The plan for going up the coast didn’t last two days. When we tried to make reservations on Long Island in July, all we got we got was laughs. They not only don’t have campsites, they don’t have campgrounds. (Only in the county parks, and they were full. Who would want to live there anyway?) We didn’t even try Cape Cod. So we switched gears and went into the social portion of the trip and visited our way up the east coast. We’ve found that if we give people too much warning they often have a sick relative to visit….
Using stealth visiting the first people we surprised were Taris and Joan Charysyn. Taris is a high school friend of Pete’s. He was the goalie on their lacrosse team and hasn’t lost a step. Now he makes custom luggage for sports cars, and judging from the way the remodeled the Cramper, demand must be high. We spent a good couple days catching up and telling lies. See you at the reunion, buddy….
If you’re ever in the Boston area we highly recommend the Montemorra B&B. Don is a Yellowstone photographer who moonlights as an attorney. I think it pays better. Don and Deb are thinking of going RV’ing to do photography. At least they were thinking of it. Alice and I did the Boston history thing for a couple days – Old Ironsides, Fanieul Hall, a Tea Party (the original one) reenactment, even a Sox game (14-1 Toronto, yawn). Alice liked the subway ride the best. We did the Boston eatery tour with Don and Deb, and they even arranged a tornado for us.
After that it was up thru Maine, and I figured I’d better do some photography. There’s a puffin rookery with photo blinds ten miles off East Machias, Maine, and I booked a day out there. Even though puffins don’t do much but stand around it, was still really neat. They are really tolerant of the blinds. They often book trips a year in advance, but I got a cancelation. It’s tough to land on the island because its open ocean, but the day was calm so I lucked out all the way around.
From there it was up to Quody Head, the easternmost point in the US – so I was the first to see the sunrise. This is also the entry point for Campobello Island, the summer home of FDR before he was President. This is where he got polio. The Canadians did a good job of restoring and maintaining it, and it’s a good tour.
We crossed into New Brunswick to Fundy NP where they have the 40′ tides. Hopewell rocks are sea stacks that are half covered by high tide, and standing in the middle of a dry plain at low tide. Pretty neat.
We spent a day on Prince Edward Island, but it wasn’t long enough. There’s the Evangaline (French) side and the Ann of Green Gables (Scottish) side. (I’ve really got to read those books – right after I finish The Hardy Boys). We’d have gone back another day – you can cross over the bridge for free – but it’s $45 to get back to New Brunswick. Clever.
Then it was on to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. The Cape Breton Highlands NP, on the north end, is really scenic, with steep cliffs reminiscent of Big Sur. It’s tough to get to, but well worth the effort. Lots of rain and fog though, so photography was marginal for most of the time. We’ve done some hiking, but the day we were going to kayak it rained pretty hard.
We’re at Louisbourg now, the old French fort at the mouth of the St. Lawrence. We’ll visit that tomorrow and then head to Halifax. Back in Maine for Labor Day when school starts and things thin out a little.
Sunset, Cape Breton Highlands NP
Bunchberry dogwood, Fundy NP
Waterfall, Fundy NP
Dusk, Cape Breton Highlands NP
Sunset, Cape Breton Highlands NP
North Shore, PEI
It’s been getting cold at night…
Hopewell Rocks, Bay of Fundy
Indian Pipes
Sunrise, Fundy NP
Quody Head, Me
Arctic tern
That’s Alice on the right….
This isn’t rapids in a river – it’s the tide coming in to the Bay of Fundy.
Grey seals, Machias Seal Island, Me.
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