August 2023 – Page 3 – RVing With a Purpose

2023 Summer Road Trip – Day 45 – Saint Andrews by the Sea

Friday, August 18, 2023

This morning was foggy and rainy. We took the time to do some trip planning. We needed to work on our route as we return to the US and visit some more new states as well as some plans for later this year. Around mid-morning, we looked at radar and decided if we wanted to do anything today, we needed to do it because the weather was going to be worse this afternoon. If you don’t get out in the fog and drizzle you don’t get to see much around here.

Look back at yesterday’s view of Maine. This is what it looked like this morning.

We decided to visit the cute little town of Saint Andrews by the Sea. Saint Andrews is an old town, established in 1783, one of the oldest and most distinctive settlements in New Brunswick. The town is designated a Canadian National Historic Site. We had a lot of fun walking down the old main street – Water Street – and seeing all the old buildings, several currently undergoing renovations. You really get the 18^th century vibe with the classical architecture. You can see the seashore at the end of the streets and the work going on in the harbor. There are lots of little shops and restaurants but mostly locals and not as much typical touristy stuff. We also saw some beautiful artwork as well as good murals on the sides of various buildings. We of course stopped at the bakery and picked up some cheese tea biscuits to have with our soup this evening. Very good biscuits. After touring the town, we found the Van Horne trail we had read about and did our walking for the day enjoying the Van Horne. It’s a nice wide paved trail that weaves by the water and through the woods with numerous deer posing for pictures along the way. We got over our 10,000 steps and about 5 miles, the weather was getting worse, so we returned to the same site as last night. On the way out of town, we inadvertently drove through the famous Algonquin which was Canada’s first seaside resort. Although dreary and rainy, it was another good day.

Saint Andrews sign on one of the buildings.

Driving into town we saw sign warning of deer wandering the streets. We saw several in town and on the trail …

On the way back to our home for the night we stopped to see the road to Minister’s Island. We could not see it because it is actually only a sand bar …

2023 Summer Road Trip – Day 44 – Saint John Reversing Rapids

Thursday, August 17, 2023

There was a beautiful sunrise in Nackawic this morning. There were also lots of Canada geese in our parking lot when we stepped out. Surprisingly, they did not wake us up this morning. After our walk and breakfast, we headed south. We stopped to get gas and paid for it with the last of our Canadian cash, plus a little on the credit card. Yes, we are trying to do some last few things on our list and eat some last few goodies out of the refrigerator in preparation for crossing the border back into the USA in the next few days. We are a little sad, but we still have some adventures planned as we head south. Things we didn’t take time to do on the way up.

One of our favorite sunrises of the trip

Today we drove to Saint John, New Brunswick, home of the reversing rapids. This was another one of the things on the NB list that we skipped on the way up. In Saint John, you can watch the big Saint John River reverse course and water move back up over the rapids. It’s all because of the tidal change in the Bay of Fundy. The Saint John empties into the Bay of Fundy like you expect rivers to do. But when the Bay is on rising tide the force of the water rushing into the bay forces water back up the river and over the rapids. At slack to low tide the river runs rapidly out with the water going over the rapids flowing out to the sea. We saw this happening to small creeks/rivers in other places close to the Fundy but the Saint John is a big river and yet it is still overpowered by the Fundy twice every day.

Reversed rapids caused by the Fundy Bay tides pushing water back up the Saint John River

Another view of the tide pushing Saint John River back upstream …

… and the river flowing back towards the bay.

We decided to move on to Saint Stephens for the night. It is about an hour southwest of Saint John. Surprise, surprise. We are connecting to a Verizon tower in Maine. Our phone is back on Eastern even though we are still on Atlantic time. I suspect the phone will role back to Atlantic Time tomorrow. It’s been another wonderful day.

Our new front yard. That’s Maine on the other side of the water.

2023 Summer Road Trip – Day 43 – Big Water, Big Axe

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Once again it was foggy this morning. Seems like it is foggy and gray and gloomy most mornings and then the afternoon is beautiful blue sky with a nice breeze and a high in the lower 70’s. We had a beautiful spot to look out on the lake while eating breakfast, even if it was foggy.

We drove from Hartland up to Grand Falls, New Brunswick to see the Grand Falls Gorge and waterfalls. Some people call the falls the Niagara Falls of New Brunswick. It may actually be prettier. It’s been a number of years since viewing Niagara Falls but the view of Grand Falls today was spectacular. With all the rain of the last month, there was a huge amount of water from the St John River going over the falls and rushing down through the gorge. The gorge is 1.2 billion years old with huge, towering cliffs. We would say it is one of the most amazing sites in New Brunswick and not to be missed. It’s been surprising to us all there is to do and see in New Brunswick. Prior to our visit from most of what we had been told, New Brunswick was just a place to drive through on the way to the other maritime provinces. We now say you should not miss all New Brunswick has to offer and allow plenty of time to visit the province.

We are glad we went out of our way to see Grand Falls.

A walking trail leads around to the other side of the falls and then down into the gorge.

From the falls the water flows under the bridge and into the gorge.

We are glad we hiked the trail because the gorge is just as interesting as the falls.

This painted rock snake is at the Grand Falls visitor center. It is called Morrell the Snake and people are encouraged to add their own painted rock to make Morrell grow.

There is also a zipline across the falls if you’re interested.

From Grand Falls, we drove about 1.5 hours to Nackawic, NB. It was not out of the way to our stop for tomorrow, so we just had to make the visit to Nackawic. Nackawic is the Forestry Capital of Canada, so it is appropriate that it is also home to – The World’s Largest Axe. The axe, built in 1991, is a gleaming symbol of the industrious lives of Canada’s lumberjacks. The chromed blade is 23 feet in length and made of a solid 55 tons of steel. The handle extends another 50 feet in the air. Pretty impressive. The Axe Park is another beautiful park along the St John river, with a marina and a perfect parking spot for tonight. A great spot to park for our Faith Group Wednesday online gathering. It was another great day.

There is a nice walk along the river in this park.

Maybe this gives a better representation of the axe.

And this picture gives an even better idea of the actual size of the axe.

Another day, another beautiful front yard.

2023 Summer Road Trip – Day 42 – Hey, New Brunswick – We’re Back

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

We did our morning walking in PEI and then pulled into line at the Confederation Bridge and 8 miles and $50.65 later we were in New Brunswick. Today was mostly a driving/repositioning day but it was still nice.

Crossing the 8 mile bridge from PEI to New Brunswick. You can come on to the island at no cost, but you have to pay to get off.

The morning was cloudy and misty while we drove through forests that are very lush and green, quaint little towns and by shortly after lunch we were in Hartland, NB. Another quaint little town that happens to have the longest covered bridge in the WORLD at 1,282 feet. The bridge was constructed in 1901 and spans the Saint John River in Hartland. We drove across the bridge several times getting pics and then walked it a few times. Since Blount County has the most covered bridges of any county in Alabama (3), and Alabama has 11 covered bridges, we felt we had to see this bridge. We were quite impressed to learn that New Brunswick still has 58 covered bridges.

The longest covered bridge in the world

It is a one lane bridge so drivers have to wait until no one is coming from the other end to start through. Locals drive across it very fast. Fortunately there is a separate walkway on one side.

Yes, the van fit through the bridge quite easily.

As an added bonus, we even got a smiley (found a geocache) on the bridge.

Next, we went to the potato chip factory tour that was about 5 minutes away. Covered Bridge Potato Chip Co. Fun to watch chips being made and even better to get to taste all the flavors.

Some friends recommended we take the factory tour at the Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company.

This is one of the four fryers in the plant. We watched cut potatoes fall into the oil, rotating fingers keep them moving and when done pushed them onto a conveyor that took them to a centrifuge to remove the excess oil.

At the end of the self-guided tour we picked up a bag of fresh potato chips and went to a table with about 20 different seasonings. We did not try them all.

We decided to drive part way to our tomorrow’s destination and in route found a perfect spot for the night in Perth-Andover, NB. We are beside the Saint John river and of course it has beautiful landscaping/flowers. Another great day on our SRT. Enjoy the pics.