Two National Parks - one Canadian, one US

Leaving PEI via the Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick (thanks to Don and a fellow we met at Wheatley Provincial Park in Ontario) for advising that it is cheaper to leave the island via the bridge than the ferry). Here we touched on the Acadian coast before travelling through Moncton and then on to a long and not very interesting drive along Hwy 1. After leaving the highway we ended up on a smaller road with a long stretch under construction so it was a bumpy/dusty ride on gravel for awhile. We arrived at Fundy National Park early in the afternoon, took a look at and rejected the Headquarters Campsite, toured the nearby town of Alma, right on the Bay of Fundy,
for essential supplies (gas and beer) as the fog lifted off the shores, home to the highest tides in Canada. We found a much better campsite at the Chignecto North Campground with well spaced, treed sites with power and water. It was nice to have made an early arrival and be able to spend a lazy afternoon in the quiet campsite reading and spinning.

In the morning it was back up the dusty, gravel road to Hwy 1, through the surprisingly large city of St. John and then an uneventful drive to the border just past St. Stephen's. However, here we found that all the RVs were being given a thorough inspection for contraband fruits and vegetables or firewood by Homeland Security. Fortunately the line up was not too long and we were glad we had finished the last of our grapes at lunch before heading to the border and deciding to throw out the carrots we'd bought in Indiana on the previous American leg of the journey. We stopped in the small Maine town of Calais for gas and to replenish the groceries and then made our way on Hwy 9 as the rain began to fall. It teamed down most of the afternoon(a terrible drive for Pete) and in the town of Ellsworth, as we were getting close to our destination, I saw a sign giving a temperature reading of 68F, certainly our coldest afternoon of the trip. Fortunately at this point, the rain let up so we continued our way into Acadia National Park under cloudy skies but with the hope we would not be setting up camp in the pouring rain. We found navigating through Acadia to our campsite at Blackwoods Campground challenging and despite my best efforts we ended up travelling through the narrow streets of the crowded, tourist town of Bar Harbour. However, we were pleased that we persevered as the campsite itself was excellent;

an easy drive-through, well treed and equipped. It was still quite damp, though so dinner was inside the trailer for a change. In the morning, the sun was out and it was warming up so we took in some of the sites of the park (twice actually - our navigation challenges from yesterday continued)

 

and then it was back through Bar Harbour, a stop at the LL Bean Outlet in Ellsworth (only new socks for Pete, Mora) before we connected with I-95 for a long stretch of interstate driving, broken by a side trip to the historic town of Bath, the home of Halcyon Yarns. Primarily an online vendor of weaving, spinning, and knitting supplies they still maintain a large storefront and I picked up some top to supplement my supplies for my locker hocking rug. Back on the interstate we went through four toll booths and could not figure out why we were charged different rates at some of them and why some are so close when others are many miles apart. (Well after the roads of PEI, it was worth it!) This was another three state day (alright we were only in New Hampshire for about half an hour) and we ended the day at Salisbury Beach State Reservation (don't know why they call it that) in Massachusetts. This is a beach destination for the locals from
New Hampshire and Mass. and the people at the next campsite have a real Boston accent. When we arrived it was hot and humid but true to the forecast a thunderstorm arrived about 10pm but we were shocked that Mazy has ignored this one and did not leave her den under the trailer table to let us know of its imminent arrival.