Day 105 - 113

 Dear Gilles, 

We're in Toronto. 

It's time to re-group before we drive 42 hours back to you and our home. 

Day 105 - oil change and truck maintenance

Day 106 - Watch Team Canada vs Costa Rica at the BMO field. We won. We cheered for our cousin. It was a great night. 

Day 107 - Canada's Wonderland

Day 108 - Family visits and dinner with mom and siblings

Day 109 - Outdoor neighbourhood swimming pool

Day 110 - Canada Day parade and fireworks

Day 111 - Drive to your dad's

Day 112 - Traditional Northern Ontario fun

Day 113 - More fun in Northern Ontario

Day 114 - Start the big push back

Day 104: Ontario and Fort Henry

 Dear Gilles, 

In Saint-Sauveur, we went out for breakfast poutine. It's a Quebec thing. It also gave us meat-sweats and we weren't hungry at all for the remainder of the day. 

From Saint-Sauveur we detoured down to Fort Henry, advertised as a National Historic Site. This site is not included in the Canada Strong pass because it's provincially run. Our travels are turning full circle on us now. 

It was fun. There was a high number of summer students in uniforms in +35C heat. They're earning every penny keep year. 

Another neat fact about this fort, is that it is 'mostly' original. Since it's younger than the other National Historic Sites we visited, it hadn't been caught up in so many English/French regime changes and blown up and destroyed. As this fort came towards modern day, the walls did see points of wear and crumbling. As the bricks were replaced, they were identified with a metal stamp and the year of replacement (ie 1966, 1973). 

We made it to Mom's house just before 8pm. 

Day 103: Kamouraska PQ to Saint-Sauveur PQ

 Dear Gilles, 

We drove 475 km today to our friends' from Snow Lake. 

We began this trip with friends from your time there and are rounding out the end. 

They have air conditioning and beds. It's still stupid hot outside, so we didn't stop in too many places. A quick tailgate lunch in Trois-Rivieres and that was about it. 

Day 102: Fredericton NB to Kamouraska PQ

 Dear Gilles, 

We drove 425 km visited with your aunt and uncle today. 

The live in the very eastern part of Quebec where life is not as busy as Montreal. 

Along the way we went to Fredericton City Hall, saw the world's largest Ax and made it to Aunt's house. 

I consciously skipped King's Landing. It's a village that has animators and is about life in the 19th century. Based on the website if feels like more of the same history we have already witnessed. Luc's comment is that his brain is now museum-mush. I still want to visit Fort Henry in Kingston and Fort William in Thunder Bay, so I'll save some mushy-brain-cells for those locations. 

Toronto is in a heat wave and I'm glad it should be over by the time we get there. 

Day 101: North Sydney NS to Fredericton NB

 Dear Gilles, 

When we left yesterday - the weather was gusting winds to 70km/hour. The ferry rocked. It was sometimes fun to walk. 

We had a cabin with a window which was a super nice perk.

After playing a few games of Exploding Kittens - I was in bed just after 7. 

I slept HARD.

And I slept through to 5am. I think my body knew it was in a safe space. There was no driving to be done in the immediate future. I was in a bed instead of a tent. 

I did kick the boys off their devices and out of the room for a bit - and they played more Exploding Kittens and came back after 10pm. 

I saw the sunrise.  

Then we drove through Cape Breton Island to Moncton NB. 

In Moncton we visited Resurgo Place, which we had missed the first time around. 

I thought about seeing the Tidal Bore again, but it wasn't expected until 8:30pm. The last time we were here it was pouring down rain. 

Through our drive to Fredericton we passed many places we had visited - like Magnetic Hill.

Now we're in a hotel - 649 km later - which is fantastic because it's raining outside and it was a long driving day to be setting up a tent for the night. 

Day 100: Ferry to Nova Scotia

 Dear Gilles, 

WESTWARD BOUND and Summer Solstice! 

We'll be seeing you soon ... after a few more diversions along the way. 

But each day will bring us a little big closer to home and you and Moka. 

This morning was HOT at 22C when we wok up. Big winds but dry. It was nice to pack up the tent and everything when we know it can go in the truck for a few days and not have to worry about drying stuff out again. 

We're at the Port of Argentia for the 16 hour ferry. We have a cabin. Dock tomorrow at 9am. But I really don't know what time that will be with the provincial time changes etc. 

The winds are gusting to 70km/h. And you can tell. 

The whole drive down I could feel the wind on the truck. 

Here's hoping for smooth sailing on the open waters. 

Day 99: Karate Kid Legends and George Street

 Dear Gilles, 

Karate Kid Legends was a good watch. We can see it again at home with you. 

There was a huge rain while we were in the theatre. 

I got screeched! 

Boys were not allowed into the pub for the ceremony - but it was still before crowds and bartender brought the cod out to the front door where they were and witnessed everything. 

George Street closes for minors at 8:30, so we caught a cab back to the site before sun set. 

Day 98: ZERO day

 Dear Gilles 

We woke up to rain. This new site makes me happy. 

It's not as windy as the other site would have been. 

We have trees. 

We have privacy. 

I know how to set up a tarp and a rain shelter to keep us dry. The wind on the other hand ... 

We went to the mall today and I had the battery in my phone replaced and a new screen protector installed. 

We also went back to the Card/Game Store for more supplies for their hobbies. 

We are just chilling today. 

Day 97: Cape St. Mary's and Castle Hill

 Dear Gilles, 

It was a windy night last night. I don't like sleeping in the wind, in a tent. Even though I know everything is secure, it still keeps me up. It always has. 

We moved sites within the same park. We haven't had any rain, so packing up is ideal today. 

We took an RV site that has water, electrical and sewer. The water tap is nice to have. There are trees on all three sides of the site - nice and sheltered from the wind. I booked it for the next three nights which are predicting 50+km wind gusts and rain. I am MUCH happier. I didn't realize how much I hated that wide-open site, until we settled in to this new, private site for $8/night more. 

On the high recommendation of Sister, we started a two hour drive down to Cape St. Mary's to see some birds. 

On the way, we went to Manuel's River interpretation centre. 

It was closed. 

The website stated it should be open from Wednesday to Sunday. It was one of the CASC reciprocal agreements we could visit. There were chives in the community garden. Luc proved it to me. 

We carried on through beautiful scenery and fog rolling across fields of bog and marsh. 

We arrived at Cape St. Mary's and it was fogged in. The lighthouse fog horn was sounding every 30 seconds. We took a walk out to the rookery anyway and WOW. 

Windy. 

Crowded with birds. And people with big A$$ camera lenses. 

Ganets and kittiwakes left no part of the rocks exposed for their sheer numbers. 

It was fun and I'm sure BC has nothing like it. 

On the drive back around - we stopped at the Historic site of Castle Hill. The lady at the desk had a distinctive Canadian french accent, so she said she was from Ottawa but married a Newfie and loves the climate vs the grey super cold of Ontario. 

Castle Hill gave us mp3 players for the guided tour. We liked it. It was nice to have the tour with the audio and still experience everything. And more economical to the taxpayer than having "animators' out on the fort. Mark Carney's Canada Pass still is not in effect - so we're still using our $75 National Park pass - which we've definitely used every bit of it. Though I wonder if I will get a refund for it since all sites are now free. Facebook has chatter that it was silly to make attractions like camping, that are already at capacity, even cheaper when they can't be accessed even with a user fee. 

It's interesting how old the east coast is. And how all the National Historic sites are re-creations. They are NOT original. The originals were either blown up and destroyed, or during archeological exploration rocks were removed from the site and thrown down the hill etc. People have been put to work to try and imitate the way the Canada was 300 years ago. It's interesting and yet, you know it's all fake. 

Day 96: White Hills, Johnson Geo Park, The Rooms

 Dear Gilles, 

With our unsatisfactory bike adventure yesterday, a nice guy at Cape Spear suggested that we check out the White Hills area for bike trails. There are bike trails there. We drove to the neighbourhood. Got stopped by a security gate for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, were directed to a parking spot and unloaded the bikes. 

These trails are all loose gravel, slate shards and not marked at all. Well, they're marked at the entrance with an "Enter at your own risk" sign that also includes a you're trespassing and we won't come to rescue you sentiment. But according to the security guard, and the cars in the visitor spots, there are a lot of people that use these trails. We were passed by one fellow, skillfully pedalling uphill and a dog walker. 

With the lack of signage, I had to rely on the Trailforks app for location and direction of travel. It was not really a fun and satisfying morning. We did find a munitions bunker in the middle of the forest though. Looked it up on forgotten Newfoundland. 

https://www.hiddennewfoundland.ca/east-white-hills-military-site

We then headed to the Johnson Geo Park with free admission via CASC reciprocal agreement. 

We took our time in the small centre and learned about oil and offshore rigs and the rock cycle. The centre is built underground so that the walls are literally the bedrock of Signal Hill. There is no room for expansion on this site so, it will be a small centre in to the future. 

After this, we probably should have quit for the day. But we went to The Rooms.  The building is architecturally fun. The art gallery portion was small but effective. The museum portion was too much information for us. It had a strong military floor and semi-recent life in Newfoundland, but we had already visited places with very similar displays. 

The BEST display was a preserved giant squid. We spent a lot of time observing it in the tank. 

We came back to the campsite and watched the effectiveness of the tent to withstand the wind that promised to last all night long. 

Day 95: Quidi Vidi, Cape Spear, Signal Hill

 Dear Gilles, 

Luc really enjoyed biking in PEI and has been requesting another similar experience. On the website, the trail around Quidi Vidi lake shows up with a pump track and a trail around the lake. We unloaded our bikes near the pump track, and went the opposite way around the lake. It wasn't until we were half way around it when there were signs that said no bicycles. So, we walked our bikes on boardwalks and were disappointed for a lot of the trail. We found the pump track - which was asphalt. Tested it. Gave it a thumbs down for being too tight - too unforgiving on the hard surface and in general not fun. 

Then we headed out to Cape Spear and the most easterly point in Canada. 

The whales were out. We saw them! 

It was NOT windy and a very enjoyable morning. 

Then off to Petty Harbour to the Mini Aquarium.  We got in free with the CASC reciprocal agreement. It was cute. The boys are now critics on museum displays and set ups and gave this one a thumbs up for being a good visit. 

We still had time in the day to make it up to Signal Hill for a visit. Great look out point and I still need my National Park pass for admission. 

Day 94: St. John's NL

 Dear Gilles, 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

WE MISS YOU! 

We're settled at Pippy Park  - an urban campground in St. John's. We're on the second to last tent site that is butted up against Allendale Road, a busy street. We face on to the giant RV parking field. It's wide open. There's no wind today, but it's just not a pretty camp site. Luckily I had a reservation though because the tent sites are full. Each site has a 15amp outlet for charging devices, which is handy and I think a lot of private/regional campgrounds are going in that direction for tent sites. St. Lawrence Parks had a section of plug-in tent sites. 

We found breakfast at the nearest Tim Horton's. 

We drove downtown St. John's today. Checked out George street at 10am. Places were busy with brunch customers. 

We parked where I could find a spot - which was near the harbour - and took a little walk to the Terry Fox Memorial. I didn't know there was one here, so I was pleasantly surprised at MILE 0. There was a plaque that pictured the Thunder Bay monument and others that told the story and a brief biography. The site itself is tucked out of the way of anyone casually driving by. You have to go and search it out based on street-post sign directions. 

Beside our truck - and making the St.John's landmark list - was a giant pile of road salt. 

We also found Jelly Bean row. Which was also nice to find on a quiet Sunday, where parkiing was easy and traffic was low. 

The Fluvarium is open on weekends this time of year. It boasts nine underground windows to see brown trout in their natural freshwater habitat. It was a nice visit. 

We wished Cousin a Happy 3rd Birthday from the pile of salt. 

I still need to do some research on what our next few days look like. This is the last leg of the sightseeing portion of the trip. Once we get on the ferry to the mainland we'll be looking westward all the rest of the way. 

Day 93: Trinity, Elliston, Bonavista to St. John's

 Dear Gilles,

It was a long day of driving today. 

The sun was shining! 

I planned a long day of driving. 

We went up to Trinity - checked out a UNESCO geo-spot. Saw the town. Returned to the highway. 

We went in to Elliston for the puffin lookout spot. 

Saw the puffins. Boys were amazed at how small they were - especially beside seagulls. No photos. Too far away and too tiny. We just enjoyed seeing them. 

The boys sat in a chair and called themselves the Puff-Vins.

Then we went to the Puffin Cafe for lunch. I got some Cod au Gratin in honour of Come From Away - and I thought we should try it. Lunch took a long time to be served so that added to our time. 

Then we headed to Bonavista. Saw an iceberg in the wild. Visited the John Cabot statue. 

Booted out of there on our way to St. John's campground. 

We're staying at Pippy Park. It's right beside a main road and all the sites are jammed as close together as possible. Our site is wide open for sun, rain and wind. And it's windy.

Our tent is pegged down GOOD. 

I'm wired from driving. I'm tired from driving. 

We'll get our feet under us tomorrow.