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To view the photos click on “Photos October 2007” above.
Actually, we are very late sleepers but on October 1st we made an exception so we could see the low tide at the Bay of Fundy. Renée, Chuck and Lobo walked all the way out on the tideland (see photos) while Elke relaxed in the sun on the rocks. The immense difference between high and low tide in the bay is quite an experience! After the walk we found a fish market in Alma at the entrance to the national park. Renée and Elke went inside where Renée laid all of her Canadian money on the counter and told the lady they wanted as much fresh sea scallops and smoked salmon that it would buy. We then returned to the campground. The scallops were planned for supper. We all shared the salmon for a snack. This was not the thinly sliced, heavily salted pieces of salmon that is often seen in a supermarket, but the entire thick and juicy fillet! Chuck then returned to Alma to fill the propane tanks. Elke had given all of her Canadian money to him and he went to the fish market and performed the same routine, buying another batch of freshly smoked salmon. That afternoon we took a trip through the national park, taking a hike to the Dickson Waterfall and the covered bridge at Point Wolfe. Along the way we also had the opportunity to raid a few 150 year old apple trees (see photos). The apples were quite good and we made several apple cobblers over the next few weeks. Before we returned to the campground, we made another trip to the bay to see it at high tide (see photos). October 2nd was our last day in Canada (See the travel route for details) and we reached Saint John in time for lunch. We stopped in a park overlooking the “Reversing Falls” (see photos). We also found a supermarket that had Seafood Lasagna and bought a few since they can’t be found in the USA, then drove to the border crossing at St. Stephen where it crosses into Calais, Maine. At the border, randomly, vehicles were being inspected by an agent from the US Department of Agriculture, along with the |
This required the slide-outs to be opened but couldn’t be fully opened in the narrow lane (see photo top left) and it is not possible to walk inside the RV without them being opened. We tried to clarify this to the agents but they insisted. The border agent stayed outside with Chuck while the USDA agent went inside the RV with Renée. A little clarification about the RV is necessary here. If the dining table/couch slide out is not fully opened, it is not possible to pass through for access to the kitchen side for the refrigerator, etc. A person must then carefully climb over the dining table. The dining table is on a center pedestal, not legs. Placing the weight of a person on the side of the table will break the table or the pedestal. The USDA agent (female) saw that she couldn’t get thru the narrow space and immediately started to climb over, putting her weight on the edge of the table. Chuck saw it and shouted “Wait, stop” to keep her from breaking the table. The border agent next to Chuck went totally berserk, ranting and raving and requiring Chuck to stand back, away from the RV. Every time Chuck tried to clarify, the agent screamed. After three apologies by Chuck, he was still ranting. Chuck then said: “I have apologized three times for raising my voice, what more do you want?” At that point he shut up. His supervisor also arrived and he became much calmer. After the incident, Chuck told the supervisor that if the agents had only listened to him in the first place, the incident would not have happened. At first the supervisor was reluctant, then, apparently realizing that all of this had been filmed, he suddenly agreed and apologized. Meanwhile, the USDA agent inside with Renée, became concerned about her own weight and let Renée climb over the table, then show her whatever she wanted to inspect from the refrigerator or cabinets. During this event, Elke sat in the truck, having no idea what was happening. Afterwards, Elke had to go inside to be issued (actually buy) an entry permit. We were quite happy to be leaving once all of this had been accomplished! Subsequently, we realized that we had not declared all of the Canadian apples which were in a compartment in the rear of the truck. The evidence has since been eaten and enjoyed. We stayed overnight at the Sunset Acres campground between Calais and Alexander on ME 9 and on the next day reached the “Great Pond Outdoor Adventure Center“, northeast of Bangor. We spent a week there on a beautiful lake (see photos). Lobo was given another bath since the skunk smell came back as soon as he took a dip in the lake. Along with the daily hikes in the woods and along the lake, we made several trips to Bangor for shopping. On one evening we visited the Sea Dog Brewery Restaurant (< - - please click). Several other evenings we cooked supper on the open fire. On October 10th we left Great Pond and drove to Pemaquid Lake (see travel route) where we discovered the campground had already closed for the winter. It was getting late and we didn’t want to drive further so we spent the night at the entrance to the campground and even had electricity from a nearby 30 amp outlet. The campground was empty except for the squirrels that use the sewers in the winter (see photos). The following day we drove to Hampton, NH (see travel route) where we had planned to stay, but encountered our first campground that would not allow dogs. Instead we drove on a few miles to Salisbury, MA where we planned to visit our friend, Phyllis Twichell. Phyllis had a serious fall earlier this year and broke her hip. She now lives in an assisted living center in Salisbury. That evening we parked at a campground and then went to a China Buffet for supper. It rained quite heavily that evening. The following day we visited Phyllis while Elke pursued her new-found knitting skills. The rest home where Phyllis lives is quite nice but no doubt a bit unusual for a woman who joined the Peace Corps in her mid 70’s, serving in Albania. She is now 87, exceptionally mentally alert but lacking the physical ability to do what her mind wants. She spends most of her time writing poetry and writing about past events in her life. Some of her work has been published. We spent several hours together, and invited her for the following evening to a Mexican restaurant. The next day we drove to the beach (see photos) and toured the area for possible Mexican restaurants with handicapped access and facilities. We decided on the Acapulco and that evening we picked up Phyllis. Renée rode with her in a taxi (our truck is much too high for a person who can only walk with a stroller). This was Phyllis’s first outing since she had moved to the rest home, except for a few doctor’s visits and a trip to a fast food place. It is safe to assume that we all enjoyed the appetizers, good beer, main entrees and the fried ice cream! Afterwards, we called a taxi and took Phyllis home, where we said our goodbyes, since we would be leaving the following morning. On October 14th we left Salisbury and drove 45 miles to Bedford (see travel route) where we decided to spent the next two weeks. The first night we spent without sewer since all spaces were full, but the following morning we moved to a nice spot on the end next to the woods. We were not able to use our satellite Internet because of the trees but they had a strong and reliable WiFi which worked most of the time. The first few days in the Boston area were spent shopping but on the 17th, after calling Michael and wishing him a happy birthday, we drove to Swampscott, Marble Head and Salem (< - - please click), then to the “House of Seven Gables” (< - - please click) made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne. On the 18th we visited Chris Twichell, his family and his mother-in-law, Barbara Powers for supper. His brother Peter was also there. Chris and Peter are Phyllis’s two sons. We had met Chris’s wife Eileen and her mother Barbara when they came to Germany several years ago. Elke was not feeling well and stayed at home with Lobo and knitted while Lobo was on guard duty. The following day we drove to Cambridge, past Harvard and made several wrong turns before we finally made it home. On the 20th we drove to Hull, followed by an invitation from Elke for supper at the Ocean View Restaurant (see photos). When we arrived home that evening, Renée had to take Elke to the emergency clinic in a nearby town because of an infected area behind her ear. It was near where she had discovered a tick a few days earlier. The doctor did not believe it had anything to do with the tick but, as a precaution, gave her antibiotics for Lyme disease and performed the necessary tests in case he was wrong (he wasn’t). Sunday was warm and sunny. Elke packed for her trip home and we made seafood kebabs with sea scallops, shrimp, tilapia and veggies on the grill for supper. The following day we took Elke to Logan airport where she flew home to Frankfurt via Toronto. The next few days were spent on tasks we had put off while enjoying Elke’s visit but needed to be accomplished. On the 28th we left for our next destination at Fourth Cliff (Humarock) between Boston and Cape Cod. After a substantial detour (see travel route) we arrived in the late afternoon. We had a reservation for two nights but as we saw how beautiful it was (see photos) we extended it another three days. While we were at the reception, a lady came up and handed Chuck our TV antenna, which had caught on a low hanging telephone line a few feet down the road. Although it is on our checklist to lower the antenna, it had not been completely lowered. The crank had hung and it felt as if it was fully cranked down (but obviously wasn’t). On the brighter side of the event, it was fortunate that it happened there instead of somewhere on the road where the antenna would never have been found. It has since been repaired and hopefully won’t happen again. On the 30th, we got up early (for the second time this month) and drove to Cape Cod (< - - please click) and Provincetown (see photos). On the way, we stopped at Plymouth Rock (see photos). The last day of October was spent enjoying the sun, the sea and walking along the beach with Lobo. To be continued in November…. |
Travel Journal October 2007
Our Motto: Home is, where our RV is.
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US/Canadian Border Crossing
