"Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada"

Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is located on an island in the Saint Lawrence River. The western end of the island is on Lake Saint Francis, the northern side, the Saint Lawrence River, the southern side borders the Beauharnois Canal, and the eastern end faces Lake Saint Louis.

This photo was taken from an island park in Lake Saint Francis. The tall building on the right is the Hotel Plaza Valleyfield. The hotels structure was originally a mill (woolen, cotton, saw, grist), powered by water. It also was originally owned by an Anderson, Don's Great, Great Grandfather's older brother, who was the Laird of Canda Craig, in Strathdon, Scotland. His mothers side of his family is well documented. ;) More photos from around the mill in tomorrows post.

A few blocks away, located on the shore of Lake Francis, is a home built by "an" Anderson, although there is no documentation (yet) that has been found to say definitely who. The home has a stone block between the upper windows, which has carved into it, "Canda Craig 1903".

A close up of the block..........

It just so happens that the house is also on rue Anderson. What a coincidence, eh? ;)

Continued tomorrow with photos from around the mill.........

"Huntingdon, Quebec, Canada....."

Our next stop of our day trip into Canada, was in Huntingdon. We walked around the cemetery there as well, with Don getting some photos of markers where more of his relatives were laid to rest. In the routine I was creating for these forays into Canadian cemetery's.......I did some searching until I couldn't take being eaten alive by the mosquitoes any longer, then took refuge in the car.

Other stops included the Huntingdon Town Hall.

Not only is it a beautiful building, but it was an integral part in one of Don's relatives life........

How nice that informational plaques were in both French AND English, eh? (double click to enlarge the photo)

A present day close up of the view displayed in the photo on the plaque.

This is what I meant about the building being an integral part of Don's relative.......he, Alexander Anderson, was the mayor of the village of Huntingdon when this building was built.

Next in our architectural photos of Huntingdon is St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church.

This building was built by the congregation which Don's relatives belonged to, but I am not sure any of his relatives from his direct family line still lived in the area when it was built.

The information plaque.. (double click to enlarge)

Next....Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, Canada..............

"Our Day Trip Into Canada....."

From our "base" in Malone, NY, we drove up into Canada to the area where Don's relatives lived prior to immigrating to the US. Some of them settled along the Trout River. I guess I forgot to mention that when we crossed over into Canada, French became the main language. :)

The scenic Trout River.........

The Trout River runs through the small farming community of Elgin, one of the towns/villages which had relatives of Don. There is no downtown area.....truly it is a community of farms only.

The church which Don's relatives attended, although not the original building.

A close up........

Down the road from the church is the cemetery where we found some of his relatives burial plots.

The cemetery is located across from the town hall.........

In front of which I settled once I had my fill of being bitten by the ravenous Canadian mosquitoes!

Next......on to Huntingdon, Canada.

"Malone, New York....."

The next stop on our vacation was Malone, New York. Don's mother's grandfather was born here........"his" parents having moved across the border from Canada, which is where we would be making a day trip to several cemeteries while in Malone.

Malone's History info...........

A close up of the "Industry" segment which includes the Horton Mill info...........

Horton Mill on the left as a working mill........

Horton Mill as is it today. Don spoke with a man outside of the hardware store (who struck up a conversation with Don after seeing him taking photos) who told him the mill would be too costly to renovate and the town just didn't have the money. Sad that it had not been saved at an earlier time when the damage had not been so great.

Another view of the mill........

The mill wasn't the only piece of architecture that got our attention. This "painted lady" had me pulling the car over right away! The sign names it as "The Queen of the May".

Truly a beautiful and unique home.......

Next post......Canada!

"The View...."

After the stop at the rapids where everyone was enjoying the water, we continued to drive upwards, stopping at this designated scenic view. Spectacular!

A bit of info.......

The actual view of Green's Cliff......

A magnified view......

More info......

The Three Sisters to the left of Don's shoulder.....

A magnified view of them.......

After going over and coming down the other side of White Mountain, we stopped at a lakeside restaurant to eat dinner. Our table overlooked the lake.......the following photos were taken from our table.

That ended our time in Laconia, New Hampshire. The following morning we headed to Malone, New York, which was to be our base for the next few nights of our vacation.

"White Mountain National Forest"

On Sunday after the convention (which ended Saturday), we drove into the White Mountain National Forest. Breath taking beautiful! After seeing cars parked alongside the road and people down in this stream, we, too, pulled over, and got out to enjoy the natural beauty.

The size of some of the boulders was incredible! Behind me and down stream, you can see a family enjoying the rushing water as it courses through the boulders.........

Another family was upstream from us doing the same..........

Don couldn't resist taking this photo of "Old Smokey".

Further upstream, we came across a Ranger Station/Parking area that was "THE" Hotspot! Cars were loading and unloading while others waited patiently for a space to park so they could go enjoy the fun. I let Don out and had to circle the lot numerous times while he shot these photos. Everyone was having a great time. People were literally "sliding" down the rocks with the rushing water.

For those of you who love animated films as much as I do, perhaps you've seen "Brother Bear"? This reminded me of the scene when all the bears were catching salmon in the rapids.

"A Few Photos of the CSM Convention......."

The convention had one room in the hotel where personal machines could be set up to knit in a group setting. It also was where a class was scheduled to take place each session, too. Sharon (seated) is teaching this class. I believe it was "Beginning Socks".

This is afore mentioned room where many of the attendees set up their machines to knit anytime of the day or night when the room was open. This photo was taken the morning of day 1 and by the afternoon, there was no room to spare. I did not unpack my machine, but left it up in our room. Too many people, too little space, too much noise........not a good combination for me to focus on knitting.

This it where most of the classes took place. One big room with 3 classes (#4 was moved to where the meeting took place....same floor but behind elevators/kitchen area) going on at the same time, separated only by empty space. Unfortunately, the acoustics were not the best, but by Day 1's afternoon classes, classes were smaller, possibly due to how the morning classes went. I think people stayed at the hotel and knitted on their machines instead of attending classes, which worked out well so that those of us in the classes were able to sit closer to the instructor and hear what was said.

Deb (from Minnesota), the instructor for 2 of the classes I took......"Fancy Stitches" and "Mittens".

Bonnie (from Iowa), the instructor for another 2 classes I attended......"Heels" and "Argyles".

My convention experience was not the best but not due to lack information available. The instructors were very knowledgeable and gave freely of their time both in and out of classes. The area where classes were held was nice, but not when it came to seating the number of people around 3 instructors and being able to hear easily. Forgotten details that may seem small to others left me with a bad impression about attending another national conference. I know that I was not the only one who perceived some of these things, but I have also been told that each conference is totally different, so perhaps there will be another conference in my future, but not next year.....it takes place in Texas.......in July. Nope, not for me. ;)