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Downeast Maine
The Maine coast from Acadia National Park to the Canadian border is called “Downeast Maine”, abbreviated from the direction sailors would travel “downwind” and “east” from elsewhere in New England. Besides the super busy area of Acadia NP near Bar Harbor, this part of Maine is a hidden gem. After our beeline through the Maritimes, we stopped at Sunset Point RV Park in Lubec, ME for the workweek. The park delivered on their sunset promise. I think our rear widows are our favorite part of the Brinkley. We wanted to see a couple of lighthouses in the area. The West Quoddy Head Lighthouse is the easternmost point in the US.…
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Terra Nova National Park & the Bonavista Peninsula, NL
We left Fogo Island on a Friday morning so that we could spend a weekend at Terra Nova National Park. Terra Nova is an old growth boreal forest so we didn’t think Dishy would work well enough to spend the workweek there. The Newman Sound campground has full hookup sites with potable water, a rarity in Newfoundland campgrounds. We must have been tired at this point, because we got completely set up in site 244 when we realized we were supposed to be in site 243 and had to move. That was a first. We hiked the Ochre Hill trail on Saturday. Terra Nova doesn’t get nearly as much attention…
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Gros Morne National Park, NL
I used to think the Appalachian mountain range ended in Maine. But no, we just spent 2 weeks in the Appalachian mountains of Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland! We spent the first week in Shallow Bay, the northernmost campground in the park, which put us in a good position for a day trip up to L’Anse aux Meadows. Newfoundland is 1.5 hours ahead of Eastern Time which means Michael is working from 9:30-6:30 local time. Shallow Bay was perfect because the campground had miles of beach that we could walk every morning before work! We took a boat tour of Western Brook Pond, which is a inland freshwater fjord.…
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Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia has two sections, the mainland attached to New Brunswick, and Cape Breton, an island just off the northeast side. Cape Breton is easily reachable by a short causeway but seems like a completely different world. It’s known for its Celtic culture and music and the natural beauty of its highlands that reminded Scottish and Irish immigrants of home. The Cabot Trail, a 185 mile scenic drive, loops through the mountains, along the coast, and in and out of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We had read that the most beautiful parts of the Cabot Trail were the northwestern and northern sections so we chose the Chéticamp campground as…
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Family Trip to Prince Edward Island & Nova Scotia
Continuing our vacation week with Michael’s parents, we left Bar Harbor early for our 385 mile, plus a border crossing, beeline to Prince Edward Island. It was a long day but the windshield views were great and we made it without any issues. PEI is connected to the mainland Nova Scotia by the 8-mile Confederation Bridge that only opened in 1997. It is the longest bridge in the world that spans an ice covered body of water. As soon as you get to the island the landscape turns to peaceful rolling hills of farmland. As we made our way to Cavendish on the north central coast, we said “Hey, this…
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Acadia National Park & Bar Harbor, ME
Since this was our first time in Maine, our top priority was to visit Acadia National Park. We settled into Hadley’s Point Campground on Mount Desert Island for the first two weeks of June. The busiest section of the park and the town of Bar Harbor are on Mount Desert Island. This was shoulder season so we enjoyed a mostly empty campground with cheaper rates, uncrowded trails, Spring was in full bloom, and we even had a few warm sunny days. The weather was perfect on the Sunday we arrived so we set out to drive Acadia’s Loop Road. We quickly saw how special Acadia is with the forest meeting…
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Denali National Park
As usual with our National Parks, we loved Denali! We stayed inside at two of the park’s campgrounds which we feel enhances our experience. For the workweek, we dry camped in heavily treed Riley Creek and explored the front country. Denali is 6 million acres of pristine wilderness. There is one 90-mile road leading into the park but you are only allowed to drive the first 15 miles in your vehicle. In the first 15 miles, you can visit the sled dog kennels. These Alaskan huskies work hard with winter park operations but in the summer enjoy getting pets from visitors. There are also several established trails. We hiked the…
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The Bears of Brooks Falls
Soon after deciding to go to Alaska, we started researching how to see brown bears. Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks are two of the easiest places to do this, although neither is on the road system so easy is relative, and it’s certainly not cheap. There are several guided tour options, but we just had to see the stars of Fat Bear Week fishing at Brooks Falls in Katmai NP. A day trip to Brooks Falls requires a float plane and the closest launching point is Homer. We went with Alaska Bear Trips out of Anchorage because of a coupon. And even though that was a questionable decision, our…
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Kenai Fjords National Park & Seward, AK
We spent the week of July 4th in the coastal town of Seward and loved it! Like most of the small towns we’ve been to in Alaska, the campgrounds and RV Parks are in prime locations and at the center of all the action. In Seward, the waterfront land along Resurrection Bay isn’t strong enough for building, so the town has a row of municipal campgrounds and a nice walking path connecting them all. At $45 per night for parking lot-style dry camping, it’s not cheap, but what a view!! We were about 30ft from the water at high tide and it was one of the best views we’ve ever…
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Glacier Hiking At Wrangell-St.Elias National Park
One of the things that Michael wanted to do most in Alaska was to walk on a glacier and I think that the Root Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park might be the only place to do that without a tour. WSE is the largest National Park in the US, the size of 6 Yellowstones, and has 9 of the 16 highest peaks in North America. It’s the most remote place that we’ll be visiting in Alaska and getting there was part of the fun! First, we drove to the town of Chitina, a few hours from anywhere you’ve ever heard of. Then we traveled one of the most infamous…
