Sept 24, 2009

No matter where we were in our travels, we took our home along to every province. With the motor home behaving the way it does, it's good to have a back up plan.

Thank you to all who followed our blog, and prayed for our safe travels

There have been many people following our blog. re: our site meter

We are curious to know who you all are. Could you post a short comment on the blog, or email us and we will post it. Your comments will be a great keepsake for the blog book.

Love to you all.

Alida and Marcel/Grandma and Grandpa/Mom and Dad

Sept 23, 2009 Day 26

Warmest morning yet. 17c. We left Sugarloaf Prov. Park in NB just after 7. Foggy, hazy and cloudy, but no rain.

The fog does make for some dramatic pictures though.

The mountains across the Bay are in Quebec.

By 8 am we were in Quebec. Set the time back one hour. Stopped at McDonald's for their yummy breakfast patty to go. Around noon we stopped at a restaurant in Kamouraska, QC for lunch. Peter and Immy informed us that they wanted to drive all the way home tonight. By 3, at the next gas fill up it started to rain hard. Peter offered to drive the motor home (thanks Peter), and Jennie drove with Immy. We hit Montreal at around 5. In the pouring rain, we got stuck in rush hour for 1.5 hours.

We had the most beautiful sunset peeking through the dark clouds, just as we were coming to the end of the traffic. Very difficult for the drivers to see, and we almost missed a turn.

At 7, we stopped for supper. Anything that was easy and quick to eat. We all had a huge chunk of the 1.5 foot salami I bought 2 days ago, and a slice of cheese. At 7:20, we were motoring again. Marcel drove the rest of the way. No more rain,The moon came out, making the next 3 hrs pleasant and bright. We arrived home at 10:40.

Drove 16 hours today, and 1165 k.

Total trip was 7745 k.

Sept 22, 2009 Day 25

Very warm day today. high 23c. We're now starting to think about home. Peter wanted to drive the motor home and Marcel is the co-pilot. While Peter is driving, Marcel is operating the controls???

Just after brunch we stopped at the Metepenagiag Heritage Park, in Red Bank, NB.

Earthenware pots around 2400 yrs. old.

The Miramichi and Restigouche chiefs presented this coat to Captain Henry O'Halloran when they made him an honorary chief in 1841. Local Mi'kmaq women's skills are eviden in the richly decorated embroidery and the more than 13 kilograms of bead work.

Peter and Immy reading the signs.

Marcel and Peter checking out the grounds outside the bldg.

We left the Heritage Park at 1:30, and arrived at our last campsite on this trip. Sugarloaf Provincial Park. Wow, the best campsite we were at.

Love Alida/mom

Sept 21 2009 Day 24

Sunny day again. High 22c. A very short 7k drive to the northern tip of PEI. The Reef at North Cape is the longest natural rock reef in North America - the site of many early shipwrecks - you can walk out onto the reef at low tide and witness the "meeting of the waters"as the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Northumberland Strait converge as the tide moves back in. This is also the spot where you'll get to see the tides rise, and view the “meeting of the waters” as the two waters come crashing together.
At North Cape, the Island’s northwestern tip, towering turbines turn the abundant wind into energy at one of Canada’s leading wind test institutes. Cutting-edge research into renewable energy.

Jennie and Marcel

Standing on shore, we heard seals barking. We couldn't see any, and thought these were birds. I zoomed in and after downloading the pictures and zooming in again, saw that these were indeed the seals we heard. Love this camera.

Gov't experimental wind farm turbines in the distance.

We attempted the 6k hiking trip, but after about 2k we decided to return. On the road again, we drove to the small town of Mininegash. The tour book stated that this is where seaweed was pulled out of the ocean by horses and harvested. But found out this is not a big industry anymore. Also in this town we passed a seaweed pie cafe.

Arriving in Summerside, an auto parts shop was found and u-joint parts were bought. The motor home was parked at a large open lot next door. Here a flat tire was changed also. (Must be the extra weight from all the rocks Jennie is taking home) The u joint was not as bad as they thought, but was changed anyway. We bought a few groceries and did some window shopping at a nearby mall. A huuuge 1.5 foot salami.

This took about an hour, and only 1/2 hour later at 3:10 we had to stop --again--too much shaking.
They balance the driver with washers, but because they changed the u-joint, they had to re-balance. One washer was taken out..

At 3:15--another stop--remove one more washer.

At 3:30--stopped again, just before we crossed the Confederation bridge back to NB.

At 3:45--Stopped again as soon as we crossed to remove one more washer.

At 3:50--and another stop

At 3:52--almost the last stop. Peter found out the transmission has to be lifted, that's what was creating the problem. A few washers shoved up there would temporarily fix the problem.

4:20--last stop. Our two way radios are sure used a lot.

Confederation bridge.

Amazingly enough, we did make it to the next campground. In Grande Digue, NB. Close to Shediac on the East coast. Jennie and I went for a long walk along the beach. We found this stingray, and Jennie is washing off the sand so we can get a good picture.

Sure was stinky.

Sept 20, 2009 Day 23

View from our campsite near Charlottetown.

Most interesting campsite we had yet!!!

These were the outhouses for the tent campers. The comfort station for the hook-up sites were a step up.

Before we left, we called the CRC church in Charlottetown for directions and time. We asked them to pass on the greetings from Al and Brenda, which they did. After church, we took some pictures of some of the folks that remembered the Bron family. Will email these to them. In the parking lot, while talking to a couple, Immy grabbed me and pulled me out of the way of a car that was backing up. The 87 year old lady smiled and waved at us. She did not realize what almost happened. [[Thanks, Immy]]

After lunch we motored to the famous "Avonlea, Anne of Green Gables Village" in Cavendish. Avonlea is a fictional village that is set around the famous novel, Anne of Green Gables that was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Her childhood revolved around the farming communities of Prince Edward Island and Avonlea was inspired by her life while growing up here.

The Green Gables House (Cavendish): This house is the house LMM was thinking of when she wrote her famous book. It was where her MacNeill cousins lived. The Green Gables house used in the Anne movies was actually two distinct buildings, both privately owned and both located in Southern Ontario. The reason for choosing these houses (aside from their visual appeal) was because most of the principle filming was done in Southern Ontario, and since the Cavendish Green Gables is constantly in use as a tourist attraction, it was inaccessible to be used as a movie set.

We had planned to visit Tony, Rina, Frank, Cathy and Cindy in Cavendish. They were on the island for their holidays in a cottage, but missed them by a few days.

While driving the North Cape Coastal route to our next campsite, {are you ready for the next line???} the quarter panel on the side of the motor home was flapping--no problem--fixed with bungee cords. Good thing, we have lots. Hope we don't run out of them though.

This campsite was field camping as well. A lovely spot, in North Cape, 7k from the tip of PEI. The walking path on the picture lead to the ocean. First thing we did was check out the beach views.

Brand new beach treasures to find and collect. The sand has a beautiful red color to it. Sure sticks to the shoes though. Did a few extra sweeps in the motor home while here.

Very picturesque, but not as rugged as Nfld.

Immy and Peter making supper for us. Sunny with no wind, so enjoyable to be outdoors.

Apparently a little red fox is fed every night at this campground, but we did not see it. Bacon was laying outside, and it was gone in the morning.

Sept 19, 2009 Day 22

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCEL!!!!

Rain overnight again. Foggy this morning, but then rain for the rest of the day. We wanted to catch the 2:45 ferry to PEI today, so having rain wasn't too bad. It stopped us from any sightseeing detours on route.

" Joe's scarecrow village". Hundreds of scarecrows. Quite cute, but a lot of pictures were a little blurry from the rain.

Great birthday shot Marcel!
Around 11:30, we stopped for coffee and cherry cheese cake (birthday cake) which I bought frozen that morning. It was quite cool in the motor home that morning and the cake did not defrost yet. But, we crunched it down anyway. The guys were discussing the motor home. and...Ah yes....the drive shaft needs repairs also.

They decided to buy what they needed to fix the u-joint, but hoped it won't get bad enough to repair. ("If it ain't broke (too bad) don't fix it")

We arrived at the ferry at 2:20, boarded right away, and it left at 2:30. The brochure we had said 2:45, so we just made it. The trip was only 1 1/4 hrs. The ferry trip costs $112. but they charge to get off PEI. So taking the bridge back was the cheaper way to go. Only $42.00 to get off. At the time we did not know this yet.

Dock in PEI.

The campsite we picked out in Charlottetown was full, and we were directed to the nearest campground in the area. In Alexandra, a small town 10 k out of Charlottetown. Immy and Jennie wanted to go out for seafood, so Peter drove them. A seafood festival in the town made it very busy. Peter did not want to participate, so dropped off the ladies, found a parking spot and read. Marcel and I stayed behind. I did some blogging. We're at the strangest campsite ever but the best blogging speed. Go figure. I blogged till 12:30 at night.