The Village was so large and took Guy and I over 3 hours to walk thru, it was very interesting listening to the interpreters, who spoke French and English. They told us about the owner and how many lived in the homes, what their occupation was, and some were even cooking on the old iron stoves.

If you wanted something they were cooking, they wanted you to barter with them for the food. Some people would bring in the firewood for the stove, or sweep the floors. There were outdoor stoves where women were baking bread that they sold in the gift store.

There were barns with horses, cows, pens with pigs, goats, sheep.

That night there was a pot luck, which we were not looking forward to as it was hot, and sitting in the sun trying to eat didn’t sound to good. After walking around Cyndy and Holly saw that luckily one of the rigs had great shade from some trees, so everyone set up their chairs in the shade behind the coach. The food that everyone brought was so varied, if anyone went away hungry it was their fault. I had made white chili and was so happy that I brought none home with me. We don’t seem to be eating many meals at home, lunches seem to be eaten on the run while we are touring the areas, dinners, we seem to not eat after having a social hour at 5:30 or 6:00, we aren’t hungry.

Well, its been a great time here in Caraquet but its time now to head out to Cavendish, PEI, so tag along with us on this amazing adventure.

July 15, 2017, 62.4 miles
Camping Cote Surprise, Perce, Gaspe, Quebec

What a treat the day was…we only traveled 62.4 miles!! We didn’t realize how tiring it would be to travel every other day with only one/two days to explore and see as much as we can along the way. Taking pictures thru the windshield leaves little to be desired….I delete many due to the window bugs or glare.

The morning started off nice and slow as Will, our wagon master, fearless leader, had coffee and donuts for us while we had a morning briefing about out trip to Perce. Also advising us the times to leave the campground, 11:30 and to please not arrive at the next campground until 1:30.

 

The drive to Perce was an easy relaxing trip and so very scenic along the St Lawrence coast. Going over the last hill down into the town of Perce was breathtaking, looking down at Perce Rock jutting out of the lake high into the sky, surrounded by blue, blue water. The rock is a huge sheer rock formation sitting in the gulf of St Lawrence river at the very tip of Gaspe Peninsula.

 

It is one of the world’s largest arches over water. The formation is 1420 feet in length and over 300 feet in width. The arch is large enough that a small boat could pass through during low tide, hence, the name Perce Rock.

A little further out is another island, which is The Parc national del I’lle-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Perce. The importance of this parc is the nesting site for several species of seabirds. Some 200,000 seabirds, including 110,000 Northern Gannets, make I’lle Bonaventure the most accessible bird watching site. The Northern Gannets have been studies for the las few years to supply information about the breeding of Gannets.

We all drove our own cars into town the first night to walk around town and explore the stores. We had dinner with Steve and Sharon overlooking the river, it was nice to sit and get to know each other better. The guys had the buffett, while Sharon and I ordered off the menu. The food was ok, but the building friendship was priceless.

The next day the group met in town to watch a movie about the island and the many sea birds that inhabit the island. We all then loaded up on a ferry boat for a 15 min ride around the Perce Rock and over to the National park. There were 7 of us that decided we didn’t want to miss out on anything so we all went on the hike out to the breeding grounds of the Gannets.

Deciding on the easy trail out to view the birds and taking the harder trail back to the boat, turned out to be 6.5 miles. The trail out was pretty flat with a slight incline going out, coming back was downhill, lots of stairs and boardwalks with a view of the shoreline and thru the forest with wonderful shade as the sun was rather hot.

As we were heading the last part of the walk the clouds were forming, we could see that the rain was headed our way. There were some abandoned houses along the way back that we just had to explore but as we looked at the clock it was 1:45 and the boat was leaving at 2:00 the next boat wasn’t until 3:00 so we took off, hoping to make it…we did just in the nick of time.

We were so surprised when we got out to the breeding grounds, such an amazing sight to see, thousands of Gannets flying or preening each other, some moms were sitting with their chicks, there were moms that were feeding their babies, there was one mom even laying on an egg. The Gannets were all sitting on their nests and pointing in the same direction.

Gannets are identifiable by their bright white plumage, long neck and beak, and their black wing tips. They have a 6.6 ft wingspan. Gannets can dive from a height of 98 ft with speeds of 62 mph as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds. They lay one blue egg per season, keeping the egg warm by using their webbed feet.

A Gannet has a lifespan of up to 35 years, they are fiercely territorial and very aggressive to neighbors even their mates. The sight and smell of all those birds burned the nose, the flies and knats were almost unbearable.

After our awesome trip watching the birds, once we got back to town we made a mad dash for the ice cream store…vanilla dipped in chocolate…yumm!!

Our next day off we were heading on our marvelous adventure to Caraquuet, New Brunswick, which was going to be a grueling 258.5 miles. So hang with us and read about our next adventure! We are leaving on a 16 hour ferry trip from Sydney, NS  for the month of August to New Foundland and Labradore and have been told there will be limited phone and internet service. I will post more when we get back. Thanks for hanging in there with us.