The Acadia Adventure Sept 7 - 10

We crossed the border and crossed paths with the hurricane at the same time.   We were the only vehicle at the border in the driving rain and we had an uneventful crossing.  Just like that, our Canadian chapter was over and we were headed toward home.

We had visited Acadia National Park years ago with friends and were excited to return.  It was next on the itinerary but we had miles to cover and weather to contend with first!   We battled the wind and rain, made a wet grocery stop and even made a wrong turn resulting in getting STUCK – but, no matter, we persevered and made it to our intended destination for the day just outside of the park.

After a day of little activity, eating, drinking and movies, the weather cleared promising much better  We arrived early at Acadia, a large, sprawling park covering several parcels of land over 3 different areas.  We parked at the visitor center, got our bearings and hopped the park shuttle for some great hiking.
fortune for the days ahead!

Being the weekend, the park was crowded as were the hikes so we picked one less than the popular Cadillac Mountain and headed for the Champlain and Gorham Mountain trails.  The hike was great to start with but especially after a rain day!  With challenging sections and spectacular views, we enjoyed every step.

The next order of business was to get to the campground near an hour’s drive to the other side of the park.  Fighting more crazy roads and traffic, it felt good to arrive at our site in the blissfully peaceful campground.  We enjoyed a great meal and a walk during the sunset before a crackling fire soothed us into a great night’s sleep.

The next day required a campsite change and we had to wait until our next site was open so we took our time before heading out.  Being way out at the Seawall campground meant that less than frequent shuttlebus took a good hour to get to “park central”.  Having decided to shuttle instead of driving all the way back in, we were limited in how much time we had to spend and chose to go into Bar Harbor and see what diversions we could find.


The day was spent wandering the area, hiking across the sand bar and around the island across the way to a great view of the harbor, doing a little shopping and – of course – making a stop at the local brewery!  We had fun with our bartender, Forest, and enjoyed a few beers and an amazingly large and tasty plate of nachos with some crazy Asian fusion spicy sauce on top. 

As if that wasn’t enough, we topped that off with some ice cream from the local shop.  With flavors like Coriander Lemon Curd and Chinese Five Spice, we couldn’t pass it up!  Lightly exercised and overly indulged, we hopped the shuttle back to the Seawall Campground. 

The next day dawned cool and beautiful and we got up early to enjoy a final hike before picking up my Mom in Bangor early afternoon.  The Acadia Mountain trail was right off the drive out of the park and we arrived early enough to get a coveted parking spot!   We chose a double mountain trail – Acadia and St. Saveur – a reasonable yet challenging goal for the day.

We wasted no time and got right on the trail.  It was an aggressive uphill climb and quickly turned into a rocky ascent climbing boulder over boulder to the summit.  The day was perfect and the views were plentiful.  Knowing we had limited time, we headed back down the mountain which proved to be challenging (but fun!) as well. 

When we got to the bottom it was near time to get on the road.  We assessed our position, what we had yet to do before the airport and decided the what we had to do could wait!  We headed away from the turn back to the road and headed up the second peak!  Acadia is just such a magical place.  Beautiful hikes with all levels of difficulty from easy strolls to vertical ladder climbs and views that can’t be topped. 

We made it to the St. Saveur peak keeping a steady pace the whole way.  Having pushed it the whole way, I was starting to feel spent!  We couldn’t justify another delay so the climax of the trail, the Valley Peak loop, was sacrificed for timeliness!  Now it really was time to hit the road and we practically jogged our way back down the mountain!

My mom was arriving for her inaugural “life in an RV” adventure in a short time and we left Acadia National Park in the rear-view mirror.  With our second visit there just as memorable as the first, we surely expect it not to be our last.

A Gold Medal Visit Sept 5-7

We had been coordinating a rendezvous since our departure with neither one of us completely sure we could make it happen.  Pat was my dragonboat coach in 2010 when we came back victors in numerous categories and I have the 9 medals (7 gold I believe) to prove it still hanging.  Oh, and she and I look the same … to the point that we would even confuse ourselves for the other in photos!  We haven’t seen each other since!

We left Fundy in the morning with Hurricane Dorian battering Charleston, our home.  So far we’d been so fortunate – lots of rain and wind but no flooding!  The big moment would be at the day’s high tide yet to come.  Feeling encouraged but tentative, we got on the road to St. John and the city market there. 

The drive was beautiful.  Driving through the balance of Fundy National Park, we got to the easy drive on the highway and straight into St. John and a visit to the City Market.  We wandered and had lunch and got back on the road planning to arrive in St. Andrews for a dragonboat practice Pat was coaching that afternoon.   

That’s when news arrived . . . WE DIDN’T FLOOD!   Really - MIRACULOUS!!!  With a significant flood history at our property and a storm perfect for a repeat performance, we were pretty distressed about what we were in for.  Giddy with gratitude and relief, we arrived in beautiful St. Andrews and parked at the nearby Algonquin Hotel to walk to Katy’s Cove.   

Pat and friend and fellow paddler, Sherrie, arrived not long after and the “sistas from other mistas” were reunited!  We met some of the paddlers from the newly formed club, a lively and enthusiastic group.  As the boat sitting on dry ground, practice was canceled due to the low water and we headed up to Pat’s place “on the mountain”. 

WOW!  What an amazing property!  An artist and a hearty athlete, Pat’s house was perfect for her persona - strong and beautiful.  The view was unlike any I’ve ever seen, high on a hill over a wide stretch of water.  We spent the evening over food and wine catching up on near 10 years of history and getting to know Sherrie who we knew was an instant friend.

We set the alarm for before sunrise and bundled up to watch the show.  Still thankful for our fortune at home, we welcomed the day as nature showed its glorious and gentle side with a spectacular sunrise.  We eased into the day with coffee and morning chores before heading over to Ministers Island for a hike.

Using a large sandbar only accessible around low tide, Ministers Island was the summer home of the “force behind the Canadian Pacific Railway”, Sir William Van Horne.  Pat dropped Sherrie in town and then dropped us to wander this large island with all of the stately amenities due royalty.  We took every minute we had to wander before needing to be back across the sandbar.

That evening the dragonboat team had a wildlife watching cruise fundraiser we were excited to be a part of.   With a little time before we needed to go, Pat took Sherrie and I for a walk up the mountain on a magical seldom-used trail with thick mosses covering the forest floor.  Back from our excursion, we headed for the fun night ahead.

The newly formed St. Andrews Dragonboat Club was a fun and diverse group of people.  42 of us climbed aboard and off we went with high expectations and a fully stocked bar!  The St. Andrews area of New Brunswick is so beautiful and being on the water was a special treat.  We had fun getting to know some new faces, enjoying homemade appetizers and local music and even sighting a few whales along the way! 

If all of that wasn’t enough, the price of admission included a wonderful BBQ dinner made by members of the team.  Held in the local yacht club’s tiny waterfront headquarters, we enjoyed the cozy setting and ate (and drank?!) too much before calling it a night and heading back up the mountain.

The next morning dawned dark and stormy with Hurricane Dorian finding its way all the way up the coast to pay us a visit!  We huddled inside near a crackling fire watching the building storm over the cove.  Trading pictures and recipes as well as my homemade granola for Pat’s  
homemade banana bread, it was time to say goodbye.

With our previous relationship being coach and team member, our visit together had transformed us into friends - and we had Sherrie to add to the list too!  Hoping our paths wouldn’t take another ten years to cross, we waved goodbye as we headed down the mountain to the adventure ahead.

FunDay at Fundy Sept 4-5

We woke up in Truro ready to get on the road.  We had some driving ahead to get to Fundy National Park where we hoped to catch the low tide and walk on the ocean floor.   Even with spotty internet almost the entire drive was spent fielding texts and emails corresponding with family, friends and neighbors about the storm.

Today was the day.  Hurricane Dorian left the Bahamas after more than 24 hours battering the islands mercilessly and started its march toward the states.  The forecasters still couldn’t put a box around what to expect and we were still battling with internet signals.  I was in a funk.  We were so far from home, we were counting on far too many people to take care of business at our Charleston house and I was overwhelmed with the whole thing.  It was one of those days that didn’t go that smoothly in our little remote world.  Just sayin’. 

Maintaining enough signal for basic communication, we got to Fundy and found a   We wasted no time and headed for the waterfront.  We tried several ways to get down to the mud flats of the low tide to no avail and finally just walked the main road down. 
campsite.

The experience is somewhat surreal.  I didn’t really understand the whole concept until 3 hours later when the tide had come up but we took a good while to walk all the way out to where the water had already begun its march back to the shore. 

I had expected to find a lot of life or indications   Surprisingly, it was pretty bare.  Some rock born seaweed I later learned was dulce and a lot of rocks were about the only finds.  We were told we had until 3 hours after low to wander and we were getting close.  All the way out at the water’s edge, it was shocking to see the speed it was progressing.
of it out there.

We abandoned the experience and headed back to the site.  Rob had had enough hiking!  With sore feet and a list of projects he was happy to work on, I went out for a solo hike on the Upper Salmon River.  Enjoying the solitude and rich vegetation, I made it all the way to a needed forge across the river – complete with guide line to grab if you “go under”.  Needless to say, good spot to turn around!

Finding myself back near the waterfront, I stood in wonder looking out over a solid mass of water (later learning there was 39’ of it!) over where we had just recently trod!  There were clouds forming over the water and a swift wind carrying the mist to a nearby mountain and creating a thick mound of fluffy cloud mass looking like whipped cream painted on the landscape.  Such a magical world.

We had a night of yet more hurricane correspondence over a fire and a sky threatening a storm.  The news coming from our storm at home had us looking much better than expected on the front side.  With that encouraging word, we pondered the power of this amazing world around us and called it a day.

Kejimkujic National Park Sept 2 – 3

News from home has Hurricane Dorian with sights set on Charleston.   Never good news for us folks with a house that floods.  In our flooding history in our home, the big problem doesn’t start until October and we had hoped we’d be having a lighter year this year.  Apparently we were going to be wrong on both counts.  Anyway, we were nervous about heading to far afield with cell coverage being essential during this precarious time.

Figuring that the worse case scenario was that we’d get to Keji to find no coverage.  If so, we could spend at least a few hours to hike and get a feel for the area before finding our way back to service.  Thankfully, we arrived to find decent service pretty much throughout and we grabbed a campsite and settled in. 

I’m always thrilled to be back in a park.  I love putting our “rug” under the chairs outside and laying out the tablecloth with my outdoor candle.  Home in the park.  AAAHHHH.  And we didn’t waste a minute before setting out to see what made this park special.

On yet another trail we wandered.  Thinking we’d have a short jaunt around the campground and area before finding a real hike to try, we set out following the little dotted lines on the camp map.  I honestly don’t know how it happened but 2 miles went to 6 went to just under 9 (?!) before we made it back to our site – completely spent! 

The trail had wound around the entrance area where we had to stop and pay for our site and around to the different areas of the campground.  It didn’t look like much on the map and, for the FIRST time yet, was really not very exceptional!  We kept going, hoping to find the WOW moment.  

Don’t get me wrong, this is a  Planned around a very large glacial lake with interesting islands dotted throughout, it is a canoe/kayak dream.  The trails were quiet and peaceful especially with the weekend crowd gone and not yet replaced.  The landscape we saw was mostly flat and the paths were all manicured – which was part of the problem for us.  With near 9 miles of gravel paved paths, our feet took quite the beating!
nother wonderful area!

Happily back at our site, we finished the day just being there.  Relaxing in our site, barbeque dinner at a casual pace, Rob’s guitar accompaniment and a nightcap by campfire all made for the perfect recipe for a great night’s sleep.

With rain expected overnight, we had put most of our things away before we retired for the night.  Waking to find the forecast wrong, we got up to a misty morning over the lake.  We wandered down to the water to watch the gathering light and listen to the loons call, a sound I hadn’t heard since my Wisconsin childhood. 

With the storm still tracking back home and miles to knock off the map, we left the campground early.  The forecast had no rain predicted but we’ve decided that a drizzly mist here is called “cloudy” and we set out in what we would have considered a slight rain.  The day’s plan took us around the west side of the island along the coast of the Bay of Fundy.

The drive was one of the best yet with decent roads and beautiful views nearly the entire way.  With the weather staying just about the same, we stopped only to pull over at a lovely vista and enjoy our lunch.  We arrived at our destination in time to get on our bikes for the tidal bore on the Salmon River.

If you remember, we experienced a tidal bore in Moncton on our way east.  Well, we’ll be going right back through Moncton again tomorrow to make the turn around the top of the Bay of Fundy.  The Truro/Salmon River tidal bore was pretty much an exact repeat of what we saw in Moncton although this time we knew what was coming.  The biggest difference was watching the wall of water and worrying about the deluge expected back at home in the next few days!

With our 2^nd bore under our belts, we biked further into Truro to see what we could see and found a lovely park within the mostly industrial   Victoria Park was gifted to the town many years ago and has been creatively expanded over the years to be a wonderful lush retreat with a spiderweb of trails throughout.  We got off the bikes and wandered – because we could! 
town.

And the day ended getting caught up and ready for our last few days in Canada before we’re back in the USA and headed slowly back home.  We’ve officially made the turn “back” and can already feel the end being closer than the beginning.  Still hoping for good news on the hurricane front, we forge on…

A Welcome Boondock – Chapter 2 August 31 – Sept 2

Looking for WallMart alternatives, we checked the Boondockers Welcome site for possibilities in the miles ahead.  Hearing that Lunenburg was a worthwhile area to see, we found a Boondock site very nearby and applied to stay.  Headed that way from Halifax, we took a short detour and checked out Graves Island Provincial Park for a short hike on the way.

Not set up for big RVs, we had a bit of a challenge getting on the island (the one lane bridge was a clue) and getting parked, but Rob’s pretty much mastered his craft and got us in safely.   The hike wasn’t much of a hike really.  It was more of a quick path around the campground.  But hike we did, thankful for the break from the road and the breath of fresh air. 

When I found a patch of berries along the way, I grabbed a handful and munched.  And then I found more.  And more!  We finished the loop and I grabbed a container and went berry picking!  I got another couple miles added on my hike total and had over a quart of fresh picked black raspberries to show for my effort!   

Less than an hour later we were pulling into the designated spot at our next Boondocker location waved in by smiling hostess Darby.  Darby and husband Mike have their own RV in the main drive and save the 2^nd drive for folks passing through.  We said our hellos and got settled and they headed out for a party they were due at while we got on our bikes for a ride down the trail to Lunenburg to see what it was all about.

11km down the rails to trails path, we found lovely Lunenburg.  A UNESCO Heritage site, it’s a lovely working waterfront town with picturesque homes on the hillside and quaint shops in abundance.  We enjoyed our wander through town along the waterfront and up the hillside.  We found the local brewery and tried their wares (so to speak), creating a more challenging bike ride the remaining 11KM back!

It was such a treat to return to our homey campsite for the night.  We pulled out our chairs and some apps and watched the sun set over the lovely town of Mahone Bay.  The setting sun over the lovely waterfront called our names and we decided to take a stroll around town. 

We didn’t expect to be out that night but wandered by the local pub just as the music was starting.  And that settled that!  After several pints and a bartender’s choice (Sex on the Beach … really?!) cocktail later, we found our way back for a peaceful night.

We found an invite for morning muffins on our door on our return so the next morning found us knocking on our hosts’ door bright and early.  Walking in to fresh baked chocolate raspberry scones, we got to know Mike and Darby over an amazing breakfast treat!

This is what RVers brag about all the time.  This community of fellow travelers are a pretty special bunch!  Mike and Darby invited us to stay another night with an offer to show us more of the area and before we knew it, we were all piling into their car for a trip to Oak Island. 

Any of you out there know about this buried treasure media hype of a place?  Well, we hadn’t ever heard of it!  For those of you like us, this location has been being excavated since the late 1700’s with the promise of buried treasure.  You wouldn’t have believed the number of “believers” on site!  Cameras poised and stories enthusiastically told, it was clearly “the thing”!  Hey, John Wayne and FDR were both on board over time – oh my.

With that under our belt, we joined forces for lunch on the Adirondack chairs before heading out to treat our hosts to their local homemade ice cream.   YUMM!!!  It was to be a day of indulgence for sure!  Being in the business for 30 years, we know good ice cream.  This was!  Three of us had Skoreo – a blend of English toffee and Oreo ice cream while Mike had the peach and no one was disappointed.

The afternoon was spent with more graciously offered sightseeing.  We went out to small fishing villages, special geologic rock formations and exquisite waterfront views.  We stopped at a little farm market on the roadside and scored some fresh veggies.  Mike and Darby were the most gracious and accommodating tour guides!  If so much as an “ah” was heard, the car would stop with windows rolled down for picture taking.

The night ended with happy hour on the side porch with lots of RV maintenance challenges discussed and favorite destinations shared before we parted ways having an early exit planned for the morning.  Having pulled into the drive barely 24 hours earlier, we headed back to our rig at days end having new friends added to the ever-growing list.  These boondocking stays were definitely going to be a favorite go to from now on!

The Very Long Day and Beyond August 28 – 30

With the Cabot Trail behind us, the balance of Nova Scotia lay ahead.  We had no plan for conquering the rest of this big island and really didn’t even have recommendations on which way to head.  Word had it that the eastern shore was beautiful so… that was it! 

We’re traveling in a class a motorhome.  This is the bus style – with all of our belongings right here where we are.  When we’re on a bad patch of road, it sounds like someone is dumping our house in a tin can and shaking – hard!  AND WE WERE ON A BAD PATCH OF ROAD!  FOR ABOUT 3 HOURS!!!!

We didn’t even have a real destination in mind except to see the eastern shore and eventually arrive in Halifax.  The weather was cloudy and blustery but dry with rain forecast later in the day.  Our best diversion when faced with a day otherwise unplanned is a hike.   I looked for hikes along our planned route and we banged our way across the island toward the trailhead. 

The hike was following the Liscomb River and sounded good.  We arrived to find the entrance blocked by road construction and the trail was so intensely overgrown that it was really not realistic without a machete.  We found the end of the trail on the other side of the river and we gave that a try.  It ended up being a worthwhile diversion, albeit only a short area of the trail, with wild blueberries as an added bonus!

Hesitantly, we got back on the road.  From one minute to the next, the road would change from pretty darn good to disastrous!  Having no idea how this one crazy stretch of highway was managed, we soldiered on.  The area really was beautiful and almost entirely right on the waterfront.   For hours we continued with a possible destination where a series of hiking trails converged and there were indications of a town bigger than one cross street!

Arriving at said location, we looked for a place we might inconspicuously camp for the night.  We first tried the high school parking lot.  Could have worked but we were pretty obvious.  The we passed the trailhead parking lot…BINGO!  A large parking area clearly under-utilized, we pulled in and immediately knew this would be a great night!  And it was.   We had a chance to stretch our legs on a trail before the rain set in.  Our spot was blissfully dark and quiet and we settled into cozy mode with the rain as our blanket.

The next morning we were able to hit the trail that I had scoped out.  Promising a challenge with good views and diverse terrain, we were ready!  The hike was everything that was promised!  We climbed rocky slopes, through old growth forest, bouldered to lookouts, got soaked from the night’s downpour forging through the vegetation and found even more blueberries to munch along the way.  

The hike took quite a bit longer than expected and we finished feeling fully challenged for the day.  We weren’t far from the day’s stopping point and we got on the road for what, after yesterday’s marathon, was a quick jaunt to the Halifax area.  We again used our WalMart standby, this time across the river in Dartmouth and wasted no time finding the first bus to the center of the action.

This trip is so different from our last.  No national parks to jump between, no federal land management properties to disappear into for the night, no weeks between grocery and fuel stops!  With major cities regularly on the itinerary, we are learning to adjust.  The problem we face is that the city stuff really isn’t our “thing”.  We have the most fun where we can set up camp, spread out a little bit and find distraction in nature.

That being said, we did our best to take in all Halifax had to offer.  We got off the bus and wandered the shopping district.  We found our way to the waterfront and enjoyed watching the boats in the harbor, perused the vendors and wares.  Being later in the day, we stopped for the mandatory happy hour beverage and bar food and then trudged up the hill to check out the old fortification there.  The city garden wasn’t far and was a highlight with its exceptional diversity and display.

And less than four hours later we were back on the bus, calling it done!  I think the big take away for the day was sitting on the waterfront looking out at the harbor and the Atlantic Ocean beyond and thinking about just being there.  Before this trip, Nova Scotia seemed so very remote.  That distant, northern territory seemingly beyond reach – and here we were, big as life. 

And we settled into our little corner of the WalMart parking lot with the other RV’s and trucks all around and marveled at how much we’ve seen and how far we’ve come.  Another day marked off the calendar, another adventure recorded – and we’re only half way done!

The Cabot Trail August 28

If you’ve been following along, you might already have sensed that we aren’t that great at planning ahead.  We had been hearing that a visit to Nova Scotia was not complete without going to Cape Breton National Park so when it was the closest area to the ferry landing, we headed this way. 

And it was now happening.  With a pretty day promised, we were on the road by 10 with the Cabot Trail map in hand and several keys stopped noted along the way.  Within minutes on the road, we already could see what everyone was talking about.  The area is simply magical!  With soaring cliffs and rich vegetation, sparkling oceans and tranquil lakes, there wasn’t anywhere not captivating to view.

We were hiking a trail in a boreal forest along the waterfront within 30 minutes of departure.  The park does one of the best jobs we’ve seen to date of adding pertinent sign boards along the trail and we were educated along with being mesmerized at every turn. 

The roads in the park are decidedly better than the bulk of the island – thankfully!  With the twists and turns and ascents and descents, trusting the road was a nice addition to the day.  

We made our way around without hurry but missed our turn for the second planned hike of the day in a 350 year-old stand of sugar maple forest.   Trying to see all we could, we grabbed the next exit for a hike through an old growth hardwood forest to a lovely waterfall – a more than worthy replacement for the original plan!

Next up was a bog walk.  Have you ever been to a bog?  Also called a fen in this area, this unique and sensitive landscape is not found in lower latitudes.  Growing up in Wisconsin, I can remember going on bog walks on school field trips.  It was so fun to walk (or jump, back in those days!) on the spongy mosses and see the carnivorous plants and beautiful flowers.I hadn’t experienced a bog in near 50 years!  Of course, highly protected, we weren’t walking in the bog but on a boardwalk.  Seeing the Nova Scotia version of my childhood bog memories was a special treat.

 The final destination on our trip around the Cabot Trail was the Skyline Trail.  With reviews that said “yes, more, please!” and the like, I was particularly excited to try it.  The parking lot for us was near a half mile from the trailhead and already uphill.  The hike had an out and back or longer loop option.  Rob is not a fan of backtracking so we hit the loop on the well-maintained trail.

We hiked a surprisingly uneventful path for quite some distance.  The weather had promised to clear by day’s end and was showing signs of the clouds parting … and then it didn’t!  The clouds came back and started to drop into the valleys around us.  We hiked.  And hiked.  And finally saw the promised viewpoint, the AH spot! 

The clouds had filled in pretty well but it only shrouded the distant shores and left plenty to see and enjoy.  Climbing the 350 steps to the further outlook, we noticed a group with binoculars and wide smiles on their faces.  Joining in at the railing and looking down the steep cliff to the water, we saw the tiny shape of a whale watch boat on chase…and a pod of whales in their wake!  Without binoculars we were limited to thrilling to the distant specks of their ominous shapes and the commotion of the water as they frolicked and sprayed.

Being fortunate to have had amazing vistas to enjoy in our many adventures, we added this one to our growing list.  We headed out to finish the loop back to the parking lot knowing we weren’t even sure where our destination would be for the night.  We were nearing the end of the over six miles of this hike putting our total at over 11 for the day.  With tired feet, we anticipated the end of the hike and even the end of the day’s travels when we noticed some folks ahead with cameras peeled to the side of the trail.

MOOSE!  Two female moose were happily munching anything in their path enjoying the cool of the cloudy late afternoon.  We were only the second couple to come upon them and they were pretty oblivious to our presence.  Bit by bit, walkers from the path stopped to join in the spectacle and for a moment it appeared we may need to exercise MOOSE caution!  But the crowd, however growing, maintained quiet decorum and we enjoyed watching the impressive hulks of nature without incident.

Feeling that we had had the full Cabot Trail experience, we happily finished the park loop and found our way back to the safe and quiet parking lot of our stay two nights before!  We recounted our exceptional day over a beer and dinner this time without musical accompaniment.  Cape Breton had definitely been a highlight!