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.