Author: JOYE

I am a single woman in her sixties still setting goals and working to achieve them. My kids are grown and doing their own thing. Swimming is both my passion and my chosen favourite form of exercise. I have two cats, love to read, colour and craft. Reading is great, except then I don't leave the house! So, read on as I share with you my journey, through my blog, of my goal to travel across Canada and swim at the 10 Best Beaches in Canada!

Single Older Woman – Canadian Vacations – Winnipeg 2017

August 1, 2017

Today I would play the tourist in Winnipeg on my final day in Manitoba.

This post will tell the story through pictures and text

I bid my gracious hosts adieu and headed out early from Selkirk to make the trip into downtown. I certainly was blessed with glorious sunny days this past week and the day shone blue and bright all day.

First stop a Trolley tour through the City:

Then a tour of the Manitoba Museum – where I discovered that people from the Netherlands also immigrated here.

As the day neared dinner time, I headed back to the rental car agency to return my vehicle. The employee graciously offered to drive me back to the Via Rail Station. I checked my luggage in and made my way to one of the local restaurants for a well deserved and relaxing dinner and wine.

As dusk fell across the city, I walked to the train station and settled in for the short while until our train would arrive. Little did I know that I would not be boarding until early early Wednesday morning. Read about this trip in my other post entitled “Via Rail Travel – Excursion #1”.

So ended my first solo Canadian provincial vacation – I had a fabulous time, achieved my beach swim goal, suffered no glitches, well other than not being able to find the horse ranch, and felt empowered to start planning next years trip. To the East Coast I go!! New Brunswick and PEI.

Thank you for reading and letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman – Cdn Vaca – Outings #5 – Cdn Mint, Gimli

July 31, 2017

Today I would travel from Selkirk to Winnipeg for a visit to Manitoba’s Canadian Mint. This location produces all coins for circulation. Our Mint in Ottawa produces those strictly for commemorative purposes.

Now I have a funny story about this Mint. A few days before my trip, I had dinner with my parents and my children. I told them about my plans to visit the Mint and highlighted for them some interesting facts. Well to my disbelief, both my dad and my kids challenged me on some of these facts – primarily that the Mint produces many of the coins used around the world??? No that can’t be true – “how is that possible” chimed in my eldest……

See below – wherein I brought back proof of such claim…

Once satisfied that I would win this argument, I took leave of the Mint with much of their secrets still intact…I almost expected them to “zap” each of us as we exited – you know with that device from “Men in Black”……lol…

My next outing would be to visit the “Gimli Glider” Museum in Gimli. Home also to the plant where our famous Crown Royal Canadian Whisky is produced.

The Gimli Glider refers to an Air Canada flight # 604 that on July 23, 1983, ran out of fuel and had to make an emergency landing on an abandoned air strip in Gimli. In 1983, we switched from the Imperial method of measuring fuel to the metric system. As such, the ground crew for that flight miscalculated how much fuel to load onto the plane.

The plane, en route to Montreal, knew they would not make it to their ultimate destination. The pilot and co-pilot, were successfully able to glide the plane onto this airstrip and with minimal damage landed the plane.

The plane continued in service for another 25 years and was finally retired to the Mojave Dessert in California.

I’ve always been fascinated with planes and their history. I have a morbid interest watching all episodes of “Mayday” and I worked for many years at our major Toronto airport…..Other than the Air France flight that skidded off the south runway during a major rain storm, YYZ can still boast as a very safe airport to fly out of.

August 1 – I finish off this vacation with a day of sightseeing in downtown Winnipeg before boarding VIA RAIL for my inaugural train trip home.

Thank you for reading and letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman – Cdn Vaca – Outings #4 – Manitoba 2017

July 29, 2017

This was mid vacation – I had checked out of the B& B in Morden and would make my way to my next B& B in Selkirk.

The City of Winnipeg boasts the Perimeter Highway which circles around the downtown core and provides easier access into and out of the City.

It was necessary for me to travel along the Perimeter as I made my way to Selkirk.

In that I had allotted a fair bit of time for travel that day, I had booked an afternoon of horse back riding at a ranch #MiracleRanch en-route to Selkirk.

Well I pride myself on my excellent sense of direction and knowing the difference between east and west. However driving along the Perimeter “threw me for a loop”… which I am quite embarrassed to admit. I made some turn off the wrong exit and had no idea what direction I was going in……. at some point I found a rest stop with a public phone and called the Ranch to let them know I won’t be there for my hour long ride….. I don’t even remember how I got back on track, but at some point, found the exit to Selkirk and made my way to #EvergreenGateB&B.

Once safely in the vicinity of Selkirk and with the B & B only 10 minutes away, I did some exploring and went on a tour of the Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site.

July 30 – I swam at Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg.

July 31 took me to the Canadian Mint and the Gimli Glider Museum…

Stay tuned for my next post – a interesting piece of aviation history in Canada.

Thank you for reading to the end and letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman – Cdn Vaca: Outings #3 – Canadian Museum 2017

July 28, 2017

My final day as a guest at “A Wee Bit of Heaven B&B”, I headed into Winnipeg for a tour of the #CanadianMuseumofHumanRights. The next leg of my vacation takes me to Selkirk for a few days at Evergreen Gate Bed and Breakfast.

The pictures attached speak to the incredible architecture and design of this stunning building. My words won’t do justice. The overall theme of the interiors was to work upward from the “darkest” of our country’s history to the “lightest”.

Each floor of the building showcased a gallery of photos and images and stories of our history. I learned about Hugo Grotius, a Dutch jurist and philosopher, considered to be the “father of international law”, and Lester Pearson ( an airport in Ontario, Canada bears his name), who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his peacekeeping work.

I was most intrigued by a photo/gallery of a woman named #ViolaDesmond.

She was a Canadian Civil Rights Activist that fought for the right of Blacks in the early 1940’s when she challenged racial segregation by sitting in the “white” section of a local cinema in New Glasgow, NS. She was arrested and spent the night in jail.

In 2010, she was posthumously pardoned by the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia and in 2018 became the first woman to be featured on our new $10 bill.

This building is a must see and visit for anyone wishing to learn more about the #Metis, the history of Manitoba, our history, our challenges, our mistakes and our successes.

Thank you for reading and letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman – Canadian Vacations- Outings # 2- Manitoba 2017

July 27, 2017

After a restful evening with my B&B hosts at #AWeeBitofHeaven, I prepared for a day long adventure in and around Morden. As the temperature would reach over 30 Celsius, I was grateful for the A/C and the cooler bag filled with ice and water and fruit, of course – grapes, I recall.

This road trip would also be one of my first, on my own, using only a road map and my great sense of direction. By the time I returned to the B&B that evening, I had logged over 800 kilometres.

My first stop would be Holland, Manitoba. The significance is my parents are from the Netherlands and have called Canada home since the late 1950’s.

I’ve been to the Netherlands ( Holland) and I’ve been to Holland, Michigan. Once I discovered a Holland in Manitoba, I knew I had to see it for myself.

Thing is – the origin of this town has nothing to do at all with the European country of my ancestors- there is a windmill but no gouda cheese, wooden shoes or canals, for that matter.

“Holland was named after someone of significance, the first postmaster Arthur Holland, who moved his post office to the village”

Here you will have to indulge me. The play on words, to me, is just hilarious….In order to get to Holland, I had to drive past Miami.. which is no small feat considering “Holland” is in Europe and Miami is in Florida, USA. There is however a Miami, Manitoba and a Holland Manitoba…..hahaha.

The next stop was a visit to #RidingMountainNationalPark, one of Canada’s National Parks. In celebration of our 150th birthday, #Canada150, all visitors received free admission. I stopped in for a visit, strolled along the beach and had ice cream at one of the local shops.

Now time to head back to Morden. Other than the TransCanada Highway, there is a shorter version which connects BC east to Manitoba, known as the #Yellowheadhighway. In each province, there is a statue or monument along this route for traveller’s enjoyment. I came across the Happy Rock!

It was close to 9 pm by the time I got back to Morden. Time for a glass of wine and sharing a recap of my day with my hosts.

The next adventure is a trip to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

Thank you for reading and letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman – Vacation in Manitoba July 2017 – Outings #1

The initial stages of vacation planning always included potential outings and sightseeing of some of the interesting parts of the Province. I endeavour to support local hotels or B&B’s, and all other small business and tourist attractions.

I like to know a little about the history and what makes the province special. In an earlier email, I listed all the places I wanted to visit. Keep in mind, I had to scope out all of these places with the help of my B & B hosts and my paper map of Manitoba, as my little “pay as you go” flip phone did not have google maps.

This first Canadian Beaches vacation started on July 26, 2017.

Better late than never in sharing the escapades of this inaugural trip, but I could not locate ALL THE PICTURES I had taken……lol….

Join me on this visual and word rich journey as I share with you some of the highlights of Manitoba, Canada.

Morden, MB –

Single Older Woman – Singing Sands Beach PEI – Beach #2- Accomplished

Aug 23, 2018

On this day, we loaded up the Big Blue Beast and headed out to PEI from Moncton, NB. Breakfast and coffee for the road, courtesy of the local Tim Horton’s.

It is a 2.5 hour drive to the beach and this would be our first time crossing the #Confederation Bridge. I warned my BFF she was in charge of taking pictures of the breathtaking views, as I was not taking my hands off the wheel or my eyes off the bridge.

Once we made the trip across, we could now claim to have visited 5 provinces in 4 days. Quite an accomplishment and alot of driving.

The sun shone, the skies were blue and clear when we arrived in Souris. A quick bite to eat, a place to change into my swim suit and off to the water we go.

According to Reader’s Digest – “PEI has more than 800 km of the warmest beaches north of the Carolinas. What makes Basin Head Beach (known as Singing Sands) so special is that it seems to sing, or sqeak, when you walk on it – an intriguing phenomena scientists still don’t completely understand.”

As I walked into the water, Stacey walked out to the shore and with IPhone in hand, videotaped my swim. In the background and in the distance, one could see an cruise liner making its way across the Atlantic.

Beach # 3 coming soon – Parlee Beach, New Brunswick.

Thank you for reading and for letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman- 10 Best Beaches of Canada – Accomplished

August 2021

It occurred to me this past week, as I continually received reminders on my Facebook page, of my beach vacations over the last 4 years, that some of you may be questioning whether I did in fact complete these swims, as I’d set out to do.

So in the spirit of honesty and transparency, I’ll post the videos taken at the time of my swim. As well, the post will also caption the reason why the particular beach was named as one of Canada’s Best. The text will be copied directly from the Reader’s Digest Article that I had referenced back in 2014.

As for the first beach done – Grand Beach, on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, all I can offer is a photo of me on the beach.

In one of my earlier posts, I told you how I did not own a smartphone back in 2017. I had a video camera which was used to record the event. Unfortunately I am unable to transfer that media to this media.

  • En route to accomplish my swim at my First Canadian Best Beach!
  • The clean white sand, the boardwalk, the green full foliage.
  • I’ve just completed my swim! with the aid of a lovely lady who videotaped the experience for me!
https://www.readersdigest.ca/travel/canada/canadas-top-10-beaches/#:~:text=Grand%20Beach%2C%20an%20enticing%203%20km%20of%20fine%20white%20sand%20with%20dunes%20that%20can%20tower%2012%20metres.

“In June 2012 this beach received the internationally-recognized Blue Flag designation for ‘extraordinary and safe beaches’”.

Next beach – 2018 – Singing Sands Beach, PEI and Parlee Beach, New Brunswick.

Thank you for letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman- Canadian Beaches – Via Rail Excursion #3

August 2019

For this vacation, I found myself without a vehicle and had been using public transit to get to and from work daily.

So it was fitting and rather exciting, that the morning of my vacation, I was up and out of the house at 6 am to take public transit to the airport, where I would catch my Westjet flight to Saskatoon, Sask. This will be a 9 day vacation and I will conquer two provincial beaches – Lake Manitou in Watrous and Devonshire Beach in Alberta.

This post is about my short train trip between the two provinces.

Details about this journey will come in another post.

Once my stay in Sask was complete, I availed myself of the hotel shuttle service and the very kind driver took me to Tim’s first for coffee and then drove me to the Via Rail Station. This trip would be the shortest of the experiences so far. I was training it from Saskatoon to Edmonton – a short 10 hour trip. I booked a cabin for 1 – why not, lunch and dinner provided, a nice view of the landscape and I could visit with the other passengers.

Even on such a short trip, I was still treated like royalty, my bags were brought onto the train, the porter escorted me to my cabin and took my lunch and dinner seating reservations.

It’s truly a feat of super organization on behalf of #VIARAIL as to how well they manage to provide storage, amenities, toilet facilities etc in such a small space while still making the area comfortable and airy. Not an inch of space is wasted, yet one does not feel cramped or claustrophobic. The scenery along this route offered a lot more to see and as such, I spent quite a bit of time upstairs on the Panoramic level of the train. As this trip was during the day, there was so much to see.

By the time dinner was served, I was feeling quite melancholy, as I wished I could have stayed on the train longer.

I arrived in Edmonton, hailed a cab and made my way to my next destination – a local hotel in the City core.

My next trip – back to the East Coast, to swim at Martinique Beach, NS and the Isle de Madeleine, Quebec will be all train and rental car. Stay tuned – as we plan for summer 2020.

Thank you for reading and for letting me share.

Joye

Single Woman- Canadian Best Beaches – Via Rail Excursion #2

August 2018

In February, over dinner with one of my bff’s, I broached the idea that she join me this summer for my East Coast trip to New Brunswick and PEI.

In our youth when of legal drinking age, we spent many a weekend travelling to Montreal via the train for bar hopping and visits with her boyfriend. So we had a shared love of train travel.

She jumped at the chance to be part of my journey and gave me full rein to do all the planning and booking – “just tell me how much money I have to send you”

On the 19th of August, we met up at Union Station and made our way to the Via Rail Concourse. This portion of the trip was on the Economy car as we were stopping in Montreal to enjoy a pre-vacation spa treatment at #BotaBota Spa.

Now fully relaxed and pampered, we hailed an UBER and made our way to Central Station. We checked in our luggage and met up with the Lounge Staff.

Our dinner seating arrangements were made and we were escorted to our Sleeper Car. The trip from Montreal to Moncton, NB is 19 hours and we were going to travel in style. I booked us a Cabin for two complete with berth style beds and our own bathroom facilities.

We enjoyed a full course meal complete with scrumptious dessert and a glass of red Ontario VQA wine.

We made our way to the Lounge car afterwards and enjoyed an evening with our fellow passengers – including a group of 4 very good looking young men from Brazil who were heading to Nova Scotia for some surfing – not the Internet type, either.

Breakfast was served the next morning. Afterwards we strolled the corridors, then made our way up top to the sky car, where we could enjoy the breathtaking views even more. The sun shone the entire trip.

Lunch was served at noon and shortly thereafter we arrived in Moncton, NB.

Our porter retrieved our luggage and we made our way to the Station. A courtesy shuttle from the Rental Car agency picked us up and took us to the office to get our vehicle- a blue Toyota Minivan which we aptly named the Big Blue Beast….

Stay tuned for our East Coast Adventure – on a 5 day trip, I swam at two beaches in two provinces and we were in 5 provinces! – Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI…..and I drove across the Confederation Bridge.

Thank you for letting me share. Stay tuned.

Joye