Oct 27 - Fonthill

We golfed 18 holes at Rolling Meadows Golf & Country Club in Niagara Falls -$50 for 2 with cart, then back to Alton & Diane's for a wonderful BBQ steak farewell dinner. These two have been really wonderful hosts !!

Welland Canal

Oct 24 -26 St Catharines

Have driven around the area in all directions. Alton & Diane took us on an all day field trip along the Welland Canal, watching the locks working, the bridges lifting, and out to several port towns. It was a perfect day for walking outside.

We provided a nice roast pork dinner for our hosts but took advantage of their roomy house vs our tight space !!

Oct 23 - Niagara Falls

We drove into the heart of Niagara Falls., seeing the falls from the top side. One can sure see the elements of fun here with 2 Casinos, the Wax Museum, Ripleys Believe It or Not, Marineland, ferris wheel, a multitude of bars, bistros, street cafes, hotels and 2 towers, thus explaining the 11 million visitors each year. Two bridges connect over the river to Niagara Falls, NY.We took the trip aboard the Maid of the Mist up to the base of the Horseshoe Falls (in the rain, wearing throw-away ponchos, and still got wet from the mist of the falls).

We went to the top of the Skylon Tower for the afternoon view, a wonderful prime rib/chocolate mousse dinner, and the view after dark. We were disappointed that for some unexplained reason, the lights on the falls never did come on, but the city lights below were enjoyable from 525+ feet above.

Oct 22 - Niagara Falls

We drove the coastal hwy 3 through Essex, Kingsville, ( Canada goose migratory flight path), Leamington (tomato capital of Canada, Heinz company, miles of greenhouses, very flat land). There are some lovely country estate homes, lots with farm vendor stands out front selling garden produce. Pumpkins (and gourds, squash, hay bales, corn stalks) are on display everywhere -hallowe'en seems to be a really big event here and most homes have been decorated for days already. Blenheim has corn, tomatoes & sugar beets. Shedden is Canada's rhubarb capital. We arrived at Alton & Diane Summer's cozy farm home in Fonthill (Niagara Falls) at 5:00 in the rain. We travelled with these two on our Fantasy Tour of Australia/New Zealand/Fiji this spring so are happy to re-connect and be hosted by them for a few days.

Oct 19-21 - Windsor

We decided to skip Toronto for this trip as it became too difficult to get to the downtown area from where we were camping, however we did get a peek of the Toronto tower in passing. We drove west to Windsor passing Mississagua, Milton, Cambridge, Kitchener, Woodstock, London and Chatham. So many big cities so close together. Lots of huge industrial parks (manufacturing, distributing, automotive, engineering, etc). The countryside is much like the prairies -massive acreages of corn and soya beans -not harvested yet.

We checked into the Wildwood Golf & RV Resort at McGregor (Windsor) and enjoyed 2 days of glorious sunshine and 19C. Golf was reasonable at $50 for 2 with cart. Lovely course.

Drove into Windsor to see the massive car manufacturing and assembly plants and the Hiram Walker Distillery. We could see the US flags flying across the river in Detroit, only a bridge away.

Oct 18 - Toronto

We drove the 200 miles from Kingston to Toronto. Decided to travel on Sunday as the traffic should have been lighter -WRONG. 16 lanes wide at times -flowing well but soooo many on-off merges. Found out later that it was the Toronto marathon this weekend.

Passed Napanee, Belleville, Brighton, and Cobourg (all founded between 1786 -1798 by the United Empire Loyalist settlers who fled America after the Revolutionary War). Lots of old stone houses and ornate Victorian mansions. Trenton is home to CFB Trenton Air Force Base. By 1900, Cobourg was the most popular summer resort in Canada and continues to be today.

Checked into Indian Line Campground in northwest Toronto, near the airport.

Oct 17 - Kingston

We went into downtown Kingston. It was founded in 1673 by Count Frontenac, governor of New France, as a fur trading post & strategic military stronghold. It is home to Queens University, 4 prisons & Kingston Penitentiary, the Royal Military College, Fort Henry National Historic Site (built during War of 1812) and the Kingston Locks. These locks are the southernmost of 47 locks that make up the 126 mile Rideau Canal between Ottawa and Kingston, built 1826-1832 as a strategic military alternative to the supply route along the international section of the St Lawrence River.

We went to the Farmers Market then for a lovely lunch at Chez Piggy, highly recommended -a 30 year old family owned restaurant built in a 200-300 year old rock stable. They also own the bakery and dessert house down the block.

Oct 16-17 - Kingston

We went through the horrific traffic of Montreal, with road & bridge construction going on forever. Checked into Rideau Acres RV in Kingston and were greeted by a pair of peacocks. There was a little lake in the park, home to dozens of strange looking geese and ducks. Also present were 2 peahens with 5 chicks. There were many HUGE squirrels, the size of small cats, both black & Grey.

Oct 13-15 -Quebec City Prevost Repair Shop

We sat for 3 days at the Prevost shop phoning, e-mailing, etc trying to get parts. We have had problems with our automatic transfer switch that puts our 50 amp shore power into our inverters, for over a month. Stephane, through his persistance, managed to get the parts and fit us into the shop schedule so we are FINALLY operating without worry about blowing breakers. We were a bit concerned because the weather is getting quite cool- in fact cold at times -so we need to have power for heaters.

Oct 9-12 - Levis, QC

We checked into Camping Transit in Levis, just across the river from Quebec City. We took the 10 minute ferry back over to Old QC and took a 2 hour bus tour of both old and new QC. We stopped for lunch at an old inn only to be evacuated before our tortierre arrived. We still don't know what that was all about but 6 fire trucks, ambulance, a miriad of police vehicles arrived and roped off the street, then half an hour later everything left ???

Next day we drove over the pierre LaPorte Bridge into new QC and took in some new sights. Many huge old estate properties and homes in the Laval University district. We treated ourselves to a Thanksgiving brunch atop the tallest building in town, the Lowe's Concorde Hotel. What a bountiful spread of fruit platters, cheese platters, fresh seafood platters, eggs florentine or salmon with the usual sausages, bacon & ham, roast beef, veal, and on and on, finishing with chocolate fondue and chocolate mousse in solid chocolate cups. YUMMMMM. This was the first time Art & Anita had experienced a meal in the sky (he has a problem with heights) so they have now checked that off the bucket list. They both really enjoyed the meal and the incredible view on a picture perfect day for the couple of hours we were up there. By the time we left, the wind was really howling and by turkey time that evening we were in a short snow blizzard. Thankfully, the snow didn't stay but it has been really chilly this week.

Oct 8 -Edmunston

Went into town to see the sights -took a shortcut which lead us out to the country and dead-ended -yet another adventure. NB is divided from Maine only by a bridge at this point. We took a walk up to the fort which is where the border between the Americans and the British was decided (the river).

Oct 7 - Edmunston

Stopped at Kings Landing Historical Settlement but did not do the tour as it was all outside in the rain and mud. The settlement was created when the Mactaquac Dam was constructed in 1960s. As many historic homes were threatened by the rising water level it was decided that some of them should be saved. Buildings were moved and restored and costumed staff recreate the story of rural life in 19th century New Brunswick.

Stopped at Hartland and walked through the longest covered bridge in the world (1282'-built in 1901). Went to the Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company, a factory where you can watch how potato chips are made and sample them straight off the line. YUMMMM

Checked into Riverside (Iroquois) RV in Edmunston in the rain -very soggy park. Went into town in search of "duck boots" but no luck.

Oct 6 - Fredricton

Checked into Hartt Island RV in Fredrickton under very dark skies. Toured through the historic area - Government House (home to the Lt-Gov, originally opened in 1828), the Parliament Buildings, the Garrison District (British troops were garrisoned for nearly a century from 1784-1869), the many old Victorian homes, Christ Church Cathedral (built between 1845 &1853, it was the first Gothic-revival Cathedral built in North America) and then went across the bridge to the other half of town.

Oct 5 - St John

We checked into Rockwood RV Park in St John and right away ran into Roger & Myrna Watson from Vernon, yet again. The four of us took a tour of downtown St John - the cruise ship docks, the old city market which has been going since 1877 (at one time it burned out but has since been rebuilt), the old Barbour General Store (now a neat little museum). There was an interesting carved clock without hands - the tail of the serpent wrapped around below the figures, told the time. Across the intersection was a group of carved figures sitting on benches, etc. A great mix of vintage and contemporary.

Oct 4 - Moncton

We drove up to the Magnetic Hill in the rain, then toured the downtown area of Moncton and Dieppe (newer industrial area). Stopped for wings & onion blossom lunch at Jungle Jim's, which turned out to be a bit too kid friendly for our liking. The most noteable thing about Moncton is the masses of red buildings (bricks & stone) in the core of the city.

Oct 3 - Amherst

We drove out to Maccan to watch the Tidal Bore, which is when the tide from the Bay of Fundy comes into the river and reverses the current. It is amazing how quickly the river rises on its banks when this is happening. The bore takes about 1.5 hours. We were fortunate to meet a local neighbour who goes there daily and shared so much local info with us. He has been the recorder of the tides & times for over 40 years.

Left Amherst and drove to Moncton, where we checked into the Stonehurst Trailer Park & Golf Course -we got in 9 holes of golf. The course was super busy as this was the first nice day in a long while.

Oct 2 -Springhill

We went to Springfield to tour the Anne Murray Centre, a well organized and well presented museum of her awards and personal trivia. Her music was playing throughout the facility, a trip back in time.

Then we went to the Springhill Miners' Museum, where we toured the buildings and grounds but didn't go underground.

We went to DJ's Pub for a great ribeye steak lunch ($6.95 each !!!)

Oct 1 - Grande-Pre

We went to the Grande-Pre National Historic Site -site of the church and cemetary of the 17th-18th century Acadian Village. It commemorates the Acadians of the Minas Basin and their deportation. There is a great interpretive center, beautiful gardens, an old church (which was never ordained and is used as a museum) with a beautiful stained glass window depicting the deportation scene, a blacksmith shop, and kitchen garden. There is a large cross made from the foundations of some of the old homes that were evacuated. There is a bust of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote a poem of Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie. She is adopted as the symbol of the Acadians.

We drove the Fundy shoreline from Grande-Pre to Truro. The tide was going out and the water looked like dark hot chocolate. There were huge tracts of corn and large dairy farms and chicken farms.

We stayed at Gateway Parklands. a Passport America park in Amherst (on the NS/NB border.)