Eddy & Frances 2023 Teardrop Blog

We learned while entering this park that Canada offers a season lang pass that covers all of its national parks.  This probably comes out cheaper if you are visiting 2, certainly 3, national parks for multiple days.  Canada charges entry fees by the day and prices are much higher than the US.  I'm glad to support parks, but I'll also take a deal when available. Today we hiked the Acadia trail that starts and ends out of our campground, Cheticamp.  It was a beautiful climb up to the top where we found beautiful views of the Gulf of St Lawrence.  We walked the route anticlockwise, which was wooded on the way up and open on the way down.  On a hot day, walking clockwise may be a better plan. After our hike we took a drive in the famous Cabot trail.  We were really surprised to find a day of full sun.  After almost 3 weeks of rain, except for the occasional brief spell of sun, a sunny day was a great surprise.  We got some beautiful views...

After a full day of continuous rain, we elected to leave Fundy Park a day early.  We had a dry morning, and even though lots of our gear was wet, we decided to pack up while we had a break in the rain.   We drove to Moncton, NB and the made the turn toward New Scotland, Nova Scotia.  We stopped at the visitor's center at the border and found lots of friendly, helpful folks.  We picked up some maps and discussed some camping options.  We were originally planning to drive to New Glasgow, but Frances suggested Antigonish and booked a site at a commercial campground here.  We just needed a quick overnight stop and a place to dry out and do a load of laundry.  Although we drove in rain for part of the day, we found sun in this small town.  Besides Xavier College, it's claim to fame is the longest running history of holding highland games outside of Scotland.  Our timing was good as the games start next week.  Had they been he...

We are camping at Wolf Point campground.  As our sunny weather is forecast to end, we went to Cape Hopewell and visited Hopewell Rocks.  Luckily we arrived about 2 hours before low tide and enjoyed a long walk along the beach.  The tides here average about 40 feet.   This shot is from the high tide mark.  It is about 45 minutes before low tide.

It was one year ago today that I learned my father had died.  I was in North Cascades National Park.  It was a hell of a blow.  I think of him almost every day, but today I kept him close in my thoughts as I walked on the beach at Herring Cove on Campobello Island.  This seems to be the last picture that I took of him.  He joined the boys from Lumberton at an ACC basketball tournament near Asheville.  It was his unofficial bachelor party.

We learned that this is the the world's only park managed by 2 countries.  Campobello Island became a trendy resort before the civil war.  The well heeled came from Boston, NY and Canada.   FDRs parents came, staying in a hotel.  The tourist boom declined, the hotel closed, and his parents built a small cottage and came most summers.  His mom later bought a large, ~34 rooms, "cottage" which she gave to FDR and Eleanor as a belated wedding gift.  His last two children were born here.  Everything in the cottage is original, including his hat, pipe and cigarette holder on this table in the living room.  It was in this upstairs bedroom where he was told he had polio. The nautical painting, of a civil was scene, hung in his office in the White House.

Lubec, Maine is the easternmost city in the contiguous United States.  Just across the FDR bridge is Camobello Island, Canada.  About 1000 Canadians live there.  It's only road connection is to Lubec, so it's kinda weird that there is the full border and custom facility here, but there is.  On Monday, well drive over to the island and camp for two nights in a provincial park on the island. Another rainy day.  And a long rainy night.  After our short visit to Lubec, we came back to camp as the rain steadily intensified. We sat in our Clam shelter for a couple of hours, but the temperature dropped and we were in for hours of rain so we called it a night at about 630.  The rain eased up about 3AM and seems to have moved through. Not much happening in the way of tourism n this part of the state.  Frances remarked at the magnitude of the change from Bar Harbor. Today we may try and get out on the East Coast Greenway for a bit.  By tomorrow, we may...

 We cycled here before we were parents. On a Bike Vermont trip we had a beautiful lunch stop in Peacham.  After a relatively long climb up, the stop was at a classic, Vermont general store.  It was a cool, clear day and the wood burning stove was hot inside the store.  They had hot soup to go along with our sandwiches.  The view was beautiful.  There was a cemetery and church just beside the store.  I can't remember the image exactly, but I took a photo of a headstone that has an image of the deceased's car driving along a curves, forest road.   Due to my bout of Lyme's disease, I didn't make it back up to Peacham this trip.  While I rested in the teardrop, Frances drove up.  Sadly, the general store had been closed for years.  Another part of our past lost to time's march.

 Back when we were visiting the library in Gloversville, NY to stay out of the rain, we did something very unusual and made reservations several weeks ahead, all the way out to a week in Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, Canada.  Part of that set of reservations included camping in Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor.  Unfortunately, the Lyme's disease that Eddy contracted in the Adirondack's left him felling weak.  On top of that, pulling out of Riker's Pond in Groton, VT was done in a heavy downpour.  We have a set of gear such as solar panels, a utility table, and a spare tire for the teardrop that are stowed in the teardrop cabin during travel.  All of this was wet, and despite being put in large, heavy-duty plastic bags the bedding in the trailer got damp.  Finally, since the forecast for our 3 days in Acadia was rain, rain, rain, Frances found an Inn in Bar Harbor as an option.  Given that I was running temperatures over...

 After packing up in the rain, tossing wet, dirty gear into the cabin of the teardrop, I began to realize that I needed to do something about my condition.  The idea was to stop in St J (the local lingo) and pick up a COVID test.  Frances found a Walgreen's drug store using Google, we we drove into town to pick one up.  When we got to the building, it was clearly closed.  Although it was a new building, it had closed its doors.  There was a market across the street, so Frances walked over to see if that had a test.  No luck.  they did tell Frances that there was a walk-in clinic. about 1/4 mile away.  So, we decided to go see if we could get seen. The small waiting room was empty when we arrived.  I gave my insurance card to the receptionist.  I filled out one short form that took about 5 minutes.  During all this, the EMTs showed up and took a woman out on a stretcher, presumably off to a hospital.  I was then...

 A quick nigh t of camping

 A restless night in the rain.

 The capital of Vermont.

 On a rainy day we drove over to Saratoga Springs, hoping to visit the Roosevelt baths and get a shower.  Alas, there was not room in the tub.  We did eventually figure out how to walk the trail through the park where we sampled the various mineral waters.  The tastes were remarkable different.  Some of the water is naturally carbonated.  

 We had a fabulous time reconnecting with Sue Tantalo, her husband Dan, as well as fellow Canada Lake residents Rob and Lydia.  We rode with Rob and Lydia in Tucson a couple of years back on Bubba's TASA ride.  On what was our only sunny day during our week long stay in the Adirondack Park, we got in a fun, social ride and managed to have a stop for refreshments as Rob willingly hauled a trailer fully of beverages, as well as tables and chairs. We left Caroga Lake on Sunday the 11th of June and drove to Cranberry Lake.  Along the was we stopped at the Adirondack Experience Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.  This was an interesting stop and we gained some insights into the various ways that residents and visitors view and envision the Park.  It is truly a unique area.  I had no real idea of what the Park was like, and I've only scratched the surface.

We are officially camping in the Adirondacks.  Unfortunately, the air quality is abysmal due to wild fires in Quebec.  It's also cold and rainy.  We may not be undeterred, but we are not fully deterred.  The Adirondack camping scene is archetypal and embodies so much of how camping is done as well as depicted in film and on TV.  Rural NY is amazing and expensive.  The culture here is strong and cohesive, which is a bit of a euphemism for lacking in diversity.  People are friendly and it's all good.  Some sunshine and clear air would help. Due to the rain, we have spent time in nearby Gloversville, NY.  They have a beautiful, Carnegie library here that has an original Frederick Remington sculpture in the lobby.  Apparently Remington was once a resident.  The town was originally called "Stump Town" due to the fact that all of the trees were cut down.  The tannery business developed here and by ...

While driving from Glimmer Glass State Park after a one night campout, we were driving toward Little Falls, NY.  At 15 I had a brief, summer romance with a girl from Little Falls named Lori George.  We meet at Sandpipers Trace campground at Cape Hatteras, so I figured I'd drop in and she how she was doing.  Frances found this hilarious.  En route, we came upon a golden domed Russian Orthodox monetary in the middle of the beautiful, rural countryside.  We plan a visit back this afternoon to visit the museum. The oldest covered bridge in America is at Glimmerglass State Park.  It's a Burr arch design. Meanwhile, we visited the library in Little Falls and I found a photo of her in the 1975 yearbook.  Asking around we learned that George is a common name.  The librarian told us that there is a George Lumber business in town and they may be able to answer questions about where she ended up. After we leave this area we are off to the Adirond...

While I'm not a huge baseball fan, it felt impossible to go within a few miles of Cooperstown and not stop in the MLB Hall of Fame.  The village itself is very quaint and well maintained.  Main street is filled with baseball themed shops and restaurants.  The museum is very well done.  What impressed me most was the excitement that the true fans exuded as they saw various displays or watched videos of past games.  On many occasions I heard visitors recount how they remembered seeing a particular moment being displayed at the museum, live or in person when they were younger.  I even did that myself when watching Aaron break Ruth's record.  I saw it happen with Dad and I remember us talking about the moment when it happened.  Of course, it was heart breaking later to learn what misery the whole episode was for Henry as he was approaching the record.