Author Archives: Suzanne

The Cabot Trail, Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia

Posted on by
10

The Cabot Trail, a 185 mile loop road, traces the outline of the upper end of Cape Breton Island.  The cape looks like a giant thumb, and the Cape Breton Highlands National Park is a band running right across the middle of it.   So as one travels up the western side, they enter the national park about half way up, then exit the park as the trail rounds the top of the cape.  One enters the park again traveling down the eastern side.

The road is a bit of a roller coaster, as grades are steep…even a few at 13%.  Thankfully, there’s not far to drop with the highest elevation being only 1,750 ft.  Still, the Continue reading →

Nova Scotia, New Scotland, New Strategy

Posted on by
18

I’m not sure why I had so much anxiety about driving solo across the border in the Winnie.   I told myself I could turn around and come back at any time I felt too far outside my comfort zone, but so far, all my fears have been unfounded.  I don’t really miss the Tracker all that much thus far, given that I am doing more touring than parking.  I’ve been able to navigate with ease, and so far, internet access has been above expectations. Continue reading →

Fun Day on the Bay of Fundy

Posted on by
7

New Brunswick is beautiful with rolling green hills covered in evergreens. The highways are lined with tall stalks of purple and pink lupine, the largest I’ve ever seen. I make the New Brunswick Visitors Center my first stop after crossing the border, followed by the ATM at the gas station next door. The very helpful woman greets me at the door and loads me up with maps and brochures for all the Maritime Provinces. I tell her I’d like to make Fundy National Park my intended destination for the night, to which she replies, Continue reading →

“Goodbye Tracker” (Hard) “Hello Canada” (Easy)

Posted on by
10

I’ve decided to leave my Tracker behind for my loop into the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Several View/Navion owners who have gone before me all say “You won’t need it, and in fact, it will be more trouble on these pot-holed roads and ferries than it’s worth.” So I find a place to store it near the border. This will also save me from the Continue reading →

Border to Border

Posted on by
16

So here I sit at another border altogether, trying to figure out how to catch the blog up to “real time.” Yes, it’s behind, but I was determined to finish all the posts I had started while meandering through Mexico. To those readers who stuck with me through two months of making Mexican memories, I thank you.

And now, I’m knocking on the door of our northern neighbor, Canada, knowing that as soon as I cross the border into the “Land of Marginal Internet,” the blog is going to be behind again. Continue reading →

And Then the Haze Came…

Posted on by
6

It seems contrary to what we know as typical weather patterns in North America, but May is by far the hottest month in Colonial Mexico.  Locals and expats alike flee the cities of Guanajuato and San Miguel during this month when the heat finally arrives, right before the monsoons come to cool things back down.  It’s a steamy, sticky time when an oppressive brown haze seems to hang in the valley, trapped by the opposing hills. Continue reading →

Staired Out in Guanajuato

Posted on by
8

After living in Guanajuato for almost two months, my brother Don sends me an email asking, “Staired out yet?”   Having lived in Guanajuato himself off and on for the past couple of years, he knows what a mental and physical toll climbing 150 steps, about the equivalent of ten stories every day can take.   It’s not just the climb, but the carry.  Continue reading →

Tastes and Takes on Dolores Hidalgo

Posted on by
5

On another “field trip” with my Spanish school, Escuela Falcon, six of us students load up into a van on an early Sunday morning to explore the nearby city of Dolores Hidalgo, another “Pueblo Magico,” or Magic Town, a tourism designation for cities with natural, historical, or cultural significance.   Dolores Hidalgo draws crowds for three very different reasons.  Continue reading →

Música y Museos of Guanajuato

Posted on by
7

Sitting in Starbucks just inside the large floor to ceiling open wooden doors, I can hear two different mariachis bands battling it out in the Jardin, complete with dueling snare drum and cow bell.  A group of estudiantinas, strolling musicians like Pied Pipers, are conducting a sing-along at the end of the block.  There is a crowd following them, Continue reading →

Mountains, Missions, and One Massive Monolith

Posted on by
8

We make one last stop before leaving the Huasteca Potosina region at the Sotano Golindrinas, or Cave of the Swallows.  Falling just six feet short of being 1,000 ft wide at it’s widest point, this air pit cave is over 1,200 ft drop from its highest karst ridge overhead, making it (according to wikipedia) “the largest known cave shaft in the world.”  Although swarms of birds are reported, Continue reading →