NEW BRUNSWICK

 It was only a 45 mile drive today from Amherst, Nova Scotia to Moncton,  New Brunswick

We'll camp at a Passport America affiliated campground in a  Moncton suburb.

When we crossed the bridge into New Brunswick we stopped immediately at the first tourist information center & gathered up LOTS of New Brunswick information. The women there were so very helpful & friendly. 

We learned there is a dinner theatre production in downtown Moncton on Wednesdays through Saturdays. Hey! Today's Wednesday...can we make it?  We hadn't even found our campground yet but decided to go-for-it. It was early & we felt we had time to do what we needed to do.

The tourist center gal went online to get more information for us & found out that there is a $10 discount this week if we call & make reservations from the information they found for us online. 

We hurried on to camp to get disconnected, setup & make the phone call to choose our entree, pay etc. 

We used Skype online to make that phone call & in two hours after setting up camp we would be off to the "Tide & Boar, McSweeney's" theatre on Main street in downtown Moncton.

HOLD ON NOT SO FAST: 

The clock we hang on the wall in the trailer has it's hands exposed , unprotected & apparently where I placed it for the ride to Moncton (things on the wall need to be taken down when we're on the road) the clock hands got moved & not even thinking of checking  my iPhone clock & we realized we needed to leave NOW. 

We were going to be late for the dinner and show. Chitna! ( that's an Alaskan town that somewhat sounds like my favorite word that I'm trying to break the habit of using.)

Joey had to drive like crazy to a place where we had never been AND find parking in a downtown area, in the dark AND it's had begun to rain a little. JEEZE !

WERE WE GOING TO MISS THE WHOLE THING ?

Nope. We got there only 15 minutes late….there was on- the-street-parking on Main St , right in front of the theatre. (just like Los Angeles, right? funny)   

We couldn't believe it!

They hadn't begun serving dinner yet but the interactive musical play had begun. We hadn't missed much at all. As Joey likes to say; "LUCKY LAGER !"

Amherst Side Trips Before leaving NS

SEP 24

In Amherst we stayed in the  Loch Lomand RV Camp

(exit #4 on hwy 104) .

Not a Passport America camp but $27 a night  incl tax with great wi-fi , trees , clean.....in other words really good.

 We'll be taking a few day trips from here.

We began this afternoon by driving about 30 miles to Joggins Fossil Cliffs

 http://jogginsfossilcliffs.net/

I Don't Remember how long it took me to go up & down THESE Stairs but somehow I made it!

Next Day:  Sept 25 Tuesday

Stayed in camp almost all day today. Did laundry, cleaned the inside of the "shoe box".

In the late afternoon we finally got out for a short drive of 5 miles or so around nearby Amherst. They have some old, beautiful homes to look at. 

Amherst is a border town & New Brunswick is just across a bridge.

On the way to Amherst, Nova Scotia Last Camp before NEW BRUNSWICK

SEP 23 SUNDAY

from Truro to Amherst we took the long coastal route via the beautiful  Cape D'Or where we spent a few hours hiking down to the Lighthouse & meandering around once we got there.  

We needed to leave the main paved road & drive several miles on a dirt road to get to the small parking lot for the lighthouse . 
We were lucky there was room for us to park with our trailer otherwise the out-of-the-way drive would have been for naught. 

Everything we had heard about Cape D'or really gave us the desire to not miss it.
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=1018

 Cape d'Or ( Cape of Gold or Gold Cape)

The restaurant & guesthouse was closed for the season and would be a wonderful place to stay, I think. Minimal accommodations & the chef , they say, is very creative & never cooks from a recipe. THAT would have been something we would have liked.   

The road down to the  lighthouse was VERY STEEP & narrow.  Either driving (gate closed now) or walking  is a challenge. 
I just did it slowly in both directions and was SO happy I was able to make it.

It is truly spectacular!

We have so many favorite places on this Maritimes part of the trip & this is truly one of our favorites.

To add even more to this spectacular place the weather was sunny, cool & breezy to perfection. 
So leaving here we needed to get to Amherst before dark, preferably. Hate driving in the dark with the trailer.

TRURO Route from Middleton

It rained all night but We left our camp at Middleton, NS about 10:30 AM & drove from the campground in Middleton to Truro where on can see an unusual occurrence called a Tidal Bore.

 We've found that the weather often clears or at least gets a bit better around noon & it didn't disappoint us today.

The drive was beautiful (only a little rain en route) & we stopped as frequently as possible to take in the many views. 

That's often not so easy when we are towing, which we were. 

We even got into another dead end (not signed)  where we needed to attempt another of our famous U-turns. 

When the tide was out the long, long shore mud has a strange look.... asin the two lower right photos in the collage above. 

We were afraid to walk out into it for fear we'd sink more than would be fun. 
Guess that's what happens when one gets over a certain age !

OOPS A U-Turn wasn't possible but luckily there was a private driveway that enabled us to do the back-forth-dance-maneuver that got us out of there. 

That "dance" , while NOT fun, was worth it. We had no choice if we wanted to see this view.

The tide was out ……WAAAAY out…..seemed like miles & which left the red, mucky sand, some white sand & the rocks exposed; almost as some "innards" we were not intended to see.

At S. Maitland we went into the Tidal Bore Interpretive Center & only $2.50 each to see their center full of information.  We got there about 1hr before the tide was supposed to come in.
They had wi fi while we waited so I was able to double check our route for when we leave there.

When the time came we left the shelter of the  Interpretive Center & walked about 200 yards out to a Tidal Bore viewing area in a light rain; continuing to wait for the Bore. The timing schedule of the tides is pretty accurate.

  HEY, I knew what "tidal" meant but had no idea what "bore" meant other than certain people I try to avoid.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_bore  

A tidal bore happens when an outward flowing river meets the incoming tide & causes the river to flow backwards until the tide is finished coming in. 
This usually forms a backward moving wave.

I just thought it meant a place where you could watch the tide come in. 

As it turned out this time that's about all it was. 

It was almost a non-event BUT we were told that at the Salmon River just this side of Truro it's a much more reliable happening. 

We were going in that direction so we'd have a 2nd chance an hour or so later according to the tidal schedule. YAY!  After all; We were in Nova Scotia & didn't wish to miss this unusual phenomena so we would try again.

We did go the Salmon River spot  & it was much better. The white wave that was  created might have been as much as a foot high….still not a biggie but at least we got to see it. And NOW I know what "Tidal Bore" means.
This one was MORE LIKE IT ! 

 We Boondocked in Truro @ Canadian Tire parking lot, after seeing that the Walmart in Truro had a sign "No Overnight Parking" sign so we didn't.

We also tried at the "Atlantic SuperStore" where we didn't see a sign saying anything about overnight parking so I asked a woman manager & she said, "Our policy is, No."

I shouldn't have asked, eh?

It had been a long day. It now was dark & we were tired so we were lucky to see the big Canadian Tire parking lot with a few big rigs parking overnight too.

It rained cats-and-dogs all  night. 
Lightening, thunder...the whole kit-n-kaboodle ! It was so windy that the parking lot looked like a lake with agitated surface waters. (actually making tiny waves)

Next  morning we continued on to Amherst stopping at this ROCKY SHORE ...no more mud.

Next blog will be Amherst, NS & day trips from there.