The air conditioning finally cooled the inside of motorhome last night, and we slept great. Tuesday’s high temperature was 94 degrees.

It was nice and cool this morning, allowing us to walk and be comfortable.  Twice around the park is about 3 miles, and quite enjoyable as we visit with other campers and walkers, see lots of birds, and this morning we saw a fox run alo0ng the woods beside us.  Wayne came by and visited, and it was great “catching up” even though we’re only a couple of miles from home. Kay called Verizon and activated a “personal hotspot” using her Apple IPhone 4.  This costs $20 per month for 2 GB.  Up to 5 devices (computers, IPads, IPhones, Kindle Fires, etc.) can hook-up simultaneously, but one can very quickly consume 2 GB, particularly streaming video, and uploading and downloading photos.  Consequently, I don’t establish a connection with “Kay’s IPhone”.  When we’re on the road, we sparingly use her hotspot, and I generally “save” all my internet work until we get to our nightly destination RV park with WIFI, or go into McDonalds or Starbucks. We also set all of our computer updates to manual to avoid a huge sink of data transfer beyond our control—lesson learned by Kay—as the cost of using over your 2 GB is VERY expensive! Fortunately, she has not gone over the allocation, yet.

We rode our bikes today as well, again enjoying seeing and visiting with other campers.

Wayne and Loretta stopped by for a visit and Loretta brought a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers she had picked along the river near their campsite.  There were 7 species in all.  Isn’t this awesome?

Kay prepared chicken parmesan for dinner and we all enjoyed a great meal.  For us, it seems like we have more time to visit and just enjoy living when we camp without all the mundane chores at home!

We forgot to record any television programs for the RV, so we did the next best thing (or perhaps the best thing), and watched 3 episodes of Downton Abbey on the IPad.  What a life!

This past weekend, Kay celebrated a major birthday, and we were privileged to have Ron, Cheryl, Karyn, Matt, and Ridge visit and join in the celebration—what a marvelous time!

We’ve been quite “busy” the last few weeks with a 10 day trip to the Maritime Provinces in Canada, pre- and post-trip preparations, and celebrating Kay’s BIG birthday.  RVing gives us a break from the everyday world—we don’t quite know why, but it probably has to do with an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality—even though we have the landline transferred to Kay’s cell phone, go to the house everyday when we’re close by to shower, pick up mail and packages, restock with groceries and supplies, etc.  It also lets us exercise the motor home, keeping all its systems on go.

We drove to Quarry Park, just up the road and river from the house; it was surprisingly full, but we found a good site and established our “residence” for a few days.  It only took a few minutes to level, hook-up electricity, water, and satellite, and extend the slides. We returned to the house to pickup a second car and bicycles, and now we’re all set. I have not felt great the last week or 10 days, and still not feeling 100%, I hung around inside the motorhome, and did very little.  After we got all settled, we both let our a collective big breath and RELAXED.

Later in the day, our neighbor and very good friends, Wayne and Loretta, drove their “new to them” motorhome up to Quarry Park, and quickly set up on a great site on the river.

We spent a quite evening, enjoying the sights and sounds of the campground.

As an aside, local wildflowers have apparently been laying dormant because of the severe drought.  As a result of recent rains, they seem to be blooming everywhere, and particularly along the river.  What a beautiful sight!

TIME: 8:00 AM to 10:30 AM

WEATHER: Low 60s to mid-70s, sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 1 unit increasing to 2 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Riffle above Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: #14 olive Norfork River scud, #20 red/silver zebra midge

ROD USED: 7’ 9” 2-wt Winston WT

HATCHES: Midges, Crane flies

OTHER: I fished with Ed, Bill, and John. We walked in at Mill Dam Eddy to what we thought was falling water. Bill and John remained downstream while Ed and I waded upstream. We crossed from the island to the left descending side of the river, and fished our way upstream towards the riffle, but I only took one fish on the scud/zebra midge combination.  The water did not recede as projected, but remained at what appeared to be around 1/4 unit.  I waded upstream to the left descending side of the plunge pool and noted rising water.  Ed and I waded to the bank, and realized that water was rising too fast for our return to our walk-in—WE WERE STRANDED.  SWPA had projected 0 generation after 6:00 AM, but instead ramped up to 2 generators at 8 AM, with a swift rise in water levels.  Why they could not or did not project this is beyond me.  This is the only region of the country in which we have NO RELIABLE GENERATION PROJECTIONS.  Please write your US Senators and Congressmen and complain about this; we don’t have to tolerate this kind of arrogance.  If this happens with minimum flow, it will only be a matter of time until someone is seriously injured or dies from unexpected high water conditions.

Meanwhile, Ed and I waited on the bank for any passing boat, but none were seen.  We walked through the woods to the road near McClellan’s entrance, knowing that Kay would pick us up if she was aware of our situation; sure enough, she came to our rescue.

I am so incensed at SWPA; I sure hope someone gets the political entities involved, with the threat of cutting Federal funding unless they provide accurate, reliable projections similar to that provided by Tennessee Valley Authority, Bonneville Power Administration, and other quasi-governmental power agencies in the rest of the US!

TIME: 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 60s to mid-70s, sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Riffle above Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: #14 olive Norfork River scud, #20 red/silver zebra midge, #14 Norfork River crane fly

ROD USED: 7’ 9” 2-wt Winston WT

HATCHES: Caddis, Midges, Crane flies

OTHER: I fished with Ed, Bill, and John.  We walked in at Mill Dam Eddy to falling water.  Bill and John remained downstream while Ed and I waded upstream.  Fishing was slow on the scud/zebra midge combination.  Shortly after 9:00 AM, crane flies began surfacing and fish were rising to them. Ed moved to the center of the riffle, between two streams of river, and immediately began catching fish on top; most of the fish were 14-15 inches and pretty hot.  He continued to catch fish on the crane fly imitation for the next 3 1/2 hours.  I fished the right descending side of the riffle and caught quite a few fish. I waded upstream to the plunge pool and again caught fish, about half of which were caught stripping the crane fly imitation. I switched back to the scud/zebra midge combination, moved to the left descending side, and caught several fish in the small riffle.  wading downstream to the tail out above the island, the fish continued taking the zebra midge, with far more misses than catches.  Bill worked his way upstream and caught lots of fish below, along side of, and above the island while John caught a bunch of fish below the island. 

TIME:  8:30 AM to 1:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 60s to mid-70s, sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Riffle above Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: #14 olive Norfork River scud, #20 red/silver zebra midge, #14 Norfork River crane fly, #22 olive/black midge

ROD USED: N/A

HATCHES: Midges, Crane flies

OTHER: I accompanied Ron and Matt, son and son-in-law respectively.  Ron began catching fish immediately in the tail out of the riffle just above the island; most fish were caught on the red/silver zebra midge.  About 9:30 AM, crane flies began hatching and fish began rising to the hatching insects.  I tied on a Norfork River crane fly, and the “boys” caught an occasional fish.  Matt moved to the center of the riffle, between two streams of river, and immediately began catching fish on top.  Ron waded upstream and likewise began catching fish on top.  This continued until about 12:00 PM, and the fish stopped taking the crane fly fly.  I tied on a #22 olive/black midge trailer below Matt’s crane fly, and he caught an occasional fish on the trailer.  At about 12:30 PM, neither the crane fly nor the trailer would catch fish.  Ron and Matt switched back to the scud/zebra midge combination and again caught fish, but sporadically.  At 1:00 PM, we called it a day after lots of fish being caught by both.

We awoke early, ready to return to the USA and home. We repacked our bags for the flight home, and twiddled our thumbs for a couple of hours until near time to leave.  Our bags were hauled to the rental car, and apparently John and Sandy were in the same frame of mind as they, too, were ready to go.

Unsure of the time to return the rental car, check in, and go through US Customs, we made the 35-minute drive to the airport without a hitch, arriving about 10 AM.  I dropped Kay, Sandy, John, and the luggage off at the US terminal, and drove to the rental car return.  So far, so good. The US has a Customs operation in the Halifax airport, and once you’ve made it through there, you are treated as a domestic passenger for the remainder of your trip; this proved to be very convenient.  We checked our bags at the Delta counter, made it through Canada customs, and through US Customs.  The only problem we had was with some apples we tried taking through.  Without a sticker of origin, they got trashed, but at least the agent was friendly; he almost talked our ear off.

We finally boarded the really small aircraft, making it to New York on time.  From there, we caught a flight to Atlanta, and barely had time to make the flight from Atlanta to Little Rock.  The planes on all three legs of the trip were full to capacity.

Arriving in Little Rock just before 8 PM, we grabbed our baggage, caught the shuttle to the Holiday Inn, loaded the old Explorer, and drove home, getting here about 11 PM. 

This was a great trip, and traveling with John and Sandy was a joy.  We have many things in common, yet enjoy enough differences to make things interesting. 

The Maritimes were populated with wonderful, friendly people.  The countryside is neat and clean, and there is little “junk” on the property.  Most of the area, about 75 percent, is forested.  There is far more agricultural land and farms than we would have ever dreamed.  And there are lots of old, old churches, almost all of them painted white, with tall bell towers.  Residents should be proud of their respective provinces.

For Kay and me, we’re glad we did this trip, but it will likely be our one and only trip to the Maritime Provinces—too many things to do and see, but too little time. 

Another life list item to check off. 

Today marks our last full day in the Maritime Provinces.

After a restful night’s sleep, we awoke, had coffee, and finished packing for our departure.  Sebelle and Susan, owners of the Atlantic Sojourn B&B, had a late evening, so we all delayed breakfast until 8:30 AM.  However, all the guests met in the common area near the dining table and visited, getting to know one another better, and we asked them lots of questions about Canada, their customs, their healthcare system, food, etc.  They were quite patient with us.We all enjoyed another hearty breakfast, and we excused ourselves for a 9:30 AM departure.

The drive to Halifax was just over an hour; we bypassed Peggy’s Cove at the suggestion of Sebelle.  We all checked into the Westin near the harbor. We all walked the harbor front and purchased tickets on the Grayline’s Ambassatour of Halifax.  The downtown area is vibrant, with lots of young adults everywhere.  We also saw families enjoying the city, especially along the water front.  Three things aroused my interest in Halifax:  their public garden, the explosion of 1917, and their role in the Titanic disaster recovery.

My favorite part of the Ambassatour was walking through the Halifax Public Garden, one of only two Victorian gardens in Canada.  It was well kept, and the flowers and plants were awesome.  Some of the blooms were huge, and I could have been there all day taking photos.  We were amazed at the number of people, including many families, enjoying the gardens.

I was also surprised to learn of the 1917 explosion in the Halifax harbor. This explosion occurred in December 1917 when the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship fully loaded with wartime explosives, collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in “The Narrows” part of Halifax Harbor.  About 2,000 people were killed by either debris, fire, or collapsed buildings, and over 9,000 were injured.  Every building within a 16-mile radius, over 12,000 in all, was destroyed or badly damaged, essentially leveling a major portion of the riverfront area.

Halifax played a major role in the Titanic disaster recovery. White Star Line built, owned, and operated the Titanic on its maiden voyage. When news broke regarding the “unsinkable” Titanic hitting an iceberg, White Star officials in New York at first believed that the damaged Titanic would sail to Halifax, the closest major port and trains with relatives and immigration officials departed from New York to Halifax. Hours after the Titanic sank, however, White Star Line commissioned their cable ships based in Halifax to recover the bodies of victims. Of the 209 bodies brought to Halifax, 150 were laid to rest at three local cemeteries.  It was apparent that many in Halifax still hold the White Star Line and its wealthy owners in disdain for their handling of the whole recovery effort and callous treatment of victims.  The “rest of the story” is pretty interesting, indeed!

After the tour, Kay and I split off from John and Sandy to walk the downtown area.  We were hungry for regular food, so had a sandwich at Subway, and it was real good.  We spent the rest of the evening in our room, ready for our trip back to the US and home.

After a restful night’s sleep in a great B&B, I enjoyed coffee made from dark roasted beans brewed in their Keurig coffee maker—almost as good as being at home.

The Atlantic Sojourn is so comfortable and complete, that one cannot help but relax and enjoy reading, listening to music, or other similar activities. I took advantage of the peace and quiet in one of their comfortable common areas, catching up on local news and emails on the IPad before other inn guests awoke and began to stir. After conversation with other guests over coffee, we all sat down for breakfast.  I had orange juice, oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar, poached eggs, maple and smoke flavored bacon, and English muffin.  This breakfast was complete, and almost as good as the Innisfree B&B in Hopewell, New Brunswick.

With nothing really planned for the day, we all walked to the harbor front, where John and Sandy split off to do a house tour.

Kay and I continued to the harbor, taking pictures along the way, and then Kay split off to shop while I walked the remainder of the historical district, amazed at all the colorful houses and shops. I returned to the B&B and worked on the blog, almost bringing it up to date, immensely enjoying free time. Kay joined me, and after a couple of hours, we walked back to the harbor front and spent an hour or so in their local museum. John and Sandy came by just as we finished the museum, and Kay and I returned to the B&B. We all looked forward to dinner at Olde Black Forest Restaurant, a Local German eatery. While it was good, I think we were all a little disappointed as it wasn’t quite what we expected.

The rest of the evening was spent packing for our return to Halifax and the last whole day in Nova Scotia.

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After a good night’s sleep, we met for breakfast, which was adequate, with a much more attentive and friendly Garrison House Inn staff member. We walked across the street to the Fort Anne National Historic Site, only to find that they closed on Friday and Saturday. Apparently, Parks Canada is facing severe budget cuts, and opted to close this site on what they maintained were the least visited days of the week. Even local merchants and inn keepers were unaware of this.  Nevertheless, we walked the one half kilometer trail around the grounds of this star-shaped fort. Fort Anne was built to protect the harbor of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The fort repelled all French attacks during the early stages of King George’s War. It is now operated, except for Friday and Saturday, as Fort Anne National Historic Site, within the national park system and managed by Parks Canada. The 1797 officer’s quarters was renovated in the 1930s and now house the museum with exhibits about the fort’s history and historic artifacts from the area. Regrettably, we were unable to experience much of this site.

From Fort Anne we drove the short distance to Port Royal-The Habitation only to find it too closed on Friday and Saturday. The Habitation was established by France in 1605 and was that nation’s first successful settlement in North America. Port-Royal served as the capital of Acadia until its destruction by British military forces in 1613. France relocated the settlement and capital 5 miles upstream and to the south bank of the Annapolis River; the site of the present-day town of Annapolis Royal.  The relocated settlement kept the same name "Port-Royal" and served as the capital of Acadia for the majority of the 18th century until the British conquest of the colony in 1710, at which time the relocated settlement was renamed Annapolis Royal. The replica village resulted from significant lobbying by both part time and permanent residents. In the early 1900s, chiefly under the leadership of Harriet Taber Richardson, native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and summer resident of the nearby town of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotian preservationists and historians began lobbying the Government of Canada to build a replica of the Habitation which stood from 1605 until its destruction in 1613. The government agreed, after much persuasion, to have the replica built on the original site. Construction took place from 1939-1941 and was based on a duplicate set of plans for the original Habitation that had been recently discovered in France. This reconstruction was the first National Historic Site in Canada to have a replica structure built. On May 25, 1925, the Government of Canada’s Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada recognized the original Habitation at Port-Royal in the community of Port Royal, Nova Scotia for its heritage significance and granted the designation of the Port-Royal National Historic Site of Canada. In the 1930s the site of the original Habitation was located in the community and the results of archeological excavations fed public interest in the period of the original French settlement. This interest had been increasing since the publication of Quietly My Captain Waits, an historical novel by Evelyn Eaton set in Port-Royal in the early 17th century.

Disappointed by the closure of these two significant historical sites, we agreed to tempt fate and asked Kay to negotiate an early departure from the Garrison Inn, thinking it wouldn’t happen. She was successful (though I wasn’t surprised), but that left us without accommodations for the evening. We quickly packed and checked out, grateful that the otherwise "unfriendly" inn granted our request.

Before we departed Annapolis Royal, we toured the Annapolis Royal Historical Gardens which proved to be an awesome experience, far better than expected, and the highlight of our time in Annapolis Royal. They employ 10 gardeners to oversee the various vegetables and plants. We spent a couple of hours there and could have spent all day. The photo was taken in their expansive rose garden.

Leaving Annapolis Royal, we drove south to Digby to again sample their fine dining. Kay and Sandy had scallop "sandwiches", John had sausages, and I had fish cakes. The food was scrumptious. The restaurant is one of our two favorites in the Maritimes.

Our drive to the eastern shore was through a heavily forested lake region, reminding us of the lake region of the north woods in Minnesota. Both John and I were much interested in the smallmouth bass and brook trout fishing, but that will have to wait for the next trip. Near Lunenburg, Kay called the Atlantic Sojourn B&B where we had reservations for tomorrow evening, and they had two vacancies for this evening. We arrived shortly after Kay’s call, and were greeted by Sebelle, one of the two owners. We felt instantly at home as Sebelle is from Natchez. She and Susan have a super B&B, have left nothing to chance, thinking of everything.

We had dinner at a highly recommended pub, and though noisy, the food was great. After dinner, we spent some time relaxing in the lavishly appointed common areas, and then retired to our bedrooms for the evening.

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Our B&B, Innisfree B&B in Hopewell, New Brunswick, has set the bar rather high for both accommodations and breakfast. The owners and operators, a relatively young couple from Montreal, have done an outstanding job of providing clean, spacious, and more than adequate accommodations; the landscaping is relaxing, simple, and natural with a wonderful walking path beginning with a collection of lobster trap buoys.

And the breakfast was to die for! The multi-course breakfast consisted of juice and a simple, but tasty homemade blueberry scone, accompanied by butter and several jams; an oversized martini glass filled with fresh fruit, all locally grown, including sweet wild blueberries, topped with yogurt and homemade granola; and lastly, huge Belgian waffles with locally made maple syrup. Allen, who with his wife, own the place, was alone during our stay while his wife was on holiday, but successfully managed to see to our every need, including preparing this sumptuous breakfast.

Driving a large, almost circuitous route, we returned to Nova Scotia, traveling through largely uninhabited country. At Truro, we turned south, and were awed by the sparse, but neat farms on Nova Scotia’s upper west coast. In the largely pastoral countryside, we saw beautiful villages with their white churches and colorful houses. Further down the coast, on the Evangeline Trail, we toured the Grand-Pré National Historical Site. Grand-Pré National Historic Site of Canada commemorates Grand-Pré area as a center of Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755 and the deportation of the Acadians, which began in 1755 and continued until 1762. Grand-Pré was the basis of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Evangeline. Though not positive, we believe my mother’s paternal side of the family, the Malotts (Maillet), included members expelled from this area to Maryland in the 1755 to 1762 period, then to Indiana, and finally to Arkansas.

After the day’s long drive, we arrived in historic Annapolis Royal for our overnight accommodations at the Garrison Inn. After a long wait, we were "acknowledged" by a young, inattentive innkeeper, who did little to make us feel welcome. Our room was quite small, and unadorned. After checking in we drove south to Digby, the scallop capital of the world, where we had an outstanding dinner of grilled scallops, baked potato, and fresh vegetables. And their lemon meringue pie was almost as good as my mom used to make. This was a great way to end the day!

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