2026 JULY (PART I)- East Coast - The Canadian Coddiwomplers*
*Coddiwomple: “to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination."
We forgot to tell you about the people we met in the hot tub in Quebec. Two couples from Australia who were planning to see CANADA in seven weeks. They flew to Vancouver, stayed one night and then flew to Halifax and rented two RVs for their adventure. I'm mentioning this because while chatting we got some really good info from them. We have been considering a cruise that circumnavigates Australia in 31 days - from mid December to mid January. They were aghast when we mentioned this trip. All four agreed that traveling to northern Australia in the summer was not a good idea. They told us it gets incredibly hot and the humidity is brutal - "Don't go then!" they said. We'll look at other options now.
New Brunswick
River Country Campground, Clearview, New Brunswick
The River Country Campground is a nice camp along the St. John River in New Brunswick, and there is an abundance of cutesy folk art everywhere - see above. The owner, in addition to the mushrooms and gnomes also makes pretty good homemade ice cream.
We left Quebec along the St. Lawrence River and moved down south into New Brunswick about 1 km from Maine. There are some interesting sights nearby. We seem to study the weather closely to decide if cycling or sightseeing will work...only to find out that the predictions are rarely accurate. However we adapt quickly. Pivot is the new adapt I think.
Now that's what we call adapting. Where there is sunshine...
Mia discovered the spot where the sun shines in through our roof vent in the bedroom.
The Potato World museum is in Florenceville-Bristol, New Brunswick
Yep, New Brunswick...The potato capital of the world is here.
McCains is in 50 countries globally and it all started here. Fouto was r brothers started McCain's Frozen vegetables. The first place they sent their frozen peas was the UK back in the 50s. Britain became one of their best customers. When Prince Phillip was visiting New Brunswick, he commented that he was not aware that McCains had a facility in Canada. There are several McCain facilities in Florenceville e.g. research labs, storage and a processing plant. Their HQ is no longer in the hometown of the four McCain brothers. However, the countryside around here has many potato fields.
Potato World has great displays and videos explaining the history of potato farming up to the present and interesting facts about, you guessed it, potatoes! Another interesting fact we learned is that only 1% of McCain's business is in Canada. My mother told me that certain types of potatoes need to be used for different cooking methods. Of course, I don't remember all she told me but I was reminded of this by a huge chart describing how the different type of potatoes were used. I ought to have taken a picture of that chart. I was also intrigued by the Potato Bank House. This was a structure unique to New Brunswick used for storing potatoes. It was a building built into a hillside or an embankment that kept the potatoes at a cool temperature.
The museum has a restaurant where Jerry had Potato World Poutine.
It was WAY too much for one person but scrumptious - Curds, meat, gravy AND Pickles!
Oh ya and potatoes courtesy of McCains.
We learned quite a lot about potatoes at the museum. I never knew that potatoes originated in Peru. The Spanish conquistadores were introduced to them and they took potatoes back to Spain. They were cultivated and the farming of potatoes spread through Europe and the UK. Eventually, the potato was brought to North America by Europeans. Huh.
Riding along in Hartland NB we noticed how they celebrate their
newly graduated high school students. What a super idea.
The longest covered bridge in the world is in Hartland, NB.
We cycled it on the sidewalk and on the road.
The road was scary as the traffic is not controlled and
the road width inside the bridge was one way only.
Hartland was the original home of the Covered Bridge Potato Chips. Unfortunately, the factory burned down a few years ago and they moved the operation to Woodstock.
While we of course wanted to see the covered bridge, our main objective was to cycle a portion of the Trans Canada Trail from Hartland to Woodstock. The NB tourist site was very proud of this trail and encouraged hiking and biking. It is the worst maintained trail we have ever cycled. Talking with a few locals we learned that the trail is commonly used by off road Jeeps and ATVs and they suspect it has never been maintained since the trail opened.
After 45 minutes we'd only gone about 5 kms
We gave up and road the highway back to Hartland.
Just as well that we stopped cycling early as when we went to start the truck, the battery was dead. (Ten years old). We got a jumpstart no problem (in general, we have found most NB folks to be friendly, communicative and helpful), and promptly went to the nearest NAPA store and bought a new battery. I/Jerry installed it. The Napa staff was amazing. He found the correct size battery, tested it and gave me a printout, lent us tools and helped. Carried the battery out to the truck. Helped with a lifter tool to place it. Sprayed the terminal clamps. AND… gave each of us a cold bottle of water. It was 33 degrees C and in direct sun!
The next day we moved camp to just outside Moncton. At the previous camp, I noticed the wheels on one side were close together and couldn't get our levellers or X chocks in place. I also noticed that the trailer was low on the passenger side but assumed the site was not level. When we arrived in Moncton, the same thing happened. That's when I discovered we had a broken spring!! Oh Oh. 4:30 on the eve of Canada day and we need service before we move on Friday. I phoned a couple of dealers with little hope that they would look after us. (Our experience in the RV world is that most, not all, dealers are interested in selling only...not servicing).
Then I called a nearby trailer service company who deal with trailers/flatbeds dump trailers etc. and also handle RV Trailer axles/springs and chassis repairs. Neat name "Work and Play." They felt they should have stock of what we need and wanted us in the service lane before 8:00 a.m. Friday morning, detached ready for service. They replaced all four assemblies, equalizers and hardware and we shopped for groceries, went to COSTCO, busy places, and they had the repair ready by noon. Now that's what I call service.
Visiting with family in Moncton.
On Canada Day, we met with another nephew Ashley and our great niece Kori Daminato. Ashley has been living in Miramichi, NB for 19 years so we don'y see him often. It was nice to catch up and we had an amazing lunch together.
The next day we relaxed and took advantage of a very nice pool at the Stonehurst Campground and Golf Course.
!!!!UPDATE!!!!
So it looks likely that we still have a Ferry Ride to Newfoundland:
Update on CIRB process
Unifor and Marine Atlantic are pleased to announce that ... they have successfully resolved their collective bargaining impasse ... as a result of this progress, there will be no labour disruption. YAY! So long for now.
NEXT STOP:
Take care all.
Love from,
Jerry, Elizabeth, Mia, the Guys,
Miss Adventure Too and
Clifford the Big Red Truck
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