VW Vagabonds

We had a 4-hour layover in Winnipeg, so we took advantage of a city tour that Via arranged with a local bus company. Invariably I find these tours are a great source of historical information about a city and this one was no exception. We visited the legislature, a beauiful sculpture garden, the grave of Louis Riel, and a church, driving through many interesting neighborhoods along the way. Many photos of this tour can be found at https://picasaweb.google.com/109471170472848057534/WinnipegAndPrairies Then, back on the train for the last leg of our journey. We both agreed that if the train were to be delayed a day, we would be happy to remain on board as long as they continued to feed and care for us as they have so far! In the afternoon our car attendant gave a very ... read more

We woke up this morning to find the sun shining (a little bit) and our colds abated (somewhat), so we decided to take advantage of the good conditions while they lasted, and headed off to drive the Gatineau Parkway. What a trip down memory lane to be in these hills amid the fall colors, with the sun dashing in and out! I remember many hikes up to the Belvedere Lookout, in company with different family and friends over the years. I remember hiking myriad trails with friends Patrice and Susan back in the 90s, getting so lost we probably logged 20 km one Sunday instead of the 5 we intended. I remember the many times I took my mother to Moorside for a coffee and a slice of pumpkin-mince pie. How she loved the tea room! ... read more

We arrived at John and Maggie's in Kinburn around noon today! After our problems yesterday with getting access to the Internet in Ottawa, we have found J&M's Internet to be exemplary here today - everything is working just as it should! Yay! We spent a wonderful day here. It always feels like coming home to me to come to this house. We were given a very comfortable room, an even more comfortable bed, and wonderful food, including home made scones and 6-year-old cheddr for lunch and Thanksgiving dinner in the evening. In the afternoon, Maggie was gracious enough to take Katherine out to some artisans who were exhibiting their wares in this area this long weekend. We saw beautiful pottery, woodworking, fiber art, blown glass, home-made soap, and more. And at long last I've found Sarah's ... read more

Well, we spent another day walking all over old Quebec City but today we gave up an hour earlier! C'est la fatigue accumulée! We ache all over! But we’ve had a marvelous time. Easier to reflect on that from the relative comfort of our room, however. We started out our morning with a caleche ride. It seemed like a pretty good thing to do, given that it was pouring rain this morning. This would have been even more fun on a dry day, with the roof down, but it was pleasant to ride at a slow pace and our driver was extremely knowledgeable about the history of this city, so we learned a lot. We paid another visit to Le Cochon Dingue for café au lait (Roberta) and chocolat chaud à l'ancien (me). Then we visited ... read more

As an aside, I absolutely HATE the fact that this blog forces me to select a continent, country, region, and city and then doesn't give me the choice of Clair, NB, which is where I've been for the last 5-6 days. The best I could do was Edmundston, NB. Sigh! We've had the extraordinary good luck to be here for the absolute best of the fall colors. We came east at this time of year in part to see this again, and we have certainly not been disappointed. We're hoping that as we move westward, we'll catch more of the peak, given that the season is probably earlier here than in Quebec and Ontario. A bit of comic relief from all this beauty are the cluster flies that have been plaguing us at the camp for ... read more