The Best Canadian Pictures

I realized my last post was all 'words', and I know certain readers (you know who you are) never read a word I write and head only for the pictures.  So, thinking of you, I went back through the pictures I've taken this trip and picked out the best.  I probably added too many "words", but you can just ignore them.

Our initial trip fervor was to get to Connecticut and watch our daughter graduate with advanced degrees from Yale.  (Yes, I'm bragging.)  Here's perhaps not the best picture, but certainly my favorite picture.

Drake and Sarah at Yale Graduation - Oh, and I made the hat!
The hat thing is a Yale Forestry School tradition.  Her Environmental Master's Degree is from this school

I was so happy that day.  One of the best pictures taken of me in years was in the Forestry School graduation tent.

I decided if Sarah could have a hat, I could
take the leftover materials and make a
corsage.  I wish I'd had enough to make one for Kit,
Jay's mom.  We were all so very happy that day.

I expected moving on to Boston after graduation would be a let down, but it wasn't in the least.  Here's my favorite Boston picture

Fenway Park was a 'bucket list' attraction for Drake.
We had a great time; the ball park was everything everyone
always says about it.  The Rangers won 2 out of 3 - guess which one we saw?  

I had mixed feelings about Maine.  We initially expected to summer there, but I couldn't find anyone who would rent me a house when I tried for one in February.  In a way that's how the trip to Canada came about.  There are two pictures from Maine. The first is from Vinalhaven, Maine.  That's an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. You have to want to live there badly since it's a 1 hour 20 minute ferry ride from shore.  I'd be stark raving crazy in a week.  To visit however is wonderful.

Vinalhaven is all about lobstering or 'hauling' as they call it.  If you ate
a lobster this summer, most likely it came from here.

Bar Harbor is the bookend to Banff, completely a tourist town.  We spent time in Acadia National Park which was lovely.  I'd like to see it in the fall.  Here's Acadia.

The balanced rock is an 'erratic' - a random rock
different geologically than the area where it was
deposited as a glacier receded.

New Brunswick, our first Canadian province, and the most bilingual, was also the least photographic.  The most interesting 'attraction' we saw there was the Hopewell Rocks. These are towers of stone which are located in the path of the Bay of Fundy Tides which rise and fall about 35 feet on a normal day.  Low tide:  Walk around the base of the Hopewell Rocks.  High tide:  Kayak around the top of the Hopewell Rocks.  These are called 'flowerpots' since they have vegetation growing on their tops.

These are about the size of a four story building.

Nova Scotia was wonderful vacation with a teen aged Sarah 15 years ago.  We were eager to return to the part we didn't see then.

Bonus!  This is the first place we saw rhododendrons in bloom.
Breathtakingly beautiful.  We actually saw four, yes four 'springtimes'.  What a treat!

The real attraction in Nova Scotia was in Halifax:  The Citadel, a British Fort built in the 19th century, was so impregnable, it was never attacked.

This is one half of The Citadel which sits on the highest hill in Nova Scotia overlooking the water access
to the city of Halifax.  I'm on top of on of the three foot thick walls looking down on the courtyard.

I would be remiss if I didn't include a picture of the Wile Carding Mill, a peek into the

early Industrial Revolution.  As a person with an American History degree, this was thrilling!

Most of these mills burned down, often killing workers.
 All these mills, and there were about 50 in the hey day, is a tinder box.

We caught the ferry to Newfoundland at Sydney, Nova Scotia.  I was really dreading the 10 hour crossing.  There was a lot of hand wringing on my part and ginger chomping since I was completely positive I was going to be sea sick for the entire crossing.  Of course, all worrying is so useless.  The sea was like glass; I slept the night away  People who worked the boat told me it was the smoothest crossing they could remember this year.  Newfoundland was fabulous and would have been worth even a rough crossing.

Here's the Western Brook Pond.  It's an enclosed fjord.
This is one  of the ten boat trips we've taken on this journey.

Gros Morne is a UNESCO National Heritage Site because of it's unique geology.

This is Bonne Bay, formed by glaciers, and in the background is the brown tablelands rock from the earth's mantle right beside the remains of an ancient ocean.  This juxtaposition helped prove the tectonic plate theory.  

When in parks we are always on the look-out for animals.  This sighting was one for the books.  Park workers told us the small herd of caribou in the park have learned the cars stop for them, and treat the highway as the easy way to move from meadow to meadow.

He walked right beside the car!

We hated leaving Gros Morne, but we actually changed our itinerary to loop up to Twillingate on the north shore of central Newfoundland to see icebergs.

Now, this was a boat outing!  It was also the roughest sea by far.  I had to wedge myself on deck to take this picture in 40 degree temps with threatening rain.  Glad I brought my long underwear.

The other fascinating thing about Twillingate was the local museum.  Here's the centerpiece of their little historical museum

This polar bear arrived in town via ice floes about ten years ago.  He ambled around town for hours.  The bear finally had to be put down.  Now, he lives on in the town's museum.

If I had to name the most unexpected attractions we encountered in Canada, it would be the churches, notably, the Catholic churches.  Here's the St. John's Basilica in St. John's, Newfoundland.

I chose the long shot to give you the grandeur of this church.

The one boat ride I've been thinking about since February was the Puffin Boat.  Well, the puffins didn't disappoint.  How could they?

Aren't puffins great?  The adolescents spend 3 years at sea before they return to land to mate.  That's your puffin fact for the day.

A feature of St. John's was brightly painted houses.  In fact, most of Newfoundland is filled with houses painted every color in your imagination.  Surprisingly, in other cities and provinces this is a recent phenomenon, but it's really caught on.

Typical street in St. John's.  This kind of whimsy makes this city very livable, and I can imagine how cheering it would be in a winter I can't even imagine.

Coming back from Newfoundland, we entered what I thought of as rural France.  Actually, it was the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec, our fourth and the most difficult province of the trip.  French, French, French everywhere.

You are looking at where the St. Lawrence River flows into the Atlantic Ocean

Because of the preponderance of French, Quebec was frustration at every turn. However, it was lovely. I loved the Halte Municipals - public washrooms.  (After Canada, I don't think I'll ever think of public conveniences as anything except 'washrooms'.)

Every town on the Gaspe peninsula had an immaculate public washroom.  The USA could take a hint.

I can't leave the Gaspe Peninsula without sharing my picture of our first moose.

I guess these animals are real after all.  We've seen two so far standing in water and eating water plants.

Finally, the major tourist attraction of the Gaspesie (Gaspe Peninsula) is the Perce Rock

We were sitting on a patio drinking a bottle of Pinot Noir when I shot this photo.

We took ANOTHER ferry in Matane, Quebec to cross the St. Lawrence.  Matane was an industrial town, but I ferreted out the Jardin de Doris

Say hello to lupines.  Another flower that was unexpected.  

I knew there would be flowers in Canada, but I wasn't prepared for the devotion to their flower beds and gardens especially the French Canadiens.  Some yards in extremely modest homes were breathtaking.  I also loved these flowers

We actually stayed in Levis across the St. Lawrence River from Old Quebec City.  There were excellent pictures to take of the city from the ferry.  Old Quebec City place filled with architectural wonders as well as a magnificent mural

Here is the history of Quebec City in picture form.

What was the most fun thing about Quebec City?  The funicular, of course.

This device, in service since 1879, is the connector between Upper and Lower Quebec City

The Notre Dame Church in Upper Old Quebec was breathtaking

I could put up a zillion pictures from Quebec, but I'll leave you with one more.  Here's the most photographed hotel in the world

What a monstrosity!  I took this picture from the ferry.

Quebec to Ottawa was a short hop.  Ottawa is the capital city of all of Canada.  Here's what Drake wanted to do most of all

The Changing of the Guard  happens at 10 am every morning, rain or shine, since 1954.  I really like  I captured their feet in the air.  They are actually doing parade marching as part of the ceremony.

We really liked the museum scene here since most of the National Museums (think Junior Smithsonian) reside in Ottawa.  Here's part of the most striking exhibit at The Civilization Museum

He's going on the road with his dog, his frog, his raven, his whale, his wolf, his child and his wife.

 The funniest thing about Ottawa?  It was the gargoyles scattered all over the Parliament Buildings.  Here's my favorite

I guess he's praying for honest legislators and just laws.

Our favorite city was Toronto.  We are considering spending next summer in upstate New York because we didn't get enough of this place.

This picture may look a little funky - but we were on the other side of an arm of Lake Ontario on our bikes
when we spotted the Toronto skyline.

We are definitely fans of the Canadian Seven.  They were a group of seven painters who decided to paint Canadian landscapes beginning right after WWI.  My favorite painter in that group is Lawren Harris, and here's my favorite picture from the exhibit

Lawren Harris, 'Grounded Icebergs'  After seeing the real McCoy, how could I not like this picture?

Harris decided to rent a railroad car about 1920 and have the Transcontinental Canadian Pacific haul the car to Agawa Canyon, a scenic spot, an hour and a half outside of Saulk Sainte Marie, Canada, and he painted in isolation for the summer.  We took a relaxing train ride to the spot.

Agawa Canyon - weather didn't cooperate, but this was one beautiful place.

We went to Sudbury, Ontario to do laundry, and we found

The 'Big Nickel' - couldn't resist including this - it was so over the top.  That nickel is 30 feet in diameter

Drake dreaded the drive around the north side of Lake Superior.  It turned out to be an outstanding scenic drive which we both enjoyed immensely.  One section if famous for its amethyst mines - guess who got a new necklace?

Here's a Lake Superior roadside attraction:  the second largest waterfall in Canada.

The largest waterfall in Canada was so enormous 'waterfall' is too small a name for it.  Niagara exceeded both our expectations.  I'll never forget the sound of the falls.

Maid of the Mist at Horseshoe Falls.  That's American Falls in the distance.

Winnipeg, Manitoba is the type of place you have to ask yourself, "Why would anyone want to live here?"  It's a lively city, but even in the summer, the wind was blowing constantly.  Can't imagine winter and the wind chill here.

This is the National Museum of Human Rights.  It's the first national museum in Canada to be
 opened in 40 years.  It was beautiful with that terrific observation tower on top.

Winnipeg is also known for Folklarama - a celebration of all the ethnicities the railroad dropped off here at the turn of the century.  You go to pavilions, eat ethnic food and watch entertainment.  Lots of fun.  We timed our visit for this event.

All the hosts, performers, cook and servers are volunteers.  There are about 30 pavilions you can visit
in the two week festival period 

So, we are driving, I'm embroidering, and had my head down.  I looked up and we had popped out onto the prairies.  Actually, as soon as you drive down off the Canadian Shield (a big rock shelf that covers almost one-third of Canada) the prairies begin - abruptly.

We came down off the Canadian Shield, and I swore I had landed in West Texas.  I felt just like a reverse Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

This prairies were comforting.  Familiar, yet a little unfamiliar.  The drive was not boring.  The amount of agriculture we zipped past was like a combination of West Texas cattle county and the flat rich black soil of the Midwest. Here's a crop growing I'd never seen

Say hello to canola.  I took lots of pictures out of the car windows - have to when you're driving 11,000 miles in a trip.  

As we headed further west, the landscape changed again

These rolling hills held a surprise - the badlands.

We headed for the dinosaurs in Brooks, Alberta.  What I didn't expect was the super-sized form of Palo Duro Canyon.  These are the Canadian badlands.  They don't rise above the land, the sink down into it just like Palo Duro does in West Texas.

This place was a photographic dream.  I could put up 20 pix.  This as a fun place to hike.  It is also paleontologist heaven because of the major dinosaur bone finds.

And the dinosaurs they dig up in Dinosaur Provincial Park wind up in an internationally famous dinosaur museum called the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

The mineral content turned this complete skeleton black, thus the nickname.  The entire museum was really
impressive, but this guy is the jewel of their collection.  If you have any little kiddos, I have a complete dinosaur photo album designed just for kids.  Email me, and I'll send it to you. 

After Brooks, we headed for Jasper, Alberta, and the home of Jasper National Park.  We maximized our time there with our 10th boat outing on Maligne Lake

You can't beat these glacier lakes fed by snow melt.  These peaks are about 8 - 10 thousand feet.
Definitely in the Canadian Rockies now.

The boat ride was out to 'Spirit Island' which is just this tiny spit of land.  Hey, it gives a reason and destination for a boat ride.

And here is 'Spirit Island' in all its glory - actually, this reminds me of St. Mary's Island in
Glacier National Park.  You should have seen the people with tripods and foot long lens, some even getting wet to take this picture.

The bonus of this boat trip was this mother moose and her two calves.  Of course, there were people creeping too close.  We were on the boat, and our boat commentator was getting quite worried as people kept edging up and actually got BETWEEN the mother in the water and the calves on shore.  How stupid can people be?  Pretty stupid.

Then we headed down another famous scenic drive, Icefield Parkway, which was pretty much compromised by smoke which has drifted in from the wildfires in Washington state and Idaho.

Here's a glacier - thus, the name Icefield Parkway

The other major attraction of the Parkway is Lake Louise; however, we were at the peak of tourist time and we couldn't even find a parking spot to be able to get even a glimpst, so we settled for Peyto Lake recommended by a Canada Ranger we ran into in Newfoundland!

This is Peyto Lake; you can see the smoke in the picture (to the right), and we contended with growing smoke from wildfires in Washington and Idaho from this point forward

We landed in Banff, the bookend to Bar Harbor both being uber tourist towns.  To be fair, Banff (like Bar Harbor) has done a good job at being a town whose sole purpose is to live off the tourist trade.  Banff especially has devised an entire system of bike and hiking trails that leave from town to a number of their 'attractions'.  Good thing for us - we lost the car for 3 days having the car towed to the next town over and repaired.  Here's one of those 'bike to' attractions.

Riding our bikes here was a much fun as the attractions.

Surprisingly, there was even some thermal activity near Banff.

Now, the thermal pools are closed to people because of an endangered snail.  It would have been a stinky soak; the pools are sulfurous

The real beauty of Banff is not the attractions so much as the locale.

On our last day in Canada, the smoke from wildfires abated, and here's the reason people have been coming to Banff since the transcontinental railroad arrived in 1880's.

Canada was one wonderful site after another with several UNESCO Heritage Sites as well as one of the world's great natural wonders.  This trip was a joy and at the same time exhausting.  Drake and I both are glad we did this, but we both agreed our normal travel style of settling into one spot for two or three months works better for us.  I leave you with my favorite Canada picture

Even my photographer friends have to admire this one.

If I had to pick one place for a Canadian vacation, it would be Newfoundland.  It's hard to get to, has terrible roads, and is vast.  That said, they have the best scenery and the most delightful people.    

Frustrations on the Road

If it's a long way to Tipperary, then it's light years to Banff.  According to Drake, and his oil change records, we've driven 7000 miles between Sydney, Nova Scotia (where we got on the Newfoundland ferry) to Banff, Alberta.  It's 3646 as the crow flies miles from St. John's Newfoundland to Banff, Alberta.  If we continued on across Canada, it would be another crow fly 600 miles to Victoria, Vancouver Island.  (It's also 1172 MORE miles from Banff to Fraser, CO - our two month 'fall' destination.)  The Canadian portion of this massive trip is over in just a few more days.  We've driven from Arizona to Texas to Connecticut to Massachusetts to Maine to New Brunswick, to Nova Scotia, to Newfoundland, to Quebec, to Ontario, to Manitoba, to Saskatchewan, to Alberta.  We still will be driving from Alberta to Montana to Wyoming to Colorado and back to Arizona.  The most important thing I've learned:  It's more difficult than you imagine to be away from your own country for any extended period of time.

The suspicion there might be difficulties first struck us when the bored Canadian Border Patrol fine toothed searched our car and trailer because of our 'TEXAS' license plates.  They wanted to make absolutely sure we were telling the truth when we claimed we were not bringing guns into Canada.  Everyone knows that all Texans are gun totin' crazies, right?

We continually ran into this phenomenon:  A total stranger walks up to the car, even once knocking on the side window, and says, "You're a long way from home, eh?"  After the umpteenth time of this happening, Drake now answers, "Really?  I'm trying to get to Houston.  I must have taken a wrong turn at Fort Worth."  Sometimes, the Canadian even gets the joke.  Subconsciously, Canadians think Texas is still full of cowboys and Indians.  When we say something to the effect that three of the top ten US cities are in Texas, and they are always amazed.

One thing we were already concerned about before we left the States was signing up for Medicare,  (Yes, hard to believe, but we are 65!)  Turns out, we were right to be vigilant.  We started as early as possible, and with a combination of internet information, telephone calls, a virtual post office box, our persistent daughter, and FedEx, we were able to get 'er done.  We actually received our medical cards from our 'advantage plan' at our post office box today.  (FYI:  If you are thinking of traveling away from your home for more than 30 days, I would get an internet post office boxes.  We've had ours for years, and it's saved our bacon more than once.)

Continuing to be 'connected' when traveling out of the country is a complete hassle.  First, if you think your current 'cell' bill is high, try buying an 'international plan' from your carrier.  They are hideously expensive, and after you've checked your email, scrolled once through your Facebook account, and checked an 'attractions' page online where you're currently visiting, you've just used your allotted data for the month.

We did take a tip from our traveling daughter, and as soon as we crossed the Canadian Border, we bought a Canadian plan and 'loaded' it with money.  This means we have had a Canadian telephone number which has come in handy ever since.  All went well until we realized making ANY phone call costs at least $.50 per minute, and more to the states. That tends to rack up the dollars.  It dawned on us, we needed to 'load' more money into the account.  Then the problems started.  They wouldn't let us add dollars to our account because our credit card billing address was 'different' from the phone's New Brunswick address.  Well, duh.  Even after numerous phone calls, and some mysterious form being filled out, it's still not resolved - but we did get the important thing: another gigabyte of data added to our account.  We've got about $12 left with which to make phone calls.

Do not under any circumstance have a car wreck in a foreign country.  As I've previously mentioned, Drake was involved in a deer suicide with our car.  We were very fortunate. While the deer didn't fare well, there were no injuries to humans, and no mechanical damage to the car.  HOWEVER, it's impossible to reach your US claims agent because first, there's 'phone tag' - expensive for us, as well as time difference problems, AND our assigned agent doesn't read her email.  Recipe for frustration. Drake has drunk a lot of scotch over this.

We have also had our alternator fail suddenly on us.  It was a blessing we were in the Banff Trailer Court campground when this happened.  We had to call a tow truck (who ripped us off, of course), but the Ford dealership in the next town went out of their way to get us back up and running.  More black thoughts and dire predictions by Drake over this mishap, but it turns out Banff is very bikeable.  I shudder to think how difficult the car repair could have been since we've been many places out in the middle of nowhere with no cell service at all.

When you don't speak the language, and can't make yourself understood no matter how carefully you studied the pronunciation of the language, expect to perfect your charade performances.  One of my goals was to learn how to pronounce French.  OK, I thought I was doing great.  I practiced and practiced as we drove in the first part of the trip in anticipation, that even though I couldn't SPEAK French, I would be able to read off menu items in Quebec or order a beer.  The first Quebec day at Tim Horton's I asked for a blueberry muffin,  and no one understood me when I said 'bluet'.  Maybe, it was adding 'por favor' that was the problem.  Initially, I kept getting common French and Spanish numbers and phrases confused.  Anywho, I tried and tried.  Finally, I was reduced to pointing, charades, and kind people to get what I wanted to eat.  This becomes very, very old and very very frustrating after about three days.  Yes, I guess this makes me an ugly American, but I just wanted people who spoke English after awhile.

When in a bi-lingual country, expect the grocery store run to take twice as long.  No, I do not want air miles on my grocery store reward card which I don't have because I'm only going to use your grocery store ONCE.  Brain has had to be re-trained to instantly recognize French and turn the box or can over.  Everything to eat  which is packaged at the grocery store is printed in English on one side and French on the other.  I think bored and sadistic grocery store stockers turn the French side out in Western Canada and the English side out in Eastern Canada as they go about their jobs.

If you've ever thought you wanted to time travel, think again.  So far, we've been in six time zones.  Sometimes, they've even snuck up on us.  Once, we crossed a time zone, and because of our car's analog clock, we didn't realize for several hours it was now an hour earlier, or was that an hour later?  And, then, there's Newfoundland which has its own wacky time.  It's a half hour off Atlantic time.  I never knew what time we were leaving or arriving on the ferry trips to and from Newfoundland.

We have also been playing the game called we give the clerks bills and they give us back coins.  Canada does not have dollar bills; they only have dollar coins.  They even have two dollar coins.  ('Loonies' and 'Toonies')  Plus, there's the normal assortment of quarters, nickels, and dimes. There are no pennies.  (We haven't missed those little copper disks in the slightest.)  Drake hates carrying coins, so we have constantly been forgetful about taking our coins inside an establishment.  Here's what happens.  The clerk says, "That will be $11. 45."  Drake gets this pained expression on his face which means, 'Damn it, I forgot to get the coins from the car, AGAIN."  Speaking of bills, the Canadians bills are plastic.  Yes, they are rectangles of plastic in different colors. (Queen Elizabeth II is on the sea green $20.)  They are slick and difficult to handle.  I'll be happy to be back in the land of paper money.  Even Canadians don't like the plastic money.  Getting cash is going to cost you a 'fee'.  It doesn't matter what anybody at any banking institution told you in the States.

Truthfully, this trip has been a great learning curve for a real out of country trip.  While Canadians abhor being thought of as Northern Americans, the reality is we share far more similarities than differences.  The experiences I've enjoyed here have far outweighed the difficulties of being a foreigner.  The size of this country is awe inspiring.  The sparse population was one of many surprises.  There are only 35 million Canadians as compared to 350 million Americans.  We've been made to feel overwhelmingly welcomed here especially in places not normally thought of as tourist destinations.  If you want to come to Canada, get in touch, Drake and I have paved the way for you.