Quick Update

What I never thought about when I started blogging was that you have to be on-line to create the posting as well as upload it. Right now we have access for a very limited period of time so I’m going to update quickly and probably continue on the Web Site so I can work on it when we don’t have access.

Well, we made it to Tennessee. We're just north of Knoxville in an Escapees RV Park call Raccoon Valley RV Park and thinking about staying here for a couple of weeks.
This is a new way for us to travel – we don’t usually move this much or this often and it take some getting used to.
Before we would travel for a time, then stay put for a while. The only times we stayed in one place for any length of time on this trip were in Halifax and then in Little Narrows and even then it was only for a week or so.
We stayed a couple of nights with a couple I had worked with in Calgary (Bob & Diane) at their newly built place just outside of Antigonish.
What a beautiful place they built in a spectacular setting.
Going across the Causeway onto Cape Breton had a strange but very familiar feel - it was almost like going home, but not? Hard to explain!
The more things change - the more they stay the same? Not Cape Breton - there seemed to be so little change except maybe for the people who were teenagers when we left and they now have grown children of their own.
Many old friends have died and others have gone away but there were still ever so many who we remembered and who remembered us.
We chose NOT to go out the old place but visited one of Theresa and Johnny daughters who lives in their old house (The first house in on our road).
We toured the Cabot Trail but the leaves lacked the brilliance I remembered. The folks around there agreed that the colours were not as vivid. I think we were about a week too early.
I left all the copies of 'Jacob's Tails' we had with Louise (she owns the general store at Little Narrows) except for one I've brought with me. When we left, she had two left.
It was the wrong time of year to promote ‘Jacob’s Tails . . .’ Every place I talked to wanted copies (consignment, of course) but they would be closing down for the season right after Thanksgiving and did not want any extra stock, right now but almost every one wanted copies in the spring. So I'm going to send a box down to Louise in Little Narrows and she will take care of distributing them for me.
As we moved back onto the Mainland and into New Brunswick, there was more change in the leaves and the colours became more intense.
We had a wonderful visit with Suzanne and Howard (Ann Marie's sister) in St. John but it was raining pretty hard and we decided to move on.
We went from St. John into Maine and toured around Acadia National Park on Desert Mountain Island near Bar Harbor - beautiful, but touristy, touristy, touristy - it was just about as bad as Banff - BUT - the leaves had started their transformation and were just glorious.
New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania literally flashed by - all I really remember is a zillion-billion semi-trailer trucks whizzing by and watching red tail lights as we were boxed in on all sides by big white trailers or trees you couldn't see above, below or around.
Super highways have never been my favourite and this was no exception.
We finally slowed down in Virginia and spent a couple of days around Lexington and toured the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Coming into Tennessee is like a breath of fresh air. Partly because it has turned out to be another lesson in Natural beauty, partly because the weather is so agreeable (high 20’s C daytime) and partly because we have agreed to stay put for a couple of weeks. We seem to be out of the threat of cold and icy weather - (although they experienced a few tornadoes just west of here last week) and Fred can calm down and relax.
Getting on the right roads going the right directions has been the topics of many heated and loud discussions in the past few days.
We're using WiFi Satellite that doesn't support SKYPE very well and we haven't been able to set up the International Long distance function on the cell phone we got.

Change in Plans!

Yes, we actually did make some plans for after we left Quebec. We would do our visiting in New Brunswick – after Cape Breton and the mainland Nova Scotia – on our way to Maine. So we went right through New Brunswick only stopping for the night. All this because we thought we might meet up with the repaired computer after October 4^th.

One phone call – that’s all it took to turn our plans absolutely upside down! Bob let us know that the old computer was irrepairable and would be replaced!! AND the new laptop was chosen (up-grade from the old one – which it had to be because they don’t make that one any more) and was being shipped to our friends in Halifax by Purolator.

(Plans for us tend to be things that constantly change - we should just stop making them!) Off to Halifax and the South Shore area and what a delightful divergence!!

We set up at an RV park on the road to Peggy’s Cove and spent almost two weeks visiting, touring and promoting ‘Jacob’s Tails’. Patti & Bob are wonderful guides. Our first stop was a ‘Words-on-the-Street’ event in Halifax – a huge gathering of book stores and individual authors doing readings. They are all selling their wares. The tremendous challenge of promoting and selling a book is creeping in like a bomb!! This was not the right place – they were all too busy but I did collect some good information and possible contacts.

I managed to leave a couple of copies on consignment with one bookstore vender there and then when we went out to Mahone Bay, another store took 6 copies.

I never thought about the consignment process before. Another example of my drive to control – it must be like sending children off to places unknown and wondering if they will succeed or if they will end up coming back again and again. It takes a lot of books, good record-keeping, and a good sized bank-roll to leave copies on consignment.

Everywhere we went seemed to be one Kodak moment after another – Peggy’s Cove; Mahone Bay; Lunenburg; all places in-between; and now Antigonish, Cape Breton and into Maine – all just fascinating and breathtaking. We are spending so much time touring that there is little time left to write or do the Photo Journal or find WiFi connections. We are enjoying ourselves so much.

Here are a few shots from the South Shore area of Nova Scotia; Cape Breton and Maine. I’ll try to say less and BLOG more often so you can follow our journey.

Classic Peggy’s Cove shot

Mahone Bay during the Scare Crow Festival

Lunenburg

Blue Nose II and friend

Places In-Between

Fishing Boats:

Ducks on Queensland Beach:

We left this area and Halifax shortly after the new computer arrived to head up to Antigonish and Cape Breton.

Destination – Quebec City: Hurray for pictures on signs

Thank goodness for pictures on highway signs! I am loathed to admit that most of the French I learned in high school is lost – and that my French is about as good as their English. Having said that – Quebec is one of the most fascinating places I have ever visited.

As we travel the secondary roads, the countryside resembles a classic picture of the narrow farms that run back along both sides of the road. Clusters of houses, outbuildings and towering silos line up one after another between lush fields of ripe corn. The towns and villages reflect the extensive and unique histories of the area.

We managed to stay away from most cities but Quebec City is one we chose to explore. We stayed at an RV park across the river at Levis, QC. That way we could leave the car in Levis and take the ferry across directly into the ‘old city’.

And what a great view of the harbour and the old city, itself! Those are containers on the freighter and the cruise ship must be 10 stories high. Netting encloses the Hotel Frontenac as they spruce up for the 400 year celebration next year.

Because of its distinctive character and location on the St. Lawrence River, Quebec City has become a popular stop for cruise ships. There were two huge ships in while we were there and the town was teaming with people.

My memories of Quebec City are dominated by narrow winding streets and working artists. Even though the city is far more sophisticated and there seem to be less working artists, there is an abundance of art work on display and the narrow winding streets have retained their charm and attraction.

Added to that are some incredible wall murals I had never seen before.

We hung around Quebec City for a few more days before we headed off towards New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Touring Upper Michigan with Friends

We certainly enjoyed seeing Jan and Fred again and our time touring around Upper Michigan with them. Jan is an avid ‘fisher’ and Upper Michigan is a solid rural area where she can satisfy her passion.

The first place we visited was a State Heritage Site where they are restoring an old steel mill town including the coke oven.

Next we went off to one of Jan’s favourite places – an incredibly clear spring Kitch-iti-kipi (the big spring) in the Indian Lake. Water is trapped in bedrock caverns below Indian Lake and spurts up through the sand in the pond. The spring is in 45 feet of unbelievably clear water. A glass bottom boat on a cable is there so you can sit out in the middle of the pond and watch the fish mull around the spring.

Being with Jan and Fred reminded us of one of the great things about travelling in the RV – meeting and reconnecting with folks all around the country.

Rain and heavy traffic! Back into Canada at Sault Ste Marie. Did you know that the area around Sudbury was used as the training site for the Moon flight in the 60’s? We heard that they had ‘beautified’ the area. It still feels like the armpit of the world!! Yes, there is now vegetation growing on the moon-simulated landscape but it retains remnants of vast nothingness. Of course it was raining, grey and miserable to boot – that didn’t help any. It was good to get to Gail and Ken’s in Killaloe, Ontario.

We always think of Gail as the reason we went out to Cape Breton in the first place. Way back in the 60’s she told us how great it was – the rest is history – and a good part of the reason we are on this journey now! The area, like so many rural regions, has lost whatever industry brought the people there in the first place (like the Railway in Barry’s Bay) and has turned to tourism. Even in the 60’s this part of Ontario attracted ‘alternate-type’ so there is an abundance of local crafters and artists can keep the shops supplied with very unique products. I was able to sell ‘Jacob’s Tails” to a couple of places and Ken tells me I could probably have sold more if we had stayed around a bit longer.

We were hoping to get over to Luskville, QC (north of Hull) to visit Elspeth and James (a fellow I worked with at the Childrens Aid in Toronto) unfortunately we never made it. We did spend a couple of days around Perth, ON with Bruce and Ruth – also friends from Toronto days – who actually helped us build the dome in Cape Breton.

Perth offers a look at the kind of Canadian history that is just not there in the West. As we explored the countryside; the lanes, old homes and fences reinforced the uniqueness and history and of the area.

Smith Falls presents a look at the unique transportation system of the locks and brides along the Rideau Canal.

Onto Quebec City for the next leg of our journey!!

A New Direction

I don’t remember a time when I was so looking forward to starting a new adventure. I couldn’t think of why until I realized we really had not been on a major trip for almost two years (last winter on Vancouver Island couldn’t count as an adventure – it was an escape). We were ready to leave Monday night but we managed to stall until dawn Tuesday morning.
The First Leg
We have often travelled the road to Shelby (Montana) but this time we turned left and headed off in a new direction. Highway 2 through eastern Montana is mile after mile of flat straight road where a curve or a hill becomes a major event. With no trees or buildings to break the wind, every gust slams against the Motorhome and it’s often tough to keep the rig on the right side of the narrow, shoulderless road. Small white crosses along the side of the road mark every highway death and train tracks shadow both sides of the road. There seems to be more trains on the tracks than vehicles on the road.

Occasionally a tree, house or outbuildings pop up off the edge of a stubble field. Mostly the buildings are abandoned and desolate with the sense that of whoever lived there didn’t care, moved away and left the buildings as monuments to better days gone by.

Towns and grain elevators erupt on the horizon. It seems like hours before you get to where you think they should be and they can still be miles away. For the most part, it takes less than a couple of minute to get from one end of a town to the other but each town has a ‘Bar an Grill’ – some operating and others boarded up. Churches like so many of the buildings around them are unkempt but still had a cross sitting above the big welcoming doorways but there is no one to welcome.
It surprised me how isolated and desolate this part of the State feels. I wonder what happened to all the people who considered those run down deserted houses their ‘cherished homes’. There must be hundreds of stories about how they got there, what they did there and why they left.
We didn’t get to North Dakota until our second day out and what a difference. The flat plains gradually changed to more rolling hills and there was a well maintained – four-lane divided highway except for a few miles just west of Minot, ND. The fields were lush with sunflowers and corn waiting to be harvested. The yards and houses showed signs of life, pride and caring.
Small towns doted the landscape and every town has something they are famous for. We passed one place that claimed it was the ‘Cattle Capital of North Dakota’ and then there was the sign about 5 miles outside of Rugby, ND that said we were at the geographical centre of North America. The most unexpected was the billboard sign for a Winery. I just never imagined a winery in North Dakota – who’d thunk it?! The rain had just started when we landed in Minot, so we settled in there for the night.
Next day destination?! Bemidji, Minnesota. If nothing else, I was totally fascinated by the name and wanted to find out more. As we travelled into Minnesota, we moved into ‘cottage country’ – the area that caters to cottagers and tourists – “land of a thousand lakes,” thick growth of trees, cottages, resorts, and the like – but we are outside the major tourist time and if places are not already closed down, they are getting ready. We spent the night in a park just north of the town and with considerable effort, I managed to persuade Fred to visit town the next morning.
The first OOPS! Damn, we missed the road into town – no place to turn around. To my chagrin and Fred’s usual ‘good nature and blue-air words’ we had to disconnect the car to get turned around. Being able to back up is a definite advantage of the fifth wheel over the Motorhome and car.

Depending upon who you talk to, Bemidji means either
‘where the rivers converge’ or it was named after the first friendly Native chief that the white man encountered.
Bemidji bears claim to Paul Bunyan and the Blue Ox (like so many other places) but it does have some interesting sculptures throughout the town
We spent so little time in Wisconsin I almost forgot we stopped there – but we did and managed to find an informative, well designed little historic and wildlife Interpretation Center just before we left the State.
The first leg culminated at Jan and Fred’s in Rapid River (Upper Michigan) – a couple we met in Las Cruses, New Mexico and traveled to Mexico with in 2002-3 I managed to get a great picture of the Two Freds very similar to the one we took 5 years ago – neat, eh?!

We spent a few days touring around with them. More to Come!!
Need to get this posted!!

Trip Plans – Twelve more Sleeps

Priorities, priorities, priorities – we are leaving in a couple of weeks (about 12 more sleeps) on our biggest RV adventure yet.

We are heading east – out to Cape Breton (the home of Jacob’s Tails) and then we will follow the changing of the leaves down through Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, etc (I’m not really sure all the states we go through – that’s Fred’s department). We get onto something called the Natchez Trace Parkway outside of Nashville, TN and will eventually end up in Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and then up the west coast to BC and home. That should take care of the next eight months. Can you just imagine all the pictures and Blog entries I’m going to have?! Anyway – that’s the plans!!

We leave right after Labour Day – the same day the kids go back to school! – think there might be a connection?

Our plan is to go down to the States and travel through Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. We’ll cross the border again at Sault Ste. Marie.

We’ve left ourselves plenty of time just in case we want to explore!!

From Sault Ste. Marie we’ll head towards Killaloe and Perth to check in on friends and make sure they have aged as well as we have – then through Quebec, New Brunswick and into Nova Scotia.

We would like to be able to see folks around Ottawa and I would really love to go to Quebec City again.

We should be into the Maritimes by the first of October, if not earlier.

So – what do you think??

If you’re on our route, let us know how to get in touch with you and we can share a lie or two!

Lynne & Fred

Jacob’s Tails . . . - the book launching

Did I ever tell you that one of the biggest reasons I left the Consulting World was because I was so tired of continually having to market? Hello! Guess what it takes to get ‘Jacob’s Tails . . .’ introduced to the world? Of course – it’s the marketing gig all over again!! I don’t know what I thought – maybe I just didn’t think . . . what do you do with all these books once you have them in your hot little hand? I maybe older now, but I don’t know if I am any wiser!!

Okay – Web Site – we got THAT (www.firstepbooks.com) and we even got it set up so that ‘Jacob’s Tails . . .’ is available as an e-book or hard copy with a credit card or Pay Pal. So, tell me – what good does that do if nobody knows it’s there or how to find it or even know if they might be interested in finding out about Jacob and his adventures?

So, where do we go from there? Well in my naïve mind, my first inclination was to search out the web sites that might be interested and let them know that Jacob was ready to tell his stories. Like I used to say to my career transition clients – how much rejection do you think you can tolerate?!

Back to the drawing board! Back to that personal one-on-one thing! I still think that is the best way to go . . . BUT . . . of course, there is always a BUT . . . I’m not going to start my campaign around here until we get back in the spring – why, you say?! We have this HUGE adventure planned and we’re leaving in a couple of weeks – detail to follow in the next posting (next week, I hope).

Just so you know a couple of people have read Jacob’s Tails . . . and here are their reviews.

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Jacob's Tails . . . Review by Alice Zyetz (http://www.rvhometown.com)
Congratulations to Lynne Benjamin, RV author, for her delightful book about her return to the land with husband Fred during the sixties as told by their dog, Jacob. He captures the adventurous spirit of his humans, who he says "tried, survived and are here to tell their tails."
Jacob's Tails recounts Lynne and Fred's experiences in a relatively underdeveloped area where they could build a home, raise their own food, generate their own power, and struggle to be self-sufficient. Lynne has selected an unusual narrator to tell her tale (oops, I mean tail). Rather than saying how she felt when she couldn't find the right property immediately, she lets Jacob describe her as "something like I look when I'm disappointed and walk off with my tail between my legs."
The book begins with Lynne and Fred's early attempts to find the right property and the adventure of title search where the data is embedded in the original handwritten land grants with descriptions like "starting at the spruce tree on the northeast corner wall, walk 100 steps east to the border . . . ." Jacob (er, um, Lynne) goes on to detail the dome house Fred designed and built and the unexpected disasters they encountered when they first arrived. RVers will note that their experiences are not unlike experiences on the road when our travel karma is not working.
The story continues with the choices they made, the day-to-day tasks they had creating their lifestyle, including raising goats, sheep, and pigs and planting fields of strawberries, turnips and plentiful kitchen vegetables. Photos add another dimension to the tails. I highly recommend Lynne and Jacob's book for an engaging and honest read that will carry you on their journey back to the land.
Visit the website http://www.firstepbooks.com to order the book as an e-book or hard copy. Contact Lynne at 2firstep@gmail.com for more information.
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Alice Zyetz, Author, Taking the Mystery out of Retiring to an RV
Co-author, The Woman's Guide to Solo Rving, Taking the Mystery out of RV Writing
Co-editor, RV Traveling Tales: Women's Journeys on the Open Road
Author, You Shoulda Listened to Your Mother: 36 Timeless Success Tips for Working Women

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Jacob's Tails by Lynne Benjamin portrays a humorous interesting story of her and hubby Fred's trip down memory lane. Lynne relays their adventures during the early 70's - a time when it was important for young people to become independent, self-sufficient, and free spirits, while they 'returned to the land'. Telling a story through the eyes of their pet dog Jacob is such a unique and unusual concept. This 150 page book is an easy and very enjoyable read. With all the heavy events happening in this world today, why not add this funny, humorous, captivating and unusual story to your reading entertainment?
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Peggi McDonald, Author of RV Living in the 21st Century and webhost of www.rvliving.net
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Thanks Alice and Peggi! Any review would be gratefully accepted

Stay tuned for details on our eight month adventure!!