Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park

Jordan Pond at Acadia National Park has probably looked better than it looked today. That is not necessarily a bad photo. It could be but that really is fog in the background. Thick fog. Heavy fog.  The day was gray.  But it was still a good day to be in Acadia National Park.

 The trail is a strange one. Ranged from smooth and level and easy as pie.

 a gentle walk along the edge of the lake.

Like I said the fog was thick.

About half-way around there is a side hike up to the "bubble rock" most of it is up through a boulder field and is quite steep. You had to sorta clamber up over the boulders. The blue mark on the rock was the "trail" marker.

Patt stopped about half way up- you had to sorta pick your own trail. Charles, it reminded me a bit of the Penang Hills — steep, rocky and make you breathe hard. These were not wet though — and I did not hear any monkeys.

At the top the fog?-cloud? was very thick and wherever the bubble rock was, I could not find it.

Back at the lake side the trail picked up a "fragile ecosystem" according to the sign and admonition to stay on the raised pathway - which went on and on and on.  It was striking but it got to be a bit of a challenge of concentration to stay on the boards that just went on and on.

Boards ended and the trail got rocky, very rocky. Got to clamber of rocks again. This tine on the level around the lake.  It was fun but tiring. When we finished, we had a very late lunch at the Jordan Pond Gate House - chowder and their famous popovers.

back in the US of A and a little re-adjustment

Wow, talk about some changes. We have been dealing with culture change. A couple of days ago we were in small — check that — very very small town Nova Scotia. Tonight we are in Bar Harbor, Maine. Tourist town on steroids, crowded, vacation central, and would make any beach town look good too.  

First a side trip. On the way out of Canada, shortly after entering the US of A we re-entered Canada, going to Campobello Island to see the summer home of young FDR. Campotbello is off the coast of Maine but belongs to Canada. The international (co-owned/operated by Canada and US) park there is the only such park in the world.

FDR parents, James and Sarah, were the first family to build a vacation cottage on the island and this is where FDR spent his summers as a child. The parents' cottage is no longer here. The cottage next door was sold (for a pittance) by will to FDR's mother Sarah on the condition she give it to Franklin and Eleanor as a belated wedding gift from the previous owner. This is where FDR was when he contracted polio.  

The view out of the living room window toward the bay. The house as you would expect is quite nice (18 bedrooms).  However, no electricity. Did have running water.

View from the bay side.

Back to the culture shock. In Maitland, Nova Scotia a couple of nights ago, we ate dinner at a country store — we had the "hamburger platter" which included fries and a little pile of slaw for $7.50  Canadian.  Drink was a Jones Cream Soda for me and a Diet Coke for Patt.  No appetizer,  we did get an ice cream cone for dessert for an additional $2.75.  Not every night on our trip has been fancy. In fact a lot have not.  The country store was one of two buildings in town. There were no other buildings there. That was the town. It was an old store — a general store - you could buy shoes, groceries, and a hamburger, and a hammer.  Not a lot else.  Not a lot of groceries either.

Tonight our dinner menu had two lines of type just describing how the baked haddock was prepared (it was quite good I must admit). Those two lines of type were just one digit less than the total of the invoice for the meal — US.  We did have a nice chowder for an appetizer and a nice blueberry apple ice cream dessert.  Drink was the chef's choice, a French summer wine that required nearly a paragraph to describe.  It was nice and "crisp"  We did like it.

and there are Americans every where you look. Everywhere. The US license plate on the car is novel no more.  Ontario plates are scarce.

Saturday we will be playing in Acadia National Park.  And perhaps watching a little ESPN.

Hiking again along Fundy- on the last full day in Canada

Thursday, September 4, our last full day in Canada (this trip) we went to Cape d'Or (and if you remember your French lesson you know what that means).  It was, as were many of the days here, stunningly beautiful. A light house, cliffs, and a hike along the shore and cliffs. That is the Bay of Fundy.

We are staying in a little post card town, Parrsboro, known for ship building, tidal research, and fossils.  There is a geological research center here.

It was a post card pretty day. We enjoyed it very very much. As we have our time here.

At dinner we were planning our next trip back to Canada. Won't be long either.

Later we went on to Cape Chignecto Provincial Park where we went for a hike through the woods and along the high ridge a top the cliffs along the shore. The wildflowers were putting on a show.

When we came out of the woods, the Nova Scotia park service had put in steps to get down to the beach from the cliffs. The tide fortunately was at low tide.

There were lots of interesting rocks. That is the other thing Parrsboro is known for, rocks and fossils.  There was lots of shale nearby that held fossils. I broke open some but did not find a fossil. Perhaps I was not patient enough?  Nah, no chance of that.

A look back at the steps. There was a little creek and waterfall coming out at the same place too.

 If you look closely you can see Patt in the distance.

and likewise if you look closely there I am.

Tomorrow is traveling — on to Bar Harbor, Maine in the US of A.

Singing, and working and not working

Wednesday, the day before school starts here in Nova Scotia, which is also September 3rd, we were in Springhill which as ya'all know is the birthplace of Anne Murray.  Crossover country -pop star of the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties according to the "Ain't Anne Great Museum (not the real name) we went to. Don't get me wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a country pop crossover female songstress with a soft mellow voice and I do like "Snowbird" and "Can I have this Dance" among many others (we did buy a CD).  Snowbird was number 1 on both country western and pop charts in 1970 for your information.  She had lots of number ones on both charts over several decades.  That was her first.

She had several windows full of gold and platinum records. Other windows were full of dresses,  magazine covers, photos, endless tape loops of testimonials of people saying how great Anne is.  It was overdone.

Then as a counterpoint we went to the next thing Springhill is known for, coal mines and disasters.  Being the observant reader you are you will note the green around the coal colliers and surmise that the mines are no longer in operation.  Nailed it. Since 1875 till 1970. The town is going out of business.  There were numerous explosions, caverns, unionization fights.  It apparently was not a pretty operation.

Tourism is about all that is left and mine "slope" number 4 is open for tours.  We went down under ground 300 feet, making several tuns into different tunnels.  The yellow rain jackets are because drips of water fall from the "roof" of the mine and the hard hat is because that same roof is low and you hit (or at least I did ) your head several times on the "ceiling". Can't remember mining term for roof.

The tourist mine slope route has flooring and a roof, electricity and additional shoring. Tracks for the colliers have been removed.
 

It looked more gloomy and dark than the photo portrays. The guide turned off the lights and it was dark. Total dark. Not see your hand before you face dark. I know, I tried. It was cool. Once again we had a suburb guide whose father worked in the mine and was seriously injured in a mining accident.

This is near Old Barns, a cross roads community - not much of one as it goes and there are lots of them.  There are actually barns in Old Barns, coincidentially for real. This is an agricultural area near Fundy.  In fact the little stream like features in the field in the foreground are tidal areas drained for agriculture.

One of hundreds of little churches we have seen in the Maritimes.  Hundreds, perhaps thousands, and they accompany little communities that have no people because the ball fields are grown up and abandoned, houses closed up and it is obvious that for most of the Maritimes that we have seen the economic good times are times of the past.

The good "Scottish lad" or "Irishman" Ian Harrison will preach on the First Sunday at the United Church.  The United Church of Canada is the combined Presbyterian and Methodist in Canada in 1922, I think.

Wooden sailing ships days are over, coal mines are mined out, big farms have taken over, timber has been cut and it is slow growing anyway, fishing is about over fished, and the young people have "gone west".  We heard that a lot - "my daughter is in Alberta, Yellow Knife, Vancover,  or in the US somewhere.  The Maritimes do have some vacation investment property for sale.

We continued on to Parrsboro where we are staying our last days in Canada.  Another little town.

Ridin' on the Shubenacadie River

Went to the Hockey Birthplace (contested) Museum in Windsor, Nova Scotia, one of many little towns here.  Montreal also claims birthplace, but identifying with underdogs, I go with Windsor.  Lots of old hockey stuff.  

Also had their local high school uniform.  Modeled after the Carolina Hurricanes uniform of red with hurricane warning flags around the bottom.

Then later in Maitland we went to the William D. Lawrence House museum, a noted shipbuilder who built the largest wooden sailing ship ever built. See painting behind Patt and Shirley our docent.  It hauled lumber, coal and guano among other cargo during the final days of wooden sailing ships.

Here is Burntcoat.  That is an island at high tide which can be as much as 16 point something meters at its highest which is a lot of feet. Most in the world so they claim.

Here it is at low tide. Today the range between high and low was 43 feet so they said. I do not know what that is in meters. You can see the water in the bay in the far distance. That is the Bay of Fundy. Yes we are back again.  At a different location.  We have made sort of a huge, well not so big, circle.

The island is on the left in the picture below, Patt is in the picture to the right. She is not waving.  She is there though.  If you look very very closely.

This is from the front yard of where we are staying at the mouth of the Shubenacadie River where it meets the Cobequid Bay. This is high tide, obviously.  This Bay is part of Fundy.

and this would be low tide.

One of the things the Shubenacadie River is famous for is its "rapids" or "waves".  I was the last of those zodiac rafts in the photo below. I waved.  We went up river at low tide to be at the sand bars where the tidal bore — the wave created when the incoming tide meets the out-going river - creates waves or rapids at certain sand bars.

and the return a couple of hours later — we even jumped out of the boat at the far end of the trip and let the current take us up river for a bit. It was not warm— but fun. We were already very very wet.  As the boat driver said more than once.  "From time to time we may take on some spray" and we did.

The Sun Never Sets ….

on the British Empire 

and they mean it too.

Last day of August and the British Flag flies over the Citadel at Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Built to keep out Americans, and now as the guide so cleverly said, "to attract American tourists," is quite the site.  Halifax was England's major city in Canada and was well defended.  

The Fort today is manned by re-enactors of the 78th Scottish Highlanders, of the mid 18th Century, and were stationed here during our Civil War out of concern that the South - or North - might try to make a military incursion into Canada.  The US was not entirely trusted by England as the War of 1812 was somewhat fresh in their minds— which by the way — they do not think they lost.

These guys were feeling rather proud of themselves as it was about 12:01 and they had just fired the 12:00 noon cannon with much noise and smoke.

It was a big production, get the civilians back out of the way and such.  Our tour was ending just at the most opportune time so we were in prime position for the festivities of cannon firing.

The fort is a labyrinth of walls and entrapments for an advancing army and built to withstand much cannon fire with thirty foot thick earthen walls.

Our guide dressed in full regalia, ostrich feather headdress, kilt and working rifle, redcoat, and was serious about his role.  We liked him.

Changing of the guard.  Lots of shouting, marching and stomping of feet.

Guess who is in the Providence House for Nova Scotia? (Providence House, that's what they call their legislative building).  Why none other than Queen Charlotte and … wait for it ….King George III.  Yes that one.  Canadians are so nice Patt and I did not have the heart to point out that we did not have large portraits of King George III hanging in our legislative buildings and had a different historical perspective on him.

Took a hike along the shore — amongst the segways, yachts, street musicians, people walking dogs and crowds (look into the background of the photo) and yes indeed-dee — our environment for hikes have changed just a bit, no more forest glades and rocky seaside cliffs.  Halifax is a city of probably close to half a million.

We'll be traveling tomorrow.  Moving on,  Leaving the Atlantic.  For now.