Here's a few photos we took last night of the spectacular stars here. It's gorgeous at night!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Oot and Aboot in Gros Morne
I'm rained out. But I'm okay with being rained out because I'm also exhausted!!! We woke up early this morning and drove down Norris Point to the Gros Morne Adventure Company where we rented sea kayaks and explored the Southern Arm of Bonne Bay for a few hours. Sea kayaking is hard work!!! Thankfully I'm engaged to a big strong man who let me take lots of breaks ;) The geology here is unbelievable. Just to get so close to these GIANT rocks that have literally been pushed up out of the earth, it's incredible. Our adventure was spectacular to say the least!!
Here's a few photos we took last night of the spectacular stars here. It's gorgeous at night!
Here's a few photos we took last night of the spectacular stars here. It's gorgeous at night!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
We made it!
Good morning!
Well after our much delayed ferry ride, we made it to Newfoundland!!!!! Hooray!!! And not in the Camry, in the Colonel!!! DOUBLE HOORAY!!!!
(Newfoundland is SPECTACULAR!!! Well worth all our hard work!!!)
Because the ferry got us in so late, we had a much later drive up to Gros Morne than we had hoped for. Driving at night is very dangerous in Newfoundland because there are SO many moose! Who knew that moose were actually nocturnal?! So we drove and drove and drove and drove and between patches of dense fog, prayed that the sun would stay out for just a LITTLE BIT longer and please don't let a moose jump out of the fog and into the Colonel!!! We spotted 3 moose, none of them the jumping into cars kind thankfully, but we stopped and politely let them pass.
(Momma and her baby moose)
We got to our KOA campsite just as it was getting more dark than we were comfortable with. It's a great site right on the lake, great facilities, very clean. It was great to have a shower and get our RV hooked up to electricity. We have steaks and baked potatoes on the menu for tonight! THIS is the type of camping I enjoy ;) Today we're going to go for a hike, take a lot of photos. We're going to go for a kayak through the bay one day, and take the ferry ride another. I'm hoping we can see some whales while we're out on the water! We're staying here until Sunday, and then who knows?!
(Mmmmm bbq-ed breakfast!!!)
Well after our much delayed ferry ride, we made it to Newfoundland!!!!! Hooray!!! And not in the Camry, in the Colonel!!! DOUBLE HOORAY!!!!
(Newfoundland is SPECTACULAR!!! Well worth all our hard work!!!)
Because the ferry got us in so late, we had a much later drive up to Gros Morne than we had hoped for. Driving at night is very dangerous in Newfoundland because there are SO many moose! Who knew that moose were actually nocturnal?! So we drove and drove and drove and drove and between patches of dense fog, prayed that the sun would stay out for just a LITTLE BIT longer and please don't let a moose jump out of the fog and into the Colonel!!! We spotted 3 moose, none of them the jumping into cars kind thankfully, but we stopped and politely let them pass.
(Momma and her baby moose)
We got to our KOA campsite just as it was getting more dark than we were comfortable with. It's a great site right on the lake, great facilities, very clean. It was great to have a shower and get our RV hooked up to electricity. We have steaks and baked potatoes on the menu for tonight! THIS is the type of camping I enjoy ;) Today we're going to go for a hike, take a lot of photos. We're going to go for a kayak through the bay one day, and take the ferry ride another. I'm hoping we can see some whales while we're out on the water! We're staying here until Sunday, and then who knows?!
(Mmmmm bbq-ed breakfast!!!)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Everything is a bit slower on the East coast....
You know what my favourite thing in the world is (besides Dan)? My iPhone. This is one amazing piece of technology here folks. I'm sitting in North Sydney, Nova Scotia bored out of my wits hoping our ferry is going to leave sometime in the next 4 days. Dan is fast asleep in his chair. We got here last evening to take our ferry to Newfoundland and enjoyed some local music down on the wharf since we were pretty early. Then we sat and waited an hour just to get our tickets for the ferry which we had already booked a couple days ago. Our boat was supposed to leave at 2:30am so we curled up and had a nap for a couple hours. And then a couple more... A few trucks got loaded on the ferry and then it left (?!) without and passenger vehicles. Now it's creeping up on 7am and a few cars have gotten onto another ferry and they seem to be moving cars to other line ups just for the sake of moving people around. This is brutal. BUT thank goodness for my iPhone because I can update our blog and relieve some boredom for a little while. They keep making announcements over an awful speaker system but it's like listening to Charlie Brown's teacher I swear. I think she may have just announced it would be faster to staple jellyfish to our vehicles and let them swim us to Newfoundland.....
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Taking pictures in Pictou, NS
Well. Sorry about the delay here folks! Wi-fi is hard to come across on the East coast, who knew?! Also, this is our first night with POWER so that's a bonus ;) We've made it across New Brunswick, which is STUNNING, and into Nova Scotia. We have our ferry booked to Newfoundland for tomorrow night (actually 2:30am Tuesday, uggghhhh), and then we'll take a jaunt up to Gros Morne National Park for a couple days. Hooray!
(Steamies in Montreal with Mike & Tim)
A few notes about what we've been doing between visits to local mechanics and Canadian Tire stores. After Montreal, we made it as far as Fredericton where we got stuck in an outstanding rainstorm where we lost a windshield wiper on the highway. Oops. We got off and got a replacement blade, but the rain was so strong we also sprung a leak around our front windshield. Sigh. We stayed the night in a Loblaws parking lot. The next morning we woke up to a flat tire, but found a nice gas station attendant who helped us re-inflate enough to get us to a Coast Tire where we bought a new tire. Double sigh.
(A flat tire in Fredericton. Oh no.)
(He's replacing a wiper on the side of the road, I'm taking a photo. For some reason he wants to marry me...)
Back on the road. We stopped at Grand Falls, NB, which was beautiful. It's a very small waterfall but has the same volume as Niagara Falls when all the gates of the dam are open. Pretty cool! From there we drove to Fundy National Park. Fundy is beautiful, huge forests, almost Muskoka-like. There are quite a few campsites in the park itself, so we managed to get a site although it was unserviced. We also got a chance to have our first showers since leaving my parents place earlier in the week!!! Heaven! We went on a little hike through the park and saw some gorgeous streams and a toad. Not exactly as big as the moose we keep seeing warning signs about...
(Fundy National Park)
(Fundy National Park)
That brings us to today! We drove into Alma this morning which is on the Bay of Fundy. It's a cute little town with lots of restaurants and cozy hotels. We were there at low tide so we walked out pretty far. Of all things to mention, the rocks on the ocean floor are beautiful! The colours of them are gorgeous, bright bright greens, purples and oranges. We collected a few to bring home and make into a necklace for me. We had lunch overlooking the water and ate fresh local scallops, yum! Then we drove on to Cape Enrage which is a bit off the beaten path (read white knuckle driving in the Colonel!). It's the oldest light house in Canada and is run by college/high school students making tuition money. Unfortunately it was pretty foggy out so we just stayed below and listened to the fog horn of the light house rather than finish the drive up the crazy mountain and risk our necks even more! The beach below was beautiful though and we really enjoyed the scenery.
(Alma/Bay of Fundy at low tide)
(My beautiful ring)
(I like to show it off but Dan doesn't want me to post TWO photos of it ;)
(Happy engagement trip!)
After a bit more driving, we stopped to see the Flower Pot formations, but were there at high tide so decided to keep moving along rather than paying $20 to see high tide. Walking on the ocean floor at low tide is supposed to be spectacular there, but we also had a really great experience in Alma doing that.
From there we moved along highway 6 which is the coastal scenic route through Nova Scotia and have stopped for the night in Pictou. Nova Scotia is beautiful. We've driven through a lot of picturesque little towns.
(That's the top of a mountain peeking through the clouds. We drove through clouds most of the way through New Brunswick. Crazy!!)
See you all in a week or so! Miss you and love you!!!!!!
(Steamies in Montreal with Mike & Tim)
A few notes about what we've been doing between visits to local mechanics and Canadian Tire stores. After Montreal, we made it as far as Fredericton where we got stuck in an outstanding rainstorm where we lost a windshield wiper on the highway. Oops. We got off and got a replacement blade, but the rain was so strong we also sprung a leak around our front windshield. Sigh. We stayed the night in a Loblaws parking lot. The next morning we woke up to a flat tire, but found a nice gas station attendant who helped us re-inflate enough to get us to a Coast Tire where we bought a new tire. Double sigh.
(A flat tire in Fredericton. Oh no.)
(He's replacing a wiper on the side of the road, I'm taking a photo. For some reason he wants to marry me...)
Back on the road. We stopped at Grand Falls, NB, which was beautiful. It's a very small waterfall but has the same volume as Niagara Falls when all the gates of the dam are open. Pretty cool! From there we drove to Fundy National Park. Fundy is beautiful, huge forests, almost Muskoka-like. There are quite a few campsites in the park itself, so we managed to get a site although it was unserviced. We also got a chance to have our first showers since leaving my parents place earlier in the week!!! Heaven! We went on a little hike through the park and saw some gorgeous streams and a toad. Not exactly as big as the moose we keep seeing warning signs about...
(Fundy National Park)
(Fundy National Park)
That brings us to today! We drove into Alma this morning which is on the Bay of Fundy. It's a cute little town with lots of restaurants and cozy hotels. We were there at low tide so we walked out pretty far. Of all things to mention, the rocks on the ocean floor are beautiful! The colours of them are gorgeous, bright bright greens, purples and oranges. We collected a few to bring home and make into a necklace for me. We had lunch overlooking the water and ate fresh local scallops, yum! Then we drove on to Cape Enrage which is a bit off the beaten path (read white knuckle driving in the Colonel!). It's the oldest light house in Canada and is run by college/high school students making tuition money. Unfortunately it was pretty foggy out so we just stayed below and listened to the fog horn of the light house rather than finish the drive up the crazy mountain and risk our necks even more! The beach below was beautiful though and we really enjoyed the scenery.
(Alma/Bay of Fundy at low tide)
(My beautiful ring)
(I like to show it off but Dan doesn't want me to post TWO photos of it ;)
(Happy engagement trip!)
After a bit more driving, we stopped to see the Flower Pot formations, but were there at high tide so decided to keep moving along rather than paying $20 to see high tide. Walking on the ocean floor at low tide is supposed to be spectacular there, but we also had a really great experience in Alma doing that.
From there we moved along highway 6 which is the coastal scenic route through Nova Scotia and have stopped for the night in Pictou. Nova Scotia is beautiful. We've driven through a lot of picturesque little towns.
(That's the top of a mountain peeking through the clouds. We drove through clouds most of the way through New Brunswick. Crazy!!)
See you all in a week or so! Miss you and love you!!!!!!
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Colonel is alive!
Hello all
This will be quick, we're at a visitor's centre in New Brunswick. We're on the road and we're safe! And for those of you who don't know already, we're engaged! Hooray!!! The Colonel gave us a bit of trouble out near Brockville ON, but we spent the night in Tincup and got the master cylinder (what powers the brakes!) replaced and were back on the road. We visited with our friends Tim and Mike in Montreal for lunchtime steamies yesterday. We spent last night in Rivieres du Loup, QC, parked illegally on the waterfront. It was beautiful and luckily we didn't get woken up by police telling us to move at 3am ;) We just crossed into New Brunswick and are on our way to Grand Falls. We hope to stay in Alma or the Bay of Fundy National Park tonight. I'll post photos as soon as I find some place that offers wireless internet!!! There is a definite lack of Starbucks on our route ;)
Love to you all!
xoxo
This will be quick, we're at a visitor's centre in New Brunswick. We're on the road and we're safe! And for those of you who don't know already, we're engaged! Hooray!!! The Colonel gave us a bit of trouble out near Brockville ON, but we spent the night in Tincup and got the master cylinder (what powers the brakes!) replaced and were back on the road. We visited with our friends Tim and Mike in Montreal for lunchtime steamies yesterday. We spent last night in Rivieres du Loup, QC, parked illegally on the waterfront. It was beautiful and luckily we didn't get woken up by police telling us to move at 3am ;) We just crossed into New Brunswick and are on our way to Grand Falls. We hope to stay in Alma or the Bay of Fundy National Park tonight. I'll post photos as soon as I find some place that offers wireless internet!!! There is a definite lack of Starbucks on our route ;)
Love to you all!
xoxo
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Camry Hits The Road?!
Well. What a past couple of days we've had!!! I think there's nothing original on the Colonel any more. We've replaced just about every bit and piece of that thing and still, he's a PIA!!! We ended up replacing all the brakes (of course! Safety first!), all the fluids, cleaned out the carborator, fixed the timing, blah blah blah blah blah. Sunday we had the left rear axle seize up so Dan fixed that. We worked hard until some pretty late hours last night putting in all our cushions, curtains, food, etc, and woke up this morning to finish up and hit the road. We did some running around all morning and it was running perfectly! So, off we went! Or so we thought...
(Some of the new upholstery, oooohhhh!)
(I'm so happy to be leaving! Silly me!)
(Dan getting settled in for a long drive. Hm.)
We broke down in Etobicoke, right near our old condo. We stayed there for a bit, the engine cooled off and took a break, and we drove back to our mechanic. He gave it a peek and a tweak, pronounced us good to go, and we took a few spins around the block, no problem. He suggested we might have an electrical short in some piece I'm going to call the flux capacitor because it's late and I have NO idea what it's actually called.
(This is our mechanic Rob who's happy we're getting out of his hair. Little did he know...)
So we drove up to Canadian Tire, grabbed the part just in case, and hit the road YET again. Things were going swimmingly! We popped up the 427, got onto the 401, and just as Dan was getting the hang of it all, we stalled. Brilliant. So now we're sitting on the shoulder of the 401 trying to figure out what to do! Dan worked very hard and changed the flux capacitor (thank goodness we have access to the engine from inside the RV!!!), but to no avail, she would not go. We ended up calling CAA and got a tow back to the mechanic's with our tail(pipe) between our legs.
It's a sad day for the Colonel. So tomorrow goes like this: We're going to talk to the mechanic again in the morning, after he curses us for bringing the Colonel back of course, and if the problem seems to be more complex than we previously imagined, we'll pack up the good old Camry and hit the road. The money we'll save on gas we can splurge on the odd hotel ;) I've told Dan I'm fine to camp for a couple days at a time but if he thinks I'm going to live for 2 weeks in a tent he's got the wrong girl! LOL! If the Colonel can be saved, I mean REALLY saved, then I suppose at this point, what's another day?! It's disappointing, but we've got a plan B at least, and at the end of the day, we're on vacation and spending time together. Dan says he wants to do something he's never done before, and I pointed out I had never been broken down in an RV on the side of the 401 before. I'm helpful like that. So no matter what in the world we end up doing, we'll still have fun, and who knows, it could turn out far better than our original plan!
I'll keep you updated! Send happy thoughts to the Colonel!
(Some of the new upholstery, oooohhhh!)
(I'm so happy to be leaving! Silly me!)
(Dan getting settled in for a long drive. Hm.)
We broke down in Etobicoke, right near our old condo. We stayed there for a bit, the engine cooled off and took a break, and we drove back to our mechanic. He gave it a peek and a tweak, pronounced us good to go, and we took a few spins around the block, no problem. He suggested we might have an electrical short in some piece I'm going to call the flux capacitor because it's late and I have NO idea what it's actually called.
(This is our mechanic Rob who's happy we're getting out of his hair. Little did he know...)
So we drove up to Canadian Tire, grabbed the part just in case, and hit the road YET again. Things were going swimmingly! We popped up the 427, got onto the 401, and just as Dan was getting the hang of it all, we stalled. Brilliant. So now we're sitting on the shoulder of the 401 trying to figure out what to do! Dan worked very hard and changed the flux capacitor (thank goodness we have access to the engine from inside the RV!!!), but to no avail, she would not go. We ended up calling CAA and got a tow back to the mechanic's with our tail(pipe) between our legs.
It's a sad day for the Colonel. So tomorrow goes like this: We're going to talk to the mechanic again in the morning, after he curses us for bringing the Colonel back of course, and if the problem seems to be more complex than we previously imagined, we'll pack up the good old Camry and hit the road. The money we'll save on gas we can splurge on the odd hotel ;) I've told Dan I'm fine to camp for a couple days at a time but if he thinks I'm going to live for 2 weeks in a tent he's got the wrong girl! LOL! If the Colonel can be saved, I mean REALLY saved, then I suppose at this point, what's another day?! It's disappointing, but we've got a plan B at least, and at the end of the day, we're on vacation and spending time together. Dan says he wants to do something he's never done before, and I pointed out I had never been broken down in an RV on the side of the 401 before. I'm helpful like that. So no matter what in the world we end up doing, we'll still have fun, and who knows, it could turn out far better than our original plan!
I'll keep you updated! Send happy thoughts to the Colonel!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Still here...
Well. Hm. We're still here. The Colonel has NOT hit the road. Houston we have a problem! I feel like I'm watching a tv with "I'm sorry, we're expecting technical issues. Please stand by" written all over the screen. Our mechanic has been run off his feet and has a guy on vacation, so he hasn't had a lot of time to devote to us unfortunately. I attempted to bribe him with pastries, but apparently that only works with women... So we've been working hard in the evenings until LATE at night painting, wallpapering, ripping out lineoleum, dropping & re-installing the gas tank, the list just goes on and on! Then we wake up early in the morning and do what we can until our mechanic can get a chance to breathe and can start in on The Colonel. It's not the ideal situation, but we've all had weeks when we've been run off our feet so what can you do right?! In any case, we're trying to keep our spirits up and work through our "to do" list as quickly as possible!
I'd like to take a second to say a HUGE thank you to my parents and to my wonderful friend Alena. They've put in endless hours working side by side with Dan and I, and I wanted to acknowledge all your hard work! We certainly wouldn't be anywhere near taking this trip if it wasn't for you!!!
I have to get to sleep now. It's 2am. I'll post some photos tomorrow of the wallpaper Alena and I put up tonight. She's a master and I don't think I could have done 1/4 of all this without her!!!! Night night lovelies!! xoxo
I'd like to take a second to say a HUGE thank you to my parents and to my wonderful friend Alena. They've put in endless hours working side by side with Dan and I, and I wanted to acknowledge all your hard work! We certainly wouldn't be anywhere near taking this trip if it wasn't for you!!!
I have to get to sleep now. It's 2am. I'll post some photos tomorrow of the wallpaper Alena and I put up tonight. She's a master and I don't think I could have done 1/4 of all this without her!!!! Night night lovelies!! xoxo
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Meet the Colonel!
Hello friends & family!
I decided to start up a little blog so you all could learn about our trip out East with some photos added in, etc etc. Think of it as our travel diary! I suppose I'll start with the history of our trip. We really wanted to get away this summer, but couldn't really afford to do a heck of a lot other than camping (having a house is expensive!). We hummed and hawed over ideas for a while. I remembered an old Winnebago I saw at the Interior Design Show in February that had been renovated and was a heck of a lot of fun! It was my favourite exhibit at the show. And so, we got a few wheels turning, called in a few favours, and bingo-bango, hello 1973 Winnebago Brave! I have no idea why we named him "The Colonel" but I blame it on Dan ;) The Colonel is indeed a brave soul, and the mere sight of him makes me smile. He's retro-chic and the least aero-dynamic vehicle you could ever meet!
So we started tearing apart the good old Colonel because even though the 70s were a great time, 36 years is a LONG time ago and the place needed a little updating! Much to Dan's surprise, I managed to round up a veritable gang of helpers who fixed the electrical, ripped out and replaced rotted plywood panels, and pulled bird's nests out of vents! I think you people are REALLY determined to get rid of us... Today The Colonel got new tires and is currently at the mechanic's getting a good once over/tune up/second chance at life. Thankfully our mechanic is a really great guy and I know he'll take good care of us and The Colonel. To those of you who are doubtful, I also purchased my CAA Plus RV membership this week ;)
Our plan at the moment is to leave on Tuesday, although there is still a lot of interior cosmetic work we need to do so we may have to leave a day later. I've sewn new covers for the sofa bed and banquette tables, and I'm going to work on curtains and throw pillows tonight. There's still some painting and a bit of wallpapering to do, which we'll do our best to take care of this weekend.
Our route is yet undetermined, but the ultimate goal is Newfoundland, and to be more specific, Gros Mourne National Park. I've never been to the East Coast before but Dan has been to Halifax a few times, so we're both looking forward to some beautiful scenery and wonderful people. I think we're both looking forward to getting away as well. Some fresh air and plenty of relaxing is definitely in order for the both of us!
I hope you'll all continue to keep up to date with our trip. I'll try to blog as often as technologically possible. Thank you all for your help and support in getting The Colonel on the road! We definitely couldn't have done it without you!
I decided to start up a little blog so you all could learn about our trip out East with some photos added in, etc etc. Think of it as our travel diary! I suppose I'll start with the history of our trip. We really wanted to get away this summer, but couldn't really afford to do a heck of a lot other than camping (having a house is expensive!). We hummed and hawed over ideas for a while. I remembered an old Winnebago I saw at the Interior Design Show in February that had been renovated and was a heck of a lot of fun! It was my favourite exhibit at the show. And so, we got a few wheels turning, called in a few favours, and bingo-bango, hello 1973 Winnebago Brave! I have no idea why we named him "The Colonel" but I blame it on Dan ;) The Colonel is indeed a brave soul, and the mere sight of him makes me smile. He's retro-chic and the least aero-dynamic vehicle you could ever meet!
So we started tearing apart the good old Colonel because even though the 70s were a great time, 36 years is a LONG time ago and the place needed a little updating! Much to Dan's surprise, I managed to round up a veritable gang of helpers who fixed the electrical, ripped out and replaced rotted plywood panels, and pulled bird's nests out of vents! I think you people are REALLY determined to get rid of us... Today The Colonel got new tires and is currently at the mechanic's getting a good once over/tune up/second chance at life. Thankfully our mechanic is a really great guy and I know he'll take good care of us and The Colonel. To those of you who are doubtful, I also purchased my CAA Plus RV membership this week ;)
Our plan at the moment is to leave on Tuesday, although there is still a lot of interior cosmetic work we need to do so we may have to leave a day later. I've sewn new covers for the sofa bed and banquette tables, and I'm going to work on curtains and throw pillows tonight. There's still some painting and a bit of wallpapering to do, which we'll do our best to take care of this weekend.
Our route is yet undetermined, but the ultimate goal is Newfoundland, and to be more specific, Gros Mourne National Park. I've never been to the East Coast before but Dan has been to Halifax a few times, so we're both looking forward to some beautiful scenery and wonderful people. I think we're both looking forward to getting away as well. Some fresh air and plenty of relaxing is definitely in order for the both of us!
I hope you'll all continue to keep up to date with our trip. I'll try to blog as often as technologically possible. Thank you all for your help and support in getting The Colonel on the road! We definitely couldn't have done it without you!
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