Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland

We arrivedin Newfoundland on the west side of the island at Port aux Basques due to the Argentia Ferry cancellation. That night we drove as far as Corner Brook in western Newfoundland.  The next day we drove the rest of the approximately 600 miles to the Avalon Peninsula staying at the Claddagh Inn B&B in St. Mary's.  The next mornig we drove over the extensive peatland barrens (below) to Cape St. Mary's.

Cape St Mary's consists of extensive sea cliffs around 500 ft. in height.  The area is now a bird sanctuary where nesting seabirds gather to breed.  Northern gannets (below)s make up the largest group of sea birds.  Other birds included black-legged kittiwakes, auks, murres, and guillimots.  There are presently about 14,000 pairs of gannets here, making it the largest gannett colony in North America.  The weather was extremely foggy along the immediate coast, but we were still able to view the birds.

That night we traveled to St. John. The next morning dawned a beautiful day and we headed south to the Town of Bay Bull's for a boat trip out to Witless Bay.The bay is noted for both whales and sea birds. While at the dock we saw a white-sided dolphin. Then it was out to the bay to observe minke whales and humpback whales (below). The whales performed by surfacing and diving, displaying their tails

Witless Bay is mostly know for the huge Atlantic puffin population. It is estimated that as many as 320,000 puffins (below) gather to breed on the offshore islands, making it the largest breeding population in the world.  They nest for life returning to the same burrrow as the previous year. While at sea they seperate, retuning in the spring. Puffins were everywhere, on the island, in the water, and flying all around. They are small (about 8 inches Long) and are quite stocky. It is amazing that they can fly.

As the boat continued along the shore of the island we came across a huge population of common murres (below) clustered in one area.  It was estimated that the population was about 100,000.  Other sea birds seen were black-legged kitiwakes, herring gulls, and great black-backed gulls.

The next installment will feature our day at St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland.

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

I am still running late.  We are presently in Newfoundland.  I will report on this later. 

We crossed the Northumberland Strait from PEI and spent the night in Antogonish, Nova Scotia.  The next day we drove northeast to Cape Breton Island.  Our first stop was at the Celtic Music Center at Judique.  We had lunch and were entertained by by two fiddlers playing traditional Scotch jigs and songs.  Then we headed to "Highland Village" a reconstructed village following the settling of Nova Scotia by Scottish immigrants.  We spent the night in Beddeck



The next day we drove north over the Cabot Trail traveling clockwise from west to east.  This took us up to the French side of Cape Breton and the town of Chetticamp.  The west side of the Cabot Trail is a beautiful highway that hugs the side of the mountains along the sea (above).  It then passes over the height of the mountains, past bogs. 

The eastern side is along the rocky coast of bays, inlets, and small towns.  At the site above we enjoyed watching the large northern gannetts diving over 100 ft. to get fish.  That evening we ate a restaurant where we watched a bald eagle flying over the bay.  It was back to Baddeck again for the night.

The first night in Baddeck we learned that our booking to Argentia, Newfoundland was cancelled due to ship problems.  We were booked instead onto the Port aux Basques Ferry which was a great inconvenience since we now had to drive the 601 miles to the eastern portion of Newfoundland.  Marine Atlantic refunded our money and gave us a free booking on the Port aux Basques ferry.  They also gave us a stateroom which we really didn't need for a midday sailing.  The next morning we headed to North Sydney to await our departure on the Highlander (above).

The Highlander is one of three new ships in the Newfoundland ferry system.  It started service last year.  It has two decks for carrying cars and trucks.  Each deck is 8 lanes wide (above). 

More to come.

PEI

The Halls and Hellquist departed Ossipee Lake, NH on June 24 for the Canadian Maritimes.  The day dawned a beautiful day and remained good until east of Bangor, Maine where we ran into rain for the rest of the day.  We crossed into Canada at the new Calais, Maine/St. Stephan, New Brunswick immigration facility.  We spent the night in Moncton, NB.  The next morning we "treated" Linda and Jeff to Magnetic Hill.  Here you drive your car down a slight hill, park at the bottom, put the car into neutral and back up the hill.  You really go up the hill, but how it occurs is curious.  Maybe you get a headstart but by the time we reached the top of the hill, I even had to break.





We drove north to the 8 mile long Confederation Bridge that crosses the Northumberland Straits to Prince Edward Island.  The photo above is from the New Brunswick side.  We stopped at the visitor center and then headed across the lush red-soiled countryside of PEI.  Farms cover the countryside with potatos the main crop. 

We stopped by the charming small town of Victoria for lunch.  The small town had a local chocolate shop and a small local playhouse getting ready to present "On Golden Pond".  The photo is Victoria Harbour.

Lupine is planted all along the highways.  This native of the Pacific Northwest is magnificent with blue, pink, and white flowers. 

Everyone travelling to PEI heads to Cavendish on the north side of the island.  Cavendish is well known as the site for the writing of the novel"Anne of Green Gables".  We drove into Avonlea which is a re-creation of the villlage of the novel, but decided not to go in.  We did visit the site of the home on which the novel was based.  This is under the Canadian National Park Service.  The site consisted of the "Green Gables" home and barn plus a visitor center.  After Cavendish we drove along the north coast and through Prince Edward Island National Park.  The beaches on this side of the island consist of  long sandy beaches. That night we stayed in the Provincial Capital of Charlottetown and enjoyed a leisurely dinner at a sidewalk bistro, then walked around the historical portion of the city. 

Tuesday morning we awoke to a rainy day and headed to the eastern shore of the island, stopping at the lighthouses at Panmure Island, Cape Bear, and Wood Island (above).  We stopped for lunch at Panmure Beach.  This is normally a popular swimming beach with over a thousand bathers.  Today it was pouring and no-one was there.  Jeff's desert was "the best bread pudding" he ever tasted  We boarded the ferry for the 75 minute sail across the Northumberland Straits to Nova Scotica.  When travelling to PEI we found that you pay to get off the island whether on the ferry or over the bridge.

note:  I am well behind due to our busy schedule, but will try to send other news soon,  We are presently in St. John's, Newfoundland and heading west to Gros Morne National Park.

Last week on the Road

Noel, wearing her birthday present purchased at the Ft. Worth Stockyards.  We enjoyed our eight days in McKinney and finished it off by playing our favorite board game "A Ticket to Ride"

On the way home we stopped in Stillwater, Oklahoma to visit our friends Ron and Linda. Barre worked with Ron during the summers of 1978 and 1981 at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station in Willis, Oklahoma. We had the chance to tour Stillwater and the University of Oklahoma.

We spent two days with Barre's cousin Jeff and wife Linda at their vacation home at Crooked Lake, Angola, Indiana.  Cousin Gordon and wife Merrily from Florida were visiting also on their way back from Florida to Freedom, NH.  The six of us went to Shipshewanna, IN, a town with a large Amish population. we love going to this town.  The picture above is of one of the many Amish buggies.  

This photo shows an Amish farmer plowing his field utilizing two teams of three horses.  He would make one pass around the field, then change teams.

We arrive home on Monday, April 30 after stopping in Oswego, NY for an overnight with Eric.  We got to meet Eric's friend Jessica from Rochester, NY.  Our total trip covered 5762 miles.  We drove our Prius and averaged 48mpg.  The cost of gasoline varied from a low of $3.38 in Oklahoma to a high of $4.10 in New York. 

Ft. Worth Stockyards

We took Noel to the Forth Worth Stockyards for an early 8th birthday.  The Stockyards area is one of the oldest areas of Ft. Worth.  Originally it was one of the busiest marketing regions of the southwest.  Over 160 million head of cattle, horses, sheep, mules, and hogs were sold here.  Today it is a great day destination with restaurants, saloons, galleries, museums, shopping and entertinment.

Twice daily a cattle drive is conducted along Main Street of the Stockyards

Texas Longhorns. 

Sockyard Maze.  This maze was featured on the 6th season of "the Amazing Race"

Paul and Noel planning their strategy for the maze.  This was the highlight of Noel's day. They had to collect cards that spelled out maze.  The cards were scatterred throughout and it It took them 22 minutes to complete the maze.

Noel on Texas Longhorn

Barre & Marion with "Wild Bill Hickok"

Replica of 1840's Concord Coach that ran the southern route between St. Louis and San Francisco.  We all enjoyed a ride around the stockyards. 

Roughriders game



Dr. Pepper Stadium, home of the Frisco, Texas, Rough Riders, farm team of the Texas Rangers



Michelle, Noel, and Marion at the game.  The game was played on Saturday night, the night of the many tornados to the north in Oklahoma and Kansas.  The wind the night of the game was strong and many balls were hit out of park.



Paul and Noel in the stands.  We enjoyed the game as the Rough Riders won the game

Noel in her Brownie vest prior to leaving for her meeting.  Paul is very busy working on the last stages of the new game "Borderlands 2".  He is spending many extra hours working to get it ready for release in the late summer.  Michelle is busy as a volunteer at Noel's school and as the newly elected President of the PTA at McGowen Elementary School.

Our Trip South



We started off our trip by visiting my high school best friend and his wife Theresa at there home on Virginia's Northern Neck. (photo is from a previous trip to previous home in Virginia).  We left Massachusetts with temperatures in the 40's.  It was in the 60's and low 70's in Virginia.  They have a beautiful home on the shoe of Chesapeake Bay at ther confluence with the Potomac River

The incentive for our trip south was to attend the NCAA Frozen Four National Hockey Championship at Tampa Bay, Florida.  Boston College won the Championship 4-1 over Ferrris State University of Michigan.  We stayed with Barre's cousin Gordon and wife Merrily north of Tampa.  We visited them for 9 days and visited many local attractions while enjoying  temperatures in the 80's and low 90's.

                                               



Road to Bayport through subtropical vegetation



Bayport Marsh along shoreline.  This area is frequented by Manatees.



Sinkholes are a common problem along the coastal communities north of Tampa.  This sinkhole is on the golf course at the development where Gordon and Merrily live. 

Spanish moss typically covers the branches of the large Live Oaks throughout the south.

Gordon, Merrily and Marion viewing the remains of the Yulee Sugar Press at Homosassa, Florida.

We visited Homossassa and ate dinner at a restaurant overlooking Monkey Island (above).  The island is the home of 5 Spider Monkeys that are descendents of previous moneys placed on the "island".  The island was the result of dredging operations in the waterway.  The monkeys remain on the island since they do not like the water and will not swim.  (Google: Monkey Island, Homoasassa, Florida).  We caught a quick glimpse of a Manatee in the river.

Barre and Merrily spent part of the last day canoing 5.5 miles down the Weekie Wachee River from the main spring which produces 117,000,00 gallons of water each day.  The water is crystal clear and a constant 72 degrees.  (See: Weekiewachee.com).  We saw numerous fishes and many interesting shoreline aquatics. 

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Bald Cypress in the Weekie Watchee River.

Our trip now continues on to Texas to visit, Paul, Michelle, and Noel.  On the way we will stop to visit Liz and Robert in Louisiana.  Barre was Robert's Teaching Assistant at the University of Michigan Biological Station years ago.