The Road Goes On…

Category: Canada

  • Grand Falls, NB to Riviere du Loup, QC

    Our campground was not only cute, but had the best, biggest (8’x8’), nicely tiled, individual free shower we’ve had on our trip.

    Our goal was to make it to Quebec today but did want to have a stop in the Edmundston area before leaving New Brunswick. The city of Edmunston has a pretty area around city hall with an amphitheater and even a hotel for insects.

    Many of the stores and restaurants seem to be struggling. The main employer appears to be the large paper mill in the city.

    We visited the former C.P.R. station and learned about the success and decline of the railway lines that came through Edmunston as part of the St. John and North West network.

    In keeping with the rail theme, we visited the Du Reel au Miniature Railroad Interpretation Center. Joel, our guide, walked us through a small museum with artifacts of railway construction, signalling, security and life while asking us what we though certain objects were used for.

    After watching a short video about the owner and his collection we saw the miniature railway layout of part of New Brunswick.

    We skipped the 2km ride on a small train.

    We left the railway system but stayed on the transportation theme and after a long and tedious search because of lack of signs, arrived at the Antique Automobile Museum. We took the guided tour and had an outstanding high school student who shared her knowledge of these old cars and their history in the area.

    Among the artifacts were old licence plates, including old medallions which were originally used to register cars and simply had the registration number. If you had 26, it meant your car was the 26th registered in the province.

    One of the highlights was a 1974 Bricklin which was manufactured in New Brunswick during the short life of the Bricklin company.

    The large collection of antique cars were donated by a businessman who lived in the area. Among them is a 1910 Detroit Electric Car, an ancient ancestor of a Tesla. This car had a range of about 40 miles and was often driven by women because it was easy to drive. An interesting curiosity of this car was that it lacked a steering wheel and had tillers instead to control direction.

    A 1939 Nash Lafayette Sedan featured seats that could be folded into a bed and suicide doors where the rear doors opened into the wind and were thus hard to close.

    We made it to the Quebec border and were soon greeted by a cheese factory where we stocked up on curds. A detour took us to the Alibaba Gelato shop where we had the most expensive ice cream ever. We aren’t sure whether the detour was worth it.

  • Mt. Carlton Provincial Park, NB to Grand Falls, NB

    It was a bit sad to leave Mt. Carlton Provincial Park with its beautiful lake but Grand Falls was waiting. The roads were pretty good and we arrived around lunchtime at the impressive information center. Here we learned of the formation of Appalachians and in particular, the change in flow of the St. John’s River over the last 20,000 years.

    The gorge is quite wide, but the water flow is fairly small because of a nearby hydroelectric plant. The tree line along the gorge shows how high the water gets in the spring.

    We walked a trail along the gorge but skipped the 401 step decent down to the water because of the humidity and chance of rain. The trail had several lookout points including some in the city campground. We looked at this cute campground with mature trees and enquired whether there was still a site available for the evening. Again we were lucky and got the last one with hookup. As we were doing laundry we saw a number of trailers and campers show up looking for space and they were offered overflow spots without services.

  • Mt. Carlton Provincial Park, NB

    Today was a rainy day but we liked the park so much that we extended our stay for another day and  spent the time reading, napping and going for short walks during the sunny periods between the rain showers.

    The night sky was clear with lots of stars and Ruth got to see her first meteor!

  • Mactaquac, NB to Mt. Carlton Provincial Park, NB

    At the campground we met a couple with a newly acquired Roadtrek who told us about a campground in Mount Carlton Provincial Park. Mount Carlton is part of the Appalachians and is the highest peak in New Brunswick at 820 meters. Although the weather forecast wasn’t that promising we decided take this excursion.

    Along the way we saw signs for the longest covered bridge in the world and had to pay a visit. The Hartland Covered Bridge was built in 1921 and is 390.75 meters (1282 feet) long. There are a number shorter bridges like this in this area and they were covered to prevent the truss joints from rotting.

    The next stop before getting back on the highway was the Covered Bridge Potato Chip factory where we did a self guided tour and saw how kettle chips are produced. We read a lot about potato farming in the area and how this family owned business branched out into making chips. The potatoes come in and are washed, sliced, cooked in oil while being stirred, dried, seasoned and then packaged for sale. We got a small bag of chips at the end of the tour and were able to season these with the 30+ flavours they had.

    We continued towards Mount Carlton, driving through valleys and fields and slowly climbed into forested areas until we reached the park at a height of around 300 meters. We walked to the beautiful lake with a beach and ended the evening with a campfire and marshmallows.

  • Moncton, NB to Mactaquac, NB

    The morning started with a trip to the veterinarian for Pepsi. She was in desperate need of new dog food and the food she is on is only available at veterinarians. The first one we tried had what we needed and Pepsi now has enough food for the next couple of months.

    Martin was driving and Ruth was busy looking not only for things to do and see in Fredericton, but also whether there were swimming opportunities in the area. We arrived at the visitor center in Fredericton where we found out that out-of-province tourists can get a free day of parking once every year.

    Fredericton gives the impression of a bigger city than its 60,000 inhabitants would suggest. It has attractive architecture for its City Hall and at a nearby historic garrison we saw the quarters of where the soldiers keeping watch could rest. The garrison was always English and there was never a war between the French and English here according to the interpreters who were available for questions, dressed in period costumes. The beds of the soldiers were rather short, not because the soldiers on duty were short, but rather because they were required to keep their feet on the floor at all times during their 24 hour shift, even while resting.

    The officer’s quarter had lots of books and ledgers. He was in charge of all correspondence as most of the soldiers where not literate. He kept the fire buckets that were made of leather and insulated with tar which ironically was combustable.

    During our walk through the historic downtown area we saw many little shops, pubs and restaurants with international cuisine. We also found Canada’s oldest bike shop.

    We did not stay for the free guided city tour walk but left for Mactaquac Provincial Park where we have a site on small hill next to a large open area. A nearby beach at the river had signs that it was likely safe to swim but that one should be careful with blue-green algae which can be harmful. We did not swim but had dinner outside and planned our next steps.

    A small green insect kept us company and tried to climb up our tray at the slowest possible speed.

  • Annapolis Royale, NS to Moncton, NB

    We left Annapolis Royale at 9:30am but didn’t make it very far before we saw a sign for the visitor’s centre at the tidal power generation station. We watched a short video on the construction of this facility and then Henry, who was involved in the consulting and preparation process during the construction, shared lots of information on how the plant works and its environmental impact or lack thereof.

    For lunch we cashed in our Subway coupons from yesterday and enjoyed a free meal.

    We drove on for quite a while until Wolfville where there are a number of vineyards. We visited the Lightfoot and Wolfville Vinery and were impressed by the elegant building and terrace and the view in the distance. We sampled four white wines and settled for the one we liked best.

    Both of us were kind of tired and not particularly motivated to see another winery, museum, wharf, or heritage site so we decided to say goodbye to Nova Scotia and head back to New Brunswick.

    We made to it Moncton where we will be spending the night before continuing on to Fredericton tomorrow.

  • Hillgrove, NS to Annapolis Royale, NS

    After a nice sunny breakfast outside at our campground we left for Digby. The information centre gave us lots of suggestions on what to do in the area and where the most beautiful beaches are, but we only went for a walk through the town and read about scallops and the Loyalists who came after the American Revolution. Among the Loyalists were black people who did not get treated as well as the white people and ended up with land that was of low quality. Many left to go to Sierra Leone.

    Scallop fishing is a very successful industry in Digby and the method for raking the sea floor to collect the scallops into a pouch was invented here.

    As we were returning to our van, the local Y95.5 radio station was handing out coupons for a 6” Subway sandwich, pop and a bag of chips. We did not say no and left with a big smile.

    We continued on highway 1 and arrived in Annapolis Royale where we parked directly in front of a Germany bakery and cafe. Curious we went inside, looked at the menu and needed to try the schnitzel served with potato salad and a large German Erdinger and Austrian Stiegel beer. The waitress and daughter of the owner spoke fluent German and told us that they had immigrated from Germany in the early 2000s. On the walls where the Gesellen-und-Meisterbriefe from former East Germany. The food was excellent and we took and extra portion of potato salad with us for an upcoming lunch.

    Directly across the street is Fort Anne, a historic fort that, like the fort at Louisbourg, changed hands from French to English several times.

    Exhausted, we had to have an afternoon nap in the parking lot by the market square. We liked this spot so much that we decided to stay there for the night as well. We had two choices for the evening program – a grave yard tour at the fort, or a dance performance at the theatre in connection with a four day dance festival. We chose the dance performance which was mostly contemporary, with three sections. The first recalled the collapse of the Quebec-Levis bridge in 1907 where more than 75 iron workers died, the second and third dealt with relationships. It turns out that the first theatre production in Canada took place in what is now Annapolis-Royale.

    We really liked this small town and will definitely return sometime.

  • Lower Wedgeport, NS to Hillgrove, NS

    After a late night, we deserved to sleep in and then started the morning with an apple pancake breakfast.

    The weather was a bit iffy and we were looking forward to exploring Yarmouth and Digby, taking highway 3 and 1 to explore the coastline. We walked through the heritage district of Yarmouth but it was anticlimactic as it started to rain. The downtown business district seems to be suffering with the CAT ferry to Bar Harbour not running this year. We saw it docked in port.

    We left Yarmouth and saw the strong presence of Acadians in this area – flags, restaurants, museums, churches and other historical points of interest.

    At Port Maitland, we stopped for another Living Wharves program and this time a real retired fisherman and his wife were present to inform and teach us the ropes of fishing. As in, literally, how to splice ropes together. All four of us huddled under the small tent as it started raining heavily. We spent about an hour with Gary and Rrene and heard many tall tales of fishing boats loaded to the maximum with herring that was sold to the Russians.

    A beautiful sandy beach right next to the wharf went unused by us because it was wet and only 18 degrees. We spent some time at the beach park and Martin BBQ’d pork burgers between the rain showers.

    A short distance further on highway 1 we saw a number of boats sitting on the ground waiting for high tide to lift them back into the water.

    Digby was to be our destination but we stopped just south of there at the Ridge Valley campground in Hillsgrove.

  • Blanche, NS to Lower Wedgeport, NS

    We woke up to a beautiful morning with amazing light and a boat with a fisherman that wasn’t fishing. Curious as we are, we looked closely and saw that he was “cleaning” the bay of seaweed. He worked for at least two and a half hours and had his boat packed with seaweed and pumped excess water out of his boat before heading into the distance.

    Of course we had to stop at the next harbour with red fishing boats, but they became the sideshow when we saw boats and fisherman unloading seaweed by crane into containers. Now we were curious and asked one of the fisherman what the seaweed is used for. He explained that the seaweed or Irish moss is processed to extract a substance called carrageenan which is used in all sorts of foods (like ice cream), cosmetics, and lubricants.

    One of the travel brochures mentioned a Living Wharves program where visitors can discover the tools and skills used by real fishermen who are available to answer questions. On Monday this program takes place at the Dennis Point Wharf. Dennis Point Wharf is one of the largest commercial fishing ports in Canada and we were amazed by the number of ships and were eager to find out more.

    The program didn’t start until 1:30PM, so we had lunch at the Dennis Point Cafe across the street. Ruth had a cup of seafood chowder and her first lobster roll. She was in seafood heaven!

    The fisherman didn’t come for the information session, but two young people did a good job filling in and explaining the different lobster fishing regions and seasons in the Maritimes.

    Further down the Pubnico peninsula there is a wind farm and hiking trails. We heard the woop-woop of the wind mills and were mesmerized by the huge moving shadows cast by the blades. We went for a short hike along the beach were we saw rocks with shimmering colours.

    The Yarmouth – Maine ferry isn’t running this season which is affecting some of the tourism businesses in the area because of reduction in US visitors. We stopped at the YesterYear’s Bed and Breakfast which advertised a photography gallery and spoke to the owner who was from France.

    The Yarmouth and Acadian Shores area is home to North America’s first “Starlight Destination” and Martin was eager to do a star trails photograph. We chose the Lower Wedgeport area which is one of the suggested star gazing spots and the brochure advertised that loaner telescopes were available at the nearby Tuna Museum. We visited the Tuna Museum to enquire and Cody, the museum guide, and his supervisor were very surprised and said they knew nothing of that program. The museum was well worth visiting and Cody was very knowledgeable about the whole fishing industry and willing to share his knowledge. One of the tuna fishing chairs on display was worth $4000.

    We drove the short distance to the end of the peninsula where a newly constructed star gazing area was set up with tables and benches. A great parking spot for the van was also there. We hiked along the shore for close to an hour and found some sea glass.

    Back at the van Martin waited for dark and took a 2 hour exposure from 10:20pm to 12:20am. It was cold and windy night, but what had to be done, had to be done.

  • Lunenburg, NS to Blanche, NS

    Sunday morning was Gospel music time on the main stage and we enjoyed the music while we were packing up to leave. We decided to take to the scenic highways 332 and 331 and drove through many small towns and villages. One of these towns is LaHave and the bakery and bistro caught our eye. We parked right by Westcote Bell Artworks, the most amazing pottery store we’ve ever visited. The gallery displays the work of artists Jacqueline M. Cohen and Vaughan L. Smith who came from the UK and worked in the US before settling in Nova Scotia in 2011. Across the street from the gallery is their studio and shop for smaller, more affordable gifts.

    Next door was another treasure. We met Monica O’Halloran-Schut, a metalsmith working with silver, bronze and copper to create sculptures and jewelry. She showed us the process by which she turns objects such as leaves, sand dollars and seaweed into silver ornaments using a process of painting a clay of reclaimed silver onto the item. After many coats, the item is fired in a kiln and the silver turns into its shiny metallic form. It was a true pleasure to meet this very fascinating artist.

    We walked to the bakery which was packed with people buying breads, sweets and lunches. We bought a cheese and herb bread and a poppy seed and onion bread, both still slightly warm which we savoured with a bit of butter when we got back to the van. Yummy!

    We continued our slow scenic route and made it to West Berlin. Not quite the city we know in Germany.

    Cosby’s Garden Center in Liverpool was our next stop. We didn’t buy any plants for the van, although Ruth was tempted, but we did see the owner’s concrete sculptures. They are huge and sometimes mysteriously dark and frightening.

    It was getting late and we still wanted to visit a museum complex in Shelburne so we took the faster but not as scenic highway 103. We arrived at the Dory museum with 45 minutes left to visit the three nearby museums. We spent most of the time at the dory boat building museum where we learned how these boats are constructed and about Sidney Mahaney, who built over 10,000 of them.

    With only about 15 minutes left before closing, we headed across the street to the Shelburne County Museum where we saw Canada’s first fire pumper engine.

    The third museum had already closed, so we walked through this historic section of Shelburne and then drove on to find a place to stay.

    Blanche it was. We have a great spot by the water near a boat launch. Five kilometres further down is a sandy beach which looked beautiful but we decided to skip the swim because it was getting dark and cool.