Leaving Quibec, Entering USA (Vermomt)

Monday: Today we went to the woodcarving capital of the world in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli and visited the museum.  There were woodcarvings by craftsman from the early 1800’s up through today with Harry Potter included. They carved several of Norman Rockwell’s paintings.

Next we wound our way to waterfalls in Parc des Chutes d’Armagh. They were lovely, but they use them to make electricity, so they have buildings and ironworks around them. The hike was also beautiful, and the rapids further up the river were delightful. We had to shorten our hike due to rain.

Tuesday: More rain today. It was foggy and rainy all morning until we got near some other, larger and more majestic falls near Sainte Anne de Beaupre. It was still cloudy and quite chilly, but the falls were worth it. We walked across the suspension bridge over the falls. The last picture is the staircase we had to climb to get to it. It started raining again when we got near our campground, and hasn’t stopped as we get ready for bed.

Wednesday: It rained hard until 2:00 today. I’m thankful I have counted cross stitch, and that we’re in our campground in Roxton Falls, Quebec so we have electricity and I can write. At least I had something to do.  We did get to walk along the river next to the campground in the late afternoon.

Thursday: Another slow day without much to do. The best part was attending the Montreal temple. There is a lot to do in downtown Montreal, but NOT with a 22 foot RV, so we spent another day resting up. There are pluses and minuses of having a smaller RV and no backup transportation, but for us, the pluses outweigh the minuses. We do miss some things like downtown Quebec and Montreal, but we don’t have to worry about towing anything, can park in most parking lots and only take up one space. I don’t know how Dan does it, but he parks between the lines with about half an inch to spare on each side. We do hang out a little beyond the end of the lines, but where the aisles are normal sized we do just fine IF we're there before the lots are packed with cars. There are more pluses and minuses, but I won’t bore you by listing them here.  Bottom line, we like our little 22 foot RV.

Friday: USA!!! It’s fun to visit another country, but I love coming back to my own country. We walked along the river and downtown Burlington, VT. It was a picturesque town, and walking along water of any kind is always soothing and beautiful.

Saturday: We visited Shelburne Farms near Burlington. It was a comparatively easy hike with some uphill climbing, but on a smooth path. The farm has the biggest, most decorative barn in the country.  How many barns have you seen with a decorative metal roof? Yes, there were animals in the left hand side of the barn. The rest contained a wood workshop, cheese-making factory, and bakery. The farm has 1,400 acres and is a non-profit environmental educational organization as well as a working farm. It was planned with an artist so there would be picturesque areas of forest, fields, and naturally the river. The building pictured below is the barn.

Leaving New Brunswick-Entering Quebec

Monday: World’s largest axe. No, it doesn’t belong to Paul Bunyan of American folk tales. They haven’t heard of him here in Canada. It’s the symbol of the city Nackawic, New Brunswick to honor the early loggers due to the importance of the logging industry to the founding of Canada. It was a leisurely 2 kilometer stroll with (the round trip being 4 k). Notice the grass path. Yes it was like that most of the way except in the forested area. In the afternoon, we took another 4-5 kilometer walk through another beautiful forest along the banks of a river.

Tuesday: Two more peaceful walks (too easy to call them hikes), one in the morning, and another in the afternoon. The morning walk was in the Meduxnekeog Valley Nature Preserve.  After driving to Florenceville, we walked through the woods on the Shiktehawk trail. I’ll never get tired of trees and water. We also saw the world’s longest covered bridge, 1,282 feet. Our RV made it through with a few inches to spare, but I still found myself ducking. Tonight we are in Clearview, New Brunswick.

 

 

Wednesday: The falls at Grand Falls, NB was a disappointment at first. They are damming up the water for repairs. However, after lunch and a nap, they opened the floodgate, and water started pouring in. We also walked along the gorge.  Majestic.  It was a fairly long walk, but nothing strenuous.  After a few easy days, I’m good to go on a more difficult hike, but there aren’t any in this area.

Thursday: A day to kick back. We took a leisurely walk along the river in Grand Falls then drove less than an hour to our next gorgeous campground. We’re going slowly because the Palmyra Pageant doesn’t start until July 13th.

Friday: Last day in New Brunswick! We had a nice walk around Edmundston then went to the Maple Leaf Queen’s Buffet. It was mostly Chinese food, and just as tasty as the sister that recommended it last Sunday said. It was a lovely day when we went for our walk this morning, almost too hot, but it sure felt good after all of the cold weather we’ve had. While we were eating at the buffet, the sky faucet turned on—real pouring rain just like Thailand. It rained like that last night also, but the morning was delightful. I love hearing the rain when I’m in a cozy place, I even like going out in it when it’s warm. Not good for hiking, though.

Saturday: Quebec! The province, not the city. More rain, so we didn’t get to go to the gardens near our campground. Today we’re in St. Fabien. It’s a charming rural community.

Sunday: We visited a French speaking branch. I did better with my French than I thought I would, I even bore my testimony part in French. It was a beautiful drive.

More New Brunswick Canada

Monday: It was rather slow day except for our 3 hour walk from Shediac, New Brunswick to Point de Chien Warf and back. The warf didn’t exactly live up to the brochure. It was sort of interesting, but small not much to do. The stores were closed, and so were most of the restaurants. The walk on the biking/walking trail was lovely; I never get tired of seeing trees. The high point was a lobster dinner in the “lobster capital of the world.” I liked the world’s largest lobster too. If I were ever in a position to highlight a city or business, I’d have the world’s largest something or the other made to draw people to whatever it would be.

Tuesday: We walked along an isthmus of sand dunes in Bouctouche, New Brunswick. The pictures tell the story. It was an easy walk, but we didn’t go the whole 8 kilometers. Some of the boardwalk has been destroyed by storms. It's too expensive to keep re-building it. I like walking along the sand anyway.

Wednesday: Today we went on a 7-8 mile hike in a lovely forest along the banks of the Kouchibouguac River in the Kouchibouguac National Forest. Please don’t ask me to pronounce it when we get home; I can’t even pronounce it now.

Thursday: More of Kouchibouguac then on to Baie Sainte Anne, NB.

Friday: Traveled to Miramichi, New Brunswick. We started out on an easy hike which led to a moderate one like we planned. Due to the lack of signs, we ended up on the difficult trail for awhile. It wasn’t too bad but it was steep both up and down in places. Thankfully, we found a second bridge back across the babbling stream to the moderate, then easy hike. We needed the exercise anyway. The scenery was superb when we could glance up. There were rocks and roots all along the path. The stream made it worth the trip.

Saturday: Mostly a travel day to Hawkshaw, NB. We saw a covered bridge along the way. We went for a walk along the river. Much easier than the hike we went on yesterday. The flowers are wild roses! The last few days have been warm. Notice no more jackets!

Sunday: We didn’t take any pictures, but we went to the branch in Houlton, Maine even though our campground is in Hawkshaw, New Brunswick. I used to wonder if the church ever had wards or branches that cover more than one country. They do. The people were very welcoming. It’s interesting to visit so many different wards and branches. It’s so uplifting to feel the spirit of the saints no matter where we go. Some are more cordial than others, most introduce us in Relief Society and Priesthood, but more often than not they forget in Sunday School. Everywhere the spirit is the same. Just like people, some are more reserved rather than out-going, but that doesn't mean they aren't glad we're visiting. This ward was as friendly as can be.