July 12-13, 2016 Our route from Hilden to Annapolis Royal took us near the Grand Pré National Historic Site, the center of Acadian settlement prior to the deportation in 1755. Grand Pré means “great meadow” and the Acadians who settled there made their great meadow by building dikes. Henry Wadsworth Read more…
July 10-11, 2016 What could top a coal mine tour to celebrate a wedding anniversary [our 39th]? Dinner at the Hilden Volunteer Fire Brigade! Firemen and their supporters hosted the caravan for grilled pork chops, potato salad, slaw, and strawberry shortcake for donations. We were made members of the “Order Read more…
July 10, 2016 In college, Jane had been moved by the song The Ballad of Springhill which she heard on a Peter, Paul and Mary album. It tells the story of miners trapped after an explosion. The route from Prince Edward Island to Hilden, Nova Scotia took us very near Read more…
July 9, 2016 The Caravan had arranged a tour of Charlottetown, the capital of PEI. We started with a stop for Cow’s Ice Cream. This probably had more to do with the fact that Cow’s is a PEI institution and makes excellent ice cream than with the wagonmaster’s obsession with Read more…
July 8-9, 2016 No caravan events were scheduled for the morning of 7/8 so we explored more of PEI National Park (it’s in three distinct locations). We started an interesting-looking walk but shortly thereafter abandoned it to the mosquitoes. We’d left the repellent in the coach. We drove to the Read more…
July 6-7, 2016 The travel day from Caraquet to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island was long, but the absolute highlight was crossing the Confederation Bridge joining the two provinces. The bridge, at eight miles long, is the longest in the world built over ice-covered water. It opened in 1997 after four Read more…
July 4-5, 2016 The drive from Percé, Quebec to Caraquet, New Brunswick was long (258 miles)but pretty. Although we were west of the Gaspé Peninsula, we now lost an hour, changing to Atlantic Daylight Time. For the first time since the caravan began, we set up in sunshine. What a Read more…
July 2-3, 2016 We arrived at the campground in the rain but were stunned by the view of Percé Rock from the front seats of the coach. The windshield is an amazing picture window. Coming down the hill in the rain with Percé Rock coming into view. The the hill Read more…
June 30-July 1 Although the day was dreary as we traveled from Métis to Cap-aux-Os (Cape of Bones, from the whale bones that washed up there, we were told), the scenery was stunning: Hills, ocean, geology, waves, waterfall. A walk in nearby Forillon National Park gave hope that the drizzle Read more…
June 27, 2016 The drive to Métis-sur-Mer was over 200 miles along coastline edged with mountains. We stopped near Rimouski for a tour of the Point-au-Père Lighthouse. It is 108 feet high and octagonal. Its supports were placed to the outside of the structure to save concrete.After hiking in Maine, Read more…