Sept. 7 afternoon/evening

Arrived in L'Islet, a neighbouring village to St. Jean-Port Joli, QC, and found our B&B easily. It is called "Les Pieds dans le Mer", and it is aptly named, as it is right ON the St. Lawrence. The tide here is 17 feet according to our hostess. She recommended an excellent pizza restaurant, and on the way there we stumbled upon a community park. It has been the site of several international woodcarving congresses over the years. SJ-PJ is definitey the center of woodcarving in Quebec, if not in Canada.

Monday, Sept. 6 & a.m Sept. 7

Back again to the blog, as we are off on the ferry today to stay with friends "on the other side" before beginning our road trip to Calgary. We are taking the pickup truck as we are carrying quite a bit of stuff to Calgary. Today we arrived in Maces Bay and enjoyed a great visit with old friends, a delicious supper, and a lovely walk along two adjacent beaches. Weather was cool but clear.

Tuesday morning we had a good breakfast and started out for St. Jean-Port Joli, QC, about 9:30. I'm attaching a photo of the view from our friends' house, and also one of northern NB, just before crossing into Quebec.

Days 5 & 6 Calgary

Day 5 was a shopping day - L. found some tee-shirts he liked at West49 (he'd already gotten his family gifts at the Stampede - cowboy hats, what else?). We all played a rousing game of Monopoly after supper, which we carried over til tomorrow.

Day 6 - more shopping, and A and I found some jeans for L. for school. Most of the day we spent packing for our return flight (overnight and tomorrow), and A. and I fiddled around with baby clothes and laundry. After supper we finished our Monopoly game. Thanks for bringing it along, L!

We have had a wonderful visit with A. and T., seen the sights, and L. has had some new experiences too, including playing RockBand2 on T's playstation (see pic). All in all, a very worthwhile 8 days, even though we were pretty tired!

Day 4 continued - Stampede Races and Show

The chuckwagon races were pretty exciting. Each wagon has four outriders that must also race with their wagons after loading a "stove" and some poles into their team wagon, which then does a figure 8 around some barrels. Then it is off around the oval....32 horses, 4 wagons, 16 outriders on the track all at once.

The show stage set up is quite something, and part of the entertainment! An 8-wheeled John Deere tractor pulls the steel stage, equipped with lights, sound, and props into place, and then the 45 minute set-up follows. The show itself was terrific - motorcycles, singers, drummers flying 100 feet over the stage, singing and dancing, light show, motorbike jumping on ramps, and fireworks....a great evening of entertainment. The only downside was the weather....it was about 45F with a wind, and I had to buy a fleece blanket to keep us warm! Other than that, a great day in Calgary.

Day 4 Calgary - Rockies & Evening@Stampede

The day started out sunny and pleasant, so we headed out to Kananaskis in A's new car. Kananaskis was the site of the 1988 Calgary Olympic downhill skiing events. Today it is a quiet resort without a village.....mostly the Delta hotel. Few tourists were around. Our drive to the Rockies gave us good views of the foothills and the eastern edge of the mountains.

We had packed a picnic, so ate under the covered porch of the general store, as it had started to sprinkle. We drove a bit further into the Kananaskis Valley, and saw one Dall sheep by the side of the road, but that was the extent of the wildlife. It looked very threatening by the time we got closer to Calgary on the return trip, and we later heard that there had been quite a hail storm in some parts of the city. Luckily for A's new car, no hail on us!

Got home, grabbed a powernap, and we were off again to the Stampede. T. joined us and we parked at a friend's place near the C-Train station. Got the train direct to the Stampede grounds, where we first wandered through the horse barns. We then took in the cattle penning competition in the Saddledome and had supper. Then it was back to the grandstands for the Chuckwagon races.

To be continued.

Day 3 - Calgary - Biking at COP

About 10:30 after blueberry pancakes and bacon, we headed out to the Calgary Olympic Park. T. and L. put on their "armor", helmets, and hopped on mountain bikes to do some downhill mountain biking. T. has taught this in summers in the past, so was a perfect teacher for L. After a tentative first run down the wide ski trail, L. caught on quickly to basic techniques, and off they went for four hours of activity! The ride up the chairlift was fun too, with every other chair outfitted to carry the bikes up the hill. L. is sold on the sport!

After supper at Chianti's restaurant (delicious!) we went home and "played" RockBand 2 on T's Sony Playstation. Grandma and Grandpa even got in on the act, as singers and bassist.....not so good, but hilarious! It takes lots of concentration, and L is quite the drummer.

Day 2 - Military Museum, Dinner with W.

In the morning we stuck around home, resting from our busy day yesterday, while A and T picked up A's new car. After lunch Grandpa and L went to the Military Museum while A and I picked up some fabric at My Sewing Room for her baby quilt I'm working on.

Around 6 we met our friend Will for dinner at Milestones, and had a great visit catching up on his activities since we last saw him in China in 2007. It was so good to spend this time with him!