I love PEI

Another week, another province.  We arrived in PEI Sunday night  excited about what lay ahead of us and we were not disappointed. We have travelled from one tip of PEI to another, seen almost all of the coastline and attended a Celtic night, with fiddle playing, Celtic dancing and a little gospel thrown in for good measure.  Our favourite spot was the National campground at Cavendish.  We had a nice, private spot, the bathrooms weren't bad (I have lowered my standards over the last 8 weeks) and we were right on the ocean, so even though it was hot we had a nice breeze from the water.  We ended up stays there 3 nights, a record for us.  One day we rode our bikes along the coast, about 20 km.  The next day we rode the confederation trail, which I had really been wanting to do.  The confederation trail runs right down the middle of PEI from one end to another.  We parked about 16 km's outside of Charlottetown, then rode our bikes into town, toured around and then rode back.  The ride back was the tough part because we had a fabulous lunch in town (ate too much though) and then had to ride back with a full stomach and against a fairly strong wind. Gerry was very happy to see the van! We saw lots of lighthouses. I can honestly say I have had my fill of them but Gerry hasn't. In fact at the last one, he took the tour and I stayed at the van and made a coffee.  Have I mentioned there are no Starbucks out here?  I haven't seen nice since Ottawa and when you ask they direct you to a Tim Horton's.  They don't even have independent coffee shops that make espressos.  In the middle of nowhere on PEI, we saw a Tim Horton's and they are always busy!  There may be no one for miles but you come upon a Timmy's and the drive through and parking lot are busy.  So that's where all the people went. We have noticed that the guide books can make the attraction sound really interesting but then after you go, you wonder why?  For example the Canadian Potato Museum.  When in PEI - check it out right? Wrong, this is something you can pass on your next visit to PEI. Bev and Gerry give it two thumbs down.  I was also disappointed in the town of Cavendish; background for LM Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables.  I guess I pictured it like the books but it is commercialized beyond recognition. There is a was a water slide, an amusement park, a house of horrors, and even a Santa's village! The only thing Gerry &  I did was the Anne of Green Gable National Historic site.  We got in free with our Discover Canada Pass.  After Cavendish we were kind of toured out so we made short work of the East coast - only spent one day touring there and then headed for the town that would take us on the ferry to Nova Scotia. PEI is truly beautiful. The roads are quite unique in that the roads are quite narrow, and there are no shoulders. The grass comes right up to the highway.  It's like driving in Scotland, but at least we are driving on the right side of the road!
People keep asking us if we are getting on each other's nerves.  Well Gerry is getting on mine, but I can't think of anything I've done to get on Gerry's.  JJ! We are together 24 / 7 so what do you think?  But we have both learned to bite our tongues and keep quiet.  The reality is we only have each other so we do our best to get along.  I have found that going for a swim when we get to a new site is a god way to get some space as Gerry won't come to the beach with me anymore.  Failing that, beating him a crib is a good way to get rid of frustration as it makes him so mad! LOL!

New Brunswick part one

Sorry it took me so long to post our Quebec travels.  I have had it done for a while but we have been staying in National parks in New Brunswick and there is no Internet there.  We have just spent 5 days in New Brunswick .  The first few days was on the Acadian coast .  New Brunswick is not as scenic as Gaspe, but still beautiful in it's own way.  The first thing we visited was an Acadian historic village that was very well done.  We got a very good lesson on the Acadian history.  They, like many other groups in history, were not treated well by the French or the British.  We keep making the same choices  and mistakes.  When will we learn how to treat each other properly?  From there we moved on to Kochibouguac National Park. We had a nice campsite there.  They had miles of bike trails there and every thing was far away so you needed a bike. For example the beach was 2 km's from the campground.   We rode to the beach the first day and I went in the water.  They claim it is the warmest water in the Atlantic until you get to Virginia.  It was cool but refreshing.   The next day we were planning a long bike ride, and then a swim but my bike had a flat tire when we woke up.  Gerry went for a bike ride and I stayed at the campsite and got my quilting organized, read and relaxed.  The bugs have been bad so we set up our mosquito tent which was nice and shady.  When Gerry got back we fixed my flat and went for a short ride, that included the beach.  However  it was a bit cooler this day and I only got wet to my knees.  By dinner time my tire was going flat again.  Time to buy a new inner tube. Everyone recommended we head to Shediac, which was just 127 km down the road.  It is known for it's beaches and warm water.  But Gerry does not like the water and while I am swimming he is sitting in the sand in his blue jeans, socks and shoes and long sleeve shirt, looking for shade. (There  are no trees on the beach).  Don't think he really enjoys it much.  We didn't want to push on to PEI as it was Friday and we feared it would be busy so we headed inland to Moncton.  Did the Magnetic hill and then headed for Fundy NAtional Park and the Bay of Fundy.  We had fun at the Magnetic hill. I'm sure the workers were shaking their heads at us.  We  did the hill 4 times! Once just to do it, twice as I tried to video Gerry coming backwards up the hill and then once as Gerry taped me driving!  (Clearly I don't know how to work the camera!). We made reservations for 2 nights at the National park while driving down the road. ( I love my smartphone. ) We selected an unserviced site as they are more private and in the shade. When we got there the campsite was fairly quiet but by Saturday morning the campground exploded! Anyway there was so much to see and do.  We did a 10 km bike ride ( I got my tired fixed properly) and several small hikes over the 2 days. The weather was fantastic! We left there and contined on the Bay of Fundy trail.  We saw a lighthouse and the Hopewell rocks.  Those are very interesting. At low tide the rocks look like giant flowerpots.  We walked for 2 hours on the beach.  We continued along the south shore of New Brunswick and planned to spend one more night in NB before heading to PEI, but I could not find any campsites listed so we pushed on to PEI.  We arrived at about 6 pm Sunday night and there was a KOA campground right off the bridge.  When we got there they said that there would be a gospel singing at 7:30. I was excited, Gerry less so.  Anyway I started the laundry and then went off to the gospel meeting and Gerry finished the laundry.  Works for me!  I love coming into a new province .  The staff at the Welcome centres are usually very well informed and excited and they get me all excited with everything there is to see and do and PEI is no different.  But that will be for another blog.

Au revoir Quebec

When I last wrote we were heading to Quebec City.  We absolutely loved it!  We spent one day exploring the city;  we did a lot of walking.  Gerry really liked the citadel.  We just happened to be there when they were performing a once a year parade of the guards.  They were celebrating Quebec City's birthday.  We couldn't have timed it better if we tried and we didn't even know about it.  I really liked lower Quebec, with the cobblestone streets and colourful squares.  Like I said we did a lot of walking, but it was worth it.  From there we moved on to the Gaspe Pennisula.  I would recommend the Gaspe to anyone,  It is very scenic and beautiful. I don't know how many pictures Gerry took.  Our favourite place was Perce rock.  We spent 2 days exploring and did a couple of hikes in the area.  The day we were leaving Quebec we decided to eat lunch out.  I read about this restaurant in a park overlooking a beautiful bay that had reasonable prices.  Our GPS couldn't find it by name but when I put the address in he got us close, after a detour off the highway.  George, our GPS voice, took us to the middle of nowhere but down the road there appeared to be activity.  We got there and there was a bay and a truck type diner that sold hot dogs and hamburgers. You ordered and then sat on picnic tables by the bay.  Definitely not what we had in mind so we left.  We got back on the highway and decided to stop at the next rest stop and make grilled cheese sandwiches.  After 15 minutes driving I saw signs for the park we had been looking for. I figured we had turned too soon.  So we followed the signs about 6 km's off the highway.  We were following the sign for the fork and knife and drove past the campground, knowing we were close.  All of a sudden we realized we were no longer driving on a road but on a bike path and 200 ft away was the truck stop diner that we had left 1/2 hour ago. Gerry quickly turned around and there were 2 workers at a gift store watching us with jaws open.  As soon as Gerry parked ( we found the restaurant we were really looking for by the gift store) they ran and put up barriers,  Good  idea! Sadly the restaurant turned out to be a disappointment. No one spoke English, the bay wasn't that nice and we had mediocre grilled cheese sandwiches; white bread and one slice of processed cheese. It would have been better to let Gerry make them.   I used up my eating out card for this! What a waste. We were glad to be leaving Quebec.  There were some things we really liked about Quebec. The picnic / rest stops are beautiful and always clean. The houses are all well kept and colourful. Everyone has large lots 1 or 2 acres it seems but we never saw one house where there  were old cars and junk piled up.  We could learn from that.  The scenery, as I mentioned, is breath taking and even if it is really hot there is always a nice breeze from the water; very refreshing.  I also discovered Coureur de Bois, thanks to my friend Caroline in Temiscaming.  It is Bailey's with maple syrup; very nice. Sadly we never worked out the courage to try poutine.  What we didn't like we're the campgrounds.  They are all like Parking lots and they jam you in so there is no privacy.  I got tired of that.  Also there are times when I feel like the  Angliase are treated a bit differently than the Francophones.  It is subtle, but maybe they don't tell us everything and they save the better camp spots for their francophone friends.  I have no proof, just a feeling, especially from people who work in the tourist industry. But having said that the people we met hiking or biking were very friendly,  Most of the time we were able to find that they all spoke a bit of English. The only exception was a 2 hour tour we booked to see the sunset over the St Lawrence and learn a bit about the nature and water system.  We booked and paid $30/ each but the person who booked it for us failed to mention that it would be all in French and our guide claimed he didn't know enough English to translate.  And this was in a National Park. (A Quebec National park mind you)
I also know we are both getting a bit travel weary and homesick so this could account for our slightly negative attitude. As soon as we find a nice campground we have agreed we will stay a couple of days and just rest and re-charge. All in all we are having a fantastic time but seriously, when Gerry asks if you want to see some pictures beware! He has a lot of them!

Happy Canada Day eh?

We spent 3 days in Ottawa over the long weekend.  It was kind of weird. The things we thought would be great we're a disappointment but then other things we really enjoyed.  Let's start with the campground.  It was rated high in our Woodall's book but it was not.  I always look at the rating for restrooms and it had a 9.5 with a star!  Yeah!.  We would have given it a 4. And that is being generous. And there was no privacy.  It was just one big field with units parked fairly close to each other.  But it was easier to get around in Ottawa than I thought. We got into town fairly early each day so that helped and we found good parking the first day.  Then we caught the hop on hop off, which gave us a feel for the city.  We saw a couple of museums.  The war museum was very interesting and well done.  By the time we got to the modern wars though  we were pretty much done. But I would definitely recommend it.  On Canada Day we parked out farther from the centre, but we were close to a bike trail and we spent the day riding the city.  Seeing things we missed on the hop on, hop off.  We saw the Rideau Hall and 24 Sussex place,  the falls and rode the Rideau canal from one end to the other. We did a lot of riding.  And of course there was Parliment hill.  What a show!  Wall to wall people, screaming shutting, singing.  And the line ups!  Museum were free so we thought we might check out the Mint, but the line up snaked for miles.  I don't think I saw lines ups at Disneyland that were as long!  President's choice had food tasting tents set up.  People stood in line for 1 1/2 hours to get 1/2 of a hot dog or burger - they were free mind you but really!  That is one big advantage of the van. We decided that we didn't want to Stand in lines to eat, or pay the prices, so we headed back to the van and Gerry made a nice little dinner there and then I did dishes.  It was a nice break from the madness that was Ottawa. When we were on the hill we locked our bikes far from the crowd and walked or waded in.  We managed to catch some of the show and saw (or heard) the opening ceremonies.  If you watched it on tv or the news you probably saw more than we did.  When we were in the crowds I hung onto the strap of Gerry's knapsack so we wouldn't get separated. Apparently I am hard to spot in a crowd!  We ventured to the hill 3 times during the day. Just to say we'd done it. Proudly I can say that I never had to use on the the porta potties once but as Gerry said, "when you got to go bad enough even they look good "( Not to me -  ever ). Clearly he had to use them once.  We waited around until 10:00 for the fireworks and after being in town since before 9:00 am that was a bit of a chore.  We did manage to find a little outside bar by the canal where we had  a couple of glasses of wine and watched the people but that just made me sleepy.  I must say the fireworks were disappointing. They lasted less than 15 minutes and as soon as they started going off we realized we were not in a good spot (too close) and were running back to get up on a bridge.  And then they were over.  What there was was good but short!
On Canada Day we parked in a lot that advertised parking for $9.00/day.  Gerry is so paranoid about getting a ticket that we chose that route rather than the street.  When we got back from the fireworks though we had a $75 parking ticket!  Don't worry I am going to fight it all the way!  But it was a bad way to end the day.
After our Ottawa experience we decided we had had enough of traffic and crowds and sailed right through Montreal and headed to Quebec City.  We are here for 2 nights .  We are staying at a KOA and I love it!  The campground is not very private but clean bathrooms.  And they have a shuttle that will take us into Qubec city and back! We stopped at a tourist information booth right on the Quebec border.  The girl was wonderful!  We have 2 days in Quebec City and then onto the Gaspe peninsula which we are both excited about. It just re-in forces our decision to skip Montreal.
Sadly I am starting my last bag of wine that we bottled at Grapes and Suds.  But Gerry finished all of his ages ago! LOL!