Acadia National Park Part 2 (July 10 - 12)

 July 10:  Back to the park, this time for a bike ride on the carriage roads in the park. The carriage roads, like the land for the park itself, were a gift from John Rockefeller. They are wide packed gravel.  We parked at the Hulls Cove Visitors Center, got on our bikes and headed south, eventually getting on the Around The Mountain Loop.  We did part of the loop and turned around for a total of about 16.5 miles and an elevation gain of over 1,200 feet.  Most of that gain seemed to be in the last mile or two before turning around, making the climb almost equivalent to a Category 4 climb in the Tour de France!  We seemingly hardly had to pedal for a long while after heading back to the car.

July 11:  Hike day on the Jordan Pond Trail.  This one is a 3.2 mile loop around Jordan Pond.  The trail has three personalities: fairly smooth packed gravel, almost a mile of boardwalk, and a stretch of fairly rugged boulders.  The pond itself is used as a water supply and has extremely clear water.  The trail has great scenery, and great views of the North and (especially the) South Bubble Mountains.  On our return, the line to get in to the Jordan Pond Restaurant was long, so we left the park and found some pretty darn good lobster rolls a few miles away.

Tomorrow, July 12, we leave the Acadia area and head west and a little south to Bridgton, ME, where we stay with Jenny’s sister, Susie, for a few days.

Acadia National Park Part 1 (July 8 - 9)

 Our site here In Acadia Seashore Campground overlooks the water and is very pleasant.  

After lunch, we checked out Schoodic Point in the park.  Where we were (and several others - it’s a popular spot) you can walk out on the rocks up to the ocean and watch the waves crash against them.  It was about 2 hours from high tide at the time.  You could feel the power of the water.

Next we had a drink and a slice of pie at a restaurant on the harbor.  They get their lobsters from the lobstermen just next door. 

On July 9 we headed deeper in to the park, first stopping at a visitors center to ask rangers about sights and trails.  We gave ourselves a driving tour of part of the park, then went to the top of Cadillac Mountain, where the claim to fame is the first spot in the U.S. to be able to see the sunrise.

 After a couple other stops on our driving tour, we ended up at a sports bar to watch France and Morocco play in the World Cup.  

Return to the U.S. (July 6 - 8)

We crossed to the U.S. on July 6 near Woburn, Quebec at a very small border crossing.  There was no line at the crossing, but the CBP official was more thorough than at other crossings.  He actually came in to the RV for a few seconds and scanned our passports. We then got on Route 27 in Maine, also called the Maine High Peaks Scenic Byway, and arrived at our Harvest Host stop for the night in Kingfield, ME.

On July 7 we drove to a KOA near Bangor.  We had a little shopping to do, ate “linner” (lunch/dunner) out, and watched Switzerland squeak by Columbia in their World Cup match.

The next day, we moved near Acadia National Park to our campground for the next few days in Sullivan, ME.  

Montreal (July 1 - 6)

 We got to our KOA campground south of Montreal on Wednesday, July 1.  On the 2nd we headed to our downtown hotel.  Friday, July 3, was the big day: Stefan’s PhD defense.  Room 103 of McGill’s McConnell Engineering Building filled up by the 2:00 start time.  The thesis committee took the first row and a half, and other attendees — family, friends, and classmates — took the rest of the seats.  To start, the thesis committee chair asked everyone to leave the room so the committee could confer.  We were then called back in, and Stefan got started.

Stefan took his allotted 20 minutes to summarize his work in a presentation.  Next came Q&A with the committee, and that took about an hour.  Stefan answered with knowledge and poise, and was very impressive throughout.  Everyone else then had an opportunity to ask questions, and perhaps the best one was asked by none other than your’s truly.  I actually shared the question with Stefan in advance. 

After all the questions were asked and answered, the attendees and Stefan were once again asked to leave the room.  When we returned, Stefan’s advisor made the announcement.  Stefan passed and had earned his PhD!  We gave him a standing O.

The day before, Jenny and I went with Stefan to Costco to pick up food for an after-defense party, which we stashed in Stefan’s office.  The food and drink were pulled out to a couple of picnic tables in a park on campus, and about 20 of us celebrated the achievement. 

Jenny and I did a little wandering and shopping during the day on Saturday, and took Stefan and his girlfriend to dinner Saturday night. We checked out of our hotel Sunday around noon, and are now back the RV.  

Our last activity in the Montreal area was a bike ride.  We drove about 20 minutes east and a little south to St.-Jean-sur-Richelieu and got on a bike path that runs between the Chambly Canal and the Richelieu River.  We rode about 12 miles on the very smooth, flat, and pretty scenic trail. 

Ottawa Part 3 (June 28 - 30)

 Just a quick entry for completeness.  We traveled “all” the way to Quebec to visit the Canadian History Museum on Sunday the 28th.  This means we crossed the bridge over the Ottawa River in to Gatineau.  The museum was well done, with exhibits about indigenous peoples, their interactions with Europeans and Americans, and recent history as well.  The exhibits seemed objective and didn’t hide how first peoples were treated  over the centuries, as well as racism and antisemitism.  But exhibits also pointed out many positive social and technological advancements.

In the above pictures, the building is a view of Parliament Hill in Ottawa across the river.

We didn’t do much on June 29 and 30 — mainly went to sports bars to watch FIFA matches.  

On July 1 we move to Montreal.

Ottawa Part 2: RCMP Sunset Ceremony (June 27)

 We hung out at the campground much of the day on Saturday the 27th.  Admittedly, it was very nice sitting in shade.  But we finally got off our backsides and headed in to town - back to the RCMP training HQ - for the RCMP Sunset Ceremony.  And glad we did. 

The ceremony comprised a variety of exhibitions.  First was horse jumping by RCMP trainees.  Next were the Capital Cowgirls, who did choreographed maneuvers on horseback.  The next horse event were more experienced RCMPs doing even more complicated maneuvers.  Think 16 riders in two Xs, concentric and counter-rotating. Among the horseback events were pipe and drums; Scottish dancers; a ceremony to lower the flag just before sunset; a speech by an Algonquin elder; and several songs by the RCMP band.  They usually get 4,000 or so people at these events.  Many walk in from surrounding neighborhoods.  We were lucky with timing because this was the second-to-last day of this series of shows.  There were food trucks, but we brought a picnic dinner.  It was a really nice time.

Ottawa, ON Part 1 (June 24 - 26)

 We got to the Rolling Hills Campground, about 20 minutes east of Ottawa, on Wednesday afternoon.  We set up camp and chilled for the evening.  Thursday started with pancakes on the griddle for breakfast, and then we drove in to town.  We got an overview of Ottawa on the hop-on/hop-off bus.

The only place we actually hopped off the bus was at the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Training Academy.  Our tour was very interesting.  We learned a little history, but the tour was mainly about the operations of the academy and the training regimen. Back at the main bus stop, we walked over to the Byward Market for early dinner baguette sandwich and beaver tails (kind of like fried flat breads with toppings like sugar, cinnamon, chocolate, etc.).

Friday, June 26, we went back in to Ottawa.  Our original intent was to do the Canadian History Museum and then get a tour of the House of Commons, where Ministers of Parliament work.  Kind of equivalent to the House of Representatives in the U.S.  However, we got a late start and didn’t have time for the museum.  Rather, we walked around Parliament Hill and took in the views of the fabulous buildings there and overlooking the city.  Then the tour.  Whether by skill or luck, we avoided almost all the rain.  Finally, another late lunch, and then back to the RV.

Kingston and Gananoque, ON (June 20 - 23)

 It was about a four-hour drive from our KOA campground in Niagara Falls to the KOA in Kingston.  So far, I like the KOAs. Lots of things for families and kids, clean, well-maintained campground and sites, clean bathrooms, and good locations.  We’ll be at another KOA outside of Montreal in a week and a half.

After setting up camp on the 20th, we drove in to town and had a drink at Jack Astor’s roof top deck, across from city hall, for the good views.  The we walked over to Mango Thai for a little dinner. Drinks good, dinner meh.

On Sunday the 21st we drove over to Gananoque for a bike ride on the 1000 Islands Parkway Waterfront Trail.  The trail is all paved and pretty flat.  It is next to, but separate from, the parkway, and both run parallel and close to the St. Lawrence River. Around mile 14 out of 20 we stopped at the Ivy Lea Club for ice cream right on the river.

We’ve heard “Gananoque” pronounced three different ways, so say it any way you like.

June 22: It was a drizzly day so we just went for a drive and did a little food shopping.

June 23: We did a 5-hour cruise down the St. Lawrence in the 1000 Islands region, leaving from Gananoque, and stopping in the middle at Heart Island to tour Boldt Castle.  The region actually has about 1,600 islands and around 3,000 islets (aka shoals).  The scenery was beautiful, and there are some great homes on some of the islands and along the river shoreline.

The Boldt Castle restoration is mostly done, and done very well.  The grounds are very pretty, too. I leave it up to my readers to look up the interesting history of George Boldt and the castle.

 One interesting tid-bit: Thousand Islands dressing originates from the 1000 Islands area, although there are about three versions of the story behind the condiment.  This was our last full day in the Kingston area. 

Niagara Falls, Part 2 (June 17 - 19)

 June 17: It was another nice day.  First we did a little RV work.  The picture of Jenny reminds me of a scene from The Wizard of Oz. 

 Shortly after noon we drove about 20 minutes to Niagara-on-the-Lake again, parked at a winery and got on our bikes for a ride around the town.  The 12-mile loop included stops at Butler’s Barracks and Fort George, which are both national historical sites.  These military locations date back to the early 1800s, and the Barracks site was used as a training facility as recently as the 1960s.  Now they’re both nicely kept parks.  We brought a picnic lunch and enjoyed it at Fort George.  The route back included a scenic trail between the Niagara River Parkway and the Niagara River.

We had a tour and a tasting at the Trius Winery where we parked, and then an early dinner at a brew pub called Silversmith Brewing Company.  Good stuff!

June 18:  We headed to Buffalo, NY today, starting with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House. I’ll let you read up on the history of this 14,000 sqft house, but it is magnificent and extremely well restored.  Our group tour guide really knew his stuff.  

After gyros at a Greek restaurant, we went to the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.  It was disappointing that the Pollock and Krasner exhibits had already left for their next showing at MOMA in Manhattan, but we did see the Yayio Kusama exhibit.  She’s the “polka dot woman” who also does mirrored infinity rooms.

July 19: Our last full day in Niagara Falls, Ontario.  Today we went back to Buffalo to the Pierce-Arrow Museum.  Pierce-Arrow made cars from 1901-1938, but also made bicycles early on. We really enjoyed this museum.  There were great displays of cars, bicycles, miscellaneous automotive products, era clothing, toys, signage, and more.  They also built a gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that never existed anywhere else.

After the museum, we treated ourselves to Buffalo wings at the at the original restaurant, Frank & Teresa’s Anchor Bar.  Yum!

Niagara Falls. Slowly I Turned, Step By Step…. Part 1 (June 13 - 16)

 I struggled with the title of this post, the alternative being “I’m going up the country/Baby, don’t you wanna go?” from the 1968 song by Canned Heat.  But I finally decided on the bit from Vaudeville, made famous by The Three Stooges, and even parodied by Lucile Ball and Sid Caesar.

June 14: We drove to the falls and bought combo tickets for a few different excursions and shows.  We did the Journey Behind the Falls excursion.  This involves walking through tunnels that open up behind the water.  It was interesting enough, although you can't really see much.

Niagara in Flight was a sensory experience where you sit in seats, which move slightly but really make you feel like you're soaring.  That was pretty cool.  We also toured the old hydroelectric power plant and walked the tunnel underneath to a platform out by the river and falls.

June 15: This was Aerocar day.  It's a big cable car that runs almost horizontally over part of the river where the water rotates counterclockwise.  You also get good views upstream and downstream. 

After the aerocar, we drove to and around Niagara-on-the-Lake, a very nice town with lots of vineyards and some really nice properties on the Niagara River Parkway which overlooks the river.

June 16: We did the Niagara City Cruise, which is Canada's version of Maid of the Mist.  You don another poncho, and get on the boat, which takes you right up to Horseshoe Falls.  We got a place to stand on the boat just starboard of the bow on the upper deck. The wind and the mist were very strong as we approached the falls.  The water at the base of the falls was quite the maelstrom, churning chaotically.  This excursion was perhaps the best way to appreciate the power of the falls. 

In the evening, back at the campground, we turned on the outside TV for the second time ever, and watched the second half of Norway vs. Iraq in the World Cup.