Beautiful week-end at the camp

Rather than staying home on a weekend and cleaning, we went to the Landry camp and did some relaxing. There were no flies and the weather was gorgeous. The trees have not started to turn colour yet but in three weeks it will be a spectacular view.



Naturally, the kids wanted to do some hook and release fishing...






I had to work Monday morning so I woke up at 5:15 and drove to the hospital and showered there. It was a little stressful of a drive though; too dark and I was very apprehensive about hitting a moose/deer which are very plentiful this year. I took my time and made it out safe and sound.

The Taylor's go to Bar Habor, Maine

Thanks to the high Canadian dollar we decided to spend our last vacation trip of the summer of 2006 exploring Maine. I worked till Thursday morning at 7, we slowly packed and eventually hit the road around 8pm. Nicole drove most of the way while I tried to sleep, but the kids were watching DVD's in the back and that was keeping me awake! Plus, the moose on the side of the road and Nicole's reaction to the moose did not put me in a "sleepy" mood. We eventually made it to the border and had no problems crossing into the US; the border guard was very polite and friendly.

As usual, we never make hotel reservations but fortunately we had no problems finding a place to sleep in Bangor. A room with two double beds cost us $89.00 which included a pretty good breakfast the next morning.

Afer a good nights sleep, Friday morning we went south and ended up in Bar Harbor.


I was impressed with this quaint little town. There was lots of boutique shops and some fine restaurants. The grocery store sucked but I suppose the population dips quite a bit come the winter months.
We spent the afternoon at the Acadia National Park. The beach was not too busy and there were only a few hardy souls who actually swam in the ocean as it was freaking cold! Jacob and myself both dived in and I found it somewhat refreshing. (I may have to do one of those polar dips on January 1)



After we left the beach we had a quick lunch and then set out to hike up to the top of the "mountain".

We only figured out as we were driving up a steep hill that you could drive to the top; no exercise for us that day.

The top of the "mountain" was windy but afforded a great view of Bar Habor.







We hung around there for awhile and then, again no reservations, tried to find a hotel with a swimming pool.

We settled on a cozy motel 15 minutes away from downtown which had a heated outdoor pool. This was nice, except that the minute your head came out of the water it froze.




After all of us had a shower and drained all the hot water in the motel, we went to Bar harbor for supper, wandered around and peaked into many of the shops (my favourite t-shirt, "never mind the whales, save the mooses" and called it a night around 10:30pm.

The next day we went back down to Bar harbor and picked up some souvenirs and then drove back to Bangor for back to school shopping. We had a much harder time finding a hotel, and ended up in a bit of dive outside the city. We had planned on eating supper early but the line up at the Olive Garden was huge so we only went back at 9 and still had to wait for 30 minutes. It was worth the wait though. I never understood why they could not make a go of it in Canada.

Sunday morning we had breakfast in a little restaurant in the downtown core and then hit the malls and finished off our back to school shopping. We left Bangor around 4pm, had no trouble at the border and made it home around 10pm or so. All in all, we spent a lot of money and the weather was cool but we had a good time. Next summer we will probably return and do the tenting/hiking thing.

A Day at the Valcartier Waterslide Park

What would a Taylor summer be without a trip to Val Cartier. This was our fourth summertime trip, and the weather was reminiscent of our first visit when it rained for most of the day. On the plus side, when it is only 20 degrees out there were no 90 minute long line-ups, as there was when we went with Brenda, Rene and their three boys two summers ago. Instead, we could go on any slide we wanted, but we were so chilled that the heated wave pool was where we spent most of the day.


Actually, I lie. Rachel and Erica both grew tall enough that they were able to go on all the slides (52 inches) and Rachel took advantage! She went on Everest, the tallest slide, twice.
The highest accelerating slide in North America

"Rock and Roll" was no match for her as she went down the "roll" 5 consecutive times. I was getting dizzy just watching her.




Still, we had fun. I think next year I will bring along wet suits for us all though!



August 11, 2006

Mini-Holiday in Quebec City

Another 5 days off, so naturally we pile in the mini-van and hit the road once again. Apparently the price off gas is through the roof but that does not seem to bother us too much; no wonder we are always broke!

We arrived in Quebec City around 7pm and spent half an hour finding a campsite. We settled on a KOA campground which was 2 minutes from the TransCanada highway. Close, but maybe a little too close.

As this picture shows, there was not much wilderness around.

That evening we ate, went for a walk and then hit the sack.
The next morning we had a good breakfast.


and then the kids went to the pool for a couple of hours

Then we packed up and went outside the city and found another campsite. This had more wilderness and a pool as well. We spent the rest of the day at the campsite.
It looked like rain so we decided to wait another day before going to the waterslide park. Instead, we were going to go to large waterfall but the water started to fall so we just drove around the city and explored an Island nestled in the St. Lawrence.

We spent Friday at the waterslide park and then picked up Nicole's younger brother Denis and went out to supper. I was a little confused when I could not find a liquor menu and noticed everyone else drinking; oh yes, Quebec, where you can bring your own booze. Denis hustled over to a grocery store and picked us up some European beer which went down very nicely with our Greek food.

Saturday morning we packed, stopped by Denis's and borrowed a few DVD's and then hit the highway and we were home by 7pm. Another holiday over and I hit back to work in the am.