Maine

The border guard at Jackson, Maine told us to expect snow as we drove back into the USA from Canada.  Brrr...we've left this part of our journey a bit late in the season, but Maine is a spectacularily beautiful place, well worth visiting.  I'd return at a warmer time of year and bring a kayak or canoe.  There is a myriad of waterways all over the state.  We stopped in Waterville, you can see from the below photos where it gets the name.  Apparently it is possible to kayak from here to the Atlantic ocean.

 

 In an antique store in Waterville we spotted this old child's car.  Chris said she had one just like it when she was about three yrs old...maybe it was blue.  Anyone remember it?

 The US election took place while we were in Maine.  I tried to vote with Chris, but neither of us were eligible...at this point Chris would like to rant, but I think I'll keep control of the keyboard and spare us all.

Maine is another great spot for lighthouses.  We visited several.

 

We cannot visit Maine without talking about Lobsters.  Once we got to the coast, we couldn't get away from thinking about lobsters.  They draw and paint and sculpt lobsters around here.

 Of course, they catch lots of them here too...all year around.  Not far from Rockland we went to a pier where they bring in the catch and you can purchase lobsters right there on the wharf.

Mostly...they eat them.  They make chowders and sauces, rolls and salads and all sorts of lobster tasties.

We chose the traditional steamed lobster.  We got to meet and greet the fellows as they came out of the tank.

 Poor lobsters...they came out of the kitchen red and steaming...but were they ever good!

 

Once we cleaned ourselves up, we headed down the road to a place called Boothbay, on the recommendation of a local.  Well worth the visit, we really liked this little town.  In summer, the tourists swarm, but early November is fairly peaceful, and a little too cold for kayaking on the picturesque bay.

We thought this was a unique pet store.

Around the back they had an assortment of dog houses, Phil and Chris thought they'd find something for me, but I didn't share their enthusiasm.

 

We saw a lot in Maine...what a terrific state, it is worth a trip back someday.  There is more to write about, but I'm hungry and need to find out if Phil and Chris have made some dinner for me.  Stay tuned for Maine, part 2.

 

Thanksgiving

We can only hope that all our American and Canadian friends enjoyed Thanksgiving as much as we did.  We had a terrific day with family and friends in Virginia, lots of great food and some wine.  A big thank you to everyone who made the day memorable.

 

Having been dissuaded from a hibernation plan, I started out the day by making stuffing and preparing the turkey.  

 I even helped Pat make the pumpkin pies.

 Once the turkey was roasting, I had some time to relax and enjoy a bit of wine.

 Much to the despair of Chris and Phil, I fell asleep with my head in the bowl...long before the meal.  These big celebrations always seem to get the best of me.

New York State and a storm

Before I start this post I need to comment on a conversation we had the other day.  As usual, Phil and Chris were berating me about writing blog posts and my alcohol consumption.  I'm kind of used to this theme now, and my skin is thicker than it used to be...however, let me remind everyone that I am a bear.  Twice already this fall we've been in snow and I want to...need to be...hibernating.  It is what bears do...just let me curl up in a warm place with a few bottles of red and I'll be good for a few months. 

Aside from hibernating, we visited New York State after driving over the border from near Niagara Falls in Canada. We went to the Finger Lakes region, where we camped in a National Forest.  This campground welcomes horses, as evident from the many hitching posts and a corral present.

Many hiking trails weave through the forest and around the lakes and ponds here in the Finger Lakes region. 

 We had a gorgeous, sunny fall day to explore the park.

 We surprised this grumpy turtle trying to sunbathe along a raised section of the trail.  He snapped at us as we tried to get around him.

 

The region has what is written up in a British Airways magazine as "one of the ten most scenic drives in the world". We had to see...and it was a pretty drive, but there were so many pretty drives in the area and some had better views than the road specifically suggested by BA.

 Plenty of vinyards along the way too...why aren't we stopping??

Amish and/or Mennonites live in the area and this sign was directly in front of the truck stop where we fueled up.  An interesting contrast in cultures.

 There is our little RV lined up with all the trucks.  Fuel was relatively expensive in New York...it was about US$4.40 per gallon.  Glad we aren't paying Perth prices.

 A big storm was forecast to hit the east coast.  We decided to turn North and visit Montreal and Quebec (as I mentioned in the Quebec blog).  On the way to Montreal we drove out to Cape Vincent, a little town on the St Lawrence mostly devoted to tourism.  It is well past the tourist season now, so facilities were fairly limited but we found a nice pub open for dinner.

 This is Tibbetts Point Lighthouse a little ways down the road from the town.

They build many of these pretty stone cottages up here.

 

 It wasn't Friday when we were here...I wonder how early you need to get in before this place closes.

 

 One of the nice things about out of season travel is the available parking!  No one complains where you park and when were stopped at the pub and asked about parking, they just said, "who is going to give you a ticket?"

We try hard to avoid this scenario.

Along the St Lawrence, in the 1000 Islands region, we stopped at a State Park and went for another hike.  We were hoping to camp here, but sadly, the camping is over for the season.

 

Eventually we worked our way up to Canada again.  We watched the storm hit the east coast on a TV in a bar one night and someone told us where to catch the train and where to get off in Montreal.  The next day our intrepid travellers found the train and made their way about 29 km to Montreal, changed trains and got off at St Catherine.  It wasn't quite where we expected, plus it was really rainy.

Prepared for the rain!

 How is this for confusing the navigation?

 This was another classic.

Aside from our train ride, and then a taxi ride (the taxi driver got lost) we ddin't see much of Montreal.  Quebec City is a separate post.

Quebec City

A big storm was forecast to hit the east coast of the US which was, of course, right where we were headed.  Not being completely stupid, we decided to head north to Montreal and then Quebec City and try to avoid the worst of the storm.  We had a leisurely drive up along the northern boundary of New York, along the St Lawrence Seaway, visiting several small towns along the way.  We eventually crossed over into Canada not far from Montreal.  We didn't spend a lot of time in Montreal, but we drove up to Quebec and spent a very enjoyable couple of days looking around.  Founded in 1608, Quebec is one of the oldest cities in North America.  It is also the only city north of Mexico which is still surrounded by fortified walls. 

 

Here is Phil near one of the gates through the wall.

 The gate is just up the road from the Citadelle, an active military installation.

 There is plenty of history in this town.  Even though it was a rainy, gloomy day, we enjoyed exploring all the hills, walls and historical sights.

 

The mighty St Lawrence Seaway is just on the other side of the wall.  We climbed up about 650 steps to get where this photo was taken.

The city streets are narrow and winding...very picturesque and fun to browse.

There are some really steep hills, I wonder if they make the horse drawn carriges go up these streets?

 

 We walked for miles that morning...up and down, all around the town.  Phil and Chris decided to treat themselves to a nice meal in an old restaurant...it was delicious.

While near Quebec we visited a shopping mall.  It was fairly big and they even had a hockey rink, so we could witness the Canadian favourite. 

 As I mentioned, the hockey was in a mall.  Around the hockey rink was an indoor amusement park complete with rollercoaster and ferris wheel.

We departed Quebec in the hopes of finding warmer and sunnier weather.

Happy Halloween

Phil and Chris noticed that I wasn't my usual cheerful self after being excluded from the Niagara boat trip.  They bought me a little pumpkin to cheer me up. 

A few days before Halloween they helped me carve my pumpkin...that is what everyone does here for Halloween.  I'm not sure they are going to let me go trick or treating...

A visit to Canada

We prepared the van and madly searched for the passports and other important documents necessary for us to not only drive into Canada, but importantly, drive back to the US.  Once we were organized
we hit the freeway for the bridge to Canada.

The border crossing went fairly smoothly.  We always worry about this and had heard a few horror stories about searches and xrays at the borders...we aren't carrying a few simple bags across...we have the whole van full of stuff and food.  One of the border guards even suggested a scenic drive along Lake Superior's North shore.

The weather wasn't terrific for our scenic drive, and only deteriorated.  We liked the moose crossing warning signs, however, didn't seen any moose.

On the north shore of Lake Superior looking at all the nice smooth stones.

 

 

This is such a disappointing photo!  The weather really did not cooperate for our first four days in Canada, and rather than fill pages with dismal, overcast photos, we've included only this one here.  Around Lake Superior, the mountains come down to the shores and it is stunning...maybe another day.

We had a window of opportunity to visit our friends in Toronto.  They like to travel and visit new places as much as we do, so we managed to time our visit between their trips away.  Cathy and Jim showed us excellent hospitality and we enjoyed visiting a few of the ethnic neighborhoods in Toronto.  It was even sunny for a few days.

Next we drove around the west end of Lake Ontario to Niagara Falls.  Of course the Falls are spectacular, but the canal system nearby is interesting and we spent a few days in the area exploring.  We walked a few miles along the Welland Canals on some of the nice multi use trails around St Catherines.  At Lock 7 we stopped for a hot chocolate and some lunch at a tourist information shop, and it started pouring with rain.  Lucky for us, a local baker was visiting the shop and he gave us a lift down to where we'd parked the van.  The humans, in their usual offensive way, say there is nothing worse than wet bear smell in the van.

Surprisingly, it was sunny and warm the days we set aside for Niagara Falls.  The town of Niagara Falls is really touristy, yuk, but even that stuff cannot take away from the beauty of the falls.  The current of the river above the falls races along at 48 knots.  There have been people that have survived a trip over the falls, accidental or otherwise, and a few died going that way too.

Once again I was left in the van while Chris and Phil got up close and personal with the water.  I guess it was the wet bear thing again.  They went on the Maid of the Mist, a tour to the base of the Falls, which has been running since the mid 1800's.  The stylish plastic ponchos are provided to all the passengers, and it is misty the entire time down at river level.  As the boat gets close to the horseshoe falls (pictured above), it gets really wet.

 Phil and Chris, and not Buster, also went to a nice restaurant for dinner at the Skylon, overlooking the Falls.  Great view and great food, and again, so very fortunate to have such marvelous weather to enjoy our time here.

I was so upset not to be included in the tour or dinner, I snuck out and had a swim.  Plenty of stunned little fish at the bottom of the falls to eat.  Now I'm in trouble again...I am just a terrible little bear.