Mission (almost) Accomplished

Well, we’re back at Alice’s folks in West Virginia after finishing up the east coast on Long Island.  We’ve now photographed the coastline of the entire Lower 48.  Next year, Alaska by ferry to the Inside Passage and Aleutians, and then Hawaii the following year.

We spent most of August in Canada touring around Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.  We got a Parks Canada pass and that enabled us to visit many National Parks and historic sites.  The old French fort at Louisburg (French and Indian Wars) was well worth a day.  They have an excellent living history program on all facets of life in the 1500’s.  Never really attacked, the fort fell twice to siege (“Gee, I never thought they would get guns up there!”) and was finally abandoned.

The roads in Canada are  rough, to say the least. Although the cramper survived, a number of parts were bounced loose, and the refrigerator quit after we had to park on a slope one night. After a couple attempts at repair we gave up and bought a couple Styrofoam coolers to put inside the refrigerator.  Who needs a refrigerator, we’re camping- right?

Halifax is the major town in Nova Scotia and  we spent a couple days touring it.  The closest North American port to England, Halifax was strategically important until WWII and Ft. Halifax (more living history) kept the town from ever being taken.  We camped across the bay and took a ferry into the city.  Alice insisted on a tour of the first brewery in town which turned out to be a disapointgly expensive free beer.   We got homesick when we passed the Patagonia store and spent the remainder of the day touring the waterfront.  The next day when leaving, Pete got caught in the E-Z Pass lane on the bridge, and we just ran the toll booth.  The Mounties gave chase, but we easily outdistanced them with the cramper.

It was then down to Lunenberg, a little fishing village turned tourist town (Whatever happened to all those cod on the Grand Banks anyway?) where we found a neat beach and some sea caves.    On the way back to Maine, we made stops at the Fossil Cliffs on the Bay of Fundy, Alexander Graham Bell’s birthplace in Baddeck, NS, St. Johns, NB, and then crossed back into the US on Labor Day.

The tourists had departed and we could finally get near the coast, so it was time to start photographing again.  Five days at Acadia NP was well worth it for images.  When there we were visited by friends Ron and Marilynn from Missoula, who were on their way up to Nova Scotia for a week of sailing. They introduced Alice to her first Lobster Pound, and the trip was finally worth it. She cracked  and gouged her way through an unfortunate crustacean staring up at her from a cake pan.  All was well.

We worked our way down the Maine coast (Booth Bay, Wells – more Lobster Pounds), bypassed Boston, and headed out to Cape Cod.  The National Seashore provided enough almost-empty beaches for pictures, as well as a few seals hauling out on offshore sandbars at low tide.  Now for the trips biggest challenge – Long Island – Pete’s home.  We left the cramper in New London, Ct. and took the ferry over.  It was all Pete could do to keep from blubbering as he watched Orient Point rise from the horizon – but the ensuing traffic snapped him back to reality.  So much for sentiment.  We stayed with Pete’s cousin Barbara in East Hampton, and had a great visit going over family (which just about consists of Pete and Barbara at this point) history.  On the last night, we found enough empty beach for a few sunset images, and closed the circle on the Lower 48.

It was then up to New Hampshire and a reunion with Ron and Marilynn at Leon and Doreen’s, friends of theirs from Guilford.  We visited, went to a show featuring a Maine comedian, toured the White Mountains for fall color, had lunch with a friend of Alice’s from Elderhostel days, and generally relaxed. After spending a night at Ticonderoga and visiting Crown Point and Lake Placid (good color), we stayed with Laddie and Jane in Syracuse.  Laddie and Pete went to high school together and we were subjected to much Long Island humor. Fortunately, it was a weekend and the guys watched football while Jane and Alice played golf and picked pumpkins.  It was two days back to W.Va., and we’ll be here another two weeks.  Pete has a contract to do family photos for the Strickers.  Think they can afford it?

Of the four trips, this may have been the shortest, but easily the hardest.  New England and the Maritimes are meant to be accessed from the ocean, and it’s tough to get around.  The roads are generally bad. We had a lot of down time (It was tough keeping Pete in books)  and there really wasn’t that much to photograph – you try finding empty beaches and wildlife between Cape May and Cape Cod.  And there are just so many people.  We were both pretty grouchy at times.   On the flip side, we saw and did a lot of neat things, and reconnected  with a lot of good friends.  Many thanks to all of you who we saw on all of these trips – it’s been an incredible experience.

Anybody want to buy a Cramper?

Sunrise, Boulder Beach, Acadia

Sea Cave, Nova Scotia

Grey seals, Cape Cod

Final shot, Montauk Point, Long Island

Sunset, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia

Beach Scene, Parker River NWR,  Ma.

Dunes, Cape Cod

Waterfall, White Mountains NH

Fall Color, White Mountains NH

Fall Color, Adirondacks, NY

Fall Color, Adirondacks, NY