What I'm listening to/reading...by Twy's Twavels

A post on what's been keeping me entertained musically and literally...

A new artist is playing as we drive over the Nova Scotia landscape - Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas in two albums entitled Highlander's Farewell and Port of Call.  Catchy melodies of violin and cello intertwined in incredible harmony.

My Girl was humming music for Revelation song by Kari Jobe as we walked along the path to the Salmon Ponds at Cheticamp...so that's been playing once in a while too.

Lighthouse at Louisbourgh

We've also been enjoying a few books...some as a family and of course - on my own too:
-Finished reading an abridged copy of Anne of Green Gables to Maelle - fun to hear her laugh and then discuss the things she saw at the Anne house, L.M. Montgomery's grave, the house where Lucy was born and memories of watching the movie together previously.  I have the whole unabridged series along...plan to delve into that on my own.

-Reading the Little House on the Prairie series...with serious editing and discussion of racial issues.
-We let the Kids pick out 4 books each at Value Village - they both picked out books that suit them (Hardy Boys and Rainbow Fairy).
-Listening in the vehicle to Born to Run by Christopher McDougall (some adult themes - but we discuss this as a family) an incredible book about perseverance, being curious and finding answers in other cultures.  Fascinating!  (Further to this blog post - ended up turning this one off as it was full of language that was not family-friendly...too bad - interesting story)
-Boxcar Children mystery - it has some antique ideas of gender rolls that had us all laughing (and discussing the ideas of past years)...but the audio book kept us going for several hours.

-On my own, listened to Eve by W.M Paul Young - I'm still processing the ideas and thoughts of what love and healthy focus looks like based on the ideas of this book.  I'm inspired - enjoy his perspective and fresh truths that inspire my spirituality.
-Brene Brown...Gifts of Imperfection.  Just today discussed the idea that you can't numb sadness without also dulling joy - with my 10 year old...yes, got this concept from her writings (and I'm learning...it's never done).  And I have a whole list of authors that she recommends from her own spiritual awakening.  I'll look into those in the coming months.
-I have a few others waiting to be read...The Amateur by Andy Merrifield and The Art of Living Other People's Lives by Greg Dybec.

We dropped into a farmer's market in Cheticamp town on Saturday - while there I chatted with a lady who makes a musical instrument called a 'crooked stick' that sounds similar to a small dulcimer.  She worked as an x-ray technician and recently retired.  She decided that she could invest into learning the art of making these to sell in the summers.  It was interesting to discuss her retirement and how she's finding a way to be creative and inspire.  That brings me to the final book that I'm going to have to finish (I started it...then ran out of time cause of packing the house - but need to finish because it was inspiring to me) - Julia Cameron's book entitled 'It's never Too Late to Begin Again'.  I kind of see this year as a way to prepare for retirement and ponder what that could look like in the way off future.

Random Musings from Cape Breton by Zipline

Random Musings from Cape Breton by Zipline

On the Honda Ridgeline - There’s really only one way to make your Honda Ridgeline truck feel like a sports car.  First, you must tow a camper 3400 km with your 6 cylinder truck.  Then, upon arriving at Cheticamp, at the start of the cabot trail, you unhitch, and voila, you have amazing performance and handling on the winding mountainous trail.   The truck actually does feel sporty here, and that’s fun.

Cabot Trail Near Cheticamp

On the Infrastructure

upgrades in the National Park system - PEI national park was at max capacity, sold out for 10 nights, but we always had hot clean showers.  I think there is a shower house for every 6-10 tent sites.  Our camper site was near the tent sites and 2 full service shower houses within 200 feet.  The skyline trail in Cape Breton...fantastic, and probably pricey, but worth it to have a National Parks system we can be proud of.

On bringing my wife back to East Coast - happy that we could do it!  This is one of the places that makes her most happy.  (Maritimes and Ireland being her favorite holidays of all time).

6 cool things about PEI by exotic chicken

# 1    While in PEI we ate a variety of seafood;  Atlantic salmon, Steelhead trout, and Red Lobster.  One night while at the emerald boxcar ceilidh, we ate crispy breaded haddock and creamy tartar sauce.   I didn't like steamed black Pei mussels at first, but I tried them with toasted bagels and lemon butter and they were OK.

#2   The views on Cavendish  beach were majestic, you could see tall red cliffs and high grassy dunes covered with fragile dune grass.The sand was soft and squishy under my feet.  Sometimes if you shuffle your feet the sand squeaks or sings.  

#3  I bought a skimboard at Island beach co. Skimboarding is unique sport. It is a bit like surfing and skateboarding, except you do it near shore on shallow sandbars, gliding on 2 - 5 centimeters of water. My longest skim was 30 ft.

#4  I played golf at Belfast Highland greens next to the sparkling ocean and rust-coloured cliffs.

#5  Cows claims to be the best ice cream in Canada. I can understand why. Not only do they cook the waffle cones right before your eyes, they also have really unique flavours like Bessie's pumpkin patch, PEI blueberry, udderfinger, gooey mooey, and pistachio chip.

#6  My favorite bike at Pei National Park was the Homestead Trail. It was located near New London Bay and had great views of the dunes, the ocean, red clay, red sand, and golden yellow fields. We biked over Queen Bridges and through groves of pine, choke cherry, apple, birch and mountain ash.

Twy's twavels... Cavendish

Our ten days in Cavendish are coming to a close... And I know that there are many great days ahead - BUT... I'm sad... This place is so much bigger than the 5 senses can take in and words can express.

My favourite memories include biking with each of my children on the Homestead trail...here at the Cavendish National park.

Meritt and I explored (at a 10-year old pace with a meal ahead as the motivation) a portion of the exit path that was definitely the long way home - but when we turned around after the hills we climbed, we had a view that was worth the sweat and tears: ocean in the distance, grass-covered dunes protecting a bay, red sand path with a foot bridge, fields with fresh bales, forests over hills and two eagles and a blue heron flying overtop.  He thinks maybe we should go back to enjoy the beauty of that view a bit longer cause in hindsight it was remarkable...maybe after breakfast tomorrow before we leave?

Later in the day, the Boys went golfing... So Maelle and I had time for a slow and relaxing bike on the same trail (minus the exit trail journey).  The forest gave off smells of heavy spice with crab apples, chockcherries, and mountain ash berries lining the way as we passed by.  The ocean breeze was salty and warm.  Listening to the gulls and long grasses rustle in the air inspired a delightful photo shoot with Maelle being the star.  We had to take a bunch of smile pictures cause her front two teeth are about to fall out... And the little Girl face I love is about to be gone forever (sigh...a Mommy moment).

We came to PEI 15 years ago...the 'before kids' trip.  I hope I don't have to wait another 15 years to come back.  I'm guessing two Kids will be asking for another trip here in the years to come. 

My Girl has declared her intentions to move here to enjoy the beauty...maybe I'll join her.  (We've told her she may want to wait on booking the moving company - as we have a few other locations on our agenda this year that she may also enjoy.)

PEI by the zip line

Adventure of the week.
Its probably been my morning bike rides that I enjoy the most. For the exercise as well as for time by myself.  I wake up before everyone else, so I go biking, and in PEI, its some great biking.   Paved trails from Cavendish to Rustico through forest, behind dunes, along the cliffs, and always with a view of the sea.  Or the other way, on the homestead trail, on chipped rock and red clay, past farm fields and golden bales, along the shores of new London bay.  It's like a little bit of Saskatchewan by the Sea.

Misadventure of the week.
Not everything you read on the internet is true.  The Fireworks at the Harvey Community Days were listed for 9:00.  We drove from Woolastook to Harvey 20 minutes to find out the fireworks were cancelled.   We also took a trip to Charlottetown to see the confederation players acting out some important Canadian history.  What the website failed to mention is that this occurs only once at noon each day.  We really wanted Meritt to get this as a living history lesson, so we ended up going back to Charlottetown at noon 2 days later, ostensibly so that we could hear the confederation brass followed by the historic play.  We caught the historic play,but sadly, confederation brass ended August 4.

Fill in the Blanks. Confederation 150. exotic Chicken

Today our family visited Charlottetown PEI.  I learned about the history of Canada and how it became a country.

Charlottetown is a special place to be for Canada 150 because it is the birthplace of confederation.

In 1864, the English colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were planning to have a conference about Maritime unity.  

The conference was to be held in Charlottetown because PEI did not want to come to a Maritime union conference because their colony was doing well because of ship building.  7000 people lived in Charlottetown in 1864.

The province of Canada (ontario) sent a group of people led by John A MacDonald to the Charlettown conference.   Basically they crashed the party.

John A MacDonald convinced everyone at the Charlottetown conference in 1864 to agree to a single unified country.

Three important reasons that he gave the conference were:

1. Be strong against USA (civil war, war 1812)
2. Make the economy stronger
3. A single British colony instead of many colonies

On July 1, 1867, 4 provinces signed an agreement to make Canada one unified country.  The provinces were New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec.

Prince Edward Island did not join immediately.  PEI joined 6 years later, after Manitoba and British Columbia.

Social Studies by the Exotic Chicken

Parks Canada: The Mik’maq people are an indigenous tribe who have inhabited PEI and the Atlantic Region for thousands of years.

This is a Mik’maq legend as told by Mik’maq people around a campfire at the Cavendish Campground, Prince Edward Island:

A young boy has just come back from a wonderful adventure.   

Once upon a time there was great tribe.  That tribe had a wonderful gift; the biggest blueberry patch filled with the juiciest blueberries.  The tribe also had a powerful chief.  Upon returning from a long day of hunting, the chief spotted a black bear in the tribe’s blueberry patch.  “What am I going to do?” the chief questioned.

The chief called a tribal council.  He explained the problem to the community.

A young boy volunteered to go and scare the bear away.  Before leaving, he confessed to his grandmother that he did not know how he would be able to keep his promise and chase the bear away.  His grandmother gave him a very special gift.  It was an axe.

“But Grandmother,” the boy said,”I cannot harm the bear with this axe.”

“Child, do not worry, this is not an ordinary axe.  It is a thundering axe.  When you bang it on the ground, it calls forth the footprints of creator.”

So the boy went to the blueberry patch and called to the bear.  “Hello bear.”  This startled the bear who was not used to speaking with humans.  The bear hid behind a tree.

“Isn’t this the best berry patch you have ever seen?” the bear asked.

“It is,” said the boy, “but you must leave the patch because our tribe needs the berries.”

The bear thought this was very strange.  He refused to leave.  He said to the boy, “Let’s have a contest.  Whoever gets scared will have to leave the blueberry patch for good.”

OK said the boy, “To make it fair, you go first.”   

The bear thought this would be an easy contest.  

The boy thought that bear would roar very loudly indeed, so he stuffed his ears with moss.

The bear roared, and it was very loud, but it was not too loud for the boy.

The boy wanted to be as scary as possible.   He rubbed red clay on one side of his face and black ashes on the other side of his face and hid behind a bush.  He began to pound the axe on the ground.  It worked!  Thundering noises came from the axe and from the ground.  One last time, the boy pounded the axe on the ground and jumped from behind the bush.  The bear ran away from the thundering axe and the little boy with the black and red face.

This is why bears are scared of loud noises.  When you are in the woods or picking berries you should make noise to scare away bears.

Or so the story goes….

Maple - by spot(dot)it

Can you spot the red maple leaf that I found at Camping St Basile in Riviere Verte, NB.

Ici en St Basile / Riveiere Verte est un pont couvert aussi.  Can you spot the pont couvert?

Can you spot the lobster flavored chips from the covered bridge potato chip company?  (This is a different covered bridge...much longer...the longest in the world in Hartland, NB).

Garden art...by Twy's Twavels

We took a drive over the bridge to Gatineau...and found Jacques Cartier park with it's amazing displays.  

I'm inspired to try a piece when we get home...hmmm - what could I immortalize in my front yard with grass?  A camper...a picnic table...  That would be fun!

Ottawa - by the zip line

The adventure of the week was cycling the length of the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.  We started the ride at di Rienzo bakery near Dow Lake in Little Italy, where we got turkey, capicolo, and havarti sandwiches. Then we biked the full length of the canal from Dow Lake to Parliament Hill. Such a Canadian thing to do.  Not as Canadian as skating the canal, I suppose, but hey, its summer and it was still fun.  Parliament Building tours were sold out.  We hope to go back again in October for a tour of the Parliament and observation of question period in the House of Commons.

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The misadventure of the week was mechanical problems.  Three of them actually.

1.The rear bumper hitch cracked and we nearly lost our bikes on the highway somewhere between Quebec City and Edmunston (we did not realize this until we were in Edmunston.)   If I had not triple strapped the bikes they would be scrap metal for sure. This was repaired by a kind welder in riviere verte, NB.



2. Because we plan on travelling 14000 km over the next year we wanted to upgrade our stereo to one that included an auxilary plug so that we could listen to music and stories from our phones.  We had a stereo installed in thunder bay, and shortly thereafter, the airbag light was on and the hazard lights wouldn't work.  This was repaired with some considerable expense at Dow Lake Honda in Ottawa.

3. The fridge in our camper only works on propane. Not solved yet...

Science North by Exotic Chicken

Exotic Chicken - reporting from Science North, Sudbury, Ontario.

There were so many great exhibits at science North it is hard to say which one was my favorite...

-At the lapidary lab I had a chance to polish a rock using a series of 6 wet grindstones.

-I liked the beaver exhibit because it lets you observe the beavers’ webbed feet and flat  tail when it's swimming and when it's in its house.  

-The Flying Squirrel show is amazing because you can see the flying squirrel in action.  For every meter of height, the Flying Squirrel can go 2 meters.  

-At the Insectarium, they let you hold a Malaysian Walking Stick and a huge green jungle nymph.  Personally my favorite insect was the teal flower beetle.
-The 3D movie wildfires! features Sioux Lookout water bomber pilots at the 2012 Pickle Lake Fire.  There were lots of special effects in the movie such as wind (fans) blowing when when the helicopters took off  and glowing red lights on the theater walls when the fires raged.  A 3D movie about the MNR in our small town- cool!

At another location, Dynamic Earth is a mining museum incorporated with Science North.  The types of ore they mine are copper and nickel.  The main attraction in Sudbury is probably the giant nickel which happens to be right next to the Dynamic Earth museum.  The part I found most interesting is how mining has become way more sophisticated since the 1880s.

In 1880 they used candles, pickaxes, shovels, leather helmets, dynamite, hammers and chisels. By the 1950s, they were using hand-held drills, rock carts and motorized shovels. Present-day technology includes safer explosives, multifunction drills, drones, thermal maps, and remote control vehicles.  

The most unique feature of dynamic Earth was that you can actually go down the mine shaft and most of the museum is located underground.

At Science North they have science shows regularly each half an hour. My favorite show was ping-pong balls exploding.

First of all you need supplies: liquid nitrogen, a weighted bottle with a screw-on cap, a bit of water in a large container (like a garbage can) and a big box of ping-pong balls.

How to make it work:

-Step 1 dump the liquid nitrogen into the bottle

-Step 2 get the ping pong balls ready with an assistant’s help

-Step 3 put the bottle with liquid nitrogen into the container with water and quickly dump in the ping-pong balls

In about 5 Seconds  it will explode with an ear-shattering boom.  

Liquid nitrogen’s boiling point is -197 degrees so when it is put in cool water it boils faster and since there is a screw-on cap it creates pressure inside the bottle. The ping-pong balls fly everywhere when the bottle bursts with so much pressure, some of the ping-pong balls even broken in half.  

Crazzzzzzzzzzzzzzy cooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Food...by Twy's Twavels

It is a constant - coming up with plans, snacks, and groceries.  However, the challenge has mostly been a positive adventure so far.  We've enjoyed learning...cooking and cleaning up together.

We've learned...to cook fast breakfasts cause we're all starving.  So - pancakes are made at lunch or supper...like at Pancake Bay (cause you have to eat the right food there!).  Oatmeal (cooked, baked, overnight, steel cut) is our main breakfast go-to along with a variety of fruit.

Mid-morning second breakfast...we have  a large snack around 10 am.  Almonds, sandwiches, apples, eggs...

Having a camper pulling behind your vehicle means a kitchen at any moment...therefore, lunches are an easy event at any location or stop.  We pulled into a campground near Rossport and had healthy plates ready after the Children played on the beach.

Instant pot...this is our new favourite thing (cue the music).  My Friend had been encouraging me for several years to get one cause it revolutionized her cooking...but I'm slow to buy kitchen gadgets cause I see so many new items at the Sally Ann.  Well...I researched what it could do and decide to try it. And it's a win (with a few exceptions in the learning like a pot of exploded perogies, chocolate cake that was more like a soup and an hour of scrubbing after a failed egg dish)...from breakfast cereals, to lunch soups, to supper potatoes, rice, meats, stews or casseroles - we've been experimenting thanks to Pinterest.

We bought a smaller camper that works well for our truck and budget...but doesn't have an oven.  Before we left home, we did some trial BBQ baking - had some wins and some burns.  Mostly, learned that double pan-ing is a good plan to keep from burning our baked oatmeal.  A pizza stone on the grill makes great cookies, quesadillas and fast lunch naan pizzas...and regular pizza too!

Induction single burner...another way to cook and be outside too!  The history behind this item: we had a failed tent camper purchase last summer in preparation for this year (the metal cables snapped on our second camping trip and we came to the realization that for this year we needed a space that didn't have set up or take down and we could cook in on the road - got it fixed and sold it), however the one thing we really liked about tent trailer camping is the outdoor cooking.  So we bought a little collapsible table and an induction burner that can be set up outside under the awning.  Bonus, great place for the kids to wash dishes and we have two cooking stations - chopping, prepping and then passing outside to cook without the heat inside.

Tonight...we pulled into our site late - and while Arden took the kids to shower, I made pasta and meatsauce along with a Ceasar salad.  Yum!!!  Comfort food for a day that needed a bit...

Rock Polishing by Spot(dot)It

Can you spot the rock that I polished at the lapidary lab at the Science North Mineral Exhibit in Sudbury?

(it's tricky because it's sitting on a granite counter top)

Clue: Here's a before and after picture of my polished rock

I bet you can see it now.
It's cool because the polished rock looks exactly like a granite counter top.  Here's a picture of me and my brother at work.

First destination - by exotic chicken

The first campsite we stayed at was called trowbridge falls campground. It's north of thunder bay.

My favourite activity was swimming in the falls in the river, especially after mountain biking.

The names of the mountain bike trails:
Green- BMX and Peekaboo
Blue- 2km upper loop (with bump track), crossover, stranger, doctors, grand chasm.
Black - snakes and ladders, milk and cookies and devils playground.
My favorite trail was the bump track.

I learned about topographical maps.  When the lines are close together it means that the hills are steep.  When the lines are farther apart, it means that it is basically flat.  We biked up some steep hills.

Science - just a little bit - by Spot(dot)It

Can you spot the Girl wearing the moose antlers?  I learned about animals in the North...a beaver swimming in a pond, a skunk (without stink), turtles, and the life cycle of frogs.

Can you sleep on a bed of nails?  It wasn't too uncomfortable...but my cozy bunk with zebra sheets is way more comfy.

Can you see how tall I'll be when I'm older...and how much fun I had learning about where my body parts are located?

A fun day at Science North!!!! 

(My Mom and Dad bought a membership so we're going again tomorrow and then to many other science places found in Canada and the US in the coming year cause that's what a membership can do).

Trowbridge Falls - by the zipline

Ahh.  Trowbridge Falls... Our first campground destination, not that far from home, and yet miles away from all the packing, planning, to do lists, and double checking involved in leaving one's home to travel for a year.

Here at Trowbridge Falls, just on the north end of Thunder Bay, water in the Little Current river cascades down a series of small water falls on its way to Lake Superior and the Atlantic Ocean, travelling east as we happen to be doing.  

The water is warm and shallow as it courses over the polished black granite and tumbles over ledges just the right height for stepping.  It's a splash park for children and a spa for adults.  Here, kids float in the current, climb on the rocks, and hide beneath the falls like miniature maids of the mist.  Adults partake in the natural spa, listening to the soothing sounds of the water as it trickles through a crevice, lying on sunbaked granite, and sitting beneath the falls for a vigorous massage of sore muscles after a few hours on the mountain biking trails.