In what is becoming an annual thing for me, I’ll be starting on another North American road trip soon. Compared to my road trip around the western US and Canada last fall, this should be relatively short.
I am pretty apprehensive about this trip. My father left the hospital this week was placed in a nursing home/rehabilitation facility. He is no longer on dialysis, had his tracheotomy tube removed and has been breathing on his own for a few weeks now. He is still very weak however, and has issues with his memory. He can’t seem to remember anything beyond a few hours and thinks he was in the hospital because he was in a car accident. Right now we are just hoping he gets stronger so he can have the heart surgery he needs.
I’ve talked to my mom about it and she agrees that I should go. If something should happen while I’m gone, I’m no more than one long day of driving from my dad.
My plan for the east coast trip is to basically make a giant loop around the Great Lakes, with most of my time being spent in the Maritime provinces. I’ll be gone most of August. One of the reasons I’m doing this trip is because I’ve never been to the New Englands states or the Maritime Provinces. It is the one part of North American I’ve never really explored. Depending on how long it takes, I might swing through Minneapolis to attend the wedding reception for my college roommate.
Several highlights of this trip will be:
- The National Mall and Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. The Air and Space Museum is one of my favorite in the world.
- I’ll be meeting with some travel industry people in New York and Boston.
- The Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.
- Some spectacular photos in Newfoundland
- The French Territory of St. Pierre off the coast of Newfoundland.
- Visiting the old parts of Quebec City and Montreal
- Mackinac Island in Michigan. I haven’t been there since I was a kid.
I’ll also be able to get some photos for 10 World Heritage Sites, 8 of which I’ve never visited before:
- Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville
- Independence Hall, Pennsylvania
- The Statue of Liberty, New York
- Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia
- Old Town Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
- Gross Morne National Park, Newfoundland
- L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, Newfoundland
- Miguasha National Park, New Brunswick
- Historic District of Old Quebec
- Rideau Canal, Ontario
These will be a huge step towards my long term goal of writing a photo book about about 250 World Heritage Sites. I’m almost half way there :)
If you live anywhere along my route and would like to meet up, feel free to drop me a line.