We visited with my parents near Bridgewater and even got a brief sail in one day. Dad's boat is the yellow one in the background. I helped Dad put in the wharf and launch the boat.
Mum is working in the 1/3 acre vineyard - certainly the neatest vineyard we saw in our travels.
Patricia and Lucy Traves show us what they have planned for the garden this year. Mike picked us up at the airport after we rolled into Dartmouth after our 1.5 day flight from Phoenix (Thankyou, Thankyou!).
We also visited with Fraser and Jean Howell. The maple trees were productive this year and they gave us a jar of syrup from their own sugar shack to take home with us.
Next, we drove through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, stopping to visit friends along the way before entering Maine. We stopped in the seaside towns of Camden and Rockport, where I got my fill of wooden boats and introduced Rani to this part of the world.
We also stopped at L.L. Bean to buy a new fleece for Rani and to drool over all the lovely camping and outdoors gear and clothing.
We left the motel with all our gear dry and restowed and headed for Mount Washington, the highest peak in the Presidential range at about 6200 feet. Pictured here are a group of snow boarders headed for the cabins at the base of a bowl where there is still spring skiing.
Near the peak, the trail is marked by cairns and the flora is alpine.
It was very windy on the top of Mount Washington - nearly 60 mph and cold.
Rani makes sure the hut does not blow away.
From New Hampshire we drove through Vermont and up to Montreal, where we visited my friend Bruce McNab, with whom I played trumpet at McGill University 25 years ago. We headed to a cottage in the Laurentians where Bruce kept me out of trouble scrubbing algae off rocks and painting the boat house.
Dinner at the cottage with Olga, little Catherine, and Bruce.
" You missed a spot!" Bruce puts his MBA to good use.
" You missed a spot!" Bruce puts his MBA to good use.
Next we drove into Ontario where we stayed with Roxy and Patrick and their daughter Natasha at their lovely home in Unionville just outside of Toronto.
We visited Niagara Falls on our (somewhat convoluted) way to Hamilton, Sarnia, and Windsor.
The Maid of the Mist gives perspective to the falls.
There was a lovely display of hydrangeas at the botanical gardens at Niagara Falls.
We had little time to stop along the way, but managed to fit in a short hike or two, in this case around some wetlands along Lake Erie.
In London, we visited with Neeta and Nikita, friends from when Rani lived in Windsor in the 90's
In Sarnia we visited with Karen, another pharmacy friend.
And in Windsor we visited several friends, including Joy, Terry, and Terry's daughter Sarah. Rani lived in Windsor for several years, so on some days we visited up to 20 people!
In Windsor, we stayed with Rani's old friend Raj, whose wife, Kash was away on a course unfortunately.
After we left Ontario, it was back to camping. We drove through Detroit and across the US on the I-80n and I-90, enjoying less expensive gas, good highways, and great scenery. I finally waterproofed the floor of our little tent after another wet night.
Rani inspects the comfortable interior of a pioneer covered wagon in Wyoming.
We visited Angelita, another Ontario friend, in Sheridan,Wyoming.
Then a few more nights camping and we were back in BC! Note the triple tarp approach - one over the tent, one under, and one inside. Of course it did not rain that hard after we did all this, but at least we were bone dry!
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