Day 11 - "On the Ocean Floor"

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It was time to say good bye to Bar Harbor, Maine and to our son Jonathan. His week was over and it was time for him to head on back home to Pennsylvania and off to work again on Monday morning. We were up at the crack of dawn today, somewhere around 6:00 am. We all managed to make our way to the bath house and get ready just in time to leave by 7:15 am. On the way to the airport in Bangor, Maine we came to the consensus that all of the girls were morning people but the boys were definitely NOT ! Heidi and Lynn thought that maybe a cup of hot coffee would cheer up the boys so they proceeded to get out the coffee pot and brew up some of that good ole Dunkin Donuts coffee. It’s the only kind Tim will drink ! Now keep in mind that Tim is driving down the road like a complete maniac because he thought the airport was only 30 minutes away but in reality it ended up being more like 50 minutes away so they were balancing the coffee maker on the table as he was weaving in and out of traffic. Tim didn’t realize how far away the airport was until we were already in route so now we were running about 20 - 25 minutes behind schedule and we were afraid Jon may miss his flight. Thankfully, the Bangor airport was really small and there were only a couple of people in line when we arrived. We pulled up to the US Airways terminal and said our goodbyes. Tim helped Jon with his luggage and then Jason walked him in to make sure everything was okay. As we anxiously awaited Jon’s call saying that he was in the air, we made our way less than a mile down the road to check out another one of Tim and Lynn’s “items on the list”. There’s this guy, you may have heard of him, his name is Stephen King, well, he has a home there in Bangor, Maine right near the airport and so we were off to check it out. Jason and his faithful Blackberry got us there in just a matter of minutes. It’s a really nice, but quaint home, settled on a beautiful street along side many other mini-mansions. There was a car parked in the turn-a-bout and a newspaper at the end of the driveway. We sat in the motor home watching, waiting and hoping that Stephen would come out for his morning paper and we could catch a glimpse of him and maybe even a friendly wave. Well, we were disappointed because that didn’t happen so we just took a few pictures, checked out the very original and ornate iron spider web gates and headed on down the road towards Lubec, Maine. While we were stalking Stephen King, Jonathan called and said he was on the plane and ready for take off. We were really sad to see him go but also very thankful for the time we had with him. Our next stop would be the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse in Lubec but first would have to make a pit stop for gas on the way. For those of you who know Tim very well, you know that he doesn’t really talk to strangers much and he very rarely breaks away from his little circle of friends so you will find it just as amazing as I do that so far on this trip he’s made quite a few new “friends” ! He’s really coming out of his shell and I’m so proud of him ! Every time we turn around he’s talking to someone new whether it’s at the gas station, in the campground or simply while we’re out sightseeing. He’s finally realizing that people aren’t that bad after all !! We’re all filled up now so we make our way on over to Lubec which, by the way, is the easternmost town in the United States. As we’re riding, I hear Lynn giggling up front so of course I have to go up and see what in the world is so funny. She was laughing because she saw a road sign that said “Turtle’s Crossing” and I guess it made her think about the turtle incident yesterday at Acadia between Jason, Jon and the killer turtle or it could have just been the fact that they actually have a sign that says “Turtle’s Crossing” ! As we were discussing the turtle sign, someone spotted an eagle’s nest perched on a post so Tim slammed on brakes so we could investigate. Lynn zoomed in with her fancy smancy zooming lens thingy and actually got so close that we could see a little baby eagle in the nest. It was so cute ! We all just love driving through the country side, in the motor home, looking for wildlife. We finally arrived at the West Quoddy Head Lighthouse which sits beside the easternmost point in the United States of America. Tim and Lynn were so excited because this was one of the many “quirky” things they had planned to see on this trip and they actually made it !! We walked through the information center, took a few pictures, Jason did a little morning yoga and then we were on our way to Canada, O’Canada ! Don’t worry, trust me, I am not going to sing ! As we got closer to the border, we thought we would stop for one last American meal so what else would be more fitting than some good ole home made pizza. We found a little whole in the wall pizza shop so Jason and Heidi went in to get us some fresh hot pies. About 20 minutes later, we were waiting in line to cross the border all the while we were devouring some pepperoni, cheese and supreme, with no mushrooms, no anchovies, no olives pizza ! It was delicious ! We finally made it over the border and into St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada and we were so excited. Lynn, Jason and Heidi were officially on a seven day mission to see everything possible and Tim and I were going to do our best to show it to them. We would be camping in St. Martin’s, New Brunswick tonight so we thought we would head over that way and check out the accommodations. St. Martins is considered to be in the heart of the Bay of Fundy so we were glad to be staying centrally located at the Century Farm Campgrounds there. After crossing through St. Andrews by the Sea we finally arrived at Century Farm and Tim got us all checked in. Don’t forget we had gotten up at 6 am this morning and it was now 7:30 pm so we were all getting a little tired but we were so excited that we decided to go on into to town and do a little exploring. We came upon the sea caves there in St. Martins and we just couldn’t resist, we didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to see them up close and personal so we parked and made our way down to the ocean floor. The tide was out and wasn’t due back in for a couple of hours so we “hit the floor running” ! I couldn’t believe it, we were actually standing on the ocean floor, in the Bay of Fundy, in New Brunswick, Canada and it was totally awesome !! The five of us crossed over the stream, to the other side, so we could get a closer look at the sea caves. All I can say is that they were really awesome too ! It’s hard to explain but just trust me, if you ever get the chance to go to the Grand Canyon, you need to do it and if you ever get the chance to play in the Bay of Fundy, you need to do it too !! We hung around there for quite a while, playing in the water, climbing the rocks, checking out the sea caves and searching for the perfect rock to take back home to Georgia with us. It was getting dark and it was time to go but you know with this crew there’s always going to be a little excitement going down. On the way back to the motor home, as we were crossing the water, Heidi lost one of her new L.L. Bean flip flops and it was doomed for the Bay of Fundy. Everyone was just kinda watching it flow down stream so me, in my infinite wisdom, decided to save it ! I mean, I was with her when she bought those green and white polka dotted shoes so I sorta had a connection with them you know. As I was running, like a crazy mad woman, over the rocks, through the mud and into the water, I tripped and fell and busted my batootie and my knee and I was officially down for the count. Well, Tim and Lynn were too busy taking pictures of my collision with the rocks (and I think they were laughing too) and Heidi was in shock so Jason took off after the stupid shoe ! Normally I wouldn’t call Heidi’s shoe stupid but since I was wounded trying to save it, I think I earned the right to call it whatever I want. As I’m watching the blood run down my leg, I hear Jason yelling something. He ran down stream, saved the shoe and injured his ankle in the process. It wasn’t until sometime later on in the evening did Heidi point out that her flip flop had taken down half the family ! Thankfully we all survived with just some minor cuts, scrapes and bruising and we all learned a valuable lesson, no more flip flops on this trip ! We collected a few rocks as souvenirs and then headed back to camp. Tim, Jason, Lynn and I had a Scrabble re-match where Lynn and Jason came to the conclusion that the Scrabble dictionary was insane and they were never playing Scrabble again. It looks like we’ll have to pull out the UNO and Phase 10 cards next time ! We are really looking forward to exploring the Fundy Trail Parkway tomorrow as well as walking on the ocean floor at Hopewell Rocks. Each new day is bringing us a new adventure and we are having the time of our lives ! Love to you all ! Night.

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