St. MARTINS TO LOWER (HOPEWELL) CAPE, NB.
Day 17 – Windy and very cloudy this morning, 37 degrees. It was supposed to rain today but as of this morning, that’s moved off a day. Winds are supposed to increase to sustained 24 MPH winds tomorrow; who knows how high the gusts will be. Based on the latest weather update, we’ll travel today & stay several days on the Bay of Fundy near Hopewell Rocks. Just kinda waiting out the wind before moving into Nova Scotia. It’s just not comfortable or safe driving the RV in winds that high. From Nova Scotia we take a ferry to Newfoundland.
93 miles, (2:55), 38629-38722
Pixie said, NO, we are not traveling again, are we? We’re afraid so, we told Pixie. The other kids dutifully followed her into the bedroom for the ride. We departed St. Martins at 11:20 a.m. after a relaxing morning. It was 48 degrees by then, windy and cloudy. We took Route 111 away from the Bay, back up to Canadian Route 1, heading east. Then we took Route 114 south back towards the Bay of Fundy again, contrary to what the GPS said we should do. Eh, who listens to the GPS anyway?
There was a reason why the GPS, when set on RV mode, directed us to go beyond the first Route 114 turnoff, namely a road unsuited for an RV at first. Once we got beyond the pot-holed rutted uneven part of the road, it got better. Sometimes, occasionally, it’s better not to ignore your GPS! Still, we survived intact, complete with complaining cats, and continued on Route 114 through the heavily forested countryside with remnants of the last snowfall on the ground, up and down the Canadian Highlands mountain winding roads, to a wonderful view of the Bay of Fundy below and a scenic view turnout where we stopped for lunch. We had entered Fundy National Park which is still closed to camping for the season. The girls were very happy to run around after the bouncing and shifting of the RV during the first part of this route.
Click on any picture below to see a slideehow.
We took a lunch break, then headed back down the hills from the peak to the Bay, and to the town of Alma, where we stopped for gas. This was a cute little town. Worth exploring at another time. From here we turned east on Main Street and we could go two ways: one was along the Bay of Fundy, scenic but on questionable roads, & the other was to continue on Route 114 going inland a little, until the Hopewell Rocks area. Tired of driving on winding roads, we opted for Route 114 with the plan to drive back to Alma on the scenic road in the all-wheel drive Honda another day. The Bay became marshland and we drove through a Canadian Wildlife Area where we saw Canada Geese and a small hawk being chased by a Raven.
We arrived at our destination, Ponderosa Pines Campground, at 2:15 p.m. It was cloudy and a little breezy, 46 degrees. We were assigned Site #133, an excellent campsite on the water, with Canada Geese flying over & a nice view of the Bay of Fundy with the tide out. Full hook-ups, we were the only people camping in this area. It’s a large campground; I’m sure it’s much busier other times of the year. The cost was $62.10 per night including tax (15%) minus the Good Sam Club discount, Canadian currency (which comes to only about $47 per night).
The sun came out briefly through the clouds. We unpacked and took a short walk to the beginning of the trail (knee permitting). Nova Scotia is not too far from us, across the Bay, and when the tide is out it’s almost nothing but mud flats to the other side. Very nice view we have at our campsite! The high was 50 degrees once the sun came out. Low wind, which was nice! Later an RV pulled up and set up camp several sites from us. A little noisy with the kids, but that’s okay, you can’t have everything! LOL