Flower Pot Rocks

Millie at the flower pot rocks

Friday July 29 2016

We carpooled the short drive of about ½ mile from the campground to Flower Pot rocks at 11 am.

The Bay of Fundy tide was low and our guided tour group walked along the shore. Our guide enlightened us with details of geographic history for the region and the creation of the pinnacles. It was somewhat interesting but I think most of us just wanted to take pictures.

A flower pot rock

Water will be about 20 feet deep here at high tide (Clay and Rebecca)

Afterwards Clay, Rebecca, Millie and I went to a restaurant for a late lunch. At the Log Cabin Restaurant Millie, Clay and I once again ordered the same thing, fish and chips, Rebecca got Chicken and fries. We were all pleased with our meal.

The Log Cabin Restaurant

In the afternoon we sat outside with our neighbors and let Maggie play in her pool. When a sudden rain surprised us we all ran home to our RV's. Millie and I watched a movie on DVD based on a story by Steven King. The movie is called Secret Window and stars Johnny Depp. As you can imagine it was a suspense thriller.

I computer chatted with Verizon support today, First they said even though the new Verizon Plan is advertised as including international calling they don't really mean it. What you get is calling Canada or Mexico if the call originates in the United States. I said OK, add the real International plan to the one way international plan. No can do, they said, our three year old $700 phones are obsolete and do not support international calling.

The next time I get to a Walmart here in Canada I will investigate a Tracfone or similar no contract phone for use until we get back to the states.

St John to Hopewell Cape

St John to Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick

Thursday July 28 2016

Today was moving day again, A 107 mile trip up the coast of Bay of Fundy. Our destination campground is Ponderosa Pines, located at Hopewell Cape. The tourist attraction here is Flower Pot Rocks. The compacted sediment there has been eroding for some 600,000 years and has created large rock pinnacles along the shoreline. Greenery and trees have taken root on top of them and thus the reference to flower pots. We have a scheduled guided tour of the rock formations tomorrow.

On the way up the coast I deviated off the assigned course (again) hoping to get a view of the bay. Our detour was on rt. 915, an approximately ten mile spur that eventually rejoins rt 114, which is the original route. There wasn't much to see, every time the road got close to the beach we hit fog. Fifty degree water and 75 degree air equals fog.

Waiting for the tide

Nothing was scheduled in the afternoon, but they had a campfire in the evening which included sum'ores and a drivers meeting for the next leg of the trip. One of the group brought a guitar and sang a few songs. He said he was a musician in his youth and after a thirty year interlude he was learning to play again. He only had six or seven songs that he knew without having to look at sheet music, but the ones he did surprised everyone. He was very good, both guitar playing and singing. No pictures, I forgot to take my camera.

We have no phone service here and no over the air TV, watched a movie on DVD. Made in 1998, Stargate is a movie version of the TV series of the same name.

Fuel $90.80 Didn't get a detailed receipt but I think it was 90 liters which is 23.77 Gallons. cost per gallon would be calculator $3.82 per gallon. BTW, milk is $7 a gallon, almond milk is $4 a half gallon.

St John, New Brunswick day 2

Wednesday July 27 2016

Bus tour of St John

 The days tour started early, we had to marshal at the Wagon Masters RV at 8:30 am to be picked up by the bus. Our guide took us to all the highlights of the city, giving tid bits of information about each neighborhood or historic area. At several locations the bus stopped for one half hour and we were able to disembark and explore on our own.

City Market

 One such stop was the city market which has been in continuous use since colonial times. Another historic site was the Carlton Martello Tower, built to defend St John should the Yankees invade during the War of 1812.

Carleton Martello Tower

One of the points of interest here in St John is a natural feature. The Reversing Falls are not really falls at all, they are rapids. When the huge tidal flow from the Bay of Fundy backs up into the St John River, rapids are formed when they strike large boulders in the river. When the tide reverses and all that water that was pushed upriver retreats back to the sea, the rapids are formed in the opposite direction.

I think that is a brewery on the opposite shore

After lunch we had our drivers meeting where the Wagon Master gave us details for tomorrows journey to Hopewell Cape, which will be our last stop in New Brunswick before moving on to Nova Scotia. We let Maggie have some pool time while I worked on blog postings. I don't think I will have internet access for a couple days and I wanted to get the postings up to date.

Millie and I along with Clay and Rebecca took a walk around some of the city park where the campground is located. It is an enormous park, over 2000 acres with trails, lakes, horse stables etc. Many types of outdoor activities can be practiced here.

Just a neat picture of some cereal in the market

St John, New Brunswick

St Andrews to St John, New Brunswick

Tuesday July 26 2016.

We woke up this morning to a heavy fog covering the landscape, we didn't have to go far so we waited for the sun to burn most of it away. At 11 am we departed the village of St Andrew and drove 70 some kilometers over rolling hills and mostly wooded countryside to Saint John. Its a small city, large enough to have two Walmart's, but they're not super stores, more like neighborhood Walmart's in the states.

St John, New Brunswick

We are parked for two nights in a city owned campground in Rockwood Park here in town. Not a resort but not a bad place either. We have full utility hookups, level gravel site, two over the air TV stations, not bad at all.

Pond at Rockwood park

In the afternoon we drove to a new Costco Warehouse in town and to Walmart. On the way I noticed the jeep seemed to be very sluggish and the check engine light was one. After stopping at Costco it ran OK to Walmart, after restarting to leave the check light had cleared. We went on to a pizza shop for dinner and then home.

I put a code reader on the jeep and retrieved the following code. P1763. It is a transmission code, I'm going to see if it comes back before I do anything. I am towing it with the motorhome so I have the ability to get it to a dealer at my convenience should it recur.

I now have cell phone and text service via roaming thru Moose-Fart Phone Co, but no data. So much for Verizon's new International Plan! The campground WiFi, apparently built by A.G. Bell, it seems to go on and off throughout the day, but I will attempt to post to the blog before we move on to the Bay of Fundy.

PS: We have heat on in the motorhome tonight!

Last day in St Andrews

Monday July 25 2016 

We rode into the business district of St Andrews this morning. We walked the three block long commercial district stepping occasionally into a gift store or art gallery. Lots of interesting things, but we don't need or have room for more stuff, neither in the motorhome or the condo. I did buy a t shirt, mine have a bad habit of getting stained, can't imagine how but the stains always appear after eating.

Clay and I on the husbands bench

I only saw one bank on the main street and when we went inside to exchange money there were several others from our group in line. I haven't waited in a bank line in years, 99% of my banking is online or ATM.

We had lunch at a harbor front restaurant called The Harbour Front Restaurant. Millie and I had fish and chips, we both liked it. Check was $28 Canadian, that would be about $20 American.

Millie browsing

Millie bought a couple post cards, stamps and a bag of candy. We all remembered eating the pink hard candy years ago, but couldn't remember what they were called. Riding down the road all four of us let the pink candy disks melt in our mouths as we tried to recall the name. Rebecca remembered the name and we all immediately agreed. They were called Canada mints and had the word Canada embossed in each candy.

causeway to Ministers Island

We rode out to the causeway to Minister's Island but the tide was rising and parts of the roadway were already under water. Minister Island's claim to fame is the road is only passable at low tide. We rode to the old cemetery we saw the other day on the tour but couldn't gain entry. I'm sure there would have been some interesting epitaphs on headstones there.

Maggie in her pool

Afternoon was leisure time, I sat outside and let Maggie play in her pool, Millie read some of a Janet Evanovich novel. After dinner (meal eaten in MH) Millie cut my hair.

St Andrews, New Brunswick

Sunday July 25 2016. Today was our bus tour of St. Andrews. Our tour guide, a retired school teacher and St Andrews native was probably the most qualified person for the job. History is always interesting and she made the telling of St Andrews early history more so by by adding her family's story. They were American colonialists loyal to the king and fled here during the American Revolution.

Our guide in the Anglican church

This is a small village and after the story of our guides family, the most interesting part of the tour was lunch at Kingbrae Gardens. It consisted of salad, sandwiches and carrot cake, all good. Some quirkie or interesting facts; located just around the corner from the Bay of Fundy, Passamaquaddy Bay has 25 foot tides and the summer residents from America are called the “Summer Colony.” An early resident was rumored to be the bastard son of King George IV, When the Colonist's loyal to the King fled here from America, they dismantled several homes and brought them to St Andrews, they are still standing.

Oldest court house in continuous use in Canada

Kingsbrae Garden

In the afternoon, we had our drivers meeting for the next leg of the trip, to St John, New Brunswick. Following the meeting we had planned on driving to the town dock to do some tourist shopping but that plan got postponed when condensate from Clay's rooftop air conditioner started leaking on their bed.

We went on the roof and opened up the AC finding a stopped up drain. It was caused by a poorly engineered drain outlet. We re engineered it by drilling an alternate path for the water. Problem solved we also modified the front roof top AC.

Afterwards, Clay and I were sitting in the shade cooling off and noticed an old guy across the street, he was doing something at the power post. After a few minutes of watching the old man struggle I had to go see if I could help. His power cord had a wire burn in two and every time he tried to plug it in the broken wires would start arching. I gathered some tools from my Motorhome and spliced the cord back together for him.

We decided to reschedule the town trip to tomorrow, I played with Maggie for a bit, and Millie did some laundry.

Crossing the border

Saturday July 23 2016. The fantasy RV Tours group left the United states this morning. We heard Phil and Karen, the Wagon Masters leave at 7 am, the rest of the group departed at their leisure throughout the morning. We left at around 9:30 and by then there were only a few of the tour coaches left at the Bar Harbor Maine campground. The tail gunner would depart last after all the paying customers.

Bar Harbor Maine to St Andrews New Brunswick Canada

I had created routes for my GPS as soon as I had received the itinerary package from the tour company. The Wagon Master has given us extremely detailed turn by turn directions with instructions not to deviate from the assigned route. As you can guess it did not take long for these two methods to come into conflict.

After only a few miles of travel I found myself sitting at a fork in the road, To the left the tour company route was bumper to bumper traffic and under construction. To the right, my route, the one the wagon master had specifically told us not to take, lay empty before me like Robert Frost's road less traveled. “Two roads diverged in the wood and I took the one less travel and that made all the difference.”

The road less traveled

We felt liberated breaking the rules and going off on our little adventure. Our short cut across the mountains was a wonderful ride with scenic vista's appearing over every rise in the road. To be fair to the Wagon Masters, the road did pass through some fairly desolate country and there were no shoulders on the two lane country road. Millie and I loved it, we have traveled all over the USA alone and are very confident of our abilities. In fact when we traveled with Clay and Rebecca a few days ago that was the first time we have ever rode in a group.

After traveling about 100 miles we reached the border. As we passed the southbound US customs entrance we could see that, like the Mexico/US border crossings, they rely heavily on electronics. Southbound vehicles must drive through a gauntlet of sensors and camera's before reaching the border agent booth. Canadian's have no visible surveillance, just a cordial customs agent who asks about ½ dozen questions. The quiz itself is really irrelevant, the agent is trained to read the body language of the vehicles occupants. Which system works better, I don't know, but the Israelis are really good at this and they use body language method.

Border crossing

Our GPS automatically switched over to the metric system when we crossed the border, that was pretty cool and made speed monitoring easier. In no time at all we arrived at Kiwanis Campground which sits on the water in the village of St Andrews. It is on Passamaquaddy Bay in New Brunswick Canada.

Kiwanis campground

There was an optional tour of Ministers Island in the afternoon, the unique aspect of the tour is you must wait for low tide and then drive across the bay bottom to the island. We elected to pass up on the activity and take a nap instead. Later in the afternoon I spoke with one of the others in our group who did the tour and he affirmed my guess that driving on the bedrock was the highlight of the outing.

In the evening we walked the promenade around the point of land the campground sits on. We found a small park with a monument to Irish immigrants who died of hunger and disease while fleeing the potato famine. They are buried on nearby Hospital island, the monument was commissioned by their descendants who persevered and went on to prosper in Canada.

Passamaquaddy Bay

On our way back to the motorhome we heard music coming from the activity center in the campground. It was a jam session of local musicians. We always enjoy this type of home spun entertainment, for a little while, it takes you back to a simpler time.

Jammers at Kiwanis campground

Cadillac Mountain

Friday July 22 2016. Our goals for today were to return to Mt Desert Island and drive to the top of Cadillac mountain. (Elevation 1450 ft) and then to find the nearby restaurant that Rebecca had heard about. It supposedly served a delectable pastry called a Puffin that was not to be missed.

Instead of following the main road back around Bar Harbor to get to the mountain we decided to see new territory by taking a zig zag route across the island. Other than having to stop at every intersection to confirm I was on the correct course it was an uneventful and successful trip through the countryside. The rural scene was mostly forest with a few small farmsteads and many cedar sided homes, weathered to shades of gray.

Millie and Larry on Cadillac Mountain

The top of Cadillac mountain is an outcropping of rock with panoramic views in every direction. The park service has built paved paths and marked hiking trails around the crest of the mountain, giving folks of all capabilities an option for viewing the beautiful seascape below. Lots of tourist crawling around but it didn't distract from the beauty of the rock dome, we weren't here for a wilderness experience.

Cadillac mountain

 Coming down winding road from the mountain we saw the sign for Jorden's pond and Rebecca said that's the place for the Puffin's. We navigated our way to the pond side restaurant and found a parking spot in the small packed parking lot. These Puffins must really be good as there were more cars here than on the mountain.

Outdoor dining in Acadia National Park

Stopping at the Acadia Volunteers table in front of the eatery we asked if this was where you get the Puffins. After a long quizzical look, she replied, “No you need to go to Canada to see Puffins.” I know there will be a language problem when we get to Quebec, but we're not even in Canada yet. Rebecca somehow got the name of a cute little bird confused with the jam filled pastries we sought. Soon we were seated in the outdoor cafe with a green lawn leading down to the picturesque mountain pond where we enjoyed our “Popovers.”

Bar Harbor Maine

Downtown Bar Harbor Maine

Thursday July 21 2016 My day started with early morning coffee at the tail gunners RV site. This is a daily activity to help us get to know the other caravan'ers. I met about six men, I remember the names of two of them. Tomorrow is the start of the event and we will all be wearing our name tags, that should make things easier. Not that I'm alone in my forgetfulness. We met another couple from the group in town this afternoon, I had recognized their dogs from the campground. By the time we got home we all remembered the wife, Billee, but not one of the four of us could remember the husbands name.

Millie and I at the Bar Harbor docks

After breakfast we took the jeep into the town of Bar Harbor and did some souvenir shopping and people watching before continuing on a driving tour of Mount Desert Island, which by the way is home to Acadia National Park.

People watching in Bar Harbor

At lunch time we stopped in a small village, I think it was called Swans Cove. We bought sandwiches to go from a coffee shop and ate them outside at a picnic table. We wandered around stopping at some of the scenic overlooks to take pictures and got home around three in the afternoon. Somehow at the start our island circumnavigation we missed the road to the top of Cadillac mountain, the most predominate landmark on the island. We plan on returning in the morning for the drive to the top of the mountain.

We had a small conflict of interest this evening. There was a campfire get together for the Fantasy RV group at 7:30 and an Elvis impersonator at the campground activity center at 7:00. Luckily the Elvis performance was only an hour long so we got to enjoy the show and were only a half hour late for the RV social.

Bruce Nye, the Elvis guy

We got to meet some of our fellow travelers at the social and got to catch the act of a very good Elvis entertainer in his final season. Bruce Nye, the Elvis guy is retiring after the coming winter season in Florida. Millie and I have a special interest in Elvis impersonators, we had a surprise (to the guests) performance at our wedding reception by Myrtle Beaches boardwalk Elvis (David Chaney).

Millie and David Chaney, Myrtle Beaches Boardwalk Elvis

Hidden Lane Farm to Bar Harbor Maine

Hidden Acres to Bar Harbor Maine

Following Clay into Maine

Tuesday July 19 2016. Today's journey took motorhomes east across Massachusetts, up through Coastal New Hampshire and into Maine. We left I-95 at exit 42 and spent the night at Cabela's Outdoor outfitters. They are most welcoming to traveling RV'ers, with long parking spots, water, horse coral, dog run, and a sewer dump station. The store is huge and full of every type outdoor equipment imaginable.

Miles driven=260

fuel=none

Overnight stop at Cabela's Sporting Goods.

Wednesday July 20 2016. From Cabela's we drove about a mile down the road to a nearby Walmart for a few groceries, made a fuel stop and got back on the interstate to continue our trip to the rendezvous point for the Canadian RV Caravan. 

Arriving at Mount Desert Narrows Two Campground early in the afternoon we had plenty of time to check in with the wagon master of the caravan who gave us a short orientation, our credentials and info packet. The tail gunner for Fantasy RV caravans came around and applied numbered vinyl stickers to the front and rear of our motorhome. We also had the opportunity to meet several other RV'ers who are going on the trip.

A word about the Wagon master and Tail gunner. They are the guides for the road trip. The trip leader (Wagon master) travels early to the destination campgrounds to coordinate the arrival of the caravan. The members of the group travel independently stopping at points of interest along the way. The Tail gunner travels the route last in case anyone needs assistance.

Clay and I made an emergency repair to one of his side mirrors. It was knocked off last year by a truck, repaired by a local body shop, but yesterday Rebecca noticed it was moving when they hit a bump. We discovered all four of the holes in the fiberglass side were stripped out. We were able to move the mount enough to drill new holes, re-install the mirror and have the mounting base cover the old holes.

After dinner Clay, Rebecca, Millie and I rode into nearby Trenton to an LL Bean outlet store we had seen on our way in to the campground. Even at outlet prices, LL Bean is to expensive for me. Neither Millie or I bought anything. I think Rebecca bought some clothing. On the way home we stopped for ice cream. These people are corrupting me, that's twice this week I've broken my rule of not eating anything after dinner!

Miles driven=165

Fuel=$95.85, 42.43 gallons, $2.25 per gallon. (Scarborough, Maine)

Mileage=6.74 miles per gallon

Hidden Lane Farm

Lums Pond SP to Clay and Rebecca's farm

Monday July 18 2016. Today we drove north from Lums pond State Park in Delaware to our friends farm in New York. It was an uneventful interstate cruise up the Jersey turnpike to the the Garden State Parkway and finally to the New York State Thruway. Just south of Albany we crossed the Hudson River and drove the short distance to Hidden Acres Farm, home of our friends Clay and Rebecca.

Our motorhome at Hidden Acres Farm

Hidden Acres Farm

Rebecca invited us to dinner that afternoon and then we went out for ice cream. Along the way we stopped at a large dairy farm that Clay sometimes works at. Three farm workers tended to the 60 automatic milking stalls, the farm produces three tankers of milk (15,000 gallons) every day. It was impressive how the farm handled all aspects of breeding, raising and maintaining the large herd of cattle, but on the other hand it was somehow sad to see that dairy farming has evolved into a factory like operation. Gone are the days of an idealistic farm scene with cows grazing in a pasture, I won't say anymore, I don't want to spoil your cheerio's.

We drove 260 Miles today.

Fuel=$68.92, 34.475 gallons, $1.99 per gallon. (New Castle, Delaware)

=$63.87, 27.65 gallons, $2.30 per gallon. (Malden, New York)

Delaware

I have friends who embarked on a motorhome vacation two days before Millie and I left Myrtle Beach. They are a young family of four plus one dog, they've traveled from Maryland to New England, dropped back down thru New York City before turning west to Nashville. After a whirlwind tour of the music city they are now on the road heading west.

Meanwhile, Millie and I have traveled from South Carolina to Delaware.

I've been following theirs posts on Facebook and have deduced that they have an schedule full of activities as they crisscross the country. I know the Martin children will have memories that will last a lifetime, I think the parents will survive, the dog will just be happy to be with his family, no matter where they are!

Meanwhile, Millie and I have had no hard plans, scaled down our activities because of the heat and are surviving nicely. Our dog is happy to be with us no matter where we are!

The Martin family

I was pondering our different forms of travel recently because in a few days we will be joining a guided caravan tour. For 27 days we will be traveling and being tourists on a schedule. This is a heck of a time to think of this, but I'm not so sure about all that regimentation. Millie and I have mastered the leisure life style that eludes many people we see out here on the road. We are perfectly happy in the motorhome, doesn't matter where we're going or when we get there. Anyhow, the trip is paid for, we join the group this week and then we're off to Canada, details to follow!

Mom Midash and Maggie

Our stay here in Delaware was primarily to visit with my parents. They are in their early nineties and still living independently (kind of independently) in the home they've had since the 1950's. I have two brothers in Delaware who help them, Dave who lives close by, checks on them everyday.

My father has Macular Degeneration and some form of Dementia/alzheimers and my mother has to stay with him all the time unless one of the family gives her a break. After discussing it with my brother Dave we enrolled Dad in the VA medical program. Enrollment will give Mom access to the Caregiver support system, our goal is to get her some in-home help.

Besides my parents we also got to spend time with my son and his family, got to meet my granddaughter Delaney's boyfriend (I'm feeling old!) and visited some old friends.

Larry with Kristie and LJ

Dinner with good friends

My granddaughter Delaney

My friend Stanley in front of his new garage

Tomorrow morning we head north to Stuyvesant Falls, New York.