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On our first trip into western Canada I decided to drive across the Canadian side to see
what Canada looks like. Driving the Canadian route is considerably longer than driving
south of the great lakes on the US side of the border. Driving through northern Ontario
to Kenora, well north of Lake Superior is an adventure through geological wonders carved out by the last ice age. The highway winds up and down from one hill to the next through
the granite like rock so prevalent in Ontario after the ice receded about 13000 years ago.
Almost immediately after leaving Ontario the terrain changes dramatically to flat fertile prairie. The drive though beautiful is uneventful for hundreds upon hundred of miles through the breadbasket of the world on roads with virtually no curves or bumps lined
by grain fields and the infrequent homestead surrounded by a few trees and every few miles grain elevators rise above the country side like giants. Farther west the oil wells
adorn the landscape. The first glimpse of the foothills of the Rockies is an exciting and unexpected, though a much anticipated event.
Travelling from
Calgary toward Banff in the early morning; the first glimpse of sunlight
is on the peaks of the mountains, while the road is still enveloped in darkness. As the
road rises to meet the sky, valleys line the roadside with hamlets peeking through
the clouds below the level of the steeply rising road. I recall thinking; this is the only place I have ever seen that is far more beautiful and amazing than all the images could ever portray. Even though it is mid July the
peeks of the enormous mountains are covered with snow. Much of the west was built
not only to accommodate tourists but to house the workforce building the railway.
Every now and then a ribbon of train tracks with what appears like a mile or more of
colourful railway cars pop up, like a model railway, off in the distance snaking around the foot of the giant mountains.
Banff is located at the foot of huge mountains. Cascade Mountain overshadows the
entire community with Mount Norquay a little further in the distance appear scarred by
the many ski slopes so popular in the winter skiing season. Banff National Park is truly
an amazing wonder of the world. Today there are many hotels and tourist accommodations
but the age old magnificent Banff Springs Hotel invites visitors from around the world.
Banff is the home of the world famous
Upper Hot springs with a fairly steady
temperature of 40º C (104º F).
On my last visit in the
Winter, the temperature was -40º, the water was a hot 38º C (100º F)
but the rising steam froze in my hair, in the cold of the frigid winter air.
On the way to Jasper, enormous snow covered mountains line both sides of the winding road for miles and miles. Wildlife, Deer, Elk, Black Bear or Moose are a common site not only on the miles of tree lined roadway but right in town itself. An excursion
off the Trans Canada Highway to Lake Moraine (pictured on the back of the Canadian $20 for many years) is an interesting and worthwhile side trip if one has the time.
Lake Louise with its turquoise water welcomes visitors to
Château Lake Louise, another of the magnificent railway hotels built to welcome
travellers from around the world to the wild wilderness of the magnificent Canadian Rockies.
The next major attraction is the Columbia Icefield about midway between Banff and
Jasper. The
Columbia Icefield
is the largest ice field in the Rocky Mountains of North America, containing many glaciers. Having visited here on three occasions I was
alarmed to see the rapid receding of these age old remnants of the last ice age.
Markings indicate how much the glacier has been receding from one year to the next
with huge changes in recent history due in large part to climate change.
The glaciers may disappear completely within a generation or two.
Travelling westward you pass through sheltered Okanagan Valley with its moderate
climate and miles of orchards.
Kelowna located on the 120 Km. long Okanagan Lake is the business centre of
the valley. Vancouver on the Pacific coast is one of Canada's most vibrant cities. Vancouver is the home of Stanley Park (see images & history below) with rugged
wilderness areas as well as groomed trails and the proud native totem poles.
Victoria on Vancouver Island is the capital of British
Columbia. Victoria resembles a throwback to a bygone time with quaint architecture
and the home of the exquisite Butchart Gardens. The very moderate climate favours this area with an abundance of plant varieties and colours in its gardens.
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What’s the best park in the world? According to TripAdvisors’ millions of users it’s Vancouver’s Stanley Park. The local favourite was recently (2014) voted “Best Park in the World,” edging out other urban respites like New York’s Central Park and Paris’ Luxembourg Gardens, thanks to 400 hectares/1,000 acres of lush forest that sit perched at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
Stanley Park History
I encourage you to do some research before embarking on this epic, life changing journey.
This is probably good advice about any vacation you are planning. Know the
points of interest before taking the long expensive trip into the unknown. All
destinations have something worth seeing, visiting or just learning about.
Your research will enhance the experience and enjoyment without any extra expense.
In 1990 we took advantage of our timeshare exchange to visit England and Portugal in the spring. Dawn and Gloria's Mom, who was born in Southampton, joined us on this wonderful
vacation. Gloria's Mom emigrated to Canada at the age of three months and this was her first and only trip back to her birthplace. We spent only a couple of days in London
and most of our stay was in the
New Forest
area of southern England with its free roaming wild horses and beautiful countryside. Unfortunately Gloria suffered a bout of Sciatica,
forcing her to spend much of the British leg of the journey bedridden in excruciating pain. Made the best of the vacation under the circumstances and took hundreds of pictures (most were lost during one of our moves). If I can find something on the Portuguese portion of the trip I will add it later.
The image below is where we spent a week of our vacation, in the New Forest District of southern England.
Elmers Court Lymington – Photo gallery our 1990 British excursion
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We stayed in a beautiful marble lined resort while in Portugal, our time share near Lagos. Most images are from Google since all the negatives were lost in our move. The beeches went for miles and colourful bluffs cascading to the ocean were incredible. Beautiful country with dramatic differences between the poor and the extremely wealthy. The last four images are reproductions of some of the pictures decorating our home. The last image is two pictures combined to create a panorama of the bay.
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As a token of appreciation, Gloria was given a trip for two to Las Vegas. Not only did Gloria work for years at Consultec but after retiring in 1995 she was asked to return and provide expertise and training support for the new staff. In May 1996 we visited Las Vegas, a popular destination in that era for excellent entertainment and of course
gambling. Back in those days casinos did not exist in Canada and Las Vegas and Atlantic City were the only sites in the US.
We enjoyed the vacation, especially the Siegfried & Roy magic show with their world famous tigers. There are no pictures yet from this excursion since they were before the
digital age and I have not scanned the images of the photographs I took.
Vacations are wonderful. We usually don't plan specifics
along the route but have a vague destination or occasionally
even a specific destination without precise routing.
So it was with our Midwest excursion. Gloria being an
avid reader, read about the beauty of Montana
(the setting for the Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans), so it was a non
specific destination. Timing is everything when vacationing.
Not sure exactly why we decided to leave mid October
(about the 16th, seems we may have been waiting for the cast
to be removed from Gloria's leg)
but we set out heading West toward Chicago.
A seasoned traveller might ask if we knew anything about
Midwest US weather (or if we were simply out of our minds),
choosing to travel at this time of year.
Not knowing where you are going has some advantages.
Your trip is full of surprises. The first surprise was the
Bad Lands
of South Dakota, to be followed by such amazing sites as beautiful
Mount Rushmore
and
Crazy Horse Monument,
Jackson Hole
in Wyoming
and
Old Faithful
in Yellowstone National Park
(other Yellowstone WebCams).
It was here we discovered
just how lucky we were, when informed by a Ranger that usually
by this time of year the area is closed to tourists due to
two foot or more of snow cover over the entire area. We in
fact only touched our initial destination of Montana, deciding
it would be too far and take too long to include the excursion.
It was here that a fellow tourist mentioned that there is
amazing beauty awaiting us if we managed to get as far
South as
Zion National Park.
and
Bryce Canyon.
Salt Lake City was captivating, spent nearly a day around
Temple Square and we took in the home of the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
of course no performances but an amazing building none the less.
We managed to take in the beauty of Zion and Bryce Canyon.
We actually took a side trip to a Nevada casino. Las Vegas
was only 90 miles away but we didn't have the hour and half
to spare plus the time you need to gamble.
All in all, we had a great vacation. Leaving St. George UT 24°C (75°F)
wearing shorts but had snow in Bryce Canyon and much more, less
than ideal weather, on the way home.
I would urge anyone else
making such an excursion to research their route before
leaving home, instead of hoping to stumble upon such incredible
sights as we lucked into.
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Teton
Mountains
Wyoming
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While visiting Alex and Joyce in Laughlin, we were treated to an interesting day trip to a Ghost Town, Oatman Az. an old gold mining town. The gold ran out many years ago but the town survived as a tourist attraction. Perhaps the town's fame is the wild burros wondering the streets of town. The burros are descendants of burros released, to fend for survival, by the gold miners abandoning the search for gold. The Saloon Hotel we visited for lunch is famous for the wall paper created by dollar bills, patrons leave as a memento of their visit. There could be a million dollars worth of bills attached to every inch people can reach, to pin or stick their calling card. Unfortunately unaware of significance of our destination I left my camera behind, so I have no personal images to display, but I managed to get the following assortment from the WEB.
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Oatman Arizona – A brief history
What could I possibly say about Niagara Falls that has not been said already?
My earliest recollection of Niagara Falls goes back to when I stumbled upon a photography book my Dad had strategically put in an out the sight location because it contained a nude woman artistically captured in black and white, as were all the images. The image that captured my imagination was Niagara falls in all its magnificent glory. I dreamt that one day perhaps I could get to see this amazing wonder of the world but living in communist Hungary I was sure this would remain nothing more than a dream.
Amazing how some dreams come true. Following our escape
from communism during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, we
ended up living in Toronto, a mere hour and a half drive
from Niagara Falls. Except for visiting our summer home
in Cardiff, near Bancroft, Niagara Falls has been my most
frequent destination over the last 50 plus years, never
tiring of its magnificence and beauty. I can't think of
a year since 1957, when I did not visit Niagara Falls at
least once. Since retiring in 2000 our almost monthly visits have been an
overnight or two excursion.
The magnificent casinos have been a boon to the economy
of the region and we have been known to place a wager or
two, mostly in the one armed bandits. There are many
attraction to draw tourists to the area including almost
any activity one could imagine from the Butterfly Conservatory,
Botanical Gardens, Marineland, several golf courses to the theatre in
quaint Niagara on the Lake.
My love of photography came
honestly. My Dad earned his living as a photographer
for some years, before we moved back to my birth place Budapest in 1953,
a few years following WWII. I got my first camera at 3
and I have been capturing images all my life.
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While there is a wide selection of choices I have selected the following.
Each opens in a new browser tab/window. Select your favourite or view them all.
Occasionally some of the cameras may be unavailable and display archived footage, at times images are in complete fog or mist but the sound is still available live.
A mini vacation to beautiful Ottawa turned out to be one of our most enjoyable outings.
Thursday evening we visited friends Dave and Patti, who opened a
Boston Pizza in April, in Uxbridge.
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Had a great meal and a brief but nice visit.
Arrived in Ottawa
about noon Friday, staying at the famous historic Château Laurier, so close to
Capital Hill and Canada's parliament buildings. Spent some time,
in great summer weather, visiting near by
attractions and taking pictures. Joined my brother John and his wife Marlyne
along with his family Kelly, Sue & husband Paul and grand children Garrett and Megan for
dinner at Montana's. Saturday we visited some more touristy sites before
heading to Belleville to lunch with Gloria's childhood friend Sharon, her husband
Brian and granddaughter Mckenna at Kelsey's. Arrived home about 6 P.M. to feed
the zoo (Cleo and Annie) who welcomed us home as always.
We will certainly make this trip again, sooner than later and take in some
more activities in Ottawa, such as the double decker bus city tour and the
river cruise, which look really worthwhile.
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Took a special interest in the statues next to the Parliament Building, including Nellie McClung, a true Canadian hero, who spent much of her life fighting for women's equality. Eventually elected to parliament where she fought and won the fight to have women declared, for the first time, as persons under Canadian law. |
A brief but most enjoyable family reunion with most but not all in attendance. Alex initiated the get together and the opportunity to celebrate John's birthday July 8th was a bonus. It was great to see everyone again. Ottawa is the home of Sue and Kelly and John lives fairly close, so the site is ideal for getting the otherwise scattered families to meet. All enjoyed a nice buffet lunch on John's tab. Not sure why the celebrant volunteered to pick up the tab but I guess we owe him one. Everyone enjoyed the great weather and the extended visit following the meal. I managed to capture some images and this is a good place to display them. Unfortunately I failed to notice my camera date was off by a day so the dates are July 9th instead of the actual July 8th get together but I guess I will be forgiven this oversight.
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The following pages open in a separate browser window or tab
Webcam of Parliament Building
The History of Parliament Hill
- with subsections - pre construction to reconstruction - also see left menu links
Pictures of Canadian Parliament Buildings
Fire February 3rd 1916
More images of the fire
Parliament Hill – A collection of celebratory images including Canada 150
Having a GPS to navigate allowed us to take a more scenic route to the East Coast along
less travelled and more winding roads. Gloria's constitution did not enjoy the up and
down hill winding roads, so we took the major thruways on the way home. Driving through New York, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, taking the 12.9 Km. (8.01 mi.) Confederation Bridge (image below) to Prince Edward Island. Having the bridge was such a nice change from having to wait for the ferry and Gloria is not good on water. The return trip touched on Massachusattes as well.
On a pervious trip we stopped in Kennebunkport and enjoyed it so much that we decided to make it a destination this year.
It was in 1967 that I first ventured East and it was then that I was introduced
to seafood. I loved the clams freshly harvested on the beaches of PEI with some locals
and lobster has remained a favourite fare. On the return trip we stopped again at the
The Arundel Wharf Restaurant 43 Ocean Ave.
in Kennebunkport, where we feasted on a great lobster salad and lobster roll (image below).
We really enjoyed the food and the location is great too, right on the water with
pleasant seaside scenery. I would consider driving here just to enjoy the offerings.
Further research indicated
Alison's Restaurant may be worth a visit but only after the Arundel.
Alison's seems to have good food but not the atmosphere we enjoyed so much.
Map of the vicinity with other attractions identified.
Most of the images are from
Cavendish Beach Provincial Park
or
Summerside
on PEI and the Kennebukport restaurant right by the Atlantic Ocean. This one week vacation may be the last driving vacation. If you ever get a chance to visit PEI I am sure you will enjoy it
immensely with its beautiful red, red soil and sprawling green countryside.
I really enjoy driving vacations but my stamina is not what it used to be. We
used to average 600 miles a day on driving vacations but this time it was 600 Km or less
daily and Gloria is not as good a traveller as she once was.
Our cats stayed in a very nice, clean, reasonably priced
Cat Hotel, located near Brantford
(Map)
but worth the drive for the care and services provided. Each room has a window and the adjoining rooms have a passageway allowing our cats to share each other's company. As nice as the accommodations I am sure they enjoyed being home as much as we were pleased to have them with us again.
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Lupins are one of the most beautiful flowers we are blessed with. The first time
I saw a Lupin I had no idea what kind of flower it was but I certainly recognised its
beauty immediately, even though these flowers grew wild by the seaside in Nova Scotia
and again in PEI. Acres of wild Lupins lined the ocean shore with its varied blanket of
colour as seen above. I have been growing these beauties for many years in the garden
and almost every time I see the flowers I am reminded of the trips to the
East Coast of Canada. The foothills of the Rockies too are blessed with miles of Lupins. These simple flowers bring back many, many wonderful memories of vacations past.
Hartland Bridge New Brunswick, the world's longest covered bridge, crosses Saint John River from Hartland to Somerville.
The first time I crossed this landmark was during my Centennial trip to Canada's east
coast in 1967. This iconic landmark, constructed between 1898 and 1901 is celebrating
120 years of service in 2021. Among the many memorable sites visited on the Centennial
trip were the Bay of Fundy
Hopewell Flower pots, the site of the largest tides. When the tide was out
tourists walked among the huge formations created by nature. There is no access to
this diminishing site, being reclaimed by the very nature that created them. The
Cabot Trail and
Peggy's Cove and of course Canada's Centennial exhibition,
Expo 67 in Montreal, were other memorable highlights of the first vacation
I took on my own with my childhood friend Ray. I drove my brand new
1967 Volkswagen Beetle, pulling Ray's tent trailer for accommodations.
That first independent excursion remains one of my most memorable vacations.
Confederation Bridge
Images
About Confederation Bridge
More Information
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Elvis Presley – Old Shep –
Lyrics
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The image of the CN Tower with the Flat Iron Building, is an image I treasure, since it can never be taken again. Additional skyscrapers have change the face of the city since I captured the image above. The Roadside Diner was one of our stops for breakfast somewhere in the far northern area of Ontario, near Wawa. The place was immaculately decorated and the food was excellent. We had to wait till guest vacated the table in order to capture the quaint image above, I have always loved. The collection is a reproduction of images decorating our home. The original negatives have been lost along with hundreds of negatives from some of our vacations.
CDN Celebrations | New Years | Valentine's Day | St. Patrick's Day | Easter | Mother's Day | Father's Day | Canada Day | Thanksgiving | Halloween | Remembrance Day | Christmas
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