Sunday, July 29, 2012

Nova Scotia – At last!





Cape Breton Island

Slightly more than two months had passed since we left home for Nova Scotia when we finally arrived on Friday, July 20th.

The ferry crossing from PEI to Nova Scotia turned out to be non-eventful! (Only felt a touch of seasickness.) We arrived about an hour before scheduled departure and were first in the RV line.  Many more lined up behind us as the departure time neared. We were surprised to see semis and huge equipment trucks getting in line too. The ferry was late arriving but we had a great view of it docking and discharging all the cars, RVs and big trucks. 

Waiting in line to board the ferry.
Watching the unloading of the ferry.
Once our turn to load arrived it went fast and smoothly and we soon were parked surrounded by big truck rigs on a lower level. All the cars were parked on levels above us. Everyone was told to leave their vehicles and go above.  We left Missy, Bella, Keeker and Ellie, the dogs and cats, in our truck confident that they would curl up and go to sleep.

Parked alongside the semis.
We joined the other drivers and climbed the steps to the enclosed upper deck where you could stay out of the weather and purchase something to eat. But most of us lined the rails outside to watch the departure.

In the fresh air on the upper deck.
Once we were at sea Jim and I went inside and after a few minutes we felt the start of seasickness begin so we headed back outside for some fresh air.  That seemed to do the trick and luckily the ocean was calm. The rest of the trip was fine.

Passing the ferry going to port we just left.


Arriving in Nova Scotia!
Before we left PEI we made reservations at the Glenview Campground in Whycocomagh, Nova Scotia (don’t ask how to pronounce that!) and were discouraged to find it packed full with semi-permanent campers using the camp for seasonal use. It felt like we were parked on someone’s front lawn. Since we didn’t plan to spend much time in camp it really didn’t matter.


Cape Breton Island is part of the northeast side of Nova Scotia. We were told we would find eagles, hawks and moose on the two northern most mountains but it was not to be.  The scenery was spectacular but there was no wildlife to be seen.

One of our excursions involved crossing a channel in a huge lake on a small ferry to reach a town called Sydney about 40-50 miles north of our camp. 



                                
                        Small ferry arriving to take us across channel in huge lake.
Unloading





Unloading on the other side.


Our last day there, July 22nd, was devoted to driving the Cabot Trail, outlined in yellow on the map below and stopping at Meat Cove at the very northern tip of NS. We had thought of moving to the campground there but after driving the roads to get there we decided it wasn’t a place to bring a big 5th wheel. It was a great Trail for a motorcycle ride and we were wishing we had the motorcycle with us.  In fact, there were motorcycle riders all over the Provence. 







We had almost returned to camp when Jim finally spotted a bald eagle perched atop an electrical transmission pole. It wasn't a place we had hoped to photograph an eagle but we took its photo nonetheless!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Northumberland Provincial Park - Woods Island, PEI

On Tuesday, July 17th we moved to the southern part of the island to have better access to the southern part of the Points East Coastal drive.  This is a small Provincial Park and our campsite is right on the water. We have full hookups but the one thing missing is a Wi-Fi connection.  We’re also located near the port for the Northumberland Ferries.  We decided to take the ferry to Nova Scotia on Friday the 20th. We won’t have far to drive for our 9:30 AM departure.

There's "Monty" on the left.

Our view to the ocean.


The beach is below



While here we drove out to what I think may be the most famous lighthouse on the island, the Cape Bear lighthouse.  It was the first place to receive the distress call from the Titanic on their Marconi radio. The lighthouse was open to the public and for a small fee you can go inside and climb to the light. It no longer is a functional lighthouse but is used as a museum.  The actual working lighthouse is a few yards away and is just a solar powered light… not very newsworthy but I’m sure very important to the sailors at sea.


Cape Bear lighthouse

The functional lighthouse

Inside the lighthouse



On the way back from the lighthouse we stopped at the Rossignol winery overlooking the ocean. After tasting some of their wines we each picked a bottle of our favorite and headed back to the campground.

Rossignol winery tasting room


Statue carved from the local red sandstone.


Saturday, July 21, 2012

Harrington, Prince Edward Island


On July 14th we set off for the Confederation Bridge that will take us to PEI. This seven mile long bridge is the only drivable connection to Prince Edward Island. No fee is charged to use the bridge to drive to PEI but there is a charge to return. We may decide to use the ferry to take us on the hour and a half trip to Nova Scotia instead… but both of us get seasick.  

Charlottetown is the largest city on PEI and the only one where we got lost.  It took us quite a while before we got used to the Canadian road signs and that’s no fun when you’re towing a very large 5th wheel. With some help, we finally found our way to the Harrington Family Campground that was going to be home base for the next three days while we explored the upper part of the island, the central coast.





PEI is beautiful! Green rolling hills, steep red sandstone cliffs, sand dunes, fields full of flowers and potatoes, wineries, historic old homes and new modern homes just begin to describe the island. But the locals complained that it wasn't as green as usual because of a drought. 




The provincial map is dotted with many towns but the majority of them are just made up of a few homes and the town sign. There are many beautiful churches and old cemeteries and since this is an island there are lots of lighthouses all over the island. Some are still functional and some are historic. Some are placed near the mouth of a harbor and others define the coastline. 




We saw lobster traps all over the harbors and in storage sheds and found out the lobster season was over. No fresh lobster here!  We had thought that all the buoys floating in the harbors were being used for catching lobsters. After asking someone we discovered they were being used to grow mussels, a favorite here.

Lobster traps waiting for storage.







New Brunswick, Canada July 13th


We made it!  One day short of being on the road for two months and one hour loss of time… we’re now on Atlantic daylight savings time.

We stopped for one night at the Coy Lake Campground in Upper Gagetown, N.B. The heat and humidity finally caught up with us and made setting up camp miserable. 

With a bit of liquid refreshment in hand we sat at the picnic table going over the map of New Brunswick to pick the best route to Prince Edward Island.  That’s when we met another nice couple, Tim & Kelly Paterson.

They live on Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) and he is in the Canadian military and works in New Brunswick. They haven’t spent summer together for quite a few years so they decided to live at the campground until the end of summer. They own a 150 year old home that they had hoped to turn into a Bed & Breakfast but a change in P.E.I. politics made that financially impossible and they haven’t been able to sell it.  They decided that when Tim retires they will join all the other Canadian and American ex-patriots living in the Dominican Republic. They’ve already purchased a home in the mountains there away from all the tourists. We exchanged contact info and they invited us to visit them while we both were in P.E.I.

Palmyra, Maine July 10th–12th


We went from camping at a lake to a golf course! The weather continued to be perfect and this stop gave us some time to catch up on laundry before we entered New Brunswick, Canada.


We took one day to explore Bangor and the quilt shop there but my favorite, ‘Stitches’, was in Palmyra.  I immediately felt at home when I walked into the shop. The owner was gracious and showed me around as Jim took lots of pictures of the quilts that were hung all over the shop. She was in the middle of preparing for an all-state Shop Hop and quilt show.  Hoppers are given two weeks to visit all the shops in Maine and all I can say is OMG! 





The owner created a very versatile quilt pattern that can be made into everything from a quilt to a bell pull. Jim took several photos of the quilts made with the pattern and of course I had to buy one to try out when we get home.






Since we were in Maine I wanted to have a Maine lobster dinner and the restaurant ‘Anglers’ was recommended by everyone we asked.

Our waitress said that most Mainers ordered only the claws and knuckles but I was used to being served just the lobster tail. So when I ordered the boiled lobster the entire lobster was brought to the table. There it sat… tail cut in two pieces on the plate along with the claws.  The head and upper body were in a bowl placed so it watched me as I ate! I wasn’t thrilled with that but it didn’t deter me from my mission of eating a Maine lobster!

I should have listened to the waitress about ordering just the claws and knuckles.  They turned out to be the tenderest part of the lobster…but you had to work to get at the meat. Next time I will know better.




Thursday, July 12, 2012

On the road to New Brunswick, Canada



Monday, July 9th we began the push towards Canada.  We drove through Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and into Connecticut before we stopped at the Wilderness Lake Campground in Willington, Ct. for the night. We set up camp within view of the beautiful, spring-fed lake.

You meet the nicest people when you’re camping and this campground was no exception. We met a young couple from Switzerland that had flown to Florida, with their German Shepherd, purchased a small, used RV and were heading to Canada to work on the girl’s family’s cattle ranch. He had been a forest ranger back in Switzerland and decided to quit so he could go on this new adventure.

The other family we met was originally from Uruguay but now live in the same town in New York where the Clinton’s live. They own a custom bicycle shop and infrequently get some vacation time off.  We met them during one of those breaks.


July 10th - We are now camped about 30 miles west of Bangor, Maine for a few days and will be leaving on the 13th.... more to follow.

Harleysville, Pa.



On Friday, July 6th we arrived at the Homestead Campground located in Green Lane, Pa. just a few miles north of Harleysville, Pa. where my cousin Bill and his wife Beth live. His mother is my Aunt Mary Rose that Jim & I visited in Brownsville, Texas. 

Bill & I haven’t seen each other for over 40+ years and we spent a busy three days catching up on all those bygone years, touring the area and visiting with his son, Patrick and wife, Missy.

Beth is a quilter too, but unlike me she does everything by hand from piecing the quilt to quilting it.  Her work is beautiful and she’s won several awards.




Bill, Beth & I at Valley Forge
Valley Forge troop housing
















Rifle slits in fortress/barn
Bill's delicious BBQ chicken











Jim, Bill & me in front of Beth's quilt.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Gettysburg National Military Park


After visiting Antietam we assumed that this Military Park would be the same but we were wrong. For one reason, the park is huge and best seen via air conditioned car and even then it can take several hours to see it all.  For the more adventurous ones you can visit on horseback.  The campground where we stayed had daily tours into the park but with the high temperatures Jim & I decided to pass it up.


During one of our stops to photograph some monuments we met a young guy who seemed particularly interested in one monument and I waited for him to move on before I took any photos.  It turned out that he was the great-grandson of the person being honored by the monument and he shared lots of stories about it and the surrounding battles that took place near the monument.









He even showed us a rocky area behind a monument where the soldiers had carved the date and their names in the rocks. The carvings were well worn but he suggested we pour some water over them to make them a bit clearer.
Unfortunately, that didn’t help much.












He also showed us the only tree in the entire park that was there during the battles.  It and another one located in the town of Gettysburg are called the “Witness trees” because of what they've “seen”.  The one in town is next to an ice cream shop that Jim & I visited several times during our stay.






Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - Hershey, Pa.




On another day we went to visit the Hershey factory but were very disappointed.  It was a zoo, starting from trying to get in the parking lot to the entire facility.

It’s not the actual Hershey factory at all but a place to separate visitors and their money.  Part is a huge amusement park with rides and various other things that charge individual admission.

There was one ten minute tour that showed how chocolate is taken from the bean stage and processed into one of their products. At the end of the tour you’re given a small sample of almond covered chocolate and then dropped off inside the gift shop.  It’s a Hershey chocolate lover’s paradise and we stocked up on lots of dark chocolate for the road.


Gift shop - A chocolate lover's heaven!


Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - Lancaster, Pa.



I wish I was able to include some photos of the Amish people, the most conservative sect of the Mennonites. We saw many of them driving their horse-drawn carriages around this busy city but they don’t want to be photographed and we honored their wishes. But we did go to several of their quilt shops and drooled over their beautifully handmade quilts. (Well, not really drooled.)  My favorite quilt shops were the ones that were located in a home.


Hand pieced, needle turn appliqued & hand quilted!

Amish farm




























One particular quilt shop, Hannah’s Quilt Shop, was located inside her farm home which is self-sufficient without electricity!  The shop was cooled by a floor fan that was powered by gas (probably propane) and a series of belts to turn the blades.

We had an opportunity to talk with an older man, possibly the grandfather, who was snapping green beans on the front porch for dinner. Jim asked him about their cattle, that were grazing in a nearby pasture, and we learned they were dairy cows waiting to be bred. The fields surrounding the house were filled with corn.

I don’t know if the young girl that helped me in the quilt shop was Hannah but she was the person that helped the customers. She explained that the quilts were made in an “assembly line” fashion by several Amish women.  Some of the women cut the fabric and others piece the quilts. Then they go to women who quilt them and finally the quilt is returned to Hannah’s and she stitches the binding onto the quilt. All of this is done by hand except for the binding which is done on a treadle machine. Our visit was certainly a step back in time!

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - Antietam, Pa.

We arrived at the Artillery Ridge Campground in Gettysburg on June 29th for a seven day stay. We were fortunate enough to have escaped the severe storms that hit the Maryland, Virginia and D.C. area but we brought the horrible heat and humidity with us. We used Gettysburg as our “home base” and made excursions to other places of interest plus catching up on grocery shopping and finding a Laundromat.

The first place we visited was the battlefields of Antietam where 21,000 Union and Confederate soldiers lost their lives. It was too hot to do much walking so most of the visit was spent taking pictures from the air conditioned car.