National Parks

This week PBS is showing special on OUR national parks and it has been great. Spending a lot of times in the parks lately makes the show really come to life. A few things that I find interesting include the fact that we are the only country with national parks. That we had such a hard time convincing congress that we needed them to protect our assets for everyone and the way it has turned out without a national plan in place. John Muir is of course the architect of our park system and I wonder where we would be today without him. He was joined in the fight by many including Teddy Roosevelt and other less known presidents. It was common back in the late 1800s and early 1900’s for the rich in the country to gobble up the best land and build huge summer homes. The rich in those days had a huge majority of the country’s assets and many had not heard of sharing. It took guys like Rockafeller II to demonstrate philanthropy and kick start the process. Much of Acadia National Park was donated from land owned by the rich or bought by them and turned over to the government. Acadia was the first national park on the east coast and saved a jewel that would have become like all the other coast on the northern eastern shore, the private summer playground of the rich. The battle started at Yosemite and Yellowstone and interesting enough, it was precipitated by greedy commercial interests that were abusing the land, selling off the natural resources, and turning the areas into profit centers. The Niagra Falls earlier in the 1800’s had gone this path and the entire area was bought by private parties and ruined with gaudy shops and money making ventures. It was the terrible legacy of Niagra Falls that was used over and over as the “what if” scenario that would play out if the land was not protected. Having visited the falls in July, I was amazed by the gross commercialism and fun park atmosphere. Catch the rest of the PBS series or replays if you can. It is amazing and will inspire you I am sure. Makes you feel good about handing down a positive legacy to the next generations.

I am the man from Nantucket

We are safely docked on Cape Cod in Sandwich. Good shore power and water. Beautiful place, lots of fall color, beaches everywhere, more around lakes then along the ocean believe it or not. Minnesota is lucky they patented the “Land of 10,000 lakes” before Cape Cod. Lots of conservation areas as well that Jet and I have been finding perfect for fall runs. We spent Friday on Nantucket Island with friends, Bill and Penny Vermie, from Seattle. They were combining work and play in New England. We took the high speed ferry over in some fairly rough seas. Suzy was rather quiet but held it together. We rented some bikes and rode the island for the rest of the day. Great bike trails and beaches and some amazing homes. There was a strong wind all day so we got our share of exercise when we were heading into it. Bill and Penny accompanied us to the Scallop Festival in Bourne on Sunday before heading on to Rhode Island. We extended our stay on the cape so we could see sister Judy and husband Es starting October 3. We are off to the last farmers market of the season in Hyannis, a stop at Trader Joes and Barnes and Noble and back in time for a little football. Good Day!

Up and Down, In and Out

These are the motions we are having trouble with in the RV. Or should I say, WITH the RV vs. IN the RV. You see, first it was a broken jack system in July that caused problems with the up and down. And this week we smashed the stairs taking care of the in and out. The stairs smashing was a maneuvering problem, maneuvered right over a rock which hit the fold down stairs making them into a parallelogram vs. a square. I wasn’t going that fast but the weight of the 5th wheel gives lots of inertia and the rock had made its mind up not to move. Got a new set of stairs the same day at camping world and I had them installed by 5 PM that evening (Saved a few hundred as Camping World charges $110/hour for shop labor). We both will be a bit more careful in making unscheduled and unobserved turns in areas with large rocks. Now it will take Jet another month to get used to two stairs vs. three stairs. He was leaping all the stairs while they were broken and had no problem. I had no problem with it either. Portsmuth, NH is great little port on NH’s 18 miles of coastline. We liked it because it was unlike all tourists towns along the coast, so few t shirt shops and cheap gift shops, plenty of nice coffee houses, open areas and friendly people. It registered the top art gallery, top pizza, and top used book store for our trip. We almost didn’t go. Then we drove the coast south to New Hampshire Hamptons, North and regular Hampton that is. Beautiful old houses with great sea vistas.

Last Day in New Hampshire

Land of the tax free alcohol. Tax free everything, thus lots of out of state license plates at all the stores. We are outside Manchester in the woods. Nice spot, and the campground prices have plunged, less then half what they were a month ago. Diesel dropping too so we are making up for budget excess earlier in the summer. Jet and I did a rock climb up the side of Mt. Washington. They have not figured out switchbacks in NH yet. Just straight up following rock slides. I worried that it was getting too steep for Jet as we went mile after mile up over the rocks. He just kept leaping up and pulling me. Finally we broke out of the trees into the clear but faced a huge ledge that I could lift Jet on but it was slanted so he couldn’t advance. Then I worried about getting him off it on the way down, so we decided it was a good place to turn around. Jet plummeted down hill, leaping 3 feet at a time. Swear, the dog is part mountain goat. Me, that is another story, as I braked myself using all body parts. Was glad to reach level ground in the parking lot (yes that was the only level ground around). The campground we are in is kinda a summer camping spot for people that leave their rigs here year round. They seem to be trying to out do each other by putting additions on to their rigs, like decks, porches, woodsheds, sun rooms, etc. Good ideas but their carpentry skills are amusing. Lots leaning to going on. Hope they don’t get big snow. Some of the rigs haven’t seen the road in years nor a have they seen a scrub brush. Interesting. Jet finds the plastic flowers, plastic flowers, plastic gnomes, plastic rocks, all very scary and approaches all with butt lowered and nose up, ready to beat a hasty retreat if necessary. Only took about thirty tries to get the rig backed in here. Tight entrance but big spot. Provided entertainment for couple on a golf cart that just were riding around watching people back in. After a while this started to bother me a bit as I was not having a good backing in moment. After many glares they still didn’t get my annoyance. So when I finally got it in, I said to them sarcastically as I could, “Thanks for all the help” and they smiled and said “Your welcome.” Right over their heads! Took me a minute to calm down and get over it. Suzy was helpful. One of our problems was our walkie talkies ran out of battery so we were having trouble communicating. Suzy did say we were doing much better then the couple a few lots down where there was some angry shouting going on in the backing in process. Off to Portsmouth, NH today and then Cape Cod tomorrow. Got a nice spot reserved in Sandwich, MA on the shoulder of the Cape.

Live Free or Die

There is a relay run going through North Conway this afternoon and all the nine passenger vans decorated with goofy running stuff brought back lots of memories. Relay goes from Mt Washington, highest peak in the East at 6500 feet to the ocean. Kinda like our Rainer to Pacific relay. I was nostalgic but then remembered being up all night in the back of the van and running at 3 AM and began to feel much better. Have to invent relay for old folks that finishes by 9 PM. Leaving Maine had two firsts, first finger given in anger and first road cone squished. The finger was compliments of a young lady who thought I cut her off as I changed lanes as I was turning left. Maybe I have got more fingers and just don’t know it but if it is the first on this trip, its been 11,000 miles. Not bad. And I haven’t given any. The cone incident was caused by a way too narrow construction lane. Either squish the cone or ride the other side up a curb. Not on my new tires. The construction guys didn’t seem upset, at least I didn’t get my second finger. We are in another woodsy campground. I want to climb, hike Mt Washington on Sunday so we will be here for at least three days. Guy in store told me it was a bit surreal climbing Mt Washington as there is also a road up and a cog railway. I told him aobut running up Pikes Peak to find a cafeteria and parking lot at 12,000 feet, quite a surprise to me. Suzy and I will do some hiking and then canoe the Saco River which runs through the campground.

Still manly and mainly in Maine

Good Morning from Scarborough, Maine on the southern coast just outside Portland. Beautiful fall weather here, highs in low 60’s, and evenings in low 50’s. The trees are turning, mostly the sumacs right now with oak and maple not far behind. Interesting to see the pockets of color as you look into the forests. Seems to me they do better job of cutting here in NE, much less sign of any clear cuts.

The park we are in has 750 sites with only 10% occupied. As soon as Labor Day passed the parks became deserted and quiet with the kids back in school. Weekends pick up a little. This is one of the best parks yet. So many trees. Had to be careful driving in not to hit any. 4 swimming pools and kayak and canoe access to a great marsh/estuary. Will try the canoes this afternoon.

For those of you who wanted to leave comments on the blog site but were having trouble, I have fixed the problem. So little comments like “Tom, keep your day job” are fine. But remember, I have such a thin skin that I bleed easily. Naw, use both barrels.

Driving in farm country the other day we saw a herd of cattle with white blankets on. As we got closer we realized it was their color. They were black with perfectly geometric band of white around their middle, making them look like they had blankets on. Definitely some genetic foreplay going on in this area, as we also saw some goats a mile later that had llama pelts and calico colors. Suzy and I held our breath until we had passed out of this little GM experimental area.

I miss Acadia. We had such a wonderful time there. Think we will head west to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, then south to Massachussets then west to Conneticut. We will do NY city by train from Conneticut. That is the macro picture for now, all subject to change at the drop of a hat. And I have a few hats to drop.

We have been in Maine for two weeks and it is on the top of the states visited so far along with Colorado. Of course Canada was wonderful and our favorite was New Brunswick, but we enjoyed all the maritime provinces.

In Defense of Montana

Piss Poor Performance in Predicting Power Problems

September 11th, also known as Suzy, Tatum and Terri’s birthdays, dawned cold and bright on Desert Island. Emphasis on the cold as Bangor, just north of here set a low temperature record of 39 degrees, matching our temp on the island. We had plans for a trip to Camden and Rockport on the Maine coast south of here. Being Suzy’s birthday I had vowed to shop without dissent or do anything else her heart desired. A good husband will do that.

As I got out of bed I noticed that besides being cold in the RV it was also a bit darker then normal. I tried numerous lights and found that the 9 volt lights all worked but none of the 120 volt lights working. Further exploration revealed that the converter that takes 120 volt current and converts it to 9 volt power and also recharges the batteries was not working so we were running on battery power. Not a good wake up call. Outside I found that all the neighbors had power and back inside I found the microwave was the only 120 volt power working. How strange. I reset my gfi and got it working so I had that 120 volt power too, but nothing else. Basically half my panel wasn’t working and an important half it was as it powered the converter that runs the refrigerator and furnace which were now operating off the battery and propane. They would keep working until the battery wound down or the propane ran out.

Suzy had the great idea to go out for breakfast, after all it was still her birthday. So we took off for Maine wild blueberry pancakes. Over breakfast I trouble shot the electrical system and confessed to my bride I was flummoxed. She suggested we go to Camden another day and instead pull the RV to Bangor to a service shop to have them fix it. I agreed and we headed back. Stopped at the office on the way in and asked if anyone had reported power surges last night. None reported but they said they would send Randy down to take a look. Randy, native North Carolinan, arrived immediately started trouble shooting. He had a nice voltmeter and we checked and confirmed half the panel was out. Then we notice that the 50 amp lines were only half working, explaining why half the panel was not working. One was dead, so we thought it was the circuit breaker and I thanked Randy and got ready to pull the breaker and get a new one. As I was taking it out it struck me the power in to the breaker was the problem, not the breaker, so I hurried out to catch Randy, whom I found at our hookup box already testing the power source. We had both come to the same conclusion at the same time, the power from the park was bad. Sure enough, half the power on the source box was dead. Eureka, the RV was fine, it was the park’s power that was the problem.

Randy ran up to the office and found the breaker feeding our sight was bad and replaced it, immediately fixing our problems. Good lesson, always assume nothing. Check everything back to the source and check the source. The ole Montana was pissed that we had thought bad things about its electrical system so we both apologized and headed for Camden and Rockport.

Cruise Ships and National Parks

I think I mentioned the other day that the ratio of T-Shirt and Gift Shops to tourists in Bar Harbor is approaching one to one. And there are thousands of tourists. I vowed not to return to Bar Harbor after an abbreviated trip into the hordes of unwashed tourists. But I had no idea where they were all coming from. Then, on a hike in Acadia the other day we had a nice vista of Bar Harbor and guess what was tied up in the harbor? You got it, two huge cruise ships. Are you kidding? No wonder things are crazy in that little town where a couple of lobster boats normally increase the population by 25%.

After attacking anything resembling a shop selling T-Shirts in town, the tourists all board buses and are dropped off in the National Park. They have been equipped with maps and a destination, so the buses vomit their contents in the parking lots and the contents flow to their destination which is always about 250 yards away. Arriving exhausted, they block all trails and roads, and take ten million pictures of their adventure in a national park.

I am all for “each to their own”, but this really tests my patience. From now on, I make my plans in Acadia with the cruise ship arrivals and departures in mind. They are published in the local paper. I guess this is not as bad as snowmobiles in Yellowstone but this being the first national park that I have visited in reach of the buffet boats, I was taken aback.

I guess the tent campers probably see our 5th Wheel trailer as a land cruise boat. I did bike with a guy from Bar Harbor the other day and he said they are trying to limit the cruise ships to the fall when the other tourists have left. He was saying that the large number of tourists had really lowered the satisfaction meter of visits to Bar Harbor and the community is studying ways to make visits more enjoyable.

Suzy has founds lots of others harbors on Desert Island, like NE Harbor, Bass Harbor, SW harbor, etc that seem much more natural and probably more like Bar Harbor used to be.

Islands galore around here, not sure how many in the archipelago but some great names. Like Sheep Porcupine Island, Bald Porcupine Island, and Big Porcupine Isle. Seems that the sailboats are staying in these offshore islands and smaller harbors rather then in Bar Harbor.

Loop Road, Acadia National Park

Loop road, a beautiful mostly one way traffic 22 mile loop around the park’s best sites. My first attempt on my bike resulted in a wrong turn (who needs maps in a national park?) and therefore the loop was turned into an out and back. Between my faulty memory and seeing everything in 180 degree reverse it was similar to a loop. Anyway I did the loop another day, all 2000 feet of elevation gain.

The park has 45 miles of carriage paths. These were built in 1932 because many people even then were still driving their horse carriages and found them to nice to give up. So, they built the beautiful carriage paths and refused access to any automobiles. So the green movement was born long before modern times. Suzy and I took our mountain bikes on many of these carriage paths and found them perfect for seeing the parks backwoods. A few less hills would have been perfect, Suzy informs me.

Super hiking trails around the lakes in the parks drew us immediately off our bikes and into our hiking gear. Lots of split plank paths suspended above the moss and wetlands near the shores. Jet found them easier to jump over then walk on. Also lots of rock paths along the shores, big rocks to jump between.

Horse Poop!

Jet’s take on the NE

You haven’t heard from me since we left Canada. Been busy readjusting to the smell of American dogs’ pee and taking longer naps now that we are in a different time zone. But all in all, it is good being back in the dog friendly U.S.. Been hiking and running in the Acadia National Park, something they wouldn’t let me do in Canada.

The other day on our run along Bubble Pond in Acadia I was alerted by a small animal in the road ahead, but then disappointed to find out it wouldn’t run and provide me a chase. Reason being, it was a pile of horse manure. My eyes are not so good at the long distances and the wind must have been at my back. Anyway as we ran along (slowly as Tom is slowing down from the lack of running lately) I was thinking what was with all the horse crap on the trail. When I even think about a crap, Tom and Suzy frantically search for a plastic bag, and are scooping it up almost as it leaves the source. So what is with all this horse crap? Why aren’t horse owners cleaning up after their animals? After all, the size of a pile of horse craps exceeds what I can do in two weeks. And the odor is not pleasant to my nose, anyway. So I am going to start an initiative for horse owner cleanup.

My other senses like hearing are still sharp, although Suzy caught me in an embarrassing mistake of hearing the other day. Tom was off on a bike ride and I was sure I heard the truck arriving so I let off with a few welcoming barks. Turns out it was just a passing truck, then this happened again, and I barked a welcome and it wasn’t Tom. Couple more trucks passed but I knew they weren’t Tom. And then finally Tom. Suzy pointed out that I was alerting and barking at diesel trucks and not gasoline trucks. OK, so I learned that every diesel is not our diesel. What is the big deal?

I imagine you have all heard about my rib steak dinner the other day. Tom and Suzy had no idea that I could get the steaks out of grocery bag, remove the shrink wrap and Styrofoam packaging and consume them bone and all without detection. They were upset as this was my first uninvited dinner and they didn’t even feed me that night. Oh, yeah, I learned my lesson, from now on, only eat half the steaks, leaving one for Tom.

I went backpacking the other day around Jordan’s Pond. (New Englanders call small lakes, Ponds) Tom had picked up a dog backpack at an REI garage sale and then had packed it away. Well he dug it out the other day and thought it would be a good idea for me to carry my own water, water dish, their water and snacks and my dog bones. It was a funny feeling underneath for a while but I quickly got used to it. I got a chuckle out of a girl on the trail who saw me and exclaimed, “Look, he has a life preserver on!” Can you imagine a Labrador with a life preserver? I was insulted. All these little foo foo dogs and their sweaters and hats and she picks on me doing the dogly thing of being a true pack animal. Humans! And the other dogs on the trail were all trying to get my dog bones. I couldn't do a big enough bend to get at them myself.

Ohh, almost forgot, got a new small stuffed animal this week. About the size of a small rat. Man can I make that guy squeak. Driving everyone crazy! Life is great!

Jet
Jetane (former French Canadian Lab)

Cadillac Mtn.

Acadia Must Mean Hills of Rock in French

Acadia National Park on Desert Island in Northeast Maine is certainly a national treasure. The trees and rocks make a great team for impressing the many visitors. After only three visits we have become enamored with the rugged beauty and ample recreational possibilities.

Cadillac Mountain standing just over 1500 feet above sea level is supposed to be the first place to see the sunrise in the US. I guess because it is the tallest mountain on the east coast within 50 miles of the coast. So with a sunrise scheduled for 6:13 AM we got up at 5:30 and drove up the summit. Saw only one car on the way up and thought we might have the place to ourselves when we go there. Coming around the last bend in the road we were treated to a half full parking lot and vista of people standing on the horizon watching the sun rise. It was 6:01 so how could this be? The rim of the top of the sun was just hitting the horizon as we raced up the summit. Got it! Pictures galore. Then I realized that the later sunrise time was for Bangor and Portland which are inland from Cadillac Summit. But we made it. Would have missed it if we had stopped to let Jet have a pee. With all the islands and lakes and rock mountains the sunrise was truly magnificent. Even with the background of the Japanese tourists all discussing the various photographic nomenclature and techniques to capture the best picture. Good thing I know Japanese so I can decipher their frantic conversations. A good sushi chef taught me it all.

Did I forget to mention Suzy was not a happy camper when the alarm went off at Oh Dark Thirty, and even after I reminded her that she didn’t have to go to work this morning, she was a bit slow getting in the spirit of a beautiful sunrise. Once we got there and witnessed the sight all was forgotten, or delayed anyway until we returned home after my run and Suzy’s walk on Bubble Pond. Suzy taking a nap as I type.

Lost between 3rd person and 1st Person

Now that I have 50 blogs posted, it is time to look at my grammar.

Where is the second person who is supposed to keeping my persons straight? I know, on second base with “what”. A good second person will do that. But none in sight and my elementary English teacher is long since in the happy grammar school in the sky. I am resolved to try to stay in the third person in my blogs. Ooops, I mean, Tom is resolved to stay in the third person in his blogs from now on. Naw, that is too hard. Better stick with persona non grata. Besides, if it gets by Suzy I am home free. She is always asking if I spell checked it? Naw, that depersonalizes it for all those folks who know how I can’t spel.

Spent a few hours in Gift Shop Harbor (Bar Harbor) this afternoon. How many moose T shirts does one person need? Why do most gift shops sell ice cream? What more bigger sacrifice must a husband make on a nice afternoon, then to go “shopping” with his wife? These are the tough questions.

We are settled in for ten days on Desert Island on which Acadia National Park is located. Have a park loop planned for early tomorrow morning on the Specialized Roubaix. Beautiful fall weather here in Maine, mid 70’s in daytime and high 50’s at night.

Witnessed the ultimate in spousal abuse last evening in RV campground in Bangor. This couple with their grandson had arrived at their campsite in my backyard. She got out to help him back their trailer into their spot. Instead of helping she went into a full time rant telling him he couldn’t do this and to do that and stop this and no, no, no, ad nauseas. And I thought he was doing a good job. She blistered the poor guy, right in front of his grandson. When she was finally satisfied she gave him hell about the whole process and how he should have listened to her. I felt so bad for the poor fella. He looked beaten down. I was going to go over and tell him where he could get a good deal on a handgun but decided to stay out of it. Amazing, relationships are amazing. And humans too.

You are Home!

I want to go home, I want to go home, oh how I want to go home! (What was the song with these lines? Something to do with going to sleep last night in Detroit City.)

I have to be honest. There have been a few times on this trip when I have asked myself, “Tom, what in the hell were you thinking, when you decided to buy this rig and head off into the sunrise (we are going east mostly so far). Yes, moments of weak spirit do occur and have to be dealt with in a forthright manner when you make drastic changes in your life style. Admitting these moments of doubt to each other is good therapy as we found we each have these moments. Not necessarily in the same proportions but that is another story.

My moments of weakness are usually related to two things. Something on the rig stops working or when I stop at a gas station and get the bill for a load of diesel here in Canada. Suzy’s are also related mainly to two things, the internet not working or missing her daughters.

The cure for this weakness for me has been reading the works of Jack London via Kindle. London’s tales usually all have to do with some tenderfoot starting out on some impossible journey in the early 1900s and facing the elements alone. We are talking some minus 60 temperatures, chopping into one’s leg, being attacked by wolves, mugged by robbers or Indians, etc. etc.. It is hard for me to be feeling sorry for myself because the furnace won’t start when reading about some guy whose fingers freeze off trying to light a fire. I found that the safety device on the propane tanks had kicked in and cut off the propane. The turn of a knob was all that was needed to fix it. If this was what the poor guy in the Northwest Territories whose dogs had just frozen leaving him 200 miles from civilization and only two days food had to face, then my broken jack or noisy pump don’t look all that formidable. Thank God for Jack London and RV insurance.

As for the price of diesel fuel; Jack London doesn’t help much. Actually he worsens the situation by writing about all the guys finding gold in the Yukon and becoming rich. I am getting almost 13 miles to a gallon pulling the rig which is better then I planned for so what is the problem? Well, if you ever pulled away from a gas station after spending $110 to fill up, you would understand. Diesel up here is averaging $.99 a liter. And there are about 4 liters in a gallon and the exchange rate is only about 106%. For all you math challenged folks out there that is about four bucks a gallon. Remember last summer? Oh, I hear all the sobbing for me coming through the white birch trees. Quite comforting I must say.

The cure for this malaise I find is, remembering that we are not paying mortgages, property taxes, water, electricity, gas, and multitude of other expenses related to a home so we can afford to let a little of our gold dust go the Canadian oil barons. And that we are not getting up and getting dressed for work, just a workout in the dunes.

So we hang in there and usually around the next corner is a view so magnificent that we forget all our negative thoughts and marvel in the wandering spirit. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see North America and like the pioneers it is not without some glitches. So we continue to circle the wagons and hunker down when hardship or doubt come at us. Works good!

Gift Shops and History

While in Halifax we visited the old maritime town of Ludenburg on the Atlantic coast. This old sailing town was just what you would picture in the quintessential description of a sailing town, complete with sail makers, wooden boats being made right on the street, rigging shops, maritime shops of every variety and of course the sailors necessity, the gift shop. I have been amazed that the old fortresses we have visited on our trip, both French and English, have all had gifts shops. I had no idea that back in the early 1700’s that the gift shop was such a part of the fabric of daily life. It is amazing but it must be true because all the old sites had one, usually very prominent in the settlement. That is the great thing about history, it is full of surprises.

Speaking of shops, we found that Halifax must be the leader in boutiques (another word for shops men will find nothing of interest in). There were at least 400 of these little shops in Halifax and only one ancient fortress, The Citadel, guarding them all. Very interesting to someone?

As we leave Halifax heading toward U.S. we are encouraged to begin to see some trees turning color. More were seen in New Brunswick and some in Maine too. We are looking to follow the fall color south through New England.

Tropical Storm Denny and the Great Steak Caper

Tropical Storm Denny

We were comfortably situated in Baddeck on Cape Breton Island and feeling quite smug having survived the vestages of Hurricane Bill a week ago. Someone mentioned that a tropical storm was weakening off the coast of Nova Scotia so we paid it no heed. About 7 PM Saturday night it started to rain hard and it kept up through 7 AM the next morning. We were on high ground fortunately as the runoff was everywhere low. It was coming down so hard, I made up my mind not to move today and just stay where we were. About 8 AM it just stopped and started getting a bit lighter. So I put the rig on the truck and we headed for Halifax. Suzy noticed another slider leak on the opposite side of the rig, and I made a note to fix it when we stopped. As we drove to Halifax we couldn’t help but notice the lakes and rivers were all at their rims. Lots of puddles everywhere and it was then on the radio we learned we had abooout 5 inches of rain in the previous 12 hours. There was low behind the tropical storm so it heaped it on. So on successive Saturday nights in the Maritimes we had a hurricane and a tropical storm. Good thing we are from the PNW as all this water just made us feel at home. Now if I could only find a Starbucks.

To celebrate the sunshine I picked up a couple of rib steaks to BBQ that evening, along with other provisions (when you are RVing they are called provisions not groceries). We put the groceries in behind the back seat where Jet rides and then rode back to the campground. As I arrived I went to let Jet out and he had a small piece of one of the steaks in his mouth. Further investigation revealed he had eaten all but that small piece after taking the package out of the bag, opening the plastic wrap and consuming even the bones. He has NEVER done anything like this before, always waiting for permission to eat anything. I was pissed and Jet knew he had done something wrong, but I am not sure he knew exactly. Could not believe he did all this without us hearing him. I went back to the store the next day and the rib steaks were not on sale anymore so I ate hamburger and reminded Jet often of his error. He did his best to keep his digestive track calm after the new diet, and only obliged us with a couple days of the skitters.

Fortress at Louisbourg

Located on the Northwest tip of Cape Breton Island just 20 miles out of Sydney lies the largest re-created historic site in North America. We had heard about this site from a native Nova Scotian who highly recommended it. Suzy suggested it on our day trip to Sydney and we easily found it easily. Just followed buses full of Japanese; works every time.

The sight is a large town and fortress the French set up in the early 1700’s as their launch point for other excursions and a large cod fishing ground. They dried the cod and shipped back to Europe by the boat full. The Grand Banks were GRAND in those days.

The Canadians had found the foundations on the sight and then found the full set of drawings for all the buildings and fortifications so they re-created everything in exact detail. Amazing. Then they manned it with a village full of kids and adults in the clothes of the era and doing the activities of the era, right down to playing cribbage in a saloon. Also all the soldiers dressed in uniforms and weapons. Gardens with the vegetables growing, geese, chickens and pigs running around, smoke in the chimneys, pots on the fires, it was easy to feel like you had stepped back in time to 1744. The “actors” all stayed in period with their conversations with you as they went about their duties. I especially enjoyed talking to a young lieutenant about the fortifications, lines of fire, and strategies of defense.

You see the French were attacked by the British later in 1744 as part of what we refer to as the French Indian War. After a seven week siege the British won, sent all the French folks back to Europe and took over the fort. Ten years later the British gave it back to the French as part of a treaty arrangement and the French took it over again only to lose it in another seven week siege years later. Think that was what they called the King Geoge’s War. Anyway, I was interested on how the French had lost it twice in sieges. Very well informed on history was the young lieutenant and kept his cool while made some disparaging remarks about the French military mistakes in keeping the fortress.

The guard at the gate when we got to the fortress would only let in French visitors, accusing the rest of us as being spies. When she found out we were from the states she even less enamored with allowing us to pass. She was great, so in character and funny too.

We left the fortress and felt like we were going back in a time machine to the 21st century after a half day in New France.

The Cabot Trail

The Cabot Trail

John Cabot discovered Cape Breton Island on the north of Nova Scotia in 16 or 17 something and of course they named the road around the island after him. It is an amazingly beautiful road that rises and falls some 1200 feet from the ocean to the mountain tops. It does this a number of times. I was so glad I had elected not to pull the RV around this route. The crashing surf, high winds, and rapidly moving clouds make a great backdrop for our first full day in NS. What a great place. Looks like they are anticipating a hard winter by the size of the woodpiles we have been seeing. Either that or a lot of tourists buying campfire wood.

Another phenomenon we have noticed besides the wood piles is the lawns in all the Canadian Provinces we have visited. I mean every square foot of property that has a house attached is lawn. Huge lawns, few plants, and always someone on a riding lawnmower looking like they are asleep after being up there so long. I was talking to a guy from Halifax on the ferry and mentioned this to him, saying why with such a short summer why does everyone spend half of it mowing their huge yards? He agreed it was crazy and had noticed the same thing. Could the government being paying them to grow lawns instead of potatos?

We finally saw our first moose after 24 days in Canada. Well, it was actually the back half of a moose would not turn around to show us the better half. She was trying to chew her way to the other side of the national park and didn’t bother looking up. She was about 20 yards from a yellow diamond sign with a picture of a big bull moose. Maybe they tied her up there?

Jet loved the pounding surf. He was intrigued by the sea foam, which was accumulating in long lines on the edge of the surf and rocks. The wind was picking up big clouds of it and blowing them inland. Jet attacked the airborne “cotton candy” fiercely until he tasted out that it was about 99% sea salt and 1% jellyfish poop. Very difficult to spit out once you have attacked with such a vengeance. Many funny dog faces and lip pullings followed.

Had a nice lunch in an Acadian restaurant on the east side of the cape. Great chicken and potato soup, an Acadian favorite. We passed up the restaurant advertising oyster sandwiches. Can you imagine? The Cabot Trail didn’t disappoint. We decided it was our favorite part of Canada so far, as it reminds us of the mountains and ocean in the Pacific Northwest.