Foggy Fundy

It started out a a pleasant morning at Cobscook Bay State Park. It was only partly cloudy. After breakfast and a welcome, if not especially warm, shower, we were on our way to Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, on the Bay of Fundy, obviously.

It was a pleasant drive to the border for our mini-convoy of Sprinter vans, the picture of vanlife. With only a couple of stops for fuel and a few provisions, we were quickly at the St. Stephen, NB border checkpoint. After the usual list of questions from the unusually gruff border agent:

Where are you from?-Massachusetts, where in Massachusetts?- Cohasset, How long will you be in Canada?-about a month and a half, Where are you staying?-we are going up to Labrador, across north the Trans-Labrador highway then down through Quebec and then home, where are you staying tonight?-Fundy National Park, What’s your final destination?-we will be going’s home, Your final destination in Canada?, probably near Quebec City before crossing the border. Have any firearms?-No, Have any weapons?-No,but we have Bear Spray, Is marked as Bear Spray?-Yes, It’s definitely Bear Spray, not pepper spray?-Yes, have any drugs?-No, how much alcohol do you have?-4 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of beer, what size wine?-750ml, more than $10,000 in cash?-No, do you have any food?-Yes, Just for personal consumption?-Yes, any business items?-No, Do you have any guns?-No (again).

After all that he gave back our passports and way pulled away to park around the corner to wait for Bob &Beth as they went through the same questions.

It was then the long drive up Route 1, through St. John to Fundy National Park. The only stop was at Tim Horton’s for coffee and muffins, because you have to stop at Tim Horton’s when you enter Canada.

About halfway through the drive, it started to rain again and when we turned off the highway on road to the park, it started to get foggy. By the time we got to the visitor center, you certainly couldn’t see the Bay of Fundy, even standing on the shore. Meanwhile, I toasted Speedy’s brakes on the hill down to the bay, they were all smoking when we parked at the visitor center. I’ve never done that before. We replaced them and three of the rotors just a year ago when we were last in Canada.

We found that there still sites available at the Point Wolfe campground so we drove out there to register. The brakes seemed fine on the way out. We managed to get two adjoining sites again, only two spaces over from where we were parked last year. We parked and got settled. Ellen and Beth decided to go for walk as the rain had lightened. They gone about two minutes when it started to pour. The rather bedraggled pair quickly returned.

We decided to dine in our own vans tonight since it was a bit too wet for outdoor dining, getting together in Speedy afterwards. We’ve decided to stay another day here and were able to keep the same sites from another night. We are hoping the weather is better tomorrow, the fog has lifted, and we can take a couple of walks.