Crossing New Brunswick and entering Nova Scotia

We entered New Brunswick on a gray day in the middle of the province.  We drove around Fredericton rather than through it and took the freeway to Moncton where we planned on staying at a casino.  We arrived to signs all over the parking lot that read "no overnight camping".  We went inside and asked why and were told that "the neighbors complained."  We looked around and the only "neighbors" was the hotel next door owned by the same tribal group as the casino.  We decided to take our usual $5.00 each to see what we could do.  We walked out forty minutes later carrying $180.  Not bad for the penny slots.  The staff told us about two nearby campgounds.  We couldn't find one and don't believe that it really exists, and the other was closed.  We decided to drive on. and landed in a campgound just across the border of Nova Scotia. What a long day!

We noticed that when in New Brunswick, if you want to paint your house, you go to the store and buy "house paint".  You don't need to specify the color because all of the houses are white.  Old houses, young houses, small houses, big houses, they all are white!  While the freeway did not have the soundproofing walls that destroy the idea of scenery, the freeway was bordered by a 20 foot deep band of forest, so that anything else was hard to see.  We did stop at a couple of small towns.  I surprised at how much french influence there is.  When I asked one gallery owner if the locals say "eh", she said no, that only the people in Ontario say "eh".  I beg to differ, it is very common in British Columbia and Alberta as well.

We didn't see the ocean until we crossed into Nova Scotia.  And initially the ocean water was very brown.  I didn't know whether it was because we were on the edge of Hurricane Igor, or if it was the normal color.  After a few days, I learned that it was from the red dirt that rivers flowing into the ocean pass through. The first night we stopped in a very empty campground.  It was late and we just cooked some dinner and went to bed.  The next morning, we followed the north coast of Nova Scotia.  We stopped in Pugwash to stretch our legs.  It is a quaint little town with a wonderful art gallery, and we didn't see one dirty pug.  I guess they had all been washed.  

 We camped at Caribou Provincial Park near Picou, Novia Scotia.  The wind  from Hurricane Igor was really blowing by the time we arrived at camp and continued until late in the evening when it suddenly stopped. Who knew that we would be affected by a huruicane so far north in Canada!  The camp was on a bluff looking out over the ocean and the park was charming.   Bernie and I went for a long walk on the beach.I was taking pictures and got down on my knees to photograph the beach.  I looked in the viewfinder expecting to see sand and sea weed, but instead, there was Bernie, looking very serious.  The birds were playing in the wind and we walked and walked. The gulls here are a brown color rather than white and gray like the ones at home. At one place I saw many oysters sitting on the beach and began excitedly collecting some for dinner.  Then I saw the sign that said shellfish on this beach were not safe for human consumption.  It made me want to not be human.  Darn! 

Sheltered plants.

Same kind of plants in the wind.

view from camp

We went to a local fishing warf to buy some lobster, and found that they would not be open until the next day.  We were so disappointed that we went into Picou and had great fish and chips at a local restaurant.Of course we returned the next day and got two live lobsters.  (When I cooked them, they did not immediately stop moving in the boiling water like crabs usually do.  I am sorry lobsters!)

Every post has a bird!

We pulled out the camp chairs, sat by the fire and watched the moon rise over the ocean.  We talked with our neighbors some.  They are from Halifax but come to this park frequently.  He is retired from Canada Air so he and Mike had much to talk about.  We agreed to go to breakfast the next morning and they said that they would stop by our camp at 8 a.m.

Maine

We entered Northern Maine, driving south from Quebec on a beautiful sunny morning. We continued south until Guildford in mid-Maine and then turned east heading for New Brunswick. We will return to Southern Maine after visiting Nova Scotia. The woods quickly showed more maple trees than we had seen, and the maple trees are beginning to turn yellow and orange. The woods continued throughout our cross-Maine drive. They are thick and have many types of trees including pines, cedars, birch and maples. We climbed many hills and coasted down the other sides which gave us many views of the beautiful forests.

Green like this takes lots of rain! (or snow)

Moose warnings are posted continually on all of the roads we traveled, but we saw no moose. Lakes and rivers are numerous so that waterfront property is available in many places. The first night we stopped at an abandoned rock quarry to spend the night, and heard people nearby either hunting or target practicing nearby. (There were many moose tracks and some scat.) The next afternoon, we drove by a garage sale that appeared to have many tools. Mike turned around, unable to pass up the opportunity to peruse tools ( he claimed to need tools to repair the spare tire). The sale was being held by two men in Lee, Maine. One of the men had a moose antler which did enchant me, but he wanted $250 for it. The other man was the local fire chief, paramedic, garbage collector and a permanent garage sale operator. He not only had a tool Mike needed to rotate the tires, but also had a used tire that Mike bought to use as a spare. He advised us that we could park behind a public storage facility for the night which we did. Later he came by and took Mike to use the fire department’s compressor to fill the tire. Again we met some very nice people. He informed us that it was bear hunting season and that this was a very popular sport. We saw several men, dressed in their hunting finest the next morning at a gas station/store. I wouldn’t mess with the men or the bears!

Do these warning signs count as promises?

Unique yard art!

You don't see these in Washington!

Look at the small covered passage between the house and barn.

I picked up a real estate pamphlet to see how expensive it would be to live in Maine. There are many advertisements for properties priced at $90,000 that look desirable. Waterfront properties with acreage are available for $150,000. One listing had 80 riverside acres for $60,000. And the over $300,000 that one pays in Western Washington for reasonable accommodations buys luxurious and/or large quarters. I would really consider moving to Maine if I didn’t know that a lot of snow is coming! (Not to mention that it is quite a distance from family and friends!) The towns we passed through were very quaint. The houses like those in Ontario and Quebec, hug the road. Churches all have tall spires which leave no question as to the religious purpose of the buildings. It is all very charming.

Quebec

We entered Quibec province by crossing the Ottawa River.  As soon as we drove into the province, all signs were in French only.   It seemed strange when all the other provinces seem to try hard to be bi-lingual and in Quebec, the only English signs were in heavily touristed areas.  We drove north of Montreal and east to Quebec City.  We continued to see old houses close to the road and many small towns.  We passed through corn fields and some sunflowers.  We saw a cow-wow of cows saying "cowabunga, how do we get to California?  It's going to get cold here?" but the farmers didn't understand because the cows only spoke English and the farmers only French.  There were many dairy cows chomping on grass.  The road went through many hills which got rockier and rockier as we went east.

We stopped in Trois_Rivieres for gas, and decided to buy milk shakes.  We went to Tim Hortons.  No milkshakes.  Then to a local fastfood joint named Mikes.  No milkshakes.  So we resorted to McDonalds.  It was a big and very busy McDonalds.  I waited in line for at least 20 minutes.  And even McDonalds didn't have milkshakes.  I guess Quebecians don't like them.

I didn't realize that the Catholic Church was so prevelant in Quebec.  We saw very few other churches, but every small town had large church spires on top of a cathedral.  We drove to St. Nicolas, Quebec just outside of Quebec City and camped at a KOA.  The day we arrived it was quite rainy.  That night we did drive through the local town, and it was the darkest, stormiest night I have seen in a long time.  A camping club of about 200 VRs (vehicles recreational in French) arrived with French speaking families.  Aparrently this group gets together frequently from various areas of Quebec.  There was much laughter, card games, bouche ball and the people really seemed to enjoy themselves.  They were not quick to talk to strangers, and when we tried we found that they didn't speak English.  It was fun to watch and listen to them.

On Friday we drove into Quebec and parked in the basement parking lot of an old building.  Now I understand why the locals drive small cars.  Getting parked in our large truck was quite the process and we ended up taking two stalls end to end, because none of the stalls were long enough.  We walked for four hours looking at the beautiful old city.  I loved it!  I had taken four years of French in highschool but had never really used it.  And I also took Spanish in college and then confused both languages together.  I was very surprised when phrases that I needed and hadn't thought of forever popped into my head.  Amazing - where does that old information stay in my brain?  My accent didn't pop back.  I was purchasing post cards and the clerk was speaking in French and I was doing fine until I said "merci".  It was all I said, but enough that she immediately switched to English.  I was disappointed.


We first went to the provential government building.  We were admiring the old structure when suddenly, six or eight ambulances drove into the traffic circle in front of the building with all their sirens and horns blazing and continued to drive around and around the circle completely stopping any other traffic.  They were accompanied by two school buses full of men and woman wearing jackets that said Ambulance.  As they poured out of the buses they were yelling and waving flags.  They lit several flares and continued to make an orderly rucus for almost half an hour.  Guards came out of the government building, talked on their radios, consulted each other and stood and watch.  Then the ambulances left, the men and women got into the buses and left and everyone returned to what they were doing beforehand.   I didn't understand anything they said, so really don't know what all the rucus was about.  It does appear that free speech is valued in Canada too!

We walked through the narrow streets looking at shops, stopped to eat at a terrace overlooking the St. Lawrence river, went to the Citadel, through the Cathedrale Notre-Dame-de-Quebec.  Even though I am not catholic, I love going through old cathedrals.  I loved the narrow boulevards and alleys and sidewalk cafes. Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in the western hemisphere and was founded in 1607 - about the same time as James Town.  It also is the only city in North America that has some of the old wall around it reminaing.   I would love to spend a month or so in Quebec City!

Alley ways

Entrance into the Citadel

Residential buildings

Old court house

These two cherub/angels are so fat they cracked me up!

Gate towers from old wall

Houses.



The sign reads 1723 latrine

ruins from the original wall around the city

Cathedrale Notre-Dame-de-Quebec - building began in the 1600s

When we left the city, we drove south into Main.  I saw several signs that identified the highway as the route that John F. Kennedy traveled.  I don't know when or why he traveld that way, but apparently the Quebecians cared.  We also saw many moose warning signs, but no moose.