The Almost Intrepid Adventures of LibraryAnn: 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.