To Nova Scotia- Part 1

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.

Lost in Maine….

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. One good note – the bathroom/shower/laundry was nice. The park is high on the mountain and overlooks the town of Alma and the Bay of Fundy. Nice view from a couple of points where they cleared the trees.

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. Prices were reasonable, good food and our waitress was pleasant. We walked around the docks and took photos. The lobster pound opens at 10am. Back to the RV, where we did some cleaning up chores. It’s good to have some quiet time.

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. Lots of people (mostly young) were washing their feet and shoes after “walking on the ocean floor” during the low tide. Hopewell Rocks claims the highest tides in the world – 46 feet last week and is in competition as one of the new 7 wonders of the world.

Back in Alma, we bought a ½ gallon of milk for $3.90! and a cooked lobster at the fish shop. A very nice day!!

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 Whidden Park with full hookups (service, pardon me) and wi-fi – two nights is $70 – no more Canadian National parks for us.I warmed up the lobster for an elegant dinner.

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.

Salisbury Beach, Mass.

We were home for nearly 3 months – Don doing the lawn & gardens – and Alice doing the housekeeping.  We enjoy our home, but were ready for a real vacation.  We made our reservations last January and had a wonderful site for our 2 weeks at the ocean. There’s Don sitting under our canopy – our pine tree also gave us afternoon shade – a big deal at the beach.  We had two weeks of wonderful weather with no rain.  Last year was all rain and cold, so this year was a treat. Pat’s diner is one of the oldest in America and a fun place to eat.  The menu says that they are open at 6am and close at 1pm OR whenever Pat gets tired!  A real down-east place with beans served – even for breakfast.  Here’s Don’s plate..  with Beans!  Plus, you can play the juke box. (To go along with the musical fruit) The ladies seem to have the corner on good breakfast places.  We also ate at Linda’s, Marie’s and Cathy’s.  This is Hampton Beach, NH – as we drove up the coast on Rt. 1-A.  We stopped in Rye, NH and had a picnic lunch on these rocks.  We continued on to Kittery, Maine and shopped at the Outpost, which is like LL Bean.

Always in the mood for food – we had lots of lobster, which was on sale for $4.59 a pound and cooked for free at Market Basket.  We also went to Essex for the best fried clams in the world at The Clam Box.  We had lunch at the Old Salt in Hampton Beach with Carl & Charlene Peterson and went to visit Don’s sister, Joan in Rockport. MA.   All in all – a very happy, relaxing and yummy time.

Kansas City, MO

  This is one of the older neighborhoods in AMARILLO, TEXAS -  we haven’t seen brick paved streets since Albany, NY.    This photo is near old Route 66.  (So you can get your kicks – on brick paved streets!)

Next photo is the “Great Plains” as we drove across Oklahoma.  The sky was so beautiful and the fields were green.  The cattle were grazing right along side the oil well pumps – it didn’t bother them!

My main purpose in visiting Kansas City, was to go to the Harry Truman Presidential Library in Independence, MO.  Downtown Independence has these wonderful post signs of Truman – as he is remembered taking his daily walk.The museum shows Truman’s  wife Bess, daughter Margaret and  Harry as they campaigned by train across the USA.   My photo with Harry -  I didn’t realize that he was so tall!    

The last photos are of us taken at the Elks Lodge #26 – one of the oldest in the nation.  We were made to feel very welcome – and we enjoyed our time in Kansas City.

After we left Kansas City – we headed straight home – doing about 300 miles a day and we were lucky to have good weather.  All the interstate roads were excellent, except for Indiana.  It was wonderful to see all the spring trees in bloom.

We drove east on I-90, along the southern shore of Lake Erie.  It was a clear day and we could see miles of vineyards and the Lake looked like an endless  ocean.  Once we entered New York State – as you may (or may not) know, there is no place to stop – especially in the spring – before the campgrounds open.  Our GPS sent us off onto old Route 20 – and we found Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church.  It' was an amazing Polish Church with all hand carvings on the interior. 

That was our last stop and now we are safely home, thank God. Don drove a total of 5,634 miles on this wonderful trip. 

Amarillo, Texas

Amarillo’s landscape is flat, flat, flat.  It’s part of the Great Plains of the United States.  And remember the song about “where the wind comes sweeping down the plains”?  The song was about Oklahoma which is next door.  40 to 50 mph is common here, even though it tips over the 18 wheelers.  Amarillo is an old “cow town”, which you can smell if the wind is right.  Some say it’s the smell of money, but I don’t care for it. 

Our free “Oasis RV Resort” is wonderful!  Large concrete pads & patios – free 50 amp service – free wi-fi – 50 cent washers & dryers in every comfort station – swimming pool & beautiful club house – Just amazing!

“From Wikipedia:  Cadillac Ranch is visible from the highway, and though it is located on private land, visiting it (by driving along a frontage road and entering the pasture by walking through an unlocked gate) is tacitly encouraged. In addition, writing graffiti on or otherwise spray-painting the vehicles is also encouraged, and the vehicles, which have long since lost their original colors, are wildly decorated. The cars are periodically repainted various colors (once white for the filming of a television commercial, another time pink in honor of Stanley's wife Wendy's birthday , and yet another time all 10 cars were painted flat black to mark the passing of Ant Farm artist Doug Michels or simply to provide a fresh canvas for future visitors. The cars were briefly "restored" to their original colors by the motel chain Hampton Inn in a public relation sponsored series of Route 66 landmark restoration projects. The new paint jobs and even the plaque commemorating the project lasted less than 24 hours without fresh graffiti.” ------- Don & I walked out into the field and took these photos – notice all the discarded spray paint cans that were left on the ground.  A woman was letting her champion greyhound go for a run and I couldn’t resist a photo of him OR of the painted sneakers that someone left on the barbed wire fence.

Eating out in Amarillo gave us lots of new places to explore.  Some of our favorites were: The Blue Front Cafe on old Rt. 66 – in business since 1946. Here’s the link: http://amarillobluefrontcafe.com/. Another favorite was the restaurant at the Cattle Auction , where we both had our first steak & eggs for breakfast. I didn’t realize the owner/chef was a graduate of the CIA in NY.   He made us welcome and offered to show us around Amarillo.    http://www.texashighways.com/index.php/component/content/article/49-dining-a-tastes/6066-th-taste-youngbloods-stockyard-cafe. We also ate at the “Big Texan” but we didn’t go for the BIG one!  Check it out: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/3087

The scenic highlight of the area is the Palo Duro Canyon, which is just south of Amarillo.  I made a picnic lunch for our trip to Palo Duro canyon State Park. We were there many years ago, but it was so foggy that we couldn’t see anything. This time it was sunny and we got some great photos. It’s 800 feet down into the canyon and there’s lots of 1800’s history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Palo_Duro_Canyon 

The Don Harrington Discovery Center is one of the best (children’s) science centers that we have ever played in.  The Space Theater has a 360 degree screen for viewing – we saw a show on the planets.   On the grounds of the center is the HELIUM time capsule.  Helium is stored here in Amarillo for future use.  The photos include one  ofDon with his hand in the “clouds” and my favorite – the black & white square tiles that give an optical illusion.   Spring is just starting here in the Texas Panhandle and although it’s very, very windy a few trees are in bloom.  We wish everyone a very Happy Easter!!

FMCA Convention & Rally – Albuquerque, NM

The reason that we’re here in Albuquerque is to attend the FMCA Convention.  We were here 6 years ago for this rally and it was warm – this time we had our fill of cold and snow!

Early morning temps were in the low 30’s – and sometimes the sun warmed up the afternoons.  Not my cup of tea! 

Of course there’s all the new Motorhomes on display, but we really enjoyed seeing the vintage, 1950’s, trailers and the restored cars that pulled them.  Here’s a peek into some Airstream & Shasta trailers. A blast from the past!

We took a ride to the Sandia Indian Resort and Casino – at the base of the Sandia Mountains.  It’s a beautiful and busy spot where we put a few quarters in the machines.  The exterior photo shows the outdoor swimming pool and Sandia Mountains ; inside shot shows the hotel lobby.

We attended some great seminars and enjoyed perusing the vendor’s booths, but the highlight was Alice’s winning a “free camping”  drawing for ALL OF 2010 – at the Oasis RV Park in Amarillo, Texas!    I still can’t believe it!  We’re headed to my new, free campground, where even the laundry is free.  Amazing!