Home to Bay of Fundy NP, NB 7/26-7/30, 2022

---

THE BASICS



We left home in Durham on Tuesday, July 26, and drove as far as Calais, Maine. After a Walmart overnight, we crossed the border the next day and drove to St. John, New Brunswick, where we spent the next two nights. On Friday we traveled to Bay of Fundy National Park and then on Saturday to Moncton, NB, for another Walmart overnight. Next stop, a KOA near Charlottetown, PEI, for four nights.



I started this blog and couldn’t manage to get back to it until now. I am going to send what I wrote so far and then catch up later with more " fluff.” I tried to update the subscriber list, but if you do not want to be on it, please let me know.



THE FLUFF



We are on the road again!!! It feels like forever since we have embarked on a long road trip with our RV, what with Covid restrictions and a smashed hip. Covid did finally intrude on our lives not long ago, when Linda tested positive and was a bit droopy for a few days but blessedly not worse.



John had had plenty of time to dream of our next destination, and eastern Canada won his heart. Fond memories of Prince Edward Island and the Gaspe Peninsula, then the big cities, served to make him endure the unfamiliar and not fun experience of having to make reservations. (We previously were pretty casual about campground reservations, but the surge in RVing which Covid caused made it imperative.)



At last on Tuesday, July 26, we took off. We filled the RV gas tank in Portsmouth and $194 worth of gas later, we reached our first goal, the Walmart in Calais, Maine. En route, we made a few stops to try to fill the propane tank, finally succeeding at an Aubuchon in Waterville. The day was hot and long, but we endured, mostly silently, knowing that we would soon be back in our groove of fun traveling.



We drove around Calais more than we had planned, to locate the Walmart. And we drove down into a small parkside parking lot where we could not turn around. So John disconnected the car, and I drove it. Off he went in the RV, and I got stuck at a stop light for an unusually long time while John drove merrily on ahead. Finally I got through the light and looked for him to be pulled over waiting for me. Nope, he was nowhere in sight. Hmm, that was a problem - he had our one cell phone in the RV and I had no way to contact him. I drove and drove, out of the city, and finally turned around and drove back with that crazy feeling of what do I do now. At last, there he was, in a big parking lot. He led me on roads that seemed random to me, but at last we arrived at our good-enough overnight accommodations.



Tuesday night, we ate at the Nook and Cranny Restaurant, about which we had stupendous memories from years ago. One memory was that it was on a dirt country road in the middle of nowhere; whoops, it is on the main road to Calais. Our experience was again very nice. Linda’s Taste of Italy platter provided a hearty meal for both of us the next night! There was only one waitress and she did a remarkable job. We fell asleep as soon as we got back to the RV.



Wednesday morning our appointment for crossing the border was at 10:00. There was some notation on our papers that we should go through on the “third bridge.” We drove up the riverside road and saw a sign for a crossing for non-commercial vehicles to the right and commercial vehicles at the next right. Well, down we went to a small parking lot where turning around was not a happy possibility. No other vehicles there. And John spent several minutes scaring up any humans. Finally, he chatted with a fellow who said he would allow us to cross the bridge there, but he had no idea what was meant by “Bridge 3” on our printouts. The bridge was short and soon we arrived at Canada Customs. The attendant there must have been quite bored because he chatted with John for quite awhile about our previous trips to Canada. He also seemed surprised that we had no firearms, not even at home, and kept probing that response. Finally we were waved on into St. Stephen. We were in no hurry, so we parked and walked through the small downtown area. The flowers were astonishing. We were told that all the plantings are done by one woman. They were splendid, with huge flowering plants and interesting color combinations. And we saw more than one of the town’s flower brigades which water and weed throughout the day and the town.



We went into a coffee shop and John went into his chatty goofy mode with our server. He bemoaned that there were croissants, but not chocolate ones. So the server said she had some croissants in the oven and she would make them chocolate. Well, that she did, sort of, by placing chocolate chips all over the top. Hadn’t seen that before. We enjoyed our coffee break on a riverside patio.



It was another sunny, quite warm day, and the drive to St. John, New Brunswick was pleasant. But there was a very misleading sign for our exit to Rockwood Park, and we drove several miles farther east and then had to double back to get to our campground. With gas prices high, those extra miles were maddening. It was a relief to settle into our campsite.



We have stayed in Rockwood Park numerous times. Our favorite memories were of tenting near the edge of the hillside which is quite far above the town and has a wonderful view at night over the city and toward the Bay of Fundy. On our last trip through, we were here on John’s birthday. We parked the RV and set up the tent in our favorite spot. It rained, but it was a happy memory. I know John wanted to repeat the experience, but somehow it didn’t transpire.



We walked around downtown St. John. There was a cute little area where shipping containers had been converted to shops and snack joint. We parked near it, but when we tried to put a charge card in the meter to pay for parking, discovered that the meter was “cash only.” Well, we hadn’t gotten any Canadian cash yet. A very nice man who was parked in a bright red Mercedes convertible in front of us rescued us with his coin. We drove up the hill through Rockwood Park to a pleasant restaurant for lunch overlooking a golf course. The menu contained a cocktail called the Dave Matthews. I asked the waitress what the association was, and she said he and his band were just very popular up there and that drink is widespread in NB.



Our trip to the Bay of Fundy Park was so lovely. We drove much of the way on a ridge just south of and overlooking a wide pastoral valley, dotted with neat small farms and occasional hamlets. We wandered around the tiny town of Alma near the park. Next day, Saturday, dawned very foggy. We tried to take a short hike but were attacked by hordes of mosquitoes and abandoned the attempt.



We set out toward Moncton. John happened to mention that we didn’t have reservations there for the night. Knowing this day would be more uncertain than the few previous ones gave the day a sort of feeling of adventure. The spot where you can observe the highest change of tides in the world, in the Bay of Fundy, was on our route, but we chose to skip it because we had been there before.

---