Words/No Words
Lenticular Cloud over Mount Rainier, Mount Rainier National Park, from Paradise
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 Wilson's Cove, Nova Scotia ,Good afternoon from Gloucester, Massachusetts where we'll be in residence until November 2nd. In June, Melanie interviewed and ultimately received a job offer from Salem Maritime National Historic Site while we were touring Canada. She's their latest full time seasonal interpretive ranger and starts with them tomorrow, Sunday, July 14th. We spent a month in Canada touring around in Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia mostly escaping summer's heat with very few days of rain getting in the way of exploring our surroundings. We began in Quebec City, Quebec spending four days on foot and on our bikes mostly exploring Old Quebec, but also cycling out on the Corridor du Littoral to Parc Montmorency to see the falls there. Neither of us speaks French, but since I studied French in college many years ago, I was (minimally) able to ask in French if the person I was addressing spoke English (Parlez-vous anglais?) or to explain I did not speak French (Je ne parle pas francais). In large measure, that worked for us. Most people we encountered spoke English and those who didn't graciously attempted to communicate with us to accomplish whatever was the task at hand. Time in Quebec City was a great start to our time in Canada and we left wishing for more time there and that Melanie's bicycle had been properly repaired in Burlington. Getting around on bike is a great way to see the sights. 7/16/24 Good morning from Gloucester and our Cape Ann Campsite where the weather service has issued a heat advisory that will last until tomorrow evening. It's currently 83 and sunny with 62% humidity, not the southern heat we know and love to avoid, but it's warm. Back to Canada. Leaving Quebec City, we traveled to and stayed a night in Biencourt, Quebec at a Harvest Host location with a great view of a mountain and the valley below. It began raining shortly after our arrival and rained off and on during our night's stay there. Lovely spot. Moving along the next day found us camped in Amqui, Quebec at Camping d'Amqui. What I remember is the road between Biencourt and Amqui is in bad need of paving. Broken in places, pot holes and low spots made for slower driving conditions. Reminded us of some roads we encountered in Maine earlier in May this year. The town of Amqui itself is pleasant enough and we found groceries and a few good meals there. The campground was nearly empty as their season doesn't really kick off until the end of June when schools are out. It was rainy so we didn't explore much. Our beers and dinner at Microbrasserie La Captive were memorable and worth a try, if you're through Amqui. Thanks again to Michelle for making us feel welcome. The next day found us traveling just over the line from Quebec into New Brunswick to Sugarloaf Provincial Park in Campbellton. Our drive along the Matapedia River was truly spectacular and I'm happy to report that, once on Route 132 E, the road greatly improved. Sugarloaf was our first Canadian Provincial Park. There's a smallish ski area, hiking trails and several reservoirs within the park. The Campground was nearly empty and very well kept. Recommended. We took a few walks in Sugarloaf, along service roads but again with rain off and on. We ate dinner one evening at the restaurant located at the base of the ski hill within the park. Apparently it's one of the few places in town locals gather. "Something to eat," as Melanie sometimes says-, not bad, not good, just something to eat. After a few days in Campbellton, we made our way into Nova Scotia to Northport and Amherst Shore Provincial Park. There are hiking trails and beach access and the campground was well kept. The beach has red sand the color of the clay found in some places in Alabama, but it's sand. Amherst was the first place we encountered mosquitos. We could be outside during the day, but when evening came along, we had to make our way inside unless we sprayed copious amounts of bug spray, something that I'm not too fond of these days. We enjoyed ourselves there. I can recommend it as a waypoint, but there's nothing too close by and as an aside, if you are looking for fuel, avoid Coast II Coast Market just outside the park. We filled our tank with diesel there and experienced problems with our ERG valve that, thankfully, corrected itself after adding new fuel to the tank in Antigonish, NS. The fueling/ERG problem could have been purely coincidental, but jus' sayin'. A big thanks to Sullivan's Auto Service in Antignoish, Nova Scotia for running a quick diagnostic on the Mercedes to determine our problem. When the gentleman assisting told me it would be at least a week before he could make any repair, I asked how much I owed him for the diagnostic. "Nothing, you're traveling, it's the least I can do." The kindness of strangers. Once we were back in Milton, Vermont, a B Service was due for the Mercedes and we found out Mercedes covered ERG valve replacement under warranty since problems are apparently a thing. From Northport we made the drive to Antigonish, Nova Scotia and spent a night at another Harvest Hosts location, Half-Cocked Brewing Company, located just outside of town. Half-Cocked is a former chicken farm converted into a brewery. There's also a food truck located on premises. Both the beer and food are good and worth your while. Antigonish is a college town where St. Francis Xavier is located. After our ERG valve self-corrected and I could breath, we found The Brownstone in downtown for a nice lunch. Melanie found a place for a quick haircut and then we made our way to Half-Cocked for the evening. Leaving Antigonish we traveled to Cheticamp, Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island where we spent a few days camped in the National Park in Cheticamp Campground. Cheticamp is located along the Cabot Trail. Some thirty plus years ago I drove from Birmingham, Alabama to tour Nova Scotia. My friend and I took the ferry over from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and traveled along the coast of Nova Scotia in a clockwise route. I had a vague recollection of Cheticamp as a sleepy fishing village near the border with Cape Breton Highlands National Park. I was using a fair amount of black and white film at the time and somewhere in the archives in Birmingham, Alabama there are photos I eventually printed in a darkroom, one that I remember is of a fly fisherman wading in the Cheticamp River on the border of the National Park. My friend and I did a few days of backpacking in the National Park where one morning I woke up, unzipped my tent and saw my first moose in the wild grazing in a pond not 10 yards away. Head beneath the water it emerged chewing, looked at me sitting in the tent, re-submerged unfazed and continued its breakfast. Great memory. The town has changed, but not too drastically. There are certainly more houses, many appear to be seasonals, more restaurants and businesses and a good sized grocery store. There's more of fishing presence with a nice pier or two. Rain was still with us off and on, but Melanie managed a few great hikes, I accompanied her on a nice walk up the Cheticamp on the Salmon Pools Trail and I cycled through town intending to make my way out to Cheticamp Island to the lighthouse located at the northern end. After cycling against a very strong wind for miles, I reached the island only to discover the paved road ended and the crushed gravel road I found was a bit too rough. Absent the wind, I might have continued on. Leaving Cheticamp Campground we drove through Cape Breton Highlands National Park on the Cabot Trail to Dingwall, Nova Scotia. "We camped in Dingwall at Hideaway Campground and Oyster Market for three days. Our campsite had a spectacular view of Aspy Bay and farther up the coast. The campground itself is well kept and as the name implies has, among other seafood, oysters. The owners will shuck them for you or you can take them away and shuck them yourself. It's a no nonsense set up with tables outside just off the office. In addition to oysters they have beer and wine and soft drinks. Melanie and I had a couple of dozen one evening for dinner. Bring your own saltines. We cycled around the area and traveled back into Cape Breton Highlands National Park to hike the Skyline Trail while we were there. Lunch at Morrison's Restaurant is recommended as is dinner at The Markland Coastal Beach Cottages (Restaurant). We met The Markland's chef at the Dingwall post office one morning. He had his twins with him and asked if we were new to the area or passing through. "Passing through," we told him and he invited us to come eat at his restaurant. We cycled to The Markland from the post office and made a reservation for the following evening. Both these restaurant recommendations have really good seafood chowder. Each is a bit different, but each contained identifiable seafood in them. Pieces of lobster, crab, mussels, and fish in each unlike chowders I've eaten in the states where carrots and potatoes are identifiable, but the seafood, such as it is, may be pureed to the point it's difficult to tell just what you've gotten. When in Nova Scotia certainly order a lobster roll every now and again, but try the chowders. They are a thing and they are deliciously prepared. 7/17/24 Good morning from Salem, Massachusetts. I'm in Miranda in the parking lot of the MBTA (Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority) near where Melanie is working for the National Park Service. It's her second day. Still no word from the local Gloucester bike shop on Melanie's bike repair, but hopefully, resolution is close and she will then be able to ride to the West Gloucester MBTA stop and ride the light rail into Salem for work. We're experiencing a bit of warmer-than-usual weather here in Salem, hopefully today marks the last day of elevated temperatures for a while. I say warm, highs in the mid 80's to low 90's today. Temps we don't like while living in the van, but here we are. Back to Canada Leaving Dingwall, we traveled down the coast to just outside of Sydney, Nova Scotia to Albert Bridge, stopping along the way in Sydney. We camped in Mira River Provincial Park another great Canadian park and campground. We were experiencing some of the warmest weather on our trip and so we didn't do too much sight-seeing while in the area, but did walk around town a bit and found a lunch spot near the waterfront. Our next stop was Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, a village on the St. Mary's River. We had a site on the river camped at Rivers Edge Campground for a night. Sherbrooke is the home of Sherbrooke Village and North America's first Beluga Whale Sanctuary. Beanie's Bistro has a nice Lobster BLT. We walked through the Sherbrooke Village History Museum after hours, but were fortunate enough to chat with one of the people who worked there about the village. They've done a fine job of recreating life in the 1860's with restored buildings of the time period. Traveling along the coast we continued south from Sherbrooke to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia located just across the harbor from Halifax. We camped at Shubie Campground in Dartmouth located within Shubie Park. Between intermittent rain showers we explored the Dartmouth/Halifax area for four days walking and riding our bikes. Shubie Campground has trails that connect with Dartmouth and, while we didn't take the ferry over to Halifax, we could have ridden into Dartmouth on our bikes and connected with Halifax using it. We easily drove the van into Halifax on two of the four days we were there. Parking on the street is possible either downtown or in Northern Halifax. Don't miss a walk through the Public Gardens in Halifax. Leaving Dartmouth, we traveled back into New Brunswick to Hopewell Cape and the Bay of Fundy hoping to witness the highest tides in the world. We camped at Ponderosa Pines Campground and spent three days walking and cycling around Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park. We also drove south to the fishing village of Alma (Fundy-Albert), New Burnswick located at the entrance to Fundy National Park of Canada on a rainy day. We celebrated our 2,000th day of full time travel here. 7/18/24 Good morning from Salem Common, a nice park near where Melanie works. It was too hot in the MBTA parking lot yesterday afternoon so I scoped out the Salem Commons and found very large oaks surrounding the perimeter which, hopefully, will provide needed shade this afternoon. It's cloudy this morning. So far, I'm good. Back to Canada Leaving Hopewell Cape, we traveled west to Hawkshaw, New Brunswick and camped for a night at Sunset View Campground. I should mention here that while planning our stay at Sunset View Campground, I booked the wrong date for our stay. I discovered my error when one of the owners contacted me to ask if I was coming in that night. "No, I'm sorry for my mistake, but is it possible for me to change my reservation," I asked. It was possible, but they only had a tent site with water and 15 amp electricity since they were now booked for the holiday weekend (Canada Day). Upon our arrival, we found out we had a very nice site overlooking the river with water and 30 amp electricity. The site wasn't level, but the owner gave us an assist with leveling blocks. We spent a very nice evening at Sunset and are grateful for them making my booking error go away. If that, in and of itself doesn't tell you about the campground, let me add it's a very well-run and well-kept campground with a heated pool on the St. Johns River. Digressing a bit, Melanie and I spent a few hours in the provincial capitol of New Brunswick, Fredericton, also located on the St. Johns River on our way to Hawkshaw. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Issac's Way (another great seafood chowder was had), purchased coffee beans and walked around town for several hours taking in preparations for their Canada Day celebrations. Beautiful college town worth a detour on your way. Leaving Hawkshaw, we traveled to Riviere-Du-Loup, Quebec on the St. Lawrence River stopping in Grand Falls, New Brunswick to take in the falls and eat lunch. We arrived in Riviere-Du-Loup during a thunderstorm which quickly passed and we were able to take nice walks in the afternoon along the St. Lawrence River. We camped in Camping Municipal De La Pointe. The park has recent renovations to their bathhouses which are very nice. We were there during the holiday weekend so the park was pretty much at capacity, but we enjoyed a quiet night in what appears to be a well run city park. Leaving Riviere-Du-Loup we traveled southwest to Montreal for our last two days in Canada. The trip was 270 miles and so we laid low upon arrival and toured Montreal's Old Port, Parc du Quai-de-La-Tortue and a bit of Nuns' Island the next day. We parked across the river near Parc de la Terre and took the subway into town. We wished for more time and definitely will return, but next time with our bikes since Montreal is a very bike friendly city.
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