Tag: Canadian Beaches

Single Older Woman – Final Canadian Beach – British Columbia

July 14, 2024

The early morning sunrise promised a glorious warm sunny day to sit and look out the large picture window of my Via Rail train to Vancouver.

I had all the transportation details worked out to the tee. A bus trip to the GO Station, a quick 15 minute trip to Union Station, a short walk along the concourse to the Business Lounge of Via Rail and then the walk to my Sleeper Car.

Well that didn’t happen……lol..

The Mississauga transit buses don’t run that early on a Sunday morning and the GO train only travels every hour. My train’s departure time was 09:55 am.

So instead, my son drove me to the local TTC stop where I sat on a very crowded noisy bus with my pink suitcase taking up the aisle, my knapsack straps cutting into my shoulders and my coffee and water bottle teetering on my lap…. Quite a sight. But I did have on my very pretty hat!. By the time I made it into Union Station and handed off my suitcase to the baggage desk staff, I had already logged 4700 steps as recorded on my Iphone 12… Good thing, though, as the only steps I’d be taking over the next 4 days would be back and forth along the train corridor to the dining car and activity car…….

As I checked in with the Lounge staff and looked for a seat to rest a minute, it became very apparent, why the seat selection on the Via Rail website was getting scarce. The Lounge was packed!!! with people! Everywhere, sitting, standing, talking, chatting, drinking coffee, checking messages, etc. I’d never seen the Lounge so busy….Who were all these people? Were they all headed to Vancouver? Wow! Amazing – so much interest in this cross Canada train journey!

With over an hour until our Boarding Call, I had lots of time to chat with all the various people sitting in the Lounge. Most of these travellers were from the US and many were with travelling groups. Some had never been to the West Coast of Canada and they were either departing in Calgary, or Jasper or Vancouver.

Time to Board!

I made my way to the Sleeper Car where my berth was situated and got myself settled in. The couple across from me, were headed to BC for a friends wedding and had never travelled with Via Rail.

The train departed on schedule and off we were on an epic cross country journey!! In four days, we will arrive in Vancouver, BC. What adventures behold me on this phenomenal train experience.

Our daily onboard activities for all to enjoy!

Stay Tuned!

Joye

Single Older Woman – Canadian Beaches – Singing Sands, Tobermory, Beach #9-Accomplished

August 2023

This is my second Beach road trip for the summer and the second to last Ontario Beach- #SingingSands in Tobermory. Along with me is my best and long time friend Jane. We’ve been friends since the mid 80’s. I’m the daughter of her heart and she’s like my big sister.

We’re hanging out for the next three days and I can guarantee, we will laugh, tell stories, laugh, tell stories and eat to our hearts content. I may drink a little bit of wine too…

Due to an issue with my car, I chose to rent a vehicle this time around- we’ll be cruising along in the KIA Soul- super spacious, all the bells and whistles, but automatic transmission, instead of Manual. Oh well…

We got an early start on the road and arrived in Owen Sound just after 5 pm. We had a room at the local #Bestwestern and after hauling all our bags to our room, we headed out in search of dinner. One can never fail for a good pizza with a #Bostonpizza close by.

As has been the weather pattern of these last few summer vacations, the sky was blue, no clouds, the air warm and pleasant. We both enjoy driving with the windows open -no need for the A/C today.

Our drive to Singing Sands beach took about an hour and a half. We didn’t have a moment of silence on that ride. Jane and I only get to see each other a few times a year, so when we get the chance to laugh, talk, tell jokes -we’re all for it!!

We arrived just before noon and made our way to the beach.

What was unique about this beach, is there is no shoreline, so the beach literally becomes the water. This is nice for those of us, that find it difficult to walk over stones, rocks, seeweed etc.

As Jane and I both headed into the water, it became quite apparent, that we’d have to WALK A LONG WAY out into the water, before it got even remotely deep enough for me to swim.

As we made our way, it became apparent that Jane was having a hard time navigating the sand, crevices, uneven water bed and would not be able to walk out as far as I needed to go to swim. Plus it was so bright and sunny, it was difficult to hold my phone in its plastic waterproof case and try to snap pics of me, all the while balancing herself in the sand. So, as had been necessary for me at #MartinqueBeach, #Nova Scotia, I chose to just wade in the water and have Jane take a few pics of me frolicking about. This is my story, after all and as long as I was in the water, that would suffice…..

We did it!! #SingingSandsBeach, Tobermory, Ontario is done!

One more to go!

We stayed out on the beach for about an hour and then made our way back to our hotel.

We took a stroll along the hotel grounds and snapped a few pictures of the gardens.

By Friday, it was time to head home.

Thank you my dear friend for being part of this incredible journey of mine!

#LongBeach, #PacificRim, #TofinoBC – see you in July 2024.

Stay tuned!

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