We set off on our maiden voyage late Monday afternoon. We didn’t have an idea where we were going to spend the night and didn’t have any groceries except a few dry goods that were from our apartment, and a few other items from family. But we were on the road! And then Justin realized we never searched for my sunglasses. So we turned around, found them quickly and then we were on the road…. again!
We didn’t have a route in mind, so we just headed Northeast. We ended up finding a campground in the Adirondacks that had a fire pit, outhouse and picnic table for free! Just had to go 16 miles on a pitted dirt road.
On the slow way through we saw some people pulled over. Didn’t think much of it until Justin saw what they were looking at. We pulled over and got to see a moose! It was really neat and unexpected. Then by the time we got to our spot it was pretty dark. For dinner, we ate in the van the pasta salad that mom gave us, then brushed our teeth and went to bed.
The next morning we grabbed our PB and Banana sandwiches I had made before taking off and walked down the road to a little river we saw as we drove in. We sat there basking in the sun eating our sandwiches. It was a lovely first morning on the road.
Again, with no plan, we decided to stay another night at this campsite because it was so nice and peaceful. We did yoga, tried to organize the van a bit more, sat and relaxed. We cooked our first meal with what we had which inspired a staple meal for us. Spicy Cheesy Potatoes. Potatoes (from Aunt Marion's garden), peppers (from mom's garden) and onion and cheese (that mom shipped us off with). It is delicious. Crushed red pepper is where it gets the spice from.
On our way out we met Ryan from Rochester. Him and his wife want to do something similar but with a baby and dog. He shared a great map of New England with us where he added a bunch of different spots to check out or stay. It was unexpected and great to meet him.
For the next stop we found a campsite in Vermont. Our resource said there were actual sites but there was a road closed sign before we could get to the location, which we then thought it was for the snowmobile trail. But since we weren’t sure, the road to the sites were supposed to be rough, there was no map AND we didn’t have a signal, we ended up just staying in the parking lot at the entrance to the trails.
Realizing we need to plan a little more we headed to a Dunkin Donuts for their wifi to figure out the next steps before proceeding Northward into Maine.
MAINE
At the Acadia National Park visitor center, which was totally chaotic with end of season visitors, we got our Annual National Parks Pass (thank you Hikari!) and more importantly got to pet a Bernese Mtn dog named George. We searched for a less popular hike since the park was really busy. It was our first hike of the trip so it was tough but fun. It started off easy and then we had to scramble up large rocks, back and forth over a creek. We finished the scramble and then decided to head back down. Not wanting to push ourselves too hard since we haven't been exercising. It felt really good to be on the trail.
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It was still early enough after the hike so we decided to check out my favorite garden, thus far. We stumbled upon it the last time we were in Maine and I had thought it was someone's backyard. At the time everything was in full bloom and it was absolutely magical. That was in late May so we were curious what it would look like in late August. Hardly anything was in bloom but it’s still a magical place.
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The last stop in Acadia National Park we made was to Cadillac Mountain. We were thinking about not going because we had been there twice before but so glad we changed our minds. With the blue skies and beautiful morning, it was fun to reminisce where we got engaged. We tried looking for the exact spot but there was much more vegetation this time of year...and the rocks all looked alike.
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Headed inland we needed to plan our next steps into Canada. We ended up in this super great little city called Ellsworth. There is free wifi in parks with outlets, bathrooms, and water spigots. We did laundry, went grocery shopping and spent two nights in a Walmart parking lot getting prepared.
NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA
We made it to Canada! Our first stop was a visitor center where we chatted with Don. He gave us lots of great information and history on the Atlantic Maritime provinces. Feeling good with the information he provided us we set off to look for a campsite. We ended up at a beach where the tide was out and we walked along the sandy beach and water to these deep purple rocks with white streaks running through them. I was told the white is quartzite but haven’t been able to find out much more information on them yet. Needless to stay, I am a little obsessed with this beach.
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We stopped in Fundy National Park and got our Discovery pass. The first stop was to the Wolfe Lake visitor station where we met Michel. We had gone in already to ask questions but then realized we had another so we went back in and ended up talking to Michel for probably 30 minutes. He was in the circus with his wife traveling all over. They would work for so many days and then have so many days off and instead of going home they just checked out where they were in their 4X4 vehicle. He was telling us places to check out when we head to the Western US and was showing us pictures. It was really wonderful talking to him. We could’ve kept talking but someone else came in to ask a question.
So we headed to a trailhead and made a quick lunch. It was such a beautiful day, the sights on the trail were stunning and the terrain varied so much. It was a tough but beautiful trail. If we did it again we would do it earlier in the day so we could just sit and write in a journal or something but alas it was getting late and needed to find camp. We ended up camping at a campground in the park.
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NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA
After gathering information from the visitor center and learning about Nova Scotia's wild blueberries we decided we needed to try some. We found a sign for them and ventured that way. When we got there they only had 5lb boxes… We got a 5lb box for the two of us. There was a lot.
Our first campsite in Nova Scotia was on a little strip of rocks with the Minas Basin on one side and the Bay of Fundy on the other. It was awesome. We checked the area out then made dinner. We were watching the sunset and eating dinner when a gentleman wandered nearby taking pictures of the sunset and started talking to us. We were hesitant at first but then he introduced himself as Sandy the Town Something and gave us a map of the town. We ended up talking to him for probably 30 minutes and he told us stories of seeing bears, his sons, and the town. He brought us to the water and showed us Marsh Greens which are salty edible greens that can be eaten raw or steamed. Our RV neighbors ended up coming over because they thought he was giving us an instructional or something so we got to chatting with them as well. We didn’t get to see the actual sunset because of clouds but it was a lovely evening meeting friendly people. We parted ways and we ate our cold dinner.
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That night there was a severe thunder and lightning storm. The first one in Cloud. There was no sleeping through it, it was intense. The next morning you wouldn’t even know it happened, there were just sunny and blue skies. That morning I started realizing just how incredible the tides are in Nova Scotia (NS is known for its extreme High and Low tide). At first, I was like "okay what else you got? How impressive can tides be?" But that morning we had to walk much farther down the beach to get to the waters edge than the night before. It was incredible.
As we were leaving we stopped by to share some blueberries with our RV neighbors, Ken and Verna. Ken was telling us his life as a farmer in Alberta and invited us up to their place for a rodeo in June if we are up that way.
Our plan was to drive to Cape Split that day but we got sidetracked. Driving through Economy there were river beds that should have had water but the tide was out. All we could see was muddy land in the distance and the extent of the low tides, we wanted a closer look. We drove down a random road that turned dirt. With only two paths to take, Justin tried one and ended on a dead end. He tried the other and ended up at a trailhead! Had no idea it was there. We spent some time picking up trash and then did a trail that lead to this amazing view of the low tides. After walking around and snapping some pictures we were ready to leave but then realized we could actually see the tide coming in. We ended up sitting there for another 20 minutes as it washed in.
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Since hurricane Dorian was on the way we decided to head back to a larger city. We ended up in Truro. When we got there it was such a beautiful day it was hard to believe a storm was coming. We went to a park for lunch and met Harry and Patricia and their corgi Misha. They are retired and traveling out of there Winnebago from Alberta. We had a lovely chat with them about how vulnerable it is living in a van and life in general. Patricia is a published author.
After lunch we got hurricane supplies; Pop Tarts, chips, Jos Louis, water, gas, and downloaded a couple of movies. We hunkered down in a business area with lots of buildings to hide from the wind and we waited for the storm to come.
Thank you for reading! Part II will come out soon.
Sav and Justin
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