2010 Trip 7: Vacation, NB & PEI

On the road at 7:00am, which in itself is remarkable. Heading to Skowhagen Maine, via Sherbrooke QC. Traffic not bad at all, through Montreal, passing the confusing urban landscape of Longueuil, and straight down Hwy 10. Very nice countryside in the Eastern Townships. Lots of farming and then hills once we get close to the border.
Crossed just past Woburn. This took 5 hours. Probably averaging about 90 klm/h. No problems at the border, nice young guy, chatted a bit, peeked inside the Alto for stowaways,then sent us on our way. Travelled down Hwy 27, an incredibly scenic drive, following a chain of lakes and a river. Seems to be a mostly downhill drive, probably because the Canadian side was mostly uphill. Amazing that it is noticebly cooler...the shade from the trees and the fresh air from the forests makes a huge difference. It is so relaxing getting off the freeways...moving along at 80klm/h or so, with little other traffic on the road, I think that perhaps one does not lose as much time as you think. This route through the centre of Maine is shorter than the T Can, but probably the same length in time. Lots of little towns along the way. All very quaint.

Stopped in a little town called Kingfield. Classic main street, old buildings, big front porches, inns, little diners. Very nice. This is close to SugarLoaf ski area, so there were some outdoorsy stores thrown in the mix. Did not take long for Dale to zero in on a deal on a little top to purchase. Lots of skis for sale in this town, I can imagine it is a lot more bustling in the winter.

Got a little waylayed in a little town called Anson...but my trusty navigator scoured the maps and got us squared away. Finally arrived at the campsite about 3:00pm. So that was about 8 hours, but given the gas stops and wandering around a bit in the little town, it was kinda what I figured in turns of time on the road. Our campsite is a typical family run affair. Not on a lake, but it is a nice wooded setting. Fair number of seasonals, but lots of weekend campers as well. Our site is nice, not too big, but level. We have all the hookups, including even cable.

 Our electrical outlet was literally ripped out of the box, so our neighbour kindly offered us one of his outlets. Used the long extension cord to run over to his site. Now have power, important for the coffee in the morning. Ate the sandwiches we brought for a late lunch, then headed into town. Tons of traffic...seems the fair is in town and there is a steady stream of cars trying to get into the fairgrounds. Nice little town, with a very lumber industry feels to it. There is a fair sized dam in town, which apparently generates most of the electricity used to power the mills.

One thing we have noticed on the road is that virtually every motorcycle driver or their passenger does not wear a helmet. After being so used to seeing helmets everywhere, it is certainly an odd sight. Makes me wonder what is going through their head. Surely they must know that if they have an accident, or even if they have to put it down of their own decision to avoid something else, do they really think they can consciously keep their head from bouncing off the pavement? It sure must feel cool to feel the wind in their hair, unencumbered by a helmet...but is this too large a price to pay? I guess the other factor is their rights... "The Man" is not going to tell me how to ride my hog. Which is another point. All the cool guys living the motorcycle culture drive Harleys. None of that import crap for them...leave that to the young bucks. I think it is a different style of riding. I saw one young speed demon just blow by a guy on a Harley like he was standing still... the old guy probably just did not give a damn.

Fired up some burgs for dinner...low key and easy. Walked around the site to scope it all out, dropped into the canteen for a 35 cent ice cream sandwich... I did not think anything sold for 35 cents these days.
Found this little guy on a telephone pole...

This sign helps the gangsta's find the Dumpsta...

Getting cooler this evening, will be nice for sleeping.