Reflections of My Travel

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We started off the morning at Nubble Lighthouse. It was so pretty! We took several pictures of it in the morning light and then headed on up the road. We stuck along the coast for a little bit but then decided it was just going to take way too long to do that all the way. Stupid traffic lights and slow traffic. So we made our way over to the Freeway and continued north. We drove through some pretty places. We got to the Canadian border just shortly before the sun started to set and crossed into New Brunswick. We made it to St. Andrews while there was still enough sun to see the Passamaquoddy Bay and Bay of Fundy. We stayed at the Fairmont Algonquin (we had two nights comp because of a mixup with a conference the year before). They gave us the nicest room! We had a regular king room with a bathroom that had a jetted tub and separate shower, but it had another room attached. It was a TURRET ROOM (those of you who know me probably know my fascination with turrets in architecture)!!! It was big and had windows 180° around and a fireplace in the middle of the rounded-room and a little kitchenette and a guest bathroom with a shower. They had a fruit plate set out for us and all that gig. We went out to eat and when we came back, the bed was turned down and there was a log for the fireplace and a bucket of ice. We layed on the couch in front of the fireplace before the fire started to go out and then we went to bed.

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We got up early and started calling around to see if any of the whale-watching outfits were still open. We lucked out and found the Quoddy Link which was doing two more tours for the year. The tour was not until 1330 so we got ready and went to walk around town (it was a tiny town) and get some lunch. We got to the wharf and found the other 20 or so people who would be watching whales with us. We loaded the boat and got the safety gig and were off. To the best of my recollection, I had never really been on a boat before (other than canoe or the Disney ferry). What fun!!! There were a few of us brave (stupid) souls who ventured up to the upper deck and froze in the cold wind. The water was beautiful. We saw several dolphins/porpoises and ducks and gulls on our way out to sea. After about an hour, we spotted our first Humpback whale. It was incredible. We all crowded around with our cameras (all just waiting for a little tail). It was just beautiful. We saw several humpbacks and a few finbacks in the distance. After an hour or so, we went out and got a closer look at the finbacks. The humpbacks aren’t as big, but they show their tail when they do a terminal dive. The finbacks are the second largest whales in the world (up to 78′ — and us in a 40′ boat was a little intimidating). The finback also has a much larger blow (6-7′ high) than the humpback (3-4′ high). It was just so beautiful to watch them in such an open and natural environment. We had gotten about 20 knots away from land before heading back. On the way back, we saw a few islands of rocks with harbor seals sunning themselves. They were so cute!!! We also went by a large (6′ by 7′) bald eagles nest with an eaglet looking out at us. They said that while checking things out, some scientist went up to look at the nest and found 37 cat collars in it. So that’s where fluffy went. As we were going by the salmon aguaculture farm on the way in, the guides pulled out a cooler with some starfish and urchins for us to see and pass around. Brought back some good memories of violating sea urchins in 9th grade biology. After we got back to the wharf (four hours later), we went out for dinner and got some wine on the way back to the hotel. We had a nice jetted bath with wine and then layed by the fire until bedtime. It was such a nice place.

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Sadly, I left my nice little turret this morning. We had a nice country drive up through Canada. We stopped in Hartland, NB to see the World’s Longest Covered Bridge. It was pretty impressive. It has a little walking lane in the side of it that is called the “kissing lane” because, when the bridge was built in 1901, that was where a couple went to steal a kiss. A little further north, we pulled off in Grand Falls, NB to see the falls and gorge. It was a nice area and we walked around a little. We were getting closer to Québec and started seeing a lot of french on the signs. And when we stopped at McD’s to get something to eat, everyone was speaking french (of course, they did speak english for us). We had planned on stopping in Riviére du Loup for the night, but when we got to the Québec welcome center, we decided that there would be more to do tomorrow in Québec City. We drove nearly the whole way along the Saint Lawrence river, which is just huge, so it was a very pretty drive. Yes, by this time all of the road signs were completely french. Poor Randal. He was so frustrated with the lack of english signs and radio. I loved it. Not only because I like french, but also because it was nice to be inundated with another language beside español for a change. We got to Québec City right around sunset and went to eat at a place that the hotel clerk suggested, called Cosmos. It was really a spiffy place as far as atmosphere. Yes, we ate hamburgers. We then drove into old Québec (Vieux Québec) and went into the fort (inside the walls). I cannot even describe how magnificent the architecture is there! It was absolutely incredible. Especially all lit up in the night. We made such a great choice when we decided to drive there tonight.