Paula Hays

paulahays

Paula Hays

Husband Bob and I have been travelling around in a travel trailer for the past 16 years. We're now in our fourth camper (just right!) and have added four cats to our crew. We have traveled approximately 160,000 miles over these years and have seen every state but Alaska and North Dakota, some several times, and we've also visited Canada many, many times from the Maritime provinces to the far western coast. During the month-long trip we just returned from, we traveled to the eastern part of Newfoundland and also spent a week in Nova Scotia. We'd traveled up the western coast of Newfoundland 8 years ago.

Now that we are retired and, since last year, living in Maine for half the year (Florida the other half), we're traveling less. There's just too much beauty in Maine we have yet to see.

I began these blogs in 2009 and they work well in showing our friends where we've been -- and how breathtakingly beautiful and fascinating this continent is. We also hope we're encouraging our friends to see some of these sights firsthand.

We hope you enjoy our travels.

Paula & Bob
June 23, 2016

Last Blog from Nova Scotia / Newfoundland

North America » Canada » Nova Scotia » Lunenburg September 6th 2016

colorful buoys

paulahays

Hi, All -- We've been home since before July and here it is early September. Clearly I've been stretching out these blogs -- but I didn't want to over-blog anyone. The first photos are of the major cemetery for the victims of the Titanic, which is in the outskirts of Halifax. It was a cloudy day and the place felt sad. So many children . . . Most of the rest of the photos were taken around Mahone Bay and Lunenburg which are on the southeastern shore of Nova Scotia about 2/3 of the way down the lower half. The orangey sign was in a small museum in Mahone Bay and has information about what the "freight" (a person) was allotted during the three month journey, from 1750 - 1752, on a ship from Rotterdam to ... read more

return to Nova Scotia

North America » Canada » Nova Scotia » Lunenburg August 30th 2016

interesting fowl

paulahays

Bob and I returned to Nova Scotia from Newfoundland via the Port aux Basque Ferry in southwest Newfoundland, a 5 hour ride (give or take) to Halifax, NS. Our first small adventure was to re-visit the Shubenkadia Wildlife Park. You'll see photos of a cute little moose and two peculiar looking fowl I took at the Park. We first travelled to Nova Scotia 15 years ago. We think this was our 7th trip. It's a delightful and interesting Province to spend some time and the Scotians (?) are universally friendly, courteous, and kind. The photo of the bridge piling is in the Bay of Fundy area which has the highest tides in the world, usually over 50 feet. Imagine something like that happening in your back yard twice every 24+ hours. We then began our way ... read more

A Bit More of Newfoundland

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » St John's August 8th 2016

three sheds

paulahays

Hi, Again -- The first photo scene, the three colorful sheds, is used in all of the Province's PR materials. We were lucky to see it. The next photos were taken in Bowring Park in St. John's. You might want to read the story on the plaque, "Into No Man's Land." Even through this tragedy happened July 1, 1916, Newfoundlanders still commemorate that date and wear a blue flower for remembrance. The last photo, a truck on its side, was taken on our way to the five-hour ferry to Nova Scotia. We had just passed the "Wreakhouse" in a very strong wind when we saw the overturned truck. There's a story about the Wreakhouse, related here by Wikipedia: Lockie MacDougall, a farmer and trapper, was born in 1896 and lived at Wreckhouse. He had a natural ... read more

St. John's, capitol of Newfoundland

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » St John's August 5th 2016

Newfoundland dog

paulahays

Hi, Friends -- I took these photos in St. Johns, the capitol of Newfoundland, which is on the far eastern side of Newfoundland. The first photos are of Cabot Tower on the top of Signal Hill. Some history from my friend, Wikipedia: "In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic wireless message at a position near the tower, the letter "S" in Morse Code sent from Poldhu, Cornwall, United Kingdom. . . .In 1933, a Marconi station was opened on the second floor of Cabot Tower, which operated until 1960. In 1920, one of the first wireless transatlantic transmissions of the human voice was made there. Men at the ... read more

Cabot Tower plaque -- at 400 year anniversary

More of Newfoundland

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » Bonavista June 24th 2016

puffins

paulahays

Friends -- As you can see, the first few photos are of puffins. Bob and I walked out to a ledge where there was a crevasse separating people from the puffin colony on an adjoining ledge. I always wondered where they hung out. Apparently, they don't just sit around in trees. We could have spent an hour or so just watching those cute little birds. However, it was windy and cold, so we moved on to the root cellars in the little village of Elliston, very near Bonavista which was at the tip end of a northeastern peninsula. If you can read the sign, you will be informed that Elliston is the world's leader in root cellars, over 100 still useable. Root veggies probably do well in that cold, windy weather. The crate in front of ... read more

Newfoundland and Nova Scotia

North America » Canada » Newfoundland & Labrador » St John's June 23rd 2016

on Cabot Trail

paulahays

Dear Friends -- These first photos were taken on the Cabot Trail in New Breton, the northern half of Nova Scotia. We left our cabin in Maine on the 23rd of May, then crossed over to New Brunswick, CA from Calais, ME, a two hour drive from home. We drove north in New Brunswick to where we could cross over into Nova Scotia and then headed north to New Breton and the Cabot Trail, which is quite lovely. That took us to the northern most part of Nova Scotia where we caught the 5-hour ferry to Newfoundland. Note the twin set toilets I ran across in a restaurant. Either they're built for couples who can't stand to be apart for even a minute or the residents of Nova Scotia are really, really friendly folk. The sign ... read more

Wilbur Chocolate, High Point Memorial, Ft. Knox, Penobscot Narrows Bridge

North America » United States » Pennsylvania » Lancaster January 26th 2014

Wilber's Chocolate

paulahays

This is the last blog from Bob's and my fall trip in '13. When we were visiting Bob's two sisters in Pennsylvania last fall, we visited the Wilbur Chocolate store in Lititz where one of his sisters lives. We've gone there over many years and bought many pounds of chocolate. As you can see from one of the first photos, Wilbur's was established in 1848 and it's still doing a brisk business. We especially like the semi-sweet buds. High Point Memorial in NJ, built in 1930 to honor the war dead, provides a view of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Ft. Knox (not THE Ft. Knox) is located right near the Penobscot Bridge. From the internet: "Located on the west bank of the Penobscot River in Prospect, Maine, in an area known as the Penobscot ... read more

Iles de la Madeleine -- items of interest (hopefully)

North America » Canada » Quebec » Îles de la Madeleine November 19th 2013

whimsy lady's tearoom

paulahays

Hi, All -- One afternoon while driving around the Islands, we stopped at a quaint little house for tea and cake and met the owner / server & cook / artist who sat and talked with us for awhile. The next day we returned and she showed us her "gallery" in the basement (which had been dug out by her and her brothers). There she had gathered a number of her portraits of colorful residents. Next to each stood a full sized replica of that person with a sculpted face and hands, hair, in some cases arms and legs, dressed in their uniform or other attire. You can see in the first photo one of her creations -- though probably not a resident. The painting of the cats is probably the best I've ever seen; she ... read more

More Iles de la Madeleine -- the picturesque islands

North America » Canada » Quebec » Îles de la Madeleine November 10th 2013

the gold hill

paulahays

This is from the "Official Tourists' Guide" -- "As far as the eye can see, the islands and the dunes seem to blend, break apart, and then stretch out of sight as if dropped by a whimsical sea. The islands look like tiny landmasses enlivened by brilliant green valleys, spectacular white sandy beaches, deep red cliffs, and the countless shades of blue that the sea and the lagoons reflect from the sky. Here one encounters a nature that is rich and fragile . . ." As you can see from the map, long thin stretches of sand dunes join the dozen or so islands, usually with lagoons on one side and the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the other. There is one man-made causeway; the rest are natural connections. The little fishing and lobstering villages are ... read more

Iles de la Madeleine -- a little known jewel

North America » Canada » Quebec » Îles de la Madeleine October 24th 2013

multicolored house

paulahays

Hi, All -- First of all, I don't went to confuse you. We've been home for over two weeks. During the last half of our trip we had almost no Wifi connections so I couldn't send anything out on the internet. And after we got home, we had a lot of stuff to do. So here is my late blog of Iles de la Madeleine, a most magical place. Paula ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In the 13 years Bob and I have been traveling, we found the Iles de la Madeleine (Magdalene Islands in English) to be the most enchanting, picturesque place we’ve visited in the eastern half of North America. We’ve spent the past five days here and it’s b... read more

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