Riding on VIA Rail

It's fun to ride on VIA Rail. The train goes to lots of places.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He's too newborn to eat food. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk from his bottle. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful! Oh! Wait Frankie lives with us, too. He's four, you know.

Sometimes we go to Toronto on VIA Rail. Last summer we went all the way to Halifax. That's pretty far from our house in Windsor, you know. I know where Halifax is. It's in Farewell Nova Scotia. We learn all about geography at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.

Our buddies Yannick and his friend make our train trip lots of fun!

The trains sleep under the CN Tower in Toronto.

We got VIA Rail pins. They're pretty nice but Chance tried to eat his. We don't eat VIA Rail pins.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! Grandpa James hollers, "Where is Frankie? Where is my Knight of Knewfoundland and my Lord of Labrador? That's Frankie! He's a Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador. We gotta go find  Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

We have a brand new train station in Windsor. It's very nice.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Use your inside voices on the train. Be polite. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come and play with us! We can ride home from Toronto together! Okay! Over and out!"

Windsor is the bestest place to live. Grandpa James says Windsor is the centre of the known universe and the nicest part of Detroit. Windsor is in O Canada.

The Big Adventure Backtracks to Nova Scotia

We visited the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia. Can you see us? I'm waving at you.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Peggys Cove is a pretty place. Lots of people catch fish for a living. I could be a fisherman when I grow up.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He's so newborn he doesn't have a tail. Chance doesn't even have teeth! He drinks chocolate owls' milk out of a bottle. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Chance and me row a dory to shore. We didn't find any pirates or terrorists on the sea and that's good.

Guess what? Some of our pictures got lost but we found them! Now we can show you what we did in Farewell Nova Scotia.  When we got off the train in Halifax we visited Uncle Reid and Auntie Margaret. We went to Peggy's Cove. That's a village on St. Margaret's Bay, you know. It's a very pretty place but we didn't see Peggy. Maybe she wasn't home.

Chance gets stuck in a lobster trap.

Oh, no! Look at Chance! He's stuck! He tried to climb into a lobster trap. I said, "My son! Come out of there this instant! You're not a lobster!" Chance made little squeaky noises 'cuz he was stuck. I had to help him get out! Bear cubs don't belong in lobster traps. Honestly, Chance is a handful!

We helped Uncle Reid cut wood. Wood comes from trees and trees grow in the forest. When I was a wee little cub I used to think that wood came from Home Hardware. That's a store.

Now, I'm five. I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre. I learn lots of stuff like a tree really does grow in the forests. When it's all grown up it gets cut up into wood and then it goes to Home Hardware so people can buy it. I'm not sure how it gets there. Maybe the wood rides on the bus.

Wood is good for heating the house in the wintertime, you know. Wood keeps the house toasty warm when there's snow and it's cold outside. I could be a woodsman. That's a coureur des bois in French. It's a very good job, you know. I could chop down trees. I'd holler, "Timber!" so no one got hurt. Look! We chopped a lot of wood!

Chance thinks he's helping me but he's not. He climbed right up on the chopping block. The axe is very sharp. Chance could get hurt. Uncle Reid had to take him off the block. I might accidentally cut him in two. Grandpa James says if that happened, Chance would be my half brother. That would be awful!

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go over to Uncle Reid and Auntie Margaret's house and they can play with us! Okay! Over and out!"

The Big Adventure Continues: Charles and Chance Visit Newfoundland

Chance and me play with an airplane at the airport in Halifax. Chance is so newborn he thinks he can ride outside on the wings but he'll fall off.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Miss Amelie has an important job at Air Canada. She is the purser.

We're flying to Newfoundland and Labrador! Well, just Newfoundland. Labrador is the other part. Grandpa James says we'll go there sometime. Miss Amelie is the purser in charge of this Air Canada flight. She's the boss of the passengers. She tells us to sit up and put on our seat belts so the plane can go. Miss Amelie is very nice. She brings us juice to drink. Know what? I'm gonna tell you a secret. I think Miss Amelie is a princess! 

When we get to St. John's we're as hungry as bears, you know. Uncle Glen picks us up at the airport. It's a really big place and the workmen are making it bigger!

When we get home we have lunch. My tummy is growling. I'm really truly as hungry as a bear! Know what we get to eat for lunch? We get to eat seal flipper pie. I l-o-v-e seal flipper pie. It's yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide, you know. Grandpa James says seal flipper pie is full of Vitamin C. That's good for growing bear cubs like me.

Seal flipper pie is one of my favouritest foods. We get it at Goodbid's Grocery Store.

Because I ate all my seal flipper pie, I get to have bakeapple pie for dessert. I l-o-v-e bakeapple pie! Some people call them cloudberries, you know. They're not from Newfoundland. They're from Away. I don't know where Away is but it is pretty far from Newfoundland.

I say, "Look out, bakeapple pie! This is me, Charles the bear cub! I'm gonna eat you all up! Good-bye bakeapple pie! Over the lips and through the gums, look out tummy, here it comes!" And then I do a magic trick. I make the bakeapple pie disappear. I could be a magician when I grow up. I could make bakeapple pies disappear. That would be an important job. No. Wait! I want to be the Minister of Pie Eating. That's a  really good job!

Grandpa James is very fussy. He says he only likes two kinds of pie: Hot and cold. He thinks that funny.

Now that we're full of good food, we can explore Newfoundland. Remember it rhymes with the word 'understand.' I know where Newfoundland is. It's in O Canada. It's the first province on the right. I learned that at the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre,  you know.

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. 

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Use your indoor voice when you fly in airplanes. I know! come over to our house and play with us! We can go to Uncle Glen's house and eat seal flipper pie and bakeapple pie! Okay! Over and out!"

The Big Adventure: Charles and Chance Ride to Halifax on VIA Rail

Chance and me visit Miss Johanne. She has an important job. She's the boss of the snacks. She keeps us from being hungry and thirsty when we ride VIA Rail.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. He's so newborn he doesn't even have teeth or a tail, yet! He just drinks chocolate owls' milk, you know. I look after Chance, too. He's a handful!

Know what? We're going on an adventure. We're going on holidays. First we're going to Halifax. I know where Halifax is. It's in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia is in O Canada. It's the second province on the right. See? It's next door to Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. We're going to visit them all but first we have to climb on board the train and get there. This is fun!

We get to ride on VIA Rail to Halifax. First we take the train from our house in Windsor to Montreal. Then we say good-bye to Train 72 and climb on board The Ocean. That's Train Number 14. The blue line is how we get to Halifax from Montreal.

 Know what? The train travels all night! We get to stay up late and look out the windows! I l-o-v-e to look out the windows, don't you? The train goes very fast, you know.

When we get tired of looking out the windows we can read the newspaper. I can read, you know.  I'm five and I go to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.

We can see Moncton! That's 'cuz we're way up high in the Observation Car.

 The Ocean has a special Observation Car with lots of glass windows so we can see everything! The passengers have a special lounge, too. They have fruit in bowls. Chance likes oranges but not to eat. He likes to roll them on the floor and make little squeaky noises 'cuz he's happy. I have to watch him so he doesn't play with the oranges. He's a handful, you know.

The Business Class Lounge is a nice place on Train 14.

Oh! Look! Here's Moncton. Moncton is in New Brunswick. It's a nice city and the people are very friendly. They say, "Hello!" and "Bonjour!" The good citizens of Moncton are bilingual, just like me!  I know what bilingual means. It means French and English but sometimes it means francais et anglais.

Vincent is the Service Manager on the Ocean train to Halifax.

This is our buddy, Vincent. He has an important job on The Ocean. Vincent is the service manager. He's a good person to know. He knows the answers to all of the questions. Passengers ask lots of questions. Vincent is the smartest and helpfulest  person if you have questions. Good thing I got lots of questions!

Ryan and Daphne take good care of Chance and me on the train. They're as nice as Smarties but we don't eat our buddies.

Oh, wait! Here's our buddies Daphne and Ryan. They are very important. They are Senior Service Attendants. I know what that means. It means they help us. They bring us blankets and little pillows. I could be a Senior Service Attendant when I grow up. I could wear a uniform and help passengers to have a nice trip.

Oh! Look! I'm driving the train. Chance is too little to help but he likes to watch.

Guess what? Chance and me are in the engine car with Dexter and Garnet. They are the engineers. They drive the train to Halifax. That's an important job, you know. We can't go anywhere without their help. I'm sorry the pictures didn't turn out but Dexter and Garnet are very nice. I could be an engineer at VIA Rail when I grow up, you know.

The Ocean is a great big 'ole train. I l-o-v-e to ride the Ocean. All aboard!

Oh. Wait! Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario! We gotta go find James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed.

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours.  Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can ride to Halifax on the train together! Okay! Over and out!"