We left Ripplin Waters in Sevierville, TN. We stopped to worship at the Sevierville Church of Christ that morning. After eating at Cracker Barrel we hit the road for Franklin, TN. Franklin is just outside of Nashville. We are planning on spending the night with Dickie’s sister, Cynthia, and her husband, Phil. It was a short travel day.
Leigh
Today was a travel day. We left Endless Caverns in New Market, VA for Ripplin Waters in Sevierville, TN. Not a lot to write about; nothing interesting to see. We did have to take a big detour around part of I-81 due to a car wreck. So thankful to the Lord that Dickie, Dan, Deborah, and I have had safe travels. Since last Wednesday Dan and Deborah have traveled a slightly different way than we have. We have still kept in touch to make sure we were all ok. They are planning on being home by Wed.
Leigh
It is a travel day towards home. Not much to report on. We left The Promised Land State Park in PA and stopped at Endless Carverns in New Market, VA. It has to be one of the prettiest campgrounds we have ever been to. It is located on the side of a mountain. The campsites are huge. It is hilly and trees are everywhere. The campsites are all outlined in rock/boulder fences. Because it is on the side of a mountain, your neighbor may be above you. It would be a nice place to come and stay awhile. The campground also does tours for the caverns.
Legh
Today was a travel day. It was a long one! We left Augusta West Campground in Pittsfield, ME for The Promised Land State Park in Greentown, PA. It is a very pretty park with ferns and rhodenetrns lining the road to the campsites. It’s a very wooded area. It’s nice, but I am expecting my next promised land to be so much better!
We drove though rural Maine. It was so pretty. There were a lot of old white board houses that were big. It looked like people just kept adding on to them. They had huge barns connected to the house. I guess it helps to have the farm animals close by in the bad winter weather so the farmers can easily take care of them. They didn’t have to go out in the weather to go to the barn. I was disappointed I didn’t get any pictures of them. We couldn’t stop on the highway, and I wasn’t quick to get any as we drove by.
There are a lot of toll roads up here in this part of the country. It’s easier to pay it when the roads are good, but some are definitely not! On the toll roads are service plazas. It’s where you can get off and not pay a toll to get back on the road, There is always a gas station and several restaurants to choose from. I just now thought that I should have gotten a picture. New York has places you can pull into to stop and send texts. They are called Text Stops. I wonder if that has stopped people from texting and driving?
Leigh
Happy 4th of July! We are heading home! It was a travel day. We left Murray Beach Provincial Park in New Brunswick and stopped at Augusta West Campground in Pittsfield, ME. We had some difficulty finding an opening at a campground. It may be because of the holiday. The park here is on a lake with a lot of trees around some of the campsites. When we got all set up, we realized we had no electricity. The campground was having problems due to the heat. It was in the 90s. It was hot, but not Arkansas 90 hot. The electricity finally came on at 11:00 that night. Many campers at the lake are seasonal campers or have their camper there all year. The lake comes right up to the campsite. Dickie was wondering how one camper got its hitch so close to the lake. He asked. It seems that in the winter the lake freezes over, so they just drove onto the lake to get the camper in position! That would be worth seeing!
Along our way we kept seeking those beautiful purple flowers everywhere. People here call them lupins.
When we crossed the border into the US, the border patrol asked to go into our camper. We noticed they were doing the same thing to the campers ahead of us. I don’t know what they were looking for. With our slide outs pulled in there is not any room to walk around, so I don’t know what it accomplished. Dan and Deborah got searched too.
Dan and Deborah are not with us anymore. We are all going at our own speed and the direction we want to go. We still keep in touch so we will know where each other is at.
In Maine and Canada they have a really nice truck stop called Irving. It’s like our Pilot. The have the funniest picture symbol for the men and women’s restroom. It is the outline of a man or woman with their hands crossed.
Leigh
Today Dickie, Dan, Deborah, and I all drove over the bridge to Prince Edward Island. It is a beautiful place with lots of green crops growing and low hills. We drove around the center of the island. Along the way you see beautiful purple flowers, old white board churches with graveyards around them, and lighthouses. The island has a lot of farms, cows, potatoes, and dairy.
We stopped at a beach and took a walk on it. The sand itself was clean, but there was a lot of seaweed. It had a lighthouse.
The island is mainly noted for being the setting of Anne of Green Gables. The author was from here and based her book on the surrounding area. Many of the places you go on the north part of the island are somehow related to the book. We stopped at the official gift shop next to the museum. We didn’t go to the museum. We did eat at the Anne of Green Gables Village that the locals have created in the town that was the basis for the book.
We stopped at a National Park that featured what was left of an old French fort. We wandered around it for awhile. It overlooks the harbor at Charlottetown. We sat and just enjoyed the view for awhile.
It was really special for me to see Charlottetown because for several years I taught a nonfiction story that had Charlottetown as part of the setting. It is exciting to see places I have taught about.
We ate supper at a restaurant on the wharf at a town called Victoria. It was a very quaint seaport town. There was a beautiful lighthouse there.
The bridge leading to the island is called Confederation Bridge. It is a toll bridge, but you don’t have to pay until you leave. It cost $47 just to cross the bridge to get off the island! Thank you Dan Simon for paying for it!
Leigh
Today was a travel day. We left Bra D’or in Nova Scotia for Murray Beach Provincial Park in New Brunswick. It is there version of a state park. It is not very far from the bridge we will take to Prince Edward Island. The campground is right on the ocean, even if our campsite is not. We took our chairs out to the hill overlooking the ocean and sat for a while. Dickie walked on the beach for a time. We both sat and enjoyed the view. Dickie would read his book for awhile, and I listened to one. People are swimming in the ocean. The temperature is in the mid 70s, but there is a cold wind blowing. This Arkansas girl had on a jacket while others were in their bathing suits. I don’t know how they were swimming in the cool water. I guess when the temperature is in the -20s in winter, this is warm. One man said it was awesome! They had been swimming since May. I know it has colder up here. I do dread going home to the heat.
Leigh
Happy Canada Day! Today is Canada Day which is like out 4th of July.
Dickie, Dan, Deborah, and I worshipped online with Northside Church of Christ in the morning. The closest church was 3 hours away in Halifax.
Today we drove to an interpretive Highland Village setting in the early 1700s. We got in free because it was Canada Day. Immigrants from Scotland moved to Nova Scotia because they could not afford the land rent. The village took you from life in Scotland to life in the Nova Scotia highlands. It showed how they built their houses, made the clothes they wore, and fed themselves. It talked about some of their struggles. They no longer had to pay rent, but the weather was harsher. The interrupters all stayed in character so it was like speaking to someone from the past.
Coming back to camp we had to cross the lake on a ferry.
We played dominoes again. Dickie won, I came in second, and Dan lost.
Dickie/Leigh
We had a great day today. Dickie, Dan, Deborah, and I drove about 1 1/2 hours to go tour a French fortress. It is Fortress Louisbourgh. It is the oldest fortress in North America. I learned that a fortress is different from a fort because a fortress encloses the town with it. It was founded in 1713. It was captured by the British twice and destroyed in the 1760s. In the 1960s the area was rebuilt on its original foundations. Only 1/5 of it was rebuilt. Originally 5000 people lived there. It was the biggest fortress in North America. The pictures can show more than I can tell. We ate at a tavern there. The menu was what a French soldier would eat. I had French toast, and Dickie had fish soup. It was like a thin chowder. There where no Cheeseburger and French Fries for Dickie. He was starving Dan and Deborah shared soup, fish, and vegetables. We have discovered that in Nova Scotia when you have vegetables you get carrots, beets, and turnips. Dickie asked for unsweetened tea. The server said the tea would be served as it would have been in the 1700s. It was not ice tea but instead hot tea in a cup. It was not what he expected but good. Dickie said a French soldier wouldn’t have paid as much as we did. All the interrupters stayed in character as someone from that time.
We saw two examples of local artists: blacksmith and lace making.
After we finished our tour, we drove around the harbor to the lighthouse. This is oldest location for a light house in North America. There the ocean was crashing up onto the shore lined with boulders. Only God could make something that beautiful! That is what we will think of when we think of Nova Scotia.
Leigh
Dickie Leigh And The RV 