Monday, July 12, 2010

Glad to be home!

Eating at Chick-fil-a the day after we got home for Cow Appreciation Day. We have dressed up for several years in a row. :)

Eating at Chick-fil-a on the first day of our trip.


Well, it was a fantastic excursion! However, we are very glad to be home. On the way home we thought of a few things that we learned to greatly appreciate:

CLEAN, cold water

Tall drinking glasses with ICE

$1.00 menus at fast food restaurants

Refills on drinks

To-Go cups

Good beds

warm, sunny weather

low gas prices - we paid $4.40/gallon in Newfoundland - today it is $2.47 here

No metric system - yes, I have taught the metric to my children but it is still hard to think that way only

Brick houses
Good, well-made FOUR lane highways MARKED with yellow and white lines
Toll free roads - we spent $24.20 in tolls
Thank you for following along on our voyage and a special thanks to those that commented! The boys were excited to know someone was checking our blog out!
The day we left we dined at Chick-fil-a for lunch and the day after we returned we had dinner there. :) It was Cow Appreciation Day that day and the boys dressed up like cows and went for free combos! Gotta love Chick-fil-a!

Thanks again!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Amazing memories...

Waterfall in fjords in Gros Morne Provincial Park

MOOSE! RIGHT BESIDE THE ROAD!
That is our car window at the bottom.

Gros Morne Park fjords boat tour


Running moose right beside the road



Visiting with Great Aunt Audrey




WOW! What an excursion. Big J was depressed some b/c of the money we spent, but we had fabulous time. Eleven people traveling together for 17 days. It was super! We saw so many things that we will always remember. We are home now and watching our videos. We have some awesome videos to look back and remember.

Day 16 & 17

Pizza after swimming in the indoor pool in Pennsylvania.

Relaxing in the Ramada we found that looked just like the 70's/80's. Hilarious.

Swimming in Pennsylvania - our last night...


A house and barn joined together in Maine to keep the farmer out of the cold.



Check out this Maine rest area on hwy. 9.





Rest area ---- a little slow since we had 11 people!


The pics above are actually in backwards order. Sorry. ;)




Well, our trip is winding down. We have had a great time and seen some of the most AMAZING things we could have ever imagined. Big M is a great tour guide!












Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Day 15 - Sea Caves in New Brunswick

Bay of Fundy tide - rises and lowers most in the world!




Walking over rocks and more rocks to see the sea caves. We loved these!!



Day 15 - We began our drive from Moncton, New Brunswick today. We decided since we were slightly ahead that we would take a scenic route on the Fundy Bay coastal drive. The scenary was really peaceful and beautiful. I know I keep saying that but it is so true.

The Fundy Coastal drive took us by rolling hills and simple white farmhouses. It was very pretty and just relaxing. We were headed to the Sea Caves and boy, they did not disappoint. The Bay of Fundy (same bay where Reversal Falls is - we visited here on the way up) rises and falls with the tide the most footage in the world. We drove by little fishing boats sitting on the mud with their docks about 20 feet above them. Once the tide comes in, they will be right beside their docks. Truly impressive.








Enjoy...

Day 14 - Boat back to mainland





Day 14 - Today it was time to take the ferry back across. Our boat was scheduled to leave at 8:45. The boat is most always late. This time it was only 30 minute late. We were excited b/c that put us on the mainland ahead of the time we thought we would be there. The ride was nice and smooth. We made good time crossing. The boys enjoyed eating lunch on the boat, playing games and the bigger boys played poker once again. The younger ones enjoyed a movie and everyone loved walking outside in the wind.

Day 13 - Salmon Swimming Upstream








As we drove down from St. Anthony we also stopped near Deer Lake at Sir Richard Squires Provincial Park. We drove a short ride down a 2 lane country road and then 10 miles down a gravel road into a park where we had heard you could see salmon swimming upstream. We were able to walk a path down to a gorgeous river with a waterfall where the salmon were doing their best to jump up the waterfall. Crazy fish!! The boys enjoyed seeing this also.

We have really seen some amazing things. The pics just do not do our sights justice.

Day 12 & 13

The Arches
Cow Head, Newfoundland

Beautiful stones from The Arches, Cow Head, Newfoundland. We were driving back down from St. Anthony and stopped for a short time to see this wonderful creation! It was totally amazing!

Look how big these are!! Have you ever seen anything SO amazing? Totally cool!

Skipping rocks into the Atlantic ocean on Sunday morning!


Walking dow to The Arches



Day 12 - I actually posted the pics from St. Anthony under days 10 and 11.

Day 13 - On day 13 we drove down from St. Anthony (northern tip of Newfoundland up by Labrador) to Port aux Basques (where you catch ferry). We started off early around 6:15 am I think. It was rainy and very cold. We drove for at least 2 or 3 hours before FINALLY finding a small hotel open with a restroom. We passed fir trees and a few houses scattered here and there. Every now and then you come to a small village. However, during the time before lunch we only passed a few cars. I guess since it was Sunday traffic was even more slow. Thankfully we have 2 vans traveling along. Otherwise, we were pretty much the only ones on the road for long stretches.

The pictures above are of The Arches. These are located near Cow Head. By the time we reached them, the rain began to stop good enough for us to get out and enjoy them. It started back up before we left. Are these amazing or what??? The boys LOVED them. As you can tell, they were carved by the ocean for years. Underneath them the sea washes in beautiful, colorful rocks. You just want to take them all home. The rocks are SO smooth against your skin. I was amazed at their colors: green, pinkish, grey, black, etc.
Enjoy...more to come...