When is a Bell better seen than heard?

When it's the Alexander Grahm Bell Museum in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. The first truly excellent sight we checked out in Cape Breton, this interactive center displays the life and acheivements of one of histories greatest inventers.

I was already of his involvement in inventing the phone, working with the deaf, and improving the gramaphone (an early recorder). What I was unaware of was most of the rest of the man, his involvement in aviation and boating, and his remarkable relationship with his wife, Mabel.

His fame and fortune really worked to help the disabled and modernize concepts in flight and high speed boating. I am always amazed at what you find out by actually going to the history instead of just reading about past events and people.

Meeting the Capers

After a quick overnight stop near Glenholme, NB, we have arrived at the Cape Breton/North Sydney KOA where Ted and Jan have been work camping through the summer. At this point I am still suffering from my foot affliction and have made the decision to seek medical attention during this stay. I will just say that the experience was a good one with the local hospital fixing taking care of me.
I must, at this time, explain what a caper is; the local population on Cape Breton refer to themselves as Capers. I don't know if they recognise honorary capers, but Ted and Jan have been here long enough to know their way around and steer us to the good places. We were glad to see our travel companions from the our past trip to Alaska. Our intent is to stay here till they are rady to leave and then we will caravan back to the States.


The campsite is located at the western foot of the Seal Island Bridge and we were afforded a superior view of Bras D'or Lake and the bridge itself. We had full hook-ups and the sites were roomy if not very level, although if we had stayed on a higher level, the sites do look to be a bit more level. We were unale to pick up our satelite and had to do without TV or internet, hence the back log of entries.

While here we saw some beautiful sights and I will address these separately as they deserve individual entries. We stayed at the park for 11 days from 24 Aug to 4 Sep.

Of course while we were here we tried out the local cuisine and enjoyed ourselves immensely. However, there were some places that we had to ask "What's in a name." I guess they thought they had a hit on a good one. We didn't try this place, but we did hit up their partner sit "Lick a Treat."

This proved to be a pretty good choice as it involved licking chicken instead of the alternative.

And of course being this close to the water, I couldn't resist pulling out the kayak. Due to the foot problem at the beginning of the stay, I couldn't go for a paddle till the end, but it proved to be a good day for a cruise with Ted. As always I had t include the customary foot shot, but with Ted along, I am able to impress you with a full boat shot of me. Please try to contain yourself as my fan club is on break and I don't have anyone to help with all the emails.

While we did try out many of the local eateries, sometimes there's nothing better than that which you get yourself. At the end of the paddle Ted and I wend around to the base of the bridge where we gathered mussels from the beach head. Below Ted shows off some of the bounty to be had in the area. They were deliscious steamed with butter and garlic.

A Seaside Campover

Our first campground in Canada (this trip) is the Seaside Tent & Trailer park in St. Matin, NB. A small CG, we were able to park within a short walk of the beach and this beach happens to be part of the undy tidal system. Reportedly, the Fundy tidal system hsa one of the greatest tidal deviations in the world, roughly 28 ft. We were able to watch drastic tidal changes exposing caves and stranding local fishing boats daily (of course they're used to it).
While here we once again took advantage of some good seafood and a number of beautiful sites including a trip along he Fundy Trail Provincial Park. Dramatic scenery marks the area as a must see if your in the area.
As well as the Fundy Trail was just some excellent local scenery and our first opportunity to see some of this remarkable Canadian coastline and meet some really great people.
Unfortunately, a medical problem would flair up that would begin to put a damper enjoying the area-gout. Complicating the situation is that I miscalculated my medication and this would cause a problem later.

Never the less, we enjoyed this small fishing village greatly. The timing of our visit at the end of summer has resulted in few crowds and the occassional good deals, you do have to put up with cooler temps. A good time to visit, we were here from 20-23 August.

Into Canada

OK, I'm in the catch up mode once again. We encontered a number of areas that we could not get our satellite to lock. Right now we are in the Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) and I will be doing quite a bit of updating.

We go back to the end of August when we left Houlton, Me, and proceeded down to St. Stephens border crossing into Canada. Going over was pretty easy only taking a half hour, but the returning side looked pretty formidable. The line was backed up about a mile and a half from the border into the city of St. Stephens.

As soon as we crossed we went to the New Brunswick Visitor Center to get our bearings and get the lowdown on any special sites or activities.

While at the center I spied this curious contraption in the parking lot. As we were leaving I couldn't resist a couple pics of this very unusual bike - The Big Bike. A 30 person powered bike.

Leaving the center we are heading to St. Martin for a couple of nights, however, on the wasy we would develop a serious problem caused by a tank of bad gas in the rig. We would have to stop in at East Coast International in Caledonia, NB, have the tank drained and a new fuel filter installed. Costly. The International folks were professional and I feel lucky to have come across them, I would like to send the bill to the Webb Mobil station in Randolph, ME. The techs were pretty amazed at what they pulled out of the tank. Whatever it was, it wasn't diesel any longer.

Cruising New England

Sorry it has been so long since the last post, but many of the campgrounds along the way are encased in trees allowing no satellite signal to get in or out. After leaving Pennsylvania, we clipped the northwest corner of New York State while on I-84. The run through this state was short lived, but what we saw was beautiful. The highways were well maintained and subtle changes in the trees and terrain let you know that you are getting further north. The next state was Conneticutt, the scenery was nice, but a lot of work could be done to the roads, particularly those bridge seams. I thought I was going to loose my front end just going over many of the bridges, especially through Hartford. The one thing I noticed driving up north is that there is no shortage of toll roads.

While individual sections are inexpensive, they add up after a while. Bring plenty of change. After CT came MA ad NH, both went by pretty quick and before we new it we were in Maine.

Our goal for the first New England stop was Boothbay, ME. We pulled it out of a hat as we had no prior knowledge of where to go. Proved to be a great choice. A little seaside town that regardless of the effect of tourism has retained much of its local charm. This is where we would start our gorging on lobster. The prices of this fabulous "bug" are about 1/3 to 1/2 the cost back in the south. And they really no how to prepare them.

Our first foray is to a recommended downtown restaurant that has a bit of local fame, Kaler's. Here we would start off with a couple local favs, fried lobster (Christa had this) and Mary's Lobster Pie (my choice). Both proved to be deliscious, we would visit Kaler's again before leaving.

At the camp site we were staying at, Little Ponderosa Campground north of Boothbay, we were next to a large inlet so, I had to break out the kayak. A beautiful setting, but pretty tame, I had an enjoyable paddle for a couple of hours before heading back to the RV and our next round of lobster feasting. A word here about the campground we stayed at. Little Ponderosa was a rustic and popular little park, we could only get 30 amp power and a 2 night stay, but this was OK. We made the best of our stay and would stay here again though the park down the road looked a bit more condusive to our use of a satellite.

For lunch we returned to Kaler's for a couple of the famous Lobster Rolls the region is famed for making. True to form the rolls were packed with whole lobster chunks very tasty. Mom had an ordwer of fried clams that looked worth stealing a couple (they were).

After a day of touring the city and doing quite a bit of shopping we finished the day off -of course- with lobster. This time the real thing, whole steamed lobster. We looked around at several temping locations before settling on Brown's Wharf. A view of the harbor, great atmosphere, and friendly staff we were totally satisfied.

The order placed, all we can do is wait for our meal to arrive.

Finally, what we have been waiting for- the real deal. Maine lobster at it's best, a side of cole slaw and a little bread make a total meal.

After a bit of dessert in the form of a fresh blueberry crisp and a scoop of ice cream we found ourselves in a totally satisfied state. After the meal we stopped by the outside pens where the lobsters are kept. Here one of the cooks takes the time to show us one of the "Hard Shell" giants they regularly serve up.

The next day we had to continue on the road. I have to admit, I would have liked to spend more time here. A very enjoyable place to visit. But our fate is to the road.

At the time of this writing we are camped in Houlton, ME, just off I-95 about 4 miles short of the Canadian border. This is a small town and is mostly a transition type of town found on the border. Clean and well maintained the town served up a surprise for us this weekend. As it turns out this weekend they celebrated their 200th birthday. What a treat, we were witness to a great small town parade and fireworks that evening.

Also present were civil war reinactments with union troop encampments.

The whole town turned out to make this a special weekend for all and we were lucky enough to participate. The campground we're at, My Brother's Place, is a fantastic park. With full hook-ups and well kept grassy sites, this is truly one of the nicest parks we have come across. Definately a keeper. All in all, a great border town to stop in a nd stock up in just before moving on into Canada.

Tomorrow we are back on the road again heading into Brunswick. Stick around, the main destination is just ahead another 2 or 3 days.