A (Very) Late Post: This post was written long after this trip was completed as I just didn’t have the energy to do it at the time we were travelling and after we returned home, I just frankly forgot to write it. So, while I was scrolling through my photos recently, I decided to make a quick post with the pictures from this awesome trip so Tony and I have something to look back on in the future. We saw so many amazing places, but more importantly visited so many friends and family that are very special to us on this road trip. Miss y’all.

August 10 – September 2, 2022

Acadia National Park / Bar Harbor, ME:

There has been a long running disagreement between Tony and I for the last several decades as to whether or not we have ever been to Acadia National Park. I said No and Tony said Yes. We were supposed to go to Acadia on our honeymoon, but Tony had a mountain bike accident resulting in a neck injury which required the cancellation of that trip. While planning for this visit to Acadia, Tony dug deep and found some printed photos of us in Acadia National Park. I literally have no memory of this, but there I am in a photograph in 1999 (+/-) standing in Acadia. Ugh, he was RIGHT! To my defense, we were only there a short time as part of a cruise along the Eastern Seaboard, but still, literally no memory of ever being in that beautiful place.

We were able to secure campsite reservations within the park, but not at the same site or even the same campground for consecutive days. The crowds were back to traveling, just as we were, so we instituted our tried-and-true methods: 1) arrive (very) early, 2) arrive (very) late, 3) when the crowds go one way, we go the opposite way. These methods served us well in Acadia as we did some very lovely hikes in the park. We also secured tickets to see the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain. We got there very early (like the middle of the night) and then slept in the van for a few more hours before waking up, making some hot tea and heading out around 4:30 AM to find a spot to watch the sunrise.

We were a bit surprised to learn there were actual towns almost within the park itself. We are used to the humongous Western National Parks where there sometimes isn’t a town within 50 miles, but just a few minutes from Acadia NP was Bar Harbor, ME with all of its charms. We spent a fantastic day walking along the waterfront and checking out the cute shops. It is easy to see why this place is so popular.

Nova Scotia, Canada: We took the car ferry from Bar Harbor, ME to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. An easy multi-hour water journey that saved us a lot of driving time getting to the tip of Nova Scotia. Over the next week, we crisscrossed Nova Scotia doing what we call the garden, lighthouse and cove tour. First up was Annapolis Royal including the beautiful Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens and the well-preserved Fort Anne National Historic site. We camped near the Bay of Fundy which has the highest tidal range between low and high tide averaging 52 feet. We had been to Bay of Fundy previously on our 1999 cruise, but again it was just for a short amount of time, so this time it was a more meaningful experience as we could take our time. The one thing we were quickly learning about Nova Scotia is they have some of the most AMAZING sunsets we have ever seen. The sunsets seemed to last forever and the sky looked like a watercolor painting with bright orange, red, pink and even blue and purple hues. It never got old.

We leisurely drove along the coast of Nova Scotia heading eastward in the direction of Halifax. We hiked and biked most days and in the evening we found ourselves pulling over, often to an area where there was a decommissioned lighthouse, and making camp for the night. It was quite easy to boondock in Nova Scotia and there were really no “No overnight camping” or “No sleeping in cars” or “No overnight parking” signs that we see so often in the US.  The weather was mostly lovely with cool days and even cooler nights. A few days of rain here and there, but overall a fantastic time of year to be traveling in this area. The only negative would be the bugs…lots of flies and mosquitos out especially at dusk.

Meandering along the coast we went to Digby, Shelburne, Sandy Point, Peggy’s Cove and Lunenburg before finally arriving in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia. We had a difficult time “boondocking” in the city of Halifax, but eventually found a paid parking lot that allowed overnight camping. It was fine for a few nights, but again not our favorite spot after spending last week boondocking at scenic waterfront spots. We had been to Halifax before on the same 1999 cruise. This time we went to the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site (they actually have fantastic parking for RVs and oversized vehicles), walked along the waterfront, toured the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and the Halifax Public Gardens. We really enjoyed Halifax but be warned it is very hilly and reminded us of the elevation in downtown Seattle.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park: We planned to make a leisurely drive up the eastern coast of Nova Scotia on our way to Cape Breton Highlands National Park, but we had been too leisurely the previous week so we drove through the interior of Nova Scotia in one day to get to Cape Breton. We easily found boondocking spots right outside the park on the ocean. The weather in Cape Breton was not cooperating as there was much fog, gray skies and rain but we pushed on regardless. We hiked a number of hikes in the park including the very popular Skyline trail in the middle of a nasty storm. The upsides were there was lots of parking and there were only a few other (stupid) people on the trail, the downsides were we ended up cold and wet and the views were completely obscured by the fog and inclement weather. We drove around the entire 180-mile Cabot Trail loop. Tony was able to squeeze in a number of road bike rides, although in several places the road surface was too torn up for him to safely ride on. Overall, Cape Breton was a highlight of this trip and a place we would certainly come back to again.

Truro, Nova Scotia: One of Tony’s previous co-workers, Gordon, lived near Truro, Nova Scotia and offered up his driveway to us. Although they had worked together for years, Tony and Gordon had never met face-to-face. Gordon, his wife, Donna and their beautiful Samoyed named Freeway, whom we fell in love with, showed us what Canadian hospitality is all about. We had a lovely time with them and ate the absolute BEST corn on the cob we have ever eaten and being from the Midwest US we both have eaten a lot of corn. Gordon told us it was just picked fresh a few hours before our arrival.

Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada: Our next stop was Prince Edward Island where we planned to tour the island for 5 days before ending in the capital of Charlottetown where we had an Airbnb booked and Tony had registered for the multi-day PEI Gran Fondo.

PEI is known for its new potatoes and if anybody knows me, you know I LOVE potatoes. I was in heaven with all of the local farms having sacks of new potatoes on the roadside for purchase just by placing money in an honesty jar or box. We toured the circumference of the island and mainly boondock camped along the way. We visited the Potato Museum (I did tell you how much I love potatoes, right?), the Anne of Green Gable’s House, Prince Edward Island National Park, numerous Provincial Parks and some lovely sandy and WARM-water beaches. PEI has very low population density and outside of the capital city, there were not very many tourists. The weather was overall gorgeous and we fell in love with PEI.

We arrived at our Airbnb in Charlottetown only to find out we were in the historic area with incredibly narrow streets and even more narrow driveways made for horse carriages not campervans. The neighbors were sitting out on their front porches when we arrived and after watching us trying to figure out where to park, they sprung into action circling around us discussing which one of them could move their permitted parked car to make room for us. Not 2 minutes later, the owner of our Airbnb arrives and jumps into the conversation and ends up giving us 2 of his permitted parking spots on the street and moving his car to the tight driveway spot next to our Airbnb. Canadians are some of the friendliest people!

We spent 4 nights in our downtown Airbnb which allowed Tony to be able to ride to the starting point of his Gran Fondo each morning. He said the PEI Gran Fondo was one of the smallest rides he has done but was probably the best organized and with the friendliest people. He also liked that it was a multi-day event with differing routes each day and even an optional “fun ride” day. Since our Airbnb was located adjacent to downtown, we could walk in the city and to the waterfront. We ate several lovely vegan meals in the downtown area and even went to the world premiere of the musical Tell Tale Harbor. It was fantastic! I also visited the Van Gogh Immersive Experience one day while Tony was riding the Gran Fondo and thoroughly enjoyed myself. We sadly bid farewell to the new potatoes and headed back across The Confederation Bridge which is a toll bridge and costs $50. It is the only bridge between PEI and New Brunswick and is Canada’s longest bridge at 8 miles and the world’s longest bridge over ice-covered water (Northumberland Strait).

NE Coastal USA: We bid good-bye to Canada and crossed back into the USA. The border crossing was uneventful and not crowded. We spent the next few days cruising down the Atlantic Coast. We fell in love with Newport, RI and were surprisingly able to find several boondocking spots right near the ocean. We left Tofu in long-term airport parking in Providence and flew back home to Arizona for a few weeks.

Up next is Part 3: Atlantic Seaboard to Arizona Desert