July, 2004
There are lots of mosquitoes in the woods of Michigan!!  I think we found most of them...or I should say, they found us!  We spent the first 5 days of July halfway between Kalkaska and Grayling with our friends Charlotte and Terry Eicher.  The set-up that Char and Terry have on their property is fantastic.  We had water, sewer, electric and phone hook-ups.  Thanks to the trees, the satellite TV system didn't work, but we were able to get several local channels.  Char and Terry have worked hard to clear out part of their 11 acres and Char has spent a lot of time gardening around the RV site.  It's a very relaxing spot.     While we were staying there we we able to get in some good tennis games, play some cards and enjoy some of Terry's famous gourmet cooking.  One afternoon we went to the Hartwick Pines State Park, strolled through the pine forest and visited the logging museum and chapel. Another afternoon Tom and I drove into Traverse City to visit with our friends, Dick and Nancy Maxwell (former Bounder owners) who were parked behind their son's motel in their Alpha SeeYa.  From their RV we were able to watch a bit of the Blue Angels team practice for their weekend Air Show at the Traverse City Cherry Festival.   We enjoyed a BBQ evening with a great group of Eicher's neighbors on the 4th and understand why Char and Terry enjoy returning to their old neighborhood in the summer!  
Our Michigan hosts (former Toledoans and winter residents of Palm Creek in AZ), Char and Terry Eicher and Molly.
"Brother" and "sister" 2004 Dutch Stars parked on Eicher's eleven acres near Kalkaska, MI.
Inside the chapel at Hartwick Pines State Park, Grayling, MI.
Winners of the first tennis match, Terry and Tom.
Tom and Char making S'mores for desert one night during our stay.
We joined the throngs of vehicles driving the length of Michigan on July 5th.  It seemed as though every third vehicle was towing a trailer carrying either a camper, jet-skis, boat, motorcycles, 4-wheelers, bikes or a combination of the above.  It took us about 5 hours to get from Kalkaska to Dundee where we parked behind Cabela's store once again.  We did a little shopping inside and walked a bit further to Applebee's for dinner.  On Tuesday morning we headed south to Marysville.  We needed lots of hugs and kisses before we headed east for the rest of the summer.  On Thursday we drove to Mt. Vernon, OH and enjoyed the hospitality of friends, Ed and Sue Sims.  They let us park the rig beside their barn and gave us an electric hookup for the night.  After dinner out with the Sims and friends Bob and Betty Leskey we had a great visit over Sue's homemade fruit cobbler, sharing our various RV adventures.      On Friday we hooked up and headed to the Canton, OH area to visit the Beggs RV Dealership where we'd purchased our Dutch Star.  We had a few minor service items to be taken care of.  We took advantage of free parking space behind the dealership and spent two nights there.  On Saturday we drove the car to Wadsworth, OH and visited with Mary's Aunt Nina Close and cousin Kathryn Horvath.  A short notice visit kept us from seeing the rest of their family as they were busy with a deck building project.  On Sunday we took care of water and holding tanks and drove to Ashtabula, OH to meet our travel buddy, Jacques Everhart and his yellow lab, Aly.  They'll be driving in their Bounder with us as we travel across the north-eastern states into the Canadian Maritime Provinces for the rest of the summer. 
We'll miss Close, Merrick and Coffey while we travel the rest of the summer.
Friends Ed and Sue Sims and Bob and Betty Leskey.  (Sims have a 38' Bounder and Leskeys made the switch to a Dutch Star in 2001)
Mary's Aunt Nina Close in Wadsworth, OH
Click on "forward" above to learn about our trip to the "Maritimes."
Jacques, Aly, Mary and Tom enjoying the yard at the Ashtabula Flying J Plaza...ready to travel east.
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July, 2004
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Monday, July 12 we set out for the Canadian Maritime Provinces.  But, to get there we had to pass through just a bit of Pennsylvania, and cross through New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.  Our first stop was in Hornell, NY at the Wilkins RV dealership.  Our left turn signal on the car wasn't working while connected to the Dutch Star.  We stopped at Wilkins as we'd found their name on the Newmar website and they were along our travel route.  The service techs immediately got working on our problem and had us all fixed up and on the road in about an hour and a half...fantastic service!  We continued on and spent our next two nights in rest areas along the interstate.  On Wednesday we became tourists and stopped first in Bennington, VT at the Grandma Moses Museum and in Arlington, VT at the Norman Rockwell Museum.  The two artists were acquaintances and it was interesting to learn about their lives and to see their work....much of which was familiar to us.  In Manchester, VT we found ourselves in a typical small New England town of narrow streets and small parking lots and because of the crowds, no available on-street parking for large vehicles.  So, we turned into an industrial park and stopped in front of a vacant warehouse.  A carpet salesman across the street told us how to contact the owner and we got permission to park there as long as we liked.  We were able to go back into Manchester in the car and visit the Orvis Sporting Goods flagship outlet and rod shop and also to shop some of the other outlet stores.  And, we also spent the night in the industrial park.  
Heading on north on Thursday morning we visited the Morgan Horse Farm which is operated by the University of Vermont.  The primary mission of the farm is to promote and maintain the breed of beautiful horses.  They breed and train Morgan horses there and sell them to provide funds to operate the farm.  At one time,  the farm had been operated by the US Government to provide horses for the calvary.  From there we went to Shelburne, VT and toured the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory.  We got to see some of the adorable cuddly creatures "being born."  In spite of many to choose from, we didn't "adopt" any of them.  After a night with quite a few other RVers at "Camp Wal-Mart" we went a few more miles to Waterbury, VT and had a tasty "breakfast" at the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory.  We had a tour of their facilities and also the "Flavor Graveyard" where they have tombstones marked for their retired flavors.  Later that day we topped off the ice cream with a stop at the Maple Grove Farms syrup and candy factory and learned all about "sugaring" and maple candy making.  That night we had crossed into New Hampshire and stayed at the Gorham Wal-Mart.  Saturday was a short driving day and we stayed that night at the Stony Brook Recreation and Campground near Bethel, NH.  It was time to get some full hookups and do some laundry and housecleaning.  
Sunday, July 18 it was on to Maine and the Pumpkin Patch RV Park near Bangor.  The only pumpkins we saw were on the site markers, but it was a great park and definitely "big rig friendly."  We stayed here two nights and on Monday, the four of us (Tom and Mary with our travel buddies - Jacques Everhart and his yellow lab, Aly) spent the day at Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor.  All of the land for the park was donated in the early 1900's to the US Government by the wealthy land owners who wanted to see it remain unspoiled.  Wouldn't you know - the weather would be rainy and foggy!  We did enjoy the drive on the park's "Loop Road" even though we couldn't see the mountain tops except when we were standing on them.  We had lunch in "touristy" Bar Harbor and stopped for "tea" at the Jordan Pond House overlooking the Jordan Pond in the park (yummy Maine blueberry cobbler!).  We're certain to have more opportunities to see rocks and waves in Canada - which we plan to enter on Tuesday, July 20.
Moms and their offspring at the Morgan Horse Farm.
Tom and some of the "orphans" at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory.
Ben and Jerry????
Sand Beach in Acadia National Park.
One of the unique stone bridges on one of the 45 miles of "carriage roads" in the park.  All of the carriage roads and bridges were built by J. D. Rockefeller, Jr, to be available to horses, bikes and pedestrians only.
Atop Cadillac Mountain - the highest point on the Atlantic seaboard.
click on "forward" or "back" above to see more of our adventures in July.
In spite of warnings we'd been given at the campground in Maine, we had no problems passing through customs into Canada on Tuesday, July 20.  They were not busy - just asked a few questions and passed us on.  Our first stop was Fredericton, New Brunswick.  Planning around our fixed ferry reservations coming at the end of the month, we didn't do as much as we would like to in the area.  We hope to do a little more on our way back south in August.  But, we did take advantage of Wal-Mart hospitality for two nights and the day in between we visited the Mactaquac Generating Station and Biodiversity Center where they rescue and relocate the fish they catch at the generating station.  In downtown Fredericton we watched the "changing of the guard" at the Officer's Square in the old military district.
From Fredericton we drove to Prince Edward Island across the 8-mile long Confederation Bridge....quite an engineering and construction project!  Unfortunately, it was foggy at the bridge, so we couldn't see much.  We found our way to Anne's Whispering Pines Campground near Tracadie Bay on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the PEI National Park.  Over the next several days we toured parts of Prince Edward Island. 
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Click on "forward" and "back" above to see more of our adventures in July.
Our first tour took us to "Anne's Land" which is the area where the author Lucy Maud Montgomery was born and raised and was the inspiration for her books (and the eventual movies, etc.) in the "Anne of Green Gables" series.  We visited the author's birthplace and the family farm near Cavendish and also a small museum in Malpeque where a very friendly lady told us all about the mussel farming business.  We had noticed the many, many white buoys floating in most of the bay areas.  Baby mussels (called spats) are put into "socks" of fish netting and hung from buoys in the water for two years.  In that time they grow big enough to eat and then are harvested and sold.  We also made a stop at the Woodleigh Gardens which is a showcase of large scale replicas of castles and cathedrals of the British Isles. They were built over a number of years by Colonel Johnstone who had been inspired during time spent in England during WWI.  We walked inside the "Tower of London" and several other famous buildings.
Our second tour, on Saturday, took us to the "Hills and Harbours" area of PEI.  We drove just along the southern-most coastline and checked out the campground we'll be moving to next week and also the ferry we'll be taking over to Nova Scotia.  We climbed to the top of the oldest lighthouse on PEI, the Point Prim.  It is circular, built of brick, and has been in continuous service since 1846.  It has been operated electrically since 1969.  We were amazed that it is just open to the public for free and we could climb right up and touch the revolving, flashing lens.  We're sure glad that we never had to run up and down the tiny circular staircase to trim the wicks and keep the kerosene burning - or live in the small spaces on the landings.  We were disappointed that because the water was calm, they were not harvesting "Irish moss."  In this area, after stormy seas, they use huge rakes to pull in the seaweed and haul it away.  Supposedly most of the world's supply of Carrageenan (a food stabilizer) is created from PEI's harvest of "Irish moss."
The "piper" leading the guard at Officer's Square in Fredericton.
The "Anne of Green Gables House near Cavendish, PEI
Rows of mussel buoys in the Winter River/Tracadie Bay, PEI
The Tower of London at Woodleigh Gardens, Kensington, PEI
Point Prim Lighthouse, PEI
It was on to the "Ship to Shore" and "Sunsets and Seascapes" areas of PEI on Sunday.  It was a long day with a lot of driving.  We got to see a lot of what PEI is famous for.....cottages scattered among the miles of flowering potato and glistening wheat fields with the water off in the distance.  The yards surrounding the farmhouses and cottages are all neat and clean and edged with flowers.  The one thing that stuck us, however, was the lack of boats in the water.  There were a few docks with fishing boats in some of the villages, but no pleasure boats.                             We stopped to visit two small museums.  In Ellerslie Irma gave us a tour of her Shellfish Museum where we learned about growing oysters, mussels and clams and Irma told us about her days "working the lines" as they put out the "spat."   In O'Leary we toured the Potato Museum and learned all about the island's huge potato industry.  Did you know that potatoes originated in South America and were taken back to Europe by the early explorers?           At North Cape we saw the "wind farm" of 16 windmills generating electricity and part of the 2 mile long rock reef which is protected by a lighthouse built in 1866.  Moving to the opposite shore of the west end of the island, we visited the West Point Lighthouse which also functions as a small hotel.  Once again, we were disappointed that no moss harvesting was taking place. 

Tom with his harvest of "Irish Moss" on the beach at North Cape, PEI

We had communicated by e-mail with friends Mary and Harold Morgan (whom we'd met several years ago when we were all members of the Michigan-O-Bounders) and discovered that they were just several miles away from us at another campground here on PEI.  We got together on Monday morning to compare notes of our travels.  They had just returned from Newfoundland and Labrador and we are heading there next.  We had a great visit with them and their traveling buddies, Vounda and Shelby. (We also have been using journals of our friends the Emonds and the Paynes who visited the Maritimes last year....thanks  guys!)  Later that day we toured the Province House and Founders Hall in downtown Charlottetown, the capital of PEI, and learned about the founding of the Confederation Canada and the formation of its provinces and territories.
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click on "back" above to see our earlier adventures in July.
Mary and Harold Morgan with their friends Vounda and Shelby.
The "Province House" in Charlottetown where the first meetings were held to create the Confederation of Canada in 1864.
On Tuesday, July 27 we moved the rigs a little further east on the Island to Seal Cove Campground.  We had a nice level site several rows back from the water's edge and could see the bay full of buoys from our windows.  After getting set up we went out in search of a distillery that was written up in one of the tour guides.  The descriptions said they had a nice visitor center and tours of the process of making vodka from potatoes.  Well, we searched every road around the little town of Caledonia and nobody we talked to had ever seen the place.  On Wednesday morning we set out again - this time heading for "East Point" on the far tip of the island.  Aly, Jacques' yellow lab, had not been feeling well, so we stopped at a veterinary clinic in Montague.  They took some x-rays and suggested that Aly be taken to the Atlantic Veterinary College Hospital at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown.  So, we changed directions and went to the hospital where Aly was seen by some very nice doctors.  They recommended surgery.  So, Tom and Jacques drove Aly back to the hospital on Thursday while Mary spent the day "housekeeping" back at the campground.  Since the campground was fully booked for the weekend, we had to leave on Friday so we drove the rigs to the College and parked in a large lot.  Aly was discharged on Saturday morning with orders to take it easy and permission to travel.  So, our journey continued. 
On Saturday, July 31 we drove from the Veterinary College in Charlottetown to Woods Island on the south shore where we caught a ferry to Nova Scotia.  Once we docked, we drove from Pictou, NS across to Cape Bretton Island and up to North Sydney, making a few stops along the way.  When we arrived at the ferry terminal around 11pm as the agents had suggested when we made our reservations over the phone weeks ago, we found that they were running way behind schedule.  The lots were full of vehicles and they would not be loading the last evening ferry till close to 2am. We could have come back then to get in line for the first morning ferry.  We chose not to do that and found a space to park at Indian Beach a few blocks away.  There was a full moon that night and we were able to watch it across the water, a beautiful sight.  We were first in line for the ferry anyway, arriving around 6:30am the next morning.....to continue our adventure by going to Newfoundland and Labrador. 
Alyeska, a yellow lab, our travel buddy
The MV/Holiday Isle, an open ferry, that took us on an hour's journey from Woods Island, Prince Edward Island to Caribou, Nova Scotia.
Tom figured out our expenses and discovered that this has been our best month yet....$4 a night average for campgrounds and 9mpg on fuel...but we hit our all-time high for fuel cost at $2.24 a gallon in Nova Scotia.