Aug 31 – Sept 1 (2 nights, Glenholme, NS Canada – Hidden Hilltop Campground)

Sep 1
It is still raining off and on and it is a pretty dreary day. Today we are going to see the tidal bore. The tidal bore is when the incoming tide overpowers the river flow, stops the river water and sends it back upstream. As the incoming water starts flowing over the top of the river water a wave several feet high can be formed. The bore is scheduled to arrive at a certain spot on the Salmon River at 2:15 p.m. today so we are planning to be there at 2:00.

We arrived right at 2:00 and there were a dozen or so people already there waiting. We went down by the river and waited. Right at 2:00 we saw the bore coming up the river. It wasn't that big until it turned the corner of the river and got to a narrower part and then the wave got a bit larger. It was interesting to see the change of the flow of the water, but it was all over in 10 minutes. The rain also held off while we were there.

Sep 2 – 4 (3 nights, Baddeck, NS Canada – Baddeck Cabot Trail Campground)
We are off to Cape Breton Island today. We are staying just outside of Baddeck at the start of the Cabot Trail. The Cabot Trail goes up and around the top of Cape Breton Island and through the National Park on the island. The weather is still kind of yucky with rain off and on. The roads were pretty good and we made good time to Baddeck. The campground was only half full and we got a good spot up on the hill. No view or anything but we are on gravel and not on soggy grass. This campground is very clean and well kept.

Sep 3
Today we are headed north to drive the Cabot Trail. People say it is better to go counter-clockwise so that is what we are doing. If you go CCW you are on the outside and closer to the edge of the cliffs on the ocean side. It was a nice drive with some magnificent scenery. Driving on the outside edge of the road was not scary at all. It was rather tame compared to Hwy 1 in California. Along the way we stopped at a local bakery and had Blondies, which are bars made with nuts and chewy stuff and Butter Tarts made with pecans and of course, lots of butter. Later in the day we stopped for fresh raw oysters at an Oyster Bar. I liked them but Sim decided, 30 minutes after eating, that she did not like the taste they left in her mouth. I had to stop the car when I saw her about to throw up. For lunch we stopped at the Rusty Anchor and sat on the patio overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and had seafood wrap and fish cake. It was great lunch.

It seems like the insects, particularly the biting kind, really liked Sim. She was bitten several times during lunch. She did not realize how bad it was until we got back in the car and she discovered blood on her cheek. Later she found 5 additional bites on her chest and shoulders. They all were red, slightly swollen and she complained for a day about how much they made her itch. I guess they did not like me much as I did not get any bites. Sim must be a lot sweeter than me.

We were only half way on the Cabot Trail and we decided to continue on and finish the drive in one day. We had packed some clothes in case we wanted to spend the night in a B&B somewhere on the trail. We stopped at one hiking trail that Sim said looked interesting. It was a hike down to the beach. The hike down would not have been too bad, but the hike back up would have been too difficult for me. It was about 5 miles down, not too bad, but the elevation change was about 2000 feet. I stopped at a flat half mile trail and Sim and I walked there. It was called the Bog Trail and they had some interesting insect eating plants in the bog. Another interesting sight was a very large bull moose that we spotted grazing about 50 yards off the road. We drove down a couple of roads trying to get a better look, but this was the best we could do.

One very interesting town we passed through was the community of Cheticamp. Cheticamp is in the heart of Acadian country. The Acadians are some of the earliest settlers in this region along with the natives that were here when the white man arrived. The Acadians proudly fly a blue, red and white striped flag with a yellow star in the blue field. The town was neatly laid out and all the houses had nice manicured lawns and gardens. The businesses intermixed with the homes were just as neat and well kept too.

Down the road at bit further we saw a bunch of scarecrows all lined up in a field. Someone had dressed up about a 100 scarecrows and arranged them in an interesting way. You may recognize a couple of them.

By far, the Cabot Trail loop is the most beautiful scenic drive in the Maritimes in our opinion. The trail combines spectacular highlands and magnificent ocean scenery; steep cliffs and deep river canyons carved into a forested plateau bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The area that took our breath away most was Pleasant Bay. The views there were Ahhh....mazing.

Sep 4
Off to see downtown Baddeck today. We stopped at the Visitors Center in town and got a local map and a few tips on what to see and do in town. First we went to the Interpretive Center and learned about the area and how the Bras d' Or inland seas where formed here on the island. Glaciers scrapped out the lake beds and at first they were fresh water until land movement opened up a couple of channels and they became inland seas. Parts of the lakes are very low in salt content and provide habitats for some unusual sea life.

After the Interpretive Center we headed over to the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. Did you know that Mr. Bell was born in Scotland, lived in the U.S. near Washington DC, was a U.S. citizen, and then spent many years until his death in Baddeck, NS Canada? We did not, and were further educated about Mr. Bells interests and inventions including the telephone, gramophone and his forays into hydroplane boats and aircraft at the center.

We are still having thundershowers today so occasionally we have to dash to cover to keep from getting soaked. Down by the waterfront and harbor we found a schooner that was going out for a sail and we almost signed up until a bus load of 30 tourists showed up and that changed our minds. I am hungry so we walked up and down the main street looking at menus and finally decide to get a pizza. We stopped into Toms Pizza and ordered his Special. We split the 9” pizza that yielded 2 slices each. See! we were not too far off our diets. After lunch we jumped back in the car and headed north with the intention of going to Sydney. We drove across Big Bras d' Or Lake to Aconi Island. I found a minor road that headed out towards Point Aconi. I had no idea what was out there, but the road looked interesting on the GPS. We found a beautiful point of land with a lighthouse on the end. We had the whole point to ourselves. It was like being on a deserted island.

Sep 5 (1 night, Antigonish, NS Canada – Canadian Tire (parking lot)
Our original plan was to drive to Pictou, but in the morning Sim looked at the map and suggested we stop and park our coach at Antigonish and drive the Jeep on the St.George Bay loop drive. The scenery was, ho hum and well, not what we expected. However, at least we fulfilled our curiosity. Instead of continuing the drive to Pictou, we decided to stay over night at Antigonish. It was 2 p.m. and we could get to Pictou in easily less than an hour, but we felt like exploring more of this town. The town goes crazy with crowds in the third week of July because it holds the annual Scottish Highland Games. It has been a while since we have boondocked, so we decided to dry camp tonight in the Canadian Tire parking lot. We did unhook the Jeep and drive out to the point in Antigonish and check out the lighthouse there. Not as picturesque as Point Aconi, but it was nice.

Sep 6 – 8 (3 nights, Harrington, PEI, Canada – Pine Hills RV Park)
We got up early this morning to head to Pictou and the ferry to PEI (Prince Edward Island). Sim's plan was to get to the ferry, and while we were waiting to board, have breakfast in the coach. We drove up to the ferry, got in line, and within minutes our coach was loading. So we had a quick breakfast after we loaded and before they asked us to move up to the passenger deck. You are not allowed to stay in your vehicle during the 75 minute boat ride. The time went by quickly and before we knew it we were unloading at Wood Point on PEI. We stopped at the Welcome Center checked our maps before heading out to our selected campground north of Charlottetown.

Sep 7
Hurricane Hanna has worked its way up the East Coast and is due to come right over Prince Edward Island today. It has lost a lot of its strength but it is still expected to bring 75 mph winds and 6 to 10 inches of rain. We decided to 'do' the Central part of the island today in spite of the rain and wind. The central loop is 198 km, so we think we can drive that in one day. It is raining pretty hard but we head out for our first stop, The Great Canadian Soap Factory. We arrived shortly after 9:00 and we were the first ones to arrive. The door was still locked but they let us in. The owners used to run a B&B and then one day decided to try to make some soap as a hobby. People started to want to buy the soap so they closed the B&B. They have a dozen goats that get milked twice a day and they make Goat Milk Soap on a full time basis. We bought some and then went to feed the goats some corn to thank them.

Driving down the road in the driving rain we spotted a road that went out to North Lake. We drove out to the wharf but there was no activity because of the rain. We spotted a seafood market and stopped in. $50. lighter we left with Haddock, Mussels, Lobsters and Salmon loaded and iced down in our cooler. North Lake is the Tuna fishing capital of the world. They had pictures on the wall of 30 to 40 huge Bluefin Tuna ranging in weight from 400 to 900 lb. We are getting hungary so we stopped at Chez Yvonne for lunch and had some local PEI fare. Hot Turkey Sandwich for me and Sim went for the Chicken Burger. Just down the road from Chez Yvonne is Cows Ice Cream. Reported in Readers Digest as the Best Ice Cream in Canada we stopped for a cone. Sim bought an official Cows T-Shirt and I had a single scoop Moolicious cone.

Did I mention we are in the heart of Anne of Green Gables country? Well neither Sim nor I have read that book so we don't know much about all the fuss but I guess the author lived here and was inspired to write the book. They have gift shops with all Anne of Green Gables stuff.

At our stop at one of the VCs we found out about a concert today at 2:00 in a small town called Bonshaw at the Bonshaw Hall so that is where we are headed next. The weather is not very conducive to sightseeing outdoors so we are cutting short the Central Loop Drive and heading for the concert. We arrived at the Hall and noticed that it needed a lot of repairing and maintenance work; especially a paint job. We got there at 1:45 p.m., went inside, donated some money, and looked for seats. The Bonshaw Hall used to be a small church that the town residents have now turned into a community center/ entertainment venue. Eventually about 30 people showed up and we listened to 3 local artists entertain us for 2 enjoyable hours. They played guitar, mandolin, and fiddle. The folk songs, ballads, and instrumentals were lively and quite good. Sim said she felt we belonged as the organizer welcomed us at the beginning of the show, and we were mentioned several times during the concert by the musicians. In fact they asked me to draw the raffle ticket. Not knowing what the prize was, we bought 3 raffle tickets. Sim with her sense of humor said the prize was that the winner got to help paint the Hall. By the time the concert was finished, Hurricane Hanna was too and the rain had stopped. We headed back to the campground, with a small detour through Charlottetown, the capitol of the province of Prince Edward Island. Hanna passed through during the day and although it rained hard most of the day, the wind did not get much over 30 mph. Several areas of the island had some minor flooding but nothing major.

Sep 8
With Hanna gone, today should be much nicer with just scattered clouds and occasional rain showers so I think we will head out to the East Cape and take the Points East Coastal Drive. Sim is packing a lunch for us so we do not have to eat out. We are off to the East Coast of PEI. It is drizzling but the weatherman promised clearing later in the day.

The drive was nice and picturesque. The weather cleared and the sky was really pretty. Our first stop was the only distillery on PEI. The Shine as it is called makes moonshine. I tasted the thrice distilled moonshine and it had quite a kick. Then I tasted the once distilled shine and it was kind of harsh. I bought a bottle of the first taste. I will find someone to give it to.

We spotted an apple farm that had a U-Pick-Em sign up so we pulled in and got some bags and went out to the orchard and picked a few pounds of apples. They were Paula Reds and cost us $.40/lb. After that we continued our drive and next stopped at a wharf in a small town where a couple of guys were fishing. Sim loves to talk to fishermen. She is always hoping that maybe she can talk them out of a fish or two. These guys were catching mackerel, so I was not interested. But Sim said they eat them in Thailand and apparently they eat them here too. They weren't parting with any of their mackerel so on we drove. We did manage to find a couple of lighthouses that were pretty interesting. I kind of have a thing for lighthouses now, or maybe it is that I just enjoy the drive to get out to them. In any event, we always go out to see one when it is accessible by car.

Sep 9 - 15 (7 nights, Borden-Carleton, P.E.I, Canada – Sun-N-Shade Campground)
We moved to a new campground today. Our original plan was to stay at this campground only 3 days, but we found out they are having their 6th annual Hobo Weekend coming up, so we decided to stay through the weekend to enjoy the festivities. After we got into our spot for the week we took the bikes off the Jeep and headed off down the Confederation Trail. The Confederation Trail used to be the railroad that ran the entire length of the island. Now that the railroad no longer operates they have turned the rail right of way into a biking/walking trail that goes from one end of the island to the other. Today we are just riding down to see the ocean and the bridge that runs over to New Brunswick. We will be taking this bridge when we leave PEI.

Sep 10
Today we are off to the seaside town of Summerside, and the first stop is, of course, the Visitor Center. But on the way I suddenly realized that I had left the things that secure the bikes on the bike rack hanging off the rack. We had just driven 8 miles and I knew they were not still going to be there. I stopped the car and checked. Yes they are gone. Damn. I knew I was going to do that some day and today was the day. I will retrace our route on the way back to camp to see if I can spot them on the side of the road. At the VC we learned there are 5 schooners in port and they are preparing for a race around the island. They are going to take off at noon tomorrow. Sim is really into Schooners after she experienced the gorgeous Bluenose II at Lunenburg, NB. Sim and I agreed that we should come tomorrow to watch them start and head off around the island.

We walked around the wharf and looked at the boats. Went in all of the shops and looked around. It was pretty windy and really cold, and since we had not checked the weather, Sim was not dressed in layers and was freezing, so we jumped in the car and headed up the North Coast of the island. Guess what we found. A lighthouse. Well actually this one used to be a lighthouse, but now it is an Inn and Gift shop at West Point. We also found a cool old church in an Acadian section of the the island. We did not go all the way to the north west end of the island, but we did make it all the way to Cape North. On the way back we stopped at the famous bottle house. The bottle house was built by a guy who was inspired by the bottle house's pictures his daughter took while visiting British Columbia. If the BC people could build one, so could he. There and then, he decided he would build one too.

He spent years building 3 houses using about 10,000 bottles each. They all had to be rebuilt again because the foundations were not adequate. We toured all the houses and the gardens for an hour or so before heading back down the road. It was cool and different and worth the $3 admission fee.

Sep 11
Drove to Summerside again today to watch the Schooners take off around the island. We got to the wharf at 11:45 only to find out the boats were already a couple of miles out to sea. We found out they needed a 1 mile long start line so it had to be miles offshore. We could barely see them, so we decided to drive up the coast to Cape Egmont at the lighthouse and wait for them to come around the point there to head up the west side of the island. Cape Egmont is about 15 miles as the crow flies from Summerside so we had plenty of time to drive there. We arrived and walked along the coast for a while, strolled the beach looking for interesting stuff that may have been washed up on the beach and talked to a bunch of other folks that had come to the same place to see the schooners go by. We ended up waiting almost 4 hours and we still could only see the boats as a speck on the horizon. We jumped in the car and headed back towards Summerside. We did stop along the way and did get a glimpse of one of the schooners.

On the way back to the campground we stopped at a roadside stand and bought 10 lb. of PEI potatoes for $3. Back at camp we rested and got ready to go to the entertainment for the evening. At 8:00 p.m. on Thursday thru Sunday the park has musical entertainment in the Harmony Hall on the premises. Tonight the entertainment was a group of 3 playing guitar, bass, mandolin, and fiddle. It was mostly bluegrass and although all the people there seemed to really enjoy the music, Sim and I only made it through the first set before we left.

Sep 12
It is cold and windy again today. We hid inside the coach in the morning until it warmed up a bit then went for a bicycle ride around town. In the evening we decided to try the entertainment again. Tonight however, they are having an open Microphone, so anyone that wants some time on the microphone just signs up. We were very surprised to find the campers there that weekend were quite talented. Most of them played the guitar and sang and actually they were quite good. A couple of guys did funny skits as well. Sim and I were both entertained. At the mid show break, the camp staff and some campers boiled up a bunch of corn for everyone. It was OK. They boiled it a bit too long and it was kind of soggy. The community atmosphere made up for it, however.

Sep 13
Sim read some where that there was a Farmers Market on Saturday, so we drove to Summerside again this morning. They did not have much in the way of vegetables or fruit. Sim bought some mushrooms, tomatoes, green onions, and an apple pie.

After we got back to the coach Sim chopped up some carrots and potatoes for the communal stew that the Hobos were cooking up for the Hobo meal for everyone at 5:00.

At 2:00 p.m. the Hobo parade kicked off and toured the campground. Lots of people dressed up as Hobos and they also had some floats all decorated up. We watched the parade, took some pictures and cheered as the floats went by.

At 5:00 we grabbed our bowls and spoons and headed down for some Hobo stew. We sat with some nice people with a granddaughter that had orange hair. The stew was quite good and I had seconds. They also had dessert. About 15 to 20 different kinds of desserts from puddings, to pie, to cookies to fudge. They were all good. Later in the evening we wandered over to the entertainment venue one more time. The place was packed on the inside so we hung out on the porch and listened through the open windows. There we met Jimmy and Jerry. Jimmy has a metal fabrication shop on the island and makes harvesting equipment for harvesting blueberries. Jerry sells sugar. We chatted with them for an hour or so. Jerry shared his blueberry wine with us. It tasted awful but I drank it anyway, not wanting to seem ungrateful. Jimmy invited us up to his place next weekend for the Red Dirt Party. We thanked him for the invite but told him we were leaving the island in a few days.

Sep 14
We are not going out anywhere today, but we did walk over the a seafood market across the street. As soon as we walked in I knew I did not want to buy anything here. It smelled really fishy in there. Fresh fish do not smell. Only old fish smell.

Back at the campground I went over the the Rec. Hall to work on the computer. We did get a signal at the coach but it was only one bar. While I worked, Sim hooked up with the orange haired girl named Jennifer from the Hobo Stew dinner. Jennifer had a distinguished appearance with her orange hair and yellow and green finger nails. Sim said she had to play with Jennifer because Jennifer wore her grandfather out and there were no more kids in the campground to play with. Sim had noticed Jennifer and her Grandfather playing shuffle board and Bocce Ball for hours. Jennifer is about 13 or 14 years old. Sim is pretty good with kids. After a few hours playing with Sim, Jennifer didn't want to go out for supper with her grandparents and asked if she could stay with Sim.

Sep 15
Today we did laundry and went for a short bike ride. In the afternoon Sim and I played some Shuffleboard. Sim beat me handily.

Sep 16 (1 night, St. Stephen, New Brunswick Canada - Campground)
We are driving towards the US border today. When we were crossing the Confederation Bridge we spotted a schooner sailing towards the bridge. When we got close I recognized that it was one of the schooners that participated in the 3 day around the island race a couple of days ago. We finally got a close up view. I think we are going to boondock near St. John. We got to St. John and drove around looking for a good place to camp for the night. We did not find a Wal Mart or a Canadian Tire. We did find a Soebys with a fairly large lot. We parked and watched the comings and goings of the cars and people and finally decided that it did not look like a good place to spend the night so we drove on to St. Stephan and found a campground to stay at. After we got situated we drove into town and did some shopping for food.

Sep 17 – 28 (12 nights, Bar Harbor ME USA – Mt Desert Narrows Campground)
We are heading back across the US border today. I think we are going to take Hwy 9 through Maine on our way to Bar Harbor rather than Hwy 1 along the coast. I heard reports that Hwy 1 was in bad shape. We got to the border and the Customs officer waved us into a big shed that all the trucks have to go to. She asked us some questions about how long we had been in Canada and what we were bringing back. Then she said they were going to x-ray the coach. So I had to drive past an x-ray machine at about 2 mph. I joked with the Officer and asked her if I could buy some prints of the x-rays. She was not laughing. After being x-rayed we had one Officer come on board and check our 2 house plants. When he saw that neither one had soil, he allowed them to stay, but he did take our onions, our last orange and 4 tangerines that we had just bought in St. Stephan.

We picked Mt. Desert Narrows Campground from about 4 or 5 campgrounds in the area. We arrived and the rates ranged from $37 to $67 per night. After some fast talking and extending our planned stay to 5 nights, we were able to get a water/30A electric site with a water view for $29./night. After we got settled into our spot for the next 5 days, we drove to downtown Bar Harbor to look around.

Sep 18
Today we are going to drive the Acadia Park Loop Drive. Acadia National Park is the first National Park east of the Mississippi. It is land that was all donated by private individuals including John D. Rockefeller. The Park Loop road is about 30 miles long and basically circles and intersects the park. Our first stop was the top of Cadillac Mountain. It was windy and friggin cold. The wind was blowing 40mph and gusting to 50. It was hard to stand in some places. The views were pretty good from up there.

Next we headed down to Jordan Pond. Jordan Pond is in the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die. We browsed the gift shop and waited for the restaurant to open so we could have lunch and some tea with their famous popovers. Sim had a grilled chicken with honey mustard sauce and I had soup and tea and of course we both had popovers. Neither of us had ever tasted popovers and we agreed that they are pretty good. They taste a bit like pancakes though.

After lunch we continued around the Park Loop Road. We did not do all of it because we wanted to leave some for another day.





Sep 19
We slept in late today. Then we got real energetic and did nothing until it was time to eat lunch. We had lunch and decided it was time to get outside and do something. We drove over to the Visitor Center at Acadia National Park. We parked and took the bikes off the rack, and with map in hand, headed off on the Carriage Trails. The Carriage Trails, about 50 miles of them, were built throughout the park for the sole purpose of walking and riding in horse drawn carriages during the 1920s and 30s. It was the brainchild of John D. Rockefeller, who helped design and finance them. We ended up riding a little over 10 miles and had a great time riding down to and around Eagle Lake.

Sep 20
We are driving the section of the Park Loop Road in Acadia that we missed on our drive on the first day. This section of the road is along the north coast of Mt. Desert Island. Our first stop was Sand Beach. Well, that just what is there; a sand beach. This is the only sand beach on Mt. Desert Island and in the park. I guess they actually go swimming here in the summer but we were told the water rarely get above 50 degrees. Next stop on the loop was Thunder Hole. We walked down the steps to the ocean and found a split between the rocks where waves washed in and made a booming sound as they crashed against the end of the break in the rocks. It was not very spectacular today, but I can imagine at high tide and a 3 or 4 foot swell running would produce an awesome show.

We finished up the park loop drive and decided to go for a bike ride. We found the parking lot at the head of Eagle Lake and rode some new sections of the Carriage Roads. We crossed another 12 miles of road off our map before we got real hungary and rode back to the car to load up the bikes and go find some lunch. If Sim was telling this story she probably would say it was 12 miles minus 1 mile that we walked our bikes. O.k. I'll confess. Sometimes we could not make to the top of some of the hills without walking our bikes. We drove to the town of Bar Harbor and walked around the downtown area. Sim had seen an ad for a cafe that she wanted to try, but after 30 minutes of walking we could not find that place. We ended up eating at Andelmann's Deli. We had deli sandwiches that were big and delicious. On the way back to the campground we spotted this guy in full Scottish attire standing out on a rock by the ocean playing his bagpipes. We pulled over and listened to 3 tunes before continuing our journey back to camp.

Sep 21
It is Sunday, so we have to go find the local Farmers Market. Sim is always up to go to a Farmers Market wherever we are. We had seen the signs advertising the Sunday market so we drove to Bar Harbor and found it. We wandered around for only 15 minutes and Sim decided, to my surprise, to buy nothing. I guess they did not have what she expected.

We walked back to the downtown section of Bar Harbor to get some lunch and ended up at a Subway. We had the marinated Chicken that turned out to be way too wet and it got the roll so soaked with sauce it fell apart halfway through lunch. Subway is off our list for a while.

We got back to the car and headed of the a Lobster Pound recommended by the campground office staff. We found Parson's Lobster just out of town and went inside. They have a couple of tanks of live Lobster ranging in size from 1 to 4 pounds. Did you know that the lobsters cannot be too small or too big? They have to throw back the too big ones as well as the too small ones. The big ones are considered breeders and they want to let them keep on breeding. Another interesting fact is the law on the books that says that prisoners cannot be forced to eat lobster more than 2 times a week. In the old days lobster were so plentiful, prisoners were fed lobster daily and they complained so much they wrote a law to limit their diet of lobster. Lobster used to be used for fertilizer in the fields as well. I guess you could just walk down to the ocean at low tide and pick them up out of the rocks in the old days. We ended up buying 3 smaller lobster including a deal on one with only one claw. Lobster are a pretty good deal here in Maine. They run $7.95 /lb. for the 2 lb. size and less for the smaller ones. 1 claw lobster are 4.95/lb. Oh before I forget, did you know that Lobsters can be left or right handed. You can tell by which side the big claw is on.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped at a couple of different campgrounds to check them out. Our present campground has better rates, and a better view. We have decided to stay in the area another week. I think Sim wants to ride every carriage trail in Acadia National Park. I cooked the lobster out on the fire pit and watched the sunset. Life is good.

Sep 22
We have decided to stay at this campground for another week. We really like Acadia National Park. It has so many hiking and biking trails and the entire area is beautiful. We are moving to a new spot within the campground today. We are trying to get a little closer to the water and maybe a nicer view. We unhooked from power and water, drove over to the dump station, dumped our tanks and got a new campsite close to the water with an unobstructed view of the ocean. Cool! I think we are just staying at home today and relaxing. Sim is making pork filled steamed buns for the first time using a recipe she saw on TV. Hope they turn out well.

Sep 23
After all the bike riding we have been doing, we decided that a hike was in order for today. Sim made up lunch and we loaded up the pack with food, water, and some fruit and drove out to the parking lot at the base of Mt. Gorham. We picked this mountain based on the recommendation of a fellow camper at the campground. It turned out to be a really nice hike. I was feeling pretty good when we got to the top of the mountain. We were rather surprised that we did the hike in under two hours until we checked our map and found out that Mt Gorham was only at 545 feet. The trails are a combination of rock hopping and tree root dodging, but overall just moderate in difficulty. Not fully satisfied we hiked back to the car and drove over to Sand Beach and took the Great Head Trail hike out to a point of land off Sand Beach. This is another 2 hour hike but only a 200 ft elevation change. The views from the point are very nice and we got to watch a lobster fisherman check and rebait his traps just offshore.

Sep 24
More hiking today. After the Mt. Gorham confidence builder hike we are going to challenge Mt. Cadillac today. Mt Cadillac is over 1500 feet high. We decided to take the North Ridge trail which is the easiest of the 4 or 5 hiking trails to the top. With our lunch and water in the pack we headed up the mountain. Along the way we met one of the staffers that works at the campground. The trail was a mix of rocks, stream beds, pine forest trails and granite boulders. We found a nice spot about half way up to stop and have our lunch overlooking Frenchman's Cove. After lunch we continued to the top and made it in about 2.5 hours. The top was crowded with several tour bus loads of people off the cruise ship that was in port at Frenchman's Cove. We hung out at the top long enough to enjoy the 360 degree views, and eat some fruit to lighten the pack before heading back down the mountain. On the way down we crossed paths with a ranger on her way up to the top. Apparently, they hike the mountain to help any injured hikers. We chatted with her for a while before continuing our descent.

Sep 25
More hiking today. I kind of wanted to go kayaking but Sim is still not too keen on kayaking after her incident in the Bay of Fundy. I think we will have to get to warmer climes before Sim is ready to kayak again.

Today we are hiking to the top of Beech Mountain at 835 ft. We started out to find the parking lot at the base of the mountain near Echo Lake, but ended up driving to near the top of the mountain instead. So after a short hike to the top we found ourselves looking down 835 ft to Echo Lake. Oh well, we will do this one backwards and hike down first and then back up. Well the hike down was steep. Almost half of the hike is quite vertical. We had to take 5 ladders down the steepest portions of the trail. At the bottom we found Echo Lake to be a really nice place to swim and go kayaking. The weather was not really conducive to either activity but I could see this place really packed in mid summer.

The hike back up was easier than the hike down. I don't like looking down from tall places so I just kept looking towards the top and I did just fine. Sim, on the other hand, loves this kind of hiking. After reaching the top of the mountain, we found a good sized rock for our dinning table and ate lunch there while enjoying looking down at the view of Echo Lake.

Sep 26
No hiking today. We decided to do something different. How about both activities, a bike ride and hiking, said Sim. After a short discussion, we agreed on bike riding only. We drove down to Jordan Pond and unloaded the bikes and headed on the few remaining Carriage Roads that we have not ridden since we have been here. It is supposed to start raining this afternoon so we are trying to get in as much outdoor activity as possible. There is a tropical storm coming up the east coast and we are supposed to start seeing rain today. This part of the carriage roads has quite of few of the rock bridges that had to be built over the streams in the park. They are very rustic and beautiful. We rode about 8 miles before it started to sprinkle so we headed back to the car.

We drove back into town to walk around for a bit. One of Sim's San Jose friends used to live in this area and he still has relatives here. One of them is supposed to have a gift store in town so we went looking for it. Never found the store, but it was fun looking the town and tourists. Last week after having 3 lobster, Sim said she was done with lobster. Then two days ago she got email from her friend who said he paid $14 per pound when he was in Maine last year. She told me we needed to eat lobster one last time before we leave just because it was cheap as mud. We went back to Parsons and bought a 3 lb. monster that was going to be cooked on Saturday night.

A couple of days ago I was on one of my favorite RV website forums and saw a post from a guy from BC that was heading to Bar Harbor, Maine and points north and wanted information on campgrounds and roads. Since we had just come down from there I responded with suggestions for routes to take and told him we were in Bar Harbor in one of the nicest campgrounds in the area. He thanked me for the suggestions and said he might see us at Bar Harbor. Well, he and his wife drove in yesterday and he came over to introduce himself. We went out to dinner with Richard and his wife Valerie tonight. We went to the Chart Room, which is on the road into Bar Harbor. The dinner and conversation was very good and now we have two new friends.

Sep 27
The rain has arrived. It rained all night and it is supposed to get worse. Tropical storm Kyle is headed directly toward Bar Harbor. It may become a Hurricane by the time it makes landfall on Sunday night. Sim and I are going to watch it closely today and tonight and then decide in the morning whether we are going to pull the plug and get out of Dodge or ride it out here. It will only be a Category 1 hurricane so the winds will only be around 80 mph. The campground staff came by and said the fire department had contacted them with a warning of very high winds. Everyone in camp is pulling in their awnings and putting away their chairs and anything else that could blow away. I filled the fresh water tank to add an additional 800 lbs. weight to the coach to ride out the wind better and to make us more self sufficient. We have a full tank of diesel too, so we are good to go anywhere.

We are just staying in today. Sim is relaxing and napping on the sofa and I am writing in the travelogue. Tonight we cooked up the big guy!

Sep 28
Should we go or should we stay? That was the first thing we discussed this morning. Kyle is now a Hurricane and supposed to arrive today. The forecast is for a lot of rain with winds to 80 mph. Kyle is classified as a Category 1 hurricane. We have been watching the storm track all day and it looks like Kyle may turn to the East and miss a landfall in Maine. We have decided to hunker down and ride out the storm right here where we are. Kind of looking forward to adding Hurricane survivor to my resume.

It has been raining constantly since yesterday and didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon. With this weather condition, Thunder Hole should be a good show. Therefore in the afternoon, we drove down to Thunder Hole to see if the storm generated waves were making a big splash. Lots of people had the same idea and the parking lot was half full even though it was raining and windy. We took some pictures and then continued around the park loop road back to the campground.

I checked the storm track again when we got back to the coach and as luck would have it, Kyle turned East and made landfall in Nova Scotia. We got a lot of rain but virtually no wind. All our worry was for naught. Kyle turned out to be a non-event for Maine and the Scudders. Acadia National Park is a place you must visit.

Sep 29 – 30 (2 nights, Camden, ME USA – Camden Hills State Park)
Today we are moving down the coast to Camden, ME. We don't have very far to drive so we did not get on the road until 11:00 or so. We drove on Hwy 1 all the way. Camden Hills State Park is right on Hwy 1. It was easy to find. They had lots of spots so we are in an open field. On grass and it is a bit soggy from the rain, but I think we are OK. We got set and took off to go see downtown Camden. Camden is a beautiful town with a nice harbor and some really really nice homes on the waterfront. We walked around town, into a bunch of shops but did not buy anything. We also took our laundry with us and checked the prices at the local laundromat but decided to wash and dry when the prices were less that $3.50/load to wash and $1.00 for 15 minutes to dry. We went down to the waterfront and looked at all the Schooners in the harbor. Several offer 2 hours rides and I am interested. Tomorrow we are coming back.

Sep 30
Gosh. September is over. Fall is here. The leaves are turning yellow and gold and red all over Maine. I need to finish up this month's travelogue and get it off to Webmaster Dennis.

We are off to Camden again today, but first we are driving up to the top of Mt. Battie here at the park. We got to the top and there is a great view of Camden and the harbor from here. Since we are looking east, we figure the light will be better for pictures if we come back up in the afternoon, so we resolve to do just that. Off to Camden we go. I want to drive out to the point and maybe see a lighthouse. We drove out to the point but did not get to see the lighthouse. What we did see were multi-million dollar homes on huge lots. Some places we could only see the elaborate entrances. We drove the entire peninsula and ended up in Rockport Harbor. It is just as pretty as Camden. They used to process Limestone at Rockport. The railroad brought in Limestone from the quarry to kilns by the waterfront. After the Limstone was burned in the kiln the lime was packaged in barrels then loaded into schooners for shipment to the East Coast. The lime was used in mortar for buildings. A huge fire in 1907 all but ruined the lime business and the increase in the use of cement finally killed that industry in Rockport.

Back at the coach, Sim decided to stay at the campground while I went on a schooner for a 2 hour sail. The sail was OK. The wind was really light so the sailing was not very exciting. I got to help raise and lower the sails and take the helm for a bit.




Well I guess this brings September to a close. There are a few things we want to do before we leave New England and before it starts to snow.

We still want to see some spectacular leaf displays.
We want to meet up with Roger and Linda and go eat Thai food with them.
We want to eat some more Maine Lobster.

After finishing that list we are heading south to warmer weather.

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