Whale watching, tides and CHOCOLATE - yummy!

Yesterday (Monday) we traveled from Pumpkin Patch RV Resort in Bangor to Keene's Lake Campground just outside Calais, Maine. I was astonished how desolate Maine is. We traveled 70 +/- and saw very little sign of civilization. Just woods, woods and more woods. Every now and then there was a lake and usually a house or two near it. I could not live in this part of the USA. At least there is a WalMart here in Calais - not a Super WalMart though.

After we got set up I call Kirk and Pam (they are Escapee's also). We had talked the day before and he was setting us up with a whale watch cruise for the evening. The cruise was a go for 5:30 p.m. on a three masted schooner and I was really excited. Well, the later it got in the day, the heavy the cloud cover became and the cooler it got. By the time we got to Eastport the temperature was probably in the mid-60's and it was pretty overcast. But - the cruise was still on. I've never been on a sail boat before and was looking forward to the experience - it was neat!
Here is a picture of the boat, the "Sylvina W. Beal " and one of Kirk helping to hoist the sail - he is in the blue jacket with his back to the camera - it's the photographers fault, sorry.



As far as the whale watch portion, that was all we got to do - watch for whales - we saw none!

We did sail past Campobello Island and had a chance to get some really nice pictures of the lighthouse - East Quoddy Lighthouse - at the point. Here are a couple of them.





You can drive to the lighthouse area, park and then hike the rest of the way out. If you do this you need to know the tide times as the path out to the lighthouse is submerged under 10 - 15 ft. of water at high tide and it comes in fast. I heard some stories about people getting caught and having to wait for the next low tide!

The picture below shows the water line when it's high tide. We were in the Bay of Fundi where the tides range from 10 feet to 40+ feet, depending on where you are. The tide was going out while we were at sea.



This is a picture of Eastport as we were coming back to port.



Personally, I was very disappointed in this cruise. I feel like they should have cancelled the cruise and rescheduled. The weather just was not good for whale watching and it was so cold out on the water. The four of us spent most of the time wrapped in blankets provided by the crew! There was a shark sighting, but I didn't get up to go look - I've seen sharks. We saw a lot of gulls and porpoise, but that was all.

We did have a good time with Kirk and Pam and the evening was worth it being able to spend time with them. Good folks!

Today (Tuesday) Dean and I drove to St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada - just across the boarder from Calais. Going through the boarder crossing was a experience. I guess they have really tightened up since this latest terrorist threat. At least we didn't have to go through a search. Just a lot of questions. The reason we went there was to go to the Ganong Chocolate Factory Museum. It was really neat and there is candy everywhere for you to sample. Of course I did - Yummy!

I was in chocolate heaven..see the smile?



I mentioned the tides that occur here. I took a couple of pictures today of the same area to show how much the tide changes. I'm posting the low tide and then high tide picture below. Unfortunately, when I took the high tide picture, little did I realize that I would be facing west and the sun. Tomorrow I'm going to try again in another area. Hopefully I won't have to take a picture into the sun!





This afternoon, Kirk and Pam took us for a ride through the Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge that they are volunteering at. Although we didn't see any wildlife today, it was a interesting ride and Kirk is very knowledgeable in the subject of the wildlife. We had a very enjoyable afternoon. I took this picture of them at a very pretty lake on the Refuge.



We met this evening for dinner at a local restaurant and again enjoyed good conversation and good food. We bid them farewell tonight but certainly hope to see them down the road again.

I need to add here that Dean and I did see a Bald Eagle when crossing the bridge into Canada and an osprey today. No pictures - sorry.

Tomorrow Dean and I are going in search of more lighthouses. Come back and see if we found any.....