Canadian Maritimes Flora

Everywhere we have traveled in the Canadian Maritimes has had  the most beautiful  flowers.  Whether it be flower boxes on homes and shops or wildflowers along side of the road. 

Canadian Maritimes People

Over and over again we are impressed by the friendliness of the people here in the Maritimes.  Everywhere we have been the people have been extremely helpful, giving us directions  and suggestions as to where to go and what to see.  For an example, we were driving  out of Fundy National Park and the road was pretty bad so we slowed down to let another driver pass.  He stopped and said "Where ya headed eh?" Then proceeded to tell us of a scenic drive.  They seem to be very happy people even though their summer season is short and their winters are extremely cold. 

Hmmm...do you think there's something in the water or maybe it's the sea air.  I don't  know what it is, but people start up a conversation wherever we go.  "Where you headed eh?"  Is a consistent theme up here! 

Happy Travels! Joni :)

On our way to Cape Breton

Yesterday we drove along the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia.  The coast is filled with little towns and beautiful scenery.    All of the beaches are rocky except for one little crescent sand beach called Martinique Beach.  The sand was gray and since we live in a part of the world with some of the best white sand beaches it didn't do much for us.  Most of the towns were really small quaint little towns with residences and a church.  We stopped at the Sheet Harbour Visitors Centre and rested for a while picking up Wi-Fi and information as to where we could boondock for the night.  They told us of a short hike to a waterfall.  See picture  of the fall.  Then we ventured on looking for the right spot for the night.   After stopping in several small towns along route 7 (heading north toward Antigonish) with no luck, we finally found the perfect spot and spent the night in a provincial picnic park on Lake Lochaber.  It was quiet and secluded.  We only saw two people the whole night.  We sat up our chairs by the lake and had our before dinner cocktails by the lake.  What a beautiful evening and it cost us nothing. 

Happy Travels!   Joni :)

Rocky surfers  beach 

Waterfall at Sheet Harbour 

Our view for cocktails 

Boondocking last night and today's drive July 6, 2015

Drove along the coast today. See pictures of rocky beach along the way.  Spent 2 hours trying to purchase a cell phone package to be able to phone campgrounds.  Just couldn't find an executable one.  Next trip buy a phone ahead and purchase a SIM card.  Also made our first trip to Tim Horton's.  Very yummy and good prices.  Great coffee!

Spent last night boondocking at the Peggy's Cove visitors center parking lot.  Beautiful view.

Happy Travels! Joni :)

Rocky surfing beach

First time at Tim Horton's

Boondocking at Peggy's  Cove 

Hanging and Reading at Peggy's Cove

We spent the afternoon hanging at Peggy's Cove.  The visitors center parking lot had a great view of the rocky coast.  So we parked our chairs with the fabulous view!  While we were there we got to see a rap video being made by some Nova Scotia artists.  I didn't get their names so if you all read this put your names in the comment section so we can see video!

Happy Travels!  Joni :)

Luxemburg and Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

Our first stop today was Lunenburg as suggested some folks we met at the park we were staying at last night.  Lunenburg is a quaint little coastal town with a cute seaport.  It boasts brightly colored shops and residences.  And has free Wi-Fi throughout the town.  A nice little seaside village.

Next stop Peggy's Cove another beautiful stop.  With rocky a rocky coast and a cute lighthouse it is a must see...but very touristy.  There was even a tour bus that pulled up while we were there.  The coastal drive to Peggy's Cove was gorgeous also!

Happy Travels!  Joni :)

Lunenburg , NS marina

Lunenburg

Lunenburg colorful houses and shops

Peggy's Cove lighthouse

Peggy's Cove Marina

Peggy's Cove lighthouse 

Bay of Fundy and Nova Scotia

Just finished seeing the Bay of Fundy and Hopewell Rocks very cool there are 47 feet tides.  Wow!

Spent the night in a cute little park overlooking a lake in northern Nova Scotia.  The area is a dairy farming community.  Met a farmer and his wife and they told us about the area a good places to visit.  Everyone we have met so far in Canada is friendly and very helpful,  pointing us toward cool places to see.

Happy Travels! Joni :)

Searching for Moose

Hopewell Rocks 

Canada

Happy 4th!!!  Yesterday we made it into Canada and through most of New Brunswick.  Camped at the Fundy national park campground last night which is really nice.  Big, clean sites, and decent bathrooms so we would come here again.  On to Hopewell Rocks and Nova Scotia today.

Northeast Maine

We left Acadia National Park this morning  heading north on highway 1 for FDR's summer home Campobello.  For two hours we went through rural Maine.  The towns are small and pretty desolate with very few cars on the road.  All along the route you will see little signs saying cookies, pies and such.  We stopped at one little building that was selling cookies and pies on the honor system and purchased cookies.  Yummy!

Tonight we are staying in Lubec, Maine just outside the park.  Cute little town, population 500, with two types of people living here (PFA) people from away and (PFH) people from here according  to the locals.  Very friendly little town.

Campobello Island is in New Brunswick but FDR's house and grounds are an international park where half the workers are american and the other half are Canadian.  We toured FDR's home and grounds.  The house has 18 bedrooms for family, servants and guests.  The views are incredible.  We were fortunate enough to get tickets to Tea with Eleanor.  Two ladies, Darlene and Carolyn, served us tea and cookies and gave a lecture about Eleanor Roosevelt.  Fascinating, if you ever visit Campobello it is a must see.  We ventured onto the lighthouse and saw the low tide.  The tides are 22 feet and move very quickly.

I highly recommend Campobello and tea with Eleanor.

Happy Travels!  Joni :)

Acadia National Park

Acadia National  Park is a must see  on your bucket list.  Beautiful coast and mountains all in one park!  Green lush foliage and gorgeous rocky coast.  Today it is rainy, cold and foggy so not many pictures.  Even with the rain though we made it up to Cadillac Mountain and stopped at all the scenic overlooks.  Great day although no wildlife spotted which is my favorite thing to do while traveling.

Happy Travels!  Joni  :)

Cadillac Mountains overlooking Bar Harbor 

Maine Coast

The Maine coast is rocky and absolutely  beautiful.  I'm in love with Maine!  After Scout had her routine  maintainance at the Mercedes dealership, we ambled up the coast stopping in the infamous town, Kennebunkport.  The home of George and Barbara Bush.  It was your typical very nice touristy small town, except, the houses are huge.  We decided to go along the Coast to see if we could find the former president's home.  We found it...it was the house everyone was photographing.  Oh and the house you couldn't drive to because of the secret service.

We continued on up the coast stopping at Boothbay, our campground for the  night was at a brewery.  Before settling down for the night we went down to the coaat for a stunning view of the Atlantic ocean.  Pictures to follow.

Happy Travels!  Joni :)

Plymouth and Gloucester, MA

Rain, Fog and Cold.  Those are the only 3 words to describe today at 55 degrees it is brrrr cold and my florida tan is fading!

While Boon docking at the Winery it rained a nice steady rain all night.  We slept sooo well.  While sipping our morning coffee, we realized we had no plans for the day.  We grabbed the atlas searching for somewhere to go and decided to go to Plymouth and Gloucester.  Plymouth was a quaint town with narrow streets and cedar sided homes.  We drove out to the coast but the fog was pretty heavy making it difficult to see anything.  By this time it was lunchtime and we decided a nice bowl of Clam Chowder would warm us up as it was still brrr cold out.  The quest for Clam Chowder began.  We Yelped up Clam Chowder restaurants and found several in the area.  Most had little or no parking for a rig Scouts size or were closed.  We decided to head to Gloucester.  Gloucester had even narrower streets!  We finally found Clam Chowder at a restaurant called Lobsta Land.  The chowder was a little thin but delicious!  After lunch we decided to head back toward Boston and await Monday's appointment for routine maintenance on Scout.

Newport Mansion Tours Day Two

Today we spent another day touring Newport mansions.  Last night we watched the movie Wind which is set in Newport.  The first mansion we toured was The Elms.  There was an audio tour and as we went into the sun room I thought to myself this looks really familar.  The Elms was where the movie Wind was filmed. (We confirmed this with the docent.)  It was a beautiful house with lush grounds and gardens. 

The second house was Chateau-sur-Mer.  I must say this house was dark and my least favorite.   It had a lot of dark paneling and walls.  The tour was a guided tour and once again the docent was very knowledgeable.  Although he did contradict the docent we had on the Rosecliff tour.  He told us the "season" was 10 to 12 weeks (not 6 weeks) and prior to the season all the women went to the same Parisian dress makers to get their gowns so they wouldn't match.  He informed us that the "season" is currently happening.

We found a park and spent a couple of hours napping and relaxing overlooking the ocean in Breton Point State Park.  A cute little park were the locals fly kites, picnic and hang out.

Tonight we are camping in a vineyard in Massachusetts called the Running Brook Winery.

Happy Travels!  Joni :)