June 10, Part 2 - New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

Entrance sign at the Park

 Yes, yes I did visit Smileys Provincial Park today! The Canadian version of Mapquest said it would take about 1 1/2 hours; it was closer to 2 with patches of bad road and trucks. The road to get there is only 2 lanes, with limited passing.

Very scenic, however! Lots more farms. And I saw several goat farms. They were cute and I would have loved to have been able to stop, but the road I was on had no shoulder, and a sharp cut-down on the edge. And very winding; it was not safe to stop could I have.

Smileys Park is actually quite large; much larger than I had imagined it would be. Most of it is dedicated to RVs and camping, and there were even a few people tenting! In today's weather.... (cold and drizzly). Although by the time I arrived the sun had broken through it was still quite chilly.

Right now I am beat. I am exhausted and in much need some zzzzs. I leave you with these pix of Smileys Park; most of it is similar. It is very beautiful, and appears to be very well kept. There are quite a few RV stations in addition to a few areas that look to be dedicated for tents.

This tree.... just because it's so cool!

 

I had intended to drive back via the Glooscap Trail, which roughly follows the west coast of Nova Scotia (and thus the Bay of Fundy). It would have added another 4 or so hours to the drive (as opposed to the 1 1/2 to get back to the hotel), and my back was protesting. I was chilly and damp - actually had to put the heat on in the car! In June. So I opted for the shorter route back today, and will rethink the plan of attack for tomorrow!

June 10, Part 1 - New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

Ladies and gentlemen, today you get a bonus (depending on how you view it!) - two posts. One now and one a bit later.

Got back a bit earlier than originally anticipated. My back just could not take an additional 4 hours of driving, on top of what I already did today. I am becoming one with my car, physically and literally! Much as I love her, she was definitely not built for comfort :)

So I will share some of my observations about what little I have seen in the Provinces so far. The people I have met and interacted with have been unfailingly courteous and polite, and many have gone out of their way to help me out. Even when it was not necessary (and I did not ask). That seems to be just the way they are here. So refreshing!

The scenery is absolutely amazing. I mentioned in yesterday's post it seems greener here than even New England, and I reassert that observation after today's journey. It is stunning. Unfortunately there are no places along the highways to stop and take pictures, and it is difficult while traveling solo. I will try to get some tomorrow, but I know they will not do it justice.

They do have a lot of hefty taxes here; pretty much everything I have purchased so far has come with a tax. They seem to be very, very big on recycling, which warms my heart! In my current hotel room I have 3 trash buckets - one for trash, one for recyclables, and one for compost materials. The US could take a lesson from that!

Gas is expensive. Thus far it has been $1.05 CAD-$1.08 CAD per liter. There are 3.78 liters in a gallon (round it to 4). So that works out to (about) $4.20 CAD per gallon. Converted into USD, it is about $3.29 a gallon.

Thus far the highways here are great; well maintained. Some of the smaller by-ways not so much :) The roads are all well-marked, however. I have not gotten lost yet!

I do not think GPS would have helped me out much in some of the places I am visiting; phone coverage is spotty at best.

A second post, with pictures, will follow in a few hours. I need a shower. The weather has been unseasonably chilly here, and it showered off and on today until early afternoon. Although I did pack a rain jacket and a couple long sleeve shirts and a small sweatshirt, I froze today! I think it was like 50 some odd degrees. Did not know I needed gloves in June! I got wet, and very wind blown. So I want a hot shower.

June 9 - New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

Checked out of the hotel in Saint John, and headed directly toward what is called The Marketplace. Quaint little area with a few buildings, parking garage, etc. Had to park in the garage, but I am (so far) lucking out on parking spots everywhere. Got one close to the New Brunswick Museum, and honed in like a missile!

The Museum was not at all like I expected, nor one would. It was inside a building that housed many shops and an upscale food court.

UNFORTUNATELY.... the girl at the front desk of the museum informed me (quite cheerily) the mammoth bones were not there. They have temporary exhibition galleries, and it was there but had moved on. I wanted to cry. Then she informed me they did have several excellent (permanent) exhibits of prehistoric fossils, and a mastodon fossil.

I figured, I was there, I got a AAA discount on my ticket, and hey, why not? Besides, she was really cheerful.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The Museum was 3 floors. The first is dedicated to New Brunswick's history - logging, ship building, etc. There were a lot of excellent dioramas that must have been painstaking to create. Several live guides on each floor in addition to the recorded information available on many exhibits. I spoke with one of the guides at length about the logging industry in the 1800s, and she was very knowledgeable. I learned a lot!

The second floor houses the fossils, the bones, and a lot of it is dedicated to whaling and shipping, which were booming industries. In addition to the mastodon, they have several whale fossils, and a room dedicated to fossils of smaller creatures and plants. According to the info, a mastadon weighed about 3-4 times as much as a modern day elephant. I could not get the whole skeleton in one photo!

Mastodon's head

Back end of the mastodon

Skeleton of whale jaws

The 4th pic is a skeleton of a whale's head I must share! I did speak with another guide on the 2nd floor, but I think she was new as she was not quite up on all the exhibits and information. (She was, however, quite cheerful! A plethora of cheerful people today!)

A lot of pre-historic whales were covered with long hair; not the smooth "skin" we recognize them in today. The Museum had several excellent exhibits of these. Some of the hides are taller than I! I wish I had got pix, but my camera chose an unfortunate time to deplete its batteries.
 
They also had some excellent dioramas of the sailing ships on that floor; anyone who knows me knows I also have a thing about ships. These were totally cool. The rigging is SOOO intricate on them.

Even though I enjoy painting them, just looking at the rigging close up gave  me palpitations! It would give
anyone on the receiving end of my
ship paintings pause... (and you know who you are!)

The third floor is more of an "artist's gallery", if you will. Beautiful examples of Canadian artwork throughout history. They had some international pieces as well, that relate to New Brunswick's history.

So much to take in! It was time truly well spent. While I am disappointed about the mammoth bones, I am very, very glad I went to the museum. It was quite an education and I totally loved it! The dioramas, especially, really impressed me. They were good size (guessing 3-4 ft. long X 2+ ft. high and deep), so a lot of care and thought has gone into those. And I did get to see mastodon bones!! NB Museum has the most complete (permanent!) exhibit of mastodon bones in the world.

I lingered there much longer than I had thought I would. Oh well! It was so well worth it. I would not have missed that experience :)

Then headed out for the next leg of my journey, and drove to New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.

It is so beautiful up here. Even in the sporadic rain of today (it was about 55 degrees I think), it was gorgeous. The farms spread out far and wide on either side of the road, so green and full of (mostly) cows. It is just different than New England. If possible, I think it may be greener.

Everyone I have met and spoken with has been so friendly and gone out of their way to help me out where they can. It is so nice to be able to speak with people so easily who do not look at you like you have two heads or cut you off in traffic. Everyone up here uses turn signals, and DO actually "stay right unless passing". What a concept!

And after today's adventures, and 3+ hour drive, I am tired. My back hurts badly, and the free breakfast here starts at the ungodly hour of 6. I am going to order some delivery, and catch some zzz's.

Tomorrow new adventures await!