Canadian Maritimes: New Brunswick

After locating our campground--not as easy as it sounds!--It was much further from the Fundy Park than I thought.--we went out to dinner in what may have been the only restaurant for miles and miles around. We were the only customers for the first 45 minutes we were there. But their scallops!?! To die for!

The next day we drove east to visit the Bay of Fundy National Park where, after paying for our park pass, we did a little exploring.

There was one site where the Point Wolfe River ran down into the Bay. At one time there had been a dam and a mill here. Now there's just a little covered bridge, the remnants of the dam and a very stony beach. Still, it was a pretty place to stop and get our first close-up of the Bay of Fundy while walking on the stones that would soon be covered as the tide turned.

Looking from the beach to the Bay of Fundy.

Terry standing by one of the many, many rock cairns erected on the beach.

Covered Bridge over the Point Wolfe River.

Site of the mill dam on the Point Wolfe River.

After our brief stop here, we motored further north along the coast to the Hopewell Rocks.

The rocks are the remnants of eroded conglomerate along the coast. They stand tall and proud at low tide but are nearly covered by water at high tide. The Bay's waters can fluctuate by as much as 30-40 feet in a 12 and a half hour cycle! We got there at low tide and got to walk on the beach.

Looking down from atop the cliff. That's the Bay of Fundy and Nova Scotia in the distance.

From the beach, you get the feel for how large the rock formations are.

And the beach isn't flat, either. It's quite steep going down to the water.

Put some people into the frame and you can see how high the cliffs are.

Another view along the beach.

There's a nice, steel and concrete stairway to get down to the beach. With 101 steps!

Another view of the cliff face.

Terry had to go down to the water's edge to touch the Chocolate River, as the Bay of Fundy is called. The huge, rapid change in the tides create quite a current and lots of turbulence grinding away at the sea floor and all the sand and rocks become powder which then get suspended in the ever moving water.

One more view of the undercut rocks along the beach.

They become somewhat mushroom shaped over time. The one on the left looks like it may be submerged during high tide--nothing growing on top.

Occasionally you get a natural bridge like this.

There are several rangers on the beach to answer questions--and keep an eye on the time. They will let you know when the tide is turning and when you must make your way up those 101 steps pronto.

Having had our fill, we moseyed on back to our campsite for the night. The next day we would be heading to Truro, Nova Scotia.

Down East and the Maritimes: Bar Harbor Cruise

I've been remiss in posting pictures of our three-week trip to the northeast. I've an excuse or two but lets say it was mostly exhaustion and let it go at that.

After watching the sun rise from Cadillac Mountain, Terry and I went down into Bar Harbor to have breakfast and then get ready for our nature cruise which we had booked the day before.

While we waited for our boarding time, Terry made a friend on the pier.

You could opt for a cruise on this schooner.

Two of the motor cruisers,  The smaller one on the left goes way out looking for whales.

Our ride awaits.

One of many beautiful coastal homes.

I wouldn't mind living here!

Bald Eagle watches us go by.

Cormorants and Gulls abound.

Rocky shores of Acadia.

Thunder Hole from the water.

There were plenty of seals out on the rocks.

Plenty of them.

One of many lighthouses on the Maine coast that have been automated. Must have been a grand--if harsh--life for an introvert.

Another Bald Eagle watched us from the shore.

And not to far away, this Peregrine Falcon sat in the tree top.

After seeing the Peregrine, we cruised on back to the dock and debarked.

The next day we departed the Bar Harbor area and headed north into Canada's New Brunswick Provence and the Bay of Fundy National Park.

Down East and the Maritimes: Day Five (Part 1)

We started our day at the early time of 3:00 AM. Our campground is about 40 minutes from the Cadillac Mt. turn within Acadia National Park so we figured to give ourselves plenty of time to get to the summit for the 4:59 sunrise. Well, as should have been expected, there was no traffic at 3:15 in the morning and we zoomed right along arriving at the summit at about 3:45. We weren't first, but we were in the first dozen cars in the lot. That would continue to change as the minutes ticked away.

We found ourselves a comfortable rock with some plant growth directly in front of us--thus giving no one a chance to block our view--and settled down in a chill breeze to wait.

Color began to appear in the sky quite early as a low bank of clouds began to reflect pink, purple and orange from the approaching Sun.

Lightening sky to the northeast at 0425

Minute by minute the color became more intense.

Color to the northeast at 0428.

And the crowd began to swell. The parking lot filled and folks parked on the road and/or in the middle of the parking lot blocking everything.

The sun was scheduled to appear over the horizon at 0459 and it seemed it was going to wait to the last second. But meanwhile it would tease.

Still no Sun at 0457

And then...MAGIC!

The first sliver peeped above the horizon right on schedule. (Some people did not. They were late to the party.)

First sliver of sun at 0458 and a smidge.

Down East and the Maritimes: Day Four

We puttered around downtown Bar Harbor for a couple of hours on an overcast and drizzly day on Sunday.

Sailing vessels at Bar Harbor

Lobster boats at Bar Harbor

Monday was a different story! We got there bright and early so we could hog glob find one of the few free, all-day-if-you-want parking spots on West Street. (That's the street that runs right along the harbor front.) Although we got there around 7:45 AM we were still over a quarter mile from the trolley depot. We were early enough to go get a cuppa and sit on one of the benches overlooking the harbor before making our way to the depot.

Four-master at Bar Harbor--in the sun!

Our tour departed at 10 AM sharp and we had a marvelously entertaining and informative tour of Mt. Desert Island that included stops at the top of Cadillac Mountain, the Wild Gardens of Acadia and Thunder Hole. We only stopped for 15 minutes at each, but it was enough to give you a taste.

Dorr and Cadillac Mountains from the Loop Road

The Atlantic from atop Cadillac Mountain

Bar Island and the Porcupine islands from the Loop Road

Thunder Hole

While Terry and I have been to two of those places many, many years ago, this was our first stop at the Gardens where we were enthralled. EVERY. SINGLE. THING. is labeled and identified for you.(We went back in the afternoon to take a more leisurely look around.)


Tomorrow we will be going up to the top of Cadillac Mountain to see the first rays of the sun strike the US. That sunrise takes place at 4:59 AM but to find parking at the top we were told we should plan on being there no later than 4:15 with 4:00 being even better.

Down East and the Maritimes: Day Three

Sunday: Day 3

We took the long, slow path from Biddeford, ME to Trenton, ME today. It was raining so we decided to delay our arrival at the Timberland Acres Campground as long as possible. Besides, we wanted to see some small villages/towns along US Route 1 that we would have missed if we had hopped the interstate. It was worth it as we passed through several very picturesque little towns founded in the late 1700s and early 1800s with their very Victorian homes and downtowns. Some very impressive painted ladies!

We still got to the campground around 1:30 PM which afforded us time to look at the handouts provided by the campground staff over a quick sandwich and then head down to Bar Harbor. Once there, we purchased some warm outerwear, booked a trolley tour of Acadia National Park with Oli's Trolley for Monday morning and a nature cruise with the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co. for Tuesday afternoon. It's a two hour cruise so I'm pretty sure we'll be okay.

We stopped and had a drink and an appetizer at Paddy's near the town dock. It's a beauty of an Irish pub and we sat in the bar where everyone else was glued to the TVs watching Portugal vs France in soccer.

On the way back to the campground we picked up a boiled lobster at one of the many lobster pounds along route 3. The lobster was to supplement the left over french fries, fried shrimp and fried clams from last night's dinner.

We also stopped at the campground office and got one of our propane tanks refilled as it had run empty during the cold of Saturday night. It did it's job of taking the chill out of the trailer and, with the windows closed and an extra blanket, that was all we needed. Thankfully, the trailer comes with two 20 pound tanks--the same size as those used on your gas grill. I was able to switch over to the second tank this morning so we could have coffee and tea. That's the first tank I've had to refill--and that's after the long cross country trip to the west coast last year. I really need to get out on the road more often.

(BTW, the stupid low tire pressure light was on for the first ten miles of today's trip and then--poof!--it disappeared.)

Down East and the Maritimes: Days One and Two

Friday: Day One

We left the Aerie on Friday morning and enjoyed an uneventful drive up to Woodford, VT where we stayed at the Greenwood Lodge & Campground on state highway 9. Nice folks, pleasant setting (next to a ski run) and, if we had been so inclined several activities (nature hikes with plenty of birds, canoeing in a fairly large mill pond, etc.). The owners felt it necessary to appologize saying they usually didn't have many children in the campground, but Bennington was hosting a national motocross(?) race this weekend and they had reservations from several families who were planning on attending. From what we saw, some of them must have decided NOT to show up because of the iffy weather. (drizzle and some solid rain fell during the night.)

There was a nice country store across the street (half mile walk) that sold pretty near everything we needed and more including homemade salads, chocolates and pastries. We spent some money and enjoyed the edible portions of our purchases immensely.

******

Saturday: Day Two

 

The short trip from Greenwood Lodge & Campground in Woodford, VT to Old Orchard Beach Campground in, well, Old Orchard Beach, ME was somewhat eventful. 

 

1- Immediately after leaving the gas station across the street from the campground, the low tire pressure indicator light came on. Try finding a place to pull over a pickup hauling a 31' travel trailer in rural Vermont on a two lane state road. I finally found such a spot and hauled out the little Slime air compressor and a tire guage. Pressure seemed fine in all four truck tires but I put in a pound or two iin each just for good measure. The warning light was still on. I shrugged my shoujlders, uttered a few well chosed four-letter words of encouragement and drove on. Some 10 miles later, the damn light went off and stayed off for the rest of the trip.

2- It drizzled off and on the entire day. We roads are slick roads especially when hauling a 31' travel trailer up and down 8% grades with many, many s-curves--and stop lights in every little hamlet and at every corner of the larger towns. Cautious is not the word for how carefully I was driving.

3- MapQuest directions proved very vague and sometimes down right inaccurate. The restaurant at one corner, DiAngelo's had moved a 1/4 mile from the intersection. And wasn't on any corner anymore. Luckily it was in the direction from which we were coming so we had a warning that something was afoot. There was no "ramp" for the turn I was supposed to make when US 202 turned left, so I missed that. That led to a gas and lunch stop further down the (wrong) road where we got our bearings and made corrections.

We did eventually get to the campground and only added a few minutes and a couple of miles to our travel.

It's still drizzling, however, and just about 60 degrees. So we will not be visiting the beach or the pool today. Now the Lobster Trap restaurant up the road is another story.

Tomorrow it's off to Ellsworth/Trenton, ME and the Timberland Acres RV Park just up the road from Acadia National Park. We'll be there for a couple of nights as we get to explore the park and nearby Bar Harbor.

Of Mice and Meandering

As I mentioned in the last post, I detest mice in the trailer, shed or cabin. To that end, I scattered mothballs in the shed and have seen the amount of mouse activity decline.

And Monday, I set five traps in the trailer. Tuesday I found two trapped mice and one sprung but empty trap. Wednesday I found two more trapped mice and two sprung but empty traps. My quest for a mouse free trailer continues!

******

In preparation of our meander into New England and the Maritime Provinces, I made the final calls to several campgrounds today to make reservations for our trip that starts Friday. Had to change my planned destination for the Bay of Fundy are when I found out the campground is now a drive-in movie theater. All the other stops have been successfully booked so we're good to go.

I've printed out directions to each campground and Terry got a bunch of Nova Scotia booklets, maps and brochures from a friend of hers who just returned from there. All we need to do is pack the trailer, check and correct the trailer tire pressure, and hitch her up to the Tundra on Thursday evening.

Oh, and our cat/house sitter has confirmed her acceptance of responsibilities for the duration.

We're really looking forward to this little trip. We've not been to Nova Scotia since the big blackout hit NYC in 1977. (We had also honeymooned in the vicinity of Acadia National Park back in 1972.)

******

I cut the grass this afternoon using the mower that AJ's cleaned the mouse nest out of. It ran perfectly. And ran out of gas just as I finished the last little bit of "lawn."

I Hates Meeses to Pieces! (Mostly)

Oh, mice are okay--in their place. Which, for me, is outdoors in the woods and fields. They do NOT belong indoors! Whether it's in the house (never here at the Aerie, but a regular occurance when we owned the Bolt Hole), in the shed, or in the trailer.

If it wasn't for the White-footed Deer Mouse I wouldn't have earned my Master's Degree. (Trying to find out if the little guys traveled across the interstate highways of NJ I spent two years trapping, marking and retrapping mice on I-287 and I-78. There were plenty of mice on the median and in the adjacent "mainland" woods, but I only caught one brave enough to cross three lanes--includes the shoulder--of wide open spaces. Doesn't mean they don't cross the road, I would have to do a lot more live trapping to make a definitive finding.)

Up north, I would set four traps in likely places throughout the Bolt Hole and capture--read"kill"--three to six mice a night for the first week I was there after a long absence. Then things might quiet down and I'd only get 1 or 2 every other night.

I had some problems starting my lawn mower the day before I was to go to Quebec. I cleaned the airfilter of some debris but the darn thing would run for a second or two and then die. Being in a hurry toget the grass cut, I took it down to AJ's Outdoor Power to get it repaired and then went to Lowe's to purchase another push mower so I could get the job done.

I got a call from AJ's upon my return to learn that they had removed a mouse nest and the mower was running fine. Cost me the price of a new mower (about $200) and repairs (about $45) but I've now got two mowers that work. And a shed sprinkled with moth balls. Hey! They're supposed to keep mice away, too.

Terry and I spent some time last Saturday cleaning up mouse droppings, pee and nesting material from various spots in the travel trailer. I used duct tape, aluminum screen and foam insulation to close all the gaps I could find. Today we found more droppings and, opening a cabinet we had overlooked, a missed nest along with two desicated mouse bodies--one in a plastic trash can that must have been too tall for the mouse to climb out of once it fell in.

I set some traps inside and one in each of the storage bays. Hopefully we'll have no hitchhikers when we hit the road on Friday.

Prepping the Vibe for Road Trip

We opened up the travel trailer this afternoon to begin preping for our three week trip to the Maine coast and on up to Nova Scotia.

We've had problems with mice before and tried to use lavender to deter them as per some suggestions I had read on line. It doesn't work. The mice chewed the lavender packets and shredded some paper towels to build a nest in one of the kitchen drawers. We swept/vacuumed up the pieces of paper and mouse droppings--something we did earlier this year--then hauled all the utensils into the house to run them through the dishwasher. We'll pull everything off the pantry shelves and give everything a good washing with a little Lysol and soap.

Meanwhile, we're perplexed as to the point of entry. The might find a way around some of the plumbing and I'll do a little patching with some wire screen and foam insulation. Then we'll try some peppermint oil as well. (At least that will smell pretty.) I've some essential oils (includes peppermint) and some granules for when we put the Vibe to bed for the winter. I'll also put some wire screening in the AC/heating vents in case that's where they are entering. Same for the vent to the hot water heater.

At least they haven't gotten into the wardrobe in the bathroom or the two closets next to the bed and we haven't seen signs that they've been in the pantry (no food stuffs there!) so there are some safe storage areas.

I'll also have to run a hose out to the trailer the next day or two to flush the winterizing fluids from the pipes.

Our departure is set for July 8th--one week from tomorrow.

Went Fishing

I spent last week up in Quebec on a smallish lake next to Goin Reservoir fishing with my buddy Joe M. for walleye and northern pike. The pike didn't get the message but we did catch over 200 walleye including one that tipped the scales at 6.5 pounds.

This was our 22nd or 23rd trip to the area with Oliver Broussard of Caesar's North Camps. We left the Aerie Friday afternoon at 3 and crossed the 1000 Islands bridge at the northern end of I-81. Moved east to Ottowa and then north through Mount Laurier before jumping on a dirt road (127 miles of dust) to head to Parent and finally Clova. The toatal distance was 620 miles by car. We then flew north for 20 minutes--at 100 mph--and were at our lake and our cabin by 9 AM.

We unpacked, rigged up our gear and were fishing in half an hour.

Needless to say, we had a fun week with only one afternoon of horrible weather. (Thunderstorms and hail swept in twice with just a brief two hours in between--and we even managed to get out and fish during that spell. We managed to get off the water and under shelter of the cabin both times.)

Our home for the week.

Joe in his position on the bow.

First night at the cabin we had a full moon.

Calm evening.
 

One of the many walleye that measured 20-25 inches.

Rainbow marks the location of one of the walleye spots we fished the first half of the week.

This walleye weighed in at 6.5 pounds.

The land north of the Laurentions is relatively flat and the sky is endless.

Clouds are numerous.

Montana has nothing on this "Big Sky" country.

A couple of days after the stroms, we spotted this huge plume of smoke rising from somewhere to the east of us--right where we had seen some lightening strikes. We watched two big, yellow tanker planes flying around ensuring that the fire didn't spread too far and wide. The smoke stopped before sun finally set around 9 PM.

We learned later that this fire wasn't likely to spread much. It was on an island on the Goin Reservoir.

Smoke!

Still, knowing how quickly a fire can spread when there's a bit of wind behind it, we spent Friday afternoon wondering if we might get evacuated a little early. (We were due to--and did--fly out Saturday morning at 8 AM.)

Finished Raised Bed

Before we left The Aerie for Long Grove, IL, I finished up the raised bed putting in a pair of gates and then installing rabbit fencing all around. Then I put in the tomatoes and peppers and herbs Terry had bought/saved from the old bed.

I think it turned out pretty good. Virtually everything was recycled except the cedar used for the gates. The hinges came from cabinets from our home in Dover (many, many years ago), the rabbit fence was left over from a separate project, and the wood was redwood decking from Morristown. At least things are getting used that I've saved--and moved--from house to house.

Since we left last Sunday, there's been plenty of rain so my only concern is that things may be too damp.

Visiting

Been visiting the last couple of days. At Cindy and John's house in Long Grove, Illinois where these folks are in for a week:

Rick, Chelsea and Sandy

Chelsea Rose

Why are they here? Sandy was down in Grinell, Iowa for her 10th reunion. They are taking the opportunity to visit friends as well as family before heading back to Portland.

Oh, and it was Rick's birthday today:

Could it be 33?

Birds galore.

Went out on a group bird walk this morning on the Railroad Grade Trail starting at Ive's Run. Beautiful morning with the temps starting at 57 degrees, partly cloudy skies and no wind. There were five of us and we were entertained by a couple of deer watching us, a snapping turtle laying her eggs, a painted turtle crossing the road--although it was imitating a rock when we spotted it in the middle of the road--and a plethora of birds. American Redstarts and Baltimore Orioles were everywhere along the trail as were the Veery, Vireos, and a number of other warblers. I recorded some 44 species:

 

Canada Goose
Mallard
Great Blue Heron
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo 

Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
American Robin
Gray Catbird

Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch

 

Working on the garden.

Spent today recycling more of the redwood from the Morristown deck. Turned it into a 42" high wall around the rebuilt raised bed garden. Well, the redwood formed the frame. Tomorrow I'll install the gate and tack up some chicken wire for a stop gap.

Then I can plant the tomatoes and peppers Terry picked up today along with the peppermint and chives we saved from the old garden.

Should be all done tomorrow afternoon. 

******

Today's weather was fantastic...except for that one hour when the heavens opened up. Temperatures were in the 60s most of the day and barely got above 70. Of course the humidity was in the same range! 

******

Spotted a fat ground hog out on the lawn today. It ran into the weeds as soon as it saw me. 

Rebuilding a raised bed garden (Part 3)

I was able to get out at 8 AM sharp and go to Lowes for the extra soil and pebbles that I needed. When I got home, I immediately went to work dumping the soil in the bed and then pouring the stone atop the weed guard along the edges of the bed. The latter will keep the weeds at bay (I hope!) and provide an open area to walk around the bed to work on the soil.

Finished bed being inspected by a chipmunk.

Nice and smooth. I like the concrete edging so much I may use it in several other projects.

River pebble and flat stone path along the back.

River pebbles line the front to keep the grass back. Yeah, the "lawn" needs some repair from the use of the backhoe.

River pebbles along the east side and weed guard at teh base of the lilac. I'm going to have to get some more river pebbles.

I also put some landscaper's cloth (the weed guard) around the two lilac bushes to control weeds under them. Those were held down with some of the flat stones I got out of the garden bed. I'll add some river pebbles one of these days to help smother the heck out of the weeds.

Finally, I took the rototiller to the soil in the bed, broke it up really fine and mixed it with the peat moss and preexisting soil to a depth of about eight inches. Then I raked it all nice and smooth and as level as I could.

Now it's all set for some plants! Terry will be picking up some tomato and pepper plants tomorrow while I contemplate how to put some fencing up to keep the critters at bay. They've never eaten the tomatoes but the peppers have had their struggle with ground hogs before.

Speaking of ground hogs, the family that was living under the shed (at least six little ones with a big momma) have apparently vacated the premises. I haven't seen them since I was talking about the merits of a .22 or 9 mm hollow point. Of course my constantly going up to the garage to sit in the shade every hour or so and going into the shed to get tools and such may have discouraged them. It was an easy live while we were away for two plus weeks, but I guess they don't like the company.

******

Then Terry and I made a run over to the dump. We had five bags of trash--a lot of it plastic bags from the garden soil and river pebbles, some recycling stuff, an old suitcase, an old toilet seat, and some other stuff that was just laying around we wanted to get rid of. At $3.00 a bag, it would have cost us a bundle to get rid of it all. As it was, because the clerk at the dump said our "load" was under 50 pound it would only cost us, well, $3.00. A bargain!

******

I mixed together a sprayer full of Round-Up and sprayed the plants that were growing in the other vegetable garden bed. Some of those "weeds" were gorgeous and I hated to do it to the daisies but the growth was too luxuriant to let stand. I hope to reclaim at least two of the beds before long. I may just cover them with weed barrier rather than plant anything there.

The other large bed needs to be completely replaced as it too was constructed of landscape timbers and they have rotted away. Currently it is one large 8' x 16' bed with a very steep drop--approximately 24"--on the downhill side. I'm thinking of making it into two beds 3' x 14' with a path between them. Sort of a terraced garden, if you will. This one may have to wait for August, however. There are trips to Chicago (1 week), Quebec (1 week), and Nova Scotia (3 weeks) between now and then. Besides, I need the time to get over my aches and muscle cramps.