Top Ten for Me!

10. Crystal Lake campground. Quiet peaceful. Just a nice night.

9.  Science North in Sudbury. A definate stop for anyone with kids. Worth the admission.

8. Signal Hill. We wouldn't be where we are had this not happened.

7. Confederation Bridge. A marvel of human ability

6. Avonlea. A childhood dream come true

5. Cape Bonavista's puffins. We made it!!!

4. Being near the water. I know we lucked out and it was lovely and warm near the water which is not
always the case but I loved the quiet calm of the reflective lakes and even the powerful white caps on
the ocean.

3. Bay of Fundy. A marvel of nature. A reminder of how quickly things can change. To enjoy the moment....

2. Feeling of contentment at Peggy's cove.  I can't describe it - you will just have to go and experience it yourself!

1.  The people. At the Quebec KOA; everyone who gave us directions, those who backed in my trailer at times, those who helped me get ready to go, those who supported me, gave me advice and those who came to my rescue.

But, really it was all do-able because of the trailer.  With all the moving we did instead of camping it was more my moving hotel room!  And, having a trailer rather than a tent trailer even made it SO much easier.  The set up was easy - yes even with my broken foot I was able to do a lot of the set up.  The cooking was easy - whether it was grabbing a sandwich as we filled up with gas or getting supper on the table after pulling into the campsite at 9 at night it was not overwhelming. And, the storage was great - no worrying about how much we bought or how many rocks the kids brought from the beach it all fit in the trailer!

And, yes, even with all the issues we had this year I'm not selling!  This is just the start of our great adventures!

The Kids Top Ten in Canada

Not to miss – according to the kids!

10. Old Montreal. Just walking and seeing the old buildings.

9. Kakabecka Falls or as the kids renamed it CocaCola Falls!

8. Confederation bridge

7. Cape Bonavista. Puffins and whales and lighthouses!

6. Jumping in lakes, oceans and gulfs across Canada

5. Biodome in Montreal

4. Bay of Fundy

3. Canada Day in Ottawa

2. Tall Ships Festival in Halifax

1. Sudbury Science North

Cause we are Foodies....

Top Ten Food we had on the trip....

10. Battered Fish and Chips on Halifax boardwalk

9. Lobster dinners. 1st one was in PEI

8. Beaver Tails. Any flavour anytime!!!  Yummy

7. Chez Ashton for their amazing poutine

6. Celtic House in St Johns. Great introduction to Jig's Dinner

5.  Walkers Bait and Turtle Pond. Yummy burger and fries

4. Sugah confectionary on the Halifax boardwalk. Add your mixins for a personal touch!

3. Cows ice cream.  PEI speciality

2. Micmac restaurant in Dartmouth. Service was great. Surf and turf for a reasonable price. Seafood platter to try a little of everything.

1. Water Price Corner Shop in Charlottetown. Everything was good with the tarter sauce!  Plus it was featured on FoodNetwork

Home Sweet Home - July 24 - 28

Five days – that’s long it took us to get home after we left Fredericton.

Here’s some highlights along the way:

On July 25 we were able to catch up with friends of ours who moved to Newfoundland 4 years ago.  What are the odds but this year they decided to come back to Alberta and pick up their RV which they left here?  We had thought we would meet as we both took the ferry to her house but had our plan worked out the way we had thought, we wouldn’t have run into them in Deep River, ON!

On July 26 as we left our campsite in Sault Ste Marie we realized we had a flat tire.  We filled it up hoping it would be OK and left the campground.  As we were driving out we spotted a baby black bear.  At first we thought it was a dog but no it was definitely a bear.  We had been warned by the campground owner there were bears in the area but really hadn’t given it much consideration.  Best to take that kind of advice seriously!

Later, we needed to change tires and had some great folks help us put on the spare.  And, then we stopped in Wawa where the Royal Tire folks were great about fixing the problem and switching the tire back! 

July 28, as we crossed the border in Lloydminster and got gas the rain greeted us! 

Wow, am I ever hoping we hitched the sunshine on the bumper!  And, finally at 9 PM instead of pulling into a campsite as was our regular routine, we pulled into home!

A Parade of News - July 23

Monday!  This was the big day for the Parade of Tall Ships and the day we were leaving Halifax.  Our plan – head out in the morning, look at the Citadel and then walk to waterfront by noon for the parade and then head out of town.  Of course, like many things, plans didn’t work out!  As we were leaving the campsite a fellow camper stopped us and told us the trailer lights were not working properly.  Sure enough, when we checked, we had no brake lights and no turning signals on EITHER side of the trailer.  Not a good situation to be in.  A few people took a look at the electrical plug in for the trailer and it all seemed fine.  Finally, we ended up at an RV Repair Shop.  They quickly diagnosed the problem as not one but two burnt out light bulbs.  Thankfully, it was something easy and cheap to fix.  And, we even made it to the parade on time!

It was truly amazing to see all the tall ships that we had seen in the harbour out on the water.  Sails up and firing cannons (yes, of course, they were fake!).  The first time we all heard the firing though I think we all jumped out of skin and Shanti almost fell backwards into the water!  It was fantastic to see such a site.

The parade took about two hours to complete and after we were starving.  We decided to stop at this little fish and chips place which we had seen earlier and boy were we glad we stopped.  They were delicious.  We ate our fill and were off again.  Back to the Citadel where we had parked. Only this time we were heading uphill.  It was a bit of climb for everyone but I was EXHAUSTED by the time I got to the entrance point.  And, even though we were now completely off schedule we decided to stop and look at the Citadel.

It was definitely worth the stop.  They had a fantastic museum outlining the importance of this harbour during the War of 1812 and during the world wars as well.  They also had displays for where the soldiers stayed, how they lived and the clothes they wore.  It was definitely very interesting.

And, finally, around 4 PM we were on our way to Fredericton.  Unfortunately, in Fredericton, almost as soon as we pulled into the campsite, we got bad news.  Mum and Dad’s house in Grande Prairie had a water pipe burst and the main floor and basement were quite badly damaged.  We again changed our plans, dropped the plan to go to Niagara Falls and Toronto and instead decided to head straight home.

While it was a bit disappointing, in the end we did SO much.  The trip was still a trip of a lifetime.  And, in fact, it was even better – getting to spend that much time with my dad was great for all of us.  The kids learned so much – about the rocks they were seeing; the science of sound waves; and just the stories they got to hear.  How many other kids get that opportunity to spend 3 weeks with their grandfather?