This was a whirlwind of a week, kicked off by Breeze’s spa day at the Safari Condo service facility. I’m very happy with the updates and my shiny new window.
Thursday I headed to my last Canadian stop, Frontenanc National Park. The drive was two hours of rolling hills, dairy farms, and just beautiful and peaceful scenery, one of the most relaxing moves I’ve done in my two-plus years. My spot was great: mostly shady and with enough room I could set up my new awning and outdoor mat. After all this time, I finally feel like I have a practical and easy-for-one-person outdoor arrangement.
I hiked some trails, and the views of the water (Baie Sauvage) were amazing. Canada has not disappointed me with parks, national or provincial.
In this part of Quebec, the roads are generally two lanes, one in each direction. When the roads have to go over one of the many rivers in the countryside, it’s not uncommon to see a one-lane bridge like this:
And surprisingly, considering how crazy the average Quebec driver seems, they are quite civilized about bridge etiquette, taking turns so everyone gets across without a long wait.
Sunday, hankering for home, I headed south, crossing the US/Canadian border at a tiny spot in the North Country of New Hampshire. And just like that, my Canadian adventure was done. Each green pin is somewhere I stayed in my 65 days, with the blue being the last stop.
It seemed both long and short, this trip, and I need to take some time to think about it and what I want to do with the experiences and photos I took.
Driving through the forested hills of New Hampshire, seeing the long stretches of the Connecticut River, I realized I still have much of my native country to explore.
Who knew there were rapids just a short walk from my campsite at Lake Francis State Park? No one mentioned it, but they were fantastic!
This park also won my personal prize for nicest dump station. Honestly, no one plants flowers at a dump station. Except, obviously, here in New Hampshire.
The only not-great part of this campsite was the weather. What seemed like a good enough idea when planning — two nights at a non-electric campsite — became rather unpleasant when a large weather system decided to settle over the whole northeast, dropping a load of rain and humidity on everyone. I’ve been away from New England summers long enough that I forgot just how miserable heat and humidity can be when there is no air conditioning for relief.
Tuesday was a long day of driving, 275 miles of mostly back roads, trekking from northern New Hampshire to upstate New York. Six and half hours of slow driving made for a very tired me, but I thoroughly enjoyed driving through the Green Mountains of Vermont, another place I hadn’t seen in the 12 years I had lived in the Boston area. (I’d post a picture but I was driving!) My reward for the long day was a sweet, shady site with hookups, a short walk away from a Hudson River sunset.
When I moved from California to New York in 1980, it was the Hudson River that drew me, and I lived up and down the Hudson River valley for most of my eight years in New York State: Tarrytown, Fishkill, Poughkeepsie, Saugerties, and Marlboro. I sailed even more places, from Manhattan to Kingston to Albany, so camping by the Hudson and seeing the railroad bridge and the cement plant feels like old home week. It’s good to be back in the US, and it feels good to be right here right now.
My home will never be a place, but a state of mind.
Charlotte Eriksson
Annie – I too am drawn in by your posts, adventures and the quotes at the end 🙂 I love inspirational quotes.
My date to embark on a similar adventure is just four years away and I am seriously considering the Alto — you didn’t opt for the air conditioning? And I’m curious – do you still find the caravan mover and the solar panels worth the money? So many choices!
Thank you for all of your upbeat posts & gorgeous photos.
Kathleen
Hi, Kathleen, thanks for reading and leaving a comment, I love to hear from my readers!
I do have the air-conditioner/heat pump in my Alto, but it will only work when I am at a powered site (electric). While NH was lovely, there were no power sites available, so no A/C. Sigh.
The solar panels are worth the money if you’re going to go off-grid (boondocking in national forests, for example). If you will only be using electric sites, you won’t really need solar panels. As for the Caravan Mover, it was essential for me at first, because I could not back up a trailer (long story, but a cognitive issue). Without it, I would have been struggling to find people to back my trailer into spots. Over time, I have taught myself how to back up (I am not great at it, but I can do it). When the site is challenging or I am tired, the CM is still very much appreciated. And it makes hitching up easier for a solo traveler, saves me jumping out of the car 5-6 times lining up the hitch to the trailer.
Annie, Gord and I left St-Frederic early Monday morning and drove to Maine down the 201. We spent time in Freeport and Boothbay Harbour which was stunning. On to the White Mountains in the National Forest in New Hampshire for a night and then to the Green Mountains of Vermont. We love Grand Isle State Park there but without reservations we had no where to stay so after one night in the middle of no where Vermont, we spent the day in Burlington as they are very Churchill friendly and crossed the ferry to New York and back up to Ottawa. Our paths seem to have been very close. Sorry we missed an opportunity to meet up again.
Safe trip! Judy
Ah, we were probably just a day apart! I had never driven through the Green Mountains, they are beautiful. Someday we will meet again, Judy!
Glad you’re back here in the States, but what a treat to see all your Canada adventures!
Nice post. Thanks
I am not much of a commentator, but I just wanna say love your reports! Especially the little quotes at the end…I might have to borrow them 🙂
Happy Trails!
Thanks for noticing the quotations, they are my favorite little thing to do, and I sometimes spend a lot of googling to find something that speaks to me. Glad they speak to you too 🙂