As soon as Hallowe’en is over and sometimes a few days before the stores start to decorate for Christmas. In the neighbourhood, however, many people leave their Hallowe’en decorations out for another week or more and soon after the Santa Claus parade in mid-November we’ll start seeing the ornamental reindeer, inflatable Santas and snowmen and colourful lights appear in front of people’s homes.
On my walk around the neighbourhood I noticed these pumpkins and skeletons are still adorning people’s yards.
Now that the time change occurred it’s getting darker sooner in the evenings. I headed out towards the lake which is only 100 m from my house and quickly took some shots of the city skyline of Toronto and then turned around and I got shots of the sunset. Some of you may remember that less than a week ago you couldn’t see the city because of the fog.
It wasn’t even 5:30 when I started back home and it was already dark.
November, so far has been incredibly warm for this time of year. I walked around the block this morning without a sweat or a jacket. I know my family out west won’t like this comment because they are experiencing very cold temperatures and have already had lots of snow.
The theme for November is square photos taken while walking. Seeing that I try to walk every day this should be fun. The last few days have been very foggy.
This fog was a result of the cold ground, warm air and Lake air coming together. It lasted for days. This new growth seemed to pop with the fog in the backgroundLooking up at the leaves of this gingko tree, it felt like the foggy background illuminated the leaves
When I was leaving Moncton, yesterday I knew that Southern Ontario was experiencing very dense fog. As I boarded the plane I wondered if the pilots had more up to date information on the state of the weather over the island airport that we had to land on.
When I left Moncton, it was sunny and very mild. Once in the air we were above the few clouds that hovered over the east coast but one had a nice view of the land, rivers and lakes below. As we neared Toronto we were all of a sudden above a completely white blanket of clouds. Fifteen minutes before we were to land the pilot came over the speaker and informed us that the airport in Toronto was too fogged in to safely land so they were going to circle above the lake for 40 minutes to see if the fog would lift.
After about 30 minutes the decision was made to fly into Hamilton instead because it looked like the fog would not lift until well into the next day. As we approached Hamilton I was relieved to see land below again. We landed safely but now we needed to get back to Toronto. Some people were suppose to get connecting flights to elsewhere and others had conferences they were scheduled to attend.
Normally our luggage is on the tarmac when you fly with Porter and you grab it as you leave the plane. In Hamilton, however, they had a different system and because so many flights had been rerouted there over the course of the day and because they were understaffed we had to wait about 30 minutes to get our bags. Then about 70 of us headed outside to catch a shuttle bus.
The bus didn’t arrive for at least 30 minutes and then it was only a small bus. The next bus was on its way so I allowed others who had connections to make to board in front of me. The unfortunate part was that the bus was nowhere near us and we ended up waiting another hour. When it did finally arrive there were only four of us left waiting. Twenty or more people had ordered taxis and Ubers to get them to where they needed to go. The funny part was that the second bus was a full size coach. By this time the fog had rolled into Hamilton.
The trip to Toronto was very comfortable and the driver, although a tad heavy on the accelerator, got us safely and very quickly back to Billy Bishop Airport. Of course the place was deserted because the fog was so heavy and no flights were coming or going. I ordered an Uber and luckily I was picked up two minutes later.
This morning when I woke up the fog was still over the lake and the city. The photos that I took from the park at the bottom of my street normally show a clear view of the city and the lake. As you can see there is not much to see beyond the trees.
On Day 4 we took another road trip but this time we headed east toward Prince Edward Island.
There are two ways to get to the island by car. One is taking a ferry and the second is crossing over on the Confederation Bridge. The bridge is 12.5 kilometres long and is only two lanes. We were wondering what happens when the bridge needs repairs. Well just as those words left our mouths we started to slow down. Luckily it was not a busy day and the construction only affected about 50 metres of the bridge. Once we passed the workers traffic resumed at the normal rate.
The unfortunate part about travelling to PEI on November 1st is that most of the museums and points of interest have closed for the season but the plus side is that the place isn’t swarming with tourists.
Cows Creamery is a big deal in this part of the world and it was opened today.
PEI is famous for its red soil, potatoes and north shore beaches.
On the drive home we drove into the sun but we also experienced a beautiful sunset.
….after two busy sightseeing days today was a down day
After breakfast this morning I took a walk around the neighbourhood close to the hotel. I picked up some decorations, purple hair dye and candy for the kiddies.
Then I met with my daughter and we walked in the opposite direction and explored more of Moncton. She treated me to a lovely lunch before we headed back to her home.
Time to clean out the pumpkin, put up the decorations and get Winnie ready for trick or treating.
My little Harley Quinn
Of course I had to get into the spirit of dressing up so I put on a hat with purple hair and I let Winnie dye my bangs purple as well.
When Winnie returned with her loot bag filled with treats she dumped everything on the floor and then sorted it into categories. In total she had 180 chocolate bars, bags of chips and suckers.
Back at the hotel I brushed out my hair and decided that I actually liked that little bit of purple in my hair.
Sunday was a very busy day. We started out at 9:00 in the morning and drove to Hopewell Rocks. When we got there the tide was out and we were able to walk on the ocean floor and explore the caves.
Alma’s Lobster ShopLobster Roll
After walking 8000 steps we were in need of some nourishment so be we drove to the town of Alma. We stopped at the Lobster Store and I ordered a lobster roll. It was on my bucket list of one of the things I wanted to eat while out here. Unfortunately, I have discovered that some of my tastebuds are not working as they should since I had COVID. As a result I am not able to give a fair review of the meals that I’ve eaten.
After our meal we drove to Fundy National Park. This was one of the few places in New Brunswick that was actually opened to the public, Most places are closed after Thanksgiving but it doesn’t stop people from visiting. You have to park outside the entrance and walk to get in. All the information centres and refreshment facilities are closed. The upside is that you can see these places for free.
Lookout over the Bay of Fundy
Our last stop on our way home was the lighthouse at Cape Enrage.
Cape Enrage derives its name from the large reef that extends south into Chignecto Bay, which causes the water off the point to become extremely violent, particularly at half tide when the reef is partially exposed and the water is moving quickly.
After being on the road for seven hours it was good to get back to my room and relax for an hour before dinner.
For dinner we decided to go to a seafood restaurant. Dinner was okay but the dessert made our day. Winnie wanted to try the Strawberries Flambé. We knew there would be some alcohol in the dessert and even though the alcohol is burned off we weren’t sure that she would like the taste. Her second choice was carrot cake so we ordered both.
The dessert was prepared table side. I had my camera focused on the server making the dessert and Gaelan had her camera on Winnie to catch her reaction.
Well wouldn’t know it, she loved the strawberries flambé and she ate half our carrot cake as well.
Mama Cormier 