Day 31: The OMG Bay of Fundy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A traveling day …….again. We were up and moving along at a fairly decent time……and at 8:50 we pulled out of the rv park along the river…..and headed for the highway(s) that would take us to The Bay of Fundy!! I have read and heard about this strange place all of my Life…..and today will be the first time my eyes have seen it……HOORAY!!!

We found the correct highways…..no thanks to “Garmin” as his knowledge of the roads in this part of Canada are just not always accurate, even though he is loaded with the 2009 software. And then…….heading south/southeast through the wilds of New Brunswick for about about 80 miles or so. All along the very wonderful highway were signs constantly reminding us to watch for Moose…….yep, this is the uninhabited area of this very green Province. As I said, the highway is new….and in excellent shape with wide lanes and very wide shoulders for emergencies.

Well, we were driving along and going through some not-so-high mountains when the sign appeared that stated a hill approaching……a hill that was a descent of 10%!!!!!!! Well, that is about the highest that I can ever recall having seen……and the 1st Lady began to gasp and grab the door…thinking that we would most likely plunge down the hill at some unstoppable speed…….but, she had nothing to fear. The steep descent was short and before the exhaust brake even began to work a bit, we were headed back up the steep ascent!!!

We arrived at St. John and bypassing it, we took off on the “infamous” Highway 111.….a road that is always discussed when driving in this part of New Brunswick……known for it’s curves and narrow lanes. And, to make matters worse today, the last 3-4 miles were under construction, we had been told. Sooooo, off we went……and it wasn’t really any worse than good old Highway 72 going from our home town down to Cape Girardeau.

Until…….the steep hill sign popped up again….and this time it said a descent of 13%……holy shit!!!!! I have never ever gone down a descent of this degree with a car, never mind towing a 38 foot 5th wheel RV that weighs right at 14,000 pounds….7 TONS!!! I hit the brakes, put on the exhaust brake, and inched my way over the edge……trying to see the road down to the bottom……and it seemed like forever before we could see the middle line plunging down the hill!!! THANK God….it was fairly short in length, however, it was considerably longer than the one we had experienced earlier in the morning. The good thing about this is that it was just a HUGE dip….and then we were headed back up. WELL…..my only thoughts were that when we leave here on Friday morning…….THAT hill has to be ascended PULLING 14,000 pounds!!!!! I suppose others have made it without rolling backwards…..but the visuals of that occurring keep dancing around in my head like a huge nightmare!!

We soon arrived at St. Martin….and tiny little fishing village on the Bay of Fundy….and it is a very sleepy village at that. Today…..very thick clouds and mucho, mucho fog everywhere!!!!! We finally located our RV Park, which is right on the water/mud, and were soon following our escort to our assigned site for the next two nights. After getting everything set up……and we have an excellent place with the back window of THH overlooking the Bay, as well as the large dining room window!!!!! GREAT!!!! We then walked over to the water……and it was LOW tide……WELL……let me explain:

The Bay of Fundy is the only place in the world which has such extreme low and high tides….TWICE each day!!! It can be as much as a 40 foot rise/drop in the water of the Bay…….40 FEET!!!! So, we walked down the slanted land/gravel/mud….and were soon standing on the bottom of the ocean, not far from TheHowserHouse!!!!! Mud and rocks and kelp….and that was it…….but what a feeling!!! We walked around for some time just experiencing this absence of water that begins it’s return as soon as it drops down.

Returning to THH we had a bite of lunch….and then put the bikes together and biked a couple of miles around the cove and around the point to the other side of the Bay….and there we encountered a couple of covered bridges crossing the muddy “stream” that wasn’t there at this time…the tide was out. The fog was thick as pea soup….and the winds were blowing so it was a very damp time outside. We then walked around the mud bottom of the ocean to the bluffs….and there were the famous “Caves”…..made by the flow and ebb of the huge tides…..deep caves that were made from red sandstone. We walked inside one of them…..and then made our way back to the parking area where we had left the bikes…..as the water began it’s return….and the rocks we had used to cross the little stream were quickly being covered up.

Returning to THH, we waited until 5:30 and returned to the beach behind us….and it was basically gone!!!!!!!!! The waves were lapping onto the shore…and the bottom of the ocean had completely disappeared!!!! The tide was at it’s high point…..and OMG, what a HUGE change!!!! No way you can comprehend this unless you have seen it with your own eyes……no picture can do it justice!!!

We had a light supper of some very good hot soup…..just the thing this cold, damp day called for!!!! I fixed some hot tea…..and soon, we had the fireplace going to take the chill out of THH….as we did not put down the blinds, wanting to see the ocean/Bay as long as possible. Tomorrow……we are going back up the horrible road……OH….forgot to tell you that the last few miles were nothing but muddy gravel as they had just watered it down….and it was rougher than a cob!!!! Almost like driving to Alaska in 1983!!!!

Tomorrow……as I started to say….we will make a day trip into St. John to see the incredible Reversing Water Falls…….they run one way when the tide is going out….and then run the other way when it comes it!!!! THAT, I want to see!!! It is now almost 9pm here….on Atlantic Daylight Time……and it is soooo foggy and damp……UGH!!!! But, that is what is often in my mental visuals when I think of this area of the world…….

And sooo, another day of new sights and new experiences…….and without a doubt….

LIFE IS REALLY, REALLY GREAT!!!!!!!!!!……And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!