Re: Canadian Vacation
Well, Canada is pretty big... It really depends on where in Canada you'll be.
I can only speak about Nova Scotia with any real knowledge. If you do decide to come to this neck of Canada, I'd probably suggest heading to Maine and taking the ferry across. Slow travel is always more satisfying than just flying everywhere...
As for things to do here... Unfortunately, you'll be missing one of the more visually spectacular festivals if you wait. The International Busker Festival in Halifax will be starting on July 30th and finish on August 4th. (Note to self: get down to the waterfront for this). Also, the Parade of Lights should be happening in November... I think... Strangely I can't find anything about it for this year.
Other than that, here's the official NS tourist site with their top 25 things to do:
You must be registered to see the links
I'd add the Shubenacadie wildlife park to that list myself, though I haven't been there in at least a decade. There's also the Shubenacadie canal which is pretty neat too.
Almost forgot Joggins. It's an area on the northern coast of Nova Scotia where fossils from the Carboniferous era can be readily found. From what I understand, they stopped letting people just take them, but I haven't been there myself. On my bucket list.
In the same general area, New Brunswick is pretty nice too, though I've never been there much myself. PEI is also very nice, I'd suggest taking the Ferry across. A bit further away Newfoundland is, well, Newfoundland. Never been there myself, but it's also on my bucket list.
If you can speak French, Quebec has a lot to offer as well. Not knowing french doesn't hurt too much, but would certainly hinder some things. One of my funnier memories of Quebec was when we were driving through and by the highway was a building with a sign outside saying simply "BAR".
Ontario... I've only ever been to Toronto when I was young and Ottawa when I was a bit older. I found both cities to be hot and muggy, but then, I lived my whole life near the Atlantic ocean, so it's probably just getting used to a different climate. The CN tower is, of course, one of the bigger (see what I did there?) tourist attractions, and they now let you take walks out on a sort of balcony near the top now (clipped in with safety harnesses of course). Also, since I have an interest in geology, I have to mention the Sudbury basin. Sudbury is known for its nickle mines, and the reason it's so rich in nickle and other metals is because the city sits in the ancient crater of a meteor impact. The impact fractured the rock and allowed mineral rich water to flow up through the cracks forming the veins that are mined today. Kind of a neat fact I think.
Further west my knowledge drops off considerably. Manitoba and Saskatchewan are flat. Alberta has oil, money and fossils (the last of those three is the only one of interest to me). And BC has awesome forests (Rainforests actually) and a marijuana political party.
Then going to the territories, I'm also lacking in information. The best time to go up to them though might be in the autumn, however. The spring and summers, from what I understand, the permafrost retreats and makes the ground boggy and a haven for insects. And the winters, of course, damn cold.
Could try looking for gold in the Yukon, or go Polar Bear sighting in NWT or Nunavut. I really don't know much about them though.
Oh, also, I know that a good number of my fellow canucks on here live in Alberta so they would know more about that part of the country than I would.
