25 Sep Bucket lists really do come true!
We left Delaware for the start of our next adventure. Come share some of the highlights of what checked off a major bucket list item for me!
If I’m being honest with myself, the chore of finding new doctors probably isn’t as hard as I have made it out to be. And, being even more honest, I think the reason why, is that holding onto some of the NJ/NY doctors we have gives a great excuse to find our way up to visit our people. So as we ventured off, I made sure to schedule some health care visits as a most wonderful excuse to stop for two nights and “camp” at our church in River Vale. They have continued to be most gracious in allowing us to rest with CR and Clifford. So there we rested and sweated a bit as the thermometer cranked in the 90’s. Visiting with people we love, was worth the heat challenge for this lady. Kevin, Laura, Dianne, Jen, Tom, Leiani, Paul, you hold a special place in our hearts. Always!
Tri State Juniors Grown Up – Mostly
Kids being kids
Off after two days to head to Peaceful Valley Campground in Downsville NY. Here we soaked in time with our Tri State Camping family for our 25th reunion camping extravaganza. I won’t even put family in quotation marks, because these are people, who even though are not DNA related, sum up for us what family means. This was a beautiful milestone of laughter, memories shared and new ones created. With these souls, over the coarse of these many years, we have adventured, laughed, cried, relaxed, endured, experienced, road tripped, drank, eaten awesome food, sang, had some rain and increased our t-shirt collections. The list is endless. We are now onto the third generation of Tri State Littles being part of this trip, which makes my heart full. They may be sing American Pie before they know their ABC’s. All good!
Lots of laughs always
The heat stayed with us up in Downsville, and a bit of rain, but no matter. It was, as always, a time where we all just got to enjoy being with each other for several days, till this time the next year. A special extra day of hanging with just Emma as the crew left on Sunday and we were headed north on Monday.
We hugged Emma and began traveling towards Nova Scotia. I was so excited, it was hard to be patient knowing it would take two whole long days before we got to the border into Canada.
We stopped for a night at a Harvest Host in Contoocook NH. Gould Hill Farms, and their lovely peach orchards was a perfect spot to call it a night.
Gould Hill Farm
The heavy rain we had lent itself to some dense fog the next morning. We opted to head out slower than normal to let it pass. On our way, next stop Maine. We began hunting for lobster rolls. I do believe it is law in Maine that as you travel through, you must drop $$$ and partake of this deliciousness. And since I am a rule follower, that’s surely what we did. We put Red’s Eats in the GPS, highly recommended by friends, to fill this lobster roll desire. Unfortunately the place was mobbed! And there was not any where CR would fit. So off we went. Managed to find another spot, Captains Fresh Idea, and now were comfortable with not breaking the lobster roll law. 🙂 So good!
Muzzy Ridge Farm
Elizabeth, Kenny and me
Arrived at our next stop in the afternoon. Our friend Elizabeth’s B&B, Muzzy Ridge Farm, in Searsmont ME, could not have been sweeter for us. She was kind enough to let us set up right in her driveway. It was a bit of a challenging spot for CR, but Dave has become quite adept at maneuvering in the tightest of locals. Bravo Dave! Set up and then a tour of the 63 sheep she owns, barn and B&B she runs. The end goal for her is to make amazing cheese. A trip back will definitely be in order! We enjoyed a quick trip to a local brewery and then dinner in Belfast ME with Elizabeth.
As we prepared to set off the next day, we were so grateful to leave our traveling plants with our friend, as we discovered they would not be welcomed at the border. Doesn’t everybody travel with plants? We also surrendered our safety items, aka pepper spray and hunting knife, since Canada frowns on those being brought into their country. Elizabeth was happy to help us and sent those back to us in DE via the pony express. Thank you Elizabeth for your hospitality.
Traveled mostly secondary roads the next day to finally arrive at our entry into Canada.
Dave and I had been a bit anxious about the border crossing. In our minds we would have to pull CR over, open it up, and be searched from top to bottom, looking for plants, pepper spray and hunting knives. All of which we knew we didn’t have, but anxiety provoking regardless. Funny thing was as we pulled up to the completely empty border crossing, all we were asked was, did we have pepper spray or weapons and what jobs did we have, and why we were visiting the country? The border agent sent us on our way. Done in three minutes.
For the next two hours we traveled on a lovely four lane highway to our first destination in Canada, Saint Martins in New Brunswick. I was ready to “tell” Dave to slow down because the speedometer was reading 105! Really Dave. A bit too fast with a long long camper behind us. Oh…Clifford was now sharing in metric! This led to endless conversations between the two of us as to why the US along with Liberia, Myanmar (Burma) continue to be the only countries to use the imperial system of weights and measures. We haven’t figured out why. For fun, the rest of this blog post will be shared in metric if need be. Come on, its good to learn new things.
Century Farm Campground sits right next to the Bay of Fundy. http://bayoffundytourism.com/
Bay of Fundy
Tides out!
No question! It is a natural wonder of this world. We were able to walk out with the tide out and explore some caves at St. Martins Sea Caves which were 2.2km from our campsite. Walking ground where every twelve hours you can’t because of tidal changes is amazing. Did it again the next am as it was just so cool. It felt good to be childlike in our awe experiencing this.
Not abad view
Because there is so much water and windy roads on the Atlantic Maritimes, the 413 km, which isn’t that far, still took us about 5 hours. We were so happy to arrive at our spot for the next 7 days! Wayside RV Park overlooking Long Cove in Glen Margaret Nova Scotia. Be still my heart and body…literally. So unlike us to choose to stay this length of time in one spot, but it was just awesome. Honestly the bit of road noise was erased from my hearing because of the view we were able to soak in for the week.
Why Nova Scotia Hedy? Way way back when I was much younger, I read The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. The story takes place on the coastline of Newfoundland. A description from an expert of the book describes “Newfoundland as a country of coast and cove where the mercury rarely rises above seventy degrees, the local culinary delicacy is cod cheeks, and it’s easier to travel by boat and snowmobile than on anything with wheels.” Why this book resonated with this girl from suburban NJ is still a bit confusing to me, but it had put a desire in me to see this landscape for myself. The 1451 km extra to drive and ferry (or several days for us) to Newfoundland wasn’t in the cards this trip, so the parts of Atlantic Canada we did see were going to be a wonderful stand in for my long held yearning.
It felt great to have a home base accessible to much of what we wanted to explore. On our way to our first stop at Peggy’s Cove, we stumbled upon a beautifully sad memorial for Swiss Air Flight 111, which went down in the waters nearby on 9/2/1998. Gave us both a moment of reflection, grateful for this amazing opportunity to journey.
Peggy’s Cove
Peggy’s Cove is an iconic tourist draw, with its painted houses sitting atop bluffs and rocks. It was surreal to be sitting near this grand light house, on the outcropping of rocks, listening to a kilt wearing man playing bagpipes as we were mesmerized by the waves crashing. Capped off with a delicious lobster roll. Living the life! We also strolled our way through Lunenburg and Mahone Bay. Lot’s of driving but well worth it. 70% of the original building from the 18th and 19th centuries still remain, giving Lunenburg it’s distinction as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Felt like we were walking the streets of an old German village.
We visited the city of Halifax the next day. As far as cities go, this was a great fit for us. The vibe of a larger city, in that there is plenty to do, see and visit, with the ease of maneuvering around a smaller one. We enjoyed walking through the seaport farmers market, walking along the harbour, treating ourselves to some delicious poutine and learning a bit about the Halifax Explosion of 1917. Here’s some nerdy facts for you to chew on:
Halifax Seaport
On the morning of Dec. 6, 1917, a french ship, the SS Mont Blanc, crashed bow to bow with the SS Imo, a Norwegian freighter. Initial blow wasn’t so bad. What was, was the cargo on board the Mont Blanc. The Mont Blanc was filled with munitions, bound for the war raging in Europe. Its holds were crammed with 2,500-tons of TNT and picric acid. The decks were crowded with barrels of high-octane benzole. The resulting blast was the biggest man-made explosion of the pre-atomic age. It devastated the busy port city, leveling more than a square mile of the waterfront, killing more than 2,000 people and injuring 5,000 more, almost 12 percent of Halifax’s population. The massive iron hull disappeared, blown into shrapnel that tore through neighborhoods miles from the harbor. A half-ton chunk of its anchor still lies where it landed 2.5 miles away. The blast was front-page news around the world. Massachusetts dispatched a trainload of doctors, nurses and medical supplies, and to this day the great Christmas tree in Boston Common is given by Nova Scotia as a thank you gesture.
Wow, very sobering!
Took a day to stay local. A sweet surprise to be serenaded right next to our site by a musician by the name of Kevin. Imagine Neal Diamond singing Pearl Jam and R.E.M. with a little Fleetwood Mac thrown in for fun. We enjoyed chatting with Kevin for a bit. He was taking a year off from “real life” to see if he could make a go of his music. We can relate to stopping the clock of life to pour in a life long dream. Go get em Kevin!
Citadel
Loved that we could get back to Halifax for a second day of exploring. We toured the Citadel, which was staffed by period piece dressed high school and university students, whose knowledge and fun facts was a treat. Every one of them placed strategically around the property would begin every interaction with either bonjour or hello to find out if the visitor spoke English or French. Dave being Dave, loves to use his foreign language skill set (not!) and began all exchanges with bonjour of course. Information then shared with us would start in French till I had to be the voice of hello! Always a laugh. He did get a few to say his bonjour was pretty good. He still makes me laugh after knowing him for over 37 years!
The day included lots of walking around the city, stopping in to a few breweries, and finished with an awesome dinner of fish and chips. Heading to bed exhausted because you have really soaked in new sites sounds and experienced the soul of new places is a great way to fall asleep. On that sleepy note, Bonne nuit!
For Us, It’s Not Abad Day 🙂