October 17 - Toronto

Firstly, I have to apologize for not getting any reporting done lately.  I have been having some trouble with my computer, it doesn't want to download pictures from my camera.

We drove to Kitchener/Waterloo yesterday to get a portable hard drive.  I moved all our photos so should be in business again.

Anyway, we went to Toronto to CBC Headquarters to watch a taping of George Stroumboulopoulos and it was really exciting.  He is a very personable fellow.  He came out and spoke to us all before the show to tell us what to expect.  They were taping 2 shows today.  Shirley Jones was supposed to be one of the guests but she came down with laryngitis and was not able to attend.  Fortunately,  we listened to an interview with her on Jian Ghomeshi, so felt we didn't miss out on too much.

The first guest was Jesse Palmer, a football player, one of the Bachelors and is the new host of a cooking show (Presidents Choice is the sponsor).

The second interview was with Lloyd Robertson which was a very interesting interview and Peter Mansbridge showed up as a surprise for Lloyd.  He snuck into the studio and sat in the audience.  There was a woman between him and Dalton so we thought we might get on the air but no such luck.  However, I did get my picture taken with George so it was all worthwhile.  As an extra bonus, the only time we got lost was in the parking garage.

Thought I was going to have to settle for this

But then I got this!

I almost forgot in my excitement, we went up the CN Tower to have a look at the City.  Boy it sure is flat.  The weather was really nice and sunny so you could see for miles. 

Following a Tram down Queen Street, driving on the tracks

The CN Tower

Don't know what this building is but thought it was picture worthy

A beautiful old church in the midst of an urban jungle

Dalton at the doors of the CBC

Captured from the Observation Platform of the CN Tower

Glad I don't live here

Looking down from through the glass floor

Loved this view

Well that was out trip to Toronto, we enjoyed it, but very glad to get out of the traffic.

This will be my last post until we leave Mildmay.  We have to take the RV in for service at the Hitch House in Barry, Ontario on the 20th, should be in for a week to 10 days and then we will be on the road again.  Until then, nothing much happens here except lots of playing with the dog, whom we both love dearly.  Waiting for winter to set in and praying that it won't, at least until we are ready to leave.  So far the weather has been very up and down.  Last week it was really cold, this week it has been really warm.  Rains like hell during the night, wind blows in the day.  We have had 18 degree temperatures and I have never seen so many colored leaves blowing around.  We have to hurry up and go before we get commandeered into doing the raking.

October 9 - Touring Mildmay Area

Rebecca took us on a tour around the countryside.  Jenny got to put her hands in Lake Huron.  We saw lots - had lunch in Owen Sound.  Poor Rob has to work while we are out enjoying ourselves. 

Rebecca preggers

Looks like Stu is afraid of a little water

Uncle Stu and Rebecca

Jenny, the Lifeguard

The next day the weather was so lousy we stayed home.

October 11 - A Very Sad Day!

We drove Stuart and Jenny to Toronto.  They were booked into the Marriott Hotel.  The weather was cold and we were depressed because we had to leave our travelling companions behind.  We had such a good time with them and I especially enjoyed it because I didn't have to do any navigating.  Very sad indeed!

October 8 - Thanksgiving in Mildmay

We arrived back at Rob and Rebecca's in time for Thanksgiving dinner.  We had turkey and it was great.  Jenny had never celebrated Thanksgiving so it was extra special.

October 7 - Back to 1000 Islands
This time we took a 2 hour tour from Rockport.  It was very cold but sunny and this part had even more magnificent properties.  We even got to see Boldt Castle, it was his chef that invented 1000 Island Dressing.  We didn't take the tour of the castle but we went all around the Island (Hart Island) and saw if from all angles.

The power station for the Castle

The Boldt Castle

The back view

Don't know what this is but it sure is ugly!

We stayed at the Ivy Lea Park, we saw if from the water and it looked really nice so we went looking for it.  Took awhile to thaw out after being so cold.  It was surprising how many cruise ships were out today as most places have already closed for the season.

The next morning we took a walk around the park, it was really beautiful in the morning with the mist around the bridge.  We had no idea how close we were to the water.  I wondered why we heard traffic noise during the night.

Stuart, Jenny and I in the early morning mist

All the little inlets are so peaceful and calm looking

The tower in the background is a lookout, it goes up very fast apparently, none of us wanted to go

This bridge is going from Canada into the States and that is why the traffic noise

October 5th -  Ottawa

Left Quebec City for Ottawa - nothing spectacular happened today.

We arrived safely in Ottawa - Hither Hills RV park.  this is a squirrel haven, all three types, Red, Grey and black.  Jenny is fascinated by squirrels as they don't have them in Australia.  I have to say it was quite interesting watching them.  Thee Red squirrel looked like a baby, it was by far the smallest, was chasing the grey on, it was hilarious seeing them run, then the red one ran up a tree and the grey one just walked across the road in defeat.  I must say I have never seen a squirrel walk.  They are usually running everywhere they go.

Gas prices in our fair capital are 125.3, much cheaper than in Quebec.  They have a 15% tax there.  I guess I won't complain anymore, at least not for awhile, until I forget about it.

October 6

Rained heavily all last night, thought we would be flooded out by morning.  The sun came out for a short while today for our tour of the Parliament buildings.  Parking was free, the tour was free - it was also very interesting.  We were especially fascinated by the library which was absolutely beautiful.

This is the Library from the outside

After seeing this you can understand why our taxes are so high.

The Senate

The window they did for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

 And needless to say, the views from the Peace Tower is spectacular

After that we took a bus tour around town in a Double Decker open top bus.  We sat on top until it started to rain, went downstairs for a few blocks and when it stopped raining went back up.

As you would suspect, a War Memorial

Notice the big spider, people actually get wedding photos taken here

I must admit, I never expected Ottawa to be so beautiful.

October 4 - Still Quebec City

We went into the Old Town this morning to meet Stuart and Jenny, the weather was not so good, rained most of the day.  Didn't dampen the spirits though, we had a great day.  Looked thru all the shops.

When we went to park the car in the morning, we chose street parking, no more undergrounds for us. There was a city worker right behind us.  We couldn't get the meter to accept our coins so she gave us 5 hours of free parking.  Another example of how kind the people of Quebec are.

While Jenny and Stu went on a ferry ride, Dalton and I found a lovely French Restaurant where we had a really good and quite inexpensive lunch.  We met up with the other two for afternoon drinks.  The guys enjoyed that (they were in an Irish style Pub) while Jenny and I got to go looking for baby things.  We found some really nice baby clothes, seeing as we are both going to be grandmothers in the new year, something else we can look forward to together.  It was really lots of fun looking in all the little shops.  I even splurged and bought an outfit for myself.  One I would probably not have purchased had I been on my own.  Love it though.

It was starting to get dark by the time we left town, totally exhausted and completely satisfied.

A living flower box outside a Cathedral

The opulence inside was unbelievable and hard to take with all the homeless people in the City, and I am sure there are Catholics among them.

October 3 - Quebec City

Weather was fantastic - sunny and 18 degrees.  We went into Old Town Quebec today, parked the car in an underground parking garage.  Stuart had to get out to check if we were low enough to get into the spaces, and we were in the car,  you can just imagine how small the spaces were.  Everyone got a feeling of claustrophobia inside that garage.

We took a bus tour around the city so we wouldn't miss any of the historic sites.  It was a really good tour, our driver was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. 

The City is very beautiful, the people are really friendly and very helpful.  Nothing like the stories we had been led to believe.

Just had to throw this in, the color is so beautiful

They did spend a lot of money on their buildings

This was happening across from the patio where we had lunch, never had we been serenaded by a harp before 

The Voyageur with his beautiful dog, all the street musicians played beautiful music

This horse was so beautiful, they were all over town

This beautiful building is an Armory

The architecture and innovation was quite something in its day

Stuart and Jenny were celebrating their anniversary (37th) even though they have only been married for 25 years, so they stayed in a hotel for the evening (how romantic).

Don't know who the tourists are but I liked that the driver took his dog along for the day

The majestic Hotel Frontenac

October 1 - Back in Shediac

Woke up to a beautiful morning, everyone was feeling good, well maybe not everyone, Stuart had a headache but we plied him with Tylenol and he came around fairly quickly.  After breakfast we went for a walk and took pictures of the biggest Lobster in the world.

There's Jenny, Hurrying around the sign post

Stuart caught in the pincers while Dalton and the unknown fisherman keep watch

You should see the one that got away!

We left town at 10:00. Gas prices have gone down - $131.0, we paid $133.0 in PEI which was the cheapest when we arrived the first time.  It rained heavily most of the way.

We arrived in St. Leonard around dinner time, we needed food so went looking for a grocery store, took a wrong turn and nearly ended up in Maine.  We didn't realize we were so close to the States.  We turned around but had to go through the Canadian Border.  The female Border Guard was really nice, I am sure she has had that happen fairly often.  Anyway, we all had a good laugh.  Jenny said she has never gone to the grocery store via the States before.  There is a first time for everything.

October 2

We left St. Leonard just before 10:00 on the way to Quebec.  the sun was out, 15 degrees and all was well.  We took lots of pictures of colored leaves today.  Mother Nature was in all her glorious splendor.

We finally saw a Moose today, unfortunately it was sprawled over the back of a trailer.

We arrived in Quebec City at the Ville de Quebec RV Park.  They give you a key to the Laundry Room and for $4.00 you can do as much laundry as you like, how civilized...  For those who care...Quebec means "where the River narrows". 

September 29 - Back to PEI

We left Cape Breton for PEI this time by Ferry - it is much cheaper if you go over by Ferry and leave by the Bridge.  You only pay one way and it is when you are leaving.  The Ferry fare is $107.00 and the Bridge fare is $57.00.

We went out for a Lobster dinner at Water on Prince Corner Shop - that is really the name and it really is on the corner of Water and Prince, quite unique, I think.  It is even written up on the Lonely Planet.  The foot is really good.  Dalton and Stuart had the Lobster, Jenny had Scallops, she said they were good.  I had the steamed Clams but they were not as good as ours.  They are much larger than ours but not nearly as good.  If you ever go there, make sure you don't get table #11 - it is right by the door and when the weather is bad, like it was when we were there, the napkin keep getting blown off the table.

Aren't they cute in their bibs!

That is what a 1 1/4 lb. Lobster looks like

September 30
We left PEI today, not much excitement today - Dalton not feeling great is driving, the Navigator (Stuart) is flat out on the couch, bad headaches and feeling lousy.    So far I am the only healthy one.
We went back to the same RV Park in Shediac.  It was pouring rain all night and the wind howled whenever the rain stopped.