Tag: VIARAIL

Single Older Woman – Cdn Vacations – East Coast 2022 – planning, part 2

May 2022

The duration of this adventure would be 17 days – starting on the Sunday with the overnight train ride to Truro, NS and ending in Kingston on Wed. Aug 3 before heading home on the train and the bus. Within the 17 days, I would take a trip on a ferry, that I had never done before, I would get up in the saddle again, after 30 years, I would conquer one more beach and I would explore more of the beauty and natural sites in these 2 provinces. Instead of flying back to Ontario, I once again would board the Via for the return trip to Ottawa.

All in all, these short 8 days would be filled with a host of interesting activities and excursions and swimming, eating, driving, wine consumption and sleeping etc.

Following are some of the activities I planned for, based on the myriad of options from all my travel/tourist brochures:

Day 1 – arrival late afternoon, in Truro, check in at hotel, dinner, swim in the pool,

Day 2 – travel day from one province, Nova Scotia to another, Prince Edward Island, by way of rental car and ferry across the Northumberland Strait (a mere 90 minute sailing ). Then an hours long drive to my motel, Lighthouse Beach and Motel, in Souris. My home for 3 days.

Day 3 – While here, I planned to have lunch at Dalvay by the Sea, a National Historic Site recognized by Parks Canada, perhaps a visit or two to some local Lighthouses, a stroll through Greenwich Park, PEI National Park, #PARKSCANADA,

Day 4 -a local touristy day in Souris and a swim or two, at Sheep Pond Beach, a 5 minute drive from the motel.

Day 5 – travel day back to Nova Scotia by way of Ferry, with a stop in to New Glasgow, NS to check out the Roseland Theatre, #ViolaDesmond.

Day 6 – I booked a horse trail ride in Parrsboro and would stop in to the Fundy Geological Museum, there too.

Day 7 – a day spent on Cape Breton Island, to visit the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site and maybe a few waterfalls, that I found from my brochure research.

Day 8 – today would be the day to swim at Martinique Beach! Followed by dinner at a local sit down restaurant.

Day 9 – my final day in Nova Scotia – a day to play the local tourist and explore all the beauty and sights in Truro.

Day 10 – cab ride to the train station for the overnight trip to Ottawa and the next part of my adventure- a 6 day river cruise along the St. Lawrence River from Ottawa to Kingston, Ontario.

Thank you for reading and for letting me share.

Come back again, would you? More stories to follow on all my experiences from this fabulous 3 week adventure.

Joye

Single Older Woman – Cdn vacation- East Coast 2022 travel planning – Part 1

March 2022

With the River Cruise booked and budgeted for, it was time to source hotels in Nova Scotia and PEI, as well rental cars, activities, excursions, train schedules and ferry crossings.

First I booked my hotel in Truro, NS – the #WillowBendMotel. I had seen their ad previously and knew this was the hotel to stay at. Locally owned and operated, 10 min taxi ride from the Via Rail station and 10 minutes away from the local rental car agency. Plus they offered a complimentary breakfast as well as an outdoor heated pool just steps from my room.

For my stay in PEI – I decided I would visit only the Eastern portion of PEI – Eastern Coastal shore. Again, I found a locally owned and family operated motel in #Souris, #Lighthouseandbeachmotel. Perfect! Their nightly rates were reasonable and they also offered complimentary breakfast as well as a beach a 5 minute drive away.

Next- book the Ferry trips from Caribou,NS to Wood Islands, PEI and then back again.

I had called #Northumberlandferries in March and was told to check back in June, as Transport Canada had not yet approved their sailing schedule. Oh dear! I worried – making these bookings a month before my travel dates. What if they didn’t have any more space on the ferry for me and my car?? I would discover later, these ferries are MASSIVE!! You’ll see for yourself in my later posts about the mammoth “ships”.

Next – book my train travel – I planned to book in late April or early May to optimize any discounts and savings offered. Keeping in mind, all the train trips had to connect with one another- Toronto Union Station to Montreal Central Station in economy class, then disembark and wait for the next leg – Montreal to Truro, NS in a sleeper car.

However, already in early March, cabins were already being booked and I no longer had too many options available to me. Keeping in mind, I had to plan all this travel around my booked river cruise sailing dates – depart from Ottawa on Thursday July 28 at 5 pm with arrival in Kingston on Tues. Aug. 3.

So, by mid March, all the train travel was booked. There were no single person staterooms available, so I had to book a cabin for 2. At least I would have some more space and an extra bunk to keep my personal items on/under.

The return train trip was now also booked – departure from Truro, NS on Wed July 27 and arrive (just in time) in Ottawa on Thurs. July 28 at 2:30 pm. Perfect!

Stay tuned, as I share how I went about planning and sourcing all the places I wanted to see and visit, including Martinique Beach in Nova Scotia.

Thank you for reading and for letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman – Life’s Passion – Vacation Ideas 2022, River Cruising

Oct 2021

This is about the time of year when I start to consider and budget for, my vacation for the following year.

Initially the plan was to do another road trip through Ontario, so that I can complete my last 2 Ontario beaches – Singing Sands in Tobermory and Sandbanks in Prince Edward County. This would allow me additional vacation time to do my European River Cruise in the Fall 2022, taking me from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland and then the train north back to the Netherlands.

Well, one weekend, sitting at home, I’m flipping through my current CAA Membership Magazine and I come across an ad for the St. Lawrence River Cruise Line. This is a Canadian River Cruise that sails along the mighty and popular St. Lawrence River, from Kingston to points east – Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec.

Home

The idea began to form – maybe I should consider doing a cruise like this, on Canadian waters and close to home, before I embark on a river cruise in Europe. I’ve never been on a river cruise, save for the ferry that took us to Centre Island in Toronto when I was a teenager.

Now the idea for a new vacation adventure, started to take shape. I would take the VIA rail train from Toronto Union Station to Kingston ON. I would sail from Kingston to Quebec City and then get on the train for my journey to Truro, NS. Then a week or so in NS and PEI and return home on the train.

Perfect! All train, boat, ferry and rental car – no flying involved.

Fast forward to mid November 2021 and I’m having lunch at work. I decide to call St. Lawrence Cruise Lines and inquire about availability for July 2022. I was shocked to learn they were almost booked for all of July – already! Quick – I asked the agent – what dates and routes were still available? She advised only Ottawa to Kingston from July 28 – Aug. 3. Well then, right away I gave her all my contact info and advised a cheque would be in the mail for the $350 deposit.

This would change my travel plans slightly but I knew I could make it work…..

This vacation would also stretch my budget quite extensively and the 2 1/2 weeks away from my felines, would take their toll – both on me, my neighbours and the cats…

Stay tuned.

Thank you for reading and for letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman – Cdn vacations – Outings #9- Edmonton, AB

August 2019

The hotel shuttle driver collected my bags on the morning of Aug 13 and we made our way to the Via Rail Station. We even had time to grab a Tim’s coffee and a small box of timbits for him and his co-workers at the hotel.

Waiting to head to the Via Rail station
Dome Car – great for additional sightseeing opportunities

You can read more about this train experience in my earlier post entitled Via Rail Excursions #3.

En route to Edmonton, AB

I arrived in Edmonton, shortly after dinner and hailed a cab to the local hotel.

I spent only 4 days in Edmonton before my flight home on August 17.

Stay tuned as I share some of the experiences and adventures while in Alberta.

Thank you for reading and for letting me share.

Joye

Single Older Woman – travelling alone- Phone Maps or paper road maps

In one of my earlier posts, I touched briefly on my experience only having a pay- as- you- go cell phone, with only data and text options.

During my first solo vacation to Manitoba, I ran out of minutes, had no idea how to connect to WIFI and had to rely on my sister via Facebook to communicate to family members back in Ontario, where I was and what I was doing.

Never again…. So in March 2018, before that summer’s East Coast trip, I invested in an IPhone6.

I was very happy to have my BFF with me – she was street finder, restaurant locator, map reader and Siri expert and a superb photographer…..she used the map feature on her phone to get us to all the places we needed to go. I did the driving and PB2 took great pics too. I would have been lost in PEI without PB2.

Well fast forward to 2019 – trip to Saskatchewan and Alberta, now I’m travelling solo and I have to look after all these little tasks myself….. I managed quite well the few days in Sask. However once I got to Alberta, things went by the wayside……and I did not venture too far out of the vicinity of the hotel, for fear I would get lost….

In 2020, we all stayed home. As 2021 approached, I was itching to get back to my Beach travels. I had hoped to go to the East Coast, however VIA Rail had suspended their trips for the year.

Well then, I’ll complete the list of Ontario Beaches – Sauble Beach, Owen Sound; Sandbanks, Prince Edward County; Singing Sands, Tobermory. All I needed was a full tank of gas, some lunch and snack items and maybe a hotel stay or two.

For this trip, I would rely solely on paper road maps and not my phone. My dad immigrated to Canada from Europe in the mid-1950’s. He loves maps- he is an expert on maps, streets, highways, towns,etc. He can calculate to within a kilometre the distance between any two points on such map….My inspiration, to say the least.

Paper maps give you that whole big picture idea – you can lay it all out and see North, South, West and East. As a member of CAA, we have access to as many maps as we wish, for free. Off I went to the local store, to get my hands on ALL THE MAPS –

Stay tuned – more to come on this journey – the planning, the anxiety, the day excursions, the highlights, the funny moments, the momentous and the AHA moments.

Thank you for reading and letting me share.

Joye