I have to say that the most fun times I’ve had in life usually happen when I am with like minded people, doing things together and creating memories that last a lifetime. Many times in my life I have called up those memories when friends are over or I’m at guitar jams.

When my son and his friend told us they would like to look at holidays for singles which immediately made sense to me. There were no where to call for holidays with other single people when I was single. I think it would have been the coolest thing ever.

I remember the year, way back when I was just 21 living in Canada. A friend of mine suggested we take a bus trip from Toronto to Florida where we both had friends. I hesitated at first but when I started thinking of how much fun the two of us, both single, could have in Orlando, Florida.

That was a time that is one of those best memories ever that I can always call on for a smile. My friend met the man she would later marry. Together they created the most beautiful child and it all started by two single friends taking a trip together.

I’ve never thought about going to see what The Rocks at Hopewell Cape look like in the middle of winter but my good fishing buddy Casey lives close and walks to where he can see them while walking his two dogs.

I like the way ‘The Rocks’ look in the summer but I think they look amazing with snow on them as well. Maybe it’s because it’s the first time I’ve seen them with snow on them. Very cool and I will certainly be making the trip to see them for myself once we have another vehicle.

Casey also took a few pictures of the ice along the shoreline and one shot I really like was the sun coming up over big blocks of ice along the water’s edge. It was hard to tell just how big these blocks of ice are but Casey told me some of them are as big as a small car.

I love the way he got the sunrise in the picture of the ice blocks. I think it would have been better if he had his wife standing on one of the blocks. You know for a little perspective.

Getting a lot of snow in New Brunswick isn’t anything new but every once in a while the snow is made so much worse by the wind. When you get that light snow and 60 or 70 Km/h winds it makes visibility drop to nil instantly.

I got up at 5am this morning, like most mornings and looked outside. These are the time I wish our Pit Bull Honey was a little bity dog who could use a litter box. But she isn’t so I had to bundle up, grab a shovel and start digging out a path so she could do her business.

While I was out I only heard one snow plough and it was clearing a parking lot on Mountain road. No cars, no people, just silence, until the wind picked up again. Then it was just whistling noises.

Well Honey was glad I finally shovelled a path because she was sitting there with her legs crossed waiting for me. I only cleared a path across the driveway. She bolted out the door, right to the edge of where I shovelled where she stopped to take a quick pee and them bounded out into the snow that was over her head and did the rest of her business out there.

She didn’t take time to sniff around and play in the snow. When that wind started blowing snow over top of her she was done and back at the house in an instant.

These are the days that it’s wise to stay home unless you absolutely have to be out on the road. The wind is going to stay strong most of the day so it’s not the day to be travelling around New Brunswick.

I went a long time living in New Brunswick before I ever tried ice fishing here. Did a little in Ontario before moving out here to live in Moncton. I didn’t really know a lot of fishers here in the Maritimes and never thought much of it.

Last year and this year my friend Casey has taken me out ice fishing on Shediac Bay where we did some ice fishing for smelts. We tried matching the tides but didn’t manage to get anything but it was still a lot of fun and the scenery was great.

Today I thought I would share a little more ice fishing from New Brunswick. I haven’t had the opportunity to ice fish these locations but they are on my wish list.

Let’s start with some videos from around New Brunswick.

Pete, Chef Jesse, Dave and Craig go fishing for smelt at the "Black Door Lounge" in the fishing shack village located on the Kennebecasis River in Renforth just outside Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

When I was ice fishing in Ontario, more than 30 years ago now, I was invited to go out about 5 miles on our snow mobiles to a ice fishing community with hundreds of huts. My friend took me to the biggest hut out there. It even had four bunk beds. The ice fishing hut in this video looks like a good size and very comfortable.

Now on to some ice fishing without a hut, like Casey and I did this year as he turned his ice fishing hut into a garden shed last summer. Now we are thinking about buying portable ice fishing huts.

March Break Ice Fishing for Trout in New Brunswick

I really like seeing families fishing together and having fun. I took my son fishing for the first time when he was just a little guy which put the fishing itch in him. Now he’s grown up and moved away. This year he caught his first pike in Saskatchewan where he now lives.

These kids are having fun and the excitement level is high. After that video was done they started cooking up their New Brunswick trout. I just leave you a link to that one.

Monday was a holiday for us here in New Brunswick and the weather channel said the temperature was suppose to be in the mid to high teens for the afternoon. Why miss a great opportunity for weather like that so we planned a November 12 muskie fishing day at the Mactaquac Park area Fredericton. The stretch of water we were going to fish is called The Arm.

Casey planned a fishing trip to Mactaquac Park New Brunswick for our last day out muskie fishing. We dressed for November with many layers of clothing but we didn’t need them for long. At just 7am it was already 7 degrees Celsius. So every hour we stripped off a layer of clothing.

We arrived at our fishing destination, Mactaquac Park area, from Moncton, at about 7:30 and after a full all around check of Casey’s boat we launched and were on the water by 8:00.

We were eager to get fishing but before that Casey took a couple of minutes to stop so I could take a picture of the Mactaquac Hydroelectric dam area.

When we arrived it was heavy clouds and still not fully light yet so please forgive the poor quality image.

I took a series of pictures so that I could try to stitch them into one wide image. I took the images from out boat quite a distance from shore so everything looks kind of small. I hope this image will be clickable and load the full size image once it’s online.

Once I had the pictures I wanted we jumped back in Casey’s truck and continued on our way. Just a few more minutes to the launch point, a safety check and we were on the water, which was like a mirror. Not a breath of wind, looking good for our day of fishing. Here’s a look at the water as we drove to the launch point.

We passed the marina and saw that all the boats were gone and during our entire day we only saw one boat on the water, other than ourselves. Well they missed a gorgeous day on New Brunswick waters.

During our day of fishing we saw a few beaver busy preparing for the long cold winter that’s just around the corner.

It took me a while to find this beaver after it dove and only left a steam of bubbles behind it. I took a couple of picture but by the time I snapped the picture it was gone and I got an image full of bubbles.

Birds By The Hundreds

There was also a loon that was following us around but he was making it tough to get a picture. Every time I aimed my camera at him he dove for cover.

Maybe people have been shooting at them or something because it sure was skittish. I did get a few pictures of the swirl as he dove and a few that only showed his behind as he dove.

Casey pointed out a huge bald eagle that took off from a tree right next to us but I was busy taking a picture of the trees reflecting in the mirror like water and missed the shot. We watched where it flew to so once we got to the point I was paying closer attention.

The thing is the eagle landed in behind a group of trees and I had a hard time even getting an image at all but I managed to get one, even though it won’t win any awards.

When we backed down to the water to launch the boat I saw a group of about 100 or so ducks. I got out of the truck and tried to sneak closer to their location. I was behind the trees but I couldn’t fool the ducks. Before I could get close enough to snap a picture they were airborne and I was left with a picture of disturbed water. It was still pretty cool watching all the birds as there were huge numbers of them.

I am sure there were hundreds of Canada geese and they sure can make a lot of noise. I could see that many were this year’s babies as they didn’t have their adult feathers yet and looked kind of gangly. It didn’t stop them from flying off with their parents.

Kayaking And Canoeing Mid November

Later in the day, once it had warmed up to the mid teens we saw a guy in a kayak enjoying the water and then a couple in a canoe getting their exercise.

Gorgeous Scenery on the Mactaquac Arm

The fishing was of course great fun but the scenery was just breath taking so I spent a lot of time just snapping pictures of everything around me. Here are a few of them. I hope you enjoyed our trip to the Mactaquac Park Arm Fredericton.

All too soon it was time to head back to the launch and head back to Moncton. We didn’t get any muskie but I did get a big fat chain pickerel that really made my day. It was the biggest pickerel I’ve ever caught. Not the longest but certainly the fattest.

On the drive home the sun was mostly behind us which gave me a chance to snap some sunset images through Casey’s side view mirror.

It didn’t take long before Jenny and I were missing our son as he had to move out to Saskatchewan for a job in his area of expertise. These days you have to go where the work is. Of course just after he moved he started getting local calls for work. Isn’t that life?

Road Trip From Moncton, New Brunswick To Oxbow, Saskatchewan

He was sad he wasn’t able to take his dog Honey with him but he started his job with a probation period and stayed in a hotel the company owns and dogs aren’t allowed. Now that he has a place of his own we will bring Honey out with us.

We will wait until summer to take the road trip to visit him and bring his best buddy out, so we have plenty of time to plan the trip so I can include a bit of bass and pike fishing along the way.

This trip will be our first road trip as a retired couple so we are really looking forward to it and having the opportunity to do some fishing along the way makes it all the better. We will also be able to visit a few other family members along the way.

Plan Your Road Trip Well in Advance

By putting some thought and planning into our 4000 km road trip well in advance we are far more likely to save money, avoid problems, extra costs and disappointment. We started putting money away for expenses and will try to stay within our budget.

The last road trip we took was to pay a surprise visit to Ontario to see my foster parents. Well that didn’t work out so well because at that same time they decided to take a trip out to visit the Rocky Mountains.

Planning For A House Sitter

I have never liked leaving our home empty for any length of time so we will have a house sitter. We prefer having a family member stay in our house when we are gone for more than a few days. My mind relaxes so much more when I know our home is in good hands.

There is no need to worry about paying bills while we’re on the road trip because all our bills are now paid electronically.

Road Trip Vehicle Check Up

Before we leave home we will take our car in to a garage for a complete road trip check up. It’s always better safe than sorry and part of that is making sure our vehicle is ready for the trip.

In my opinion, as much as I love to see spring arrive, there is nothing that matches how I feel about autumn. Winter, Spring and Summer seasons just don’t compare to the breath taking beauty that takes place here in New Brunswick once Summer hands the reins over to Autumn.

The colours of autumn with all the reds and oranges is a big part of why I love fall in New Brunswick but it’s more than that.

Maple trees tend to be my favourite when colours change. Unlike so many other trees Maples tend to change to gorgeous colours before dropping to the ground while others seem to turn a dead looking brown while still clinging to trees.

I am not one for really hot weather so by the end of summer and on into late fall I do enjoy the temperatures a lot more.

Then there’s the great fishing here in New Brunswick. I love fishing spring and summer but when fall arrives and the fish know it’s time to go on the feed before winter sets in things can get pretty exciting and a great time of year to catch and release that fish of a lifetime.

It was late October when I hooked into the smallmouth bass on the left, which isn’t all that small. It was a beautiful sunny calm day in Oromocto, New Brunswick and the bite was definitely on.

It’s a great time of year to take a friend fishing and let them experience the awesome feeling that keeps me coming back for more year after year.

Halloween is also a fun time of fall and this year I grew our first pumpkins. Another couple of days I will carve up one or two to display for the kids and then they are going to become pumpkin pies, one of our son’s favourite pies.

It’s fun having the kids help create scary or maybe not so scary pumpkins. Our son is grown up now and maybe he will soon have kids of his own and we can all get together for pumpkin carving fun.

We have some big pumpkin patches in New Brunswick. Check your local area to see if you have one that’s local and get out and see it. A field full of pumpkins is a pretty cool site.

We plan to keep the pumpkin seeds, so we can grow more next year, but also they are great once you roast them. Very tasty.

Autumn is a great time to get out for a long walk in the woods. There are many trails in New Brunswick that are breath taking this time of year, don’t miss out on the joy of autumn.

Well holiday season here in New Brunswick is in the air once again and I can already feel it calling me but it can be so expensive.

Most of us wish we could take a break, unwind and maybe take a vacation away from the day in and day out activities of work. Truly, we deserve to have a time out.

How can you make this this holiday season different from past holiday season? Why not travel to a new location. Somewhere you have always wanted to go but never took the time to plan because you always thought it would be too expensive.

Many of our friends don’t do much travel because they always leave it until the last minute and then say it’s too expensive. Well I’m here to tell you that if you take the time to plan ahead way ahead you can travel for far less than last minute travel.

Below are a few travel tips that will help you travel for less:

The Early Bird Gets The Worm

No I don’t mean you should eat worms to save enough money but you should plan travel early enough to save money so you don’t have to eat worms. So be the early bird and use some spare time to contact a travel company or agency and see what you would pay if you were the early bird.

Just last week our son checked to see what it would cost to fly home for a visit. The next he booked the flight and it had gone up $20 in just one day. It can happen that fast. So the earlier you book your travel whether it’s by air, train or bus the better pricing you’re likely to get.

More Travellers Every Year

Every year the demands for travel and flights during holiday season is more in demand but there are still only so many seats available. As they fill the cost goes up until they are completely full and sometimes even over-booked.

Plan Your Itinerary

Plan every aspect of your travels well in advance and you’ll actually have money left over to enjoy while you’re travelling. Even plan where you want to visit while you’re taking your well deserved break.

Most important is to make certain you reserve your hotel rooms. You can check availability just before you book your travel flight, bus or train and then be sure to book the room or rooms immediately so they are still available.

Use A Travel Agency

We don’t travel as much as we would like and don’t always know what we are doing so rather than be disappointed we use a travel agency and have never had a problem. I have done the travel plans on my own before and it cost us more money than we needed to spend.

One of the great things about using a travel agency are the bells and whistles they can get for us along with promos and discounts, especially around the holiday seasons. In my view they are well worth checking out.

For many the opportunity to travel may be a once in a lifetime experience so do yourself a favour and be the Early Bird. If you’re planning to travel New Brunswick Canada be sure to check out Tourism New Brunswick.

Just noticed Tourism New Brunswick post to on my Facebook wall. It’s time for the Sackville Fall Fair which goes from September 20 – 23. Below is what

Fall Fair Celebrates 12 Years in 2012!

Celebrate autumn in Sackville during the annual Sackville Fall Fair! Featuring a weekend jam-packed with events for all ages. Read more about the Sackville Fall Fair…

Well Grand Manan Island is actually a place that Jenny plan to visit once we have our next car, but I have been looking up videos and stories. Just this morning Tourism New Brunswick linked to a great little video about Grand Manan Island and as a friend on Facebook it shows on my wall.

I thought you might enjoy it as well.

Grand Manan Island : The Life of the Tides from Matador Network on Vimeo.