Bluenose Meander: Days Six to Eight

Had a quiet drive down to Fredericton early Friday Morning and found a campsite at Hartt Isle RV Resort. The rain continues to follow me otherwise had I brought my bike I'd have ridden into downtown 4 miles distant. One of these years. Spent another quiet day in camp. By next year I'd hope they've finished reconstructing their 'resort'.

This Sunday Morning, Day Eight, set out for Nova Scotia after reading the comix over coffee. The highways were relatively quiet with little trucking to bother me. Two days earlier I played continual hop scotch with a heavy truck that passed me on the downhills and then had to be passed again as it labored up the next grade. Not fun that. The day began sunny for the most part. Stopped in Sackville New Brunswick just short of the NS Border to get cheaper NB gasoline after waiting for the line-up at the pump noting all the NS license plates. Found the NB Welcome Centre there open. Felt sadly nostalgic as I passed the four Radio Canada International Transmission Towers in Tantramar Marsh now standing idle as Canada's answer to Voice of America begun during WW#2 has been stilled. The internet is spelling the end of Short Wave Radio.

A few miles later stopped at the Nova Scotia Welcome Centre to pick up tourist bumph. A young highschool laddie will don kilt and sporran to pipe visitors into New Scotland starting Canada Day after several year's hiatus since the lassie retired. I must stop to see him on my return journey. Stopped at Masstown after driving the old (non-toll) road

through the Wentworth Valley and there purchased Nova Scotia Maple Syrup, Solomon Gundy, Apple Blossom Honey, Green Tomato Chow, and Mustard Beans. Twould be a sin not to.

My reputation as a water witcher remains intact as a black cloud appeared out of a clear sky and dumped torrential rain just 20 miles short of my niece's home in Falmouth in the Annapolis Valley. Ignored the GPS' advice to take the Superhighway to Halfiax and then back for the old hill and dale winding HWY 14 route through Nine Mile Woods. For the most part the road was in better shape than the highway.

All's right with the world, my pop corn popper still manages to set off  the smoke alarm.

Bluenose Meanders: Days Four & Five

Checked online early this morning Wednesday June 19th, then went back to bed again. Something I'll not be doing the next two days as I have no web access. Woke again at 8:30, packed up and headed out to IGA Extra. I wasn't in the mood for shopping today. Highway 185/85 is still under construction but the route is largely completed at long last, a limited access highway with divided lanes for the most part. The motorcycle trail crossings serve to give one pause at 90 KM/Hr. As I got nearer Edmundston and out of the 'mountains' was able to pick up CBC One in English once more.

Once again the New Brunswick Tourist Bureau disappointed me by being closed. At least I didn't have the challenge turning around people in larger RV's would have. This marks the third year in a row they've stood me up. I was welcomed by an RCMP Roadblock and putting the best possible face on the situation told the officer, is this my welcome to New Brunswick. He quipped that it was necessary now that Quebec is a separate country, I shook his hand and he sent me on my way. Seems they are looking for people buying cheaper beer in Quebec.

Shortly after found De Republic Park. A young couple were manning the camping booth. They failed to tell me the park supplies only 20 AMP power. When I tried to use the pay phone to make a 1-800 call it failed to work. I'm not impressed. The washroom has an open stall with a toilet? Aside from no privacy someone in a wheelchair would have to mount a 2 by 4 to get to the facility and do without toilet paper. The washroom was begun well but it appears they ran out of money and completed the job with two by fours and plywood. Walked over to check out the botanical gardens and learned that not much is in season. Perhaps I should have waited for my return trip.

The calendar may say we're but a few days short of summer but weather conditions dictate that spring has just fully sprung here. The fiddleheads have just finished opening, and the wood anemones, and other spring ephemerals are still in full blossom. My tour of the NB Gardens Thursday Morning was thorough and exhaustive and lasted less than an hour. I did enjoy talking to the Gentleman at the desk who moonlights giving tours from his full-time job as a professor at the NB Forestry School. We both knew our botany. Spent the rest of the day tidying up inside my RV and writing 8 letters. It rained again that night.

Bluenose Meander: Day Three

Oh the luxury of a day in camp. No need to secure everything and prepare for travel. Daylight comes very early in Eastern Quebec since south of us New Brunswick is an hour earlier in the Eastern Time Zone. This means  lose an hour tomorrow when I cross over. Went back to bed after my morning browse online and slept in until 9:30.

When I finally got active climbed the heights and walked over to check out the Saint Lawrence Exploration Centre. With a display area that would fit in the average Motorhome and presented en Français it appears designed for the use it was serving this morning: Introducing Quebec School Children to the marine environment. I decided it wasn't worth the $7.50 entry fee.

Walked back up with my camera and tablet to get pictures of the campground:

I would not say I'm organized but I've managed to find a few items and put a few more away. For the first time ever I found the appropriate able to connect my camera directly to my laptop, found the appropriate port on the camera, and discovered that they all work. My FastStone Image Viewer Software detected the card and successfully downloaded the images as before. You can teach an old dog new tricks!

As the returning tide came in it brought rain and cloud with it. [The St. Lawrence is tidal for another 100 miles all the way to Quebec City; it dramatically backs up the Wolf River.] Seems unless I don rain gear I won't be walking out to the point and once more I will not see a sunset. After finishing the tea I just brewed I'll see to dinner and then settle in to read and watch TV on i-Tunes.

Today I walked by the Motel Loupi. Do you suppose they allow Cougars in the Wolf Motel?

Bluenose Meander: Day Two

Slept in after early morning web browse. Fell asleep Sunday Night after watching Teen Wolf on i-Tunes. Wasn't up to much so I drifted off to the rain pattering on my roof and windows. At least Aloutte Campground was quiet; evening Wi-Fi sucks, especially at $5/day extra.

Sleeping in for me meant 8:30 AM. Given Montreal and Quebec City Rush Hour Traffic this was not a day for an early start. Rivière-Du-Loup is at the junction of HWY 20 and 185 which heads South to Edmundston, New Brunswick. Getting there meant a drive up the Eastern Townships of Quebec on moderately rough pavement in light traffic. I was fortunate that the fog didn't drift in off the Saint Lawrence until 10 miles from my destination. I was also fortunate in encountering relatively little highway construction or detours, only light rain, and even snatches of

sun. Made it all the way without incident though the QPP were out in force stopping speeders.

Headed first to St. Hubert just off the highway for a feed of chicken, then went next door to the Shell Station where a fill-up cost me $135.70 at $1.33/L. Heading north across the highway bridge construction on HWY 132 seems permanently stalled. Arriving at Camping Du Quai is like coming home:

1. Friendly Family Run Campground that's quiet
2. Great tasting water
3. The best Wi-Fi I've seen in my travels
4. Hiking trail across the road
5. One of my favourite Grocery Stores in town
6. St Hubert's Chicken nearby

The heavens opened just after I'd settled in. Good thing I wasn't planning on a campfire. :-(

I wanted to catch up online in any case. It was with some interest I read that this place is famous for its sunsets. I wouldn't know; anytime I've been here it's either been cloudy and raining or fogbound. If it weren't for the CBC the Simard Farmily would have all the media outlets locked up: everything is in French in any case.

Bluenose Meander: Day One

Got underway around 7:00 AM Sunday Morning in the rain which continued ll day at time heavy. The East-Bound 401 past Kingston is in terrible shape. The new Service Centres replaced after the half century anniversary of their creation may be shiny and new but they lack the graciousness of their predecessors. At least I managed to get across the top of Toronto without incident. Stopped for gas in Mallorytown too soon it appears, it was 6¢ cheaper in Cornwall. Thought of the Movie Bon Cop/Bad Cop when I passed the Quebec/Ontario Boarder. Found my way through the middle of downtown Montreal blessings Montreal drivers and ignored my GPS to find Camping Aloutte north of HWY 20. For those not bilingual in French the word means Lark.

Most items I need made it into the RV, getting them organized will take a little longer. Once more I pulled out my coffeemaker basket to discover a spiderweb of mossy fungus growing on the last grounds I used. Must remember to dump that in future. When I got in camp filled my water tank run dry in Erie Pennsylvania against freezing temperatures last April in Oakville. The black water tank empty for 3 months still reads full. The kitchen tap was clogged with plastic from the lines and tank. All those little annoyances. Slowly I'll get back in the swing of living in my home on wheels. Must remember to inquire about Wi-Fi when signing in at campground offices. Locking the toilet door, important when using a unisex washroom!

I'm about to unplug and head down the Saint Lawrence River past Quebec and out through the Eastern Townships along Highway 20. Hopefully it won't be too foggy. The sun has peeked out among the clouds here but I'm driving back into the rain.

June Belly Aching

I know how to access ripping software for DVD's and am aware that virtually anything is available for download, even before its release for screen somewhere in South-East Asia but I chose to buy legitimate copies of DVD's. What I find insulting is the fact that I am forced to waste my time looking at copy warnings before I can enjoy the videos I chose to pay too much for in the first place. Those who choose to pirate these things will not be deterred, those of us who are honest are being penalized for that honesty.

I have 'friends' on Facebook who bare their souls online and through instant messaging with the use of impossible spelling, bad grammar, and indecipherable syntax, some even bidding the online world good night; but are either unable or unwilling to take the time to collect their thoughts in a logical consistent manner and write me an E-mail. If the trend continues future biographers will be denied the collected correspondence of individuals which inform so many great books of the past. Are we becoming a post-literate society?

The trouble with buying bulk herbs and spices is dealing with the extras you scouped out of the bins that won't fit in your original containers.

Attila the Hen beats the rap. Word just in that Mayor Hazel McCallion 92, of Mississauga was found not guilty on a technicality. Meanwhile another disgruntled voter is working on a petition to have the GG oust Harper as Prime Minister of Canada:

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-right-honourable-david-johnston-governor-general-of-canada-stop-harper-now

At the rate he's collecting signatures the people of Canada will be voting on his re-election before the possibility of such a constitutional crisis could rear its ugly head. Canada lacks recall legislation but recent events prove we may need it.

June Spleen

It's only June First but the pollen load is making me cantankerous.

I set out a bird feeding station on my balcony and for the last month an American Goldfinch has been attacking its reflection in my floor to ceiling windows. Nothing I do deters him, aggressive creatures those Americans.

The smoked chicken luncheon meat I bought in early May has a best before date of July 29, just what do they do to it?

I have decided to wait for the complete Hobbit series on DVD to watch the Lord of the Rings Prequel by Jackson. What year is that likely to be? Comes word that Tolkien did not coin the word Hobbit. In Wales a hobbit was a former measure of approximately two bushels and a half. Unless Hobbits have strength equivalent to that of an ant it's doubtful a Hobbit could budge a hobbit of anything unless they were feathers.

Proving that people are heroes everywhere but in their own hometowns consider the four young Hobbits in Lord of the Rings. At Aragon's Coronation Ceremony on the heights of Minas Tirith, Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry are honoured when the High King and the assembled men, dwarfs, and elves bow low to them. When they arrive home the townsfolk of the Shire ignore them as if they were just now stumbling home after a night at Green Dragon.

In 1995's How to Make an American Quilt Finn displays an impossible level of self-centredness and lack of commitment. She has changed the subject of her thesis so often her Grandmother has lost track of it. When Sam arrives with architectural drawings for the renovations he is making to their home it becomes quite plain that Sam wants children but the idea is furthest from Finn's mind. When presented with the finished quilt which is not likely to be colourfast she shows so much regard for object her Grandmother, Great-Aunt and their friends have laboured on all summer that she promptly drags it through bright red California mud. Were I Sam I'd run not walk in the opposite direction.

One of Garrison Keillor's better lines:

A teacher told his school board that there was no need to teach evolution in his classroom because it hadn't happened there yet. Then he realized no one had any idea what he was talking about.

I used to be somewhat miffed when a book I had not yet gotten around to reading in a $20 Trade Paperback edition went on sale in a remaindered Hard Cover Edition for $5.00. How is it that E-books can now be more expensive than a mass-market paperback edition of the same book?

The anniversary of their coronation is not a day of unbridled celebration for a hereditary monarch as it also marks the date of the death of their parent.

During the recent citywide lockdown in Boston occasioned by the search for the perpetrators of the bombings Police specifically requested that key Dunkin Donuts locations remain open for the sustenance of the officers. Did they really think this through?

Recently learned how the American Tea Party got its name:
Taxed Enough Already

Fast and Furious 6

Is Hollywood really that devoid of new ideas? They lost me at II.

If a woman became president would her husband become the First Man?

DWEEB

Dick with eyebrows

Fortunately I have to keep mine trimmed.