6/28/14 – Left St. John, a bit turned around, but ran across a Costco east of town, so stopped in for a few bulk sizes of various Canadian specialties. No gas here, but probably won’t buy it at a Costco anyway – 2.7% charge from AMEX…. Arrived at Century Family Farm campground in St.Martins after a short but bumpy drive on route 111. This one is in an open field right next to the beach, and the famous sea caves are visible in the distance. We unhitched the bikes and headed along the coast to the beach where the caves in the facing cliffs were being explored by kayakers.

At low tide the caves end up high up the beach, where they are easily accessed by foot – but didn’t want to wait that long, so we headed back. There are also a couple covered bridges here as you pass through the harbor,

… and a café with world-famous clam chowder. But, as I avoid gluten now, I can only pass this on. The road continues on to the Fundy Trail, and we attempted the ride, but gave up less than half way due to the steepness, and the fact we were planning to drive the rig in tomorrow anyhow. We did explore a trail above the caves where you could look down on the kayakers.

6/29/14 – Drove back to the sea caves, NOW at low tide, and walked up close. However, would have had to forge a river channel to enter, so only pix.

On onto the Fundy Trail Parkway, which parallels the trail, stopping at several parking areas and pullouts to explore local clifftop ocean views and sights, such as a pretty waterfall.

Finally left the  rig at Parking Area 5 (P5), and decided to try the trail first on foot, before unloading the bikes again.GOOD choice – the trail was wide and easy to negotiate, but always steeply up-and-down. Almost every cyclist we met was coming uphill on foot – pushing their bike and puffing.We meandered along until P6, wh ere there was an exhibit featuring a ‘portable’ sawmill. This meant the entire large wooden structure and its components, along with tents, cots, and a cook, etc., could be broken down and moved to a new location as needed.

We continued on to the interpretive center at P7 to pick up some water and snack, then down to the banks of the Big Salmon River (P8) to pick up the side trail to the Hearst Fishing Lodge, upriver. We crossed the river on a pedestrian cable suspension bridge,

… and then forged along the trail. This steeply winding trail way overmatched us, having to clamber up slick, wet tree roots, down boulders, hanging on to cable strung between trees, nailed on handrails, etc, etc, and several times deciding whether we had enough left in us to stumble on or turn back and hope to negotiate our way out in one piece!

We made it though, and I have to say the pretty little lodge was a bit underwhelming considering the journey.

Anyway, the saint of a caretaker graciously volunteered to take us back on the 4X4 access road, then a park shuttle dropped us off at the rig. We drove back to the campground and collapsed with a stiff drink. Tomorrow, we head to Fundy National Park.

6/27/14 -  Beautiful cloudless morning, sunny skies, pleasantly cool and dry. Rockwood Park is lovely, wooded, with a lake for swimming or kayaking, botanical gardens, and miles of trails, all outside our doorstep.

We did none of it though. Instead, we walked into St. John, about 25 minutes. Once there we started at the City Market, checking out all the fresh groceries and specialties, then followed the all-weather ‘pedway’ thru various interior malls, briefly. But we soon headed back outside to enjoy the fine day, and took several self-guided walking tours thru the city’s historic districts. Had lunch at Sagrati’s back at the market, very nice, then some more walking tours.

 

 

  Later we headed to the harbor and up the St. John River......

 

...several kilometers to the Reversing Rapids, catching them as they transition from calm to raging downstream, following the rapidly descending low tide. This is the Bay of Fundy effect, which we will see more of in days to come.

 

 

 

 

We returned once again to the City Market for dinner at Billy’s Seafood Company, again delicious and with elegant presentation. We finally dragged back into our campsite after 9 hrs afoot, but feeling we finally had done justice to our St. John visit. Tomorrow we head to St. Martins for a couple of days.

footnote: when passing through Bangor on our way to Mt. Desert Isle, we stopped at a Verizon store to update our plan, since Canada was now only a few days away. Up to this point, we had a Family Plan with four phones, Nancy’s cell, my smartphone, and a pair of Home Phone Connect devices for our cabin and Nancy’s mom. Our cells shared 550 min, and unlimited for the HPC devices, within the USA. We had to change our plan because it offered no inexpensive plans for Canada. We switched to the More Everything Plan with a reduced data plan, for about the same price as we had been paying, and added the $15/mo for 1000 min in Canada. Data there will be $25/100MB, so we will just be using WiFi, where available. However, it turns out any cell phone we call in the USA will be charged the long distance roaming rate of $0.50/min! This includes Nancy’s mom, on our own cell plan, so we have to make adjustments for her.

6/24/14 – En route to Canada on route 1! Off the island and a last shopping trip to Walmart and liquor store, and later a last fill of US gas. Briefly stopped in Machias to view the falls and buy some local blueberry products before crossing the border at Calais, across the bridge into St. Stephens. Visited the nearest handy information site for a complete breakdown of navigating New Brunswick. Then off along Canada route 1 and down to St. Andrews for the night, some clouds and pleasantly cool.

We stayed at Oceanfront Camping at the tip of the peninsula, no-hookup tent site for $28. Nice, flat sites, most with hookups, bathrooms very nice, no charge for showers. Across the street is the beach – tide way out when we checked, this IS the entrance to the Bay of Fundy. At the back of the campground you access a paved trail that leads east into a Nature Preserve, but we didn’t take it. That  evening, walked into town for dinner at the Lobster Bay pub and dining. Food ok, but nothing special. A lot of places aren’t open or close early Mondays and Tuesdays. Used Nancy’s Target Visa, accepted everywhere, and no foreign exchange fees. Discover likewise but accepted fewer places. Note Costco’s AMEX has a 2.7% fee, as does BofA Visa. It pays to check ahead.

6/25/14 – Headed eastward on 1 again, stopping at an info center in St. George. Walked across the bridge over the river at the falls there, and steps led down to a fish ladder reaching to the bottom of the gorge, first we’ve ever seen. Lots of fish milling around at the top of the ladder – appeared to be trout, or may be young salmon ready to head out. Meanwhile, Nancy spied a huge bird swoop down to alight on a snag sticking out of the cliff below us on the other side of the gorge; A bald eagle! We found a better vantage point, and he stayed around long enough to head back to the rig for camera and binocs.

 

Picked up some local blueberry goodies at the store (fresh ones not in season yet), then meandered along the Duck Unlimited walking trail between river and swamp. Couldn’t see much most of the way as the view blocked by trees and reeds, but did see a momma duck and brood frantically swimming away from us. Before leaving, we squeezed the rig down thru side streets and across a narrow bridge to see the falls from the lower end of the gorge. Standing on the bridge, the falls were pretty far, but several more large raptors were swooping back and forth across the gorge. Osprey!

We then headed east again toward St. John. It was now sprinkling on-and-off, but after a few missed turns, we ended up at Rockwood Park campground, tent sites here not suitable, so we have hookups for $37. Our site has a cliff-edge view over the trainyard and harbor, better than staring into trees, since it is now raining lightly, and it appears overnite and tomorrow will be heavy enough to forgo sight-seeing. The WiFi is good though!

6/26/14 – Weather reporting accurate.

If this trip blog is rough around the edges, please forgive – it was started in rare confluences of spare time and decent wifi while trying to wrestle with unfamiliar technology.

Our trip this summer to the Canadian Atlantic Provinces will be our longest and earliest start so far, comprising traveling to the Midwest, visiting folks there, then continuing east and north to our destination. After a couple months in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, we will start back west along the St. Lawrence through Quebec, above the Great Lakes to Sault Ste. Marie, and back into the States into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. At least, that’s the plan…

5/28/14 – Day one. A little slow getting away, since 3 months away from home seems like an eternity! Finally off by 11 a.m., pulling into the Avi Casino KOA near Laughlin about 6 hrs later. Outside temperature 104F! Hookup and turn on the AC….

5/29/14 – Continuing on the I40 to Gallup, NM, and Red Rock Park, inexpensive. Wanted to explore the interesting topography, but warm, and the winds came up, dust blowing, so another night in, AC on. Next morning, calm and clear, with huge horse trailers rolling into the park and past the campground. We strolled around the bluff to a huge, beautiful rodeo arena, and caught the first six or so contestants in the team-roping competition. Exciting! Then a stroll through the Native Peoples Museum (an unexpected gem) before settling back on the road east.

 5/30/14 – Ending up in Empty Saddle RV park in Tucumcari, NM, inexpensive and unassuming but with hookups for the necessary AC and wi-fi. Our gracious host provided us with a free watermelon and blackberries! Hot and humid!

5/31/14 – pulled into Abe’s RV Park just north of Oklahoma City off the I35. A mostly itinerant worker park with a decent atmosphere, full hookups for $33/nite. We chose it for its proximity to our friend Nikki in Edmond, and the Cowboy Museum. Nikki and her boyfriend Dave took us to dinner at BJ’s to watch the demise of the Thunder to the Spurs in game six.

6/1/14 – Visited downtown OKC, the botanical gardens, Bricktown, and the Riverwalk, joined again by Nikki for lunch at Toby Keith’s (fair). That afternoon, off to the Cowboy Museum – impressive collection of art and artifacts, but so extensive we had to cut it short before seeing the re-constructed western town. Later had dinner at a local Thai restaurant (nice) and then a trip out on route 66 to a store offering a dizzying array and selection of sodas (and it’s a gas station too!) before Nikki dropped us back at Abe’s.

 

6/2/14 – N.E. on the 44E through Missouri, green trees, hills, lots of humidity and tons of squashed armadillos. Small, inexpensive private RV park with lots of military residents from Fort Leonard Wood nearby. AC all night. Pleasant but basic.

6/3/14 – Through St.Louis and on the I64 through southern Illinois and Indiana to Indian-Celina campground in Hoosier NF. Electric for AC for $17 thanks to senior pass. Nice forested park with trails, lakes, etc. Hot and Humid, though.

 6/4/14 – To Louisville, KY, change to the SR71, northeast to the Kentucky Speedway exit, across the Ohio River to Indiana, then along the river past Rising Sun to the Campshore campground for 3 days of visiting family. Managed to dodge hail, tornado, and intense rain, and welcomed several days of low humidity and mild temps and NO AC! This was Steve’s mother’s homeland, with lots of relatives and a reunion get-together with many of them. Even our campground manager knew about us before we checked in because they grew up with a couple of the cousins.  Small towns…..

 

6/7/14 – North thru Indianapolis to Grand Beach Michigan, south shore of that lake just east of the Indiana state line, to visit Nancy’s cousin Frannie and husband Mark in their palatial ‘cabin’. Toured the countyside, took a long bike ride, and watched the Kings squeak a couple wins from the Rangers. Our Chicagoan hosts were disappointed – since the Kings knocked out the Blackhawks, they were rooting for New York. However I reminded them that if the Kings won, that could make Chicago considered the second best team.

6/10/14 – A relatively short drive east across Michigan to just north of Detroit, visiting Terry and Cindy and their families, lifelong friends of Nancy and also friends of Steve, Art and Jo, who just retired and moved there in 2012 from Marina Del Rey. And, got to see the Kings win the Stanley Cup in double overtime – that’s at about 1 a.m.!

6/14/14 – We headed north along the eastern border of Michigan to Port Huron, at southern end of Lake Huron, where we crossed into Ontario. We pulled into Vivian and Cam’s driveway in Dundas, just south of Hamilton, settling in for the night since they were out of town that evening for a wedding. Spent a couple days hiking around and biking the area, visiting the Royal Botanical Gardens and keeping a watchful eye on a baby deer that was born in their backyard a few days before our arrival, before taking leave from this, our final visit. Now we are on our own.

6/17/14 – Negotiated east south of Lake Ontario, getting turned around in a pounding rainstorm, but eventually made it to Niagara on the Lake by early afternoon, sun back out. We walked around this historic and pretty town with all the other tourists, toured an old restored apothecary, and lunched on a nice gluten-free pizza and a salad at a little ristorante in town whose name we can’t remember! Later we headed up the Niagara River to find a camp for the night. Overnight, more rain.

 6/18/14 – Partly cloudy as we cruised into Niagara Falls, which kept it comfortably cool, since the humidity was fairly high. Pulled into a parking lot that cost $18C, but they didn’t allow RVs, so they sent us south out of town where there was RV parking. Worked out well, because still pre-season, there was no charge and a free shuttle right to the edge of spectacular Horseshoe Falls. We strolled along the precipice walk, then descended to river level to take the tour boat out to both the Canadian and American Falls. That was ok, but you get drenched from the blowing mist, which REALLY isn’t as fun as it sounds, yet seems to be the main point of the ride. We decided to head back north and cross to the USA at Lewiston, then follow the 104 toward Rochester. However, we made a wrong turn off the bridge, and ended up on the 31 instead, meandering through endless little towns until finally circling south of Rochester on freeways and off to the 90, a toll road. We spent the night at Cayuga Lake S.P., near Seneca Falls, in the finger lake area of  NY.

 

6/19/14 -  Back on the New York State Thruway (90) to exit 28, heading northeast through the Adirondacks on 30A, 30, 4, 7, 9N to a county cg at Lake Luzerne. A tiring driving day with Nancy complaining constantly about the scary narrow roads and confusing road markings. Since she was the one driving, she earned that right.

6/20/14 – South on the 87 freeway one exit to the 149, then the 4 east into Vermont, then the 100 and 107 north to the 89 freeway up to Montpelier. We parked and strolled through this tiny but picturesque capital city, having lunch at a AAA recommended eatery, the Skinny Pancake. Split a delicious gluten-free veggie crepe wrap and equally sumptuous Greek salad while serenaded outside by some street musicians playing what sounded like Celtic airs. Continued eastward on the 2 and just across the Connecticut River into New Hampshire and stopped there for the night.

6/21/14 – Continued on the 2 to Gorham and stopped at the Railroad Museum located at the old train depot; very small, but an interesting collection of artifacts and a thoroughly involved and animated curator made the interlude very worthwhile. Some notable items include a train snowplow car and an elaborate model train reconstruction of olden

Gorham, filling most of the interior of a siding boxcar. We continued on the 2 through to Maine to I95 into Bangor, then transitioned to the 395 and the 1A to Ellsworth for the night.

 6/22/14 – Finally arrived at Mt. Desert Island, and Acadia National Park. Decided despite the attractive price, that we were unlikely to get a spot in either park campground, so chose instead Hadley Cove Campground at the northern end of the island. The island is small, so we decided that motoring the rig around to the sights for a couple days and returning to the campground in the evening is as good an option there as in a park cg. This first day we hiked around on top of Cadillac Mountain, peered through a telescope at  some peregrine falcon chicks high up in their cliffside aerie while a ranger gave her talk, hiked around Jordan Pond, and stopped off at C-Ray across the road from our campground while Josh boiled us up a couple Maine lobsters, a pound of clams, and a couple ears of corn. Back at the campsite, we leisurely dispatched this feast outside at our picnic table, then took a evening stroll down the road to the beach to watch the setting sun as a pair of seals frolicked in the bay. Nice day.

 6/23/14 – finally not rushed to get moving early, we took our time before heading south toward the West side of the island, checking out the beach on Echo Lake. Apparently a school trip had arrived there, as there were dozens of kids on the beach and in the water! We headed instead up a trail leaving from the parking area toward the top of the adjacent mount, called Beech Cliff. The trail started out easy, but rapidly turned very rough and rocky up to a lake overlook. A gorgeous view from that vantage, the kids in the lake just tiny dots. Beyond that the trail got even more precipitous and tricky, so we returned. Next stop for lunch was along the natural seawall along the south coast – sea and tidepools on one side, lagoon and reeds with very fragrant wild roses on the other. On we motored to the Ship Harbor trailhead, a loop along a natural harbor out to the coast, woods, granite bluffs, and sweeping vistas along the coastline. Partly to avoid big construction delays we hit on our way down, we continued on a route back up the west side of the island where the only notable stop would be some auto museum. The road up was terrible, badly worn and torn up, but when we arrived at the Seal Cove Auto Museum, it was worth every bone-jarring mile. This gem seemed out of place here – a world-class collection of relics and restored early motorcars in an impeccable display that any automotive buff would drool over. Check it out at www.sealcoveautomuseum.org. Returning to our campsite we had plenty of time for our laundry, a swim for Nancy, and other chores before dinnertime.