A fond farewell t
o Toronto and we were on our way to Ottawa. Once there, we settled in, watched a 'lil tele and let our hunger grow. We finally dragged our lazy butts up and headed for Parliament Hill, via Rue Sparks. We found a dozen BBQ vendors selling pulled pork, ribs, chicken, slaw and baked beans. Dinner had been located - now we had to work up our appetite! So we wandered up to Parliament and took in the buildings, the view across the riv
er and did a little people watching. When 'famished' hit us, we headed back to Sparks and purchased the combo dinner, a little bit of everything delicous! We consumed the Yum on the lawn in front of Parliament, letting the preperations for Canada Day entertain us; that and the little black dog that thought he should help us!
We thought about getting up early the next morning...but it didn't happen. We did have just enough time to consume the continental brekky provided, and then it was back
to Parliament Hill for the changing of the guard. Interesting.........I'm sorry they didn't have any mounties on parade. The ceremony was interesting, very precise, crisp, and they had on these fantastic big fuzzy black 'hats'. My favorite part was the bagpipes :]
Instead of staying in town to be touristic, we opted to head out and across the way to Montreal. The drive was short, save
for a short informational stop at the Quebec (Kaybeck) border. Once into the city limits, we parked on a large island south of town and pulled out our bicycles. We took off around the island, taking a bike path that skirted a canal. At the end of the island, where the road connected back to mainland, we stopped for a gorgeous pic and then continued along the St Lawrence River. It was on this side of the isle that the masses came out, parking themselves on the lawns or sharing the path with bikers, runners and rollerbladers. We stopped for a few at the Parc des Rapides - an area in the river where ocean-like waves roll and the brave can surf, at least temporarily. Given that we had forgotten our surfboards in Cali, we moved along and raced back to the car. We grabbed lunch and dinner at the grocery store and continued on the road. Our second border crossing was uneventful and we shortly arrived in Vermont. The countryside was wonderful...very green! After filling up on American gas we headed east out of Vermont and entered New Hampshire. This was our first 4-state day, but it won't be our last.
New Hampshire was quite empty, except for the rain that fell on our tent for 12 straight hours. I packed up in the rain while Princess showered (she would have been just as clean helping me pack up!) We drove by Mt Washington, one of the windiest places in the US, on the way across NH and meandered into Maine. It was only a 4 hour drive from campsite to campsite, and the weather on Mt Desert Island was just about the same as Twin Mountain. For fear of another overnight drenching, we went to the local hardware store for a new tarp and then put it up, making our campsite fully protected. We were set for a monsoon and were treated to a misting. Oh well...next time. After grilled pork, zucchini, sweet potato and spanish onion for dinner, Princess and I drove into Bar Harbor to scout out the site of our morning fishing adventure. As soon as we arrived on the east side of the
island, we were swarmed with thick ocean fog. Driving speed dropped to 15mph and visibilty to 30 yards. On one hand I was fearful for danger looming and on the other I was excited to witness the new weather. We located our pier and paused for a nightcap at the Bar Harbor Inn. Princess had her usual hot chocolate and I took it easy with scotch, and we relaxed listening to the piano man in the bar.
Bright and early the next morning we rose to chew on our oats and head
back to the harbor. We met our captain at 7:45a and were soon heading out into Frenchman Bay at a rapid 6 knots. Tide was out and so were the fish...out of 19 fishermen and 3.5 hours fishing, ONE fish was caught. It was foggy on the way out, and merely cloudy on the way in. We did a bit of tidepooling
once arriving back on shore, seeking out the crabs and other purdy shellfish. We stopped for lunch downtown at the Route 66 cafe, and then continued into Acadia National Park. We went directly to Sand Beach after not passing GO, and walked ourselves into the not-so-frigid Atlantic Ocean. Looming 100 yards offshore was a massive fog bank, but we left before it took any hostages. We walked along the shore to a hole in the rock called Thunder Hole, where the waves were supposed to make a thunderous noise, but the tide was still out and the sea just gargled at us. We played chicken on some rocks by the water with t
he incoming waves until Princess nearly went for an accidental swim. We walked back to the car and continued through the park, stopping at all the harbors along the way. This part of the island was nearly empty, and we were very happy. We stopped for ice cream and groceries at Gott's Market in Pretty Marsh and then continued back to the KOA.
The next morning we reshuffled the car, packed our moldy tarp, tent and bed and scooted down to Portland. We stayed on Rte 1 the whole way, entirely skipping any notion of interstate. We stopped for marshmallows and a chicken parmigiana sandwich in Friendship and picked up whoopies and new shoes for Hollywood in Freeport. The whole town was made up of outlet stores! We pulled into Bill & Elaine's house in Cape Elizabeth and they immediately took us to Headlight, the local park. It used to be an old military park that was bought back by the city. On it is a giant lighthouse, that due to the incoming fog, was not visible. We returned the next day to see it, but instead got soaked by rain. After the park, we all headed down to the Lobster Shack for my first full lobster dinner. Princess had a Lobster Roll and I cracked into the hard red shell. The experience was fun, but in the end, I turned out to be a crab fan. Don't get all crabby! Me not eating it will save more for all of you. You can thank me later... We finished off the night back at the house with ice cream, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and scotch while watching the BoSox beat the Orioles and the Giants lose to the Crudnals, I mean Cardinals, in extra innings.
o Toronto and we were on our way to Ottawa. Once there, we settled in, watched a 'lil tele and let our hunger grow. We finally dragged our lazy butts up and headed for Parliament Hill, via Rue Sparks. We found a dozen BBQ vendors selling pulled pork, ribs, chicken, slaw and baked beans. Dinner had been located - now we had to work up our appetite! So we wandered up to Parliament and took in the buildings, the view across the riv
er and did a little people watching. When 'famished' hit us, we headed back to Sparks and purchased the combo dinner, a little bit of everything delicous! We consumed the Yum on the lawn in front of Parliament, letting the preperations for Canada Day entertain us; that and the little black dog that thought he should help us!We thought about getting up early the next morning...but it didn't happen. We did have just enough time to consume the continental brekky provided, and then it was back
to Parliament Hill for the changing of the guard. Interesting.........I'm sorry they didn't have any mounties on parade. The ceremony was interesting, very precise, crisp, and they had on these fantastic big fuzzy black 'hats'. My favorite part was the bagpipes :]Instead of staying in town to be touristic, we opted to head out and across the way to Montreal. The drive was short, save
for a short informational stop at the Quebec (Kaybeck) border. Once into the city limits, we parked on a large island south of town and pulled out our bicycles. We took off around the island, taking a bike path that skirted a canal. At the end of the island, where the road connected back to mainland, we stopped for a gorgeous pic and then continued along the St Lawrence River. It was on this side of the isle that the masses came out, parking themselves on the lawns or sharing the path with bikers, runners and rollerbladers. We stopped for a few at the Parc des Rapides - an area in the river where ocean-like waves roll and the brave can surf, at least temporarily. Given that we had forgotten our surfboards in Cali, we moved along and raced back to the car. We grabbed lunch and dinner at the grocery store and continued on the road. Our second border crossing was uneventful and we shortly arrived in Vermont. The countryside was wonderful...very green! After filling up on American gas we headed east out of Vermont and entered New Hampshire. This was our first 4-state day, but it won't be our last.New Hampshire was quite empty, except for the rain that fell on our tent for 12 straight hours. I packed up in the rain while Princess showered (she would have been just as clean helping me pack up!) We drove by Mt Washington, one of the windiest places in the US, on the way across NH and meandered into Maine. It was only a 4 hour drive from campsite to campsite, and the weather on Mt Desert Island was just about the same as Twin Mountain. For fear of another overnight drenching, we went to the local hardware store for a new tarp and then put it up, making our campsite fully protected. We were set for a monsoon and were treated to a misting. Oh well...next time. After grilled pork, zucchini, sweet potato and spanish onion for dinner, Princess and I drove into Bar Harbor to scout out the site of our morning fishing adventure. As soon as we arrived on the east side of the
island, we were swarmed with thick ocean fog. Driving speed dropped to 15mph and visibilty to 30 yards. On one hand I was fearful for danger looming and on the other I was excited to witness the new weather. We located our pier and paused for a nightcap at the Bar Harbor Inn. Princess had her usual hot chocolate and I took it easy with scotch, and we relaxed listening to the piano man in the bar.Bright and early the next morning we rose to chew on our oats and head
back to the harbor. We met our captain at 7:45a and were soon heading out into Frenchman Bay at a rapid 6 knots. Tide was out and so were the fish...out of 19 fishermen and 3.5 hours fishing, ONE fish was caught. It was foggy on the way out, and merely cloudy on the way in. We did a bit of tidepooling 
once arriving back on shore, seeking out the crabs and other purdy shellfish. We stopped for lunch downtown at the Route 66 cafe, and then continued into Acadia National Park. We went directly to Sand Beach after not passing GO, and walked ourselves into the not-so-frigid Atlantic Ocean. Looming 100 yards offshore was a massive fog bank, but we left before it took any hostages. We walked along the shore to a hole in the rock called Thunder Hole, where the waves were supposed to make a thunderous noise, but the tide was still out and the sea just gargled at us. We played chicken on some rocks by the water with t
he incoming waves until Princess nearly went for an accidental swim. We walked back to the car and continued through the park, stopping at all the harbors along the way. This part of the island was nearly empty, and we were very happy. We stopped for ice cream and groceries at Gott's Market in Pretty Marsh and then continued back to the KOA.The next morning we reshuffled the car, packed our moldy tarp, tent and bed and scooted down to Portland. We stayed on Rte 1 the whole way, entirely skipping any notion of interstate. We stopped for marshmallows and a chicken parmigiana sandwich in Friendship and picked up whoopies and new shoes for Hollywood in Freeport. The whole town was made up of outlet stores! We pulled into Bill & Elaine's house in Cape Elizabeth and they immediately took us to Headlight, the local park. It used to be an old military park that was bought back by the city. On it is a giant lighthouse, that due to the incoming fog, was not visible. We returned the next day to see it, but instead got soaked by rain. After the park, we all headed down to the Lobster Shack for my first full lobster dinner. Princess had a Lobster Roll and I cracked into the hard red shell. The experience was fun, but in the end, I turned out to be a crab fan. Don't get all crabby! Me not eating it will save more for all of you. You can thank me later... We finished off the night back at the house with ice cream, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and scotch while watching the BoSox beat the Orioles and the Giants lose to the Crudnals, I mean Cardinals, in extra innings.
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