Oh Canada Our home and Native Land

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Hello all my dear family and friends. We have now officially left our "home and native land" and are in the land of the "star spangled banner". We stayed in Canada for just about as long as we could, travelling on our motorcycle. It got to be that we had to start travelling later in the day and stop earlier in the evening as the cold weather is upon us now. The daylight travelling was still amazing with temps mostly in the high teens or low twenties, but early morning and the evenings ------ just to COLD!!!!!
So---- into America we went.
I guess am getting ahead of myself and should back up and start where I left off with this most amazing journey.

Sept 17, 2010. It was a rather uneventful night on the ferry, no singing, dancing, falling down or anything else entertaining, so we just went to sleep. BORING!!!!!. I found it hard to sleep cause I knew that before this day ended I would be wrapped tightly around my daughter Amanda and my grandbaby Natalie. I would wrap myself around Kyle too, but I kinda don't think he wouldn't be too impressed. Right Kyle? Anyway I did manage to sleep a little bit and Rene had a pretty good rest. As the ferry was docking at 6:00 am we were watching the rain pelt down. Not a great way to start the day, but start it we did. We were on our way to Shubenacadie (what a fun word) to meet the kids and the Tate family (that would be Kyle's parents, Donald, Gail, Katelyn and Korey) to participate in this crazy rafting adventure called Tidal Bore Rafting. What is the Tidal Bore you ask? Well let me tell you in a minute. I need to tell you first about the 7 hour journey from Sydney to Shubenacadie. So it was raining right? Well ----- it continued to rain for the 1st hour and man was it was a cold rain. We stopped for breakfast finally after the 2nd hour of pouring rain. When I walked into the resturant, I took my left boot off and drained the water out of my sock. Yes ---- I wrung my sock out, my boot was so wet. Just the left foot though, not the right one. Go figure. Anyway as we were sitting having breakfast with our frozen fingers we decided we probably needed better water proof gloves. We found some rubber gloves that were hideous looking, but OH did they do the trick. I also asked the waitress for some plastic bags for my boots and put them in. (at least it feels kinda dry that way) Now one can only sit in a busy resturant for so long before the management gets a little annoyed, so after S -L -O -W- L -Y eating we knew we had to make a move, so off we went. Well, it continued to rain in the 3rd and 4th hours and then it decided to POUR in the 5th and 6th hours. At one point we stopped under a gas station awning, just to get a break and because we could hardly see for the pouring rain. I'm sure the other motorists had thought we had lost our minds. "If it's raining that hard, why are those crazy motorcyclists on the road" is, I'm sure, what they thought. Anyway we were on a mission and nothing was going to stop us from meeting up with our baby. We finally made it to Shubenacadie at about 2:00 pm, soaked to the bone. Absolutely NOTHING was dry. The Tate's were not there yet, so we checked in to the cabin and proceeded to hang up our wet stuff. Just as we were done that Amanda came flying through the door and threw herself into Rene's arms, and then mine. Oh the comfort of a family hug!!!! I was certainly excited to see her, but craning my neck to find that precious baby. When Natalie came through the door with Kyle, my heart melted. I snatched her from her father's arms and practically didn't let go all night. She had grown sooooo much!!! She was crawling and babbling like a crazy kid. So wonderful to see her!!! Yeah OK, wonderful to see her parents too (hee,hee). Kyle's friends Jamie and Melissa were joining us as well in this rafting adventure. Donald, Gail, Katelyn and Korey came soon after and we visited the evening away.
Sept 18, 2010. So----back to the Tidal Bore Rafting Adventure. A tidal bore is a wave up to 20 feet high created when the ocean tide is forced into a narrow river. The Shubenacadie River is the ONLY place in the world to see a tidal bore of this magnitude. (and one of only 6 rivers in the world where you can go Tidal Bore Rafting.) When the tidal bore hits full strength, it is followed by class 3 to class 5 rapids. So the adventure started very early at 7:00 am. High tide was coming in at about 8:00 so we had to gear up and get out on the river. We began by putting on these great huge life saving suits. Whole suits, as opposed to vests--- in case of what???? O.K so on go the suits, some still wet and COLD. I was already thinking that I had had enough rain,wet and cold yesterday to last me a life time, but ------- I said I would go SO----- on went the cold, wet suit. Then a 2 minute walk into the mist and fog to the river where the Zodiac and our guide are waiting. Into the boat the 8 of us went (Donald and Gail offered to babysit Natalie----Hmmm I wonder if they knew what was about to occur for the rest of us--- pretty cagey of them if you ask me 😊. On down the peaceful quiet river we went. For about 1/2 hour we glided on the beautiful Shubbie River, watching the sun burn off the fog and our guide lulling us into this false sense of calm. We got out of the raft on this great sand bar and while Rene and Amanda threw each other into the freezing cold water, threw chocolate mud at each other and frolicked in the mud and water, the rest of us watched and laughed. Our guide told us to watch the edges of the sand bar as the tide was coming in. Sure enough while we were standing there, the water comes flowing around the sand bar. Soon we are jumping back into the boat and watching the waves crashing in. Then when the waves were about 7 feet high our guide points the boat straight into them and we are being pounded by the water, jumping the waves and getting totally soaked. What an adrenaline rush. Riding the waves, crashing into the waves and being scared half to death. Crazy? Maybe!! but what FUN!!!!. Just when we thought the fun was over, the guide points the boat up the river and we went mud slideing. Mud slideing is just literally sliding on the mud. What crazy fun that was. I think it would have been more fun if the weather was warmer, but it was fun just the same. After the rafting we went back to Donald and Gail's cabin where they had this marvelous breakfast ready for all of us. How kind and thoughtful. We cleaned up our gear, repacked and then off we all went again. Rene and I were planning to stay in a hostel in Halifax that night, because the kids were going to hang out with their friends and Donald and Gail were going back home. When Melissa found out that was our plan she immediately changed our plans and invited us to stay at their home. What a nice invitation. We spent the afternoon with Kyle, Amanda, Natalie, Jamie and Melissa checking out the Halifax Harbour. What a grand old Harbour. While we were walking on the wharf, this young lady grabs onto Kyle's arm, stops him dead and excitedly asks if he is indeed Kyle. He kinda looks at her and carefully nods his head. Then Amanda sees this young lady and as crazy as this sounds, finds her friend Cherri and her guy Sheldon. As it turns out Cherri worked with Amanda in Spruce Grove and moved to Dartmouth (across the bay from Halifax) to attend University. Cherri had moved away about a year prior. How amazing to meet an old friend by chance thousands of miles away. God really does have a sense of adventure too. So after a couple of hours of visiting with Cherri and Sheldon, we left them and went back to Jamie and Melissa for a yummy BBQ. Everyone else sat out by the fire yacking and I got to snuggle with my grandbaby and put her to bed. BLISS!!!!!!

Sept 19, 2010. Woke up with the kids and had a relaxing morning together. Korey had a hockey game in Halifax in the afternoon, so everyone was back to watch the game. Rene and I watched for the first 2 periods then decided we should continue on our journey. Our plan was to go back to Cape Breton and ride the Cabot Trail. We arrived at the Bear on the Lake guesthouse in Whycocomagh (Nova Scotia towns have such great names!) later that day. Settled into our room, ate some dinner and fell into bed.

Sept 20, 2010. We woke up still feeling pretty exhausted from the last couple of busy days and decided to just have a day of rest and relaxation. We looked at pictures, read, an I worked on my blog. In the afternoon we went for a 2.5 hour walk to the town of Whycocomagh (just like saying the name) and back. The sweet young gal, Kat, that runs the hostel made this great dinner for all who wanted to participate. We had a wonderful dinner together and spent the night hearing and sharing travelling adventures.

Sept 21, 2010. Woke up and decided it was the day to explore the Cabot Trail. We met Matt, the night before. Matt is from the U.S and is touring on his Honda Shadow. We set out at about 9:30 am. Now, I had been out to Nova Scotia a couple times before, but never with Rene. On one of those trips by myself I took a picture of these 2 adironack chairs overlooking a lake. I went home and told Rene that the next time I went back would be with him and we would get someone to take a picture of the two of us sitting on these chairs. Well Matt was the guy. So on our way to the trail we stopped and Matt (bless his heart) took a picture, just where I wanted. Then off to the trail we went. As we travelled along it got windier and windier. What we didn't take into account on this ride was the after effects of Hurricane Igor. The winds were crazy!!!! And of course the higher we went on the trail, the greater the winds got. We were very brave and continued on the trail. It was so beautiful. The Cabot Trail is 298 kms long and winds through incredibly spendid scenery. Costal cliffs, waterfalls, stunning seascapes, highlands and beaches is what the trail is all about. So beautiful it's hard to take it all in and to believe that we were really part of all of this wonder. At the tip of the Trail is a point called Meat Cove. We stopped for a while at this cape and watched 15-20 foot waves crashing into shore. The sea foam was everywhere and about a foot thick in places. All because of the Hurricane. (Speaking of Igor, it appears that it hit hard, the communities where we were staying in Newfoundland. I guess we were lucky to leave when we did). The Cabot Trail ride took us about 7 hours. Of course we stopped lots, to ohh and aww and sometimes to thank God we didn't fall off the cliffs because the winds were so strong. Got back to the hostel and Kat and guests were busy making another delicious meal. Spent another evening sharing stories with others, but into bed early. EXHAUSTED!!!

Sept 22, 2010. Our plan since the beginning of this trip was to spend a few days with Kyle, Amanda and Natalie in Nova Scotia, as they were "home" for Kyle's best bud's wedding. So for the next couple of days we were off to spend time with them. We got to Antigonish (another cool town name) in the early afternoon and just hung out with the Tate family. Gail's parents offered us the use of their holiday trailer that Donald brought to the yard. We had our own little home close to the kids that way. What a gift.

Sept 23, 2010. Another day of just chillin and watchin the baby. I just can't seem to get enough of her and I just wanted to hug and kiss her every minute. Of course she is MISS INDEPENDENT now and isn't so happy to sit and cuddle for hours. Anyway I had my way when she was napping and when she wasn't napping we played and went for walks. She has Rene wrapped around her little finger. She makes these silly faces at him and he just turns to mush. So cute!!! We got another nice surprise this day. Amanda's cousin (Rene's nephew) Jesse, his wife, Rachel and their 2 children, Cole and Faith had connected with Amanda and Kyle earlier in the month and shared that they were coming to Nova Scotia to see other friends, heard Amanda and Kyle were going to be there and would love to see them. They arrived at the Tate home and stayed for the night as well. We all had a great visit. Jesse and Rachel stayed in the trailer with us that night.

Sept 24, 2010. Just another day in paradise with my oldest daughter and my grandbaby. Played, walked, napped, played, walked, napped..........

Sept 25, 2010. Jamie and Melissa were scheduled to exchange their vows. The wedding was at 3:00 pm, so Rene and I decided to leave just after the Tate family went to the wedding. It was foggy and misty and there was some talk of us staying one more night, but I was emotionally ready to say good-bye, so off we went. It was very difficult to say good-bye to the kids, but we were also excited to explore more and continue our journey. We headed out towards the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. What a beautiful ride. The leaves are just starting to change colors, so the ride was full of gorgeous rivers and lakes bordered by green, red, yellow, orange and golden leaves. No other traffic on the road, so peace and calm with great views. We were headed back to Halifax and the downtown hostel. When we got to the hostel there was no room at the inn, so we found a campground and set up camp. It was a warm night and we had not had our camping gear out for a very long time, so it was good to spend the night together in our cozy tent.

Sept 26, 2010. We had a lazy morning and finally got up at 10:30 am. Too cold to ride early in the morning. I guess that is a good indication that it is time to head south for the winter. Our destination was Tony and Tamara's on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. Tamara is a friend of mine from work. We worked together for 3 years in Stony Plain and she and her family moved back to Nova Scotia in 2003. Anyway, Rene and I worked our way south stopping to gaze and marvel at Peggy's Cove and other wonderful coastal scenery. We stopped for a snack at the Trellis cafe and called Tony and Tamara to let them know we were close and to get final directions to their home. Tony laughed when he heard where we were, because he told me to look around and I would find Jane, their 18 year old daughter. She was there apparently doing a school project. WOW again!!! Well---- we didn't need directions as Jane was ready to go home, so we followed her. Tony and Tamara took us out to the Rope Loft resturant in Chester. We had------- yep---- fish and chips. I'll eat red meat again one day I'm sure. When by the ocean, how can we not eat seafood. Had a great evening with Tony and Tamara, visiting and catching up with each other's lives. Stayed with them in their home overnight. Thanks so much for everything!!

Sept 27, 2010. Got up to more chatting, laughing and breaky with Tony and Tamara. Again have to wait a couple of hours until travelling, so left at about 10:00. We checked out more of the South Shore including Mahone Bay and Lunnenberg. Both gorgeous coastal towns. After exploring the South Shore, we decided to head off to the "Valley". That would be the Annapolis Valley. Such a different landscape in the valley. The valley is full of lucious farm land, vineyards and apple orchards. The apple trees were full and heavy with red, delicious apples. The boughs of the trees so heavy with these apples, they almost touch the ground. Going to be some juicy, delicious apples picked this year. Next we went to a area called the "Lookoff". It is a viewpoint that overlooks much of the Annapolis Valley, with of course the Bay of Fundy around it. Breathtaking really. One can see the different crops that are being or ready to be harvested. Next we were off to see if we could find another friend of ours. Mike and Sue were both raised in Nova Scotia, but moved out West and raised their family. They have now decided to move back to Nova Scotia and start a Bed and Breakfast. Their B&B was on our route to Digby Nova Scotia, so of course we found Sue easily and interupted her renovations for 1/2 hour or so to check out their amazing new venture. Nice to see Sue. Mike still in Alberta, finishing off his work contract. After leaving Sue we motored on to Digby. We were catching the ferry from Digby Nova Scotia to Saint John New Brunswick. The ferry was leaving at 8:00am. We decided to take the ferry because we were heading to Maine USA. By taking the 3 hour ferry we were cutting our riding by about 7 or 8 hours. We arrived at Digby and it started to rain again. Not hard, but certainly raining enough to make camping miserable and quite unthinkable, but we saw a sign for a campground and went in to check it out. Well it turned out that this campground had about 6 or so small shelters. These shelters had a roof, soft sides and two wooden bunks inside. Well this turned out to be perfect. We got out our mats and sleeping bags, set them out on the bunk and fell fast asleep. Both Rene and I woke up several times in the night to the pitter, patter of rain. Thank goodness for camping shelters that we knew nothing about until now.

Sept 28, 2010. Up early to catch yet another ferry. We are getting to be professional ferry takers now. Got into saint John New Brunswick at about 11:00 am. we could hardly see anything for the thick, heavy fog. While on the ferry we talked about not staying in Saint John, but rather heading across the boarder into Maine. When we got off the ferry in the fog we knew that we were not going anywhere real fast. we called the hostel and there was room, so staying in Saint John was the menu for the day. I had not been feeling real well the last couple of days. Just a head cold and stuffed up sinus'. We booked into the hostel at about noon. I quickly found the tub and while Rene went for a walk, I attempted to bath and steam away my cold. When Rene got back and I finished in the tub, the fog and mist lifted as well, so off we went to explore the city. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in America. Has these very old, very interesting buildings that are still be used as businesses and homes. Incredible old architecture. After exploring the city we made some dinner and chilled out for the night.

Sept 29, 2010. Up early to a very fogged in day. Our hostel operator told us that it is often foggy in the city in the fall. She also stated it most often clears up in the early afternoon, or even outside of the city on the other side of the bay, it can be a totally different temperature. So off we rode at 10:00 am. At about 11:30 we were at the U.S border and the sun was shinning down and it was a gorgeous afternoon. The border crossing was a piece of cake. NO problems at all with the nice young man who was thrilled for us and wished us an amazing journey. Guess it depends who you get at the crossings EH? Anyway, the trip then from the border to our destination of Bar Harbor, Maine was pretty uneventful. The leaves are starting to change along the way and the foliage is beautiful. Got to the hostel in Bar Harbour at about 4:00pm. Went for a walk to check out the town. A real tourist town that is on the border of Acadia National Park. Made some dinner and chatted with the other travellers and off to bed.

The fall colours are so beautiful and sounds like we are going to be watching the colours continue to change along the way.

And so we remain--------
In the Grip of Grace
Rene and Crystal.

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Photos

Tidal Bore Rafting
Cool suits eh?

Hunters
Just like home, but in Nova Scotia

Halifax Harbour
Hanging out on the Harbour

overlooking the lake
Got my picture finally

Our new friend Matt
Doing the Cabot Trail together

Cabot Trail
So beautiful

Cabot Trail
More beauty

Cabot Trail
More and more beautiful scenery

Meat Cove
15 foot waves

Sea foam
1 foot of sea foam bubbling like crazy

Shipworks
check out the smart car beside the boat

Peggy's Cove
Self portrait at Peggy's Cove

Mahone Bay
3 different faiths, side by side

Lunnenberg
World Heritage Site. Where the Bluenose sits

Lookoff
Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia

More Valley
Another shot of the Annapolis Valley

Saint John New Brunswick
First incorporated city in North America

fall at the Border
Going into Maine

Maine
1st day in the USA

Best scenery of all
Isn't she cute.

Comments

[Cheryl and Mickey]

Wow. What an adventure you guys are having. Yes you are crazy. But filling your hearts with amazing memories. And yes we miss your smiling faces as church and and the gym. So happy for you guys. Love your updates. :)))

[Sally Weenink]

Love, love, love your blog and all the pictures! Looks like you are having an amazing time...what a beautiful country we live in! Drive safe!

[Jodi]

Awesome adventures!
Thanks for the blog! I love traveling vicariously through you! Mike talked to his father who was very happy to report that you stopped in for tea. He said you didn't stay long but that it was SO NICE of you to visit! You got out of Newfoundland just in time. It's quite a mess there. The Baldwin home didn't have any damage but they had to evacuate for a while as they feared a large tree would come down. It didn't, but they had to cut it down later. Mike's sister's home has had some flooding damage but she says it's nothing compared to what some folks have endured. It's so great that you got to spend some time with Natalie. YES, she's adorable! Tidal bore rafting sounds awesome! What an experience! We did the Cabot trail in a car without those winds but on a bike in gale force winds must have been SCARY! Have fun and keep up the great blog work!

[Lee]

How wonderful...
that you were able to see Amanda, Kyle and Natalie so far from home!! Sounds like you are having all sorts of adventures !! Stay well !

[Jenn]

Wow!
What an awesome adventure! You certainly are courageous. No way I could handle being that wet and cold - I would be a misery to be around! The pictures are beautiful and I bet you are loving the east coast of the U.S. My goodness Natalie is certainly growing- and yes, cute as a button! Her Mom is looking good too. Love the blog, I check for a new one very frequently. God Bless. Love ya lots. Jenn

[Tracy]

I soooo want to be with you and enjoy exploring with you! I am glad you got time with your beautiful granddaughter (I got tears when I read that part). Love you Tracy xoxo

[steve p]

can't get your blog
Hey you guys, miss you lots. To make things worse i can't get your blog on the internet passed newfoundland b'y. I just read your latest on Sue's e mail. Am I doing something wrong? Have fun, if you can without all of us, lol. Steve x.