I am a rock

Newfoundland is more The Rock - and land of lakes, forests and granite. The Rock has its own time zone being three-and-a-half hours behind the UK. After a six-hour ferry ride we made it to Port Aux Basques in the dark - we were literally the last car off the ferry and at the tail end of the charge for St. Christopher's Hotel - we ducked the queue for check-in by propping up the bar next to a bunch of late-night slot machine freaks at midnight.
Next morning we watched the German Grand Prix from Hockenheim which ended coincidentally with the local checkout time at 11:00. Another boring procession and a cakewalk for the ugly boy.
We rolled out of town after checking out a rather uninspiring railway display on the defunct "Newfie Bullet." More anon.
Listening to folk and eastern music on the radio - big in these parts - anticipating the folk festival in St. John's later in the week. Diverted to Stephenville, a forces base where we couldn't decide whether it was still operating - as we arrived at Tim Horton's a guy in the parking lot stops his truck and says "You have to be over 15 foot to come into town!" I said "60mpg mate, who's laughing now?"
We took the scenic route around the Port Au Port peninsular - brilliant sea views on empty roads. Back on the Trans Canada Highway [TCH] and the reality of all the warnings about moose hits home - a vehicle has hit a moose and killed it stone dead - a moment of sadness by the side of the road.
We continue on to Corner Brook where we find a delightful railway museum featuring the "Newfie Bullet," - given its nickname by U.S. troops stationed in these parts, a narrow gauge train which ran for over five hundred miles through Newfoundland before giving up the ghost about twenty years ago. The route roughly follows the TCH and there is much evidence of trackbed and bridges along the way. After a chilly night under canvas we make an early start, tailgate breakfast at the mall talking to the locals about the virtues of the smart [missionary work] and stopping for a picnic lunch at Grand Falls - not very grand in the less prosperous interior. More train memorabilia at Bishop's Falls, an old railway town, mostly about train wrecks and floods. Now at Gander looking forward to a birthday supper - hope there is no repeat of last year when the waitress tipped the red wine over me in New Westminster, B.C. Tomorrow we reach the farthest point of the trip but plan a few days in the Newfie capital before turning for home.

Farewell to Nova Scotia

Now in North Sydney waiting for the M.V. Caribou to take us to Newfoundland. Last night we stopped at the EconoLodge at Canso Causeway at the gateway to Cape Breton.
I'm thinking of producing a guide book to Tourist Information Centres, as we seem to spend a significant portion of each tour in them. There is a mighty centre as you cross from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia - more "joxploitation" as a girl in a kilt was playing the bagpipes. We meandered along checking out the old railway stations at Pugwash and Tatamagouche, and visiting the Industrial Museum at Stellarton [geared to a general audience rather than hard core history buffs].
This morning we checked out the Bras D'Or Lake in pouring rain, running off the tarmac in places and taking in the old Orangedale Station Museum, a stop on a previous tour. We were sad to confirm the demise of the Bras D'Or Train which used to run excursions between Halifax and Sydney - it was too good to last. Thank goodness we rode on it while we had the chance.
North Sydney has a neat local history museum near the ferry dock - ideal for when, like us, your ferry is delayed.

A hard rains gonna fall

Across the border at Bridgewater and made our way by a circuitous route to Woodstock, N.B., where we decided to camp at the Connell Park campground high on a hill. We'd been putting off camping due to persistent rain but up went the tent, and after supper at Pizza Delight in town, we hoped for the best. We got the worst - thunder and lightning and the tent shipping water. Fortunately not serious enough to wash us out but definitely a disturbed night. Breakfast at A&W - the "dub" - where the newspaper delivery guy gave us a free newspaper as he liked the smart car so much.
After visiting my father-in-law at Long Settlement - lunch at Grama's in Centreville - we headed south next morning on the Trans-Canada to Saint John. An idiot tried to run us of the road on the way, forcing us onto the hard shoulder, which shook us up a bit.
Saint John has many historic buildings and has done much to attract tourists, including those from the cruise ships that dock here. There is much angst over the threatened closure of the ferry to Digby, Nova Scotia across the Bay of Fundy. We visited the Loyalist House and the Martello Tower with commanding views of the harbour including Partridge Island where immigrants were processed in years gone by. Folk in town were helpful beyond the call of duty while we killed time waiting for the smart car to be serviced on Rothesay Avenue.
Last night at Sussex, N.B., with a splendid station, now tourist information, which apparently saw passenger trains as recently as nine years ago.
Now in Moncton, N.B., a place that was so hard to find we nearly gave up due to lack of road signs. Large roundabout in the centre - they'll catch on in the end. Breakfast at Cora's - they managed a side order of sliced tomato to augment a fry up. We will be in Nova Scotia by nightfall.

Borderline

Lingering in the historic downtown of Houlton, Maine which has a fairly intact historic core. A kind guy in a Mazda Miata opened the museum for us and gave us a tour. The town has suffered from depopulation over the last fifty years - now down to about 6,000 people. Folks welcome visitors in this part of the world.
Reflecting on New Hampshire with the motto "Live free or die" - no helmet law for adults so you see plenty of motorcyclists with no headgear. They are catching on to roundabouts here however - still sufficiently new for the Bangor Daily News to run an article on the novelty of it all.
We had a couple of beers in O'Kellys Irish Bar at Ivey's Motel last night. Two large beers [Coors bland lite] and a cranberry juice for just over $5 US - surely the cheapest for many a mile. Nothing very Irish about the place, more NASCAR with "Dale O'Earnhardt" dominating with inflatable racecars for decor and season calendar front and center. We were watching a belly-flop contest on CMT as overweight folk dove into a swimming pool - surely the nadir of redneck TV. Annette photographed the smart car with some Quebec bikers on their Hogs alongside, after "de-luxe continental breakfast" this morning. Heading for Canuckistan later.

Destination Bangor, Maine

Left Keene, N.H., at 10:30 Sunday morning saying goodbye to our kind hosts. Gas up in Keene at $9.00. Listening to "Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor and guest Doc Watson. In Concord, N.H., a good ol' boy in a Dodge is splitting his sides and pointing at the smart car. Who wins at the pumps?
We stop by the NASCAR track at Loudun but are shooed away by a lady at the booth who has obviously never been to charm school. We try NASCAR radio to listen to the Pocono 500 but the station is fighting with French radio from Montreal. Lunch at "Fully Brewed and Half Baked" in Lincoln. Then to Mount Washington to see the cog railway which dates back to 1869. It is rainy and cloudy so we pass on a trip to the top, but still worth the trip to see the behemoth steaming out of sight up an average grade of 25%, max 37.41%. We take gas at Twin Mountain, $2.89 per US gallon, the best price so far. Quick stop at The Gorham Historic Railway Museum, then Rumford Falls which has a "muffler man" and spectacular falls in town.
Overnight cabin at KOA on Highway 2 in Canaan, Maine. $5 discount as to my surprise my membership is still valid. Early start next morning and splendid breakfast at Dysart's Truckstop outside Bangor - coffee jug on the table and "have you had enough to eat honey?" Protracted search for Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor - drove right past it without noticing - worth the wait. Now in Houlton, near the Canadian border, and looking forward to lunch at Tim Horton's.

Found a New England

To Marlow, New Hampshire staying on Sand Pond with old friend John Wrigley. We met up at Keene N.H. and carried on out into the sticks in convoy, John in his Honda Pilot. Yesterday we had lunch at Schenectady, N.Y. after following highway 5S to Fort Plains along the ridge avoiding the New York Thruway. Schenectady is a General Electric town which has been down but appears to be on the way back. Across the Hudson into Vermont, quick stop at Bennington Battle Monument, and on via Hogback Mountain to Keene. Trip to Green Mountain Railroad at Bellows Falls today across the Connecticut river back into Vermont. Marvelous railroad waiting room. Heavy heavy rain. Drove through Walpole, N.H. - a classic New England white-clapboard town.

On the road again

Left promptly at 07:55 for points east in the smart car, heading for Newfoundland. Out of Toronto on the 401 with Lake Ontario on our right. Pitstop at Tim Horton's near Port Hope for coffee and gas, and pump up tires - 98.1 cents per litre for diesel. Listening to "Leaving Louisiana" by the Oak Ridge Boys. Stop by "The Big Apple" at Colborne, and Ivy Lea prior to crossing into the states at Thousand Islands - Wellesley Island, New York [toll bridge at Ivy Lea $2.20 CDN]. Usual hassle in immigration, depart 13:00. To Watertown, New York through endless road construction, then picnic lunch at Turin. More gas at Booneville - the guy at the station wants to know all about the smart and to talk Tour de France. Via Rome and Utica to Little Falls, NY - an historic old mill town on the Erie Canal and Mohawk River. 557 km covered.
Stayed at Best Western [$69 plus tax incl breakfast with coupon]. Watched Floyd Landis ride the race of his life on the Col de Joux Plane in the Tour de France. According to the French press he is a man "sans panache" so this was the perfect riposte.
To Canal place and Canal Harbour next morning early before the souvenir shops are open. Little Falls turns out to be a splendid old town, if a little knocked about with a ghastly strip mall on main street, but well worth the stop. Now for Vermont and New Hampshire later today to see old college chum John Wrigley.

Stovebolt nostalgia

This early fifties Chevy turned up at the cruise night last week.