Welcome to our first trip in the U.S. that will be on my Blog. Next Tuesday, 1 October, we will leave our home in Florida and drive North along the East coast via I95 to the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick, Canada. We plan to spend a couple days there watching the tides and exploring, then returning South following the Appalachian Train from Maine to Georgia. The Bay of Fundy claims the largest tide changes in the world from submersing islands to exposing miles of seabed between high tide and low tide. The Appalachian Trail is normally the “Big Smoke” of hikers (and certainly well deserved) but we will be driving along it versus hiking it. We will be making the trip in our Winnabago Intent, seeking interesting places to see and camp along the way. We hope you come along and enjoy the trip. I expect the trip will be about 4000 miles and take 2 to 3 weeks depending how long we dawdle at pleasant places. No specific schedule. See you Tuesday!
1 October 2019, Tuesday …. Happy October and all that stuff. We got an early start this morning … didn’t know I could rig the Jeep in the dark but when the Sun came up … there it was, right behind us. Did 560 miles today. Not on purpose but with the early start and everything going well we just pressed on for a while. Made it to “South of The Border”, a little truck stop that has an immense Mexican theme. Quite cute actually … located right on the Southern side of the South Carolina/North Carolina border it was a great place to stop. Checked in to our campsite at Pedro’s RV Park, fixed a few glitches with the RV, Nancy made dinner, and we are relaxing tonight looking forward to a good night’s rest. Nothing particularly exciting or picturesque so far so no pictures. Lots of truck traffic and many cars, quite unlike the roads of Oz. Tomorrow we will get a normal start and hope to get to the North side of Washington D.C. before we stop … about 400 miles or so. The RV is working out well, having all the conveniences of home along with you is nice! More tomorrow. … Total Travel – 560 miles.
2 October 2019, Wednesday – I felt so bad about not leaving any pictures yesterday that I took a few of the South of the Boarder truck stop we stayed at last night and put them in. Kinda underwhelming … but the Truck Stops tend to be that way. Had a big day today. Drove through Richmond, Virginia and Washington DC … and you know what? … someone put the word out that we would be driving around our nation’s capital and 400 bajillion people decided to join us and drive along. Wow … and some of them even waved as I pressed along at 60 MPH while they tried to get on down the road!!! Anyhow, tonight we are staying right between Washington DC and Baltimore, MD. We traveled 390 miles today … which was enough. Even though the temps are still in the 90’s we are starting to see signs of Fall … mostly turning leaves but also farmers harvesting cotton and other crops and hunters going out. Nancy found a RV park that was kind enough to find a place for us. Nice place … even have a little Cafe where we had an Ice Cream cone for desert! Tomorrow we pass through Baltimore, New York City, and perhaps Boston. Looking forward to seeing all my motor friends. …. Total Travel – 950.
3 October 2019, Thursday: WOW!!! Who ah Thought? Baltimore was okay except for going into town in the morning … once through the tunnel, everything went well … for a while. While I was sleeping someone stuck Philadelphia, PA on I95 and we had to go through that … THEN New York City!! I will never, ever figure out why anyone in their right mind would live in NYC!!!! Rotten roads, decaying bridges, uncontrolled traffic, horrific tolls ($84.00 to cross the George Washington Bridge) … endless lines of trucks. DC was a breeze. Anyhow, made it through NYC and now we are settled in on a cozy little country farm campground half way between NYC and Boston … OH!!! Did I mention it rained all day? Not hard … just a irritating little drizzle that made you use the wiper once every 2 minutes, but never really stops. We made 319 miles today and I feel like we drove from coast to coast … but enough whining. No accidents, Motorhome worked great, looks like Fall up here and tonight … it’s 51 degrees and we are using the furnace instead of the Air Conditioning … that’s nice … I’ll probably sleep under a blanket tonight. Due to the rain, mist, fog, and traffic there are no pictures … maybe tomorrow. Hope to make it either to Augusta, Maine or take the Day off and rest … Haven’t decided yet … will decide in the morning. See you tomorrow. … Total Travel 1269 Miles.
4 October 2019, Friday …. Yet another frustrating day on I95. Got to Boston after going through Providence R.I. … nice city, nice area … too much traffic … and on to Boston. Boston wasn’t bad … I expected heavy traffic but it moved along and wasn’t too bad. My expectation was, after Boston, I would be in the sticks with no traffic, no trucks, no tolls … BOY, was I ever wrong. I95 was a sleepy highway when we lived in Maine 38 years ago … now it is six lanes wide and loaded with traffic. This is my last complaint about traffic … I have come to accept the fact that as long as we are on I95 we will have traffic … so be it. We made it to just east of Portland, just 274 miles from this mornings’s start. Staying in a goochy Farm Stay kinda place where they have “Organic Cows” … whatever that is. They also have chickens, pigs, goats, and other farm animals that you can interact with … and I suppose they are organic as well. We resisted the animal interaction and went into town to see some of the Fall activities. Had a nice dinner and came back to the camper and hit the sack. The leaves are really starting to turn here and it is beautiful. Here are some some high speed shots from the cab. … Total Travel – 1543 miles. Tomorrow we get to Canada!!
5 October 2019, Saturday – Welcome to New Brunswick, Canada. Quite the beautiful place with all the trees changing, neat New England style houses, two language signs (English and French) and much cooler weather. We left I95 in Bangor Maine and caught Hwy 9 Eastward to Canada. We spent a lot of time at the border where we were inspected, searched, questioned, and scowled at. Eventually they decided we were not terrorists after all and let us through. Then Canadian Highway 1 to Sussex where Nancy found a RV spot for us in a KOA that was closing for the season 319 miles from Freeport, Maine where we started from this morning. Most everything connected to tourism is closed up here … the few remaining businesses will be open until the Canadian Thanksgiving Day (October 18th) … then everything closes till May. We are about 30 Miles from a town named Alma, and 30 miles from a Town called St Martin’s. Both are on the Bay of Fundy about 30 miles apart and both claim great places to witness the big tides. All of the campgrounds along the Bay were closed so we are Northwest of the two towns but not too far away. So the RV is parked for the next few days. The Jeep is loose and ready to take us sightseeing. Stand by for pictures and stories of incredible tides and beautiful sea side villages. … Tomorrow. Our Plan is to catch the high tide tomorrow at St Martins (around 1 PM), then tour the local area for 6 hours and 13 minutes until the Low tide (a little after 7 PM and about 30 seconds before it gets dark!) to see the difference. Then Monday, Scoot down to Alma at O Dark Thirty in the morning to catch the 7 AM high tide and hang out till the 2 PM low tide. In Alma we are going to three different places; Alma itself (a little fishing village, The Fundy Canadian National Park, and Hopewell Rocks Park. Let’s see how this plan holds up!!
Nancy and I went into town (Sussex) to find some dinner and have a look around. Neat (as in tidy) town with old buildings and a few new ones. Everything is well cared for but you see more old people than young people. Not much to do here other than take care of tourists and maybe cut some wood so the young go to the cities to seek work … some come back, most don’t. Anyhow, we had a good dinner, met some nice people and went to bed early. Total traveled – 1870 miles. Here are a few more pictures .. These are from Canada … can you tell the difference between Canadian Trees and U.S. trees? … No? … Neither can I.
Big Salt Marsh along the Bay of Fundy 
Country Roads 
Farms Along the Way
6 October 2019, Sunday – This morning we slept in a little only to discover it got so cold last night that our water froze up … Ick! Fortunately it was just the brass pressure valve that was froze so a cup of hot water fixed that. We had a couple cups of coffee and headed back into town to attend church at 11. Right after church we beat feet for St Martins to catch the 1 PM low tide. When we got there the tide was indeed low. Here are some pictures from Low tide:
Looking Out to the Gulf 
A Stream coming in Under a Covered Bridge 
Boats at Low Tide … No Wheels? 
Road through the Covered Bridge 
My Travel Pal and the Boats 
A Tourist Light house behind the Bridge 
Eroded Caves 
A Larger Beach … Note the Big Caves way in the back 
Looking out to Sea from the Larger Beach 
Sea Weed on the exposed Ocean Bed 
Restaurants by the shore 
A Stream that Runs across the Beach .. Caves in Back 
The Caves 
The Cream, The beach, The Restaurants 
Looking Back out to Sea 
The Caves 
The Stream 
One of the caves 
Us
So we walked around the beaches and took these pictures. Then we decided to drive out to see a special scenic road that was created by a nonprofit organization to promote the area. It was about 15 miles long and ran along the high cliffs of the Bay of Fundy. There were frequent turn offs where you could walk a short distance and view the bay in interesting points. Here are some pictures we too from our drive:
We got back a little after four and had about three hours to wait for high tide so we decided to have an early dinner as it would be late by the time we saw the 7 PM High Tide and drove the 30 miles back to Sussex. Remember the restaurant in the earlier photos? That’s were we went. We got a seat right by a window looking out over the bay and we could watch the tide come in while we ate. Here are some interesting facts we found on the menu; some mussels we had for an appetizer along with Coconut crusted shrimp, and a picture of … the caves at a high tide!
After dinner we went out and took our High Tide shots, then drove back to the camper and turned in. We have an early start tomorrow as the High Tide in Alma is a little after 7 AM and is 45 – 50 minutes away … if you are familiar with the road! Here are the Hight Tide in St Martins pictures:
7 October 2019, Monday – Up at 5:30, (yes its still dark then in Canada) and off we go to Alma. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day with light breezes and cool temperatures. It was wonderful. Today, besides being dark, is rainy and cool with gusting winds. Puts a whole new slant on looking at tides! Anyhow, we drove to Alma and got there in time to buy a cup of coffee and go out and look at some of the local tides which were indeed high. Here they are:
These were all from in town … the river, the sea side and the boats. We had gone to The National Park but the place we were looking for was not available so we didn’t’t see anything there. After taking these pictures we drove North on the Bay to a place called Hopewell Rocks. It too is a private effort but is very nicely done. We got there just a few minutes after High Tide so the water was still up. Here are some pictures:
The Flower Pots 
Again .. 
And Again … 
Eroded Cliffs 
The Bay 
The Steps I had to walk down and climb up for these Pictures! (101) 
Some Pictures of Posters 
You Can Kayak at High Tide 
Tide Info 
Creative Bench Art 
The Cove 
The Bay is Angry 
Diamond Pointe 
Danials Flats 
The Weather Got worser and worser!
The main points along this trail about spread out over nearly a mile with walkways or steps down to them. Some just have viewing platforms. There was one more area called the Bird Beach That we just walked down to but did not spend any time at. During the Summer months Thousands of birds flock to this beach at every low tide. Living in the mud are small shrimp like creatures called Krill or Mud Strip that the birds love … and live on. Now, in October, the birds are all headed South with the rest of the “Snow Birds” from Canada waiting to return in the Spring. We walked the trail four times (two each way) watching the tide go out. They also have an interesting Interactive Center where you can learn all sorts of things about the formation of the Bay … and the rest of the Earth.
Around 12:30, about an hour before the Low Tide we made one last trip down the path taking final photos. Here they are:
A Graphic showing both the low and high tides (Note Wall of Water) 
Gardener’s Art 
The Flower Pots at low Tide 
Danial’s Flats … Note where the river flows 
Then back to Alma to check our local boats:
From there we went back to Sussex, Nancy made a great dinner, we both were tired so we turned in early. Big day tomorrow. We go back to Maine and visit the Acadia National Park (If U.S. Immigration lets us in). Canada was fun, interesting and cold. The Fall leaves and environment are beautiful and the people friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend visiting The Bay of Fundy.
8 October 2019, Tuesday – “It rained all night the day we left Susana don’t you cry.” And it did but it let up long enough to break camp and get on the road … then as we eased our way back to the U.S.A. the weather got nicer and the Sun even came out for a while. The U.S. border agents were far kinder than the Canadians … the agent walked through our camper, asked Nancy where she got her celery, and wished us a good journey and a “Welcome Home”. The trip was uneventful and much of the road we drove was the same one we used coming up. Gaining an hour we arrived in Bar Harbor, Maine just after Noon. We set up camp. did some adjustments to our camper and contents, then drove off to explore the area. Bar Harbor hosts Acadia National Park, one of the 10 most visited National Parks in the U.S. We we shocked to see so many people here. A Local BrewMaster explained they are all here to see the leaves turn color and in two weeks the place would look like an abandoned nuclear test site. The foliage is indeed beautiful, as is this entire area. We drove all the way around the two Islands that Acadia is located on and the scenery, buildings, sounds, and landscape are amazing. Tomorrow we will spend the day in Acadia exploring all it has to offer. If today is any clue regarding what tomorrow will be like, I can’t wait. Drove today 224 miles … Total driven so far 2094 miles. Here are some pictures taken today around Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park:
The Long and Lonesome Road 
Fall Skies Over the Sound 
Peaceful? 
Another B&B 
The B&B’s Swimming Pool 
An old B&B by the Sea 
A Grand Maple in Color 
A Hidden Retreat 
Low Tide 
The Rocky Coast of Maine 
A Look Out to Sea 
The Rocky Coast … They Have Signs Asking You Not to Take Any Rocks! 
Old Brewery in Maine …
For Dr Chang .. “I Had the Blueberry Soda!”
What Else Would You Call a Local Brew Up Here? 
Our Campsite at Sunset
9 October 2019, Wednesday – Acadia National Park. After a good nights sleep we had a leisurely start with some coffee and discussion regarding our path once we leave here tomorrow … more on that later. We drove into Bar Harbor and entered Acadia National Park. First place to go was the Visiters center to get a pass because Bill forgot our Interagency Life Pass at home. So we got a pass … if your over 62 you can get an annual pass that is good at all the National Park for a year for only $20 … and that’s as many people as you have in the car and as many times as you want to enter … a VERY good deal. We spent about four hours in the park. There is a road that goes around the interior of the park and hits all the highlights. There are countless trails you can hike and they are all well marked. we are RV’ers not hikers so we drove the Jeep all through the park. Here are the pictures we took. The park was extremely busy because everyone comes here for the Fall Colors and they were not disappointed. All the pull-offs were filled and the parking areas were jammed … but we made it and saw all we wanted to see. As I mentioned yesterday … astounding scenery, Fall colors, and landscape. I will make comments in the photo captions:
The Islands off of Bar Harbor … Note the cruise ship in the background 
Looking towards the middle of the park and Cadillac Mountain 
The Cruise Ship … It produced a number of buses of tourists 
One of Many Shots of the Foliage 
Tourists Everywhere 
Red Berries 
Sandy Beach from above 
Sandy Beach from on the beach … note the flannel swimwear … it was 52 degrees 
A Bubble Rock … Lava Bubbled Up and hardened 
Flowers and a Butterfly 
A Modest Cabin on the Shore 
Big Drop … Any Divers? 
Jordon Pond … and Nancy 
Jordon Pond from the Jordon Pond House 
The Packed Parking Lot at The Jordon Pond House 
Jordon Pond from Above 
More Foliage 
This entire area was harvested for its Lumber … they even built a railroad to haul it out! 
Views from the Top of Cadillac Mountain 
The Green is Lichen which grows and does not wear off 
And That was Acadia National Park!
Tonight we are going our for dinner … Nancy wants Lobster and I want some Good Chowder. Then tomorrow we leave the coast and head inland to Newry, Maine where the Appalachian Train starts … or ends … depending which way you are traveling. We hope to get get some way past Newry along the trail but not sure how far we will get. I will let you know how it went tomorrow evening. Thanks for enjoying Acadia National Park with us. Here’s some pictures of our Lobsters … we both had lobster stew … it was yummy!!
10 October 2019 – Thursday – Got up to mid 40’s weather this morning, a mostly clear sky and a good day for a drive. We left BarHarbor and Acadia National Park and head West to the other side of the state and The Appalachian Trail. We continued on into New Hampshire and covered a pretty good part of that state. Here’s the route we took: (The Red Line) The Blue Blotch in the second picture is where we are tonight.
We had a wonderful day, saw a lot of beautiful countryside. Found the beginning of the Appalachian Trail and crossed it several times on the road (Didn’t hit any hikers!) We have ran into a problem though. Because the Foliage is at it’s peak and this weekend is a three day weekend (Columbus Day), every campground is packed and we are unable to find any camp sights until next Monday. Consequently we have decided to deviate somewhat and go farther West, spend tomorrow night in a Hotel (Whoopee) and head South till we get out of the leafy stuff. I will update you on our route as we figure it out. I do have some shots from today that I want to share with you:
Trees, Mountains, Rocks, Old Homes, Antiques
Its What they Have!
A Lovely Home … Looks Like Many Others
13 October 2019 – Sunday – Sorry about the skipped days but we have been driving West and South to find somewhere that is not so crowded. I think all of Boston and Half of New York came out to see the leaves turn … well worth the effort but, WOW, what a crowd. Tonight we are just East of Knoxville, Tennessee and on our way home. The Appalachian Trail can not be appreciated from a road. If you want to see it and experience it, you have to hike it. Nancy and I hiked parts of it in the Shenandoah Valley when we lived in Washington D.C. … we even camped along it and it is an interesting trail that treats the hearty soul to some spectacular sights. Seeing the Appalachians, the White Mountains, The Blue Ridge Mountains from a car is good, but not as good as hiking through them. The Falls leaves have lost most of their color this far south, they just turn brown and fall off the tree. Some turn yellow but nothing like the vibrant colors up North. I took some interesting pictures throughWest Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Tennessee on the way down … cab shots so please forgive the quality. We will stay South of Atlanta tomorrow night and hope to be home Tuesday night. I will close out my blog tonight as I don’t think there will be that much of interest along the interstate highway. Thanks for riding along … Tonight we are at 3398 miles and we have another 700 or so to go … so the trip will be about 4000 miles. An interesting trip.
The Smokey Mountains 
Tennessee Wit 
Kudzoo Blanketing the Knols 
The Blue Ridge Mountains 
The Other Side of the Swan Bridge I40
