Day 41, May 26, Back in the U.S. (not S.R.)

(Beatles fans will get the joke)

Yesterday, we awoke in Digby, to spend our last day in Canada. We began with breakfast at a local establishment called Josie’s. Josie’s claim to fame is that it serves breakfast all day long. It’s not much to look at, but the food was good.

(Entrance to Josie's Place)

(Mural in Josie's. The white boat in the center is named "Josie", the red boat "Richie")

(Patrise awaiting a good Josie's Place breakfast.)

After breakfast, we had several hours to fill up, before having to be at the ferry terminal by 3pm. Therefore, we headed back to “town”, parked the RV, and started washing our clothes. While the clothes were washing (and later drying), we walked the historic downtown area along Water Street. We read plaques in a waterfront park, which described the town’s history – colonized by a group led by Admiral Robert Digby; described the beginning of the scallop industry (they didn’t realize for years that scallops were in these waters); describing the life cycle of a scallop; and a brief history of black Nova Scotians in Digby. We also visited the Visitor’s Center and spoke to the local woman in charge of the facility to find out information on the time for the high and low tides. Tides in this area can vary up to 52 feet between high and low tides.

(Flags of the 13 Canadian provinces)

(Flags of the 13 Canadian provinces)

(United Baptist Church on Water Street in Digby)

(Digby's downtown laundry where we washed our clothes. We spoke with a Canadian couple who had moved from Ontario to Digby two months ago, in search of a more quiet, less stressful life.)

(Beginning of Digby as a colony)

(Life cycle of a scallop)

(How the scallop industry got started and the methods that are used to rake scallops from the bottom of the ocean.)

(Blacks in Digby)

We left downtown Digby around 2:35 pm to make our way to the ferry to St. John, New Brunswick. It was a clear sunny day and the water in the Bay of Fundy was smooth along the way. It took us only 2 hours to make the journey. The ferry was huge, like a cruise ship. It was large enough to carry more than 7 large trucks (18-wheelers) and several dozen cars.

(The 18-wheeler loaded in front of us.)

(The 18-wheeler loaded to the left of us.)

(The 18-wheeler loaded to the right of us, and there were more in back of us.)

It was unbelievable how well it just floated. We watched a movie in the movie area on just one of the floors that accommodated travelers. We were not allowed to stay in our vehicles during the trip. (Here are photos of the inside of the ferry and taken looking out the ferry window.)

(The Fundy Rose is named after the Bay of Fundy, where the Ferry sails, and after Rose Fortune. Rose Fortune came to Nova Scotia with her parents at age 10, one of 3.000 "Black Loyalists" who left the U.S. after the Revolutionary War and immigrated to Canada. Through hard work and ingenuity, she became a successful businesswoman in later life and became the first woman policeman in North America. The ferry was renamed after her in 2015.)

(Walking into the lounge area of the ferry.)

(The restaurant in the forward area of the ferry was closed. However, the one in the back of the ferry was open. We shared a slice of blueberry pie during the trip.)

(Lounge on the MV Fundy Rose)

(Dining area of the ferry)

(Patrise continues to read her John Grisham novel in the early part of the voyage.)

(Ferry selfie)

(Boat seen off the port side of the ship)

(Gulls in the water)

(A buoy and a town seen from the port side window)

(Closer view of St. John)

(Seagull flying by our window)

After we disembarked from the ferry, we drove through New Brunswick to our campsite in Maine. We had to stop at U.S. Customs and Border Control just outside of Calais, Maine. Pictures from the trip to the border and on to our campsite:

(Cooper, New Brunswick)

(St. Croix River near Cooper, New Brunswick)

(Indiantown, New Brunswick)

(Arrival at the Canada-U.S. border at Calais, Maine. The US agent came aboard our RV to see if we were carrying unlawful produce.)

(Dusk is settling in on Machias, ME)

(Machias River)

(Machias, ME)

We arrived at our site Cottonwood Campgrounds just before dark and were able to connect our utilities and get set up. Just after we set up everything, it started raining. We thank God for granting us traveling weather without rain.

We had an Indian vegetarian lentil dish with rice and naan bread for dinner. We played a couple of games of gin rummy and read our books. We were really tired and ready to crash right at 11.

Tomorrow, we head to Bar Harbor, ME and Arcadia National Park.