Thanksgiving 2011

I flew into St. John's Saturday at 12:40 p.m. The plane was supposed to arrive at 12:30; it took a bit of work to calm Trace down as she was quite set on going and telling the pilot off for being late. But as they say, better late then never! We had a nice relaxing afternoon Saturday and that evening went over to Alex and Priya's place downtown to have some scallops, nachos and few drinks with Alex, Priya, Jess and Sam.

Me, Trace, Jess, Sam, Alex and Priya

Sunday was Thanksgiving. We got up bright and early (ok, maybe not that early, but did get the turkey in the over only 30 min later then planned) to prepare our bird for the 11 adults and 2 children we had coming over that evening. Alex and Priya came over a little later to help. Priya made a delicious vegetarian Shepherd's Pie and an Apple Pie for dessert while Alex was put to work peeling vegetables. Trace and I, after getting the bird all dressed and in the oven cooking, went over to Bowring Park for a nice walk. It was a lovely walk but the end of it was a little rushed as we had to get back to the car then go for a quick run into the grocery store before returning to the house around 3:30 to start the vegetables cooking for the guests who were due to arrive at 4.

I had planned to take some pictures of the turkey and meal but we were kept very busy and I never quite got around to taking pictures. All in all, we felt it was a huge success! Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. Jess and Sam arrived first and were followed shortly after by the rest: Tammy, Tonia and Johnny, Sab and Norm and their two kids Devin and Samantha. Our guests provided wine, a pumpkin pie and a white cake (which turned out to be chocolate much to Devon's dismay). Tonia stepped in to help prepare the gravy in a kitchen which was scurrying with activity. Finally everything was ready and served much to everyone's enjoyment. I'd like to give special mention to our stuffing that we made from scratch which, in the words of Jess, looked gross but tasted good.

After dinner Alex, Priya, Jess and Sam laid down for a nap while the rest of the guests departed. I developed a very deep and long lasting appreciation for dishwashers that evening. After everything was tidied away, we were ready for a nap ourselves. That was not to be however as Jess appeared then and roused the rest of the crew and we had a tightly fought game of scrabble. Alex and Priya came out the victors, but I suspect Alex may have brought Priya in as a ringer so we shouldn't get too carried away with the congratulations. After Scrabble it was time for Jess and Sam to depart. We then began another game, one that allowed us to really demonstrate our intellectual skills. It was another well fought match as one person would manage to climb a ladder and leap ahead of the others only to land on a snake and slide back down to the bottom of the pack. We were all very closely matched in skill and the game turned into something of a marathon. In the end I can't remember who ended up winning, but there was much relief by all that the competition was over as the intellectual strain was wearing us all down. (Editor's note: I won BTW!!!!!)

That brought to an end a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Everyone needed to get to bed as we had to take Priya to the airport to catch her 5:50 flight back to Toronto on Monday morning. I feel I need to comment at this time on Priya's fashion sense - I would never have believed it possible to pull of the whole rubber boot look the way she can. She made a pair or rubber boots look stylish. I don't know how she did, but she did.

After returning from the airport, it was time to catch a few more zzzz's as the sun had not even risen yet. Much later that morning we returned to the world of the conscious and went for a lovely hike with Summer.

Our timing was impeccable as several brief but heavy rain storms were moving through the area Monday Morning, but when we started down the trail, the last of them had passed by and the sun was out to accompany us on our way. Some of the people we passed coming out of the trail as we were entering had not been so lucky.

Summer was very happy to be going on the hike with us, and also very curious about my camera.

Summer checking out camera

 The trail meandered along the rugged coastline providing many gorgeous views of the ocean.

We climbed down onto the rocks and had a nice lunch.

After lunch Trace demonstrated her rock climbing skills

to get closer to the ocean waves crashing onto the shore.

Afterwards Summer was obliged to wait patiently while Trace dried out her socks.

 And I was left just hanging around.

After the socks finally dried we hiked back and, after a brief stop in Petty Harbour, returned home for a rest.

Petty Harbour

Rideau Canal - Sept. 2-5

The Rideau Canal was built after the War of 1812 to provide a secure means for the transportation of goods from Montreal to Kingston by avoiding the exposed stretch along the St. Lawrence river. You remember the war of 1812; that was the one where the Americans decided to try and take over Canada while the British were busy in Europe with Napoleon. The one where the White House earned its name for the white wash that was used to cover over the burn marks from when we set Washington ablaze. Special credit should be given to Dolly Madison who purportedly saved a large portrait of George Washington from the flames in the soon to be called White House, whilst her husband, the president, and his cabinet were fleeing westward into the hills of Virginia.

Anyway, as I was saying, construction of the Rideau Canal was prompted by uncertainties arising from the war of 1812. Construction began in 1826 under the supervision of Lieutenant Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers. By 1832 construction of the 202 km waterway with its 47 masonry locks and 52 dams was complete. 175 years after its completion, the Rideau Canal was designated as a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site. Today the Rideau Canal  is a haven for boaters who enjoy leisurely traversing the length of the system.

Much of the Canal operates as it was originally designed to do back in 1832. Canal staff operate hand cranks to open and close the lock doors. At several locations hand operated swing bridges are still used although electrical swing bridges have replaced the hand operated ones on the busier roads.

Bascule Train Bridge, Smiths Falls (raised by hand or DC motor, 1914-1978)

Long Island Lock - Boats entering lock - Hand Crank in Front Right of Picture

Long Island Lock - Boats being lowered - Swing bridge open on far side

Long Island Lock - Boats decent completed - Lock doors opening

Our excursion on the Rideau didn't include any of the above sites but they are typical of the locks seen along the length of the canal. Our journey began at Chaffey's lock (the 37th lock along the canal). We launched our canoe and with Mya sitting sedately in the middle, we paddled across Opinicon Lake to Davis lock where we camped Friday and Saturday night.

Our Campsite at Davis Lock

After setting up our campsite we cooked some delicious sausages for supper. I know that technically they were breakfast sausages but we lived on the edge and had them for supper anyways. It was a beautiful warm evening for September; we removed the fly from the tent and were able to watch the stars as we lay down the sleep.

Saturday was yet another beautiful day. Mya and I got up and enjoyed the beautiful morning with Mya going for a refreshing swim while I took a few pictures.

By this point I was getting pretty hungry so I made some breakfast sandwiches and dragged the third member of the expedition out of our tent. After enjoying the delicious repast we set out to attempt some geocaches around Sand Lake.

Our first one we found hidden in the rocks on a little island in the middle of the lake.

Watch Your Sign 3

As we paddled around the lake searching for our caches we saw several birds, some on the water and some in the air.

A Loon on Sand Lake

Some kind of hawk I think.

We found our second cache at the base of some cliffs tucked into a back bay of the lake in a fish sanctuary. We would have found this one sooner if I had listened to Trace.

Cliffs of Dover - Triumphant Trace as she finds cache

We then went to Rock Island where we found our third cache and had a wonderful refreshing swim.

Rock Island

After leaving Rock Island we headed for the last stop on our trip around Sand Lake - Birch Island. One of the islanders had set up a series of six caches that took you on a lovely tour across the island. One of the interesting sites we saw was the Birch Island Branch Library.

Birch Island Branch Library

We were only able to find 4 of the 6 caches as we walked the length of Birch Island. We might have fared better if someone hadn't left the information sheets with the hints in the canoe.

It was a wonderful day and by this time we were getting tired and hungry so we headed back to camp where I made supper while Trace played with the camera.

And Mya slept.

The next morning we awoke to ominous clouds rolling in and thunder booming in the distance. We were up at the washrooms when the storm finally hit. The skies opened as the three of us waited in the doorway for the rains to abate. After several minutes we were finally able to return to our campsite. A shirt and a towel had been blown into the trees, and the canoe had been blown off the dock and was half full of rain water, but otherwise our camp had survived the storm - our tent was still cozy and dry!

As it was our last day camping we proceeded to pack everything up and load the canoe for our return journey to Chaffey's lock.

Before leaving we tried to get a group shot of us on our rock. Unfortunately one member of our trio was less then co-operative.

We had to settle for taking the picture in front of our rock instead. Which, apart from Mya feeling the need to stick her tongue out, worked much better.

John, Mya and Trace in front of our rock.

We canoed back to Chaffey's Lock and fortunately the rain held off as we paddled back. We did have to deal with a head wind and a fair lop on the lake, but made it back unscathed.

The last day of our Rideau Excursion was spent roaming Ottawa. We visited Hogs Back Falls, where the Rideau Canal departs from the Rideau river and both find their separate ways down to the Ottawa River.

We then headed downtown, where we walked from the along the Canal from the Pretoria Bridge down to the Byward Market (as an astute reader may have noted, the Byward Market, as well as Ottawa's original name of Bytown are both derived from Lieutenant Colonel John By's name) and enjoyed some scotch and a nice supper at The Highlander Pub.

Sadly the time came for Tracey's flight back to Newfoundland bringing an end to this installment in our adventures.

Cakes and Icebergs

Our adventure began late Thursday night as Trace picked me up at the Deer Lake airport for what was to be an amazing 3 days. We headed back to the cabin, said hi to Alex and after a brief snack went to bed to get up bright and early for our long drive the next day. Next morning we rose quickly and hit the road only 2 hours later then planned. We drove through spectacular Gros Morne on our way up to the Northern Peninsula, the scenery was breathtaking and I can't wait to spend time there, I am sure there will be a few entries here on Gros Morne in the years to come.

Conche was our first port of call after traversing a pothole strewn stretch of asphalt and gravel. A small fishing village on the Eastern coast where we stopped to visit with Nan Bryne.

We stopped in at Nan's place for a delicious meal of salmon and fish. It was my first experience eating fish with mustard pickles, but not my last.

Irene, Nan, Tracey and Alex in Conche

After a lovely visit with Irene and Nan we headed back on the road for Goose Cove. We finally made it to St. Anthony and were driving up over the hill to Goose Cove when I saw the view of the St. Anthony harbour in the rear-view mirror and had to stop and take a picture.

Icebergs in St. Anthony Harbour

After a few pictures we continued on are way and passed a moose as we descended into Goose Cove where we received a very warm greeting and another serving of fish for supper along with mustard pickles and cod tongues. Once we were well fed we Alex, Trace and I headed down to the point to view the icebergs floating just of the coast.

Alex, Trace and John

Tracey and Alex looking at Icebergs

We then returned to the house to chat and relax then off to bed after a long day of driving.

There had been talk of seeing the sunrise, but that was long gone by the time we were up and about on Saturday. We had some tea and breakfast and walked down to take a another look at the icebergs before being taken out in the boat for a closer view.

Old Stage in Goose Cove Harbour, Icebergs in the Distance

Coast Guard Boat Checking Out Icebergs

It was quite a different view that awaited us Saturday morning, the icebergs had drifted and some had broken up during the night. They were still awe inspiring and to think that only 10% of the iceberg is above the water, the vast majority of it's mass is submerged underneath. After viewing the icebergs we returned for our boat ride only to find that Alex had disappeared up into the hills. We had to go up and find him before our boat tour.

John in the Hills above Goose Cove

Tracey on the Hillside

After rounding up Alex who we found standing atop the highest hill we climbed into the boat to go out and see the icebergs.

John

Alex

Max

Tracey

It was a nice calm day on the ocean and we were able to get some lovely pictures of icebergs. We even pulled aboard some ice to use later that night in our drinks!! We had to stay a safe distance away from the icebergs in case a portion broke off and feel into the ocean, or a submerged section broke free and suddenly rose to the surface, but we still were able to get close enough to get some very nice pictures.

Entering Goose Cove Harbour

Returning to Port, Sexton House Straight Ahead!

After a wonderful excursion out on the water, we headed into St. Anthony to visit Nan Sexton, look at more icebergs and pick up a few supplies. Alas, Alex's search for fresh mint was in vain as there was none to be found in St. Anthony. We did have a nice visit with Nan and saw some icebergs. We also managed to pick up a couple of pizza's for supper that night.

6 Mile Long Iceberg off Fisherman's Point in Distance

Alex and Tracey at Fisherman's Point

We drove up to get one last look of the icebergs while waiting for our pizza to be made before heading back to Goose Cove.

After gathering up our pizza we made it back to Goose Cove to enjoy our supper. After supper, Alex and I were busy trying to make a cake for the birthday girl while she went out to take a few more pictures as the sun set.

After the last of the pictures were taken and the cake was made, we all headed down to the Hall to enjoy a time with Aunt Irene who drove up from Conche that day to join us. A wonderful night was had by all, and it was late into the night when we returned to the house to have a feed of some crab along with the last of the cod and pizza.

We awoke late the next morning to celebrate Tracey's 40th birthday. Even Alex was up sooner - of course he was sleeping out on the couch and didn't have much choice in the matter. He went out to capture another picture of the icebergs amidst the sun and the fog.

We had a wonderful turkey dinner followed with two cakes for the birthday girl!

The Birthday Girl!

Following dinner Trace and I walked along the hillsides and toasted her birthday with a fine bottle of scotch.

A Birthday Toast!

Little Back Cove

Walking Along the Hillsides

Goose Cove

After returning from the hills it was time to return to the hall to enjoy some good company and good music before having to return to Deer Lake.

The Gang Watching the Singers

Max and Corinne Sexton

Thus ended our too short of a visit to Goose Cove, we loaded the car and after another brief visit with Nan Sexton in St. Anthony, we headed back to Deer Lake only a couple of hours later then planned. We witnessed a beautiful sunset to conclude my visit to Newfoundland which ended all to soon as I flew out of Deer Lake at 6:30 Monday morning. I can't wait to return and experience more of Canada's most beautiful province!!!!

Alex and Tracey