Blogs from Canada, North America - page 3

We took no photos of the area today because there were NO rest stops. Come on Ontario, take a lesson from your southerly neighbours. When we were in Grand Rapids, a Canadian traveller from the Soo told us he always takes Route 2 to BC every year because, in part, the rest stops are far superior to those in Canada (and there are less moose - we haven't seen a single one yet). This afternoon's leg was incredibly windy, at times blowing me from one side of my lane and back to the other. Add to this a huge amount of traffic on a 2-lane Trans Canada highway and it simply wasn't a pleasant journey. Ian experienced the same behind me, both of us criss crossing each other at times. The other problem is you don't ... read more

At this moment, I currently find myself perched quite comfortably atop a cushy bar stool, cozied up to my usual spot at the kitchen bar top, while sipping some satisfyingly bitter Starbucks dark roast in my favourite over-sized coffee mug. If it wasn't easy enough to figure out due to that slight overly-detailed description.. I'm home, back in Cowtown. And you might ask, how do I feel about that? The truth is I'm not really sure I know yet myself. When I left Italy nearly two weeks ago, I was relieved and elated to return home to my loved ones and see all their smiling faces again. And as for the part of the return, it felt even better than expected. My niece pretty much gave me the rock star welcome, smothered under a mountain of ... read more

Victoria, BC May 4th –7th, 2013 Ship was late arriving and clearing customs after a lovely sail in the Juan de Fuca Straits B and Jess were there to meet us and walk our suitcases to our 351 St James/ corner of Rendal in James Bay, 4 blocks from the Inner Harbour. We dropped our suitcases off and walked a few more blocks to a neighbourhood bar and had dinner and a local beer. We enjoyed meeting Jess, she is all and more of B’s descriptions of her. Nice lady, bright and funny. Sunday was B’s day off work, first, he drove us to the Salt Spring ferry dock in North Victoria, where we boarded a 35 minute cruise (again) to the lovely and well known Salt Spring Island. We saw it all: scenery, bakery, wineries, ... read more

Demain, est un jour non pas comme les autres. Car demain je prendrai l'avion.. "pff, un classique en ce qui te concerne!", me direz-vous. Oui oui, sauf que cette fois-ci, c'est pour une destination exotique (après déjà 2 ans, ça commençait à me démanger!), et avec un accompagnateur de choix. Demain, je prendrai l'avion direction Sri Lanka, pour un peu moins de 3 semaines, incluants plusieurs heures de voyagement et un record de 14 et 19 heures d'arrêt à Londres pour l'aller et le retour respectivement (allez, qui dit mieux??), et la cerise sur le gateau: je vivrai cette aventure avec nul autre que mon papou d'amour. Que de plaisir. Un jour, j'ai eu la piqûre pour le voyage (je ne t'en remercierai jamais assez, Sarah!), suite à quoi, mes différents séjours m'ont permis de réaliser ... read more

Cape Breton was kind of miserable the first day we were there, it rained most of the afternoon and the rest of the day was cloudy. We drove to Sydney stopping to see the Alexander Graham Bell site...but it was closed. The scenery probably would have been nice in the sunshine but in the rain things just felt dull. So in Sydney we went to the mall. What do else do you do on a rainy day? Well, lots of things, but it was nice just to go wander the mall. We drove back west through a different route and it was much sunnier the next day. The scenery seemed so much prettier! We passed through Antigonish and stopped at cape st. george to see the lighthouse, then drove along the coast until we reached New ... read more

ARRIVED ON TIME DELAYED by customs met by B and Jess walked to b&b then walked to dinner with kids going out with them today see http://www.hollandamericablog.com/albert/... read more

From Summer to Winter... read more

We are at the Calgary Airport, through security, as usual, very early, fast and relaxing, no crowds. Now we can relax until our boarding call at 2:20pm, take off scheduled for 3:20pm. getting jittery, not to mention teary eyed, feels like I am leaving home and going home, all at the same time?..How lucky am I to have two such places... read more

We had a late start from Fredericton but we made to Dartmouth by evening. We decided to leave sightseeing in Halifax for the next day as we were both tired of driving around and its always easier to navigate a new place by daylight. we spent 2 hours (so little time!) wandering around downtown and the wharf. I loved it! I could have spent all day there. I wanted to tour Alexander Keith's brewery, however at this time of year they only have tours on the weekend. Bad timing! If we had been there on the weekend we could have caught the Trews too, or next weekend Matt Mays is playing...where was I on that one? I guess thats what happens when you don't plan things. We go to a city famous for its music scene ... read more