Sojourn Days 51-60
Day 51 September 8 Our first stop today was Mahone Bay. Pretty town
situated on the water, and the predominant feature is the steeples of three churches as you enter.
We strolled the streets enjoying the sunny, warm weather and the little shops along the way. This town is famous for its arts and crafts of all types and they did display some beautiful artwork. One of the most intriguing was a quilt shop called Suttles and Seawinds and it was awash with color combinations on every wall and ceilings.
We drove through a couple of smaller communities including Blue
Rocks on the way back to Lunenburg and spotted a boat being built which was interesting. Some of the roads that we took along the way were so remote that they literally ended up in private driveways. All of them were fun to see and we were glad to have made the effort.
Once back in Lunenburg, we drove through the surrounding residential streets and spotted a very familiar crossroad sign, “Broad and High”. For those of you not from our home town, Columbus Ohio, that is the main intersection there, and we were amused at the contrast of where we were compared to the heart of Columbus.
We found our way to the opposite side of the harbour, and a perfect setting for picture taking of the town. It was so pleasant sitting there that we stayed, sipped a beverage, and drank in the view.
After dinner at Magnolia’s Grill, and back “home”, we met a nice man from Ontario who was impressed with the set up of our van and how much space we had. I guess everything is relative. We sit and talk about the “big boys” and their huge RVs, and he and his wife were camping in a minivan and looking at us as if we were a yacht! We are perfectly satisfied with our size, and flexibility. There is no way a motor home or RV could have maneuvered through some of the narrow lanes that we drove today.
This was a warm day. Probably in the upper seventies. We certainly won’t need any heat in the van tonight.
Day 52 September 9 The windows were open all night long which has been pretty rare for the past several weeks. The morning sun quickly warmed the van inside, and we were soon ready to get out into the fresh air.
We worshiped at Zion Lutheran Church
which is the oldest continuing Lutheran congregation in Canada. It was founded in 1772. This is their 3rd building on the same site. Each one before was torn down and replaced to provide a larger facility.
The present building was completed in February 1891. Surprisingly, their confirmed membership was about 350, which is large by the numbers we have encountered at other churches so far on this trip. The people were very warm in greeting us, and we even stayed afterward for the dedication of a sundial in the garden behind the church, followed by a grilled hot dog lunch celebrating the start of the Sunday School year.
Today is HOT! We had to turn on the A/C in the van. We have driven 7250 so far to escape the heat, and it has followed us up here! We’re heading west today and expect to make Yarmouth by evening.
By the time we arrived in Shelburne, we could see a huge fog bank coming toward us from the west, and we drove in it all the way to Yarmouth which was totally socked in.
Spent the night at Loomer’s Camper’s Haven in a beautiful wooded setting a few steps from a large lake. The ban on campfires has been lifted in this area, so we enjoyed our first fire in quite some time, listened to the logs hiss and pop, roasted marshmallows, sang songs, (just kidding) and stayed up until there was nothing left but a few glowing embers.
The fog lifted before we had turned in for the night, and the stars were so bright. There were no city lights to mask their brilliance and we could even see the Milky Way. What a beautiful universe God created for us.
Day 53 September 10 To our delight, the sun was shining brightly when we awoke, and the fog was gone, or so we thought at the time. We had spotted a McDonalds in town and decided to have a McMuffin for breakfast, instead of fixing something at our campsite.
From there we drove out to the Yarmouth Lighthouse to watch the Super Cat ferry come into port from Bar Harbor, Maine. 
The fog still had the peninsula completely enshrouded, and even though we had limited visibility, it gave a surreal feeling to the anticipation
of seeing the large catamaran come through the pass. We hiked out to the end of a trail and stood on the rocks straining for any sign of it. Eventually we could hear a low rumbling sound in the distance,
and then its fog horn, and then finally the shadowy shape of the boat itself emerging from the fog. What a sight! It was certainly worth the wait.
Yarmouth was typical of coastal towns in that they had a very busy working street along the water, and a Main Street filled with gift shops and eateries. We did stop at the library only to find out that this one charged travelers for the use of their Internet access computers. We promptly told them “no thank you” and left. This was the first library to charge in all of our 31,500+ miles. It was not the money, but the PRINCIPLE of it!
Drove north on the Evangeline Trail, which is basically the far western shoreline of the Province. Stopped for the night in Digby in time to catch the high tide around 5:30PM. We are on the Bay of Fundy which is known for one of the greatest tidal changes in the world. 
A great visual aid in understanding the magnitude of the tides was a device leading to a floating marina that had two modes of use. One was a set of stair steps, and the other basically a flat walkway with molding strips across it. At high tide the stair steps are almost horizontal and useless so the flat walkway is used, and at low tide the stairs are used in lieu of the walkway. At this particular location the tides are almost 30 feet, but at other locations on the Bay of Fundy they are as high as 53 feet.
Day 54 September 11 More fog this morning, but by the time that we had breakfast, the skies were clearing up. While we were eating, the waitress told us about the devastation that had occurred in the United States. Like everyone else we are totally in a state of shock and the reports are sickening. God help us all.
Needless to say, our zest for traveling today is gone. We are grieving for our country and the people that have lost their lives and their loved ones.
We came back to the Dartmouth/Halifax area in order to handle several things and also to re-contact our new acquaintances. We witnessed our first video of the day’s events on a small TV outside of one of the RVs and stood in dismay while they recapped what had happened.
Being in Canada where we understand the majority of the flights were redirected, you realize how this is truly a global problem, and not just in our country. We have been in or near most of the cities where many of the planes were sent, and know how difficult it would be for some of those small towns to absorb that many people and their needs for food and shelter. We understand in this area alone there were 40 some jumbo jets at the airport, and almost 9,000 people.
Day 55 September 12 We were picked up at the campground this morning by Ron and Verna Eisener,
whom we had met when we were here last week, and they drove us through Annapolis Valley on scenic back roads that only someone who has grown up in the area would have known. The day was beautiful, and it helped all of us to get our minds off of the tragedy in NYC. In just one week there is definitely a more pronounced tinge of fall colors in wooded areas.
We stopped at Howard Dill’s World Famous Pumpkin Patch, learned that his 
huge pumpkins are growing at a rate of 10 pounds a day, and they were hoping for another world champion this year, which would be his fifth. Ron drove to the top of a “look off” mountain, and we could see for miles. In the distance was the Minas Basin which is a part of the Bay of Fundy, the flood plains at low tide, apple orchards, corn fields, rolling hills and beautiful farms.
One of our stops was at Halls Harbor
where the tide was at its lowest. The docked boats were all sitting on the bottom in the mud banks. There was a board that measured feet attached to the side of the dock that indicated that the tides there reached 50 feet. Incredible.
Had fish and chips for lunch in Kentville, and stopped for a little history at Grand Pre to learn about the deportation of the Acadians from the area, and to visit the church and grounds that were dedicated to those people. The park was filled with flowers and the landscaping was very impressive. We even found a “Buckeye” for Ron, who had never seen one before.
It was a fine day with great people, and with thanks and regrets, we bade them good bye. We hope to see them in Florida real soon.
We did our laundry and a little shopping at Wal-Mart. Stopped at our now favorite eating place in Dartmouth (The Mic Mac Beverage Room) and had dinner, then drove to downtown Halifax to an Irish Pub, O’Carroll’s, to have an Irish Coffee, beer and listen to some Irish folk music. It was a lively crowd, many of whom were stranded airline passengers. The place was packed and noisy but we really enjoyed the evening.
Day 56 September 13 Got off to a late start after making some calls and then also realizing that we had headed out of town on the wrong highway, but the joy of no schedule allowed us to see some areas that we would have missed otherwise, so in the end it all worked out well.
We drove the Glooscap Trail from Brooklyn to Masstown, and stayed in that area for the night. The drive took us along the Minas Basin, and Cobequid Bay, and afforded us the opportunity to see huge stretches of the bays at low 
tide. It is difficult to describe how far out you would have to go to get to the main body of water, and just how much water must come back in to refill the bays. One of the places where we stopped claimed to have the largest tidal range in the world at 63 feet and that the mud flats extended out 1-1/2 miles at low tide.
For dinner we had huge cheeseburgers cooked on the grill and they tasted great. A full belly, wonderful fire, starlit sky, and a chill in the air, made for perfect sleeping. “Good night, sweet dreams”.
Day 57 September 14 Drove the back road to to Amherst, NS partly to enjoy the scenery, but also to delay the time when we would be leaving Nova Scotia. We have been here almost three weeks now, and have covered most of what we had set out to see, however, we have many places where we could easily have stayed much longer or explored one more tiny gravel road off of the beaten path.
Both of us have mixed emotions about getting back into the states right now. On one hand we have been gone almost two months, and are ready to get back to more familiar things, such as the sometimes despised news media, (which right now we desperately miss), road signs that tell you in advance of the turn off which way to go, smoother roads, less costly gasoline prices, less taxes on goods, (HST, GST, TVQ, TVS, TPS, PFT, FET) and on the other hand, we are going to miss the favorable exchange rate, the nice campgrounds with reasonable rates, the incredible scenery, and the people that without a doubt are some of the finest found anywhere.
We crossed into New Brunswick in the morning hours, and were in Moncton, NB, during the noon hour when the traffic came to a complete standstill. We were unaware until we finally started moving again, that today was a National Day of Mourning, and they were honoring the three minutes of silence for those that had died in New York. We passed a large gathering of people in their town square holding a prayer vigil. If we had known in advance, we would also have participated in it. The Canadians are very moved by what has happened in the USA.
We visited the Hopewell Rocks
near Moncton, NB, in the afternoon. Purely by chance, we stopped about an hour before low tide, and that was the perfect time to view them. They are massive rock structures carved by the tides and that are mostly covered during high tide. The floor of the ocean that was exposed, to our surprise was mostly rock as well, thus allowing people to easily walk around the formations. We had expected the same red mud that we had been seeing surrounding the Bay of Fundy in other locales. Here are four pictures that are a good representation of the park.
We spent the night in Chignecto Campground which is in the Fundy National Park. We had a very private spot, surrounded by lots of forest. It was supposed to get down to 3°C, which is pretty darn chilly.
Day 58 September 15 By the time that we had our coffee in the van, and headed up to the showers, the temperature was in the low 40ºs F, so we are unsure just how cold it got last night. One thing for sure though, is that the colors are changing every day. Makes for pretty driving.
We stopped in Saint John, NB, and walked through the Market Square
downtown. We ran into a few friends of Barney’s along the way. Do you recognize yourself in any of the pictures?
Arrived in St. Andrews by the Sea in the middle of the afternoon, and decided to stay in the town, instead of pushing to get through U.S. Customs yet today.
We walked in and out of the shops and galleries, and also checked out times of services with the churches nearby. There are numerous old homes of which many are now B&Bs. This is a lovely resort town, and would be a great spot to spend a few days. Maybe the next time around.
While we were fixing dinner, a porcupine, the size of a black bear cub walked out of the woods and went back in without approaching us. We had no idea that they grew that large and were glad we did not have to deal with him. Ahhh, the joys of nature.
Day 59 September 16
This morning we attended All Saints Anglican Church in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. It was an extremely moving service. Instead of singing a processional hymn, the crucifer, the choir, the rector, and his assistants all walked down the aisle in silence. The opening prayer was so meaningful, and it was followed with the entire congregation singing God Bless America, our National Anthem, Canada’s National Anthem, plus God Save the Queen. Even the scripture lessons seemed to have been selected to perfectly fit the occasion. After the service, the organist played Let There Be Peace On Earth as people filed out of the church. Lots of tissues, and even the Rector Emeritus choked up during the prayers. It meant a lot to us to have been there.
After church, we drove around town and took a 
couple of pictures showing the appealing charm of some of its buildings. We then stopped for lunch and enjoyed the harbor view from our table before driving
on to St. Stephen and the border crossing.
We waited a little over an hour to get through customs, and we felt happy to be back in the USA.
Strangely enough, we were both disappointed that with all of what we had heard about the heightened level of security at the borders, our van and its contents were only lightly searched, and allowed to pass through with very few standard questions. We would have gladly let them check out the car top carrier, since they never even looked inside of it.
As always, we seem to find the nicest places to stay, and tonight was no exception. It was on Keene’s Lake near Calais, Maine. Now back in Eastern Daylight Time we turned in early as we had arose this morning in Atlantic Daylight Time.
Day 60 September 17 Heading south on US 1, first thing this morning, two large deer crossed the road in front of us. The weather is simply beautiful. Probably in the mid fifties and not a cloud in sight. On our left are the bays that make up the Maine coast in this area. On our right are evergreen and hardwood forest. The leaves
are showing more fall color each day. Today our goal is to visit our friend from Jacksonville, Betsy McClenaghan, and her sister Anne Cleaves on Deer Isle. We’ll probably spend the night there and maybe get a chance to upload our log using a good ole USA telephone.
Stopped in Ellsworth for the grub we would need tonight for dinner. The directions that Betsy had given us brought us almost to their front door, not by her omission, but by our eagerness we turned down one drive too soon. Their down east summer home is on a beautiful spot overlooking Penobscot Bay. Their family has been enjoying summers in this area for the past 70 years.
We watched the sunset
from the front deck of the house while Betsy and Anne took down the flags, and had a wonderful steak dinner. We all retired soon after enjoying the apple crisp and coffee ice cream topping.