life in Canada: June 2011

We went to visit family in Newfoundland.

An uncle was the doctor here for years and years. He built this house when he started his medical practice.

There is much to say about Canada's newest province, Newfoundland and Labrador (the island of Newfoundland and a slice of the mainland of Canada - Labrador).

You can fly there. But we drove our car onto a ferry.

3 things about the land of Newfoundland

it is an island in the North Atlantic ... there are rocks, lots of them!
it is an island in the North Atlantic ...colder temperatures, rain, and lots and lots of fog
it is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

What do people do in Newfoundland?

Most families have lived off of fishing, logging, or mining. Many still do.

Small fishing boats catch fish and lobster close to shore.

Trawlers scoop up the fish in nets.

Overfishing, mainly by huge trawlers from other countries, have literally scraped and scooped up all the good from the sea. Fishing was stopped by the Canadian government in the 1990's.

Read more about fishing in Newfoundland .

Cod stocks are only just starting to return.

A lobster trap - they crawl in to eat the bait and get stuck.

Newfoundlanders like to hike, fish, hunt, camp, swim, sail - pretty much enjoy the beautiful outdoors.

There are many gorgeous parks to visit.Tourists love this too.

Europeans love to travel to Newfoundland for holidays.

Visitor's Centre of Terra Nova National Park

We hiked a trail through bog. Egypt does not have bogs.

Peter researched places to see. Glassy Beach was on his list.

We stopped and asked the locals how to get there. They said, "You drive down the paved road to the end. You drive down the dirt road until you come to a blue ribbon, then walk down the path down to the water."

That's how you sight see in Newfoundland.

We found it! Here is what Glassy Beach looks like.

We collected glass from the beach.

video

Driftwood and whale bones. Egypt does not have driftwood either.

People in Newfoundland are warm, friendly, fun loving and creative.

They have their own culture.

Newfoundlanders speak in a thick accent, almost impossible to understand.

They have many sayings, words, and phrases unique to Newfoundland.

They even have their own dictionary.

Art made by rug hooking. This one shows a Newfoundland tradition called mummering.

Most things for the house were made by hand. This is a piece of painted linoleum to make a colourful, but practical floor.

We also stopped at a museum about the history of aboriginal people in Newfoundland. This is a sad, sad, sad story.

The Beothucks and the Eurpoeans never figured out how to communicate with each other. They just fought. In the end. the Europeans with their guns and European diseases won.

All of the Beothucks died.

The last Beothuck was Shanawdithit. She died in 1829.

Animals and wildlife of Newfoundland

A Newfoundland dog is actually a breed of dog. This is not one.

eagle

baby bear

After the family visit we drove to the west side of Newfoundland. Stay tuned....

We left Genoa intending to follow I-80 across the midwest to Toronto. We stopped in Elko, Cheyenne, Omaha, and Chicago. We didn`t intend to report on this final leg of our journey, because we were intent on our destination. All the same, we found a few experiences along the way that we had to share.

The drive continued to surprise us with breath-taking views of the mountains...

salt flats ...

Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002. The world class ski jump built for this event is still a huge attraction in Utah.

Wooden and metal snow fences help keep snow from blowing across the highway. Snow collects behind these fences.

ELKO, NEVADA

This was just an overnight stop but we had two fun experiences. We cruised through the \north Eastern Nevada Museum filled with cowboy guns, and old clothes and this...

Can you guess what this is?

Well, a smart cattle rustler ( that is someone who steals someones elses's cows) made these boots to wear over his shoes. When he walked, he made prints in the mud just like cow prints so they could not track him down. Well, he did get caught eventually, and here are the boots. But this was a pretty clever trick anyway, don't you think?

We also ate a basque meal. The Basques came from Spain and settled in this area bringing with them their Basque dialect of Spanish, their traditional clothing and food. Cowboys in this area quickly fell in love with the food and adopted these dishes as part of the cowboy way of life.

Check out these websites for more about cowboys and basque culture...

Cowboy Country Territory

Basque food

CHEYENNE

man and dog and fishin'


People rent trailer campsites at the same place every year. Clearly, their pets are the most important members of their family.

pelicans on the Mississippi River


On the way to Omaha we passed through a rest stop that contained information about how slaves found their way to freedom along the underground railway. Whites who were sympathetic, used patchwork quilts to help runaway slaves find their way safely from the colonies in the south to their freedom in the north. Patchwork quilts carried codes with directions. These quilts were hung on clotheslines outside and were used to guide slaves to freedom.

OMAHA

Our one night stop over in Omaha would have been extremely dull but we lucked out on our choice of restaurant. The reviews told us that the best place to eat was a family hamburger place called "Stellas". There is a history to this small place, but it is currently owned by a mother and daughter team.

They have made it a fun place to eat by creating an eating contest. Here is how it goes.

1. You register your inerest in taking part in this contest one week in advance.

2. You get your Stellinator = six hamburger patties, six eggs, layers of melted cheese, and seven bun.

3. If you eat it in 45 minutes or less, you get it for free and your name and photo go up on the Wall of Fame. 4. If you cannot eat it up in 45 minutes, you pay $25 and get your name and photo on the Wall of Shame. Check out the Stella restaurant facebook page.

Luckily on the night we went, the local Omaha Jeep Club was holding their monthly meeting at Stella's and four of their members were taking the Stellinator Challenge. Here is what happened.