Oct 31, 2019 - Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont

We left Wells, Maine to drive # a along the seashore as far north as Portland, Maine. Trees were all shades of red, yellows and green. They had not lost their leaves. In many places houses lined the shore. A pparently Canadians make this area their summer home particularly those from Quebec. We had awakened to cloud that soon lifted. The majority of the day was spent in sunshine. Today we both drove. I had not driven since Nashville. At Portland we turned inland to drive through the Appalachians. They are not as high as the Rockies. Still...

Oct 17, 2019 - My 5 Recommendations for your next trip to Toronto

To kick off my first contribution, I’m giving my 5 must see recommendations for your next trip to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Skating at Nathan Philips Square Toronto takes a lot of heat from us for its cold winters; rightly so. However, visiting Toronto in the winter is actually an amazing experience, and also a beautiful time to see the city. On my last trip I stayed at the Sheraton, just a block from Nathan Philips Square. A friend of mine brought me a spare pair of skates and we spent the better part of an evening enjoying coffee and the...

Sep 10, 2019 - Mildmay

Tuesday 10th Sep Tonight we are heading by bus to Neustadt, where Sharilyn will meet us. It is a mission trying to get to the bus stop from here, it is the wrong time of day to be heading into the city, or to the airport. We are told the transport system is pretty rubbish, and Ian tells of the disruption to local stores for months while the built a bus lane down the centre of the road. Only one bus company uses it, and the buses are mostly empty because the timetable doesn’t suit what the public want. The other bus transport company still...

Sep 8, 2019 - Newmarket

Sunday 8th Sep After brunch Carol and Marianna take us to Sail, the store where Marc works. It is a large outdoor store, ala Kathmandu, and Sail has a sale on. Still on the pricey side, but very good quality product (they stock icebreaker). Tony has a look at what is on offer, but finds nothing in his price range. We call in at a fabric store and pick up a packet of dye for Tony’s shorts, the price is $10.49, but luckily they have a “competitive pricing” policy, and it is only $4.49. You would wonder how they would sell anything at all at...

Sep 6, 2019 - Prince Edward County

September 5 Moved on over to Prince Edward County, Ontario not to be confused with the Province of Prince Edward. The temps were in the high 70’s, traffic was light so the 150 kilometers was an easy drive. We found the office and got a camp site; all the wooded sites were full. This Provincial Park has 5 campgrounds with 900 camp sites we were site 840. With lows in the mid 50’s sun is good no shade.. After setting up camp we went to the town of Picton to resupply the kitchen. September 6 After breakfast we took a nine-mile bicycle ride on...

Sep 5, 2019 - Back in Burlington

Thursday 5th Sep A relaxing morning before a walk along the lake shore at Frenchman’s Bay, the nuclear power station is still there, now with a wind turbine to increase production. The lake has been really high, and washed out a lot of the shore, so that is being repaired. After tea we have a quick look at the video from our first visit here in 1995, we tried to find the bit with Cameron hollering, but no luck in the short time we had. A quick photo session before we leave. Greg drives us down to Burlington, it takes just over an hour by...

Sep 4, 2019 - Toronto

September 4, Toronto, Ontario High of 72 Drove to Rough Hill Train Station, (Go Train) and had a 30-minute ride into Toronto about 9:30. Boarded the City Sightseeing Bus (a hop on, hop off). First stop was CN Tower, Canadian National Railroad Tower built to be a tourist attraction and it worked. Went to the observation floor which was 114 stories high. Took pictures and felt our balance was “off” and thought we could feel a little movement. The next floor down was the glass floor which was even more disturbing to our sense of balance. Got...

Sep 3, 2019 - Canada at last!

Tuesday 3rd September Sleep is rudely interrupted by the alarm. We shower, and as Tony finishes there is a knock on the door. Housekeeping is asking if we are checking out, and instead of apologising, she asks when we are leaving. Tony is standing there dripping wet in a towel, and is surprised at her questions, it is as if we should be gone by now. So he tells her we got to bed after 2am, but will be out in a few minutes. Since when do they expect check out to be done by 8am? We mentioned this to reception when we left, said we were not...

Sep 2, 2019 - Tour Wine Country and Fort George

September 2, 2019 Low 65 and high in mid-70’s, rained all night until 9 am Drove to Ontario Visitor Center, got Canadian money and started on the Wine Trail. Decided to have lunch and wine tasting at Caroline Winery. Tasted several reds and preferred the Merlot. Bought a bottle of dessert ice wine-grapes are frozen and 1 drop of juice is taken from each grape. This makes a very, very sweet wine. Drove to Fort George on the Niagara River for an informative tour and a little exercise. Drove to “The Falls” which was very crowded. People...

Sep 2, 2019 - The Final Chapter

As we've said often on this journey, plans change.... so... we got an offer on the bus we can't refuse, so it is now in for a safety and as soon as that is done, it heads off to the dealership to find a new family to enjoy it. We worked some more 'hard and long' days in the new 'to us' house, to get all the old parquet removed, all the old floor tile out, the walls moved to where we wanted, archways enlarged, added an entry from the garage to the house, removed most of the drywall so the electricians could remove all the aluminum and put...

Sep 1, 2019 - Fort Erie Ontario

Slept in , walked down to enjoy Lake Erie one last time. Then headed to town for diesel and LP before getting on the road again. The 150 mile drive up to Fort Erie Canada was an easy drive except for driving through down town Buffalo. I-90 through NY is a toll road so we exited and took state road 5 a long Lake Erie through wine country. Lots of interesting houses on the lake and rows of grapes as far as the eye could see. And then we got into Buffalo, as we entered town we saw many abandoned steel and auto plants. we must of made 20 or...

Aug 29, 2019 - East block tour and Rideau canal

Today we signed up for a tour of the East Block building, could not get a tour of the House of Commons as it's really popular. The East Block was built from 1859-1876 and now houses offices of government and there are several offices furnished to reflect the time period around confederation. It is under restoration and the exterior is covered by impressive scaffolding, supposed to be soon completed. The Centre building houses Parliament but is now closed for 10-25 years for restoration. It was built in 1916 after a fire that destroyed the...