I have to sing Canada’s praises.

We’ve bicycled all over Canada – British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec. It’s a wonderful country.

The people are so friendly. In Alberta a woman gave us four cans of beer when she found out we’d be spending the night in a dry town. Cycling on the Gaspée and Prince Edward Island the cars would slow down to make room for us or come to a stop when a car was coming in the other direction. During this trip, twice strangers offered us a place to sleep if we needed it. And everyone was patient with our attempts to communicate when their language was not our language.

In Canada we saw no political signs. How refreshing not to be confronted with swear words on people’s front lawns.

In Canada we’ve never seen towns with one house in ruins followed by another equally downtrodden, one boarded up storefront followed by another, one shuttered, or houses with a yard filled with broken down toys and bicycles and trash. Neither have we seen one after another opulent home with garages large enough for three cars. I’m sure they exist, but all we’ve ever seen in our Canadian travels have been well-loved modest homes, one after another. Even water-front homes were modest. And every house had a well-manicured lawn.

Another thing to love about Canada are the national park campgrounds. On the day that we had rain, we’d planned to camp in Forillon National Park. It didn’t matter that it was raining. Unlike in the United States, Canadian national parks have shelters with picnic tables and wood-burning stoves, wood included. And you can count on getting a hot shower. I figured we could shower and cook dinner in the shelter and put on our rain gear to stay dry while setting up our tent.

Even with my past experience of Canadian national parks, I was unprepared for the luxury that awaited us. The shelter looked to be brand new. It was completely enclosed. We didn’t even have to go outside to shower.

I set to work starting a fire in the wood-burning stove. It became hot enough to heat up our dinner and we were able to dry out some of our wet things. We had pleasant conversations with other folks who wandered in.

Then there’s Tim Hortons. We only came across one during our bike ride, but it’s was also our go to place for a snack or lunch while driving. As far as I’m concerned, it is hands down better than any fast-food joint in the U.S. They have donuts, cookies, and other treats, but also healthy options for lunch. On our drive home I had a vegetable wrap that was incredibly delicious.

According to the internet, Tim Hortons is expanding into the U.S. We’ve seen them in Maine but they are also in Georgia, Texas, West Virginia, and several other states. But, sadly, not yet in New Hampshire or Colorado. We can only hope.

Finally, if you travel to Canada a dollar Canadian never equals a dollar US. This time every dollar we spent cost us about 75 cents. Keep that in mind if you are booking a hotel room or checking out a restaurant menu.

We’re always happy to plan a trip to our northern neighbor.