Today did not turn out to be as productive as I had
hoped. I headed to St. Martins by way of
the Fundy Scenic Drive. My GPS took me
off Hwy 114 down a gravel road, and it got worse from there. I drove around on logging ATV roads for 2
hours totally lost and about out of gas!
When I was on fumes I saw a “cottage” and stopped for help. Of course, no cell service. The two gentlemen (Guardian Angels #3) were
“up” for the long weekend and shared some of their ATV gas with me … enough to
get to town … with directions on how to get there. I filled my tank and started again on my way.
As a refresher – Guardian Angel #1 gave me a diet Coke at
the lighthouse when I was really thirsty and didn’t have any Canadian money;
Guardian Angel #2 was the oil rig mechanic and his wife that helped me with the
tow bar.
First stop was in St. John at the museum …. Only there was
no place to park and it was lunch time so the entire market plaza was
packed. Plan B ….
I drove to St. Andrews and Kingsbrae Garden, where I enjoyed
the garden and had lunch. Lunch was freshly made Cream of Mushroom soup and a
Spinach salad. Yummy.
The 27 acre garden opened in 1998 and features a cedar maze,
two ponds, streams, a fully-functional one-third scale Dutch windmill, birds,
butterflies and a sculpture garden. It
was nice just to walk around for a couple of hours and enjoy.
The next stop was to be the Chocolate Museum in St.
Stevens. I arrived at 4:30 (because my
information said they were open until 6:30pm) and found it closed. They changed their hours this year! Bummer, as it is a couple hundred miles, I’m
not going to drive back this trip.
And when I arrived at the reversing rapids in St. John, I
found that the tide was in the wrong place to see the rapids reverse. This is a pretty interesting phenomena
though; the St. John River meets the Atlantic Ocean. When the tide for the river is higher, the
current flows into the Bay of Fundy; when the ocean tide is higher, the current
reverses and flows up the river. There
is a “slack” time when the tides are even and there are no rapids. Cool, huh?
The difference caused by the tides is about 36 feet, so it is quite a
sight. St. John is about 1 ½ hours from
where I’m camped, so I think I will drive over again to watch (and maybe catch
the museum!). The challenge is it’s a
holiday weekend …
I was debating on another stop until the sky opened up and
it rained so hard I had to pull over.
The road was slick and I had a couple of tense moments staying in my
lane …. And the thunder started and an hour and half drive home …. And my
decision was made. I later learned from a local that hydroplaning is common on their roads.
When I got back to the park, the ranger said it stormed
really hard here.
Unless I go back to St. John, the rest of my stay is going
to be pretty close to the park. I still
want to see Hopewell Cape, Cape Enrage, and of course, Magnetic hill in
Moncton, and take a couple of the walk/hikes in the park.
My campsite is directly across the road from the tank
dump. I thought it was a lousy site to
have, but it has been quite the education somewhat interesting when I am here
to watch. For starters, almost no one
wears gloves when they dump their tanks!
Can you imagine?? And then they climb into their truck and drive
off! I bet these same people are adamant
about washing their hands when they use the restroom. The other “fun” thing to watch is the
production people make out of dumping their tanks. It is really a simple, quick process but they
are all over the place, dragging their dump hose and washing it out all over
their shoes …. And when the wife is out there “helping,” twice as much fun to
watch. The stuff of American's Funniest Home Videos.
Just thinking - I retired one year ago this month ….. and
ordered my new home. I have no regrets
in retiring, the timing, or my choice of coach.
I have really been very pleased and things have worked out well.
I’ve seen a lot of things in that period of time ….. and driven
too many miles. I have over 25,000 miles
on my Jeep and over 13,000 miles on the coach.
I hope to reduce that by half this next year. It’s time to stop and smell the roses. I promised myself I was going to take my time and I definitely
have not!
I am actually excited to be going back to the States next week. …. Home. It’ funny … it’s not like I’ve been in a “foreign” country for 5 weeks, but I feel more alone here. Maybe it is the lack of internet and communication; I have enjoyed my time in Canada and plan to be back several times, but I’m ready to head south. I’ve felt a little isolated; maybe because I choose to camp in the National Parks rather than an RV park in the city.
My next campground is right outside Atlantic City, New
Jersey. I will be missing the quiet
“isolation” I’m sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment