Selected photos from our 6 week tour of the east of USA and Canada

September-October 2009

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We collected our hire car from JFK airport in New York and returned it 6 weeks and 9400km later at the same place.

Our trip started by travelling north to Sugar Hill in New Hampshire to visit friends there. After a few wonderful days exploring that area, we headed west following the Erie Canal through to the Finger Lakes region of New York State. After visiting a few of the attractions there, we continued on to Oakville near Toronto to join friends for the weekend. After exploring the area with Clairlise, we spent the following week on a round trip taking in the Niagara Falls, the east coast of lake Huron, the Muskoka Lakes and Algonquin Provincial Park. It was a really great and interesting trip full of natural beauty. We returned to spend the next weekend with Clairlise which culminated in a fantastic flight with Juan over the Niagara Falls and Toronto on Sunday evening.

From Toronto we roughly followed the St Lawrence River east via Ottawa and Montreal to Quebec. On the way we visited the Peterborough Lift Lock on the Trent Severn canal and Parc Omega, an animal park where most of the animals are free roaming. The Bears, Coyotes and Wolves are behind fences. It was a great experience. From Quebec we travelled on the northern shore of the St Lawrence Estuary, stopping at the pilgrimage church, the Basilica of St Anne de Beaupré, before taking the ferry across the St Lawrence from Saint-Siméon to Riviere-du-Loup. From there we continued east to Parc du Bic and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. We found a nice little motel at Pointe au Pére and early morning had a beautiful view of the lighthouse from our room. We had a quick look at the Onondaga, a Canadian submarine that has been decommissioned and is now operating as a hotel! I can think of more comfortable places to sleep!

The next day we drove almost right through New Brunswick to Antigonish, to allow us more time the next day to explore Cape Breton Island. It was worth the effort as Cape Breton Island with its' beautiful national park and spectacular sea scapes was very impressive. We overnighted in the park and the next day continued via Historic Sherbrooke Village and along the south coast of Nova Scotia to Halifax. The rugged coast west of Halifax is also interesting with Peggys Cove and Lunenburg being the highlights. We headed north to Burntcoat Head near Noel, on the southern shore of the Bay of Fundy, to observe the high tide coming in, then drove round to Hopewell Cape on the northern shore to see the spectacular coast at low tide. We had extreme weather and were soaked by the heavy rain but it was worth the effort. From Hopewell cape we continued on to overnight and then have a look at the town of St John, which was our last night in Canada. We saw on the weather report that evening, that a small hurricane or the like had passed within a few kilometres of Hopewell Rocks.

Our journey continued the next morning after looking at St John, along the south coast of New Brunswick, before crossing into Maine, USA. There we drove to Holden to visit Yellow and Chrissy and their children. We explored some of the local area including part of Arcadia National Park on Mt Dessert Island. Here we also had our first taste (for this trip) of the famous Maine Lobsters. From Holden we travelled via Bangor then followed the coast of Maine south to Portland and Scarborough to visit KC and Lee Jones, Anthony's brother and sister in law. Our stay with them was memorable, partly because of their warm hospitality and partly due to the spectacular scenery in the area. Elisabeth was particularly taken by cape Elizabeth, even if they can't spell it properly. We were also able to sample some more of Maine's fantastic sea food.

Our next destination was Newport, Rhode Island to see some of the famous mansions and we again followed the coast south and enjoyed the beautiful harbours and fishing villages on the way. From Newport we drove back to Boston to visit Bettina and Fredy for a few days. They were happy to show us how much down town Boston has improved since they put the through traffic via a tunnel instead of the huge bridges they had previously. We also visited the historic towns of Concord and Lexington and Cape Cod. Right down as far as Boston we were able to enjoy the fabulous colours of the Indian Summer.

The last leg of our trip was to travel south from Boston to New London, then take the cross sound ferry to Orient Point then via Shelter Island to East Hampton to visit Bill and Shelley. The weather played havoc with us over the weekend, but we still had a great time and were able to enjoy many outings and walks on the beautiful beaches. There were still a few places to look at on the way back to the airport and we gave our little car back, a little dirty but unscathed after our adventures.

The following are only some of the photos I took but it will give you a fair idea of the beauty of the spectacular areas we were able to visit. I hope you enjoy the photos.   Kerry

Departing Zurich airport

Cable car on Cannon Mountain with Peter and Liz

Echo Lake from the cable car

The highway through Franconia Notch

Peter and Liz's mailbox

This and the following series are of the Pemigewasset River as it runs through the Franconia Notch State Park

Entrance to The Flume

The Flume

Covered footbridge supported by the trunk of one large pine tree.

Sentinel Pine Bridge  (Link to Further Information)

I-93 Highway through Franconia Notch

Half of the Double Lock 33 on the old Erie Canal as it is today

and as it was then!

The water to the top left of this picture is the Mohawk River, which is the present day canal.

Progress!

Cayuga Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in the north of New York State

This isn't Switzerland!

Link to further info on the Finger Lakes region.

On the road again!

Reconstructed Indian village at Crawford Lake

Inside the longhouse

Papoose

Indian Squaw

Toronto

Toronto with the CN tower

Inuit Indian Art.   Here a vertebra of a whale, carved on both sides.

Liebeskind extension to the Toronto museum

Old and new architecture combined

Niagara falls. American falls to the left and Canadian horseshoe falls to the right of photo.

American falls

Canadian falls

Maid of the mist

Canadian falls

A wet business!

Ship passing through lock No 1 with the bridge open. This is the bow of the ship.

and now comes the stern!

Eastern shore of lake Huron

Canadian geese

Autumn colours

On the beach!

Tranquility

Sauble Falls

"RMS Segwun"  Built as a paddle steamer in 1887. Now propeller driven.

Departing Gravenhurst for a cruise on Lake Muskoka

The passage through to the upper lake.

The steam engine

No Catalyser!

Alternative transport

Gravenhurst Museum

An old petrol motor.  Note the ignition system.

Early morning in Algonquin State park

Road through Algonquin park

Sugar Maples in autumn

One of the many lakes in Algonquin Park

Beautiful marked walking tracks

Beautiful picnic areas and parks

Wild Elderberries

Mmm!

Further info: open in new folder to return here!

On the walk to Booth's Rock

Trail

View from Booth's Rock

Walking track following the site of the original railway line

Looking back at Booth's Rock from near the car park.

Booth's Rock

Shortcut south of Algonquin. The navigator led us astray, but it was interesting.

Bus tour of Toronto

Security check for the lift to CN tower

View from the tower

Looking down through the glass floor. Quite a feeling!

Juan's aircraft returning from Las Vegas

Heading for the Niagara Falls. The Niagara escarpment is visible in the centre of the photo.

First view of the falls and the rapids

Looking down on the CN tower

The co-pilot

Trent -Severn Canal

The lift lock in action

Grand hotel, Ottawa

Museum

House of parliament

Cheers

The pour house!

A fantasic drive through animal park

Part of the drive through the park

All these animals are fee roaming.

The wolves are fenced in.

The bears and the coyotes are also behind fences

Mating season!

Raccoon

Red fox

Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal

Quebec

The oldest house in Quebec

Basilica of St Anne du Beaupré

Manoir Richelieu

North coast of the St Lawrence Estuary

Ferry at St Simeon

Late afternoon Parc du Bic

Pointe au Pére

Retired submarine as hotel!!

Replica of the Hector

The Cabot Trail, north west coast of Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Highlands National Park

An elusive Moose

Carnivorous pitcher plant

Cape Breton Highlands National Park

North east coast of Cape Breton Island

Northern coast

North eastern coast again

Historic Sherbrooke Village

Elisabeth heading for the drug store,

but she couldn't find just what she wanted!

Elisabeth stealing cookies,

but she got caught!

More of Sherbrooke Village

Peggys Cove

and lighthouse

Mahone Bay

Lunenburg

Bluenose II

View over the harbour from a restaurant.

Burntcoat Head near Noel

Same view an hour and forty minutes later.

Sheltering under lover's arch at Hopewell Cape

Elisabeth in her Dry-as-a-bone!

Hopewell rocks at low tide

One of the flowerpots

The mother-in-law rock

See the bear sitting on the rock!

High tide

Half tide

Low tide

Fishing harbour south west of Hopewell rocks

View from Mt Cadillac, Arcadia National Park

With Chrissy and her two Springer Spaniels

Maine speciality

Classic boats in Camden

Feeling welcome with KC and Lee

A real Maine feast!

Cape Elizabeth

Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth.

Cape Neddick Light

Autumn colours in Portsmouth

Rockport

Salem

Rosecliff Mansion, Newport, Rhode Island

Fredy, Bettina and Elisabeth

Walden Pond

The Redcoats are coming!

Cape Cod

Lobster boat

Great Grandfather

Horseshoe crabs.  These were around 250 million years before the dinosaurs!

Boston Botanical Gardens

Womens run for breast cancer.  Over 8000 runners!

Old gas street lights, downtown Boston.

New bridge in Boston

Boston harbour walk

Converted warehouses

Kerry, Elisabeth, Bettina and Fredy on Boston harbour walk.

Shaker village

Autumn colours again.

Mmm!

Elisabeth, Shelley and Harry

Southern beach near East Hampton following stormy weather.

Beach walking

Nautical windvane!

Waiting for thanksgiving! These are wild Turkeys.

Montauk Point Lighthouse, commissioned by George Washington, 1792

Here we leave the beautiful beach to a lone fisherman and head for the airport!