DIGBY NS TO ST. JOHN NEW BRUNSWICK VIA FERRY AND ON TO THE U.S. BORDER AT ST. STEPHAN…..RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, AND MORE RAIN!!

Nice sunrise over Digby Nova Scotia this morning, our last day in the Province.  I was already looking forward to the Ferry ride for the simple fact of having someone else do the driving for a change even if it was for only two and a half hours.  The Ferry ride wasn’t cheap but compared to the amount of gas we would have used had we gone from Truro over to Halifax and down the coast around the bottom of Nova Scotia then back up through Digby north to Truro again then back down the other side of Fundy Bay to the American border I think we definitely saved ourselves a couple dollars plus wear and tear on the Motorhome and us as well.

Under dark sullen and rainy skies we made our way to the Ferry about 9:30 but stopped along the way at the Digby Pines Resort and Spa.   Kelly was looking for a 2019 Maude Lewis calendar and somebody told her she could get one at the Digby Pines gift shop  Nope, they were sold out.

QUICK STOP AT THE DIGBY PINES

OUR RIG IS IN THIS PHOTO TOO

OKAY IT’S YOUR MOVE

We arrived at the Ferry Terminal plenty early and were promptly led to a line-up spot.  Met some folks from Stratford Ontario as well as Seaforth.  Not too many vehicles but more dribbled in later. In fact, quite a few.  Ferry arrived from St. John New Brunswick right on time and disgorged it’s passengers and vehicles.

ALL LINED UP AND READY TO RUMBLE ABOARD THE FERRY

AN OLDY AND IT COMES COMPLETE WITH WHITE WALL TIRES AND A COUPLE FINS AT THE TOP BACK

THE BIG E IS PEEKING AROUND THE CORNER TO THE RIGHT

‘DA BOAT BOSS – DA BOAT’

THE ‘FUNDY ROSE’ HEADS IN FROM ST. JOHN NEW BRUNSWICK ON IT’S FIRST RUN OF THE DAY

Following directions from a guy dressed in lime green it was soon our time to board the boat so away we went with our 37 foot Motorhome around the corner and down a steel ramp into the hold of the Ferry.  Another chap directed us to snuggle up tightly to an 18 wheeler and that was it.  Leaving Pheebs in the RV we clambered out of the rig, headed across the steel deck and climbed up about 4 levels of stairs to the deck lounge.

OKAY HERE WE GO DRIVING THE RIG ONTO THE BOAT

GEEEEZZZZ I HOPE THERE IS REALLY A BOAT DOWN THERE SOMEWHERE AT THE END OF THAT RAMP

YEP THERE IT IS

OKAY SO NOW WHERE DO WE GO??  WONDER IF I CAN TURN AROUND IN HERE??

OKAY THERE’S A GUY WAVING AT ME….MAYBE HE’S A BLOG READER

LOOKS LIKE THIS IS IT

THEY GOT US SQIGGLED IN HERE PRETTY GOOD

This was a far larger Ferry than I realized and I was impressed how nice it was inside.  Very impressive and I’ll let my photos take you for a tour.

BIG WINDOWS AT LEFT LOOK OUT OVER THE BOW

THERE ARE NICE SEATING AREAS EVERYWHERE AND I LOVED ALL THE COLORS THROUGHOUT

MIDSHIPS SNACK AND COFFEE BAR AREA

EVEN A CHILDREN’S PLAY AREA

WASHROOMS AND MORE SEATING UP THAT-A-WAY AND THERE ARE MIRRORS MIRRORS EVERYWHERE

INFORMATION DECK AT RIGHT

ANOTHER COZY SEATING AREA WITH TABLES

MAIN CAFETERIA WHERE WE GOT OUR GRUB

ONE OF TWO CAFETERIA SEATING AREAS

LOTS OF COMFORTABLE AIRLINE SEATS

THIS IS AN ELEVATOR

THIS COUPLE WAS PLAYING CRIBBAGE

THIS IS THE MOVIE ROOM WITH THE MOVIE ‘CASPER THE GHOST’ PLAYING…..WE SAT FOR AWHILE ABOUT HALFWAY DOWN ON THE RIGHT

WHOA SLOW DOWN THERE CASPER

OKAY I PROMISE TO BE GOOD

COMPUTER ROOM

I THINK I RECOGNIZE THAT PERSON

KELLY ORDER’S US UP SOME GRUB

NO COMPLAINTS:))

SIGN SAYS ‘TRUCKER’S LOUNGE’

HEY WHO’S THE GUY IN THE MIRROR WITH THE BAGGY PANTS

DINING ROOM

THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF SEATING ON THIS FERRY

I WONDER HOW MUCH OF THE BOAT THESE THREE PEOPLE SAW

We found us a couple comfortable airline seats for awhile before heading off to the cafeteria for some eats.  Kelly had some of those Scallop thingys with salad and I had an Angus burger with fries.  We both liked our food and the fries were especially good.  I of course bounced around the boat all over the place taking photos.  Watched part of a Casper Movie for a short while.  Tried the onboard computers but they didn’t work.  Grabbed a coffee as well.  Wasn’t much to see out the windows except the gray depressing sky reflecting it’s mood into the Bay Of Fundy waters.  Raining too.

DESPITE THE COLD WIND AND RAIN I DID MANAGE TO SLIP OUTSIDE AND GRAB A FEW PICS AROUND THE DECK…..THIS ONE IS ‘BYE BYE’ NOVA SCOTIA

NICE OUTDOOR DECK LOUNGE AT THE STERN

LIFE RAFT CANISTERS

BREEZEWAY SEATING LOOKING AFT

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE CAPTAIN HE’S UP THOSE STAIRS AND THROUGH THE DOOR TO THE BRIDGE

A FISHING TRAWLER PASSES BY

POWER RESCUE LAUNCH

BELOW IS WHERE WE DROVE THE MOTORHOME ABOARD

It was a few minutes short of 1 p.m. when we docked in St. John New Brunswick.  Unsure about where we were headed we pulled over in the big Ferry parking lot and shut things down for half an hour.  Checked our weather forecasts and saw the weather folks were still calling for 3 days of rain.  Yes we knew there was a lot to see here in regards to the Fundy tides etc but neither one of us felt like sitting around in the Motorhome waiting for better weather to get out and enjoy the sites.  It was a joint decision to continue our journey so off we went heading South down highway 1 heading for the U.S. border and Spencerport New York. 

THE HARBOR OF ST. JOHN AHEAD

LOOKS LIKE A COUPLE CRUISE SHIPS IN PORT

WE DISEMBARK THE FERRY THROUGH A BLUE GIRDER TUNNEL

SITTING IN THE FERRY PARKING LOT DECIDING WHAT TO DO WE WAVE ‘BYE BYE’ TO THE FUNDY ROSE AS SHE TURNS AROUND AND HEADS BACK TO DIGBY WITH ANOTHER LOAD OF PASSENGERS AND VEHICLES

This will be my last post for a few days because we won’t have our Bell internet service once we cross the border in the morning.  We are parked for the night in a Canadian Tire parking lot in St. Stephan New Brunswick right at the border and decided it was too much of a hassle and expense to fire up our American Verizon internet account just for a couple days.  I still plan to write a post each day and I’ll publish them once we arrive at Kelly’s Mother’s house in Spencerport maybe Thursday or Friday.  We are anxious now to get home and get ourselves organized for the coming Winter.  And as I write this tonight it is still windy, cold, and raining:(( 

HEADING DOWN A WET HIGHWAY 1 TOWARDS THE U.S. BOARDER AND THE STATE OF MAINE

My apologies to readers riding along with us hoping for a much better trip than what we’ve had.  We know we’ve missed a lot of great sights and other RV’ers have and would have done things much differently but I guess we had to make this final journey to realize our long distance travels have come to an end after a dozen great years.  I’ll write more about this when we get home and what our plans are for the future but I can tell you that we don’t plan to give up RVing just yet.  Just the looooooong trips.  Okay, see ya all again in a few days but let me leave you with a reader’s comment from a few days ago.  He sums up very well just where Kelly and I are at right now…….. ‘Gene Siesky’ wrote “I can relate to your comment about lack of excitement as we age. I just returned from three weeks in Europe and even that lacked excitement for me. (But my excitement rose as the day approached to go back home.) I was fortunate to do my travels when I was younger and having the will and energy, hitting all 50 states by the age of 52, enjoying the drives back and forth across America, driving way into the night and putting on as many miles as I could within a day. Now as I approach 70, I find it quite pleasant to be home, enjoy everything about it, and not feeling like I am missing one damn thing”.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Once upon a time, a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.The villagers, knowing there were many monkeys, went to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 each and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.He then announced that he would buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the villagers efforts and they started catching monkeys again.Soon, the supply diminished and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the big city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf.The assistant told the villagers, "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that my boss has already collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when my boss returns, you can sell them to him for $50."The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys for 700 billion dollars.They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of monkeys!Now you have a better understanding of how the WALL STREET BAILOUT PLAN WORKED a few years ago!!

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- Those most opposed to serving on committees are made chairmen.

- Those who live closest arrive latest.

- Those with the best advice offer no advice.

- To achieve the impossible, one must think the absurd; to look where everyone else has looked, but to see what no one else has seen.

- To attract maximum attention, it's hard to beat a good, big, dumb mistake.

- To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

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ANTIGONISH NOVA SCOTIA TO DIGBY NS:: A MAJOR CHANGE IN OUR TRAVEL PLANS

WALKING ON THE OCEAN FLOOR IN THE BAY OF FUNDY

A quiet night in the Antigonish Nova Scotia parking lot.  With only a couple weeks behind us we have reached a crossroads in our travels.  After discussing priorities and options over coffee this morning we have made further changes to our travel plans.  Checking the weather we saw rain forecast for the next 4 days over parts of Nova Scotia.  Neither one of us wanted to spend any more time sitting out rainy days in the Motorhome plus something else has come up that may head us home earlier than originally planned.  I can maybe tell you about that at a later depending on how it turns out.  The decision also boiled down to ‘how would we feel about leaving Antigonish and heading for Halifax and points south of there or how would we feel about heading south to Digby and moving steadily closer to home.  We both felt better about the second option so about 9 o’clock this morning we climbed ourselves aboard highway 104 and set our sites on Digby Nova Scotia.  We’ll not be doing the Peggy’s Cove, Lunenburg, Liverpool, and Yarmouth route.  Tuesday morning we’ll be boarding the Digby Ferry at 11 a.m. for St. John New Brunswick.

KELLY PHOTOGRAPHS A FEW SPRUCE BURLS TODAY AT A PLACE CALLED ‘BURNTCOAT PARK’

 

We were lucky to have a good driving day.  It was a mixture of Sun and cloud as we we took highway 104 to Truro NS then swung East on 102 for aways before getting off at Brookfield onto highway 289.  Followed this narrow winding road to highway 215 also narrow with lots of twists and turns.  Pretty countryside with hills and dales, pastoral scenes, apple orchards, and old wooden buildings.  Seeing corn fields reminded me of back home around Bayfield.

OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE BAY OF FUNDAY

It was along the scenic 215 route following the Bay of Fundy’s western shore line that we happened upon a sign with a lighthouse symbol saying Burntcoat Head Park so we turned down a bumpy road heading that way.  What a nice find this was and we were surprised at the number of people there.  We were also about to begin learning of the world famous Fundy Tides.

A NICE SETTING HERE AT BURNT COAT

LOOKING OUT TO THE BAY OF FUNDY

 

KELLY’S BLACKBERRY PHOTO ON LEFT

TEN BAY OF FUNDY FACTS

From Burntcoat we continued along the winding coastal road through little places with names but hardly anything there.  Maybe a couple houses and a cow.   We joined highway 101 at a place called Three Mile Plains.  How nice to be back on a 4 lane highway with strait stretches of smoooooth road for miles at a time.  Must say 4 hours of winding roads about had me worn to a frazzle with a sharp pain in my lower neck, yet I enjoyed the peace and serenity of the calming countryside.  For sure I wasn’t born to be a farmer but for sure I was born to live quietly somewhere in the country.  

WHEN THE TIDE COMES IN IT RISES ONE INCH A MINUTE

IT’S PHEEBS ON THE OCEAN FLOOR

A POPULAR PLACE FOR TOUR GROUPS

CAN YOU SEE WHERE STONE STEPS HAVE BEEN CUT INTO THE ROCK?

We were both glad to finally see the turn off for Digby Nova Scotia late this afternoon.  We did try to find us the original location of painter Maude Lewis’s (Maudie) house but it was the end of a long driving day and with a big honkin Motorhome in Digby’s afternoon Fireball 500 5 o’clock rush I just ran out of patience trying to find it.  We do think we drove by the Memorial site though.  Both Kelly and I really enjoyed the movie about her lif and you can see a preview of it Here.

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE FUNDY TIDE SPANS 54 FEET

SEAWEED

We again luckily stumbled upon a Walmart for the night which for Kelly was right beside a big Atlantic Super Store where she pick up a cooked Lobster and some PEI muscles.  She ate the Lobster for supper saying it tasted good.  I’m hoping she doesn’t decide to eat the muscles before we get home or I might have to hastily vacate the Motorhome!!

HARD TO BELIEVE JUST 6 HOURS AFTER TAKING THIS PHOTO THE SPOT I’M STANDING WILL BE UNDERWATER

GROANER’S CORNER:((  It was three o'clock in the morning, and the receptionist at a posh hotel was just dozing off, when a little old lady came running towards her, screaming. "Please come quickly," she yelled, "I just saw a naked man outside my window!" The receptionist immediately rushed up to the old lady's room. "Where is he?" asked the receptionist.   "He's over there," replied the little old lady, pointing to an apartment building opposite the hotel. The receptionist looked over and could see a man with no shirt on, moving around his apartment. "It's probably a man who's getting ready to go to bed," she said reassuringly. "And how do you know he's naked, you can only see him from the waist up?" "The dresser, honey!" screamed the old lady. "Try standing on the dresser!"

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You might be a redneck if...

- Your dad is also your favorite uncle.

- Your classes at school were cancelled because the path to the restroom was flooded.

- During your senior year you and your mother had homeroom together.

- You're a lite beer drinker, because you start drinking when it gets light.

- On your first date you had to ask your Dad to borrow the keys to the tractor.

- Your parakeet knows the phrase "Open up, Police!"

- In tough situations you ask yourself, "What would Curly do?"

- Taking your wife on a cruise means circling the Dairy Queen.

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At the urging of his doctor, Bill moved to Texas. After settling in, he met a neighbor who was also an older man. “Say, is this really a healthy place?” “It sure is,” the man replied. “When I first arrived here I couldn't say one word. I had hardly any hair on my head. I didn't have the strength to walk across a room and I had to be lifted out of bed.” “That's wonderful!” said Bill. “How long have you been here?” “I was born here.”

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