Thanks to all the friends and family who e-mailed me with their comments about my site or even forwarded it on to others.

Uncle Robert subscribes to the SPEC and passes them onto Mom who in turns passes them onto me. I was going through a pile of them last night and saw that they are still debating whether a horse born in the coast is actually half moose and horse and although some parties are interested in the old Chandler Mill, there are still no bites. It is hard to believe that the town right now is running without the money from the mill coming in. There was a time when the town lived through that mill. All my uncles and cousins were employed there and everytime I smelled that old familiar mills smell regardless of where I was at the time, it made me think of Chandler. It was always a treat to walk through Chandler towards the mill, past the grocery store where my cousin Cathy Ann worked, to Campbells' restaurant where they had a giant Budda statue. I have tons of pictures of me posing with that statue as I was growing up. Now hardly anyone frequents that part of town when once it was the heart of Chandler. The only time anyone even goes near is when they drive by to go to the beach or train station.

I did notice on my trip there this summer that they are trying to boost tourism by creating the Parc du Bourg de Pabos, located in Pabos Mills, which houses an interpretation centre and campground located right on the ocean. The interpretation centre is a look back into the ways of the early settles and fishermen. It is also an insight into the "Hunt" side of my family as they have pictures of my great-great grandparents on display. The Day Jason and I went it was almost closing time so instead we climbed the rocks along "Troisieme Plage" where we used to have bon fires as teenagers when I visited for the summer.

It seems I never stopped when I used to visit in my younger years and two months was not nearly long enough as I hated to have to go back to the city and to school. I much would've rathered a few more weeks of walking back at the lake, sitting in Angie's back room pulling all nighters, playing cards in Jennifer Murphy's trailer (which was parked 10 feet from her house) and spending hours at the beach swimming and sitting around a fire. 75% of the time it was good clean fun and the other 25% we were being teenagers making and learning from our mistakes. I would love to have a cabin on the beach someday to spend the summers in and have my children experience all the wonderful things I did. Now as the Mill is closed, the younger generations are leaving and making a living in the bigger cities off of the coast. The friends and family that have not left were lucky enough to get on with the city, school board or created their own companies.

I feel honoured to have Nadia as a close companion especially when I am down there and see all the wonderful things she is trying to do for Chandler. She works for the city and deals with finding solutions to some of the town's bigger issues. She is a wonderful role model for the younger generation as she is extremely intelligent, young, motivated and and influentual part of the community. She in a way is living a part of my dream, with a house near the beach, and one day soon, a cabin in the woods. (So far they have the pontoon boat so it is a start!) In the warmer months her and her partner go back of the woods to their pontoon, canoe down the west river, spend a day at the beach, ride her aunt's horses or travel up to the city of Gaspe for a festival. They also host numberous bonfires in the back yard with friends and family. In the winter months they ski-doo up to the woods to his families chalet where they stoke up the wood stove and spend weekends. Most people have to go away on vacation to experience these things, but she is fortunate enough to have this as part of her everyday life.

One word to the wise, do not go up for hunting season if you yourself are not a hunter and are a tourist. The town empties as all the men go up to the hunting cabins back in the woods (with a few women and children following) leaving only the elderly and some of the wives and offspring. If you walk through the plaza during hunting season, it gives you an eerie feeling. A few years ago I went up for Thanksgiving and would visit family and friends at night. I saw the same scene in every household; the women crowded around a CB radio as the men would announce who got a moose from their cabins which would be followed by the women getting onto the phone relaying the information. Nothing else exsists during hunting season! Tourists come from all over the world to hunt in the Gaspe peninula forests. You also can't beat the scenery at that time of year. Uncle Robert often will walk up to the hydro lines every Fall to take pictures. The colours are spectacular and the view of the Bay is breath taking. Uncle Rob, if you are reading this, can you please forward some of those pictures to me and I will be sure to post them on this site. I do have a site also on webshots with a few pictures from my last trip to the coast this summer. I hope to add some more in the weeks to follow.