Day 26 – Thursday Sept 26, 2013 – St. Andrews NB to Camden, Maine.

An example of the beautiful fall colours!

One of the most beautiful areas of North America must be the Maritime Provinces and the northeastern states of New England in the fall.

The trees are really changing colors now. The sides of the roads and hills are covered in fir trees and the others with leaves of varying shades of yellow, red and almost pink in color on some. Some are so bright you would think that the leaves had been painted. Simply beautiful!

The Bounder doesn't fit in a drive thru lane but that won't stop us!
Thanks to friends who supplied us with Tim Horton's Gift Certificates!

We crossed the border and immediately headed back over to the coast for a bit. Like parts of New Brunswick some of the back roads leave a little something to be desired. Rough and rutty from the big trucks going back and forth.

If you were driving in a car you might not notice it as much but driving a Class A motor home that tracks similar to a Semi truck while pulling a Honda CRV, which has a much narrower track, can be a little wavy shall we say?

It seemed at times the car would get into a rut and pull or steer the motorhome. Add to this some of the outsides of the roads were falling away as they crumbled and tugged on the motorhome’s wheel to go where one never wants to go – the ditch! The speeds are lower and many times I couldn’t even do the speed limits.

Add to that it was a bit crazy out there today. You can tell you are in a heavier populated area that is popular among tourists by the way the locals drive. They obviously get sick of the traffic and motorhomes like me that might be 5 to 10 miles per hour slower than the speed signs (due to road conditions).

One anxious guy passed me on a two-lane road with another car coming at him! A short time later another passed me with an island in the center of the road coming right at him as well! 

Finally the last incident was a pick up truck obviously not paying attention. I saw him come over the center-line right towards me and he corrected it right at the last moment! That’s about all I could take for one day.

More fall colours next to a babbling brook.

I don’t know if all the driving has accumulated consecutively on me or if it was just the amount of attention I needed to apply today. The small winding roads, the beautiful sights, most of which I miss out on by driving, the crazy drivers or the poor road conditions? I am just plumb pooped out! It was all I could do to make it to the campground we are at tonight. Tired, tired, tired!

Blueberry fields forever.
Signs say the worlds largest producer is Maine.

Both Bar Harbor and Camden are beautiful places. Bar Harbor was really busy with traffic and pedestrian tourists. There were 3 cruise ships in the bay there. I’m just too tired to enjoy them right now.

4471.8 Miles!

For our Canadian friends that’s 7,154.88 kilometers!

That’s how far we have driven so far on this trip. It may not sound like much to cover in 26 days but remember some days we do not move an inch. Other days we have toured around in the car, that mileage is not included in this mileage.

A bridge with a different design. The cables are in the middle!
This was beside Fort Knox in Maine.

I’m beginning to strongly believe that our estimate of a total 10,000 miles on this trip is going to be a bit shy of what it will really end up being. It will be interesting to see what the actual total will be when we get home in the spring. Parking for a month or 3 at a time in a nice resort is starting to look real good – ha, ha, ha!

Barb is tired now too.
PS: She does all the driving when we tour in the car and when I'm driving Bounder she does all the navigation with the maps and GPS.

Barb is in charge of driving the Honda and does a fine job of it too!

Dinner on the road and a Java to round it off.
Barb loves her Timmy's too!

A good night’s sleep will revitalize us, I am sure.

As I sit here in the dark at the campsite, it is a welcomed and quiet evening. All that I can hear is the flapping of the American flag here in the campground.

Some days earlier I stated how every time I come to the USA that I am taken back by all the homes in the that fly their countries flag. I admire their patriotism. 

In the maritimes of eastern Canada I saw a lot of Canadian flags flying at people's homes there. What is it with us in western Canada, why don't we do this?

One rarely sees our country's flag being flown at the homes of western Canadians! As I said before, one of the first things I am going to do next year when we get home is buy a flag pole and a flag for my front porch.

We all, both American and Canadian need to be proud of our country and our flags. We all stand for democracy and we stand for freedom throughout the world. 

In times like these when one watches the news on TV it should remind us about how lucky we are that we were not born into a country that doesn't have these freedoms.

As I ready myself to crash into bed tonight I challenge each and everyone of us to do the same! 

Buy a flag and a flag pole and let us not forget!

Good night :) !