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Canada Road Trip 2023
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  • Scott Paul

Canada Road Trip 2023

An open-ended adventure by Scott Read more
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    Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Hometown Heroes

    September 10, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Yesterday we had breakfast in front of the home donated by John Diefenbaker to his hometown of Prince Albert. The pride of P.A. has a museum, road and bridge named after him. He was also my first prime minister though I was much too young to remember this fiery prairie populist.

    Leaving Saskatchewan, we saw a billboard in Burstall, shouting out the name of Chad Jassman, a wheelchair basketball Olympian to all passersby.

    From big city to small town, Canada celebrates their local sons and daughters who have grown up and gone on to do great things. Typically these are athletes, ranging from NHL stars, curlers, figure skaters, rodeo champions, etc. — sometimes prime ministers and Paralympians. I have enjoyed the civic pride as it helps me connect the place with at least one person.

    The siren of our hometown— Lethbridge— was too loud to ignore and that coupled with some very chilly nights in north Saskatchewan turned us into road warriors today — travelling south from Prince Albert, the forests and lakes giving way to ever longer horizons, coulees, and cheaper gas.

    Coleen and I are now home. Finn’s odometer has tripped over 18,000 kilometres over the past 104 days and nine provinces. It’s been a good ride and I am ever so happy that you joined us on this road trip.

    So don’t be surprised when I look at my watch should you ask “Did you have a good holiday?” I might just reply.

    How long do you have?    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Searching for a Prince

    September 9, 2023 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    No signs of royalty here in Prince Albert National Park. At least none we saw here at Waskesiu Lake as we cycled around today.

    I subscribe to the travel principle that you never know what your day is going to look like. Waking up this morning I would have never imagined that our day would have included a morning movie, an art gallery, and churros.

    And yet you would have found Coleen and I munching happily on popcorn at 11:30 as we watched The Miracle Club on the big screen as part of the town’s weekend film festival. The movie featured an all star cast and was delightful.

    Later, cycling helmet tucked under an arm and one hand holding a glass of French wine and in the other a warm churro, I wandered through a local art gallery admiring the paintings and sculptures.

    So a uniquely different day for us as we sought out royalty (to no avail) but ended up enjoying film and art in this beautiful park.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Klinger

    September 8, 2023 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    I’m dating myself, but I was a big fan of the TV series M.A.S.H. One of the characters was a private who went to great lengths to be discharged on the basis of mental fitness — he cross dressed in the earnest hope of being sent back Stateside.

    I was reminded of Klinger as we hiked a trail in Greenwater Provincial Park with the same name. However this trail was dedicated to a Saskatchewan lineman who died on the job nine years ago. His nickname was Klinger.

    Klinger’s family and friends built a trail that today had us meandering through forests of birch and poplar, climbing to vistas of the local lake, and sidestepping bear scat.

    That and the Sasquatch signs made for a lovely, albeit anxious at times, hike in the Saskatchewan woods. And the trailhead port a potty signed for bears seemed to be at odds with our trail discoveries. Seriously, does a bear shit in the woods?    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Iconic Saskatchewan

    September 7, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We had barely passed into Saskatchewan, when our attention turned away from the land of the living skies to just … the land. Vast fields of grain and large round hay bales littering the fields. A little further along the September harvest was in full gear — gangs of John Deere combines bringing in the crop.

    Saskatchewan Rough Riders green flags fluttered from farmyard flagpoles. Prairie elevators broke the horizon, train tracks still running by them. We drove past a mix of incongruously named hamlets — Mikado, Kamsack and Stornoway — before passing through the “hockey factory” of Kelvington where no less than six of their boys have made the NHL.

    And somehow along the way our jet lag transition came to pass. We share the same time with Saskatchewan’s western neighbour. But it is feeling late … yawn. Catch up with you tomorrow.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Turning 100

    September 6, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Our society has a thing about celebrating the number 100.

    From seniors achieving the century mark, to countries marking their 100 anniversary, to companies boasting 100 years of operation, we make a big deal of the time odometer tripping into three digits.

    Not caring to buck the trend, Coleen and I marked our 100th day on the road with a day of cycling, hiking, singing, and dining out in Riding Mountain National Park. It was a picture perfect fall day, the sun’s rays warming not burning. Rain and wind took a day off and we revelled in the beauty of the park.

    Our centennial supper included bruschetta, baked salmon with a fruit salsa, linguine in a creamy red pepper sauce and sea scallops. Chocolate tiramisu capped off our celebratory centennial meal. A day, a meal, and milestone to remember.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Where it All Began

    September 5, 2023 in Canada ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    There aren’t too many people whose birth certificate shows them being born in Erickson, Manitoba. I wake up each morning to a woman who claims this sleepy town as her birthplace. It’s located outside Riding Mountain National Park where Coleen’s father first cut his teeth in public service.

    The hospital is no longer there but the town has really leaned into their Scandinavian heritage. Street signs are topped by Viking ships while a giant longboat with red and white striped metal sails sits menacingly at the end of main street, its dragon prow head and Norse shields evoking a menacing sight.

    The story goes that Coleen’s parents and older brother had been at a “fowl supper” fundraiser. Wasn’t too long after that a super-stuffed Inez knew that she’d soon be cooking for more than three. A short ride down the highway to Erickson and the love of my life joined the human race. And she’s been running ever since. Some days it’s hard to keep up with her.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Hello Manitoba

    September 4, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    We said good night to Ontario and good day to Manitoba, the crossing of the border heralded by a polar bear billboard. The smoke and haze have caught up to us. A grocery clerk in Dryden blamed it on forest fires in Alberta and BC.

    Our highlights today included:

    * Husky the Muskie in Kenora, a supersized fish statue
    * buying charcuterie treats at the Keewatin Store
    * free camping at Brereton Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park (thanks Donna)

    We lay our heads beneath clear Prairie skies … wait do I hear some thunder in the distance?    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Time Travellers

    September 3, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Today we gained an hour, crossing into the central standard time zone. Losing time as we traveled to the eastern reaches of Canada we are now recouping those one hour increments (1/2 an hour in Newfoundland) on our return trip.

    A person passing our campsite this evening might think they had stumbled though some time travel portal. A couple hand washing their clothing, a 1986 Westfalia van in the background, a powder blue Coleman cooler on the picnic table — Willie Nelson singing On the Road Again.

    Yup … we’re old school. Taking our time to get back home.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Superiority Complex

    September 1, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Many businesses in this part of Ontario claim to be superior, including the adjective in their business name. If challenged they can coyly point to Lake Superior, arguing place name not quality. I mean seriously, Superior Septic? Perhaps their shit really doesn’t stink.

    Our rambles along Lake Superior today included a return to Marathon beach and it’s tumbled rocks, a German POW camp at Neys and a jumble of driftwood tossed up and onto the coast like toothpicks.

    Placid yesterday, the lake this evening showed its tempestuous side, white capped waves crashing into the shore, the surf drowning out the wind at times.

    We have a couple more days with this lake of the highest standard — it may be long enough for me to acquire a complex.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    See You in September

    August 31, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    At Pancake Bay this morning we had a delicious breakfast of French toast topped with Quebec maple syrup and Ontario farm fresh nectarines. A scrumptious start to this last day of August.

    Our hike this afternoon was a strenuous one, following a trail that led to an outlook over the watery graveyard of Lake Superior which has claimed many a vessel including the one made famous in the Gordon Lightfoot song of the same name — The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. A grim reminder that the “gales of November” turn these placid waters into dangerous crossings.

    Tonight we lay our heads down underneath Wawa night skies here in Northern Ontario. Wawa. Still my favourite place name outside the whimsy of Newfoundland.

    With just a few hours left in August, I bid you all adieu, and if the fates are kind will see you in September.

    It’s getting late, so I close now contemplating a pre-sleep shower. Oh, Coleen. Care to conserve some water?    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Great

    August 30, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We are truly returning home, highways, place names, and roadside trading posts now familiar and anticipated. Today included reprise trips to a propane filling station in Sault St Marie, and a gas station/market near Pancake Bay to replenish our charcuterie larder — smoked trout and maple butter will tantalize our taste buds well into Manitoba.

    Today and for the next few days our road travels will skirt Lake Superior. Beautiful open water that rivals any other lake, ocean or seaway that we’ve seen. It lives up to all the adjectives, including the Tony Tiger moniker of …. Grrreat!

    It’s a word that my father often used. Great. “ That’s just great,” he would say when I told him of Marita’s or Julilla’s progress in school or a piano recital, or a holiday, or the bounty of a garden harvest.

    On travels, one has the time to reflect and analyze one’s past, one’s character and look for clues to how you became you. For all the adversity in his life, my father Bob Paul remained open to acknowledging the grandeur of the world. That there is greatness in the world deserving of recognition. And I think that’s just … great.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    A Day to Remember

    August 29, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Bike fences, gum trees, and a random war memorial … it was a hodgepodge of a day here on Manitoulin Island. We have returned to rural, the traffic bedlam of Toronto mercifully in the rear view mirror.

    Recently the island has become an artists’ Mecca, according to a local chainsaw carver who we chatted up having stopped to see a sleepy forest spirit carved into an old tree. A couple hours before a long line of painted bikes fenced off an artist’s front lawn in such contrast to the old, rough cut zig zag fencing we first encountered last night.

    I will remember the Cup and Saucer Trail for the views of the Niagara Escarpment at the summit, the pouring rain, but also the “gum trees” — colourful wads of gum thumbed onto two different trees. I’ve seen small locks affixed to chain link fences around the world but the gum trees are a first for me.

    At a rural crossroads where the nearest town was perhaps 20 kilometres away, there was an impressive war monument recognizing the island men who fought and died in 20th century wars. Given the size of Manitoulin Island I was blown away by the size and repair of the memorial. Lest we forget.

    Yes, a day to remember for many reasons.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Skinny Side of August

    August 28, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    These golden days of August find us on the Bruce Peninsula. Campers are enjoying the last days of summer as students prepare to go back to school, their parents back to work.

    It has been a wee bit cooler than I expected as days grow shorter, long pants, and sleeves preferred over their shorter counterparts, and there is a pronounced coolness in the morning air.

    The ferries on this trip have been a real delight. Today we crossed from Tobermory to Manitoulin Island by ferry, and it is an opportunity for some downtime, away from the daily regimen of travel. A time to sit and reflect, leaving the driving to someone else.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    I’ll Huff …

    August 27, 2023 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    … and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down. Well the good residents of Owen Sound have nothing to fear. Their brick houses are the best we’ve seen in our travels. Historied buildings one after another on each block. Most of them in fine repair.

    With the Bruce Trail being just a brick’s throw away and a municipal treasure of a park close by I could see myself living here!    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Farmers’ Market

    August 26, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Whenever we can, we search out and attend farmers markets. We’ve had some success, but none like the fantastic Orillia farmers market today.

    It was held outside, and there were 50 or so vendors, selling everything from honey, to fresh corn, to fresh vegetables, and hand painted linen shirts. Wasps crawled over Coronation grapes, while a long-haired guitarist busked for change.

    We are in the heart of cottage country and the produce could not be any fresher or sweeter. The corn here is challenging their Taber rivals.

    It was a quintessential farmers market, and it will be hard to top in the month we have left before returning to our own farmers market in Lethbridge.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Bonus Time

    August 25, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Setting out from Lethbridge three months ago, we vowed to give Toronto and the dreaded Highway 401 a wide berth. Note to self. Resolutions are made to be broken.

    When Julilla said she would be arriving at Lester B Pearson airport in August to renew friendships, forged during her undergrad degree in Hamilton, we were delighted — not for the airport’s vicinity to the urban snarl they call Toronto but rather the opportunity for seeing our lovely daughter.

    So this afternoon we travelled from Peterborough to Toronto, first via a toll road, and then onto the dreaded 401, six lanes of seething madness during rush-hour. We abandoned Finnegan at a local Vietnamese restaurant near the terminal and hired an Uber to take us the last leg — perhaps the best money we have spent on this entire trip.

    It was a joy to see Julilla after many months of only hearing her voice on the telephone. Virtual hugs just aren’t enough. So, thanks to Julilla for giving us bonus time on this extended road trip and will see you at Thanksgiving.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Rosie

    August 22, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Our bank of travel memories is often filled with a remembrance of a perfect sunset, the joy of a mountain summit hike, a seafood meal on an outdoor patio, chilled wine glass of rose at hand.

    On this cross- Canada expedition a canine has managed to inveigle her way into the top 10 list. Rosie did not make a great impression when we first met her in June, passing through Ottawa on our way to the Maritimes. Laura, her master and member of my online writing group, had rescued Rosie from a home where she had been neglected.

    She was excitable and yapping — not so endearing. But before we left the leafy haven Laura calls home, Rosie had won me over. If she had a shirt, that’s where you would find Rosie’s emotions. So happy when been petted and scratched, mournful eyes when she realized we were leaving.

    On our return trip to Ottawa here in August, Rosie greeted us like long lost friends. Tail wagging vigorously back and forth and often looking at Coleen and I beseechingly from under the kitchen table. Hey, remember me she seemed to be saying.

    Yes, Rosie. We’ll be remembering you.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Facing the Grave

    August 21, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Death seems a little closer in the Maritimes and Quebec. Driving through small towns, cemeteries are always near, sometimes bisected by the main road. Cemeteries out west often seem tucked away — hidden from view.

    There is history here of course, centuries of European settlements which predate Confederation. A corollary of those lived experiences, is there have been centuries of death as well.

    We attended a music festival in Cape Breton which featured local talent, including a choir led by a tall, grey haired, white collared cleric. He spoke of the now dead composer of the song they were about to sing. The songwriter had been contemplating death in the lyrics — or as the preacher put it “facing the grave.”

    Easy to do out this way, as reminders of those who came before never seems more than a stone’s throw away.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Who Cut the Cheese?

    August 19, 2023 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    I will remember Newfoundland for its fish and brewis, Nova Scotia for its fiddles, New Brunswick for the mussels, and PEI for their small-hall ceilidhs, and Quebec for ….

    In a word … cheese. Delectable, goat and sheep cheese which we have found at small farms and grocery stores. And today we acquired two more cheeses unexpectedly.

    At today’s Saturday farmers market , we donated to two women raising money for breast cancer. The energetic road warriors are going to Morocco for a desert road rally. As we handed over cash they gave us small packages of cheese from a nearby cheese maker (Bedouin Cheese) who has been enlisted as one of their sponsors. So appropos.

    That made nine cheeses and counting in our small van fridge. Each time we open the door it’s like we’ve stepped into a fromagerie … whiffs of Gruyère, Boursin, Haloumi, and a few mystery cheeses fill the cabin.

    I’m reminded of that old commercial which talked about how to incentivize your adult children to leave home … stop cooking with cheese. Apparently, a lesson Coleen and I never took to heart.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Happiest … when?

    August 17, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    When are you the happiest? Singing in the shower or perhaps drinking that first coffee of the morning before the day gets hectic?

    For me, I’m happiest on the trail, whether it’s my boots tramping along some pine needle covered trail, or cross-country skis softly whooshing through the snow, or tires rolling on a bike path.

    I blame Coleen of course for this love affair with nature. She recruited me for many a mountain hike during our courtship. Which reminds me to amend my earlier statement. I’m happiest on a trail with my paramour — Coleen.

    Today’s happiness was a 10 kilometre hike in Frontenac Park. Even the occasional rain shower didn’t dampen my spirits.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Haha

    August 15, 2023 in Canada

    The joy of traveling is some of those laugh-out moments that arise unexpectedly.

    Like this place name we saw on a Quebec highway today. Seriously, how could you not laugh!

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Reunion Tour

    August 14, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    As we make our way west, we are returning to some places which were new to us on the way out and are now like old friends on our return trip — familiar and friendly. Today it was Edmunston, New Brunswick, where we accomplished the mundane tasks of laundry, showers, and topping up Finn’s propane earlier in the day.

    The sun, a less than faithful companion this past week, made a glorious late afternoon appearance today, topping up my Prairie-bred spirits. Blue skies … loving them. Sunshine on my shoulders? Like John Denver, I’m loving it. After the past week’s rain, it has been a joyous day — even the task of washing our clothing couldn’t take the shine off the day.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    Kid from Acadia

    August 12, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    For a good chunk of my youth, I lived in the Calgary community of Acadia. Never thought much about the origin of that name but Acadia’s place in Canadian history and culture is significant in the Maritimes.

    In a to-the-victors-go -the-spoils moment, the English expelled the Acadians from New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia when they defeated the French in one of their many wars in the 18th century.

    The Acadians were deported, families being separated— some went into hiding, many landed in Louisiana. But eventually they returned to start over and in the hotbed of Acadien culture, the New Brunswick town of Caraquet, they proudly show off their pride and colours — red, white, blue and a yellow star wherever you go.

    Banners, flags, lighthouses, lobster nets, park benches all showing off their Acadien patriotism. There is real community buy-in much like people decorate their homes for Christmas. Tuesday, August 15th is the Acadian’s big day and we saw the town preparing for an event which will quadruple their population with visitors.

    A tip of the hat to the Acadians— a proud and resilient people, who embrace their history and traditions — including a delicious sugar pie we ate today at the Acadian Historical Village. Almost worth the price of admission.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    C’est la Vie

    August 11, 2023 in Canada ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Every now and then, a little rain must fall. And today it poured once more in New Brunswick. It forced us to seek out indoor pursuits — first a library and then a small harbour restaurant in Miramichi who were true to their Facebook posting of 1/2 price mussels — ridiculously delicious. Throw in Oysters Rockefeller and crab-stuffed mushrooms and it was a most memorable meal.

    Apparently holiday calories don’t count so the scrumptious lemon blueberry shortcake was not fattening one bit.

    The rain continued to fall, so we drove up the Acadien coast and found our way to a small community hall in Evangeline where a Cajun/creole band from Louisiana had the locals dancing in the aisles. It was a by donation event and we were offered a yummy seafood gumbo as we entered.

    It seems when it rains it opens up culinary doors for us. C’est la vie.    Read more

  • Scott PaulCanada Road Trip 2023Traveler

    A Bridge Too Far

    August 9, 2023 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    We woke to a downpour of rain and rocking-the-van winds in Charlottetown, and news reports of cancelled ferries and restricted traffic across the Confederation Bridge. Did our van fall into the high-sided vehicles prohibited from crossing?

    We would find out.

    As we approached the coast, the skeletal outline of the bridge loomed out of the grey skies, daring us to cross. We passed a few semi trailers parked near the toll bridge and inched forward in the queue of vehicles, drivers flexing their knuckles which would soon be white. The wind roared and the waves lashed against the bridge moorings.

    Not only did they let us through the toll gates, they charged us $50 to head across the Norththumberland Strait — a wild and windy journey of 13 minutes made disconcerting by the fact you can’t see land for most of it.

    Like modern-day sailors, we called out “land ho” when New Brunswick came into view. The wind howled, Scott screamed (not my proudest moment) and Finnegan laughed like a demented clown as his tires made landfall.

    Catastrophe averted.    Read more

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