PART TWO: CRUISING NORTHEAST CANADA

We arrived in Montreal after a two hour train ride from Ottawa, called an Uber and quickly boarded the Regent Seven Seas Navigator – all easy and stress free!

The Navigator is a small ship with a capacity of 495 passengers and 350 crew members. There is only one pool and we never had any trouble finding a couple lounge chairs in the shade. Much of this crowd was not lay-by-the-pool kind of people.

Lou and I like to explore the ship as soon as we board. That way we can take our photos before all the areas are full of people. This is Galileo's Lounge on the top deck. If there is fun to be had, it is up here on Deck 11. There was an ABBA night with our cruise director, Dru, doing a great job of DJing on our roughest night at sea. I even managed to dance a couple times with my walking boot on while the ship rolled back and forth.

The Compass Rose dining room with only open seating. We never had to wait and always had a table for two, usually by the window, except the night we dined with a gentleman traveling alone. For our tastes the food was a little too "foo-foo" and way too much steak, veal and lamb for me. 

The atrium elevators. Overall, the crowd seemed old to me, not necessarily in age but in attitude. Deluxe walkers of all types were abundant throughout the ship. They should have had a "Bernie Sanders Lookalike" contest. I saw many travelers who would have been finalists.

Our suite was on Deck 9. It's probably the largest cabin we've had on a ship and the balcony was a great upgrade. There was even a walk-in closet that was big enough to maneuver around inside.

The bathroom was a real treat. It had a shower and a bathtub (you can see the very edge of the tub in the lower right). Neither the tub or shower was huge, but it was definitely appreciated by me.

There wasn’t any time to explore Montreal on this trip but we’ll do that another time. Our first port was Quebec City, Quebec. We were here several years ago on a road trip and unfortunately it rained the whole time. This time we had much better weather, overcast but no rain.

This is all we saw of Montreal, the skyline as we sailed out of the cruise port.

Quebec City - the famous Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac. Our tour wasn't until 11:30 am so Lou  headed out and explored the old town. Since I'm still recovering from two broken bones in my foot, I waited for the bus ride and saved my walking for later.

Our tour took us to "an award winning winery" for tasting. I'm no connoisseur but being a California girl, I know what wine tastes good and what I like. In my opinion, this wine did not taste good and I didn't like it.

The highlight of this tour was Canyon Sainte-Anne. There are three bridges (two are suspension bridges) that cross this cascading waterfall as it rages down the mountain. The upper bridge is visible in the upper left (you can click on any photo to enlarge it). This is the only bridge a vehicle can cross. I took the shuttle down to the halfway suspension bridge. Lou hiked the whole thing down and up.

The suspension bridge that is halfway down. If you know me, you know I am terrified of heights. I was determined to at least try to walk partway out onto the bridge. It moves and you'll notice there are big gaps between the slats. I went out about a third of the way, snapped a few photos then slowly made my way back. I handed my camera to a fellow traveler to take this picture.

Here's a photo I took looking down at the bottom suspension bridge where Lou went. He said he actually saw me on the bridge above and couldn't believe I walked out on it. I could have used him to hold on to since I couldn't reach across to both railings. I had to let go to move to the other side and that was scary as hell. But the scenery was gorgeous! I walked back up on the trail to enjoy it.

They had some beautiful hanging plants in the open air cafe. This fuchsia was amazing!

I have no idea what flower this is but it sure was pretty.

Our second port was supposed to be Baie-Comeau, Quebec, but it was changed to Saguenay, Quebec, due to smoke from the forest fires. The cruise line and cities did a great job of putting together replacement excursions at the last minute. It didn’t make any difference to us. Saguenay was a great place to visit.

The town of Saguenay as we cruised up a narrow fjord to the port. 

 

Our shore excursion travelled to the small area of Chicoutimi where in 1996 a huge flood destroyed 30 homes and damaged hundreds more. This is "The Little White House" which was the only home standing after the flood. The owner had reinforced it and anchored it to the rocks.

The Sacre-Coeur Church also survived the flood but was damaged and rebuilt.

The Old Chicoutimi Pulp Mill is a National Historic Site of Canada. It was constructed between 1898 and 1923. It is no longer a pulp mill but used for other purposes.

After a day cruising the St. Lawrence River, we had yet another schedule change. This time Corner Brook, Newfoundland, was replaced with Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, due to large icebergs in the water! Once again, the crew scrambled to provide us with beautiful, last minute sightseeing excursions.

Typical houses of Charlottetown. We were sorry to miss seeing Newfoundland but Prince Edward Island (PEI to the locals) was a great substitution. It is Canada's smallest province.

The Confederation Bridge links Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick. It was opened in May 1997. The 8 mile long bridge is Canada's longest.

We saw many lighthouses but only learned the names of a few. This is Borden-Carlton Range Light.

By this time, the cold I caught was settling in to be a nasty one. We docked at Sydney, Nova Scotia on Breton Island where Lou and I were taking different shore excursions. He was heading to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Braddock while I was supposed to visit Fortress Louisbourg, a National Historic Site. I woke up coughing, sneezing and sniffling so I cancelled, stayed on the ship and rested.

Since I missed my shore excursion, Lou and I took a walk around Sydney after lunch so I could see a little of the area. I'm glad I did because this is one of my favorite photos of the whole trip. I love how the reflection is stunningly clear.

Another nice photo op on our walk around Sydney. The clouds finally gave us some beautiful views.

Low Point Lighthouse as we cruised out of Sydney.

Houses along the river as we headed towards Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Our last stop in Canada was Halifax, Nova Scotia. We had stocked up on cold medicine at a Superstore, Canada’s Walmart, so I popped a bunch of pills, sucked some cough drops and headed out. I wasn’t going to miss our tour of Peggy’s Cove. I’m really glad I didn't, it was my favorite place in Canada on this trip.

 

Peggy's Cove is a small rural community of 30-some people located on the eastern shore of St. Margarets Bay in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

There was lots of scenic beauty in the fishing village of Peggy's Cove. 

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse on the rocky coastline.

Our tour guide brought out a couple of live lobsters to show us and explained the difference between the males and females. The two small protrusions underneath are hard on the male and soft on the female. Lou has the male in his right hand and the female in his left hand.

Some rugged coastline in Peggy's Cove.

My final post will be online in the next few days. 

PART THREE: BERMUDA AND NEW YORK

If you are reading this first, you might want to go to the previous post to start at the beginning. 

PART ONE: OTTAWA - CANADA'S CAPITAL

PART ONE: OTTAWA – CANADA’S CAPITAL

We just returned on Friday from spending 3 nights in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, followed by a 12 night cruise of Northeast Canada and Bermuda ending in New York City - quite the eclectic adventure. To make my posts more manageable, I decided to break it into three parts. I’ll start with our exploration of Ottawa.

My research found a small inn located in the Byward Market area just blocks from most of the museums and attractions we planned to visit. This sign, tacky as it may be, was just blocks from our hotel. You'll notice the boot on my right foot. I broke two metatarsal bones which are taking their sweet time to heal. I wasn't about to miss this trip so decided I would do what I could do and see how it goes.

This is a typical Ottawa street in the Byward Market district.

Notre Dame Cathedral. You'll notice that it was overcast but fortunately our timing was good and there was no smoke from all the forest fires in Nova Scotia and throughout Canada. Just a day or two prior to our arrival the smoke was a real detriment.

The interior of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

The National Gallery of Canada is literally right across the street from Notre Dame Cathedral. We had plenty of time before our Parliament Buildings tours to explore the art gallery.

My super cool mode of transportation around the gallery. They were available free of charge so I took advantage of tooling around on my scooter to save my foot. Lots of my favorite Monets and other impressionists.

Our next stop was Parliament Hill where Canada’s government is housed. We had made reservations online the night before for two timed free tours – one of the Senate of Canada and the other of the House of Commons.

The Parliament Buildings are closed for an extensive renovation which began in 2018 and will likely take another ten years to complete. There is tons of construction going on everywhere. This is the Centre Block of Parliament that is currently closed. Check out Lou's Facebook page if you want to see it with the cranes and scaffolding Photoshoped out.

This is another part of Parliament that is currently closed. I believe this is the East Block of Parliament. The Senate of Canada is normally in this building but has been in an old train station across the street since 2018 which is where we toured it.

The House of Commons was erected inside the courtyard of the West Block of Parliament. They told us none of the construction actually touches the walls of the West Block. 

After a long day of sightseeing, we stopped at an Irish pub, the Heart & Crown, on our walk back to the hotel for a cold Guiness on tap and some fish and chips.

The second full day in Ottawa began with an Uber to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. My broken foot had survived day one quite well thanks to the scooter I tooled around on at the National Gallery of Canada so I asked if the Aviation Museum had scooters. They didn’t but did offer a free wheelchair which Lou pushed me around in.

As a woman who has been to more airshows and air museums than I ever thought possible due to a son and partner who are enamored with airplanes, here was one more that I felt obliged to visit. I probably know more than most people but I have no idea what these planes are, just liked the look.

My son knows them all and Lou knows a bunch of them, too. I know they are biplanes. Maybe Sopwith Camels or Messerschmitts or Fokkers? If you talk to me sometime, ask me about the joke regarding Messerschmitts and Fokkers.

The Rideau Canal is an engineering marvel with 46 locks over 202 kilometers linking the Ottawa River with the St. Lawrence River. Since a couple museums were closed or too far away, we decided to take the 1-1/2 hour boat ride along the Rideau Canal. The tourist boat does not go through any locks since that journey takes many hours.

Some of the nearby locks on the Rideau Canal.

Our boat left from the lower right hand side of this photo.

We are standing at the spot where our boat will pick us up on the canal. The locks in the above photo are just under the bridge on the left.

Some apartment buidings along the Rideau Canal. There is a walking and biking trail that follows the canal for miles.

One of many scenic bridges that our canal cruise traveled under.

Our boat emerging from one of the historical bridges.

The Changing of the Guard is a memorial ceremony performed each hour at the National War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The beginning of the hourly Changing of the Guard ceremony. The guards had not been present the previous several days due to unhealthy air caused by smoke from the fires. We were lucky this was the first day they resumed.

Waiting patiently for our train at the Ottawa Train Station. Once again, a kindly employee offered me a wheelchair and preboarding to make things easier with my broken foot. I don't like feeling incapable and handicapped but it is what it is so I sucked it up and forged ahead.

We had prepaid tickets with Via Rail to take the two hour train from Ottawa to Montreal where we board our Regent Seven Seas cruise ship. My hope is to have PART TWO: CRUISING NORTHEAST CANADA and PART THREE: BERMUDA  & NEW YORK ready to go in the next few days.

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

Northern California has had record snowfall this winter. I'm not going to look up all the details but let me just say there has been a shitload of snow in the mountains this year (not to mention all the rain we've had in the flatlands but that's a whole other story).

Since we've had several days of beautiful, sunny weather before the next snowstorm and rain fall, Lou and I decided to take a drive to Truckee (a lovely mountain town about 90 miles up Highway 80) to see all the incredible scenery.

About an hour up the road we began to see lots of snow blanketing the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Just before Donner Summit we figured we had better stop at the Rest Area along the highway and were met with some unbelievable photo ops. Both of us have made this drive countless times in good weather and snow covered conditions but I don't ever recall THIS MUCH of the while stuff.

This was the sign along the highway letting us know that the Rest Area exit was 1 Mile up the road, I think. We could barely see the sign, let alone determine exactly what it said.

Unfortunately, this photo has some weird reflections in it but I included it to show just how much snow was surrounding the building. 

These are the two normally free-standing trash cans totally buried in the snow.

Donner Lake from the overlook.

As we made our way down to Truckee from Donner Summit, we took a detour off Highway 80 to drive along the shoreline road of Donner Lake. 

Olaf! I could almost hear Anna singing, "Do you wanna build a snowman?" In case any if you don't have kids or grandkids, that's from "Frozen". 

All of the almost buried street signs were everywhere.

It was fascinating to me that there was so much snow everywhere. You know how tall a stop sign is and the snow was several feet above it.

Driving along the shore of Donner Lake the water was like glass.

I love reflections of mountains or trees or glaciers or anything reflecting in lakes and probably have hundreds of photos of them. But, yet, I still keep taking them. So beautiful!

We arrived in the Historic District of downtown Truckee and found a coffee shop for lunch. I was surprised to discover that several of the places I ate with my parents and family 30-40 years ago were still there. We used to rent a friend's condo in Truckee many times while Darrin was growing up.

Looking west down the main street of Truckee's Historic District.

Looking east in downtown. You can see Lou (in the black jacket near the red car) walking back from photographing the train station across the street.

A restored gas station reminded me of our Route 66 road trip many years ago.

We took another detour off Highway 80 on our way back home to drive along some of the Historic Highway 40, also known as the Lincoln Highway, that Lou loves. We knew it would be closed at some point but drove as far as we could where the road was blocked just past Sugar Bowl Ski Resort.

Here is a normal size guy walking along the snow piled up beside the road.

This road was lined with homes that had to do some creative digging to find their doors. I kept thinking that after the next snowstorm they'll have to do it all over again.

One of the ski lifts at Sugar Bowl.

Looking for the freeway entrance was once again a bit of a challenge as the sign was barely visible.

It was a fun day with a great lunch. The fries were amazing - crispy on the outside but soft inside, delicious! I loved seeing all this white stuff but was really thankful that I don't live where months out of every year, it is pretty much a pain in the ass to live in.

About a half hour down the road, we were basically out of the snow. I've always said that if I lived back in the 1800s it would have been back in Boston or maybe St. Louis because there is no way in hell I'd have come out west in a covered wagon. This plaque talks of early settlers having to lower their wagons on ropes down this cliff. What???

The last look at some snow-covered mountains before descending back to Roseville. 

THE CATCH

This is one of those times when my travel isn't "near" or "far" but rather back in time to the beginnings of our San Francisco 49ers glory days. I was born into being a "49er Faithful" and lived through all the ups and downs as a Niner fan sharing every game with my father before he died 4-1/2 years ago.

Dwight Clark

Forty years ago today, perhaps the greatest moment in San Francisco 49ers history took place. It will forever be remembered as simply "The Catch". It has often been said that Candlestick Park held 60,000 screaming fans but as the years passed hundreds of thousands of Niner fanatics swear they were in attendance that day. 

Wide receiver Dwight Clark leaped higher than he'd ever leaped before and reached for the Joe Montana thrown pass. Clark was quoted as saying, "It was over my head. I thought, 'Oh, no, I can't go that high'. Something got me up there. It must have been God or something."

With less than a minute to play in the NFC title game, trailing the hated Dallas Cowboys by six points, Dwight Clark snatched the football out of the air with his fingertips in the back of the end zone. He came down inbounds to score the game tying touchdown! Ray Wersching kicked the go ahead point after. A fantastic defensive goal line stand later and the 49ers were in their first Super Bowl!!! 

The day of that game, January 10, 1982, (40 years ago today) will go down in San Francisco 49ers history forever. Super Bowl XVI was the beginning of their football dynasty that lasted throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. Our Niners went on to win five Super Bowls over the next 13 years. It was a helluva run and I'm proud to say I watched every one of them. I can still see The Catch clear as day in my mind as it seemed to play out in slow motion. When Joe talked about his game winning touchdown pass, Dwight took great delight in reminding him, "They call it 'The Catch', not 'The Throw'".

I'm not one to value things that much but if I had what is termed a most prized possession, it would certainly be my autographed copy of Sports Illustrated with Dwight Clark on the cover. I personally stood in line at the Wendy's in Hayward (yes, the fast food restaurant) to chat a minute and have him sign it. I have a couple snapshots of Dwight, Darrin and myself but for the life of me, I can't find them.

This was back in the days when athletes signed autographs for free and you could actually read their names. Dwight Clark was one of the most accessible and personable sports stars I've ever met. And, just a female side note, he was drop dead gorgeous to look at as well.

My dad was a huge 49er fan going to games at Kezar Stadium when he was a teenager. He had a friend who sold programs at the games. My dad would buy the cheapest end zone tickets then meet his friend who gave him a stack of programs to act like he was selling as he walked to midfield past the security. He would then give the programs back and find a better vacant seat.

My father had a knit 49er cap probably from the 50s or 60s that he believed held special powers within it, but they must be used judiciously. Over the years we all had our own Niner knit caps with similar powers but we only wore them for really big, important games so we didn't waste the magic. I still bring my dad's hat out for our biggest games.

I didn't realize it was the 40th anniversary of The Catch until we stumbled onto a rerun of a documentary about Dwight Clark the other day. This is the top of my bookcase in our office. My 49er mugs from the 80s and my dad's vintage knit cap are prominently displayed along with some other game giveaways and our four generations of Warrior fans photo.

A close up of my The Catch mug and my dad's special magic hat. Hopefully, there will be a need to bring that hat out for some big playoffs, or even a Super Bowl game this year. There is still some power left in it.

Unfortunately, there is a sad, bittersweet conclusion to the mystique of The Catch. In Dwight's own words, "In September of 2015 I started feeling weakness in my left hand. After months of tests and treatments, I got some bad news. I was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. I have ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Those words are still very hard for me to say."

Several years ago, a half hour documentary detailing Dwight's legacy titled "Letters to 87" was filmed for ESPN. You can watch it on YouTube but have a box of tissues nearby. Fellow players surrounded the bedridden Dwight to read letters from fans highlighting what Dwight and The Catch meant to each of them.

On June 4, 2018, Dwight died at his horse ranch in Whitefish, Montana. He will live on forever as a legend in the minds of every 49er fan.