Acadia and home

Winter Harbor

This will be my last post for this trip. We are safe in Acadia National Park at the Schoodic Woods campground where Ben and I stayed last year. Tomorrow we head out for Brattleboro, then Harrisburg, and then home on Wednesday. We are ready.

A walk in the woods

The nearest town to Schoodic Point is Winter Harbor. We checked into the campground, then dumped the trailer and headed into town for lunch and gas. Jessie had a crab cake BLT and I had a haddock burger--one last good coastal meal. Then we finished the camp set up and napped. We've taken Franklin on a long walk. We've thwarted the mosquitoes long enough to grill a simple supper and s'mores. Jessie has settled into
her classwork, I into my book.

Coastal Maine is as beautiful as anyplace we've been. Our friendly Appalachian Mountains fall right into the sea here. The water is an intense blue and the woods are thick and lush. The beaches are rock instead of sand and the blue harbors are full of lobster boats, the coastal waters full of the buoys that mark the lobster pots.

Our view at lunch

Last s'mores of the trip

We drove through Deblois, through the world's largest blueberry farm and past the labor camp that houses the migrant laborers who pick the blueberries. No shoulder to get a picture, but they are not the high bushes we have in North Carolina--rather they are a low growing plant and the places they grow are called blueberry barrens. The labor camp was empty and the huts looked neat and freshly painted, waiting for the harvesters, but an internet search says a declining market threatens the local industry.

So here are our last pictures. Our next adventure is to the pacific northwest in mid-August. I should have the door latch fixed by then...

Downtown Winter Harbor

Former Episcopal Church now the local library

Winter Harbor Restaurant

Savoring Saint John Day 10- 11

Saint John Free Public Library

View from the library today

It's chilly and foggy today, blustery and damp. High of 62 degrees and no sunshine. Reading about the weather back home, I'm not complaining. We are at the Saint John Free Library, cozy and warm with a Tim Horton's downstairs and overlooking the foggy bay. We are taking it easy today. We leisurely walked Rockwood Park this morning. Jessie is working on her EMT class this afternoon. We'll have dinner and a bonfire this evening then pack up for Acadia National Park tomorrow. Then barreling back down the Interstate Tuesday and Wednesday. A post from Acadia will be my last unless something outrageously interesting happens coming home. Fingers crossed it does not.

Market Square inside

Market Square outside

Yesterday's weather was perfect. It was breezy and mild with lots of sun. We used the day to explore Saint John, starting with Market Square, home to the New Brunswick Museum and an exhibit by weaver Vita Plume. We missed getting to walk the old waterfront in Halifax. The waterfront at Saint John more than made up for it. The lovely old buildings are home to boutiques and restaurants. Did I mention I've finished my Christmas shopping? The museum itself includes historical exhibits depicting lumbering, boat building, and the area's natural history. There is also a wonderful interactive exhibit for children (and older) on fairy tales and the supernatural. They even have Big Foot castings. I swear that man gets around.

Vita's exhibit, Commemorations, was made up of portraits woven on a Jacquard loom, including a woman of local historical importance, a haunting series of soldiers lost in recent wars, and a series of women working their textile arts captured in cloth. I was privileged to take Vita's Jacquard class when she taught at NC State and only begin to understand how she uses her medium. What a treat to see this. You can see her work at http://vitaplume.com .

Poutine

I really liked it!

In the evening, Jessie treated me to dinner at the restaurant overlooking Lake Lily. She ordered poutine and loved it though she later explained to me the phrase "poutine regret" as she tried to walk dinner off.  Poutine is a combination of French fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. I can imagine it might sit heavy in the stomach. Apparently it was good going down. We also finally managed to have a Molson Canadian. The last place we tried to order one, the waitress said they didn't carry them because the locals wouldn't buy it . Bad American beer they had. However Cafe Lily had Molson and we each ordered one. Frankly, I really liked it, not that anyone consults me about beer, but I will start looking for it in the grocery.

We did succeed in having a bonfire and s'mores last night. We really are enjoying being fogged in at the library today. Enjoy the photos below from the Saint John waterfront and wish us a safe trip home! (And many thanks to Jessie for helping take pictures.)

Gorgeous old bank building

Former Seaman's mission now a law office

Much prettier mailboxes!

Irish pub

Original General Store building

Look closely at the sign

This close to the bay

Reversing Falls

Return to Saint John on July 4 Day 9

Saint John from our campground

I am writing this from the laundry room at the Rockwood Park campground in beautiful downtown Saint John NB, where I started my last Canadian trip with Ben in 2018. They hide the router in the laundry hut and the service is always pretty good.

We set out from Peaceful River mid-morning. Another 19 foot Scamp had come in for the rally overnight and I was sorry not to speak to them but not sorry to leave the mud and bugs and 40 minute trip to find wifi for Jessie.

Vintage hay bale

The campground owners had created this cute hay bale sculpture to greet their rally guests. We passed a number of fiberglass RVs on the road as we left. I hope they have a grand weekend.

Gas up at the Ford place

We did drive by the Ford dealership that is also the local gas station as we were leaving. Caught this pix out the window as others pulled up to the pumps. Part of the reason Canada looks so clean and lovely is that government has not allowed communities and the countryside to be overrun with commercial development and advertising. This may cause some small inconvenience to the Canadians, but they seem to have adjusted just fine and the resulting uninterrupted beauty of the countryside and village charm is worth the cost (IMHO).

We also passed by these charming local churches on our drive through the Nova Scotia countryside.

Church now private home

Bridge into Halifax

And we did have a lovely drive to Halifax before we left. The urban areas seem very livable and well designed for their inhabitants. I expected every car in Canada to be 4WD but there are lots of little 2WD compacts on the road and in driveways. And when I actually viewed the average annual temperatures in F instead of C, the coastal cities seemed much more manageable. I think I really could live here though this huge suspension bridge across the river into Halifax was a little scary to contemplate as a daily commute.

Because I had a rooftop carrier on the truck, we could not park in any parking garages and the truck is a little long to easily parallel park so we could not explore the waterfront on foot. We did drive through several times looking for parking and got a wonderful eyeful of shops and restaurants. We were able to park outside the downtown Victorian Public Gardens and enjoyed a walk there. There was this lovely cafe as part of the park. And I have to

Garden Gate

say, I have never seen such huge rhododendrons. Texas has nothing on Canada in terms of size of things.

Garden Cafe

Giant rhododendron

We made it safely to Rockwood Park in downtown Saint John. As I mentioned last year, we are camped on a cliff overlooking a rail classification yard and the industrial area of Saint John, including the harbor. The park itself is huge, designed by the man who did New York's Central Park. There are miles of walking trails, several lakes, a comfy campground (with good wifi in the laundry room!) and a restaurant overlooking Lake Lily. And a wonderful monument to the men and women laborers who died or were injured "building the nation". 

We had a fun visit to the local Atlantic Superstore grocery plus where we were amazed, yet again, by the diversity and excellence of the Kit Kat bars--my clothes may never fit again. We fixed a July 4 meal on the grill. Jessie made a wonderful blackberry pie (family tradition) in our peculiar Amina stovetop oven. We attempted a bonfire and succeeded in a long hard sleep. So today we are here catching our breath. We intend to head to town this afternoon to see friend Vita Plume's weaving on exhibit at the New Brunswick Museum and to explore the waterfront. As always, click to enlarge the pictures.

Kit Kats!

July 4 fare

Stovetop Blackberry Pie

Boardwalk overlooking Lake Lily

Cafe Lily

This and that Day 7-8

We are catching our collective breath. We did enjoy a wonderful fireworks display Canada Day evening, from a cliff in the park overlooking the harbor in Alma. The next morning we left the Bay of Fundy National Park in spitting rain and a cloud of black flies. Jessie drove the whole way from Alma NB to our destination in rural Nova Scotia. The day was mostly pleasant, just incredibly long. My RV GPS translates the local speed limit from kmp to mph AND tells you how fast you are actually going--a huge help. Unfortunately, rural addresses challenge its location services. Our trip took all day, thanks to a misdirection and nearly running out of gas. Distances in Canada are long and often scantily populated. We turned to Google Maps to correct our misdirection and search for gas only to be taken 22 km to a home heating fuel store before finally finding gas pumps at a small town Ford dealer. Frankly, we were lucky to have data access to use Google Maps and really lucky the local Ford dealer took on an Irving Gas franchise.

Welcome Center on Canada 2

Our campground is very isolated (by our standards). Jessie is taking an online class and the nearest public library with regular hours was forty minutes away in Truro. So yesterday was spent locating our campground then locating Truro to be sure we could find the library and then finding a local grocery store. Today has been spent doing laundry and working in the library. We plan to visit Halifax this evening then we are cutting our Nova Scotia visit short and heading west to Saint John NB early as they graciously extended our stay at Rockwell Park.

Nova Scotia Windfarm

Truro Library

I originally planned four days in Nova Scotia at the Peaceful River Campground because they were having a Vintage and Fiberglass RV rally. Apparently they expect over 75 rigs. Jessie and I were stopped by a man at a rest stop who saw LibraryAnn and made a point of inviting us and was delighted when I said we already had plans to be there. I am not sure why this campground was chosen, except perhaps for its central location in the maritime provinces. And it is large enough to host such an event and the owners are lovely folks. But it really is not near anything. Really. I will be sad not to see the many vintage rigs, but we both will be happy to be closer in to gas, food and wifi. And frankly, We are both a little road weary. We originally planned to spend these days driving the coast and visiting neighboring provinces but that thought is not so inviting now that we've logged 1800 miles and one forest or rocky coastline is starting to look like another.

Truro home

That said, Canada is still gorgeous, clean and friendly. It is full of wonderful old buildings, like the Truro Public Library and this charming old home. And folks have been very helpful and courteous. The miles of forest seem to roll like ocean swells. We hit a vista and see for miles to the next ridge, then follow winding, gently hilly roads to the next view.

So here are a few odds and ends of fun things about this trip that have not made it into previous posts.

Grocery store yarn

Because of the long, cold winters, folks are real into knitting around here. This Saint Andrews grocery sells yarn in and amongst the canned goods. And at a great price. So does the local Dollar Store.

Alma Boathouse Restaurant

SMALL fish & chips!

And I did have a wonderful birthday dinner of authentic fish and chips at the Alma Boathouse Restaurant (thank you, Cindy!) and a good, cold beer with it. Oh, and the meal shown is the SMALL portion!

Perhaps the thing that amazes us most of all are the flavors of products not available to us in the states. I wasn't kidding about the rumor that Canadian Kit Kat bars are better than those back home. There is a noticeable difference in the quality of the chocolate. They actually note on the package they are using sustainably farmed chocolate and it just has a better, more chocolaty taste. And you can get white chocolate Kit Kats all year long here (instead of just halloween), and on top of that, you can even get Green Tea Kit Kats.  I was not sold on the Green Tea flavor but I have reveled in the others.

Who knew?!?

Still, even Green Tea Kit Kats did not startle us as much as the ketsup flavored Doritos. I have never been a fan of Doritos and the idea of ketsup flavored chips just seemed beyond redneck (and pretty awful) but Jessie scarfed the bag and I suspect the ones she bought for Ben and Sydney just might not make it home.

More news as wifi happens...

Pointe Wolf Day 5-6

Bay of Fundy near low tide

I don't think Jessie was prepared for the rugged isolation of the Fundy area of New Brunswick. She needs connectivity to finish her online class and she searched for another branch library or coffee shop in Alma, near the Fundy National Park where we are staying. No Tim Horton's, no Starbucks, no library. In the off season, only 280 residents remain in Alma, and a hearty lot they must be, mostly park employees or fishermen. We were also not prepared for the rugged weather. It rained on us all the way from Saint Andrew and into this morning (Happy Canada Day, I write this July 1). Blustery wind gusts sent our screen room tumbling into a ravine and shook the camper all night as we tried to sleep. It got down into the upper 40s last night and, while milder today, we pulled out coats and vests and wore them in layers. The good news is, besides the incredible beauty of this place, the park Visitor's Center Lounge is open until 10pm with excellent wifi.

Despite the fact that it is Canada Day and all of Canada is on vacation, it has not felt crowded here. We

Baby, it's cold outside!

hiked to the beautiful Dickson Falls then down to the beach at Pointe Wolf. We drove out through Waterside, past the charming Waterside School to the Cape Enrage lighthouse I'd visited last year with Ben. I have never seen such luxurious shades of green, and any view of the Bay of Fundy is awe inspiring.

Part of the local Canada Day celebration (I guess with only 280 residents, a parade is a bit much to organize, especially since the tourist season is so short they are all employed serving food and clerking the shops today) consists, among other things, of a "duck race" hopefully followed tonight by fireworks over the water. You can buy a small plastic duck with a number on it. All several hundred of them are released into the local creek as it recedes into the bay at low tide.

Duck Race

The wind was so strong, two very dedicated local women braved the cold water and hurtled ducks pressed against the shore by the winds back into the moving water and equally dedicated fishermen waited with nets at the end to trap the ducks and keep them from entering the ocean. The owner of the first duck into the net won $200.

Finish Line

There really is no way to describe the beauty we have seen. So just enjoy the pictures (click to enlarge them) and know that we are happy, safe, amazed, and delighted to be here. And REALLY REALLY grateful for public wifi...

Bay of Fundy from the Visitor's Center

Creek at Dickson's Falls

Boardwalk at the falls

The deep woods

Dickson Falls

Pointe Wolf Beach at low tide

Waterside School

Cape Enrage

Cozy at home