Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Betty in the National Parks II: Part Five

 Another great post by Betty AnoninTX!  (I would like to volunteer to be a passenger on their next National Park Tour):
 After leaving Acadia, we headed into Canada!  We went to Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, Canada.  Once we decided we were going to Maine, I told the PRT to add a few days to the trip.  There was no way I was going to be that close to the famous Hopewell Rocks and not see them.  He obliged.  Darling Sarah and Hugo (Fate Is Remarkable) made the journey with us.

The drive to Hopewell Cape was really pretty.  We drove through Fundy National Park but didn’t stop anywhere there.  We pulled off at a spot near Alma to pose Sarah and Hugo with the Bay of Fundy.  We stayed two nights at a wonderful B&B, the Innisfree, which is very near to the Rocks.
The next morning after breakfast, we headed to the Rocks, also known as the Flowerpot Rocks.  The Bay of Fundy has extreme tidal ranges, up to 52 feet.  At low tide people walk on the ocean floor.  We walked up and down the floor, looking at the rocks and the cliffs.  We walked out quite a ways, which was an odd feeling when I knew in a few hours 40-50 feet of water would be there.  After we had looked our fill, we went back up the stairs, washed off our mudball feet and changed shoes, then walked to all the lookouts.  We stayed on the main lookout platform for several hours, just to see the tide come back in.  It really is something to see!
We left before the tide was completely in because we wanted to drive to Cape Enrage to see the lighthouse there.  Then we drove to an old shipyard to look around, and we went to the Crooked Creek lookout (on Hopewell Hill, I believe).  The clouds were hanging low, and we felt like we were alone in the world.  We were a couple of weeks too early to see the fall colors.
It was a lightning quick visit!  I wish we could have stayed in the area several more days.  I would have loved to go into Nova Scotia and PEI.  We headed back into the States the next day.

More to come…

4 comments:

  1. I've been there! Very long stories (and a very, very long drive, though not nearly as long as Betty AnoninTX and the PRT's -- how many miles have you put on the SGB?) that I shall sum up thusly. Though words cannot describe...

    Your pictures are wonderful, and please thank the PRT for his contributions to their successful taking on behalf of all of us enjoying them. How long did you spend walking about on the ocean floor, and how deep did you go into the mud? I finished my stroll with both sneakers in my hands, as the mud was intent on sucking them away forever.

    Incidentally, does anyone know whether New Brunswick is named for one of the many German towns and duchys of that name, or for one of the smaller number of English offspring? The next time I'm in Nova Scotia, I'm going to try to remember to bring Sister Maggy, or maybe A Kind of Magic.

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    1. New Brunswick - the 'name was chosen as a compliment to King George III (1760-1820) who was descended from the House of Brunswick', Dictionary of World Place Names Derived from British Names by Adrian Room

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  2. Betty Debbie, we have room in our back seat! You will, however, have to hold coats, hats, an atlas or two, possibly souvenirs, snacks,....

    It is beautiful there, isn't it, BvdB?! I think we stayed down on the floor close to three hours, then we probably spent that long walking around up top. The PRT took a million or so photos. We (for once) had planned ahead and taken water shoes with us so that we didn't have to worry about our feet. We had mud up to our ankles. At the top of the stairs are hose stations so that people can wash the mud off. As we were hosing ours off, a busload of tourists walked by. We got so tickled at the way they were looking at us. I told the PRT they'd find out in a minute. We parked next to the nicest couple from Quebec. She and I were talking as we changed shoes. She had been there once when she was a child, and she was excited too. She and her husband brought Wellies to wear. That was smart!

    The mileage will be in my last post! :D It amazes me to look at a US map and realize just how far we had driven. Everybody always asks why we don't fly. We always drive so that we can take sidetrips here and there. Once we scour the atlas and pick the sidetrips, the PRT plans these trips out in minutia so that we have time for everything. He figures out the stops so that I can scan tripadvisor for hotels, and then sometimes we adjust. The Hatfield & McCoy tour was a last minute throw-in, which explains why we drove through the night to get to our hotel. I'm still thankful we didn't hit a deer.

    Betty AnoninTX

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  3. Wow, Betty AnoninTX, I wish I had been there, too. Walking on the ocean floor - for hours! Watching the sea come back. Mountains, the clouds hanging low. The latter makes me "homesick" for vacations past. Centuries ago, millennia ago, he he. I see that I shall have to plan my next vacation reeeally well. Any chance I can borrow the PRT's planning prowess? No? Oh, well. But perhaps I will take a leaf from your book.
    "Anyways", I have greatly enjoyed reading about this part of your travels. Been to, or, more accurately, through New Brunswick on our way to P.E.I. and back, but we were just making miles on that stretch of our journey. The things that I might have seen otherwise... Great post, Betty AnoninTX, and I'm glad there is more to come. How many months did you say you were gone for? Ha ha. Seems like forever. Can't wait to see the "mileage".

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