June 11 - 12 Antigonish Nova Scotia to Cape Breton

June 11, Very long day of driving, 198 miles. Did a load of laundry at the cg.

When we get ready to leave a campground, we usually line the rigs up and follow each other out. This morning we went into town to a shopping center and picked up groceries and supplies. The wagonmaster allows me to get close to the front of the line since my co-pilot can't tell a round-about from a right turn!



June 12, Arrived at Bras D'Or (pronounced "bra door") on
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

I fixed taco soup and invited our buddies, Bill and Carol and
Sam and Margaret. They have been so very kind to cart us around on all the side trips.

The drive here, 118 miles, was breathtaking. The rolling hills, the trees, the water, and the little towns were just awesome! We drove along the Bras D'Or Lake which is where Alexander Graham Bell conducted experiments using submarines underwater in the warmer months and boats on top of the water when it was frozen. Not sure what those experiments were - but we are going to the museum one day, so I'll find out more and let you know!

This is the part of Nova Scotia that looks more like Scotland than Scotland. The people who live here don't call themselves Nova Scotians, they are Cape Bretoners. Very proud of their part of the world. Tonight we had a social time with entertainment by The Fiddler's Daughter and Friend. A young lady who took up the fiddle because her father was an accomplished fiddler and he wanted her to follow in his footsteps. She was fantastic, even did some step dancing, while she played. Great entertainment!

June 13, Fortress Louisbourg

Today's side trip was to the largest fort in the New World (1700s). It covered 3 miles and is located on the tip of a peninsula off Cape Breton. The French were at war with Great Britain and this was their attempt at claiming a part of Canada for France. It was built as a fortified French colonial town. The fortress was eventually demolished by the British, but it has been reconstructed as a national historic site.

This was perhaps one of the most fascinating historic reconstructions we've ever seen. It was so well done and the costumed staff were friendly, informative and actually talked as though it were 1744 again and this is exactly the way life was for these French Canadians. Very, very impressive.

We had lunch at one of the period restaurants. Notice the huge bib/napkins Margaret and Sam are sporting.

We could have spent all day there but our feet were giving out. Sam drove us over to see the very first light house ever built in North America. The fog started rolling in so we returned to the campground for hot dogs and french fries. What a perfectly wonderful day it was.

June 9, From St. Andrews to Hopewell Cape

Our last day at St. Andrews we went on a side trip to the city of St. John to see the Reversing Falls. Since I don' t have any pictures I won't go into too much detail, but it's an amazing phenomena that occurs daily. The flow of the St. John River is reversed by the high ocean tides entering the Bay of Fundy. Because of continental changes and icebergs centures ago, there exists narrow passages, deep ravines, and ledges that create huge whirlpools when tons of rushing water from the ocean reaches the river. It changes the direction of the river and creates a reverse water fall. - Weird, Huh! It is one of the 7 Natural Marine Wonders of the World.

While in St. John we visited the City Market, which houses a large produce and meat market, gifts and nic naks, cafes, flea markets,...you name it! We ate lunch there and returned to the campground.

Many of the RVers travel with their pets, mostly dogs. I thought this was a cute picture of one of the guys, Keith and his dog, Max. They both seem to be meditating quite peacefully.



Sam and Margaret and I went back to see the Kingsbrae Gardens. The garden is a lovely place which is maintained through a trust set up be one of the wealthy families associated with the town. The little doll house you see was built n 1860, it's in the Childrens' Garden. What about that bikini girl? Many of the landmarks, the school, the library, etc. have been provided by generous supporters of the community. It's probably the closest thing I've seen to a perfect little place to live ------- in the summer!

June 10

We left St. Andrews this morning, going up the coast to the little lobster village of Alma and the Bay of Fundy. We all bought fresh steamed lobsters and sticky buns. It was too windy to eat outdoors so most of us ate in our rigs. This has been the coldest day we've had...so far!

Our next stop was the The Rocks/Flower Pots. These are natural formations resulting from years of rising and receding tides. They look like giant flower pots. We walked down the cliff on a stairwell and actually walked around on the ocean floor during low tide. The tide has risen to 48 feet here which is one of the highest tides in the world. We had an expert guide who explain how all this came about. She was very well educated in marine science and entertaining too.


That evening we gathered at the campground for a social time with blueberry pie and ice cream. Here I come fat farm! At the beginning of the tour, the wagonmaster asked each person to write down one interesting thing about ourselves that the others probably didn't know about. All I could think of was my hula class. He didn't tell us we had to talk about it! So I just got some of the ladies up to join me. Joe was called on to share his ham-bone skills. He didn't miss a note! What fun!

Tomorrow we head for Nova Scotia, about 198 miles. This is what I've really been looking forward to. We went there 15 years ago and I've always wanted to go back in high season. Here's hoping I can make it - odometer reads 2,200 miles -

Think I'll make it?

June 7,8 St.Andrew By The Sea, New Brunswick Canada

This is a memorial to the Canadian patriots who died in WW I. It's at the front of the wharf .

Our adventure officially started today in St. Andrews by the Sea in New Brunswick Canada. We had a brief orientation by the wagonmaster and introductions of all the members of the group. Went into the quaint little town to look at all the cool shops, cottages, and the wharf.

We carpooled to dinner at the Harbor Front Restaurant. It’s raining and dreary, but tomorrow it should be a better day. They say if you don't like the weather in Canada, wait 5 min., it'll change. It stopped raining, so a lot of us gathered around the campfire to get to know each other better. Even roasted some marshmallows.

June 8,
The weather is picture perfect today; sunshine, cool breeze, about 62 degrees. We went on a tour with a local expert guide. He has spent most of his life here and runs a business. He is completely familiar with the area and told us all about the early settlers and the history of the British and French influence. Some of the homes were moved piece by piece from Boston. These were the Loyalist who wanted to be in an area more supportive of Great Britain and the King of England. The architecture is mostly Greek Revival and Tudor.
The hotel you see is the Fairmont Algonquin, this picture was taken on the roof garden overlooking Passamaquody Bay.

We had a Yankee lunch (when I say Yankee meal that means the cost is included in our package) at a darling cafe right in the middle of the Kingsbrae Gardens. One unexpected extra on these trips is the number of meals they provide for us. The meals are usually very, very good in nice restaurants. This one was exceptionally good! We’ll go back tomorrow to see all the gardens – it’s huge and gorgeous. The colors of the flowers here are so much more intense than at home. There’s none of the scorching heat to bleach out the colors.




Our new pals - Sam and Margaret

A Perfect Sunset

Remember if you click on the picture you can see a larger version.

June 4, Belfast to Augusta

Funny, Joe seldom smiles like this when he does the laundry at home. Must be an RV thing! Sometimes the dryers at campgrounds don't get things completely dry - so we hang them all around the rig till they do.

Augusta, ME

June 4-5

Friday, 4th We made our way to Augusta ME, about 50 miles. There were already about 5 rigs at the Sam’s parking lot. We’ll be dry camping (no hookups for water and electricity) but that’s no problem because we have solar panels that feed our electricity and our fresh water tank holds enough for about a week. We met a few of the couples; we already knew the tail ender and his wife and the wagonmaster. There is one couple from Albany GA and one from Elijay, GA. This is the first time there have been people from Georgia on one of these caravans. Nice to hear that familiar accent! These people up here (Yankees) talk funny.

We walked to the Walmart to get supplies and food. Had a meeting with the wagonmaster to go over details of our journey. He is a very smart fellow and knows a lot of history and geography. He feels its important to learn about the areas in which we travel; so we will get a good education on Canada, the land, the people and the history.

We loaded up in cars and went to The Belgrade Lakes area near Augusta. This is a summer playground for the generations of families who have bought land and spend their summers in the cottages on the lakes and rivers. One of the lakes, (they call them ponds), was the site of the movie “On Golden Pond’. The people of this community did not want all the commercial aspects of having a film company invade their peace, so only a small part of the film was done there. The pond they used as Golden Pond is actually called the Great Pond.

The large home in this picture was the Elizabeth Ardin spa, sometimes referred to as the "fat farm". Socialites and other prominent women from Boston and other areas would come for a period of dieting, health treatments and various other procedures.

Tonight we go to dinner with Sam and Margaret, from Elijay. This dining out routine may send ME to the fat farm pretty soon!

Tomorrow its off to Canada!

Moving on up the Maine Coast

Tip: If you click on the pictures you can see a larger view.

June 1, 2010
We left Shore Hills and Boothbay, heading for Camden ME and the Camden Hills State Park. It began to rain and at times we can see the smoke from the wildfires in Canada.(Hope this is not an omen.) We decided not to stay at the state park because with the rain and low visibility we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the beautiful view from the top of the mountain. So we went on down the road to The Moorings, in Belfast, where we had reservations starting on June 2. They allowed us to come in early. It’s nice here so we’ll stay until June 3rd. We then go to Augusta ME to connect with the caravan.

We’re parked right next to the Bay, but you can’t see it for the fog.(picture above) We know it’s there because we can here the waves flopping. Tomorrow should be a pretty day.

June 2, The fog has lifted somewhat and it’s a beautiful day. We called Paula, a friend we had met on the last RV caravan, who lives very close to this campground. Turns out she was about a block from us. She came over and took us to see her new cottage by the ocean. It is adorable! Has a very large, screened front porch with a fantastic view of the water. She was just getting moved in and I had a ball helping her set up her kitchen. Joe was able to help with some other things that were more technical – and he got to play with her two beautiful dogs, a golden retriever and a lab. Tonight we all went out for dinner at a restaurant in Searsport. I had fried clams, yum! We came back to the rig and had coffee and cookies together. It was great to get to know her better. The people we have met on these trips are unique and interesting. You feel a special kinship that comes from our common love of travel and the RV lifestyle. Thanks, Paula for a lovely day.

The bay is fogged in again, but we know it’s out there!

Tomorrow we wash clothes, take hot showers and prepare to move on.