Sturgeon Falls, Canada

At the beginning of every day on the road as I’m pulling out of wherever I’m staying, I start the day at least humming this Willie Nelson classic and sometimes belting it out for the world to hear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TD_pSe NelU

As you can see, I’ve made the decision to carry on with the great adventure. I don’t suppose there was really any doubt, but I had to leave you hanging……

No, really, the plan always was to sit back and make a final decision about the longer trip after the trial run in eastern Canada. I had only planned a 2 week stop in Ottawa to visit with family and friends and to catch up on appointments, etc, but as you can see, that 2 weeks stretched to 3.

During my pondering, I decided the CRV just wasn’t as powerful as I would have liked to take me and my home on wheels through the mountains and around North America. So, I bought a Toyota Venza. Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of them, almost no one I’ve talked to has. It’s a crossover between car and SUV, and is rated to haul 3500 pounds with a built in transmission cooler, and much heavier duty hitch. It took the dealer a while to find and trailer in to Ottawa the colour I wanted as we’re coming to the end of the 2015 model year.

So after getting the vehicle tow-ready, I hit the road today to start phase 2 of the big adventure. Because I was starting out and had to pack up and stop to pick up the trailer in Renfrew it was a short travel day.

I had such a great day travelling along the very familiar TransCanada Highway through northern Ontario. I have driven the road from Sault Ste Marie to Ottawa at least 20 times mostly from our days in the early 2000’s when we had our summer home on St Joseph Island, near the Soo, to political meetings and visits with family and friends in Ottawa.

The Canadian Shield has such a great appeal. The rock cuts contrasting with the green forests, the plethora of small lakes and some huge ones. Tonight I’m not far from one of the huge ones, Lake Nipissing. I’m overnighting at the KOA just outside of Sturgeon Falls on the Sturgeon River which runs from Sturgeon Falls to Lake Nipissing.

This KOA is in a lovely spot and is really well maintained by the husband and wife owners who are amazingly friendly. Their teenage son is part of the operation as well. He helped direct me backing up into the very tight spot I’m in for the night. The washrooms and showers are very new and the biggest I’ve run across in my travels. I’ve taken some pictures to give you a sense of what the campsite looks like. I just hope the family next door goes to bed early because there is clearly an elder who everyone is yelling at to make themselves heard. 🙂

On to my old stomping grounds tomorrow, and a two night stay at the KOA north of Sault Ste Marie. I discovered today that I have already become a VIP KOA Member which entitles me to premium high speed internet at some campgrounds, including this one. Definitely a bonus.

Ottawa, Canada

Ottawa, Canada

Levis, Canada

Today I rolled into the Quebec City KOA, 37 days after I first picked up my trailer and drove directly here to figure out how to be a trailer camper. Like most holidays, in many ways it seems like forever ago, yet in others it seems like just yesterday.

This will be my last post for this part of my journey. I head back to the plant for some minor deficiency issues, as well as the repair of the fibreglass ding on the front of my trailer since its confrontation with my SUV. Then it’s back to Ottawa for some time to gather my thoughts, and figure out where I go from here.

The plan

The current thought is that I’d depart with my little wandering buddy in tow at the beginning of August to head across Canada to Vancouver, and then mid-October to head down the west coast to San Diego, some weeks in Palm Dessert and then across the US South to get back to Ottawa at the end of March or so. As I said, that’s the plan. Whether that happens will depend on the information I’m able to gather in the next couples of weeks and how I’m feeling about it all when the decision needs to be made. That decision likely needs to happen before next Friday because that’s when my furniture is slated to go into storage.

But….

There are some things for me to gather info about and think about first.

1) Is my SUV powerful enough and will the transmission on it hold up to climbing through the Rockies?

It struggled going up some of the grades in the Gaspe that were short, but pretty aggressive slopes. Coincidently as I’m starting to think seriously about this, I ran in to a couple in a gas station (well, thankfully, not literally) who own an older version of my exact model who are on their way to make the trip I just did plus going to Iles de la Madeleine. They have a 4 cylinder as well and their thoughts were that by going slow and doing it over a few days that it was possible for both the vehicles to get up the grades and the drivers to remain sane, but they worried about the coming down part. I hadn’t even thought about that! So I have some questions for Honda, a transmission shop, the trailer guys, etc as to whether that’s something I want to attempt.

2) Do I like the lifestyle well enough to embark on an 8 month odyssey?

I have really enjoyed the experience of trailering. I like the pace (slow), the people (friendly), the change of scenery (although I did like sitting still for 10 days in two different places to take in what the area had to offer). The trailer is very comfortable and I don’t mind the smallness. After 5 weeks I’m missing my peeps and happy to be heading home. But is that just the horse to the barn thing? One thing that I learned is how important having good wifi is for connecting. I’m also glad to be going home to use my own shower. I have one in the trailer, that I’ve used when the weather has been yucky, but it’s really small, and takes a while to dry out. I didn’t experiment with camp cooking too much. Too many other things to deal with. But I did really start to enjoy the lifestyle once I’d gotten over most of the “first times”.

3) Can I physically manage to do this?

Although the bridge incident put a serious dent in my confidence, I have gained most of that back in the last couple of travel days despite 25 kph winds yesterday and brake controller issues. (it’s not working right and has been added to the list for the guys to check out). It helped to have the installer at the auto accessory place where I stopped to check my trailer brake controller (in Charlottetown) tell me that there is no way that I could have gotten all the way to the Confed bridge having installed the hitch wrong that day, and he agreed with the CAA guy that it must have been the nut on the coupler that had just jiggled loose and chose that moment to allow the coupler to give way.

Today was a perfect day. Nothing broke, there were no “firsts”, no incidents, no wind, no almost running out of gas, no problem finding the RV Park. So a good way to end. When I think about what I’ve learned and what has become second nature I am encouraged that I can deal with it. But still some questions remain that I have to think about.

And I have some questions for you!

1) How’s the blog doing?

2) Too much info, not enough?

3) Too frequent?

4) Too many pics, not enough?

5) Too personal?

6) Have you read all posts? Or just a few that look interesting?

7) How is the format? Should it be more point form and less prose?

8) Is the bad grammar and spelling off-putting?

9) What else?

Thanks so much for the “likes” and comments. It’s really made it more interesting to share my trip with you and I feel like I’m not really alone on the road after all.

So, I’ll write again when I have the answers to the above and have had a chance to decompress a bit.

Green Gables, Canada

It’s been a few days since I have had the time and inclination to sit down and write. So this will be a catch up posting.

First of all, the Anne and Gilbert musical was great on Friday night. It’s at a really intimate theatre with not a bad seat in the house. Anne does a great job and is a really strong singer. Gilbert is not as strong a voice but still was good quality. And for $40 for 5th row it was really good value.

My very good Ottawa friend, Nanci, has two sisters who have summer places on PEI. One is from Charleston, SC and she and her family have not yet arrived for the summer. The other one, Sheilagh, I have met in Ottawa. So when I ran into problems on the Confederation Bridge, my first day here, my natural inclination was to turn to someone I knew to help if necessary. Through Nanci, Sheilagh and her husband, Pete, immediately came to the rescue and offered to assist in whichever way necessary. Once I managed to limp into the Cavendish KOA, I went to unwind at their beautiful blue shingled cottage overlooking a huge bay at Oyster Bed Bridge for a glass of wine and some wonderful mussels for which PEI is so famous.

On Saturday, with Pete having headed back to their home in Toronto, I spent a lovely day with Sheilagh seeing the island from her perspective and even introducing her to some things I’d discovered.

We started at the Charlottetown Farmers Market, which like most has everything literally from soup to nuts and the quality of the artisanship, flowers, meat, veggies etc was very good. From there, we headed up to one of the most fabulous gift shops I’ve ever encountered, called the Dunes. If you’re ever on PEI, it’s a must. Then it was back to the north shore to the National Park and Robinson Island for a bit of a hike. It ended up being rather short since the mosquitos almost carried us away and I got whiney! They haven’t been too bad during the day in most places, but the trail here was more heavily wooded than most I’d been on. The National Parks have a lot of great hiking paths, and some longer paths for bicycles as well.

Lunch was next on the agenda and we tried out a great new pizza place in the Avonlea village complex, called Piatto Pizzeria. It was a perfect day to enjoy our tasty pizzas (and a unique drink) on the patio.

Poor Sheilagh was then forced to put up with the grand tour of the Cavendish KOA and my trailer before heading off to an evening Ceilidh in Stanley Bridge. I had seen this trio last week but was happy to go back to hear them again that night because Richard Wood was so amazing. This week’s performance was even better because the sold out crowd was more engaged than last week.

Sunday was spent doing some chores and relaxing and finally the weather was conducive to some beach time so I spent some time on Cavendish beach. Something about wandering along a beach that is good for the soul. Then I picked up some steaks and Sheilagh and I made ourselves a great supper.

Today, I realized that I can’t come to Cavendish, PEI without going to Green Gables! I was here with Gill when she was of the appropriate age, but was happy to revisit the memories. I have even started re-reading the LM Montgomery books I’ve read and look forward to reading the ones I haven’t yet.

This afternoon I think more beach time is in order, and then tonight there is a different group being hosted by the ladies of the Women’s Institute in Stanley Bridge so I think I’ll take in that Ceilidh.

Only tomorrow left before I start my way back to Ottawa, and have to deal with the Confederation Bridge again. I have to say my anxiety is growing, although in my head I know that it will be fine. So tomorrow will be spent getting the trailer cleaned and organized for the manufacturer appointment I have on Friday and then the return to Ottawa for a couple of weeks to get ready to head west.

Charlottetown, Canada

Today’s mission was to tackle the east coast portion of the island. The beauty of this island just doesn’t stop – from lighthouses, to quaint fishing ports, to great seafood restaurants and a never ending choice of fabulous beaches. It was up to a high of 25 degrees today with mostly full sunshine so the beaches were a little more populated, but still if you want a beach holiday where you have your choice of fabulous sand of various shades along with amenities and lots of space for castle making, this is the place to be. Basin Head Beach was named the Best Beach in North America in 2013 according to one of the information folks. It also has been called the Singing Sands, because of the high silicon content it makes squishy noises when you walk on it. I wasn’t able to hear the noise, to be honest over the roar of the waves coming in, but I’ll take their word for it. I joined up with the recommended trail about 11 am and by 5 pm, having skipped some parts to make better time, I wasn’t anywhere close to being near the end of the trail. I hightailed it back to Charlottetown though in time to pick up tickets for a newer Anne of Green Gables play, called Anne and Gilbert. Not to be a spoiler, I think it involves them becoming friends instead of enemies. There is not much explanation required for the below pics. And yes, there are some lupin pictures.

Summerside, Canada

As the sun dawns first upon the east coast on the 148th Canada Day I am reminded how lucky and proud I am to be a Canadian. Oh sure, I complain about the weather and the mosquitos and the vast distances one needs to travel to see family and friends. But at the heart of it, I wouldn’t have it any other way. My niece called me the most “patriotic Canadian” she knows this morning in an email, and I couldn’t be more proud. I am one of those saps who gets a lump in her throat every single time our national anthem is played and who sings it, with gusto, like no one is listening. I’ve been fortunate to be able to travel lots outside Canada, and even as an official election observer helping in a small way to maintain democracy in another county but every single time I return home I feel how lucky I am that my ancestors had the good sense to make Canada their home. This year I get to spend Canada in a different part of the country, the east coast. I’m sure it will feel much the same as the many celebrations I’ve participated in Vancouver on the west coast, the few huge celebrations in the nation’s capital and small town northern Ontario. Proud, strong and free. Since I will be out celebrating our nation today, this may be my only post. But rest assured I will have my trusty camera in hand and will share the pics and experiences from today when I get a chance. To all my friends and family literally across this land (and beyond!) who I’m missing especially today, Happy Canada Day!

Summerside, Canada

Yesterday was another rainy and cloudy day so I did laundry and cleaned my house on wheels and made up the single bed to give it a try instead of the double. Gives me a whole new perspective on life from a new perch in my trailer.

I did venture into Charlottetown last evening though to have an excellent dinner and to see the Musical Anne of Green Gables. Kind of a “must do” when in this land of Lucy Maude Montgomery and Anne Shirley. This is my second experience and it was a lovely as the first. The actors who portrayed Anne and Matthew were excellent. Gilbert not so much – not that he wasn’t good, just that he didn’t fit my mind’s eye as to what Gilbert should look like!

Today the weather cooperated so I was up and out on the road, pretty much following the coastline on the north and south shores in the central region. The north shore is miles and miles of white sand beaches and sand dunes with some fishing villages thrown in. You could walk for miles and not see another soul.

The south shore is a little more dramatic because the red colour of the soil extends to the beaches there. I stopped for a great cup of chowder on the wharf in Victoria-on-the-sea, near the north end of the Confederation Bridge. I didn’t stop to take a picture of it.

On both shores the water is still darn cold! No thoughts of swimming although I did do some wading. And of course there were kids in the water on most of the beaches.

This evening I’m in Summerside to see the opening night performance of Highland Storm, put on at the School of Piping.

A Happy Canada Day tomorrow to everyone! I have decided to forego the Charlottetown extravaganza and instead spend it in North Rustico, near Cavendish, as I’m told they really go all out and there is something appealing about participating in a small town celebration.

Cavendish, Canada

The wifi at our campground is not very good so I’ve had to go elsewhere to find decent wifi so my posts will be intermittent during this time on PEI.

After Friday’s challenges with the trailer and the bridge, Saturday dawned bright and sunny to help brighten my spirits.

First on the agenda was getting my SUV checked out after having it’s rear end bashed about. Seems everything is in good shape, thankfully, aside from the body work which can wait til I get back to Ottawa. The handyman at the KOA helped by taping over the ding out of the fiberglass on the front of the trailer so no rain will get in before I get back to St. Jerome to have it fixed. And he’s helping get the safety cables issues sorted out for me. Can’t say enough good things about the staff at the Cavendish KOA. They have been outstandingly helpful.

Next I headed to explore Charlottetown to pick up some parts needed to repair the safety cables which took a beating on Friday, and on a bit of a reconnoiter trip.

I generally love cities that are on water, and Charlottetown is no different. And it provides a historic backdrop that as a political activist adds a whole dimension and seems a fitting place to spend Canada Day 2015.

Unfortunately Province House is closed for renovations so I was not able to visit it on this trip. I spent some time at Peakes Wharf where the Fathers of Confederation landed in 1864 and which is now a great place for shopping, tasting such PEI treats as Cow icecream and PEI french fries. I stopped at the visitor centre to get some information on Charlottetown and drove through Victoria Park which was full of tourists and locals alike, enjoying the beautiful weather.

I also did a quick reconnoiter around the Cavendish area and along the way I discovered there was a “world class kitchen party” at Stanley Bridge, just 15 minutes from my KOA campsite in Cavendish. So off I went. What a fabulous evening. Music is a tonic for the soul which I desperately needed and I especially like east coast music. In the Women’s Institute Hall, with only 50% of the seats full on this pre-season evening, we were treated to a fabulous concert headlining Richard Wood who is an accomplished fiddler, along with a great guitarist/vocalist/mandola player (we learned a mandola is to a mandolin what viola is to a violin) and drummer/pianist who teaches at the School of PIping in Summerside.

Highlights of Richard Wood’s career include:

– In July 2011 he played for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their visit to PEI
– Wood has twice played for the troops in Afghanistann and left Sunday to fly to Wainwright, AB to play at the Canada Day ceremonies for the troops here at home.
– He has performed at Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa, and with Shania Twain on David Letterman
- He’s toured extensively in Europe, Australia and the US
– He’s played for the Prime Minister, Governor General and for us on Saturday night in Stanley Bridge, PEI

He is an engaging and seemingly humble musician who you could see would be as comfortable on any stage as he was on the one he was on Saturday evening. At times he closed his eyes and seemed to be transported to wherever the music was taking him and then he’d open them and smile at the audience to encourage them into even more frenzied clapping and foot stomping.

You can read more about this amazing talented Canadian and link to some video of his work at rwood.ca

There were the expected reels and jigs, and even a waltz and a couple of polkas which had the whole audience clapping and stomping and singing along. But for me the best part of the evening were two songs that showed Richard Wood’s genius. The moods he was able to coax out of his fiddle were amazing. One was a song written for his fiancé which was sweet and tender and another was one written by a Scots Highlander about leaving Scotland which was sad and haunting.

At intermission the women from the Women’s Institute sold ice cream and strawberries and 50/50 tickets in the hall basement to raise funds for local projects.

The second half of the show was as full of energy as the first and included a song played by the drummer on a saw! It was a recognizable tune done with amazing precision! The last set of the evening was as you would expect the pinnacle of the evening, and included Richard step dancing to his fast paced and precise playing. The second the last note was off his fiddle the crowd was on its feet continuing the energy with our clapping and cheering. The audience from all over north america and from as far away as California had a great evening and we all left in awe of this young man from Prince Edward Island.

Sunday has been a calm day, first spent getting the trailer organized for my 10 days here, a lovely breakfast eaten in the warm sun at my campsite, and some exploring around Cavendish.

Cavendish, Canada

So, no one gets to stop and take a picture on Confederation Bridge. Today I did. But not for a good reason. One kilometre onto the bridge my trailer hitch came off the ball on the SUV. I don’t know for sure why, but everyone who has an opinion, and there are plenty, thinks I must not have seated the hitch properly on the ball when I hitched up this morning. And I have to admit it’s the only explanation. I’m incredibly lucky tonight to be snug in my trailer with only very minor damage to both the trailer and the SUV and major rattled nerves. It could have been disastrous. There was no one coming in the other direction and the fellow behind me (who I think was more frightened than I was, well, no, that’s not possible) was far enough behind he could slow down and watch the show. I won’t go into details tonight because I’m just too darn tired. When I decided to do this trip I wanted to put myself out of my comfort zone. Well, I’ve done that in spades and if I had to make a decision tonight, I’d drive the trailer into an RV lot and move into whatever the Fairmont is in Charlottetown. Since I don’t have to make that decision tonight since I’m parked at the Cavendish KOA (who have been unbelievably helpful, BTW), I’ll spend the 10 days here that I planned to and then decide if I can get back on the horse and ride it home to get ready for my bigger adventure to come. Thankful for a whole bunch of things tonight.