Two Sore Backs

Forillon National Park is a must see. The Gaspé is beautiful. So on our final day in the park….. And fueled on a lovely cod dinner and a great sleep, we had lots of energy for a 14 km hike to Lands End the next morning. Recall from the last blog post, Pat’s photos of…

We met Gerard outside of a cafe in L’Anse-au-Griffon-Nord, just north of Forillon National Park. He came here 40 years ago and simply couldn’t leave. He lives in Douglastown where he teaches adventure tourism in Cegep (grade 13). He created the program, and soon his son, also a teacher, will be taking it over. In…

In the summer of 2011, Marc Faubert was in North Vancouver to watch his daughter Justine play in the Canadian Little League Championships for team Quebec. He was sitting in the stands and overheard Brad Burgart talking golf. Brad was the General Manager of Capilano Golf and Country Club, where I recently retired from. Marc…

We’ve posted a couple of blog entries hastily. We have added to the bottom of two recent posts: Pakenham (something of interest about curling) and Kingston (some cute photos of Pat with Aspen). Check it out!!! Okay – it is Day 20 and we ventured into Province #7 – New Brunswick. Crazy!!! Weather update: we…

We stopped in Kingston for a quick visit with Mike and Nancy. Mike is my uncle, but we’re close enough in age that we’re really more like cousins. It was great catching up, getting to know Nancy a bit better, and learning what their son Liam is up to, not to mention having some of…

Our good friend Doug Argue suggested we might enjoy a visit with his brother Ritchie, who lives west of Ottawa near the town of Pakenham. Doug is a master of understatement, so we had been planning to go there as soon as he mentioned it, and it was great to meet Ritchie beforehand when he…

Huh?! Interestingly everything Thunder Bay connects back to curling. First, curling friends Laurel and Jill offered their newly purchased home on Lottit Lake for our accommodations. Pat is taking in a glorious sunset from their dock. This property is a piece of heaven. Unfortunately Laurel and Jill were away in Europe during our overnight stay…

TLDR: If you’re thinking about getting an EV, and very long road trips are super important, and you are not detail-oriented and comfortable with apps and software, just get a Tesla. (Or maybe I should say really do your homework before buying a non-Tesla.) Details (Skip to Our Experience if this bores you.) EV trips…

I’m writing this from just outside Ottawa so about four posts behind (it is Day 16). We drove a stretch of 5 long days arriving in Pakenham (just west of Ottawa) on Saturday evening. I’ll make a few posts today to get caught up. Those of you that are interested in the ‘how’ of crossing…

The rest of our time in Calgary focussed on visiting family. Our Day 8 included the following: Bill – the family audiophile- introducing us to a fabulous musician Hugh Masekala – specifically the song Stemula (The Coal Train). Played on Bill’s system, this song takes you to the Johannesburg mines. Please give Hugh Masekala a…