Travel Home

We have been on the road for 5 1/2 weeks and have experienced a lot of the Maritimes, as well as travel through 9 states.  We have also met many people, most very gracious.  While on Campobello Island we had cocktails with our camping neighbors who are from St John's, NB.  David and Sandy even joined me for Tea with Eleanor.

Meet Gretchen  and Meredith Basham, 2 grove City College Students.  We met them and their parents while touring the Roosevelt cottage, and spent some time chatting with all of them. For those who don't know, Jim and I both graduated from Grove City College in 1971 and1973.

These are just 2 examples of the many people we met on this trip. -

We are even blessed with having been connected with a great tire mechanic who found a tire to replace our flat one, and had it mounted before noon yesterday.  While waiting for the job to be done, we drove up to Augusta, past the state Capitol and along the waterfront.

We made it to Wells Beach RV Resort in plenty of time to get showered before meeting Bernie Bailey for dinner at a restaurant away from the beach and the crowds. Even the campground was jammed with campers, several hundred to be sure!

This morning we began our trek home, dealing with lots of traffic.  Jim wanted to go over the Tappan Zee Bridge so we did, and dealt with the consequences of backed up traffic.  It was also very hot today and it is hard to run AC without running the generator, which keeps cutting out. We finally stopped for the night at a campground off I-80 called FLA- NET Park Campground.   It's actually in New Jersey, about 40 miles from where I grew up. We have full hookup, so plenty of AC tonight.

Headed home...no more campgrounds, just a fuel stop and several rest stops today...400 miles to go.

3300 miles, over 400 gallons of diesel fuel, about $100 in tolls, and 40 days later we will be home tonight. Fantastic trip but we are glad to get home and sleep in our king size bed.  Gus will be able to run around the yard and smell anything he wants.  Life is good!

Campobello Island- Day 2

We have now seen everything there is to see on the island. There are scenic lighthouses at both ends of the island, lots of other coastal views, and exactly 2 restaurants. One of the restaurants has take out including fresh steamed lobsters, so we ordered 4 lobsters, each about 1.5 lbs, and ate two yesterday. DELICIOUS!!! I picked the other two, hot rid of the mess and put the meat in the refrigerator for later.

Today we left Campobello Island, going through Customs without any problem. The first part of the trip was coastal drive on Route 1 and then we began to cut across the state on Route 3 to connect with I-95.  Our first "disaster" came about 15 miles before the interstate, when just a few minutes ahead of us there was an accident involving a motorcycle and a pickup truck. We were able to get by on the shoulder of the road but saw the motorcyclist lying on the ground face down just under the truck....not a pretty scene and neither of us can get the image out of our heads.  We are praying for everyone involved.

Our next "disaster" was having one of the rear inside tires on the RV blow while we were on I-95 just outside of Augusta, Maine.  Jim crawled down the road at less than 20 mph hugging the shoulder for about 5 miles to the nearest "exit", a Service Center.  I called roadside assistance but they can't get someone here with a tire and truck until tomorrow, so we will hang out at the service center overnight.

We are at West Gardiner Service Plaza off I-95.

Campobello Island

We are visiting Campobello Island,

which is part of Canada. It is also home to Roosevelt International Park which is run as a partnership with the USA and with a few members of the Roosevelt family, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  We visited the Roosevelt cottage yesterda and got a tour of the house and grounds, along with a neighboring cottage. They have been preserved and restored as needed, including all the furnishings from the Roosevelt's and their friends from 80 years ago.  I also participated in a "Tea with Eleanor" event in the afternoon, while Jim took care of Gus.

Shediac, NB

We are in Shediac, on the coast of New Brunswick, staying at Wishing Star Campround. The campground is packed with mostly long term campers- 5th wheels and trailers.  They had a spot for us with full hookup for less than $40 US, so not a bad deal at all.  Except for tons of traffic, we are within walking distance of stores and restaurants.   We visited the GIANT LOBSTER, then went in search of seafood markets with fresh seafood. The first place had frozen lobster meat, some shrimp, and little else.  We then found a second market where we bought 2 lbs mussels (at a cost of $3.60 US) and a container of lobster meat (from 2 whole lobsters).  Jim cooked up the mussels tonight and ate every bit...there's a photo below of the leftover shells before they went into the dumpster.   We'll enjoy a lobster pasta in the next few days. We have been eating mostly fresh local seafood for the past week, as if we can't get enough. That will come to an end soon as we head towards home and our reality.

Central PEI

Charlottetown is the largest city on the island. We drove around the outskirts of the city, but chose not to venture downtown, preferring to visit the coastal areas. Most of the inland areas are covered with farmland, crops as well as cows and sheep.  The coastal landscape is varied, some cliffs and some dunes sloped down to beaches covered in red sand.  There are white sand beaches along the far coast but we never got to those...too much driving to do. We saw a flock of cormorants on some cliffs at Cavendish National Park and eagles flying in the area tormenting the cormorants.  We visited some coastal fishing villages and a more touristy town with restaurants and gift shops. We finally had proper donairs (delicious!), and stopped at a good bakery for pastries.  At the end of the day, we can look back on our visit to PEI and say that we got a good feel for life on this island and it's time to move on. Tomorrow we will drive to Shediac on the coast of New Brunswick for one night, then on to our last Canadian stop, Campobello Island.

Green Gables

I suppose one must visit the Green Gables Heritage Site if one is on PEI. Entrance to the site is included in our National Parks Discovery Pass, so we did just that. I never read "Anne of Green Gables", so I was unfamiliar with the history of this place.  The author, Lucy Maud Montgomery, visited family here and referenced them in her book.  The grounds include the Green Gables House, gardens, stables, and a few other buildings.  Visitors can tour the house, which to me looked like a house one might find in colonial New England, with all its furnishings.  There is a cafe on site and a large gift shop, and plenty of tourists around.  We were there for less than an hour, but I am sure that many visitors spend 2 or 3 hours on the grounds.