Advancing from Acadia

We only hope that our National Park system continues to be supported. Acadia is one of its gems. Mt. Desert ( pronounced des-sert) island was colonized in the 18th century but the Hudson River School of landscape artists attracted visitors and the wealthy who built their summer homes. Some were attuned to the natural beauty and they helped develop and support its preservation and eventually it became the first national park east of the Mississippi.  We biked, hiked and canoed with our children here over 30 years ago and it was wonderful. The natural beauty has not changed. We had spectacular weather for two days with cool days and blue skies. The only difference now is that the park service runs shuttle buses from campgrounds and the village green in Bar Harbor to  the park visitor center where you can use another shuttle to access trails. There is one notable exception—they do not go to the top of Cadillac mountain. We found out the hard way out after hiking 3 miles up a boulder strewn, steep, ridge trail to the top of the Cadillac mountain. The hike offered spectacular views of Frenchman’s Bay and the surrounding islands  so we couldn’t complain; however, instead of going back down on the trail which would have been very dangerous and difficult for our aged and surgically repaired joints we took to the highway for four miles. We decided not to hitch-hike but rather enjoy the walk and view to the loop road. There we flagged down a bus and headed to Bar Harbor for a celebratory meal. Bar Harbor, 30 years ago, was a town that was a convenience for outdoor activities but now it is a tourist town with numerous restaurants, boutique shops, and galleries.

At our  campground, there were various activities but the one that caught our attention was a performance by an Elvis impersonator. After my role as the Pharaoh ( Elvis) on the Savage Solstice Stage at Dewees, we could not resist. The impersonator has been doing this for 10 years at the campground and believe it or not, he was pretty good—even had colored strobe lights and a miniature fog machine for some special moments. He succeeded because he involved the audience. You may want to catch Jan and Elvis dancing on a You Tube video that I posted to which I will provide a link, although you have to lie on your side to view it as I had the camera in a vertical position!

After Acadia, we traveled the coastal highway to the easternmost point in the US, Lubec Maine. We needed some propane for heat—yes, heat— as we head further north. The local garage topped off our propane tank and provided us a recommendation for lunch. It was Uncle Kippy’s and we squeezed the RV into the parking lot. There were only locals and us so the owner came over to talk to us. I thought he had a problem with the RV in his parking lot but no, no, he preferred talking about his road travels. He closes in December, which is late for the season up here, and travels to Florida until May. After lunch, we toured the waterfront and shops of charming little Lubec before crossing the Roosevelt bridge into Canada over to Campobello Island. Over on the island there is an international park—the only one in the world—maintained by the US and Canada that has preserved the “cottage” where FDR spent his youth with his parents in the early 1900s. The island became popular with wealthy north-easterners from NY and Philadelphia for their summer homes and Roosevelt’s father bought some property and built a summer home there. It was beautiful and gave one a look into the lifestyle of the upper crust at the beginning of the 20th century.   

We breezed through Canadian customs on the way over but were stopped on the way back at the US border for a special operation involving RV’s.  We had to go in for questioning and then a rathet thorough inspection of the RV —no finger prints or pat-downs, however. Despite the delay, we had time to view the West Quoddy Lighthouse at a state park. It is a picturesque red and white lighthouse with a small museum. The most interesting exhibit was the evolution over the years, not of lights, but of warning sounds from the lighthouses. Orignially, they fired cannons to warn ships, then steam powered horns, and eventually the electric powered foghorns of today. We could hear one from our campground that night at Sunset Point—Sunrise Point was just down the road?— if  you stepped outside.

The following morning we needed a foghorn as we awoke to a rainy, cold, foggy day. It was our day to drive to Calais, Maine and cross over again to Canada, not just to an island this time, but to the province New Brunswick. The custom agent never looked at our passports, she just wanted to know my license number and when we last visited Canada—which was the day before for a couple of hours.  We headed to Saint Andrews on the Bay of Fundy which is a resort community on the water with a nice waterfront street and provides an opportunity to whale watch from boats, schooners to catamarans. We desisted because of Jan’s potential for motion sickness  when boats are  not moving. The rain and fog lifted after a lunch on the waterfront—more lobster and shrimp, of course. Jan shopped to no benefit and then we toured the noted Kingsbrae Horticultural Gardens which even for me was a tranquil respite—anything but shopping. On our way to our campground, we saw a combination car and dog wash—I assume they strap the dog to the hood of the vehicle. We spared Colette the experience!

We left on Coastal Highway 1 but turned off on the designated Fundy Bay route designated by lighthouse symbols, of course. The road has frost heaves but on a less grander scale than Alaska and better “patched”  potholes. Most of the drive is through forest and coastal mountains but when it does open up, what a view; green meadows, violet lupine, blue sky and forested bluffs that drop to the blue-gray waters of the bay. We stopped in the village of St. Martins with its pebbled beach and covered bridges for a walk with Colette. The route led back to Sussex where we had Sunday lunch with the locals at local restaurant. The short afternoon drive took us into Fundy National Park along forest roads that dropped down around tortous curves to our campgound overlooking the bay and the small rustic village of Alma. We settled in for two nights of “primitive” camping—no electricty or water; however we are well prepared with on board water, water pump, propane heat and a generator for everything electric.

We  hiked with Colette up the Salmon river trail until we had to ford the river and Colette was as shy about that as we were. After a morning of hiking and biking, we had  our usual mid-day nice meal with a botle of wine in Alma and watched the awesome Fundy Bay tides. These tides change every 6 hours as ours do on Dewees but the high tides here are up to over 40 feet in 6 hours. We consider a high tide anything over 5 feet. Here you can hear the water rushing inland as there are no waves breaking. The tides are so unusal because the bay is narrow and shallow and the water has nowhere to go bu UP!  Mother Nature works her magic in many different ways.

We left Fundy NP and traveled around the bay to Moncton and then headed east to Nova Scotia. The terrain was mountainous, forested, and extremely windy on the way into Nova Scotia. After lunch in Sackville, we drove to the Halifax Citadel, a national historic site of Canada in downtown Halifax. It is the fort that the English used to defend this harbor and  they still honor its significance with armed sentries and a formal changing of the guards. Then we drove into the heart of Halifax’s waterfront—again, where most RV’s never wander—but our length continues to allow us to do this, thus far. Nothing spectacular as commercial waterfronts go, so we headed to our campground west of Halifax and will begin the tour of Nova Scotia in the morning.

                                            For Photos Click Here
                                            For Jan and Elvis Click Here