Back in the USA

Niagara Falls

The advantages of travelling in the off season were obvious at Niagra Falls. Thousands of car park spaces with only a handful of cars and some tourist buses. No crowds jostling for a spot on the fence. From the Canadian side the Falls are spectacular...a massive amount of water sending spray high into the air.
 

Amish horse and cart

Over the border again and headed for Washington DC. On the way we spent 2 pleasant days at Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the very scenic and interesting Amish area. Originally from Switzerland and Germany where they were persecuted, the Old order Amish and Menonites maintain a way of life unchanged for centuries. Side by side with the modern world are people driving horses and buggies and ploughing the fields using mules or draught horses.There are also many less strict sects making the most of the tourist trade.

There are many shops selling exquisite hand sewn quilts and cottage furniture. The population of the Amish is increasing rapidly so there is not enough land for them  all to live a rural lifestyle. Their beliefs do not allow them to ride bikes, yet they can get around on scooters with large wheels. Not sure of the logic there...We found the area fascinating. 

No bikes allowed, only oversized scooters!

Gettysburg

We also spent some time brushing up on history at Gettysburg, scene of a massive battle in the Civil War which changed the course of the war and gave the North the upperhand. There is an excellent museum which explained the war. Military and civilian deaths in the Civil war were over a million people!

We are now in Washington DC with our friend Donna. We returned our rental car today with 4500 MILES on the clock.
Electioneering for the Mid term election is in full swing everywhere and it is really dirty politics. I thought our last election was bad...
We have a week here then back to New york and home.
Look forward to seeing you all.
Julia

Quebec and Ontario

Julia, Robert, Julia and David overlooking Toronto from Toronto Island


A quick update as we have wifi again.

Given up on seeing a bear. Its a bit too populated now. Quebec city was good.Very French as expected and lots of character in the old city. 
We have just had a great weekend in Toronto with our former neighbours Julia Lowe and David Henry. Beautiful weather and excellent company in a scenic location...what more could we want. They live on the 17th floor of an apartment block in the city. Our bedroom has an amazing view of downtown Toronto, the CN tower and lots of parks. Visited the nearby Toronto islands, went up the tower and walked and walked. More beautiful foliage.
Tomorrow we head for Niagra Falls, so its back to USA, then on to Washington DC.
Its coming up to Halloween and its Big here. Huge pumpkins for sale everywhere, houses and other areas decorated and whole shops selling stuff. Its as bad as Christmas! Can hardly wait.

In search of a moose

We came for the foliage and that's what we got. Trees, trees and more trees in every shade of yellow, orange and red. New England is coverered in forests and very attractive, mostly white timber houses. Lots of lakes and rivers but very little wildlife. Most of the birds have flown south leaving only some geese, seagulls and eagles. We've seen lots of squirrels, chipmunks and a few raccoons but, despite hundreds of roadsigns warnings, not a single moose. We live in hope.
We have done some lovely walks in The White Mts of New Hampshire, Arcadia NP in Maine and Cape Cod.
Thanks to the strength of $A the sost of living for us is quite good. Food and petrol are very reasonable but the economy is very sick.Unemployment is over 9% meaning 15 million are out of work. People are losing their houses and struggling to survive as many do not qualify for any government benefits. Very tough.

We are now in Nova Scotia, Canada for a while. Much more expensive here and suddenly much colder.An Arctic wind means we are now wearing all our layers. Autumn is much more advanced and the trees are past their best. But its very beautiful with lots of rugged coastline and fishing villages and certainly similar to Scotland in some ways. Gaelic is taught in some schools and the town names are mostly Scottish...Inverness, Glencoe, Aberdeen, Dingwall and so on. There are lots of Macdonalds and other Macs.But the land is still thickly forested and only sparsely populated in many places.

Next day Success. We have had along day driving the famous Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. Very scenic. For about 3 hours we drove through the Cape Breton Highlands NP and stopped several times to walk into known moose habitat. We saw fresh moose poo and tracks but still no moose. Then beside the road a group of people were looking at something in the distance. We stopped and there were 2 moose bulls. Not exactly a close encounter and the photos wont win any prizes, but better than nothing.

Our next goal is a bear...