Monday, August 11, 2008

Day 28 Aug 10th

We may be home but the trip isn't over yet.

Trailer to clean out. Truck to clean out.

Trailer to wash. Truck to wash. Hope I don't have to call the EPA to get rid of foreign country bugs that seem to have gotten all over the trailer. With all the rain we were in on this trip, I'm surprised that the trailer and truck are as dirty as they are.

Final entry in this blog.

See y'all

Day 27 Aug 9th

647 miles today - left at 8AM and got into the KOA (overflow) at 9:45PM ! ! ! ! ! !



Had all intentions of heading straight south and making it a 2 day trip back to Duluth.



Welllllllllll – Judy saw a sign for a Carrousel Museum. We found it after about 30 minutes. Then we spent about an hour and a half in the museum. Great stuff and a super tour guide.































When we finally stopped for the night, the slide-out didn’t work. Good thing it’s the last night on the road. Will have to fix it when we get home tomorrow.




Night all.

Day 26 Aug 8th

In and around Springfield, Mass to do more geneology researching. Found quite a lot after exhausting research.



















Met a John O’Connor at the geneology research center. He helped track down several other things. That being said, we were unable to track down Grandpa Hirsch’s whereabouts before 1916.









Stopped to have a great steak dinner and then back to camp for more rain.

Day 25 Aug 7th

With a belly full of lobster, we slept very well last night.


Off and away to points SW of here.


Decided to visit the birthplace of Clara Barton. For those of you who don’t know who she was, she was the Founder of the American Red Cross. Plenty of pictures on the web page that will be made.






Then we decided to go to Springfield, Mass to try to find more information on Judy’s parents.




Rain most of the day. In fact, Tornado warnings in the general area tonight. Going to be tough to get under our bed if required. More information on the storms tomorrow.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Day 24 Aug 6th

Out of PEI about 8AM. Long day today – headed to Augusta, Maine and a lobster dinner. Raining off and on all day long.
Arrived back in the good ole US of A about 2PM. Great to be back on some good roads for a change.











Had dinner with Amber’s step mom – yep – LOBSTER – mmmmm mmmmmm good.





Back on the road tomorrow – more rain according to the weather prognosticator.





Oh, yeh, we have developed a leak ! ! ! ! We found the carpet wet under a portion of the slide out. Right over the wheels. Seems we have a leak in the lower seal. Will have to look into it when we get home. (1224 miles from here)

Day 23 Aug 5th



Weather looks pretty good today so we will stay in PEI another day. Off to Charlottetown to take a bus tour.



The bus we are on is an authentic London double decker bus. Around town to see the sites. Since this town was the site that the “fathers” got together to form the original Canada, it is full of history. Yep, a bunch of old buildings. The most fascinating buildings were the old churches and kirks.






After our tour, we headed for the NE coast. Farms all over the place up here. We learned that there are only 186,000 people in PEI and the pet name for PEI is “The Land of 1,000,000 Acres of Potatoes” or “Spudland”.





Anyhow, along our route we discovered Basin Head. White sand beaches meet the red iron oxide earth. Of course, Judy had to add to her rock collection. (More weight for the back of the truck.)






We finished our trek along the NE coast and headed back to camp. This province is beautiful. Just wish we had better weather. (It’s suppose to get warm and sunny tomorrow – but we’re headed out in the morning.
Later, folks

Day 22 Aug 4th



Hate to sound like I’m repeating myself – but – it rained all night again. Thought we left that in Halifax.


Off to do some siteseeing along the north-center coast. FOG all along the top.
Went to Cavendish and the Annie of Green Gables park.


Judy got some great ideas on how to finish and decorate the Strickland House.







More along the Heron Trail and more fog. Decided to head toward Charlottetown, the largest city in PEI and its capital.
Stopped at a roadside stand and got some fresh veggies and apples. Mmmmmmm good
Ended up at a welcome center/museum in downtown Charlottetown. The way the museum is put together was outstanding. Self-guided with earphones with the story.
Back to camp about 7PM

Day 21 Aug 3rd

Raining all night. Small lakes around the trailer.

Left Halifax heading toward Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Over the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and we find ourselves in a brand new topology..







Farms and pasture land every where we look. The earth (dirt) is red sand. Apparently this whole island is made up of the very fertile soil.






Arrived at Good Sam Park about 5PM. During our setup, a fellow camper came around and introduced himself. A local PEI guy. Told us about the wonderful PEI Potatoes and some sites to see. About ½ hour later, he came over with 6 fresh PEI potatoes in his hand. We chatted some more while Judy put the “tatters” on the stove. Think we are going to like it here. This island has many farms on it. Beautiful area. Tomorrow we start out to see the sites.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Day 20 Aug 2nd

A tour around Halifax and the boardwalk at the harbor.

We DID tour around Halifax getting TO the harbor because we kept getting lost. Well, not lost exactly. The GPS knew where we were. We made ONE turn 200’ short of the one we were supposed to. Got into one-way streets, short turns, the GPS was as confused as we were. We finally got the harbor. NOW – parking – street? Nah – tried to park a couple of places but they were for hotels and such. Finally found a parking lot right on the boardwalk.

Did I forget to tell you that the weather was socked in today????? Yep….. You will notice that any pictures we took have a great tinge of grey on them.




During our trip along the boardwalk, we caught this truley hip lobster.








We WERE able to help the Canadian economy at some of the great shops along the way. Walked up and down the boardwalk for a few hours and took in the sites.

We then went over to Dartmouth (just across the bay). Took a trip down to the Eastern Shore. Did take a picture of Halifax from across the bay.

Back home after a very pewy day. Sure glad the trailer has a furnace in it. The poor tent campers up here for the holiday weekend are not having a good time.

Out of here tomorrow for a new adventure.

Day 19 Aug 1st

A completely down day. Clothes to clean, trailer to clean up.
No pix

Friday, August 1, 2008

Day 18 – July 31st

Off to tour the Bay of Fundy and the area of the world’s highest tidal shifts. The highest tidal change along this area (commonly referred to as the Minas Basin) was 50 some feet. For a lot more information on the Bay of Fundy, see http://www.bayoffundy.com/aboutthebay.aspx

Our first stop was at Cheverie to see the HIGH tide.







Next was a lighthouse at Walton. This one was actual a recreation since the old one burned down. Still interesting and we learned a lot.








We are now in South Maitland. Further East on the coast and in Cobequid Bay. The home of the bore tides (tides come in as a wave). There was an observation point – so we observed. You could almost see the tide line moving down the column. It is now only 30 minutes since dead high tide and the water has already dropped about 3 feet.








On around the shoreline, we watched as the tide dropped. We stopped at the little town of Economy and had a great lunch of fried local clams. Found this cove where the water was emptying the cove. As the cove emptied, the clammers moved in. Digging up clams in the cove some 30’ below high tide. There were signs all over the place warning folks of fast moving waters on the incoming time. Oh, yeh, this is where Judy added about 20 lbs of rocks to her collection.










By the time we got around to Pattsboro, the tide was about 80% out. Harbours dried up. If your boat was tied to the dock it could now be considered in “dry dock”.












On around the Minas Channel and up the road by Chignecto Bay Judy got this great sunset picture at a little town called Joggins. Continuing up route 302, we caught the TransCanada Highway and headed “home”. Have driven 250 miles and only 120 miles from “home”.

Day 17 July 30th

Off to take in the Eastern coast south of Halifax. The route we are taking is known as the “Lighthouse Route”. Taking Provincial roads along the seashore and over the ridges close to the seashore. When away from the shore, there are dense forests of pine trees.

Our first stop in our excursion was at Peggy’s Cove. The upheaval of granite covers this area. Of course we had to make our way out on the rocks to view the coast from a different angle.

Back along the rocks to the lighthouse that protects this area. This lighthouse had a dual purpose for many years as Peggy’s Cove’s Post Office. Oh, yeh, mailing post cards from here back to the states costs $1.24 each. And you thought OUR rates were high.








From Peggy’s Cove, we kept on going south along the coast and came to the small village of Mahone Bay. This town is famous for its Three Churches on the coast. Being a long time fishing and boat building community, they needed plenty of blessings. Had a picnic here and headed onward.







The last community we visited was Lunenburg. Narrow streets, one way roads, many shops and eateries and the famous Lunenburg Academy (shown here).

Set the GPS for home and discovered that we had driven over 150 miles so far today and the campground was a short 60 miles away. Told you we drove along the coast.