PEI...The East Coast

Red clay is peculiar to PEI, just as it is to GA. Therefore, erosion is eating the shoreline back at an alarming rate.

This mansion was built by a Cincinnati businessman and now belongs to Parks Canada and functions as an Inn.

The lighthouse at East Point.

More red cliffs and windy seas. I'll post the rest later, as download speeds just dropped off big time here.

P.E.I.: Con't.

There are countless tiny harbors and villages in PEI, which has a central lobe where most of the folks live and two appendages stretching out to the west and to the east, like giant butterfly wings. These are large, but sparsley populated - one is the West Coast and the other the East Coast.

Needless to say, lobstering is BIG here and the really nice thing is, no crowds, unlike the more accessible state of Maine.

Numerous bays, all leading into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and eventually, the sea.

Today is Sunday, so the fleet's in. So is the catch, so another excellent seafood meal!

P.E.I. - The Gentle Island, give or take....

.....a hurricane or two (scroll down). Meanwhile, this certainly is well-named. I call this particular shot, 'Girls and their horses.'

This is one of the interior shots of the Green Gables House, once owned by cousins of L.M. Montgomery and the inspiration for Anne's Green Gables.

One does step back into yesteryear in this farmhouse here in Cavendish, PEI.

I included this one because of the stove, for my antique woodstove pals.

Green Gables. Note the odd pinkish grey sky? Stay tuned....

Ta-Da....Tropical Storm Danny comes ashore on the island around 7 PM. No hayride tonite, although the hayride driver at this KOA came up to the ride stand to make sure! We, meanwhile, are sitting it out in the Wee Hoose, listening to the rain pelt down and the wind rock us. But the family in the site next door with 3 little ones under 5 are in a tent, so if they can do it, we sure can!

St. Lawrence Sea Way

This is a little out of sync, as we drove up the Quebec coast the day before we went down through New Brunswick, but this was the beginning of the cold wind. It whipped the formerly blue water into a muddy froth.

The orange on the rocks is a lichen of some sort and the reddish rock is full of iron ore. And ships navigate this passageway??? We did see locks at Iroquois, QC, so we know they must.

New Brunswick - full of surprises!

Walking the dogs (well, Buddy anyway, carrying Daisy, who can walk but does so very hesitantly on leash since she can't see) in the sunset in New Brunswick.

Grand Falls catches you by surprise as you follow the signs, expecting a pull-off or overlook and then you drive over them on the bridge into town!

The temperature started falling when the wind rose up in northern Quebec and really plummeted by the time we reached NB.

Last spring, this river flooded so that the water was above the edge of the falls! Since there is a dam right above the falls, generating must have been a real picnic.

Wildflowers of KOA-Quebec /city

The light /cloud pattern was good for photos this morning, so while walking Buddy, I took these shots of the scrub around our campground, separating it from an industrial park and construction area. Who would have guessed?

Quebec City, Con't.....

Several murals on walls here, depicting events or conditions existing in the past that helped us understand Quebec's history. Very tromp d'oile, as well!

Inside this house was a soap/lotion shoppe in which the soaps were arranged to look like confectionary! I wanted to include a photo, but photography is forbidden in most shoppes that were so creative in design - understandable.

Not sure what these Christmas-in-August elves were up to but they were so enthusiastic, that I couldn't resist a shot. Neither could they resist mugging and posing. Lots of young folk in this city...lots of roller blading, cycling, walking, lots of hills, so young and old are in pretty good shape.

Riding the funicular reveals views of private gardens invisible from street level.

At least as steep as Lookout Mountain Incline in TN!

QUEBEC CITY....IMAGINEERED BY CANADA!

As soon as we stepped off the funicular, that was my first thought....this is too perfect, where's Disney? But they pulled it off on their own!

Inside the enchanting little church of Notre Dame/Quebec...oldest church in Canada. The suspended ship is a model of Le Breze, the ship that brought a Marquis & his troops over to fight the Iroquois.

There are 2 levels to The Old City and for those with climbing issues or time limits, the funicular is a good plan.

That palace looming over this charming street is a very pricey hotel/chateau and we could see the French influence on our Biltmore Estate here.

Everytime a vendor said, "Bonjour, parlez vous Francais?" my stock answer was "Je parle Francais un peu," and except for the shuttle drivers, everyone switched to English immediately. So much for the rumor that no one would speak English to us. Actually, everyone speaks $$$! Just like home.

Montreal, Con't.

Montreal and a hurricane sky

A city of French signage, churches, flowers, young, old and strange architecture....

No, it's not an inverted high heel, it's the Olympic stadium, total boondoggle of builders not following the designers' plans and not even done by the Games. The top was to bear the torch, but as you can see by the seam a little more than halfway up, it didn't quite make the cut.

A contribution of clouds from Hurricane Bill made for some interesting lighting. More photos later....server is only on for 15 minutes at a time!

VIP TREATMENT

Well, this was pure serendipity! I'm supposed to sing at the Barrie, ON KOA tomorrow so we planned to stay and pay at the Pt. Huron MI KOA tonite but they decided they wanted to employ my talents as a kampertainer and voila, here we are in the VIP site, complete with a screened gazebo, honkin' big grill, a fountain, flowers and even a gazing ball! Mike is totally convinced that this is what camping should be. They offered us a golf cart, but since we sit all day on the road, we are more into walking. They will drive me to and from the gig tonite, so what's not to love?

Yes, the Wee Hoose looks lost on this massive site, but we'll manage. Think 6 Flags Over KOA and you'll have this place pretty well pegged. A little red KOA train chugs by this site every so often. I'm singing at The Western Store, attached to the Pizza Parlor and out on the pavilion that serves both western style bldgs. We are next to the recumbent bike/golf cart livery stables. Nice folks, big camp store, all kinds of old west outbuildings and there are 2 pools, and tons more stuff. Also haven't seen Lake Huron yet. Will probably get to gaze at it for a long time sitting in the customs line at the border tomorrow.

OMG!!!

This is all Michigan...the Upper Penninsula...taken from atop the cliffs or from the boat cruise. This is the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and the lake is Lake Superior, although we often thought we were in the Carribbean, judging from the color. "Nuff said. Enjoy...we sure did!

YOOPERS!

UP-ers, that is....those who inhabit the Upper Penninsula of MI. (Think greater Canada and you're halfway there.) This is a longhouse at the Ojibwa Museum in St. Ignace, a tiny gem of a place overlooking Lake Michigan and also a memorial to Pere Marquette, Jesuit Blackrobe to the Native population, beloved and memorialized in these beautiful gardens.

For those of you who follow the adventures of the dogs, here's Buddy and his stuffed pal, Opus, who sit beside me on the bed as I work on this blog. Daisy's fine, just couldn't resist this shot of intense scrutiny! Kind of gives me the willies when they both stare at me like that while I'm blogging.

I was scheduled to sing a campfire at St. Ignace KOA Friday night but storms cancelled me, except for this loyal little camp follower , Josie, who with her father, followed me from Sleepy Bear in Empire, all the way up to the UP! They also brought sticks and marshmallows to our SB campfire. For that kind of loyalty, I'll sing anywhere....and I did! This was the KOA gameroom.

Taquamenon Falls, tanna-hued just like our Suwannee. Freakin' 94 degrees that afternoon. Might as well be in Hotlanta!

Mike kayaking the TQ River. We were the only 2 people going downriver, a mild current pushing along the tea-colored water with deep north woods rising on each bank.

IMAGES FROM MACKINAC ISLAND, MI

This was our day today. Cool morning, warm afternoon, spectacular scenery.

The Grand Hotel....kept waiting for Jane Seymour and Chris Reeve to come around the corner in a carraige....a la "Somewhere In Time."

The watering hole....teams of 3 pulling these carriages thru the state park. Three vets, one doc on the island.

Typical transportation on Mackinac Island.