Chocolate River

Why do I feel like I'm in Candyland? There really is such a thing, in the northern part of Fundy Bay where it gets very narrow.

We ate lunch here, and no they did not serve chocolate.

Look at that mud! It is several feet deep, and very slick and slippery.
We were originally told to walk down here, and look for some moose, which we never did see.

Doesn't it just look like you could dive right in?

Sittin' on the dock of the bay....

...watching the tide roll away........Anyone remember that song?

In our case, it was more like watching the tide roll in. If you look closely at the red boat in the first two pictures, you can see the change in water level. This wasn't even the highest tide of the day. That would have occured after dark, and I didn't get pics then.

During low tide, no boat goes in or out from the docks. We could see several boats out in the bay, waiting for the right time to come in. When the tide began to change, you could actually see the water moving, and the level rising.

Fundy Bay National Park

Well, this travelogue certainly got interupted! This is a continuation of our trip this summer. After several wonderful days in Maine, we prepared to enter Canada. We had been warned by several people that the customs agents were being very strict concerning what could and couldn't be brought into their country, so we dutifully ate up all our produce, dairy products, alcohol, and meat,(pretty much all our food) and entered New Brunswick at St Stephens. To our surprise, the agent did not even look into our car or camper, didn't ask us about any food we were carrying, and simply advised us to have a nice vacation and enjoy our stay in Canada! We arrived at the Fundy Bay National park very late that night, and set up camp in the dark. The trade off for that, was that we didn't have to move again for several days.

The attraction at Fundy Bay is the HUGE varation in the tides. The water level changes at least 30 feet, with the changing of the tides every day. The people here plan their entire lives around the tides.

Finally, a covered bridge!

I had to take this picture for Jacki and Mike!

At high tide, the water would be over Steve's head,and the rocks on the right would be covered.

Steve still has his cup!

Sandwich Historical Museum and Gardens

One of the first things Emily did upon arriving in Osterville, was to get a library card. When she did that, they gave her some tickets to a museum and gardens in nearby Sandwich. So, we took advantage of them and paid a visit. Although the gardens were past their peak,and we missed the daylilies, hostas, and roses, there was still plenty to see.

The "infamous" bee in the flower pictures. I think this is a zinnia

This windmill was apparently a working windmill at one time. Now it is just for looks.

Dee, this one is for you! An antique fire truck in the auto museum.

This was the only antique car we were allowed to touch.

In addition to the ocean, MA has many freshwater lakes, which surprised me for some reason.

Osterville MA

The town of Osterville was just as I expected a small town on Cape Cod to be like. By the time David and I arrived there (Steve followed about an hour behind us in the moving van), it was dark. Had it been light, this is what would have greeted us. Note the name on the sign. The church is much larger then it looks. There is a basement (something I am definately not used to), and several building with offices in them. The church is right on Main street, and within walking distance of the condo they are staying in.

Fall colors were just starting to show.

We walked to this beach. There is another one that we went to later, that is much more "beach like". More sand, not so rocky.

We were so impressed with the friendliness of everyone. People opened their hearts to David and Emily, and to us because of them. Many church members came and helped unload the truck,and that job was done, and they were unpacked, within one day. Other people stocked the fridge and cupboards,and still others brought meals over.

1000 miles in two days

David recently accepted a position as Associate Pastor of Osterville Baptist Church in Osterville, Massachusetts, so he, Emily and Sarah now live in a beautiful small town on Cape Cod, about an hour out of Boston. Steve and I flew to KY, helped them drive up, and settle in. Of course we took the opportunity to spend lots of time with our precious granddaughter, and her mommy and daddy. She is 11 weeks old in these pictures.

We had beautiful weather while we were there, and everyone was out enjoying it.

Birch trees were plentiful. The Indians used to make canoes, and many other useful items from the birch bark.

Southwest Harbor. This was on the quieter side of the island,and we enjoyed both the town and the harbor.

Thunder Hole. As the tide is coming in, the waves go up under these rocks, and as they come back, the air is trapped, and there is a booming sound like thunder. This works better when the surf is high. It was very calm when we were there, so the thunder was more of a "poof"!

Baker Island

We took a ranger led boat tour to Baker Island. This is an uninhabitated, accessible by boat only, island that is owned by the park. The ride out of Bar Harbor was calm and very scenic. Since it was a holiday weekend, everyone had their boat out.

The original inhabitants were squatters, who simply moved in without any kind of deed or title. They had a large family, and as those childern grew, most came back to the island with their families. At one point there were several homes, a church and a school on the island.

Baker Island lighthouse. Although it is completely electronic now, it is still a working lighthouse. I was hoping to climb it, but no such luck.

Table rocks, and the Atlantic ocean. These rocks are very large and flat, and the island inhabitants used to hold dinner parties and dances here. It is very scenic but I can't imagine hauling all that gear out here for a dinner party.

If there is an old car around, Steve will find it! This is the remanins of a pre-1912 Ford.

Cadilac Mountain, the highest point in the park. Since we were there over July 4th, we drive up and watched the fireworks from the summit.

View from the top of Cadilac Mtn, looking down into Bar Harbour.

We went to the "other" half of the island, which is less populated and quieter. That suited us just fine! We hiked the Echo Lake trail. Although not a long trail, it was extremely steep and rocky. At some points there were actually ladders anchored to the rocks. Other places just had steps cut into the granite.

Echo Lake beach. This was the view that awaited us.

The travels of Steve's cup: Steve had a take out cup from a resturant he frequents, and it ended up in the car on the trip with us. We started photographing it everywhere we went, and sending it to the resturant owners. We got a lot of milage out of that cup!

On our way to Acaida National Park, we stopped at a roadstand and got these lobsters. I spent about $20 for the two of them. Then I realized that I had no clue how to cook them, so on the drive, I was looking up info on Steve's iphone. Thanks goodness for the internet!

We didn't have a huge pot, so I had to cook them one at a time. I'm happy to report they were delicious!

Acadia is known at the crown jewel of Maine. Most of the land was originally owned by the Rockefeller family, and they were insturmental in the formation of the national park, and donated much of the land. There are still small private holdings within the park, and those are slowly being purchased as land and funds are available.


Ship's Harbor. We went to "tide pool school" here.

These lobster boats were everywhere!

Overlooking Sand beach. This is the only beach in the park that is sandy and beach like, as we think of it. The water was cold, about 55 degrees, but people were still playing in it.

Onward to Maine!

After leaving Virginia, we got on the interstate and headed up to Maine. We spent the night near Albany, NY and arrived in Ogonquit, ME the next day. Their rocky rugged coast is definitely NOT what we are used to! It was low tide, so we climbed way out on the rocks. We ate dinner at an outdoor restaurant and were treated to similar views all during our meal.

Our reservations in Acadia began the next day, so we were off again! By this time, we had moved every night for 5 consecutive nights, so we were ready to stay put for a while.

Mabry Mill

This is an original mill that we have visited many times. There were several people there practicing "old" crafts and skills, and I got to try my hand at spinning. It is not as easy as it looks, but I have a hank of extremely lumpy yarn to show for my efforts. It was fun and I would like to try it again someday.