Off to St. John's, July 28

We headed out for St John's this morning but stopped along the way to visit the town of Trinity on the Bonavista Peninsula.

I appreciate all the wild flowers growing everywhere in Newfoundland.

We were ready for lunch so stopped in at this old Heritage home restaurant.

Heritage is the name of the game here and in fact the whole town is a designated heritage site. No modern design buildings are allowed.

This town which almost died in years gone by is now thriving on tourism. Many of the houses are now restaurants, craft shops, galleries and B & Bs.
Boat tours and live entertainment are also available.



The town is surrounded by water on three sides and the views are fantastic.

We walked the whole town in 2 hours.

Lots of green space between the buildings make for charming settings.

These wild flowers are very showy in the fields. They are Orange Hawk weed.

The Lupins are in bloom growing wild all over and they are so lovely.

I love the bold colors on the houses here. This is the typical "salt box" house design except for the piece at the back.

Looking out toward a lighthouse near Trinity.

Susan in front of St Paul's Anglican Church. A very large church for the size of the town.

Me inside the Holy Trinity Catholic Church which was a tiny church but very bright and cheerful inside.

The town is nestled against some hills.

A flowering shrub I had not seen before.

Self tour done and we are heading back to the car.

Gander July 27

Bert and Joanne at breakfast in our hotel.

We immediately headed north, taking the scenic route along the coast to Boyd's Cove where we went to the Beothuk Interpretation Centre and Historic Site. The Beothuk people were living in Newfoundland as far back as 200 AD. The site is still being excavated. There are no known descendants of these people living now.


Looking toward the ocean on the grounds of the site.

Susan enjoying the viewpoint.

View of the shore.

I don't know what flower this is.

From the sign at the site. The people are original inhabitants of Newfoundland.

After the centre we drove further north to Twillingate where we found a super little fish market/restaurant for lunch.

In the evening we took in a super theater performance of Beyond the Overpass Theatre called Petty Cash - The Has Been Who Never Was. It was really good.

Off to Gander July 26

Here is my sister Susan waiting at our gate in Toronto airport on our way to Gander, Newfoundland. We traveled together from Regina this morning. Next stop St. John's.


Looking around the in Toronto airport while waiting at our gate.



In St John's we boarded this Beachcomber aircraft for the last leg. It is the smallest commercial aircraft I've ever been on with one row of seats on each side. One of the pilots was waiting on the tarmac to sky-check our bags. He then gave us the safety presentation, brought some additional baggage on board, closed up the door and went to the cockpit to co-pilot the plane. It was a 45 minuet flight.

Me, enjoying the camaraderie of my fellow passengers.

My other sister, Joanne and her husband Bert were waiting at the airport in Gander to take us to our hotel.

It was a good quick day of travelling but we are more than ready to hit our beds tonight.

THE LAST VESTIGES OF NORMALCY! April 21

I know I said I would be here every day and I am going to try but I have another blog that I want to write for sometimes called THE LAST VESTIGES OF NORMALCY!

Please follow me there if you are interested in random thoughts and experiences with some channeling sessions in the mix.

If I do any photos or stories of Saskatoon they will be on this travel page as well as any actual travelling that I do. Otherwise you will mostly find me at The Last Vestiges of Normalcy.

If all you want is travel stories, wait here! I'll be back soon.

Later then...... chow!

Waiting for Spring April 20

It is nearly the end of April and the snow is just gone. It is more noticeably dingy looking to someone from away who hasn't dealt with snow banks all winter. If I lived here last winter I would be enjoying the fresh almost warm weather and not complaining about the dust and occasional snow flurry each day. It will all be different in a couple of weeks when the rain washes away the winters dirt and the grass and trees begin to green up.


Of course it has to be this way when you have four seasons. I am one who welcomes the first snow in the fall that covers the old grass and gardens with a fresh clean blanket of snow. The North American prairie weather is in my blood from the clear blue skies to the smell and feel of freshly ploughed earth.

Just a random house waiting for spring to perk up its attire.


My day passed uneventfully with more sorting and accomplishing of small tasks. The world of paper which I left behind is quickly normalizing and getting updated, or perhaps it is me getting normalized and updated.

It is good to be home.

Books need waterproof boxes too. April 18-19

April 18: Well, now I know why I liked traveling so much. Aside from all the beautiful places I saw there was also an absence of details and paperwork. I don't like it and I'd love to find a way to avoid it altogether.

That was my day and I don't want to dwell on it.

April 19: After some gentle prodding I got up today and finished my pre-employment reading assignment, which I promptly delivered to our office.

It snowed again today.

On the way home I stopped to photograph this beautiful Ukrainian church in my new neighbourhood.

The name plate of the church.

In the afternoon I headed for the cottage to oversee the drying out process.

My sister has most of her storage items in plastic tubs which prevented major losses. Only some old books were soaked and some of them are drying not too badly.

It is hard on them knowing they had a flood and not being able to come here until next week.


This photo was taken driving into Saskatoon toward the West Side on 20th Street. The sign on the sky walk says Saskatoon Shines. I don't know about that, it is still dusty from winter but it is going to green up pretty nice real soon.

As always, if you want something nice to look at in Saskatchewan ..... look up!

It snowed again today. April 17

The day started cold and snowy and I got an early start to Pike Lake to help Scott rip the carpet out of the flooded basement at Joanne and Bert's cottage.

It actually went well after Scott cut the old carpet into small bits and Janet and I carried them out.

Then I came home and had a nap. I guess I will just have to resign myself to the fact that re-entry will take a while.

After supper I went for a short walk. It must be freezing or nearly because my fingers got cold in my winter gloves.

I can't stop taking pictures of the sky, it is so amazing here. This is looking south on the street where I am living for a while. The trees haven't started to leaf out yet.

The railway track is only a block away.

Looking towards city center at an industrial area.