Out and about in Bar Harbor!

We got up around 7 and it had been raining most of the night. The good news is today was supposed to be sunny and about 79 degrees. It was a bit chilly but we made some coffee to get us warmed up and then we made breakfast. I love cooking breakfast on the Coleman stove! The rain had stopped and today was laundry day. We went to the camp office and got some change and then headed up to the camp laundry. The machines were very cheap but they were also very old and it was already crowded at 8:30 in the morning. We found two machines and got started. The good thing was that we had good wifi. This allowed us to catch up on a few things online and it also gave Lyn a chance to call her sister Dominga in the Philippines. At one point soap started coming out of one of the machines and we had to run get a bowl to start emptying it. We figured that somehow we must of put two cups of detergent in one of the machines. Anyway problem diverted. Our plan for the day was to go into town and walk around Bar Harbor have lunch and then go on one of the loops of Acadia National Park. Bar Harbor has a really cool feel to it. Kind of like Key West with a dose of the northeast added in. I could definitely see spending a couple of weeks here. When we got down to Main Street we found a parking place and got Jasper out and headed out. There was a big fog that was surrounding us and you could only see a few hundred feet out into the harbor. The shops were great and there were lots of restaurants and bakeries. Lots of the businesses had water out for dogs. It was funny but Jasper seemed compelled to try each and every one. Kind of a way of marking his territory before he officially marked his territory later. Anyway in my book a town that has water out for dogs is my kind of town. While we were walking around there was a bakery that sold Whoopie Pies and we split one. Very good but not as good as the one we had in Lancaster, PA. Anyway we walked back down to the water and now we could easily see some huge islands just across the water. It is crazy how thick he fog is and how easily it comes and goes. We decided to get a lobster roll and have a little picnic in the park overlooking the water. What can I say…….. beautiful! After lunch we went to Acadia National Park to tour one of the loops. By the time we got to the first overlook the fog was back and all we could see was gray but as we climbed higher and we got above the fog the views became clearer. Finally our loop took us down to the beaches. The problem was that there was no parking anywhere. This place was super crowded. I always say more people should visit our national parks. I guess since this one is very accessible I should have expected more crowds. I would love to visit this park in September and when the summer crowds were no longer here. The park does a great job accommodating people and even offers free shuttle busses but of course Jasper is not allowed on that one. Anyway we finally found parking much further down the beach and Lyn and I went out and climbed on the rocky coast. It was very pretty and we would like to go back for sure. On the way back we noticed a Lobster shack right across from our campground. I looked it up on line and it had great reviews. We are planning on going there tomorrow night for dinner. One of the reviews made a special mention of their clam chowder. We decided to get a bowl and have it as an appetizer to Lyn’s meal. It was very good. Before dinner we took Jasper for a walk and noticed people picking berries out in a field. After checking it out we saw that they had blueberries as far as you could see. We picked a bunch and ate them right there. They were perfect and we plan on picking some more in the morning. We headed back to the campsite and Lyn fixed dinner while I built a fire. The dinner was pork, Sweet potatoes and stir-fried vegetables. Yum Yum! After that we sat around the fire and headed to bed around 9:45. We were worn out. Tomorrow we plan to repeat today and see more of Bar Harbor and another loop of Acadia.

View from Acadia!

Bar Harbor!

Blueberries at our campground.

View at our campsite.

Dinner time!

Home sweet home!

Acadia National Park!

On the side of the road.

Bar Harbor!

Night time ritual.

Acadia National Park!

Out and about.

Bar Harbor Bound!

Well it rained all night last night. We had read the weather forecast and had packed up all of our stuff the night before so all we had left was our tent. I had never packed up our tent in the flat out rain so this was a first. Lyn got everything packed up inside and then I took everything to the car and then took down the tent. When I rolled it up it was soaking wet. I shoved it in the bag and threw it in the car. One way or another we were off to Bar Harbor Maine. The plan was to stop along the way as it was about 8.5 hours away. After about 45 minutes we made it to Confederation Bridge and decided to stop for breakfast at Tim Hortons. It is a super popular chain up here and is actually pretty good. It is somewhat of a cross between Starbucks and McDonalds if that is possible. As we drove the rain kept coming down but it was really easy driving and for the most part there was very little traffic. Sometimes we would see a railroad track that would come right through the middle of the highway. Not sure how this worked when you were flying along but we never saw an actual train cross the highway. We drove and drove and could not seem to get out of the rain so we kept on driving and finally we hit the US border. We waited in line for about 10 minutes and then it was our turn. The guy that talked to us was a cross between serious and funny. He asked all the usual questions and then asked how I knew Lyn and then asked how long we have been married and when her birthday was. Luckily I passed! We had one thing in the car that concerned me. Lyn’s friend had given us a big bag of dried Taro leaves so that she could use them to make my new favorite dish La-ing. There was nothing illegal about bringing them across the border but they did look suspicious. But luckily all of us in the car all passed inspection even with a big batch of dried leaves in an unmarked plastic bag. There is something to say for the feeling of coming back into your home country. It is kind of that same feeling you get on the 4^th of July. We felt proud to be back. However Canada was full of friends and family and I can honestly say that it is one of the friendliest places we have ever been. We are so thankful to all of our friends, families and even complete strangers that made our trip the special trip that it was. We will be back for sure. If you have ever thought about going you should be making your plans right now!

Once we passed the border we had less than three hours to make it to Bar Harbor so we decided to go for it. Besides it was still raining and I did not want to set up camp in the rain. Bar Harbor is also the home of Acadia National Park. We are hoping to camp there but without reservations you have to get there early in the morning just to have a chance at a site. We went to the visitor center and bought our park pass for $25. It is good for 7 days. They told us the campgrounds were full so we headed out of the park to find a commercial campground. We had seen three on the way in.  One thing I love about camping in a National Park is that you usually have more room on your site and between sites. You also are usually more surrounded by trees. KOA’s are convenient but usually you are on a small piece of grass with no trees between you and your neighbor. Anyway we stopped at a place called Bar Harbor Campground. I went in the office and as soon as I walked in my phone started to beep with messages. Ahhhh good wifi that is surely a plus as we do not have data on our phones even here in the states. The owner told us to take the map and go pick our own campsite and then comeback and tell him which one. Lyn and I drove around and loved everything we saw about this campground. The lots were big and heavily wooded. It reminded me of camping when I was little. We picked a site and left a cooler there to claim it. When I went back to register he told me that they did not do credit cards or debit cards so I wrote him a check and we were on our way. The rain had stopped and the sun came out so we set up camp and let the tent dry out a bit. It was still only 4 in the afternoon so we went into town to get some groceries and headed back to camp for dinner. As Lyn cooked dinner lots of kids were out playing and several introduced themselves and asked to pet Jasper. After dinner I built a fire and we enjoyed sitting around and just relaxing. The temperature was going to get down to 59 tonight. In other words about perfect! Tomorrow we will explore the town of Bar Harbor and see what it has to offer.

Breakfast!

Back in moose country!

Welcome home!

Bar Harbor Campground

Drying the tent.

Dinner time!

Best showers yet but they are not free!

Out and about in P.E.I.

Well last night was cold again so we called up Jasper early and all slept pretty good. Tonight is supposed to be about 10 degrees warmer. Fingers crossed. After walking Jasper, I cooked breakfast and we decided to head out and visit a few places. Before we left Lyn gave me a quick haircut. (Looking good!) The first stop would be at the Green Gables Heritage Place. This is the place were Canada’s best selling novel of all time Anne of Green Gables was written. The Author L. M. Montgomery grew up at her grandparent’s house nearby and would often walk to this place and visit family. The grounds have some original buildings that have been restored in great detail. Even though Lyn and I had never read the book it was very interesting. One cool side note is that Jasper was welcome in any of the outside areas so after we toured the buildings we got Jasper and walked the “Haunted Woods” trail. By the time we got done it was time for lunch. We went to a place called “The Beach” and had our first Lobster roll with fries. It was very good and we are looking forward to more lobster as we head into Maine. We decided to visit Charlottetown which was about an hour away. We spent several hours there walking and going in shops and just walking around the harbor. It is very pretty and deserves another trip back in the future. On the way back we drove through another national park and went on the beach and got our feet wet. The water was freezing but several swimmers were swimming so I guess you could get use to it but we decided not to give it a try. Finally we got home about 4:30 and took a nap. I like the idea of the daily nap. We will see how if we can continue this practice in the future. After our nap we fixed dinner partially by me as one item involved boiling a bag for 5 minutes. Yea something I can cook without burning it. After dinner we decided to head up to a pace were I had found good free wifi. Our Campground has wifi but whenever a bunch of campers are on it, it slows down to a stop. We went up to the store parking lot and jumped on their wifi and I finally got the blog loaded up and we got caught up on everything else. At about 9 we headed back and decided to call it a night. It is supposed to rain so we have the car totally packed all we will have to do is pack up the tent and we will be ready to go. We have decided to head for Bar Harbor, Maine. Our original plan was to head up the tip of Nova Scotia but we have decided to save that for another time. We need to be back by August 1^st and that will just be too tight. Anyway we are looking forward to a little warmer temperature at night.

Breakfast

Free Haircut

Green Gables

Green Gables

Green Gables

Green Gables

Green Gables

Green Gables

Green Gables

Charlottestown

Charlottestown

Charlottestown

Charlottestown

Charlottestown

Charlottestown

Charlottestown

Charlottestown

Charlottestown

Out and about!

Home Sweet Home

Prince Edward Island

We woke about 6 and let me just say that was the coldest night yet! We actually called Jasper up to sleep between us so we could all share in the warmth. He crawled in and seemed very thankful to be there. He did not move the rest of the night. It was great. Occasionally an arm or leg would pop out of the covers and you would wake up freezing but all in all we made it. At about 6:30 AM I went to get something out of the car and by accident hit the panic button on my key fob. Let me just say that the panic button does create a panic when you are in a campground full of people trying to sleep. Ha Ha ,well I hope they enjoyed their early start to the day. I cooked breakfast and we walked Jasper and really admired this beautiful place. As the sun came up the temperature rose and there was actually no need for a sweatshirt. It was kind of crazy when we remembered how we were freezing just a few hours ago. Anyway we got showers and packed up camp and then headed out. We made a quick stop for a few groceries and filled up on gas. Now we were ready for the 4 hour trip to our campground on Prince Edward Island. Our drive there was uneventful thank goodness. To get on the island you have to cross an 8 mile bridge. It was pretty amazing because it was flat out 8 miles over water. At no point did we touch land the entire way. Now a bridge like this does not come cheap and the price is $45 to cross it. You do not pay until you leave the island. After getting across the bridge our GPS took us on what felt like back roads. We were out in farmland. We passed a lot of bright yellow fields that we later found out were canola fields. Some of the farmers had switched to canola to try to get a better price then their other crops. I am not sure if it was working but it was beautiful. We decide to camp at the KOA again as the campground we were going to did not have electricity and water at the site. We can camp like that but it s just a little too much trouble chasing power so we settled for the KOA. We actually ended up with a nice grassy spot. Jasper was glad to get out and settle into his bed outside of the tent. We decided to go exploring and drove down to Rustico Bay. It had boats for hire as well as fishing boats and a few tourist things. The one thing we noticed is that there were no tourist their. It was a pretty remote area for sure. On the way back we learned that we could go into the National park area and ride back along the coast. What a treat! It was amazing. We stopped at overlook after overlook. We would see nothing but sheer cliffs with very rich red dirt. It was almost haunting. The cliffs reminded e of every movie I had ever seen where a person ran out to the cliff and contemplated jumping. Anyway there were signs everywhere telling you to be careful and not fall and we followed their instructions to perfection. We even found a few places that aloud us to get down to the beach. After about an hour of stopping and taking pictures we ended up back at our campsite. Lyn fixed pork chops, potatoes and salad. Yum yum! We sat around for a while after dinner and felt the temperature dropping. Yikes here we go again. We went to bed around 9:30 and called it a night. It is supposed to get down to the low 50’s tonight. That is much better than last night for sure. Tomorrow we are going to head out and explore this beautiful place. 

Finally Cavendish PEI

Coastline

Coastline

Coastline

Coastline

Coastline

Coastline

Careful!

Camp Jasper!

New Brunswick

Well the temperature did get down to about 45 last night. We were really not prepared for that in fact I told Lyn to leave one of our blankets at home to create more room in the car. I can still picture it on the couch. We had read about temperatures in the 50’s and thought we were prepared. Anyway it was a cold night. Luckily Lyn had a sleeping bag that allowed her to stay warm while I tossed and turned a bit. Anyway we got up about 7 and walked Jasper. I fixed Lyn some coffee and a kind of make do breakfast. In other words make do with what we had in the cooler. I fixed scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese. This with the coffee hit the spot. It both warmed us up and got us going! Today would be a travel day. We were headed to Prince Edward Island which was over 9 hours away. We decided to stop in New Brunswick along the way and break up the driving a bit. We would follow the Canada Transcontinental Highway the entire way. It was beautiful with lots of warnings about Moose crossings! We never actually saw one and I guess that is a good thing. We stopped at the New Brunswick Visitor center that was nice in just about every way. They had great picnic areas and a great information center complete with Wifi. We hung out there for about 30 minutes and got information on a campground that we could stay at for the night. Finally after several more hours of driving we saw the turn for our campground. We turned off the exit but our GPS said we had 25 minutes left to go. Oh well we decided to follow and see what happened. We took turn after turn after turn and ended up going through a very rural neighborhood that ended at a dead end that turned into our campground. When I pulled up to the little registration house it had a sign on it that said working in the back yard. Finally a lady came out that had the same surprised look that we did. Anyway we were not 100% convinced about this place but she gave us a map and showed us where the tent campers could camp. She told us to go pick a place and come back and we would settle up. Well we went over a hill and saw a beautiful lake and as luck would have it they had several spots available right on the lake. We went back up and told her the spot we wanted and for $29 we could have a little spot of heaven for the night. We drove back down to the site and set up camp. It was about 65 degrees and sunny. In other words about perfect. I went back to get ice and firewood and she reminded me to have Jasper on a leash at all times unless I took him swimming and then no leash was required. Love it!. The firewood was only $5 and came with 14 pieces with kindling and newspaper. They also said they would deliver it to our site. This was a deal for sure. We went back to our site and Lyn fixed a great dinner. When we finished a guy showed up with the wood and we were treated to a nice fire to sit by before we went to bed. Tonight is going to be cold again. May just have to let Jasper join us for the extra warmth. Tomorrow we head for Prince Edward Island and will see whatever it has to offer.

Breakfast!

Some of the best instant coffee!

New Brunswick Visitor center.

Now we are on Atlantic time!

View from our Campsite!

And we had great Wifi!

Dinner time!

Jasper time!

Camp fire!