Dr. Dot Kalet showing off her dog


Lynn and Joan Bucher try canoeing


Our leadership, Rich and Kathy Griffin, all dressed up.


Curly, Moe, and Larry? Huey, Dewey and Louie ?
Carole Keller, Lynn, and Joyce Duarte during a more somber moment


The parsonage
St. Profilier du Arienne

Cap Chat, Quebec
Whales and the Wind

August 10, 2005
At high tide, less than 200 yards from the shore, seven ton mammals are spouting (def. spout =a combination of spit and snot) geysers thirty feet above the water line. From our treeless meadow campground on the beach, we watch in awe, buffeted by steady 20-30 mph winds.
Although this group is well prepared, like a boy scout troop equipped with swiss army knives, no one thought to bring along whale kleenex. So we do the next best thing....go to the Oele windmill farm. A breeze if you are into volts, amps, kilowatts and non-polluting renewable energy, beautiful to watch, but until the technology improves and oil reaches $250/barrel, not yet practical.
Largest vertical axis windmill in the world
Our atlas lists 400+ towns in Quebec named Saint_______ (you fill in the blank) and we've driven through most of them. So I've come up with my own, pictured here. The civic plan doesn't vary. Build an oversize cathedral on a premier building site, then surround it with a poor fishing village distinguished by both outrageous and bland architecturally-challenged cottages. I hope they never change the formula.

Historical review. This stop most closely replicates the 1955 tour. We needed to create our own activity and did so successfully. Three motorhomes circled the wagons to form a U-shaped windbreak for an open-air community cook-out, birthday party, pet show, and finally a driver's meeting. The winds howled, the waves roared, we were warriors. We had water, we had electric, but the devil be damned, no sewer hook-up. After a full day visit to the Parc de la Gaspesie and a hike along the northernmost point of the Appalachian mountain range, it's full steam ahead along
the rocky shores and royal blue water ofthe Gaspe peninsula. Bill and Joan Bucher with foster daughter, Barbie Mattel.


Hot French chick on the hiking trail


We are transfixed, absorbing the color as though it were a long absent basic food group.
And now onto the road, Quebec 132, to Perce rock jutting into the Atlantic, a 175 mile challenge few of us have ever encountered. Climbs and descents of 9, 11, 13, and 15 degrees on a winding bumpy highway that is not the equal of your local county road, certain to test mettle and equipment.

The price of oil is how much ?