Road trip 2022 kicked off with us driving to the United States border, crossing at Coburn Gore. This would be the first time I would be entering the USA since the pandemic began. From there we found a way to Nataris Campground for our first night. The sky was overcast with clouds, but no rain was falling yet. We set up camp and boiled some water to eat a few packets of ramen noodles. Not the healthiest of dinners but it would have to do for the time being. As our camp was enveloped in darkness, the sounds of loons could be heard across the lake.
The next day we departed early and continued down route 27, stopping at a small diner for a greasy breakfast. A few hours later we reached the city of Bangor. Bev is a big Steven King fan so we went to check out the Stephen King residence, where he spent countless hours penning some of his best fiction. The rain amplified the mood. Then we checked out a few nearby sites such as a giant Paul Bunyan Statue, and the Mount Hope Cemetery, where we found gravestones from hundreds of years back. We then
stopped to resupply some groceries at a mall that was close by before heading south. The rain had now intensified as we reached Acadia National Park. We arrived at the Seawall campground and set up a tarp and then the tent. We cooked dinner under the shelter the tarp provided, while the rain continued relentlessly.
The following day the sky was clearing up and after breakfast we got into the Chevy Equinox and began exploring the area. Our first stop was the Bass Harbour Head light station. We walked down along the rocks and enjoyed some very nice views. The weather had warm and sunny. We continued driving counter clockwise and stopped at a few lookout spots and lakes. Then we headed over the the Acadia main visitor center to arm ourselves with more information. The town of Bar Harbour was nearby so we stopped by to check it out for a few hours. This is mainly a tourist town but we found a nice coastal walk and then checked out a few shops on the main strip. We retruned to our camp and made an awesome camping dinner and attempted to have a fire, unfortunately the wood
we acquired could best be described as subpar and was still very wet from the previously mentioned rain, so it was frustrating to keep the fire going.
It was a perfect bright sunny day and we arose early to take full advantage of it. We drove over to the eastern part of the park and began our hike up the Beehive line. This hike wasnt particularly difficult but it did have a lot of exposure with some steep drops. The views were awesome. We continued along towards the Gorham mountain summit for more views. After descending by mid afternoon, we returned to the car and began a scenic drive back towards the camp site. We made a stop at a fish market where I got some Haddock fish for dinner. Bev is vegetarian so she already had some veggie sausages in the cooler. We also stopped at a hardware store where I bought a hatchet, which would make it easier to cut pieces of wood for fire kindling. That night I chopped wood and we redeemed ourselves with a grand fire that we had hopped to have the previous night, but better late than never.
the next morning after packing things up. We drove east along the coast of Maine. There were a few lookouts along the way and weather continued to be cooperative. We ran into some frustration trying to fill out our ArriveCan app before reaching to cross back into Canada, but eventually figured it out. By mid afternoon we had crossed into the province of New Brunswick and hugged the coastline. We reached the town of St. John, where I had last been six years prior on a cycling trip east. St. John is a very industrial town and I wasnt a big fan but Bev wanted to see where her Dad had grown up so we dipped into the eastern part of town and snapped some pictures of a house that had long since transformed from the rural barn it had been. We carried on to Fundy National Park and found a nice campsite there.
