Nov 1, 2019

Allie knocked on our trailer door early this morning.  She was still tired from her adventure last night but was ready to go to school.  Debbie and I dressed and enjoyed breakfast with the family as they prepared for another day of work and school. After they left, Debbie and I hooked up the trailer and drove the half hour to our house.  It was kind of surreal, driving into our city, seeing the changes and developments as we drove to our home.  We had mixed feeling as we drove into the driveway, sadness that the journey was over but happy to return to our home that had been well cared for while we were away.  There is no place like home.

Things we learned and felt about our trip…

We have lived and travelled in most of the province of British Columbia and parts of Alberta so the purpose of our journey was to see more of the other provinces. Canada is a huge and beautiful country.  We experienced incredible sunsets in every province. Every province has its own beauty.  

For the most part, the people of Canada are friendly. French Canadians will accept you better if you try to speak French before you speak English in their provinces and towns. 

Our tour through Alberta from the Kananaskis foothills to Waterton Lakes, Cypress Hills, Dinosaur Park and Red Deer River valley, the Canadian Rockies, and Cold Lake provided us a wide range of interesting vistas and experiences. Saskatchewan and Alberta’s farming industry is simply impressive in so many ways. Saskatchewan has the friendliest people in Canada. The beauty of the flat land can only be appreciated by driving the secondary highways. The beautiful Qu’Appelle Valley, of course, provided another unique characteristic of this province.  Prince Albert National Park is a jewel of this province.  

Manitoba is full of lakes and has the worst bugs in Canada. Whitefish Lake proved to be a secret to be kept by the dedicated fishermen. Riding Mountain National Park with its buffalo herd was awesome. The drive from Thompson to Winnipeg truly has to be the dreariest stretch of highway in Canada. The Forks Market, the Museum of Human Rights and the Royal Canadian Mint are truly places that Winnipeg can be proud of. Our visit to the town of Churchill, Manitoba was memorable, magical, surreal, and educational.  To kayak with the thousands of beluga whales, and watch polar bears in their habitat was awesome.  To learn the important history of this remote community and its struggles, meeting the residents and seeing the many unique sights was truly amazing and unforgettable. 

Our trip along Lake Superior, although it seemed never ending, was spectacular. Swimming in the clear waters at Pancake Beach, and in Five Fathoms National Park in Lake Superior was a wonderful experience.  Bruce Peninsula, Owen Sound, Georgian Bay all truly notable and memorable. Staying with newfound friends in Stratford was a pleasure. Kayaking in the Algonquin Park, visiting the nation’s Capital and touring the Niagara Falls and the Niagara Peninsula makes Ontario unforgettable. The Great Lakes of Canada are a major transportation corridor for the economy of Canada. Ontario has the world’s largest Nuclear Power generating plant.

Visiting historic Quebec City was an educational and cultural treat.  We enjoyed travelling the highways along the Gaspe Peninsula and seeing the Gulf of St. Lawrence on one side and colorful farmlands on the other. It seemed that there was highway construction on every road we travelled on in Quebec.  Isle de Magdalene was a pleasant surprise and a visit well worth the time and effort. This unique island has so much to offer.

Our journey on the passenger/cargo ship Bella Degagnes far exceeded any of our expectations. The ship was larger than we expected, modern and extremely comfortable.  Meeting the other fellow passengers was educational and rewarding. The many settlements that we visited on the Lower North Shore of Quebec left a lasting impression on us.  To find isolated communities, in this vast country, thriving and working hard to make a living is inspiring.  Visiting the Mengen Archipelago and seeing and touching the towering monoliths was truly a remarkable experience.

Newfoundland has the worst roads in Canada. The Newfoundlanders are friendly folks who accept you for who you are and go out of their way to help you. The neat houses, net shacks and fish boats painted in so many colorful paint schemes simply brightens the days.  Their use of the English language and the names of some of their communities are entertaining. Although we only drove about 300 kms of Labrador we were impressed with its ruggedness and vastness.  We never saw the moose that everyone talks about and we think it is another Newfoundland myth, similar to the TV tourist ads of a red haired girl dancing and prancing on the rugged coastline. We never saw her either.         

Our visit to the many iconic places in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick filled our days. We enjoyed seeing the many blueberry fields and the fall colors of the forests.  Searching and finding some of the old covered bridges was fun.  New Brunswick in our view, is not promoting these historical and iconic structures, which make up the fabric of that province. Many are disintegrating. The silted water of the Bay of Fundy with those immense tides is jaw dropping.  More water goes in and out of the Bay of Fundy in one day than all of the rivers in the world!

Prince Edward Island remains picture perfect.  The red beaches and the red paved roads and soil are remarkable.  We drove across most of it to get to Souris and remarked about the many roads that crisscross this small island. Charlottown’s harbor and historic district was scenic, educational and interesting.   

We found that a lot of small towns are struggling as the young people leave to work in larger urban centers. We have also noticed this in Spain, when we travelled there, so perhaps it is a global phenomenon

Although we explored some of the large cities, we did not enjoy the cities.  We found the crowdedness, busyness, traffic congestion and noise stressful.  Perhaps it is because of the slower pace that we had adopted, and the time we were spending in nature.  

We enjoyed discovering new things in each place, asking a local about their town and being directed to something that only they would share.  

Although we were with each other twenty-four hours a day, sometimes in confined spaces, our relationship seemed to have grown stronger. We both would not have wanted to share this experience with anyone else – not bad after 47 years of marriage.  Since our return we are suffering from wanderlust, and I am particularly having difficulty concentrating. 

Canada is a relatively young country, by world standards, and there are many iconic and historic buildings that I hope we can preserve.

We saw first hand the effects of global warming.  The fast receding of the Athabasca glacier, the accelerated melting of the ice floes in the Hudson Bay, the huge tracts of land destroyed either by forest fire, or the mountain pine beetle and the new and diverse crops now being planted on the prairies.  Because killer whales now have easier access to the beluga whale, due to the melting ice pack, the beluga whale population will be threatened.  Grizzly and black bears have been forced further east and North, due to recent forest fires, and are threatening other types of arctic animals. Global warming is changing our country and we need to do everything we can to stop it.

Parks Canada appears to be suffering from financial cuts.  Yoho, Banff and Jasper National Parks show serious signs of overuse and under maintenance.  

The current camping reservation system is a poor system and causes stress. Campers who reserve early and then do not show up at the reserved site are abusing the reservation system. The system is currently designed for on-line use, however, many campers are unable to access the websites due to their location (no Wi-Fi accessibility or inadequate cell phone coverage). 

By travelling across Canada, we learned much more about the history of Canada then what is being taught in school.  We both were average students in school; however, we since have learned a lot of things that were not taught to us in class.  We learned a lot more about the English and the French historical conflicts as well as the struggles of the first nations people, the Acadians and Metis. This is part of the history of Canada, and although some of it may be unsavory and hard for us to accept, it did happen, and it is part of the fabric of this nation. We have to know our past in order to know our future.

Creating and developing this blog has been an interesting experience.  At times I found it to be very time consuming, especially when we were in areas of poor Wi-Fi coverage.  I often had to download the rough drafts and photos several days after the dates and this “catch up” could take hours.  I learned a lot by doing it and found that I asked better questions and became more inquisitive sometimes for the purpose of building a meaningful post. 

As I write this post, I have over 8300 views and since coming home have spoken to many people who have followed the blog. We developed new friends and relationships on this journey.  Many of the new friends have been following us on this blog and leaving comments. To all the readers of this blog I want to thank you for your interest. Your comments were appreciated, and often inspired me to work on the blog, knowing that someone out there was actually reading it.  Thank you.

Reflections on Canada and our Journey:

STATISTICS:

Miles travelled: 28,838kms

Ferries: 13

Boats: 9

Airplanes: 2

Trains: 2

Buses: 3

Horse+Buggy: 2

National Campsites: 6

Provincial Campsites: 26

Municipal Campsites:4

Commercial Campsites: 13

Boondocking sites:6

Quilt shops visited:17

Kayaking excursions: 13

Great Lakes Visited: 4/5

Projects completed by Debbie while on the trip: 1 Quilted Canada Day Banner, 1 Afghan- grey and biege, 1 sock ¾’ s finished!

 

Oct 31, 2019

Today would be the last leg of our journey.  Our goal is to arrive on Vancouver Island in time to meet the grandkids as they set out to go “trick or treating”.  Although Debbie celebrates every occasion during the year, Halloween is one of her favorites.  She is a little disappointed to not be able to decorate or dress up for this year. She did buy a pumpkin that has been placed at the door of our trailer each night.

We said goodbye to our friends by 8:30 after eating a great breakfast that Connie had whipped up.  She had made enough pancakes to feed an army, but they were delicious. 

I have always enjoyed driving through the Fraser Canyon. Traffic was light and we wound our way along the twisting Fraser River, passing through the many quintessential tunnels and small communities.

After fuelling in Hope we meet the reality of suburbia. The traffic steadily grows in volume as you pass through Chilliwack and soon we are crawling along the choked freeway towards Vancouver.  Debbie navigated us to take Hwy#17 to the Tsawwassen Ferry terminal, and we made it on time to board the 3:15.  We sat in the line up for about 45 minutes until the Queen of Oak Bay swallowed us up. We would be able to see the kids dressed up!

We dropped the trailer at Rina and Jeff’s home in Cedar and then met them in Ladysmith.  We walked with them through several streets as they ran with their friends to the different houses to collect their bounty of candy.  We stopped in and visited for a short time with Ted and Heather, Jeff’s parents who live in the neighborhood.  It was then time to go back to their house and try to put two very excited but tired young girls to bed.  We stayed up with Rina and Jeff for a few more hours and then climbed into our trailer for our last sleep of the journey.  Tomorrow we drive to our house.

Oct 30,2019

Revelstoke is quiet at 7:00 in the morning.  The sun was starting to turn the white peaks around the town pink, while the valley was still in darkness.  There is something special about waking up in the mountains as the sun is rising.  The river has a light cloud of steam rising from the surface and the air is clean and brisk. There are patches of frost on the bushes that are kept in the shade in the valley. 

We walked to the Community Center.  There were a couple of energetic swimmers doing their laps.  We paid for our towels and enjoyed a hot long shower.  

It was now time for breakfast and prepare for our next leg. We decided to have our breakfast in the Modern Bakeshop and Café.  They made up a fantastic latte and breakfast sandwich.  Debbie bought a painting of two foxes painted by Zuzana Riha, a local talented artist.  It was being displayed in the café and it caught Debbie’s attention. As we were leaving the Café we spoke to a man who told us that we should walk down the street to see another unique creation made by the same artist.  It is a statue of a caribou made of everyday items from headsets, sunglasses, spatulas, computer keyboards and shin pads and many other things. It is simply eye popping!  If you visit her website you can see more of her creations.  Zuzana is a product development artist for Parks Canada.

As we headed west the highway was clear and dry, with light traffic.  There have been many improvements on the road since we last travelled it a year ago. The road has been widened and has many more passing lanes.  

We arrived in Enderby and the Armadillo factory by 11:00 and were greeted by Mike and Jason.  They were so pleased to see the trailer and inspect it to see how it fared through the +29000 kms across Canada and back.  There are some minor repairs that need to be done.  We decided that we would return it in the spring for the repairs and some upgrading and Mike agreed to return it to us when the jobs were finished.  I cannot say enough about the service that we have received from them. They listen to our concerns, explain what we need to know and reassure us that everything will be looked after.  Mike is going to tag this blog to their website.  I will also be contributing several more photos of our experiences onto their website also.  

We left Enderby at 12:30 and headed for Kamloops.  Debbie had made arrangements to meet up with Leanne, a quilting friend in Kamloops. I drove to Kieth and Evelyn‘s house to have a coffee and catch up with them  Debbie joined us a little later and it was fun to visit and talk about our trips. Keith and Evelyn have been friends with us since 1980 when they lived near us in Blue River. They had just returned from a trailering trip in Northern Alberta. We said goodbye to them around 5:30. 

We headed west again to Cache Creek.  Our friends Sonny and Connie were waiting for us there. They too are Blue River friends.  Connie had prepared a delicious chicken dinner for us and we sat up until after midnight catching up on each other’s news. They convinced us to sleep in their guest room tonight instead of in the trailer out on the street. We did and enjoyed sleeping in a bed somewhat larger than the one that we have been sleeping in for the past six and a quarter months.  We woke up several times in the night looking for each other!

Oct 29, 2019

We all woke early this morning, Helga was getting ready to go to work and we needed to get ready for our next leg of this journey.  John ate breakfast with us and checked road and weather conditions for us.  It looks like it is going to be a perfect travel day, no wind, sunny, and -7 degrees and warming! 

Our goal is to reach Revelstoke today, and from all accounts the highways are clear.  We said goodbye to John and Helga around 8:00, stopped in at the local Canadian Tire Store and bought a set of tire chains.  We did not want to take the chance of going through the Rockies without a set of tire chains, although we probably won’t need them.

As we headed west towards the Rockies we talked about how we have seen all of the seasons during this trip. As we crossed Canada going east, in each province we saw the progression of the growth of the various crops.  We have watched the fields being seeded, and then later watched as the crops grew out of the ground.  We have seen the farmers working on their fields and later harvesting the crops. There were still several combines working on the huge tracts of land in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Now as we travel further west there were many fields with the bales waiting to be collected and put up for the winter.

As we got closer to Calgary we could see the Rockies in the distance.  They had received a fresh cover of snow overnight and they became more and more spectacular as we got closer.  

We became part of the heavy traffic flowing into the city of Calgary.  Calgary is growing in leaps and bounds and its urban sprawl goes out many miles in all directions.  We took the bypass around Calgary to avoid the crush, that is so familiar to entering Calgary. 

As we left the boundaries of the city the mountains greeted us and we cruised into Banff to top up our fuel.  It is interesting to see that the gas prices 20 kms east of Calgary are 99.9/ liter and $1.18/liter, 95 kms west, in Banff.

Cruising through the Rocky Mountains is always a treat. The highways are in great condition with very little road construction delays.  We both agreed that the condition of the highways in Alberta and British Columbia are the best in all of Canada. 

As we passed through the sharp curves near Golden we saw the ever-present mountain sheep grazing on the side hills, oblivious of the trucks and cars whizzing by them.

We arrived in Revelstoke around 6:00 and scouted out where we would boondock tonight.  We found a quiet niche near the Community Centre.  We went into the downtown area and shared a small pizza, and then set up for the night.  We walked to the Community Centre, for a swim and hot tub and then enjoyed hot showers before turning in for the night.  

It is expected to get to about -6 degrees tonight but we are snug in our trailer with the furnace on.  Tomorrow we head for Enderby to bring our trailer to the factory so that they can check it over after this extensive trip. I also need to replace a propane tank cover that I cracked early in our trip. We will probably overnight in Cache Creek, depending on how long we are in Enderby, and make the final leg home, the following day.

Oct 28, 2019

It was a rocking night all night.  The winds swirled around us all night.  When I stepped out this morning, there was a foot high snowdrift right at the door.  It was -11degrees and the radio said that with the windchill it was actually -15. Brrrrr. We thought it best to get going right after we got dressed.  We stopped in at Uncle Bob’s Café in Swift Current and enjoyed a hearty breakfast.

As we headed west, the wind continued to blow steadily and all along the way huge white snow clouds rolled over us creating whiteouts. 

Our goal today is Banff, but before we get there we had to make a stop at Maple Creek to visit the gravesite of Debbie’s father    

Our next stop is Brooks.  The winds had followed us, or rather, greeted us in each province so it wasn’t any different in Alberta. My brother John has stored my bike while we travelled.  We are now taking it back home.  John and Helga have a new dog, Chevy, and he greeted us on the front steps. He is a rescued dog and has a quiet and loveable disposition. He has made himself quite comfortable in the short time they have adopted him.

John convinced us to stay overnight as we would be getting into Banff too late tonight. They had just purchased a new matress for the guest room bed and invited us to be the first to sleep on it. It didn’t take too much to convince us, after we had a shower and Debbie did some laundry. We all went out for supper and enjoyed each other’s company and told stories of our trip.    

Oct 27, 2019

It froze overnight.  Early this morning I noticed that the furnace was blowing cold air. Our propane tank was empty!  I climbed into my cold clothes, went out to switch over to the other tank and then climbed back into bed. The stabilizers for the trailer were frozen to the ground and needed to be pried loose.  We had a quick breakfast, hitched the trailer and drove over to the shower building.  These kind of cold mornings make you appreciate a hot shower!

I decided that we had to keep the propane tanks full so we went into Brandon to get the empty tank filled. It is -7 degrees and blowing and I did not want to run out of propane. 

Swift Current is our goal for today.  Traffic was light but the wind was steady and I noticed that our gas consumption had increased considerably.  

We had to stop at Moose Jaw and visit Mac the Moose!  We saw him in the summer without his rack, but he now had a new set.  Mac is going to be the tallest moose in the world again!

Our campsite for tonight is at the Kilton Hill Campground. It too is open until the end of October. We are the only campers here and we are right on the top of the hill. I told Debbie that you can see your dog run away for three days! It is also going to be prone to the winds that were howling across the prairies. 

Oct 26, 2019

Sleeping in this Wal Mart Parking lot turned out to be better than we expected.  We wanted to get on the road as soon as possible so our routine began right away. Debbie prepared breakfast as I dismantled the camp and readied the trailer for travelling. We were on the road by 8:30, but stopped at the Husky Truckers stop to have a shower.  The shower was clean and the warm water a blessing.  We then headed out.  

The wind was from the north west throughout the trip and buffeted us the whole way.  We noticed that the temperature was steadily dropping and the forecast was threatening snow flurries. We had to stop at the “center of Canada”.  We had passed by it going east but this time we had to stop and take photos.  It is significant in that we are now half way home.

Debbie had found a commercial campground near Brandon that was still open until the end of October.  Turtle Crossing Campground turned out to be a very well maintained campground.  We chose a suitable site and Debbie prepared a great supper.  We wanted to watch a World Series baseball game, so we unhitched the trailer and went into Brandon to watch the game at a Boston Pizza restaurant. We were both tired so we watched the first five inning and then decided to go back to the trailer.  The furnace had kept the trailer warm but I felt that it was cold enough to freeze up our water lines, so I drained the tank and decided to go without water for the rest of our journey.  We would be using bottled water for our meals and washes. It was time now for bed. 

Oct 25, 2019

It snowed last night!  We woke to a dusting of snow over everything.  It was 1 degree outside and frosty.  We checked the weather channel and there was no mention of snow, just light rain flurries.  We ate breakfast and got ready to drive west before any bad weather could stop us. 

As we drove along the shores of Lake Superior, we could see dark clouds forming ahead of us and within two hours we were driving through a rain/snow flurry.  The poor weather continued for about another hour and then we could see the sky beginning to clear. 

We stopped around Terrace Bay and Debbie went to the trailer and brought out some vegetable snacks and finger food.  We snacked on that as we continued towards Thunder Bay. By this time the weather had cleared and the roads were dry and we had very light traffic.  We had to stop for several construction projects, some of which had been going on when we travelled east.  We reached Thunder Bay around 3:30.  Traffic was light, the highways were dry and I was not feeling fatigued so we decided to push on. 

Debbie checked so see when sundown was going to happen, and we estimated that if all went well, we would be able to reach Dryden before dark. This part of the drive was the best. I set the cruise control and let the Sante Fe run.  The gas consumption was very efficient at the RPMs and I was not tired when we got to Dryden. We had travelled 810 kms. today and that was enough.  

We pulled into a 24 hr Husky truck stop and picked out a place to set up.  We went inside to check out the showers and shared a dinner meal.  As we ate, we watched the transports pulling in and around our rig.  We decided it would be too noisy here so we pulled up stakes and went searching for a more quieter spot.  We ended up, again, in a Wal Mart parking lot but it is a lot quieter than where we were. We set up camp for the night. I worked on the blog and Debbie did a little shopping.  Tomorrow our goal is to reach Brandon Manitoba.  

Oct 24, 2019

Carol’s Campground is quite a large RV campground that caters to long-term campers. We had access to electricity and water and enjoyed watching a movie on the TV.  This morning I went for a shower and although the water was hot, the facility was dirty and well worn.  Debbie took a sponge bath instead of going to the showers.  She had prepared breakfast when I got back so after we ate, we were able to leave right away. We were on the road by 8:45.

Debbie had plotted our course around the City of Sudbury and as we were cruising along I noticed that I was getting low on fuel. I thought that we would probably run into a gas station anytime.  Well, that was not to be and when we inquired on the GPS and then studied the map we realized that I better turn off the highway and try to get to a gas station in Whitefish, a little town on the outskirts of Sudbury.  We drove towards Whitefish and when my gas indicator told me that I had 2 kms left in the tank, I wheeled into the Legend Boat Manufacturing Co.  I sheepishly entered the showroom and inquired where the nearest gas station could be.  I was told there is an Esso about 12 kms down the road in Livley on the ouskirts of Sudbury.  After explaining my stupidity, the customer service agent told me that he will try to find some fuel at the plant and sell some to me. After making some arrangements with “the guys in the back”, Matthew came out with a plastic gas tank with 10 liters of premium boat gas.  I paid for the gas while Matthew hand pumped it into the tank. I am so grateful to the folks at Legend Boats and for Matthew who got us back on the road again.  We drove the rest of the way to Lively and filled the tank. After the many miles we had travelled on this trip I still can’t believe I made that stupid mistake.

We continued on our way, although about an hour behind schedule.  The trip on highway #17 is an easy drive.  We wound our way through Sault St. Marie, and continued along the shores of Lake Superior.  The south wind was strong and large waves were crashing on the shores. We passed by Pancake Bay, where we had enjoyed three beautiful days earlier this summer.  

We stopped at Alona Bay and I took some photos of the lake. This Point of interest is well known. The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is believed to be a short distance from here.  This Great Lake freighter sunk during a high windstorm on November 9,1975 taking with it, its 29 crewmembers. Gordon Lightfoot wrote the iconic song the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in memory of this tragic accident.  This Point is also the place where Uranium was first discovered in 1847.  Lawren Harris, one of the Group of Seven painters, painted a famous painting of Lake Superior from this point.

We drove as far as Wawa, and decided to stay here for the night. I had promised Debbie we would stop here, because this summer I drove right by it going east.  She had wanted to stop and buy some wine before we stopped at Pancake Bay.  That moment caused some “tension” that day and luckily for me, Laurel and Brian were able to relieve it when they later met us at the campsite.  I took a photo of Debbie with the big Wawa goose to prove to Laurel that we stopped this time!

We pulled into the quiet corner of the parking lot of the Wawa Community center and set up camp for the night.  We had shopped at the local grocery store and stocked up and Debbie cooked a great chicken dinner. We watched a movie and then packed it in for the night.

Oct 23, 2019

It poured rain all night but we both had a good sleep. Debbie had been suffering from flu like symptoms but seemed much better today.  We shared the shower in the truck stop and a light breakfast.  Because we are driving for long periods, we try not to eat too much.  My kayak had collected a lot of water overnight that had to be drained.  My cockpit cover has worn considerably on the trip and is no longer waterproof. After a rain there is inevitably a few gallons of water inside the cockpit.  That is extra weight we don’t need.

Our route today is through Ottawa on highway 417, over Algonquin Park to North Bay and onto Sudbury.  We went through Ottawa at rush hour so that was a bit stressful but we cruised through with no glitches.  The drive through the rural farms and small towns northwest of Ottawa was scenic and quite colorful.  The farmers are still harvesting the silage corn and fertilizing their fields.  The smell of the manure adds to the essence of fall.

Debbie is learning to knit so it was fun watching her knit and unravel her many attempts to start knitting a sock.  I think she finally was successful in getting it started about 200 kms down the road.  She is reading a knitting manual and requires both sets of glasses that she now has perched one on top of the other on her nose and forehead.  I saw that earlier when she was navigating us through the mazes of highways around Quebec.  It seems to work for her….

We rolled into Sudbury around 4:30 and stopped in at Carol’s Campground on the edge of the city.  This campground is still open until the end of the month.  We selected a spot near the back of the campground and set up for the night.  It has good WIFI so I can work on the blog.  We will see how far we get tomorrow.