Real Alternatives for Out Living the Dream

Rob and I were highlighted in the Waterloo Alumni e-newsletter this month! Our 40th wedding anniversary coincided exactly with our 40th reunion on June 1, and 24 of our classmates joined us for the celebrations! www.uwaterloo.ca/stories/engineering-45-year-partnership

We are blessed and privileged to have lived one month on the special little island of Anguilla, an award winning gem for its beaches and a model of peaceful and rapid rebuilding after hurricane Irma. We were playing bridge in the mornings, walking the beaches in the afternoons, dining at night, not on vacation, Out Living our Dream!

Bidding farewell to New Brunswick on Mon June 25, we drove west through the US: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York states. We were headed for Niagara Falls and Grimsby to visit with our grandchildren for the Canada Day weekend. We made it! Happy to be back on Canadian soil. We must say that the people we met in the bridge clubs in Bangor Maine and Rutland Vermont were very welcoming and appreciative of us as Canadian friends. Happy Canada Day, everyone!

From June 18 to 25 we explored the Bay of Fundy from Yarmouth NS to St. Andrews NB, soaking in the history of the Acadians and fascinated by the highest tides in the World!

We enjoyed a day at Joggins Fossil Cliffs, on the Bay of Fundy near the NS/NB border, a UNESCO World Heritage site. "It contains an unrivaled fossil record preserved in its environmental context, which represents the finest example in the world of the terrestrial tropical environment and ecosystem of the Pennsylvanian Coal Age of the Earth's history".

Born in Halifax, Cille's parents moved to Ottawa when she was 2, so she doesn't remember much, but is drawn to Nova Scotia still. On June 14 we meandered along the east coast from Cape Breton to Halifax where we met up with Cosco cousins from Cille's Mom's side of the family. What a fun time to chat and laugh, eat and drink all day and into the night. That's love, coming together after months and years apart like it was yesterday. Further down the coast, we enjoyed a stop i...n Lunenburg, a UNESCO site honouring the historic buildings still standing in this ancient shipping village. Another family highlight was visiting Cille's Uncle Ed and Aunt Gayle in Yarmouth for a couple of days. We had wonderful trips to the lighthhouse and West Pubnico, meals and ice cream, conversation and naps. It was wonderful and look forward to another visit soon. Yarmouth was topped off with a bridge game at the club where we placed first E-W out of nine pairs, yeah! The next leg of our journey is around the Bay of Fundy to get close up and personal with the highest tides in the world!

On Tues June 12 we crossed over from PEI to Nova Scotia via the ferry. We traveled east along the coast (of course) and entered beautiful Cape Breton, circling Bras d'Or Lake (Canada's largest inland sea) clockwise. We spent a day at Louisbourg, the largest historical reconstruction in NA and learned so much about life in the early 1700's. Campsites included and recommended: Mira River Prov Park near Louisbourg, and, Battery Prov Park near St. Peter's where the locks connect the ocean to Bras d'Or Lake. In the next few days we will be spending time with family in Halifax and Yarmouth, exploring Cille's roots in Pubnico, where D'Eon is a household name.

We are in Cape Breton! This is the King's Bastion in the old town of Louisbourg, where we spent the day experiencing life almost 300 years ago!

From our approach over Confederation Bridge on Fri June 8, to our departure by ferry on Tues June 12, we loved PEI; the red soil and rocks, rolling green hills, ocean views in every direction, friendly people and great bridge! We timed our arrival on PEI to play bridge at the Charlottetown bridge club on Friday afternoon. Besides meeting lovely people, we placed 3rd out of 10 pairs and were invited to a lobster dinner and more bridge on Monday evening. So we adjusted our pla...ns to stay an extra day! Friday after bridge we headed toward our campsite, Tranquility by the Sea, near Cavendish Beach. We made a fatal error by trusting our GPS and in the pouring rain, overshot the campsite by about 45 minutes (which is significant on PEI). We eventually arrived and were greeted by hundreds of mosquitoes. In the morning, and in sunshine, we headed west, planning to explore the west 3rd of the island on Saturday, center 3rd on Sunday and east 3rd on Monday (well positioned for bridge and the ferry). How very thorough and organized is that? We were delighted to find and follow the North Cape Coastal Drive from Summerside west, hugging the coast as much as possible: through West Point (where we climbed the lighthouse and enjoyed lunch at the Catch Kitchen), to North Cape (where we saw the lighthouse and the Wind Turbine Info Centre), and to our campsite on the ocean, at Jacques Cartier Provincial Park (where we did our first laundry and had our first campfire!). On Sunday we made our way to Cavendish Beach National Park Campground. We settled in, unveiled our bikes for the first time and enjoyed the excellent bike trails along the beach, 30+ km to North Rustico and back. Monday we headed east toward the East Point lighthouse and enjoyed the Elmira train museum. We followed the coastal road until we realized that it doesn’t actually touch the coast all that much! So we cut a few peninsulas off and headed to our campsite at Lord Selkirk in Belfast. We finished our day with a lobster dinner and bridge at the Charlottetown bridge club, placing 4th out of 10 pairs. This morning we caught the ferry to Nova Scotia. More adventures next time in Cille’s home Maritime province.

On June 5 we bid a fond farewell to Perce Rock. For the next 3 days, we hugged the coast southward around Chaleur Bay to the tip of Miscou Island NB, then all the way to Shediac, the lobster capital of the World! Along the way, we "smelled the roses" at two historic museums, played bridge at the club in Carleton, PQ and enjoyed our first lobsters in Shediac! Cille was moved by the signs of Acadians everywhere along the coast of NB, and the obvious LOVE of their culture and ...heritage. She was reminded of her roots, a direct line to the Acadians of NS, which we will experience later on this journey. Next stop PEI for 3 nights.

In line at the Information Centre in Percé, on the eastern tip of Gaspé Peninsula, Cille overheard one couple say that they are from Ottawa. She couldn’t resist sharing that we are from Ottawa too! Well, they live south of Ottawa and we live west of Ottawa, close enough! We met Shirley and Ron again at the lookout to view Percé Rock and Bonaventure Island and learned they are semi-retired, have grandchildren ages 6 years to infant, and play bridge. So much in common! We invi...ted them to our RV to play bridge in the evening and had so much fun that they returned the second evening. They shared their favourite stops from travelling Gaspé Peninsula counter-clockwise and we shared ours coming from the other direction, helping out fellow travelers to hit the highlights. Interesting that our paths literally crossed in Percé, both staying the same two nights, and that we had the good fortune to meet! What to do in Percé? Percé Rock and Bonaventure Island are definitely the attractions that have turned this village into a destination. On our first day, the wind was too strong for the boats, so we walked to town, had a delicious lunch and poked around the museums and shops. Luckily, the next day the wind subsided enough for us to take the cruise. We enjoyed a close-up view of Percé Rock, docked on Bonaventure Island and hiked 5+km to the world’s most accessible colony of Northern Gannets. Wow! This is a must-do experience! The Northern Gannets are monogamous for life - now that's LOVE! We were wondering how they find each other in this field of 38,000 nests without cell phones? One more stop planned in Québec, a tiny town of Carleton where there is a bridge club, so we look forward to playing bridge three nights in a row!