A tale of two

Introduction

2009-01-19T23:16:00.002-05:00

Musings, in early August of 2008...

Puzzles: Where? What?

If you followed my travels in the spring and summer of 2008, you know that I haven't been planning this trip. Thoughts of a summer trip were wandering around in my mind, but a decision? That was a long time coming.

It was just a week away from my departure date when I finally made up my mind. Yes, I finally know where I'm going, and I think I know what I'm going to be doing.

You do want to hear about my arguments with myself before I spill my plans, don't you?

Possibilities... too many dreams

I'm heading to England next month to do some hiking and to attend a photography seminar in the lake District. That trip involves a long plane ride, so I thought I'd try to stay closer to home for this summer trip. Note that I said try.

My problem wasn't a lack of places to go. It was a combination of my decision to stay (sort of) close to home - in the northeast corner of the United States or spilling over to the bordering provinces in Canada - and of coming up with too many ideas of where to go and what to do. That's a good problem to have, isn't it?

I started with the thought of getting my bike and me to North Station in Boston so I could hop aboard a train to Portland, Maine. I was going to head away from home along the coast for a bit, then I was going to turn to the south and west to head back to my home base. One of these days I'm going to do that trip, but it doesn't feel right for now. I think my problem is that this is an area that I wander in on a somewhat regular basis, so it's not new territory for me. And I think I need something a little different.

Next my eyes turned to Quebec, to Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, a fjord and a lake. I'd thought that I'd ride along the fjord, around the lake, and back again. The area still looks interesting to me, but the more I looked the more I suspected that riding around the lake would mean riding around the lake in the woods. That may or may not be true, but I'm not willing to take that chance. Don't get me wrong - woods can be beautiful - but I'd rather not be surrounded by trees for an entire trip. And it's a really long drive to get to what would be my tour jumping off point. Nope, not now. A visit to Quebec will need to wait for later.

Then I had a really wacky idea. Well, I classify it as wacky only because I'm stuffing this vacation into a week. My idea? I was going to take the train to Portland (accompanied by my bike), then take the ferry from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. And then? Then I was going to ride around the edges of the Bay of Fundy, following the road through Nova Scotia, across the connecting land to New Brunswick, into Maine, and then all of the way back to home in the northeast corner of Massachusetts. That sounds like a great ride to me - but it would take me longer than a week. Another not now idea. Hmmm... I wonder how long I would need to (comfortably) ride around that beautiful body of water.

Do you see what I mean about too many ideas?

Ah... a decision!

My eyes wandered over maps once again. That's it! New Brunswick! I want to wander along the section of the province tagged with the name Acadian Coastal Drive, from Bathurst east to the Acadian Peninsula, then to the south along the east coast, beaches, water views, and then... I'll head to the west along the Fundy coast. And you know me, I need to stop at Acadia National Park in Maine on my way home. Two Acadias!

My trip has morphed into riding and hiking, day trips as opposed to a pure bike tour. Two activities... I'll be sandwiching some walking - along the beaches on the eastern shore of New Brunswick, at Hopewell Cape, and at Fundy National Park - with some riding - in the area around Bathurst, in the Acadian Peninsula, and in Acadia National Park.

Rolling waves from different bodies of water will fill my vision, from Chaleur Bay separating my home for the first couple of nights in New Brunswick from the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to Northumberland Strait. And then... the Bay of Fundy and on to the Atlantic Ocean. Tell me, who defined the boundaries between water bearing different names that seems to an unknowing eye to just flow together?

Oh, you're right - I'm sure there will be trees surrounding me on my wanders around the province, but there will be water too... Now, if only I could find a way to make the water stay in the bays and oceans and out of the air...

2009-01-19T23:16:00.001-05:00

For now, please use Blogger's list of posts in the sidebar to follow my trip in reverse sequence. I plan to flip this blog on its head so that the posts flow from oldest to newest (like the table of contents in a book), adding a real Table of Contents and a Page by Page sidebar entry, and adding (better) next and previous links at the bottom of each post.

I probably won't be able to make these changes for the next several weeks.

...Denise, January 19, 2009

My camera was very busy

2008-09-01T20:10:00.000-04:00

This journal contains a sampling of the photos that jumped into my camera during my trip, but most of the photos live in my photo galleries.

You can view the photos splashed across your whole screen if you'd like - just click the slideshow button in the upper right of the photo gallery window. (If you're in the gallery slideshow, you can get control of your computer back again by moving the mouse and clicking "return to gallery" or by just clicking the Esc key.)

You can enter the galleries at A tale of two to choose from the five photo galleries for this trip. Or you can jump right into a specific gallery:

The northern edge... Bathurst to Acadia captures photos from just north of Bathurst to the end of the Acadian Peninsula.
The eastern edge... Kouchibouguac & Bouctouche, beautiful parks...
Hopewell Rocks, a second visit, not likely to be my last. To see the tidal difference was just amazing - from a low tide of 3.6 feet to a high of 42 feet!
Along the Fundy coast, from Cape Enrage to Fundy National Park.
The other Acadia, a quick stop at Acadia National Park on my way home.

Signs along the way

2008-08-25T20:01:00.003-04:00

The ever-present moose signs first popped up on I-95 in Maine. But those were just occasional signs. Along the Acadian Coastal Drive in New Brunswick these signs were all over. Some of them were more insistent - including warnings to drive slowly at night.

Unfortunately I only saw the signs, no moose wandering.

New Brunswick is apparently the only (officially) bilingual province in Canada. For the most part, the signs were in both French and English - even the common stop sign that usually is recognized based on its color and shape.

Then again, there was an area on the Acadian Peninsula that seemed to forget the English.

You don't speak French? Here's a translation, courtesy of Yahoo! Babel Fish.

Caution
Let us be proud and responsible!
Let us keep our own footbridge, collect droppings of our doggies!

Announce the faulty ones to 336-3900.

Tell me, why is the warning about the danger of standing next to a fog horn always situated right next to the noise-maker?

OK, OK, you're right - it is a few steps away. But wouldn't it make more sense to post a warning far enough away that on an iffy day you might not wander close enough to damage your ears?

Even worse - here's the same warning right in front of the foghorn. Not a few paces away, right there!

Now this one just made me laugh!

Somehow I don't think I would have wandered out to the point where this sign lived if it had been really foggy...

OK, OK, I'll stay behind the fence!

Home again

2008-08-24T19:54:00.000-04:00

...a driving afternoon

Noon, time to head home...

Denise drove out of the park and off of Mount Desert Island. We had one stop to make in Trenton before we really started that long drive home. Where? We stopped at a farm stand to pick up some of those marvelous tiny and tasty wild blueberries. They have decorated our breakfast for this entire trip since the growing area extends into the Maritime provinces too. Denise bought three quarts of the berries, some for eating now, and some for freezing. It's always nice to pull out a taste of summer in the cold months of the year. Oh, I like them too, and Denise always shares.

We followed route 1A, angling toward Bangor where we picked up quick-moving I-95 for the journey home. Denise usually resets the trip odometer in her car when she fills up with gas, but she thought it would be interesting to see how far we drove during this trip. Of course we found something interesting in the process of watching the miles click by... the trip odometer only holds 3 digits. Denise looked pretty confused one morning - I guess she thought that the car misplaced some of our miles. Then she realized that at 1000 miles it had flipped back to zero. Isn't that silly?

Our total? 1670 miles. Wow - think how many days of biking that would have taken!

Home again, and now it's time for a bit of a rest.

Oh, you want to know what's next? We're heading to England in September to attend a photography seminar because Denise says she still has a lot to learn. We're going a few days early, so we'll be doing some hiking too. Maybe I'll bounce along the path instead of riding with the cameras this time.

I have four more weeks to dream of wandering in the Lake District.

Oh! I like this photo of me. I was bouncing around at the top of Cadillac Mountain, watching the sun sinking slowly, painting the rocks and then the sky. A good trip memory...

I wonder when Denise & I will be wandering back to Acadia National Park again. You do know she's going to go again, don't you? It's only a matter of time.
--- Rover

Photos: A bubble of a view

2008-08-24T19:49:00.000-04:00

The Bubbles

2008-08-24T19:47:00.000-04:00

...two feet walking

Hi, it's Rover again. I told Denise that it's my turn to write for the day. We spent a half of the day wandering, and the other half driving home - and my words will describe both halves of the day.

Evin made us another wonderful breakfast. Today we had a vegetable frittata, fresh croissants, and a wonderful pear crisp. At first Denise thought the pear was a potato, but then Evin went through the morning's menu. It was a half a pear - still in the skin - that had been baked (just a bit) and topped with crunchy crispy good-tasting stuff. Yum... Denise says she'll be quite happy to go back to her normal fruit and cereal in the mornings, but I know that she really enjoyed her B&B breakfasts.

It was a morning to do something different, a walking kind of day. We headed to The Bubbles, a pair of - well, I guess you would call them hills. South Bubble is 766 feet high, and North Bubble is 872 feet high. South Bubble is decorated with Bubble Rock, a glacial erratic (a boulder, a large rock...). South Bubble was a pretty easy walk. Even the climbing parts were just walks. North Bubble was tilted granite, a harder to see path that was highlighted with the occasional blue marker. I was surprised that Denise didn't turn around at one point; not only was the rock steep, it was tilted strongly to the side. But she kept on walking. Both bubbles looked down on Jordan Pond, water surrounded by very green trees.

The sky was decorated with some interesting looking clouds, so we took a quick drive up Cadillac Mountain for one last look before we headed toward home. And a couple of sea gulls landed right next to our car. I think they were wishing us a good journey.

Photos: Sun dropping...

2008-08-23T19:43:00.000-04:00

...changing colors

Photos: Loops and loops

2008-08-23T19:38:00.000-04:00

See... I told you that we did some riding!

Park Loop variations

2008-08-23T19:36:00.000-04:00

..two wheels rolling

Morning rolled around, and so did another good breakfast accompanied by good conversation. Evin served eggs, stuffed French toast topped with wild Maine blueberries, and, on the side - watermelon topped with a little bit of spice. The French toast was so good that I had a second serving, as did everyone else.

Ah, it was time to ride under a blue sky with a a few wispy clouds as decoration. My bike started down the road towards Seal Harbor, but then turned around and headed for Park Loop Road. I made it to Seal Harbor too since I jumped off of Park Loop Road when it switched from a one-way to a two-way road just before Jordan Pond. Funny, I always wondered where the road came from that emptied out at the beach in Seal Harbor. I know the answer now - it's the road that jumped off of Park Loop road at the direction change.

There are a lot of people wandering around Bar Harbor, and there are a lot of people congregating in the more popular locations in the park. Yet, for the most part the roads were quiet. So quiet that I had an interesting deer encounter... I was riding, heading up a slight grade, when I saw a deer just ahead standing by the side of the road. He was just standing there, looking down the road, looking my way. I kept riding, assuming that the deer would see me at some point and would move. I was in the road, he wasn't. But somehow I didn't think he would wait for me to go by. I would have loved to snap a photo, but I knew there wasn't any point in reaching for a camera. After all my 4-legged companion is a lot faster than I am. I got a bit closer, and the deer moved into the road, still watching me watching him. I rolled a little closer, and the deer flew off into the woods. What a beautiful sight!

My variation of Park Loop Road was a good ride, a start to my day's adventures. I switched to walking shoes and clothes and headed back in to the park. Walking along the coast, stopping to wander over the rocks, to watch the water, small waves creating white decorations. I was sitting, watching waves, playing with my camera, when another photographer came over to compare equipment and to chat. We saw each other several more times, not too surprising since we were on a one-way loop road. (Yes, Park Loop Road a second time...). And somehow, even when we switched to our cars to get a lift further down the road, we must have been on the same 'stop' schedule.

Back at the B&B, I quickly washed off the sweat of my day, then donned long pants and layers in preparation for my evening out. Sunset time was 7:19, and I wanted to head up Cadillac mountain to watch the sun sink over the edge. I grabbed a quick bite to eat, and then i headed up the mountain. There were quite a few people there, waiting, watching the sun slowly sink lower, watching it turn from yellow to a deep glowing red. Sinking, painting the sky with color.

When the show seemed to be over, I headed back down the mountain. I had to stop a few times though because the show really wasn't over. I would stop, jump out of the car, and attempt to stand still. It was hard to believe the wind. I found that I couldn't stand without getting pushed around! At first I wondered why I didn't feel the wind when I was sitting near (but not at) the top of the mountain, watching the sun. Maybe, just maybe, the mountain was blocking the wind at my back.

One more day... a part of a day in the park, and then I'll need to head home. Tomorrow's activity? I think I'll decide in the morning.

Photos: A few of the birds

2008-08-22T19:35:00.000-04:00

Conversations...

2008-08-22T18:49:00.000-04:00

...with a friendly dog

A five o'clock arrival in Bar Harbor...

It was still full daylight, and it was warm - in the high 70s or low 80s. After a week of mostly 60 degree temperatures, it felt quite nice. I actually like he 60 degree range for outside activity, but it felt so nice to be able to walk in very light clothing.

I thought about going for a quick bike ride. That thought didn't last too long when I realized that I really needed some food. I popped over to Siam Orchid for some Thai food. And then I walked.

I walked through (with?) throngs of people to the town pier. Then I headed out on the less busy shore path. I caught up with a woman (and her family) walking with a very friendly big dog. We started talking, and I asked what they had been doing. While they've done other things here, their primary actvity has been hiking. And as we mentioned that word, the dog looked as us, as if to say "Hiking? That sounds better than walking through town. Let's go!" Apparently dogs like hiking at Acadia too!

Jumping into Maine

2008-08-22T18:48:00.000-04:00

...4 wheels rolling

I told Denise I'd pay attention during our drive to see if I could see anything to write about. After all she needed to pay attention to the road since she was driving - and I can bounce around the car and look out the windows.

We drove and drove and drove. It took about 5 ½ hours to roll from Fundy National Park to Bar Harbor - about the amount of time that Denise thought it would take.

The road leading out of Fundy National Park rolled up and down some pretty steep hills. One hill was marked as a 10% grade, and I thought that would be the steepest hill on our drive today. But guess what? One of the downhills on route 9 in Maine was marked at 12%. I think Denise was really glad that she wasn't riding her bicycle up those hills!

Last night Dense was chatting with Rick (our B&B host) about the St. Stephens border crossing. She remembers waiiting there in a line of cars for what seemed like an hour when we drove through New Brunswick on our way back from PEI back in 2005. It's really good that she mentioned that to Rick because he told her there is a second (tiny) border crossing just past St. Stephens. We were the only car crossing at Milltown, no lines! And apparently a new crossing is under construction just past there, along with a better road - one that doesn't require going through the downtown of St. Stephens. Hmmm... I wonder if that will be open the next time we go to New Brunswick. Oh, I don't know when that will be, but I don't think that Denise is done exploring there yet.

After we crossed back into Maine, we headed towards Bangor on Route 9, eventually angling towards Ellsworth and Bar Harbor. It looked like taking Route 9 would be a little shorter than Route 1 - but even if it was a little longer, Denise thought that it was a much better driving road. It kept switching from 2 to 3 lanes, with an uphill passing lane. There wasn't much in the way of towns, just a ribbon of road.

Ah, we're here! Where? At the Holland Inn in Bar Harbor, our home for the next two nights.

Tomorrow? I'm pretty sure we're going to be biking. If I know Denise we'll probably go back into the park again after our ride. After all she needs to keep the cameras happy too.

--- journal entry courtesy of Rover

Photos: Last glimpses of Fundy National Park

2008-08-22T18:45:00.000-04:00

Up, down, lots of stairs

2008-08-22T18:43:00.000-04:00

It was an oatmeal morning again. Yesterday's oatmeal and fresh fruit gave me such a nice start to the day that I decided that repeating it today would be a good idea. Happy stomach...

Food, conversations, and watching eagles soar across another impossibly blue sky, a prelude to walking...

I headed to Point Wolfe and started walking at the covered bridge. The trail was primarily stairs and boardwalks through the forest with views of Point Wolfe beach. I saw stairs off in the distance that led down to the beach. Those stairs looked to be further away than the length of the trail - and they were. The first trail ended at a parking lot, but at the other end of the lot I could see the start of another trail. Ah, that one leads to the beach. Of course I kept walking because I needed to visit one more New Brunswick beach before I switched to the rocky coastline in Maine. The trail wandered through the woods, trees decorated with sunshine filtering through through the leaves.

Once I hit the beach, I managed to stick to the rocks and the hard sand - there was just a little bit of mud, and somehow my feet skipped over the mud this time. That was good - I didn't need to look for a place to wash the mud away.

Back in the car, I started heading up route 114 toward the park exit. The road climbed quickly, and before long I was at the head of the Kinnie Brook trail. The description of this trail drew me in: 'steep-walled valley, disappearing stream, lush floodplain'. It was all true - even the disappearing stream. There may have been running water somewhere there, but I didn't see it. Yup, disappearing... It was a nice trail, even without the stream. Oh, and while most of this trail wandered through woods on a normal trail surface, the end of the trail was stairs and stairs and more stairs. No, I didn't count them, but there were a lot!

My goal was to spend the morning in the park, and I certainly managed that. I finished my last hike right at noon.

Ah, time for that long drive to Acadia number two for this trip.

Photos: Fundy National Park

2008-08-21T21:15:00.002-04:00

No, my camera isn't crooked. It's the stairs. I don't remember a harder set of stairs to traipse up and down. Crooked, slanted, made me feel like I was going to tip over!

Would you believe that this is the trail?

Sections of the trail were easy walking, and sections (like this) were much, much harder.

As much as I wanted to get closer to the edge here, I didn't think it would be too smart to step on these very narrow roots. It was a very long way down to the water...

Photos: To a waterfall

2008-08-21T21:00:00.000-04:00

Photos: From Cape Enrage

2008-08-21T20:57:00.001-04:00

Any guesses as to what this is? Long green hair...

I wonder what kind of creatures have been drawing pictures in the sand...

Listen... to crashing waves & wind

2008-08-21T20:51:00.000-04:00

What's that? A clear blue sky was this morning's greeting, and it stayed with me for the entire day.

Breakfast again started with fresh fruit and continued with oatmeal. Ah, that was good. When offered a choice for the hot portion of my meal, well oatmeal just jumped out and grabbed me. I may make the same choice tomorrow morning..

The shared sitting room at Barb's looks out over a marshy area, a river that flows at high tide but is dry at low tide, the Bay of Fundy in the distance, and some outcrops of land too. As I was eating and chatting with Barb, we were both enjoying the morning sights. She was looking and looking, finally grabbing the telescope and sharing. I saw a bald eagle sitting on her (his?) nest. That was awesome. I told Barb about the birds I saw perched on a nest on a pole next to some power lines as I was driving on the Acadian Peninsula; she thought those birds were probably osprey. I went searching for a photo, and I'm sure that she was right.

Breakfast and bird-watching from afar done, I headed out to start my wanderings. My first stop was Cape Enrage, a lighthouse and a rocky beach at the end of a peninsula just down the road from here. Portions of the road are being re-paved, which made for a rather interesting journey back. I have to admit I've never seen this variation of road construction before. Keep in mind that this is a narrow two-lane road with no shoulders. Instead of paving one lane at a time, they were working on the full width of the road. They dumped a full truckload of paving material across the road, smoothed it out, and then let the cars pass - whch I'm sure left a rutted surface that was going to need to be smoothed again. And again. Rather odd behavior...

The lighthouse is in a beautiful spot, on a spit of land extending into chignecto Bay. Sunlight sparkled on the water.

I walked on the very rocky beach at Cape Enrage for a bit, and then it was time to head in to Fundy National Park. My first stop was at Dickson Falls. The trail signs offered a 'straight there' option, or a circular (and longer) route. You know which one I took, don't you? Yes, the longer option. It started as a normal trail, but was supplemented by boardwalks and sets of stairs as the trail skirted tumbling water and a pair of skinny waterfalls.

I made a quick stop at the beach at Herring Cove before heading out on the three-sided Matthews Head trail. That trail was mainly in the woods with occasional views of the water. Sunlight filtered through the trees, and I could always look up to peer through the trees to a still very blue sky. The walking surface at the beginning and end of the trail was very smooth, but a good chunk of the trail presented jumbled tree rooots as a trail. To say that I had to pay attention to where my feet landed is a bit of an understatement. The trail stared high, and headed down toward the edge of a cliff above the water. (Yes, it was perfectly safe - and not right on the edge. But it also didn't go down to water level.) A beautiful walk in the woods...

After walking today, I've decided that New Brunswick is corrugated. Ridges, up, down, up, up, over and over.

Enough! I thought about heading to Point Wolfe, but I decided that can be my first stop tomorrow morning. It was time to stop for a bit.

It was a good walking day, one accented by the sounds of waves and wind. The only time that I lost the sound of the water when I was walking was at the apex of the triangle, my starting (and ending) point for the Matthews Head hike.

I had a relatively early dinner, then stopped to walk on the beach for a while. Walking, listening to the waves, watching the water recede. Back at the B&B, it was time for an evening of conversations.

Tomorrow? I plan to spend the better part of the morning hiking in Fundy National Park before I set off on my long drive back to Maine. According to Google Maps it is about a 5 1/2 hour drive, and that doesn't include any extra time needed to cross the border. Moving back to Eastern time from Atlantic time means that I'll have an extra hour in my day though. Does that mean that the drive will only take 4 1/2 hours?

Photos: And on to Alma

2008-08-20T20:49:00.001-04:00

Photos: Rocks, mud, water

2008-08-20T19:22:00.002-04:00

This was a rather quiet stair time, very early in the morning. The traffic up and down these stairs was continuous all day long; many times you couldn't see any light between the people.

The one photo I wish I could have grabbed was on one of my trips down these stairs. A child was climbing up the stairs with her mother, and the child was covered in mud from head to toe. She was smiling, so I can only guess she was having fun rolling in the mud!

Stuck in the mud!

For a minute, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get out of this mess. As I pulled against the sucking of the mud with this foot, my other foot was sinking deeper...

Oh yes, you're absolutely right. I shouldn't have walked in this very wet stuff. But somehow traipsing through this mud felt like something I just had to do!

Stuck in the mud

2008-08-20T19:18:00.000-04:00

...at Hopewell Rocks

I woke to quiet, no more raindrops bouncing. A clear blue sky decorated a somewhat chilly morning, but chilly is much preferred over wet. It stayed dry all day, although the blue did share space with gray (and occasionally white) clouds.

Another morning, another great breakfast. Today's started with a dish of fresh fruit, including blueberries, bananas, peaches, strawberries, apples, and... I continued with Elaine's homemade granola, which was absolutely awesome. Alan made eggs to order, so I had to have an egg to go with his wonderful homemade bread. Then I just had to have one of Elaine's cinnamon rolls. Happy...

I headed in to Hopewell Rocks just before 9. The low tide was at 9:20, and it's safe to walk on the ocean floor for three hours on either side of low tide, so I had a nice amount of time to wander. I walked from the shorter set of stairs by North Beach (only 20 wooden steps as opposed to the 90 metal steps by the Flower Pot Rocks) to the stairs marked 'do not use, emergency exit only', and back again. My first instinct was to follow Elaine and Alan's advice to continue walking as far as Demoiselles Beach, but clambering over a pile of rocks intermixed with seaweed didn't really appeal. Yes, you're right, that type of surface makes me a bit nervous, and I'd really prefer not to fall.

As I walked back, I saw what I thought would be an interesting vantage point for a photograph (what else!). I started walking out through sticky land, and discovered that it wasn't just sticky - it was deep soft mud. Yikes! My feet sunk in, and when I tried to pull each foot out to back up - or even to take another step forward - it felt like they just went in deeper. Pulling a little more forcefully did work, and then I found a safer path back to more solid ground. My feet we covered in so much mud at that point to they felt heavier than usual. After I found my way back to more solid ground I followed a better path right into the water. I really needed to wash my feet, and I didn't think I could tromp back up those 90 stairs - which were still quite a ways off - to wash my feet at the official hose site. Luckily, the water of the Bay of Fundy isn't to cold.

I'm so glad I chose to ride with the extra camera lenses today instead of tromping in the mud with Denise. I prefer to keep my bright red paws clean! I did stick my head out regularly to exchange barks with the dogs walking on the muddy floor of the Bay of Fundy. Some of them had pretty muddy paws. While at times I thought that taking a mud bath might be fun, I really appreciated my ride today!
...a little side note from Rover

As I was walking back to the stairs, my ultimate exit point from the floor of the bay, I saw a mass of low-flying birds. It was a long line of birds, a multi-layered line, birds and birds and birds, flying just above the surface of the water, floating, soaring. Most of them (apparently) were semipalmated sandpipers, with some plovers through in for diversty. They stop here in New Brunswick on their annual migration from the Arctic to South America. This is one of their eating spots. They spend up to a couple of weeks here eating, doubling their weight before they continue their journey to the south. At high tide, they congregate on the beach to the north and east of the area of the Flower Pot Rocks. I walked as far as I could (humans are not allowed to disturb these birds) to look at the birds o the beach. From afar, they really looked like rocks on the beach. It was amazing to watch the flight of these birds.

But - back to the tides... I stayed on the floor of the bay as long as I could, watching the water replace the mud, flowing in at an amazing rate of speed. As the water lapped up to the bottom of the stairs it was time to ascend.

And it was time for a food break. I was a bit chilled, so I headed back to the visitor center for a nice hot bowl of soup. And then... back to watch the water for a bit longer at it edged toward high tide. By some odd piece of luck I was here on one of the very high tide days, where low tide was at a depth of 3.6 feet (1.1 meters) and high tide was 42.3 feet (12.9 meters). It's just amazing to be able to see the difference by watching the water levels on the Flower Pot Rocks.

After many hours watching the water, it was time to find my home for the next two nights. I'm at Barb's B&B in Waterside, about 7 miles from Fundy National Park where I plan to play tomorrow.

Photos: La dune de Bouctouche

2008-08-19T19:15:00.001-04:00

Photos: Kouchibouguac

2008-08-19T19:09:00.002-04:00

Funny, when I pulled in to the visitor center, I saw this group of people having a picnic in the rain. I thought it was a little odd to choose to sit in that very wet spot when there was a building not too far away... It took approaching the group directly to see that it was a statue!

It's a good day for bouncing down the beach! We're so lucky that the rain stopped (although I know that Denise had every intention of enjoying the beach here... I think she would have carried an umbrella if the sky had still been leaking).

Photos: Shells belong on the beach!

2008-08-19T18:19:00.000-04:00

Sand dunes, boardwalks...

2008-08-19T18:15:00.000-04:00

...and conversations with birds

Another good breakfast started my day... today's treat began wth some yogurt decorated with wild blueberrys, and continued wth french toast topped with fruit taste treats. Good food, good conversations, and it was time to roam.

The weather wizard apparently paid a little bit of attention to my wishes for a good weather day. I'd say it was a very lucky weather day. It rained during my morning drive. By the time I got to Kouchibouguac it was just drizzling, and the water totally stopped flying before I started walking. It stayed dry until my feet were getting close to the end of my boardwalk walk at Bouctouche. Drizzle, more drizzle, and then it started pouring. A wet drive is much preferred over a wet walk though - so I have no complaints at all about the weather.

It was a day of visiting with birds. Of watching great blue herons rise out of their hiding spot, of watching the sea gulls, the terns, and the scurrying plovers. Of listening to the birds talking with each other. Of watching hummingbird magic.

I've done it again. I visited someplace today that I absolutely need to visit again. And I suspect that there will be more than one of those 'I need to return' places by the end of this trip. I suppose I need to view my vist to Kouchibouguac as just an introduction. I spent a chunk of time walking on Kellys Beach, from the boardwalk to a long barrier island, sand dunes.

I had a quick taste of some other areas of the park too, but the mosquitos in the non-beach areas were vicious. I guess it was just meant to be a beach day.

I headed further to the south, and stopped for a walk at La Dune de Bouctouche. A curving two-kilometer long boardwalk protects the sand dunes and provides a higher viewpoint, a good wandering spot. I did walk along the beach too, but the boardwalk added some magic.

I ended the day surrounded by hummingbirds. Innisfree Bed and Breakfast, my home for the night has four hummingbird feeders hanging outside of the screened in porch - which luckily has a roof on it since the rain is still falling. I've been stting here, eating dnner, watching the birds, listening. The hummingbirds are flocking to the feeders and to the flowers - both planted and wild. They are chirping at each other, and I can hear the sound of their wings. Hummingbirds chasing hummingbirds, wild flight, hovering... what amazing creatures!

My hosts tonight have a love for this area that shows, and they shared many tips on things to see and do here. Based on our conversations I suspect that Fundy National Park is going to join Kouchibouguac as another must return place. And I've already decided that I want to see the Acadian Peninsula in other seasons too.

It's absolutely pouring out rght now. I'm sitting in my nice cozy room thinking it's time for some sleep, and listening to the sound of rain. I'm hoping that Environment Canada is right with their forecast of 'Cloudy with sunny periods' for tomorrow. It's supposed to be cool; cool and dry sounds good to me.

Photos: Near Shippagan

2008-08-18T18:12:00.000-04:00

Who owns this nest?

I believe these beautiful birds are osprey.

Photos: Along the northern edge

2008-08-18T18:04:00.000-04:00

Colors of water

2008-08-18T17:36:00.000-04:00

...hugging the coast

Hey, it's my turn to play with words! Yes, it's Rover writing today. I told Denise she had to share...

We started the day with another excellent breakfast. Jacques is trying to get Denise to enjoy eating flowers. She tasted each flower that decorated her breakfasts, but she says that so far she hasn't found one with a taste that appeals to her. Today's breakfast deoration? It was a very pretty tiny purple pansy.

Oh, you want to know about the real food? Breakfast started with fruit, oranges, pears, and those fabulous wild blueberries. The dish looked like an artist had been at work. Then, poached eggs. That was a real treat.

It was a driving and walking and riding kind of day. We started by heading a little south of Bathurst before we picked up the road that would carry us to the northeast. The first part of the ride was surrounded by trees, and then the road started to hug the coast. Oh! That part of the road would be good for riding. You do know that Dense prefers riding where she has an interesting view, don't you?

The water showed two distinct colors. The swatch close to shore was a reddish brown, and then there was a sharp line where it turned to a deep blue. We were following Chaleur Bay, and as we looked across the water we could see the hills of the Gaspe Peninsula in the distance.

Denise drove to the end of the Acadian Peninsula, across Ile Lameque, and Ile Miscou. She was going to leave the car in Lameque and ride to the end of the peninsula and back again, but I convinced her that it would be better to drive and to do some loops on the bike a little later (I figured she'd get bored with a long out-and-back ride...). That's exactly what we did! First, we drove to the end to see a lighthouse. Huh. I wonder why the lighthouses here all seem to have cables running from (near) the top of the light to the ground. The wind was very strong today, but do you think it is strong enough to make these tall skinny buildings fall over?

At the tip of the land, the water we saw to the east was the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We'll watch that water tomorrow too, at least until the edges of Prince Edward Island are across from where we're wandering. The the water becomes Northumberland Strait. I still don't understand how there can be borders in the water. Oh, Denise just asked me how there are borders on the land. I guess they are all imaginary, aren't they?

Back to today's wanderings...

We stopped a couple of times on the way back to walk, to stroll around a boardwalk, to soak in the beauty around us. When we got back to Shippagan Denise found a place to leave the car, and we just wandered a bit on the bike. We went to the edges of the land, and we tried to get ride up to a lighthouse where we saw lots of kites in the air. Oops! We rode out from Shippagan, following the road out to a boat harbor. We went to the end of the road, and we stared at the lighthouse across the water. It turns out that it was on a spit of land that you had to get to from Lameque. Denise thought really hard about wandering back over there and trying to find that road, but it was already late in the afternoon. It was time to stop.

We're in Tracadie-Sheila, and our home for the night is Le Chateau d'Acadie B&B. Tracadie-Sheila is still pretty far north, and we'll have a bit of a drive in the morning to get to our wandering spots for the day. Denise wants to wander in Kouchibouguac National Park, and in Bouctouche. I hope that the weather doesn't interfere too much... Today was unbelievably beautiful, a cool morning warming just a tiny but, blue skies all day. And the wind! When the forecaster this morning said 'wind at 40', well my first thought was miles per hour. It was 40 kilometers per hour though, more reasonable, but still really really windy. Tomorrow? The forecast calls for rain. And it's not a wishy-washy forecast showing a percentage chance of rain. It just says rain. Hmmm... Well, I can hope, can't I? It just might be a day for walking in the rain. I know Denise has a rain jacket and a rain hat, and an umbrella too. I'll just hide in her rain jacket pocket if it gets too bad.

Please send a wish to the weather wizard for a partial dry day for us. I already expressed my wish; maybe the wizard will listen to you.

Photos: Shoreline wanders

2008-08-17T23:45:00.000-04:00

Photos: Pabineau Falls

2008-08-17T23:40:00.000-04:00

I thought maybe I'd try surfing down the falls, but Denise convinced me that bouncing along these pretty pink rocks would be a better activity for today.

Photos: Daly Point Nature Reserve

2008-08-17T23:38:00.000-04:00

Simple beauty and mosquito conversations

2008-08-17T23:36:00.000-04:00

Trees, salt marsh, beaches, waterfalls

Morning, time to start my day. My first awake act was to peer through the window. I saw a gray sky, and wet pavement. The air was dry though, good news. There was rain predicted, but you never know, do you?

Before I decided whether I'd travel on two wheels or two feet today, I headed down to breakfast. Jacques prepared a true treat, a crepe folded around wonderful fruit, with the fruit extending well beyod the edges. Jacques said he gets carried away with the fruit; as I'm sure you expected, I did eat it all! What a wonderful combination of tastes... mango, peaches, pinapple, bananas, pears, apples raspberries, wild blueberries, passion fruit, some edible flowers, and... (And yes, by the afternoon when I was writing, I did need to ask Jacques and Diane for a list of my breakfast fruits, too many to remember!)

Jacques also took the time to share a mushroom book with me. We looked at photos, and looked at the characteristics of some of the mushrooms that he and Diane picked last night. The one name that jumps to mind is the chanterelle. What a beautiful mushroom, amazing colors.

And then, ideas for wandering...

My initial thought was that I would ride first, and then do some walking. But there were a couple of places I wanted to walk while there wasn't rain falling from the sky. Rather than take a chance with the weather, I decided to head out walking first. As you might have figured from seeing the new home of my journal, I ended up walking and not riding today. I needed a day to recover from that long drive, and walking through different places just felt right.

I started with a visit to the Daly Point Nature Reserve. The reserve contains 100 acres of land, salt marsh, beaches, woodlands. Jacques even gave me some sunflower seeds that I could hold out for the chickadees, but the mosquitos were so persistent that I couldn't manage to stand still long enough to hold a handful of seeds for those little birds. That may be more of a non-summer activity; it would be fun to come back and try to attract them.

I followed some trails in a full circle, others I chose to do an out-and-back walk. There were boardwalks through the salt marsh, usually a good place to walk, but occasionally almost totally overgrown with beach grass.

Oh, and then there was the snake! I'm not sure who was more surprsed, me or the snake... I saw him sunning on the boardwalk. I was surprised enough that I could have jumped back - although I don't think I did... At the same time I saw the snake, it apparently saw (or heard?) me, because the next thing I knew he had slithered away. Even though I had a camera in my hand, the picture of that snake is only in my mind.

There were water birds, sea gulls and other beach walkers, tall birds too. Animals were scampering in the brush, not showing their faces to me. I heard them, and I suspect that they heard me too.

Daly Point is a park that I'd love to see in other seasons. Too bad it's so far from home!

Silly me, I ventured out into the nature preserve without bug goop. I'm not sure that it really works anyway, since I did apply some before continuing to my other wandering spots. And the mosquitoes still attacked along one of the beaches.

Next stop - Pabineau Falls (or Chutes Pabineau if you prefer French). I headed south of Bathurst, veering to the east on the road leading through Pabineau First Nation. Just as the road turned to rubble (OK, OK, dirt! but the sign showing the end of pavement makes it look like rubble), there was rocky terrain edging the river. The water dropped across several levels as the river curved. Fast water, deep water. flowing, falling...

One of the other people enjoying the view told me that the water is a lot higher than normal. New Brunwick has been experiencing the same very wet summer that I've had at home, not too surprising. After all, we do share a spot - however far apart - in the northeatern corrner of the continent.

My next activity? Beach walking... I started at Younghall Beach on the spit of land that helps to form Bathurst Harbor while also looking out on Nepisguit Bay. Heading north, I walked the boardwalk across the salt marsh at Beresford Beach. And then, yes, I did walk a bit along the beach. Funny, the beaches I walked earlier were all sand, but Beresford Beach was lined with purple sea shells. Closer to the water there were rounded rocks, and then some sand along the edge. It could very well have been high tide when I was there...

One of Beresford's claims to fame is that it is one of the only known homes of the Maritime Ringlet butterfly, a small butterfly that lives almost exclusively in the salt marshes of the Chaleur Bay region. I would have loved to see one of these butterflies, but they must have been hiding today.

My last stop for the day was at the quay of Petit-Rocher. It was a good spot for communing with cormorants and gulls.

I was still toying with the idea of going out for a quick ride, but it was close to 4 by the time i got back to my home away from home, the wind was howling, and I was ready to sit for a bit. And the front porch of the B&B was a perfect spot to relax and write.

As I was sitting, Jacques & Diane returned from their own day out. They offered me a late afternoon treat of maple ice cream and wild blueberries, and of course I accepted. It was a case of having desert before dinner, a happy snack!

Today's weather? Almost perfection! It was gray in the morning, there was a lttle bit of rain, and then the sky turned a clear blue decorated with white.

Tomorrow? I'm heading to the easternmost point of this trip, to the tip of the Acadian Peninsula. And yes, it's time to ride!

Photos: Evening reflections

2008-08-16T23:34:00.000-04:00

Bathurst introduction

2008-08-16T23:32:00.000-04:00

Mushrooms!

It was a long driving day, and as I expected it took until late in the afternoon to reach Bathurst, my home for the next two nights.

I checked in to my B&B, spent a little time chatting with Diane (my hostess), and headed out for a walk. I needed to shake out all of that driving time! A little bit of exploring, back for a quick showers, and it was time for some food.

Well, I thought it was, but when I came downstairs Diane and Jacques were waiting. They were going out to 'hunt' mushrooms, and asked if I'd like to go with them. Of course I was interested, but I felt like I needed food soon. That problem was quickly solved by Jacques; a banana and a glass of tangerine-orange juice gave me walking energy, and I headed out with them and their friend Micael. A walk in the woods, accented by a little rain, and oh! There were mushrooms all over. Jacques pointed out different varieties as he and Diane collected their mushroom treats.

They dropped me off at Nectar, a restaurant on the bay that Diane had recommended. The rain and gray was quickly disappearing, and the sun was highlighting the edges of the clouds. I stoppped to soak in the beautiful sight, then it was time to eat. It was a good dinner, and a good after-dinner walk.

And now, it's time to sleep, and to dream of wandering under my own power tomorrow.

Roads into roads

2008-08-16T23:31:00.000-04:00

Morning, driving once again, north, north, then a short distance to the east. A turn to the north again, still enjoying the speed and easy driving of limited access highways. And then... a narrow road cutting through the hills, still heading north but veering to the east. A last turn to the east, east into Bathurst.

As I headed north from Bangor, the road passed through heavily forested land. And then, I started getting the sense of climbing, of winding through the hills. After I crossed into Canada trees gave way to fields for a bit. And then the trees closed in once again.

Funny, I had looked at the map before I left, but somehow the realization that I-95 went straight to the border with New Brunswick just escaped me. I was trying to pay attention to the exit number - I didn't want to miss it. It would be really hard to miss since I-95 curved to the east, passed by Houlton, Maine, and continued straight to the border. It would be impossible to miss that border crossing!

New Brunswick has 5 scenic routes mapped through the province. It turns out that a good chunk of the 2-lane roads that I took today is part of the Appalachian Range Route. The terrain? Very hilly. Beautiful. Green.

The Maine Public Broadcasting Network stayed with me until I headed down the last steep hill leading Mount Carleton Provncial Park. And then... no sound from the radio. That's pretty good though, considering that I was listening to stations of MPBN from when I entered Maine in the southwestern corner of the state. It appears that all of the stations in that network broadcast the same programs on the same schedule. When I lost a signal, I just needed to search for the next available signal.

The sky started with a solid cast of gray this morning, and it was constantly changing. At one point sculpted bright white clouds hung in front of gray. And then... the gray deepened, and water started falling from the sky. Drip, drop, bigger, bigger. I was on route 180, heading east, when the serious rain started. It was raining so hard that it was diffiult to see. It felt safer to just keep driving though, because visibility was bad enough that it seemed that sitting on the side of the road would be more dangerous than continuing to move. I have to say that I was really glad that I was in my car in that rain and not on my bike. Biking in that would have been more than a little miserable.

Ah, it's time for my car's wheels to stop rolling.

Where am I? In Bathurst, at Gite Authentique B&B, my home for the next two nights.

Driving, driving...

2008-08-15T23:30:00.000-04:00

...heading to the start

We're on our way to our playing destination. It's a long way from home, and we're driving. Hours and hours...

Oh, and we're not quite halfway to our first play place in New Brunswick. I wonder how many days it would take Denise to ride to our starting point. A lot, I think. More days than we have right now... Sometimes it's a good thing to be able to use a car to get to the place where we want to play.

Denise did all of the driving (you expected that, right?), so I told her I'd try to play with some words today. I bounced around the car a little bit, looking aroud, watching things around us. What did I see?

I saw some bright color jumping out of the sea of green trees. I'm sure that the trees showing patches of bright yellow or red were just confused. After all, it is still summer here. Summer, you crazy trees. You're not supposed to be changing color yet!

I saw hawks circling, gliding... And I saw other big birds sitting at the top of tall trees.

I saw warning signs on the road, moose warning signs. I want to see a moose! When Denise called to make B&B reservations, one of the B&B owners warned her to be careful driving and riding, to make sure to watch for moose on the road. I wonder if one of those big creatures will stop to talk with us.

Tomorrow? It's going to be another driving day. Denise thinks we have another 6 to 7 hours of driving. I think I'm going to try to convince her to stop and play with her camera a little bit. Just a little... I know she wants to just get there and start wandering. Where's there? Our end point for tomorrow is Bathurst, New Brunswick. I think that Denise will probably want to walk off the effects of sittling in a car for so many hours. And then Sunday? We'll be riding (at least I hope we will)!
...words courtesy of Rover

Maps & tales

2008-08-11T23:27:00.000-04:00

...courtesy of Rover

If you've been following our travels then you already know Denise, and you know me too. But in case this is your first glimpse into a Denise journal...

My name is Rover, and I travel with Denise. I'm a little red dog, but I talk and write like a person. Oh, sometimes I bark too - but just when I get really excited... I usually ride with the cameras, although sometimes I wander through one of the other bags - especially if I think that Denise is carrying chocolate for a quick energy fix. Oh! I like chocolate! We don't usually have the really good melty stuff with us when we wander in the sun, but it's been kind of cool so far this month. And we're heading north. It's supposed to be cooler as we get further north, isn't it?

Oops! Denise just reminded me that you might be more interested in our trip than in my addiction to chocolate...

As you read this journal, if you see slanty-looking letters, then I wrote those words. I think that Denise wants to do some of the writing, so we will probably share playing with words on this trip.

A surprise for Denise arrived in the mail today. I borrowed the computer while Denise was at work to order a decent map of New Brunswick. Denise had a (free) map that she picked up as we passed through New Brunswick on our way to Prince Edward Island back in 2005, but it was making her a little crazy. Our new MapArt map showed up today. Much better!

And oh! did you know that the province has two names? Well, not really two names, but two languages are used there - so the map has two names on it - Nouveau-Brunswick, and New Brunswick. According to a very interesting article that I found while jumping on the computer's keyboard, 'the character of this coastal area is distinctly French'. It also points out the bilingual nature of the province is such that people there switch effortlessly between languages. When Denise called for B&B reservations the initial greeting was in French at a couple of the B&Bs, but the owners switched to English quickly.

You can jump over to the article on the Acadian coast of New Brunswick if you'd like. No wonder Denise thinks it will be a good place to wander!