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?