My Life and Adventures with cars PART TWO

 My career took me to different companies that all involved driving in some cases involving commutes of over 40 minutes and others that involved fair size sales territories.  Working with my brother in law who was a partner in an ad agency I ended up doing a lot of freelance sales work for a personal client Orange aPEEL  I helped set up wholesalers and then the strategy was to convince some of their retail clients to stock our product.  Fortunately the wholesalers were expanding from a small base in Ontario to a bigger base.  One factor I noticed was that sales declined in the summer and felt one reason was that many of our pet owner  consumers left for cottages.  One of our wholesalers was expanding to cottage country and beyond.  I went on longer and longer trips and eventually overnight.  I went as far north as Kapuskasing, west as far as Sault Ste. Marie and Windsor and as far east as Gananoque and even Ottawa.  Vet clinics were added on expanding the calls I could make.  Read more more on my Ontario expanded driving.

http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/06/travels-of-salesman-part-1-ontario.html 

 My daughter, Heather insisted that she wanted to go to King's College in Halifax.  Nobody in our families had ever been to Halifax, but in fact it enriched us all.  It was agreed that Heather and her mother would fly, but that someone would have to cart some furniture and other supplies.  I asked the boss at Orange aPEEL if he would help pay hotel expenses if I sold in the Maritimes.  Some of our existing wholesalers (mostly ones I had set up) had a toehold in the Maritimes.  It was agreeable to us all.  Heather ended up there for five years and I made two two way trips each year.

An important step in the process was staying in my sister's home in Brossard, on the  south shore of Montreal.  I learned two routes through New Brunswick and looped around Nova Scotia covering most of the vet clinics and pet stores in those two provinces and Prince Edward Island.  A conversation with my brother in law, Ali while in Brossard suggested I would as an anglophone do better in Quebec than a francophone would do in Ontario.  I got some help from a French speaking co-worker, Jacques Major who helped me with an introductory speech and later with a special story aimed at receptionists.  Beyond that my French was pretty pathetic, but could struggle with a helpful francophone who proved to be the majority.  But the bonus was that many clinics hired bilingual receptionists or even better they called in their bilingual boss so I was able to talk directly to the decision maker.  I was able to add in two more wholesalers and one of our Ontario wholesalers expanded in both Quebec and the Maritimes.  One co-worker joked that I was really on a vacation, but in fact I was very busy.   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/07/travels-of-salesman-part-3-quebec.html

On my first trip studying maps I found a shortcut to a stop in Windsor, Nova Scotia.  It reminded of where I learned to drive, with hills and curvy roads.  Ironically Windsor was home to Thomas Halliburton whose name was taken for the county where I learned to drive.  Most of the places I called in Nova Scotia were on the ocean and I wondered what was in the middle.  I discovered with one single call that cut across the middle and it turns out the answer is trees.

Read about expanding to the Maritimes.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/07/travels-of-salesman-part-two-maritimes.html

At the beginning my trips to the Maritimes were ignoring the bigger audience in francophone Quebec but that too entered my life.  

Car rentals weren't part of my life until one vacation where I had won a trip to Florida.  My father in law advised us to rent a car from Rent A Wreck which we did from the Tampa airport.  Unknown to me the condo manager had not been told of my visit, but even though the car didn't look like a trustworthy person was driving he believed my story, my wife and four year old daughter were grateful.  We visited Disney World, Busch Gardens, Cape Canaveral and lots of other sites.  On my only other trip to Florida we used them again, but my brother in law had to have his towed away.

 On vacations we often flew to a site and rented a car.  From Montreal I rented a Prius, my first experience with an environmentally friendly car.  All I can remember is after returning from Quebec City I had a lot of trouble turning off a loud alarm at my sister's.  Other vacations were to British Columbia.  One time we flew to Vancouver, took a ferry over to Victoria and the next day took another ferry ride to and from Vancouver so my son could compete in a track meet..  Then again we took the ferry back to the airport.  The next time we flew directly to Victoria.  One memorable trip was after we picked up my friend, Bob Stone at the ferry depot in Nanaimo we headed to Tofino, but Bob steered us to the old route that took us by Coombs for a unique retail experience where you could see goats eating grass on top of a store..  We hit Tofino in the off season, but an interesting place.

The most interesting rental experience came after my car was called to garage and I was told they needed it for a few days.  This happened at the start of the Easter weekend when I was supposed to leave for Halifax.  I had well over 100 sales stops planned.  We couldn't get hold of any rental cars that had any available.  Someone suggested try an airport and we were able to rent one from the Toronto Airport and with not that many choices I ended up with a high performance car.  My son was thrilled when I brought it home and the next day I left.  I soon found it could accelerate much faster than my car and I found myself passing other cars, even long streams on two lane highways.  When I met my daughter she was disappointed that wouldn't let her drive it because of rental rules.  When I returned it they at first tried to charge me for all the extra mileage (about $800 as I recall), but they reverted to original agreement considerably cheaper.

Backtrack a little.  On my previous trip to Halifax my daughter had a beginners permit and had taken driver education.  The lens on my glasses came out about 8 in the morning.  Anxious to get going I had my daughter drive to the next town,  Truro where I got my glasses fixed and I realized if I let my daughter drive I could make my sales calls a little bit better prepared.  I made lots of calls and finally decided around 5 pm or so in Edmonston I would take over as it would soon get dark.  Reaching my sister's I remembered my brother-in-law's original instructions and although I was too confused to use them, this time coming from the opposite direction I did remember.  The next day we got early and left as the Montreal rush hour was in full swing and Heather drove through that.  Again I made lots of calls and when we reached Toronto we again hit very heavy traffic.  Heather handled it very well.  Shortly after our trip when Heather went for her license test the tester pressed for time asked her if she had any highway experience and after she explained she had driven most of the way from Halifax, including three rush hours he let her get the license on her first effort. 

My career has wound down.  Towards the end I found myself once a month delivering newspapers (The Rider, a horse lover publications) over a wide area.  It was my idea to set up a number of librairies spread over four counties.  Another thing happened when one of the partners' mother needed a ride to visit her husband each day in a retirement home.  We had an interesting conversations and I learned to play a game she was fond of.  The game was trying to figure out what vanity plates meant. I got to the point where I could sometimes ask a driver.  Read more:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/02/driving-with-miss-jane.html

Some of you may have duplicated some of my favorite drives and others looking for something interesting.  Here is a list of some of my favorites.

When I decided to make a few sales calls to Sydney, Nova Scotia I saw two routes so I took them both.  One was the old highway with lots of winding and lake views.  Rita McNeil had a stop along the way.  The other way was a modern highway that wasn't at all boring. At one point I stopped at Baddeck which overlooks Bras d'or Lake where Alexander Graham Bell flew the first airplane in Canada. 

The normal route to Halifax had been done a few times and I needed to expand my sales efforts so looking at a map discovered the Atlantic side of New Brunswick which meant driving a little further through Quebec past Rimouski one could head down to Campbellton, New Brunswick through Matapedia country that was another hilly, curvy road with lots of trees.  Very entrancing.

Switching coasts and under the guidance of Bob Stone, we decided to seek out Tofino.  Bob suggested we take the old road that included Coombs with a most interesting retail store.  Along the way we passed Port Alberni (earlier I had interviewed Bill Robinson, a famous basketball player from there) where a tsunami had once reached.  Tofino is a backpacker's ideal.   The three of us stayed overnight.

In Ontario I became attached to Picton in Prince Edward County.  Mostly I approached it through Belleville, but on one occasion curious about a different route out of Kingston I discovered there was a ferry boat ride to the town of Picton.  Just my idea of a quaint village with lots of pleasant landscape in an out.

Another pleasant drive was from the town of New Liskeard which sits on Lake Temiskaming lead to Hailebury with the lake on my left the whole way.  Only one time I approached New Liskeard through Quebec on the other side.  Also scenic.

In case you missed it link to Part One:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/02/my-life-and-adventures-with-cars-part.html

Driving and Freedom

My father was a truck driver and a champion car rally driver, but it made it difficult for me to learn to drive.   I was very intimidated by his expectations.  Never learned to drive a stick shift, but did finally get my licence at age 18 thanks to high school driver ed at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School.  More on my father at http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/06/remembering-my-father.html

After graduating from university the job market didn't click for me.  In some ways I was very naive and thought prospective employers would jump at the opportunity to channel my brains and my charm, but for a very long time nothing clicked.  My parents were in despair, but finally I hit on the idea of being a social worker.

Somehow my qualifications did send the right message.  The one obstacle was that a car was required.  My parents saw that as an opportunity to get me to fly out of the nest and arranged for me to get a car and the necessary insurance.  Elsewhere I have recounted that the job only lasted six months and that I learned about how a car's value can depreciate more than the principle declines.  One of the more valuable lessons learned.  Another was driving to Wasaga Beach and Midland, places that I dragged my future wife and later my family to.

Here I was stuck with a car and payments and no job.  But the car it turned out was an asset.  Six months later I landed my second full time job and a car was a necessity.  I ended up living in Burlington with a sister and traveling on the job all over the Niagara Peninsula

Met my wife due to a series of weird chances.  Came home early on my birthday with the intention of watching my alma mater, University of Guelph play basketball on tv game of the week.  Tv didn't work and on impulse (actually thought birthday a big disappointment) drove to Guelph, about 40 minutes away and leanred game had been played the nite before.  Making the best of bad luck I called on some old friends and eventually ended going on a blind date with my future wife.  How I met my wife:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/08/how-i-met-my-wife.html

At least two fascinating things got my attention on the job.  One was the Welland Canal tunnel and the other was Niagara-on-the Lake.  I felt compelled to take my future wife and surprisingly she hadn't seen either.   Doing a little bit of calculation I managed to work in the Fort Erie area and drive over to Buffalo to watch a basketball game.  This escalated my interest in basketball which led to further escalations described in another blog.  Basketball led me on some interesting adventures:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/02/my-basketball-projects-part-one.html

I learned of a job from one of the people I investigated that sounded ideal--I was a big newspaper reader and had enjoyed working with young people--circulation.  My car again was an asset--supervising youngsters and collecting their money spent years doing it--taking a car load out canvassing (borrowed wife's bigger older car to win prize).  A bit more on how I won a contest with family help:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/02/memorable-vacation.html

I worked for several newspapers and eventually ended up as a traveling salesmen selling a variety of things described elsewhere.    This meant even more driving and more opportunities.  At this time I was enjoying the best of big cities (Toronto, later Montreal), middle sized cities, small towns and rural areas.  My personality had got the best results in rural areas but big cities had a variety of things I became mesmerized with.

My daughter, Heather decided to focus on journalism in King's College in Halifax--with my newspaper circulation background I tried to talk her out of it, but in the end respected her choice.  neither of us had ever been to the Maritimes so it seemed unnecessarily far away. I had been pretty much centred on where I lived (Oshawa, Haliburton) and Guelph, but was pleased my daughter could expand her horizons. At this time I was selling a product that was pretty much out of someone's garage, but I had the freedom to sell it anywhere in Canada.  This opened up new doors and I ended up selling in the Maritimes and Quebec.  I fell in love with Ile d'Orleans and my wife and I vacationed there and different parts of Nova Scotia where we also vacationed, Oak Island, Yarmouth, Wolfeville.  Before cars most of us lived relatively provincial lives.  People are the same everywhere, but they are also unique.  Always found new pastures fascinating.

On one Easter weekend I had planned to travel to Halifax to pick up Heather and make some sales calls   My car stalled and was going to require major repairs.  I was encouraged to rent a car, everything seemed closed, except the airport.  The most powerful car to date and it gave me a another level of freedom (or feeling powerful)

Another Maritime pickup my glasses broke--Heather ended up driving through rush hour Halifax, Montreal and Toronto on a learner's permit--helped her get her licence--worked out good for me--while she drove I could map out where to go and get rested  (she was already a capable driver)

I remember driving to the Maritimes and meeting people I had met at trade shows back in Ontario. Why would they do that?  Ironically they wanted to meet sales people to learn and didn't meet enough at their remote location.  I found I was appreciated a lot more in such areas.

Lately not drive so much--one delivery run for The Rider as one way to alleviate cash flow, but also to seek out new prospects and speed up advertiser response  plus also a little private shopping

At my father's funeral I was struck with my sister Rebecca's eulogy.  Amongst many other details she mentioned that my father loved visiting different places and taking different routes.  It seems that gene was inherited.  Furthermore my son Michael has taken it a step further and has been in several countries in Europe, Asia and Africa and now resides in New Zealand.  On a recent visit I was struck how at home he is driving on the left hand side of the road.

Freedom is a big topic and driving is only one factor.  Our ancestors were very limited in where they could go and how fast.   If you were rich you had less restrictions, but even they could go no further than a horse could take them.  So in one sense anyone with a car has more freedom than the richest person two hundred years ago.

What's to like?--no supervisor over your shoulder--listening to radio I learned where I could hit a CBC or NPR station almost anywhere.  I also listened to a variety of  tapes, some self improvement, bu also entertainment and then moving with the times to  CD.  Seeing interesting places (all places are interesting partly inversely to how familiar you are with them)--open up opportunities (wholesalers in Maritimes, Quebec)--interesting challenges such as when I decided I could make sales calls on francophones although my French skills were pathetic.  Some travel adventures can be read at: http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/07/travels-of-salesman-part-3-quebec.html to Quebec; in the Maritimes http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/07/travels-of-salesman-part-two-maritimes.html ands in Ontario, http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/06/travels-of-salesman-part-1-ontario.html

What's not to like?--Although access to a car got my career started I often wondered if I gave up opportunities that might have paid more, but did not have the advantages of driving. Driving can be expensive, unless you have a company car or a generous expense account.   For a brief time I did have a company car and have had reasonable expenses most of the time supplemented by Revenue Canada deductions.  Garage time at one stage was disruptive and time consuming.  I normally spent 10+ hours away from home or between motels, often longer.  I considered driving a perk of the job--there always seemed to be somebody willing to let me drive at my expense while they paid a commission.

Despite the current situation it seems likely the price of gas and other operating costs are going to increase to the point where fewer traveling sales jobs can be justified.  Email and the internet have given many a more practical alternative.  The future is probably more mass transit, more electronic communication, maybe more air travel for vacations.  Climate change was not a concern for most of my career and I feel a bit guilty that I was able to take advantage of the lesser awareness.

Photo story:  The Bridge to Ile D'Orleans.  I had overshot a sales call which resulted in my first view of Ile d'Orleans which in turn led to two enjoyable vacations illustrating to me the freedom of driving.

TRAVELS OF A SALESMAN PART TWO: MARITIMES

My daughter Heather decided she wanted to go to King's College in Halifax and we were not able to dissuade her. Nobody in our combined families had ever been to the Maritimes.  It was decided that I would take furniture in my car while my wife and daughter flew to the Halifax Airport.

 

One of my bosses agreed to share some of the expenses if I was able to sell in the Maritimes.  We had only a token reach through existing wholesalers, so my first trip was pioneering.  I did some research and eventually got a new wholesaler in the Maritimes and in the meantime one of our Ontario wholesalers expanded in a big way to the Maritimes,  Eventually we got more distribution channels to the east coast.

On my first trip to the Maritimes I studied a map very closely trying to pick the shortest route between logical sales calls.  I wanted to make a call in Windsor, Nova Scotia at a tack store.  I chose a short cut off of the Trans Canada Highway.  The road brought back memories of where I learned to drive in Haliburton county in Ontario with its hilly and curvy roads.  An irony was that Windsor was a long time residence of Thomas Chandler Haliburton, an early Canadian humorist who was the inspiration for the name of Haliburton County.

Over a five year period making two trips a year dropping off stuff and picking up other stuff, sometimes including my daughter.   I took different routes and covered most of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. I found Maritimers on the whole more welcoming than elsewhere. Many of the people I called were not inundated with sales reps and looked at my visits as a source of information. As I was further from home, I stayed at more motels and ate at more restaurants and got to know things.

One prospect at a tack store near Fredericton I had spotted at a equine trade show in Ontario over a few years.  I questioned him why they always made an effort to make the trade show.  I was told "we want to tell our customers about new things, instead of them telling us."  The desire for information was evident in most of my calls.

As I like to do with all new places ahead of time I read up and try to soak in some of the culture.  At one point I read a history of Halifax by Thomas Raddall, expecting to be numbed by a lot of boring details.  I was surprised by the number of interesting things that had happened in Nova Scotia and was even more impressed with his style of writing.  It turned out that he was really a novelist who decided to write some local history.  I ended up buying a lot of his novels, finding them easy to read and full of unexpected history.  I visited a book store in his town of Liverpool.

Music is also an important part of my enjoyment.  I discovered Gordie Sampson and Natalie McMaster; even saw both of them in Hamilton.  I discovered Rawlin's Cross, a band with a bagpiper and greatly enjoyed "MacPherson's Lament."  My daughter made me aware of the Great Big Sea.  Made being in the Maritimes more pleasurable and helped remind me when I was elsewhere.

Halifax is one of my favorite cities. One story I tell a lot is when you are walking down one side of a busy street and just thinking about crossing cars will stop in both directions to make it easier. I spent time on both sides of the harbour and visited many restaurants. Heather introduced me to Donairs (which I recently re-discovered in Burlington).  I will admit that I also bought a McLobster.

Halifax was a base for much of my sales travels while my wife enjoyed her vacation and helped our daughter get settled.  Loads of restaurants.  My first trip to Jack Astor's was engineered by Heather and a few years later I learned it is managed by the son of one of my Ontario contacts.  We saw Shakespeare outdoors.

 

On one trip my wife and I decided to go whale watching.  My brother Marshall and his Nova Scotian born wife, Jean had suggested Brier Island near Digby.  Two ferry boat rides which I think were $1.00 each even with my car.  My wife had been concerned about a whale going underneath the boat and that happened, but wasn't as scary.  Wonderful experience.

I went around the coasts of Nova Scotia and found a lot of enjoyable scenery. I was able to drag my wife around to some of it. Mahone Bay with the three churches, Lunenberg, designated a UNESCO heritage site, Liverpool (former residence of Thomas Raddall), Yarmouth, Digby and Wolfeville.  In Yarmouth we tried a Nova Scotian staple, rappie pie.

One trip I remember coming back with my daughter when a lens popped out from my glasses. With a long trip we couldn't wait to see a local optician who weren't open just yet so I let my daughter drive to the town of Truro where I got my glasses fixed. At that point I decided I would rather navigate and prepare for my sales calls. Heather was not too pleased about the stops for sales calls, but she liked driving and we shared radio stations. I made my last sales call in Edmundston and decided I would do the driving to my sister's in Brossard. It was late and Heather had been driving all day.

The next morning I decided to let my daughter drive and she got stuck with the Montreal rush hour starting with the Champlain Bridge. I made a few calls in Quebec, but mostly in Ontario. When we got to Toronto she again got rush hour traffic. A little later to get her license the tester asked if she had any highway driving and she explained she had driven from Halifax to Hamilton and without much further testing she got her license at a time when passing was not so easy.

Another trip with Heather we went to see Grand Falls in New Brunswick which had been of some interest to me, but this time there was hardly any flowing water.  The impression I had hoped to make on my daughter was not quite what I had expected.  I learned later that water had been diverted for irrigation.  I took her over the longest covered bridge in Canada in Hartland, New Brunswick.  

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I read about Oak Island in my efforts to learn more about the Maritimes.  A  fascinating mystery.  There is something buried there with all sorts of booby traps that have centuries later prevented unwelcome visitors from solving the mystery.  My favorite theory was that treasure was proof that Shakespeare's plays were really written by Roger Bacon.  The Templar Knights were said to bury secrets.  Another interesting theory was that it contained the booty from a raid on Havana, Cuba.  Now it is behind a no trespass sign.  I stayed at a nearby Motel (within view) twice. On one occasion I got a luxury room at a discounted price as it was off season.   http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/04/oak-island-obsession.html

I only visited Prince Edward Island once and covered it all in one day.  I took  the ferry boat and left by the Confederation bridge.  The roads were mostly two lane and pretty much rural.  Red soil was very prominent.  I remember two other things.  The ice cream was exceptionally good and the people were the friendliest anywhere on any of my travels.

My favorite drive anywhere is Cape Breton.  The first time I decided to do a big loop taking the old highway to Sydney and coming back on the new modern highway.  Both were very scenic.  At one time the ocean was on one side and Lake Bras d'Or on the other.  I have to say Sydney did not impress me very much, but I had a very pleasant encounter.  Years before I had sold over the phone some advertising specialties to a local radio station and they were so glad of my unannounced visit they gave me a special diary book.  On the way back I had to stop at Baddeck knowing it was where Alexander Graham Bell had flown the first airplane in Canada.  Looking at the Lake Bras d"Or I can appreciate why he chose to live there.

My second favorite drive was through an area of Quebec called Matapadia that started in Mont-Joli and continued to Campbellton, New Brunswick.  On one trip I stayed overnight after being told not to drive late at night for danger of moose.  I had never thought about them before, but have paid much more attention in Quebec and northern Ontario without seeing a moose except once.

When you look on a map or listen to news what you get is all along the coast.  The big question became what is in the middle of Nova Scotia?  One of my sales calls  was to Caledonia right in the middle and funnily enough there was a lumbering museum right near where I made my call.  The answer is trees.

My daughter made the decision to go to King's College.  In some ways it was a problem, but I am so glad for the opportunities to see a part of Canada previously unknown to me.  The whole family eventually became more aware of Nova Scotia.

I regret I didn't even know about digital cameras for most of my Maritime visits.  There is so much beautiful scenery.

Next post in this series is my experience on my travels in Quebec.  An area where I made almost no sales calls, especially to francophones until I realized I was missing a relatively huge market and a critical part of Canada.  You can read about my travels in Ontario at http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/06/travels-of-salesman-part-1-ontario.html You can read about my travel adventures to Quebec at  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/07/travels-of-salesman-part-3-quebec.html

Travel

At my father's funeral my sister described one attribute of my father that really hit me. I am like that too. My father was a truck driver and car rally driver who liked to take different routes. He also used to drag his kids on truck trips which at the time I didn't really appreciate.

Nonetheless I have chosen jobs that allowed me to move around and not be stuck at a desk all day. I probably lost something with those decisions, but I did like seeing different places.  As a social worker I discovered two places I later dragged my wife and kids to--one was a small lake inside Midland and the other was Wasaga Beach. As a salesman I found excuses to travel a little more, but a big breakthrough was when Heather decided to go to King's College in Halifax.

I grew up in Oshawa where my travel was not much more than a day away from home and I thought of it as the centre of the world. Sharon was upset about her daughter going so far away, but I thought it would be good for her to see more of the world than Hamilton. It turned out to be a real door opener for me as well.  I managed to open my sales territory to the Maritimes, at first very tentatively, but over the years I still have a sales connection to the Maritimes. I drove all around Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and one trip to Prince Edward Island.

Another big deal was getting to see my sister Rebecca. When she got married and moved to Montreal on her own (Ali was tied up in Morocco, but had decided he was willing to live in Montreal) I didn't visit, even though my father and most of my sisters had visited her. I realize she was on her own under tough circumstances. She had gotten a job playing piano at dancing classes and gradually picked up the French language and some friends. Ali moved in and they had two daughters, both of whom I had met, but in Ontario. I used Rebecca's home as a sort of a launching pad to drop off stuff and visit Heather in Halifax. I made sales calls on the way either near the 401 or in Ottawa. But I got up very early (3 am or so--and Rebecca always got up with me to help out) so I could drive to Fredericton where I could make a sales call in English. After doing this for a few times Ali pointed out that I could probably makes sales call in Quebec which I had avoided for the language problem. I got some help from Jacques Major at work who gave me a basic sales line that worked pretty good. I then made one or two sales calls on my way back--one of which despite a real language barrier actually yielded some results.

I then became quite keen on selling the Quebec market. I had opened up a wholesaler in Quebec that also covered the Maritimes, but had never really worked it in Quebec. I have covered just about every part of Quebec from Noranda to Rimouski to Lac St Jean. A couple of things came from this. I got to spend more time with my sister (as I used her house as a base for a lot of the Quebec calls--I not only enjoyed my sister who introduced me to lots of things in Montreal, but also Ali and their two daughters Leila and Samia. On one of my trips I decided to tackle Quebec City and was aware of two tourist attractions, but felt I didn't have time to see either. I saw both--I felt traffic forced me into old Quebec and I missed a turn and saw Montmorency Falls. In that area I first noticed Ile D'orleans. All I saw was a lot of trees and cars going over the bridge. Later I read something interesting in the local paper.

A few years later on my 60th birthday I was asked if there was anything special I wanted and I said I wanted to visit my sister Rebecca. At this time my traveling to the Maritimes and Quebec had ended (Heather back home and my job situation changed), but I missed my time with Rebecca's family. To make it a bigger trip for Sharon I decided to include Quebec City and dragged her to Ile D'Orleans which at first was a big disappointment for me and I was ready to give up, but Sharon thought once we are here let's at least follow the road around. From that time things turned much more pleasant for both of us. We liked Quebec City as well and on a subsequent trip spent almost a week at a bed and breakfast in Ile D'Orleans.

I should add in trips to visit my two children. Neither Sharon nor I had ever been to the Maritimes, but we were quite taken by Halifax. I dragged Sharon around to some places I had enjoyed on my sales trip--Oak Island, Yarmouth and my favorite Cape Breton. My brother Marshall and his wife Jean had enjoyed whale watching at Briar Island which we also enjoyed. We had both gone to Victoria before having children and had enjoyed it, but from walking and bus only When Michael decided to go there we visited and rented a car and enjoyed what Michael knew of Victoria and what we picked up from reading. Discovered a favorite restaurant--Il Paggliacci. On one trip we went to Tofino taking along my oldest friend, Bob Stone. On my first trip to Victoria it had been as an offshoot for visiting Bob and Adrienne who lived in north Vancouver. It really opened my eyes to advantages of travel. I had never understood ferry boats and didn't have a clear picture. I didn't realize how far apart Vancouver and Victoria were from one another. Since then I have been on a number of ferries, always with my car and recognize them as a major consideration.

Quebec opened my eyes--in Ontario I visualized Quebec as being Montreal and maybe Quebec City. Actually being there made me realize it is very much like Ontario with a variety of towns, villages. Montreal and Quebec City have cultures that are wonderful. Outside Quebec many people seem to think Quebekers could all speak English if they chose to, but in fact why should they--French is their natural language, their way of expressing themselves. This is really sketchy, but I hope indicates a love of travel.