End of the World

June 30, 2013

Beautiful lupin grows wild everywhere.

We drove along the upper eastern peninsula of PEI, leaving Stratford, our home base near Charlottetown, at 9:00 a.m. to visit East Point.

Two days ago we were at the far northwest end of the island, North Cape, where we were presented with a ribbon for this "remarkable" achievement. At East Point we each received a ribbon and a certificate for getting ourselves to both places, presented by the Visitor Center staffer who was a native of Baffin Island.

Everywhere is red soil. This is East Point coastline being gradually eroded by the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

We looked for seals who return for the summer months; they were spotted here yesterday.

Paul's intrepid PT Cruiser is our means of transport.

The East Point Lighthouse was built the same year Canada was unified, July 1, 1867, and still stands guard over the northeastern shore of PEI. After being blamed for the 1882 wreck of the British "Phoenix", the lighthouse was moved closer to shore.

We had oyster stew in the little cafe next door.

End of the World is here!

We drove to Basin Head Provincial Park (check out the map.) we saw the provincial museum Basin Head Fisheries Museum, then stepped out to the star attraction, the sweeping sand of golden Basin Head Beach. Many islanders rank this as their favorite beach.

The sand is famous for its singing - well, squeaking - when you walk on it. I tried this out but the noise of the waves and wind drowned out the singing sand.

There is a lifeguard on duty to the far left in the photo.

There was a 6 year old girl playing at the shore in her swimsuit and parents nearby in chairs bundled up in jackets.

Is summer here yet?

Wading in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is cold, but not cold like a mountain lake.

In the gift shop was my old friend Raggedy Ann and her sisters.

Prince Edward Island

We are staying in Summerside having rainy days. We drove a 150 mile loop up to North Cape where there is a wind farm and had lunch in Tignish. Paul and Adelle ordered "Fries with the Works" which is a tower of fries, gravy, hamburger and peas on top. Melted cheese if desired.
I liked being there with the locals many of whom were working men also enjoying Fries with the Works.

We drove to "Crooked Barn Pottery Studio". No one was there but the door was open. Inside the sign on the desk said "self-seve today". High trust level around PEI.

Acadian country: we saw this impressive Catholic Church and visited an Acadian Provincial Museum.

Two photos from the Acadian Museum:

1. Jean-Pierre Gallant et ses fils (John Peter Gallant and sons)

2. Five generations of the Poirer family, 1903; this family is from Tignish and features 5 generations of Acadians born between 1806 and 1898. L to R: Joseph, Francois, Jean, Gilbert, & Colas.

Dollar stores are popular here. So are inexpensive rain ponchos.

Canada Day Monday, July 1. Happy Dominion Day celebration in Sobey's grocery store.

Saint Dunstan Cathedral in old town Charlottestown.

In Charlottestown at the Anne of Green Gables store.

World War I (Great War) monument in front of the Province House National Historic Site. It was here in 1864, within the Confederation Chamber, that 23 representatives of Britain's North American colonies first discussed the creation of Canada.

We were too early in the summer season to see actors in period garb wander the halls performing a reenactment of the famous conference.

Guess who stars in the popular local musical advertised in the newspaper?

I bought and read Anne of Green Gables, published in 1908, two days ago; the descriptions of natural beauty are a major feature of the book. I am not seeing what the author described; instead there are a many tidy, scenic, well-kept farms here.

Maybe the island was wilder in 1908.

Boondocking near Hopewell Rocks

A view out the T@b window; boondocking is near Cape Enrage on the Bay of Fundy.

We arrived in fog and saw it the next morning. You can see the tide a ways out.

Believe it or not, we had a lot of company here. Tourists would jump out of the cars, snap a photo of the water, and leave shortly.

Braving the wind. Here you see the tide in.

This aerial photo shows the Hopewell Rocks location, a few miles north of Cape Enrage. You can also see the Bay of Fundy which has the highest tides in the world (accounting for the reverse waterfall effect). Also you can spot Prince Edward Island where we are going next. There is an eleven kilometer bridge between New Brunswick and PEI.

Ripley called these land formations "flowerpots" in 1936.

We arrived at the Park before 8:30 am and there were so many people there! I didn't know it was one of the most popular tourist destinations in Canada.

We had a terrific Provincial Ranger, Sharon, take us up the beach for an hour showing the land formations. On her iPad she had one of them crumbling, a video taken by a Texas tourist. Also she showed us time lapse of tide in and tide out.

I wanted to ride around in a kayak but it was sort of cold, and the price was high for the service.

Apple on the beach! Don't let it tip over.

Canadian $20 with new polymer strip; turn it and image appears of Queen Elizabeth and Canadian Parliament tower. It doesn't work in the change machine at the the laundromat.

New Brunswick

Saint John is the largest city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, and the second largest in the maritime provinces. It is known as the Fundy City due to its location on the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River.

We were boondocking seventy feet from this view.

My photo looks like a promotional one I saw on a brochure, and, well, you could hardly miss with this amazing view. For awhile we saw a waterfall here; a few hours later the tide turned the whole thing upriver and there was no hint of a waterfall. I had to see it to believe it.

Rockwood Park is a city park in Saint John, New Brunswick. It is one of Canada's largest urban parks. The park encompasses miles of upland Acadian mixed forest, many hills and several caves, as well as several freshwater lakes, with an extensive trail network, a golf course and the city's zoo.

We saw many monuments and provincial flags here.

Whoops, I forgot to take pictures. But why?

The shock of no longer having phone/text ability made me think the iPhone had to be put away; however, after the shock of cutting off most communications, I remembered that the iPhone is my camera too. (!)

Also, a new GPS that I had bought in Maine stopped working the minute I crossed into Canada!
(Hmmm, good idea to check for Canadian maps next time.)

Well, it turned out my old GPS from 2009 had Canadian maps on it. So I used that until I arrived at Costco in Moncton to trade in the new Garmin for one with Canadian maps.

I think it was one of the busiest Costcos I have ever seen.

This has all been difficult because I have become used to cell phone map technology, but I won't have access to that for six weeks from now until I cross the border back into Maine.

Meanwhile, back to satellite GPS and learning the updates on it's technology. It talks to you if you say the exact right thing. Unlike Siri, it has no sense of humor.

All this is enough to make me downright grouchy.

Campobello

Right over the Canadian border from Maine is Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's summer getaway.

It is kept in pristine condition. I liked seeing it because recently I was in Warm Springs, Georgia to see the Roosevelts' place, and a few years back, 1998, in Hyde Park to see the family's home and Presidential Library. Visiting all three homes gives a good sense of their lives.

Time for dinner with a view overlooking the bay.

What was odd was having Canadian docents interpret the Roosevelts - definitely a different take.

The Roosevelt family was active and the house reflects their love of the outdoors.

The Roosevelt family loved the tranquility; the property remained in their hands until 1952 when it was sold by Elliott Roosevelt (Franklin and Eleanor's fourth child) to Victor Hammer and his brother Armand Hammer of Boston and they owned it up until 1963. The Hammers said Eleanor was always welcome to come whenever she pleased, and her last visit was in 1962 to attend the opening of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge connecting Campobello Island to Lubec, Maine.

Near Campobello is West Quoddy Head in Lubec, Maine. It is the easternmost point of the contiguous United States and the closest point to Europe from a point in the fifty States.

West Quoddy Head overlooks Quoddy Narrows, a strait between Canada and the United States. Since 1808, there has been a lighthouse there to guide ships through the waterway. The current one, with distinctive red-and-white stripes, was built in 1858.

This view of Quoddy Head is from Campobello Island.

Another photo from Campobello Island.

We drove to the Quoddy Head Lighthouse and visited the little Visitor Center there.

More Acadia

Cadillac Mountain is located on Mount Desert Island within Acadia National Park. With an elevation of 1,528 feet, its summit is the highest point within 25 miles of the shoreline of the North American continent between the Cape Breton Highlands, Nova Scotia and Mexican peaks 180 miles south of the Texas border.

What a great view!

Proud to have arrived at Cadillac Mountain after thousands of miles and five months on the road.

Before being renamed in 1918, the mountain had been called Green Mountain. The new name honors the French explorer and adventurer, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac.

Hiking marker.

Nice art in the gift shop.

The Schoodic Peninsula, containing the only portion of Acadia National Park on the mainland, has granite headlands, rocky beaches, and spruce-fir forests. Although similar in scenery to Mount Desert Island, the coast of the Schoodic Peninsula is more secluded.

Who painted the rocks?

A six-mile, one-way loop road offers views of lighthouses, sea birds, and forested islands.

Our boondocking site was just south of the Canadian border near Mahar Point and a place named Reversing Falls.

The view out the T@b window. Beautiful, but the Mosquitos were seriously at work.

Let's hear it for the Final Four of over twenty RVers who began this journey from the West Coast last winter!