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At Midway, went for a walk up the Kettle River this morning. Beautiful trail along the river. Some inspired Inukshuk builder showed their talent.

Tried our hand at replacing the rocks..

Pretty good, eh?

Down the road to Osoyoos for breakfast. Rob and Sheri are camping here, so got a quick visit before heading to our OK Falls condo to check it out and pick up our computer monitor stand that we left there at the beginning of our trip. Then down the road again towards home. Stopped at Michael and Amanda's new home in Rosedale, but as expected, no one was home. Arrived home about 4:45pm. Great to see our house and yard. Looked better than we expected. Lawn was mowed, even up and down the driveway. Expected all sorts of cobwebs to be filling the front entry but virtually none. 

Miranda texted while we were traveling and wanted us to come over. As we unpacked, Michael called and asked if they could come over. By the time they arrived, the trailer was unpacked, parked, and unpacking the camper. Had a great reunion with the "parents to be". Wonderful to see them. After our visit, shuffled them out of the house, quickly closed up the cupboards in the camper and headed over to see Miranda, Andrew and grandson George. Great to see our daughter and son-in-law. George was already in bed asleep. Caught up with them. So wonderful to be home and see our family. More catching up will happen soon enough.

Drove home for a sleep in our bed! Ahhhhh......

To Osoyoos

Our bed at home is calling us! The call is getting louder and clearer by the day.  Last night after updating our blog, we changed our minds, again, and decided to head the fastest route home. A night's sleep did not curb this enthusiasm. Said our goodbyes to Peter and Clara and headed out the Crowsnest Highway, west, towards home. Figured Osoyoos as a destination, but did not make it. Once into the foothills and then mountains, the curves and hills impeded our progress. Made it to Midway, about an hour west of Osoyoos before stopping for the night about 7pm.

Not sure what this is but pretty cool....

Water tower built into a restaurant in Lethbridge.

Lots of wind turbines in Pincher Creek area 

Finally, MOUNTAINS

Travelling at warp speed into BC, everything is a blur! HaHa

Tunnels of Moose Jaw and to Medicine Hat

Packed up and went into downtown Moose Jaw. Walked around waiting for our Tunnels tour to start. Took the tour linking Al Capone to Moose Jaw. We enjoyed the tour as actors wore period costumes and did a great job. The tunnels took us under the street from one side to the other. Very plausible that Al Capone came to Moose Jaw to buy liquor and ship it to the south on the Soo Rail line as the prohibition in this area lasted only 7 years, but the USA prohibition lasted almost 20 years.

Took the second tour about the Chinese immigrants, the racial prejudice against them, how they exploited and how they had to cope. They dug the tunnels, lived and worked in them. These tunnels were originally dug for the steamfitters to access all the heating systems for the city's large buildings. Very informative, but very sad. Very well done.

Moose Jaw has a very pretty downtown and it appears to be quite a happening hub.

Mural depicting their ranching heritage

Post Office built in 1912, now the City Hall

The oldest Movie theatre, now the Arts Centre

Then on the road to Medicine Hat, 4hr drive. Rain started the day, but by the time we reached Medicine Hat, sun was peaking through. 

Full size helicopter weather vein

Into Alberta

Met up again with Peter and Clara, had some wine and they made us a delicious dinner. Thank you!

To Moose Jaw

Headed out this morning to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Making our way west quite quickly at the moment. Played leap frog with Peter and Clara, along the highway. Like the old storey of the "Tortoise and the Hare", they arrived at the planned meeting campsite earlier than us. Passed into Saskatchewan and saw that the time had gone back an hour on our phone. Was not supposed too. Not until the Alberta border... but then realized that Saskatchewan stays year round on standard time so half the year they are on central time and the other half same as Alberta.  Heard numerous reports about the Tunnels of Moose Jaw used by Al Capone in the prohibition era and they have a great presentation, so booked it for tomorrow. At Peter and Clara's for a game of Tri-ominos. Lots of fun!

To Brandon Manitoba

Our friends Peter and Clara emailed late last night and said the were in Brandon, about 9hrs ahead from us, so we got up early and headed west. Roads very good for most of the way. After Winnipeg was a lot of construction, but arrived about 4:30pm. Nice to see them and drink some wine... Sunny most of the way. cool in the morning, warming to 30ºc in the afternoon before cooling off and raining as we neared Brandon.

Terry Fox Memorial

Got up and headed west to Thunder Bay. On the road not more than five minutes we encounter a semi-truck weaving all over the road. Looked like he was dosing off at the wheel. Called 911 to report but the cops never did anything about this guy. He followed us at a great distance for almost 80 kms. The rest of the day was uneventful. Nice scenery, nice roads with the exception of some broken pavement near WaWa and bridge construction. Arrived at the Terry Fox Memorial after checking out a possible road diversion where my Dad and Lynda made an Inuksuk 10 years ago. it wasn't there any longer. Terry Fox Memorial was quite cool. Then we parked in the Walmart for the night and got Groceries. Talked to a few travellers from Switzerland and from Germany. Very nice people, have done north and south Americas. Had lots to talk about with both.

Where Dad and Lynda's Inuksuk should have been

View of Thunder Bay from the Terry Fox Memorial

To Sudbury

Packed up and followed Randy & Vivian and Danny & Karen to Antrim truck stop in Arnprior (little town 80kms west of Ottawa). This is their favourite spot for breakfast. After a good breakfast, we said our goodbyes and headed west towards Sudbury.  Thank you for everything and looking forward to seeing you in the spring in BC!  DJ17

Not long after starting our westward journey, in a small town of Deep River, a yearling bear cub bolted out in front of us. We swerved into the other lane and if the cub had not stopped, he would have run into the side of our trailer.

Arrived at the "Big Nickel" in Sudbury about 5pm. There has been a huge nickel mine in Sudbury since the late 1800s. Took pics and carried on. Then a lot of road construction. Arrived at Iron Bridge about 7:30pm and found a campsite.  On the outskirts of Iron Bridge, another small bear started crossing the road. When we swerved and the tires drove over the centre rumble strips, he got scared by the noise and ran back into the trees...

DJ17-west planning meeting

This morning Randy and I set out some thoughts about DJ17 roads to ride in BC when they come west for next year's trip.  After that, a little maintenance on the truck and trailer. Then it was 4pm somewhere so we started celebrating our anniversary! After a delicious spare-rib dinner prepared by our hosts, Danny and Karen joined us for a few aperitifs and laughs. Great day, great evening, great way to celebrate our anniversary.

To Ottawa

Packed up and headed to Ottawa to see our friends, Randy & Vivian  and Danny & Karen.  En-route, we found a sugar shack and picked up some maple syrup before leaving Quebec. Arrived mid afternoon to Randy and Vivians's. Unpacked, set up the camper and had a few beer before a wonderful dinner.

Sugar shack/ ATV clubhouse/ Snowmobile clubhouse

Negotiations 

Cabane Chabot

Plains of Abraham (Quebec City)

Visited the Plain of Abraham, part of our history lesson of Canada. Numerous battles were fought on these grounds for control of the St Lawrence Seaway as the French, English and Americans all saw the importance of trade and commerce from the shores of this majestic river and of the lakes above it.  Battlefield Park, created in 1908 commemorates the clashes for dominance of this strategic area of the river. The government has done a great job of creating this park and bringing back to life, the area history. Could spend 3 days here and not see it all.

Who knew each province had their own Tartan

First penitentiary of Quebec

Martello Tower, English fortification to protect against American invasions

You know who

Having a history lesson

Military Museum being renovated after a huge fire, 10 years ago 

More renovations

And more renovations

Leaving "Paradise" Homeward bound

Got up and let the dog walk the shore one more time, to visit the locals...

Then packed up and down the road to Quebec City. 7 hrs.. Through News Brunswick. Nice drive through New Brunswick. Quebec roads, not so much.  Rough pavement, lots of potholes and even when no potholes, the pavement was placed with  equipment that made  the pavement rough....

Arrived at the same campsite in Levis, on the outskirts of Quebec City, we visited 2 months previous. They remembered us and gave us a nice campsite.

Hopewell Rocks revisited, and St Andrews

Went back to Hopewell Rocks this morning to see "High Tide". Very cool, the difference of low and high tides of the Bay of Fundy.  Note that these pics were neither at low tide or at hide tide, only as close as we were able to take pictures of....

Then down the road to St John, New Brunswick and the "Reversing Falls", not really falls but very fast rapids.... Cool all the same.

Notice the large whirlpools

Reversing falls, rapids flow backwards during the inflow of the tide.

St John, New brunswick in the background, pretty, clean city

St John and the Reversing Falls

Then down the road to St Andrews for the night. We were told to visit St Andrews by Pike who we met in Tobermory, Ontario, 3 months previous.  He said it was a beautiful little town on the Bay of Fundy.  He told us to visit the "Red Herring Pub", where he use to work, and say hi to the owner Kevin.  Turns out that Kevin is in contact with Pike quite regularly. We weren't disappointed!  Beautiful town on the coast of the Bay of Fundy and the river that separates New Brunswick with the state of Maine, USA.  Lots of history here. The town was founded by the french in the early 1700s and many buildings are still standing from the early 1800s.  Over 140 heritage buildings.  Very picturesque and very comfortable.  After dinner at the pub we walked the streets and watched the sun set. Can't get any better than this!  

Kyle "crabbing"

Kids gutting Mackerel

From the "Dock in the bay"

Yours truly

Beach houses and lighthouse

Sun setting over Maine from St. Andrews

Mural

Main Street

Local wildlife, stealing apples