Driving East on I-90 is so beautiful. We are lucky to live in such a green and gorgeous place as upstate NY.
2010-8 Travel to Nova Scotia
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
It’s always such a big job – getting ready and loading the motorhome for a trip. But yesterday was especially tough, because Don had a VA appointment at 8:30am and a motorhome inspection at 9:30am. We drove the motorhome to the Dr. appointment and then up to Fogg’s for NYS inspection, oil change, radiator flush & anti-freeze and air filter. Don also bought 4 new “house” batteries and 6 new tires last year – so we are well prepared for travel.
My prayers were answered when Mark & Kayla greeted us as we pulled into the driveway. They helped me load up – God Bless them. Dan stopped after work to pick up the books for his girls and we had a nice visit. After all was cleaned out of the fridge – we just had to go out to eat at the Blue Ribbon. We both had a wonderful dinner – soup, salad, fish & chips (I had potato salad).
This morning dawned sunny, clear & fresh. At 7:20am, Maureen & Wayne stopped to say “bon voyage” and we were on our way by 7:30am. All went very well until we hit a traffic jam on I-495 south of Salisbury, MA. We were “stop & go” for half an hour and then we smelled a strong burning smell. We pulled off onto Rt. 1 in Portsmouth, NH at a Shell gas station. It was the two front tires/brakes. Don thought it might be the recall and called both Workhorse and our FMCA road service. He got several phone numbers and no satisfaction – just a run-a-round. We ate lunch and let it cool down – the outdoor temp was 87 – and after 2 hours he took the chance and we were again on our way north. Luckily, there was no more burning smell.
Don drove until 5pm. We parked at the Waterville Lodge in Maine – right off I-95. We were made to feel VERY welcome at this beautiful lodge. No hookups, but a huge, (uneven) paved lot. After a couple of drinks, we had a “tour” of the facility which was very impressive and had a nice spaghetti supper for $5.00 each.
We are very dependent on our Garmin GPS and are delighted that it has Canada on it. I love my maps, but now we have a personal tour guide.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 – sunny, nice day
After a restless night’s sleep, we were up at 6am – no showers – no breakfast – and on our way. I made coffee and peanut butter & raisin bread sandwiches for brunch, which I thought – very tasty.
We traveled north on I-95 to Bangor, ME – heading to Calais and the Canadian border. BUT, at Bangor, we made the wrong turn and took 1A. Nice scenery, but definitely the wrong direction. The GPS was going to turn us around and so we took a left – down a country road, which turned into an unpaved road and then into deep woods with nice homes on a lake. We had to unhook the car (after I dried my tears) to turn around – back the way we came – up over the mountain and finally got on Rt. 9.
I had been worried about customs at the border because I brought our homegrown tomatoes with us, but we sailed through. Highway 1 was easy 4 lane, divided and well paved. All went smooth for one hour. I wanted to visit the Bay of Fundy and thought that the Fundy National Park would be a good place to camp. We turned south onto Rt. 114, which was a patched, winding, bumpy two lane that went up & down the mountains. Our speed at first was 25mph and then up to 35 in spots. After 30 minutes of this torture, we hit a nice paved road because we were in the National Park. We could smell burning brakes again. Little did we realize that we would be paying to drive on it when we camped. Eventually, this also became rutted and tough to drive.We finally reached the Fundy Park Headquarters to check in. “Sorry, only 3 available sites – all with no service” said the nice young man. OK, we’ll take 2 nights. The total cost was - $78.20!!!!! We had a narrow site, in the trees, and an old picnic table. I think it was a tenting site. Very disappointing.
Thursday, August 19, 2010 – Fundy National Park, Alma, NB
A cool morning and we got up late – 7:30am according to our new Atlantic Time Zone. Don (Bless him) suggested we go out to breakfast in Alma. We were lucky to find the Parkland Village Inn that overlooks Fundy Bay. They are AAA approved and we had a lovely table by the window.
Low tide is what we needed for seeing Hopewell Rocks. It was a 40 minute drive in the car and we stopped at the Red Roof Café for fish & chips. Arriving at Hopewell Rocks, we paid extra to ride the tram instead of taking the long walk to the viewing spot.
Back in Alma, we bought a ½ gallon of milk for $3.90! and a cooked lobster at the fish shop.
Friday, August 20, 2010 – to Antigonish, NS
My Dad always said that the salt air makes you sleep better and last night we sure did. We had cereal for breakfast and were underway by 9am. We took the main highway through Moncton, NB and soon arrived in Nova Scotia – although there was no sign to let us know or say “Welcome”. By lunch time, the brakes had a burning smell, so we pulled into a gas station to eat lunch and cool down. This major interstate is all up and down the hills – lots of pine trees – why did we leave home??
Antigonish, Nova Scotia was my town of choice to camp and it was a good one. St. Francis Xavier University is downtown - as is our campground. It was so inviting that we signed up for 2 nights. We are at very nice 
Saturday, August 21, 2010 – Antigonish, Nova Scotia A rainy morning. We went for breakfast at Snow Queen Family Restaurant. It was an “order at the counter and we’ll bring it to you – but first here’s your coffee” – a clean, no frills place. We had the egg sandwich on an delicious English muffin. Right across the street was the Sat. Farmer’s Market. It was indoors and had all kinds of homemade and home grown local products. We bought a quart of blueberries – the small, tasty kind - - and a bag of lovely leaf lettuce. In the afternoon, we went shopping for orange juice and a box of small , fresh dug Scotian Gold potatoes. This has been a good stop.
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