Montreal to Moncton

Day 1

What an unbelievably beautiful day.  Temperature - Perfect, Wind - at your back, Sky – Incredible clouds and pink mares tail clouds for a sunset, Sun - Just enough, Grade - Level almost all day.

So what went wrong??  Well nothing really.  We started out just fine with a great breakfast at Le Pomerol in Montreal.  Great location and high rating.  Retrieved our bikes and started out. 

Finding our route to Jacques Cartier Bridge went quite well.

Cycling/Pedestrian walkway on Jacques Cartier Bridge

A construction project necessitated some heavy hauling of bikes and panniers down stairs and up again but soon we were on our way.  Once we crossed the bridge it was difficult to find a marked cycling trail. We spent about an hour and 12 km. going in circles until we returned to the same place we started after the bridge.  With a little help from Google Maps we were soon on our way. The cycling infrastructure was most impressive.  Cathy has dreams of how Saskatoon can be changed!

 

Up and over a railway.

Here is the railway and the overpass.

The next 35 km. was an absolute delight.  The trail was well marked, solid pavement or firm crushed gravel, and nearly level as it meandered through forests, subdivisions, a small town and along a hand dug canal (built in 1830’s).  

We arrived at our Hotel in Saint Jean sur – Richelieu at 4:15, had a lovely swim in a 74 degree pool.  Supper in a Greek restaurant where you bring your own wine finished off a great start to our journey.

WEDDING CELEBRATION

WEDDING CELEBRATION

Thunder Bay was rocking over the weekend with the most wonderful wedding celebration for Sarah and Therin, attended by family and friends from across Canada and the U.S. A twenties theme seemed to galvanize people’s imagination and resulted in an amazing display of colorful and imaginative clothing choices.

Therin and Sarah’s ceremony to formally honor and commit a lifetime to each other was especially touching.  It took place in the backyard of their home in Thunder Bay with a circle created by all the guests and a backdrop of a wedding quilt created as part of our family traditions. 

The couple arrived in a wonderfully restored old car owned by a friend.   

Therin’s gun holster with the Kale/Sunflower bridal bouquet set a thoughtful tone.  

Following a reading by Kahlil Gibran, Therin spoke of their desire to have everyone present be especially mindful of our part in cementing a solid permanent relationship between her and Sarah.  To move from a symbolic concept to a hands on actualized blessing of this relationship a ribbon was circled around the group.  Beautiful rings made by a friend were threaded over the ribbon and as the rings were moved along each person grasped the rings and invoked their personal thoughts and blessings before sliding the rings onto the next person.  I cannot imagine a more meaningful way to involve everyone in a powerful community blessing.

A reception followed with wonderful Thai food from a local restaurant.  The most delicious desserts, created by Sarah’s friend were a highlight.  The dance party that followed was eye popping with action and music that seemed irresistible to everyone from 4 weeks old and up. The dance began with a surprise appearance by Dolly Parton who sang and danced with Therin on stage and many guests as well.

Home made wine with a special wax seal was also a highlight.

The next day included a wonderful hike on Mount McKay with stunning views of Thunder Bay.  Both Olive and Hamish did amazingly well to walk up and back down pretty much under their own steam.  What a beautiful part of the world overlooking Lake Superior.

Boulder, Colorado

Cathy and I had an exciting time in Boulder last week.  The rain poured down day after day and ended in exciting flooding announcements in the middle of the night while we were sleeping in our B&B.  Everything turned out fine and we were safe and dry.  Unfortunately, three people were killed in the state due the flooding.

I was able to get out a few times and take some bird pictures when the rain stopped for a few minutes.  I was lucky to get pictures of two new birds that I have never seen before.  This Western Scrub Jay posed for a few seconds and then was gone.  The Green Heron was quite wary of me as I stood very still and it sat on a branch over the water looking for food.  I had a great time watching the Great Blue Heron as it was fishing for little fish.   It caught three while I was watching.

Western Scrub Jay

Green Heron

Great Blue Heron eating a small fish.

The soft subdued lighting was quite lovely for some scenery shots as well.

Our night in Val Marie at ‘The Convent’ was a sleep down memory lane.  We had stayed here 17 years ago soon after it opened and enjoyed discussions with the owners who are now trying to sell the B&B. Breakfast around the large table supplied both sustenance and conversation with other guests from Yorkton and Toronto. We then went on a 5 km. walk over the Grasslands revealing an abundance of prairie flowers, constant wind, birds, Native effigies, lichen covered rocks and 360 degree vistas.

 

Then it was back to Val Marie for a coffee and on to Shaunavon for a visit with a friend, Joanne from Cathy’s connections with the Trans Canada Trail. We were about to go out for supper when the power went out so we found a burger truck that had it's own power plant. The burger was actually quite delicious.

Monday started out with another great breakfast and long conversation with Don at the Country Flavor B&B.  We headed off on a traveling day to explore somewhere between two and three hundred local museums.  Here I had the rare chance for another reminder of how old I am by standing amongst the artifacts of my childhood and as other visitors walked by they would comment on the realistic looking bald oldtimer. “Strange he doesn’t wear a hat, they nearly all did back then”, I heard one visitor remark.

This was actually a great museum in Willow Bunch describing the local community with an emphasis on the sad life of Edouard Beaupreé.  He was one of 12 children and grew to 8’3” high as a result of a pituitary gland tumor. This was in the late 1800’s and as his family was extremely poor he ended up as feature in travelling shows and had a horrible life.

Then we went to the St. Victor’s Petroglyphs to explore this Saskatchewan phenomenon.  It will require another visit to really appreciate the rock drawings as they are fenced off and best seen with a guide at night and in the rain (three strikes against us).

I’m sure you can see the face on the rock surface.

  Our next stop was Assiniboine, where a real bakery with real cinnamon buns and real coffee was open and ready to take our money. Lots of roads off into the horizon added to the driving beauty.

From there we decided to head for the East Block of Grasslands National Park.  This turned out to be the most delightful, engaging and in many ways spiritual part of the trip.  Parks Canada has put some money into a centre at this location with lovely picnic, camping and toilet facilities.   

 

Not as good as Pat and Linda's at Twin Oaks but good.

The Park Interpreter was full of information about the possibilities and convinced us it was a great night to camp overnight.  We went for a long walk over soft native prairie grass, busting with fresh blossoms from all the recent rain.

 

The mosquitoes were in a league of their own, trying to see if people would actually go crazy with their needle point accuracy in capillary puncture. 

Here is where we put our tent looking over the unspoiled prairie grasses.

I was in heaven snapping birds and scenery, a few of which follow.

 

Common Nighthawk flying.

Common Nighthawk

Muskrat

Killdeer

Cedar Waxwing

 The lichen on the rocks here is like none I have seen before.  It is a beautiful rusty red color.