Our First Five Days on the Road

Here we are in Cape May, New Jersey. Getting here has been quite an adventure.

Day 1: Seabright to Truro and dinner with Arch's sister, Grace, and her family. Grace made us Christmas dinner - a delicious treat. Thanks Grace.

Day 2: Truro to Woodstock, NB. It poured rain all day making driving really tricky. The fall colours through the Cobiquod Pass were spectacular, as they were all through New Brunswick but it was difficult to enjoy them in the rain.

Cobiquod Pass

New Brunswick

The sun came out as we arrived in Woodstock and found a place to spend the night in the local Walmart parking lot. Sleeping in a Walmart parking lot was an experience and one I am in no hurry to repeat. The street lighting was very bright, it was close to a noisy highway and, worst of all, cars were driving by the Adventure Bus throughout the night and slowing down. I did not realize that there were people working a night shift in the store and their parking lot was right beside us. I was sure someone was going to break in and attack us at any minute. Arch, of course, slept through the night. As did Tara. Some protection they are!

Day 3: We were up very early and had to hang around waiting for daylight to cross the border. Despite the worrying and preparation - we had every paper anyone ever suggested we should take with us - the  border crossing was a big non-event. The customs agent simply made sure we matched our passport photos, asked us the usual where are you going, what are you taking? questions, looked at us enviously and waved us through.

The weather was spectacular and it was a beautiful drive through Maine.

We stopped in Freeport with the idea of boondocking in the LL Bean parking lot but when we arrived it didn't seem like such a good idea and after our experience in Woodstock I wasn't keen on the doing this and so we went to a KOA campground just outside of town. A really nice spot with lots water for a shower, electricity, etc. etc.

Day 4: Freeport to Norwich, CT and the Mohegan Sun Casino.

This was a great spot to boondock. A special parking lot is available for RVers and there were lots of RVs there. So we felt quite safe. The area was quite a distance from the casino but there was a shuttle bus to pick us up and take us there and return us to our motorhome. It was very quiet and the view was spectacular.

Day 5: The only good thing I can say about this day is that we lived through it and have landed safely in the warm weather here in Cape May.

We knew we had a long driving day ahead of us so were up and on the road by 8 am. The first hour was fine. Then the heavens opened and it started to pour. And pour. And pour.

 We took I-95 south to I-287 around New York City, and The Garden State Parkway down through New Jersey to Cape May.

The Tappan Zee Bridge was hell - wet, with narrow lanes and crowded

What a dangerous drive. There was endless construction, The rain was coming down so heavily we couldn't see two cars in front of us, I-287 was flooded in two spots, which caused real chaos, there were no rest stops and the drivers were the rudest we have ever encountered. But finally, as we drove down the Garden State Parkway the rain stopped and the sun came out as we pulled into Cape May at 4pm. - 8 hours to drive 300 miles.

Finally, we thought, a chance to relax. Bit it was not to be. We were assigned a camp site that seemed quite lovely but we were a little concerned that the camp sites beside us were occupied by seasonal campers who use trailers as summer cottages. But no one was there so we settled in. Then they arrived - 4 carloads of them. Again, at first all seemed OK. Until one guy got out a leaf blower and started blowing the leaves from the camp sites and the street. I ask you, who clears a camp site of leaves? Talk about a thankless job. Finally he stopped and all was well for a while. After supper they set up around a camp fire and started drinking and you know the rest of the story. They got noisier and louder but we knew quiet hours started at 11 pm and as they were regulars we figured they would pack it in then. NO such Chance. Finally, at 2 am Arch went out and asked them to tone it down a bit. They did, except for 1 guy who went around yelling asshole. asshole at the top of his lungs right under our bedroom window. It was quite a night.

This morning Arch complained to the office and the owner immediately refunded our fee for last night and moved us to a new site that is not as aesthetically nice but is surrounded by nice people. Much better. At the moment Arch is outside enjoying a camp fire and I am inside, with the windows and door open writing this.

And, did I say, the weather is spectacular. 19C today, 21 tomorrow and the next day!

Our Route to the Warm Weather - The Adventure Begins

It is really cold on Nova Scotia tonight. Going down to 3 degrees C. It is time to head south, which we will do on Tuesday. Thank heavens.

As promised, here is our itinerary:

Monday, Oct 15: Seabright to Truro NS to visit Arch's sister and family and say good by

Tuesday Oct 16: Truro to Woodstock, NB

Wednesday, Oct 17: Woodstock NB to Freeport, Maine

Thursday, Oct 18: Monegan Sun Casino in CT.

Friday, Oct 19: around New York City to Cape May, NJ for 3 days at the Seashore Campground

Monday, Oct. 22: Ferry from Cape May to Lewes, Delaware and on to the Janes Island State Park on Maryland's eastern shore for 3 days.

Thursday, October 25 we cross the Chesapeake Bay tunnel and bridge to Virginia Beach where we will spend 3 days at First Landing State Park.

Sunday, October 28: Then its is on to Cedar Point National Forest in North Carolina for 4 days. We plan to set up camp here and back track to Okracoke Island, Cape Hatteras, etc.

Thursday, Nov 1: Myrtle Beach State Park for 5 days. Golf heaven. Need I say more? :)

Tuesday, Nov 6: Hunting Island State Park SC. Recommended by the folks at Wheeling It. We are really looking forward to this stop. We love Nina's reviews and she posts great pictures of several sites in each park they review - very helpful.

Sunday, Nov 11:  Skidway Island State Park. GA. This is our Savannah stop. Should be interesting. Also close to Hilton Head. More golf.

Fri Nov 16 to Sat Dec 15 Jekyll Island, GA. Another Wheeling It recommendation + about 100 other people. We expect to have a grand time here.

After Dec 15 who knows? Around Florida and on to Alabama, Mississipi, Louisianna and Texas is the plan. But we are very flexible.

If you have and suggestions for things to do, places to see, places to eat, etc., at any of these stops we look forward to hearing about them.

The Glace Bay Coal Miners Museum

We arrived in Cape Breton last Friday after an uneventful drive from Seabright. Thank Heavens!

Friday night we met Arch`s niece Debbie and her husband, Gerry and together we went to the opening concert of the Celtic Colours Festival. A fabulous evening. Following the concert we boondocked in the parking lot of the Port Hawksbury Civic Centre, where the concert was held. How convenient was that!

Yesterday we moved to the Cabot Trail Campground in Baddeck. After getting settled in we went into Baddeck to wander through the town, get some groceries, visit the Bell Museum and check out the golf at Bell Bay. If it ever dries up we will go back and play 9 holes at Bell Bay - it looks like a fun course.

Today was another rainy day (to start) so we went to the Coal Miners`Museum in Glace Bay. What a great experience.

The museum consists of an outdoor exhibit of the very large mine equipment and an indoor exhibit and movie depicting the history of coal mining in Cape Breton. All very well done. But best of all was a tour of an undersea coal mine - with a retired miner as our tour guide:

This is Wish (Wishie) Donnell. He worked in the coal mine for 23 years before retiring. What a great tour guide he was. Very patient with questions and very knowledgeable about everything to do with the mine and the area. He had a very attentive audience:

There was Arch and I, a couple from Quebec, a young woman from Florida and about 20 young military officers from around the world. They were at Camp Aldershot on a NATO military exchange training program for 3 months. Most were majors in their home armies but one was a captain and highly respected by the others. The young men pictured here were from Brazil, Botswana, Kenya and Nepal. Also represented were Sierra Leone, Libya, Colombia and one young woman, from Edmonton.

First we were given a hard hat and a cape to protect us from the low ceiling and the dampness:

We were also offered canes to use when we entered the lowest point in the mine, where the ceiling was about four and a half feet high. Note the sign above the canes.

Then we entered the Ocean Deeps Colliery:

This tunnel, which had a very gentle slope, took us out under the ocean for a small distance. In the original mine the slope was much steeper, went out under the ocean for 7 miles and the trip took one and a half hours in very small rail cars:

At the end of the passage way we entered a passage with a lower ceiling and then another with an even lower ceiling:

Note how bent over everyone is. One young man, who was about 6`4`` tall was bent nearly in half. At the end of this passage was a display depicting how the miners worked with Pit Ponies which were used to haul the coal to underground collection stations. The ponies lived underground in stables. They only came out of the mine once a year when their handlers went on vacation. Sort of a vacation for the ponies as well.

Sorry this picture isn`t very clear. It was very dark at this area in the mine. This is a model of a pit pony in the stable area.

This was what they called a room and pillar mine - the miners worked in rooms supported by pillars - and our next stop was in one of these rooms:

The ceiling was very low at this point. This photo depicts two `retired`miners in the mine. Arch worked in the gold mines in Northern Ontario in the late 1950s and so wanted his picture taken with Wishie in this mine. (as a matter of fact it was that experience, in the gold mines, that persuaded Arch that a university education was indeed a good idea!) 

Following this stop we passed through the lowest area of the mine and ended up at a small garden that is maintained as a memory of a garden one of the miners created out under the ocean in the original mine.

It is very cold in the mine during the winter months and this garden is left to fend for itself. The spike plant (I am sure it has a more botanical name) grows unattended during these months and has survived for three years,

This tour was a wonderful experience and we highly recommend you take it if ever in this area.

Prince Edward Island: the Excellent, the Not-so-Excellent, and the Ugly

Well. we left PEI for 5 days ago and I've been thinking a lot about our visit there. Between a disastrous start and a dramatic return we had a grand time. PEI really is one of nature's great playgrounds with fabulous golf courses, beautiful beaches, wonderful natural beauty and excellent food sources. It did rain a lot while we were there, as it did in Nova Scotia. I understand it was one of the rainiest Septembers on record - just making up for a dry summer I guess. Ah well! You can't have everything.

The Excellent:
It is beautiful, a feast for the eyes! PEI is so neat and tidy Arch figures they have a patrol of clean-up police and people are publicly flogged if they litter or do not mow the grass and keep beautiful gardens.

The information for visitors is terrific and guides you through everything there is to do in PEI. If you get bored it is not their fault. And the directional signage is beyond compare - with a map there is no way you can get lost there.

The roads are fantastic, straight and very well maintained and, did I say clean? Not a piece of roadside litter to be found anywhere.

The food! PEI used to bill itself "the Garden of the Gulf"  and, with the warm gulf waters and red sandy soil it truly has some of the best food around. Farm stands are everywhere, fresh seafood is readily available and a Saturday farmer's market in Charlottetown is a centre of local activity.

The Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown presents an amazing and entertaining theatre experience. In addition to the regular, year-around schedule of entertainment, the Charlottetown Festival runs all summer and includes "Anne of Green Gables, the Musical" every year (I think) as well as a variety of other shows. This year we went to see "Ring of Fire" the Johnny Cash Story" and loved it.

The golf, of course. That is the main reason we go to PEI.

The Not-so-Excellent:
We were there in mid-September and many businesses catering to tourists were closed. That was a disappointment as we were really looking forward to spending time in the parks, small restaurants and businesses serve visitors. In Souris, even the ferry terminal was closed.

The service was good but not great. Again, I think that this was related to the time of year. Everyone just seemed tired and waiting for the tourist season to be over.

The Ugly:
The Gateway Village at the end of the Confederation Bridge in PEI. With the exception of the Tourist Information Centre and Cows Ice Cream this is nothing more than a tourist trap selling imported junk and bad food. And many of the stores are empty. We were only able to get a good cup of coffee because some buses with visitors from cruise ships docked in Charlottetown were arriving and coffee had been made just for them. I am not sure why this is so. Perhaps the rent is too high for small independent businesses that sell local goods. Who knows. So stop there because the Tourism Centre is excellent and will provide you with all the information you need to plan your visit, grab a Cows ice cream - that is one of the best reasons for coming to PEI - and leave.

The road between Aulac, New Brunswick and the Confederation Bridge. I know this is not PEI's fault, it is New Brunswick's road. But it is beyond awful and you should be prepared for it. Especially if you are in a RV. Everything will be shaken loose by the time you get off it!

All in all PEI is a great spot to visit. The Island is small and easy to get around, you are never far from the ocean and There is lots to do and see. But we recommend you go in July or August when everything is up and running.

A Scary Trip Across the Confederation Bridge

The Confederation Bridge is a 9km long, 2 lane bridge that connects Prince Edward Island to mainland Canada. Other than a ferry at the other end of the province it is "the Island's" only vehicle transportation link to the rest Canada, and yesterday we nearly shut it down.

As we started out to cross the bridge it was very windy but the large trucks and other RVs seemed to be heading out with confidence so off we went. About 500 meters onto the bridge our awning started to bang and shake. The wind was blowing underneath it and it was coming loose. Oh my!

Once you get on the bridge there is no turning back and no stopping as there are no pull off lanes. So we had no choice but to continue on. For 9 kms. With the awning banging and crashing against the side of the Adventure Bus. About half way across the awning itself started to come off the roll.

I read a blog once (I wish I could remember which one) about a couple whose awning came loose on a very windy day on Interstate 5 in California and she had to hang out the window and hold on to the awning until her husband was able to pull off the road. I had visions of doing the same thing for 5 kms on the bridge - a very scary prospect.

Meanwhile, Arch had visions of shutting down the bridge when the awning blew off. He drove very slowly and adjusted the passenger side mirror so he could watch the awning. The cars behind us could see what was happening and gave us lots of distance and we kept going - creeping along at about 50 km/hr. And we made it! Thank heavens!

We pulled in to the Tourist Information Centre at the exit to inspect the damage and see what our situation was. The force of the wind had broken one of the clips holding the awning in place and about 25% of the awning had come off the roll. We were struggling to get to get everything back together - Arch on the roof and me down below, when a man who could see we were struggling and stopped to help. His assistance was just what we needed and within 5 minutes everything was back in place. Except the awning was still partially off the roll.

Today Arch will try to fix that and design a back up system to hold the awning in place if this ever happens again. Any suggestions?

Other than that our trip to PEI was great - I will do a blog post about that later.

Hunting for Food - 2012 Style

It rained for the first three days of our visit to Prince Edward Island. We know that entertaining ourselves on rainy days will be a problem as we are “go outside” people and a lot of what we (especially Arch) like to do means being outside. So, after a spectacular summer of very little rain, this was our first real test. And, as we must stay on budget, we did not want to spend any unnecessary money. The solution? A food hunt for our dinner.

PEI issues a brochure “PEI Flavours Culinary Trail”. I found a recipe for PEI Lobster-Stuffed Spuds in it so we decided to follow the trail along Green Gables Shore and gather the food necessary to make them for supper.

First stop: Island Farmhouse Gouda to buy The Cheese Lady’s Gouda. They had an interesting video about how the Gouda was made and a glassed in area where we could watch the process happening. Unfortunately, when we were there, The Cheese Lady was not at work, so all we saw were the Gouda aging – a little like watching grass grow.

Next stop: Fishermen’s Wharf in North Rustico to purchase lobster and, we hoped, have lunch at the Blue Mussel Café. Again, we are here out of season so there wasn’t much action. The café was closed, but the lobster pound was open so we were able to get our lobster already cooked.

Lunch: So now we are on a hunt for a spot to have lunch. There was a Fisherman’s Wharf Lobster Supper restaurant there but these places tend to be very production (vs. quality) oriented and as buses from cruise ships visiting Charlottetown lined the road we decided to pass. Our brochure recommended a spot in Cavendish so on we went. Chez Yvonne sounded like a small, cozy café but when we arrived we found this. With more buses parked in back.

But we were pleasantly surprised. The bus people left as we arrived and the restaurant was very quickly tidied up and we were seated. The food was all homemade and both it and the service were excellent.

So then, on to get some mussels for Arch (I do not care for them) at Carr’s Shellfish on the wharf at Stanley Bridge. This is where the famous PEI blue mussel comes from and the waters around Stanley Bridge are full of mussel (and oyster) farms.

Finally, one last shop at Hills Farm Stand to purchase two really nice baking potatoes. Another disappointment as they only sold potatoes in 5lb (or larger) bags. We wouldn’t eat that many potatoes in a month and had no place to store them anyway.

So we passed on that and went to a grocery store where we were able to buy two potatoes (grown in PEI). Then home to make supper.

Arch shelled the lobster and scrubbed the mussels, we popped the potatoes in the oven to bake and I prepared the ingredients for the stuffed potatoes and the mussels.

For the mussels I simple added a little chopped garlic and onion, a bit of white wine, some chopped tomato and a tablespoon of butter. Place them on the burner for about 5 minutes, until they open, and voila: steamed mussels.

The recipe for the potatoes was equally as simple:

Lobster-stuffed Spuds

Ingredients:

2 baking potatoes, baked and hot

¼ cup cooked lobster meat, chopped

2 tsp butter

2 ½ tbsp. sour cream

1 green onion, diced small

Two rashers bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1/3 cup Gouda, grated (buy the “old” Gouda)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400⁰F

Cut the cooked potatoes in half and scoop out the potato. Set the skins aside. In a bowl mash the potato with the butter, sour cream, green onion and ½ the cheese, Beat until smooth. Fold in the lobster meat and bacon. (I simply mixed it all together with a spoon). Season with pepper and salt.  Spoon the mixture into the potato skins, sprinkle with the remaining Gouda and bake for about 15 minutes, until hot and cheese is melted.

Add a green salad and you have supper:

The Rich Really do Live Better Than You and Me!

Fox Harb'r Golf Resort was developed by former Tim Horton's owner as a playground for the rich and priveledged. It has 2 golf courses, one 18 holes and a 9 hole executive course. The 18 hole course is $300 a round so there was no way we could afford that. At $30 a round the executive course is on the higher end for a very short 9 hole course but do-able for our budget so yesterday we decided to give it a go.

There is no signage directing you to the course and the drive in would lead one to believe there is nothing special at the end of the road when suddenly you come upon a very long wrought irom fence, and then this:

The entrance gate was open so we simply drove in and up the very long and beautifully landscaped Amazing Grace Boulevard. The suddenly we came upon this:

The landing strip for private jets. Right in the centre of the golf course. I guess there was no way to make the airplane hanger look beautiful.

Off to one side of the course were private homes and condos. Nova Scotia's favourite songstress, Anne Murray, owns a home here.

Then we came to the main club house complex: 

It was beautifully appointed, both inside and out. I of course had to take a few photos of the women's locker room and bathroom. What is it about fancy bathrooms that inspires us to take photos - do we really expect, an outhouse???

Then on to the pro shop to book a tee time. Met the very personable golf pro and after a lot of chat about the course and how it operated he gave us a score card for the short course. When Arch asked "how much?' he said "No charge. You are guests of the resort. Have fun. Play as many rounds as you want."  What a nice surprise! So off we went.

The 9 hole course runs along the Northumberland Strait and the view is spectacular.

It was very windy though, and much tougher than it looks, especially the greens, so 9 holes was enough for our first golf outing since last April.

So we left the sea gulls to their green guarding job,

Said good-by to the fox,

And were on our way. What a fun experience thanks to a generous gesture by the golf pro. Thanks Fox Harb'r!