"Oh Canada"

 

We headed north towards Bangor, Maine, hoping to cross the border within 5 hours and set up camp in a cute little village, called

St. Nicholas, just a few miles outside of Quebec.   

 

We didn't waste any time and although it was getting late, decided to drive into the heart of Old Quebec and get the lay of the land.

We knew we would be spending most of the following day romping around and it was only a 5 minute drive over the bridge.

 

As we approached downtown, everything seemed to turn into stone. This entire city is surrounded by the original stone fortress when the city was first built,  and most of the buildings that lie within its walls are just as old.

  

 

We also caught the most beautiful rainbow, 

that was gone with the blink of an eye.

 

We drove all the streets and got lost many times. 

The "Jeepster" made several passes past the same cannons,

 and we knew it was time to head home.

 We knew the next day, we would be walking these streets!!

 

We found it fascinating that the perimeter of the stone fortress was fortified with hundreds of cannons, still in their original positions.

They had rollers on the bottoms that allowed

the cannons to swivel in arc formation.

It was our first stop the following day, as I couldn't resist climbing on them and reading all the fascinating facts about these artillery.

Everywhere you looked, it seemed there were steeples, and tops of cathedrals, as far as the eye could see.

 

The thing that amazed me the  most were the hundreds of little side streets, all beckoning one to walk its stony path.

How does one choose which way to go?

 

 

 

 

I couldn't take my eyes off of the houses,

 the flowers,

the murals painted on the sides of buildings....

and I did what I always do....

I wall along and assume my hubby is right beside me... and I just start chatting away.....  "Oh, honey,.. look at that... isn't that beautiful... oooh... look over there,... isn't that pretty,... oooh look up there... wow,.. that is  beautiful "... and on and on... and then I look over and I  find  I have been talking to an Asian man.   I quickly apologize and say..."Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were  my husband...".... and at this point everyone is laughing at me... and the Asian man says....

"That's all right miss...I don't mind"....

I look around  hoping my husband is not too far away  and can save  me from this embarrassing moment... and sure enough Timmy pops out of nowhere and says to the Asian man...

"Do you want to carry her purse too?"

 

Of course everyone laughed and we all continued on our way,

 but I could hear the Asian man chuckling every time I made an exclamation about something, I would hesitate to look and make sure there was someone there to hear  it.... !!!  (hopefully that someone might be my husband)

 

And for the record....

 I  have never asked my husband to carry my purse...

he just does

but like anything and everything else,

I always tell him he is my hero :)

 AND

it takes a real man to carry a purse!!!

 

When we came upon this painted mural,

I was surprised I didn't fall over the railing.

I was so taken by the size and detail, I just couldn't get a good enough look so we walked down the hill and got up close and personal.

 

 All hand painted on sides of brick and stone buildings! 

 

Once we got to the bottom of the hill the mural came alive and everyone had fun pretending to be a part of the mural.

It truly was a spectacular piece of work.

 

 

 

After our "debut" with the mural we found a great Italian restaurant and recharged our batteries for round 2 of the city. 

 

Quebec is located on the St. Lawrence River and is bustling with everything from cargo ships, cruise ships, fishing vessels and shuttle boats.

There were so many hills throughout the city,

 they even had mini trams to take you up and down the hill.

 

We meandered the streets for a total of 6 hours and a cold beer and glass of wine always hit the spot.

 

 We enjoyed the rest of the evening strolling the streets and plopping down on any empty bench to listen to the street musicians.

It was another great day!

 

 

*****

 

 Officially Heading Back West

 

We left Quebec, with Montreal in mind, and just in the nick of time.

 A wicked storm blew in and although we drove in some heavy rain, we actually drove around the high winds.  According to the news that night a tornado had touched down somewhere in the vicinity, and I had visions of the "Jetson Mobile" being sucked up in a tunnel. 

 

We found a quaint little place outside of Montreal and  when driving in to the park, it made one feel like you were in the heart of the  Swiss Alps.

 

 

We had trouble with our WiFi again, and after an hour of trying to log in, we were unsuccessful. At that point,  Timmy made a trip to the front office and made himself quite known. 

 

Before we even left on this journey, we had registered with AAA and had all of their travel books for all of the United States and Canada. 

Any campsite I booked showed they had WiFi, this was imperative!

We had no Wifi in Quebec, and to find out we had no WiFi in Montreal was bothersome to say the least.

We left early in the morning, but not before I checked out the

"produce store" right at the campsite....

and bought some fresh corn on the cob, green beans and tomatoes.

 

*****

We headed west with North Bay, Canada as our destination. 

Again, I will  resort to my AAA travel book as the campsite we booked stated that it not only had WiFi but was on a Marina.

I have such an attraction and need to be close to water, so when I make reservations, I try to make certain that water will be close by.  This includes considering words like,... Lakeshore drive,... Seashore Rd,..

 Ottawa River Drive,... etc....

and this particular address said

NorthBay Camp and Marina.

Sounds Perfect, and right off Lake Huron. 

We pull into the campsite and see

that not only is the campsite not on

 Lake Huron but we can't seem to find the Marina.

Please don't tell me this is the Marina...

...to what.....

where is Lake Huron?

 

Where are all the boats?

All the while I am thinking ,... I couldn't even launch

 my double size pink air mattress off this thing...

 

While I am distressing over the "Marina"... Big Tim is in the office

MAKING SURE THEY  HAVE WIFI

and

THEY DON'T.

 

Oh Boy,

We immediately called another campsite and the young man said they did in fact have WiFi.  We headed across town to the campsite and as we were checking in, I nonchalantly said..."I am so glad you have WiFi, as we have been traveling across Canada staying in campsites that advertise that they have WiFi, and we are so behind on our work."

There was a long pause and the Middle Eastern Lady says...

"Oh, we are so sorry, we do not have WiFi".....

 

 DEAFENING SILENCE

 

For the first time in  my 25 years of  marriage....

 my husband was speechless.....

he stomped over to the front door, and just stood with his hands on his hips looking out the door....

 

It wasn't more than a few minutes later, while we were trying to figure out if we were going to try another campsite...

and a cute little old man in his pajamas walks into the lobby and walks right up to Timmy and hands him a stick and says...

"Here, try this.. you should have Internet access with this."

I was actually touched that the management went to such extremes to accommodate us, or they were just scared to death.

The stick didn't work but instead of getting more upset, we just went to bed, as it was late and we knew we wanted to leave early to get back to some kind of civilization.

 

***

 

We were especially anxious to head out the following morning to Thunder Bay, Canada where we just knew they would have to have WiFi

and it was on Lake Superior!

Afterall, it is a town of over 100,000 people.

 

About an hour out of Thunder Bay and we hear sirens from all directions.

The highway shut down as 2 Cyclists traveling with a group across Canada were struck by a semi truck and killed.

Six hours later the road opened up and we were finally

on our way to Thunder Bay.

 It was midnight when we pulled into our campsite in Thunder Bay.

We were both so tired and somehow we got lost trying to locate our campsite and ended up on a very dark, bumpy gravel road.

I gasped at the size of the ravines we almost landed in, and the road seemed to be getting bumpier and narrower.  

We are getting deeper and deeper into the woods, with no where to turn around, especially with all these ravines and I'm thinking, we are going to have to unhook the jeep again to make any kind of turn around. 

 

I was having a "Dejavu" about the "swamp-quicksand" incident in Georgetown, Maine, but was woken up from my trance

when Timmy yells...

"Get out and make sure when I swing wide to make a U-turn,

  I don't hit that parked truck"...

"What?!"

I get out of the motorhome, it is after midnight, I have no idea where I am and the "Jetson Mobile" is about 3 feet from hitting the front end of a parked truck that looks more like a heap of junk that has been sitting there for a very long time.

Where did that come from?

"Where are we?"

 

The kind people at all the recent  campsites have reminded us to be careful

as the  "bears do come out" at night...

and as I exited the motorhome to prepare for Timmy's " miracle" turn

 all I could think of was....

"Why didn't I buy that bear repellent?"

(yes, they really do sell that stuff)

 

I am standing in the dark, with the "Jetson Mobile" about 2 feet in front of me and I signal for Timmy to make the turn...

when all of a sudden I hear this obnoxious sound....

the automatic steps to the motorhome have needed repair for quite some time...but it seems tonight was the night that the steps went rogue.

 

You see,  ... whenever the door is opened to the motorhome...the automatic steps should fold out. But not with the Jetson Mobile... they had a mind of their own, and the best way to describe the sound of our steps is that of a donkey when he "Hee-Haws".

All I could hear was

"Hee-Haw"    "Hee-Haw"

over and over again.

Seems the Jetson Mobile traversed too many ravines on the narrow road we were traveling while getting lost at midnight, and some screws or hinges got loose, and the steps were going in and out uncontrollably...

it was unnerving ...to say the least...

not to mention the sound....

"Hee-Haw"  "Hee-Haw"  Hee-Haw".

Timmy begins his turn and just misses the jalopy by inches...

all the while,

 I am watching the motorhome,

watching the "donkey" steps perform and

watching my back for bears,... thinking ...

"Please God, I will  never steal flowers again".

 

We made the turn and finally landed in our campsite after 1 a.m. and realized that we did not have Wifi at this camp either!!

 

We didn't care.

 

We were just happy we didn't get stuck in any ravines in the back woods with bears chasing us to the sound of a donkey.

 

 

*****

Our ride to Sault St. Marie, Canada was a lovely ride and we had heard so much about the famous "Mackinac Bridge" from Sault St Marie Canada to Sault St Marie, Michigan.

This bridge was beautiful and considered quite a wonder of engineering.

 

 

The water felt like bath water, it was so warm!!!

 

We enjoyed a great "Walleye" dinner on the harbor

 and headed home, knowing

that the following day,... we were really "heading home".

 

***

As we were approaching the border to enter back into

 the United State at the Minnesota state line....

I was thankful we were able to see so many wonderful things in Canada.

 

They sing

 

 "Oh Canada...."

 

but there is no sweeter sound than...

 

"Oh Say Can You See....."

 

and as we approached the border the sign read

 

Bridge to USA

 

but as far as I was concerned....

it could have read

 

Bridge to Terabithia

 

 

 

 

 

The "Maine" Event

 

 

Our last night in the "Glosta" area was full of family fun.

We had spent some time with my cousin Linda Ostlund Lipton and her husband Fred and their oldest daughter Callie a few weeks earlier in Salem and had the most incredible time.

It just so happened that their youngest daughter Kate was set to arrive in Boston and we made plans to rendezvous 

in the "North End" of Boston for dinner.

The North End of Boston is in a league of it's own. It is blocks and blocks of nothing but true authentic Italian restaurants all competing for you to walk through their doors.

There was a Saint Joseph Festival going on, and the sound of laughter and the smell of fresh homemade pasta filled the streets with every corner.

 

We felt fortunate to have been able to hear Callie and the "Dejas" play, not once but twice, which was a real treat. She is a very talented musician and the "Deja's" are certainly worth putting on your radar.

Kate, their youngest is quite the character and competitive at that. But then, she should be,... she went on to play Field Hockey for college, and is now the Assistant Athletic Director for the Women's Field Hockey Team

at Indiana State. 

These girls are incredible!!

 

After dinner, Timmy and I were schooled that one can not leave Boston's "North End" without visiting "Mikes Pastry", which is the most famous pastry  shop in Boston. I didn't question this fact, as we practically had to wrangle our way through the front door, there was such a mob!

(I am thinking to myself, wow these people are serious

 about their cannoli's!)

We found a great little coffee shop to stop and enjoy our treats, and Kate decides we should prove that Mikes pastry is in fact the best, so

we watched as Kate ran across the street to the competitors,

 and bought the same cannoli's.

So Fred and I set up the 2 cannoli's, side by side with our backs turned to the girls, and Timmy and Linda supervised.

It was time for the Cannoli Blind Test Challenge.

Callie and Kate both tried a little of each cannoli and

both picked the competitors as the best!!

We just laughed and gulped our way through our assortment of cannolis and then it was time to say our goodbyes.

We had such a wonderful time with my cuz Linda, and we promised we would keep in touch and try this again next summer for round 2 of  the "Jetson Mobile"

 

 

Of course we have to be silly... that is what "Ostlund" girls do !

 

*****

We were destined for Georgetown Island, Maine and as we left Cape Ann, I was sad to leave such a great  camp, but Timmy quickly reminded me, as he always does , that the next camp will be just as nice.

 

It was a gloomy  day at that, and  it started to drizzle.  For the most part our travel weather has been close to perfect.  We have had a few rain showers during the night, but I like the sound of the rain as it patters against

the roof of our little  home. 

I did have a heart to heart with my hubby one morning, as one night he forgot to shut the skylight/fan window in our cozy little bathroom.  As the rain fell one night, it  also fell right into our bathroom,

and in the middle of the night I did an acrobatic act that could have won me at least a silver in the Olympics.

As my right foot entered the bathroom, my foot hit the water and went out from under  me, and I almost fell  right into the toilet.  (of course this is all in the dark, as I didn't want to wake my husband by turning any lights on)

I hit the floor and I found myself lodged (stuck) between the toilet and the wall, (which I swear is only about 6 inches at best)

I tried to get up and felt a wave of panic come over me, and wanted to yell for help, but was afraid that  might upset the neighbors and

might disturb Timmy's slumber.

I figured out that if I slowly bent my right knee,

 I could back out of the bathroom on my knees.

(again, this is all in the dark, and I am  thinking, ...

 what would Houdini do?)

All I can say is...

those yoga classes sure did pay off!!

 

***

As we were approaching Georgetown Island, we realized it was not showing up on our GPS.  Apparently we were really in the boonies with this campground, and all the while I am thinking...."Where I am going to get my ice cream cone,... and what about shopping?" 

We finally found the camp after getting lost and were told that we had arrived a day early and that there were no sites available

 until the following day.

 (not true, as I checked our itinerary , but oh well,

what are you going to do?)

The "lady" proceeded to tell us since we had no hook up until the following day, we could park sideways on the grass down at the waters edge, to catch the oceans breeze.  (especially since it was 92 degrees and we weren't allowed to run our generators for air conditioning) 

It had rained heavily and the "lady" forgot to mention we were parking in a swamp at the waters edge, and poor Timmy drove right in and before you know, we were stuck!

The more he gave it gas, the bigger the muddy hole got.

I walked out to observe the "hole" we had gotten ourselves into, and it was so big I could have crawled inside with room to spare!

The "ladys" husband raced over on his John Deere golf cart and I was thinking.... "we  might need something with a little more power to pull us out"... and he proceeds to question Timmy as to why we were on the grass,  and why we were parked sideways....

and at that point,... all the busy body neighbors, who had been watching the spectacle of the new "entertainment" in town, were starting to voice concerns that our motorhome was now blocking the ocean view for the entire campground....

I didn't hesitate a minute to yell out of the motorhome.... "Uh,... because the lady in the office told us to park sideways.... I think her name was Pat".

I knew that we were in a serious situation, but I had to work hard at keeping the smile off my face, as I knew when I saw the husband race back to the office on his John Deere, that there was some serious debating going on, and we were probably the main topic of conversation.

After about 30 minutes, I think the neighbors started to realize that we might be permanently blocking their ocean view, and the helpers came out of the woodwork with every size of wooden plank you could think of.

Try as they might, every plank, strategically lodged in the gaping hole against the tire, still didn't help the

poor "Jetson mobile" out of the "Swamp-quicksand".

Finally Timmy threw his hands up, grabbed a beer, went and swung on the swingset and told me to call AAA.

 

Two hours later the AAA truck shows up and pulled us out.

That ole familiar sound of "applause" throughout the campground erupted,   and we parked heading into the water and everyone was happy.

 

 (who ever heard of a swamp  in Maine anyway?)

 

We also had another hiccup as we learned that this  campsite did not have wifi or cell coverage.

We both panicked for a moment as both of us do most

of our work on our laptops. 

Although we are traveling all over this country,

 we still need to be able to get our work done.    

We decided to "try our best" to not get upset and roll with the punches and change with the times... or how ever that saying goes.

 

The  one redeeming factor at this campsite, is they deliver fresh caught lobster every day at 6:00 to your front door!  You can get a pound for $4.00, so every night we ordered 4  pounds. 

Timmy cleaned the lobster every day and I always reminded him that he was my hero... cause I can't stand to look at the

piercing eyes of those lobsters....

We "tried our best" but one night we actually couldn't eat all the lobster

God Forgive Me

 

*****

Georgetown Island is about 30 minutes from civilization, and the closest little town we found was Bath.  It was a charming town, rich in shipping and fisherman  history.

We spent our first night in Bath, and they were having their annual

"Seaside Festival" which included music for 2 days in the gazebo on the water as well as Fireman's Muster Races and

 all the trimmings of a State Fair. 

We had a great night listening to music and headed back to swamp.... I mean camp, and were asleep before our heads hit the pillow.

 

The next day was grey and dreary, and we decided to go into Brunswick about 40 miles away and get some laundry and shopping done.

The car cell phone chargers were working overtime as we caught up on work, knowing that once we headed home, we were dead in the water, with no cell coverage.

We feasted on our daily Lobster and decided to take a drive to Five Islands, a small little village up the road that is famous for their lobster wharf.

 

 

 

 

We had an ice cream on the wharf and decided to call it a day.

 

 

By the 3rd day, "try our best",  Timmy and I decided to throw in the gauntlet and try to get a refund for the next few days, as we were spending more time traveling into civilization to make phone calls than anything else.

We were happy that the "lady" refunded our money, and I think she felt bad about the "Swamp-Quicksand" incident and also

 bought our lobster for the previous night.

I was appreciative, and I was certain she had not seen the humongous divot the "Jetson Mobile" had created a few days earlier,

and we high tailed out of there.

 

Instead of complaining we just racked it up as the camp having a bad

"Feng Shui " or something like that,

 and the "Jetson Mobile "  was cruising

 down the highway once again.

***

 

 

We were headed to Belfast, Maine and were optimistic that it could only get better after our stay in "swampland".

 

We were thrilled to find our camp not only had an ocean view,

 but WIFI as well!

 

 

 

 

As we drove the little villages along Maines seaboard, I was mesmerized with all the Buoys...I kept thinking... I simply had to have some buoys to hang on the motorhome.

Timmy  must have been reading my mind as he sternly says...."No Janis, you can not steal a buoy, please promise me you wont steal a buoy!"

Apparently these buoys  can cost anywhere from $50.00 on up and are the "brand" of each fisherman, with specific colors representing the fisherman.

I responded.... "I don't know what the big deal is, how can one little buoy make a difference, and besides, they would probably appreciate that I am taking it off their hands."

There are buoys on doors, sides of homes, and some just laying in heaps and mounds in yards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think Timmy was more concerned that there might be a hefty fine involved as opposed to the fact that the local paper might report... 

"Tourist gets busted stealing buoys, serves 3 days in jail!" 

So I relinquished and promised him that I would in fact....

not steal a buoy!! 

I was even willing to go knock on someones door and ask them if I could "steal" a buoy, but that didn't fly either.

Timmy was able to find a shop that sold replicas of the buoys and I  picked out 5 pretty ones to decorate the motorhome.

 

 

 

 

 "Mission Accomplished"... And No Jail Time 

 

We walked the camp park at dusk as the tide came in and

 enjoyed the cool breeze of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

***

 

 

We decided to have breakfast in old downtown Belfast. They were having their annual Artisan Street Fair and the little village was bustling with people sightseeing and checking out all the local artists.

We headed a few miles south to the exquisite village of Camden

and visited their "Owl Head Transportation" museum.

This housed everything from the Wright Brothers airplane to antique motorcycles.

I caught my husband eyeing this strange piece.  

 

 

I was more intrigued with a version of the first motorhome to hit the road, which was this gypsy carnival touring coach.

I peeked in and was shocked to find that people actually

 lived in these things.

I could see a brick fireplace with a stove built in

and realized, this probably was the first type of motorhome

of its kind.

 

 

 

Thank God for the "Jetson Mobile" !

 

We headed back into Camden and found out they were having their annual "Schooner" Festival and caught some great shots from the coast.

 

 

 

We heard the "Waterfront" restaurant right on the wharf in Camden was the best in town and decided to take a break and enjoy the Schooners coming back into bay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed a few glasses of wine and a "Lobster Roll" 

on the deck and headed home.

 

Our drive along the coast back to Belfast was beautiful and we took our time and stopped to snap a few pictures of the harbor.

 

 

 

 

*****

 

"Bar Harbor" Bound

 

Our next adventure was Bar Harbor and we had heard so much hype about Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, we were really hoping

we would not be disappointed.

We camped at Mountain Desert Narrows and it was a great little spot.

 

 

We decided there were 2 main things to see on Mountain Desert Island.

Thunder Blow- Hole and Thunder Mountain.

We opted for the blow hole first and found it was much like being in a kiddy land,  where everyone was frolicking on the rocks for the first time in their lives.

 

 

 

 

It was a rather calm  day on the seas, so we didn't get to experience the true impact of the "Blow Hole", but I was actually glad, as it allowed us to romp around the rocks for hours.

 

 

 

 

We had a great day scooting around the "busy" side of the island, and had we more time, we would have visited the garden and carriage roads of Rockefeller. It was Rockefeller who preserved most of Desert Mountain Island, the famous lighthouses, including the riding stables and

of course Acadia National Park itself.

 

We headed home for our last night for fresh lobster as Timmy picked up a few pounds at the local "Lobster Pound".

 

 

Our last day at Bar Harbor was saved for "Thunder Mountain", which is the highest elevation on the eastern coast. 

It was truly spectacular.

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a few good hours on Thunder Mountain, and when it was time to leave, the feeling of "being on cloud 9" was the best way to describe the feeling of being on top of Thunder Mountain.

It was surreal.

 

 

 

 

Magnificent Views in all directions 

 

 

After getting our "head out of the clouds" we drove into the little village of Bar Harbor and had dinner on the wharf.

We had a great seafood dip and watched the whale watching boat as it departed the harbor with gads of people.

 

 

 

We headed home and we wondered how we had never heard of this place. How many other extraordinary places in this great country of ours are still out there, waiting for all of us to experience.

 

 I reflected on the beauty of the day

 as we prepared to leave the following day and at that point...

my

"Maine"

concern now was....

where does one possibly go from here.....?