Back in the good old US of A . . .

August 29, 2009 . . .

Funny how quickly you can pass through the states when you are on a mission. And we had a couple of them. We wanted to stop by in Pennsylvania to visit with the neighbor’s newlywed daughter and new husband (Melissa & Toby), wanted to meet up with Les’ boyhood friend, Mitch, in New York, and wanted to get home in time to get in the pre line up for the Walnut Valley Blue Grass Festival.

Didn’t stay long in Maine this time…. Hit Massachusetts about the time that Teddy Kennedy was being buried, then through Rhode Island, Connecticut, and into New York – all in one day. Now, I know we should have gone slower and seen some of the sights here, but for crying out loud, we were way into sensory overload!

We arrived in Mahopac, NY, and found our way to Mitch’s house – he wasn’t home, but we stuck around on the urging of their landlord. I was able to take some awesome pictures of this wonderful old place. What a surprise for Mitch, to come home after a day of golfing to find an old, old friend on his doorstep. Les and Mitch both got to introduce “new” wives and the four of us hit it off right away. (Les, Mitch and Connie call come from the same hometown, Russell, KS)

Wishing that we had made better plans and more time to stay, we made the best of the time we had, got a lot of visiting in the short time we had and we left the next day – didn’t get a real early start, had to get a little more visiting in, now didn’t we?

Scooting on down the road, we headed to Pennsylvania, lunched in New Jersey, and landed in Huntingdon, PA., where we stopped for the night at the park where Melissa and Toby are Rangers. We spent the afternoon touring the Lincoln Caverns. The afternoon was a beautiful sparkling day so the difference between the cool caverns and the sunlit wooded area around it was a welcome contrast. We met up with the newlyweds, visited with them in their home and then had dinner at one of their favorite hangouts. Melissa and Toby then took us out to see the sunset over the lake. We had a great time!

The next morning . . . we were on the road again. We drove through West Virginia and most of Ohio. Went through the Allegheny Tunnel – what a long hummer! We finally stopped for the night in Englewood, Ohio.

Ah-h-h – September 3rd! It’s an important day to some of us. It took Les until the afternoon, after my sister, Sheila, called me to wish me Happy Birthday that he realized what day it was. We drove through Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, stopping at New Franklin, Missouri for the night. It seems that Boonesville, a little town just down the road from New Franklin, was having a little celebration with a parade and street vendors. I like to think they were having a birthday party for ME! So we went there, had a really nice dinner, walked around and enjoyed the celebration, Les bought me a music festival dress for my birthday) then went back to the campground and got ready for the pull into Wichita the next day.

Yes, we will probably lament the fact that we did not allow enough time to really enjoy all of the states we went through, but at the time - the time spent in the Atlantic Provinces (figuring that we will probably never return) rated higher on our list of priorities than our own states that we will have more of an opportunity to visit again at some later date.

We arrived home in Wichita on September 4th at 1:00 pm – our total miles, since June 17th were 8,647 miles. Les and I were still speaking to each other (just barely) :-) Just kidding! Jeez!

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Les' Readers Digest Version, recently coined the Fortune Cookie one liners:

- Took the ferry from Yarmoth, Nova Scotia to Portland Maine.  Maine to New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York State, Tip of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and home in Kansas.
-  Stoped in Mahopac N.Y. Had a good visit with Mitch and Connie. Mitch lived about a block  away from me growing up in Russell Ks. Hadn't seen each other in about 40 years.  Lots to catch up on.
- Stopped in Huntingdon Pa. Visited with Melissa and Toby. Went to a local Pub, a good time.  She grew up as the neighbor in the next house North of us in Wichita.
- Got home, just in time to head to the Winfield Festival for pre line up.
- Next 2009 Winfield Festival, McPherson Highland Games, Guthrie Bluegrass Festival, and Wintering in Texas.

Nova Scotia 2 . . .

Okay, okay, okay . . . So this is a little embarrassing. Here it is April and you all “think” we are still in Nova Scotia. Yah, right.

I’m going to have to make this very short and sweet. Not as short as Les’ version, to be sure, but then, you all that know me wouldn’t expect anything quite THAT short!

August 14, 2009

 

. . . So, we caught the ferry from Newfoundland and arrived, after a very long night (14 1/2 hour ferry ride), in New Sydney, Nova Scotia. As you know, we met up with young Ben and a couple of people we met in Labrador, who were taking the same ferry. After a VERY long night we landed in Nova Scotia and headed back to our favorite campground at Whycocomagh Provential Park.

 

Now somewhere a long the way I am going to have to cut this long story short, so I’m going to start now, or this trip will never end. We met some more wonderful people at this park, Dave and Blanche, whom we hope to meet up with again some time. We visited Beddeck which is a wonderful little tourist town, where Alexander Graham Bell retired to and lived for many years – they have a great interpretive center there in his honor and a wonderful picturesque harbor. We came back to Beddeck one night just to listen to some Celtic music.

We left the provential park in order to get electricity and internet while we were waiting for some important mail and when it finally came, we took off towards the Bay of Fundy with the hopes of evading Hurricane Bill.

Passsed through some ab-so-lutely gorgeous country, stayed one night by Mosherville, NS, and outwaited "Bill" up in the mountains east of Windsor. After the hurricane passed we went on our way to Digby. Two big reasons we headed for this area of Nova Scotia, (not one of them being that Digby is the scallop capital of the world) the first reason is that Les (and I, both) wanted to see the tide change in the Bay of Fundy, and two, we met a guy named Paul down on Magnolia Beech in Texas that was from Digby who told us to “stop by anytime” – hey, guys, you gotta learn not to do that with us because we are liable to do just that!

We were told by the Info Ladies to go to Halls Harbor to see the tide change. And change it did. In the 3 1/2 hours we were there it must have changed from 6-8 feet. It was amazing! We sat for a while on the deck of a restaurant and watched our jeep “appear” from behind a boat that was towering above it when we parked and was below the parking lot (in the harbor) when we left.

The first part of this picture was taken when we first arrived. My 6 foot husband is standing in front of the "Tide Bound" - his hat is even with the black stripe on the bow of the boat. When we left you can see the boat was far below the dock.

While we were walking around the harbor area to leave, we stopped to look some more and I heard this slurping sound, coming from behind me. Across the road from the harbor was a big pond, walking over to investigate this sound, I found a whirlpool effect that when the tide went out some underground “pipeline” would suck some of the water out of the pond. Well, I thought it was cool!

 After satisfying our curiousity about the Bay of Funday, we moved the Casita to Digby. We called Paul up and he was surprised and happy to hear that we were there and asked us to meet up with him and he would show us around. He took us to his cottage by the lake and fed us some really wonderful Seafood Chowder.

 

Then he took us in to Belliveau Cove to his famiy home, a place he was born in, as well as his father and grandfather! It was a wonderful old home with some truly awesome antiques that his family had had for generations! Regretfully we bid him goodbye – we hope to see him on the Texas beach again some time.

Our final day in Digby was on Les' birthday. We drove the complete length of the Digby Neck, taking two ferries to do so. I found some nice sea glass and some cool stones and Les was surprised to find the birthplace and boyhood home of Joshua Slocum, the man who in the early 1900’s was the first person who single handedly sailed around the world.  The trip took a couple of years, but he lived to tell about it. Here's a picture of Les looking around the area where Joshua Slocum started his journey. It was a fitting birthday bonus for Les.

 The next day we were in Yarmouth, NS, waiting for the “Cat” to take us back to the good old US of A. The “Cat” is a large catamaran ferry that cut our travel time substantially. It was a beautiful ferry that had four areas to sit and watch movies during the trip - it was a 5 1/2 hour trip. We chose to watch the double feature that included the new STAR TREK movie. (Duh!) ( http://www.hickerphoto.com/bay-ferries-cat-yarmouth-nova-scotia-25933-pictures.htm ). We arrived in Portland, Maine, late at night, was one of the first people off the ferry and sailed through customs….

This trip to the Atlantic Provinces was totally spectacular and one of the most memorable trips I've ever taken. August 28, 2009

Les' Readers Digest Version

• Took the ferry from Agentia, Newfoundland to New Sydney, Nova Scotia.
• Went to Beddeck, NS, visited Alexander Graham Bell's Museum.  A. Bell lived in this area in his later years and continued his experimenting and inventing. Also attended an evening of Celtic music provided by the locals.
• Drove down the northwest side of Nova Scotia and weathered Hurrican Bill in the mountains by Windsor, NS. 
• Went to Hall's Harbour on the Bay of Fundy. The largest tide in the world is on the Bay of Fundy. We saw the tide change about 6-8 feet in 3 1/2 hours. High to Low tide can be as much as 30 plus feet there.
• Meet up with Paul in Belliveau Cove, NS. We met him at Magnolia Beach, Texas the previous year and he invited us to visit if we ever got up that way.
• On my birthday we went out to Digby Neck. Took three short ferry rides to out to where Joshua Slocum was raised. He was the first person to single hand a sail boat around the world.
• Went to Yarmouth, NS, and rode the catamaran across to Portland, Maine. "The Cat", hits sppeds between 38-41 knotts in the 5 1/2 hour ferry ride.
• End Note: I've told Joy that if I come up missing and she thinks I'm still alive, come looking for me in Nova Scotia. My favorite of all our travels.