Monday, July 8, 2024, Schnitzel, Fort Anne, Campfire Sunset, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada

We woke up to some thick fog and saw something I'm not sure I've seen before - a fogbow! It was sunlight reflected off of the fog so it was exactly opposite the direction of the rising sun.

It was low tide so we walked to the wharf we saw on moving day to have a look. The three boats in yesterday's picture were out fishing and we were looking 25 feet down to the seabed. To contrast, I tried to take the same pictures at high tide the next day.

Fantasy arranged a lunch at a German restaurant in Annapolis Royal. We had our choice of Schnitzel or Bratwurst. Joani had the brat and I had the schnitzel and we shared. I think the schnitzel was delicious and my favorite. Blueberry crumble was served with ice cream for dessert.

Our host, the pastry chef, was from East Germany (her husband was the cook and her daughter was one of the servers). She talked for a few minutes about her history and how they ended up in Canada. She was passionate about what she sees happening to Canada now and the parallels with what she lived through in East Germany. She did not get the memo about no political discussions.

After we finished, Steve, the tour wagon master, tried to round everyone up for a group photo. Talk about herding cats. 

He did get everyone still for a few moments, but we have yet to see the picture so I have no idea if he was successful. I cannot imagine everyone was visible in the picture but maybe he will share it later.

The fog was long gone and the sun was brightly shining. It was a beautiful day for another walk around Annapolis Royal. We started with Fort Anne.

The museum, housed in the last remaining building in the fort, had a model to help visualize the entire fort in its prime.

In a cutaway of the building's wall, we could see how bricks had been used to fill in around the timber framing. Using building materials from older buildings was referred to as "bricknogging".

There was a picture of Queen Elizabeth sewing a few stitches in the tapestry of her great-grandmother, Queen Anne.

Later in the evening we sat around a fire and watched the sunset. Clouds rolled in before it sank below the horizon but we did get to see some nice color even if we didn't see the actual sunset.

The fog rolled rolled in and then it rolled back out again.

Jean, Brian, Jean, Randy and Joani

Jean and Randy's fur baby, Sheldon.

As night fell, we watched a fishing boat work the shoreline.

It gets dark pretty late at these latitudes in the summer so it was time to call it a night after a long and eventful day.

Thursday, June 20, 2024, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

The first leg of our Fantasy RV tour was only about 80 miles from St. Andrews to Fredericton, NB, Canada. It was a test to see how well everyone followed the supplied turn-by-turn directions. Happily, everyone made it without getting lost.

We had no issue with 4 meters of clearance (13 feet, 1.5 inches) but there were some nervous big rig drivers. Our wagonmaster, Steve, had previously climbed on the bridge with a tape measure and assured everyone there was plenty of clearance for his rig (one of the tallest in the group).

Most of the sites were pull-thru but about half a dozen of us had back-in sites overlooking the river. Our neighbors, Vic and Beth, pulled in facing forward to place this spectacular view in their front window.

Our arrival coincided with the Garrison Market so most everyone drove into town to people watch and eat at the many varied ethnic food stands.

The utility poles looked like they were tired of carrying their heavy loads. To be fair, there were way more connections than you usually see on a single pole.

We returned to the campground and took in the sunset from our hillside overlooking the St. John River. What a beautiful end to our first travel day!

June 13 thru 15, 2024, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada

Joani plotted our trek into St. Andrews down Prince of Wales Street on the north side of town. The Algonquin Resort was built over the street joining the north and south wings of the hotel. There was plenty of clearance for the coach, it was just tedious with all the foot traffic. We had the breakfast buffet here on our 51st wedding anniversary (June 15th) where I ate way too much but it was so delicious! 

Several times we took a trail from the campground that led into town. Along the way, we found fields of Lupine and very tame deer. One woman said when she would have popcorn at her camper the deer would come up to her for their share.

Most of the town's shops and restaurants were along Water Street, an easy three-quarters of a mile stroll. We tried the hardware store for a cabinet latch and while the store had been in business for many years they did not have what we needed. That's the side of the hardware store below. We dined out three or four times during our stay so it was good that we walked almost every time.

The amount of tide change depends on a number of factors. In St. Andrews it can be as much as 24 feet, however, it was more like 16 to 18 feet between high and low tide during our stay. I lost track of how many times Joani combed the shoreline for interesting rocks, I just know the car is loaded now. 

I found this live crab in a tidepool.

The deer below were at the edge of our campground. They were not bothered by people walking or cars driving by on the road. We counted five several times so we assumed they ran together but maybe there were more. We saw them around town in people's yards as well.

I don't know why I like sailboats - I've never had one, will probably never have one, and can't quite imagine sailing on one - I guess they will always just be nice subjects for photographs.

Below, I tried to center on the lighthouse at high tide and again at low tide to show the difference. I was impressed. Now I can't wait to see the tide at the Bay of Fundy in a couple of weeks.

At low tide, the array of rocks seemed never-ending.

The Celtic Cross was dedicated as a memorial to the Irish immigrants who died on Hospital Island just offshore.

We never had a clear evening for stars and we kept looking for color at sundown. Unfortunately, while nice, the sunsets never blossomed into a full technicolor display.  

May 20 thru 25, 2024, Munising, MI

Since rain was in the forecast, we broke camp early. The first few drops landed as we finished emptying our tanks. That might have been our earliest departure ever at 7:30am. What was especially nice was how still it was - not a hint of breeze, as can be seen in the lake pics below, and nice conditions for our 186-mile drive to Munising (we visited Munising once before in June of 2018).

Another benefit to the early start was critter sightings. The road had very little traffic, other than us, so we saw a wild turkey, a deer, a momma bear and her cub, a bald eagle (very close to the road at eye level), and a huge heron. They were all elusive enough that pictures were not possible but it made the drive even more memorable.

When we reached Munising the wind was still dead calm on Lake Superior. Our site (number 35) in Munising Tourist Park Campground had a nice view of the water.

With our early arrival, Joani had plenty of time to roam the shoreline hunting agates. A little breeze came along with a light sprinkling before ending the day with a beautiful sunset. 

Several days we had rain which was to be expected this early in the season. Since we were staying for 6 nights we were happy to see a mix of weather. Especially when the light rain was illuminated by the sun creating a beautiful rainbow.

After the rain, we were treated to some awesome cloud drama.

We awoke one morning to some thick fog. Joani opted for the shoreline of Bay Furnace Park (for a second time) for more rock hounding.

I picked up a few interesting rocks but mostly I snapped pictures. It was cool enough that these dragonflies stayed put as I walked by. They were sizable - I would estimate their wingspan at about 4 inches. You have to zoom in to appreciate their vivid colors.

We did not take the cruise along the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore this time. We hiked again to Munising Falls. I thought, with the recent rains, it would have more volume but looking back at pictures from 6 years ago it looked very similar.

Miners Castle Rock looks almost as picturesque from the overlook as it does from the lake level on the cruise.

We were able to hike to Miners Fall, something new to us this trip. The day was perfect with dappled sunshine on huge collections of colorful wildflowers in bloom.

Miners Falls was, hands down, our favorite falls within the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park. I tried to capture the water movement with a long exposure which I thought worked well.

I wanted a closeup of the tiny blue flowers. Unfortunately, I did not review the picture while we were there. Later, I found I had missed focus. I should have used a tripod.

This was our second time in Munising and while some things were familiar, there were some new things as well and we would not mind staying here again. I certainly recommend the "Yooper Burger" and Onion Rings at Foggy's Steakhouse and Lounge.