Hi all,

We are spending a year traveling around the country and Canada.  Just an update from our big trip.  We're having a great time and now find ourselves on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.  We are right on the beach and can closely watch the tides dramatically come in and out.  Here is where we've been so far:

August 2012

Long Beach Island, NJ:  Fun with Neal's family on the beach.  We park in the driveway of rental home on beach.  Gwen swims lots and Phillip is sensitive and wants to be around Mom.

New Jersey campground to which we compare all others and we shall call "Mosquito Creek"  as in  "Gee, the mosquitoes are bad here but nothing like Mosquito Creek."

Neal's friend Steve in Allentown PA - Enjoy visit with Steve and family.  Beautiful  campground  on a creek.

Headed north stopping at Walmart overnight.

Coastal Maine,  Beautiful site on the water.  Very beautiful and the beginning of our adventurous period.   I loved the Maine coast.

Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park  Camped on the water.  Bar Harbor - wonderful town - lunch and nature cruise.  Saw a juvenile bald eagle and seals.  Neal and Gwen take a big tandem bike ride.   Gwen says later,  "Daddy was so good.  He got off the bike and pushed it up the hill and he said I could just sit there."

Back to Maine and Eastport.   

Into Canada  and to St Andrews and Bay of Fundy.  Love Canada and surprised by the European feel.  Pretty views of the water from our campground site.  Starting to catch up with RV organization after having thrown everything in when we left Rocky Hill.

Canada keeps getting better and better.  Some frustration, can't go to Nautical Museum in St. John, can't find parking for RV.  Grocery shopping - much more expensive here. Lot's of salmon.

Enter Fundy National Park - another fantastic camp site, surrounded by pines and very fresh air.  Higher altitude.  Descend to Fundy Bay, very beautiful fog banks below us.  Gwen and Neal swim at saltwater pool at park. Fog rolling around from Bay below us.

Drive up the New Brunswick coast, stop at Cape Enrage, kids find it scary and stay in RV.

Looking lost in city and stranger approaches us and gives us directions. (People are very friendly and helpful here.)

Off to Nova Scotia.  We take a quiet route all trees no cars, then fog.   I feel way off the beaten track.  Stop at small grocer where I buy Cheerios for 6 dollars.  Come out of the store and Neal is being instructed by jovial group who want to help him with the placement of our bikes, "It won't fit, try putting that one underneath."  Back in camper we drive on and suddenly come out of the fog and see a beautiful sight below us of sparkling water, islands and our campground.  Staying here for a few days - we're right on the water.

Things I love about Canada:

CBC

Canadians 

Maritime provinces are gorgeous.

No traffic problems

Not so great:

expensive groceries.

Using our cell phone is very expensive.

Inconsistent Wi-Fi

Joke:

Joke on CBC:  How do you get 20 Canadians out of a pool on a hot day?

You say,  " OK everyone, please get out of the pool."

Local Canadian News

Traffic report on local CBC:  "There is no traffic to report, now for sports."

Local news:  "A woman was held up in her home last night and has not slept since."

"We just received a twitter feed about a van on the side of the road on Main St., looks like it's a tire problem."

Later.......

A few more days at our site on the Fundy Bay looking out at our beautiful island scene.  We kayak in our blow-up kayak around islands being created as the tide rises.  We're told this is the best weather they've had in years.  It's only rained two days for us so far.

Back at the RV, a guy walks up to a bench near-by and smokes and asks me where are we from in CT and how did we find this place.  "Followed the campground signs."  I say.  "How 'bout you?"  "I'm from Stanford, I live here, I just don't know how anyone else ever finds it."

We ask people what else is good to see.  "You gotta go to Cape Breton Island, and Prince Edward Island.... and New Foundland, they talk really different there.   It's really beautiful."

We won't make it that far.  We will go to PEI.

I'm hearing back from my original email and realize that many people have discovered Canada and have friends and family with connections and homes here.  It's all very fresh and new to us and we have liked our going along not knowing specifics and usually being happily surprised by what we find.

We are now on the southern most coast of Nova Scotia, west of Halifax near Peggys Cove.  We are seeing the picturesque places you think of with lighthouses and rocky coasts.   And after Fundy, it is back to the Atlantic Ocean I know, not smooth and calm, but rough and unending.  And with the fishing, clamming and lobstering around I think of my grandfather who fished around Long Island. Again, camp right on the water.   Today it is rainy but will clear soon.  Hope everyone is well, we miss you.

Lisa and Family