Sept 23-25

Sept 23 – We have enjoyed a couple of days in Fredericton.  It is our favorite city in New Brunswick.  There is lots of history and good walking trails to enjoy.

The Historic Garrison District is a national historic site from 1784 that held British soldiers for almost 100 years.  In the summer only there is a changing of the guard ceremony, but not much going on in September.  The buildings remind us of the garrison buildings in other forts, for example, the Halifax Citadel.  The 23rd of September is a special open house day, so we are able to visit places not normally open to the public.  We see the Rogers TV station and the Bell radio stations, learning how technology has streamlined these businesses.  We also visit a fire station – unfortunately, we cannot enter the burn rooms or climb the training tower, but we visit the 911 center and view all the fire trucks and equipment.  We also learn about the Jaws of Life equipment.  Our last stop is the City Hall where we see 27 woven historical tapestries in the city council chambers.  As well, the clockworks are on display.  This was a prototype for London’s Big Ben.  The visits are all super interesting and the staff very accommodating to all the visitors.

Sept 24 – we continue wandering Fredericton, visiting the Legislative Building with its very Victorian chambers and beautiful gold mace.  We head to the Governor General’s residence, but there are no tours today, so we walk in the sunshine along the many pathways and a pedestrian bridge over the Saint John River.

Sept 25 – After arranging some medical insurance and doing some winterizing (it was down to -1 last night and cold), we drive to Hartland.  We can see the foliage changing color now.  In Hartland we see the world’s longest covered bridge at 1282 feet.  It is very pretty and we manage to find a place to boondock right beside it!  We see a lot of trucks going back and forth, full of potatoes and then back empty.  This is because there is a Humpty Dumpty potato chip plant nearby.

Tomorrow we are planning to head into Maine and say farewell to Canada.  Our total mileage so far is 18,500 km through Canada.

Our Travels Across Canada