About Us

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="044d4c00dduajq.gif"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 46 WIDTH="91"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="46" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="91" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> The Happy Travelers</div> <div> <IMG SRC="050a6dc0.jpg" border=0 width="166" height="220" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Robert   &   Nicole</div> <div> <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Home"><U><B>Our Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#003333" FACE="Arial" ><B>The Gastropod's Trail</B></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Gastropods Trail"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Itinerary"><U>Itinerary</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Countries"><U>Countries</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Calendar"><U>Calendar</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Van"><U>The Van</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Phase 1"><U>Phase 1</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Phase 2"><U>Phase 2</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Phase 3"><U>Phase 3</U></A>   |   <B>About Us</B>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Masonic Connection"><U>The Masonic Connection</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id106.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FAQ"><U>FAQ</U></A></div> <div> About Us</div> <bR> <div> Robert</div> <bR> <div> War was raging all around Switzerland when I was born in 1941. My father was somewhere along the border helping to defend the neutrality of our country and my mother made ends meet by carefully managing the meager resources of the times.</div> <bR> <div> Our family, consisting of my parents, my older sister and myself, enjoyed the stability and comforts which my father's steady employment provided. In 1937 my parents purchased a modest unit in a row-house in the town of Aarau. I was born in that house and lived there for the first 21 years of my life. </div> <bR> <div> My fondness for travel and adventure manifested itself early. The story goes that I was barely four years old when I went on my first trip alone. We had all gone to visit my grandparents by train and I had obviously enjoyed this excursion and was very impressed with the big locomotive and intrigued by those steel rails on which one could travel to far away places. In the week after this trip I decided to try it on my own. I packed a few cookies and other essentials and took off on my own. My very concerned parents found me on the station platform waiting for the next train a couple of hours later.</div> <bR> <div> By the time I was about ten, I had mastered the art of riding a bicycle - first I tried my father's heavy Raleigh by threading my right leg under the crossbar which left me on the left side and the bicycle on the right. That was OK to pedal up and down the street in front of the house but judged too dangerous by my parents and too tiring by myself to go much further. When I managed to remove the seat on my mother's cycle and replacing it with a bunched burlap bag, I could at least sit down when I was going downhill but all the pedaling still had to be done standing up!</div> <bR> <div> The radius of my explorations got bigger and bigger. The big breakthrough came when I was thirteen. I had saved enough money to purchase at the local bicycle factory all the parts for a lighter and sportier model which was appropriate for my size. Now, the whole of Switzerland became my destination and for the first time I ventured across the border into neighboring Germany. I bought a pair of `saddle bags' and during summer vacation went on tours for weeks on end.</div> <bR> <div> Around fifteen I realized that a bicycle could only get me so far in the limited time available during vacation, especially since I also had to find and work in jobs to finance my adventures. The solution: hitch-hiking and youth hostels. The price was right and I could finally venture much further - Milan, Stuttgart, Paris…</div> <bR> <div> Between sixteen and twenty one my ability to travel was severely hampered. First a four year apprenticeship and attending technical school and then the compulsory military service. I could only dream of far away places. But I've always had this penchant to translate my dreams into reality. The military had taught me self reliance and a physical fitness I did not have before and with the successful conclusion of my technical training I was sure to find work anywhere. Canada was my choice and on July 13<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >th</FONT>, 1963 I boarded a brand spanking new Boing707 jet with destination Montreal.</div> <bR> <div> Being a fresh immigrant in Montreal was a challenge - no work available in my trade, minimum wages, working all day and taking night courses - but also a lot of fun. It did not take me long to discover that the public buses issued transfer tickets. With a little bit of planning one could buy one ticket (for 10 cents at the time) and explore all of Montreal Island for hours on end!</div> <bR> <div> A year later, I considered my knowledge of English (one of the main reasons to come to Canada) as adequate to move on. I had managed to save a little bit of money and went to the Gare Centrale and found that I had enough to get me as far as Calgary. Within days I was on my way. Just think of it, traversing half the continent, over 3000 km,  for $43.00 including the meals! Making a trip took on a whole new meaning. I discovered open skies, endless oceans of golden wheat and, as we approached the Foothills, the promise of real mountains.</div> <bR> <div> I was very lucky. The train arrived at seven in the morning and by 11 o'clock I had a job. The money was good and it was not long before I started to dream about making a trip to South America.</div> <bR> <div> For eight months, my good friend André and I worked at two jobs and gathered as much information as we could about the places we wanted to visit. The local army surplus store supplied most of the gear we took along. This is obviously not the place for a travelogue but I want to relate two incidents which have influenced my life.</div> <bR> <div> We decided to take the bus from El Paso in Texas to Torreón in Mexico. It was late in the evening when we arrived in Chihuaua. On the spur of the moment we decided to spend the night there and booked into a cheap hotel. The next morning, when we entered the dining room all conversation stopped and people looked at us. The owner approached us, with a young lady in tow who spoke French, and confirmed that we had arrived with the bus from El Paso last night. It turned out that the same bus had half an hour later crashed through a guard rail and plunged into a ravine. Many had died and the others were all in hospital. The room and the breakfast were on the house. We were not very keen to continue on by bus and someone suggested that we take the train which runs form Chihuaua to Topolobampo on the Pacific coast. One of the gentlemen present passed us his business card and told us to call him when we got to Barrancas. By accident (and good fortune) we had stumbled on one of the most breathtaking rail trips anywhere in the world. The train ride itself is an adventure. The 300 miles of tracks cross over 36 major bridges, through 87 tunnels, as it climbs to 2400 m (8000 ft) at the highest point before descending to sea level at Los Mochis. It turned out that Sr. Galvez was the owner of a sawmill and he offered to take us along for a tide into Copper Canyon. Copper Canyon is an unforgettable adventure, similar to the US Grand Canyon only narrower, deeper, higher and greener! It's a land of contrasts, combining mountains, rivers, waterfalls, desert and pine forests. It's also home to the Tarahumara Indians, an indigenous people who have maintained their traditional culture, and native arts and crafts. The majority of the Tarahumara still live in caves. Moral: There is a higher plan and when That Finger points in an other direction, follow it - it's for the better.</div> <bR> <div> To get from Guatemala to San Salvador, we had to cross the long bridge over the La Paz river. We walked up to the San Salvadoran customs office and were informed that we needed a visa to get in, to go back and get one. Back we went to the Guatemalan side and were told that we could not return into Guatemala because our visa for that country had been canceled on our exit! (Joseph Heller did not think of that one in Catch22) We strung our hammocks between two pillars on the bridge and waited while the customs officers brought us food and wine and our presence evolved into a minor international incident. After two days we were escorted by an armed military patrol to the nearest San Salvadoran representation where we received our visas for free. Moral: Keep cool.</div> <div> We originally wanted to follow the Pan-American Highway from Canada to Brazil - all 40,000 km of it. Unfortunately there is that uncompleted 400 km section through the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia. André decided to fly to Bogotá and I teamed up with three American draft dodgers with a D.U.K.W. (a US W.W.II amphibious vehicle) which they intended to drive from Panama City to Colombia through the jungle of the Darien Gap. We were joined by a Nicaraguan and set off with high hopes. Lack of progress, the onset of  the rainy season and running out of fuel forced us after a month and a half to return to Panama City. Eventually I returned to Calgary and my old job.</div> <bR> <div> I was far from settling down and when a Maritimes company offered me a job in northern New Brunswick I had to accept it just for the prospect of traversing almost the whole of Canada once more (with my own car this time) and to explore eastern Canada. Little did I know that I would stay in that part of the country for the rest of my working career. With the exception of a nine month stint in a Wabush, Labrador iron mine I have lived in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia since 1966. </div> <div> In '97 I met Murielle and we married in 1970 when I also moved to Nova Scotia to start working for Michelin Tires. A week after the wedding the two of us moved to Clermont Ferrand where I was in training. We had the opportunity to travel or work in Spain, Germany, England, and spend time in Switzerland with my family. High adventure was replaced with career building and the challenge and happiness of raising our wonderful children; daughter Andrea and son Stephan. </div> <bR> <div> In 1995 we celebrated our Silver Wedding, both children were at university and I was considering the option of accepting early retirement. Then my little happy world collapsed. Murielle was diagnosed with breast cancer. After an operation and nine months of chemo and radiation therapy the prognosis was good and we went to Europe for a trip before Murielle was supposed to start her last year of teaching before retiring herself. While still there, metastasis set in and within a month I lost my dear Murielle and the retirement plans we had forged together had collapsed.</div> <bR> <div> It was a terrible blow and a most difficult time. One of the most touching messages of condolence came from Murielle's best friend and school buddy back in Petit Rocher, Nicole. I had not heard from her for many years. We got in touch, first by phone and then in person. It did not take long to find out that we had more in common than just being lonely widow and widower. There was this love for cooking and good eating, a quiet home life, music, and above all a liking for the outdoors and travel. After Nicole retired from her teaching job in 1998, I was able to persuade her to join me in Nova Scotia. We made a couple of camping trips (tenting with comfort) and found out that we not only got along marvelously but thoroughly enjoyed it. It did not take us long to contemplate more ambitious travels - this trip is the logical continuation of these dreams. </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>   </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>