After our 16-hour ferry crossing, which was fairly smooth considering there was a storm moving in, we checked into Arm of Gold Campground. This is the campground where we had our new Starlink mailed to. So now we have our own internet, and we had a proper full-service site! We stayed here to do all the chores, restock, and refill all the tanks to get ready for the next portion of our adventure, exploring Nova Scotia! While we were here, we tried to take a day trip to visit the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site. It was a beautiful drive but as we got closer, it was all foggy. We passed on paying to go inside, walked around a little then headed back to the campground. Once out of that area it was a beautiful sunny day, go figure!
Our next stop was at a little town called Merigomish, at a commercial RV park. We spent 2 days here. Nice area, but the mosquitoes & biting black flies were vicious in the campground. We took a day trip from here. We drove to Masstown where we heard they have a great farmers market. Reminded me of being in Amish country. Bought some goodies, had lunch, our meal had one piece of Haddock, clam strips, fries, potato salad, & coleslaw. We decided to split it when I saw the size of the fish! We then went over to the butcher and creamery.
On our way back we saw a sign for a lobster interpretative center, so we checked it out and saw a live rare Blue Lobster. It was interesting & they were selling live lobsters for $14 (Canadian) a pound. The local Sobeys grocery store has them for $13 a pound & they'll cook them for you. We then went over to the lighthouse. On the way back to the campground we stopped at a memorial for the battle of Colladen. Apparently, a lot of Highland Scottish families fled to this part of Canada to avoid the English battle. We visited Colladen last year when we were in Inverness Scotland.
Continuing our tour of Nova Scotia, we headed southwest to the town of Chester where we stayed at Graves Island Provincial Park, for a couple of nights. While there we saw this unique looking teardrop trailer.
The Islands Provincial Park Shelburne NS, was our next stop. From here we took a day trip to the most southwestern coast as our next stop wouldn't be taking us that way. We visited Barrington, Lobster Capitol of Canada. Not for lobster, (we bought one at the store & had it cooked for us last night), but to visit the Woolen Mill Museum. Lots of old machinery. The mill closed in the 60s. It's amazing that all this equipment was ran by a waterwheel & pullies. We drove by their waterfront where they had several painted lobsters through town. We continued on to Yarmouth, where we saw the Forteau Lighthouse, the Bouy Wall, and a delicious lunch at The Dinner Plate. Clams & Scallops for me. Larry had the Poutine Deluxe (Fries covered in gravy with cheese, sautéed onions, & a grilled hamburger patty.) Generous portions which was about $24 USD for both.
The weather was cool this morning but warmed up to the low 70s with no rain! We hit up a large Farmer's Market in Lunenburg NS. There was a lady making dish towels. I want to learn to make these, someday. (Weaving Loom)They had a variety of items for sale. Arts, Crafts, Meats, Cheeses, & beautiful produce. We walked away with some yummy Rum Cake. On another day we went into the town of Shelburne for their Farmer's Market. We bought a couple of yummy bakery items for our lunch; Larry had a big cookie 🍪 & I had a little butter tart. Being Sunday, all the museums were closed but it was a nice drive through town. Inside the campground, there was this cool looking tree growing out of a boulder. Mother Nature at her finest!
The next day we moved north to Blomidon Provincial Park for the next 4 days. We greatly enjoyed this area having awesome weather sure helps too. This area of Nova Scotia is certainly different than all the other areas we've been in. Lots of agriculture, with lots of farm stands. Apples are almost ready to be harvested. We visited a couple of wineries, vegetable stands, and loving the surrounding area.
In order to cross into Prince Edward Island from Nova Scotia, you have to go a short way into New Brunswick. Along that route, we came across this Distillery. A fun different tasting than wine. A Potato Vodka Distillery, Blue Roof Distillery. They had Potato Vodka and Gin and an Espresso Martini liqueur. Connie liked the gin the best but didn't buy a bottle. She did buy a 4 pack of Cranberry/Lime Vodka Seltzer.
We visited Jost Winery for lunch & came home with a bottle of Rose & Pinot Grigio.
Yesterday we moved to the PEI NP for one night. Our original plan was to go to the Berkley Beach Drive-In to watch a couple of movies and RVs are allowed to stay the night, but none of the movies interested us at all. We're so glad that didn't happen because we love the NP. We couldn't check onto our site yet so Connie packed a lunch & we took a bike ride. Connie thought it would be nice to bring along a bottle of wine. All the bottles of wine we've bought have had screw off tops, except this one! 🙄 So it sat there staring at us.
Lone oak Brewpub was for lunch. PEI mussels for Connie, hot wings for Larry and a split beer flight. We would really like to visit this province again!
The Confederate Bridge, that connects New Brunswick & P.E.I., is 8 miles long. Connie's not a big fan of big bridges over water but she didn't freak out like she would have if we were in the Phaeton.
When we left PEI we headed into New Brunswick to the Bay of Fundy National Park. We stayed long enough to drive into St John for laundry and to visit Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park. This park is famous for their super tides. The tide was coming in but at it's lowest point, you can walk under the arch, but what a muddy mess. At high tide, you can only see the top of the rocks. The tide is 40 feet high.
Today we leave Fundy National Park and start our trek back to Prescott via Winkler Manitoba. Winkler is where our LTV motorhome is built. We have a shower leak so they'll fix it under warranty. We have an appointment on the 12th, then an appointment on the 19th for a factory tour. We've really enjoyed our summer in the Canadian Maritimes.
We had an overnight stop in Quebec, another one where we thought was going to be in Ottawa Ontario, but ended up being back in Quebec. We pushed ourselves to a long driving day to get to Sault Ste Marie, U.S.A. Larry stopped at a casino campground there in June, where they advertised having a hot tub. Unfortunately it wasn't working. So we were really looking forward to a nice soak when we arrived. Guess what? Still wasn't fixed!!
September 12, 2024 Winkler Mantiboa CanadaThankfully our shower is now fixed. It was under warranty so the factory in Winkler Manitoba replaced it.
We're making a day trip to Moosomim Saskatchewan to finish off visiting all the Canadian Provinces, (except for Nunavut).
Tomorrow we're headed south to home. Except for a couple of days, Connie hadn't been home for 6 months!
We stopped in Dickinson North Dakota to have brunch with Connie's brother George, who lives in Glendive Montana, not too far from Dickinson. From there we drove the Enchanted Highway to see the highway art along that stretch.
Rush No More Campground South Dakota
A little bit out of the way & a splurge, but Larry is one happy boy with a hot tub site!
Wyoming was super windy. Unfortunately, our windshield got hit with a rock and cracked it. Thankfully it doesn't hinder our view. We decided we'll replace it after our Mexico trip. We found a nice boondocking site in Utah.
We're home, we're home!! June 13th-Sept 20th, 13,000 miles, 6 Canadian Provinces, and 11 States.
It was a long day's drive from Utah today. Had a sweet "Welcome Home" from our neighbor Patty, she brought over a charcuterie board (which is dinner along with some adult beverages).
Lots of clean up to do, but it will wait until tomorrow.