Camping Adventures

It’s kind of funny. I did a lot of research trying to figure out where to stay before we came, but only two things matter now: where is the campground and is it open. After September, campgrounds start closing right and left. By the end of October, you’re lucky to find any that are open. So we can’t be picky and end up in some campgrounds we might not have chosen if we had a choice, but then, that’s part of the adventure. 

I wanted to be as close as possible to Annapolis Royal, which has several historic sites and is a charming seaside town. The closest campground that was open, as far as I could tell, was 43 miles away on a neck of land extending into the Bay of Fundy. It was one of the coldest days we’ve had, lower 40’s. The wind was ferocious. “If we find another open campground on the way, we can stay there,” I said. We didn’t. 

When we finally got to the place, there was a driveway before someone’s house. “Is this it?” said David. “Yes, I think so. Look, there’s a ‘Welcome’  sign on the mailbox.” A man was standing in the driveway looking at us. He walked over as we rolled down the window, and David asked him if the campground was open. “I don’t know,” he said. “No one’s here.” “How long have you been waiting?” I asked. “30 minutes. There’s a phone number on the door, but I can’t get phone service here.” Then he started talking to us about our cats, both of whom were on my lap trying to jump out the window.

We decided to pick a site and register later when the owners returned. (They never did.) The other camper thought it was a good idea. “All they can do is ask us to leave, right?” he said. He told us he had just driven 1,000 miles from Maryland. He wanted to see some of the area. Then he got in his car and drove to the tent area where he set up a green canvas army tent. When we set up, we discovered there was no sewer hook up, which is no big deal. It just means you have to be conscious not to overfill your tanks. Also there was no 30 amp power, just 20 amp power and no breaker. What they did was run extension cords underground to each of the six sites with power. This was the second campground in a row like this. After we set up and had lunch, I went to the front door of the house. On it was a note saying to self-register in the “museum/social room” at the back of the house. I walked to the back of the house and opened a door that led down to the basement of the house. It was full of used beer and wine bottles, maritime paraphernalia, photo albums and a variety of other stuff. I found the envelope and information sheet requesting we pay $30 for the campsite and deposit it (through the slot) in the locked box, which I did later. There was also an old couch, a TV, some videotapes and hot water, tea and nescafe. And it was warm. After I left, I went over to the tent area to let the man from Maryland know what I had discovered. “Are you there?” I asked, directing my question at the tent. “Yes,” came a gruff voice. I told the voice about the “social room” and coffee and tea. Realizing I had woken him up, I felt bad, but later that evening and the next morning we saw him walking back and forth from the basement with a cup in his hand, so I was glad I told him. 

By this time it was about 3:00. “Do you want to go to Annapolis Royal now?” I asked David. “Not really.” Actually, it was on the way to our next stop, Kejimkujik National Park, so we decided it didn’t make sense to drive there and back. We could just stop on our way to the park. Instead we drove to a nearby wharf and then to a ferry dock. We watched cars drive off and onto the ferry, which takes 10 minutes to cross to an island. It was bitter cold and windy that night. It sounded like it was blowing a gale. The trailer was being buffeted by the wind. I felt like I was on the boat again. Sometime during the night we lost power. It got very cold, and David said we’d have to leave at dawn, but by morning the power was back on. (We do have propane heat, but rely mainly on a small electric heater so we don't run out of propane.)

The next day we pulled the trailer to downtown Annapolis Royal, got a perfect parking place in front of the cemetery beside Fort Anne National Historic Site and spent the next few hours sightseeing before continuing on to the national park. Annapolis Royal was one of my favorite places.

We got to the national park after 5:00. No one was there to register us, so we picked up a self-registration envelope and then chose a campsite. The campground had electric (30-amp) power only, no water and no sewer. In the morning, we took the trailer to the dump station where there is also water for filling the fresh water tank. The water had been turned off. David said we had to leave. “We can’t operate without water.” We went back to the campsite to pick up the chair we had left to keep our spot (not that it mattered, there were so few other campers.) A man was walking down the road. David asked him if water was available. 
He said one of the washrooms still had water turned on, and he thought we could fill up there. He had filled his tank using a 5-gallon jug. We drove to the washroom. “I can’t get the trailer close enough,” said David. “The hoses aren’t long enough.” Also, we found out that the water spigot wasn’t threaded, so it wouldn’t work anyway. We pondered our options. Then the man we had talked to earlier walked up carrying a 5-gallon jug. He offered to help us fill our tank. We ended up cutting up a large lemon juice container to use as a funnel and the man, who was from Nova Scotia, filled and carried the 40-lb water jug about 4 times to fill our tank. He was a big guy in his 30’s who drove a tractor-trailer and said he was used to carrying 50-lb bags of produce in each arm. 

Later that day when we went to the visitor’s center, we found out that we could fill our tank there, so that is what we did the following day when we left. Meanwhile, the wind had died down from the previous day and the temperature got up to 50, perfect for hiking. We hiked on several trails until dark. One led to a series of waterfalls. Another led us to an old-growth stand of hemlock trees. Another great day.