Grandpa Byler is 90

On Sept. 2, Grandpa turned 90.  It seemed fitting to celebrate.  We invited family & friends and had a very nice turn out and evening down at the pond.  I attempted to take a few pics but most of them weren't that great.  I really like his expression on this one though.... He really seemed to enjoy the evening!

He is sitting beside his oldest great grandson, Ryan, 

and oldest great great grandson, Luke.

We are so thankful for his good health.  He has enjoyed working in the garden this summer and does all his own mowing.  I think he also enjoys sitting on his porch and watching our coming & going and is entertained by all the dogs, chickens & ducks.  We usually have supper with him one night each week so I try to use the produce he raises in my meals.  He is wearing his age real well!

Family Vacation 2016.....Summary

We feel really blessed to have been able to take another trip like this with all of our kids.  They really are a good bunch!  Trust me....we all had our moments and after about 3 days in I think there were some thoughts like "you mean we have another week?"  Here is a summary....

1)  We are thankful that the rainy weather was mostly on days that we were driving anyway and that we had a tent for back up when our camper had some wet beds from packing up in the rain.  The days in between the rain were beautiful....no humidity.....60's & 70's.

2)  We are thankful for good travels and that we got home safe.  Even though we limped home the last 6 hrs. due to a tire plug that started leaking.  (Had to stop every hour for more air.)  And even though our Yukon was making a clunking noise every time we started from a stand still. (still haven't got that one fixed yet.)

3)  In hindsight, the driving between locations took longer than what we expected according to google.  I guess they don't figure for any stops.  We put on just over 3000 miles.

4)  Because of the rain, we skipped Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia which is a very popular place to go.  That was disappointing.

5)  If we had it to do again, we would have found time to schedule a half day fishing trip.

Thanks, kids, for making it a good trip!

Family Vacation 2016....Part 4....Fundy National Park & Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick

The last place we stopped was at Fundy National Park in New Brunswick.  This is on the Bay of Fundy which has some of the highest changing tides in the world.

Just outside the national park is the town of Alma.  It was here that we were able to get the promised lobster meal (everyone wanted it after the previous "taste" of Ericka's).  The common question.....how much did you pay?  Our total bill divided by 7 came to about $19 (US $) per person.  Not bad.

1 1/4 lb. lobsters from Alma Lobster Shop

It was also here that we FINALLY saw our first moose!

The boats have to time their coming and going.  As you can see by comparing, they are sitting out of the water during low tide.

It was fun walking out on the beach during low tide.  During high tide this big pile of rocks would be covered and the water would fill in the whole flat beach area.

All these rocks are covered in barnacles.  Very rough & sharp!

Darryn found a crab.

Near this same area is Hopewell Rocks.  Here we found tourists!  At first we felt like it was kind of a rip off because we paid to take a .7 mile walk (one way) to see this.....

This was at least an hour past high tide.

There was some grumbling and everyone was hungry so we went and got a bite to eat and came back about 3 hrs. past high tide which is when they start letting you out on the beach.  It really was pretty neat after all.

We walked for quite away up the beach among very cool rock formations.  Because we were there near full moon, the tide variance between high & low tide was about 36 ft!  We could stand in one spot for 10 minutes and see a difference as the tide receded. You may ask like we did, "Why the great tide variance?"  Because this bay is wide and deep at the mouth, and because the bay narrows and shallows, it acts like a funnel for the rising and falling tides. We took many pics but I will choose a few.

High tide would be above this seaweed covered rock....and it was probably another 2 hrs. yet til the actual low tide.

The ground was mostly not muddy.  Devan found a few spots to squish between his toes.

Ericka to the rescue!

And a few other random pics from this area....

Short hike to a beautiful waterfall.

Don't you wonder about the story behind this tree's life?

In all 3 Provinces, these flowers were blooming everywhere along the roadways and open areas.  Goldenrod & Fireweed