Canada Part I 2006

After our trip to Mexico with the caravan, our travel buddies and we decided that we were brave enough to attempt a long trip on our own.  We agreed that Canada was at the top of the list.   Our friend volunteered to take on the job of laying out the route and making all of the scheduled reservations for ferry transfers, campgrounds and dates.   It was not an easy task for him, but it was easier for one person to  categorize all of the arrangements while dealing with the various locations involved that needed prepayments such as the ferry companies.

Since this was such a long trip I am going to split it into parts I-II-III, plus our return to the Northeast States as each leg of this journey includes many details and pictures.  We left our home on June 24th and did not return until October 20th.

Meeting our friends in Grand Island Nebraska at a campground we took off on Interstate 80 east.....  We stayed the first night in Iowa then drove on towards Chicago...... that's about the time we realized we had hit "eastern traffic".  It was an especially long day of travel.

Finally making our way out of that congested area we found our way onward spending a night each in Ohio and Pennsylvania before reaching Buffalo NY on the way to our first destination..... Niagara Falls

Please click on the pictures to enlarge

After driving for 3 long hard days it was great to spend 4 nights in one place, a campground on the Canadian side of the falls.  We visited the falls in the day time and watched the beautiful firework display over the falls at night.  We took the tram ride across the river,  toured on the "maid of the mist" boat and did the walking tour under the falls.  We also had lunch one day at the glassed in rotating restaurant on top of a very high pedestal building.  We took a drive one day to a small village that sets on Lake Ontairo where we visited the botanical gardens, viewed the tower clock made from flowers, bought a basket of fresh picked cherries from a road side stand, and had lunch at "Niagara on the lake" a quaint little  marina.

From the top of the falls restaurant

American Falls at Night

When we left Niagara falls we drove on to Quebec City, took a city bus tour and spent the night in a nice campground.   In the morning we drove back in to the United States to "Bar Harbor Maine".

One of the couples we met on our Mexico trip, Pam and Leon lived in 

SW Harbor, close to Bar Harbor.....  
There was great deal to see and do in the area so we had 

made reservations to be at a campground just on the edge of town for a 

week.  Pam and Leon had been lobster trappers for years, Leon's Dad being one

of first to obtain an early license there.  They took us with them on the

boat one day to catch our supper and that evening Pam prepared the fresh lobster

we had caught that morning.  Leon has since passed away so "Here's to Leon" 

I know he's watching over the beautiful area he lived in and loved all of his life.

They also took us to their cabin one day overlooking a small lake and we had crab for supper that night.  

Getting a lesson on picking and cleaning crabs

We ran all over throughout the week visiting the areas around Bar Harbor.  We spent a day at Acaida Nat. Park, took a ride on a sail schooner, visited museums, ate wonderful ice cream at the blueberry hill icecream shop in Ellsworth.  We took one day to drive over to Nasakeg and back through Bagaduche where Pam grew up.  It was a great day away from the cities and tourists spots.  We were sad to see our time end but it was time to travel on.

Aciada National Park

A Maine back country road

Sunset in Maine

Saying goodbye to our friends and their indescribably beautiful state and their wonderful hospitality, it was time to get on with our trip.....  Hitching up the campers we headed towards Canada again.


One last stop before we went back into Canada was in Lubec, Maine which holds the honor of being the futherest eastern point within the United States.

Crossing the border again into New Brunswick we stopped at Campobello, the boyhood home of Franklin D. Rosevelt.  He went back to this place as his summer home when he was the President, and was staying there when he came down with polio.  The house was beautiful but not pretentious at all.  The sign which hangs above the visitors center made me feel "at home" in Canada

The Home

Standing on his balcony

Hanging on the side of his house the most beautiful piece of driftwood I've ever seen.  It was said to have been found by Franklin as a young man and he enlisted the help of several neighbor kids to help him drag it home and hang it.

Our next stop was in St. Francis New Brunswick where we toured

"Minister Island"......  Mr. Van Horn built his mansion on the island and one has to catch the tide just right in order to drive out to it.

Mr. Van Horn's mansion that we toured

It was very foggy the day we drove across the ocean floor to visit the house on the island

On to Hopewell Rocks on the "Bay of Fundy".......It is best known for having the greatest tidal changes in the world.  The tides can ebb and flow as much as 50 feet at an average of 4 to 6 ft. per hour.   When it's at it's lowest you can walk down to the ocean floor and explore the massive "flowerpot rocks" and other rock formations that only show when the tide is out.

Looking down at the rocks

On the ocean floor looking up at the rocks

The bear stands guard as the tide comes in twice a day every day

From Hopewell Cape and the Bay of Funday  we travel on to 

Prince Edward Island

Crossing the Federation Bridge was exciting, such a beautiful structure!
It is the longest bridge in the world (8 miles) crossing ice covered water.
Before the bridge was built the only way over was by ferry.
The bridge was opened to traffic in 1997

Prince Edward Island was the home of

"Anne of Green Gables"

Ann's actual home located about a mile from this park 
and museum, was actually very small but she 
used to walk over here down the lane to visit her grandmother.

There is now a memorial garden where her original house stood

This etching quotes words from her writings:  

While on the island we toured Ann's grounds, drove the countryside admiring the beautiful potato fields, visited the "potato museum", took in a dinner show, watched a yacht race, and just relaxed for a few days.   It was very peaceful and a good place to rest up for our exciting journey ahead.

Leaving Prince Edward Island on July 27th, we boarded our first ferry to take us away bound for Sidney Nova Scotia.

Goodnight PEI and thank you Ann, I lived your life if only for a few days........

(please join us in Sidney Nova Scotia in Canada part II)