Aug 1 – 5 (5 nights, Niagara Falls, NY – Four Mile Creek State Park)
We have to move to another campsite today. This will be the third different campsite within this park that we have moved to. Originally we were going to only be here for 3 days, but now we have decided to stay for a week or more. Our friends won't be back to Wolcott until August 4, and that is one reason why we are hanging out here, besides the fact that we love this park. Around 11:00, we pulled out, stopped to fill with fresh water, then stopped at the dump station to empty the grey and black tanks and then pulled into our new spot for the next 2 days. Come Sunday we will have to move again, but that is OK. We will just refill water and dump tanks again on the way.

We are going into Buffalo this afternoon. We took off around 4:00 p.m. and drove towards downtown Buffalo. First stop was the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. On Fridays, from 3 to 10 p.m. admission is free. We spent some time browsing the Gaugain, Mattise, LeTrec and Picasso works before heading down Elmwood Ave to check out Elmwood Village. Elmwood Village is a cute little neighborhood that has lots of beautiful old Victorian homes. We drove down several nicely manicured neighborhoods and admired the old well maintained homes. We spotted a Co-op market and Sim needed a few vegetables so we stopped and shopped and ended up spending $35 and took home more than just, as Sim said, a few vegetables and some fruit. Sim, fresh vegetables and fruit is like mixing small kids with toys. You can't keep them apart.

I am getting hungary so we headed over to the Anchor Bar on Main St. The Anchor Bar, established in 1934, is the birthplace of Buffalo Wings. Of course we ordered Wings. You can order regular, (10 pcs), a double order (20 pcs), or a bucket (50 pcs). You have several choices for spiciness including Mild, Medium, Hot, and Suicidal Hot-If You Dare. A double order (20pcs) of Suicidal Hot-If You Dare wings was our choice. I guess we were really hungry as I also ordered salad, spaghetti, chicken breasts with sauteed peppers, onions and chilies and Sim ordered salad, and Rigatoni with meatballs. Sim didn't know what rigatoni looked like so she ordered it just so she will know. We expected the Suicidal Hot wings would come first before our main course. But, no! Our three neighbor tables, who came after us got their wings before we did. We wondered if our waiter forgot to place our wings order. We were discussing this and the fact that the only reason we came here was for the wings and we were about to flag her down when she showed up with our order. They looked delicious and HOT!. You could see chile flakes all over the wings. Our wings looked a lot redder than those at our neighbor's tables. The waiter told us the Suicidal Hot wings had a longer cooking process than any of the other wings. The heat of the wings helped clear my nose and my head that has been blocked for two days. Sim said the wings were scrumptious, but milder than her expectation and the name, Suicidal Hot. All in all, dinner was very good, and the wings were delicious. Our eyes were bigger than our stomaches. We had leftovers for lunch and another dinner.

Next we are heading back to Niagara Falls to see the falls after the sun goes down. They have a fireworks show tonight. We parked at the Crowne Plaza hotel and walked over to the Canadian side to find a good spot to watch the fireworks. They don't start until 10:00 p.m. on Friday nights. We found a prime spot in the first row, and enjoyed the show. Take a look at our photo section for some pictures of the falls with the night lights shining on them.


Aug 2
Today we are hanging out in the campground. Took a bike ride around the park to check out potential sites when we have to move tomorrow. Sim wanted to do another load of laundry so I had to put up a clothes line off the coach awnings. That always looks really attractive with our underwear hanging off the awnings, but Sim likes the way clothes dry out in the sunshine. She said it is her small contribution towards conserving energy and saving the environment, so I put up with it.

We had leftover wings and pasta for lunch. They were still delicious. We played a couple of games of Yahtzee in the afternoon and it was Sim's first time playing this game. It was a fun game and by now you can guess who beat who. The rest of the day we didn't really do anything. Sunset was at 8:27 p.m and since it had stormed earlier in the day the sunset was pretty gorgeous. We sat in front of our campfire after the sun set until 10 p.m. Although there were no stars out that we could see in the sky tonight, the sound of water hitting the shore of Lake Ontario in our backyard was pretty relaxing.

Aug 3
We have to move again today No waterfront sites are open so we have to move across the street to Site 229. Sim did not like our new site, so she is going to the office tomorrow to get a new spot. We went on a hike through the woods along the shoreline. We took an unofficial trail that looked like it did not get much traffic. We ended up at the property line of a private home so we turned around and went back to camp. This park does not seem to have any bike or hike trails which would really make this place a 10 out of 10.

In the afternoon we drove into Youngstown and found the library. They have free internet in town, but it is only good for downloading email. Upload speeds slow down to 5-6 Kbytes/sec when you try to upload pictures.

Aug 4
Moved to Site No. 228 with a lake view after Sim went to office. A trailer pulled out in the morning so we moved over as soon as they left. At first I pulled in head first so we had a better view of the lake. But a park employee came by and asked us to turn around and back in, which I did. We still have a great view of the lake and a “big backyard” in our new spot.

I was off getting some firewood for a campfire later in the evening and I spotted some wild blackberry bushes, so I went to get Sim and we picked a basket of fresh wild blackberries for our breakfast cereal.

Every night since we have been at this park we walk to the shoreline of the lake to watch the sunset. Tonight we did not have to walk as we are on the shoreline so we just turned our chairs towards the sunset and watched the end of the day.

Later in the evening I started a campfire and Sim joined me and we roasted some marshmallows and made a couple of S'mores.

Aug 5
Today we are driving into the town of Youngstown and taking the bikes so we can ride around in town. We parked just off main street and turned on the MacBook. We had a 4 bar signal and an open network. We were parked right in front of the Thompson house and their network was open and fast. We downloaded email, uploaded pictures for the website and I used Skype to call the Kaiser pharmacy to refill my medications. I used Skype because the only signal I could get on our cell phone was from the Rogers network in Canada and I learned from last year while traveling in B.C. that the Rogers Canadian network cost us $.50/ minute to call the U.S.

We got the bikes off the car and headed south of town. Youngstown has some really nice old houses. The town is really cute and the homes are very well kept. We found some wild raspberries and stopped and ate a bunch on a break from riding. Next we headed to the north end of town and found Fort Niagara. We rode up to the gate and were told the entrance was free for bike riders so we headed in. They have a big pool and playground for kids. Fort Niagara itself charges $10 admission, so we passed on going in to see the old ruins. Instead we rode around the park and checked out the Officers Club and the old barracks.

It was looking like a storm was heading our way, so we headed home. After getting back at the campground, Sim disappeared for a while and came home with basket- full of blackberries. It rained really hard around sundown and off and on most of the night.

Aug 6 – 11 (6 nights, Wolcott, NY USA – Cherry Grove Campground)
Finally leaving Four Mile Creek today. Sim disappeared again this morning. She went to the blackberry bushes and got another basket full. I discovered that I must have stepped in some Poison Ivy or Poison Oak while picking berries because I now had a big rash on each leg that itches like crazy. I have been putting on Cortisone every couple of hours to try to suppress the itching. We dumped the tanks and headed east on Route 18. The GPS wanted us to go south to the freeway but we just ignored her and stayed on Route 18 most of the way. We stopped for fuel at a Hess station and filled the tank with diesel. Paid $4.89/gal. Still have not paid $5./gal or more yet. But fuel in Canada is supposed to be around $6.50/gallon or so. It is a pretty drive along the lake. We stopped for lunch alongside the lake before driving the last 40 miles to Wolcott and Cherry Grove Campground. The only excitement along the way was the low clearance bridges on the Lake Ontario Expressway. I noticed that the clearance was about 12'4” on a couple, then I saw one that was 12'2''. I am thinking no problem, we are 11'6” so we have plenty of room. We are moving right along at 61 mph, when all of sudden I see a sign that says 10'6” clearance. I hit the brakes hard, the fruit on the china cabinet counter came off flying towards the front of the coach. I swear a nectarine hit me in the back of the head. It was too late. I cannot stop in time. We are headed under the bridge and I wait for the sound of glass breaking, fiberglass crunching and me crying.

Nothing. We passed right underneath without a sound. I don't know if I misread the sign or someone just had the wrong one posted but we did not get a scratch. Sim picked all the fruit up as we continued on down the road.

We got to Cherry Grove, checked in and set up. We are in the transient section of the park. Pull through, close together with little shade. I guess it will do for a few days. The Internet ($1.00/day) is down so hopefully tomorrow we can get caught up on emails and updating our website. We stopped in to say Hello to Gail and Richard, but they were not home either time we stopped by, so we will try to catch them tomorrow.

We jumped in the Jeep and headed into town to look around a bit. The first place we pulled up to and parked had an open network with full signal strength so we sent and received emails and checked some of our favorite websites. The town of Wolcott is not very big. They do have a movie theatre though and Get Smart is playing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m. Admission $4.00.

Aug 7
It rained most of the day today. We stayed inside and watched TV. Later in the day we noticed a group of bicyclists arrive in the campground and set up some tents in the rain. Sim really felt sorry for them. The rain finally stopped and they were sitting out by the fire, so Sim suggested we cook up some popcorn and take it over to them. I made two batches of corn and melted some butter and we took them a paper shopping bag full of buttered/salted popcorn. In exchange we got to hear their story. The are riding across the US from San Francisco, CA to Boston, MA. The ride is a fund raiser for the needy children of Africa. They are affiliated with an Evangelical church and are stopping at various church across the US. They said it has been raining on them for the last 2 weeks. They only had another 10 to 12 days before they were to finish up in Boston and then fly back to Chicago.

Aug 8
It rained most of the night and in the morning. Sim made blueberry Alpen cereal muffins for us and, of course, for the bicycle group also. We took them over when we saw them all crawl out of their wet tents in the morning. Today is going to be another lazy day around the coach. The weather is yucky so we are not going anywhere. Later in the evening, Gail and Richard came by the coach and invited us to go flying tomorrow. Richard is a pilot and has been flying for over 35 years. Sim has never been up in a small plane so tomorrow should be interesting.

Aug 9
We went over to Richard and Gail's around 10:00 a.m. The weather is sunny with big Cumulus clouds in the sky. Visibility is 25 or 30 miles. We jumped in Richard's truck and headed out for the airport. Charlie and Paula, Richard and Gail's friends, are coming too. Apparently neither Gail or Paula like to fly so it is just me, Sim and Charlie going up today.

We got to the airport and it turned out to be a private airport. A barn held 3 small single engine tail draggers. The runway was a 600 foot grass strip in between a field of corn and a nectarine and apple orchard. Sim went first and she said afterwards that she was pretty nervous at first, but after they got off the ground she enjoyed herself. She thought it was pretty cool that she got to wear a headset and microphone and could talk to Richard while they were in the air.

Next it was my turn. We flew the “standard” route that Richard takes all the passenger on. First we flew out over to Lake Ontario and then up the coastline for a bit before turning back inland and over the RV park before turning back to the airport. The view was really nice and it was only slightly bumpy when we got close to the cumulus clouds.

Later in the evening we gathered at Gail and Richard's for a Bar-b-Q. Charlie and Paula were there as well as Gail's son Michael and his wife Lisa. The food was good with hamburgers, red hots, white hots and several salads. I never had a white hot before so I had to have one. It is a hot dog made with pork and it was pretty good. Sim made a big plate of fruit for our contribution to the party. We had the obligatory campfire and S'mores. Richard and Michael had a marshmallow roasting contest and the younger Michael made a better roasted marshmallow than the experienced Richard.

Aug 10
The weather is good again today so Sim and I jumped in the Jeep and drove down to the Finger Lakes region. We got down to Cayuga Lake and drove along the shore on scenic Highway 98. They have a lot of wineries in the region so we stopped at the Goose Watch Winery because we liked the name. While I was tasting some wines, Sim disappeared to look around the garden,the grape vines and nut trees. I bought one bottle of White wine.

We continued on down the shoreline of the lake for a while before finally turning around and coming back up on the residential street that ran right along the shoreline. We saw some really nice homes that sat right on the shore. Everyone had boats of course. Back on the highway again, we made one more stop at another winery. Swedish Hill sounded good so we drove in and this time Sim also tasted some wine so she could help me decide what wine we should buy. We did not buy any however. Did you guess why? Sim doesn't drink, so she didn't like any of wine we tasted. Doh! what was I thinking!

Back on the road to home we stopped one more time. No, not a winery. We stopped to take a look at the Erie Canal. Well, more precisely, Lock No. 25 on the Erie Canal. We did not see any big boats go through the lock, but there were 4 guys in a 18' fishing boat going through. We talked with the lock keeper for a bit and he said they were not very busy today. Later we saw him painting the railings. All the railings and guard rails looked like they had 15 or 20 coats of paint on them. I think he had a lot of time to paint.

Back at the campground, we stopped at the office to check if the mail had come. It had and I now have another 90 days supply of meds. We can leave Wolcott now and head north towards Canada.

Aug 11
It rained again last night. I think we are going to stay here one more day and leave tomorrow. The weather is just too yucky to travel. But wouldn't you know the weather cleared in the afternoon and it turned out to be a beautiful day. I decided to clean the roof of the coach. Since this campground does not allow you to wash your RV or vehicle, I just took a bucket of water and some Simple Green up on the roof. I used a sponge and cleaned a 2 or 3 foot square section at a time until I had the entire roof done. It took a couple of hours but I have a clean roof and all the tree sap and bird crap are gone.

Aug 12 – 14 (3 nights, Clayton, NY USA – Merry Knoll Campground)
Today we are driving up to the 1000 Islands region of upstate New York. Everyone says it is really pretty up there so we are going to check it out. It was an easy 3 hour drive and we arrived at the Merry Knoll Campground right at check in time. The owner took us down to our spot in his golf cart so we could take a look before we drove the coach down. We are on a grassy hill overlooking the St. Lawrence River. The spot is level but not very deep so we are going to stick out a bit. We can only stay 3 nights because a whole bunch of people are coming in this weekend for the annual Antique Boat Regatta and Race. We got settled into our spot and walked down to the river. They have a boat dock but the stairs down to the dock and the steep slope to the river are not ideal for kayak launching so if we want to do some kayaking, we will have to look for a better launching spot. We went back to the office and collected a bunch of tourist flyers to check out things to do in the area. We decided to take one of the boat tours on the river tomorrow. The sunset was pretty nice the first night.

Aug 13
We got up this morning to cloudy skies and it looks like rain again today. We understand the tour boat departs for the 2 plus hour tour at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. At 10:30 it was pouring down rain so we decided to wait until tomorrow to take the boat tour. But around noon the clouds parted and the sun started to peak out. We drove down to Alexandria Bay after lunch and caught the 2:00 p.m. boat for the tour.

First the boat takes you out on the river and down what is called Millionaire Row. This is a group of homes on the river and on islands in the river that have some of the biggest baddest places you have ever seen. Money does not matter when it comes to building some of these palaces. The boat drops you off at Boldt Castle. Mr. Boldt built this place for his wife. Unfortunately she died before the Castle was finished. Boldt called a halt to the building and never came back to his island. The island and the castle finally came to be owned by an American company who is now refurbishing and completing a restoration. The first floor is done and looks really nice but the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors are still a work in progress. The grounds outside are really nice and the Power House is nicely finished as well. We did not take a launch over to the Boathouse, which is on a separate island, but it looks large enough to hold a two masted schooner. We stayed on the island a couple of hours before catching one of the Uncle Sam boats back to Alexandria Bay.

Aug 14
Rode our bikes the 3 or so miles into town this morning. We found a park that has access to the water and it may be a good spot to launch the kayaks. Next we headed off to the Antique Boat Museum. Sim had no interest in going in, so she rode her bike around town while I spent a couple of hours looking at old boats and motors. They had quite a nice collection of old Chris Craft, Hackers and Gar Wood boats. They had everything from Gentleman Racers from the 30s and 40s to Hydroplane boats from the 80s and 90s.


Aug 15 – 16 (2 nights, Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Camping Alouette)
Drove to a campground just east of Montreal today. I followed the GPS instructions for the fastest route but it turned out to be really slow. Traffic in and around Montreal is horrible. It took us 2 hours just to get around Montreal and on top of that the roads are in really bad shape. We recommend a wide berth around Montreal especially on weekdays. We finally got to the Camping Alouette and the campground is OK. The pull troughs for transients are really close together, but aren't they always? We have 30 amp service but the voltage is low. The EMS box I have shut off 2 or 3 times when we were there because the voltage dropped below 90V. They have WiFi but it is $6.99/day. No thanks.

While I was outside airing up the tires on our bikes a guy and his wife came by and started talking to me about biking in Montreal. It turned out he was the guy we had read about that gives biking/walking tours of Montreal. He and his wife are full-time RVers and summer here in the campground. He provides an all day tour of Montreal. We discussed a bike/walk tour and made arrangements for tomorrow.

Aug 16
Tour guide Art showed up on time at 9:00 a.m. and we followed him in our car to the outskirts of Montreal. Along the way Art was giving us a history lesson over the two way walkie- talkies he provides to his tour participants. We drove to a parking lot on the south side of the St. Lawrence River across from Montreal and unloaded the bikes and headed off. We crossed the river to the island of Montreal. Did you know Montreal was an island?

We got to the downtown area and parked the bikes and headed off by foot to tour the old town and waterfront areas of the city. We stopped to see the Notre Dame Basilica where Celine Dion got married, and lots of other significant landmarks downtown. Art is a wealth of knowledge and was fun to be with as well. He will go as slow or fast as you want to go and is very flexible as far as changing the itinerary on the fly.

We were getting hungary so Art led us to a small cozy restaurant where we had a sandwich and some soup. There were lots of restaurants to choose from. Many have large open windows facing the street that give the streets a very French feeling. We saw a couple of people eating a dish that looked interesting. Art told us that it is a popular dish in Montreal. The dish is made with layers of french fries, beef, and cheese curd. Sim said it should called “a heart attack best friend's dish” After lunch we saw a few more sites then headed back to the bikes. We rode up the hill and over to the old venue for the Olympics that were held in Montreal. They have nice Botanical Garden and a Insectarium that are worth a visit. We wandered around there for a bit, took some pictures and headed off to the Subway station. We parked the bikes and took the subway up the hill towards Mount Blanc. At the bottom of the hill we had to board a bus for the rest of the trip to the top of Mount Blanc. The views at the top are pretty spectacular. There were lots of people on top as the weather was the best it had been in weeks so everyone was out enjoying the glorious day.

It was getting late and we still had a long bike ride back to the cars so we took our pictures and headed back down the hill. We biked back to the car only getting temporarily lost for a short time. We arrived back at the campground around 6:30 p.m. so we had a full day. We paid Art his $40/person fee and felt we really got our monies worth. Jim and Sim highly recommend Art and Suzan Horovitch. They can be reached at this email address (suzanandart@pocketmail.com) if you are ever in Montreal and want a personalized tour of the city.

Aug 17 – 18 ( 2 nights, St. Nicolas, Quebec Canada – Camping Bernieres)
We are off in the morning moving to a campground near Quebec City. The Quebecers we met in Mexico insisted we visit their city, so we will spend a couple of days at this campground and dedicate one day to Quebec city. We arrived at Camping Bernieres around noon and got into our site and hooked up by 1:00. We decided to go into Levis, which is right across the river from Quebec and check out parking and the ferry schedules. We found some $5.00 for all day parking and decided to park for the afternoon and ride the bikes on a great bike path they have right along the river. We rode about 5 miles up river then turned around and rode another 5 miles down river before coming back to the car. We got a ferry schedule and found out where to buy tickets before heading back to the campground. Some Quebecers assume you speak French, so although you speak to them in English, they don't hear it and they respond to you in French. What do you expect? It is Quebec City, Eh!

Aug 18
We are taking the ferry over to Quebec City this morning. Having scoped out the layout yesterday we felt confident we knew the drill. We arrived about 5 minutes before departure time and had to run to catch the ferry before it left. It is only a 10 minute ride across the river. Quebec City is a quaint old city that has not changed much since it was founded in the 1700s. Like Montreal, it is a lively city with lots of gardens and flowers and trees. First we walked up the 310 steps to the Governor's Promenade, a walkway just below the Citadel. The Citadel is an old fortress that protected Quebec City from invaders. We checked out the Citadel but did not take the guided tour. It is an active military base so we could not just wander around. We missed the changing of the guard ceremony as they only do it once daily at 10:30 a.m.

It was time for lunch so we cruised the main drag and checked out the menus at a dozen or so restaurants before deciding on Napoleon's Bistro. We ordered our lunch and were enjoying watching the people on the sidewalk when it started to rain. Since we were sitting outside we had to move to a table underneath a couple of umbrellas. After lunch we decided to take the walking tour of Quebec City, after we stopped by the VC, so we started following the green dots painted on the sidewalk all around the city. It took about 2 hours and we ended up back at the waterfront where the ferry departs back across the river. We visited the Notre Dame Basilica and a few other shops before the rain started again. We headed back to the ferry terminal and just got inside when it started pouring.

Aug 19 (1 night, Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada – Iroquois River Campground)
Our original plan was to only drive to Rievere du Loup, in Quebec today, but when we got there it was still pretty early in the day, so we decided to continue on into New Brunswick. We ended up stopping just outside of Edmundston. The campground was just OK. They have some pull through sites but without sewer. There is no store, or recreation room or much of anything. There is a river that is very shallow and rocky. Sim told me to go catch some fish, so I got out Miss Bee's fishing rod that I have had since we were in Mexico and threw out the one and only lure I had. I saw a fish go after it a couple of times but did not catch him. I moved upstream to a new spot and did not see a tree limb hanging out over the water and hooked my lure in the tree. Back at the coach Sim told me to go buy a new lure. Yea! I get to go to shopping for fun stuff. I needed a couple of 12” fluorescent bulbs for our coach porch light so I headed off for Wal-Mart and a Rona store. Rona is Canada's equivalent to our Home Depot or Lowes. I got the bulbs and a new lure and back at the coach I went down to the river again. I found a couple of holes where the river turned. Two casts into the slack water at the bend in the river and I had 2 Brook Trout. Sim cooked them up and ate them for dinner. Why didn't I have any, you ask? They were only 10” long and barely fed Sim.

Aug 20 – 22 (3 nights, Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick Canada – Ponderosa Pines Campground)
We headed out fairly early today as we have a 5 to 6 hour drive. I punched in Hopewell Cape in the GPS and she promptly started to give me directions. After about 20 minutes the GPS started recalculating our route over and over. It looked like we way off the road. There is only ONE road going in our direction. Apparently Garmin's map has not been updated to include this new section of the TransCanada Hwy Route 2. I just shut it off. The road is really nice all the way south to Fredericton, NB.

We found the Ponderosa Pines Campground just fine, but we are in a 20A/Water with no sewer site for one night. There is a caravan in the campground taking up 15 or 20 sites, but they are leaving in the morning so we can move to a better spot in the morning.

Aug 21
This morning we headed off to Hopewell Rocks. It is just up the road from the campground. We could have ridden our bikes but it is all uphill. We got our entrance tickets at the campground and got a couple bucks off the cost of admission. At the Rocks we went in and walked right down to the beach. The tide was way out and we proceeded down to the beach to walk on the ocean floor. Hundreds of people do this on a daily basis in the Bay of Fundy. We walked the ocean floor for a couple of hours then went back up to the top. We wandered down to where the kayak rental place is located and talked to Richard, the owner. He suggested we tag along with one of his groups if we wanted to go kayaking this afternoon. We went up to the VC at Hopewell on our way out and signed the liability waivers required of all people using the beach at Hopewell to launch watercraft.

We went back to the campground to have lunch and change our clothes and get into some kayaking gear. After lunch we headed back to Hopewell and joined the 2:00 p.m. kayaking group. The wind was blowing at a pretty good clip and the chop was 1 to 2 '. I felt fairly comfortable being out there since we were with experienced guides. We paddled down to the place we had walked just hours before, that now was under 20 feet of water. Everything was going well until one boat in the big group got under Sim's boat and tipped her over. I looked over and Sim was in the water hanging on to her upside down kayak. The guides paddled over right away and hauled up her kayak and tipped it over to get the water out. Then Sim hoisted herself up on the guide's kayak and then back into her own kayak. I collected her paddle and a shoe I saw floating away. Sim was cold, even though she was only in the water about 15 minutes' so we headed back towards the beach.

I got the kayaks loaded back on the car while Sim sat inside to get warm. Back at the campground she took a hot shower and was as good as new.

Aug 22
This morning we are driving about 45 minutes to Fundy National Park to spend the day. The park is located right next to the city of Alma. Sim spotted a seafood market as we passed through Alma, so I had to promise to stop there on our way back to the campground. We paid our admission fee then headed down the road map in hand. First stop was Herring Cove. We hiked down to the beach and walked out to the water. The tide was out and we wandered among the rocks and seaweed. I was surprised at finding no sea life at the low tide line. No crabs, no urchins, no anemone, no starfish, no nothing. Walking back up the beach we found a set of stairs going up so we climbed them to see where they went. We found the head of a hiking trail towards Matthew's Head, so we started out. We hiked the 1.6km that the sign said and continued on another 3 or 4 km until we turned around and headed back. Matthew's Head had a nice view of the bay.

Back at the car we followed our map out to Point Wolfe and Point Couvert. There is a stream coming down to the ocean at the point and they have a nice old covered bridge going over the stream. We picked out a nice big boulder overlooking the stream and had the lunch that Sim packed for us. As we ate lunch we had a ringside seat for a big blue bird that dove into the water to catch his lunch. After we finished we continued on to the end of the road before turning back towards the entrance. We spotted a sign for Dickson Falls and decided we would like to see that so we pulled in. They have a nice trail out to the falls. Most of it is boardwalk and stairs all done in wood. We got to the falls and a young woman was getting her picture taken in front of the falls. We were not really sure what the pictures were for as she was dressed in a bikini and her poses were rather provocative. We wandered around for a while and she finished up her photo shot so I did get a picture of the falls.

Back at the car we headed towards the campground, but first we stopped at the fish store. Sim bought Mussels, Scallops, Salmon, and Haddock. She also bought some Dulse, which is dried seaweed.

Aug 23 – 25 (3 nights, Lunenburg, NS Cananda - The Ovens Natural Campground)
We are heading for Nova Scotia today. On the way through Moncton, I had to stop in the middle of the street and back up a few feet so I could make a left turn to avoid an 11' clearance bridge that snuck up on us after I made a wrong turn. Sim had to go to the back of the coach and ask a couple of people to back up so I could negotiate the turn. We finally found our way out of town and on the correct road after we stopped at a grocery store and I checked the maps and Sim did some shopping.

Along the way we stopped in Hartland. Hartland's claim to fame is the worlds longest covered bridge. Hartland is about 6 km off the main road but we had no trouble finding the bridge. As I turned the corner and headed down the hill, it became clear to me that I could not go over the bridge and had to turn into a business parking lot or I would have been stuck at the bottom of the hill forced to unhook the Jeep and do lots of backing up. The bridge is pretty cool and it is pretty long.

Back on the main road we soon entered Nova Scotia and the first stop was the Visitor Center right at the province line. It was lunch time so we had lunch in their parking lot and then went inside for brochures, pamphlets and maps. We are on our way to just outside of Lunenburg to a campground called the Ovens. We got to the campground mid-afternoon and were able to get one of the last spots they had. It is Saturday and they full. We pulled into our spot but the 30 amp plug-in had an open ground. I checked the 20 amp plug and got the same. I checked another spot 2 spaces down and it had an open ground as well. I went back to the office and told them about it and they said they would send down maintenance. So I started to hook up the sewer but I could not get the cap off the sewer connection. Maintenance showed up. Two kids that knew very little about electricity. They pulled the plug apart, wiggled the wires and shook their heads. I guess we will call the electrician they finally said. I went back to the office and they finally said I could move down 4 spaces. I checked the power there before I moved and it was good so we moved. No problems during the evening but the power did shut off in the middle of the night because the voltage got too high. Oh and the water shuts off now and then. Also they seems to be no rules in this park. The board at the office is empty right underneath a painted sign that says “Park Rules” The are no speed limits posted and everyone seems to be driving way too fast through the campground. So far we are not impressed with this park except for the view, but at $55. / night, I am wondering if the view is worth that much. Later in the evening we went up to the restaurant to hear the entertainment. The campground owner, Steve, is singer and composer and plays a pretty mean piano. The bartender plays guitar and one of the servers plays the bass. It was fun.

Aug 24
We got up early this morning and watched the sun come up in the front window of the coach. Sim wandered outside and over to the edge of the cliff to get a better view.

More than half the people in the park are leaving today since it is Sunday and they all have to go back to work. I think we will have the park to ourselves after today.

Sim and I walked the trail out to the Sea Caves, one of the attractions here at the Ovens Campground. We were really surprised at the amount of trash on the ground at the campsites and along the trail. We took the trail all the way to the end and got some good views of the caves. This area is sitting on layers and layers of slate and other high mineral content rock that all got tip on edge. The sea has eroded the slate and formed caves from the action of the waves. This area was also famous for a gold strike right on the beach that lasted about 5 years. They hauled off almost all of the sand on the beach to a processing plant to extract the gold. Then the took all the remaining sand and most of the rock from the beach and ran it through processes to extract any gold. It was all over pretty quick. We walked the beach and found a sheltered cove where we could launch the kayaks should we want to go for a paddle. Back at the coach I took a nap. I woke up and made some popcorn. Then Sim took a nap. We had to get some rest before we went down for the nightly entertainment at the restaurant at 10:00 p.m.

Aug 25
Woke up to a rainy morning. Today we are driving down to the town of Lunenburg to visit the gorgeous schooner the Bluenose II. On our first day we saw it sail past the park and we were hoping to see it again, but it had never came back. After breakfast we headed out and it was a lovely drive along the waterfront and along the river to the town. We parked in the heart of old town in front of a bakery and coffee shop that had WiFI and received and sent out email. We walked down to the waterfront and found the Bluenose II docked there. I asked if she was going out today but found out they were getting ready to sail to Glouster MA for a few days so they were prepping for that sail and not doing day sails today. Bummer. We went down to the maritime museum and poked around, then walked around town and window shopped until it started to rain again. We headed back to the coffee shop and decided to have lunch. We ordered a Lobster Roll sandwich and a bowl of Minestrone Soup and Sim and I shared. The batteries on the laptop where getting low so it was time to go. Back at the campground the skies had cleared and the sun was coming out. It looked like a good afternoon to go kayaking. We drove the car down to the beach and put the kayaks in the water. We did not get very far out and Sim was feeling uneasy so we turned around and went back. Sim went back to the coach and I went out to paddle around for a bit more. I went over to the Sea Caves to get a water perspective. It was high tide and there was a 2 foot ground swell running so I could not get to close to the entrances.

Aug 26 – 30 (5 nights, Digby, NS Canada – Digby Campground)
Drove to Digby today. Took the scenic route indicated on the map, but all we saw were trees and a couple of lakes. Digby Campground is practically empty now, but this weekend is the Wharf Rat Rally and thousands of bikers are coming here for a party. We may stay a couple of extra days just to experience the party. After the coach was set up, Sim and I walked into downtown Digby to look around. We found several seafood markets and some restaurants that look pretty good. Digby is the Scallop capitol of the world, so it looks like scallops are on the menu at least a couple of times while we are here. I am sure some frozen scallops will end up in the freezer as well.

Aug 27
We are going sightseeing today. There is a long stretch of peninsula going south called the Digby Neck. We are driving out to the end. We took off around 10:00 a.m. and arrived at the end of the neck in 60 min. Along the way we saw a U-Pick Blueberry patch that opened at 2:00 p.m. and resolved to stop on the way back. At the end of the neck is a ferry to Long Island. Why not? The ferry cost $5.00 and it is a short ride over to Long Island. While we were waiting for the ferry, Sim noticed some wild blackberries on the side of the road so naturally we ended up with a basket full. At the end of Long Island is another ferry to Brier Island. Why not? The ferry to Brier Island is $5.00 and another short ride. We drove around Brier Island which took about 10 minutes. We found a spot to park at the end of the road and hiked out to a point to check out the views. The tide was going out and we were at a narrows where the water was rushing out to sea at 15 knots. It was pretty cool. We had some lunch at the Lighthouse Cafe before boarding the ferry back to Long Island. The ferries are free going the other way. We stopped at the famous Nova Scotia Balancing Rock. We hiked for a half mile and continued on the 253 steps before arriving at the site of the Balancing Rock. Although it was pretty, and worth the hike, it was not as grand as the one in Moab, Utah. On the way back to the campground we stopped at Mr. Fish, another place we saw on the way out. Mr. Fish did not have anything Sim wanted today, so on we drove. We got the U-Pick Blueberry and they were closed. I guess blueberry season is over in Nova Scotia.

Back in Digby Campground, we jumped on the bikes and rode into town to check our email. First, Sim got sidetracked by the free summer concert of live music on the wharf. We stopped to listen to the music and it didn't seem Sim wanted to leave any time soon. But, we didn't last very long at the outdoor concert as we were both wearing shorts. We weren't prepared to spend a long time outside on a cold evening. From there we were off for the free wifi. We found a spot outside the Variety Store where we picked up a 'dlink' WiFi signal and could access the web and get our email.

Aug 28
Today we are driving in the opposite direction from yesterday. Annapolis Royal is only 30 km up the road. Annapolis Royal is the earliest North American settlement north of Florida. It was founded in 1605 by a French explorer. We loved the old houses and spent a couple of hours in the second oldest wooden house in North America, that is now transformed into a museum. The first owners were a French couple, the second owner was a Scottish man who married John Adams' daughter, and six others owned the house before it was eventually transformed to an Inn and finally a museum. Sim said it was pretty cool listening to stories from the “ghosts” of the house. They have an audio/video presentation in the basement with actors dressed in period clothing telling the story of the home throughout its history. She must have liked it very much as she spent a very long time in that section. Then we walked out to Fort Royal. Fort Royal protected Annapolis Royal from lots of attacks as the British and French fought for control of North America.

Tonight we dined out. We cannot leave Digby without trying their World Famous Scallops. We choose a restaurant that had an appealing menu and live music. The restaurant was almost full, so that was a good sign that the food might be good. Sim ordered the scallop dinner special and I had a vegetable saute with scallops in hot red chili. The service was great and the entertainment was good, but the dishes were not much in the way of creative or tasty. They were too bland and plain; even my hot red chile saute was without any heat. This was the third restaurant we have tried in the Maritimes and we have not found a place that we would want to go back to again. Sim said no more eating out in the Maritimes. She would rather cook every day. She said now she understood why the local man she met at Annapolis Royal said he preferred to eat Thai dishes over his Maritime dishes. The man has visited Thailand 3 times. There are a few Chinese restaurants, but no Thai restaurants in the area. Could be a business opportunity, but no thanks. It is too cold for us here in the winter.

Aug 29
We woke up this morning to cloudy skies and drizzling rain. We had planned on going into town to see the sights at the motorcycle rally but stayed home instead. I decided to oil up the woodwork inside the coach and Sim cleaned the shower and the bathroom. By lunchtime we were done and Sim cooked lunch. After lunch the rain had stopped so we walked into town to see what was going on at the rally. It is Friday so people are still arriving in town. The bikes parked in the downtown area are only taking half of the spaces so I know everyone is not here yet. We walked both sides of downtown looking at all the bikes and people. We stopped at Orange County Choppers and asked if the Tuetles were coming to the rally and found out they were not. I guess they are busy with the TV show. I did sit on one of their bikes. It was a sweet looking green machine that had an asking price of $31K.

Aug 30
Today is the big day at the rally. Everyone should be in town and I think they are going to block off the main street to cars and it should be full of bikes. Hope the weather stays nice. We got up in the morning to fog and clouds. Sim made some delicious apple pancakes using the wild apples we picked yesterday when we went out for a drive around Digby. She makes a syrup with sugar or honey and cooks up the apples in it. Then we put it on top of the pancakes. It is really good.

About 10:00 a.m. the sun came out and we walked into town to see what was going on with the Wharf Rat Rally. The place was not packed yet but it was filling up. We walked up and down the main street and looked at bikes and people for a while before coming back to the coach for lunch. After lunch we went back into town and this time the place was packed. They had blocked off the street to cars and both sides of downtown and the center of the road were wall to wall bikes. The sidewalks were packed with people and the vendors were doing a booming business.

Aug 31
We are leaving Digby today, but before we do we are going to town one more time. It is cloudy this morning but I see some breaks in the clouds and I think it is going to be nice again. We drove the car into town because we want to buy some frozen scallops to take with us. We parked the car and walked to the fish store but it was closed and won't open for a couple of hours. We walked to Main St. and found the street filling up fast with bikes and people. Sim wandered over the the stage by the water and sat and listened to the music while I roamed the booths selling everything from leathers to french fries. It was 11:00 and the fish store should be open so we walked over and bought our scallops and some haddock filets as well.

Back at the coach we prepared to leave. Off we go towards Truro. I had picked Scotia Pines as our next campground for a couple of days. We are going to look at riding the Zodiac boats on the tidal bore before we head up to Cape Breton Island. I found Scotia Pines after a 4 hour drive. I checked in, got our assigned space and drove into the campground. I found our space but there was no way I could get in. They had a space signpost right in my turning radius and because of the cars parked off the road I could not swing wide enough to make the turn. I unhooked the Jeep, went up the road and then backed the coach down the exit road to try to back in the spot. Well it was raining hard and the road was narrow and as I was turning to back in the front tires on the coach would just slide on the grass. I was tearing up the grass big time. Frustrated, I gave up and we pulled out, hooked up the Jeep again, got our money back and drove off. This was the first time in 2 years that I was unable to get into a space in a campground.

We drove another ½ hour to Hidden Hilltop Campground, where we will spend the next two days. The weather is awful. It is still raining, the wind is blowing and it does not look good for the next few days. Winter may be coming early to the Maritimes.

The last day of August already. We have been on 'vacation' 640 days now. A couple more months and this phase of the Great Adventure will be over.

A few stories from Sim:
Everyone would agree boys and girls are very different... July 28, When my niece and her family traveled with us last month, I noticed that the kids enjoyed making wishes whenever they found wishing flowers (dandelions). The girls kept their wishes secret in order for their wishes to come true. But Matthew, the boy, would make sure that we heard what he wished for. A Cheeseburger was his wish every time. If you see a boy in our group having cheeseburger, it is Matthew.

Trying to keep the romance alive, but.... August 8, Jim and I watched T.V. in the coach in the afternoon. Jim sat on his favorite chair (the only one we have) and I laid down on my favorite couch. We were about 3 feet away. I asked Jim to move his chair a bit closer to me on the couch, so we would be really close. Jim said he should not do that. “Why”, I asked. He said if he moved his chair closer to me, it would mess up the Feng Shui; the chair would block the good energy. Did he know about Feng Shui, I wondered? I wanted to get mad at him, but I laughed instead because of the reason he came up with. Nut head.

Married for more than 10 years, we can read each others minds, or Not... August 9, I have never flown in a one engine plane, I was uncertain how well it flew and how safe it was. When Richard said he could take one passenger at a time in his one engine dragger tail, I certainly did not plan to be the first one to go. However, I was the one who went first because when Richard asked who wanted to go first, like Jim could read my mind or more likely NOT, he said Sim would. What!!! Why didn't he volunteer himself first, I have no idea.

My world is upside down and I am going down.... Aug 21, It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect to kayak in the Bay of Fundy, the highest tide in the world. We tagged along with the kayak tour. I heard the kayak tour guide say there were only a few times when kayaks tipped over during his years and years of guiding. That message was very encouraging and made me feel a lot more comfortable to kayak in the ocean. I had great fun especially when trying to maneuver my kayak through rocks with some waves. Then I saw one kayak heading at my direction, and I had no time to back off. Whop... the world turned upside down on me as kayak and water were above me. Burr... it was cold water. On a positive note, I now know how to get out of a kayak when it tips over. I tried to kayak again in Nova Scotia, but still felt uneasy with the cold ocean water. Darn...it.

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