Happy Thanksgiving
from
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
November 24, 2005
Hello und Hallo,
Now that we have reached the halfway point of our year long road trip and traveled over 28,000 miles, it is time to give you another update.
The first three months were spent primarily in Alaska and Canada. This was a time of wonderful natural beauty, long distances, few people, and seeing only 1-2 folks we knew before we left California.
In early September we entered the U.S. via Maine from New Brunswick, Canada. Almost immediately the tone and pace of our trip changed dramatically as we began to visit familiar sights, old (and new) friends and relatives (too many to include here) every two or three days.
We hope the following map and photos will give you a bit of a sense of where we have been since we last checked in, and a small taste of what we have seen along the way. If this is the first report you have received, the "First" and "Back" buttons at the bottom of the page will take you to our earlier reports.
Meanwhile, as we now head back to the San Francisco area for Christmas before starting the second loop of our trip, we are well, having a wonderful time, learning many things, and, aside from an occasional flat tire or dead battery, not encountering any major problems.
We wish you all the best and hope to hear from you!
Love,
Hannelore and Ray
Singer Boy Dylan's boyhood home in Hibbing, Minnesota, during a brief dip back into the U.S.
One of many covered bridges we have stopped to admire ... this one was in Quebec.
The center of the Canadian government in Ottawa, Ontario.
A road sign ... translation: Trucks, check your brakes, there is a danger of a runaway situation. There is a 10% downgrade for the next mile. On the way down there is a crossroad, and after that the left lane ends. Then there is a side road, followed by a runaway truck ramp. At the bottom you must come to a full stop ... since this is the decline to a ferryboat landing on the Saint Lawrence seaway!
Ray in a field of glacial debris boulders that went on like this for several miles in Labrador.
During our 750 mile side trip to Goose Bay, Labrador, we left the trailer at an RV park and just took our Suburban. Here we are cooking dinner one night along the way.
Though out Canada we gingerly shared the two lane roads with 30-wheeler logging trucks like this.
Eons of geological history tilted on end for convenient study along the coast of Quebec.
One of many lighthouses we have visitedt. This one was built by Marconi to help ships navigate in the Saint Lawrence Gulf.
A different way to decorate one's garden.
The scariest sign we have encountered. We made it down OK with our trailer in tow. As a comparison, the famous "Grapevine" in Southern California is only a 6% grade.
Along the coast of Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula.
We made a wrong turn late one rainy night in New Brunswick and the road just ended at the shore. Rather than try to get out of there in the dark, we just spent the night.
Along the coast of Newfoundland ...
... which can not be described without using the word "rugged."
About 300 of over a million off-season lobster traps we passed in Newfoundland.
A restored Viking repair and wintering camp from about 1,000 A.D. in northern Newfoundland. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which leaves no doubt that the Vikings were active in North America in those days.
Coastal fishing village areas in Newfoundland ...
... where time seems to have stood still for centuries.
Further geological mysteries which have made us very interested in learning more about how the earth was formed.
Cape Spear, Newfoundland, the easternmost point of North America.
It's not everyday that one gets to visit a Scarecrow Village, so we are sharing this one with you which we visited briefly on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.
Walking on the ocean bottom in the Bay of Fundy which has the highest (up to 30 feet) tides in the world. The dark patches to the left of us are seaweed.
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