07/16/2019 - When we left the campground at Hopewell, we packed up, checked all connections, but couldn't find Lucky. I called and called inside the coach - no Lucky. Then I searched again. It was a little difficult because we had already pulled the slides in, so there wasn't much floor space left. Tom was outside, so I asked him if he had Lucky. He said , "no", so he went inside and hunted for Lucky too. Neither of us could find him. We figured he must have gotten out while we were unplugging, so I started calling him outside. In fact, both Tom and I enlisted almost everybody in the campground to try and find Lucky. I unleashed Penny to help me find him, but no luck. I walked up to the office and back down to the water and back (without canes), and no Lucky. Just then, I heard someone yell, "we found him" from close to our rig. He was inside the rig, hiding behind the bed which had been pulled in. He was stuck in the small space between the bed and the closet and he couldn't get out. It wasn't like him not to bark, and he had never wandered off before, so it was a mystery. Now we were really the laughing stock - left the last campground still hooked up to water and electricity, and now lost our dog! I was completely exhausted from the walk on the ocean floor and chasing a 'not-lost' dog. I could hardly breathe.
We drove about 118 miles to Elm River,which was up over the top of Fundy Bay and south on the opposite side of Fundy Bay. We got settled , and Trish and I made a trip to the Mass Market. I thought it was like a Farmers Market (outside), but it was actually a grocery store. We picked up a few staples, and went back to the RV.
Our Tailgunners had set up a Corn Hole game on the grass and set up 17 teams, to play off until one was left. Tom did really well. He won his first two rounds, but got beat on his third round by Walter, who is 86. I never made it past the first round- - just couldn't throw those little sand bags. Trish made it through 4 rounds to the final four, and ended up in second place. She was the only female to make the final four. In fact, after her last toss, she had put her team in the lead, but her partner didn't do as well and they lost to the champions. A lot of fun was had by all.
When we got back to the RV, we noticed that Lucky was acting very strange. He shook like he was scared. He didn't bark, which wasn't like him, and he stuck to us like glue. I asked around about the morning, and spoke with Ed who had his dogs out in the morning. He told me that he saw Lucky barking at the door at his dogs (he has 2 large black dogs), and his dogs barked loudly to Lucky. Lucky disappeared. I surmised that Lucky must have gotten scared by the big black dogs, and run as fast as he could, jumped onto the bed (which he normally couldn't reach) and fell in the crevice behind the bed. He stayed there without a whimper. He was too scared to come out.
That evening, the Wagonmasters served up BBQ chicken sandwiches and salad for dinner. The dinner was good. After dinner, we had our driving meeting for tomorrow's drive to Annapolis Royal, the southernmost site on Nova Scotia. Lucky was getting better, but still stuck to the two of us.
07/17/2019 - A driving day south to Annapolis Royal, about 165 miles. On the way, we stopped at the Grand Pre National Historical site to learn more about the Acadians and their persecution by the New Englanders, the French, and especially the English. The Acadians were a peaceful people who left France in 1604 to find freedom of religion and new lands. They were very good at farming and with the dykes they built on land to protect the farmlands from the high tides, they flourished. The land was fertile, and the fishing was abundant. However, they were caught between New France (Quebec) and New England (to be the U.S.), who fought constantly over land rights. Also, the Acadians were Catholic and England didn't want Catholic french near their new colonies.
After the war between England and France in 1744, Nova Scotia and the Acadians became a battleground. The English won the war and decided they did not want the "neutral french" (Acadians) on their land, so they deported them in 1755 to Europe, and the American colonies, including Louisiana (which was primarily french). They burned their homes and stole anything they could use. They separated families during the deportation. Many of the Acadians did not survive the boat trips, as they were treated more like prisoners than citizens. However, they were a hearty bunch, and tried several times to come back to their homeland. Several of them were deported 5 or 6 times.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a very famous poem "Evangeline", which told the story of the persecution of the Acadians. I bought a copy of the poem and read it. It was a masterful work, and really enjoyed it.
We arrived in Annapolis Royal around 3:15 in the rain - too late for the tour of the lobster packing plant (which was scheduled for 2:30). However, when we got to the campground we were told that the tour had been delayed because so many of us stopped at the Heritage Center, that we could still make it. We had a little problem with our power plug, but left anyway. The plant was within walking distance of the campground, so we took off to join the tour. First, we stopped in the packaging area where two men were packaging up fresh scallops. They looked delicious. One of the men asked us if we have ever tasted a raw scallop. We said, "no", so they let us have a fresh raw scallop to taste. It was yummy - just like butter. Nova Scotia is very well known for scallops as well as lobster,
Then, we joined the rest of the group.
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| The lobster plant |
The guide showed us how they keep the lobsters alive during the off season, so they can provide lobsters to their clients year around They are stacked in lobster cages 8 traps deep in cold seawater in the plant. The tanks are 12 feet deep.
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| Lobsters on hold |
We listened while the tour guide told us that they sell a lot of lobsters to China and Korea (who like the big lobsters best). The crew and locals believe that the sweetest meat is found in lobsters that are 1.5 - 2.0 lb size, and the big lobsters (which are much older) have tougher meat. I would have to agree with that. I had a 'medium' size (1.5 lb) and a 'large' size (2.5 lb), and the smaller lobster definitely had sweeter meat.
Here is a picture of Tom with a very big lobster (about 13 lb). They told us that it was about 20 years old.
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| Tom with a 13 lb lobster |
When we left the plant, we bought freshly frozen scallops, and 2 lobster rolls for dinner, and took them back to the RV.
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| a typical lobster r(cold with celery, onion, and dressing) |
7/18/2019 - Met the bus at 8:45 for a tour of Annapolis Royal. First, we visited a re-creation of an Acadian settlement at Port Royal. It had guides dressed in costume of the period (1620's) including wooden shoes, who discussed how the settlors lived in those times. It was very interesting, but small compared to other re-created communities we have seen, such as the one at Plymouth Plantation (also the 1620's).
Second, we went to the museum near Fort Anne at the entrance to Fundy Bay, where several battles had taken place.
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| Fort Anne in 1600's |
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| Fort Anne now |
Annapolis Royal, which used to be called Port Royal, actually changed ownership 7 times. Inside the museum, we all marvelled at a tapestry, created by the community of Annapolis Royal. It was woven by over 100 women and took 4 years to complete. It depicted the history of the area over 4 centuries. Here are some pictures:
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| Port Royal in the 1600's |
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| Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) in the 1700's |
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Annapiolis in the 1800's
(Elizabeth II actually stitched the gold medallion around Queen Victorias neck) |
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Annapolis now
(stitched from 1991 - 1995 by the community) |
We went for lunch at a German bakery in town, for bratwurst and/or schnitzel. The lunch was good, and the owner, Heidi, told us of their family history. Three generations of Germans, all bakers, who settled here and continued their trade for all these years. The bakery at the front of the restaurant produced wonderful German pastries. I eyed the ginger cookies and asked Heidi if they were soft or crispy. She said they were 'just right', so I bought 2 cookies, and Tom who told her he loved coconut was directed to the coconut macaroons. He bought 2 macaroons and 2 coconut cookies. We left with our goodies. We tried to walk around the little town, but my legs wouldn't carry me anymore. After two long days of walking, I just couldn't go anymore. We left and went back to the RV.
We still had no power (the campground plug was no good), so we had to move to another site. This campground is absolutely beautiful, set up on two distinct levels and facing the Bay of Fundy.
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| Some of our rigs in the lower campground |
It encompassed in a full 180 degree view of the bay, the fishing boats, and of course, the tides. We had waffles for dinner at Trish's rig and called it an evening - back to the RV for hot tea an a ginger cookie. It was the best ever! Then Tom had one of his macaroons, and he loved it. We had to get more.
07/19/219 - A free day. We slept in, then drove to Digby (about 28 miles) to do laundry. Got the laundry done, then drove to Birch Seafood plant, where the lobster packing plant told us to go to get instructions on their shipping costs to send lobster home. We got there and found that they did not ship to the U.S. so that was a dead end. We drove back to Annapolis Royal to the German bakery to buy more cookies. We saw Heidi again. I told her that her ginger cookies were the best I had ever had, and Tom felt the same about the coconut macaroons, so we came back for more. She lit up. We talked about Germany. I told her of my roots from Luxembourg and how my grandmother used to sing to me in German, She smiled. We enjoyed talking with her so much.
We stopped at the drugstore for a few items and headed back to the Oceanfront campground. We hosted Trish and Bev for dinner with my "RV Dinner". They really liked it.
Here is a picture taken at high tide in front of us. Notice the water is up to the rocks and no island is showing. I also have a picture of the sunset.
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| high tide at the campground |
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| sunset at the campground - low tide |
Here is a picture taken the next morning at low tide. Notice the water is down and the rocks are still wet below the water line. Also, the little island is exposed. The difference of about 30 feet is clearly identified.
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| low tide. Can you see the little island exposed? |
07/20/2019 - Today is a driving day from Annapolis Royal to Lunenberg, south down the peninsula of Nova Scotia (104 miles). This will the southernmost site we visit in Nova Scotia. We got settled into a BOT (Board of Trade) campground (government site). It is an awful campground. No trees, just dirt, at the top of a hill, and very hot today. At 2:00 we were told to walk down to the Fishery Museum, which was a short walk down a couple of blocks. We decided to drive down (thanks to Trish for getting more information). It was a steep walk downhill to the water and about a mile away. We parked behind the firehouse and walked to the museum, which was still a city block away. With the heat spell (it was 94 degrees out) and the humidity, I just almost didn't make it. Besides, my legs were still jelly from the last couple of days of walking, The Museum was not air conditioned (very hot and close), and the talk was, in my opinion, very dull. I couldn't take it and excused myself from the group to catch some air at an open window. I must have looked awful, because I had one staffer and our tailgunner following me, trying to help. I sat in front of a fan until I could get my breath, then set outside and waited until Tom walked back to the car at the Fire Station and drove to the museum to pick us up (he really spoils me). That was it. I was done, I needed a complete day off to recover, Tom and I stayed in the RV with air conditioning the rest of the day, I worked on my blog and took a nap. So did Tom. Dinner was leftovers from the refrigerator and to bed early.
07/21/2019 - We slept in until 8:30 and it felt wonderful. Had more German Bakery cookies with tea and I worked more on my blog, At about 11:30, we picked up Trish and Bev and drove to Mahone Bay (a short drive). What a quaint little village. The buildings are all painted in very bright colors, with many old Victorian houses. Many of them, converted into Bed & Breakfast houses. The maom part of the town had 3 large churches. They stood out on a panorama of the town.
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| Town of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia |
We walked through a flea market downtown and found a new liquor to bring home. Then we drove through the town and stopped at "Oh, My Cod" restaurant for lunch. We sat out on the back porch area. There was a lovely breeze, and it wasn't as hot as yesterday. My lunch wasn't very good (the avocado on my sandwich was a spread, not avocado slices, but everybody was happy with theirs - they had fish: Trish had clams, Bev had scallops, and Tom had scallops. I should learn a lesson: when you are in an area famous for a certain food (fish in this case), eat the local food. Back to the RV. Tom walked the dogs, then laid down for a nap. I worked on my blog, then read a book. Dinner tonight will be leftovers, as we had a big lunch. Tonight is our driving meeting at 8:00 p.m. for our drive tomorrow to Halifax, on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, and the capital city of Nova Scotia.
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