Day 34, May 19, A Birthday and a Bay

The best part of this day is that is is our daughter's birthday! Randi Michelle Hooker-Kellum was born this day, thirty-eight years ago. And on this birthday in 2022 there is much to celebrate: she is alive; she has a husband who loves her deeply; she has two adoring paw-children, Sunshine and Marco; they have their own home; and she is meaningfully employed in work she likes to do. Happy birthday, dearest Randi!

We begin our morning calling Randi and serenading her with a birthday duet. Afterwards we had our breakfast and took our time loading up. We finally got underway for the next leg of the trip, heading eventually to the RV park on Cape Tormentine -- the last bit of land in this part of New Brunswick, before crossing the bridge onto Prince Edward Island. However, rather than heading straight to our next campsite, we decided to go into Moncton -- New Brunswick's most populous city, although not it's capitol -- and take a look around. The trip to Moncton was relatively short and uneventful. As we were heading there, we noticed that the tree cover was less dense than the day before when we had driven to Fredericton. There were more pastures and the trees themselves were thinner. Here are some photos of the road on the drive to Moncton.

When we arrived in Moncton, we went to the downtown, specifically Main St. We found a place to park the RV, just a block off of Main Street, then headed to an Indian restaurant we had spotted on the drive in.

We ate a delicious lunch at Taj. We were surprised at the number Indian restaurants (4) and other asian food restaurants within a two-block area. The young man who sat us, said the restaurant was started by his father and they they were the first in the area beginning in 2003. Furthermore, he said, for many years, there were no other restaurants of any kind in the area, until about 2019/2020. Then, all of these other restaurants (and other types of retail) seem to spring up overnight. He attributed the sudden change to a liberalization of Canada's immigrant laws, which encouraged a strong waive of immigration, especially from East Asian and South Central Asian countries.

Sitting by the front window, we were able to observe a lot of the street activity, the people passing by on the way to lunch, going to and fro for other purposes, and watching the cars, buses, trucks and bikes. There certainly appears to be more biking in Canada than in the U.S. -- at least in Fredericton and Moncton. And not biking for recreation, but biking for everyday trips. Here are photos of Main Street in Moncton, taken before during and after lunch.

After lunch, we walked to a spa located in a nearby hotel, the Delta Hotel, so that Patrise could inquire about getting a nail appointment. We found the hotel and spa easily enough, as seen here.

We separated: Doug continuing to explore downtown, while awaiting Patrise's nail appointment to end. However, not five minutes after parting, Patrise called Doug to say that this location did not do her type of nail work. Regrettably, they were kind of snobby about it, which hurt her feelings, along with the disappointment of not being able to get her nails the attention they need. And so, we walked back to the RV, and then got underway leaving town. More photos of Moncton:

We hit the road and drove for about an hour and ten minutes, before reaching our final destination for the day. Here are photos taken along the trip and at our camp for the night. Two or three series of photos to take note of: (1) THE MOOSE photos. I had been trying unsuccessfully for several days, both in Maine and in Canada, to capture the moose warning signs. I finally got three good ones. (2) The pictures of our overnight campsite, specifically the scenes of the bay. We have a front row view of the Northumberland Strait, the body of water between New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.

Photos of the journey to Cape Tormentine:

Maps of the area from Moncton to Cape Tormenting:

And finally pictures of our campsite, with an ocean front view of the Northumberland Strait, part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off of the North Atlantic Ocean. Pay attention to the two selfies, I have shown. The first one was taken when we arrived. Note were the waves are relative to the dunes. The second was taken some there hours later. Note how far the tide had taken the waves away from the shore. When we arrived, the place where I took the second photo: I would have been standing in water almost to my knees!

The beach at high tide

Panorama of the beach.

The lighthouse is actually a good distance away and the road to it is closed off.

Patrise taking a picture of the shore further up the beach.

Selfie at high tide (although I did not know the condition of the tide, when I snapped this photo.)

Beach at low tide, some three hours later. What a rapid shift!

Lighthouse and beach at low tide.

Selfie at low tide. (Buzz goes everywhere. Go, Jackets!)

Houses up the beach, as seen at low tide.

Mid-afternoon view of the RV as seen from the beach.

While I napped most of the afternoon, Patrise prepared dinner (potato leek soup and corn bread muffins); and then sister-girl whipped up a blueberry tart with homemade crust. My wife is AAAAMMMAAAAZZZZZIIIIINNNNNNGGG!!!!!!

Good night. Tomorrow, the blog entry will come to you from Prince Edward Island, Canada. Woohoo!