New Brunswick

This morning we headed down the eastern coast along the Acadia Coast Drive.  Still not much to see, we saw no wildlife driving through the park (except maybe a dead creature on the side of the road) and it was nice but not terribly interesting.  By the time we drove for a few hours I was dying for a coffee and a pee.  Well so far we had been lucky to see an outhouse, let alone a bathroom.  We got to Richibucto which is fairly big,  still no good spot to "go", however as we turned a corner, what to my wonderous eyes did appear!  You guessed it. Ten tiny reindeer!  No.  Just kidding.  A Timmies!!!  Had our pit stop and headed back to the car to drive down to Moncton with our coffees in our hands.  Life is GOOD!
This is our hotel on the Petitcodiac River (famous for it's tidal bore) in Moncton.  It's right on the river and there is a boardwalk that goes for miles.

 

Here is Joe on part of the boardwalk.  We walked along a ways but it was cold and windy, so Bonnie wimped out.
Looking forward to seeing Lorna and Chris tomorrow.
The weather is supposed to be getting warmer.  Good.

Here is the view from our balcony.  The contruction in the front is because the boardwalk and some of their property was washed away in a bad storm, and it is being repaired. We went to the bakery and for $11 and change, we got 2 croissants and 2 coffee.  Expensive here but we sat in the the sunshine and enjoyed it.
Continuing on around the Gaspe, we are really enjoying the beautiful coastal scenery, colourful houses, tall church spires and blue, blue water.
We crossed over to New Brunswick and went down to Bathurst and then took the "Acadian Coastal Route".  Badly misnamed because you only see small glimpses of the actual coast.  It was a way longer drive than the fellow at the information centre told us.  We (Joe that is technically) ended up driving until 6pm and are now staying in the HOJO in Miramichi.

Perce

The scenery on the way to Perce, which is on the eastern Gaspe Pennisula, was gorgeous.  We spent the day here at Perce. We got a fabulous room at the Hotel La Normandie with a balcony looking out to the rock.
This is the cruise boat we took.  I was real nervous that I would get seasick, but Joe thought I would be alright. Easy for him to say.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, Joe was right.  Actually it was good.  I had no seasickness, the trip was smooth, interesting, and most enjoyable.  We saw thousands of birds, dozens of seals and some whales. It was cold, that was the only thing, but we stayed up top for most of it and our tour director spoke english as well as french and made sure we heard everything. Quite an adventure!

Here is the Perce Rock.  It looks small but is in fact 300 feet high and 1500 ft. long and 250 ft wide.  It is approx. 400 million years old and was formed when two faults collided and pushed it up.  We were going to walk out to it during low tide, but are not allowed to anymore because of crumbling rocks.
While we were in Montreal, we almost tasted the poutine but they had kitchen troubles and could not make it for us. We were disappointed as we had our taste buds all ready.  So, we had some here in Perce.
It was pretty good, Joe liked it more than I did.
On our way tomorrow after we stop at the bakery across the road for pastries for breakfast.

The Gaspe Penninsula

Were very happy with the hotel in Rimouski and left to continue around the Gaspe this morning after getting a couple of coffees and bagels at Timmies. We grabbed two apples and cheddar cheese for lunch. That's all you need when you have been sitting all morning. The whole penninsula is breathtakingly beautiful. The pretty houses painted in all different colors, the water, the mountains and trees. We just enjoyed the day viewing the scenery.

Stopped for the night in Gaspe and I am going to see if Joe can get a few pictures up for you.

Had to show you Joey and Kate on the new deck first. Now I have to wait for Joe to upload today's pictures.

Ok, I'm not too good at this yet. The pictures of the colorful houses are both the same and it is me in front of the waterfall. I'll try to do better next time.

Hot, hot, hot

I have never sweated so much in all my life!! No air conditioning, but thankfully a great fan.

Joe picked up the boards to put the frame in for the deck. Got the frame together with Joey's help once he got home from school.

We stopped to have lunch at Jardin Nelson where we met Kate. It is a great restaurant with a huge outside garden. Food and sangria were both very good. The boys got half the deck finished and then quit for the day. It is quite nice up there and I am sure Joey and Kate will get a lot of use out of it.

June 9th and Joe's birthday. We all wished him a happy birthday and Laurie and Rob bought us a new cell phone for our birthdays. We got a Gravity T from Bell and I am still working at figuring it out. But is is really nice with the slide out keyboard.

Now the floor of the deck is finished and the boys are working on a pergola.

June 10/11

The boys finished the deck and the pergola. I and I believe Kate am very impressed. It looks great and now it is nice and secure. We sat on two new folding chairs (the girls that is) and enjoyed a glass of wine or beer as the case may be. The boys watched sports (the hockey game) on the TV Joey hooked up outside, Kate made us appetizers and Pizza (what a girl!) and I played a word game on my Kindle reader. Life is good.

June 11/11

Joey want some more wood to add to the top of the pergola, some lattice and more wood to make a planter and storage bench. Can't wait to see how it all works out. Kate is going to plant some vines to go up the sides and top.

We left Montreal in the late morning and are now in Rimouski at the Hotel Rimouski. What a beautiful hotel. We got a suite which is gorgeous and it has a bar and restaurant. Guess you know where we are off to now.

Montreal

June 6, 2011

Well, here we are in Montreal at Joey and Kate's condo. The drive was good, but a lot of construction. Joe, Joey and I, picked Kate up from work and we all went to their baseball game which was a double header. The team is made up mostly of Kate's work buddies. They lost both games unfortunately, but the team was really great and just had a lot of fun. The other teams took it too seriously and were definitely out to win (and they did) rather than just have fun.

Joe and I walked over to Timmies this morning for our second cup of coffee and a bagel and muffin. They close off St Catharine Street during June, July and August and you can just walk along the road to stores, restaurants etc. Most of which, and also the people walking are obviously "gay" and it is quite interesting!

Joey was off to school this morning where he is learning French, and Kate had to go to work. Joe started taking apart the old deck that needs replaced and then they (Joe and Joey) both carted out all the wood to the front walk for pickup. That is numerous trips down three flights of stairs. One more reason that I'm glad to be a woman!

Joey is off to his football practice tonight and Kate is painting (with some fellow workers) her office.

Here We Go Again!

We have had a busy time since returning from Texas.

We drove to Novi, Michigan to watch our granddaughter at her dance competition. I don't know how these young people find the energy! She did marvelously well, and danced a total of eleven routines. While in Michigan, Laurie, Sarah, Joe and I visited my cousin Audrey in Sterling Heights. We visited with her and her son (my second cousin, I guess) Michael. They took us out for lunch and we had a great time.

We had a new hardwood floor put in our house throughout every room except the two bedrooms. That was a lot of work as we (the royal we here - that would be Joe) had to move a lot of furniture out of the living/dining room and kitchen. Then we (Joe) had to put it all back. It was a good chance to do our spring cleaning and the floor looks great.

We went to Creemore with our friends Jim and Peggy to see an art show by our mutual friend, Sheila. Sheila's paintings were really, really lovely and I saw a set of three that I would like to purchase. That reminds me I have to email her and let her know. We met Dan and Jane also in Creemore and had lunch there before heading home.

We went up to Severn Bridge and spent two nights at our friends, Doreen and Bob's home. The first day Wendy and Graham and Sharon and Bob were there as well and Doreen made a great dinner. The next night we saw our old (not really "old", just "previous") neighbours, Heather and Al who we miss dearly and we had another great dinner and a lot of chatting and laughing both days. Hated to leave but had to get back to beautiful Mount Hope.

Our previous neighbors Heather and Al (see above) came to visit on their way to Niagara-on-the-lake. Another wonderful time with lots of catching up.

The next week Dan and Jane invited four couples to Niagara-on-the-Lake where they rented a "cottage". The cottage was a beautiful old home with five bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom, a large dining room and kitchen and sitting room. It was just gorgeous and decorated beautiful. We felt very spoiled. They had dinner the second night catered by a chef (very cute fellow) who even set the table and served the meal and cleaned up. What fun we had. The only down side was that Jane was not well. She couldn't come and we really missed her.

Next post will be on our way to Montreal