Today is the day after—the day after Earl (the hurricane).
The sun is shining and everything is much more beautiful because the sun is shining at its best. We do have a strong wind but we can deal with that instead of rain like we had yesterday.
We left home at 9:30 am and drove to Stella Marus Catholic Church in North Rustico. The church was a fairly large white wood ship lap on the outside with no prominent entrance door. When we opened the small door to the church and stepped into the church we were very surprised. It had white walls and woodwork with decorative trim. The trim was simple but elegant in a mahogany stain. There were a few paintings on the side walls up near the top of the church and only two large statues with a Blessed Virgin statue on the left side grotto. It was a very large church with wooden seats along the main aisles and smaller seats along the side aisles. The main altar was elevated with a huge wooden cross above and to the back of the main altar. There were no side altars but they had niches for two statues.
They had a simple organ and one soloist. The parish was one of three churches in a cluster. The pastor was retired and lived in Florida in the winter months. He came to PEI in the summer and served at this parish. He was an elderly man but was as sharp as a tack. His sermon was filled with a good message and a large spoonful of humor. He even finished the mass with an amusing poem about the bible. You could feel the love the parishioners had for him by the way they interacted after man. The summer masses were at 6 pm on Saturday and 10 am on Sunday during the months of June thru Labor Day Weekend. It seems the entire island goes on slow or stopped mode during the rest of the year.
Our goal for today was to visit a dairy farmer who lives in Lower Bedeque. Walt had met him some years ago when he came to the National Farmers office in Ames, Iowa. So he gave him a call last evening and he planned to meet him this afternoon at his farm.
As we drove to southern PEI we noticed the rivers looked red today after the storm. The ground is so red on the island so when it rains the water has a red tint. We drove thru farm areas and saw the cows grazing in the fields and all was right with the world. I could not take pictures that would sufficiently document the scene.
We were near Summerside and not to far from the dairy farm so we searched for a restaurant to have a small lunch. Well, on Sunday this can be difficult task to fulfill. We finally found a restaurant in a hotel. When we walked in we felt a little out of our league, so when we spoke to the waitress she said they had a brunch on Sunday. Well, we decided to partake in the meal. It started with numerous salads and mussels. Then they had breakfast foods as omelets, bacon, sausage, and pancakes. They also had ham, roast beef, potatoes, corn, and lasagna followed by desserts. It was definitely a time to put on your blinders and make good choices.
After lunch we filled our truck with diesel at an Irving Station. Remember, when we were in Saint John, New Brunswick, I talked about the family who controlled the gas, lumber and oil in that part of New Brunswick. Well, they are also on the island. Walt talked to a man at the filling station and he said the crops were 2 weeks early this year and it was the hottest summer since 1942.
As we left Summerside on Route 1A we came to the intersection of Route 8 and found a Bargain Fabric Outlet on the corner, so we stopped for a look at the store. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the fabric and the hospitality of the clerks. They also had a large selection of drapery and upholstery fabric. The most interesting part was the rooms they had decorated with window coverings, upholstery and bedding. The fabric was totally different than what you would see in the states.
After leaving the fabric store we did a short drive to Lower Bedeque and the dairy farm we were going to visit. The farm was located on a paved road which ended at the lane and became a mud road. We certainly enjoyed our visit with the young farmer and his wife and their 2 young children. We talked about the life of a dairy farmer on the island. He was quite knowledgeable about agriculture on the island and in the states. Since they exported about 80% of the dairy products to the states it was important he knew about the relationship to the US. We learned many things about life and farming in PEI. Later in the afternoon his father came for a visit and he was very interesting to talk with about retirement, hobbies and his life. He was the 5th generation on the farm and he was interested in restoring old tractors which had been used on the farm. He was also a small plane pilot as was his wife and two sons. They had a building with 2 planes inside and another building with old machinery which he had collected over the years.
When we left the farm we followed the mud road to the point where there was a lighthouse and a beautiful view of the Bedeque Bay which emptied into the Northumberland Strait. We then traveled back to Cavendish where our home was parked. But, before we went home we revisited the Prince Edward Island National Park, at Cavendish. It was a few minutes before sunset when we parked near the red bluffs which we had seen the night before on our trip to the church we went to this morning. The sky was filled with fluffy white clouds with a few black clouds put in the mix. When the sun was setting we had a glow of red over the hills and bluffs. It made for the most beautiful pictures which I have taken since we have been on this trip. (I cannot add photos because our internet connection is not strong enough to download or receive large photos.)
We went home with a felling of fatigue, but also content with the people we met and the scenery we had seen during the day.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
September 4, 2010
We started the day by finding a local restaurant which was open for breakfast. Believe it we found a meal for 5.95. It seems like any meals we have eaten at a restaurant have been a bit more expensive than what we have been accustomed to paying . Also, they do not do refills on ice tea but they do refills on coffee and they cost the same.
After our breakfast we started for a quilt shop in O’Leary in the North Cape Coastal Drive. At the end of the day we did not get finished with the tour. The storm moved in and it was strong wind and rain. Our first stop of the day was at the Information center in Kensington. As we drove from Cavendish to Kensington we passed thru some farming area on Route 6. They had very long high barns (larger than in Mercer County) and large square 2 story houses. Usually the barns and the house were white in color with black trim.
The gal working at the information center was perfect for her job. She was very personable and knew what she was talking about. With the information they also had a high scale craft store with items made on the island. The wool hand knitted sweaters were beautiful and cost 125 dollars.
After leaving Kensington we drove on route 2 to O’Leary which was a 68 mile drive. It continued to rain but not as hard as when we arrived at Kensington. The town was very small but had a hardware store which had everything you could get at a hardware store and at a dime store. In the basement they had a quilt shop with finished quilts, scrapbook materials and a large array of quilt fabric. I picked up a few packets of needles, a pattern and a gift for one of the girls. After leaving the store we went to the Potato Museum.
Walt enjoyed the museum and it was to make up for the quilt shop I had spent time at earlier in the day. The museum is in the middle of the area were many potato fields grow the potato which has played a important role in the economy for many years. At this point in history there are 170,000 people who live in PEI and they have 10,000 acres of potatoes planted each year on PEI. There are 2 companies who control 50% of the potatoes which are produced. The other growers are independent growers. It seems like we have the same problems with farm products in the US.
The machinery gallery contains a collection of farm machinery once used to plant and harvest potatoes and originally pulled by horses. Walt saw some of the machinery and remembered that his Uncle Henry used some of the same practices and machinery. Walt had spent some of his summer hours working for Uncle Henry on the potato farm in Cranberry Prairie.
After the museum we got a quick sandwich at a local restaurant. Walt had a Lobster Roll. He had seen them advertised since we were near the coast, so he finally tried one. He did enjoy it. Another thing we need to try is a Seaweed Pie. He tried seaweed when we were at the city market in Saint John, N.B. but never pie. The seaweed was very salty so people used it like potato chips in New Brunswick. I cannot imagine what a salty pie would taste like.
After leaving O’Leary we went south east to the West Point Lighthouse. It is painted black and white so the ships could pick it out of the red ground on the coastal cliffs. It was really raining hard so I stayed in the car and read some of our info pamphlets. He said they had two bedrooms for rent in the lighthouse and 4 others which were in another building connected to the lighthouse. He said the last room had just been rented for the night.
Description of the lighthouse: West Point Lighthouse was the first of the second generation lighthouses, constructed in 1875 for a cost of $4,459.59. With a total height of 67 feet and 8 inches, it is currently the tallest lighthouse on the Island.
After the light house visit we decided it was time to go back to Cavendish and see how the storm had done. We had heard in the restaurant that the storm had turned at Saint John, N.B. and had gone over the tip of Nova Scotia and had not hit the middle of PEI as predicted.
We arrived home at about 5:30 pm and everything was in one piece. We have been told that the storm arrived at about 2 pm with rain and a wind measured at 90 Km.
After supper we took a ride to find a Catholic Church for Mass in the morning. It is near the gate to the PEI Provincial Park and this time you could go in without a pass. The scenery was beautiful and we even saw 5 red fox at the edge of the road. It was about sunset so they had come out to eat. Naturally I did not have my camera with me so we may try to get some scenery shots in the morning.
Time for lights out. Goodnight.
PS I tried to download a picture of the light house but I did not have a good enough web connection to do the download.
After our breakfast we started for a quilt shop in O’Leary in the North Cape Coastal Drive. At the end of the day we did not get finished with the tour. The storm moved in and it was strong wind and rain. Our first stop of the day was at the Information center in Kensington. As we drove from Cavendish to Kensington we passed thru some farming area on Route 6. They had very long high barns (larger than in Mercer County) and large square 2 story houses. Usually the barns and the house were white in color with black trim.
The gal working at the information center was perfect for her job. She was very personable and knew what she was talking about. With the information they also had a high scale craft store with items made on the island. The wool hand knitted sweaters were beautiful and cost 125 dollars.
After leaving Kensington we drove on route 2 to O’Leary which was a 68 mile drive. It continued to rain but not as hard as when we arrived at Kensington. The town was very small but had a hardware store which had everything you could get at a hardware store and at a dime store. In the basement they had a quilt shop with finished quilts, scrapbook materials and a large array of quilt fabric. I picked up a few packets of needles, a pattern and a gift for one of the girls. After leaving the store we went to the Potato Museum.
Walt enjoyed the museum and it was to make up for the quilt shop I had spent time at earlier in the day. The museum is in the middle of the area were many potato fields grow the potato which has played a important role in the economy for many years. At this point in history there are 170,000 people who live in PEI and they have 10,000 acres of potatoes planted each year on PEI. There are 2 companies who control 50% of the potatoes which are produced. The other growers are independent growers. It seems like we have the same problems with farm products in the US.
The machinery gallery contains a collection of farm machinery once used to plant and harvest potatoes and originally pulled by horses. Walt saw some of the machinery and remembered that his Uncle Henry used some of the same practices and machinery. Walt had spent some of his summer hours working for Uncle Henry on the potato farm in Cranberry Prairie.
After the museum we got a quick sandwich at a local restaurant. Walt had a Lobster Roll. He had seen them advertised since we were near the coast, so he finally tried one. He did enjoy it. Another thing we need to try is a Seaweed Pie. He tried seaweed when we were at the city market in Saint John, N.B. but never pie. The seaweed was very salty so people used it like potato chips in New Brunswick. I cannot imagine what a salty pie would taste like.
After leaving O’Leary we went south east to the West Point Lighthouse. It is painted black and white so the ships could pick it out of the red ground on the coastal cliffs. It was really raining hard so I stayed in the car and read some of our info pamphlets. He said they had two bedrooms for rent in the lighthouse and 4 others which were in another building connected to the lighthouse. He said the last room had just been rented for the night.
Description of the lighthouse: West Point Lighthouse was the first of the second generation lighthouses, constructed in 1875 for a cost of $4,459.59. With a total height of 67 feet and 8 inches, it is currently the tallest lighthouse on the Island.
After the light house visit we decided it was time to go back to Cavendish and see how the storm had done. We had heard in the restaurant that the storm had turned at Saint John, N.B. and had gone over the tip of Nova Scotia and had not hit the middle of PEI as predicted.
We arrived home at about 5:30 pm and everything was in one piece. We have been told that the storm arrived at about 2 pm with rain and a wind measured at 90 Km.
After supper we took a ride to find a Catholic Church for Mass in the morning. It is near the gate to the PEI Provincial Park and this time you could go in without a pass. The scenery was beautiful and we even saw 5 red fox at the edge of the road. It was about sunset so they had come out to eat. Naturally I did not have my camera with me so we may try to get some scenery shots in the morning.
Time for lights out. Goodnight.
PS I tried to download a picture of the light house but I did not have a good enough web connection to do the download.
September 3, 2010
Well, we are here in Cavendish, PEI, and the storm is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. We left Shediac, N. B. at about 8:45 am (we seem to be getting later on our moves) and arrived and was set up by 11 am. When we left Shediac, N.B. we traveled 11 south to 15 E. We saw the big bales in white bags piled very close to the road with an electric fence around them. I suppose they did the fence so the dear would not tear the bales apart and get an early snack. Walt said that when he walked Bart this morning there were a large amount of Geese flying this morning. They must sense the impending storm.
As we drove closer to the bridge which will take us to PEI we saw that diesel fuel was 100.5 for 3.78 gallon. This is close to the cost in the US. Walt was told to “look for clean diesel” at the pump so it would be like US diesel fuel.
When we reached Route 16 we took this road to the Confederate Bridge which is a 8 mile high bridge with a turn on it to the PEI over the Northumberland Strait.. When we were on the bridge we felt like we were in a bubble. You could look out of the window and see gray water to the horizon with nothing in between us and the sky. When we got close to the island I saw two fishing boats going out in the bay to fish. We had been on bridges which went over the water but had never felt so isolated when we did it other times.
As we drove to Cavendish we were on 225 for 13 miles and we saw bearded wheat being harvested and they baled the straw in the large bales as we do in Ohio. They were also digging potatoes. That is our farm report for now.
After we arrived in Cavendish we did a quick lunch and enjoyed the view from our windows. We are sitting on a slight hill that overlooks the tree line in the distance. This is a large park but it is not full. They have had over 70 cancellations due to the storm which is predicted to cross over this area on Saturday. Bart needed a long walk because he was having a panic attack when we started traveling this morning. After the walk we all did a few hours of R and R.
At about 4 pm we took a drive along the northern coast on the Green Gables Shore drive ending up at the wharf in North Rustico. This area had some beautiful homes along the shore and we acted like we were interested in a house on the dead end street. These homes have beautiful views of the northern shores. W also stopped at a fish market and got some salmon for dinner this weekend. We also stopped at the PEI Provincial Park and found we would have to pay around 30 dollars for the two of us to be able to drive the park. I guess this is a pass for all the parks on the island. We felt it was too late to do the tour and we really did not know if we would be using the pass. We found out later that after the Labor Day Holiday we could possibly get in without a pass. We will have to decide on what we will do next week before we get a pass.
At about 6 pm we came home and made dinner and called it another good day on the road.
As we drove closer to the bridge which will take us to PEI we saw that diesel fuel was 100.5 for 3.78 gallon. This is close to the cost in the US. Walt was told to “look for clean diesel” at the pump so it would be like US diesel fuel.
When we reached Route 16 we took this road to the Confederate Bridge which is a 8 mile high bridge with a turn on it to the PEI over the Northumberland Strait.. When we were on the bridge we felt like we were in a bubble. You could look out of the window and see gray water to the horizon with nothing in between us and the sky. When we got close to the island I saw two fishing boats going out in the bay to fish. We had been on bridges which went over the water but had never felt so isolated when we did it other times.
As we drove to Cavendish we were on 225 for 13 miles and we saw bearded wheat being harvested and they baled the straw in the large bales as we do in Ohio. They were also digging potatoes. That is our farm report for now.
After we arrived in Cavendish we did a quick lunch and enjoyed the view from our windows. We are sitting on a slight hill that overlooks the tree line in the distance. This is a large park but it is not full. They have had over 70 cancellations due to the storm which is predicted to cross over this area on Saturday. Bart needed a long walk because he was having a panic attack when we started traveling this morning. After the walk we all did a few hours of R and R.
At about 4 pm we took a drive along the northern coast on the Green Gables Shore drive ending up at the wharf in North Rustico. This area had some beautiful homes along the shore and we acted like we were interested in a house on the dead end street. These homes have beautiful views of the northern shores. W also stopped at a fish market and got some salmon for dinner this weekend. We also stopped at the PEI Provincial Park and found we would have to pay around 30 dollars for the two of us to be able to drive the park. I guess this is a pass for all the parks on the island. We felt it was too late to do the tour and we really did not know if we would be using the pass. We found out later that after the Labor Day Holiday we could possibly get in without a pass. We will have to decide on what we will do next week before we get a pass.
At about 6 pm we came home and made dinner and called it another good day on the road.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
September 2, 2010
We slept in a bit. It was 9 am when we got up--gee, that felt good. After breakfast we decided to do a boat tour of Shediac Bay. Well, the first stop after leaving the park was to stop at the Canadian Embassy (Tim Horton). It was so funny to drive in the drive in lane and they had two lanes for drive-thru, but the lanes were separated by cement barriors like they us on the interstates. They even had red strips on them. It was like make two lines so you get off of the street, that is how long the lines were at that time of day. When we got 2 car lengths for the ordering window the two lines merged with one lane going first and the other lane going next. Note: we have noticed so much courtesy when driving in this area. If you are trying to get on the street from and entrance without a light people will stop and let you join in the traffic. They even help you when you look like you are lost. It must be the British way of doing things-or-maybe the French.
After the embassy we went over to the harbor to book our trip on the boat. We could not do it over the phone because the answering machine spoke only in French. Well, the boat went out at 1:15 pm and it was only 10 am , so we sat on the pier watching the bay while Walt drank his coffee. After about an hour I was bored to death so I asked if we could go to a Dollar Store I had seen up the street. When we got back to the pier gate Walt said we would not leave because we would have to pay 2 dollars to get back onto the pier. So we spent time just sitting and watching things another hour until we grabbed some lunch before the tour. Well by then I had really been cooked and dried out by the 95 degree weather and the wind off of the bay.
The boat tour was okay but not stupendous like our tour in Upper New York State at the Thousand Islands. After this boat tour we finally went to the Dollar Store. The things they had in the store were totally different than what you see in the US. Many unusual things. Amanda and Courtney, we got you something. No one else will have the same thing for your birthday.
The hurricane is coming our way, but we will be going to PEI in the morning and hope to be settled at Cavendish, PEI by noon. The rain is not supposed to start until the afternoon. We will be on the north west corner of the island so we should be okay. Look for the answer to this on my next Blog.
September, 1, 2010
"On the road again."As the song say's we are moving along. New Brunswick has 88% of its land covered with trees. Boy, are they right. That is all we are seeing today. But, after traveling about 40 miles we were starting to see glimpses of farming communities in the valley to our left. They did things right by putting the road on the uneven high ground and leaving the good valley area for farming. Some of the town names are Belasiene, Norton, Apahaguis. All French names, and as we found later in the day this is a huge French Area. Every sign has French and English on the sign (this has been true since we entered New Brunswick) but it is more prominent of the people in this north western area. We definitely are in farm country when you get a whiff of hay and not pine trees.
The tour guide in Saint Johns was right when he said Tim Horton's (quick food restaurant) is Canada's Embassy and McDonalds is the United States Embassy. We always see one and then the other.
When we went past the Salisbury exit we are seeing larger farms and we even saw cows in the field and milk trucks on the roads. Very bid barns and silos are also visible.
We arrived in Shediak, New Brunswick, at about 1l:30 am and set up with no problem even though this is a large park and being totally full. Thank goodness we had a reservation. The manager of the park met us as we entered the park and escorted us to our site. We did not even have to level our R.V. That is so nice.
After eating a quick lunch we headed to the information center and really had a hard time explaining to the young man at the counter that we wanted to drive through the farm country. He spoke French fluently but had a hard time with English. Apparently he knew English from a book but could not carry on a very good conversation. This is the first person we met who had that problem. Oh, another tidbit==Shediak is the largest lobster capital of the Canada. The town has about 5000 population in the winter and it doubles its population in the summer from June to September. You could almost say there are more RV's in this area than actual houses. They are everywhere.
After the visitors center we started on our afternoon drive. We headed north with the goal to see some of the seashore and find some farms. Well, we saw some seashore and some farms but we also found a mud road. Walt was traveling along on a paved road and then it turned into a gravel road and then into mud. He figured if the road was on the GPS it would be okay. Well, we drove about 5 miles and all we saw was this narrow road with no people, no cars but only trees. Then we came up to a washout on the road. We carefully went with one wheel straddling a dry spot between to wet holes and the other wheel was in the ditch. We got thru and then he decided it was not any good to travel any further when he saw a lot of wood bark and twigs in the roadway. "I believe this is a logging road." What a good observation!! So we turned around and Lizzie (our GPS) says "Travel 5.8 miles to next road". Good she was still with us. After a slow trek to the main road we decided we had explored enough and went on to better things. We found a Natural Soap making business and a winery. One stop for me and a stop for Walt. We returned home about 4 hours later--thank goodness because it was 95 degrees with very high humidity.
We will see what adventures we can have tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
August 31, 2010
We had a nice day of a tour of the city and a quiet afternoon of R and R. Walt took a walk and I took a nap. We started the day with a bus tour of Saint John. After all of the driving we did yesterday and how difficult it is to drive in the city. They have very narrow streets with many dead ends. The city is along the Saint John River so it is a narrow strip thru the valley with refineries, a pulp mill, railroad and a large harbor.
We are staying a Rockwood Park while in Saint John. It is one of Canada’s largest municipal parks. It has lakes, camping, a restaurant, golf course, horseback riding, wild blueberry picking, a zoo with a Siberian Leopard which was born in this zoo, and hiking trails. They also have 4 other city parks – 2 Kings parks and 2 Queens parks-plus other small parks. The city is also taking part in the Blooming City Program. This is when a city strives to bring flowers in the city in many way. They are a sister city to Portland Oregon. They did have flowers in the public areas and also a vegetable garden. There were no flowers around the houses in some areas because the houses were very close to each other and built right up to the sidewalks. There was a fire in the late 1800’s which leveled about 2/3’s of the city, so a law was passed to charge huge taxes to those who had large front yards. The reasoning was that the firemen did not want to run across large lawns to fight a house fire. Can you believe that??? Oh by the way the fire was started by wet hay in a barn.
We saw the Carleton Martello Tower which was built during the War of 1812 to monitor the harbor. It sat on a high hill in the city. When we were on our tour we also saw the City Market. It was a short 20 minutes to walk thru the market and check it out. They did have a fish market so we go some salmon. They packed it on ice and Walt enjoyed it this evening at supper.
The most popular tourist attraction in Saint John is the reversing falls. There are no falls as we think of falls like Niagara falls. The reversing falls located at the mouth of the Saint John River are created when at low tide the river descends into the ocean at the bottom of a 449 foot gorge. At slack tide the waters are quiet. Then, with the incoming tide, the ocean rises upstream through the chasm and causes huge violent turbulent waves of moving water. It is quite spectacular.
Trivia
The city of Saint John was discovered in the 1600’s by an explorer from France. He discovered the river and set up in the area on the feast day of Saint John, therefore named the river and the future city Saint John. The city has and unemployment rate of 6% and the average yearly income is $35,000. The housing is very simple and a huge old mansion just sold for 165,000 dollars. There very few huge single family homes. The town is pretty well controlled by the Irving Family. They own the rights to the lumber, oil, gas and newspapers/radio stations. The original Irving gentleman has died and now his two sons run the business. They are a strong force in this town.
We are staying a Rockwood Park while in Saint John. It is one of Canada’s largest municipal parks. It has lakes, camping, a restaurant, golf course, horseback riding, wild blueberry picking, a zoo with a Siberian Leopard which was born in this zoo, and hiking trails. They also have 4 other city parks – 2 Kings parks and 2 Queens parks-plus other small parks. The city is also taking part in the Blooming City Program. This is when a city strives to bring flowers in the city in many way. They are a sister city to Portland Oregon. They did have flowers in the public areas and also a vegetable garden. There were no flowers around the houses in some areas because the houses were very close to each other and built right up to the sidewalks. There was a fire in the late 1800’s which leveled about 2/3’s of the city, so a law was passed to charge huge taxes to those who had large front yards. The reasoning was that the firemen did not want to run across large lawns to fight a house fire. Can you believe that??? Oh by the way the fire was started by wet hay in a barn.
We saw the Carleton Martello Tower which was built during the War of 1812 to monitor the harbor. It sat on a high hill in the city. When we were on our tour we also saw the City Market. It was a short 20 minutes to walk thru the market and check it out. They did have a fish market so we go some salmon. They packed it on ice and Walt enjoyed it this evening at supper.
The most popular tourist attraction in Saint John is the reversing falls. There are no falls as we think of falls like Niagara falls. The reversing falls located at the mouth of the Saint John River are created when at low tide the river descends into the ocean at the bottom of a 449 foot gorge. At slack tide the waters are quiet. Then, with the incoming tide, the ocean rises upstream through the chasm and causes huge violent turbulent waves of moving water. It is quite spectacular.
Trivia
The city of Saint John was discovered in the 1600’s by an explorer from France. He discovered the river and set up in the area on the feast day of Saint John, therefore named the river and the future city Saint John. The city has and unemployment rate of 6% and the average yearly income is $35,000. The housing is very simple and a huge old mansion just sold for 165,000 dollars. There very few huge single family homes. The town is pretty well controlled by the Irving Family. They own the rights to the lumber, oil, gas and newspapers/radio stations. The original Irving gentleman has died and now his two sons run the business. They are a strong force in this town.
Monday, August 30, 2010
August 30, 2010
Happy Birthday, Denise. Can you believe we have a daughter who is -- years old. Aunt Linda remembered she was about 17 and sleeping in on her last day before school started and I called to tell her and Mom that we were going to the hospital and they needed to come and take care of Denise's two older brothers. Linda remembers how she taught it was terrible that she had to babysit on her last day off.
Today when we left Bangor, Maine it was 70 degrees at 7 am and by 9:30 it was76 degrees. When the sun came out it was very warm very quick. I noted that the Trees were starting to look golden in the sunshine and the golden rod was very yellow with an occasional tree with red leaves.
We traveled on route 9 and it was quite hilly with forests as far as we could see. We bought diesel fuel near Calius, Maine, at $2.99 . This was near the Canadian border so we saw many Canadians fueling up. I also noted we had not seen very many flowers around the houses while we have been in Maine. It seems they only us an occasional shrub at their foundations and no flower beds. This seemed odd to me since we come from an area where landscaping with scrubs and flowers is quite popular, Maybe it is this way because the German's have a history of using flowers for decoration.
After we left customs we had to get accustomed to the road signs for legal speed limits. 70 means 42 MPH --80 means 50 MPH and 100 means 63MPH. We traveled on the Bay of Fundy Drive for a period of time which took us close to the Bay. The sights were breath taking at times. even thou the tide was very low.
St. Johns --Unbelievable---That is what a sign said when we arrived on the west side of St. John, N.B. .
St. Johns is a fairly large town with a lot of traffic which moves very rapidly. We found our campsite after driving with our 36ft home on narrow city streets and around sharp curves. The girl at the info center as we entered St. Johns cautioned us about taking the exit which our GPS recommended. She said and earlier exit was much better. Well if it was better I would hate to see what was worse. We are in a provincial park and park out in the open with no one near to us.
After setting up and eating lunch we got in the truck and went to the area of the Reversible Falls. We had seen this area in 1990 and remembered it when we arrived. There were two restaurants nearby which were not there in 1990. After spending some time watching the high tide arrive we decided to take a drive to St. Martins, which is east of Saint Johns. We did not think of rush hour but definitely remembered the time because the interstate was crowded. (At about 8:30 pm we realized we were in Atlantic time zone so we were later than we thought it was when we started our drive to St. Martins).
We found St. Martins to be a little bump in the road but drove east of town and found the most beautiful area along the Bay of Fundy. It had huge rocks which had caves in them at the shore line. You could enter the caves at low tide only. They had a restaurant up by the road which advertised that it had World Famous Clam Chowder. Walt wanted to give it a try, so we went in and found a bowl of Chowder was $10.99. I really did not need a bowlful so he ordered one for himself with another spoon for me. I must say it was good but very high in calories with cream and butter binding the crab meat together. It was delicious--each spoonful had a spoonful of clam meat in it. Two tablespoons of the chowder was enough for me and the rest was Walt's supper. After leaving the shore we went back thru town and headed west. On Lighthouse road we drove to the very end and found the Quaco Had Lighthouse and Quaco Head Reef and "Dulse Rock". I have great pictures of the sight.
After leaving the Lighthouse we headed west on the Fundy Bay drive and ended up in St. Johns just as the sun was setting. The end to a very long and enjoyable day.
Today when we left Bangor, Maine it was 70 degrees at 7 am and by 9:30 it was76 degrees. When the sun came out it was very warm very quick. I noted that the Trees were starting to look golden in the sunshine and the golden rod was very yellow with an occasional tree with red leaves.
We traveled on route 9 and it was quite hilly with forests as far as we could see. We bought diesel fuel near Calius, Maine, at $2.99 . This was near the Canadian border so we saw many Canadians fueling up. I also noted we had not seen very many flowers around the houses while we have been in Maine. It seems they only us an occasional shrub at their foundations and no flower beds. This seemed odd to me since we come from an area where landscaping with scrubs and flowers is quite popular, Maybe it is this way because the German's have a history of using flowers for decoration.
After we left customs we had to get accustomed to the road signs for legal speed limits. 70 means 42 MPH --80 means 50 MPH and 100 means 63MPH. We traveled on the Bay of Fundy Drive for a period of time which took us close to the Bay. The sights were breath taking at times. even thou the tide was very low.
St. Johns --Unbelievable---That is what a sign said when we arrived on the west side of St. John, N.B. .
St. Johns is a fairly large town with a lot of traffic which moves very rapidly. We found our campsite after driving with our 36ft home on narrow city streets and around sharp curves. The girl at the info center as we entered St. Johns cautioned us about taking the exit which our GPS recommended. She said and earlier exit was much better. Well if it was better I would hate to see what was worse. We are in a provincial park and park out in the open with no one near to us.
After setting up and eating lunch we got in the truck and went to the area of the Reversible Falls. We had seen this area in 1990 and remembered it when we arrived. There were two restaurants nearby which were not there in 1990. After spending some time watching the high tide arrive we decided to take a drive to St. Martins, which is east of Saint Johns. We did not think of rush hour but definitely remembered the time because the interstate was crowded. (At about 8:30 pm we realized we were in Atlantic time zone so we were later than we thought it was when we started our drive to St. Martins).
We found St. Martins to be a little bump in the road but drove east of town and found the most beautiful area along the Bay of Fundy. It had huge rocks which had caves in them at the shore line. You could enter the caves at low tide only. They had a restaurant up by the road which advertised that it had World Famous Clam Chowder. Walt wanted to give it a try, so we went in and found a bowl of Chowder was $10.99. I really did not need a bowlful so he ordered one for himself with another spoon for me. I must say it was good but very high in calories with cream and butter binding the crab meat together. It was delicious--each spoonful had a spoonful of clam meat in it. Two tablespoons of the chowder was enough for me and the rest was Walt's supper. After leaving the shore we went back thru town and headed west. On Lighthouse road we drove to the very end and found the Quaco Had Lighthouse and Quaco Head Reef and "Dulse Rock". I have great pictures of the sight.
After leaving the Lighthouse we headed west on the Fundy Bay drive and ended up in St. Johns just as the sun was setting. The end to a very long and enjoyable day.
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