if not now-then when- Part 2

We do believe it’s time for another adventure!

A year has passed since we drove 10,000 miles around the United States. We witnessed so many amazing sights, sounds and colors that we will be hard pressed to match it. But we are going to try!

This summer is the “If Not Now Then When-Part Two “ journey to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, Canada. The Maritimes is a region that comprises three Canadian provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, each one distinct thanks to the influence of a mixture of Indigenous communities and French, British, and Irish settlers. Today, the region is known for its stunning coastal landscapes, incredible seafood, and unique blend of cultures

But first, we have to get there.

We left the horrible, humid, heat, which is Florida on June 15, 2024. There is a heat wave across most of the United States, so I don’t think either of us had notions of it getting better anytime soon.

We spent a few months getting our new motorhome ready for this 6,000 mile journey. It was not unlike getting the Happy Destiny Boat ready for the Great Loop. Our new coach is a 2018 Fleetwood Pace Arrow. It is 36 feet long. It is what they call a diesel pusher. It has 2 bathrooms, a washer and dryer and a king size bed. It is just stunning! It even has a fireplace. It is quite the upgrade from our previous RV, and I feel so blessed. This coach had been sitting for awhile at the previous owners house. The guy only put 5800 miles on it, but sitting in the Florida sun, for many years is not good for anything or anyone.

First thing was new tires to keep us safe on the road. RV tires have to be changed out every 6-7 years, meaning they were due to be changed. There are 6 huge tires on this thing. You can imagine the expense in that😂! Also, because it had been sitting and not used, the front dash air conditioner did not work. Ugh! We took the RV to a mechanic shop to get the tires and have them fix the air conditioning system. On a boat there is an acronym-B.O.A.T.=“break out another thousand. Not sure what the acronym is for a motor coach, but I’m going to make one up. Motor Coach (MC) = more cash 💵

Then, also because it’s been sitting for a while, both of the toilets which are something called a vacuflush system were non operational. We called upon a mobile mechanic to come and address some of our issues. He was great and very handy. He fixed the toilet system, lubed up the slides, fixed a chair that wobbled, and gave us a few good lessons on just how this beast works.

We finally got it out so the shop and took her for a spin. Lo and behold the check engine light came on. This is never good. Back to the shop she went.

This was a hard time for Jim and I. We were the owners of a fabulous RV that sucked I had a lot of anxiety because I had already made Campground reservations for all of our stops. And, we sold our previous RV so, the new one is the one that needed to go on the adventure. At this point, our new coach had been in one shop or another for 3 weeks!

We got the check engine light out for a mere $2000.00! Ugh.

But, this is what we get now. A ready to go, safe for the road, beautiful Motor Coach!

I’ve told you about our new puppy Buddy. He, of course. Has been a part of all of this drama. I am certain he’s not quite sure if he is coming or going. He has been back and forth in the car to the RV a hundred times. In and out, Thrown around. I’m so grateful he is such a tiny guy. As of now, he is 7 months old and weighs a whopping 8 pounds. He has been a trooper and I know he is going to thrive in our world.

Buddy was very tired after all our shenanigans!

After our trip last year, Jim and I realized that we moved way too fast and for the most part only stayed out for a few days at a few places. Jim did a lot of driving and if you remember, he was quite ill.

This adventure is going to be different. First off, we will stay at each campsite a minimum of two nights. We will hop in the car and explore what is around us. We will eat at local restaurants, sometimes. We will try to get to more meetings in new places.

So, let’s get moving already.

I’ve found it difficult to get motivated to write this blog entry. In truth, we are already in Prince Edward Island as I write. That is not how I roll usually. But I’ll be honest here. Driving up the East Coast is kind of old. We’ve been there and done that many times now. Both by land and by sea. Don’t get me wrong. I’m so grateful that I get to live this life and we have not been to any of the campgrounds that I chose. I think it’s the driving on the highways that is old. I’ve seen so much of them already. Plus, I was really anxious. I have to admit, I’m a bit intimidated by this new RV. I don’t know it. I don’t know it’s sounds. It’s big and we are towing the mini Cooper. Overall, with the car attached, it is 58 feet long! We have to go to big truck stops to get fuel, which I like. I was constantly asking Jim if it was running ok. It was. In fact, I actually am in love with this coach. It’s so comfy and I feel so proud driving down the road in it. I used to look at coaches like ours as we were driving the old rv and be kind of envious. Is that bad?

I’m going to get us to Prince Edward Island pretty fast here, so I can be current with my next blog about our time in the Maritimes.

First stop Silver Springs State Park in no Ocala, Florida. A one nighter on Fathers Day. Next stop, Crooked River State Park in St. Mary’s Georgia.

We visited the St. Mary’s submarine museum and had a nice lunch by the river.

I always talk about our “Loopy”friends Marshall and Judy and their dog Mindy. Our next stop takes us to Sesquicentennial State Park, in Columbia, South Carolina, and a visit with them.

It’s always a joy to camp with Marshall and Judy. This year, we have our Buddy. Judy is actually the one who told me I needed a friend. Boy, was she right! Mindy, who is now 6 years old, wasn’t the least bit interested in our bouncy, baby boy. She tolerated him, but wasn’t thrilled.

Marshall and Judy took us on a tour of their home state. We visited the University of South Carolina campus, where both of them went to college and wandered around the State Capitol grounds.

As always, we shared great conversations, amazing home cooked meals in our campers and had fun watching Mindy and Buddy frolic in the lake. Mindy loves the water. Buddy, not so much😂

Until next time, we love you Marshall and Judy.

Onward and upwards

Next stop-Salt Branch COE. I try hard to keep our stops budget friendly. The COE campgrounds (Army Corp of Engineers) are usually really nice, and situated near bodies of water. They, with our America the Beautiful pass, run us $15 a night.

Getting to this campsite was harrowing. Salthouse Branch Campground is nestled on the shores of Philpott Lake in the rugged foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. The park is located in a rural and sparsely populated part of Franklin County near the small community of Henry. Rural for sure. The last 6 miles were bumpy, unpaved, shit for roads. I kept apologizing to Jim for bringing us here. He, of course, continued to tell me it was all part of the adventure. We made it to the campsite and settled in.

We were soon to find out that there was absolutely no cell service, no WiFi and no TV channels. I was not ok with this. We were totally off grid! I think I tend to be a “glamper” not a “camper”. I like to be able to make a phone call if needed and at least be able to find the 4 local channels on the tv. Jim also enjoys scrolling through his iPad and watching TV. We were not going to have any of this for two days. I drove down to the lake and found one bar of cell service. I quickly called the nearest KOA and made a reservation for the following day. We were out of there!

We survived retracing our path out of the Blue Ridge Mountains, we spent the night at the KOA in Monroe Virginia. You can always count on a KOA. They are usually clean, have WiFi and swimming pools. We enjoyed the pool and Buddy decided to help with the cooking that night.

We had a short drive to our next stop. Endless Caverns in New Market, Virginia. This was a beautiful campground! Located in the Shenandoah Valley, this place offered wonderful campsites, a great pool, and lots of rich history. It is built on top of a cavern. We did not go into any of the caverns on this trip. I don’t think we will ever go into a cavern again after last year when I thought Jim was going to die when we went underground in the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky.

We did however visit the New Market Historical Park. On May 15, 1864, the historically significant Battle of New Market took place in which teenage cadets of the Virginia Military Institute fought. VMI cadets were pressed into service by Confederate General John Breckinridge in a successful effort to delay the North’s march on Richmond, Virginia.

We also went to a potato chip factory and found us a covered bridge. We love covered bridges. At the end of the day we drove into town and enjoyed dessert at the Southern Kitchen Restaurant.

Next stop, a three nighter in Pennsylvania.

Took a drive to Hershey Pennsylvania Yep, home of the The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational confectionery company. It is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. The Hershey Company is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world; it also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milkshakes, as well as other products. The Hershey Company was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894.

We hit a noon meeting, where as visitors, we were presented with two chocolate Hershey Bars as a welcome gift. It was pretty cool.

We left Pennsylvania and headed to Connecticut for a few nights as i looked forward to our next stop in Massachusetts, where we would see my son Robert and his wife.

I must admit, this was the time I started getting excited about this trip. Finally. The RV was running great. We had not experienced any problems with it and I was starting to relax a bit. I was also excited about how close we were to Bar Harbor Maine where we would spend the 4th of July.

We arrived at Normandy Farms Family Campground, in Foxboro, Massachusetts on June 30th. We have actually been here before. It is one of the, if not the nicest campgrounds we have ever been to. It is minutes from Gillette Stadium where the New England Patriots play football.

Robert and Stephanie came to the campground the following day for dinner. It is always so good to see my boy. He has been gone from California and me since he graduated from Berkeley in 2003. That’s a long time to be without one of your kids. But, I know he is happy and he has a great life. What more can a mom want. I do enjoy seeing him though, and giving him big long hugs.

Buddy and I walked around the park a lot. They have a fabulous dog park, where Buddy could run off leash and play with other dogs. He had a ball!

This campground has many amenities. 4 swimming pools and an indoor jacuzzi, which I went to every night. We rode our bikes, and admired all the beautiful flowers. It was 4th of July weekend and this place was full. It’s a great campground if you have kids. They are everywhere!

We met the kids and Stephs mom Abby and her companion Nick for dinner on our last night there. It was very nice and it was great to see Abby. We haven’t seen them since Robert and Stephs wedding. I am so grateful to her for watching over my boy. He has a good family here in Massachusetts.

Here is a photo dump from our time at Normandy Farms.

We said our goodbyes after dinner and returned to the campsite. There was a firework show at Gillette Stadium, which meant lots of traffic. I don’t do crowds very well at all anymore.

Next Stop, Bar Harbor Maine.

It’s the 4th of July and Bar Harbor Maine is not where you want to be if you don’t like crowds. When I booked our reservations, I could not get any campsite in the city, so we went to Acadia Seashore Campground in Sullivan, Maine. 40 minutes from Bar Harbor and Acadia National park. On the 4th, I made us reservations to go out on a sailing ship. We drove to Bar Harbor and could find no parking. There was a parade going on and of course, everyone and their mother was there to see the fireworks show at 9:30 pm. It was 10:00 in the morning and we had to park a good mile from the water where we needed to get on the ship. We walked, and walked and walked some more! We were a bit early so we had some lunch and people watched until our sailing time.

Amidst the bustling crowd, we embarked on a soulful journey aboard the majestic schooner, The Margaret Todd, in Frenchman Bay, gazing upon the breathtaking scenery of Acadia National Park.

The picturesque white schooner is a replica of a late-1800s cargo vessel, and it’s the only four-mast schooner on the East Coast.
The crew called for volunteers to help manually raise the ship’s sails.

“One, two, one, two, one, two,” they chorused, pulling the ropes down to propel the heavy canvas up.

With the sails catching wind, the motor went off and we sailed. It was a nice cruise and the scenery was beautiful.

Our second day here we wandered over to Acadia National Park where we had a timed entry to drive the Cadillac Trail. It was a gloomy day and unfortunately for us, the fog was so thick we could not see the beautiful vistas that overlook Bar Harbor and the ocean. It was still very cool, but once again, because it was the 4th of July weekend,, it was very crowded and we did not find parking for any of the other interesting sites that were to be seen.

I would love to explore this part of Maine again sometime. Just not on a national holiday!

Our next stop is our last stop before we enter Canada.

Lubec, Maine is the Eastern most point in the United States. It is also the country’s closest continental location to Africa. It’s a quiet little town. Not much to see or do here. We drove into town where the Main Street was sleepy and worn out. Across the little bay lies Canada and Campobello Island. We gathered up our passports and we ventured into Canada via the FDR Memorial Bridge and discovered the breathtaking Campobello International Park. Did you know Franklin D. Roosevelt spent his childhood summers here? Now a symbol of US-Canada cooperation, this park commemorates FDR's legacy. We also marveled at the charming Head Harbor Lighthouse and capped off our day with s'mores and a sunset!

Buddy loves a good campfire!

Well, we made it. Our next adventures will be had in Canada. I’ve been looking forward to this part of our journey . It will be new and refreshing. Sights we’ve never seen. Heritage and ancestral connections to be made. We are a long way from home and that’s ok. I guess wherever we are, we are home. Buddy has been a champ. He is a fabulous road dog and adjusts to every little thing we throw at him. He has become my very best friend. Jim is smitten with him too, and that makes me very happy.

So, here we go!

Beinvenue ♥️