An interim Pic post # one

We left WakeField early yesterday morning, and drove all day. We are now in St Anne de Beaupre. Will blog about that later. Yesterday we started our second week out so here are some extra pics of our first week

Happy Birthday Nicole

July 29
Wednesday
Had a good nights sleep. Rain gently falling on the roof. Still getting used to the cramped conditions but they are starting to become normal now and soon will start to feel more and more like home. We crossed the Ottawa River into Quebec at Quyon, on a small ferry that held about five cars. Cost us eight bucks. From there we headed into the Gatineau hills and cut across country and eventually ended up in Wakefield which is one of the prettiest places I’ve ever seen. It sits right on a bend on the Gatineau River, and has a tremendous sweeping view. It’s also the home of the Black Sheep Inn, the happening place for a lot of really good new Canadian music currently being performed in Canada. The CBC does a lot of concert recording here. It’s just a little place again sort of like the Mansion in Kingston, but has quite a reputation. We had a few drinks on the outside patio, restocked up on groceries at the general store, and are now set up on a flat piece of parking lot behind the local information center. People here are very friendly and accommodating. It’s just about bed time now so we just biked downtown and had an ice cream to celebrate Nicole’s birthday.

Fitzroy Park

July 28
Tuesday
Today we headed out about 10:00 AM for destinations unknown. 850 K along so far. We stopped in at Kemptville Provincial Park for a bit. A nice place to visit but not to stay. Because it was fairly empty and there were no line ups I took the opportunity to figure out how to empty our holding tanks and to take on fresh water. All went without a hitch and we are experts now. A couple of wise old pros came up with their rigs while we were there and suggested we go the Fitzroy for the night. We can catch the ferry tomorrow across the Ottawa River into Quebec and the Gatineau’s . We have a nice site and because we have hydro here spent most of the afternoon blogging and catching up with our laptops. I also set up a comprehensive spread sheet that hopefully we can keep on to keep track of expenses and mileage. Also went for a good swim in the river. It has started to rain again. We are very grateful for the all the amenities of our dry cozy Road Trek.

Monday the Morning After the Travel Blog

July 27
About 5:30 this morning we woke up and headed for Ganonaque. Still just at the 800K mark. The roads were still empty and by 7:00 we had breakfast finished, tickets bought and were set up in the parking lot for the 10:00AM thousand Islands tour boat. Went back to bed for a couple of hours and at 10:00 we set out to sea. It was a great cruise. Five hours all together, with the highlight being a one and a half hour tour of Bolt Castle. This Castle was built by George Bolt between 1898 and 1901 and almost finished when his wife died. He quit building it right there on the spot and never spent another dime on it. It fell into total disrepair until about 20 years ago the Americans started restoring it again. It is an incredible work of architecture, but I liked the river cruise better. The area is very similar to the Temagami area. That night we slept in the parking lot of a burned down resort place right beside the river park and walking trail in downtown Ganonaque. Very nice drifting off to sleep with the sound of the water falling through the rapids.

(Couldn't resist adding some pics for you Sarah. Love mom)

Monday the Morning After an Interim Blog

July 27
After checking out whether it was the same Reuben or not and what time things were happening we headed down to the water front to see the city’s down town. Bought some food at the farmers market, some wine at the liquor store, and headed back to “The Mansion” The proprietor suggested we park next door behind the tattoo parlour for the night, so that’s were we set up the van. We spent a couple of hours sitting in the bar blogging and having a few drinks and then went out back and cooked up supper on the camp stove in the parking lot. About nine we went back in to an upstairs lounge to watch then set up for the evening. The lounge was a pretty intimate space. It was about the same size as our red room at HiLo with maybe a little wider section on the one side for the bar. There were arm chairs and couches sort of set up in a loose way around the sort of stage in the one corner. So it was a real cozy sort of setting. There were four separate gigs that night. Quite a score for the five dollar cover when you think of it. While they were setting up Reuben caught on to who we were and came up and welcomed us etc. but he was pretty busy so we didn’t get much time to talk. It’s obvious though that he is pretty well respected in Kingston from what we hear. I think he is on an up swing and if I had to bet I think he will be pretty successful some day.
The first two guys were obviously local dudes who were just happy to play a bunch of songs for nothing really. Then to my surprise, when they were finished this totally non descript guy sacked out on the couch beside mom got up and went to the stage and started mucking about, taking the guitar strap off of Rueben’s guitar and putting it on his and tuning it a bit etc. Turns out he was Cameron Latimer. When he started to play the chatter died down and everyone listened. I wouldn’t say he is a great entertainer but his songs are really good lyrically and instrumentally and I saw at least one guy get all teary. He was very good and got a lot of applause and an encore from the thirty or so of us in the room.
When Cameron was finished we had this country/hillbilly/rock band from NewYork
“ The Jack Grace Band” who took to the stage. They were loud, the drummer was fast, the lead guitarist could play and pick really well and did some great guitar solo’s, and the bassist was his wife who also did a great job. She played that guitar like it was a weapon. They came of sounding a bit like Tse Tse Top. Pretty loud though.
Then about midnight it was Reuben’s turn. All along the last half hour or so more people had been coming in. I think he plays there quite regularly and has developed a bit of a following. He had a five piece band. A drummer, a guy on the key boards, a base player, a lead electric guitarist, and himself.
When they finally started to play it was with incredible energy. Reuben has a way of turning his guys on and in turn feeding the audience. They in turn gave it back for sure. You can tell that he is completely in control. His musicians are very good, and not just loud, but subtle, and filled with expression. The drummer was so fast and so into it you could just tell. Same with all the others. It’s really amazing the whole range of music they flowed through from country, to almost grunge, and then folk, and then full blown rock, and so on. As he got going he never let up. Just flowing from one tune to another. A couple of times he invited guest performers to play with him. A guy with a French horn, a female vocalist, another guy with a lead electric, but for the most part it was just him and his for band mates.
It’s pretty obvious Reuben and Cameron are close. They really support each other, almost love each other. They have co written a bunch songs together, and I think they know that they are headed some place professionally. It was a real pleasure being there. At any rate Grace and I cut out of there about 1:45 AM only because we were so fatigued we were almost sick. Still it was nice laying in bed behind the tattoo parlor drifting off to sleep listening to these guys start up again.

Sunday

July 26
It rained all night off and on again. It was very hot and muggy and didn’t really get the sleep we should have. It has turned out to be a beautifull day however. Right off the sun came out. We were up early, had a great breakfast and headed out of the park at the 700K mark right at the Park gates. Downtown Bloomfield was wonder of wonders a CRC, just down from Rick’s bike shop. A good place and time for worship. We were warmly welcomed and even stayed to help with the dishes. From there we headed to the ferry from the Island, ( remember Prince Edward County is an island ) to the mainland. Just before crossing we took a side detour to a little lake called Lake on the Mountain, which is sort of a strange phenomenon. It’s 37M deep and yet it sits right on the edge, only 40M away from like a 300M escarpment. ….. The view of the bay from up there was great any way. After the ferry we soon arrived at Kingston. Driving down Princes Street to the downtown water front Mom in her typical way just about gave me a coronary. She started hollering and screaming and pointing and I thought I’d run over somebody. Instead right up there on the sign for the bar was Reuben Degroet live tonight. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning.

Another Day

July 25
Last night we went to bed at 8:30. We meant to read for a while but fell asleep immediately and slept clear through till 7:00 this morning. Didn’t even wake up to go pee! Well we love our bikes so much and the beach is so nice in the sun and well, we do have another 365 days to go, so we rode our bikes all the way out to the gate house and booked ourselves in for another night. Spent the whole day on the beach except for an afternoon break, had a great supper of pasta, onions, garlic, peppers, tomato sauce, and broccoli. Tomorrow is Sunday, we’re gonna look for a church out here to worship with. That’s it for now and time to do dishes. Listening to “Betty and the Bobs.

Back to Rick's

July 24
This morning we woke up early, just after six! A really bad nights sleep with mosquitoes just hounding us all night, not to mention the second movie being over about 1:30. We got out of there right away and had breakfast down by the beach. It turns out we liked the beach so much, and the sun was shining, so..oooo we decided to book a site and stay. That done we headed back into town to Rick’s bike shop. Two hours later after trying out various bikes and a variety of bum saving seats we finally left with two brand new bikes complete with baskets, and or bike racks on the back, kick stands and a brand new dimension in our lives “Bike Travel” The rest of the day was spent in absolute bliss, in the sun laid out on a beautiful sunny beach. A very delightful, restful experience! We love you all.

The Journey Begins

July 23
Thursday morning. After a lovely stay and a great breakfast we leave at 10:00 AM in the pouring rain. The QEW is horrible to drive on. White knuckle ally with hard rain and poor visibility all the way. The 401 isn’t any better only that the traffic slows to a crawl which makes driving a bit more manageable and certainly safer. Four hours along we stop for coffee in Whitby. It’s still pouring. Another hour and we turn off onto route 33 down into Prince Edward County. Had enough of freeway driving in the rain. We stop at the bridge across the Murray Canal at Carrying Place. Very interesting. We meet Jim the guy who runs the swinging bridge that lets the boats through when they arrive. He explains that this eight mile long canal built around 1900 cuts 120 miles off the trip for boats entering the Bay of Quinte. It also turns Prince Edward County into an island. From there we travel Welland and into Bloomfield. We stop and meet Rick at his bicycle shop and check out his bikes. We have a bike rack but no bikes. It’s still raining a drenching kind of rain and we can’t test ride them so we agree to hang around town and come back tomorrow. Rick suggests that we check out Sand Banks Provincial Park for a place to go and cook supper. He directs us to a remote place outside the park at the end of a remote access road where we can admire a beautiful terrazzo floor that’s all that’s left over from a former dance hall overlooking Lake Ontario. He also suggests we go to the Mustang Drivein north of town to watch a movie and meet his friend Paul who owns the place. He says Paul will probably let us stay there for the night for free. So just like on our first Honey moon we again went to the drive in. We saw Harry Potter the Half blood Prince, I didn’t like it, to creepy and evil, and some comedy called something like the Hangover, I liked it cause it was stupid mindless humour. And yup Paul let us stay right there for the night. Like Rick and his Bike Shop, both Paul and the Drive in were a real throw back in time. Paul and Rick and their wives are sort of like hippies only Rick likes to call it “Free people” It made for a nice end to the first day. And yes it was still raining.

Leaving

July 22
We’ve done it! The biopsy turned out good, the van has been packed, (against all odds ) it seemed almost impossible to leave with always something else yet to do, but we’re on the road. One last visit with Amy, one last kiss and a hug for “Baby Grace” a few last minute legal instructions and a full tank of gas, and we are off at “K” one on the odometer. First a last minute trip to Port Burwell yet. Than we meandered our way out to Cass and Mike’s place and spent the night there. 225 Kilometers down.

The Wet Run

July 17
Well we are almost on our way! Today after a week of trying to get the packing done and the house sort of ready for leaving we are finally taking the Road Trek out for it’s first trial run. We are calling it the wet run, because it started raining as we left and has become a steady downpour. It sort of reminded me of when we used to go family camping each year at Port Burwell and we finally started renting trailers to stay in. I still recall how nice it was being warm and cozy inside with the whole family there, and Opa and Oma visiting while it was pouring outside. It feels the same way. Got a good feeling how this might go. We set up in a lovely meadow right across from Dan and Nicole. Although the weekend was sort of wet and a bit cloudy we had a very comfortable time. It was a good time to decide what we still needed and what we probably should leave behind. A lot of both! This weekend has been invaluable in preparing us for leaving.