July 10 – Levis, Quebec to Bic Provincial Park, Bas Saint-Laurent, Quebec

This morning we headed out along the familiar 132 Hwy.  Our destination that day was Bic Provincial Park with stops along the way.  This intriguing landscape along the south shore of the St. Lawrence scattered with simple weather worn houses was starting to foreshadow the Maritimes.

En route, we picked up some local cheese and then had a windy picnic on  the shores of the St. Lawrence.  We stayed the night at Bic Provincial Park.  I had a wonderful walk along one of the parks many trails and Guy worked on a painting .

 

 

July 11, Bic Provincial Park, Bas Saint Laurent,  Quebec to Perce, Gaspésie, Quebec

We started this day off with a walk on the beach near the campsite at Bic.  It was a great way to start the day.

 

 

Then we made a trip to the Metis Gardens in the Quebec Region of Gaspésie.  The gardens were beautiful and the horticultural therapy was welcome since I personally have been missing my garden this year.   The Gardens were created in the early 1900’s by a lady named Elsie Redford.  She was a Montreal woman who inherited her uncles fishing lodge and at the age of 54 began turning the acres of property into gorgeous gardens.  The property was inherited by one of Elsie son’s while she was still alive but he could not take care of it properly.  After many transitions in stewardship, the gardens are now taken care of by  the Quebec Government and are designated a National Historic Site.

 

 

We topped our little visit to the gardens with a picnic in a meadow on the garden property.  It was lovely and included Quebec brie, crackers, pickles, salami, baguette, olives, avocado, cucumber and homous.  Wonderful!!  Then Guy had a wee nap while I just rested under the trees.

 

 

We had a long but most picturesque drive along the Gaspésie that afternoon and early evening.  Every turn uncovered the most breathtaking landscape along the shores of the St. Lawrence.  We kept to the ocean road instead of the highway.  We didn’t want to miss this coast and it didn’t disappoint.

 

 

July 12 – Perce, Gaspésie, Quebec

This sunny day was one of the highlights of the trip.  We got a boat out to Bonaventure Island to the migratory bird sanctuary and spent the day walking the trails and viewing over 200,000 gannuts, the largest sea birds in the North Atlantic.  We also got a chance to view Perce Rock up close too.  The pictures really do say more than I could describe.

 

 

We topped off the day with a trip to the local pub for some local beer.  Awesome!!!  One of the beers on my flight tasted like jujubes.  Really, it did.

 

July 9th – Longueil, Quebec (near Montreal) to Levis, Quebec (near Quebec City)  

It was a lovely drive along the south side of the  St. Lawrence on Highway 132, a  charming pastoral landscape of corn fields and farm houses.  We stopped enroute for a picnic at a park on the river straight across from Trois Rivieres.  Trois Rivieres was founded in 1634 by French colonists.  It was the second permanent French Settlement after Quebec City.

It was a long day of driving.  We made it to our campsite “Camping du fort de la  Martiniere” just outside of Levis in the early evening.   This campsite turned out to be a great spot with a really wonderful view up the St. Lawrence.

It was also close to Levis, the town where the ferry is, so we planned to take the boat back and forth to Quebec City.

July 10th – Quebec City, Quebec

We had a terrific day in Quebec City with our friends Joka and Bill.  We took the 10 am ferry to Old Quebec  from Levis.   We walked around and saw the sights.  The crowds were heavy.  It is tourist season afterall.  We had a great lunch of crepes at an outdoor café.  We were serenaded by a fellow with a French accent who knew tunes from Neil Young, the Mamas and the Papas and other musicians of that era.  We all enjoyed the music.  The next day I walked by the café and he was there playing the same set.

 

 

 

After lunch, we parted with Bill and Joka.  We visited the Chateau Frontenac and walked into the front doors “like we owned the place” (a term one of my good friends likes to use), and we proceeded to visit their toilets.  They were some of the most beautiful washrooms I have seen.   I say this with a smirk as this is the closest we will ever get to staying at the Chateau Frontenac.  Rooms per night start at about $600.00.  We wandered around the reception area and looked at the architecture and caught the vibe of the grand old hotel, built by the CPR in in 1893.  We also spent some time browsing the photo collection they had on the walls on the lower floor of the hotel which chronicled the history of the Frontenac.

Then we headed up to visit the Plains of Abraham and the Fine Art Gallery.  We had to curtail our mission after Guy realized he was missing his cell phone.  Well,  to cut a long story short, it turns out he left it in the restaurant we ate at.  Someone picked it up there and since they were staying at the Frotenac, they took the phone back there.  So Forrest received a call as he said,  “from some French guy” from the Frontenac saying they had Guy’s phone.   I think Forrest was the last person Guy had talked to so that’s why they contacted him.  We got the phone back thankfully.  It’s the third scare Guy has had with his phone.  The first time he lost it was in Banff.  The second time was on the ferry going across from Longueil to Montreal, and then in Quebec City.    I wonder where the 4th phone misplacement will occur.  Exciting times.  🙂

We walked around for a couple of hours and then got the ferry back to Levis and the bus back to Longueil.  Guy can tell you a story about that.  In essence, my French is not that great but I try constantly to communicate in French.  And sometimes I get a little passionate and embarrass Guy.  Well, when the bus came, I had notes written out with the question I wanted to ask in French.  So I read it and I got passionate and I embarrassed Guy.  He couldn’t stop laughing.  But the bus driver did understand and he let us off at our stop.

Old Quebec City is beautiful. You can imagine that you are in Europe when you traipse around the cobblestone streets lined with wonderful old buildings, some painted in delightful colors with flower boxes hanging under the brightly colored window panes. It is a feast for the eyes. But it is definitely another world, a world of people with money and time, enjoying the old buildings and views and sites and sounds and nice food. But it is not really where the Quebecers are, except for all the nice people serving the hoards.  Likely, one needs to go out of the gates of the old city to get a more accurate impression of Quebec City and Quebecers.

July 11th – Quebec City, Quebec

Guy and I walked to the bus stop and took the bus to Levis to the ferry and then over to Quebec City.  We knew the route so there was no speaking broken bad French to the bus driver.  We had a wonderful day together wandering the city.  We meandered the streets near the St. Lawrence then up the hill and had a late breakfast at a sweet café.

 

Then we wandered the Citadel and the Plains of Abraham.

 

We ultimately made our way to the Fine Arts Museum featuring some modern art of early to mid 20th century Quebecois artists. The Art Museum was in an old jail, a beautiful old brick building with lots of atmosphere.

Afterwards, we headed out to find the Bed and Breakfast  I had stayed at years ago.  We tried to get in for a night this trip but they had no availabilities.  I have fond memories of my 3 nights at B and B  l ‘Augustine in 2006.  It’s the building with the red awning below.  Afterwards, we took a recommendation from a woman we queried on the street as to the best Lebanese Restaurant around.  She directed us to a great place with great food.

Then we walked back to the Old City, spent a little time looking out to the St. Lawrence, took lots of pics, and said our goodbye to Quebec City.

 

Monday July 2, 2018 – Recovery and Heat Wave Avoidance Day 

Guy and I decided to lie low on Monday after our wonderful Canada Day in the city.  Another very hot day was predicted and we just couldn’t face the long walk to the bus stop and hanging out downtown in the heat again.  So we stayed at the campsite.  Guy of course painted and I did laundry and worked on the blog.

So we rode the heat out under the trees in our campsite. We were having truck problems again. This time the starter was beginning to go and Guy thought it best that we get it fixed before we carry on with the trip. We had to wait until Tuesday.

Tuesday July 3 – Ottawa Cousins – we spent the day with cousin Nelson and his wife Karen.  They kindly picked us up at the campsite in their air conditioned vehicle for a day out.  We started off with coffee and chatting at a coffee shop over town. Guy and Nelson really hit it off. They are both interested in painting and art It was nice to get to know Nelson better as we didn’t see him much growing up. He’s actually my mom’s cousin.  My great grandmother Campbell had 10 kids.  His mom Jean and my mom’s mom Vel were sisters.  Everyone from my grandmothers generation is gone now except for the youngest sister Anna.

Karen and Nelsons’ plan was to give us a tour around the Governor General’s neighborhood including her house and gardens and then get on to the Musee de Civilzation but we run out of time for the museum.  The photos below are outside the Governor General’s residence.   The middle photo on the right in the group below is the room that you see used for swearing in ceremonies and Canadian citizenship ceremonies that are often on the news.  That was cool to see.  And the pink room is the reception room that is decked out for ceremonies with food and beverage and a place for people to mingle.  I love that room.  It is so French!!!  But back in the early days, the pink stripe walls used to be draperies and would be rolled up when functions were not on and the room would be made into a tennis court.

 

Afterwards we went for lunch on the Ottawa River.  They took us to the part of the River that freezes over in the winter and where people skate.  It would sure be nice to come back in the winter and skate on the canal.

Then Nelson and Karen drove us back to our campsite to pick up our truck.  Thankfully it started.  They followed us to the dealership where the starter was fixed.  After saying goodbye to our wonderful hosts, we went to my other cousin Renee’s place.  She took us for a swim at her in-laws pool.  It was a welcome treat and great to cool off before bed.  Such hospitality from the family meant a lot to us.  I was so happy to have spent time with Renee and Scott and Nelson and Karen.  It was great to meet Scott’s parents too and see two of Renee and Scotts’ boys, or should I say men,  Cody and Tristan.  If we go by Ottawa on our way home, we can see their middle boy Jaiden.

Wednesday July 4th- Ottawa to Montreal

This day we took the rode less travelled from Ottawa to Montreal.  Google maps wanted us on the Trans Canada badly.  We had to fight her the whole way to stay on highway 132, a lesser sometimes 2 lane highway.  Thanks to the direction of our saavy travel companion Bill, our goal was to stay on 132.  We wanted to avoid the vortex of downtown Montreal and come into Longuille where our campsite was on the south side of the St. Lawrence relatively unscathed.  We  were able to pull it off with only a few glitches that left us going off in the wrong direction.  We have learned in these instances to just stay calm, pull over, reroute google maps and carry on.    Driving in Montreal or anywhere in cities in this region is not for the faint of heart at the best of times.

 

We had a campsite just off highway 132 at Longeuille for 3 nights.  It was a private campsite right on the St. Lawrence but it was a little noisy and it lacked trees too which would have been welcome in the heatwave.

Once we had our campsite organized, we headed into Montreal for a few hours.  There was a little walk on ferry near the campsite that was very handy for the few days we were in Montreal.  It meant we could go back and forth each day without the truck and without the traffic hassles.

 

 

We explored Old Montreal for awhile and then had a wonderful dinner in a sweet little café.

 

 

Guy had chicken crepes and I had Caesar Salad.  We enjoyed chocolate crepes and coffee for desert.  Stuffed and happy, we made our way back through Old Montreal to the dock and got our little ferry back to the campsite.  It was nice to cool off somewhat on the deck of the boat and see the sites of the harbor in the evening.

 

 

 

Thursday July 5th – Montreal – This was the hottest day I personally have ever experienced in my life.  We were hot and sweating, dripping really , before we even moved.  I prepared a bunch of bottles of Gatorade and water so we would have plenty to drink.   We went into the city with Bill and Joka on the ferry.

 

 

The plan was to take the taxi to the Museum of Fine Arts.   Bill hailed a cab and we got in.  It had air conditioning but it wasn’t working well and it was stuffy and I felt overheated and couldn’t breath and thought I would have to bolt from the taxi.  It was an very uncomfortable 15 minutes.  The others were not affected and I’m sure wondered about me.  Guy pointed out that I was in the sunshine in the cab and it was intense.  It took me an hour at the fine arts museum to recover. When we left the doors of  the museum, we were all whammed with a thick wall of heat.  It was absolutely intense.   It was apparently  45 with the humidity.  I wondered if we could even walk a few blocks down the street to a place for lunch safely.  I kept gasping for a fresh breath of air but all you got was intense heat going into your lungs.   After lunch,  Bill and Joka headed back to the campsite.  I told Guy I’d rather walk in the intense heat than be stuck in an idling taxi in traffic on such a hot day. So we walked slowly, very slowly,  on the shady side of the streets of Montreal  all the way back to Old Montreal and got the ferry.    That night there was a big wind and rainstorm and the heat wave was broken.

Friday July 6th – Montreal –   Since it was a more temperate day, and my heel had fully healed from the rubber boots in the grasslands incident, I decided to take a good 4 mile  power walk up the St. Lawrence bicycle path.  While I was gone, Guy worked on a painting.  Then we got the 11:30am ferry to Montreal and traipsed around for the day, just the two of us.  We hoofed it up St. Laurent to Place de St. Louis and I showed him where I stayed 12 years ago on my way back from Nova Scotia on the train.

 

Then we went back to St. Laurent and had Lebanese food, falafels and chicken shawarma. Then we meandered through the neighborhoods of colorful old row houses and parks, and then up through McGill Campus and on to Mount Royal.

 

When we came down from Mount Royal, we were way off course and ended up in a totally different area from where we intended.  We had to take a bus back to the neighborhood we came to the mountain from.  We hightailed it back to the old town and had a lovely boat ride back to the campsite.

 

 

 

Saturday June 23, 2018 – Rabbit Blanket Provincial Park, Ontario to Chutes Provincial Park, Ontario

We travelled from Rabbit Blanket Provincial Park, adjacent to Lake Superior, to Chutes Provincial Park just up from Lake Huron and near the town of Massey. On the way, we stopped at some Ojibwe Petroglyphs on Lake Superior. We had a wee hike down to them through a narly and craggy rock scape. It is quite the precarious location to have petroglyphs, for the creator of the art and for the viewers. They are on a slippery piece of rock within metres from the cold Superior so we only managed to see a couple.

 

 

We picnicked enroute and then stopped at a farmer’s market at the town of Bruce Mines and bought a cherry pie, some kale and zucchini relish off Amish farmers who were selling produce at the market. I thought they were part of a historical theme and asked them if it was so. Oops! The girl graciously said that they were Amish and lived this way of life. It was fascinating to see them, decked out in their traditional clothing. They travel by horse and buggy to market with their goods. On the highway in this area, there were signs indicating to watch out for horse and buggy.

There are several Amish communities in Ontario. This group was Dutch Pennsylvanian and they had a Dutch accent. As we were leaving, I asked if I could take their picture with horse and buggy. A very forthright young Amish women gave me an adamant “No”. I said I understood and to be honest, I was a little bit embarrassed. It got me thinking afterward, as we drove away, that these folks chose or were born into this way of life. To many, it might seem an antiquated and old-fashioned way of life, something from the past to be captured in a photograph, but it was their life and so should be respected. It was a good reminder to me that there are many ways to be in this world.

When we got to our campsite, we had a great afternoon swim at the bottom of the falls at Chutes Provincial Park. The water was surprisingly warm with shallow pools to bob around in.

This area is relatively isolated. I once or twice referred to it as Barkerville (a BC ghost town) as we drove around the town with our stomachs grumbling. We wanted a break from cooking that evening but finding a restaurant proved to be a chore. Four out of four restaurants were closed in Massey, so we drove to the next town over called Walford and found a great little diner with friendly service. We met another customer having dinner there, Carolyn, who was quite chatty. She told us she had spent her whole life in the area. As a youngster, she was an orphan who was placed with foster parents in Massey and then later married and moved to Walford. Her husband had died a few years ago. She told us that she took his passing hard and dealt with her grief by trying various activities to heal and move on. Nothing did the trick until she got involved with a group of people that jam together every week. Now she is jamming and singing with a bunch of locals weekly and music has become her thing at over 70 years old. She was inspiring, and I took the message that its never too late to start or try something new.

 

Sunday June 24, 2018 – Chutes Provincial Park, Ontario to Oastler Lake Provincial Park Ontario

We travelled from Chutes Provincial Park to Oastler Lake Provincial Park near Parry Sound in Georgian Bay. Bill and Joka spent the afternoon in Parry Sound. Guy and I stayed back and took a walk up the decommissioned railway line nearby then he settled into his painting while I rustled up the vittles and did some writing. Our campsite was stellar and right on the lake. The sunsets were gorgeous.

 

 

Monday June 25, 2018 – Oastler Lake Provincial Park,Ontario  

We spent the morning doing laundry and shopping then we had a 3-hour boat ride around Georgian Bay, a treat from Bill and Joka. It was a lovely time. We stopped at Huckleberry Island for a picnic. The sun was out, and we were on the water. Glorious. There are 30,000 islands in Georgian Bay. We managed to see a fraction.

 

 

 

When we got back at about 4:30, we had an awesome swim in the lake just below our campsite. The water was warm but refreshing. Then we laid on the rocks to dry off and took it all in. I like swimming in the lake but I kind of miss the salt of the sea. I know some people don’t like the salt and the seaweed and the imaginings of what creatures are lurking down below. But it’s what I grew up with and what I know. But lakes are good too!!

Tuesday June 26, 2018 – Oastler Lake Provincial Park Ontario to Stratford, Ontario

We took the Highway from Oastler Lake down the east side of Georgian Bay. Then we got on lesser highways 22 and 26 if I remember right, to avoid the roads getting closer to the Toronto madness. We continued to jig-saw our way through the landscape along country roads dotted with little hamlets of old red brick houses. We went through picturesque downtown Stratford and on to our campsite outside of town in the country. We only did a couple of hundred miles this day, but it took hours because of the speed limit and the country roads and a few little stops along the way. I had Loreena McKennit playing on the ipod to set the mood, as I believe she is from around these parts.

Joka described this landscape near Stratford as “bucolic”. After looking the word up in the dictionary, I see it is indeed the right word to describe this landscape that conveys “the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life “. It is very quaint here, lots of red brick houses, gardens and farms that seem beautifully cared for. It is a huge farming a area, likely one of the bread baskets of the Metro Toronto area and likely does well due to its close proximity to the bigger cities.

 

 

 

 

We spent a couple of hours wandering the ever so delightful little town of Stratford, visited the Stratford Festival shop to find out where the venue for our play was the next night, and then had a pleasant walk along the Avon River.

 

 

 

In the evening, we had Bill and Joka over for tacos. We went to bed early and were woken up in the night by the heat and then torrential rain showers. Thunder and lightning were forecasted as a possibility but never manifested.

Wednesday June 27, 2018 – Stratford, Ontario

Today, we slept late and had a morning of painting and writing. Guy worked on his painting, “Pitch Pines”. Then in the afternoon, we left our campsite for a looky-loo around Stratford. We started out at the local museum. It had lots of interesting exhibits about the history of Perth county of which Stratford is part of. The major industry of the earlier years was locomotive repair for the trains of the Grand Trunk Railway, which later became the CNR or Canadian National Railway. From roughly the mid 1850’s to the mid 1950’s, this was the main industry of the area until diesel came along and changed everything. Individuals with the kind of skills to fix steam engines were no longer needed after diesel arrived and so there were huge layoffs. Finally, in the mid 50’s the industry shutdown and so it was a huge hit for the area. The museum covered this history well.

Surprisingly, the Stratford Festival was a savior for the town at about the time the locomotive repair shops closed. A man from Stratford named Tom Patterson saw the need for a new industry and pushed for the development of the Stratford festival. It was a trying process, but the city of Stratford got on board and in 1953, the first stage production Richard III was presented with Alec Guinness in the lead role. By all accounts, the hard work of all the players in the early days set the stage for what seems to be the flourishing Stratford that people visit now.

The museum also had an area devoted to Justin Bieber (Biebs). Now normally I wouldn’t seek out such an exhibit about Justin Bieber. But because I was in his hometown and because, part of the mandate of this trip for me is to honor Canadian music, I was open. Like many, I felt mildly irritated by the Biebs, by his perceived instantaneous success, by the fact he was found on you tube. I’ve had the mindset that he got in easy and never paid his dues. This is far from the truth. The exhibit showed how the Biebs started out with humble beginnings being raised by his mother in Stratford. His natural talent was very clear from an early age to everyone around him. He was a talented drummer, and pianist and singer from an early age. He spent his teenage years busking on the streets around Stratford. And then his mom posted a video on you tube and Biebs got discovered and things moved very fast. He cut albums and had concerts and the young girls shrieked and cried and fainted around him. He made it big. But in the last few years he’s been acting up a bit, no doubt the pressure and fame and money have had their effects. But I’ve changed my attitude a bit about the Biebs. Why? Because young people like him need our support. Because young people like him can fold under pressure and do bad things to themselves. I wish the Biebs well.

Needless to say, Guy and I both really enjoyed the museum and learned a lot about the area and the town of Stratford.

After the museum, we checked out the Stratford “Festival Theatre” and walk around the most beautiful gardens followed by a walk along the Avon River. Yes, the Avon River. They have really got into the whole Shakespeare thing here. It doesn’t feel phony though. It is an old town, built by sweat and toil and tenacity and vision and a bit of creativity thrown in for good measure.

On our walk, we got caught in a rain shower and hid under a big old tree to keep dry. Then we had a wonderful gourmet dinner for not gourmet prices at a great restaurant recommended to us by the campsite manager.  Afterwards, we met our friends Bill and Joka at the Festival Theatre and saw William Shakespeare’s, “The Tempest”. The play was very well done and unfortunately the great actors played to a small audience that night with the theatre half full. The whole thing was worth it including seeing the beautiful traditional gardens around the Festival Theatre.

 

 

 

 

Thursday June 28, 2018 – Stratford to Niagara Fall to Stratford
Guy finished his painting “Pitch Pines “this morning.  On our journey along Lake Superior, Guy noticed this particular tree, poking up defiantly above all the other trees.  Our friend Bill determined it was a Pitch Pine.

Then the two of us took the long drive out to Niagara Falls. We got a late start and drove 2.5 hours each way to see the falls for 2 hours.   We wanted to just get in and out and try and keep exposure time to the tourist craziness short. The falls were indeed stunning and the long drive out was well worth it.  We took some nice pictures of ourselves (selfies) with the falls in behind.  Just an aside, I didn’t know that the Niagara Falls were shared with the US.  On the other side, you can see Buffalo New York.

 

.

After the long drive back on the crazy Ontario Highways, we had a swim in the pool at our campsite. Hallelujah.

 

Friday June 29, 2018 – Stratford to Ottawa

I have forgot to mention that we had a kitty friend at our campsite near Stratford.  She came over every time she saw we were back from our daily outings.  She lived in a site nearby but spent all her evenings with us.  We called her Windy after Windmill Family Campground.

We said goodbye to the Stratford area and little Windy that morning.  I will miss her.  I hope she has a good life.

That’s one of the things that has dawned on me a lot these days. We meet great people and the occasional cat and I know that I will probably never see them again. We’ve come so far and the chance of running into somebody again is highly unlikely. I’ve been saying to people when I say goodbye “Have a nice life”. I mean it. But Guy thinks it is off-putting to say that. I realized this when I said it to Rick, the manager at our campsite and he seemed sobered by the statement. They are words that get you thinking for sure. But maybe there is no value in reminding people that we are here for a good-time, not a long-time. Just a rumination………….

Back to the drive……… It was a long day on the 401 and 417 and then the 7.  I think I got the highways right. We were in the car from 9 am – 6:00 pm with just a short break for some shopping.  The 401 through Toronto was a crazy show of traffic madness. We pondered whether we could buy t-shirts that said we survived the 401.  Its not the number of cars so much as the speed they all move along on 3 lane highways in each direction darting in and out like nuts.

 

Later, the Trans Canada Hwy that google maps rerouted us on, because it was the faster route, turned out to be a parking lot. Everyone else was following google maps and we think maybe made the problem on the 7 a bigger problem for the mostly two-lane Trans Canada to Ottawa.  Anyway, we made it. And we are in a beautiful inner-city campsite called Wesley-Clover just up from the banks of the Ontario River. Its wooded and spacious and the people that run it are great.

Saturday June 30 – Ottawa

Well we’ve had two stellar days in Ottawa. Saturday, we left our vehicle at the campsite and had an hour walk down to the bus stop (so much for the advertising on the campsite website that it’s close to transit) and took the bus into downtown Ottawa. Our truck is having starter problems, so we didn’t want to use it more than we had to. More on that later. Once in the heart of the capital, we walked by the parliament buildings and took some photos, then had breakfast at a cool diner in Byward Market, a popular outdoor market with all the great restaurants and pubs and stores. Then we spend a couple of hours at the National Gallery of Canada. We saw the Impressionists, Native Canadian Art and The Group of Seven and their associates. It was a interesting couple of hours.

 

 

 

 

We had to cut things short because we had been invited to my cousin Renee’s for an early dinner at 4pm in Nepean, a suburb of Ottawa. We took the 50-minute bus ride to her place and were greeted at the bus stop by Renee and her husband Scott. By this time, we were hot and exhausted, so it was nice to see their familiar faces waiting. Its very hot in Ottawa right now.

We had a great visit with Renee and Scott, their oldest son Cody who is 22 and my second cousin, as well as my second cousin Nelson and his wife Karen and their daughter Celine and her family.  I guess we were so hot and tired that we forgot to take pictures.   I will post later.  After the get together, Scott gave us a ride back to the campsite which is 10 minutes away from their house

Did I mention there is a heat wave going on in Ottawa right now?  Its been so hot, you have a shower and you are instantly dripping again.  I think next to being in Queensland Australia, this is the hottest I have ever been.

Sunday July 1 – Canada Day – Ottawa

Happy Canada Day! Here’s hoping everyone had a great day. It was so exciting to spend our country’s birthday in the capital.  I should preface in saying that the weather forecast for Canada Day was a little extreme. 34 degrees and humidity so in the mid 40’s. We were daunted by this as we sat in the morning under the trees in our campsite. Should we go into downtown? We were worried about the heat and how we would handle it. But we both knew that if we didn’t go downtown, we would always feel we missed out. So, we brought lots of water and some electrolyte drinks, dressed in loose lightweight clothing, donned our hats and sunglasses and hopped on the 11 am shuttle bus here at the campsite that was offered to the campers for Canada Day. And it was hot. Dripping hot. But we just took it slow.

 

We were just in time for the festivities at Parliament Hill. There were hoards flag waving people dressed in red and white. We saw the Prime Minister’s wife Sophie Gregoire and their kids in the receiving line as well as the Governor General Julie Payette. Later, the Governor General made a symbolic bike ride with body guards on bikes around her back up to the parliament buildings.

We sang our National Anthem with the crowd and that was very moving and exciting. And then we started to get hot. It was stifling, and so we beelined back to the National Gallery of Canada and spent 4 more hours there, from 12-4 in its air conditioning. We thought it would be incredibly crowded because of the heat and because it was free on Canada Day, but it wasn’t too bad. We spent a lot more time with the Group of Seven and painters close to the group and then a variety of other exhibitions including the Italian Masters. We finished off our time there by dropping in to the gallery store where I bought a couple of magnets for my fridge of Tom Thomson’s paintings. I stick to magnets and such souvenirs as they are small and easy to transport without getting wrecked.  Here are some Group of Seven works including the more stark painting of winter by Lawren Harris.  My favorite below is the Tangled Garden by J.E.H. MacDonald on the middle right.

 

 

 

Afterwards, we made our way to Confederation Park, had an ice cream and relaxed in the shade with everyone else seeking respite from the sun and heat as the Snowbirds did their aero acrobats overhead.

 

 

Then we went back to Byward Market area and had a light dinner and cider at an outdoor café. The celebratory vibe was palpable and infectious. But the Ontario police were out everywhere in full force. Clusters of police, all carrying guns and some with machine guns were wandering the streets. There were tractors and huge trucks parked in the middle of the streets to keep anyone one from potentially mowing down the crowd. It was a sobering sight on some level that this is how things are now. But the party went on in spite of this.

 

We followed the red and white hoards back up to Parliament Hill. We decided to make the effort and join everyone on the lawn in front of the stage. It was quite a process getting in there. Security was huge at this event. The siphoning process was at least a ½ mile long to get in with ultimately a bag check before getting on to the hill.

It was all worth it. Imagine, a clear night, no need for coats of course (or barely any clothing for that matter), sitting on the grass, the sun going down behind the Parliament Buildings and offering up a pink backdrop, a large but very friendly crowd and great music, followed by fireworks at 10pm.

 

Afterwards, we made our way out of the grounds. Even at 10:30pm, once the crowds converged and filter out the small entrances, you really felt the heat of all the bodies and I must admit, I felt a bit faint at that point. Once out and into less crowds, I felt better. We made our way to Ottawa City Hall and met the shuttle bus that took us back to our campsite. What a great day!

 

 

I know it’s been over a week since I posted.  The reasons include internet access troubles, charging phone and computer challenges, truck troubles, having fun,  and just being worn out from the heat.  It has been hot.  Did I mention that yet?  Ha Ha.

PS – I apologize in advance for any typos or grammatical errors.  I need to get this post off to you and we are off to Montreal shortly.  Enjoy the read.  Enjoy the day.  More shortly, I promise.

 

 

 

 

 

Hello. We are on the road right now from Neys Provincial Park on Lake Superior just passed Thunder Bay,  to Lake Superior Provincial Park just passed Wawa, Ontario. We are getting some Great Lake time at the wonderful parks Ontario has to offer. Ontario Parks, by the way, is celebrating their 125th Anniversary this year.

We are still pushing ahead with the mileage since we have to be in Halifax on July 17th to meet family joining us for a couple of weeks.  We have a lot to see and do before then.  The saving grace is having breaks along the way and arriving at these gorgeous campsites at a reasonable hour to enjoy them and have a walk or time to paint or read, or write.

Today marks the end of our third week away.  We hope this installment finds everyone doing well and enjoying the summer weather.

I’ll do a brief catch up with some photos.  Here is the latest news.

Monday June 18 – Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan to Moose Mountain, Saskatchewan
We made an early start and said goodbye, with a little sadness, to Grasslands National Park. It truly was a once and a lifetime experience and I wondered if I would ever return in my lifetime. What a wonderful thing it is to know that there are folks out there working to keep some part of the earth as it should be.

Instead of Highway 1, we were advised by a very friendly gas station owner in the small town of Cadillac, Saskatchewan to stay off Highway 1 and take Highway 13 across. He said it would save time and it would be a nicer route and take us all the way through to Winnipeg. We heeded his advice and had a big driving day all the way to southeastern Saskatchewan through very typical Saskatchewan countryside and farm towns. We saw a few antelope on the side of the road but I was too late for a picture.

 

 

We ended up at a campsite in the south-east corner of Saskatchewan called Moose Mountain. Guy started his new painting that evening, “Prairie Dog”,  inspired at Grasslands National Park. We ate and showered and had an early night. We managed to get a total of 5 ticks at Moose Mountain.  Only one adhered to Guy and had to be taken out with the tick implement. We are in tick country, likely all the way to east coast so we have to be vigilant from now on.

Tuesday June 19th-Moose Mountain, Saskatchewan to Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba
We got on Highway 1 and went through Brandon and on past Winnipeg.  I put on the Guess Who to honor Winnipeg and the band. We will try to stop there on our way back. We noticed the greening of the landscape the farther east we went. Manitoba looks more like B.C. the closer we got to Ontario, but of course the trees are different and smaller.  The landscape looked a bit more like home.

 

 

After a long day in the car, we were rewarded by the super campground at Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba,  close to the border of Ontario.  It was a hot day and it was nice to cool off with a swim in Falcon Lake.

 

 

In the evening, I took a walk with Joka and Guy finished his painting “Prairie Dog”.

 

Wednesday June 20th to Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba to Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario

We left Whiteshell at a reasonable hour and made our way into Ontario through Kenora and Lake of the Woods country along Hwy 17. What a gorgeous, wooded, vast, lake-filled province Ontario is. We spent the night at Quetico Provincial Park on French Lake.  We had a beautiful campsite that night right on the shore.  I’ve included the bigger bottom photo because it has someone canoeing off in the distance.  Ontario is big on canoeing in their beautiful lake studded wilderness.

 

 

Thursday June 21st – Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario to Neys Provincial Park, Ontario

We set out in the direction of Thunder Bay that morning and stopped in at Kakabeka Falls, the 2nd highest falls in Ontario . You can guess what the 1st highest falls are.  They were well worth seeing.  We had a nice walk around the area to stretch our legs and then a quick picnic in the park there before continuing on.

 

 

As we came down into Thunder Bay, we had the first peekaboo view of Lake Superior and it was so exciting. I felt the same way I did when I saw the Atlantic for the first time. After all those years of learning about it at school, and there it was, Lake Superior.  We stopped at a viewpoint passed Thunder Bay to look out across it as far as the eye could see.

 

 

 

If you didn’t know it,  you would think you were looking at the ocean.  Lake Superior is massive.  It is the largest of the 5 Great Lakes in Canada.  It is 406.3 metres deep and  it’s surface area is 82,100 km² (31,700 sq miles).  It borders Ontario and Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.   “It is generally considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. It is the world’s third-largest freshwater lake by volume and the largest by volume in North America”(Wikipedia).

At Neys campground, our tent site was just off the beach of Lake Superior.  As soon as we arrived, Guy and I went down to the beach to dip our toes in the water and then we had a nap on the sand in the sun.  Later,  Guy continued with painting “Contemplating Life”  based on a photo of me looking out to the water at Falcon Lake at Whiteshell Provincial Park.

 

That evening, we had to put up the bug tent that Dude and Janet lent us. We are so grateful to have it.  It’s BUGMANIA or even BUGAGGEDON in Ontario.  The Bug Tent is our FRIEND!!!

 

 

Friday June 22nd  – Neys Provincial Park, Ontario to Rabbit Blanket Lake Campground, Ontario 

We slept in today and so had a late start and only did about 200k.  We arrived at Rabbit Blanket Lake Campground around 3pm.  I took a walk and worked on the blog and Guy finished his 8th painting.  Ta Da!!

 

Here are some pictures of the nature around the campsite and our travelling companion Joka out for a row.

 

Tommorrow we say goodbye to our friend Lake Superior as we point ourselves in the direction of Stratford Ontario.  The theatre calls for our presence at next Wednesday’s evening performance of  Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”.  And I hope to run into my buddy Peter Mansbridge and maybe even the Biebs in Stratford.

Saturday June 16

We had a great day on Saturday. We made our way into Saskatchewan, and got on Highway 1 for awhile and then turned off onto a country road called Highway 13.   Its interesting to note that Highway 13 was also long ago known as the Red Coat Trail which is “a 1,300-kilometre (810 mi) route that approximates the path taken in 1874 by the North-West Mounted Police in their quest to bring law and order to the Canadian West” (Wikipedia).  We were headed to Grasslands National Park but decided to make a stop at the small ghost town of Scotsguard just off Highway 13 to see some old cars.  It was an incredible find. There must have been at least 60 old cars from the 1930’s rusting in the field, including Model A’s, Oldsmobile’s  and Chevs, and even a Morris Minor.

 

Inside, we were shown beautiful resurrected and refurbished cars from that same field. Guy was over the moon.  We all enjoyed a chat with Keith, the fellow who owns the cars and who did all the work to make them into these beauties.

 

 

We were literally out in the middle of no where.  The wind was howling and just standing there in the middle of a big field, you got the sense of what it means to be someone from Saskatchewan.  The vastness, the flatness, the openness, felt different and invigorating and maybe a little bit overwhelming to us west coasters used to our mountains.  This same field was also main street of the old town of Scotsguard.

We had a good chat with Keith’s wife and she gave of some of the history of Scotsgard.  Years ago, the property that they own was part of this thriving town of about 350 people, created after the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) was established.  Our hosts back yard used to be the main street lined with all the shops and business of the old town.  There are a couple of old buildings that withstood the fire in 1941 which nailed Scotsguard’s fate after a gradual decline over the years.  There was also a museum that contained photos and artifacts collected by the owners. We managed to get a sense about how things used to be in this small town out on the prairie.

We arrived at Grasslands National Park about 4pm and set up camp.  Guy started a new painting right away.  I got my big boots on to ward off the creepy crawlies and promptly created a blister on one of my heals from the rubbing of rubber in the heat on skin.

 

 

Grasslands National Park is an area set aside by Parks Canada in 1981 to protect 1000 square kilometres of prairie in its natural unfarmed and un-ranched state.  This swath of land covers a large part of  Southern Saskatchewan.  Parks Canada  has been buying up ranches as they become available and are at 90% of their land base goal.  They are working  to preserve the natural flora and fauna of the area, some of which are endangered including black tailed prairie dogs and prairie rattlesnakes.  They have also reintroduced a heard of 350 Bison to the land, since they were once part of the ecological balance before they were overhunted .  We actually saw some on our way out of the park when we were leaving.

 

.

Sunday June 17

Guy finished “Fallen Farmers” in the morning, a painting of two old cars in a field just outside the small town of Wayne near Drumheller.  Fallen farmers is Guy’s tribute to the farmers who drove those cars.  You see these “Fallen Farmers” everywhere on the prairies.  He sees them as the tombstones of the farmers long gone from the land.

 

While Guy was painting, the rest of us joined in on a 9am coffee and cowboy story session at the firepit.  We met lots of people from all over the country and beyond and learned some history of the area from the camp ranger.

The rest of the day, we spent venturing onto the land in all its prairie beauty.   What incredible scenery we saw.

 

 

 

The wide expanse of the plain made you think of  the indigenous people and the tough life they must have lived out here.  And then later, the ranchers bringing up families here in what is a very hot summers and very cold winters far away from any major town.

The sunset was sublime that night and everyone at the campsite was up on the hill looking into the next valley to the west to witness the pink and red fiery sky. We ran up to catch the tail end of sunset and take some pictures.

 

 

We took a country road out to the #1 from Drumheller yesterday morning.

 

Its amazing how you can feel so lonely out on the roads here.  Makes us wonder sometimes if we are  going in the right direction or if we are lost and don’t know it yet.  And a bizarre thing is we don’t see many people in the farming areas.  You’ll see houses, and farms and animals and machinery, but not people.  Yesterday we saw a person and it caused a bunch of  excitement.  “Guy, there’s a person!!!!”.  It was almost the highlight of our day.

We got off the TransCanada and headed towards Cypress Hills Inter-Provincial Park.

Cypress Hills is like it sounds, a more mountainous treed area of the South East corner of Alberta and the South West Corner of Saskatchewan.  The park straddles both provinces. We spent the afternoon walking and bike riding along the lake and in the forest.

 

In the evening, we had a campfire complete with smores.  It was our first campfire since the trip begun.

June 16th

Its been quite cloudy and rainy on our trip so far.  It is June however.  Just hoping my Jazz Fest friends back in Gibsons have a good weather day today and a terrific festival.  Miss you guys.

This morning, we awoke to the call of the wild.  Guy heard the moose calls first.  I got up at 5:30am to catch up on the blog.  The moose were really vocal in the woods nearby.  I recorded them and sent the recording to my friend Bern.  I knew she would be up and I thought it would be a funny way to start her day.  We had a good texting session back and forth.

A bit later I was typing away on the blog and something rustled in the bushes nearby, something bigger than a squirrel.  It was a wild turkey and it strutted down the road making its mildly irritating noise.  It’s fan of feathers was quite impressive however.

When travelling, or even when not travelling,  it is good to get up early and see a different perspective on the world when things are quiet and peaceful.

Today we are on the road.  We just passed the border into Saskatchewan.

We are on our way to Grassland National Park to find us some rattlesnakes.  Actually no, snakes our my greatest fear so I’ll be putting on my hip waders  soon.  Catch up later.

PSS – A mama duck and nine baby ducklings newly hatched cause a big commotion with our vehicles and heavy duty transport trucks as they tried to make their way across the highway.  Everyone slowed and veered away from them.  We think they safely made it.

 

Wednesday June 13th

We left Calgary about 10:30 am. Guy was able to get a ride in Phil’s aubergine colored 1953 MG TD beforehand.

We bid our gracious hosts goodbye and off we went headed for the highway out to Drumheller. We were going to see the Dinosaurs!!!!! We missed the right exit and ended up on the road less travelled. It was just me and Guy out on the prairies with the occasional old farmhouse, the odd herd of cattle and the big, big sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We met Bill and Joka at the campsite then made an afternoon of the Hoo Doos

Then we went out over the 11 bridges to the Last Chance Saloon in an old mining town called Wayne for a cold drink.

Late afternoon, Guy began his 4th  painting of Castle Mountain, a mountain we stayed near in Lake Louise.  I spent an hour on a walk along the Red Deer River.  Then we picnicked inside the camper as it was sprinkling rain and threatening for more. Later it poured. Guy finished his painting of Castle Mountain in Lake Louise.

We had an early night, excited for the dinos the next morning.

Thursday June 14

We were up early and at the Tyrell Museum just after 9 am. We spent a few incredible hours there. I can say for myself that I was totally in awe at the fact that we were looking at dinosaur remains that were 75 millions years old or more. What is even more incredible is that they came from the landscape around the museum and all over Alberta. There used to be an inland sea from the arctic down to Mexico. It was a very shallow sea. Temperatures were subtropical and that’s why the dinosaurs were able to survive. When the meteorite or asteroid hit 65 million years ago,  what we know as Mexico now, it created the Gulf of Mexico. The whole world went through a catastrophic climate change and nearly all the dinosaurs were wiped out.   The sea receded from the whole of North America and now today, is habitable by us and we are able to find the dinosaur remains in the earths surface. Here is a picture of Tyrannosaurus Rex. His feet, legs, hips and tail bones are original and these remains were found near Huxley, Alta.

When we got out of the museum, it was pouring so we went for a coffee and did some shopping. Later, the rain tapered off, Guy and I went for a walk. Just as we got back, the rain returned intensely so we hunkered down cozily in the camper and Guy started a new painting and I read Road to Avonlea.

 

 

Sunday June 10th

On Saturday, we had just a couple of hours drive from Banff to Calgary.  It was absolutely pouring.

 

The mountains and jagged peaks around Canmore were breathtaking. We were just blown away by just how close these beauties are to Calgary.  You can just see the Three Sisters through the rain and mist.

 

 

 

When we came down through the mountains into the foothills,  after spending a few days with mountains everywhere we looked, we were just shocked by how flat the landscape was.    It was as if the we had been sucked out of the vacuum of the mountains onto the flats and low rolling hills of the prairies. It left us breathless.

We spent the afternoon with our friends Phil and Heather.  After a  lovely lunch, we took  long walk along the  Weaselhead Trail in Glenmore Park, an inner city park, next to the Elbow River, with 26 miles of trails for walkers and cyclists.  It’s a gem for people of the area to get into nature near where they live.

Monday June 11

We started off the day with a swim at the local pool just to soak out some of the aches and pains from sitting in the truck more than we are used to.  Then we went out with our friends and had a fabulous day seeing around Calgary.  Our excursion started out with a trip to the Regal Cat Café.

 

What a delight it was hanging out with the kitties and what a great cause it was.  The café helps the Meow Foundation which is a registered charity and  “humane society with a no-kill mandate. We rescue and facilitate the adoption of stray and abandoned cats into new, loving permanent homes”.  The café is a place where the cats can get exposure to potential owners and be adopted.  Awesome idea.  Hmm.  Business idea for the Sunshine Coast?

After saying goodbye to our new feline friends,  we caught a quick bite and then spent a few hours at the National Music Centre in the East Village of Calgary.  We loved this place.  The building is an architectural gem and is worth a look in and of itself.

This is headquarters for Canadian music and goes back into the history of Canadian music, the contributions of Canadian instrument makers and restorers, has tributes to Canadian musicians, a Canadian Music Hall of Fame, as well as music artifacts including their acquisition of Elton John’s piano.  This is the simple piano that Elton  plonked out his first songs.  Its not Canadian but we own it.

The centre was very educational and had many interactive places where you could noodle on an electric guitar,

or wave your hands around and create music.  We took these surreal pictures of ourselves conducting.

 

We spent time in a recording studio singing, “la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la……..” from low to high to find out what our vocal ranges were.  Guy is a tenor and I am a Alto/Soprano.  We also had a chance to sing into a microphone like we were recording and listen back.  I sang “Taking Care of Business” by BTO.  It was a gas.

We bid our friends goodbye and Guy and I had a windy walk around downtown Calgary in the sunshine before we met my brother.  It was wonderful to see him after a few years.  I wasn’t short on tears.

We shared a meal together and had a catch up before Guy and I caught the 69 train back to our friends house.

 

Tuesday June 12

Thanks to our friend Phil, we had a great day out to Smashed in Head Buffalo Jump 500k south of Calgary.  It was a long drive there but incredible scenery with the green rolling hills.   You got a sense of the foothills and towering line of Rockies to the west and then the prairies to the east.

We saw lots of windmills.

The Educational facility at Smashed In is highly recommended to anyone coming to Alberta.  We learned so much about the Blackfoot  and the buffalo jump that sustained the people of the plains for centuries.

Tomorrow, from Buffalos to Dinosaurs.  Stay tuned.

 

The last couple of days, we have seen the most incredible mountains and glaciers.  The photos can’t possibly capture their awesomeness and grandeur but I’ll share some here.

Friday June 8
These photos are taken through the Roger’s Pass, a landscape abundant with mountains and peaks of which I have never seen before.  As we made our way through the pass, I’m sure make my exclamations of their beauty must have driven Guy nuts because of course he had to keep his eyes on the steep and winding road and didn’t get the full experience like I did.

 

 

Our goal on Friday was to camp overnight in  Glacier National Park.  We found out the campsite was closed as were many campsites on this pass.    We had to press on.  We spent the night at Golden in their Municipal Campsite on the Columbia River.  It was a nice setting but the train switch for trains going between Alberta and the Coast was right across the river from the campsite.  Holy cow,  all night long the business of trains went on noisily and loudly.  I tried to console myself with the idea that I was having a truly Canadian experience as trains helped build this country.  Guy slept through all the train activity but I just managed to catch a few kips between trains and sometimes all the noise became part of my dream.   At one point, it sounded like a train had derailed and I woke up thinking train cars were toppling into the river.  It was,  needless to say,  a really bad sleep.

 

 

Guy did a painting that afternoon of our friends’ house in Salmo.  While he was painting, a neighbor at the campsite from Switzerland introduced himself and Guy showed him his painting in process.  This fellow whipped away to his camper and got his phone and showed Guy  online pictures of his paintings which were very good.   He spoke very little English but he and Guy struck up some form of a bond and understanding even with the language barrier.  All afternoon he checked in with Guy’s progress and in the evening when the painting was done, they shared a fire and a drink as the sun went down.

 

Saturday June 9th

We made our way to the Banff and Lake Louise Area.  We set up camp at the Castle Rock campsite near Lake Louise.  It was bear country so there were lots of signs about keeping a clean campsite.  I am a little fearful of bears but consoled myself with the fact that there were lots of tent campers there and they would be the first to be taken by a rogue grizzly.  I’m kind of kidding………  Awful aren’t I?

We spent the afternoon with Bill and Joka checking out Banff.    It’s like Whistler but only smaller.  There were seas of people on every street and  it isn’t even the height of tourist season.  But apparently Banff is like this all year around.  We had coffee at a sweet little and very busy café,  looked at some galleries (almost bought a rock carving of three polar bears for $80,000.00) and had a walk out to the Banff Springs Hotel just to see it.  I love the old hotels that were built as the railways were put in.  They are grand places built one hundred years ago and you have to ask yourself how it was possible without all the modern tools and machines involved in the construction of large buildings today especially in remote areas like Banff was in the day.

 

We made our way back to our campsite and had a nice curry dinner at Bill and Joka’s trailer.  Then we hunkered down in our little camper early and were lulled to sleep by the heavy rain on the rooftop.