Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island lies off the northeastern cost of Nova Scotia. It’s separated from the mainland of Nova Scotia by the Straight of Canso. The causeway connecting the two was built in 1955. Prior to that a ferry was used. There are three distinct cultures on the Island. The Mikmaq “Indians” or First Nations as they are referred to in Canada, the Gaelic/Scottish and the Acadians/French. Music & dance are the mainstay entertainment on Cape Breton.
On Monday the 13th, we drove from Halifax and spent the night at the Whycocomagh Provincial Park near Baddeck. A nice, well kept park in the middle of a pine forest. It rained most of the day. The next morning we drove to Baddeck and parked by the fishing dock. Walked around town for a while treating ourselves to a wonderful flax & carrot muffin. We ran into some friends we had made at a campground earlier in this trip. They too were touring Cape Breton.
We continued on to Louisbourg staying at the Village owner campground right downtown. Lucked out by getting the last campsite available. Louisbourg is a beautiful little town. Reminds us of the small coastal towns in Maine.
In the evening we went to a performance at the Louisbourg Playhouse. We say Lyrics & Laughter 2007. “A spirited performance of Cape Breton music and comedy in the historic atmosphere of the Playhouse”. We don’t recall ever attending a more entertaining event. The cast was composed of six of the most talented young singers & dancers. They are all local college students home for the summer. There was this one young women who played five different instruments, the fiddle, piano, guitar, bodhran (a type of drum), djembe (another drum), had a wonderful singing voice plus was the lead step dancer. Amazing. The weather today wasn’t much. Cool & misty. Rained hard most of the night.
On Wednesday we went to the Fortress of Louisbourg. The fort was founded by the French in 1713, captured by the British in 1745, returned to the French in 1748 by a treaty, captured again by the British in 1758 then abandoned by the British in 1768. When the local coal mines began shutting down in the 1960’s, Canada helped offset the very high unemployment rate by rebuilding the Fortress to appear as it did in 1744. “Each summer the Fortress springs to life as dozens of costumed animators become the town’s residents of the summer of 1744. Period homes and exhibits line the central streets of Rue Toulouse and Rue Royale, as well as along the busy waterfront”. A very enjoyable day. Bright & sunny.

Today, Thursday, was a down day. Cleaned the camper, caught up on some maintenance items, took short walks & went to dinner.

Louisbourg was a very enjoyable place to visit.

We left Louisbourg about 10am heading for the St. Ann’s Bay Campground near St. Ann’s. Stopped in Sydney at an Atlantic Superstore and Wal-Mart to resupply for the next leg of our trip. The weather was dreary; cool with a misty rain all day long. Never did clear up. We got a nice spot at the campground. An unobstructed view of the bay. If it wasn’t for the fog, we would be able to see the islands across St. Ann’s Bay.
Saturday morning. Still a cool, misty rain. It rained on & off all day with a two hour break in the afternoon. Today was supposed to have been an active day. Blueberry Festival in the morning, Bluegrass singers in the afternoon and a dance in the evening. We passed on the Blueberry Festival because of the rain, only one musician showed for the Bluegrass singing and the dance got rained out by a major storm. Thunder & lightning, pouring rain, the whole thing. Oh well, we read books, cleaned up things, talked to our neighbors sitting under awnings. It was nice talking to the “locals”. Heard a lot of interesting stories.

On Sunday morning we awoke to another grey day. Had breakfast and set out for Prince Edward’s Island and in search of nicer weather. Arrived in PEI about 3pm. Stopped at the Visitors Center, bought a $4.50, single scoop ice cream cone at a Cows store next door. Don’t think I’ve ever eaten a $4.50 cone before. Another first for both of us. Headed on to the Southport Motel & Trailer Park in Stratford. It’s just across the harbor from Charlottetown; our destination for the day. The rain mostly followed us. Right now, 9:30pm, it’s 54* and drizzling. The weather forecast calls for clear skies by tomorrow afternoon.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

We arrived in Halifax on Thursday. Staying at the Woodhaven RV Park in Hammond Plains. We're located about 20 minutes from downtown Halifax. As commercial campgrounds go it's rather nice. Wooded sites with a degree of privacy between sites.

On Friday morning we drove to Peggy's Cove; a local fishing community where the residents have earned their living from the sea since 1811. At present there are about 50 descendants of the original settlers still living in Peggy's Cove. The lighthouse is thought to be among the most photographed objects in Canada. It houses a post office. We mailed post cards from the lighthouse.

In the afternoon we went to the Point Pleasant Park located south of Halifax. This area has been used for different defence installations since the mid 1700's. We all took a nice long walk. Along the way we toured the Prince of Wales Martello Tower National Historic Monument. The Martello Tower was built by the order of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, in 1796-97 to help protect British gun batteries in Halifax. We ate lunch in a parking area located next to Halifax Shipping Terminal. Watched as they loaded a huge container ship. Very interesting operation.

We headed back to the campground about 4pm in order to avoid the Halifax rush hour traffic.

We drove the camper into downtown Halifax on both Saturday & Sunday mornings. It was tight but we found a great parking place overlooking the harbor. On Saturday morning we went to the Farmers Market. Said to be the oldest such operation in North America. There were dozens of booths selling prepared food, veggies, cloths, jewelery, on & on. Bought a wonderful cinnamon bun & a croissant. After the market, we spent all of both days enjoying the 21st annual Halifax International Busker Festival, a Show without Walls. A busker is a street performer. They were from all over the world; Australia, Ecuador, Japan, The Netherlands, The US and, of course, Canada. There were six "stages" which were really just open areas along the Halifax boardwalk. All during the day there were different acts on each stage. Among the performers were jugglers, acrobats, mimes, magicians, etc. Two photos are included. The Halifax Waterfront is quite the place. Restaurants, shops, museums, historic displays, etc. On Sunday we had lunch at an Irish Pub downtown. I had liver & onions served with small purple potatoes. Per the menu, liver & onions is typical "Pub Grub". Carol had a pasta dish. Not very Irish but very tasty. We had two wonderful days in Halifax.

When I was in the Navy, I visited Halifax for a few days. Probably about 1970. At this point, I don't remember anything about the visit.

Pictou, Nova Scotia

Spent all day Tuesday enjoying the Hector Festival at Pictou, NS. The Hector was the name of the ship that brought the first Scottish people to NS. It took over five years to build the full scale replica of the ship.

Read the engraved stone, picture #2, for an interesting story about the Scots. The English Lords were really rough on the Scots. Wool was commanding very high prices so they wanted to raise more sheep. Lacking enough vacant land in England, they simply forced the Scots off their land in Scotland. As a result, thousands of Scots emigrated to Nova Scotia/New Scotland. Later on, in New Brunswick the English did a similar thing to the French settlers, forcing them off their land. Hence the Cajuns in Louisiana and other similar groups in parts on Maine & Canada.

The festival was help outdoors. We enjoyed the fiddlers, singers of folk songs & dancers. Had lunch then a wonderful ice cream cone. We think it was the best ice cream cone ever. Carol had a chocolate brownie cone and I had almond. We enjoyed the festival. Everyone we met were so friendly. Always smiling, saying hello, etc. So different from the Quebec Canadians we ran into at Burlington. I don't think we'll bother visiting Quebec but we would certainly come back to this part of Canada.

The weather started turning bad about 4:00 so we drove to our campground in Trenton. It was a City owner campground. Nice setting although we didn't see much; it was raining when we checked in and raining when we left.

In the morning we drove to Halifax. Took a rest break and ran across this mastodon exhibit in Stewiacke,NS.

New Brunswick, Canada

We entered into Canada at the Calais, ME & St. Stephen, NB crossing. Going into Canada only took perhaps 15 minutes. When our turn came we were only asked if we had any weapons, alcohol or tobacco. Having none of any, we were passed right through. Coming into the U.S. from Canada the line was very, very long. At least three of four city blocks. I imagine there was a two hour wait. I exchanged $300 US to Canadian money at the Royal Bank of Canada. After a $3 fee, I only received $305.41. (The teller was born in Vero Beach. Small world) The dollar is essentially at par. There was a time when Canada was a very good deal for Americans. No more. Food & gas are very expensive n New Brunswick. Gas runs about $4.50/gallon. A 2 liter container of milk, not quite a half gallon, was $3.46. Three peaches cost me $2.80.

We drove to Saint John and stayed in the City owned campground at Rockwood Park. Not a very attractive campground; basically a gravel parking lot with water & electric hookups. But, it's only five minutes from the historic downtown area of Saint John. Plus it has free Wi-Fi. That probably accounts for it being perhaps 2/3 full. On Saturday morning we drove downtown. There was large parking lot very close to the historic district so parking the camper wasn't a problem. Visited the City Market; a nice collection of vendors selling fruits & veggies, prepared food, tourist junk, etc. Then we had breakfast at Cora's. Wow! There must have been fifty wonderful breakfast choices. I has an omelet wrapped in a crepe them topped with hollandaise sauce. Carol was even more decadent. She had a cinnamon bun, sliced then made into french toast then covered with a cream cheese topping. Between us we ate a weeks calories in one sitting. I should have walked back to the campground. After that we drove to a City park on the bay. The plan was to take a nice walk on the paved path but the weather, which started out cool & overcast, continued to deteriorate into fog mixed with a light rain. Not much of a day for a walk. We did some grocery shopping then headed back. Spent the rest of the day reading, playing with the computer, etc. This is one of the very few poor weather day's we've had on this trip.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we're off to the Fundy National Park.

On the way to Fundy NP we drove by the neatest little village of St. Martins. See the photo of the lobster boats at low tide and the covered bridge.

On Sunday we camped at the Headquarters Campground at the Fundy National Park. The costs of everything in Canada continues to amaze me. On more illustration. The cost to get into the park for one day is $18.50. The cost of one nights camping with no hookups is $24.57. At $43.07/night that makes for the most expensive campground we recall staying in. On the other hand, Fundy NP is just beautiful. The 40' plus tides are remarkable to see. See the attached photo of the Hopewell Rocks taken at low tide. All but the top of the rocks is covered at high tide. We walked into the adjacent town of Alma. Bought some sticky buns & fresh baked bread.

On Monday we headed for Nova Scotia. Stopped by a roadside railroad exhibit for lunch then the welcome center then continued on to the Amherst Shores Provincial Park near Amherst, for the night. A basic campground, nothing special but a place to sleep on a driving day.

On Tuesday we went to Pictou, NS, did our grocery shopping at Soeby's then stayed at the Harbor Light RV Park. If I wasn't just tired of driving, needed to dump the tanks and wanted wi-fi, I would have left. What a dump. Basically a parking lot with about 75% seasonal tenants. If you're ever up this way, don't stop here unless you're desperate.

We enjoyed New Brunswick. Worth exploring some more in the future.

Maine

We left Peter & Pat's in the morning after saying goodby to them & Ann Marie. Drove to Boothbay, Maine. A long drive but we were anxious to get to Maine. Stayed at the Shore Hills Campground just outside of Boothbay Harbor. Boothbay Harbor is where Carol's parents used to stay in a B & B. We have a nice campsite with a view of the Cross River.

On Monday morning we drove to Boothbay Harbor and walked around. A very nice, very typical Maine tourist orientated town. Whale watching & fishing charters, lots of overpriced shops, restaurants, etc. We've been to similar towns before and, frankly, if you've seen one you've seen them all. While we enjoyed the morning, shopping isn't of much interest to us. Later in the day we drove to the Camden Hills State Park campground just north of Camden. We took a long walk along the cliff by the ocean, sat on a bench to enjoy the view and enjoyed a beautiful, cool & sunny afternoon. If we're ever around Camden again, we would stay here. Rained most of the night. Called Alex. Their flight from Hartford to DC was cancelled because of a storm in DC. They spent the night in Hartford then rented a van and drove home. Made for a very, very long day.

On Tuesday we drove to the Lamoine SP near Bar Harbor. Did some grocery shopping at Hannaford's. We have a campsite with a perfect, unobstructed view of East Bay, the body of water between Lamoine SP and the Acadia National Park. The tall mountain in the photo is Cadillac Mt. on Mount Desert Island. We visited Acadia NP four years ago. Stayed in Southwest Harbor. Carol was able to scooter fairly close to the water. At least close enough for a good view. Gopher & I walked along the shore for a while. The weather was perfect today. Clear & sunny with a nice cool breeze.

On Wednesday we drove to Lubec. Billed as the eastern most town in the U.S. Visited the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse located on the eastern most point of land in the U.S. We've been to the southern most in Key West several times. Next it's north & west. After that we drove to Eastport, ME which calls itself the eastern most *city* in the U.S. Whatever. We stayed at the Seaview Campground in what's probably the best campsite in the place. Carol thinks this is the best view we've ever had from our campsite. A direct view of the Passamaquoddy Bay, the fishing pier, beach and lobster boats. As we were sitting out enjoying the view, other campers were walking by commenting on our site. The people next to us are from Melbourne, FL and another couple are Gators living in North Carolina. Bought 2# of steamer clams today and had them as an appetizer with dinner; roasted corn , sweet potatoes and swordfish. We're staying here tomorrow night as well then heading into New Brunswick on Friday.

Enjoyed Maine.

Wagner Family Reunion

The Wagner Family Reunion, Mystic, CT, July 26-29,2007

We drove down from Burlington, VT on Thursday the 26th. Staying with Peter & Pat. Camping in their driveway. Jennifer & Karen & Alex, Finn & Teagan flew in from Virginia. They are staying in a house they rented in Mystic. Chris, Suzanne, Izzy & Oliver drove down from Cape Cod where they are visiting Chris' parents.

On Thursday Carol & I and about a dozen others, went to dinner at Fred's Shanty where Peter docks his boat. We visited Johnny & family at the house they were renting in New London.

Friday was the family picnic at Waterford Town Beach. All the families except for Michael were there. After the picnic we went back to Peter & Pat's. Ann Marie & Gilbert are staying there as well. This was the first time Jennifer, Suzanne & Alex had been together for some time.

Saturday was the big lobster party at Tommy & Mim's house in Waterford. There were about 46 adults plus 25 children in attendance. It was the first Wagner Reunion where all nine of the children were present. Tom bought 75 1 1/4# lobsters plus there were hot dogs, sausages, chicken and a wonderful selection of salads. The children spent most of the day in the pool. Finn, who until now, didn't like the pool very much, had a wonderful time jumping to Alex, swimming with Izzy, etc. Carol had a wonderful time visiting with her family. We hadn't seen Alice Ann, Allan, David & Sue Ann for years. It was fun catching up with them.

We both really enjoyed the reunion. Carol was able to catch up on the last few years of family news. We saw a number of the children for the first time. Peter & Pat were such wonderful hosts. Fresh coffee & a hot breakfast each morning. Wow.

We'll be back to the Mystic area soon. Perhaps next summer.

Burlington, VT

On Sunday we took the 9:15 am ferry from Port Kent, NY to Burlington, VT. A wonderful warm & sunny day for a ferry ride. We had left our campsite early to make the first ferry so we had breakfast on the ferry. Before going to the campground, we had some business to take care of. Found a shopping area not far from town and bought Carol a new pillow, went grocery shopping and bought a computer printer. We didn't bring the printer from home because on past trips we didn't use it. I needed to print out some Canada information for that leg of our trip. After checking out Staples & Circuit City, Carol saw a Best Buy. The had an HP combination printer/copier/fax machine on sale for $29.99!!!. Snagged the last one. For $30 if I get one or two years use from it I'll have gotten my monies worth.

Checked into the North Beach campground. Burlington, and this City owned campground, is probably our overall favorite place to visit. This is our 4th trip to Burlington; we'll keep coming back. After getting settled in, we walked to the dog park then to the area of the beach where dogs are allowed. There is a paved multi-use trail that runs for about 15 miles. On a previous trip we biked the entire trail way out an abandoned RR causeway into the lake. Have a perfect day.

On Monday & Tuesday , we walked downtown along the multi-use path. Carol's scooter mostly did just fine on the hills leading to the downtown area. I had to push her up the steepest hill. We bought a croissant from a street vendor, used the Borders gift card the girls had gotten us, went to the City Market and had lunch at our favorite place. Took an afternoon nap then went walking again. We don't seem to tire of the beautiful view of the lake from the trail.

Gopher's memory is amazing. It's been probably two years since we've been to this campground. As soon as we leave the campground on the bike trail, she pulls to the left which is the direction of the dog park. The park is about a mile walk but she tugged at her leash all the way. She clearly knew where she was going even though it had been a long time.

On Wednesday we went grocery shopping and both got a haircut so we would look decent for the family reunion. About 3 pm much to our surprise, our friends Bill & Dorothy Wockenfuss pulled into the campground. We had told them about this campground the last time we were together and they thought they would try it. Wish they were here a few days ago. After dinner we all walked downtown and did some window shopping. About 8:30 we bought a Ben & Jerry ice cream and walked back. What a wonderful surprise it was to have them show up. They are such nice people. Like me years ago, Bill was in the submarine service.

Tomorrow morning we head to Mystic for the Wagner Family Reunion. Staying with Peter & Pat.

Verona Beach and The Adirondack Mountains

On Monday we spent the day at the Verona Beach SP campground near Verona Beach, NY. Had a site with a limited view of the lake. There was a paved multi-use trail we enjoyed twice during the day. Took Gopher swimming. A very nice park.

On Tuesday we headed towards Rome, NY and the Adirondack Mountains working our way towards Lake Champlain and Burlington. Made a Wal-Mart run in Rome, NY

Camped at the Little Sand Point Public Campground administered by the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC). We got a site directly of Piseco Lake. What a wonderful view. Mostly Carol enjoyed the view & read her book. Gopher & I went walking and wading in the lake. The site is full of chipmunks. They know just how long the dogs tie out rope is and stay one foot away. Really aggravates Gopher.

It started to rain on Tuesday night late and continued through most of the day Wednesday. We stopped in Speculator, the closest thing to a town in these parts, and did a load of laundry. After that we went to the Lewey Lake DEC campground. Got the last waterfront site. What a view. Probably the best campsite to date. It even has a small sand beach. The rain finally stopped in the late afternoon & the sun came out. We enjoyed ourselves reading & watching the ducks, birds, squirrels & chipmunks. Gopher was sitting outside with Carol watching the squirrels & chipmunks. A squirrel made the mistake of coming too close. Regrettably Gopher got the squirrel. We'll be more vigilant in keeping her away from the wild critters.

We work up to a rainy day so decided to move on. We drove to the Village of Port Henry on the shores of Lake Champlain. Lots of history around here. The first blast furnace in America and the first commercial electrical generating station. The Village has a wonderful collection of homes from the mid-1800's. Stayed at the Village owned campground of Champ Beach and RV Park. Our campsite was just across from the Village beach affording us a nice view of the lake; at least between the rain showers. It was raining when we arrived and raining when we went to bed. The campground is interesting. We were the only transients; the rest of the RV's were seasonal. Mostly people who brought their boats for a summer of fishing. Had two unusual rules. First there was a $10 deposit required in case you left a mess at your site. We got out deposit back with no one checking our site. Why bother? The second was really annoying. If you wanted to dispose of your trash in the dumpster you had to get a key from the office and pay a fee of $2/bag of trash. Forget it. We took our trash with us and disposed of it at the rest area on the interstate. We won't go back there again.

On Friday morning we drove to the Ausable River Campsites campground near Keeseville,NY. The Ausable River runs right through the campground; our site has a perfect view of the river. Most of the campers are here to canoe or kayak the river. The sun's shining for about the first time in the last three days. Took Gopher for a swim. Sat in the sun & read our books. This is a nice campground. We would stop here again. We're staying here tonight & tomorrow. Today, Saturday, we went to a nearby farm market. The campground has a tractor that pulls a large, flat wagon used for hay rides for the kids. On Saturday it goes to the market. I was able to get Carol and her wheelchair on the hay wagon. We bought some local blueberries & tomatoes as well as some home made cookies.

We're very much enjoying our trip. Been gone for 26 days. Called Mom to say hello; she sounds just fine.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we take the Port Kent to Burlington ferry. Looking forward to Burlington. It's probably our overall favorite place to visit. We talked about ideas for next Spring/Summer. Maybe rent a house on the Shenandoah River for a few weeks then come to Burlington again. We'll see.

Saw a sign on the back of a camper today.

"Don't know just where we're going.

Not sure how to get there,

But we're on our way."

:-)