Thursday, July 31, 2014

HI - HO THE DAIRY- O A HUNTING WE WILL GO



July 30 to 31

Hey there Campers;

It is overcast and muggy. Now how can the two of those go together? Well, anyway we knew that we needed to find information on the area. Well, low and behold we saw the information center right outside our door. How could we miss this? Well, it was in a little house that was no bigger than our dressing room. The guy on duty did not have much information but he was really nice. Trust me there is not that much to do in Lincoln, ME.

We got on the road to New Hampshire. We got caught in a brief rain storm in Augusta, ME. I mean going 20 MPH rain storm. I see why accidents happen. The car ahead of us could not be seen. It only lasted for 10 miles and then it cleared up.

The drive to New Hampshire was dotted with quaint picture postcard towns. It is definitely small town USA. Small narrow roads. There are lots of rivers, brooks and streams. We arrived in Plymouth, NH and proceeded to the Walmart.



Once we got settled we decided to go to a Chinese dinner. We found the Hong Kong Garden on the GPS. We drove into town. When we got there we went in. We saw notes on the facing wall. One said "No weapons or backpacks please". We looked at each other and said what the heck is this about. We need not to eat here. Just as we turn to go back out the bartender asked if we were looking for the restaurant. We said yes. She stated it was down the alley. Boy were we relieved. The food was a little greasy but ok.

After dinner, as we were going back up the alley we keep hearing live music. We decided to drive around the corner to see if we could find it. It was a concert in the park. It was sponsored by the Rotary Club. The band, 60's Invasion, really had great voices. The sang songs from Elvis to the Beatles. It was awesome to see grandparents dancing with the kids. This is one of the reasons people move to small town USA.
 
We drove to the Hilton and called it a night.

On Thursday we awoke to another overcast day. We decide to have breakfast before we leave. As I finish cooking, I ask Lo if he would like a toast. He says "No there is a lot of food on the plate". I said ok then proceeded to toast a bagel. Lo looks at me as ask what I was doing. I told him toasting my bagel. He had the nerve to ask me why did I get toast and he did not. OK. Did I feel like braining him????? You bet. So being a nice wife I made him a toast. GRRRRRRRR!  LOL!

Oh well moving on.  We are going to have a great day covered bridge hunting.


We drove to Concord, NH to the information center. Now you know how older people talk about kids on the cell phones and not paying attention. Well. I went to the info center. It is a small center on the freeway. The attendant was on the cell phone.  I see this and decide to wait until she sees me and finish her call. I wait and wait and wait. I finally get in her line of vision. She finally looked up and see me and continue to talk. I pick up a brochure on covered bridges. She continued to talk on the phone. I hold up the brochure to let her know this was what I wanted to talk about. She moved the phone from her mouth and I got to ask one question. She briefly answers and goes back to her phone call. I decided to leave before I got a Richmond Ghetto Girl attitude.

We drove back to the freeway and onto country roads. We by chance found the Shaker Village. We checked it out but decided to continue on to our hunt for the covered bridges.




 We had a great day hunting for the bridges.
 

 

 
 


In the city of Bath, we found The Brick Store. It is America's Oldest General Store. It had a lot of things most of us grew up with. Remember the penny candy? And barrels of candy. Yep those were the days.
 

 

 

The river flows were just beautiful.
 



At one of the churches we past this sign caught my eye. It really says it all.







We were in the national forest and saw the local ski runs.
 


We went to the Flume Gorge that was one of the trail stops of the stage coach line.
 

Clark's Trading Post is famous as it has been there since 1800's.
 

As the day was winding down we passed through a small town and saw the Christmas Loft. Of course we had to stop and check out the nutcrackers.



We drive back to Plymouth and decided to have dinner. We found the Italian Farmhouse. It was an original farmhouse and barn converted and a flower hothouse to a restaurant. The food was really great.










After dinner, Ice Cream Man strikes again. So many choices.




We drove home to a good night's rest.


Question of the Day

Where was the first covered bridge located?

Well, until the next time Campers......



Lo & Bren

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

WATER OUT & WATER IN - BAY OF FUNDY

July 29

Hey there Campers;

We got up to another sunny but breezy day. The first thing that happens today is the insects start to bite. I mean really bite. They may be small but boy do they sting. I got to take care of these little buggers.

As we leave New Brunswick we see the lighthouse at Cape Jourmain. It is at that foot of the bridge we crossed last night.

Of course we have to travel over the bad bumpy roads of New Brunswick again. Ok I am over the road situation. Well not really. Sometimes I feel like we are in a stage coach traveling west. Hmmmm. I could be working instead of traveling. Ok. I am over it.

We travel on to the Hopewell Rock on the Bay of Fundy. Angela & the Montoya's told us we had to stop here. This is a very interesting place. The tide goes out and you can walk on the bay floor.






We travel down the path leading to the rocks.






When you get to the area, the sign lets you know that there is a time that you must make it back to the stairs or you could be trapped by the tide coming in.

The rock formations are a wonder of God's nature. You get to see rocks and how they are structured as never before.
 
 





We just keep venturing on the bay floor. As you round the curve more formations are there. There are all kinds of nooks and crannies.
 

 
 


The trees on top are called flower pots.,

 

 

 



I got a chance to speak with the ranger. He stated that if you got stuck here you would be stranded up to 8 hours because there is no other way out.





Mountain of sea weed.






 

This guy had the cutest dog name Lily.








 We just were enjoying ourselves








Facts:
·         The Bay of Fundy is 181 miles long.
·         100 billion tons of water moving in and out of the bay every 24 hours.
·         It is powered by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun.
·         A new moon and full moon are the strongest and give higher tide than normal.
·         The flowerpot rocks have all been formed by dynamic movements of the earth, erosion, ides, snow, ice and winds.

Water rising. Yep there were cray-cray people still on the bay floor as the water was rising.


















A trip to the interpretive center will give you the full picture of how and why the tide does what it does. Some of the talk was about billions of years ago was a little far fetch for me but science is what it is.

The one thing I thought was interesting is they compared the tide like bath water. You know how water is sloshed in a bath tub, well think about  the slosh coming down and another splash comes in before the first one gets down. That is what the tide is like.


We met a couple that reminded me of Tanita & David. They were from Syracuse, NY. They were on their 15 wedding anniversary trip. He was an avid photographer and had been at the rocks since 8:00 this morning. His wife was just there to make sure he had a good time. It was great talking with them.

After we left the Bay of Fundy, we traveled to back to Moncton, Walmart where we left the Hilton. On the freeway I noticed this tall building. I just wanted to find out what it was. I kind of thought it was a church. I was right. It was the Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral. I think I was fascinated by the fact that it was tall and it stood out. It reminded me of us needing to be a beacon for others to see Jesus.














We left Canada to travel to the US. Yahoo. We are definitely ready for US Mother's Cookies. Sorry Canada. You just don't have it in the cookie isle.




We spent the night at our regular Walmart hotel, in Lincoln, ME.


Question of the Day
What makes the gravel on the bay floor?

Well, until the next time Campers......



Lo & Bren