Prince Edward Island

< -- idyllic fishing village, Port Rustico.

look natural boys -- >

This is the place where Anne of Green Gables comes alive! It's all here, the red dirt, farms, cute old homes and about 1000 k's of coastline. Our trivia book states that it is a sand dune in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence that manages to pass itself off as a province. It is one of 10 provinces (and 3 territories) but makes up 1% of Canada.

Had two lobsters for lunch, fresh out of the boat and the boiler. Met a fisherman who talked and sounded very Irish to me like. Asked another if it was ok where we parked, and he replied "C'est bon." What a mixture.

< -- Cavendish Farms, just like in Anne of Green Gables.

A backstreet in Charlottetown, the capital. -- >

Port Elgin

<-- Port Elgin

it snowed the night we arrived -->

Ended up staying here since it was getting late and we wanted to have Ollie in bed by 7pm and asleep. Dinner was cereal, but with yoghurt and canned fruit. It's 1 degree according to the car, and it is snowing. Strangely it feels much warmer than when we were in Detroit since the wind is gentle. A fair few 19th century homes and churches here, and the trans Canada trail.

< -- keeping warm in the cabin

Alma

< -- lakes still icy

Alma is famous for fishing -- >

There were a couple of frozen lakes on the way. The sign said you could swim there. The Canadians must be keen. It was about 2 deg, which is balmy after the winter.

Alma is a cute fishing port. Not much happens until summer, when it seems that it would be buzzing with tourists.

< -- Went to the Hopewell Rocks: the flowerpot.

Sussex

< -- one of many murals in Sussex

On the way, the some exit on the highway descends beneath the floodwaters and is now blocked off.

In Sussex, murals, murals and more murals, and lots of very good ones depicting the history of the area. Picked up a book on Atlantic Canada trivia. Turns out the Fathers of Confederation were rumoured to have been drunk at the time they signed.

It is a balmy 7 degrees today, so several of the locals were wearing t-shirts to celebrate, and one fellow was in a singlet. Hello Jamaica.

Fredericton

< -- when they say no parking they mean it

this was 4 lanes and a car park -->

This is the capital of New Brunswick. We got into a car park, but the lady said to get out as they were expecting a flood. There was a little bit of water, but by 5pm, the whole car park was under, and some of the main road. Everyone gathered on the pedestrian bridge to watch the latest show in town: see who had the guts to cross the water with their car, and who could make it through (all bar one soggy VW, who eventually dried out and kept going). We saw two beavers enjoying it all. The biggest news to hit New Brunswick since the 1973 flood, and made the national news. Ollie was more impressed with the dogs on the bridge.


< -- risking it: the short way home

keeping an eye on the rising water -->

Hartland

< -- the longest covered bridge in the world, now the subject of a Bruc Springsteen song.

Getting off the freeway so we can stay somewhere before 11pm, and feed Ollie, we end up driving into Hartland via the longest covered bridge in the world. The GPS led us to a hotel no longer there. Found one eventually. Nice spot, not much to do (except go on the bridge again in the morning).

Grand Falls

< -- the Grand Falls were a washing machine after the winter melt


On the way to Grand Falls, it's so cold, you have to stop for a pee. Then you drink something so you can use the toilet, and on it goes. We stopped at Riviere Bleue in the middle of wherever for some tea (so I peed twice there), and once again Ollie was a hit. The woman spoke no English, but Ollie smiled broadly as if he understood French.

We got to Grand Falls, but at the moment, they're just a huge washing machine. They're normally 30m odd drop, but due to the extreme amount of runoff from the snow and the rain, it just looks like the craziest rapids you ever saw. A bit further down, the canyon is not very deep and the water was surging up the walls. Turns out the time changed forward an hour at the border. Luckily we still caught dinner (or supper as they call it).

Quebec

< -- no-one there in the square

big ship on the river -- >

After whiling all over the place, we get on the freeway and get here. We really land on our feet with this B&B which was built in 1793. The neighbouring buildings sit right next to each other with the front doors right on the footpath. This feels like France. All the floorboards creak like crazy, but Ollie is sleeping well. We get our dose of Canadian DVD's, one on the Great North featuring the Inuit, and one on the Japanese here during WW2.

We chat with several locals at breakfast. Seems that the number one destination is Florida for Quebec and Ontario folks. They call these visitors "snow birds". One guy tells us there is a place in Florida where they all speak French and all the signs are in French for all the Quebecoise there.

< -- little streets going every way

narrow streets and beautiful buildings -- >

Trois Rivieres

< -- Trois Rivieres main st

<-- some place on the way, St Ignace De Loyola maybe

on the walk around town -- >

Another old centre of town with nice stone buildings. There's a weird smell from the paper factory nearby. We stay at an incredibly old and lovely B&B. The snow piles are v.v. high.

Montreal

Montreal has something for everyone.

<-- something old

something new from the 80's -->

We wind along the river from Ottawa. Lunch is god knows where. Some old lady is enthralled by Ollie, and speaking no English, we have no idea, but it sounds good. She is very happy to have a hold of him.

We stay at a nice but tiny hotel a short walk from the Metro with the blue trains with regular truck tyres on them. There's a particular burning smell you can just sense that's perculiar to these trains. Old town is beautiful, but am not sure about the modern architecture. This town is a mash of all kinds of things, very interesting and a lot of fun.


< -- stadium from the 76 summer Olympics

weird modern apartments -->

Ottawa

< -- parliament

library of parliamentary -->

Ottawa is the capital of Canada and Parliament Hill has a big old Westminster style building on it, with loads of green leather seats for the important people. The library inside is a wonder, circular, elaborately wooden, and with the light streaming in as if it were some of site old cult.

Don't try to get your computer repaired here unless you have unlimited time.

in the pedestrian mall nearby -->

The Lakes

< -- all the rivers were raging. See Ollie holding still for one time only.

All the lakes were over full -->

We aimed for some beautiful lakes, and there are about a million of them up here. It is weird seeing ones that are overflowing when every one at home is 50% full or less. The run off from the snow is flooding everywhere. We end up at some truck stop motel near Cloyne after having dinner in Erinsville and talking with the local music talent.

The following day we go to Perth (ha, ha), Smiths Falls, Carleton, then Ottawa. Every town has raging rivers running through the middle lined with beautiful old stone buildings. What a lovely area.

Hamilton

<-- one of the oldest homes built by slaves. They left the US as they could be returned as property to their owners.

Me, Anna, Marie, Ollie and Steven -->

As soon as you cross the border, everything is greener on the other side. Beautiful leafless trees, and a different accent. We drop in on North Buxton, a town established by escaped slaves. They fled the US to find freedom in Canada.



Marie's godmother lives here, and the family is extremely hospitable. Just as soon as you think you've escaped the schlivo/rakia, they're trying to pile another one in.

Toronto is a nice city. There's 7 lanes each way on the highway east, and more cars than I've seen in one place before.

Is he posing for this? -- >

<-- Steven, Angie, Cathy, John, Steven.

Detroit

<-- Ford passed the 20 million mark a while back. At the River Rouge factory tour.

Landed in Detroit amoung the piles of snow. Nice change from the heat. In the morning it was about 5 deg, and snowing sideways with a nasty wind. Outside the hotel is the biggest carpark in the world surrounding the shopping centre. There are no footpaths, and we must look strange trying to walk along the road. We have no cold weather clothes with us, so we head into the shopping centre to get some.

Downtown looks like it must have been bustling in the roaring forties, but since no-one is buying American cars, its a ghost town. Most of the places on Michigan Ave are boarded up.

Monday is the Ford factory tour on the Rouge River near Dearborn. Ollie got very excited watching all the F-150's being made (about 60 per hour). The plant has solar panels, and some porous ashphalt. Being environmentally friendly is funny for a factory making gas guzzlers.

New Orleans

<-- in the First Adventures section of the Louisiana Children's Museum, full of goodies.

Serious stranger danger -->

New Orleans is beautiful, and loads of fun. You get take away cups for your beer or daquiri, so you can walk it down the street. Live music is blaring from everywhere. Get advice before you walk out of the tourist areas as going one block the wrong way can put you into a bad area with the crackheads, as we discovered.


<-- One of the first preservation movements saved New Orleans from being improved.

New Iberia

<-- Ollie and the Tabasco Factory. Kids should not swim in the river of tabasco sauce.

Main Street, New Iberia -->

We kept driving through the wetlands to New Iberia, LA. Another nice historic town, and the home of Tabasco sauce. All bottles come from the one factory on Avery Island. They make 700,000 bottles per day, and export to 110 countries.


You know travelling with an 8 month old can be tough. We fed him some stone fruit, and at the Shadows-on-the-Teche mansion tour, he let fly quite a bit of avocado poo on the visitors centre carpet. No kidding, it was bright emerald green, and I had no idea until my shorts were coated, and there was an extra shadow on the carpet at the Shadows, no matter how much scrubbing we did.

<-- Shadows-on-the-Teche, New Iberia, LA. Beautiful plantation home, and an interesting tour. Most of the furniture is original. It is one of 25 odd National Trust buildings.

the Teche (snake) Bayou (river) -->

The swamps of Louisiana

<-- grassy wetlands. This photo is useless

crazy bridge over a wetlands canal -->

<-- processing black gold- texas tea near Port Arthur. Heaps of oil and gas all along the Gulf coast.



Today was a driving day, so we don't have to do so much in the next couple of days. Between Ollie going mental, lunch was pho bo, we had a ferry ride from Galveston, a drive around the ghost town of Port Arthur and a drive through the beautiful wet lands. These have long grass, several canals and lakes. Port Arthur is a bit of a ghost town because it's right next to a big chemical plant.

Brenham

<-- historical Brenham has a 100 year old ice cream factory

so we had to sample some-->

<-- in the historic Heaven Cafe at 4.45pm



Another nice historical main street. Everything else shuts at 3pm, and some at 5 on the dot.