Travel Blogging XVI

Enroute to St. John, New Brunswick, Canada: St. John, New Brunswick is somewhere we’ve already been, albeit some years ago. I think it was probably the first time we came to the Maritime Provinces – the summer of 1975.

We drove here all the way from Northern California in a little class C motorhome, overall length maybe twenty feet and eight feet wide. The first three full summers we owned that RV we did cross country trips of 10,000 miles or more. Of course as teachers we had the summers off.

Summer 1973 we did the southern U.S., down to Key West, Florida, and back across the middle on I-80. Summer 1974 we did the middle of the U.S., east thru Oklahoma City and back along I-90. Summer 1975 we did the north going east thru Denver and coming back thru Canada. Each trip we spent time in both Washington, D.C. and in the Yellowstone/Grand Tetons area. These were amazing trips.

Driving back and forth across the great middle of this country gave me the clear impression that the country is NOT crowded. East of the Mississippi River any land that isn’t paved or plowed reverts to forest within a few years without human aid.

Thoughts about Canada’s Maritime Provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland-Labrador. The first time we drove across New Brunswick to reach Nova Scotia it seemed like a long, boring drive. The second time we were dreading it but it wasn’t bad at all – maybe better roads the second time?

Driving the perimeter of Nova Scotia we saw many Acadian French names; not all of the “Cajuns” went south to Louisiana. Cape Breton Island is an amazing place, particularly the national park on the eastern tip. There was a bakery in Cheticamp that made the best bread, I wonder if it’s still there?

Prince Edward Island looks like one gigantic farm, except for Anne’s Green Gables. There are amazing fortifications on Nova Scotia, martello towers, and forts that look positively European. Alexander Graham Bell had a summer place on Cape Breton Island overlooking Bras d’Or Lake.

The Maritimes have historically been an economic drain on the rest of Canada, requiring support. Newfoundland-Labrador may now be an exception with their oil, and perhaps PEI was always an exception, I’m not certain.