Chuck and Naomi Adventures in RV Land

St. Louis (Oct. 24)

The route from Indianapolis was very flat and we thought that perhaps the Great Plains started east of the Mississippi. There were endless fields of corn and other crops, an very little livestock. The roadside is lined with trees, many of which were showing fall color.

We entered St. Louis from East St. Louis, which is the less interesting and more depressed side of town. As we approached the Mississippi, the huge Gateway Arch appeared. There is an excellent view of the Arch from both Highways 44 and 55 crossing the Mississippi.

Once over the river, we realized that we were once again in the mountains – the Ozarks.

Our campground was in Eureka, a few miles west of St. Louis and on Fox Creek. Eureka is a tourist destination primarily due to the Six Flags Amusement Park. Our KOA had a couple of unique features catering to families. For example, despite quite chilly weather, the outdoor pool was open. (Based on the steam rising from the water, I presume it is heated.) It also has a caboose fitted out as a camping cabin.

Another tourist attraction is the ribbon of highway that used to be Route 66 – the main road from Chicago to California, famous in part as the route taken by the family in Steinbeck’s Dust Bowl novel, The Grapes of Wrath. Route 66 was not built for today’s heavy trucking and high speeds. It has been replaced by Highway 44. However, in many places, including Eureka, Route 66 still runs parallel to the highway, and many restaurants and tourist attractions bill themselves as original Route 66 attractions. There is also a Route 66 museum, although we did not have time to visit.

On Wednesday we needed to work and Chuck needed to rest after our long drive. A chilly morning turned into a very nice day. We hung around at the campground. Another camper alerted me that one could hike along the Fox Creek riverbed, which was pretty dry, to a conservation area. Since I had seen lots of woodpeckers (4 varieties) in the area, I took Rumple for a 2 hour hike up the river bed. It was pretty, due to the limestone outcroppings, but tough walking, as the riverbed is composed of rather large loose stones.     The conservation area had some nice hiking trails, but Rumple had had enough, so we turned back.

In the evening, Jonathan invited us to play a multiplayer computer game that he and a friend had programmed up. I am always quite slow to understand the logic and strategy of these games. Chuck is a stronger player, but also took a while to understand it. So, we were soundly beaten. However, we will try again soon. I was impressed by several of the technical features of the game, such the ability to hover over the board or game pieces and have an explanation come up in a window.

On Thursday we planned to go into St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch, and then go to some museums. However, as I was finishing the morning dog walk, I was approached by our neighbor George, who is also a birder. George was a teamster, and had a lot to say about the current state of drivers. I noted that poor driving might be due to the pay, which is by the mile. He noted that when he started driving about 35 years ago, his pay was 38 cents per mile and he was able to make a good living. He said that the starting pay is now half that. Later we saw advertisements for drivers with a starting salary of 40 cents per mile – a lot better than 19 cents, but still abysmal when you consider the rate of inflation over the past 35 years.

George is also interested in environmental issues, and had a lot to say about which areas of the country of more or less polluted. He is a big fan of Maine as a place that is still relatively pristine, and is very unhappy about how fracking is affecting the farmlands and wilderness.

George’s wife shows Rhodesian ridgebacks (a rather large dog) and among their activities is traveling to dog shows. They travel with 3 ridgebacks in an RV the same size as ours. Presumably they have a better procedure than we do for keeping the dogs out from underfoot.

The conversation delayed us a bit, so when we got to St. Louis it was time for lunch. We parked near the arch, and spent some time walking around its base as well as looking at the Mississippi. Several large barges were pushed by.  We walked around the historic district for a while, and also found a post office where I could send off some rather overdue items. Then it was time for our tram trip to the top of the arch.

The Gateway Arch is a catenary curve. This is the shape a chain assumes when supported at the same height above the earth at both ends. The arch is 630 feet high. It is enormously impressive, whether viewed from a bridge, from the park at its base or from downtown.  Because of its immense size and reflective surface, it looks different from every angle.   From the side, it looks like one enormous pillar.    From the base, it has a rather weird perspective.  From directly below, all that can be seen is the thinnest part at the top and the viewing ports.  And from the historic district, you can see the entire arch (although not as well as from the bridge over the Mississippi.

It was built in 1965, and I would sure like to see how it was done. Apparently, putting in a system for getting people to the top was also not easy due to the curvature.

We rode to the top of the arch on the solution to the transit problem. It is a tram with suspended cars, sort of like an enclosed Ferris wheel car.     These little bubbles are really claustrophobic. They seat 5 – if at least 2 are really small – and they are only about 4 feet high. We rode up with 3 lovely but chubby women – one of whom had a very uncomfortable ride. The bubbles have a window into the interior of the arch, so we could see the emergency stairs all the way up. It is a rather bouncy ride, and I confess that I found it comforting to know that the stairs are available.  Unfortunately, there was not enough time during loading and unloading to get a photo of the bubble.

At the top there are viewing port on both sides, and you get a great view of the city and the Mississippi.

 

Due to our late start, we did not have time for any museums. After a brief stop in pursuit of supplies for my latest knitting project, we returned to the RV.

 

 

Indianapolis (Oct 21)

Our RV park hostess is the very bubbly daughter of the owners.  She was a hairdresser, and had decided to move to NYC when her parents requested help running the campground.  She says she loves it and is glad that she stayed home.  She certainly seems happy, despite long working days.

After the long drive, Chuck needed a rest day.  There were 3 craft stores near the RV park and I visited all of them over a 2 day period trying to find yarn for Elisabeth’s poncho. The criterion for yarn are that I do not want it to be entirely synthetic but it has to be soft and not scratchy. As well, the thickness has to be appropriate for the pattern that Elisabeth picked out. Finally, there is color. Of these, yarn thickness proved to be the most difficult – the type of yarn required is not that popular in craft stores. I finally found some 100% wool which is soft and a great color, although it might require some minor pattern adjustments. But the store did not have enough for the entire sweater.

Yarn comes in “dye lots”. Even with modern dyes, using 2 different dye lots for the same item risks having 2 colors in the finished garment – which may not be apparent until the first washing. (This is less problematic for some synthetic yarns, but for wool it remains a problem.)  So, I now have to find a store that has enough of this color yarn to make the entire sweater.  As I have learned since, craft stores do not carry yarn in quantities large enough to make a sweater.  Alternatively, I can order on the internet, but it is not so clear where to make the delivery.

We planned to do a Segway tour of Indianapolis, but the rainy weather on Monday nipped that plan in the bud. Instead, we drove to downtown Indianapolis and walked around.

The internet does not have a lot of suggestions of what to do in Indianapolis, but we found downtown very nice. It has 2 main shopping and dining streets and plenty of interesting architecture including the older theater above, and, on the same street, this bridge over the intersection which leads to office buildings and a large indoor shopping mall.

We decided to have lunch at the Weber Grill, where the food is prepared on – yup – Weber grills like the one over Chuck’s head.  This is part of a small upscale chain that was started by the Weber-Stevens company that makes the grills. At some point, the family sold the grill manufacturing part, but kept the restaurant chain. (Isn’t it great what you can learn from Wikipedia!). Tempted as I was to try their “beer can chicken” (my favorite thing to make on my Weber) we settled for meatloaf (Chuck), chili and an appetizer sampler (me). The food was very good.

We were also impressed by the fleet of electric cars which are available like Zip cars at several locations.

After walking around downtown for a bit, we walked to the White River, which is a tributary of the Wabash that runs through town.There is a very nice park and a sculpture walk. As well, parts of the U. Indiana and Purdue shared campus facilities border the park, along with the NCAA headquarters. Despite the rain, this was a pleasant walk.

The walk took us past the Indiana History Museum and the Eiteljorn Native American and Western Art Museum. Chuck decided to visit the former while I went to the latter. Both museums had the sad history of the eviction of the native peoples through population pressure, broken treaties and disease. The Miami Indians had generously resettled the tribes who had been displaced from further east, but this did not save them from being forced out of their lands later.

One ironic incident occurred when a wily chief convinced his village to adopt European agriculture and Catholicisim. They were the only group not forcibly removed. However, in the early 1900’s they lost their status as “Native people” and with it the benefits that this now gives in terms of laws and taxes. It took decades to re-establish their status.

The Eiteljorn Museum has 3 sections, of which I saw two. The ground floor is devoted to western American art, which is primarily paintings and bronzes by people of European original about western landscapes and life among the native Americans and cowboys. (A lot of the latter were based on brief visits, Wild Bill Cody shows or romanticized accounts.) There is a particularly impressive triptych of the Grand Canyon by Hurley which is on a suitable grand scale and definitely captures the feel of the place.  It can be viewed here: https://westernartandarchitecture.com/Features/Story/the-eitejorg-museum.

The ground floor also has a fine collection of Remington paintings and bronzes, included an “unauthorized” casting of his first bronze which is available for touching. I was amazed to find that the stirrups actually swing free. As well, there were a number of similar paintings and bronzes by others, less well-known artists, which show that Remington did not work in a vacuum. I really liked many of the paintings.

Upstairs there is a gallery of modern work by native American artists, which I did not have time to see, and a gallery of historic and “traditional style” work also by native American artists. Actually, it is hard to determine where the line should be drawn, as much of the fine sculpting beadwork, basketry, weaving and masks and other “tradtional” crafts were made for the tourist market and are pretty recent.

The exhibit was done, as is common, by geographic region, and included some art types I had not seen before. It deliberately blurred the lines of what is “traditional” by mixing historic pieces with modern works in traditional style.

The Arctic exhibit included many very interesting works made from whale vertebrae. The material is quite interesting, being very porous. But besides that , several of the artists had used the shape of the vertebrae to shape their work, which was a very interesting use of the material.

I was quite interested also in the description of why native communities have been allowed to continue hunting endangered whales in the interests of preserving traditional customs. When I worked with the whale acoustics research group at Cornell, their viewpoint was less sanguine. In 1999 the Makah tribe killed a gray whale as part of a restoration of aboriginal rights.   However,  traditional skills in butchering the kills had been lost, so that the carcass of the whale, instead of yielding meat, oil and useful materials was literally putrefying on the beach. Aboriginal whaling remains controversial.

Besides the whale bone objects, there were the more usual objects from stone and walrus ivory and stone prints. These “traditional” items really started to be produced for the tourist trade and became popular in the 1940s, with the development of the Canadian art scene spurred by the Group of Seven. I was amazed to learn that up to 22% of the Cape Dorset community is engaged in art. This must be a considerable percentage of the working age population.

The mix of older and very modern craftsmanship was particularly notable in the southwest pottery section. There are some beautiful modern pieces using traditional shapes and colors.

Another section that was very good was the basketry. This was pretty similar to other collections I have seen. Nevertheless, the craftsmanship on the miniature baskets was superb.  It is hard to see how adult hands could make such tiny coils and stitchery.

After the museums closed, we returned to the RV for dinner.

 

 

 

Erie (Oct 20)

Our visit to the dealership went surprisingly well. We had our weather sealant touched up, and we passed state vehicle inspection. The slideout problem proved to be a loose electrical connection so no parts were needed. We had a nice lunch in the town of Northeast, and were back on the road around 3 p.m.

In the interest of reducing our total RV driving time, we decided against returning to our familiar campground in Barcelona, and headed west to Painesville where we camped at the Walmart. This was a good deal both for us (because it is free) and for Walmart, as we had emptied most of our perishables

and needed to restock. As well, I took advantage of the cheap Walmart hair dressing salon to get a really short haircut which should last me until we get home.  (This photo was taken in St. Louis several days later.)

On the road again the next day, we made a long haul to Indianapolis. It was a warm, but very windy day. The fall color is good, but not as vibrant as it was in Nova Scotia.

One thng that surprised me was that it has quickly gotten very flat very quickly. It looks like we are pretty much in the plains already, although there are more trees than I would expect in the prairies. A lot of the farms are threshing, although from the car it is difficult to determine the crop. There is some corn, a lot of non-corn, and no livestock to be seen.

We pulled into the Indianapolis KOA in the evening. It is right on the highway and it is huge. Among its amenities are a small waterpark (closed for the season) and 2 horses (available for petting).

The first order of the day was laundry. We had quite a bit because Rumple threw up in the morning on one of rugs. As well, with the slideout in, it was hard to get to the bedding, so we needed to do the sheets, etc. Luckily, this place had machines that worked well. We did 5 loads – not a record, but still pretty substantial, requiring me to make several trips to the laundromat.  (Most KOAs have only 4 washing machines, and I don’t like to use them all, even if they are all available.)

We are luxuriating in the extra space available now that the slideout is working again.

 

In preparation for our visit to our RV dealership for a tune-up, state inspection and repairs, we once again headed to Barcelona.

This was just a quick stop-over, so we did not unhook the car.  However, with the slideout needing repairs, we needed to be prepared to leave the RV.  So we used up as much as possible of the refrigerator goods, and also did a laundry so I would have underwear and socks.  (Did I mention that when the slide is in I cannot get to my clothing drawers, and I forgot to put clothes aside? Fortunately, there was several days worth of laundry in the basket which, once washed, has been providing me with clothes.)

When we visited our house in July, I picked up a few bags of wool scraps to knit into hat and scarf sets for the needy.  While Chuck drives, I knit.  Since these are mostly small batches of yarn, I have had to be innovative about how to mix up the colors.  Here are the results.  I now seriously need to started on the poncho I promised Elisabeth.

Rochester/Canandaigua (Oct. 16)

Leaving Pulaski, we headed around the south shore of Lake Ontario.  We stopped at a KOA half way between Rochester and Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes region. This is pretty far to the north and east of Ithaca. We had visited Rochester a couple of times when the kids were small to visit the science center. But we had never been to Canandaigua or downtown Rochester.

On Tuesday we visited Canadaigua. It is a cute tourist town at the north end of Lake Canandaigua.  After lunch in town, we went to the lake front and walked along the town pier and the lake front park.

 

The most unique feature is this colony of historic boat houses.  Although they look like cottages, the information plaque states that no-one is allowed to live in them. However, several of them do look like they have kitchens and sleeping rooms, so perhaps this means that they can be used for vacations, but not full-time.They are pretty small, as the lower level is the boat garage.  Lake cruises (and of course dinner cruises) are available aboard the Canandaigua Lady paddlewheeler.

On Wednesday we were invited to dinner at the house of our friends Sally and George, whom we first met when she was a graduate student at Cornell. We decided to go into downtown Rochester for the day first.

Rochester has an interesting history as a center for abolitionist and suffragette activity. However, despite the Genesee River running through it, the downtown appears grimy and uninviting.  (It looks better in the photos than it does in person.) It may be thriving – there are not any derelict buildings or empty storefronts – but there is little street-level commercial activity or restaurants, and there are few people on the street. Chuck has a “red zone” app that delineates the dangerous parts of cities, and much of the downtown was flagged as bad. We decided not to explore too much.  We had a quick lunch at a picturesque little Greek place, and headed for the Susan B. Anthony Museum.

Susan B. Anthony was a leading figure in the suffragette movement and was friends with Frederick Douglass, a leading abolitionist.   This sculpture of the two of them enjoying a cup of tea is in a park across from her house. She shared a house near downtown with her mother and a sister, while another sister lived next door. The two houses are now a museum.They are furnished with some of her possession, and photos taken while she lived in the house were used to reconstruct its look. A knowledgeable docent took us through the house and gave us the details of her family and political life.

Anthony had a paying job with the Abolitionist Society and often hosted Douglass. She delivered the eulogy at his funeral. However, they had a falling out over the 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to men of all races. She did not want to pass a voting rights bill that excluded women, but later conceded that it was important to pass it, since women’s suffrage still seemed to be far away.

Anthony was also friends with leading suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Cady, who had seven children, was not in a position to travel. She wrote most of the speeches and Anothony delivered them. Neither lived to see women get the vote.  (Anthony did vote in a federal election – for which she was arrested. She did what she could to make a hugely public scene but although she never paid her fine she also did not go to jail.  The law was not clear on whether her vote was actually illegal at the time.)  She died in 1906 – several years before US women finally got the vote.

We then went to Sally and George’s house for dinner.  George made an outstanding vegetarian meal – particularly impressive on a week night.  His research is working on the proteins whose degradation with age cause cataracts.  It all sounded fascinating, but unfortunately it is unlikely to yield a cure soon enough to save me from surgery.  Sally and I had caught up on her biostatistical work when we met in Baltimore.  We also caught up on their kids, who are doing well.  As per our usual habit – we forgot to take any pictures.

 

 

Pulaski (Oct. 14)

Pulaski, NY is between Watertown and Syracuse, and is a comfortable 5 hours drive from Montreal.  We drove through Canada back to Gananoque, and again crossed the Thousand Islands Bridge.  However, we then headed south on Highway 81 past Watertown.  As we headed south, fall receded slightly.

Our campground near Pulaski features a golf course and restaurant.  When we arrived it was almost dinnertime, and it was clear that a number of golfing parties had convened on the restaurant to continue their good times. We decided to have dinner in the restaurant as well, and enjoyed the ambience.

The golf, the camping and the food were all quite reasonably priced, and as I often do I wondered about the economics of running such a place. The campground was placed more or less in the center of the golf course, which meant there was some good hiking as long as the golfers were not out in force.

 We picked Pulaski for a 2 night stay because it is close to several state parks.However, in the end we just hung around the campground. Rumple and I took a couple of hikes.  As a result we saw a beautiful sunset  (top) and an equally beautiful sunrise.

We were intrigued to learn that several of our fellow campers were not there for the golfing, but for the salmon fishing. Apparntly the steelheads grow quite large in the local streams. However, the weather was weird this summer, and the run was early, so the fishers were not having much success. There was some question about whether the run was small due to the weather, or whether, given the warm fall, the main run was still to come.

Since we did not unhook the car, it should have been a simple thing to pull out for Rochester the next day. However, our slideout refused to slide in. It has a motor on both ends, and we could hear that only one of the motors was actually running, which meant that it was likely to go in skewed and possibly jammed. It is too high up to get much leverage from outside. And the RV cannot be driven when the slideout is slid out.

We finally were able to get it in and get on our way. However, we decided to live without the slideout until we could get it serviced.  This means a very cramped space, with Rumple underfoot no matter where he lay down.

Longueuil (Oct. 10)

Our campground in Longueuil was very basic. It appears to be part of the marina with which it shares an entrance.  (Note the sculpture on the roof of the marina restaurant.)  There was no staff except the gatekeeper, who collected our fee and monitored vehicles in an out of the park. Most campsites had electricity. None had water or sewers, but there was a communal hose for potable water and a dump station.

What the campground has is location, location, location. Firstly, we had the million dollar view. We parked backwards in the site so that our windshield faced the St. Lawrence with its view of the seaway shipping lane, the old port of Montreal and the Jacques Cartier Bridge (which was magnificently lit up as part of the Canada 150, Montreal 375 celebration). We could also see the Olympic Stadium and the distinctive leaning towner which supports its roof.

The campground is at the junction of several bicycle paths, including the TransCanada trail, and routes into Montreal. It is less than an hour ride into Old Montreal (the tourist district) by bicycle and only about 20 minutes by car. A walk through the marina along the bicycle path takes you to Marie-Victorin Park. A pedestrian overpass takes you into the town of Longueuil (which we did not visit).

  For our first day in Montreal, we took the bicycle path over the Victoria Bridge into Old Montreal. This took us along the St. Lawrence, and then to Isle St. Helene, which was the site of the 1967 World Fair, and is now the Montreal Biosphere. The scene is dominated by the geodesic dome (behind me) which was so unique and innovative for its time. From there you cross to the main island and the buildings of Habitat 67, which are still in use as apartments, and then into the old port, with its many storage silos. The trail then takes you over one of the locks of the Lachine Canal, which bypass the Lachine Rapids, and on into the Old City and Old Port. We parked our bikes by the Canada 150 sign, and walked around the Old City, stopping for a snack at a cute coffee shop/candy store.

In 1967 I was 15 years old. My family took a trip in the early spring to see the World’s Fair, tent camping near the city. (We froze!) I remember lots of innovative architecture and exhibits. I had friends from summer camp in Montreal, so I got a reprieve from the cold by being a house guest. However, I paid for it by revisiting the most lauded exhibits (which I had already visited with my family) with my friends, and thus missed some of the less popular buildings which my family visited without me. In any case, seeing the dome and Habitat 67 brought back memories, and I shall have to look at some of my photos of the trip when I get home.

Chuck and I also walked around the old City Market, now converted to indoor boutiques and restaurants. Some places were already working on Hallowe’en decorations including these rather macabre cages of skeletons.

I thought it would be a simple matter to retrace our path on the way home, but a multiplicity of bicycle trails meet in the Old City. It took a few tries and Google maps to find our way back to the Lachine lock and our path home.

On Friday we planned to meet my friend and colleague Christian and his companion Claudine for dinner. We decided to drive back to the Old City for the afternoon so that we could take Rumple with us.

  We retraced some of our walk through the Old City as well as viewing the remainder of the Old Port tourist district for several hours. With about an hour left before dinner, we decided to visit our sabbatical home and see what we could remember.

In 1991, when I was pregnant with Jonathan, we took a one semester study leave in Montreal, arranged by Christian and two other friends.  We lived in an apartment overlooking Parc Lafontaine, with its ponds that are used for ice skating in the winter.  We have fond memories of watching the pond as well as the city snow removal operations from a turret at the corner of our living room.

The area has changed a bit since we lived there and we did not recognize our apartment at a glance.  We decided that a walk around the pond would be more fun than looking for our old home.

The first problem was to get from our car to the pond.  The park is very popular with bikers and joggers, and there were 2 parallel paths around the perimeter where we had to dodge the constant stream of bicycle and pedestrian traffic to get to the pond walkway.

We were almost immediately confronted by what appeared to be an outsize white squirrel.  We saw several more of these along with more typical American grey and Canadian black squirrels.  We certainly had not seen any of white squirrels during our previous visit, although with snow on the ground they might have been well-camouflaged.

According to the internet, the white squirrels are a coat-color mutation of the American grey squirrels.  Apparently in the wild, there is a survival disadvantage to the white coat.  However, in a city park, with more limited predators (and perhaps a higher rate of being fed by humans) the white squirrels have been able to thrive.  I am not sure if the white squirrels really are bigger than the grey squirrels, or whether this was an illusion.  However, they do seem to be confined to this one city park and its environs.

After walking around the park pond (a walk we had done at least twice daily with our dog Lady during our Montreal sojourn) it was time to meet up with our friends.  We had a very nice dinner, catching up with Christian and getting to know Claudine a bit.  As usual, we forgot to take pictures.

Then it was time to head back to the RV, for our final night in the Montreal area.

 

Riviere du Loup (Oct. 9)

Our trip from Fundy to Montreal involved a lot of driving through incredible scenery.

The trans-Canada highway goes almost to the Maine border and then swings north. Much of the route is through forested hills or skirting lakes. This autumn saw a spectacular display of color – it was like driving through a Group of Seven painting, or maybe a kaleidoscope of a painting. Splotches of every imaginable shade of yellow, orange red and burgundy covered the hills, with some dark green from the spruces and a bit of bright green from the trees that had not yet turned color. It was the most striking display of fall colors I have seen in years and it went on for miles and miles.

We decided that we would try to get to Montreal in 2 days – a lot of driving given our usual habits. We were not able to find an open campground in our window for stopping, from the Quebec border to Riviere du Loup (Wolf River) on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River.   However, the Walmart in Riviere du Loup allows RV parking, so we joined a number of other campers there.  This was our first time for that classic RV experience: camping in a Walmart parking lot .

We did not really see much of Riviere du Loup,  beyond a spectacular sunset, but I can say that it has a very good restaurant, Restaurant le St. Patrice, where we had the best meal of the trip (and we have had some very good meals). The town appeared to be quite large compared to cities we have visited in the Maritimes..

Among our fellow campers at the Walmart was a man who had shipped his RV (and his dog) from France for a trip around the US and Canada. He had planned to stay for a year, but unfortunately an extension to his US visa (which is usually issued for only 6 months) was not forth-coming. He had looked into renting an RV here or purchasing and then selling one, and concluded that shipping from France to Halifax was his cheapest option. It seems to have worked well for him, despite his frustration over the visa situation.

In the morning, we had breakfast at the McDonald’s in the Walmart, and then headed out on the highway on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. The leaves were not quite so flashy along the route as we were heading southwest, but we had lovely vistas over the river to the mountains on the far shore for most of the drive. As the skies had returned to blue, the river was a brilliant aqua, while the distant mountains looked pink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived in our campsite in Longueuil, across the river from Montreal, around sunset. We parked the camper backwards in our site, so that we overlooked the river. This is the sunset that we could see from our front window. And this is the scene that greeted us in the morning.

Fundy (Oct. 3)

Kathy and Salomon (the parents of the groom in the recent wedding) are joining us for a few days to explore the Bay of Fundy. They are flying into Saint John (note that although it is the “St.” John River, for the city “Saint” is always spelled out) but we decided to camp in Fundy National Park to be close to the scenery, rather than the airport.

It was a long drive from the highway to the park. The first part goes along a relatively narrow and poorly maintained road. As you enter the park, the road has been resurfaced and is windy but very smooth.

To celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation, all national parks have free admission. So far, we had not been asked to show a park pass. However, at the gate we were asked to stop and some basic demographics were collected. We now have our free pass.

The “Headquarters” campground is relatively near the Fundy shore, but up on a bluff. There is a lookout over the small fishing and tourist town of Alma, which gives a good chance to understand just how high the tides are here. During low tide, the boats sit at least 20 feet below the dock, and a huge sand and mud flat extends perhaps a half mile into the bay. At high tide, the boats are level with the dock, and the sea comes up to the road.

On Wednesday we headed out to Saint John airport to pick up our guests, stopping in Sussex for lunch. We never really explored Sussex, but the main street does have some wonderful murals. It was also our primary shopping center for this part of the trip.

Saint John airport is tiny – a bit smaller than State College airport. The important thing, however, was that Kathy and Salomon arrived safely and on time.

Since the airport is on a scenic route marked by “lighthouse” markers, we decided to follow the route back to Sussex. The road does not exactly follow the coast, but it touches the bay at several places, making it a nice introduction to the Bay of Fundy.  We were also able to pick up a snack from a snack bar with freshly painted tables. Luckily, I noticed that the red paint was tacky before I sat down.

 

 

 

From Sussex there is a short stretch on the highway before turning off onto the 42 km side road. Without the RV, we could better appreciate the scenery – particularly the last part as the road ascends to the bay. The leaves are near their peak, adding a lot of color which stands out against the dark green spruce trees.  (I am afraid that my phone camera does not do a great job of capturing the fall colors.

Since it was relatively late when we got to the RV, we decided to go into Alma for dinner. In all, we ended up eating in Alma for 3 of the 4 nights we were together – twice at the Octopus Garden Cafe (which deserved its high rating on TripAdvisor) and once at the Alma Boathouse.

We spent the next two days hiking. First we went on the Matthew’s Head trail, which goes along a bluff overlooking the Bay. We got some beautiful views, saw ruffed grouse on the trail, and watched a porpoise fishing in a cove. (I learned that a porpoise is not the same as a dolphin. This is what happens when there is good cell signal and people can fact-check.) Rumple kept up well on the 4 hour walk, although he continually challenged my sanity by going to the edge of the cliff while off-leash. (Remember, this is the dog that fell into a tidal pond at Peggy’s Cove because he thought that the seaweed was solid. But it is very difficult to walk with him on-leash these days, as he literally sits down in protest.)

 

 

 

On Friday we went to the Moosehorn and Laverty trails which together form a loop, which is away from the coast. The trail is quite quite challenging due to several rock scrambles. The most scenic parts of the trail were in the scramble section, with a rushing creek and many waterfalls. Rumple was not happy about the scrambles (where he mostly had to be lifted) and tried to return to the car without us.  However, once we were back on walkable trails, he did well for another 4 hour hike.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The park has installed these red chairs at scenic spots.

 

 

 

 

 On Saturday we decided on a change of pace and went to Bennett Lake for some kayaking and hiking. Chuck was eager to sail and just sit for a while with a book, while Kathy, Salomon, Rumple and I wanted to try another hike. The lake is very scenic, with lots of small islands. The trail was less challenging and less scenic than our previous routes but the spruce forest had a certain timeless aura.

Of course, 3 days of intense togetherness also meant a lot of talking and catching up.  We solved the world’s problems (if only the world would listen) although not the problem of fitting 4 adults comfortably in the RV.

Friday evening we went to a fun performance put on by the park, the Molly Kool Kitchen Party. Molly Kool, who grew up in Alma, was the first female ship captain (and the 2nd female captain in the world). After her home was donated to the park, it was moved to a location with parking and is now used for a weekly performance. The theme is a kitchen party (ceilidh) of about Molly’s era, done as if the audience are visitors to the party. The three actresses (one of whom plays many roles) give a lot of historical details of life in Alma (with contrast to big city life in Halifax) including insights into the main livelihoods (weir fishing and lumber), some of the failed industries (fox farming and copper mining), the initiation of the lobster industry and the start of the national park. Three musicians play local music. This group has been playing at the park for 4 years – the oldest (at the piano) looks to be in her late teens, but the 2 younger ones (shown) are not even teenagers yet. They were very good, without needing to discount for age. The 12-year-old also demonstrated some step dancing. The audience was encouraged to join in some simple country dances. The performance ended with refreshments. It was a very enjoyable evening.

Sadly, the visit and the good weather both came to an end. On Sunday we woke up to a heavy fog and the need to take Kathy and Salomon back to the airport. We went into downtown Saint John for lunch. Fortunately, the fog lifted just as we finished eating, and so we were able to take a quick walk around the harbor and tourist area.

When we got to the airport, the winds were gusty. However, the flights seemed to be on time. It felt a bit lonely returning to the RV, but we hope they will be able to join us on our next trip.

 

With clearer weather on the return trip to the park, the autumn colors really glowed. We stopped for photos several times before going back to the RV.

Once we assessed where we were both in our travels and our working lives, we decided that we needed a work day to get caught up. Monday proved to be rainy and dull, so it was a good day to stay in the RV, do laundry and get some work done.

 

 

Near Truro (Oct. 3)

Although we always mean to get off to an early start, we almost always end up talking to other campers as we pack and end up leaving around noon.  Today was no different.

We basically retraced our route back towards Truro.  Because of the extra day in Cape Breton, we are camping for a night to break the trip, but not stopping to see anything.  We did not even detach the car from the camper.

I mentioned the red roads on the way to Cape Breton, but until the return trip, I did not notice the green roads.  I believe this is due to a different form of iron oxidization.

I did see a real moose day.  I mentioned that this is the first day of hunting season.  This moose, which was large and had a full rack of antlers, was unfortunately upside down in the bed of a truck that passed us.  Clearly one of the lucky moose license lottery winners had been doubly lucky and got his moose on this first day out.  We are still hoping to see a live moose some day.  I remind myself that the moose population has grown to the point where culling is necessary.

We stayed overnight in a campground en route.  It was on  a pretty little stream.  Their wifi was down, so I went to their recreation hall which has a wifi hotspot to have my meeting with my student.  The rec hall turned out to have the largest book exchange we have seen – more like a library.  In the morning we exchanged 7 books and are now well supplied with reading material.

The leaves are beginning to turn, so the scenery en route was colorful.  We are still looking out for a live moose – plenty of habitat but no moose.

To get to the Fundy National Park we had to take a side road for 42 km.  This was a bit exciting with the RV, although of course when we got to the campground it was full of campers as big or bigger.  We are just steps from an overlook onto the Bay of Fundy.  More about that in the next posting.