Toward the Cabot Trail

We covered a LOT of miles on Monday and found a few quirky places and some gorgeous places and a lot of the same green landscape - plus one gigantic lake.  We traveled mostly inland, thinking we would avoid fog - not a great choice as the landscape appears repetitive (lots of fir and pine trees...) and the fog stayed in New Brunswick.  We hoped to find a seafood lunch at this first stop but missed their being open by a day!

So we pressed on until we realized we were not on much of a commercial route.  We found a lovely shaded spot and raided Hilda’s fridge for a picnic lunch.

 We parked Hilda at a campground in mid-afternoon and continued our search for Kodak Moments.  We should have taken a photo of the ferry we took to Little Narrows across St Patrick’s Channel but the entire operation was less than two minutes!  Why no bridge? Who knows - the ferry runs 24 hours a day!  I think we drove for about 90 minutes and saw occasional glimpses of the lake:  Bras d’Or Lake.  Removing trees for motorists to view the lake does not seem important.  But there is plenty of lake to see eventually!

We eventually found our way to Baddeck and dinner of crab cakes and Digby scallops.  YUM!  I then took my favorite photo so far:

Tomorrow we drive the Cabot Trail.

Bye New Brunswick - Hello Nova Scotia

The fog decided to continue to plague us in New Brunswick until we were about 20 miles from crossing over into Nova Scotia.  It was incredibly thick this morning as we left Rockwood Park.  This is a photo of one of the lakes.

We kept seeing brief glimpses of blue sky and an occasional bright light - really the sun???  When we saw this next sight, we decided it might change our luck...

I had a pretty good run at the one armed bandits.  We had lunch and came outside to an almost sunny day!  The drive to today’s campground was pretty boring - we have seen almost as many fir trees this drive as we saw cornfields last year!  Fog and firs - our motto for this trek so far.

Mother Nature treated us to a lovely sunset tonight.  Red at night, sailors (and campers) delight!

Tomorrow we go to the Cabot Trail.

Fun and Fog

So what can you do when the fog is as thick and deep as snow in a New England blizzard?  We think that St John New Brunswick might be a pretty interesting place.  The campground is in a huge city park: Rockwood.  There are hiking trails, fishing lakes, stables, a restaurant, an arboretum, and miles of beautifully landscaped roads.  Two minutes away from the park  is an industrial zone - odd, but it seems to work.  We set up Hilda and shopped for dinner at a huge supermarket - fresh trout and spinach was the menu.  Then we had a nice campfire and watched the fog come even closer.  Staying dry is impossible!

 This morning we found the City Market and enjoyed seeing the variety of fresh food available.  We should not have had a big breakfast!  So many yummy looking items - I have always loved strolling through markets even when I buy nothing!

From the market we found our way to the Reversing Falls, a phenomenon only found in St John.  The Bay of Fundy and the Saint John River come together and reverse course once a day.  We watched for almost an hour before high tide and saw changes but not the reversal.  Is it another myth like the view from Cadillac Mountain?  Someone has seen it...

   

The fog remained almost all day so we found a movie (Mama Mia All Over Again) and then took a walk through the Public Garden across from the Parkand through   the neighborhood.  

The fog briefly allowed the sun to shine - one hour - and then it was back to fog blankets again.

Tomorrow we are driving North - along the coastline so we are not expecting any vistas! 

Leaving Fog

We are on our way to New Brunswick today and woke up to the promise of sunshine!  So imagine our surprise when we headed down Route 3 in brilliant sunshine into yet another blanket of fog!  Since I am a gardener, I am an optimist and I insisted we stop at a scenic overlook about half an hour into our drive.  All we could do was laugh...

Maybe a little further down the road???

I give up.  

Bar Harbor and Acadia

Our drive to Bar Harbor was not too long but we had forgotten that we would be one car and camper among many - why are all these tourists here???  Same reason we are...to see the glorious rocky coast from Acadia and view from Cadillac Mountain.  We landed at Bar Harbor Campground, a big woodsy camp with a few water views.  Best part of this campground is their refusal to take reservations: first come, first served!  Stay as long as you like!  We found a nicely wooded site that was level - first level spot in several days.  Got Hilda set up and jumped back into the car to go to Acadia.  

Nice entry to the Visitors Center - then a 52 step climb to get there!



First viewing spot on the Park Loop road.  The red sails are the Margaret Todd, a three masted schooner.

Note the fog enveloping the island on the left...

As we drove further along the road we noticed things were becoming harder to see.  Fog and more fog thicker than the down blanket of fog we encountered thirty years ago was coming down on us as we climbed higher on the way to Cadillac Mountain.  

You can walk up a trail to the top.

And here is the view!!!

Back into the car and feeling our way down to below fog level and we realized that the draw to Acadia is the possibility of maybe visiting and NOT being enveloped in thick fog.  Or maybe it is the possibility there IS a view from the top...  Looks like we will not get the answer - the rain came at 2:00AM as the weatherman had predicted and lasted until 11:00AM today.  We did get to do one favorite thing here though:

The “lobstah” was fabulous!  So was the corn and the mussels we forgot to photograph!

When the rain let up this morning we decided to drive to the western parts of the area - not the Park.  Lots and lots of charming houses and beautiful gardens and narrow roads and ways to get lost...  We did find a lighthouse - and so did all the other tourists!  Photos will tell what we found better than I can write.  The common theme?  Fog and more fog!

All very picturesque!  

Maine

It is beginning to feel like I am right about Maine not liking me!  The first time we traveled to Maine was almost 30 years ago and as soon as we crossed the border between NH and ME, the early evening fog hit the windshield like a down blanket and stayed there for about 12 hours.  Finding our destination was not easy.  This time we had sprinkling rain that became hard rain and lasted about 18 hours.  Fortunately it was not heavy when we were setting up Hilda and we got it done in time to meet friends in Skowhegan for dinner at a Thai restaurant.  Wonderful food and we ate far too much - even though we were sharing dishes!   Slept well with the sound of rain on Hilda’s metal roof but the rain changed the early morning breakfast date followed by golf.  So it was a later breakfast and Roscoe and his buddy found a drier course while the two non-golfers did a required visit to Reny’s and some antiquing.  Reny’s always has something special that needs to go home with me - this time it was a Massey-Cash cobalt blue mixing bowl for a bargain price - how could I resist?  The search for a stained glass window was not successful.  Keep searching.

The campground is called Two Rivers and our site is right on the river.   Had a rather scary moment when I peeked out the door and saw what appeared to be a gator.  Definitely had to do a double take!

 Day two was much nicer weather and Roscoe got to play Belgrade Lakes, his most favorite golf course EVER!  At the campground the wind was ferocious and managed to pull down our awning.  No damage fortunately.

The “icing on the cake” of playing Belgrade Lakes is having dinner at The Village Inn, whose specialty is duck.  I can vouch for their other dishes (fabulous crab cakes) and Roscoe dreams of having their duck at least once a year!  Mission accomplished!  Tomorrow we journey to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.  For breakfast we are hoping to sample wares from “The Bankery”, a bakery housed in an old bank building.

No stop is complete without photos of flowers - this time they are not day lilies!  I want to bring all the gardens of New England home with me.

I am sure Maine has it in for me - lost the entire first post and had to rewrite...am going to post this quickly before something else happens!

New Hampshire & Mt. Washington

We left Vermont in the late afternoon and arrived at our campground in Twin Mountain NH in time to get set up and eat some dinner.  This morning we did a circle drive past Bretton Woods, through White Mountain National Forest, Crawford Notch State Park, Attitash Ski Area, and on back to the campground.  We stopped at Arethusa Falls hoping to catch a glimpse - until we saw the sign: one hour hike one way.  

Bretton Woods - famous in the 40s and beyond...

Crawford Notch



Just cannot do that hike these days.

The reason for our stop in Twin Rivers was to take the COG Steam Engine Train up Mt. Washington (6288 feet).  What  a great trip it was!  It seemed a bit slow going up but the scenery was amazing - including the wildlife: hikers!  At the top one is treated to a view of five states plus Canada on a clear day and we picked a really clear day.

Too many photos to post all.  It is an amazing trip - better than driving because you can see more!

Next stop: Maine

Connecticut, Mill River, and Vermont

We left Boxboro and meandered our way to Haddam CT to see old friends from Boston days.  Hilda parked on their ample lawn while we lunched at the Essex Yacht Club.  What a glorious view!

Unfortunately we have been too tight in our schedule and left there after only a few hours to head to our next destination: The Mill River Hotel in Mill River, MA.  It is not longer a hotel but is a great place to park Hilda and see friends!  Roscoe got to play golf on Tuesday and I got to attend a lecture at the Mount in Lenox (back in the Berkshires again.)  A rainstorm hit that afternoon and cooled things down quite a bit.

Wednesday started our three day visit to Vermont - friends in three different spots so we found a campground in reasonable distance from all three.  Lake Eden was a great place for camping and kayaking!

We stopped at our friends’ cabin on Lake Hortonia - I think it had been over ten years since we visited there.  Hilda stayed at the parking lot for fishermen and kayakers - their road is impassable for a delicate camper like her...  Their gardens are magnificent and again I was so envious.

Love this sign!  I need one!



These hydrangea blooms are at least 10” in diameter.  There are deer in their woods but for some reason they don’t venture into this part of the road.  I should send some South Carolina deer up their way.

Next stop on Thursday was Craftsbury Common.  As usual our GPS took us the long way, but we did get there!  We had not had wifi or cell service for two days but were able to get in a short call to let our friends know we were on our way!  I believe it is time for all communities to have wifi a d cell service!  

A lovely view of Shadow Lake

Have always wanted a garden like this!

This is how my day lilies in South Carolina were supposed to look... 

On to Warren on Friday before heading to New Hampshire and Mount Washington!  We found our way to our friend’s house in Warren where the gardens were again out of this world!  Roscoe played golf while my friend and I caught up - after all we have been friends since 7th grade and lots of things have happened!  I noticed her woodshed and remembered that we don’t need those in SC...

I am thinking the prayer flags are hoping for a milder winter this year.