Yarmouth NS

Ewww...what a dreary day.  Rained all day off and on while we drove down.  A non-eventful drive.  Touched the coastline a few times, but mostly the TransCanada road ....pretty dull.  We did spy a beautiful lighthouse along the way.

Got to Camper's Haven (?) CG about 12:30 p.m. and the bottom fell out of the skies just as we got inside.  But had to get out and see what we could see.  Drove down to see a lighthouse and drove through a little fishing village.  Raining all the time.





 Dashed into WM for a few items, but discovered they had NO produce at all.  It was a really dinky little store.  We found a SuperStore and they had it all...will be using them from now on.   It's just rained all day so we came back to RV.  It's foggy, so we can't see anything.  We did make a stop downtown at the Visitor's Info Center and got a plan for tomorrow...supposed to be sunny.

There appears to be LOTS to do around here....lots of brochures, booklets, etc., but we can't seem to find it.  We are taking the shore road tomorrow up towards Church Point (hind sight:  should have stayed there at the CG--we'll be backtracking a lot) and visit some Acadian culture sites.  That's the  history I want to see.  Tomorrow night, we'll stop at the Around the Bend restaurant for some local food and hear the local musicians as they play.  They do this at restaurants here and there around the area....it's just finding them, the schedules, and driving to them....It's not exactly what I imagined.

We had pork roast (cooked in crock pot last night); fresh field tomatoes from the farmer's market; broccoli/carrot/celery for dinner.  There is no tv at all tonight, so we're catching up on the PC (we do have wifi) and watching a movie.

Aylesford, Nova Scotia, CA

We made it…..we’re in Nova Scotia.  We left Moncton NB around 9:30 this morning.  Easy on, easy off and in about 30 minutes we entered NS.  We are doing counter-clock wise tour of the island.  We went through much farm land, corn and apple orchards loaded with apples.  Farmers were out in their fields.  If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was still in the USA….McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s…..At each exit for a town along the TransCanada highway (wonderful road!), they have huge signs…more like murals..depicting what the towns are noted for or famous for.  Oops..ended with a preposition.  Very colorful.  This part of NS is very rural.

 

We had one little hiccup.  As we stopped for diesel (which we’ve bought already in Canada and all along the way), our credit card was denied.  So, we had to park (thank goodness, we were at a truck stop and there was plenty of room) and call Chase ($$).  Yes, they were just protecting our account…not sure if it was us using the card.  Ughhhhhh.  They immediately reactivated it and we were on our way.  We just should have called before we left and told them. 

 

We got to the RV (???) park around 2:15.  These so called Rv parks up here are 97% permanent Rv’s and small mobile homes.  They call them “seasonal”….nope, they are here all year.  But it looks safe enough.

 

We drove down to the Bay of Fundy (same one we saw yesterday, but from the other side).  Oh my goodness, it’s beautiful here.  Homes are build right ON the coast.  Can’t imagine that cold wind off the Bay in the harsh winters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this French Cross marker in Morden, NS. which begins the tale of the Acadian culture here.  We learn more about that tomorrow in the Yarmouth area.

 

Bay of Fundy Coast

Baptist Church/Margaretsville NS

Then drove down to Margaretsville for a view of the lighthouse.  Thoroughly enjoyed the Fundy Bay Coastal area.  Saw lots of churches, and , interestingly, most were Baptist.  It’s an entirely different way of life here.  On our way back to the RV, we stopped at a farmer’s market and bought our favorite apple from their orchard, the Honey Crisp; some tomatoes for BLT’s tonight. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow, Walmart is in the route—out of fruit and other stuff.  (Actually, had to eat it all up before we crossed the border). 

 

 

Moncton, New Brunswick, CA 9/17/12

Today was a driving day.  We left Bar Harbor around 9 and trusted the GPS to get us out of there.  What were we thinking.....eventually, we reached Highway 9 but it was a little rough road for about 20 miles.  Highway 9 to Canada was pretty good.

We had to pull over at a pull out on the highway for a potty stop and Ronnie decided that would be a good time to change out a tire on the RV that he noticed was beginning to wear on the edge.  So, he did that and then we continued on our way.

Next stop was the border.  We had, as I said, read horror stories with one person saying this and another person contradicting those instructions.  Information on the Canadian website wasn't too much help.  So we ate all the fruit, threw out some old veggies and hoped for the best.

We pulled up, showed our passports, answered a few questions and was selected for a search.  So we had to stop and open the slides and let them do an inspection of the truck and RV.  Found no guns, no alcohol, no tobacco and said , "have a good day."  She was very nice.

We changed time zones again.  So we're now two hours ahead of "home".  The Canadian Hwy 2 is wonderful...so smooth.  Lots of construction, but we barely slowed down.  It was a really, really good road.

We drove  the Fundy Coastal Route along the Bay of Fundy.  It's beautiful.  We'll see much more of the Bay tomorrow in Nova Scotia.  Saw several lighthouse signs and would loved to have gone down to view them, but we've learned (the hard way) that we don't do that with the house behind us.  There'll be plenty to see in NS.

We got to Stonehurst around 4:30..It's a nice quiet place.  Grassy and we're on the end so it's pretty private.  Unhooked and drove into town to see if we could find a place to exchange currency.  We have NO Canadian money.  The banks were all closed but we spied a Casino and knew we could get money exchanged there...they love money.  We walked up to the Cashier and I laid a $100 bill down and got $94 in Canadian money back....instantly lost $6 and hadn't even sat down at a slot machine.  But we were desperate and needed the money.  Didn't want to go back into town (we're sorta on the outskirts now) before leaving in the morning (can't do it with the RV attached).  So now we have a few Canadian loonies and toonies.

We drove to downtown Moncton just to see it and to find diesel.  Lovely downtown area. 
Found diesel for 1.38 per liter....don't have a clue.  Chase Visa will figure it all out, I'm sure.

Tomorrow we go over the bridge at Bay of Fundy and enter Nova Scotia...it's about a 40 minute drive.  We've changed everything over to the metric system, so we're on kilometers and centigrade up here.  The weather has been beautiful, perfect, but I think rain is forecast for the weekend...just when we'll be at Cape Breton..the place we've looked forward to so much...But we'll see.

Bar Harbor ME Sunday

Not much went on today.  Took the shuttle back downtown (love that little town) and shopped a bit.  Ate lunch.  Then came back and tried to get info on what is required to cross the border.  Probably should have spent a little more time on that before we left :).....but, I hope we've got everything we need and threw out all they won't allow (fruit, veggies).  We read horror stories of people's RV's being trashed when they suspected you were hiding something.  We have no guns, no liquor, no tobacco, no fruit, no veggies and NO POTATOES, so we should be good.  Ate up the chicken, salad and  baked potatoes for dinner.

We will blog when we have WiFi at the campgrounds.  Most all have it, but in  our experience, having it and it working good are two different things.  We will not be taking phone calls ($$$ in Canada), but we can send and receive texts.

Our plans are to be in Moncton, NB tomorrow night; then to Aylesford NS on Tuesday, Yarmouth on Wed and Thur (the Acadian section of the island), Truro NS on Friday, then on to Cape Breton on Sat, Sun and Mon.  Tuesday we will leave for Cap Pele NB for a couple of days while we cross Confederation Bridge onto Prince Edward Island...want to see where Anne of Green Gables grew up.
Then up the eastern seaboard of New Brunswick back into Maine. 

Later....

Bar Harbor-Saturday

We slept in today.  It was a dark, humid cool morning.  High today is to be 65 and a little rain is forecasted.  Ronnie cooked breakfast and then we noticed no water pressure….actually, no water at all.  He went out to check to see if the filter was clogged, and took it off…still no water.  He visited with the guy in the motorhome next to us and discovered they had the same problem and the same feelings about this “resort”. He complained about the water to the management and they said that the water is pushed up the hill and most of the water is used at  the lower sites (and we are on the hill)…..would have been nice if they’d told us that.  They told him he might have to use his on- board water and pump….he said, “well, what the h….am I paying for full hook ups for?”  We are disgusted with this place.  Live and learn, again.  But you can bet I’m giving them an earful on rvparkreviews.com  The staff has been very nice…it’s not their fault that this Encore Resorts company doesn’t do its job. 

 

The Massachusetts Rednecks are out and about on their road hogs today…rumble, rumble, rumble.  They have more friends up near us in a homemade trailer.  It’s an oversized motorcycle trailer (black) and has an a/c unit on top.  I guess they sleep with the cycles.  And park near the bathhouses.

 

I cleaned up the RV a bit….we sorta dumped stuff when we came in last night, so we were getting a little (okay, a lot) cluttered.  It’s better now and we are neatened up a bit.  Went into town to do laundry.  The laundry here was small, not too clean looking.  Glad that’s done for a while….I hate laundromats.  This one was large and clean.  And expensive. 

 

We watched the ballgame this afternoon.  And then went out for that great lobstah dinner tonight.  Tried The Chart Room right up the road….it looked good and  always had a lot of cars parked there…always a good sign.  It’s right on Frenchman’s Bay and the locals eat there.  I had lobster newburg; R had stuffed shrimp…. It was all very tasty, but overcooked…tough and rubbery.  A shame.

There will be plenty of other chances for good lobster.

 

I do plan to go back into town tomorrow.  Two more cruise ships will be in town so I know the stores will be open.  I have decided those $20 jackets are too good to pass up and will get me one.  And the scarf store deserves another visit.

Ronnie may or may not go. 

 

It’s going to be in the 40’s tonight.  But back to  high 60’s tomorrow and sunny.  Love this weather.  Got the fireplace going tonight.

 

 

 

 

Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park

Today was a good day…at least it ended good. 

 

This morning, we began having power surges; heard a pop and smelled electrical wiring.  He had to plug into the 30 amp instead of 50 amp as it was uneven voltage (best as I can explain it).  Anyway, it blew out our coffee pot (and hope that’s all.)  We told the office, but they didn’t seem too concerned. 

 

After that, our neighbors left….whoopee… Let me make this perfectly clear…Arkansas does not hold all the rednecks in the world.  Massachusetts has its share for sure.  They were right next to us.  I thought they were gonna take out a tree leaving.  Really gouged up the dirt around their site.  They moved several sites down. 

 



At Eagle Lake/Acadia National Park ME

Then, we left.  We took the shuttle into Bar Harbor Village Green , (met a really nice couple from Boston while waiting on the shuttle and shared Mardi Gras information with them—they just started Rving and want to go down to LA ); walked a couple of blocks to Acadia Bike Rental and rented two mountain bikes (yes, we brought our own—that story later).  Then we walked back to Village Green and took the Bicycle Shuttle up to Acadia National Park/Eagle Lake.  Throughout the park are what is called Carriage Trails—beautiful, wide trails for walkers, bikers and carriages and/or horses.

 



History:  In 1901, a group of wealthy Mount Desert Island summer residents banded toether to set aside the land that would later become Acadia National Park.  One of the park’s early benefactors was John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the millionaire industrialist and philanthropist who later planned and built NYC Rockefeller Center.  Rockefeller hoped the land would one day become “a real gem of the first order among national parks.” But, in 1913, that hope was threatened by an unforeseen menace:  the arrival of the automobile on Mount Desert Island.  Rockefeller, however, did not take this threat lying down.  Over the next 27 years, he built a system of carriage roads crisscrossing his property, most of which he later donated to the park.  Gently graded and lined with broken stone, the “Rockefeller Roads” (as they were known) offered a refuge from the “horseless carriage” for hikers, horseback riders and the open, horse-drawn carriages.  Linking the 45 miles of carriage roads were a series of handsome bridges that were built with local granite and cobblestones.

 



Bubble Lake

We so enjoyed the bike ride!  We rode for 6-7 miles around Eagle Lake with a side trip to Bubble Lake (because it sounds like bubbles when the waves hit the rocks along the shoreline).  It was a real treat to ride as we’ve  not ridden bikes for **** years.  There was one hill….yep, had to walk part way.  It was tough.  But, what goes up always comes down, so the ride down was fantastic.  Horse poop along the way—felt like home.

 

After riding for over two hours, we caught the Bicycle Shuttle back to Bar Harbor, turned in the bikes and then stopped at the Side Street Café for nachos and drinks.  Perfect mid-afternoon snack.  Then, we walked up a block and hit the shops.  HAL Maasdam (cruise ship) was in port today so there were lots of people in town.  But everyone was very nice, polite.  That goes for the locals.  Everyone speaks; everyone is polite; everyone (even the teens) say “thank you”.  We shopped for a bit and found some real bargains.  Ronnie got a waterproof jacket w/hood for $20.  I found a scarf that I loved for $10 (may go back to that store….lots of stuff)  Ran into a couple from Alabama (Auburn) and shared coaches’ stories.  Lol.   Had a wonderful ice-cream waffle cone on the street and people watched for a bit.  Then we headed back up to Village Green to wait on the shuttle back to the Campground.  Once here, we jumped in the truck and, alas, had to make a trip to Walmart for a new coffee pot. 

 

It was a really good day.  We got to see Acadia away from the cars and tour buses.  Although, we took the Park Loop Road last night and got some good views of the Atlantic Ocean and the rugged Maine coastline.  Today was a calming day. 

Bar Harbor

 

The Bike Story:  We borrowed our daughter and son-in-law’s mountain bikes to bring with us.  Rob’s (Ronnie’s) is great.  He bought a new cushy seat for it, but it rides great.  I immediately wrecked on Dana’s (this was at home) and felt like it was too tall for my short legs.  So without really giving it a trial, I went down to WM and bought a cheap 24” bike.  Rode it a bit at home and, as our road is hilly, didn’t think much when I huffed and puffed on it.  However, the other day on the nice, flat bike trail at the other campground, it was tough to ride.  We  adjusted the seat, but nothing seemed to make it pedal easy.  Ronnie got on it and I got on his; my, what a difference!  His was effortless; and he agreed that mine was hard to pedal.  That’s what I get for buying a cheapie.  Anyway, we decided the easiest thing to do would be to just rent them for the afternoon.  It was cheap and they were super, great bikes.  When I get home, I am trying Dana’s again….wish I had it now because we plan to ride more.  Oh well, live and learn. 

 

Not sure about tomorrow.  I want to see some lighthouses, but none on the tours are close by.  We want to watch the massacre at 3 ish so we’ll decide in the morning.  We did get a picture of one lighthouse in Frenchman’s Bay…from a great distance.

 

 

Bar Harbor, ME

Nothing to post right now.  We got here yesterday around 1:30.  To Desert Island Narrows RV Resort.....NOT.  Old park that was built back in the day when trailers were little or popups.  Hilly, very few level sites and most of them were taken.  Short.  We are 32 feet and fill it completely UP.  And can't really get level.  Have to park the truck sideways up on the site.  At least they are spread out a bit.  These big motorhomes are really filling it up.

A neighbor came in around 11:30-midnight last night....the noise!!!  It's a really long toyhauler; he took out part of an embankment when he turned in (too fast) and slammed doors and talked loud for about 30 minutes or longer.  His truck is still parked in the road.  If we were to leave today, we couldn't.  He's completely blocked the road.  They just got up  (6) , loud....still haven't moved the truck.  R said they were looking at other spots....good.

Now, we have voltage problems.  uugg.

We drove up through Acadia National Park yesterday.  It's beautiful.  Not sure of our plans today.
We are really tired and need a day to relax.  These roads and a dually can really beat you up.