Newfoundland 2004

Well, here we are on the road again. After a wonderful pair of farewell dinners (Wednesday with Sharon & Jerry Spivak and Thursday with Jean & Geno Farnam and Don & Sandy Shapiro) we left Hooksett this morning headed northeast. The ride was nearly all highway driving with very light traffic. We stopped for lunch outside of Bangor, ME. When I checked the map and mileage to our destination, I said, gee, we’ll be there by 4:30 or so! I really should know better. The line at Canadian Customs stretched all the way through Calais Maine and it took us almost an hour and a half to work our way to the border so the lady could ask me if I had more than $10,000 in cash. We “lost” another hour when we crossed the border into New Brunswick, on Atlantic Daylight time. So, we pulled into the campground in St. Andrews at about 7 PM. Butter, our cat, made it all the way to Canada without throwing up, which she usually does a couple of times on our first travel day. We’ve learned to not feed her for the day. Then she’s very glad when we finally arrive so she can eat.

It’s a holiday weekend and the campground is nearly full but we have a site overlooking the ocean (I made the reservation last February!). At least we think it’s an ocean front site. It’s low tide in the Bay of Fundy so the water is pretty far away and the fog has settled in. If there’s no ocean in the morning I’m asking for a refund!

Our new satellite antenna is erecting so we should have wireless internet access. I think we’re the most “techie” RV on the road, certainly in this campground.

We got off to a slow start today; Sandy slept late and Carl went for a short run. It was still foggy and damp but there is indeed an ocean in front of our oceanfront site. After breakfast we drove into St Andrews and visited a few shops. We will get to spend two days here on the return trip.

Back to the campground to unhook and pack and we were on the road about 11:30 with only 260 miles to drive for the day. We stopped for lunch where we saw signs for an Information Center. We followed the signs off of the highway and they led directly into a McDonalds parking lot. Turns out the info booth is in the Golden Arches. The rest of the drive was uneventful and we pulled into Elm River Campground in Glenholme, NS before 5 PM.

It’s a very friendly campground. We were escorted to our camp site and given lots of information of what to see in the area. Our site is in an open grassy area, but we have full hookups and it’s roomy (can’t reach out and touch the camper next to us).

All the new techie toys in the motor home are working fine – wireless internet connection on 2 laptops, email at DolphinRiders@groundcontrol.us and DirectTV. You can see our location mapped online at www.datastormusers.com and click on the map. We’re #1322 on the map.

With all the new toys, hope we’ll still have time for hiking, birding and other outdoor fun. We’ll be doing lots of email. We have cell phone signal in most places, but international rates are 80 cents per minute. So, if we call you because we need to hear a voice from home, talk fast.

Today was the wonderful surprise sort of day that makes us want to keep traveling in the motorhome. The only reason we are staying in Glenholme, Nova Scotia, is that it is halfway between where we were and where we want to be. We are staying two nights simply because we like to drive no more than two long days in a row. We had no expectations of the Glenholme area, in fact we couldn’t even find the town in the indices of our tour books.

However, like most places in the world, if you talk to the local people and pick up a few locally produced brochures, you find a goldmine of interesting things to do. So it was with the Glenholme area. We headed east on Rt 2 to the town of Bass River where the residents have created a kiosk describing the origins and history of the town. Fascinating stuff including the Chair Factory. Built originally in 1891, the business thrived with a peak of 300 chairs per day production. However, the factory burned down and was rebuilt FOUR TIMES in 1901, 1927, 1941 ad 1948. The last factory lasted until 1989 when it burned down and was not rebuilt. Talk about perseverance!

We also stopped in their Country/Hardware store which sells everything from ceramic puffins to beautiful hardwood furniture. We bought Gorilla Glue and fresh picked strawberries.

Lupine was everywhere Yards and fields full of beautiful purple, and pink flowering plants. We were disappointed last month when we missed the Lupine Festival in the White Mountains, but this more than made up for it! These beautiful wildflowers were everywhere along the road sides in shades of pink, purple and blue, sometimes filling huge fields.

Next stop was Economy, NS. We drove to the Thomas Cove Ecological area and hiked along the sandstone cliffs on (or in) red sand that would be under water within two hours (this is the land of 50 foot tides!). Spent a while talking to a local fisherman about the bass he wasn’t catching, at least not ones big enough. Minimum size for keepers is 27”. I hope they have the same rule for lobsters! Following the ocean hike we stopped at Morrison’s Seafood for lunch. The Lobster Rolls were delicious and though not huge, they were ample and only cost $4 US with fries!

After lunch we headed to Economy Falls. The trailhead is reached by driving down 8 KM of increasingly bad dirt road. The half mile trail brought us to a bridge across the top of the falls. Interesting, but waterfalls are best viewed from the bottom. So, down we went on the steep trail that included 186 steps, to get to the bottom. Not only were the falls beautiful but while we were there a large raptor flew overhead. The light was poor (it was raining) but Sandy was pretty sure it was a Bald Eagle. Carl had only his camera with a 15mm lens so he was no help identifying the bird. The hike back up was not too bad. After all, 186 steps is like walking from our garage up to the sixth floor in our condo, something we do during the winter when it’s too icy to run outside.

Next stop was Five Islands Provincial Park, a lovely spot overlooking Minas Bay and the five islands for which the place is named. A short trail brought us to an overlook with jagged sea stacks below After that hike we stopped for fried clams then drove through the rest of Five Islands before returning to Glenholme. A remarkable, wonderful day which began with some free time and no expectations.