June 16 - Bangor, Maine

Another travel day today (long one), so not many pix to share. I am settled into my hotel in Bangor for the night. Checked out of the hotel on PeI, fueled up for the road on a hot breakfast. Same as yesterday, except I had 2 pieces of bacon today. I am not a big bacon fan/eater, but I had a very long way to go!

Wore my new sneaks!

And of course... the day dawned sunny and bright! Not a raindrop in sight. Sigh. It was still pretty cold, but I dressed for the temp at my destination (Bangor). The trip was uneventful. A few delays due to construction, but very few. I ran into some showers before and after I crossed the Confederation Bridge and headed toward Saint John, New Brunswick.

Entry to Confederation Bridge

On the bridge

The border crossing took some time. It is like a toll booth setup, and they had 6 lanes. Only 1 was open. Even on a Thursday there was a line of traffic. I did not take pix there because, well, homeland security and all.

I WAS worried because the person in front of me was a U-Haul; if it was full it would take quite a bit of time. Fortunately, it was empty (as I saw when the border guard looked in the back) :) Mine was easy - they ask where you are from and heading, where you were coming from, how long you have been there, and if you are bringing anything back.

I just told hin gifts and souveniers; he asked what sort. Then asked if I had any food (I said no, I did not tell him I had a bag of M&Ms in my snack pack!) or alcohol. I had 4 beers left from Canada, and the guy laughed. I said I had bought them (with tax!) and was not going to leave them behind. He agreed and I was free to re-enter the USA.

It was any easy drive from there to my hotel in Bangor, albeit long. Arrived pretty much on schedule. I think this has been the longest drive yet. It was over 7 hours with stops for gas etc.

Change of plans for tomorrow. I just really want to be home at this point, see my kitties, unpack, and see my brother. Rest these weary bones and my back from the road! It will take about 4 hours; maybe a little more with stopping for gas and dealing with Massachusetts traffic. I can do an overnight trip to the Penobscott Island pretty much any time. Also you are not allowed to take any pictures without prior approval from the Tribal Council. That has changed since I last visited.

Some extremely random observations I have about what little I have seen of Canada and the Maritime Provinces. If you are Canadian and following, please do not take any of this personally. I only visited for a very short time.

Drivers: New Brunswick and PEI are tied for most polite, but I will give the most polite award to NB. Nova Scotians drive very fast. That is fine when you are in your own country, and I can definitely relate!! But I did not want to risk a speeding ticket up there (it probably had lots of taxes!). Plus I was being the major tourist :)

The parts I saw of Canada were extremely clean - the roads had no trash on the side as you see in the US, and I did not even see much roadkill. I think they must have a "road fairy cleanup crew" that comes around to keep things so clean. I am also very impressed by all the recycling and green effort there is. Canada is light years ahead of the US on this. Every single hotel I stayed in had a separate trash bucket for recycleables. Even the gas stations have separate bins for trash and recycleables. Very impressive.

The local people I met and spoke with were unfailingly polite (I have mentioned that several times) and always helpful. There seems to be a little slower way of life, and I embrace that. Slow down... smell the coffee, smell the roses, notice the scenery. They were also very cheerful! I keep mentioning that, but it makes me smile. It can make your day. I actually ran into a couple from New Brunswick this afternoon here in Bangor when I was bringing in some of my things at the hotel, and they greeted me and stopped and we spoke a bit. Nice!

Taxes.... Huge..... 'Nuff said.

Tomorrow - home!

I hit the "publish" key on this too soon, so if you are viewing this page around 8:15 tonight you will want to revisit. I do have a few photos to add.

I will give a rundown and critique of the hotels I have stayed in once I am home. I did not think it prudent to publish their names and where I was staying while I was so far away from home.

Here are a few random shots out the windshield that amazingly came out not too badly.

Random roadside PEI

Random roadside New Brunswick

Random roadside PEI