On the road and beyond...

June 30-July 1st; the last leg through New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario.

8000km

Zipped through New Brunswick with a quick lunch stop by the ocean. One last time. They decorate their Hydro poles...

and it looks like they need to put a picture of the fire hydrants for people, such as fire fighters, that don't know what they are. I know, I know, it's for when the snow is too deep. It just looks funny in the summer.

Sugar Loaf Mountain shrouded in clouds

Driving through clouds

One of my faves. Driving through Quebec in some crazy sky.

Quebec City. Love the narrow streets and cool buildings. Looks so European.

The narrow streets are a bit of a challenge for trucks such as this one. Took him quite some time and lot of maneuvering to negotiate this turn.

There are scars on the walls to show that it wasn't the first time that someone had trouble here...

Notre-Dame de Quebec Cathedral. Detail.

It's been there since 1647, declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius the IX in 1874.

This mime was awesome. By the way, the woman blowing gum bubbles is not me, despite the resemblance...

Another archaeological site. They are everywhere.

Top view of the area that was already excavated. Looking for a way to get down there...

We thought we found a way, but no, it was the entrance to the cable car that takes you to the lower city. The man that was selling tickets said: " are you sure zat zis iz were you want to go to?" When I said that we were looking for a way to the archaeological site he said: "o, no, no, no, zis iz for ze elevetor down" When I enquired further, he claimed that: "zis is ze honly way down zer, unless you want to jjaamp of ze cliff!". Very funny.

This is a good place to pause and talk about the relationship between language and safety. You can call this our trip's little safety moment. Okay, I understand the need to preserve the culture and identity. I understand that you feel that preserving your language is part of that, but WARNING SIGNS SHOULD BE IN A LANGUAGE THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD UNDERSTAND!!! Yes, I'm talking about the sign that says, do not use your cell phone - dynamite...seeing the explosion after the fact and trying to 'reconstruct' the sign that you just passed is no good. WE COULD HAVE BLOWN UP YOUR ROAD CREW! Let me remind you: NOT EVERYONE READS AND UNDERSTANDS FRENCH; NOT EVEN YOUR POOR VERSION OF IT.

Look, we did find a way to the lower city after all. We didn't have to jump off the cliff.

The lower city , which is outside of the walls, is the oldest part of Quebec City. Very vibrant and charming.

Lots of street art

and cafes.

The cable car from the bottom.

Number 71 and a half is in a very narrow alley.

We didn't eat there. Felt sorry for the little pig.

This is the narrowest ally ever! It even has a name. The opposite wall indicate it's use. How strange

Here is the Franconia again! This time in an antique store.

Wendake. This reserve is unlike any other reserve that I've seen. A lot of thought went into designing the community, the street signs, the parking lots signs, details in building, etc.

The museum/hotel is absolutely stunning. Is there really a good enough reason that the government doesn't want them to have their artifacts back? This museum rivals any museum that I've seen in Ontario. It looks like they just don't want the artifacts out of the province.

No, it's not a urinal. It's not a beer tap. Well, it used to be a beer tap and I hope it wasn't a urinal at one point, because now it's the sink in the bathroom of the restaurant that gave tony food poisoning. Hmmm. There may be a connection here.

And here it is. Innocent looking. The previously mentioned restaurant. L'Angelus.

Last crazy sunset of the trip!

Happy Canada Day!We had our own air show over the 401.

HOME! Look who is waiting for us in the window. What a journey! Now back to the grind, but we are fresh and ready.

Stay tuned to the summarizing: 'the best of'.

June 28; driving towards Port aux Basque to catch the ferry to Nova Scotia.

6,000km.

The other Humber River. Why can't there be original names for rivers in this country? Every river has to have a namesake in another province...there was a Black River, a Black Creek River, and a few other ones that were duplicated.

Cape Ray Cove. Stopped at the local museum, but it was closed. I noticed that the door was open, so I walked in. The ladies in there were cleaning up for the opening the next day, but they were quite happy to let us walk around and take a look. One of them showed us around and when I mentioned that I was an archaeologist, she ran to her car and brought a bin of artifacts from a site that was excavated nearby. She took the artifacts out and then told us where to go so that we can look at where the excavation used to be. They were so nice and very excited about us stopping by and looking at their museum. By the end of our visit there were about 10 more people there. I am not sure if they all came to clean, or the word got around that there were tourists in town. Just kidding, I'm sure they get a lot of tourists.

There were lots of artifacts there. It looks like there were are a lot of archaeological sites along these coasts...

Just a great view.

One of the last lighthouses that we'll see in NL. This is the site of the first underwater telegraph cable in North America. The Newfoundland end of it, that is.

More outhouses. This time: 'his and hers'.

Isle aux Morts, two astrolabes were found in shipwreck of the coast and are considered 'Heritage treasures'. Both are housed in the provincial museum.

Just a very pretty place. There is a story of a local hero, George Harvey, his son and daughter, and their dog, Hairy Man, rescued sailors from two ships that sunk off shore. The only people living there at the time. His grave is in town.

Pretty!

Good photo of Tony.

Someone dropped these houses there and then created the roads around them.

Driving through Port aux Basque we came across this front yard. The creator was sitting in a chair watching the birds...I waited until we were around the corner, so he wouldn't see me taking a picture.