Quebec Vacation - Part 2

On Monday morning, we left parc National de Frontenac and headed north to Quebec City.  Our plans for the day were to spend some time in the Plains of Abraham, and the Citadel.

 

Some farmland along the way.

 

Once we arrived at the St. Lawrence, we went down to the water to get some pictures of the skyline of Quebec City from south of the St. Lawrence.

The bridge we travelled across, to get to Quebec City itself.

 

Once in Quebec City, we found a place to park, and then went to find some lunch.  We had ended up parking in the upper portion, right at the Plains of Abraham.  We wandered around and decided to try going down to the river level to find some lunch.  There were a set of stairs we could use.  We couldn't get them all on one picture - just let it be known it was a lot of stairs.  And we went DOWN them first.  We just went down at a leisurely pace, while several crazy exercise people ran up and down 4 times in the time it took us to get down once.  Not quite, but still, it was crazy.

Isn't this a pretty building?

Here's a little cafe we found, where we had our lunch.  Just a chicken sandwich but it was very yummy!

 

Then we had to climb all the way back UP those stairs!  From there we went to the Citadel, an old fort from the early 1800s.  This fort is still an active military base, so we couldn't wander around inside, except on a guided tour.  We did go on the tour.

 

This building - the magazine - was where they would store all the gun powder.  The walls stick out all the way around the building were put there, so that if the building was attacked, and exploded, it would explode UP instead of OUT, lessening damage and injury to buildings and people nearby.

This building, which we had seen from across the river already, while quite a fancy building, was not that old.  It was built in the 1920s (I think!) and designed to look older than it was.  We had a closer view of it from the Citadel.

A view of the St. Lawrence from the Citadel.  It was a lovely sunny day when we were there.

Some "squished-together" buildings. :)

After we left the Citadel, we decided to go across to the big island, Ile d'Orleans.  This was the bridge we took across, and once on the island, we drove pretty much all the way around its perimeter.

About three-quarters of the way around, we found a rest area with a lookout tower - more stairs!  We summoned the energy (we had also done a lot of walking that afternoon) and climbed up.  Well worth it, for the view.  The island is mostly farm land I think, and some small villages.

 

 

On a smaller island close to this one, there is a farm way in the distance on this peninsula below! At first glance it was hard to figure out. We only figured out what it was by looking through binoculars. The camera zoom did a good job of picking it out.

 

After we left the island, we left Quebec City, heading north, to our next campsite, at parc National de Jacques-Cartier.  That will be the next blog post.

Quebec Vacation - Part 1

A couple of weeks ago Rob and I went on a road trip vacation to la belle province - Quebec!  The map below shows the route we travelled.  It was 3087.7km in total, over 8 days.

We left on Friday August 31st, as soon as Rob was home from work and the final packing was completed.  We did not have too far to go that night, about 3 or 3.5 hours, to Presquile Provincial Park.  We arrived at dark, and since we planned to leave early the next morning, we did not even unhook the trailer from the car, we just set up the trailer.

Then we wandered around looking for our friends Koen & Harriette and their boys who were also camping at the park that night.  We found their campsite and had a visit with them.  Here's a picture of our site on Saturday morning.

My family camped at Presquile for a few years when I was a kid.  We often had a campsite down the road from where Rob and I stayed.  Once we were there, I realized the site Rob and I was actually our family's favourite, although I don't think we actually ever managed to book it. 

 

Down the road from our site we could access the lake, and when we went with my family, we would often take the dog swimming here, since it was not a beach.  Just gravel.  The water levels are sure a lot lower now than when we were there those years ago.  The water used to cover the flat rock, and meet the edge of the gravel.

 

Saturday morning we left Presquile and headed for Quebec.  Our destination was a national park south of the St. Lawrence, and south of Quebec City.   Here are a couple pictures around Montreal.

Some of the scenery we saw along the way...

Our campsite at parc National de Frontenc.  We did not really know what to expect in the parks in Quebec, but the first two were just beautiful.  Our campsite was very private, just the way we like it.

We could walk down to the water, there was not much of a beach, and it was too cold to swim anyways.  But it was lovely to wander down there on Sunday afternoon.  We had a nice sunny day, but the Saturday night and the Sunday night were COLD.  (Relatively speaking, of course!)  I think it went down to 8 or 9C, and we didn't have an electric site at this campground!  Sleeping was fine, but it was a little chilly around the campfire, despite adding several layers of clothing!

There was a lot of this shale rock (is that what it is called?) at the beach.  I always think it is so cool to break this stuff - rock isn't always rock hard! :)

 

Our wildlife sightings in this park was just some rabbits.  We would see them especially in the morning, near the washrooms.

 

We stayed at parc National de Frontenac for Saturday night and Sunday night, and left on Monday morning.  Monday's activities will be another blog post.

This is How a Fence Should be Built

Our side fence is done!  Wednesday morning there was nothing, and by 3:00 today it was done.  Jordan came yesterday morning to put in the posts, and he was back again bright and early this morning to put in the panels themselves.  I was away from home from 9:30 until 3:00, and when I came home, everything was done.  It looks so nice, we are very happy with it. 

It is good to know that although we apparently give off vibes to our neighbours when their hire fence builders, those vibes don't rub off on the fence builder we hired! :)  Thank you Jordan!  (I may or may not have bribed encouraged him with homemade cookies...)

It took 303 days for the fence in our old house to be built (by the guy the neighbour hired).  It took less than two days for this fence to be built, AND:  This fence is longer and taller than the fence in our old place!  Three cheers for Jordan! ;)

This is what it looked like Wednesday morning, say 7:30ish (although that is not when I took the picture. :) )

By Wednesday noon, the posts were in!

By 3:00 Wednesday  the wood for the panels had been delivered.  And the posts were still there!

 

By 3:00 today (Thursday), it was all done!

And yes, our grass needs help. :)

Rob's Birthday - Trip to the Falls

This past Tuesday was Rob's birthday, so we made a quick trip out to Niagara Falls.  What a truly magnificent sight!

We did arrive early enough to see the Falls before dark, and then after dark we also could see the lights shining on them.   It had rained, but as we were there the sky cleared up and it was a lovely evening.  Happy Birthday to Rob!

The Fence is Finished!

The fence at the back of our property is finished!  We are very happy with it.  It offers a lot more privacy, and looks much more finished.

Now we just need a fence on the west side of our property.  Here is the "before" picture, and we're dialoguing with our own "fence guy" to make arrangements to get it put in.

A Story

I found this in my drafts - this event happened about a year ago.  It really is too funny not to share, even if it is a year old! :)  (And if I publish it now, my Dad is still 60, but his 61st birthday is very very very soon...)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So, a few weeks ago, I was out grocery shopping.  At No Frills, if such details are of interest to you.  I hadn't made it past the produce section when I saw a man whom I know by sight and name, although prior to this shopping trip, I'm not sure I had ever spoken to him.  For the purposes of this blog post, we will call him Mr. X.  Oh, and another pertinent detail is we estimate Mr. X to have been blessed with over 70 birthdays. 
Anyways, Mr. X. recognized me but couldn't place me, and not being a shy person, he came to ask me my name.  "I'm Karen A----" I told him, and watched the wheels start churning.  My husband's surname is not that well-known in some of the church circles in this part of the province.  I could tell that my answer had been of no help to Mr. X, so I put him out of his misery. "I'm a D----" I said, knowing he would recognize my maiden name immediately.  Mr. X thought about this for a minute as I added some apples (Royal Gala if you really want to know) to my cart.  Then he turned back to me and said "So, are you Bill's sister?"  I stared at him for a second before saying "No, I'm Bill's DAUGHTER!"  He responded "Really, Bill is old enough to have grown up children already?"  I agreed with that statement, and refrained from telling him that Bill had recently celebrated his 60th birthday.  Aye-karumba!

Mr. X. went on his way, satisfied that he now knew who I was. As for me, well, thankfully I found it more funny than insulting, and it is a great compliment for my Dad!  Who is a VERY young 60.  Love you Dad!

Fence Progress!

This morning, shortly before 9:00, I was puttering around in the kitchen, and I heard a noise from outside that sounded like there just might be someone working on the fence.  A quick peak through the curtains - yes!  The guy was back - on a Saturday, in the rain - working on our fence.

The portion at the back of our property is nearly finished - he worked on it off and on throughout the day, as it rained intermittently.  Our neighbours themselves were working on their side fence tonight - the fence guy didn't seem to be there anymore.  Just a few more boards and our back fence will be done!

Then all that is left is a side fence - and WE are hiring someone to do that.  :)

Here we go again?

You may remember the fence saga from our old house.  How it took 303 days from start to finish for a fence about 36 feet long?

Well, it seems that we give off vibes of some sort to our neighbours when they choose individuals to build fences...

A couple months ago, Rob and I went to introduce ourselves to our backdoor neighbours, and to discuss putting a fence up between our back yards.   Our neighbours were very amenable to the idea, in fact, they had already made arrangements for a fence, but were waiting for the backfill and sod to be delivered.  This happened in early July.   It looked so much nicer having grace in their yard instead of dirt and weeds!  Of course, our yard looked quite a bit better then than it does now too!

Rob and I were camping July 17-21, and I was really hoping to come home to a finished fence.  I was quite happy to see fence posts when we came home, as that is a good start for any fence!  We don't know exactly what day the posts were put in, but let's say it was July 19.

Well, then on July 24th, the guys came back and spent the better part of the day pouring more concrete for the deck/hot tub.  They also put in one little board between each fence post.  You can see that in the picture below.   And yes, that's me; I'm picking beans.  We have many, many beans.

 However, since July 24th, there has been no activity on the fence.  I realize it is only about 16 days since the fence posts were installed, which is a far cry from 303 days, but, call me crazy, I'm a little concerned!   Our next door neighbour had a fence put in back in May or June.  The posts were put in one morning, and the rest of the fence was finished the next day.  So, it is possible to put in a fence in a couple days, but based on our experience, only 33% of fence builders are capable of such a feat!

We continue to wait...