St Andrew's NB--serious tides

Low Tide!!!

On to New Brunswick

We left the Maine seacoast behind and headed northeast to the town of Calais and the Canadian border. I had no idea that Maine was this sparsely populated. Twenty miles from the coast the number houses and villages drop off drastically. The roads reminded us of stretches of the Alaskan highway but with way better pavement. A few farms along Highway 9 but nothing else for the 75 mile run to the border. Have arrived at the New River Provincial Park about 20 kilometers (yes kilometers we are in Canada EH) from St Johns and will explore here today and tomorrow. This campground actually smells like a Christmas tree…we’re surrounded by blue spruce

Bar Harbor (just pictures)

Acadia National Park

We are at the Patten Pond campground about 20 minutes from Mount Desert Island which has Acadia National Park (OhRanger.com) and several towns including Bar Harbor. Surprising how cool/cold the air is near the ocean. Lots of fog rolled in sporadically all day long. At the end of the day we stopped at a roadside “Lobster Pond” and bought two live lobster to take back to camp for dinner. At great ending for a great day.

Into Maine

Left Salem via I-95 and headed north until we got to Bath, ME where we opted for US-1 and to follow the coastline. Much slower pace and some of the small towns make it a bit of challenge squeezing our trailer through but oh so worth the little trouble. The scenery is getting better every mile. Temperature varies from 75 to 60 depending on how far the shoreline is off to our right. And surprising for us is the fog mist we encounter rolling in at mid day.

Family Days

We stopped in Upton, MA to visit Irene’s Aunt Leni and Uncle Don where we were treated to a delicious home cooked New England authentic dinner. It was a great visit….
we had last been to they’re home about 25 years ago….the evening flew by. Then off to Salem, MA for 2 days to see our 3 Washington DC grandkids (and their parents Scott & Katelyn) who were vacationing at their maternal grandparents’ (John & Bev) home. John had reserved us a spot for the RV at Salem Harbor right at the docks directly across from Marblehead. It was prime. Shortly after we got set up a lobster fisherman was unloading his catch and he donated 2 live lobsters for our stay…delicious. Then a tour of Salem that finished off with a family BBQ at John and Bev’s. Weather has finally cleared so the sunny, warm backyard setting in a neighborhood of 1800’s homes was neat.

Southern Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain from the its' southern tip....we hope to come back here at the north end in early July...

last day in the Andirondacks

One last fishing trip on the Ausable river. A trip up to the Ausable Chasm and a quick stop at the southern end of Lake Champlain. Then following the Northway south and into Worcester Ma.

Foot of Whiteface Mountain

Ausable River – West Branch. At about 9am with 57 degrees and clouds about 15 feet overhead we ventured out in our trusty inflatable. After the first hour of absolutely nothing we were disappointed but followed those fisherman’s rules of go just a little further up river and one more cast…..well this time it paid off. We found the trout. We caught and released fish till about noon and then caught a big brown that decided we should try for a fish dinner. By 2 o’clock the rain and cold did us in and we quit. Ended up with the stringer of 4 (2 browns 2 brookies) in the picture taken back at camp. There will be a fresh caught trout dinner here tonite.

To Lake Placid

On the road to Lake Placid (1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics) and the Adirondack Mountains. And of course along the way I find a 10 mile “shortcut” county road. The pictures gives an idea of what we ended up dealing with…..one lane with patches of patched pavement….fortunately we didn’t run into anyone coming from the other direction. 10 miles in 60 minutes not so short a cut. We have arrived at the North Pole Campground on the Ausable River and the foot of Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington NY. I talked with the Forest Rangers at a boat ramp and they referred me to the guy at the hardware store to get the skinny on the lures/baits for the local fishing. Irene met her first nightcrawler (earthworm) and based on that introduction I guess I’ll be baiting those hooks. Supposedly the river is a trout haven and we’ll use spinning lures for the most part…we plan to be on the river in the morning….

A little more Payne

Fishing in Payne

Payne Lake that is....a beautiful day...pictures say it all----