The Maine Coast

A final view of New Brunswick

As we left New Brunswick, I took a picture of an exit sign showing what is available at the exit.  The signs have pictures and I really don't know what they are trying to depict.  The spinning wheel probably means that there is yarn or wool available, but what does the pot with a hand under it mean?  It is a common sign that has baffled me for days! Perhaps it indicates a creamatorium.

The day we left was cloudy with flat light.  Not the best for taking pictures.  We drove through many sea coast small towns on our way to Acadia National Park.  The towns are remarkable for their old picturesque houses two feet from the narrow roads and the ever present church steeples.  The leaves in Maine were showing full spectacular color in the dull gray light.  We camped for three days in Acadia at the Sea Wall camp ground for the last three days it was open in 2010.  It was a pretty, secluded and very deserted place to camp.  We walked to the Bass Harbor Head lighthouse, but couldn't see much of the view because of the fog.

Rock erotion demonstration!

Lovely day!

We took a day trip to Bar Harbor which is obviously dependent on tourism for its income.  Almost all of the businesses were gift shops, B & Bs, restaurants and bars.  Lobster heavily influences all menus and gift themes.   We walked up and down the main streets and viewed the harbor.  I especially loved seeing an old tall ship boarding tourists for a cruise as a modern cruise ship motored out of the harbor.  We didn't go to the top of Cadillac "Mountain" (at 1528 feet tall, us Washingtonians have difficulty calling it a mountian) as it was covered in clouds and we would not be able to see the views.  The sea shore is quite rocky and beaches are limited.  We had lunch at one nearby restaurant offering free internet.  I had the most wonderful lobster bisque I could imagine.  Mike had a BLT with two very skinny pieces of bacon and a few pieces of tomato skin.  When he complained, the waitress told him that the skins are tomato too.

Birch bark canoe

                                                                   Old and new

                                                        Lobster town USA

                                                                      More birch bark canoe


When we left Acadia, we went to Camden and camped in the Camden Hills campground.  I found the campground to be delightfully beautiful.  We arrived in rain that lasted through the day, but the next day was the kind of sunny autumn day that I usually only dream of.  And!  There was an arts street fair in town.  I loved Camden.  While it is a tourist town, much like Bar Harbor, it seems to have worked a little harder to maintain its northeast charm.  We strolled through the art booths and saw some incredible local talent.  We succumbed to locally made ice cream cones and soaked in the sun in autumninal bliss.

                                                                 Tamarack/Larch changing

                                                         Light house

Friends

                                     I didn't realize that the Civil War was called the Great Rebellion.

The Thinker!

                                                     
Camden Hills also has a "mountain".  It is around 900 feet tall and does provide beautiful views of Camden and the surrounding seas.  In the park we also saw many people walking horses up to an "event" though we never quite discovered what the event was.  They did not have saddles with them, so if they rode on the trails, they did it bareback.  We left Maine with saddness and I would love to go back!  In the Spring, Summer or Fall that is.  Visit Camden!  You will love it!

Back through New Brunswick

We crossed into New Brunswick intending to head south along the Atlantic Coast. We stopped at the same lucky Casino, but this time we gave back $20. But we are still $150 ahead. We left, thinking we were heading south, but soon discovering we were heading north instead. No wrong turns, so we camped in Shediac, New Brunswick, by the beach. The next morning we drove south, to Fundy National Park where we had intended to go the day before. We learned later that while we were camped in Shediac, someone stole some sewer pipe and the center pieces to our hub caps during the night. We have been so trusting on this journey and I would hate to lose our faith in other campers. Making new friends is half the fun. But I am feeling more leery about leaving our possessions unguarded.

We stopped at “The Rocks” which is a park on the ocean that boasts having the highest tides in North America. When the tide is out, you can walk on the “ocean floor” between tall spire type rocks. We arrived at high tide and I asked the young man collecting entrance fees what you could see at high tide. He said, “well, you can see that the tops of the rocks look like they are floating in the water”. I have to give him credit for trying to make it sound exciting. We opted not to pay the $20 and go on to Fundy.

Fundy has a pretty campground with several maple trees. Many of them had started to change color and I was mesmerized. Such intense colors! We took a four mile walk down to the beach and through the woods. From the beach we could see Nova Scotia. We found two apple trees and picked some apples that made wonderful apple pie and apple sauce though I am sure that we looked a little amusing with our pockets stuffed with apples. The weather was clear, warmish and pleasant.

McDonalds does evolve with its environment!

One STEEP hill!

Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island

We agreed to meet our neighbors for breakfast at 8:00 a.m. They knocked on our door at 7:00 and said that they were ready. No problem. We just hurriedly got ready. We had a nice breakfast in Picou, NS and discussed similarities in our lives, Nova Scotia must sees and general life philosophy. We returned to purchase some lobster, and found the store open when we arrived a little earlier than it was supposed to open. Great, we could buy our lobster and get on our way. Then we drove to Cape Breton Island. We saw cashmere goats (we used to raise them) and lavender farms much like home. The tall hills and pine forests along coastal ways also reminded me of Whidbey Island. There were many charming towns such as Gosling Glen and Duckling Dell which were near each other. I was also fascinated to see that most place names were marked with bi-lingual signs; not French, but in English and Gaelic. Names that take one or two words in English seem to take four or five in Gaelic.

We camped outside of Baddeck, NS and I went into town, about 4:00 p.m. to see if I could get a haircut. I went into one shop and the woman sitting there said that the beautician had gone home. I thought she left a little early, and asked if there was another place in town she could recommend. She gave me a look that said “I can’t believe you are asking this”, and said, “not at this hour”. I went back to the campground and asked about the time only to learn that we had missed a time change when we entered New Brunswick. No wonder our neighbors showed up so early in the morning and the lobster shop was open. We had functioned for three days on the wrong time!

Disintegrating roads here too!

Bras D'Or Lake

                                                             Common sight!

                                                      Wind blown old farts!

The next day we drove around Cape Breton Island, a trip of about 180 miles. We saw beautiful beaches and took a long walk on Ingonish Beach. We went over a pass by White Hill that at 1745 feet is the highest point in Nova Scotia. We stopped at galleries, view points and one ice cream store that DID have milk shakes. It was a wonderful day.



I went to an AA meeting that was very interesting. Prior to the meeting I asked a gentleman what people did in the area to earn a living. He said that most of the people there worked in the coal mines. Checking on-line after the meeting, I learned that Cape Breton Island has two underground coal mines. I don’t know where they are; we didn’t see any sign of them. The same gentleman had to cough after every two words. I suspect he has lung problems from coal dust. So sad! The accents at the meeting had so much brogue that I only understood about half of what was said, and much of what I did understand included an “eh” at the end. I loved the meeting. Attending meetings is such an opportunity to really see what the local culture is like.

I hated to leave the Island. In some ways it is so much like home with lavender and fish and beaches, but it also has more snow, which I miss on Whidbey Island and the people are very colorful. I could easily live there if the Canadian government allowed me to and my family agreed to move with me. I must visit again!