Conway, NH

Friday June 24 - Sunday June 26

We are currently parked on a little lake near Conway, NH. My brother, Denny, owns a lovely undeveloped lakefront lot, and we are making it our campsite. We are here for my nephew Duncan Cromwell's high school graduation party. Duncan will be attending the University of New Hampshire in the Fall, and intends to major in chemical engineering.

Isn't my nephew Duncan handsome?

It is rare that my five brothers and sisters are all together, but we're having lots of fun this weekend.

Bob, Emily, Denny, Sally, Pete

Acadia's Carriage Trails

Acadia National Park has an extensive series of what are called "carriage trails." Forty-five miles of these trails weave around the mountains and valleys of the park. They are the gift of philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr, whose father, John D. Rockefeller Sr, was the founder of Standard Oil. Ironically, John Jr hated cars and wanted to be able to travel via horse and carriage into the heart of Mount Desert Island. From 1913 until 1940, he designed and funded these roads which provide sweeping vistas and close up views of the landscape.  Much care was taken to preserve the beauty of the land and the roads blend harmoniously into the park.

We took a lovely hike on one of the carriage roads, making a loop with a hiking trail that cut across it.

Rockefeller financed 16 beautiful stone bridges, each unique in design, to span streams, waterfalls, roads, and cliffsides.

We finished the day with dinner at a "lobster pound" in nearby Southwest Harbor, where you choose your fresh off the boat live lobster from a large "pound" and either take it with you or eat it on the porch overlooking the waterfront.

Bealls Lobster Pound in Southwest Harbor

We really enjoyed our time in Bar Harbor, and are considering renting an RV site for a month next June.

Baah Haabaah and Acadia

Date: Sunday June 19 - Wednesday June 22

We're parked in a nice little campground in Bar Harbor, ME where we were lucky enough to score some off season rates. Campsites in Bar Harbor can cost as much as $100 per night in July and August. The weather has been gorgeous and the crowds have been relatively small.  When we were here last August, the crowds were unbelievable.  The restaurants were full, the traffic was bumper to bumper, and, worst of all, the trails in Acadia National Park were packed with hikers.  It was crazy.

We have had several nice hikes in Acadia. My favorite was our hike today on the "Bubble Divide Trail." It was a relatively easy hike that took us to the top of the South Bubble Mountain. The views were lovely.

There was a huge bolder at the summit that had been deposited there by a glacier, and looks to be about to tumble over the side. Rick got a couple of good shots of it.

We attempted a descent by a different trail. Rick was game, but my fear of heights took over when I realized that the trail involved a rock face with metal rung handholds!

Here's how I looked before I saw the handholds

The way down!

We finished the morning with lunch at the lovely restaurant at Jordan Pond.

We later took a nice walk along the shore path on the waterfront in Bar Harbor.

No iron rungs on this walk, thank God!

Caught with Contraband at the Border

Date: June 19 - June 20, 2011

The weather finally got the best of us and we decided to retreat back to the US. The weather report promised sunny weather in Bar Harbor.  We had enjoyed ten days in Maine last August, and were happy to get the chance to return.

The bridge connecting PEI to New Brunswick is an engineering marvel.  It was also a toll marvel...it set us back $57.25!!!

When we crossed the border into Maine, we were asked whether we had any agricultural products. I answered "just groceries." The custom agent then boarded our RV, peeked into our bathroom, and opened our fridge. He then proceeded to confiscate a tomato from our produce drawer saying that Canadian tomatoes were banned!

We're now comfortably ensconced in an RV park in Bar Harbor.  Rick played golf today, and I went to the supermarket and bought a nice safe American tomato.

Still more PEI

We visited the city of Charlottetown. We toured several historic sites relevant to the original meeting of the provinces to discuss confederation. I confess that my knowledge of Canadian history was lacking.

Province House where the meetings were held

 

 

While driving around we came upon the "Cheese lady" who made various Gouda cheeses at her small farm in the countryside.  We bought several and enjoyed them with some bread we bought at a bakery. For dessert we indulged in a delicious local delicacy called "butter tarts" which tasted a lot like pecan pie without the pecans.

And speaking of food, we indulged in the PEI "lobster supper" tradition.  This involved what Rick described as a "hog fest" which included a lobster entree accompanied by all-you-can-eat chowder, PEI mussels, rolls,  salads, and pie. It was wonderful!

More PEI

We spent 6 nights in PEI, and enjoyed ourselves despite terrible weather. It rained almost every day and never made it out of the low 60's.  Most days were in the 50's with lows in the 40's. Brrrr. I guess I shouldn't complain since I hear that FL is enjoying high 90's temps and the drought continues.


We spent several days exploring PEI National Park. It is mostly beachfront, and it was quite windy, so it wasn't exactly beach weather.

Red PEI dirt

The dunes are huge!

Lupin grows wild all over the island

 

Anne of Green Gables

Have any of you ever read this book or its many sequels? Neither of us had read them, but it seemed like we were the only ones in the world. Prince Edward Island (PEI)  is all about Anne.  The fictional books took place on PEI where the author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, grew up. The house referenced in the title actually exists and folks come from all over the world to see it and some of the other places described in the novels.  There's a real cult following for the books in Japan.  It's not just kids, either.  Adults really eat it up too. It's almost a Harry Potter kind of thing.  The green gables house and grounds are actually part of the Canadian National Park system! We figured we had to see what it was all about, so we bought a DVD which had been filmed there.  It was a sweet movie and it really did a good job of showing the beauty of PEI.

Prince Edward Island

Date: Monday June 13

Because of time constraints, we have had to abandon our plans to visit Nova Scotia this summer. But that left us plenty of time to visit Prince Edward Island.  When the weather forecast called for ten days of rain and highs in the 50's and 60's, we almost headed back to Maine.  I'm glad we didn't. We've really enjoyed PEI.  It's a delightful little island.

We're finally starting to get the hang of some of the cultural differences up here.  When we first saw a restaurant that had a sign bragging that it was "fully licensed" we were puzzled. It wasn't until I saw the french translation on one of the signs that I figured out that it means that they have a full bar!

Another real challenge has been the metric system...especially driving. What's the speed limit when it says 70kph? It's on the smaller dial showing speed, but neither of us can see the little print without reading glasses! And we panicked when we saw a sign for a low clearance given in meters! We only know our height in feet and inches. Anybody that can figure our 10ft 8in height in meters gets a prize!

Detour

Date: Friday June 10 - Monday June13

We had intended to head on to Nova Scotia after Fundy.  But we suddenly realized that we were due for an oil change. It's a relatively new vehicle, so it was particularly important. The only place we could find that could take us anytime soon was in Moncton, NB, and they couldn't take us until Monday. Since we were already behind on our time, and Moncton involved some backtracking, this was a setback. We found a not particularly appealing RV park in Moncton, and settled in for three nights.

We ended up having a great time in Moncton.  The highlight was more on the Fundy tides.  Moncton is situated on the Petitcodiac river. The extremely high tides from the Bay of Fundy cause a bizarre phenomenon upriver. For several hours out of each 24, the river, which flows through the center of the city, is almost without water. The tidal "bore" is caused by the incoming tide of the Bay of Fundy coming in upstream against the regular flow of the river. The incoming tide is heralded by one large river-wide wave, which can vary from a few inches to several feet, depending on the phase of the moon. The wave gathers momentum as it rushes along and the almost empty river basin fills with water.  Within an hour the river rises by more than ten feet, supplemented by billions of gallons of brown tidal water. It's jokingly called the "chocolate river" because of the deep brown color caused by the constant turmoil on the reddish-brown banks.

The Tidal Bore viewing area in downtown Moncton was next door to the police station.  Rick couldn't resist posing for this picture with this ceremonially garbed member of the RCMP.

Another highlight of the Moncton visit was a visit to the "Magnetic Hill."  This is an optical illusion where you drive down a hill, put your car in neutral, and watch your car roll back up the hill. While there we visited the Magnetic Hill winery.  Rick was reluctant as he's not a big fan of fruit based wines, and that's all they had.  But it turned out that the blueberry wine was quite good and we enjoyed a bottle along with a cheese and cracker lunch on the winery's patio. The view was lovely. Rick reports that the bottle of Blueberry wine didn't impair his afternoon golf game at the Magnetic Hill Golf Course.

Finding effective ways to stay in touch with the folks back home has been a challenge. Before leaving Florida I visited my local Verizon office and asked them how to handle three weeks in Canada. They advised that, although they had a plan which included Canada, it wouldn't work with my MIFI plan, and texting wouldn't be included.  They advised that we should wait until we got to Canada, buy a "throw-away phone" to use while there, and use the wifi when available at campgrounds, McDonalds, or Starbucks.  This made sense to me.  But it turns out that there's no such thing as a "throw-away phone" in Canada. And the wifi in the campgrounds has been less than reliable. I won't bore you with the details, but I now have the plan that we rejected in FL, though I'm not convinced that it's working.  It makes me dial "1" every time I call anyplace that isn't within the immediate calling area. Voicemail doesn't work right, and they're charging me 5 cents for each incoming text and 50 cents for outgoing. I'll have to fight with them about it when we get home. So if I don't answer your call, don't hate me.  And don't even think about leaving a voice mail.

Our current situation seems to have reliable wifi.  But having to use McDonalds for wifi in Moncton allowed me to try a McLobster!  No lie!

P.S. The Bay of  Fundy tides are Canada's only finalist in the contest to name the "new 7 wonders of the world."  If you want to vote on this you can go to www.new7wonders.com. The winners will be announced on 11/11/11.

Fundy National Park

Tuesday June 7 - Friday June 10

We arrived in the beautiful Fundy National Park and selected a really nice campsite in a mysteriously empty campground.

While registering, I noticed that there were a lot of strange looking bugs and that they were swarming around  me. I asked the ranger whether they were mosquitoes or gnats and she informed me that they were in fact the dreaded black flies. Turns out they were at their peak and were an absolute nuisance. Lots of them found their way into the Liberty and we spent each evening killing them. The most effective method that I found was to turn on just one light and squash them when they landed. We spent the next several day cleaning bug guts off of many surfaces.

In the nearby little town of Alma, we again witnessed the weird Fundy tides. Again with the beached boats and the walking on the ocean floor!

We took several lovely hikes but saw no moose, despite our best efforts.  We finally saw one in someone's yard while driving to our next destination!

Don't you think we might have seen a Moose here?

Or here?

Atlantic time, eh?

Sunday June 5th

Crossed the border with a minimum of hassle. They asked us lots of questions (like how much wine did we have on board), but we were through without being boarded.

Our first stop was the border town of St Andrews By-the-Sea, New Brunswick. You could see Maine across the bay. We had a great campsite on a point overlooking the harbor.

St Andrews' harbor is part of the Bay of Fundy, and this was our introduction to this lovely bay with its dramatic tides. The difference between low and high tides was as much as 20 feet. At low tide, boats that were tied to docks were sitting in the mud and you could "walk or drive on the ocean floor" across the channel to a nearby island.

While there we visited Kingsbrae Horticultural Gardens. It was interesting to see how much later everything was blooming.

We also visited the St Andrews blockhouse, a fort that was built during the war of 1812 out of fear of attack from the Mainers across the bay. St Andrews had been founded after the American revolution by British loyalists who took their entire houses with them across the bay from Castine, Maine, so maybe thay had reason to be paranoid. 

While walking around the little town, we noticed that several stores had closed, despite posted closing times that had not yet arrived.  It took us a couple of days to realize that we were in a different time zone!

FDR forgotten

Wed June 1st

Forgot about FDR!  Between the finger lakes stop and my sister's place, we stopped in Hyde Park NY to see the FDR home and presidential library.  We didn't arrive until afternoon and our time was limited, so we skipped the library and chose to take the tour of FDR's home. The library was undergoing extensive renovations, so this made the decision easy. The estate was lovely, though I felt the home was awfully dark.

We learned that most people had no idea that President Roosevelt was confined to a wheelchair and couldn't walk at all until after he died.  He and his handlers made sure that he was never shown in a wheelchair.  When visitors would come, he would be seated in a regular chair with his legs crossed, giving the illusion that he had seated himself and could move his legs.  Apparently the press was in on this and never revealed his secret.  Can you imagine the modern press doing this? While the tour was interesting, it was a bit nauseating to see the hero worship of this man who, while surely an effective leader, was the father of the modern welfare state.

While in Hyde Park, we had dinner at one of the restaurants at the Culinary Institute of America.  The meal was cooked and served by CIA students. It was tasty, but expensive.

Maine for a Minute

Saturday June 4

We took a beautiful back road through the mountains of NH into Maine. Passing through Maine, we overnighted in a nice little campground just west of Bangor. It had all the elements of a good overnight: full hookups, cable, and a good Verizon signal. We also got what's called a "pull-through" campsite which allowed us to just pull in and leave the Saturn attached to the rear of the Liberty. A "back-in" campsite requires you to unhook the car, so this was very convenient. And the presence of a small restaurant on the premises meant that we didn't even have to cook.

Knight's Notes - The Liberty's V-10 Triton handled the Catskills and the White Mountains well.  Not the fastest going up with the Saturn in tow but the Tow-Haul transmission selection provided a lot of control while descending with minimal braking.  A little unnerving when the rpm's climb over 4000 but overall I was pleased and relaxed/confident driving....One side note:  Whoever is responsible for the maintenance of I-86 in New York needs a beat down!  Roughest interstate road I have ever been on.

Pressure Pro is gone...returned for a refund.  Great idea but just too many problems.  The final straw was when I discovered that one of the monitors was leaking, slowly deflating a tire on the Saturn.  The company was decent about everything and responded promptly by forwarding replacement parts along our route of travel.  (Thanks to Matt and Trish for receiving them). 

New Hampshire

Date: Thursday June 2nd - Saturday June 4th

False alarm!  Summer is gone.  We're back to chasing the Spring and the allergies that go with it up the coast. Achooo!  Arrived at my sister Emily's place in Cornish Flat, NH along with a cold front for a high of 54 (!!!) and a low of 45!!!

We parked the Liberty in Emily's yard between her clothesline and a wonderful little babbling brook. We wished it had been warm enough to leave the windows open at night to hear the water. It was great to see Em and her family. I particularly enjoyed going with her to visit the Vermont Country Store in Rockingham, VT. I've been a fan of the VCS catalog for years.  Each time the catalog arrives I dogear half the catalog. Emily and I both spent  too much money on everything from nightgowns to cookies, as well as several other gadgets that we didn't know we needed until we got there.

We stupidly forgot to take any pictures while we were there. We're still getting the hang of this photography stuff.

NY Finger Lakes

Date: May 31

King's Chamber -  Just a few notes:

Staying in some winery in NY...upstate.  The wine's not so great....view is very nice.......bucolic, Right Sal!

We have been chasing Spring but it seems like summer has finally met us here.....90's. Otherwise, nature is amazing, but you have to take time to look, listen, smell...blah blah blah. Hey Matt, Daisy Cutter IPA is great....Thanks!

For anyone keeping score....Pressure Pro -4 and counting....piece of junk...Stay tuned, just wait till my attorney gets on 'em......