We arrived in Key West on December 1, 2014, and spent the month of December camped at Boyds on Stock Island just 5 miles from Mile 0 downtown KW. Convenient but crowded, great weather of course. January 1 we moved up the road to MM 14.5 to Bluewater Key RV Resort, well landscaped lots with Tiki Huts all owned by individuals who rent them out when they aren't using them and some rent seasonally. Ocean on one side, deep canal on the other with docks on both sides. Expensive but worth it in some ways. We left BWK on February 15, enjoyed the scenic drive up the keys and across Rt. 41 to Naples. Camped at Marco Island KOA, convenient for an overnight stop, or longer if you desire.
Then Tuesday, 2/17, we pushed north and around the corner of the panhandle to Carabelle Beach where we spent the next two days and nights. There is also a newer campground a little farther west on Route 98 that looks very nice. Great little restaurant in Carabelle called The Fisherman's Wife. Also visited St. George Island where we have a friend with a wonderful beach house, bay on one side, Gulf on the other. State park at the end of the island there in the Gulf.
Thursday, drove to Baton Rouge, another KOA, conveniently located off I-10 and back on the next morning to Destiny Dalls RV park that sits between Lewisville and Denton. Terrible and extensive construction and traffic along I-35 E north and south, avoid it if you can. Two nights there, visited friends in Dallas and the Geo. W. Bush library and museum on the SMU campus.
On the road again Sunday morning to OKC where it's colder than I care to mention but it's 19 degrees this morning, Monday, Feb 23, and snow on the ground. Camped at Twin Fountains RV park for this week while I work in Boston and Susie visits family, not much better weather there either. Spoiled by two and a half months in south Florida!
Have an appointment for a week from today, Monday, March 2, at Camp Newell for some service and repairs. Then it's back to Santa Fe. Hooray!
Monday, February 23, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
SHORT HISTORY OF FIVE RV's
1. 1975 GMC Transmode. This model was produced by General Motors and instead of fitted out as a 23' or 26' motorhome, the transmode was for commercial purposes such as a bookmobile, bloodmobile, mobile post office, etc. The previous owner was a cabinet maker in Grass Valley, CA and we bought it from his widow for $11K in 2000. I don't know who the first owner was. The cabinet maker had done a decent job with all the woodwork but before we could even drive it home, we had to purchase new tires and the front end was rather loose and wandered a bit on the highway.
There were a few other issues with the Olds 454 front wheel drive and we put another $11K into making it road worthy once we had returned to the Bay Area where we lived at that time. We enjoyed it for a couple of years, sold it to someone in New Mexico who was allegedly taking it to Michigan.
2. 1995 Barth. We found this beauty sitting on an RV lot outside of Joplin, Missouri, a 36' baby Newell, with a 300 HP Cummins, 6 spd Allison, all aircraft aluminum construction (like Newell) and here's the best part. It had only 18,000 miles on the odometer and 4 hours on the generator. The gentleman from Tulsa, OK who owned it was in ill health, could no longer drive it and we were delighted with the purchase. It was well designed, well-built, was on a Spartan Mountain Master chassis and from the front it looked like a fire truck. Small wonder as many fire trucks had the same chassis. No slides and limited storage but ran like a dream and we put a lot of miles on it through Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. When we left for London, we put it in the barn for storage and it sat there for two years. That's not good for any RV and when we returned we thought, erroneously, that we might be finished with RV's for awhile. We put it on ebay with a fair reserve and it sold quickly to a man from Michigan who flew to Santa Fe and picked it up. Sad to see it go but it went.
3. 2005 Roadtrek Sprnter on a Dodge chassis with that 5 cylinder Mercedes engine. It was being sold by a fireman in Angel Fire, NM. Decided to downsize to this 22' Class B and while economical, it was not practical. Insufficient head room for my 6'2" frame and the bed was a sofa in the rear, facing forward that folded down automatically into a double bed without any room on either side. It had all the necessary amenities but they seemed squeezed into small spaces and while we enjoyed the fuel mileage. Comfortable to drive, easy to park and maneuver around almost anywhere as it was really just a van made into an RV, and a nice one at that. Put it on ebay and it sold immediately as we were now veterans of buying high and selling low, thus selling quickly and easily.
4. 2006 Allegro Bus, 39' Cummins 8.9 L engine, turbo, (450 HP?) also an Allison 6 spd electronic transmission, three slides, very comfortable. It was purchased privately on ebay from a private owner who had purchased it new. Had 50K miles and was very clean but the owner was not entirely clean about some of the issues including a faulty inverter. Various problems continued to appear, mostly minor but annoying and although we drove it to many places, including back to Mexico, we had longed for a Newell if we could find one that met our criteria and was within our budget. We found one that exceeded both our criterian and our budget but we bought it anyway and that is Number 5.
We traded the Allegro Bus on the Newell in order to reduce the purchase price of the Newell.
5. 2005 Newell, 47', yes forty-seven feet as a few were ordered and made. We picked it up at the factory in February 2014 and lived in it full time for 9 months before designing and building a manufactured home last Fall. With four slides and all the bells and whistles of an '05 Newell including steerable tag axle, the Detroit 60 series 515 Turbo, the 6 spd Allison, stacked washer/dryer, Fisher-Paykel dishwasher, sub-zero refrigerator with two freezer drawers, desk with a file drawer, two flat screen TV's, power awnings and window shades and you get the picture. It is coach # 729 and we love it. At 56,000 pounds, my wife refers to the "law of tonnage" when on the highway. We tow an F-150 pickup and carry everything we need in the basement compartments. Love the air operated leveling system, mid-entry, inside and outside sewer controls, also air operated, one full bath with shower, plenty of closets and storage space inside.
There were a few other issues with the Olds 454 front wheel drive and we put another $11K into making it road worthy once we had returned to the Bay Area where we lived at that time. We enjoyed it for a couple of years, sold it to someone in New Mexico who was allegedly taking it to Michigan.
2. 1995 Barth. We found this beauty sitting on an RV lot outside of Joplin, Missouri, a 36' baby Newell, with a 300 HP Cummins, 6 spd Allison, all aircraft aluminum construction (like Newell) and here's the best part. It had only 18,000 miles on the odometer and 4 hours on the generator. The gentleman from Tulsa, OK who owned it was in ill health, could no longer drive it and we were delighted with the purchase. It was well designed, well-built, was on a Spartan Mountain Master chassis and from the front it looked like a fire truck. Small wonder as many fire trucks had the same chassis. No slides and limited storage but ran like a dream and we put a lot of miles on it through Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. When we left for London, we put it in the barn for storage and it sat there for two years. That's not good for any RV and when we returned we thought, erroneously, that we might be finished with RV's for awhile. We put it on ebay with a fair reserve and it sold quickly to a man from Michigan who flew to Santa Fe and picked it up. Sad to see it go but it went.
3. 2005 Roadtrek Sprnter on a Dodge chassis with that 5 cylinder Mercedes engine. It was being sold by a fireman in Angel Fire, NM. Decided to downsize to this 22' Class B and while economical, it was not practical. Insufficient head room for my 6'2" frame and the bed was a sofa in the rear, facing forward that folded down automatically into a double bed without any room on either side. It had all the necessary amenities but they seemed squeezed into small spaces and while we enjoyed the fuel mileage. Comfortable to drive, easy to park and maneuver around almost anywhere as it was really just a van made into an RV, and a nice one at that. Put it on ebay and it sold immediately as we were now veterans of buying high and selling low, thus selling quickly and easily.
4. 2006 Allegro Bus, 39' Cummins 8.9 L engine, turbo, (450 HP?) also an Allison 6 spd electronic transmission, three slides, very comfortable. It was purchased privately on ebay from a private owner who had purchased it new. Had 50K miles and was very clean but the owner was not entirely clean about some of the issues including a faulty inverter. Various problems continued to appear, mostly minor but annoying and although we drove it to many places, including back to Mexico, we had longed for a Newell if we could find one that met our criteria and was within our budget. We found one that exceeded both our criterian and our budget but we bought it anyway and that is Number 5.
We traded the Allegro Bus on the Newell in order to reduce the purchase price of the Newell.
5. 2005 Newell, 47', yes forty-seven feet as a few were ordered and made. We picked it up at the factory in February 2014 and lived in it full time for 9 months before designing and building a manufactured home last Fall. With four slides and all the bells and whistles of an '05 Newell including steerable tag axle, the Detroit 60 series 515 Turbo, the 6 spd Allison, stacked washer/dryer, Fisher-Paykel dishwasher, sub-zero refrigerator with two freezer drawers, desk with a file drawer, two flat screen TV's, power awnings and window shades and you get the picture. It is coach # 729 and we love it. At 56,000 pounds, my wife refers to the "law of tonnage" when on the highway. We tow an F-150 pickup and carry everything we need in the basement compartments. Love the air operated leveling system, mid-entry, inside and outside sewer controls, also air operated, one full bath with shower, plenty of closets and storage space inside.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
FIVE FOLLIES OF FLYING
Five Follies of Flying
1.
Standing in line - Whether at check-in, security or boarding, is it necessary? There
has to be some other way to move people more efficiently? I haven’t counted how much time is used
up standing in line and the only redeeming feature I have found is having an
interesting conversation with someone while standing there.
2.
The two guys in the row ahead (or behind) who think
they have to talk over the noise of the engines and annoy everyone within eight
feet in every direction. - Do they
like the sound of their own voices or are they hearing impaired? Give your fellow passengers
cooped up in the steel cocoon a break and tone it down, please.
3.
Choppy air, least that’s what the captain calls
it – It shakes you up and down, back and forth and it often requires the seat
belt sign and return to your seat message just after you have gotten into the
lavatory.
4.
The disappearance of most amenities on domestic
flights – They are often crowded, uncomfortable and the food (?) is lousy if it
even exists. I know it’s about
keeping the flights as full as possible for the sake of revenue and some
airlines have actually provided more space but at a higher price of
course. Snack boxes? Are you serious?
5.
Narrow seats and fellow flyers who take up more
than their fair share of space – They drape over the arm rest to the point of
being selfish space hogs and this is unlikely to change as it would be an
insult to have bigger seats for which these extra big people would have to pay
more.
You can add your own to this list that I compiled recently
while being stuck in 14C. At least
it was an aisle seat that I had because I paid extra to board early. Ah, the joy of being on the road in our
own space, at our own pace and, not up in the air!
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
ARRIVED KEY WEST 12/1
We left Oklahoma in "Big Blue" day after Thanksgiving and because of late departure, only made it to Denton, TX to a place called Destiny RV Resort, adequate, but construction made it difficult to find having missed the exit and ending up in a housing development. GPS did not know, and did not care but after a couple of calls to the park, we made it, albeit in the dark. Seems like we started and ended several days without the benefit of daytime hours. Drove the next day via I-20, I-49 and I-10 to Biloxi, Mississippi and liked Mazalea RV Park. Maybe it stands for Mississippi Azaleas but we weren't there long enough to find out. Just a good pull through parking spot, in and out. The Newell performed brilliantly.
Traffic was horrendous on both Sat and Sun, the worst days of the year to be on the highways but we had a date with warmer temps and reservations in Key West. Drove the next day from Biloxi, a lot of congestion, construction and accidents to slow travel time but made it to north of Orlando via the FL turnpike. Stayed north in Orange Blossom KOA, very nice and pleasant, helpful owners. Monday we left early, hit the turnpike and headed south toward Miami and Homestead and not much traffic until around Miami and all moving along well. Started down the Keys where it all slows down again as there is a lot of two lane roadway over bridges and islands. There is a Newell approved tech in Marathon and we stopped in, met them as we have an awning sensor issue for the automatic wind retraction. Seem like good folks and knowledgeable. Chuck Clark will send a part down and we'll see if that will fix the issue.
It is now Tuesday morning, December 2, 9 AM Eastern Time and the temp reads 75 with a light breeze coming from I don't know which direction. Regardless, we're glad to be parked here for the month of December, probably migrate north about 10 miles on January 1 for at least a couple more weeks, or more. Couldn't get reservations for Boyds, where we are now, as we were here in March of last year and that was too late. Have to make them a year ahead, at least. We just reserved next year for three months, Jan-Feb-Mar. Good to have plans even if they don't materialize for some reason yet unknown.
Had a flat tire on the toad, also a wiring issue for the tail lights and connection to the coach. And ran the battery down. AAA took care of changing tire and a trickle charge overnight had the battery up and charged by morning. Found diesel at 3.28 in a couple of places en route and that was a plus when compared to most others at 3.53. If y'all are down this way, do let us know. In the meantime, safe travels, happy holidays and follow my guru's saying: "Tell the truth, be kind and remember to say thank you."
Traffic was horrendous on both Sat and Sun, the worst days of the year to be on the highways but we had a date with warmer temps and reservations in Key West. Drove the next day from Biloxi, a lot of congestion, construction and accidents to slow travel time but made it to north of Orlando via the FL turnpike. Stayed north in Orange Blossom KOA, very nice and pleasant, helpful owners. Monday we left early, hit the turnpike and headed south toward Miami and Homestead and not much traffic until around Miami and all moving along well. Started down the Keys where it all slows down again as there is a lot of two lane roadway over bridges and islands. There is a Newell approved tech in Marathon and we stopped in, met them as we have an awning sensor issue for the automatic wind retraction. Seem like good folks and knowledgeable. Chuck Clark will send a part down and we'll see if that will fix the issue.
It is now Tuesday morning, December 2, 9 AM Eastern Time and the temp reads 75 with a light breeze coming from I don't know which direction. Regardless, we're glad to be parked here for the month of December, probably migrate north about 10 miles on January 1 for at least a couple more weeks, or more. Couldn't get reservations for Boyds, where we are now, as we were here in March of last year and that was too late. Have to make them a year ahead, at least. We just reserved next year for three months, Jan-Feb-Mar. Good to have plans even if they don't materialize for some reason yet unknown.
Had a flat tire on the toad, also a wiring issue for the tail lights and connection to the coach. And ran the battery down. AAA took care of changing tire and a trickle charge overnight had the battery up and charged by morning. Found diesel at 3.28 in a couple of places en route and that was a plus when compared to most others at 3.53. If y'all are down this way, do let us know. In the meantime, safe travels, happy holidays and follow my guru's saying: "Tell the truth, be kind and remember to say thank you."
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Santa Fe to Miami, OK to Key West
So hard to believe how quickly time passes, especially when busy making changes and trying to get so much done in a few weeks, or months. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so I want to start with that and pausing for a moment to count all the blessings of this past year, so much for which to be truly grateful and so many people for whom we give thanks. I try to take time out at the beginning of every day to meditate on the vicissitudes of our lives and often get help from a variety of sources other than social media. The Daily Good is one subscription that I enjoy, usually positive and uplifting stories of those people who are trying to be the change they want to see. It's a good way to start my day and often leads to other thoughts and experiences some of which get recorded, many that do not.
After our return to Santa Fe, we decided that was "home" (which is has been for 20 years) and so designed and purchased a mobile home/manufactured house, what we used to call a long time ago, a house trailer. It's a Karsten, about 1000 square feet, two bedrooms, two baths, living, dining and kitchen and 12x16 covered deck. It sits on a small lot behind Trailer Ranch where we keep our motor home when not on the road. It's a 55+ community of some 60 homes. Inside is very comfortable and reminds us of a very large RV but for the time being immobile. Great neighbors in the park who all look after each other and it's a great place to be. It's easy to lock the door and leave which is exactly what we did last Friday and headed for the Newell factory and service center in Miami, OK.
Just spent two days here, great service with tweaks and twerks here and there, nothing big or serious, things like awnings not working, (new card and dip switch settings) new teddy heater, (old one leaking and frozen) new serpentine belt, (old one frayed and too narrow) some welding to secure the hitch/receiver for the toad, and a new latch on the refrigerator. When heading out of Santa Fe, we turned left onto I-25 and the refrigerator door flew open and four bottles of beer broke on the kitchen floor. Place smelled like a stale bar for several days. Had to stop and clean it up about 10 miles out of town. Have just over 10,000 miles on the coach since purchase so did not opt for the annual service. Will wait for another 5K miles and then try to minimize the expense. While they were working on the coach, we made our third trip to Cyrstal Bridges as we had seen a story on CBS Sunday morning about a special new exhibit there on newly discovered American artists, well worth the trip. Look it up on their web site!
Tomorrow we celebrate Turkey Day in OKC with family and then on Friday head east and south with
Key West being our destination and location for the next couple of months. Then we'll have to see about February but I don't think we will be ready to head back to cold winter in northern New Mexico. We will make a flying trip to Vermont for Christmas, put Dude in a kennel and leave him behind in a kennel in KW, and spend several days up north in Stowe with family there. Nice to have kids all over the country, east, midwest and west as there are always places to go, people to see, things to do. I am still working part-time, keeping more busy than I would like to be at times and Susie will be taking a writing class while we are in Key West. We will also go back to the Truman Summer White House for another Living Room series, this one honoring Eisenhower, a Republican no less. Stay tuned and we will report an update on Key West later.
After our return to Santa Fe, we decided that was "home" (which is has been for 20 years) and so designed and purchased a mobile home/manufactured house, what we used to call a long time ago, a house trailer. It's a Karsten, about 1000 square feet, two bedrooms, two baths, living, dining and kitchen and 12x16 covered deck. It sits on a small lot behind Trailer Ranch where we keep our motor home when not on the road. It's a 55+ community of some 60 homes. Inside is very comfortable and reminds us of a very large RV but for the time being immobile. Great neighbors in the park who all look after each other and it's a great place to be. It's easy to lock the door and leave which is exactly what we did last Friday and headed for the Newell factory and service center in Miami, OK.
Just spent two days here, great service with tweaks and twerks here and there, nothing big or serious, things like awnings not working, (new card and dip switch settings) new teddy heater, (old one leaking and frozen) new serpentine belt, (old one frayed and too narrow) some welding to secure the hitch/receiver for the toad, and a new latch on the refrigerator. When heading out of Santa Fe, we turned left onto I-25 and the refrigerator door flew open and four bottles of beer broke on the kitchen floor. Place smelled like a stale bar for several days. Had to stop and clean it up about 10 miles out of town. Have just over 10,000 miles on the coach since purchase so did not opt for the annual service. Will wait for another 5K miles and then try to minimize the expense. While they were working on the coach, we made our third trip to Cyrstal Bridges as we had seen a story on CBS Sunday morning about a special new exhibit there on newly discovered American artists, well worth the trip. Look it up on their web site!
Tomorrow we celebrate Turkey Day in OKC with family and then on Friday head east and south with
Key West being our destination and location for the next couple of months. Then we'll have to see about February but I don't think we will be ready to head back to cold winter in northern New Mexico. We will make a flying trip to Vermont for Christmas, put Dude in a kennel and leave him behind in a kennel in KW, and spend several days up north in Stowe with family there. Nice to have kids all over the country, east, midwest and west as there are always places to go, people to see, things to do. I am still working part-time, keeping more busy than I would like to be at times and Susie will be taking a writing class while we are in Key West. We will also go back to the Truman Summer White House for another Living Room series, this one honoring Eisenhower, a Republican no less. Stay tuned and we will report an update on Key West later.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Back in the U.S.A.
Crossing the border at Calais, Maine (St. Stephens, NB) was a breeze. Lovely lady came aboard, asked a couple of questions and said, "Enjoy your trip!" Took all of five minutes. We drove across Maine, abandoning our previously planned trip to the coast (avoiding summer crowds) and headed straight for Stowe, Vermont. Spent one night in Gorham, New Hampshire, a Good Sam campground about a mile east of town and it was fine. Then on to Goldbrook, just south of Stowe. Adjacent to open fields that were getting ready for a BIG antique, classic car show. The guy who runs the campground has a reputation that precedes him of being a grouchy, grumpy grinch. He lived up to it. Regardless, we will stay there again for numerous reasons including a good site plus friends and family nearby. Great beer in Waterbury!
Then the long haul began last Friday. From Stowe we traveled south on I-89, then I-91 to the Mass Pike which is actually I-90 and west to I-81 and thence south to Unadilla, New York for the night, only 363 miles. The next day, Saturday, we pushed on to just north of Columbus, Ohio, 662 miles. And the next day, Sunday, to Eureka, MO to a KOA just west of St. Louis near Six Flags on I-44, 526 miles. Monday, 473 miles to Oklahoma City, across MO and a good part of OK where we put down at Twin Fountains our usual stopping place as we have family in OKC and if we're going to Camp Newell, which we skipped this time, it's convenient. Left there yesterday afternoon and overnighted in Amarillo and decided against our usual stopover at Overnite and opted for the KOA. Hmmm.
Today we will cap off about 300 more miles to Albuquerque for a couple of days and then "home" to Santa Fe for a few months. If anyone wants more info or details let us know. The past five days are a blur of interstates, mostly good roads with several exceptions that fortunately didn't last long.
So this latter part of our summer travels from Nova Scotia back to Santa Fe has covered some 3100 miles and if you add the first part, from Santa Fe to Nova Scotia via Montreal and Quebec, you can add another 3000+ miles since we left Santa Fe back in June and stopped at the Guru Rally in the Ozarks and spent a couple of days at Camp Newell. That's a lot of miles and mucho fuel and many campgrounds. And "Big Blue" has performed admirably. Highlights have to be the rally, the Maritime Provinces, as well as Montreal and Quebec and yes, the Clydesdales plus our meeting Wayne Martin in New Brunswick. Many stories to share later, down the road when we see you.
Then the long haul began last Friday. From Stowe we traveled south on I-89, then I-91 to the Mass Pike which is actually I-90 and west to I-81 and thence south to Unadilla, New York for the night, only 363 miles. The next day, Saturday, we pushed on to just north of Columbus, Ohio, 662 miles. And the next day, Sunday, to Eureka, MO to a KOA just west of St. Louis near Six Flags on I-44, 526 miles. Monday, 473 miles to Oklahoma City, across MO and a good part of OK where we put down at Twin Fountains our usual stopping place as we have family in OKC and if we're going to Camp Newell, which we skipped this time, it's convenient. Left there yesterday afternoon and overnighted in Amarillo and decided against our usual stopover at Overnite and opted for the KOA. Hmmm.
Today we will cap off about 300 more miles to Albuquerque for a couple of days and then "home" to Santa Fe for a few months. If anyone wants more info or details let us know. The past five days are a blur of interstates, mostly good roads with several exceptions that fortunately didn't last long.
So this latter part of our summer travels from Nova Scotia back to Santa Fe has covered some 3100 miles and if you add the first part, from Santa Fe to Nova Scotia via Montreal and Quebec, you can add another 3000+ miles since we left Santa Fe back in June and stopped at the Guru Rally in the Ozarks and spent a couple of days at Camp Newell. That's a lot of miles and mucho fuel and many campgrounds. And "Big Blue" has performed admirably. Highlights have to be the rally, the Maritime Provinces, as well as Montreal and Quebec and yes, the Clydesdales plus our meeting Wayne Martin in New Brunswick. Many stories to share later, down the road when we see you.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
(The new hitch seems to work just fine and it is definitely a heavier duty Blue Ox than the Alpha. If anyone is looking for a new 10,000 lb hitch, the Aventa LX seems like a good choice. I would also recommend an "immobilizer" that reduces, or eliminates, any play in the receiver.)
Truro, NS was indeed a good camping spot, not easy to find via GPS as it is in Hinden, just outside of Truro on another Route 2. Depending on which way you're traveling you can take either exit 15 or exit 12 from the 104 and my suggestion is to call Scotia Pine campground for specific directions. Tall pine trees border each campsite and we got in fairly easily, a shaded spot and did not even need the awnings. From Truro, you can venture forth according to your preferences whether to Cape Breton, Halifax or Digby on the north shore of the Bay of Fundy. Our choices were to Lunenberg on the south shore and Digby, each on different days and an overnight to Digby leaving the big rig in Truro.
Side trips for the scenic routes worked well and those would have been tough with the coach so we left it parked and just took the truck on the back country and bay and ocean routes. The tides and the tidal bore on the Bay of Fundy are among the world's highest tides, as much as 25 feet or more. The small villages have a lot of charm and character as do many of the people who live there. We did not do P.E.I. or Cape Breton this trip but those are both highly recommended and some people camp at the entrance to the Cabot Trail.
We went whale watching from Brier Island at the far end of Digby neck and Digby is one of those picturesque fishing villages so typical of the Nova Scotia coastline. In Digby's case the main feature is scallops. Lobstering season was over in July in most places but still available on the menus.
From Nova Scotia, we traveled back to New Brunswick, rain all day Thursday, July 24, to St. Andrews, NB, off the new Highway 1, south on Route 127. The campground is Kiwanis Ocean Front Campground on Water Street fronting on the bay. Delightful place, great weather and terrific view as we are parked pulled in head first, looking across the street to the bay. It's the middle of the summer and not crowded in a great place.
Truro, NS was indeed a good camping spot, not easy to find via GPS as it is in Hinden, just outside of Truro on another Route 2. Depending on which way you're traveling you can take either exit 15 or exit 12 from the 104 and my suggestion is to call Scotia Pine campground for specific directions. Tall pine trees border each campsite and we got in fairly easily, a shaded spot and did not even need the awnings. From Truro, you can venture forth according to your preferences whether to Cape Breton, Halifax or Digby on the north shore of the Bay of Fundy. Our choices were to Lunenberg on the south shore and Digby, each on different days and an overnight to Digby leaving the big rig in Truro.
Side trips for the scenic routes worked well and those would have been tough with the coach so we left it parked and just took the truck on the back country and bay and ocean routes. The tides and the tidal bore on the Bay of Fundy are among the world's highest tides, as much as 25 feet or more. The small villages have a lot of charm and character as do many of the people who live there. We did not do P.E.I. or Cape Breton this trip but those are both highly recommended and some people camp at the entrance to the Cabot Trail.
We went whale watching from Brier Island at the far end of Digby neck and Digby is one of those picturesque fishing villages so typical of the Nova Scotia coastline. In Digby's case the main feature is scallops. Lobstering season was over in July in most places but still available on the menus.
From Nova Scotia, we traveled back to New Brunswick, rain all day Thursday, July 24, to St. Andrews, NB, off the new Highway 1, south on Route 127. The campground is Kiwanis Ocean Front Campground on Water Street fronting on the bay. Delightful place, great weather and terrific view as we are parked pulled in head first, looking across the street to the bay. It's the middle of the summer and not crowded in a great place.
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