The drive along route 2 through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine was not as hilly as expected and we had some beautiful scenery along the way. By mid day on Sunday, June 27th we arrived at the Pumpkin Patch RV Resort just northwest of Bangor Maine. The sites are large and easy access. The cg is located fairly conveniently to Bangor and points of interest further east. We spent a few fun hours (when it wasn’t raining) playing ladder golf with Mackenzie.

On June 29th, we toured Bangor Maine and stopped to take some pictures of Stephen King’s residence. Quite beautiful as expected but his gates were really neat. Note the picture of us in front of the house!

June 30th we head for Charlie and Norma’s home in Fredericton, NB. After a discussion with some locals in Bangor and were advised that route 1 would only take us an hour or so out of our way, we decide to take the scenic route! We traveled the ‘costal drive’ along route 1 through Maine to St Stephen, NB. We expected to see lots of ocean vistas and small coastal villages – wrong! The road was extremely rough with road patches, weeds growing through the pavement and broken road – not expected for a major tourist route!

We arrived at the border crossing at St Stephen, NB later than expected due to the road conditions and proceeded to be searched, again! Now we are really late for our arrival at Charlie and Norma’s and they were holding dinner for us! After a very warm reception and a short discussion, we get parked in their driveway and settled for the next few days.

Canada Day Charlie and Norma took us to the 1900 era train station in the throws of restoration in McAdam NB. Charlie and Norma as kids took the train from this station. The beautiful façade that greeted us was magnificent! The tour guide took us through the train station, dinning rooms, lunch counter and hotel. There was even a jail for the bad guys. Of course, we had to stop for an ice cream before we headed back and toured Fredericton and then back for dinner and games.

On July 2 we went golfing where Charlie and I continued our long time match and Barb and Mackenzie played alternate shot! A great day was capped off by meeting some of Charlie and Norma’s dinner club friends over dinner at the downtown Delta. We had dinner on the patio, overlooking the Saint John River. The weather was perfect and the company was fun.

July 3rd, we headed off to Saint John to view the Reversing Falls. We arrived just before low tide and watched the river flowing into the bay. We waited around to see the gorge at slack tide where there was no water movement – kinda erie! High tide was 6 hours later so we retreated back to the rig for lunch and a game of Wizard while we waited. About an hour before high tide, we returned to the viewing platform and experienced the difference! Now the water was flowing hard up river and the rapids were running backwards. The whole experience was a little disappointing as we were actually expecting a waterfall, not rapids but all in all, it was interesting to see the water running hard one way then running hard the other way. So really it should be called the Reversing River. One point of interest is the abundance of shore birds and seals when the tide is coming in as they follow the fish coming in with the tide! We stayed the night in the WalMArt there and headed for Hopewell Rocks in the morning.

Our trek over to Hopewell Rocks took us through the Fundy National Park. This is someplace that we will have to return to! There was a descent that made me thankful that the brakes were working!

We arrived at the Ponderosa Campground early. We got a site where the back window looked out over a lake to the bay. Our neighbors were just breaking camp and we stood and talked for awhile.
They suggested we see the Rocks at high tide then low tide for a more dramatic affect. By the time we were set up and sat out back watching the world go by, we headed over to see the Rocks at high tide. Ooppssss, our clocks were still on EDT and we almost missed the event as the park closes at 8 PM and we rolled in there at 7:15 PM! So a quick walk down to the Rocks viewing platform to see them at almost high tide then back to the truck before they lock the parking lots and we have to sleep in the truck!

We made it and we’re back to see the Rocks at low tide and walk on the ocean floor around the Rocks that were flooded yesterday! Wow, so much water! After this we drove into Moncton to try out Magnetic Hill! It pulled us up the hill and our speed increased as we went up! The only give away that it is an optical illusion is the water in the ditch was also going up hill!

We needed to do some shopping and found an Atlantic Super Store. Wow, I know we need to help the Canadian farmer make a living but why are the fresh fruit and vegetables so much more expensive here than what we experienced a couple hundred miles south in Maine? Ok, I’m off the soap box!

Today (July 6) is rain and more rain. So we’re going to have a day of games and kick back. July 7, we’ll be heading to PEI so our blog will pick up then.

Thanks for reading about our adventures…