Oct 2, 2019

We woke to a windy and cloudy day again.  The weather man promised scattered rain most of the day. Our plans are to cruise down to Joggins, to see the Fossil Cliffs, a UNESCO site.  These cliffs are at the edge of the shores of the Bay of Fundy and are subject to the action of the huge tides that roll in every day.  It was a short drive from Amherst, so after showers and breakfast we headed out.  

We arrived just in time to be part of a tour by the geologist-in-residence. We started out from the interpretive center and followed him down the stairs to the beach.  The cliffs loom 80 to 100 feet over the beach. The tide was out so the rocky beach was exposed as well as the face of the cliffs.  Our guide explained that within the next three hours, the tide would be expected to reach about 15 feet up the cliff walls.  The constant wave action is eroding the cliff walls continuously and exposing more fossils and each day can bring a surprise.  He explained how the shifting of the plates of the earths crust, the ice age and the cooling of the earth’s surface had created these layers upon layers of rock formations, each one telling us more about the history of our world.  Joggins is the site that revealed the oldest known reptile.  As we walked along the cliff face we saw fossilized tree trunks. Many of these fossilized trees were actually hollow and reptiles and insects were found inside the center. The original site of Joggins was an active coalmine until the early 1900’s, and many fossils were found as the coal was mined.  Debbie and I walked the shoreline for an hour and half until it was time to climb the stairs, as the tide was coming in quickly.  The interpretive center was very interesting and had many displays of fossilized reptiles, insects and plants preserved forever in stone.

Just outside of the interpretive center is a wind turbine and half way up its support column are painted marking to show how high the tides of the Bay of Fundy are.  

We then decided to continue our journey south to Cape d’Or. We followed a rough secondary road along the coast until we arrived in the village of Advocate Harbor.  We turned onto a gravel road that took us to the end of the cape.  The headlands are awesome and the high tide was now crashing against the rocks.  We walked down to the lighthouse that sits on a rocky shelf half way down the cliff side.  We learned that as the tide comes in, it splits into three different currents.  As it comes ashore near the Cape d’Or, it turns abruptly and clashes with the other currents creating huge rip tides.  The locals call these Dory Rips.  The tide was still coming in as we stood on the rocks by the lighthouse and watched the standing waves clashing with each other. 

Our journey then took us along the south shores of the peninsula to Parrsboro and then north again to Amherst.  We marveled at the red-sided hills.  The hills are covered with blueberry bushes.  Wild blueberry bushes grow to about eight inches high.  They reproduce by sending out shoots underground and the farmer controls the weeds and pests. Nova Scotia produces 30 million pounds of wild blueberries.  It is one of the primary horticultural industries of the province.  The blueberry bushes had all turned red after they have been harvested.  The hills are now a red color and are framed by the green forests, which are also slowly changing into fall colors. As we returned to the trailer we discussed the many interesting things that we learned and saw about this province. 

Tomorrow we are “pulling up stakes” and heading down to the Halifax area.  As I type this blog, the furnace is on and the temperature outside is going down to 2 degrees tonight.  We are visiting as many places as we can however, we are finding more and more attractions closed for the season.

Oct 1, 2019

Fall is here.  The furnace came on several times last night.  It seems that these last five months flew by.  Debbie and I discussed the weather patterns that we have had during our trip and we concluded that we only really enjoyed about four weeks of really warm summer weather.  We saw that the prairies got snow yesterday.  We are hoping that it will be gone by the time we start our trek west. 

Today we are leaving Charlottetown and heading back to Nova Scotia.  We want to visit Joggins, a UNESCO site.  We have seen the Bay of Fundy before but we missed going to Joggins.  This site features high cliffs at low tide that reveal a fossilized forest.  We hope to see that.  

We left Charlottetown by 10:00 and took a secondary road along the shores all the way to the Confederation Bridge.  We just cruised along looking at the farms that ended right at the shore.  Many of the farmhouses are already decorated, the fronts of the houses with fall decorations and Halloween decorations and pumpkins on the steps. 

We drove through the tollbooths after paying $56.00, and then were stopped in the parking lot for quite a long time as there were two oversize vehicles crossing from New Brunswick and they took up the whole width of the bridge.  

We finally made it into Amherst, Nova Scotia.  Debbie wanted to visit a famous rug hooker and also some quilt shops in Amherst.  We shared a lobster roll in a local pub, and then Debbie went on the hunt for the rug hooker.  I went to the post office and mailed five parcels- things that we had bought, that were now taking too much space in out little trailer.  I then walked through the downtown of Amherst.  This town of 9,000 people has some beautiful heritage buildings and an interesting history.  It is also the home of Sir Charles Tupper, the 6^thPrime Minister of Canada. Tupper was also the Premier of Nova Scotia and brought the province into the Confederation.

We located a commercial campground on the edge of the town and secured a site for the next two nights.  We finished yesterday’s stew, (it tasted even better), we read and then went to bed.             

Sept 30, 2019

Debbie was feeling a little under the weather this morning and so we decided to take it easy today.  We needed to rearrange some of our things in the trailer, (summer clothes had to be stored and the warmer clothes had to be brought out!).  We needed to do some laundry and Debbie wanted to ship out some things by Canada Post.

After taking a shower and setting up the slow cooker for a stew tonight she took some medication and went for a nap. I did the laundry and worked on the kayaks, cleaning and rearranging some gear.  We received a call from a quilting friend, Julia and her husband Bill.  They had just arrived in Charlottetown on a cruise and after reading the blog decided to see if we could meet up.  Debbie was feeling a little better this afternoon and so we drove into Charlottetown to meet them.  We met in a small bistro/pub on Richmond St. and enjoyed a light lunch and a beer.  We talked for two hours, catching up on their travels and telling stories about each other’s travels.  They then had to catch their tender to get back to their cruise ship.

Debbie and I walked around the old Charlottetown until it got dark and then made our way back to the truck and drove back to the campsite.  The weather certainly is changing.  We could see our breath as we walked.  When we got back to the trailer the smell of the warm stew made my mouth water.  We enjoyed a plate of stew, watched a movie and went to bed.  Tomorrow we are off to Amherst.     

Sept 29,2019

We showered quickly at 6:00 and tip toed out of the B+B. It was going to be a breezy day on the ferry this morning.  The terminal was bustling already and it looked like today was going to be a full load. 

We both needed breakfast so we immediately went to the cafeteria to get our meal.  This trip would allow me to catch up on the blogs.  I have received several e-mails wishing me a happy birthday and then reminding me that I was behind in my blogs!!  Pressure!!  

The trip was uneventful and we were anxious to get rolling down the road again. As we approached the terminal in Souris, I could see our trailer sitting in the Macdonald’s backyard. I think Debbie was suffering from separation anxiety! We disembarked and drove the 100 meters to the trailer.  All was well with it and we hitched up and started on our next leg of this trip.  

Our plan is to go and find a campground in the Charlottetown area, do some exploring there and then travel to Amherst and Joggins the following day. We wanted to take the coastal road to Charlottetown.  Every single provincial park and campground is now closed and gated shut.  We kind of expected that, so as we approached Charlottetown, we phoned ahead and secured a campsite in the KOA in Charlottetown. We stopped at Wood Islands Lighthouse and took some photos and walked around the area.  The Northumberland Strait was choppy and the windy was bitterly cold.

We checked into the KOA around 5:00 and set up for the night. The wind had stopped and the evening was pleasant so we walked along the beach and did some beach combing.  Debbie whipped up a great spaghetti dinner and I posted several blogs (to keep those impatient readers off my back!) and then we went to bed.

Sept 28, 2019

I woke up to the sound of Debbie singing “happy Birthday” to me and gunshots. It truly is wonderful to be celebrating my birthday on this unique island.  The sun was shining and the winds had slowed down and we felt that perhaps we could go kayaking today.  After another special complementary breakfast we headed out.  

Before going kayaking, we decided to visit several of the shops still open in the Le Grave area.  Several artist studios featured local artisan and artist crafts and we bought several items to take home.  We purchased a beautiful lamp constructed of the island sand and the shade is a painting of the local seascape.  

We then visited Verger Pomeloi, the local apple cider brewery, on the island.  JP and Lucy had recommended it to us and we were not disappointed.  We sampled several of the ciders and brandies that they produced.  We bought several bottles.  One unique brand features an actual apple inside the bottle of apple brandy.  The owner Eloi, explained that early in the apple growing season the small budding apple is inserted into a bottle which is then attached to the branch.  When the apple is mature, the apple is clipped from its branch still inside the bottle.  The bottle is then filled with the brandy and the apple is preserved inside. Eloi recommended that the bottle should be aged for a few years.

We stopped in for a latte and soup in the café La Grave, and then headed out to the area that we wanted to kayak.  We noticed several trucks and cars parked alongside the roadway and when we stopped we heard several loud and nearby gunshots.  The duck-hunting season had opened today and the hunters were walking though the high grass along the shores and in the marshes surrounding the lagoon. We didn’t feel safe kayaking in that area.  

We had also wanted to go hiking along the dunes and shores of the narrow isthmus.  The beaches stretch out for miles and there was no one near.  Debbie and I walked several miles along the shoreline.  She collected a toque full of sea snail shells washed on shore and I took photos of the interesting shapes formed by the blowing sand.   It was a wonderful way to enjoy our day and interesting seashore.  I had seen a high point of land yesterday that I wanted to see today.  We drove into Ile du Cap-aux-Meules and located the point.  High red cliffs overlooked the ocean and just off shore, a large rock formation loomed out of the water. Two large holes were formed that the sea had eroded over millions of years, fascinated me and I hiked over to the rock for a closer look. You could see the constant erosion as the large cliffs slowly, progressively tumbled into the ocean.

It was now time to return to our B+B.  JP and Lucy were picking us up at 5:15. So we hustled back to get ready.  We were both disappointed that we were unable to go kayaking but we had enjoyed our day none the less.

We all went to the Vent du Large and as we waited for our meal to arrive the place was beginning to fill.  It wasn’t long before the place was packed.  I had ordered an appetizer of seal ribs.  I decided that this is a local food and felt obligated to try it. I found the meat to be quite oily and had a strong fishy taste.  (Seals eat fish!!) The bones are quite small.  I could understand that this meat would have been a staple for many of the people who live on these northern coasts including Labrador, Newfoundland and the islands.  I also enjoyed a tasty fish and chips meal.  At 9:00 the Moffat brothers came on stage and entertained all of us for an hour and half.  Franschoise, the owner is a talented fiddle player and accompanied the singers on several songs.  He also found out that we, like the Moffat brothers, are from Vancouver Island and I was celebrating a birthday.  As I stepped out of the washroom he announced that it was my birthday and the entire restaurant cheered.  I was totally taken by surprise.  We had a wonderful evening, singing and enjoying the music as well as a couple of glasses of cognac.  The singers finished around 10:30 and we slowly ended our evening in the café and said goodbye to JP and Lucy.  We thanked them for a great evening and promised that we would stay in touch. They will be visiting our island later this year. We returned to the B+B and packed our bags to be ready for an early start tomorrow.     

Sept 27, 2019

For our complementary breakfast this morning we had blueberry pancakes, bagels, a pate and local cheese.  We have plans to kayak on this island however the prevailing winds are quite strong and the only safe areas are in the lagoons.  It was drizzling and blowing in the morning and the clouds lifted in the afternoon but the winds remained.  We decided to explore as much of the island as we could today so that we may have an opportunity to kayak tomorrow, weather permitting.  

We started our tour from Ile du Havre-Aubert near our B+B. The main industry of the island is cod and lobster fishing.  As the lobster fishing season is over, the land around the marinas are filled with the boats sitting on dry ground.  This is the time that they are maintained, overhauled, bottoms repainted, and prepared for the next season.  The boats are lined up side by side and we admired the many unusual names of these boats. In the water were some small sailboats, but overall the marinas moorings were empty.  JP explained that Hurricane Dorian had wrecked several sailboats and had tossed them on land.    

During our tour of the island we became aware again how these villages and the houses are neat and tidy. Lobster traps are neatly stacked, lawns are trimmed and the house are painted in vibrant colors. We started noticing color schemes and the use of colors, red with green trim, purple with yelllow trim, grey, with red trim etc. Rental cottages were painted in many different colors.

We also visited one of eight lighthouses on the island. There are over 400 reported shipwrecks on this island. Because of its location and the fierce winds of the gulf many ships have ended their lives on the shores of the island. Several buildings and homes are built from the wood of these ships. In fact our B+B was built from the wood of shipwrecks.

We stopped in at the Bistro Café d’chez-nous in Cap–aux-Meules, for lunch.  As we came in we were met with piano music and a young lady singing to the music. She turned out to be one of the owners of the restaurant and simply wanted to sing a song with the piano player. We enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich and a latte.  It was then time to continue heading north along the long narrow causeway.  The causeway is less than 100 feet wide and the waves of Gulf of St. Laurence is crashing on shore on both sides.  This carries on for approx.. 20 kms.  As we approached the north end of the island, we passed by a salt mine.  This salt mine is active and mines salt from approx., 5 kms under the Gulf. Two freighters are loaded there per week. 

We then entered the village of Grosse-Ile et Grande-Entree.  This part of the island is predominantly Irish and Scottish. It also appeared to be a quieter part of the island and less populated.  This local marina was also lined with lobster boats sitting “on the hard”. We noticed that the names of the boats were more “english”. 

By the time we had finished driving through this community it was time to start heading back to JP and Lucy’s house for supper.  The wind was still blowing strong and we stopped to watch some intrepid kite boarders skimming over the water and jumping off the tops of the big waves that were rolling in.  

JP and Lucy live in the forested area of Ile duHavre-Aubert. Their house is nestled into the woods and JP and Lucy are growing a healthy garden.  JP is also growing a few ornamental trees from seeds that he has collected.  We enjoyed a wonderful supper of lobster and crab salads.  Lucy had picked wild strawberries and we enjoyed them with a scoop of ice cream.  We visited into the evening and then said our goodbyes.  We will meet them tomorrow evening for a supper and music in the popular café, Vent du Large.  It is their final night for the season and the Moffat brothers will be performing. 

Sept 26, 2019

We had breakfast and showered and we were on the road by 10:00. I was a little nervous because I felt we were behind schedule, however, Debbie and Miss Taken assured me that we had plenty of time. 

Our trip towards the Confederation Bridge along the coast meant that we were literally going through four provinces today.  We were leaving Nova Scotia, entering New Brunswick, and once we crossed the Confederation Bridge we would be in PEI and the ferry would be crossing into Quebec to take us to the Isle du la Madeleine. We would be drinking a lot of Prosecco, toasting each province tonight!

We had made arrangements to leave the trailer in Souris. Debbie had located folks living near the ferry terminal who would store the trailer on their property while we are away. We had reserved a room at a B+B, called Chez Denis de Francois. Driving to Souris took us through rural potato farms.  The red soil, colorful trees and green pastures make for a beautiful landscape.

We are anxious to visit the Isle du La Madeleine and looked forward to exploring it.  We are also visiting JP and Lucy who live there.  Their kids and our daughter, Rina all swam in the Nanaimo Riptide Swim team. We recently saw them in Nanaimo, where they invited us to see them on this trip. 

We arrived in Souris on time, located the folks called MacDonalds.  Mr. Macdonald directed us to his back yard and we unhitched and secured our trailer. We could see the large ferry from his house, and my anxiety disappeared.  We had lots of time for loading.  We began loading at 2:00.  

The five-hour ferry ride is on a large ferry that is the main supplier of goods and people to the island.  Several transport trucks were shuffled onto the ferry however, there were not many passengers aboard as we are late in the tourist season.  We later learned that the population of Isle di La Madeleine is about 12,000 people, but in the summer months this increases to approx. 80,000!!  This ferry would definitely be busy during the summer months. The main language on the ferry is French, however, the personnel are somewhat bilingual and the announcements are in both official languages. We enjoyed a late lunch on board and then we read and relaxed.  As we approached the islands, we first went past Entree Island.  This island looms high above the ocean with bright red cliffs covered in green pastures.  The only access to this island is by a small ferry.  Approx. one hundred folks live on this island whose main industry is fishing and farming.  There are no young people on this island and the population continues to dwindle.

As we disembarked onto the Isle du la Madeleine, we were both struck by how busy this port community of Cap aux Meules is.  It is the economic center for the island and has gas stations, banks, a hospital, and grocery stores, and also three car dealerships.  The island is basically an isthmus, a long sliver of land, shaped in a crescent.  On each end of the crescent are island like landmasses that are populated and have fishing villages and residential areas.  These landmasses, are connected by a thin strip of land, the isthsmus, on which the highway #199 causeway is built. There are four main populated areas, Ile du Havre-Aubert and Grosse-ile et Grande-Entree on each end of the isthmus and Ill du Cap-aux-Meules and Ill du Havre-aux-Maisons part way up the southern end of the isthmus. Ile du Cap-aux-Meules is the main business centre, the main port and the terminal for the ferry. This archipelago is actually twelve islands, six are linked by the isthmus. The whole island is approx.90 kms long.  There is about 300 kms of sandy beaches.  The geological make up of the island is large red sandstone cliffs anchoring the island and miles of sand dunes and beaches in between. Approximately ½ km from shore there is a low ridge of sand bank that has formed a long lagoon between the ocean and the sandy beaches.  This provides a warm water basin and shelter from the winds, and attracts thousands of sunbathers every year.

Our B&B is approximately 17kms, from the ferry terminal on the Ile du Havre-Aubert and we checked in at about 7:30.  JP and Lucy had called and we are going for a coffee and a get-together at a small restaurant nearby.

JP picked us up and Lucy joined us shortly thereafter.   The restaurant, “Café La Grave”, was once a grocery store in the early 1900’s.  After a severe storm,in 1930, which destroyed many buildings in the area, the building was abandoned for several years.  Enterprising individuals later realized the importance of these buildings and began renovations and eventually the area became a famous tourist destination. There are now artisan shops, restaurants, art studios and boutiques.  

The four of us visited and enjoyed some lattes, and made plans for the next few days.  We would be going for supper at their house tomorrow and Lucy had secured tickets for a dinner and music performance the following night.  We are fortunate that we came here this weekend because the majority of the restaurants and tourist destinations are shutting down this weekend for the season.  JP and Lucy made several suggestions for us to visit and explore and then JP drove us back to our B+B. 

On our way he showed us the house that Lucy grew up in. Her brother now owns it.  The house is built on a high point of land overlooking the ocean and the village.  JP explained that over the years, the cliffs have been slowly eroding and the parcel of land is diminishing.  Lucy has nine other siblings and they all grew up on the island.  Five of the siblings still live on the island. We said goodnight to JP and Lucy, and went to our room.

Sept 25, 2019

Today was the day we will be travelling towards, PEI. Debbie had researched and found a provincial campground near Amherst, called Amherst Shores Provincial Park. Before we left, I did a few small jobs around Ann’s house, picked some more tomatoes that Debbie later blanched, and prepared the trailer for our next leg of the journey. We will be returning to Ann’s house by October 7th to take in the “Celtic Colors”.  

Our trip south on the #1 hwy through Cape Breton was picturesque. The trees are just starting to turn into their fall colors. Hurricane Dorian has left a trail of destruction along this coast as many trees are uprooted, and some trees have been stripped of leaves.  We were to witness this destruction throughout our travels to PEI.  Debbie and Miss Taken had plotted our trip so that our last part of this journey took us along the northwest coastline to our campground.  We cruised through tiny Nova Scotia coastal fishing villages and small rural farms.

We arrived at the campground around 5:00.  The park attendant directed us to our campsite, and he told us that the park had been closed for the past two weeks.  Hurricane Dorian had damaged about 200 trees in the park and these had to be cleared before the campground could be re-opened. Because we were leaving first thing in the morning we left the trailer hitched and set up camp for supper. We needed to be at the Isle du la Madeleine Ferry at Souris, PEI by 1:00 tomorrow afternoon.

Sept 24, 2019 

This morning Ann was feeling a little more chipper.  She needed to go for a doctor’s appointment, so we drove her to her appointment in Syndey.  While she was there we bought groceries for the house and for our trailer.  We had to stock up again and Ann was in no shape to go shopping by herself.  

We spent the rest of the day visiting, napping, and walking the dogs.  Ann had harvested a batch of tomatoes so Debbie blanched them and prepared them for freezing.  Debbie worked steadily in Ann’s kitchen, making supper, blanching, preparing hot/cold compresses.  At one point she came out of the kitchen and said, “I am completely overwhelmed with this large kitchen! “ She has been cooking in the small trailer since May. 

Ann’s brother, Robert, came over for supper and we enjoyed his company and told stories about our experiences at work and some of the many “black humor” jokes that were played on our colleagues.  After hearing some of these stories, Robert remarked, “And you two were cops?!!”   Robert is a baker and needs to get up at 4:30 in the morning so he had to leave shortly after supper.   We went to bed a little later.

Sept 22 + 23, 2019

The trailer will be sitting in the ferry for about 18 hours without power or propane.  I didn’t want the fridge to be draining the battery. We have cleaned out a lot of the perishables, so we went out for breakfast. It was also an opportunity to catch up with some of the blog posts and photos.  We finally were ready to leave St. John’s by 11:00.  The drive was uneventful and we talked about where we want to go in Nova Scotia as well plan our schedule.  We want to also go to the Isle de La Madeline.

We drove down to Placentia, a small fishing village, at the end of the peninsula. This little place had a very important place in history. During the World War 2, Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt, met on a naval ship in Ship Harbor, (a few miles from Placentia) and developed the Atlantic Charter.  This Charter set out the war aims of the governments of the USA and Britain. 

We were an hour earlier than necessary to be at the Argentia ferry so we went into Placentia, drove through the village and stopped for a coffee at the local Tim Horton’s.  We finally arrived at the ferry and got in the line up.  This would be the ninth ferry ride that we have been on, on this trip, and we were beginning to become experts on ferry rides. The difference with this ride is that we were unable to secure a cabin for the night ride and we would be sleeping in the chairs.  We had packed some personal belongings in our backpacks and were confident that we would be reasonably comfortable. 

The Atlantic Vision is a large ferry that was on its last run for the season.  Once it arrives at Sydney, Nova Scotia it will be out of service until early next year. We went to the quiet room on Deck 8 of the ferry and secured two of the reclining chairs that would be our bed for the night.  We then went into the lounge and had a beer before dinner.  We enjoyed a buffet dinner in the comfortable dining room. We sat in the lounge and read until we were tired enough to go to bed.  To say that we had a great night and a good sleep would be the ultimate lie.  

There were about eight other people in the room.  Some were sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor.  I could not find a comfortable position in the chair and every time that I looked at Debbie I could see that she was not sleeping either. Throughout the night various people were getting up to use the bathroom.  One lady, who we had seen drinking at the bar, was in the washroom and retching loudly.  Sometime in the night two young ladies came in and sat in the chairs in front of us. One then slept on the floor, the other one in the seat.  They then got up every two hours and went outside to smoke.  The clincher came when both of their cell phone alarms went off at 6:15 and they were both out smoking!  One of the alarms sounded like a fire alarm and woke up everyone in the room. Just as I was shutting off their phone alarms, they came back into the room.  That is when I lost it and yelled at them, telling them how rude and inconsiderate they were.  

We then got up, cleaned up, and went for breakfast, tired and grumpy.  As we approached Sydney, we sat in the lounge with our blanket and pillow and watched the shoreline approach.  The two young ladies were sitting in the other side of the lounge, and would not look at me. The hung over lady and her boyfriend were stinking up the seat a few seats away.

Our short drive to our friend Ann’s house was an interesting event.  Debbie had dialed in the GPS for directions to Ann’s address and after driving through Sydney, it directed us to a small dirt road approach off of the highway.  I argued and said that it was wrong and went drove to the next intersection.  After 2 kms, Debbie said that we were going in the wrong direction and so we returned to the dirt road.  We drove slowly down the dirt road and ended up in a turnip patch!  The GPS was saying that we were close to Ann’s house.  We decided to call her, and we explained where we were and she laughed and said go back to the highway and take the intersection and turn left, go past the turnip farmer and turn left into her driveway. It turned out that we were about 100 yards away from her house!  The turnip field is right on the edge of her land.  I later walked past her garage at the end of her driveway and walked to the edge of the turnip field and I could see where we had turned around!  Miss Taken had done it again.  It is no wonder why I don’t trust her.  Debbie tells me that I’m too harsh. Ann greeted and brought us into her house. 

Ann worked with me in Prince George and we have stayed in touch with each other over the many years since then.  Right now she is suffering from a sciatic nerve issue and is not very mobile.  We decided that we would stay with her a few days and help her around the house.

Debbie and I enjoyed warm showers, after we had settled in.  We talked and visited for the rest of the day, catching up with all of the news.  We ordered pizza and Debbie maintained a steady stream of hot and cold compresses for Ann’s back.  At one time Ann remarked, “I didn’t know that you married a Sargent–major!”  We all went to bed early, as we all needed a good sleep.  We slept in our trailer just because it was the easiest thing to do and the least amount of work for Ann.