A huge gap just grew between my last post and this one. But I have good reasons for this
given that we had a bunch of visitors from over sea.
given that we had a bunch of visitors from over sea.
It started with a very spontaneous guest from Mannheim who totally outgunned us in
axe throwing and joined us happily in our mission to scandalize christians on busy sundays
in the Saint Joseph oratory.
axe throwing and joined us happily in our mission to scandalize christians on busy sundays
in the Saint Joseph oratory.
Look at the shirts, haha
He now thinks about getting a cat since he saw Goku and Hamlet, despite his allergy.
He is not the first one!
Next in row where my best friend from old Berlin times and his brother.
We spend some time poutine eating and sight seeing in Montreal before we set out for a
roadtrip through Ontario, New York and Vermont. So we went...
roadtrip through Ontario, New York and Vermont. So we went...
...relaxing at the Bruce Peninsula,...
Wolfspider with kiddies!
...marveling the Niagara Falls,...
perverts!
...mounting the Camels Hump...
...and discovering more of Vermont.
And all with a lot of camping in between.
Because I had a lot to remember I gave my brain a little backup for that and started a
travel diary!
travel diary!
"headed out on the 3rd of August and didn't came as
far as we planned..."
"a german troup right next to us already on the first camping place"
"Thomas tent seems to be very complicated
-> needed 20 minutes to build it up (at least!)"
-> needed 20 minutes to build it up (at least!)"
"were wakened by heavy rain. breakfast in the car. forgot so many stuff (matches, can opener, knife,
salt & pepper...)"
salt & pepper...)"
"on the 4th we drove 578km to Craigsleith"
"sunset at the Georgian bay (dog beach)"
"At the 5th we rolled 128km to Miller Lake (on the
Bruce peninsula)
Such a beautiful weather in the sweet Tobermory,
but in the evening, while making S'mores, a rain front passed us.
but in the evening, while making S'mores, a rain front passed us.
Well, then cards in the tent..."
"At the 6th we walked the "Burnt Loop Side trail" at swam at the outermost tip in the crystal clear water. Magnificent!"
"In the Fathom Five lie more then 30 sunken ships. Of which we didn't see just one..."
"The germans are everywhere here"
"At the 7th we marched to the Grotto and the Indian Head Cove. More caribbean water and pictorial cliffs. And more germans"
The mans toilet of our campground seems to be a
tourist attraction. The poo even lies in the showers!?!
On the Bruce peninsula you can find poison ivy and
the also poisonous massasauga rattlesnake. That's
why we took to our heels at the 8th. After we got wakened by a horde of cows and ate way too much
in a cute 50s diner we reached our campground
south of the Niagara Falls!
At the 9th we saw with our own eyes how they fell majestic into the deep.
We allowed us the full package: boat ride directly
to the falls at which I almost went blind, short side
trip "behind" the falls, little hike at the rapids and
a wet 4D-cinema."
"At our campground were surprisingly few
mosquitoes. But instead of that there were all the
more Amish at the falls, who gave you the feeling of beeing at a 19th-century-farm-festival."
"In the evening we gazed at some fireworks from
on top of the Skylon Tower. Nice!
At the 10th we took a look at the way too kitschy "Niagara on the Lake". Niminy-Pinimy is nothing for me...
In the fun street "Clifton Hill" we got an overdose big-gay-flashy before we let the day sink away at a campfire."
"The 11th was the big day of border crossing. The
first official we met was verbally unnecessary rude to us. But he didn't noticed that we smuggled in a big
pile of fresh watermelon. Ha!
After 250km through neighborhoods full of america flags (rarely a house without one in the front garden. horrible) we reached the Finger Lakes national forest
in which we pitched wild and free our camp and committed our feces to the nature."
"After the free accommodation followed a short breakfast on the 12th and off we went to the Ausable Chasm.
The 293 miles there were just interrupted by a cloudburst and a little detour onto a tiny flee
market in the tiny Bainbridge were I acquired 3 books from Isaac Asimov for 50 cents each.
At the Ausable Point campground we had the brazen luck to still get a tent place directly next to the waterfront."
"Half past 9 began the hitherto highlight of this travel. They didn't save on effects. We patiently laid down at the beach, the sky was starlit and on the horizon we could even witness a thunderstorm before the earth finally immersed into the perseids storm"
"We didn't thought to have so much luck but between 9:30 & 11:15 pm we saw approximately 45-50
shooting stars!!! Some of them were huge. One of
them even burst into a few smaller pieces in its flight! And all the time we could see the thunderbolts in the distance as well. Simply unbelievable breathtaking."
"At the 13th we wandered through the Ausbale Chasm itself, a river that meanders through a deep gorge.
First we hiked in single file alongside the rock walls
and then we hopped into a rubber ring with which we floated downstream. None of us got away with a dry but."
"At the 14th we traveled 53 miles further to Stowe. That's east of Mount Mansfield and north of the mountain/big hill Camels Hump which represented
our next stop.
At our lovely campground with a view to aforesaid
hump we could rest one last time before mounting the camel at the 15th.
The march to the top in 4083 feet was at least for me pleasure. Andi's lungs however gave up the ghost
in the thick of it wherefore I had to go the last
meters to the highest point alone.
The view of the nice Vermont was totally worth it.
Sad that I couldn't share that with someone..."
"The 16th was the day of the sluggard. We made a side trip
to the Ottauquechee river and on our way back we happened to be at a huge antique mingle-mangle.
At the 17th (which is with no doubt Markus birthday) we made our way back to Canada. The border official was acutely relaxed which may be due to the same haircut and colour of Andi.
Our way now led us to the observatory at Mont
Megantic but here we got abandoned by our spontaneous luck. Actually we wanted to spend
a night with view of the moon here but the observatory was already booked up.
And so our trip ended abrupt and made place for
more ice cream and poutine in Montreal."
And last but not least we spend two weeks with Markus parents, which was more relaxing
than some might would think. We went trout fishing at the Saguenay river, whale watching
across from Tadoussac (but just from the shore) and hiking in the national parks
Grands-Jardins and Jacques-Cartier.
than some might would think. We went trout fishing at the Saguenay river, whale watching
across from Tadoussac (but just from the shore) and hiking in the national parks
Grands-Jardins and Jacques-Cartier.
Oh yeah, we also went very shortly to Quebec City
Good opportunity to continue my diary!
"Veronika, the Lenzens are here"*
"At the 2nd of september the family load Lenz drove way too far to Alma at the Lac Saint-Jean. Actually I planned some stuff there but unexpected entree fees drove us off quickly.
Memo for the future: research BEFORE traveling!
At least we had some compansation in form of landscapes alongside the Saguenay at whose mouth we moved into a remote fishing hut at the Lac Malbaie.
There, without much ado,we acquired a fishing license. As a warm up we already catched 3 rainbow trouts. Yes!"
* that's an indication of an old german song
"The 4th was magical.
Even though we had thick fog at the tip of Baie-Sainte-Catherine we couldn't oversee the fun troops of snow white Beluga whales. Markus even could descry a Humpback whale while I looked somewhere else to make a nonsensical picture. Accursed dirtshit!!!
But luckily that wasn't all. While starring out of the car windows on our way back a 3 headed porcupine family suddenly starred back which hung in a tree like overripe melons.
Awwwwwwwwwwww!
This was completed with 13 self caught trouts. I caught the most of course!
Before we set out to our our next cottage on the 5th we returned one last time to the coast to greet some more belugas and even a minke whale. Whaletastic!"
"90km later we reached this cute wooden cabin somewhere in the nowhere north of Clermont.
Starting from there we hiked in the Grand-Jardins national park at the 6th. From the top of the Chouenne we could rest our eyes for some minutes on the green hillside before before it got swallowed by dense fog. So many trees!
Mist and rain accompanied us on our way further on the 7th as well, so we spend the evening in our last cottage at the Lac Bleu relaxed with book and puzzle.
I don't know when I puzzled the last time..."
"At the 8th we were too exhausted wherefore we just made a short tour in the Jacques-Cartier national park and paddled a bit on the lake in front of our cottage.
After that we just put our feet up before we went back home to the cats on the 9th."
"here we saw a bear butt"
Even though we had a lot of fun and I was happy to see all these great people again I'm
happy to be back to my regular amount of seclusion now.
happy to be back to my regular amount of seclusion now.
Next to these last months of hustle, bustle and cheer a new house guardian just moved in.
he doesn't have a name yet
And I started oil painting and made some portraits for my best friend who happened to have birthday when he visited.
That's him and his two cats (which he got because he met Hamlet)
And Goku and Hamlet are still cute and now sometimes even seen together!
+ 1370 EP for Exploration
+ 680 EP in Painting
- 70 EP in Zookeeping (for the dead crow)
