Newfoundland Here we are!

Sept 11, 2010
Well “Earl” blew us through New Brunswick, we stopped at Woodstock overnight and did some sightseeing, It was very hot. Saw the world’s longest covered bridge at Hartland but forgot my camera.
Moved on the next day to Fredericton, and Earl brought the rain in buckets, when it slowed down we realized the Walmart lot we were in did not accept overnight parking. Since we will be coming back this way before we head for the US we decided to go on to Moncton and head for Amherst where we would meet up with John and Dianne.
Had a couple of great days near Amherst. Stayed at the property of Melanie and Charlie Atherton, very nice couple, with lots of information. Had a nice Happy Hour with them and friends of theirs.
It was great to spend time with John and Dianne, (it was their idea to do the Cross Canada trip, and this was the first time we saw them, had to cross 4 time zones to do so.
We did a tour of a “working grist mill” at Balmoral, where a very knowledgeable lady showed us how oats were turned into Scotish Oatmeal, and flour was ground. The method was the same as the one used in 1874, in fact the wooden cogs and stones from that date were still on the property. From there we went to Denmark to see the Sutherland Steam Mill Museum. Again a tour guide, who really knew her stuff took us through. I have to say that Nova Scotia does a good job of training their museum staff.
The next day we had to say goodbye to Dianne and John and Melanie and Charlie, Melanie made sure we left with a sampling of her garden. Great people, hope to see them again.
Sept 8 was our day for the Newfoundland Ferry, so we headed up to North Sydney to spend the night at the ferry terminal. Got in touch with some ex family members that I hadn’t seen since 1974..will see them when we get back from the rock.
Sailed on the Atlantic Vision, the newest ferry in the Marine Atlantic fleet. Very nice ship, the sailing was calm and we had live Newfie entertainment . BC Ferries could take lessons on food preparation and hospitality from these people.
Afterr landing at Port Aux Basques, we hooked up the tracker again (Jerry and I drove on the ferry separately and had to meet up later,) We drove on to Stephenville and spent the night at a Walmart lot.
Following day we drove around the “French Ancestry” trail, it was very windy, with gusts up to 120 km, I managed a few pics, the scenery was great, but had to hang on to things to keep from being blown off the cliffs.
Ran into problems with the brakes on the Tracker and arranged to have them looked at in Cornerbrook the next day. That morning we also ran into problems with the Bus and had to take it to a repair shop. Since it was afternoon Friday before we could get it to the shop there wasn’t time to find out what the problem was, so we ended up camped in the repair shop yard until Monday at least. Went to the Mamateek Inn and had cod tongues for supper. Very good.
Well, with nothing to do but wait for Monday, we decided to look up some geo caches and discovered that Corner Brook was holding a Geo Cache Event on Saturday. It was grey and miserable looking outside, so we decided to check it out. Met some really great people who were organizing their first event ever. There was a full day of caching, with a barbecue late afternoon. We found about 7 of the 30 caches before we got so wet we had to quit. But Newfies are made of sterner stuff and many of them came back with all 30 found. They were quite happy to have folks from as far away as Alaska join them, and we had a great time. Have to say that was one of the best caches I have logged so far.
Well tomorrow is Sunday, and maybe some sunshine will come our way.

Ottawa and Quebec City

September 2, 2010
Left the falls early and headed for fuel stop in St. Catherines, small problem with fuel , so Jerry decided to get it checked out at the Freightliner place. After changing filters ( I think that is what happened, but the exact scenario is probably different, me being mechanically challenged) Stayed at a Walmart lot in a seedy part of town, woke up the following morning to find the front wheel of my bike gone. (Some watch dogs we are feeding, Going to have to do a training session I guess) When I arrived at the “Townie” dealer, was told that mine was the third “townie” to be stolen that morning. I asked the guy if he was paying people to target that particular bike.
On to Ottawa, where we would be connecting with my daughter Kim again. Arrived early, about 1 pm and pulled in to a Walmart, thinking that parking in such a tourist area may be a problem. The manager of the store basically said “Stay as long as you want, but please not a month” So we parked for two nights. It was close enough to be able to get into town easily.
Driving around Ottawa, I discovered a patriotic side of me, All of a sudden I felt “Canadian” and proud to be one. Of course that meant that poor Jerry had to be dragged around the parliament buildings several times, (inside and out). A light show at night was well worth seeing (from my point of view) and the visit with Kim was great too. The following day we toured the parliament buildings (inside) and then visited the Museum of Civilization, across the river in Gatineau, Quebec. The displays at the museum were excellent, One of the highlights for me was the display of opening of Northern Canada, where a replica of the Wildcat Cafe, from Yellowknife was. It was here that my parents met back in 1940 or 41.
From Ottawa we headed for Quebec, intending to bypass Montreal. As it happened we went almost through the centre, but on freeways so it went fairly quickly. Of course in Montreal, there are allowed no English signs, everything is in French. Now I haven’t had to use French since 1967, so what was rusty then, was almost non existent. Surprisingly some stuff came back.
We camped at Un air d’ete at Pont Rouge, about ½ hour from Quebec City. Using Passport America, it only cost $14 per night for full hookup. It has a swimming pool, which was very handy, since the temperature hovered around 90F and was humid. Almost unbearable. The dogs are very lethargic as well.
We did a bus tour around the City on Tuesday, Old Quebec is a walled city, established in 1608, and has been very well maintained. The city is lovely, and reminds one of France, with outdoor cafes and narrow streets. The blocks of buildings are all joined together and usually made of stone or brick. In the old city, all of the workers are bilingual, which is very handy. Last night we went back to the city for dinner and a free outdoor concert by “Cirque de Soleil” Quebec is their home city, and they give free performances throughout the summer. The costumes and the performances were amazing, but standing for 60 min for the performance, plus ½ hour before was a long time.
Today we head for New Brunswick, hoping to dodge Hurricane Earl who is threatening the provinces of Nova Scotia and PEI. We have reservations in Amherst NS for the weekend, but we may have to hunker down before then in NB.