Today our campground host took 4 couples to the ferry. He drove like a madman. We bought the tickets and boarded a ferry like I have never seen before. Spacious, looked brand new, smooth ride across the St. Lawrence to Quebec City.
We found our double decker tour bus, no seats inside so we had to sit on top outside. Much better for seeing things and taking pictures but the temp was in the high 40s with a 15mph wind. We froze. We had decided to ride the entire tour and then decide what to do. I did research yesterday and thought I knew until we encountered our bus ride. All we could think of was getting in to some warm building and defrosting.
We decided visit the Farmers Market. Beautiful vegetables, meat, fish, sausages. We ordered a quesadilla to share for lunch(mainly because that was the only word we recognized). We ended up with pea soup, quesadilla, coleslaw and french fries. Weird. We have no idea what was in the quesadilla, cheese and other things. It was good though.
Back to the bus stop and where we wanted to go next. We had to be back at the ferry at 5PM for pick up by our campground host. Life became a bit difficult after this. Several of our stops weren’t available since the taxi drivers were protesting against Uber and had blocked several roads with their taxis.
We learned lots of random things about Quebec and Canada. Quebec is almost 4 times the size of France. Canada is the 3rd largest country in the world in area. The b order between the US and Canada is the longest world border and it doesn’t need to be guarded. Canada as a whole has more fresh water lakes than the rest of the world. Quebec speaks French because when they made a treaty with England that was agreed upon.
Quebec architecture is a composite of the old and ultra modern. I generally don't like this type of presentation. The buildings just don' blend at all. We went down one street with very quaint store fronts but ultra modern, rather ugly street lights. Horrible!!
We had thought about walking along the ramparts but with the weather being nasty that was not an option. We ended up going to one of the highest points in Quebec, La Chateau Frontenac. We wondered the street, found a coffee shop/pastry shop and had a snack. After some more wandering it was time to take the Funicular down to the ferry. That was a little something different.
Home we went on another immaculate, smooth ferry ride.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Levis, QC
Today was a very easy driving day. Minimal construction and mostly on a 4 lane highway. We haven’t seen anything bigger than a poor 2 lane since getting into Quebec.
Pulled into our cg for the night and asked about city tours. This place is great, sign up in the office, he has a shuttle that goes to the ferry and picks us up again. Looking forward to our trip to Quebec City as we have never been before.
Nice sites, long and spacious. He actually led us to our site and made sure the electricity was good before he left, never had anyone do that before.
The only negative is we are near a highway but they generally calm down at night plus we have a white noise machine we can turn on. Should all be OK.
Pulled into our cg for the night and asked about city tours. This place is great, sign up in the office, he has a shuttle that goes to the ferry and picks us up again. Looking forward to our trip to Quebec City as we have never been before.
Nice sites, long and spacious. He actually led us to our site and made sure the electricity was good before he left, never had anyone do that before.
The only negative is we are near a highway but they generally calm down at night plus we have a white noise machine we can turn on. Should all be OK.
Mantane, QC
Today's drive was beautiful. Up and down some major hills, steep grades but just beautiful for 100 miles. We are driving along the northern edge of the Gaspe Peninsula and I’ll call it the St. Lawrence River. Great views, again, no place to park.
We met some people from Michigan who were heading for the Maritime Islands and then they winter in Florida. We had a good laugh when I said we were heading for Michigan.
Stopped for lunch at a small restaurant along the road, immaculate with great views. Cute curtains, of course no English and we don’t speak French. I asked what poutine was, gathered it was a sauce on the french fries with something sprinkled on top. I ordered it. It is brown gravy with some sort of cheese crumbles/curds on top. Was pretty good.
I have discovered Google Translate does not even come close the the Star Trek Universal Translator. The French spoken up here is totally different than what Google Translate has and there is no dialect for Canadian French in the database. So much for my brilliant idea. We are muddling through, hand signals work fine. Once we get through Quebec we should be back in English speaking territory.
After a 6 hour drive with many stops for construction, up and down big hills etc. we pulled into our cg and found a site until the owner showed up. There are cows in the field next to us and George(cat) is fascinated. He has been sitting by the windshield for 30 minutes watching.
Tomorrow we should be in Quebec for a few more challenging days……………..
We met some people from Michigan who were heading for the Maritime Islands and then they winter in Florida. We had a good laugh when I said we were heading for Michigan.
Stopped for lunch at a small restaurant along the road, immaculate with great views. Cute curtains, of course no English and we don’t speak French. I asked what poutine was, gathered it was a sauce on the french fries with something sprinkled on top. I ordered it. It is brown gravy with some sort of cheese crumbles/curds on top. Was pretty good.
I have discovered Google Translate does not even come close the the Star Trek Universal Translator. The French spoken up here is totally different than what Google Translate has and there is no dialect for Canadian French in the database. So much for my brilliant idea. We are muddling through, hand signals work fine. Once we get through Quebec we should be back in English speaking territory.
After a 6 hour drive with many stops for construction, up and down big hills etc. we pulled into our cg and found a site until the owner showed up. There are cows in the field next to us and George(cat) is fascinated. He has been sitting by the windshield for 30 minutes watching.
Tomorrow we should be in Quebec for a few more challenging days……………..
Forillon National Park, QC
Today we wandered to Forillon National Park, 60 miles away but a 2 hour drive. Up and down hills for the first 2 hours, steepest grade was 17% for a bit. On average probably about 10%.
Lots of construction.
This drive was primarily along the coast and was quite pretty, not many cars but also no place to take any pictures.
We had an interesting experience when checking in for our campsite. They preferred credit card to cash!!!!! First time we have experienced this. We do realize that credit cards are used more heavily up here than in the US and everyone has a chip reader. The big difference is you need to sign for everything.
We arrived at the cg, found our spot and went out touring. Saw some eagles, seals etc.Sun kept hiding behind clouds.
One thing we discovered is that in Quebec not many businesses are open on Sunday, including gas stations. Businesses are far and few between normally but on Sunday you need to be prepared for nothing, including restaurants.
Lots of construction.
This drive was primarily along the coast and was quite pretty, not many cars but also no place to take any pictures.
We had an interesting experience when checking in for our campsite. They preferred credit card to cash!!!!! First time we have experienced this. We do realize that credit cards are used more heavily up here than in the US and everyone has a chip reader. The big difference is you need to sign for everything.
We arrived at the cg, found our spot and went out touring. Saw some eagles, seals etc.Sun kept hiding behind clouds.
One thing we discovered is that in Quebec not many businesses are open on Sunday, including gas stations. Businesses are far and few between normally but on Sunday you need to be prepared for nothing, including restaurants.
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Perce, QC
Today the sun is shining and the air is clear. We went down to the dock and
took thee boat ride out to Bonaventure Island where the Gannets are. The boat
goes out to Perce Rock and then around the island. Gannets were all over the
cliffs and we saw a fair amount of seals.
The strange water color is due to reflection of the sun off of the rocks.
We had seen Gannets in New Zealand when we were there and were somewhat disappointed. In NZ the Gannets were on a plateau and each pair had their own 24”x24” space. How they found each other is a miracle of nature. We learned if we wanted to get off the boat, hike 3 miles one way we could see the Gannets on a plateau. No thank you. The trails we have been on have been very rough going. We still saw an lots of Gannets, were impressed, just not what we expected.
We are leaving tomorrow as we wander our way to Quebec. Plan to stay at a Forillon National Park tomorrow night.
Our routine seems to be working for us. We drive for 2-4 hours, find a cg, eat lunch and then go touring if inclined.
The strange water color is due to reflection of the sun off of the rocks.
We had seen Gannets in New Zealand when we were there and were somewhat disappointed. In NZ the Gannets were on a plateau and each pair had their own 24”x24” space. How they found each other is a miracle of nature. We learned if we wanted to get off the boat, hike 3 miles one way we could see the Gannets on a plateau. No thank you. The trails we have been on have been very rough going. We still saw an lots of Gannets, were impressed, just not what we expected.
We are leaving tomorrow as we wander our way to Quebec. Plan to stay at a Forillon National Park tomorrow night.
Our routine seems to be working for us. We drive for 2-4 hours, find a cg, eat lunch and then go touring if inclined.
Friday, September 23, 2016
Perce, QC
Well it is raining and misting so we went for a drive on several backroads and north, along the coast. Our views from the cg are as good as any place else. Came back to the cg, cleaned up the MH since it was getting out of control.
Rain stopped, sun came out so we thought we would have sundowner drinks with our neighbors but they had decided to go out to dinner. We are the only 4 in the cg.
Rain stopped, sun came out so we thought we would have sundowner drinks with our neighbors but they had decided to go out to dinner. We are the only 4 in the cg.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Perce, QC
Perce is one of our major stopping points. We plan to do a whale watching cruise, visit the 100K plus Gannets on Bonaventure Island plus additional things the Visitor Center recommended for us.
Today was an easy drive, only 120 miles. Packing up this morning the wind was blowing at 20 mph or more. One of our slide awnings(this is on top of the slide) would not roll up completely. We had to move the MH to a location so the wind was not hitting that slide as hard, then take the slide out and back in.
Pulled into our cg and it is out on a point, beautiful. Selected a site and settled in. The cg owners wife showed up about 2 hours later and we paid up for 3 days. The actual owner of the cg had left to set up his moose camp for a few days.
Our neighbors are from Ontario and they are leaving tomorrow.
After the Visitor Center briefed us on everything we asked where a bank was. Across the street. We would have never found it on our own, no indication that the building was a bank of any sort. Looked more like a travel agency.
Wine is much easier to get in Quebec, everyone sells it, not much of a selection but much easier to find.
Tomorrow brings our first day of exploring. Might rain though. We will see in the morning.
Today was an easy drive, only 120 miles. Packing up this morning the wind was blowing at 20 mph or more. One of our slide awnings(this is on top of the slide) would not roll up completely. We had to move the MH to a location so the wind was not hitting that slide as hard, then take the slide out and back in.
Pulled into our cg and it is out on a point, beautiful. Selected a site and settled in. The cg owners wife showed up about 2 hours later and we paid up for 3 days. The actual owner of the cg had left to set up his moose camp for a few days.
Our neighbors are from Ontario and they are leaving tomorrow.
After the Visitor Center briefed us on everything we asked where a bank was. Across the street. We would have never found it on our own, no indication that the building was a bank of any sort. Looked more like a travel agency.
Wine is much easier to get in Quebec, everyone sells it, not much of a selection but much easier to find.
Tomorrow brings our first day of exploring. Might rain though. We will see in the morning.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Bonaventure, QC
Today was one of those days for story telling around the campfire.
Our campfire day started when I went to take out the slide with the kitchen. Went out about 6” and stopped, seemed to be binding. We could live with this since it was getting dark. Tried to move the slide several times and same problem.
In the evening(Monday) as we were watching TV all of a sudden the TV and other electrical died. Tom discovered the inverter was not charging the batteries. Couldn’t find anything obvious(in the pitch black). He will tackle it tomorrow.
Tuesday comes and he starts checking, fuses, circuit breakers etc. Nothing obvious. The batteries charge when we start the MH so they will charge up when driving. As a precaution we went out and bought a battery charger, returnable for 90 days. We were lucky that this occurred in a major town that had stores.
Put our route into the GPS and said we would arrive around 12:45, great gives us the entire afternoon to trouble shoot. Just a couple hour drive. Only problem is, there is a time change and we had no knowledge of it. NB is on Atlantic time while QC is on eastern time.
We did not notice anything amiss until I looked at my watch and it was 11:30 and we still had well over 100 miles to go. Our phones kept telling us we were still in Atlantic Time. Only the GPS thought we were on Eastern time.
OK, we can handle all this. Just drive a little longer. Then the next shoe drops. We had found the CG in our GPS and just told the GPS to go there. We pulled down this road based on the GPS and I knew it was wrong, just felt wrong. One lane road, no turnaround large enough for us. We found a parking lot but discovered it wasn’t large enough(we thought it was). Managed to get ourselves hung up blocking the road. No traffic, no problem. Went to unhitch the toad. Couldn’t get it unhitched due to the angle we were at. Now a car comes. She speaks French, I speak English. I managed to communicate that it would be 5 minutes before we were sorted out.
We had to unhitch the toad and its tow bar from the MH, Tom held the tow bar up while I backed up. Then I backed up the MH and cleared the road. We felt we were good Americans as we provided entertainment to the car driver and someone who lived in the house next to the parking lot. I then pulled out the computer to see if I could figure out where we were vs. where we should be.
In addition to all this we had rain/mist all day plus several construction zones. The car got the worst of this and is totally mud covered. Looked to see if there is a car wash in town, none. I guess I will hose it down tomorrow to give it some semblance of cleanliness.
We had to go back 2-3 miles and then turn off on a different road. Tom followed me in the MH as I drove the toad. We are now in the left turn lane, and the street I want to turn into is one way out. Quickly signal to the right, wait for traffic to clear, continue down the road looking for a turnaround. I found a street to turn down but there was construction going on. They allowed us to turn right, we parked the MH and I went to find the cg in the car. Found the correct street this time. Went back to get Tom. Back through the construction, crew stopped traffic for us to get out. More entertainment for the locals.
We checked in, went smoothly, she spoke some English, enough. She asked if we had pets. Told her 2 cats, She was very surprised we travel with cats. I guess that is not normal in Canada.
Only 3 hours after our planned arrival and we finally settled into our site. Decided to stay 2 nights so we could tackle our electrical problems and slide. We need a rest for a while, been a little stressful.
I took out the slides and the kitchen slide made a strange noise(not a good noise) and then went out all the way. Tom was outside and saw a part come flying off the slide. Seeing the part we had a similar problem when we first picked up the MH. The part that broke is a deflapper so the fabric over the slide doesn’t billow. All that is needed is a screw needs to be tightened. We have added that to our pre-travel check list. Slide now works fine.
Lovely cg, town owned, right on the water. I will take some pictures tomorrow.
Tuesday:
Batteries were dead this morning. I refused to open the refrig due to temps until Tom found problem. He found the problem in 30 minutes, a fried wire inside the inverter. Probably came loose and fried, we have been on some very bad roads.
One thing I never realized was how much the US has in fast food/convenient food. Since we have been in CN we have not seen anything except a Subway and they are far and few between. Even supermarkets are in short supply.
Monday, September 19, 2016
Bathurst, NB
Bathurst, NB -
Today we woke up to fog so decided to keep moving on. We are in a very nice cg in Bathurst, NB. We pulled in early due to fog and heavy misting, not pleasant to drive in. Driving to the cg reminded us of New Zealand, we encountered a one way bridge, no traffic lights, just everyone waited their turn. New Zealand had many one way bridges and some were even shared with a train. Many in New Zealand had lights though.
Lovely 20 space cg in the middle of a what appears to be a very nice neighborhood. Of course no one was in the office so we walked the cg and picked a space and set up. Next we decided to do laundry. The laundry room in CN campgrounds are usually 1-2 washer and dryers so you can’t let your laundry accumulate too much. This one had 1 washer and 1 dryer and a box to put your money in.
After that we went to the liquor store and supermarket. In CN, the province liquors store sells wine and liquor. We were not allowed to bring across the border more than 1 bottle each but that was finished up a couple days ago. Stopped at the store and essentially all they had was US wine, a very small section for CN wine. We were looking for a Zinfandel and CN does not produce a Zinfandel. I really think Farm Fresh has a bigger selection.
It is frustrating to come to CN and need to buy US wine.
Today we woke up to fog so decided to keep moving on. We are in a very nice cg in Bathurst, NB. We pulled in early due to fog and heavy misting, not pleasant to drive in. Driving to the cg reminded us of New Zealand, we encountered a one way bridge, no traffic lights, just everyone waited their turn. New Zealand had many one way bridges and some were even shared with a train. Many in New Zealand had lights though.
Lovely 20 space cg in the middle of a what appears to be a very nice neighborhood. Of course no one was in the office so we walked the cg and picked a space and set up. Next we decided to do laundry. The laundry room in CN campgrounds are usually 1-2 washer and dryers so you can’t let your laundry accumulate too much. This one had 1 washer and 1 dryer and a box to put your money in.
After that we went to the liquor store and supermarket. In CN, the province liquors store sells wine and liquor. We were not allowed to bring across the border more than 1 bottle each but that was finished up a couple days ago. Stopped at the store and essentially all they had was US wine, a very small section for CN wine. We were looking for a Zinfandel and CN does not produce a Zinfandel. I really think Farm Fresh has a bigger selection.
It is frustrating to come to CN and need to buy US wine.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
KOUCHIBOOUGUAC NP, NB
Kouchibouguac, NB -
Today was a travel day. We had no plans to do any touring after we settled in. Lucky for us it was also a rainy day so we didn’t miss anything.
We ended up at Kouchibouguac NP. This is a First Nations Word from the Micmac meaning “River of Long Tides”. The tides up here are not as massive as those at Hopewell rocks. The tides just flow very far inland.
This park is a Dark Sky Park, basically there is no extraneous lighting. In the off season that means there is a weak light by the restrooms, everything else is pitch black.
We are in the South Kouchibouguac CG(pronounce what you see and skip the last C), not many people and most of the cg is closed down. Its final date is the end of Nov.
This is an all year park. The winter season is composed of snowshoe and cross country trails. In fact, today we saw some people getting ready for cross country skiing on the road. Instead of skis they wear inline skates about 18” long and use the cross country poles. Interesting to watch.
Where there is a good view the park has red Adirondack chairs, gives you a chance to sit a while and enjoy the view.
We may stay and extra day, some interesting things to see if nature cooperates with no rain and the birds and seals cooperate. Another 2 days of very easy driving and we will be in Quebec and the Gaspe Peninsula.
Today was a travel day. We had no plans to do any touring after we settled in. Lucky for us it was also a rainy day so we didn’t miss anything.
We ended up at Kouchibouguac NP. This is a First Nations Word from the Micmac meaning “River of Long Tides”. The tides up here are not as massive as those at Hopewell rocks. The tides just flow very far inland.
This park is a Dark Sky Park, basically there is no extraneous lighting. In the off season that means there is a weak light by the restrooms, everything else is pitch black.
We are in the South Kouchibouguac CG(pronounce what you see and skip the last C), not many people and most of the cg is closed down. Its final date is the end of Nov.
This is an all year park. The winter season is composed of snowshoe and cross country trails. In fact, today we saw some people getting ready for cross country skiing on the road. Instead of skis they wear inline skates about 18” long and use the cross country poles. Interesting to watch.
Where there is a good view the park has red Adirondack chairs, gives you a chance to sit a while and enjoy the view.
We may stay and extra day, some interesting things to see if nature cooperates with no rain and the birds and seals cooperate. Another 2 days of very easy driving and we will be in Quebec and the Gaspe Peninsula.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
St. Martins, NB
Today we drove to St. Martins from St. Andrews, about 100 miles though we have switched our GPS to km. We are very surprised at the improvement in roads, at least so far. Previously, 10 years ago, the roads were rough going. This year we have had a 4 lane highway for the major roads. The secondary roads were a bit of a challenge.
We arrived at St. Martins and had 2 goals. The first, was to take the Fundy Trail Drive. This is a new road along the cliffs from St. Martins for 19 km. The road will extend further and the plan is to finish the road by 2018. This is a toll road and has some really great views. I feel they need to take a few lessons from the US National Parks. Signage is small, and hard to read from any distance. Some of the turnouts have no signage at all.
This road has many turnouts with several short 1-2 km hikes. We didn’t do any of the hikes but generally enjoyed ourselves. One word of warning, if you don’t like curvy roads with ups and down in the 13%-15% range on average this is not the road for you. I thought I was riding a roller coaster.
After that we went looking for some Sea Caves. These are caves that are full of water at high tide and at low tide you can walk in them. I understand that there is layers upon layers of shells within the caves. Unfortunately we were there when the caves were full of water.
After that we went back to the cg. We finished off our last bottle of US wine and had no idea where to buy wine in CN. Stopped by our neighbors who were having happy hour and asked them. Only at the NB Liquor stores is wine sold. Tomorrow I will keep my eyes open for one of them as we drive.
We chatted with them for about 30 minutes. This is one of the nice things about camping, everyone is willing to share information and make you very welcome.
Tomorrow we don’t have any distance or city goals, just drive until we are ready to pull over for the day. Finding a liquor store and a supermarket will be on our horizon.
We arrived at St. Martins and had 2 goals. The first, was to take the Fundy Trail Drive. This is a new road along the cliffs from St. Martins for 19 km. The road will extend further and the plan is to finish the road by 2018. This is a toll road and has some really great views. I feel they need to take a few lessons from the US National Parks. Signage is small, and hard to read from any distance. Some of the turnouts have no signage at all.
This road has many turnouts with several short 1-2 km hikes. We didn’t do any of the hikes but generally enjoyed ourselves. One word of warning, if you don’t like curvy roads with ups and down in the 13%-15% range on average this is not the road for you. I thought I was riding a roller coaster.
After that we went looking for some Sea Caves. These are caves that are full of water at high tide and at low tide you can walk in them. I understand that there is layers upon layers of shells within the caves. Unfortunately we were there when the caves were full of water.
After that we went back to the cg. We finished off our last bottle of US wine and had no idea where to buy wine in CN. Stopped by our neighbors who were having happy hour and asked them. Only at the NB Liquor stores is wine sold. Tomorrow I will keep my eyes open for one of them as we drive.
We chatted with them for about 30 minutes. This is one of the nice things about camping, everyone is willing to share information and make you very welcome.
Tomorrow we don’t have any distance or city goals, just drive until we are ready to pull over for the day. Finding a liquor store and a supermarket will be on our horizon.
Friday, September 16, 2016
St. Andrews, NB
Today we made it to Canada. We had heard stories about crossing the border and were prepared for the worse. I even made a reservation for a cg close to the border in case we were really held up.
We were the only ones crossing the border, it was eerie. We arrived at our cg around 12:00. Pulled right up and into our site, We need to get to a bank and get some Canadian money, a credit card only goes so far. Since we were in so early we had plenty of time. Visited a bank, the hardware store and then the Visitor Center. After that we went to Kingbrae Gardens, all I took were entrance pictures. We didn’t realize we had a time zone change and were an hour later. The Gardens closed in a hour and that wasn’t enough time.
Tom is learning his new role in life in the MH. He is sort of navigating better but misses so much. He just doesn’t pay attention. His other new role is to assist me in backing up the MH. If we are in a pull thru there is no problem but if we need to back in we need to unhitch the toad. Since this is normally done at the entrance to a cg someone has to lead to the site. I have always been the navigator in cgs. After unhitching, I look at the cg map and drive off to our site with Tom following in the car.
I wait in the road to back in while he checks electrical, checks this and that. I finally make some noise and he remembers I am in the road. His next challenge is to get me into the site. I cannot tell my site from anyone else when it is a wide open field so I ask him to stand on the corner of the site so I can know where the corner is. Hasn’t quite mastered that yet plus he doesn’t keep in my mirrors so I just stop until he shows up again. A few more backins and we should be OK.
This is a lovely cg, right on the water on a point of land. We can see Maine across the water. Sites are large, all grass and the wind is howling all the time.
We were the only ones crossing the border, it was eerie. We arrived at our cg around 12:00. Pulled right up and into our site, We need to get to a bank and get some Canadian money, a credit card only goes so far. Since we were in so early we had plenty of time. Visited a bank, the hardware store and then the Visitor Center. After that we went to Kingbrae Gardens, all I took were entrance pictures. We didn’t realize we had a time zone change and were an hour later. The Gardens closed in a hour and that wasn’t enough time.
Tom is learning his new role in life in the MH. He is sort of navigating better but misses so much. He just doesn’t pay attention. His other new role is to assist me in backing up the MH. If we are in a pull thru there is no problem but if we need to back in we need to unhitch the toad. Since this is normally done at the entrance to a cg someone has to lead to the site. I have always been the navigator in cgs. After unhitching, I look at the cg map and drive off to our site with Tom following in the car.
I wait in the road to back in while he checks electrical, checks this and that. I finally make some noise and he remembers I am in the road. His next challenge is to get me into the site. I cannot tell my site from anyone else when it is a wide open field so I ask him to stand on the corner of the site so I can know where the corner is. Hasn’t quite mastered that yet plus he doesn’t keep in my mirrors so I just stop until he shows up again. A few more backins and we should be OK.
This is a lovely cg, right on the water on a point of land. We can see Maine across the water. Sites are large, all grass and the wind is howling all the time.
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Mt. Desert Island, Oceanarium -
Today was cloudy so we went to the Oceanarium. This is a private enterprise that is the only lobster hatchery in the US. The Oceanarium is well worth going to, it was fascinating. There are 4 components to the tour. We started at the Discovery Tank and learned about the “fish” they had in the tank. Saw and touched some fish that we had never heard of before.
After that we went to the Lobster Hatchery and this was great. The gestation period of lobster is years long and then they produce thousands of eggs(some produce 30,000-50,000+). Through a series of tanks, warmer water and good nutrients the Oceanarium has a 50%-75% survival rate to place back into the ocean in 2 weeks, vs. the normal 6-8 weeks in the ocean waters, if the eggs survive.
Next on to a Marsh Walk which was somewhat interesting. Biggest excitement was a Blue Heron that landed. Since we see Blue Herons every day this was old hat for us.
After that we had a lecture at the museum about the lobster industry and its evolution. Very interesting.
Then the rains started and we headed back to the motor home.
I am trying a different piece of software for the pictures from Photodex. Click the lower right for full screen(little square with arrows). I you are on a tablet you will need to swipe the screen larger. Sorry about the ads, free software comes with a penalty.
Today was cloudy so we went to the Oceanarium. This is a private enterprise that is the only lobster hatchery in the US. The Oceanarium is well worth going to, it was fascinating. There are 4 components to the tour. We started at the Discovery Tank and learned about the “fish” they had in the tank. Saw and touched some fish that we had never heard of before.
After that we went to the Lobster Hatchery and this was great. The gestation period of lobster is years long and then they produce thousands of eggs(some produce 30,000-50,000+). Through a series of tanks, warmer water and good nutrients the Oceanarium has a 50%-75% survival rate to place back into the ocean in 2 weeks, vs. the normal 6-8 weeks in the ocean waters, if the eggs survive.
Next on to a Marsh Walk which was somewhat interesting. Biggest excitement was a Blue Heron that landed. Since we see Blue Herons every day this was old hat for us.
After that we had a lecture at the museum about the lobster industry and its evolution. Very interesting.
Then the rains started and we headed back to the motor home.
I am trying a different piece of software for the pictures from Photodex. Click the lower right for full screen(little square with arrows). I you are on a tablet you will need to swipe the screen larger. Sorry about the ads, free software comes with a penalty.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Acadia NP, Mt. Desert Island -
Yesterday and today we wandered Acadia National Park and Mt. Desert Island. We have been very surprised by how many people are vacationing at this time of year. We have normally found this time to be quiet. We could understand if there were fall colors but none haven’t arrived yet.
With all the crowds we have had some disappointments in what we wanted to do. We tried Cadillac Mountain(tallest mountain on Mt. Desert) and where the sun hits the US first in the morning. An awesome experience. Our first try was wall-to-wall traffic and we gave up. Our second try was early in the morning and we were able to get to the top, beautiful view.
Our other disappointment was the Wonderland trail, just no parking at all. We may try that again tomorrow. Depends on the weather, rain is in the forecast again.
Other than those disappointments we are having a good trip. We head out around 8 AM and get back between 1-2 PM. Works fine for us.
Today we did some site seeing in Acadia and then headed to Penobscot Narrows Bridge, this is cradle bridge, same designer as in Boston and Tampa Bay. The difference is that you can go to the top of one of the towers for a wonderful view. Maine is water water everywhere so the views are awesome.
We meet so many wonderful people that we have chats with, from the supermarket to the scenic views. We just chat away with them, everyone is always in a good mood on vacation. All these brief encounters are interesting and entertaining.
One thing that surprised us was the number of cruise ships that come here. Only one per day but every day there seems to be a new one.
We will be leaving for Canada on Friday and I am not sure about the internet situation. We will be in many smallish villages that do get tourists but not in massive quantities. I know the campgrounds are more rustic.
Yesterday and today we wandered Acadia National Park and Mt. Desert Island. We have been very surprised by how many people are vacationing at this time of year. We have normally found this time to be quiet. We could understand if there were fall colors but none haven’t arrived yet.
With all the crowds we have had some disappointments in what we wanted to do. We tried Cadillac Mountain(tallest mountain on Mt. Desert) and where the sun hits the US first in the morning. An awesome experience. Our first try was wall-to-wall traffic and we gave up. Our second try was early in the morning and we were able to get to the top, beautiful view.
Our other disappointment was the Wonderland trail, just no parking at all. We may try that again tomorrow. Depends on the weather, rain is in the forecast again.
Other than those disappointments we are having a good trip. We head out around 8 AM and get back between 1-2 PM. Works fine for us.
Today we did some site seeing in Acadia and then headed to Penobscot Narrows Bridge, this is cradle bridge, same designer as in Boston and Tampa Bay. The difference is that you can go to the top of one of the towers for a wonderful view. Maine is water water everywhere so the views are awesome.
We meet so many wonderful people that we have chats with, from the supermarket to the scenic views. We just chat away with them, everyone is always in a good mood on vacation. All these brief encounters are interesting and entertaining.
One thing that surprised us was the number of cruise ships that come here. Only one per day but every day there seems to be a new one.
We will be leaving for Canada on Friday and I am not sure about the internet situation. We will be in many smallish villages that do get tourists but not in massive quantities. I know the campgrounds are more rustic.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Acadia NP, Mt. Desert Island -
Today we woke up to fog and generally miserable conditions. We decided to go to Acadia NP visitor center and get our pass plus I was looking for a 2016 National Parks Centennial shirt for the east coast to match my west coast one. I had tried Jamestown and they did not have what I was looking for,
We parked and had to hike up 52 steps to get to the visitor center. My knee made it up with no problem, down was a slower challenge. We got our pass , no shirts and went on the loop road. Nothing much since it was so foggy. There was cruise ship in that was a surprise. Huge ship in the bay.
After our non-event drive we went lobster pricing. Everyone is charging $5.99 per pound and going up to $11.99 over 1.25 lbs. Since we wanted 1.5-2 lbs. lobsters we weren’t too happy with the pricing. We also checked at the supermarkets and Hannaford's was $5.99/pound up to 1.75 lb. That is where we bought our lobsters for dinner. Also did some supermarket restocking since we weren’t doing anything else.
Just after we got home the skies opened up. Sheets of rain, thunder lightning etc. Happy we made it home before the rain started.
We went out to get our lobsters and saw some lobster scissors. We bought a pair, wow, do they make lobster eating so much easier. We are going to get another pair for home.
Weather is suppose to be good tomorrow.
Today we woke up to fog and generally miserable conditions. We decided to go to Acadia NP visitor center and get our pass plus I was looking for a 2016 National Parks Centennial shirt for the east coast to match my west coast one. I had tried Jamestown and they did not have what I was looking for,
We parked and had to hike up 52 steps to get to the visitor center. My knee made it up with no problem, down was a slower challenge. We got our pass , no shirts and went on the loop road. Nothing much since it was so foggy. There was cruise ship in that was a surprise. Huge ship in the bay.
After our non-event drive we went lobster pricing. Everyone is charging $5.99 per pound and going up to $11.99 over 1.25 lbs. Since we wanted 1.5-2 lbs. lobsters we weren’t too happy with the pricing. We also checked at the supermarkets and Hannaford's was $5.99/pound up to 1.75 lb. That is where we bought our lobsters for dinner. Also did some supermarket restocking since we weren’t doing anything else.
Just after we got home the skies opened up. Sheets of rain, thunder lightning etc. Happy we made it home before the rain started.
We went out to get our lobsters and saw some lobster scissors. We bought a pair, wow, do they make lobster eating so much easier. We are going to get another pair for home.
Weather is suppose to be good tomorrow.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Acadia NP, Schoodic Point -
This is a little known part of Acadia National Park. We meandered via back roads toward Schoodic. One thing that we knew, but perhaps you didn’t, the tides here in Maine are 10-12’ vs. the 28’ in Canada. There is a wayside where you can see the tide come in and out. Still, I don’t think anything beats Hopewell Rocks in Canada.
We kept seeing signs for “Lunch on the Wharf” in Corea. Sounded interesting so we decided to eat there. Lovely place, we were the only tourists, rest were locals. Actually ate on a wharf overlooking the harbor(low tide).
Tonight we met all our neighbors and the campground supplied a Thanksgiving in September meal. Everyone brought something. Great meal, met some more of our neighbors. Had a pleasant evening until the rain started. That sent everyone home fast.
I have added a slide show. I am using new software and having a learning curve. I am not sure I can get rid of the dark gray bar on the bottom. Be patient. I also don't seem to have any control over the speed. WARNING: Don't put your cursor on the pictures, that switches to a different mode and you will lose the captions. I am not sure about this software.
This is a little known part of Acadia National Park. We meandered via back roads toward Schoodic. One thing that we knew, but perhaps you didn’t, the tides here in Maine are 10-12’ vs. the 28’ in Canada. There is a wayside where you can see the tide come in and out. Still, I don’t think anything beats Hopewell Rocks in Canada.
We kept seeing signs for “Lunch on the Wharf” in Corea. Sounded interesting so we decided to eat there. Lovely place, we were the only tourists, rest were locals. Actually ate on a wharf overlooking the harbor(low tide).
Tonight we met all our neighbors and the campground supplied a Thanksgiving in September meal. Everyone brought something. Great meal, met some more of our neighbors. Had a pleasant evening until the rain started. That sent everyone home fast.
I have added a slide show. I am using new software and having a learning curve. I am not sure I can get rid of the dark gray bar on the bottom. Be patient. I also don't seem to have any control over the speed. WARNING: Don't put your cursor on the pictures, that switches to a different mode and you will lose the captions. I am not sure about this software.
Friday, September 9, 2016
Today we wandered towards Acadia National Park. We drove up I95 for a while and it was a bit irritating. Our RV GPS is set for low bridges and alarms at any bridge 13' 6" or less. Did you know that most of the bridges in Maine on I 95 are 13' 6". Alarms were sounding constantly driving up the road. We then moved over to US 1, thinking it would be scenic, along the coast. It was so-so. I was thinking it would go along the water and be a pleasant drive. Not so.
We arrived at out campground, checked in and went to our site with a minor problem before getting to the site. Unhitched the car and had a dead battery, had a jump from the CG. Went to our site. Lovely site, we are in a seasonal site and it has been spiffied up with flowers and other plantings, including a vegetable garden. Our one neighbor is from North Carolina and the other from Williamsburg(haven’t met them yet).
We went for a drive to give the car some exercise and managed to turn our 15 minute drive into over a hour. Tom didn’t realize it but when we turned back the car GPS wasn’t working correctly and he didn’t notice it. We were heading southeast instead of northwest. Good thing we were on an island.
Our trip has had a lot of bumps and bruises. First, being cancelled out of Assateague, then our credit card was hacked, next we ran out of checks(additional are buried in the MH someplace) and the final was the battery was dead in the car and we had to get a jump.
Since Tom doesn’t need to take down the satellite dish any longer(we bought an automatic one on the roof), I asked him to do the car while he was doing the other outside stuff. He said fine. Check list was on the visor. Today was the first day he did the car, dead battery. The car key needs to be put into ACC mode and he left it in RUN mode. Dead battery. Why do I have check lists posted all over the place??? They need to be read………..
This is 4 bumps we have had, I had always thought the limit was 3. Never boring on the road. Just adds to the story collection.
We arrived at out campground, checked in and went to our site with a minor problem before getting to the site. Unhitched the car and had a dead battery, had a jump from the CG. Went to our site. Lovely site, we are in a seasonal site and it has been spiffied up with flowers and other plantings, including a vegetable garden. Our one neighbor is from North Carolina and the other from Williamsburg(haven’t met them yet).
We went for a drive to give the car some exercise and managed to turn our 15 minute drive into over a hour. Tom didn’t realize it but when we turned back the car GPS wasn’t working correctly and he didn’t notice it. We were heading southeast instead of northwest. Good thing we were on an island.
Our trip has had a lot of bumps and bruises. First, being cancelled out of Assateague, then our credit card was hacked, next we ran out of checks(additional are buried in the MH someplace) and the final was the battery was dead in the car and we had to get a jump.
Since Tom doesn’t need to take down the satellite dish any longer(we bought an automatic one on the roof), I asked him to do the car while he was doing the other outside stuff. He said fine. Check list was on the visor. Today was the first day he did the car, dead battery. The car key needs to be put into ACC mode and he left it in RUN mode. Dead battery. Why do I have check lists posted all over the place??? They need to be read………..
This is 4 bumps we have had, I had always thought the limit was 3. Never boring on the road. Just adds to the story collection.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Today was an interesting day. We saw a truck ahead of us with his rear wheel smoking, maybe half mile. He just kept driving on. About 10 minutes later the wheel caught fire and he pulled over as the rest of us quickly pulled to the fast lane and went past him. Next excitement was someone’s luggage blew off a roof rack and was scattered all over the interstate.
Other than that we had a pleasant drive, beautiful countryside, little traffic. Too bad the interstate was in such poor shape. Every crack was felt, bumpity bump for 70 miles.
Other than that we had a pleasant drive, beautiful countryside, little traffic. Too bad the interstate was in such poor shape. Every crack was felt, bumpity bump for 70 miles.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
The initial entries in this blog were written before Hermine changed all our plans. It is best if you read the blog in date order so you will need to start at the oldest date. The map represents our stops as we wander to Acadia National Park. We are currently heading toward the area around Albany, NY. Just taking our time. Yesterday we had major crosswinds that battered us for 200 miles. Today we know we will have a very rough interstate and tomorrow we will be going through VT and NH. That will be very curvy and up/down major hills/mountains. On Friday we will finally get to the coast and wander up US 1 along the coast, that should be pleasant.
No pictures until we get to Acadia.
Enjoy!!
No pictures until we get to Acadia.
Enjoy!!
Saturday, September 3, 2016
We brought our RV home on Thursday and hoped to get mostly loaded before Hermine hit. We had a to do list(just like a house) and managed to get the exterior work done and some of the interior. Hermine ended up not affecting us, even with all the hype from the weatherman.
We plan to leave on Labor Day in the morning. Our only concern is going to Assateague we need to go across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and if there are high winds we will not be allowed to cross. We anticipate the winds will calm down by Monday and will not be an issue.
Well we had a surprise on Sunday night(we were leaving on Monday). Our reservation at Assateague was cancelled due to major damage from Hermine(tropical storm). The entire park is now closed until the 7th or 8th. All our plans have now been changed. We will head directly to Acadia and may spend extra time there. I would like to go to Camden, Somesville and other towns that I have always wanted to explore. We would like to go back to the Schoodic area of the Acadia National Park also.
When one door closes, another opens.
We plan to leave on Labor Day in the morning. Our only concern is going to Assateague we need to go across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and if there are high winds we will not be allowed to cross. We anticipate the winds will calm down by Monday and will not be an issue.
Well we had a surprise on Sunday night(we were leaving on Monday). Our reservation at Assateague was cancelled due to major damage from Hermine(tropical storm). The entire park is now closed until the 7th or 8th. All our plans have now been changed. We will head directly to Acadia and may spend extra time there. I would like to go to Camden, Somesville and other towns that I have always wanted to explore. We would like to go back to the Schoodic area of the Acadia National Park also.
When one door closes, another opens.
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