We started the day with rain and fog again. But again, by mid-morning the sun was shining brightly, and it was a delightful day. We had our blueberry scone we got from the bakery yesterday for breakfast – very good – and then went through all our food in BB to be sure we didn’t have anything the would be disallowed at the border. We made sure we had eaten all our fresh produce and citrus. We had about a thirty-five-minute wait due to the number of vehicles in front of us at the Calais crossing. Longest delay we have ever had coming back into the country. We were surprised. We thought Saturday morning at a small-town crossing would be quick. Oh, well. We were in no hurry. As soon as we cleared customs, we headed to Walmart to restock the refrigerator with produce. Then, for the rest of the day we enjoyed the scenery making our way south. We stopped for a picture of the huge Paul Bunyon statue when we drove through Bangor.
At one time today we were in two countries at the same time.
The Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor is one of several across the USA. It is 31′ (9.4 m) tall and was erected in 1959. The statue has a large ax in one hand, and a peavey in the other hand.
We arrived at our Harvest Host site in Lincolnville, ME midafternoon. There are now three of us – a Florida couple in a Roadtrek van who also returned to the US today, a tent camper from Georgia and BB, all enjoying the peaceful rural farm. Our hosts will be joining us shortly for a tour. We will fill you in on that tomorrow. It’s been a good day!
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 18th 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.
Saint Andrews Water Street
One of the murals in Saint Andrews
Driving into town we saw sign warning of deer wandering the streets. We saw several in town and on the trail …
… even this little fawn.
Van Horne Trail
The Algonquin
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 …
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
Our messy company this morning.
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
Almost slack tide
River flowing back towards the bay
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.
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.
The falls from the visitor center
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.
World’s Largest Axe
Maybe this gives a better representation of the axe.
And this picture gives an even better idea of the actual size of the axe.
RVing With a Purpose 