July 18, 21 PEI Red Sand Shores & North Cape

Weather mid 70's today, sunny.   cool at night we shut the windows.

When you come over the bridge and head towards Charlottetown there is an area called the Red Sand Shores.  Boy is it red!   You cannot believe how red the sand is..... when we stopped to walk on the beach the tide was out which was perfect.  Just looked very weird to us !!!

little village of Victoria

Turning the opposite way takes you on a ride through the North Cape Coastal Drive.  Some Acadia influence here, French heritage settlers.  The church we stopped at had a very old cemetary with a beautiful view of the water.  The strange thing was that almost all the stones were either Arsenault or Gallant and a few Poirer.  So basically 3 families seemed to be here, and it looked like they married into each others families too.   Small community?

Farther down the coast there is a fellow that built a house using glass bottles and its a bit of a tourist trap so we snuck a picture of it without paying to go in.  The gardens were beautiful.

Bottle House

Creamy colour flower is Astilbe

July 17 When in Rome, or in PEI !

There two things you have to do when visiting PEI we are told, one is to go to the Lobster Supper at the Church and to a Ceilidh in one of the little community halls.    A Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-lee) is a musical gathering; from the Gaelic tradition.   Both things will not disappoint you. 

Stanley Bridge Community Hall

There were about 80 people packed into this little hall and a local family (2 sisters + 1 brother) played the fiddle, guitar and piano and did stepdancing to reels and other island songs.  At intermission the ladies served strawberries and ice cream in the basement! 

The lobster dinner at the church basement was something started years ago by an enterprising priest to pay off the mortgage.  Ladies donated their time and the fisherman donated the lobsters.  After the mortgage for the parish was paid it was carried on and has become an island tradition.  The dinner is seafood chowder, ceasar salad, blue mussels, lobster, dessert & coffee.  You don't go home hungry!   I couldn't eat till 3 o'clock the next day I was so stuffed.

St. Anne's Church - Lobster dinners in the basement

July 17 PEI Green Gables Area

Weather  Warm and fog can roll in off the water.  about 75, sun out later in day.

Green Gables is a pretty area, little roads and hilly land with rolling fields that open onto quaint little fishing villages and water inlets.  Everywhere you turn there are potato fields in bloom.  It was warm overnight and in the morning when we drove along the coast the fog rolled in giving it a beautiful softness.

There are no "live" lobsters in there !

July 16 Prince Edward Island

Weather  low 80's a little rainshower

To get to PEI by motor home we chose to take the Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick across the Northumberland Strait.  The bridge is fairly new (1997) and cost $1.3 billion dollars; now we understand why one of the locals said they could have had a Space Shuttle!

There is no charge to get onto the island but you pay a toll when you leave - either you take the bridge at $44.25 + $7.25 per extra axle or there is a ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia  if that direction is better suited to your next destination.  Ferry for us would be $107 and in busy season you need to reserve and make it there at a scheduled departure time.  We will take the bridge as a ferry ride is something we have not worked up the courage to do yet!  The bridge is quite a site at 8 miles long - see the hump and curve in the middle???

View from land on PEI - taken from motorcycle later in week

Our campsite destination is the opposite side of the island in the Green Gables area at the KOA in Cavendish.  It's central to the island and will be our home base for the week to ride and explore.

Don & Annie &Buddy         Billy & Rosey

July 15, Shediac, New Brunswick

Weather   sunny and 70ish, beautiful day

There are so many beautiful vegetable gardens Nanny would just love them!   Perfect straight rows, no weeds and you can tell they spend a lot of time in them.   Almost every house has one.  We noticed it in Gaspe as well as here in New Brunswick.

There are a couple of funny things too!  In Shediac many of the fisherman have their boat out of the water beside their homes, doing maintenance.... but it looks funny instead of a car!




Our rv park was great and there were many seasonal sites that were well done and not "trailer trashy".   This one Billy loved being a Canadiens fan - 'VIVA LE CANADIENS.   Priceless.

July 14, Acadia Scenic Coast

Weather was supposed to be sunny and 70's but turned Overcast and cool

The eastern coast of New Brunswick is filled with small villages along the coast where seafood is abundant.   Lots of little snack bars to get lobster rolls, crab rolls, deep fried clams and shrimp.   I had my first ever lobster roll and it was delicious.

There is a Woodcarver's shop where the owner carved a ship on the front and back of his place.   He's a very eccentric fellow and glad to have a chat with you while he shows you his desk that has multiple drawers that open and even a Tim Horton's cup carved into it!

Does the Buddy look like Don or does Don look like Buddy?  lol :)

July 13 Going south to Shediac, New Brunswick

Weather  Sunny and 75F
At the end of today Billy said it must be "Friday the 13th"...... we had 3 faux pas today :)
First one:  We crossed at Pointe a la Croix, Quebec to Campbellton, New Brunswick and Lola started flashing "driver discretion"  which is not good.   So what were we getting into?  Once over the bridge immediately there was a low clearance rail bridge of 3.6 m which is 11 feet 8 inches.   We walkie talkied to our fearless leader "we have a big problem - we cannot go through"; we are 3.75 m (12' 4") so we made a quick right turn away from this and then let Lola take over and redirect us through town to avoid the problem.   She did great and we were so happy we had her.  Definitely worth her cost today!!!
Second one: Along the truck route we struggled trying to find rest areas so we took one of the exits that showed a picnic bench and fuel stop which led us to a small village.   There are many secondary roads along the Acadia Coast have small wooden bridges over the rivers with a low tonnage allowance of usually 5 ton and possible height restrictions.   We went through one that was 3.7m so we took the center but we held our breath as our total weight in the coach is 16 ton!!!!! 

Third one:  Almost to the campground when a stone hit the window and between all the bugs we were hoping nothing caused a crack.  Cross your fingers xxx.   Once we landed at our campground which is the South Cove Golf & Campground (very nice little place)  Billy cleaned our front off for the day and sure enough there was a nasty stone chip that needs repairing.   Lucky for us our friends are connected to windshield glass repair services and are having someone come right to our site when we get to PEI.
1-800-call our insurance guy!!!

July 11, 12 Gaspe Peninsula

Weather Sunny and Windy about 70

Our campground is a new municipal endeavour New Richmond - Camping de la Pointe Taylor, easy in and out sites and so peaceful.  The tricky part is trying to find sites on the internet or in your camping guides for big rigs.  Most you find you have to hit the translate button too, when I called they did speak some broken English and our sites were here when we got here!
Riding out to the end of the Gaspe peninsula is a long day.

Wild Roses grow along the roadside all the way

We went to Perce to see "The Rock" and then went to the town of Gaspe and turned around and came back the same road.   There is really only one road so you can't get lost!   The road follows the coastline and the water made it cooler so we had our leathers on even though we took sun all day.

If you come into Perce in a Motorhome from the north - BEWARE - there is a 17% grade with a turn as well taking you into town!!!!   We did it on the motorcycle and both of us were cringing of the though of doing it in a motorhome.... no way!

from the north going into Perce 17% grade with little shoulder

July 10 Following the St. Lawrence then South Hwy 132

Weather Sunny about 70 degrees

Our friends have a good set of walkie talkies and we have found them extremely useful when traveling in a convoy and letting each other know about traffic and when one of us wants to stop and even helping each with directions.  We both have Magellan GPS' and have found they both tend to get their left and rights mixed up. What's with that???   Oh and just to spice it up a little bit in the province of Quebec all the signs are in French - no English!  Hey what happened to having bilingual signs? So it just makes traveling with these big rigs that much more interesting.   I load our destination every night in the GPS and double check it to our map for the main roads and then double check the final last few turns to the campground to Map quest on the Internet.   Sounds like I am over doing, I know but it is worth it.
From Quebec City we traveled along the St. Lawrence River `on Hwy 20 East then turned south on Hwy 132.  This stretch is a very scenic drive along a river all the way.

 

July 8, 9 Vieux-Quebec, Quebec

Weather Sunny 80 F/ 26 C low humidity - Beautiful Day in a Beautiful City
We traveled and stayed just on the south side of the St. Lawrence River in the KOA; is the nicest one we have visited yet and also the most expensive campground at $65 per night.  The location is very convenient and you can for a nominal cost take the shuttle to the old walled city founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain.   Oh the public school history is coming back to us now as we spend the day site seeing!  We were definitely very proud to be "Canadian" today, this is one of the most beautiful old cities in North America.  If you close your eyes and think of being in the 18th century the massive defensive wall on the high bluff would have been nearly impregnable ....but history tells us that the British General Wolfe flanked the city and attacked from the west on the Plains of Abraham to capture it in 1759.  You have to see this wall and imagine the time and labour it must have taken to build  at that time only to be overthrown, the irony of it is overwhelming.

The Perimeter Wall

 The wall covers 3.5 miles around the Old City and inside are some amazing old buildings and homes all covered with beautiful hanging flowers and window boxes. 

Looking up at the Chateau Frontenac from Lower town

Many are now converted to art shops, boutiques, restaurants, bars, and some private homes too.  Cobble stone streets and alleys and many one ways connect the antique urban center and the best way to see it all is just by walking. 

Basilica Cathedral of Notre Dame de Quebec.

Flower Columns outside Basilica

Chateau Frontenac

We will visit again and wish now that we had not waited to see such a wonderful place.  This is a designated World Heritage Site by UNESCO and only 689 miles from home :)

July 7, Lancaster, Ontario

Weather  Humid, stormy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon, warm 84 d/27c
We didn't have too much stress going through Toronto, we stayed on 401 and took our time.  Stopped at the last campground in Ontario at Lancaster Park Outdoor Resort.  Huge park but watch out with a big rig.... narrow roads in and out and the strangest site we have had yet - and the amenities are???   Camping is much more "rustic"  in "the North"; oh yes and also twice as much $'s with half the amenities.  Amenities for RV'ers are hookups - sewer at your site, water, electricity for 50 amp or 30 amp at a minimum.  Well it's an adventure right? 

Our site was a HUGE pull thru grass site.  We pulled up to the front and Don and Annie pulled in behind us.  We are 56', they are 54' and we still had about 40' left in the front and back and in between us.  Wow 150' site!!!    There was water for both of us, no sewers and one 30 amp that worked and ours kept blowing the breaker so we turned off as much as possible and kept our fridge on propane.  Ah yes "roughing it"  and $45 a night!   Oh boy you have to love Ontario camping.  
We puppy sat Buddy at supper and he found a wonderful spot in our basement to have a nap!  What cutie.

There was a nice waterfront in the park on the St. Lawrence River though and you could see the Adirondack's in the distance.  

July 6 On the Road Again - Destination Atlantic Canada

Weather - HOT, Hot, Hotter!!! 95 degrees/35 c
I guess we are just lucky picking the hottest day to leave on our trip to Atlantic Canada.   

We stopped at our mechanics to get a grease job, then some Diesel fuel and we were on our way.  This morning was a little bumpy leaving; we are a bit rusty sitting for two months.  Nothing serious but we missed a couple things on the checklist.....  grrr! ha ha we definitely should know better but that is why you must follow the checklist step by step.  Since it is Friday we planned to stop outside Toronto at the last campground so we can make the jump through on Saturday morning when traffic should be somewhat acceptable.  We stayed at the Milton KOA.  We find when you are on the move the KOA's are pretty consistent in what you get and we want an easy in and out with a good long pull through and hookups.  

The road into this one was a bit amusing; it reminded us of channel we used to run in on the boat when going to Harsen's Island Golf Course.   Billy used to hit it and hope we did not have to meet another boat because there wasn't any room and this was the same thing only with the Motorhome!!!
This trip we are traveling with another RV - our friends also love to ride motorcycles and have a motorhome :)

July 1 Happy Canada Day

Point Pelee National Park at the 42 parallel is the southern most mainland Canada spot.

42 parallel

To celebrate the park was open to everyone today so we had our motorcycles and rode in and took the shuttle to the end then walked the path to the Tip.   We had our dear friends Les & Barb with us - just a beautiful Canadian summer  day!

The Bike Gang!

The Tip

The Plain Facts

June 27/2012
It's funny we have been planning our next adventure to the East Coast and I realized I hadn't summarized our last fall to spring excursion.   The rough data was put together but missed the blog.... so here we go.   It's definitely interesting for those RV'ers or any thinking of going on the road.
Total Motorhome Mileage = 5,964 miles
Longest day = 510 miles  Shortest day = 82 miles  Our comfortable average day we like to drive = 250 to 320 miles
Total Motorcycle Mileage =  6,670 miles  (enough to warrant new front and back tire and full mtce when we got home)
$'s spent on Diesel Fuel = $2510 usf   = 10 miles to the gallon :) we are very happy with that  since we weigh 32,800 lbs.
Fuel prices in US increased $.36 per gallon in the 6 months.  Some states were as low as $3.73 in the fall and on the way home as high as $4.17. 
Camping Fees = $3761 = an average of $25.41 usf per night
In US for 148 days total; Oct 26 to Apr 13.  In a 12 month timeframe the US allows you to stay 6 months or 180 days.  OHIP allows you to be out of the province each calendar year for 212 days.  So this will allow us to visit a bit in the summer  on the US side, 32 days.
We flew home Dec 8 to Jan 4.  This worked out great since were we able to refresh our out of country medical plan and start over at day one when we flew back in January.   Eventually we did run out and had to buy top up insurance that had forms necessary from the Dr. for Billy's heart condition~ we were just happy they came back for full coverage and no exclusions.   $612 for Billy + $94 for Rosey.   An average of free + cost is $4.77 per day and definitely equals peace of mind for coverage of $5,000,000.00 for each of us.

May 14 GMC Heritage Cruisers at our park

Well it's been a month since we have been in the home area and I think we have a couple more weeks and then our "to do appointments" and "family/friends to see list" will be whittled down.
This posting is for our motorhome guru Ray, he knows everything about any motorhome you ask him!   This past weekend in our park here in Leamington there were about 20 classic GMC  motorhomes in for a club rally - GMC Heritage Cruisers.  Take a look at cool retro paint jobs and unique toads too.  Thought you might find a few pics interesting.  Billy especially liked the Triumph, thought it was the coolest toad(towable) we have seen yet.

April 13 Friday Home Today

Weather:  Sunny but cool about 60 and close to 39 at night.

The Bluewater Bridge at Port Huron was a breeze.   As we got closer on I94 there were more and more Snowbirds coming to the border.   We just fell in line with them and Billy was so happy that there were 3 big sized lanes crossing.  No construction!  Our Canadian Customs officer only asked a couple of questions.....  How long away?  Did we have any "unopened liquor" or tobacco?  We had open bottles but he was not interested in that.   What was the value of our purchases?   Then "Have a nice Day" and away we went. :)

We camped out at the farm for the weekend in the driveway and looked for a campground that we could take for the season.   Then we can have a place to come and go from.   Turns out there were really only 2 places worth thinking about.   Leamington had Sturgeon Woods Campground & Marina and Rondeau Shores had Wildwood.   There were many more pro's for us to go to Leamington and financially it was a better place too!!!   Gotta love that.

new campsite @ Sturgeon Woods

 Had a few friends and family already pop out to see us.  That part of home is great.   

My brother came to visit - don't we look alike?