Day 83 Sprinter Alma, NB CND-Houlton, ME

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Day 83 Alma, NB CND-Houlton, ME 10.22.16

Woke up to heavy rains this morning. After taking long hot showers, we got back on the road again.  It was low tide on the Fundy coast and much of the tidal flats were exposed. It was cool seeing river beds where the tide has cut the banks deep and wide.   We stopped at Shipyard Park on the Shepody River. In the 19th century, shipbuilding was an important part of this community.  Gaius Turner owned the shipyard at this location. He built over 18 tall ships in his day.  We crossed the tidal dam and continued on our way.  Hopewell rocks was closed although everyone seem to just walk around the closed sign. Howell rocks are caused by tidal erosion. They stand 40-70 feet tall.  The town of Moncton was a big industrial like city.  We did not like it at all so we quickly moved on. Moncton is where we finally have turned WEST!  We headed down Hwy 2. It felt strange to be going down a road at 110 km or 70 mph. We have been on backcountry roads for so long.  Tonight's stop was just across the border into Maine at a rest stop near I-95.  The views don't compare to the last three nights' stops but there is free wifi that actually works!

Day 82 Dipper Harbour, NB-Alma,NB CND

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Day 82 Dipper Harbour, NB-Alma,NB 10.21.16

What a great pullout we found for the night on hwy 790 next to Fundy Bay. Love the Sprinter as it allows us to camp just about anywhere.  Forgot to mention that yesterday, we entered the Atlantic time zone so we are 4 hours ahead of you west coasters. Today, we checked out the reversing falls in Saint Johns.  The Tide was going out so we didn't see the falls in reverse but it did make the existing rapids in the river huge. The whirlpools would rival many on the Grand Canyon.  They are in the process of building a glass floor platform to view the whirlpools. May need to come back. We continued heading east on route 111 which took us to St. Martins, Gateway to the Fundy Trail.  St Martins and Alma claim to have the greatest vertical tidal range due the rock cliffs on the shoreline.  St Martins had some cool caves along the shoreline, covered bridges (enough clearance for the Sprinter) and a lighthouse.  There are no roads between St Martins and Alma so we headed back towards hwy 1 and then took route 114 to Alma and Fundy National Park.  The trees are nearing the end of the fall colors with more yellows and browns and specks of greens from the fir trees. One campground is still open in Fundy NP so we decided to stop here for the night.  Our campsite has a view of Fundy Bay, flush toilets and showers for $20.  What a deal!  FYI: Everyone in New Brunswick has been extremely friendly and helpful.  At camp, I decided to take Bob for a walk to the beach and town while Kevin and Jo kicked back in the van enjoying the view.  Bob and I descended the 119 steps to the beach which we had all to ourselves probably because it's off season and it's raining.  The weather has definitely took a turn so it looks like more rain to come from now on.

Day 81 Sprinter Pembroke, ME-Dipper Harbour Back Cove, NB Canada

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Day 81 Pembroke, ME-Dipper Harbour Back Cove, NB Canada 10.20.16

Woke to the sunrise over the Cobscook Reversing Falls. This place is in my top 5 camping spots on this trip.  Last nite, we could see white turmoil and hear the water rushing over the rocks as the tide rose.  It sounded like we were camped near a Grand Canyon rapid. This morning, low tide had exposed all of the rocks creating those rapids.  The views were awesome and we really didn't want to leave so we did some van cleaning and chatted with a guy that tent camped there with us last night.  Around 10am, we finally got back on the road heading up the coast of Maine to the border town of Calias, ME.  Before we crossed the border we filled up with fuel and surprise surprise there was a McDonalds next door.  So you know what happened next... With our bellies full, we drove to the border crossing. The town had three crossings. We ended up crossing at North Street which was a small quiet crossing into New Brunswick. We were the only ones in line. The Canadian border patrol questioned Kevin about all sorts of things; wanting to make sure we weren't bringing in any goods for sale in our van.  The Canadian border town St Stephen is known as Canada's Chocolate town.  The Ganong brothers have been making chocolates since 1873 and is Canada's oldest candy company.  The old Ganong factory has become the Chocolate Museum, where one can learn about the history of Ganong Brothers.  We opted to buy some chocolates rather than tour the museum for $10 per person.  We are now traveling next to the Bay of Fundy. The bay is known for the largest tidal variances up to 50 ft.  We won't see that kind of variance but it has been about half of that. The landscape changes a lot between high and low tide.  Along our route was a Tim Horton's.  Kevin has been crying about going to one but he wanted his first visit to be in Canada.  It's basically a donut shop. We were not impressed and don't understand what everyone was raving about.  We found a nice pullout along NB 790 near Dipper Harbour Back Cove to stop and watch the tide recede and spend the night.

Day 80 Sprinter Bangor, ME-Pembroke,ME

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Janet 10.19.16 Day 80 Bangor, ME-Pembroke, ME

Today is best described as Walmart to Waterfront. After getting our morning coffee from Dunkin Donuts located inside the Bangor Walmart, we headed east and back to the Maine coast. (Yes, we are still heading east because there are lots of things we want to see!)  We elected an alternate route which avoided Ellsworth (seen enough of that town) via ME 9 east and then dropping down to the coast on ME 193 towards Cherryfield.  On our way we saw fields of red blueberry plants.  It turns out that Cherryfield is the blueberry capital of the world.  Wonder why they named their town after cherries?  Back on US 1 rejoined us with the Maine coast which is quite spectacular.  In the town of Machias was a McDonalds Cafe.  It looked like all the same food as a regular McDonalds maybe it's a marketing ploy.  Believe it or not but this is the first time we have eaten at a McDonalds in the last 80 days.  Next stop, Eastport which is the most eastern city in the USA. Hey, I can see Canada from here. LOL!  Eastport became the sardine capital of the world and at one time had 18 sardine factories (1876-1983).  Fishing fleets in this area had to contend with "Old Sow" the largest whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere with a diameter of 250 feet.  We enjoyed the statues of Eastport as well - the giant fisherman holding a sardine, the free spirited mermaid and the sardine caught in a lobster claw.  Speaking of lobster, today is the first day Jo and I did not eat any lobster. We kinda of are lobstered out.  Anyway, back on the road to find our free campsite near Pembroke, home of the Reversing Falls.  Down a dirt road to what they said is a park maintained by the city with free dispersed camping.  What a jewel!  We are camped right next to the water and can watch the 24 ft tide difference from the comfort of our sprinter home.  And just around the corner and a short walk down a trail is the Reversing Falls which looks more like a raging river as the tide goes out tonight.  It is fun watching the shoreline change.  Low tide was around 8 pm so we didn't get to see it at its lowest before dark, but there is always tomorrow.

Day 79 Sprinter Bangor, ME-Bangor, ME

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Jo Oct 18 (Tuesday) - Update on Vince:  Vince made it to Bar Harbor, Maine on Sunday (Oct 16).  On Sunday night he joined us at our campsite at the Blackwoods campground (east side of Mount Desert Island) in the Acadia National Park. We were so happy to see Vince...more good times!  On Monday morning, after a long farewell and goodbye hugs, Vince took off on his bike for Bangor, Maine (he's renting a car to drive to Chicago).  Alan stayed in Bar Harbor and went on a cool nature cruise (Alan flies home on Wednesday out of Portland, Maine).  Kevin, Janut, John, Bob and I drove around Schoodic Point, the views of the rocks and ocean were spectacular!  On Monday night we ended up at the Super 8 motel in Bangor.  This morning when we were eating breakfast at the Super 8 we saw a crazed man outside the window...it was Vince...again...he just keeps coming back for more!  Last night Vince stayed at the Rodeway Inn...just a hop, skip and a jump away from us!  Small world!  We chatted some more and closed down the breakfast bar at the Super 8 (they lock the doors at 10am - so nice that they let us stay inside to visit).  Once again, after a long farewell and goodbye hugs, Vince took off on his bike and headed for the rental car place to begin his new journey...in a vehicle with four wheels, windshield wipers and a heater.  As we drove down the street to drop off John at the airport, guess whose bike we saw parked in front of Tim Horton's (it's like a Dunkin' Donuts)...Vince's, of course!  Oh, c'est la vie!   So long Vince "Boomerang", until we meet again!

Day 78 Sprinter Bar Harbor, ME-Bangor, ME

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Explored more of Acadia National Park.  Drove up to Cadillac Mountain for the great views. Enjoy breakfast with Alan before we headed off to Schoodic peninsula.  Then off to Bangor.

Day 77 Sprinter Trenton, ME-Bar Harbor, ME

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Today, we relaxed by taking a drive thru Acadia National Park around Schooner Head.  We explored the Thunder hole and the beautiful coast line.  Then drove to Southwest Harbor to Charlotte's Lobster pound to eat lobster, crab and clam rolls while Kevin had a grill cheese sandwich.  Tonight's camp is in the park at Blackwoods campground.  Vince and Alan showed up a little later to celebrate Vince's reaching Bar Harbor, ME.