Yet another has joined the ranks of the Retired today. So to celebrate we dined at the Wolf's Den Restaurant just south of town. The evening was beautiful - warm and sunny so it was dinner - all three plus hours of it -- on the deck. Happy Retirement Gail!!!

The forest fires in northern British Columbia (Stewart Cassiar Road) are felt in Whitehorse. The distant mountains are obscured by smoke.

If you have been to Whitehorse since the Copper Ridge subdivision was built, you may be familiar with the Hamilton Boulevard extension which now gives the residents an alternate escape route. This is the same road that when the route was blasted during construction, too much dynamite was used and the rocks fell through the roofs of the mobile homes ... whoops! But it is a pleasure to have a 2nd exit and it is a lovely road to drive.

Music, Music, Music

Today is the 1st (and they hope annual) Frog Mountain Music Festival. It is being held at 'young' Bill (& Barb) Drury's farm out on the Alaska Hwy. I keep crossing my fingers that our damp weather improves and as I look out the window, I was quite hopeful that it was clearing, as it was getting brighter by the minute, but now we are having a sun shower. Oh well, there is still time for it to clear which will make the festival all that much more enjoyable. In case it doesn't, they do have tents set up.


Finally I saw a performance of The McLean Girls at Coasters last night. Mom McLean was in town too so met the mother of these three very talented girls as well. I couldn't believe it was the first time I was in Coasters and will be my last as it is closing down at the end of the month. Enjoyed their performance very much as did the crowd. They'll also be performing today at the Frog Mountain Music Festival.

July

The weather has been quite "iffy" since my return from the damp east coast. Late yesterday afternoon the skies opened up and the rain fell in bucket loads. We seldom get such fierce downfalls so it was fun to watch.

Golfing at Meadow Lakes this year. Our factor for change was price - saved almost $200 for ladies league - money we can surely use elsewhere. This course is much more technical than Mountain View... in other words, we lose a number of balls each time we play. Above is the 3rd hole, teed from atop a very large hill.

As with the "other" golf course, the club house still calls our name at the end of the game.

The Eagle Has Landed

Driving downtown to visit my friend this afternoon, I came across some tourists pointing their cameras up into the sky instead of toward the beautiful Yukon River. Looking up I saw Bald Eagles. Rats...I didn't have a camera. So after we visited and dined, I went home, gabbed my camera and revisited the area. I drove down the South Access (Robert Service Way) and at the foot of the hill at a tourist pull-out is the nest. The photo above is Whitehorse nestled in the valley on the way down the South Access.

This I believe is one baby. Just as I was leaving a second one poked its head up.


And on a treetop nearby quietly sits the parent. They make quite the tourist attraction! By the way, these photos were taken at 9:00 PM.

Two Year Old Smoking Boy

Here's the scoop behind the two year old smoking boy in Indonesia:



A very sad sad story.

Gibraltar

Back from my vacation and have been getting myself and my house in order once again. And trying to catch up a bit on the golf games I missed while away.
While I was travelling we had inclement weather (while at home it was 25 degree sunny days!). I thought it was the maritimes' weather system. Wrong! It was me. I looked forward to coming back to "summer" but the inclement weather came with me. (And I thought it was only when I washed my truck that it rained). So if you know an area of drought you can rent me out and I'll bring the rain with me!

My friend from Vancouver Island sent me these photos of the airport runway/road in Gibraltar at the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. As you can see from the map above, the runway runs right across the land. Consequently the road cuts through the runway. So when the light turns yellow you don't step on the gas and go like h***, you stop! And you certainly don't run a red light!

George Harrison's House

My cousin and his family are on a cruise of the British Isles. One of their stops is Liverpool and of course one of the tours at this stop is a Beatles tour. He saw, among other things, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, Paul McCartney's house and he took the photo above which is of the street that George Harrison grew up on. How would you like to live there !!??!! From his blog he wrote "We saw a few of the neighbors sitting outside and spoke to them and they seemed rather okay with all of this. I asked one women how many buses of people come a day and she said twenty." Can you imagine ??

Oh, and by the way, they can take down the English flags. I hate to say it but England was pretty lame during the World Cup and are now at home.

The Maritimes

And lastly I'll leave you with a few photos that could be anywhere in the Maritimes.

Could be any window but happens to be Anne Shirley's window at Green Gables.

Lobster dinner everywhere you go.

Comfy Adirondack chairs everywhere inviting one to rest a while.

And beautiful lupine, in full bloom right now and at least a foot of flower - vastly larger and more colourful than the Yukon variety.

Cape Breton Island

The end of our tour took us to Cape Breton Island. We started driving the southern most road to Louisbourg. We found the road poor, scenery depressing and during a stop, a local advised us to use another road, so we did. We crossed over to the #4 and drove through Big Pond, home of Canada's famous Rita McNeil. When she is in town, she does frequent the Tea House. We didn't see her but her Oatcakes were delicious!

Then on to Louisbourg to visit the famous fortress.
We spent the evening in Louisbourg (not the fortress!) and when attempting to pay for our lobster dinner, was told their visa machine was down. I asked what we should then do, as we didn't have any cash and she advised that we should go down the street a couple of blocks and by the fountain there is a convenience store inside of which is the town's only ATM. We should get cash then return to the restaurant and pay for our meal...very trusting people in Louisbourg.

On to Baddeck. A town with lots and lots to do. One thing we did do was visit the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. I learned so much there. He not only invented the telephone (I knew that!) but the hydrofoil, air conditioning, was involved with genetics, speech therapy, was with the group that designed and flew the first aircraft, the Silver Dart, in Canada and and and... I was amazed. Why, in school, did they only teach me that he invented the phone?

On a drive north, we stopped by a scarecrow place.

Spent an afternoon in Cheticamp. They are famous for rug hooking in this Acadian town. And I had the best homemade potato and chicken soup ever. The weather was extremely windy but sunny and we had a most enjoyable day.

Prince Edward Island

Drove the Confederation Bridge to enter the island. It was suggested that we rent a cottage in Cavendish which we did. Cavendish is lovely. Very Anne of Green Gable-y. You see Anne paraphernalia ALL over the place. If you ever watched CBC's Ann of Avonlea on TV, that is exactly what it looks like. There is a nice boardwalk along the shore by North Rustico with fishing huts and boats.
Took a drive to Charlottetown. This photo was taken from Province House, the birthplace of Confederation. Canada dates its birth from July 1, 1867 and its conception from September of 1864. The occasion was a conference to discuss the desirability of union of Britain's North American colonies. The place was Province House, in Charlottetown.

We hung out in the north. We took walks and enjoyed viewing the fishing villages with their small huts, lobster traps, and boats.


We drove from Cavendish attempting to get to East Point, where two currents meet in the ocean, but somehow arrived in Souris instead, so stopped for brunch. We continued down the southeast coast to the Ferry Terminal in the south. Before departing the island, we visited Rossignol Winery and discovered some great raspberry, blackberry and blueberry wine.

Turn Left

We departed Halifax and turned left. It didn't really matter which way we turned as we wanted to traverse all of Nova Scotia anyway. The first town to cross is Peggy's Cove which is just as quaint as all the photos you have seen of it.

A sad note around Peggy's Cove is the memorial to the Swiss Air flight that fell into the ocean just off the coast there in 1998.

Then on to Lunenburg. Old Town Lunenburg has been designated by the Government of Canada as a place of National Historic Significance. Lunenburg is part of the family of National Historic Sites, one of more than 800 places across Canada which help define the important aspects of Canada's diverse heritage and identity.It was established in 1753 as the first British Colonial settlement in Nova Scotia outside of Halifax. That was also where the Bluenose II was docked. We were lucky to see it as it was due to be dry-docked for repairs a couple of days later.


The drive along the south east coast is amazing. There is a picture at every curve of the road. Our next stop was Shelburne, a town we knew nothing about but once there had trouble leaving. That is also where we discovered the Association of Unique Country Inns, the first of many that we slept in. If you are travelling Nova Scotia, these Inns are highly recommended (by me) and here is their website: click here

We rounded the western most point of Nova Scotia and drove on to the Annapolis Valley. We stopped in Annapolis Royal, a lovely town on the west side of the valley. During our stay there we visited Port Royal, a Parks Canada site which is a reconstruction of early 17th- century buildings representing the former colony of the French who settled for a time along the Nova Scotia coast.


We continued along the water line on our way to PEI. Our rest this time was in Parrsboro, once again a town we had no knowledge of. I could have spent a week there, especially at the Inn we booked into. And it was once again a surprise as the towns we passed on our way there were certainly nothing to write home about (sorry towns on the way there).

Halifax Revisited

It is getting more and more difficult to find an internet cafe while travelling to download photos onto a blog -- darn you iPad! So, now that I'm home, I shall relive my trip with you along with some photos.

Our apartment was by Pier 21 on Barrington. It was a full two (large) bedroom with full kitchen and large living room - very spacious and conveniently located by the Nova Scotia Westin, of which we used their services more than once (computers, shuttle bus, luggage storage ...). Even though Richard scared me upon arrival to the apartment about the sewage problem they had, that apparently was a number of years ago, the problems were all solved and things were just fine for our stay!

The Roald Amundsen (he was an arctic explorer) was docked and lucky for us it was Ocean Day when Hilary & I passed it which meant we could tour the ship. They had a crew but did take on students on their sailings. The staff were very information and patient with our many questions. In fact the security guard at the gate said we were allowed on the ship much longer than anyone else that day ... perhaps they were trying to recruit us (?)

Late one afternoon, the fog rolled in and shrouded the water in white. Very east coast-ish.

Continuing our Halifax tour, we visited St Paul's Church which, as you can see above, did get stabbed by a piece of flying something or other during the Explosion of 1917. Don't know about the explosion ? Click Here. While in the church, we chatted with a church member whose last name was "Lord" ... a coincidence ??


And the last, but not least photo of our favourite pub, introduced to me by Richard and frequented many times since. The Henry House does have a plaque inside explaining who Henry is but I was always so hungry and thirsty (good beer!) I never did stop to read it.

The Cabot Trail

Spent some time in Baddeck on Cape Breton. Took a hike to a waterfall and despite the attacking coyotes, we made it there and back. Were advised to carry a stick tho for protection. Half way to the water fall we met two men coming in the opposite direction. They looked at our sticks and gave us theirs instead. They actually brought these sticks from Ottawa, apparently beaver chewed (but I couldn't see evidence of that) and shelaced to a smooth finish. Mine also had a leather handle complete with beads - and they just GAVE the sticks to us. They did come in handy though as the trail was quite rocky. The waterfall was lovely. We hiked back and the men were gone. Later that night we searched the town to return the walking sticks and luckily found them although they were surprised that we were returning them.

You never tire of the ocean. Drove up to Cheticamp an old Acadian town and the scenery was beautiful. It was a fabulously sunny day, although so windy it rocked the car as I drove. Wished we had time to do the entrie Cabot Trail, but our days are now numbered.

Fortress Louisbourg

Made it to Cape Breton. Was told NOT to miss the Fortress Louisbourg. It is the largest reconstructed Fortress in North America. I asked how they know what was there in 1744 and apparently the French left a zillion detailed records back in France, so they could recreate the fortress quite accurately. At the gate, you are accosted by a uniformed soldier bearing a weapon who asks who you are, where you come from and why you are here. He wants to know how you could be of use to the fort. Hilary played along with him, but grumpy me just wanted to enter. Another soldier came to listen to theirconversations and as Hilary and the first soldier were talking, I was looking at their heavy uniforms and thinking come summer (oh yeah, it is summer, I meant come hot weather) they are going to swelter so, wanting to enter I said that what I would do for the fortress was, come hot weather, rip off their uniforms so they would be comfortable. The new soldier said "Madame, don't wait for the hot weather, enter and rip off our uniforms now!" And that is how I entered the fortress.

It truly was amazing and if you know your history at all, it is easy to spend the whole day here.

Now back in PEI and speaking of Anne Shirley, here is her house. The have constructed her house, barn, yard, just everything Green Gably. It is quite something to see.

As I said in my last post, I am getting these all mixed up but at least I am getting them on the blog. Travelling to PEI we traversed the Fundy Coast. This coast has the highest and lowest tides in the world. Below you can see what happens at low tide. We happened upon a town called Parrsboro and much to our surprise (considering the other towns we passed along the way) is was a lovely little town of about 1200 people. We have been staying in the Unique Country Inns of Nova Scotia and was lucky to find one in this town. Above is the Inn we stayed at and as it was low season, we had our choice of rooms, so chose the suite. We have been very lucky with our accommodation. As you can see the weather has improved so I am keeping my fingers crossed that our weather luck has changed.

Where was I?

This is not in order, but if you knew the problems I am having with the Apple computer ... Above is PEI. We crossed Confederation Bridge - the longest bridge I have ever been on. Most of the time you cannot see over the sides, so your view is just the road, which is probably good as it is difficult to drive a straight line when you are constantly looking sideways! Arrived into PEI and were talked into renting a cottage in Cavendish - Anne Shirley's country. So we did. The land is just as one would picture it with lush rolling hills, lots of farms including beef and dairy farming. The soil is as red as I have heard is was. Of course Cavendish is Lucy Maude Montgomery land and Anne of Green Gables is EVERYWHERE. The cottage we rented was great with two bedrooms and full kitchen and living room and full deck. Drove down to Charlottetown for a day (esp to watch England play USA). (Don't tell PEI'ers, but I think I prefer Halifax over Charlottetown).

Now, below, back in Nova Scotia, and still in Shelburne, one of our favourite towns, is the Dory factory we toured. I now know more about dories than I ever thought possible. In fact the dory builder came in the middle of our tour, so now I know how thick the wood is on a Shelburne dory vs a Lunenburge dory. But all in all very interesting.