Friday, July 12, 2024, Move to Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, Canada

We were scheduled to have pancakes and sausage served up by our tour hosts but four inches of rain overnight inundated the gathering room and breakfast had to be cancelled. The water was so high we had to find an alternate exit to avoid the foot deep water over the normal exit drive.

The Debert River was nearly over the levee.

Our travel today took us 118 miles to Ponderosa Pines campground on Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick. This park gave us easy access to Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park. We backed into a new site that was level, high, and dry!

The park could not accommodate our entire group in one area but we had a nice gathering area near our Wagon Masters coach at the end of the park (just beyond the truck on the right).

A few steps away from our site was a trail to a Salt Marsh along the Bay of Fundy.

We could have hiked many more miles through the forest but it felt like we needed to drive to the provincial park to see one of the iconic scenes of this tour. I took a few pretty pictures and we returned home.

We relaxed a bit waiting for high tide before heading to Hopewell Rocks (also known as "Flowerpot Rocks"). I had no idea how far it was from the parking lot to the overlook. It was more than I would have elected to hike but we had to see the rocks at high tide and this was our only opportunity. We made it to the overlook just a few minutes after high tide but I doubt we would have noticed a difference. It was a long uphill climb back to the car and there was an option to ride a cart to the top but we were good and got our steps in.

While it was still daylight and nearly high tide we checked the salt marsh again and could see a significant difference in the water level.

Happy to be out of the rain for a while and with so many steps for the day we settled in for a good night's sleep. 

Wednesday, July 10, 2024, Move to Elm River Park, Glenholme, Nova Scotia, Canada

The move from Cove Oceanfront Campground to Elm River Park near Glenholme, New Brunswick, was 180 miles. We never found out why the Elm River Campground was on the banks of the Debert River. We quickly set up camp and headed to the Fundy Discovery Site to see the tidal bore. The view when we arrived included a large sandbar in the middle of the river.

We saw a large contingent of Fantasy Tour members lining the walkway of the viewing area.

Mark, Monica, Marcia, and Butch are to our right.

Sherry and Chris are to our left.

Joan and Annalee, are not far away.

We only had to wait a few minutes before the water rushed through the tidal bore. We first saw a wave of water round the bend and within a few minutes the sandbar was underwater as the level quickly rose. The Salmon River flow was overwhelmed by the Bay of Fundy tide. The tidal bore was earlier than forecast and a busload of disappointed tourists sadly arrived a few minutes too late to see the spectacle. Hopefully, they were staying around long enough for the next high tide.

We stopped at the Masstown Market on the way back to the campground. It was one of the nicest markets we visited in Canada. There was a huge variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and ready to heat-and-eat meals. We picked up a Lobster Pot Pie and a Ham and Cheese Quiche.

Sunday, July 7, 2024, Move to Parker's Bay, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada

We moved to Parkers Bay near Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, a short trip of 102 miles. We were warned the park owner could be difficult. She had to park each coach herself. That meant we had overwhelmed her and coaches were waiting on the highway. We drove a few hundred yards around the corner and found a large parking lot where we took the car off the dolly and waited for the crowd to clear. Across the highway, I noticed boats tied to the wharf. I liked the relative sizes - small, medium, large.  

Since we were safely out of the road, we waited until the traffic jam cleared.  We were last to get parked, but we were rewarded with a nice oceanside view. The sites were grass and it had rained the night before so the ground was pretty soggy. The park had some power issues. We only had about 105 volts but faired better than a few of the others.

Getting in so early meant we had plenty of time to take a first look at Annapolis Royal. The streets were deserted and most shops were closed on Sunday. It was a pleasant day so we decided to get our steps in.

The Ryan Royal was high and dry. Maybe she was in for repairs or maybe she was just waiting for the tide to head out to the fishing waters again.

Fort Anne was a historic site managed by the Canadian National Park system (we can use our passes). We thought it was closed so we just walked the grounds. We found out later the museum was open.

The trademark red Adirondack chairs were positioned to overlook the bay.

The town had a bit of charm but after Lunenburg, it seemed a bit bland.

The building across the street was home to a lawyer's office and an artist's studio.

I don't know what went on upstairs but I hope that was the artist's studio.

Thursday, July 4, 2024, Cookout and Architecture, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada

Our morning started with a 500-yard move from the lower campground to the upper campground. Now we were all together and I had better power. At the lower site, I had to use an extension cord and the voltage drop meant we could only use one "thing" at a time. "Thing" being any major appliance: microwave, water heater, A/C, etc.

Our tour hosts set up for a Fourth of July cookout. Grilled hot dogs and all of the usual toppings including chili. Jennifer made the best pasta salad (Joani tells me). I had two chili dogs - I was carb-loading to tackle the Lunenburg hills again.

I think we have a pretty good group. I was starting to remember most of their names and getting to know something about their history and RVing experience. If anyone was missing, I did not notice.

With the move and cookout, we were already into the afternoon. We just walked the Lunenburg streets and continued to marvel at the beautifully restored houses and businesses. Many of the houses had plaques that indicated when the structure was originally built and who was the original owner. The oldest house in town dates back to 1783. I'll just leave this blog entry with some of my favorites. 

Wednesday, July 3, 2024, Move to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada

Our move to Lunenburg from North Sydney was the longest of the tour at 300 miles. Unfortunately, because of the change to the Tattoo schedule in Halifax, the tour route was juggled in a way that we had to retrace the exact mapping we had just driven from Halifax to North Sydney only in reverse with an additional 50 miles tacked on. I would have preferred a different route to see something new but the familiarity made it easy to follow.

Crossing the causeway we left Cape Breton Island behind.

I do mean we followed the exact mapping passing by the same landmarks. The oddly proportioned church below was just before the right turn into the Woodhaven campground. We waved as we went by.

The same schedule juggling meant the Lunenburg campground did not have accommodations for our entire group, so several of us had to set up in the lower section for a night before moving to the upper sites to join the group.

We drove to a Google-recommended "Lunenburg Photo Spot" to view Lunenburg across the water. This town was the most picturesque we visited to date. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Established in 1753, it is the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America.

After our drive around town, we decided to explore some more on foot. Lunenburg has some very steep hills but overall it was a very walkable place.

Along the waterfront, restaurants, businesses and museums reflected their nautical history. 

The Bluenose II was at the dock and allowed us to roam the deck. The original Bluenose was an award-winning fishing vessel.

The ship's bell was rigged to prevent people like me from ringing it.

I wondered if they might let me take the helm when we sail on Friday.

It was a short day of exploring after a long day of driving but it was clear the town had a lot of potential for being our top spot on the Maritimes Fantasy Tour.