Monday August 31

Will get the pictures and stuff on our trip to Prince Edward Island posted soon.

Lighthouses and Wind Farms…

Today was the start of our 2 day Prince Edward Island road trip.   We decided it would be easier to just leave our rig in Moncton and drive the truck over.

We left Moncton about 10 am for the 75 mile drive to Canada’s smallest province.  Lengthwise, it’s about 160 miles from one end to the other.

But first we had to cross Confederation Bridge to get to the Island.  The curved, 8 mile long bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water and is considered one of Canada’s top engineering achievements of the 20th century.

And it’s a very beautiful bridge, too.

Confederation Bridge

And they’re really proud of it, too!   It’s a toll bridge, but they don’t charge you to enter the island, they charge when you leave.

And it costs $42.50 to get off the island!

Once we were over that shock, we decide to head toward the west and north ends of the island.

The first town of any size we cam to was Summerside.  Passing a nice looking Chinese buffet restaurant, we decided to have lunch at the Jade Garden.

This is the 2nd Canadian Chinese restaurant we eaten at, and it’s apparent that Canadian Chinese food is a little different from American Chinese. 

They only seem to have Won Ton soup, no Hot and Sour, which is our favorite. And they have egg rolls, but they also have something like a small fried burrito that has egg roll ‘stuff’ in it.  What the real difference is, I don’t know.

I mean, you’d think we were in a foreign country, or something.

After lunch, we continued on what was called the North Cape Coastal Drive, which winds around the coast and up to the northern tip of the island.

The first place we came to was the West Cape Wind Farm, one of several wind farms scattered around the island.

West Cape Wind Farm

We were starting to get a little low on gas, and finding no gas stations along our route, we headed about 10 miles back toward the center of the island to fill up.

Rounding the West Cape area and now heading north, we traveled along the coast to more great scenery.

West Cape Cliffs

West Cape Cliffs1

Now working our way north, we finally reached the North Cape at the tip of the island. 

This lighthouse and wind farm look out over the Atlantic ocean and the red cliffs show the effects of the ocean waves.

North Cape Lighthouse

North Cape Cliffs

North Cape Cliffs 2

North Cape Cliffs 3

By this time it was getting late so we headed back down the main road down the center of the island to the capitol of Charlottetown where we where going to spend the night.

We got a room at a Holiday Inn and then went out for supper to a place downtown called Sim’s Steakhouse & Oyster Bar.

We had a dozen raw oysters (Up here they called them ‘Fresh’,  not raw), and a couple of appetizers. The food was really good.  But the service was abysmal.  We were there almost an hour and a half,  just for appetizers.

 Tomorrow, we’ll do some of the Anne of Green Gables area,  and then the otherside of the island.

Cajun Country…

Today Jan and I took a drive along the Acadian Coastal Highway.

I had not realized that this is the area that the French were driven out of in the late 1700’s after the British took over the area after the Treaty of  Utrecht.   This is where the Cajuns (Acadians) now in Louisiana came from.

It was really strange to see  an auto repair shop called Thibodeaux’s, and a restaurant called Boudraux’s. 

Almost like home.

Anyway, the drive took us along the Atlantic Coast. For the last park of the drive we could see Prince Edward Island out to sea.  We saw a lot of quaint buildings and villages.

The weather was pretty overcast, and then later it started raining, so I didn’t fool with getting any pictures.

As we were heading home, we stopped by a place we had been told about called Hudson Oddities.  As a child, the owner, Audrey Hudson, was always bringing home stuff she had found on the beach.

So much so, that her mother once told her, “For the love of god, child, could you please stop bringing garbage home from the beach”.  Not really taking this to heart, she decide to make a business out of junk from the beach.

One of the beach things she collected was bits of broken glass, that over the years had been smoothed and polished by the wind, waves, and sand,  rounding off the sharp edges until they looked like this.

blue_glass

javex_bottoms

seafoam_glass

and turns them into jewelry that looks like this.

pendants

Just beautiful.

After this stop, we headed home, arriving just as the rain started coming down harder.

Tomorrow we plan to make a 2 day trip over to Prince Edward Island, driving the truck over, and staying one night in a bed and breakfast.

Hopefully the rain will let up.  We’ll see.

More tomorrow…

Canada, Oh, Canada!

Well, we had an uneventful trip from Houlton, ME 185 miles away to Moncton, NB (New Brunswick), Canada.

But first we had to have breakfast one last time at the Big Stop Diner.  Jan’s hooked on their blueberry pancakes and I think they make a mean omelet.

After breakfast I gassed up the truck and we headed back to the rig to get ready to roll.

We headed out about 10:45 am, but first stopped back at the truck stop to top off the coach with diesel.  And I’m glad we did.

Gas and Diesel are about $1.00 a gallon more here in Canada than in the US.

Hopefully we can get back to the US before we have to fill up with diesel again.

About 3 miles after we left the truck stop we pulled up to Canadian Customs.  This is the fifth time we’ve gone thru Canadian Customs with no problems. 

But I’m always worry because of the stories we’ve read about RV’ers going thru Customs and being selected for one of their random searches where you have to completely unload your coach so they can look at EVERYTHING!

But we were in and out in about 5 minutes.   WHEW!!!

About 4 hours later we pulled into Camper’s City RV Park in Moncton and got set up.  Actually it was 5 hours later, since when we entered Canada,  we switched to Atlantic Standard Time, so we are now 2 hours ahead of Houston

Which means Prime Time TV runs from 9 pm to 12 Midnite.  And even worse, when we travel to Newfoundland, they’re on Newfoundland Standard Time which is a HALF HOUR ahead of Atlantic Standard Time.

Go figure!

About 5 pm we headed out to one our favorite places to eat – Boston’s Pizza.

And strangely enough, there are no Boston’s Pizza in Boston, MA.  We know, we checked.

So you would think, maybe it was started in Boston, Canada.  But you would be wrong.  There is no city named Boston in Canada.

Boston’s Pizza was started in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1964.  Who knew?

Anyway, we always get a large pizza so we have plenty of leftovers to bring home.

Tomorrow we’re going to take a drive along the coast and see the sights.

Then Sunday we’re going to drive over to Prince Edward Island for a couple of days.

More tomorrow…

Charrgge!

Today is our last full day in Maine and the US for a while.

Tomorrow we drive about 2 miles east and we’ll be in Canada.  Then we have about a 185 mile trip to Moncton, NB.  We’ll stay there for 3-4 days while we explore the area around there, including probably an overnight trip to Prince Edward Island, while leaving the rig parked in Moncton.

After that we’ll see if we need to do anything about dodging Hurricane Danny.

Today was a ‘get the rig ready to roll’ day.  I added a charge wire to from the rig to the toad.  This will keep the battery in the truck from running low while we’re traveling.  Apparently in real hilly country, the auxillary braking system in the toad operates so much that on long travel days it runs the battery down.  The charge wire supplies power from the rig to the toad to keep its battery charged.

When we enter Canada tomorrow we’ll lose an hour since we’ll be now be in Atlantic Time.

 More tomorrow from Canada…

All in all, A very nice day!

I spent this morning going thru the plastic bins in the basement compartments looking for some missing stuff and doing a little organizing.

Didn’t find everything I was missing, but I did find some stuff that I didn’t realize was missing.

About 2pm Jan and I headed out to lunch and shopping.

Once again we ended at the truck stop restaurant. 

This is a really good place to eat and their desserts are fabulous.   We were told they have their own baker who does nothing but make their desserts.  We noticed several diners taking home whole pies.

After our meal we went by the Verizon store so I could get another stylus for my phone, but they were temporarily closed due to a ‘building problem’,  whatever that was.  We’ll try again tomorrow.

Next we headed downtown to the CarQuest store to pick up a serpentine belt for our coach engine and then to the local Visitor’s Information Center to see if they had anything on Nova Scotia/Newfoundland.

They didn’t,  but we bumped into a guy from Canada who gave us a lot of tips and places to see, so it all worked out.

Then it was on to Walmart and then home about 4 pm.  We then set outside for while, enjoying the beautiful weather, and letting Mister roam around for a while.

All in all, a very nice day.

My Brother’s Place…

Today was another travel day.

We left Pumpkin Patch RV Park a little before 11 am and headed northeast on I-95 to Houlton, ME,  located right on the Canadian border.

But before we got on the Interstate, we stopped off at a truck stop to top off our propane tank.

The last time we filled up with propane was in Whitehorse, BC,  last October on our way back from Alaska.  In warm weather the only thing we normally use propane for is to power the frig while we’re on the road, and for hot water when we boondock. 

But since we just dropped below 1/2 tank last week,  I wanted to be sure we had plenty of propane before heading into Canada and colder weather, since we do use it for the two gas heaters in our coach.  And it’s supposed to get colder very soon.

Tomorrow night it’s supposed to 46, and the night after, 40 degrees.  We have two electric floor heaters, but sometimes we still need the coach heaters.

We pulled into My Brother’s Place RV Park about 1:45 pm, and got set up.  An hour or so later we headed out to drive around the area and grab a late lunch.

After dropping off some mail at the Post Office,  we stopped off at a couple of parts places to pick up a spare fuel filter and engine belt before we cross the border.  It can sometimes be hard to get parts over there.

Before heading back to the coach we stopped for dinner at the local truck stop, since we were looking for a place that served breakfast all day.  Jan had some great blueberry pancakes, and I had a meatlover’s omlet.  All really good.

The park here is pretty nice, with big pull-thru sites and plenty of space between each coach.

My Brother's Place

Tomorrow I’m going to fix some stuff around the coach and kind of take it easy.  Jan’s just gonna take it easy.

More tomorrow…

Bar Harbor and Bubbles…

Today we made the 50 mile trip down to the Bar Harbor area to see some of Maine’s Atlantic coast.   The drive was pretty uneventful, except for a 25 minute wait right outside of Ellsworth for road work.  Luckily, by the time we came home they were finished for the day.

Right after we got into the Bar Harbor area,  we stopped for lunch at a small seafood place called Gateway Diner and had lobster rolls and sweet potato fries, and then split a pumpkin crumb pie with ice cream.  Great food, but unfortunately for me, the place also had a gift shop with a lot of moose stuff.

Mucho $$$$ later,  we stopped at the Bar Harbor Visitor’s Center right down the street to check out a tip that the lady at the diner mentioned about a loop road through Acadia National Park.

Getting directions, we headed out around the loop.

The first place we stopped was a scenic viewpoint overlooking Frenchman Bay, and this was just the start of a lot of beautiful scenery.

Frenchman Bay

The dock area on the right side of the picture is Bar Harbor.

The next stop was Sand Beach.

Sand Beach

Although the beach was closed today, apparently people really swim her, even though the water temp usually doesn’t get much out of the 50’s.

And some of the other views in the area are amazing.

Sand Beach 2

Sand Beach 3

Sand Beach 4

Sand Beach 5

Leaving the Sand Beach area,  we drove down to a spot that unfortunately has been in the news lately.

The area is called Thunder Hole because of the noise of the waves when the right conditions makes the sounds reverberate and sound like thunder.

The area is also popular because you can go out on a rock that juts out into the Atlantic ocean and stand where the waves come in over your feet when the tide is right.

Thunder Hole

Thunder Hole 2

This point is where about 20 people were smashed by a 25 foot wave caused by a combination of high tide and Hurricane Bill.  11 people were hospitalized with broken bones,  and 3 people,  a 7 year old girl,  her father, and an unrelated 12 year old girl,  were swept out to sea in the 55 degree water.

The 12 year old girl and the father were pulled from the water by the Coast Guard, but his 7 year old daughter was later found dead.

When we were there, the area was still closed off, but a ranger said the waves have to get over the top of the handrail before it’s closed off.

Leaving the area,  we drove further around the loop to more fantastic scenery.

Thunder Hole 3

Thunder Hole 4

Thunder Hole 5

Thunder Hole 6

Thunder Hole 7

Thunder Hole 8

Toward the end of the 27 miles we passed the Jordan Pond Inn,  a restaurant we had been told about and thought we would later have dinner there.

Leaving the loop,  we headed over to Bar Harbor to look around.  The first thing Jan found,  wouldn’t you know it,  was a couple of moose stuff gift shops.

She really wanted this one, but we couldn’t figure out how to get it in the rig.

Wicker Moose

So she settled for trying on the latest in moose wear.

Moose Hat

Walking down the hill we were able to look out over Bar Harbor itself.

Bar Harbor

And of course the many flower beds everywhere.

Bar Harbor Flower

One of the ships I noticed in the harbor was a beautiful 4 masted schooner called the “Margaret Todd”.

Margaret Todd

And rather than being an old ship, she’s only about 10 years. She was launched in 1998 and built to give Windjammer cruises to the tourists.

Here’s what she looks like under full sail.

MTodd

Before heading back over to Jordan Pond Inn for dinner,  we drove down to the end of Bridge St. to take a look.

Bar Island

When it’s low tide,  a sandbar is revealed that extends over to Bar Island in the distance,  allowing people to walk over to the island.  Unfortunately,  at high tide it just looks like a boat launch ramp.  Timing is everything!

Our dinner at Jordan Pond Inn was fantastic and we had a great meal.  The restaurant was really something,

Jordan Pond Inn

and the scenery was something else.

The view from the outside dining are is of an island called “The Bubbles”

The Bubbles

Of course, the locals call it by another ‘B’ word,  but I’ll leave it as an excercise  for the reader to figure out what the word is.

After a really great day, we finally headed home about 7 pm.  Luckily, the morning’s road work was over, so we were home in about an hour.

Today is our last day here in Bangor.  Tomorrow we head about 130 miles northeast to Houlton, ME,  which is about 2 miles from the Canadian border.

We’ll stay there for three or four days,  cleaning up some loose ends before we head over the border.

More later…

Harry & Miguel…

Today was Moving Day.

But first I got to talk to the two American Eagle Owners parked next to us.  Both of theirs are 2001 models and then there is another one in the park that is a 2007.

It’s very unusual to see another Eagle in a park with us,  much less three in the same park, and two right next door.

They are part of the American Coach Association, a group for American Coach owners, and are traveling together after attending an American Coach rally in Decatur, IL  Hopefully we’ll get to talk some more before we leave on Tuesday.

As I said, today was Moving Day.  The park finally had a vacant site with a sewer connection, so we moved over this morning about 11:30 am.  If we don’t have a sewer connection, we can’t use the washer.

So as soon as we got moved and set up, Jan got the laundry started.

About 1:30 pm we headed over to Orono, ME, about 15 miles north of Bangor, to have lunch at a Mexican restaurant called Margarita’s, before we caught the 4:10 Harry Potter movie.

Unfortunately, no one told us that the restaurant didn’t open until 4 pm.  So we headed back over to Bangor to eat at Oriental Jade, the Chinese restaurant we ate at a couple of days ago.  And as luck would have it, it’s right next door to the movie.

After lunch, we still had some time so we went to Hannaford’s, a grocery store right next door, to pick up some things.

And then it was off to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

After the movie, we still wanted our Mexican fix so while heading back to Margarita’s, we came across Miguel’s Mexican Cafe right down the street from the movie.

The food was good, but it’s the same at every Mexican restaurant we find up here.  No one uses jalapenos in any thing. Even the pico de gallo is jalapenoless.

So the food is pretty bland compared to what we’re used to in Texas.

After supper we headed back to the coach for more laundry.

Tomorrow we plan to drive south down to Bar Harbor about 50 miles away to see some of the Maine coast line.

We’ll see how it goes since it’s raining right now and is supposed to still be raining tomorrow too.

Later…

Bean Hole Beans…

Today was pretty much another do-nothing day.

I did take time to replace the windshield wipers on the coach with cheaper ones.  The reason for this was that the expensive ones I put on back in February before we left Houston, really weren’t doing a very good job.  This was because they had such a curve in them they wouldn’t stay pressed against the windshield very well.

The new ones from Sam’s work great.

This evening we attended a Maine Bean Hole Bean Dinner here at the RV park.  It was basically grilled hot dogs, baked beans, cole slaw, and bread.  The term ‘bean hole beans’ comes from a New England tradition where the beans were cooked in a large cast iron pot in the ground. 

The beans they use up here are a little different than what we’re used to.  They’re called yellow-eye beans.  They’re related to kidney beans, but ivory colored with a mustard-colored eye, kind of like a black-eye pea, but larger.

Maine Yellow Eye Beans

 We had a good time talking with the other RV’ers, especially a group that had recently been to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on an RV caravan.

An RV caravan is a group of travelers traveling together from one destination to the next. These tours can be professionally organized by a caravanning company, or informal – a small or large group of friends traveling together from place to place.

We’re going to try to pick the Wagonmaster’s (think Wagon Train) brain a little bit for the best places to stay and see.

Tomorrow we’re going to move to another site for a couple of days.  The site we’re at doesn’t have sewer so we can’t do laundry, so we’re moving over there for a couple of days before we leave for Houlton, the last town in Maine before we enter Canada.

We’re kind of waiting to see what Hurricane Bill is going to do since it’s supposedly heading for Nova Scotia/Newfoundland.

Tomorrow, while we’re moving to our new site, I plan on topping off our propane tank. The last time we filled it up was in Whitehorse, BC in Canada last year on our way back from Alaska..

In the summer time, the only thing we used propane for is for the refrigerator when we’re traveling, and for hot water when we’re boondocking.  When we’re plugged in to shore power, we use the electric water heater. So the 40 gallons can last a long time.

However, we should start running into colder weather soon and we do use the propane for our two coach heaters.  We also have two small electric heaters that we use until it gets really cold.

Last year on our way to Alaska, the coldest temp we ran into was 6 degrees in Garrison, MT, and the heaters had to run almost constantly.

So we’ll top off now before we get into Canada.

And after we move tomorrow, we’re planning on going to see the Harry Potter movie.

After that, we’ll see…