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Thankful to be home.

Leaving NB our destination was home.  We had good weather as we got onto the Interstate Highways through Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. 

As we moved along, we were watching the weather and could see that it was not going to be a good idea to linger and get stuck in Manitoba.  So we put in some long days and overnighted in Verdin, MB.   Snow was falling lightly but stopped overnight and the next day we made a beeline for home.  Watching the news from the warmth and comfort of home we’re really glad we did.  Southern Manitoba is digging out from a lot of wet heavy snow.

In all we travelled 13,000 km in the RV and an additional 3,800 in the car.  What a trip!

Our brains are overflowing with the new things we learned and saw during this trip.   Neither of us can think of a single highlight to name as best: there are simply too many to choose from.  We are very grateful for the opportunity to see our vast and beautiful country that we call home.

The mornings are getting cooler, but so far we haven’t seen any frost. We made a brief stop at the reversing falls that weren’t far from our campground.  I wonder if it would be best to see the tidal change at both high and low tide to see the contrast.

The drive to Fredericton was a feast for the eyes – the colours!  We’ve been anxiously waiting for the colours to “pop” and for us they have.  I expect their actual peak is a week or so away but we were satisfied 🙂

After checking into our campground, we set off to delve into Graham family history at the provincial archives on the UNB campus. Finding parking was the toughest part.  The staff was super helpful and we found Great Great Grampa Robert Maxwell’s marriage certificate and some other records.  We’ll go back tomorrow for more.

We walked off our breakfast of bacon-wrapped scallops & eggs (seriously!).  Rachel & Dave introduced us to their new home-town and various highlights including a very nice crazy quilt show!  The area is full of trails and Dave was eager to help me find the ever-elusive red cardinal.  No red cardinal to be seen, but a painted turtle, bright green frogs and a variety of ducks was just great.  The trail we followed is an abandoned rail line and provides access to the forest and wetlands around Annapolis Royal.

All too soon it was time to say good bye and head to Digby for the 5:30 ferry.  We had enough time in Digby to take a stroll along the boardwalk and enjoy an early supper.

The ferry didn’t have many passengers so there was plenty of room to enjoy the 2 hour trip.  We got into St. John, NB just as the sun was setting and managed to find the campground in the dark.

We joined the folks at Bridgetown Baptist for their morning worship service.  The sermon was on “how we live matters”.  We especially enjoyed their beautiful pipe organ!

On to Annapolis Royal to meet up with our choir friend Rachel who has retired here with her partner Dave.  I enjoyed catching up with Rachel’s latest rug hooking projects and touring their lovely new home before Dave cooked up beer-battered halibut that cousin Mona had given us back in Shigawacke, QE.  Thanks Mona!  Dave & Rachel said it was the best fish they’ve had since moving to NS!

We learned a lot about Fort Ann (in Annapolis Royal) and the role it played in early Canadian history. As one of the Acadian guides said, it’s the most fought over piece of land in Canadian history. My knowledge of Canadian history will be readjusted since I learned today that Acadians are not only French/Aboriginal, they are any of the early settlers who may have also been French, British or Scottish.    The fort at Annapolis Royal went back and forth from French to British (including the New Englanders) 7 times.  Interesting that in the end they called it Nova Scotia (New Scotland) – maybe to avoid taking sides once again.(?)  The fort is the oldest in the Canadian Parks.

Next stop was to visit the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens.  Even though it’s the end of September, there were a good number of flowers to enjoy.  I can’t imagine the rose garden at the peak of its blossoms.

While we were at the garden we overheard a man ask about the village “on stilts”.  It is called Bear River.  So after a little meander on the boardwalk at Annapolis Royal we set off to find it.  On arrival, we looked around and wondered what the guy was talking about.  But as we turned around and looked back we could see that the rear of the buildings, on a main street near the river, were indeed supported by stilts.

Not too much further down the road is Digby, so we thought we’d check out the ferry schedule for Monday / Tuesday as we head to St. John and Fredericton, NB.

We drove a short distance to Bridgetown – what a quaint little place.  Loads of character homes line the streets.

We spent the morning poking around some antique shops in the area and then in the afternoon visited the Acadian Port Royal National Park.  A dedicated crew rebuilt the fort as Samuel de Champlain’s team would have built it in 1605.  We were surprised to see how much more “lavish” it was than the fur trading forts we’ve seen on the Canadian prairies.  As one of the guides said, the port was easy to access by ship and goods could easily be unloaded there without having to move them further.

A short distance away is the Bay of Fundy – what a difference compared to the NB side where we visited Hopewell Rocks.

Today was transition day from the south shore of NS to the Annapolis Valley. We saw a little more colour in the leaves as we drove on Highway 12.  After we settled into our campsite at Aylesford we drove back to New Minas (stopped to pick up fresh apples, cider and a few vegs along the way) and then went to watch the new Downton Abbey movie.  Yes it was great!

Mahone Bay: Our first stop was at Amos Pewter to watch them pour pewter (tin, bismuth and silver) into small necklace pendant molds.  It cools as quickly as it is poured onto a hard surface.  We even brought some home to finish on own.

The town is preparing for its annual Scarecrow Festival this coming weekend, so a number of the whimsical characters are already set up outside the businesses.

Lunenberg: Home of the Bluenose II (that we saw 3 times on this trip and will be home for the winter this coming weekend).  The town is full of lovely heritage buildings and we enjoyed poking around the streets near the waterfront.  A cruise ship was docked in the harbour.

On our way back to the campground in Hubbards we saw a sign for a Swiss Air 111 (1998) memorial nearby so we followed the signs to Bayswater Beach just south of Hubbards.  We found it and were surprised to see that it is actually the site where the remains of the 229 folks from Flight 111 and a memorial wall are placed.

Hello (again) Halifax! Both of us have been in Halifax before, but on business.  Obligations on those visits kept the exploration to a minimum.  Today we have more time.

Province House or the NS Legislature is celebrating its 200^th year in 2019.  It is the oldest of the Canadian legislative buildings.  It would seem that function won out with this building.   It has some lovely plaster work on the ceilings and fossils in the granite floor but definitely lacks the grandeur of some of the other provinces’ buildings.  There are some massive portraits of the British Monarchy and early Canadian officials.  

We learned that the original freedom of the press was argued and won at the Supreme Court in this building by Mr. Joseph Howe in 1835.

Our quest for “the pen” took on an interesting twist here, they found us pins, not pens and at last a pencil! 

The Citadel sits atop the highest hill mid-Halifax and has been there since 1749. We huffed and puffed our way to the top where guides dressed in uniform offer tours and insights into the fort. 

We walked back along the waterfront and what did we see? The Bluenose II. This is the 3rd time we’ve seen it on this trip (Belleville, Montreal, Halifax)!

So long Cape Breton – we drove four hours south to Hubbards, NS about 30 min south of Halifax.  The campground is right next to a very nice sandy beach. We enjoyed a short walk before supper, then after supper drove a mile or so to Queensland Beach and enjoyed another walk on the beach with the waves crashing in beside us.

It’s been a very warm day (+24) so we enjoyed a campfire tonight.