Oct 17, 2017 - Haifa

Took the train from Netanya to Haifa, again on the coast, but further north. Found a little room, more like a BnB, in a really cool area. Went out to a bar/restaurant with a live band. It was a carivore heaven. I had smoked lamb which was something I had never had. It was just two ribs on a plate without any other stuff. So I ordered a beer and watched the band, but I left when they started playing "mustang sally". LOL. Here is a pic of the lunch I had. Unlike the dinner, they kept bringing more and more food. Just when I thought I was...

Oct 16, 2017 - Netanya

For the first time in 35 years I am traveling on my own in a foreign country. It is great. I have two days left until I go back to Mike's house and then go to the airport for Uganda. Hope all is well at home. I am in today then heading to Haifa on the coast again tomorrow.

Oct 13, 2017 - The final chapter

We are reaching the end of the Canadian odyssey but still having so much fun that we now think this will not be our last Canadian visit. Our visit to Alexia and Jonathan in Montreal was the first time we had seen them since cruising on Halong Bay when they were on their honeymoon. Now they have two kids and are living contentedly in the suburbs looking out onto a golf course. ( the ultimate )We enjoyed the most wonderful brunch with them, all the things we love and would serve ourselves- grapefruit, cheese, fruit bread, crepes with maple...

Oct 12, 2017 - Jerusalem to galilee

Spent last night at my cousin's place just outside of Jerusalem. It is an Orthodox Jewish settlement and everything shut down totally for the holiday. We had an incredible dinner that my two cousins wife's cooked and then sat and talked for hours. Today my friend Mike picked me up and we drove all the way from my cousin's house to where he lives high on a mountain in Galilee. On the way we passed through a couple of Arab Villages where we stopped and then when we got to his place had a beer and looked out overlooking the Vista. He has a...

Oct 12, 2017 - Zec Vallée du Bras du Nord et Parc du Bic

Vallée du Bras du Nord et le Parc du Bic Quelques jours dans chacun.... de ses Parc/Zec. Quel beau mois de sept 2017. Du temps chaud et peu de pluie. Chaque année ont restent surpris depuis quelques années. Comme j’étais en 4 iéme sem de convalescence suite à mon appendicite. Donc, activité d’escalade pas possible. Bien, c’était le temps d’aller découvrir des endroits pas connu et désirer depuis longtemps. Donc, la Vallée du Bras du Nord fut une petite escapade pour une petite randonnée de cyclo et marche en montagne. Peu de monde, pas de...

Oct 11, 2017 - St John and St Martins, New Brunswick

We don't care for St John very much. It seems to be very boring to us and not a lot to do. In the past, we have just walked around. On our last trip, we walked a 5-mile harbor trail. A woman on the Cruise Critic discussion board mentioned that they were booking a tour out to the coastal town of St Martins. They were looking for a couple to join them to get the cost down per person. We were like what the heck, sure why not. Well, it turned out to be three ladies from New York, who were rude and very aggressive. The tour company was a joke....

Oct 11, 2017 - Made it to the land of my people...

No. Not Las Vegas. Israel. Had a few stressful times as a flight delay caused me to miss my connection. Finally, got on a midnight flight to Israel and landed at 2:30 am. I didn't know where to go so I just got a cab and asked him to take me to a reasonably priced hotel so I could just sleep for a few hours. $150 cab ride and $230 hotel stay later and I slept for 7 hours. Now, my cousin is on his way to pick me up for holiday dinner at his place. It is a national holiday today and everything will be closed after 1:30 until tomorrow night.

Oct 9, 2017 - Jasper to Chilliwack

The train continued to get further behind schedule overnight so at breakfast we were greeted with the news that they didn’t expect to get to Vancouver until 4:00 – 5:00 pm this evening instead of 9:00am this morning, so about 9 hours late. One major advantage of running so late was that we got to see the scenery along the Thompson & Fraser River gorges which would have been done in the dark if we’d been on time. It was worth it. Because I’d planned to rent a car in Vancouver & drive to spend the evening with Mike & Judi in Rosedale &...

Oct 8, 2017 - Saskatoon to Jasper

Because we’re running so late, I was well & truly in bed last night by the time we got to Saskatoon so I’ll have to wait & see it next year. Things were a bit of a mess today because we were running so late. There were lots of people getting off at Jasper & they should have left the train before lunch but because they were still here, we had a Brunch. I wasn’t complaining, I had a beautiful Lobster Ravioli & I didn’t care whether they called it Lunch or Brunch. We did the trip into the Rockies in the late afternoon so had one of the best...

Oct 7, 2017 - Mackinaw Bridge

We had a nice rain during the night. Feel bad for all the tenters! We had a quick breakfast of cereal and fruit and on the road. Went to Presque Isle and walked around the park. It was raining but we were armed with umbrellas. Walked over to see the Black Cliffs, even tho they looked red to us. On thru Marquette and followed Lake Superior for about 60 miles. Again roads are fine- traffic a little heavier for the weekend. It was raining quite hard. We were in the Upper Peninsula- heard of it many times and now we are there. It quit raining...

Oct 7, 2017 - Kings Landing

We left Dieppe around 1:00 pm on Thursday, October 5 and another terrific day. The sun was shining and we travelled along the TCH, #2 West, to a kalidescope of color. The variety of red, orange, and yellow leaves reminded us of our previous visit to the Maritimes. Pat and Emery, just like Henry and Diane, are snowbird friends from Mesa and they are our hosts in Fredericton. Once again we are being treated royally. They have an area near their home that we are parked and power is keeping our fridge going. Yesterday Emery was our chauffeur...

Oct 7, 2017 - Longlac to Saskatoon

Surprisingly & quite fortunately, Winnipeg is the only town the train goes through that I also went through in the motorhome. It’s fortunate because I didn’t see much of downtown Winnipeg when I was here in early June because I couldn’t find anywhere to park. The Winnipeg Union Station is right in the centre of town so today I got to see a few places I’d missed before. We arrived about 2 hours late so instead of having 3¾ hours here we only had just under 2 hours so were able to leave pretty much on time. I went for a walk along the Red...