Last updated November 10, 2025
A collection of trip reports, with photos. Mostly parts of Canada, but with some United States and a little bit of Central America. Images and titles link to details. Presented in reverse chronological order.
Post-retirement travel
We don’t actually have huge plans yet, but in case something comes up there, I’ll create this section. (And note that we’re still in a pandemic!)
Trip to PEC, October 2025: Thought we’d make the first post-retirement joint vacation simple, with a return to pleasant wine country not so far away. Hikes, boutique wineries, quality independent restaurants, and a charming inn were the highlights.
Vacations during the new normal
I don’t want to say “post Pandemic” so I’ll go with this label…
Return to Niagara: April 2025. Some things old (Strewn, Treadwell’s, Fielding Estates), some things new (NOTL, Caroline Cellars Farmhouse, Crush), nothing borrowed (I don’t think), and some things blue (the sky, two out of the four days).
Quebec City and Montreal 2024: Seven days, many cafes, one bike tour, so many patios, so much sun, much ambling, one museum, an island (well, actually two), and great chance to refresh the français.
Ottawa 2024: In three hot and steamy days, we did one winery, two long walks, one museum, two excellent restaurant patio dinners, and stayed at one fine hotel.
The rest of these are pointing to blog posts.
- Won’t whine about the amount of wine – March 2024: Niagara-on-the-Lake and Beamsville. Hardly new, but a really nice time visiting inns, wineries, and restaurants at a quieter time of year in those parts.
- Early to Timmins – December 2023: Visiting Timmins earlier in December again, this time with Jean.
- But we didn’t dine on patios 24/7 – September 2023: A trip to Prince Edward County, Amonte (which is delightful!), and Ottawa. Also wrote separately about our dining experiences.
- Purple haze, purple rain – June 2023: A trip to Timmins, then Toronto, during which we had to deal with another problem of our age: poor air quality due to smoke from forest fires worsened by climate change. We still had fun on the trip, though!
- Five five-star restaurants in five days – March 2023. A really incredible run of meals in Niagara-on-the-Lake, then Toronto (many selected because the establishments seemed more Covid-safe).
Pandemic vacations
July 2020 to…(forever? One wonders.) (These ones link to blog posts.)
- Bit of a rocky road north – November 2022. Some challenges on the trip north to attend the memorial service for Jean’s Mom.
- Visiting the Plateau during a plateau – October 2022. A Flair Airlines trip to Montreal.
- Goderich exceeds expectations – August 2022: Goderich and area (a very nice short trip, actually, featuring wineries, hikes, patios…)
- Timmins again in June 2022! I don’t even think we have photos. But was good to see family. Also featured my first flight since 2019, Timmins to Toronto, which had a four-hour delay (relatively speaking, not so bad, though it made me very cranky at the time).
- Wining and dining while trying to avoid cooties – March 2022: Niagara-on-the-Lake (too early for patios, too late for vaccine passports: welcome to the joys of luppering)
- Timmins photos (no blog post for this) – January 2022: Post-Christmas visit with the parents, and a stop in Sudbury
- Yet another Ontario vacation – November 2021: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Kingsville (vaccine passport-ing our way back inside)
- Killarney Mountain Lodge – September 2021: Killarney (staying at a lodge while hiking the beautiful landscape)
- Traveling to all the hotspots – June 2021: Sudbury, Timmins, Orillia (mostly about seeing family again for the first time in months! Since a lot of stuff was still shut down)
- Second wave sojourn – October 2020: Ottawa, Kingston area (strategies to stay safe as we sneak in a trip just before everything shuts down again)
- Pandemic vacation in Quebec – August 2020: Gananoque, Quebec City, Montreal (quite a lovely trip with almost all-patio dining and some newly reopened museums)
- Moving through the stages – July 2020: Orillia, Timmins, Sudbury, Muskoka (featuring the thrill of the first restaurant meals in months…)
Driving vacations, most of which took place in Fall
Mostly Ontario, but with a bit of New York state thrown in…
- Vacation in Ganonoque and area – October 6 to 11, 2019
- Niagara-on-the-Lake, Finger Lakes, and Prince Edward County – October 2015
- Timmins, Ottawa, and Finger Lakes – October 2013
- Northern Ontario – October 2 to 11, 2010
- Niagara Getaway – March 2010 (blog post)
- Orillia, Singhampton, Creemore – November 9 to 10, 2009 (blog post)
The U.S. of A.
The city that never sleeps and Quebec’s metropolis
October 2016
We added Montreal since it’s expensive to be in New York for a full week, but this was mostly about visiting New York City again. (We enjoyed Montreal, too, though!)
Seattle, Mount Rainier, Olympic Park
October 11 to 19, 2014
The Mount Rainier and Olympic Park parts are mostly so fuzzy in memory, they might as well have happened to someone else. (And no, I wasn’t drunk.) Seattle I remember a little better. But still good I wrote it all down at the time!
Zion Sedona Grand Canyon Las Vegas
October 8 to 16, 2011
Overture, curtain, lights. This is it, we hit the heights. Scaling dizzying mountains and descending the grandest of canyons; staying in the fanciest ever hotel rooms, and encountering the biggest rock group of all time (in a sense). In Vegas and area.
San Francisco, Yosemite, and Napa—All in one week! (Not in that order)
September 26 to October 4, 2009
Our first and, so far, only trip to California. We hiked in the heat in Yosemite, had too much wine in Napa and Sonoma, and took in the culture of San Francisco. Lovely state (at least back then).
Chicago weekend
May 8 to 12, 2008
Getting to Chicago an unusual way: by train.
Recommended!
New York City weekend, 2008
March 20 to 23, 2008
During the year when it was hard for Jean to take a whole week off, so we did a number of long weekends not as far away. My second time in New York (first was for work), and his first.
US visits in pre-blog times
- In 2001, we went to Alaska. We rented a motorhome and drove around for one week, then took a Holland America Cruise (with Jean’s Mom and sister) the second. Alaska 2001 photo gallery
- We also took at least one and possibly two trips to the Vermont area. The first I recall that we didn’t have the greatest weather, and were just a little too early for the best of fall colours. We did like the food and some of the shops.
- We have also been to Cleveland(!), solely to visit the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. I loved it, and Jean got a good rest in the video room.
- For work, I once went to a conference in Orlando, Florida, staying at a Disney Hotel (!). I arrived early enough to visit one park (on my own; no one else much had arrived yet), and selected Universal Studios. Quite the operation, those parks. I was impressed. (Also, it’s really hot in Florida. And this was only May.)
- For work, Jean once went to New Orleans, Louisiana—this was before Katrina. He went down early and I joined him, then flew back before he did. I believe we were there for Halloween. Bourbon Street, the French Quarter… Really pretty wild. Delicious food.
- And, and also for work, I once went to Lake Charles, Louisiana, which is a pretty sleepy little place. And hot! I was very worried about driving there (I’m not much of a driver), but it was really fine.
- Another work trip: Boston! Jean came with. Some good restaurants here, and we quite enjoyed the John Kennedy museum, and seriously considered buying a Matisse print. The conference hotel was gorgeous.
Eastern Canada
25th wedding anniversary party: An inside look
May 6, 2017
Let’s invite some people to dinner, then rent a hall to have a dance! How hard could it be?
Well…
Quebec and Charlevoix region
Early June 2009
A better time of year to visit this area than on our first attempt. Quite a lovely getaway, with great weather and delicious food, despite my obsession with not overspending. Also notable: Our first time in PEC, and Gananoque did not impress us much.
Iles-de-la-Madeleine 2006
September 2 to 9, 2006
A week in this picturesque part of Canada, between Quebec and Prince Edward Island.
Sea, sand, wind, and wildlife.
Visiting the Charlevoix region
October 22 to 30, 2005
Our first trip to this region, with some other stops on the way.
Main lesson: Not the best time of year to go.
2004 Trip to Eastern Canada
July 3 to 17, 2004
Planes, trains boats, and automobiles… Not the most cost-effective way to get to and around the East Coast of Canada, but did make for an interesting and varied trip. We visited Montreal, Nova Scotia, PEI, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, and Quebec City.
Central America
Costa Rica via Caravan bus tour
February 4 to 13, 2007
The first and, so far, only time we’ve been to Central America.
Also the first and, so far, only time we’ve travelled by bus tour.
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