Fredericton, New Brunswick

Tour group waiting to go.

 

 

 





Here is my old apartment, 2nd floor..

 

Had to include this one of the Scotiabank Logo...LOL (I worked in their computer security centre for 27 years)

 

 

 

 

Today we took a walking tour of downtown historic Fredericton. Approximately 2 hours. It was very interesting and even though I lived here many, many years ago, there was lots of things I didn't have a clue about.
I don't remember it has being such a pretty town, and there are lots more trees on the streets than there were 40 years ago. Of that I am certain. I checked out the old apartment where we used to live. It used to be an old crappy apartment above some stores. Don't know what it looks like inside (would loved to have been able to check that out) but they have upgraded it, thank goodness. The ceilings were 20 feet tall and the windows were probably 1/2 that set very high up. You could not see out of the windows at all unless you got a chair. I remember I couldn't even open the windows unless I stood on a chair. Now they are about half the size and set lower. And before you could just open the downstairs door and walk in but there is now an intercom and locked doors. I did see into the apartment that was beside ours which was the kitchen and the cupboards looked nice. We had those white metal cupboards which I had painted blue.
After the tour we did a little bit of shopping and got the critical liquid refreshment. It's been a relaxing day.
The RV park is OK. It has all the amenities we require, but it's just row after row of RV's not a place I would want to stay very long. But it does the job.
Tomorrow we head out to Hopewell, NB. If you're not familiar with them here's a link http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/. We're there 2 nights, then on to PEI. Am posting a couple pics. You can view them in a larger format if you just click on them. It's now almost 5PM which is social time..till later..take care..

Back into Canada

If you look closely in the first photo, you can see Jackson in the window. He was not impressed with us walking away.

Our's is the 4th from the left. This is in the parking lot at King's Landing.

Today we left the sodden RV park in the pouring rain (what else) at 815 AM on the dot. Everyone was ready and on time.You should have seen us going down the highway to the border. It was only about 5 miles away and they wanted to have all of us cross at the same time. Figured that they would not give anyone a hard time that way. And they didn't, one after another we went through. Then we drove to King's Landing about 45 minutes away. This is a exhibit of old structures. In the 1960's the NB government decided to build a dam across the St. John River. This would cause flooding of the valley and destroy several very old buildings. These old buildings were removed either whole and intact or dismantled piece by piece, each piece numbered and rebuilt at the new site. It has been created as a town and it is fascinating. We toured several of the buildings, some were businesses and some were homes. We, unfortunately, did not tour the whole place as it was raining and we were getting progressively wetter as we went along.From there we drove to Fredericton a very short drive, about 1/2 hour and checked into our campsite. The caravan had a LEO tonight but we did not feel like going and I made spaghetti and had a nice quiet evening in the MH.Tomorrow there's a walking tour of Fredericton. Then we're on our own for the rest of the day. I am hoping to see where I used to live.Till tomorrow then...take care.

Longest Covered Bridge in the World (so they say)

Today we crossed the border back into Canada to go see the Hartland Bridge in (where else) Hartland, New Brunswick. It is reputed to be the longest covered bridge in the world. It's one of those old fashioned covered bridges and it's 1282 feet long. It's also called the 'Kissing Bridge' and it's said that if you kiss your loved one in there you will have 1 year of good luck. So we did. LOL.
Not much to do there, seems that on Sundays, they roll up the sidewalks in this 'one horse' town so after walking the bridge from end to end and taking a few pictures, we went to Timmy's and grabbed some lunch. Then headed back to the campsite. We did have to make a quick side trip to Walmart for a couple things and a 30 pack of beer which costs all of $17.99 US. Cheap, cheap, cheap.
Tonight the people who own this campground (who are German) are cooking us up a big German dinner. Our caravan hosts says it's 'to die for'. Then tomorrow we all head back into Canada and stay at a campground in Fredericton. I think we're in Fredericton for a couple nights.
Everyday at 5 PM is social hour and you bring your drink of choice, chair and meet at the hosts MH.
So far we are really enjoying ourselves. These people are great..so friendly. We would certainly do this again.
Will let you know tomorrow what the dinner tonight is like.
Tomorrow they have a LEO night (Let's Eat Out) for those who wish to participate. We're not sure yet if we are participating or not. I do like cooking in here (call me crazy) and I did bring lots of good stuff to eat.
Till later then..take care...

Long Day on the Road

Well we knew today would be a long day but we didn't figure it would be this long. We left the campground outside of Montreal at 8AM and we calculated the drive at about 7 hours MAX. First there was construction (of course) it's summer in Canada. But what they were fixing beats me because the roads were terrible. Guess the Quebec people don't pay enough taxes. There were tons of winter heaves on the road. So it was 'thump thump..thump thump..thump thump' you get the picture. Then it started to rain and rain and rain. Then we hit some very steep hills, didn't expect those. Fortunately we have a 'grade brake' on the MH and it makes going down them a lot less white knuckling. One of them was a 9% grade, that's pretty steep. Couldn't believe the difference it made. In out old MH it was enough you make you wet your drawers!!!!
Any way after all that we got here at about 615..that's 10 hours on the road. It was tough. Maggie was an angel, and Jackie was very good, doesn't settle, but good none the less. Just up and down up and down and has to sit right here beside me. WILL NOT venture back in the MH unless it's stopped. Dope! Won't even go get a drink 3 feet away from me. Then when we got here it was raining so hard we couldn't get out of the MH right away to start hooking up.
Shortly after we got here the head guy for the RV Caravan came over and introduced himself, very nice man. Gave us the scoop on the next few days. There's coffee every morning at 730 over at one of the MH's. We are here until Monday morning and believe me we need the rest. There will be a get acquainted dinner Sunday night.
So I might not write tomorrow and there won't be much to say, if there is, then I'll post. Until then take care...

First Day on the Road to Montreal

Got up before 5 AM, but after looking after the dogs, and finalizing closing up the house and puting last minute 'stuff' in the MH, and hooking up the car, we finally got on the road at 7:15.
We stopped at a service centre at about 10 to grab some breakfast and Jackie was crossing his legs. Also needed gas, $206 worth !!!!! for 1/2 a tank. OMG.
Managed to get a couple more hours in and Jackie wanted to 'go' again.
Then we hit Montreal, what a madhouse. And I thought Toronto was bad for rush hour traffic, and this wasn't even rush hour. We wasted about and hour and a half in that traffic.
Then apparently the address of the campground is listed incorrectly in all GPS's and CAA's trip tik's. Isn't that just great???!!!! Had to phone them to find what the heck to do. Thank goodness for cell phones.
Finally found it, nothing great, actually kind of yucky. There are some nice spots but these are occupied by people who rent them for the season. The transient's spots are just a parking space really. No trees, a crappy picnic table, a fire ring, but it has power, water and a sewer. The TV works great, with just the attenna up.
There's a huge storm coming up, sky is black, lightening big time and it is going to pour. Major thunder, maybe cut the heat as it's a real bugger here. Hot and humid, both A/C's going full bore.
Won't be late tonight, long day.
Take care....

One Week to Go

A week today we should be on our way to a campground in the province of Quebec. It's about the 1/2 point between Houlton, Maine and home.
I have checklists coming out of my ears. As this is the first trip we've taken in our new (to us) motorhome, it's a bit nerve wracking. Have I remembered this, checked this, installed this, on and on. Fortunately, if by chance I have overlooked something, I can pop out to a store and get it.
We pick up our MH out of the storage lot on Saturday, and as just about everything is already on board, it's just food, and clothes and last minute stuff to go on. Ken has to install the Pressure Pro tire monitoring device and my XM radio. Also check the tires for the correct pressure, a extremely very important thing in any motorhome.
I have bought an air stick for my laptop and as long as I'm somewhere there is cell phone service I will get a signal. Don't expect a problem and these days lots of campgrounds have WiFi all be it a little flaky in some of them. So hopefully I will be able to post just about everyday.
Had the car all setup for towing behind, to me that appears to be a little daunting, but Ken say 'no problem'. He's the driver so I must go with that.
So until a week or so from now..take care and please give your dogs a hug.