Tuesday, October 02, 2018

DIGBY NS TO ST. JOHN NEW BRUNSWICK VIA FERRY AND ON TO THE U.S. BORDER AT ST. STEPHAN…..RAIN, RAIN, RAIN, AND MORE RAIN!!

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Nice sunrise over Digby Nova Scotia this morning, our last day in the Province.  I was already looking forward to the Ferry ride for the simple fact of having someone else do the driving for a change even if it was for only two and a half hours.  The Ferry ride wasn’t cheap but compared to the amount of gas we would have used had we gone from Truro over to Halifax and down the coast around the bottom of Nova Scotia then back up through Digby north to Truro again then back down the other side of Fundy Bay to the American border I think we definitely saved ourselves a couple dollars plus wear and tear on the Motorhome and us as well.

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Under dark sullen and rainy skies we made our way to the Ferry about 9:30 but stopped along the way at the Digby Pines Resort and Spa.   Kelly was looking for a 2019 Maude Lewis calendar and somebody told her she could get one at the Digby Pines gift shop  Nope, they were sold out.

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QUICK STOP AT THE DIGBY PINES

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OUR RIG IS IN THIS PHOTO TOO

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OKAY IT’S YOUR MOVE

We arrived at the Ferry Terminal plenty early and were promptly led to a line-up spot.  Met some folks from Stratford Ontario as well as Seaforth.  Not too many vehicles but more dribbled in later. In fact, quite a few.  Ferry arrived from St. John New Brunswick right on time and disgorged it’s passengers and vehicles.

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ALL LINED UP AND READY TO RUMBLE ABOARD THE FERRY

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AN OLDY AND IT COMES COMPLETE WITH WHITE WALL TIRES AND A COUPLE FINS AT THE TOP BACK

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THE BIG E IS PEEKING AROUND THE CORNER TO THE RIGHT

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‘DA BOAT BOSS – DA BOAT’

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THE ‘FUNDY ROSE’ HEADS IN FROM ST. JOHN NEW BRUNSWICK ON IT’S FIRST RUN OF THE DAY

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Following directions from a guy dressed in lime green it was soon our time to board the boat so away we went with our 37 foot Motorhome around the corner and down a steel ramp into the hold of the Ferry.  Another chap directed us to snuggle up tightly to an 18 wheeler and that was it.  Leaving Pheebs in the RV we clambered out of the rig, headed across the steel deck and climbed up about 4 levels of stairs to the deck lounge.

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OKAY HERE WE GO DRIVING THE RIG ONTO THE BOAT

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GEEEEZZZZ I HOPE THERE IS REALLY A BOAT DOWN THERE SOMEWHERE AT THE END OF THAT RAMP

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YEP THERE IT IS

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OKAY SO NOW WHERE DO WE GO??  WONDER IF I CAN TURN AROUND IN HERE??

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OKAY THERE’S A GUY WAVING AT ME….MAYBE HE’S A BLOG READER

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LOOKS LIKE THIS IS IT

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THEY GOT US SQIGGLED IN HERE PRETTY GOOD

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This was a far larger Ferry than I realized and I was impressed how nice it was inside.  Very impressive and I’ll let my photos take you for a tour.

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BIG WINDOWS AT LEFT LOOK OUT OVER THE BOW

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THERE ARE NICE SEATING AREAS EVERYWHERE AND I LOVED ALL THE COLORS THROUGHOUT

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MIDSHIPS SNACK AND COFFEE BAR AREA

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EVEN A CHILDREN’S PLAY AREA

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WASHROOMS AND MORE SEATING UP THAT-A-WAY AND THERE ARE MIRRORS MIRRORS EVERYWHERE

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INFORMATION DECK AT RIGHT

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ANOTHER COZY SEATING AREA WITH TABLES

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MAIN CAFETERIA WHERE WE GOT OUR GRUB

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ONE OF TWO CAFETERIA SEATING AREAS

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LOTS OF COMFORTABLE AIRLINE SEATS

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THIS IS AN ELEVATOR

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THIS COUPLE WAS PLAYING CRIBBAGE

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THIS IS THE MOVIE ROOM WITH THE MOVIE ‘CASPER THE GHOST’ PLAYING…..WE SAT FOR AWHILE ABOUT HALFWAY DOWN ON THE RIGHT

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WHOA SLOW DOWN THERE CASPER

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OKAY I PROMISE TO BE GOOD

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COMPUTER ROOM

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I THINK I RECOGNIZE THAT PERSON

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KELLY ORDER’S US UP SOME GRUB

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NO COMPLAINTS:))

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SIGN SAYS ‘TRUCKER’S LOUNGE’

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HEY WHO’S THE GUY IN THE MIRROR WITH THE BAGGY PANTS

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DINING ROOM

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THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF SEATING ON THIS FERRY

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I WONDER HOW MUCH OF THE BOAT THESE THREE PEOPLE SAW

We found us a couple comfortable airline seats for awhile before heading off to the cafeteria for some eats.  Kelly had some of those Scallop thingys with salad and I had an Angus burger with fries.  We both liked our food and the fries were especially good.  I of course bounced around the boat all over the place taking photos.  Watched part of a Casper Movie for a short while.  Tried the onboard computers but they didn’t work.  Grabbed a coffee as well.  Wasn’t much to see out the windows except the gray depressing sky reflecting it’s mood into the Bay Of Fundy waters.  Raining too.

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DESPITE THE COLD WIND AND RAIN I DID MANAGE TO SLIP OUTSIDE AND GRAB A FEW PICS AROUND THE DECK…..THIS ONE IS ‘BYE BYE’ NOVA SCOTIA

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NICE OUTDOOR DECK LOUNGE AT THE STERN

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LIFE RAFT CANISTERS

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BREEZEWAY SEATING LOOKING AFT

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IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE CAPTAIN HE’S UP THOSE STAIRS AND THROUGH THE DOOR TO THE BRIDGE

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A FISHING TRAWLER PASSES BY

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POWER RESCUE LAUNCH

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BELOW IS WHERE WE DROVE THE MOTORHOME ABOARD

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It was a few minutes short of 1 p.m. when we docked in St. John New Brunswick.  Unsure about where we were headed we pulled over in the big Ferry parking lot and shut things down for half an hour.  Checked our weather forecasts and saw the weather folks were still calling for 3 days of rain.  Yes we knew there was a lot to see here in regards to the Fundy tides etc but neither one of us felt like sitting around in the Motorhome waiting for better weather to get out and enjoy the sites.  It was a joint decision to continue our journey so off we went heading South down highway 1 heading for the U.S. border and Spencerport New York. 

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THE HARBOR OF ST. JOHN AHEAD

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LOOKS LIKE A COUPLE CRUISE SHIPS IN PORT

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WE DISEMBARK THE FERRY THROUGH A BLUE GIRDER TUNNEL

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SITTING IN THE FERRY PARKING LOT DECIDING WHAT TO DO WE WAVE ‘BYE BYE’ TO THE FUNDY ROSE AS SHE TURNS AROUND AND HEADS BACK TO DIGBY WITH ANOTHER LOAD OF PASSENGERS AND VEHICLES

This will be my last post for a few days because we won’t have our Bell internet service once we cross the border in the morning.  We are parked for the night in a Canadian Tire parking lot in St. Stephan New Brunswick right at the border and decided it was too much of a hassle and expense to fire up our American Verizon internet account just for a couple days.  I still plan to write a post each day and I’ll publish them once we arrive at Kelly’s Mother’s house in Spencerport maybe Thursday or Friday.  We are anxious now to get home and get ourselves organized for the coming Winter.  And as I write this tonight it is still windy, cold, and raining:(( 

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HEADING DOWN A WET HIGHWAY 1 TOWARDS THE U.S. BOARDER AND THE STATE OF MAINE

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My apologies to readers riding along with us hoping for a much better trip than what we’ve had.  We know we’ve missed a lot of great sights and other RV’ers have and would have done things much differently but I guess we had to make this final journey to realize our long distance travels have come to an end after a dozen great years.  I’ll write more about this when we get home and what our plans are for the future but I can tell you that we don’t plan to give up RVing just yet.  Just the looooooong trips.  Okay, see ya all again in a few days but let me leave you with a reader’s comment from a few days ago.  He sums up very well just where Kelly and I are at right now…….. ‘Gene Siesky’ wrote “I can relate to your comment about lack of excitement as we age. I just returned from three weeks in Europe and even that lacked excitement for me. (But my excitement rose as the day approached to go back home.) I was fortunate to do my travels when I was younger and having the will and energy, hitting all 50 states by the age of 52, enjoying the drives back and forth across America, driving way into the night and putting on as many miles as I could within a day. Now as I approach 70, I find it quite pleasant to be home, enjoy everything about it, and not feeling like I am missing one damn thing”.

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GROANER’S CORNER:(( Once upon a time, a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.The villagers, knowing there were many monkeys, went to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 each and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.He then announced that he would buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the villagers efforts and they started catching monkeys again.Soon, the supply diminished and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the big city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf.The assistant told the villagers, "Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that my boss has already collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when my boss returns, you can sell them to him for $50."The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys for 700 billion dollars.They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of monkeys!Now you have a better understanding of how the WALL STREET BAILOUT PLAN WORKED a few years ago!!

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- Those most opposed to serving on committees are made chairmen.

- Those who live closest arrive latest.

- Those with the best advice offer no advice.

- To achieve the impossible, one must think the absurd; to look where everyone else has looked, but to see what no one else has seen.

- To attract maximum attention, it's hard to beat a good, big, dumb mistake.

- To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

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12 comments:

  1. Totally understand the place where you and Kelly are right now with regards to your RV travels. Been there done that and you just have to do what feels right for the two of you. Safe travels.

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  2. Too bad about all the lousy weather, enjoy the drive through New England I enjoyed that many time much more than Quebec, then a visit with Kelly's Mom will be nice for her as well.
    Travel safe.

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  3. 85 degrees today in Cochise County Arizona.

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  4. Great photos of the ferry plus the trip as a whole. Besides the energy to travel it takes a lot to put a blog post together with a ton of photos every day. I don't see how you do it. You've covered a lot of beautiful country on this trip and I appreciate all the photos you shared of an area I have never visited.

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  5. Thanks for the shout out Al. I forgot to mention that I have also visited all of the Canadian provinces, except the Yukon (flew over it on our way to Alaska). I loved driving the Icefields Parkway up to Jasper and camping outside of Banff at Two Jacks Lake. I enjoyed seeing Nova Scotia again and even the ferry from Digby, which I have also completed. We are predicted an El Nino winter in Ohio so maybe your winter will be mild also.

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  6. I enjoy your posts whether they are from your home in Bayfield or on the road. While we were in the East Coast I had several times where I wished I was home. We too missed quite a bit. I met a lady from BC & she was feeling unsettled. She said how at home we have our routines and she was missing that.
    It made me feel better that I wasn't the only one who felt this way. The high winds & rain we endured didn't help either. Visiting Kelly's mom is a great way to wind down your journey. Safe travels

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  7. I love the Ferries. This one looks a lot like the one to Tobermory, which I had the pleasure of riding this summer. (But I guess like railway cars, they are all pretty standard.) The food was great on that one, in fact the best meal we had our whole vacation. At 66 I'm get really tired of long drives too.

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  8. That ferry was amazing! Don't let the rain spoil your trip..get umbrellas and carry on!!

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  9. Bad weather in a camper is not fun for me. After two days the walls get closer and going out for a walk is no fun either. After a few big long lasting storms, we decided the RV life was not for us. We did enjoy many years of two and six week trips and glad we did them. Hope you both enjoy the family visit and then perhaps the rain will have moved on.

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  10. We've always enjoyed ferry rides, and like you I go exploring all around the ship.

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  11. That little retro trailer is probably newer than you think. Shasta re-issued a retro version of that travel trailer in 2015. All the look of vintage, but with modern plumbing and electrical. I was tempted to buy one at the time but ended up in a class C instead.

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  12. That is a sure a much fancier ferry than any we've ridden!! What a beautiful way to travel. I bet the 2.5 hours flew by after all your long days of driving.

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