This post contains photos from our trip along Canada's Great Lakes, starting near Thunder Bay and ending at a vista in Neys Provincial Park (somewhere between Marathon and Terrace Bay).
Thursday, October 30, 2008
The Way Home - Along The Great Lakes (aka. "My Dad The Hero")
At this point, I was six weeks in to my eight week trip and was rather tired of driving. There was no doubt in my mind that I could get back safely on my own, but I was definitely happy to to take my dad up on an earlier of his to fly out to Ottawa and drive back with me. On long drives like this, one cannot underestimate how nice it is to have someone else beside you.
This post contains photos from our trip along Canada's Great Lakes, starting near Thunder Bay and ending at a vista in Neys Provincial Park (somewhere between Marathon and Terrace Bay).
This post contains photos from our trip along Canada's Great Lakes, starting near Thunder Bay and ending at a vista in Neys Provincial Park (somewhere between Marathon and Terrace Bay).
Friday, October 17, 2008
My time in Ottawa, a photo essay of sorts
From Quebec I continued on to Ontario, just in time for the beginning of the fall colors.
There was a lot of relaxati0n, long conversations, and good time with all of my family. Not many big stories or photos, but it was a wonderful time nonetheless.
My grandfather took me for an excellent tour of Gatineau Park with stops at the MacKenzie King Estate and Pink Lake (named for its algae-driven hue in some seasons).
On the way home, we stopped by a small park along the Ottawa River Parkway to visit and feed the ducks. When we pulled up, there were maybe 5-10 mallards waddling around along the path. Moments after the first handful of cracked-corn was thrown, at least 40 more mallards, seagulls, and canada geese exploded out of the nearby bushes to join the feeding frenzy.
And finally, one of the greatest joys of my visit, my new cousin (once-removed), Parker. I've been officially named "Uncle Jonathan"... I like it.
Parker is an awesome little guy. He's about two-weeks old in all of these photos and, when he's not sleeping, is already an active and aware little kid. I may be biased, but I think he's pretty darn cute.
*It's worth noting that this photo is one of the last taken of my Grandfather, Sydney Dove. He was so proud of his first great-grandchild, I'm glad to have captured this moment.
There was a lot of relaxati0n, long conversations, and good time with all of my family. Not many big stories or photos, but it was a wonderful time nonetheless.
My grandfather took me for an excellent tour of Gatineau Park with stops at the MacKenzie King Estate and Pink Lake (named for its algae-driven hue in some seasons).
On the way home, we stopped by a small park along the Ottawa River Parkway to visit and feed the ducks. When we pulled up, there were maybe 5-10 mallards waddling around along the path. Moments after the first handful of cracked-corn was thrown, at least 40 more mallards, seagulls, and canada geese exploded out of the nearby bushes to join the feeding frenzy.
And finally, one of the greatest joys of my visit, my new cousin (once-removed), Parker. I've been officially named "Uncle Jonathan"... I like it.
Parker is an awesome little guy. He's about two-weeks old in all of these photos and, when he's not sleeping, is already an active and aware little kid. I may be biased, but I think he's pretty darn cute.
*It's worth noting that this photo is one of the last taken of my Grandfather, Sydney Dove. He was so proud of his first great-grandchild, I'm glad to have captured this moment.
Day 39 - New Brunswick and Quebec
Left Hantsport and made my way back through New Brunswick and Quebec.
Made a point of staying in Fredericton just to see Christ Church Anglican Cathedral. I first heard about this church in a Art History course in my third year of college and immediately became a fan of its architecture. I could pass up an opportunity to see it in person and, hopefully, take some photos. Unfortunately, particularly heavy rain from the leftovers of Hurricane Ike made photography impractical (I'm not one to test the weather-sealing on my camera).
Just in case some of you are not familiar with the building in question, these google'd images will have to do for now:
After Fredericton, I pushed on through to Quebec City. After two or three hours on the road, I came to the conclusion that, for the sake of the safety of tourists and generally sane folk alike, no Quebec resident should ever be allowed behind the wheel. Thanks to a suggestion from my father, I made my way over to the secondary highways and found myself immersed in uniquely and surprisingly pastoral surroundings. Five minutes after pulling off the freeway, I found myself in the town of Saint-Denis.
It had been raining all day long and the misty fog had just started to lift. Coming down the road, I could see the outline of a massive stone church standing on a tall hill right in the middle of town. Through the thinning mist, I caught the familiar outline of a church. It was unremarkable from the ground to the roof's peak, but I found myself in awe at a gleeming white steeple. The tapered white-stone went up and up until it disappeared in to the slowly-lifting fog bank. In that first glance, I would have sworn that it kept on going until it melded with heaven itself.
I love small-town ecclesiastical architecture!
Made a point of staying in Fredericton just to see Christ Church Anglican Cathedral. I first heard about this church in a Art History course in my third year of college and immediately became a fan of its architecture. I could pass up an opportunity to see it in person and, hopefully, take some photos. Unfortunately, particularly heavy rain from the leftovers of Hurricane Ike made photography impractical (I'm not one to test the weather-sealing on my camera).
Just in case some of you are not familiar with the building in question, these google'd images will have to do for now:
After Fredericton, I pushed on through to Quebec City. After two or three hours on the road, I came to the conclusion that, for the sake of the safety of tourists and generally sane folk alike, no Quebec resident should ever be allowed behind the wheel. Thanks to a suggestion from my father, I made my way over to the secondary highways and found myself immersed in uniquely and surprisingly pastoral surroundings. Five minutes after pulling off the freeway, I found myself in the town of Saint-Denis.
It had been raining all day long and the misty fog had just started to lift. Coming down the road, I could see the outline of a massive stone church standing on a tall hill right in the middle of town. Through the thinning mist, I caught the familiar outline of a church. It was unremarkable from the ground to the roof's peak, but I found myself in awe at a gleeming white steeple. The tapered white-stone went up and up until it disappeared in to the slowly-lifting fog bank. In that first glance, I would have sworn that it kept on going until it melded with heaven itself.
I love small-town ecclesiastical architecture!
Day 37 (or so) - Hantsport
After my two-day jaunt around the Cabot Trail, I made my way over to the town of Hantsport (75km northeast of Halifax). I stayed there for two nights with Sue and Bob, Sue being my mom's loving and hospitable cousin (I think) and Bob being her witty and rebellious husband. Rebellious would not be a term one would usually apply to someone just beginning retirement, but it is the only word that comes to mind after many long discussions with Bob about his hard-fought victories (and on-going battles) against "The Man". This fellow has become an expert at taking corporations and governments to task over their mistreatment of the little guy, be it the lousy service from the local cable company for the clients of his tech-support company, or the shameful state of care for military veterans across the country. This man is an expert shit-disturber and I think that's awesome. As he pointed out on many occasions, there are too many people out there who need help but are being ignored by companies and agencies who realize that those individuals have no power to fight the unfair, arbitrary, and often crippling decisions that these organizations make. Someone's gotta stand up for them!
So ya, I came away feeling inspired to do a bit more in this world to help the down-trodden to get back on their feet.
Toured both the Shearwater and Halifax aviation museums while I was in the area. Received a guided tour through Shearwater's museum (I was the only visitor at the time) through Canada's naval aviation history by a fellow who had served on at least two of Canada's aircraft carriers (I never even new we had aircraft carriers!). There was a great selection of aircraft, but my favourite was definitely the Swordfish (same type that crippled the Bismarck). The Halifax air museum has a wider selection, but, due to construction and a smaller budget, it wasn't as nice to walk around. They went for quantity over quality, at least in terms of the museum experience.
No photos to share. My camera stayed apathetically bagged for those days.
So ya, I came away feeling inspired to do a bit more in this world to help the down-trodden to get back on their feet.
Toured both the Shearwater and Halifax aviation museums while I was in the area. Received a guided tour through Shearwater's museum (I was the only visitor at the time) through Canada's naval aviation history by a fellow who had served on at least two of Canada's aircraft carriers (I never even new we had aircraft carriers!). There was a great selection of aircraft, but my favourite was definitely the Swordfish (same type that crippled the Bismarck). The Halifax air museum has a wider selection, but, due to construction and a smaller budget, it wasn't as nice to walk around. They went for quantity over quality, at least in terms of the museum experience.
No photos to share. My camera stayed apathetically bagged for those days.
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