The Easy Life

After the mad, foolish dash to get here, we’ve slowed down and had a pleasant few days. 

First we went to Campobello Island, best known as the summer residence of FDR. It’s just off the northeastern tip of the U.S. connected to Maine by bridge. We had electric hook-up, but not water, so we were frugal with the water so we wouldn’t have to hook up the trailer and pull it to the water spigot to fill up. We drove the 10 miles of gravel road in the Roosevelt Campobello International Park and stopped to look at foggy vistas. 

Then we visited Roosevelt’s home--the man sure had an interesting life, but also his family had loads of money, and he had servants that took care of the children and the house, so he had time and money to pursue various interests. Then we drove to the north end (the island is less than 9 miles long) and spotted finback whales in Fundy Bay. We went on a 3.5 mile hike in Herring Cove Park, where we were camping, first along a pebbly beach difficult to walk on and then through the woods. I was tired by the time we got back, but David hopped on his bike and went back to the roads we had driven on in the morning for a good, long bike ride. 

In the morning we drove back across the bridge to Maine, up to Calais and then across the border into New Brunswick again. Right now we’re staying in a campground in St. Andrews. This campground is probably more typical of the type we’ll end up in--a glorified, grassy/gravely parking lot. But, we’ve got full hook-up, which is a treat. It means we can take long showers without worrying about running out of water or filling up the holding tank. Also, the campground is very convenient to downtown. St. Andrews reminds us very much of Beaufort, without the boardwalk, but a very pleasant downtown along the water with nice restaurants and shops. 

Many of the attractions are closed already for the season, but today we visited St. Croix International Historic Site, where in 1604 79 French settlers spent a winter (and many died). A volunteer gave us a fascinating overview of the Charlotte County Gaol and Courthouse and then we wandered around the extensive Kingsbrae Garden, which has a unique sculpture garden set among wild and unkempt plants. We came back to the trailer, got on our bikes and rode along a nearby trail for a mile or so. I returned to the trailer, while David rode the trail again (faster and harder, of course.) 

We see a lot of older retirees driving huge RV’s. Ours looks puny in comparison, but we don’t need anything bigger unless to give the cats more room!