Saturday 16 August - Riviere du Loup

Most of the day was spent in the bus. Through Rimouski and along the Matapedia valley the weather was socked in and the rain was heavy at times. Dense forest. There were several fishermen in canoes.

Lunch was at a tearoom in the Cascapedia Museum. Service was unprofessional but the soup and sandwich was fine.

The weather improved in the afternoon and was had a pleasant drive along the Baie des Chaleurs. There was a brief interval when we wandered along the beach.

There was a great view of the Perce rock from the room.

Dinner at the hotel was the Seafood Platter. Salmon, cod, scallops, shrimp, lobster - topped off with a bottle of Seine et Marne.

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Friday 15 August- Gaspe trip, Ottawa to Riviere du Loup

We were up very early this morning and Steve very kindly drove us to Westgate Shopping Centre.  Check in with our Travac Guide, Margueruite was quick, efficient and very friendly.  There was a detour to Rockland to change buses because of a washroom malfunction. Weather was grey and threatening with many showers.  Washroom stop at Hudson.
The weather seemed to improve as we moved east and we were treated to an impromptu tour of Quebec City. There are great views over the river and the Plains of Abraham were well manicured. There is practically no garbage as it is well policed by Parks Canada.
The railway bridge across the St. Lawrence is particularly impressive. It fell twice during construction.
Lunch in Levis was a disaster. We ordered half a chicken which turned out to be half a white bread chicken sandwich covered in a thick gravy which you could pick up with a fork. It quickly turned into a brown gelatinous mess. Very unappetizing and quite disgusting.

The ride along the south shore this afternoon was excellent
The clouds had lifted somewhat and part of the run was along the Route des Navigateurs with pleasant, well maintained, houses. We saw old ovens used to bake bread sold at the roadside and there were some weavings and model boats for sale. This was accompanied by Beethoven's 8th and 9th symphonies (Karajan).
We were given a good reception at the hotel in Riviere du Loup and had a good meal in the restaurant. 

There is a pleasant walk along the river with good views across to the north shore.

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Monday 12 May - The Arboretum, Dows Lake and the Tulips

This weekend has seen the first good weather of the year and we decided to take the OTrain to Carleton and walk through the Arboretum to view the tulips on Dows Lake.  The long winter and late spring has put everything back by at least a week and many trees had not fully budded out.

There was just one solitary duck watching the tree climbing turtle.  Maybe the rest of the ducks were busy in their nests

Only  one or two trees were in bloom - we will need to go back in a couple of weeks.

The redwing blackbirds were looking for mates while the robins and swallows were feeding their young

 

 

The tulips were spectacular as usual but I have so many other pictures that I didn't bother to take many.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinchurcher/sets/72157606946131873/

We walked into Chinatown and had a good dim sum at the Yangtze then walked home to the Byward Market.  Good exercise on a warm pleasant day.

Wednesday 7 May - Phoenix to Ottawa

The group at Phoenix after a great trip - Photo thanks to Isabelle Dhavernas

We returned from Phoenix to Ottawa on United via Chicago.  The least said about United the better.  The United people at Chicago seemed unable to communicate and there was an interminable wait both for our plane to Ottawa and then once we had finally boarded.  When I boarded the puddle jumper to Ottawa the stewardess who greeted me was holding a pair of crutches.  I looked at the crutches and then at her at which she burst out laughing "These are not mine!".

One advantage of getting in late is that Customs were quiet and able to deal with us quickly.  OC Transpo is free for seniors on Wednesdays.  I boarded the 97 bus at 2359 and thus qualified for a free ride.

The end to a great 1475 mile bus trip which was marred only by United Express and O'Hare.

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Tuesday 6 May - Phoenix

Phoenix seems to be a no pedestrian zone. On the way to the restaurant last evening I counted 12 pedestrians during the 25 minute drive. It has the reputation of being the only city without a city center.

This morning we visited the desert gardens which are an amazing exhibit. The Chihuly glass exhibit was excellent and extremely colorful. I am not sure they were placed appropriately. The gardens demonstrate the desert environment and the glass exhibits could be more appropriately placed on one section leaving the rest as natural habitat. We saw a roadrunner and looked closely at a bird on its nest.

  

 It was getting hot at the gardens but started to cloud over and cooled off later  

Lunch was a lot of fun at the Rusty Spur saloon which was probably the only place in the old town with any life at all.. This was because of a party from Paris who were following Route 66 and who enjoyed the live music. They thought we were crazy to like Paris at Christmas until I explained we were from Canada. We also had a good discussion with a cycle race organizer from New Mexico and a lady from Idaho. Lunch was tamales and salad. The French party of about 15 left a 35¢ tip.

The old town is really just a tourist trap like Sedona.

Dinner was at Claim Jumper. A man was standing at the urinal texting - with both hands. Marilyn suggested it was a good job he wasn't taking a selfie.

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Monday 5 May - Sedona to Phoenix

Sedona is totally car dependent. The hotel is great but situated within ribbon development. Our first stop was the Airport Mesa from where there were excellent views over downtown Sedona. It was an opportunity to get pictures of Marilyn, Susan and Montana who have worked hard as a team to make this trip so enjoyable.

 

We then went into uptown Sedona for looking around, otherwise known as shopping. I bought some alligator jerky - I last ate alligator, also piranha soup, in Bolivia. We had planned to eat take out on the bus but there was time to eat on the balcony with a good mountain view. I also had some rattlesnake bites - tastes like rattlesnake and not like chicken. 

Rattlesnake doesn't taste like chicken - it tastes like rattlesnake

Our meal would have been a little more enjoyable had it not been for a pair of sparrows building a nest in the eaves and fighting about the materials they should use. The result was that we were being continually bombarded with discarded leaves and twigs.

This mess was showered upon us while we ate a sandwich

This afternoon we made our way, with a couple of stops, to Phoenix. On the outskirts we came across a forest of cactus. These are the tall ones with arms that are commonly used in many cowboy films. It turns out that these only grow in this area even though the films cover many other parts. Many had yellow flowers and one we saw in Phoenix which had a dove nesting in it. The tour of the old legislative building was interesting, particularly the battleship Arizona which was sunk at Pearl Harbor and the French merci train.Today is Veterans Day and we toured several monuments. I had enough of war stuff when I was growing up so I will say no more.

Sedona -Snoopy is on the far right

Phoenix/Scottsdale is pretty much what I expected. Urban sprawl , urban expressways etc. The automobile being dominant.This evening we went out to Montis. The food was excellent but the service was abominable. The deserts, in particular were very well received.

 

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Sunday 4 May - Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

Another clear sunny day with a few high clouds. The bus took us through Winslow which had a difficult time after Route 66 was closed.We ran for many miles close to the BNSF main line which had a succession of westbound intermodal trains, one with a two unit pusher on the rear. The line is double track and well maintained ballast.Holbrook was another town that was devastated by the closure of Route 66. Bucket of Blood saloon was named after a gunfight. Until the 1940s people would visit to see the bullet holes and the bloodstains on the floor.

The Rainbow Forest Museum has a short nature walk which took us through the petrified forest along with several cactus. There was a group of French bikers touring the USA. The guy I spoke to was from Lyon.

 

Blue Mesa outlook had many different colors and fantastic shapes.

Newspaper Rock

Newspaper Rock is well named. There are a large number of petroglyphs suggesting that the native Indians used this to leave messages. We only stopped for 15 minutes but saw two trains in each direction. The railway must be operating close to capacity.

The Painted Desert vista was magnificent with a myriad of varied colors. As we came over the rise towards the final overlook a collective "wow" ran throughout the coach. We caught up with the French Harley Davidson crew who left before Susan had to force them to move out of her way. 

Lunch was a Navajo Taco which is Navajo Frybread filled with Chili and covered with salad and cheese with a Painted Desert Praline ice cream.

We returned to Flagstaff and took the Oak Creek Canyon route to Sedona, dropping some 2,000 feet. The area is heavily forested and there is a lot of the red rock.

Most of the group had dinner at a Mexican restaurant close by. The margaritas were pretty good as was my pollo poblano (with an excellent mole sauce) and Mary's green corn tamale, beef taco and chicken enchilada - both with rice and refried beans. We had a great discussion with Sue Ellen, Marilyn and Montana. Marilyn spent a very interesting time in Tela, Honduras in the 70s while Montana is currently suffering withdrawal from the football season.

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