We just got back from our 5000km road trip out east.
We drove through Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York before landing back home in Ontario.
Let me tell you all about the good, the bad, and the ugly!
This is part 3 of a 3 part series. Find part 1 and part 2 below.
Day 7 - Cabot Trail to St. Stephen
I had a great sleep at my God grandparents place. The bedroom was really cozy, had it's own balcony facing the backyard, and since the house is beach front property (the cover photo is from their backyard), the views were insane.
The whole house, from the bedrooms to the kitchen, had gorgeous wood detailing. The renovations they've done over the years have really added to the beauty of their home.
Apparently, they've had this home for generations. My God grandfather grew up in the front part of the house, and when they took over ownership from his parents, they extended the back of the house to add more bedrooms and storage.
My Godfather and his sister grew up in this house. He moved out to Ontario, but she stayed in Cape Breton. This was the first time I had met her, but it certainly didn't feel like it. As soon as we parked, she came running out to welcome us all with open arms, hugging us as soon as she saw us. She was so sweet, friendly, and hospitable. I'm lucky to have such great family.
She lives here too, but has a section of the property with her own home built on it. In a few years, my Godfather will have the back section of the property, the closest to the beach. He wants to build a cabin back there. Just waiting on some permits for the sewage and such it seems.
While the sleep was good, the morning was a bit of a fiasco however.
My God grandparents recommended going to the little cafe up the road - The Bitsy Bean - for breakfast. Apparently they have gluten free options and roast their own coffee beans. We walked over only to find out they're closed on Thursdays and only Thursdays. It was a Thursday sadly. I'll have to check it out on the next trip to Cape Breton.
From there, we had plans to check out Neil's habour, but just as we were setting off, we discovered the car's battery had died. Unfortunately for us, we forgot to unplug the trailer's battery from the car.
When we drive, the trailer's battery charges from the car. When not in motion however, it drains the car's battery. This battery is meant to be used for when we don't have access to electricity at, for example, un-serviced sites. It meant to be an emergency or "off grid" option.
Once we get to a campsite with service, we unplug the trailer from the car, plug into the campsite's electricity, and switch over from battery to electricity.
Seeing as we weren't at a campsite however, we forgot to unplug. So, overnight the trailer's battery continued to charge and drained the car. We ended up having to get a jump from my Godfathers car and forego the visit to Neil's habour. Another thing we'll have to check out next time we're out here.
With the battery working again, we set off down the mountain with the goal of getting to St. Stephen, New Brunswick. We had to stop maybe 5 minutes later though, as my sister tried eating her breakfast in the car and started choking. She's fine thankfully.
After that, the drive down the mountain went relatively smoothly, thankfully. We had about 8 hours ahead of us to New Brunswick and I spent most the that typing up Day 6 and part of Day 7.
We had a few stops along the way for pee breaks and to stretch our legs before arriving in St. Stephen, New Brunswick. We parked and set up at the cheapest, and honestly, nicest campground - Oak Bay Campground - we've been to thus far. It's was only $39 CAD for a 2 service site for the night, and they had free hot showers!
We got there pretty late, about 7:30 or so, so we were losing light fast. We set up the camper, made some late night dinner, and did some late night laundry before calling it a night.
Day 8 - Beginning the Drive Home Through the States
Today, our goal was to drive from St. Stephen to Salem, Massachusetts, about a 6 hour drive, with a few stops along the way.
We needed to stop at Starbucks in each state for obvious reasons, at a Costco on a recommendation from my uncle, to find American Mountain Dew for my sister, and of course, a Chipotle.
We started towards the border around 11am ADT, our campsite was only 20 minutes or so from the Maine border. It was pretty quiet, there wasn't really any traffic and we had a smooth entry into the states. This land border experience was much different, in a good way, from when we first went to Michigan last December.
While we were in Maine, we grabbed Chipotle - which was not great -, went to an American Costco where I found birth control just openly for sale (would never happen in Canada, you need a doctor to prescribe it), stopped in a Walmart, and tried 3 Starbucks before we could finally find a Maine Been There Series mug.
Apparently, people have been buying the Been there Series mugs, then selling them for twice as much online to people who don't want to make the trip out, which I think defeats the whole purpose of the cups.
On the way to Massachusetts from Maine, I spent all of probably 5 minutes in New Hampshire as we were just stopping through to pick up a Starbucks mug. About 2 hours later, we were in Massachusetts. From there, we drove out to Bourne, Massachusetts - not quite Salem - to get settled in at our campground.
This whole trip we haven't really pre-booked any campsites. Instead, we've been scrambling to book campgrounds day of, sometimes 3 hours before arriving, the worst was probably was the timing with the one in Quebec.
The rest of the campsites have been a phone call the day of, either in the morning, or late afternoon. Each one has had space thankfully.
Unfortunately, we did not have time to make it out to Salem. We thought the museums were open until 8pm, but they were actually open till 5pm, so we wouldn't have made it in time. We couldn't switch the days either since we had to be back in Ontario on Sunday at the latest.
We didn't get to our campground - Bay View Campground - until 8:30pm, half an hour before the office closed, which meant another later night set up. While checking in, we got to experience the Boston accent. It is such a cool way to speak! They sound just like how it sounds in the movies. Mom and I kept imitating it to each other, trying to perfect our pronunciation.
Every so often, we would be stared at and I couldn't quite figure out why. Usually when we speak in German, people stare, but for obvious reasons. It wasn't until a little later on that I realized that the way we speak English must sound so strange to everyone else. It's the same kind of novelty we have with the Boston accent.
While setting up, it was super windy and amazingly humid. The camper got so hot so fast with the windows closed. We had to open all the windows just to make it bearable. At this point in the trip, we were really starting to get into a good flow with opening the trailer. Each time we did, we got faster and forgot less.
Even though we arrived so late at the campground, some of the amenities were still open. Once everything was set up, my sister and I went to check out the arcade! You heard me right. It's not everyday you set up camp at a campground with an arcade!
We figured out how to get and fill a card to play the machines with, then bee-lined it for the rubber duck claw machine.
If you know me, you know I have a rubber duck collection in my bathroom. When I moved out for the first time, I themed my bathroom after The Sesame Street song "Rubber Duck You're The One" sung by Ernie. It started light with a few rubber ducks and has now spiraled into an all out addiction.
I've got rubber ducks on every counter, on the towel racks, on the mirror, and even taped to the ceiling. We played the claw machine a few times and got 12 new additions to the bathroom. It wasn't until the next day that we realized we were playing the game wrong. Apparently we had multiple chances with one purchase, but I thought it was only 1.
We could only play for about 15 minutes before they closed up for the night, so we decided to follow suit and call it a night too.
Day 9 - Cape Code to Syracuse NY
We started today off slowly, thankfully. Most nights have been late and most mornings have been early, but today we got up around 7 and stayed to explore what the campground had to offer until check out at noon.
This campground was definitely the most expensive one we'd been to thus far ($100 USD), but also the one with the most.
They had an insane amount of amenities:
Arcade room
3 pools
A food truck
Free hot showers (5 in the women's)
A giant laundry room with a soap dispenser
An ice cream parlor
A playground
A sports section with a tennis, pickleball, volleyball, and basketball court, as well as a ping pong table.
We lucked out with most of this being right across from our campsite.
There were even more amenities further into the park such as a baseball field, soccer field, another basketball court and playground, 2 horse shoe pits, and a dog park. The also had a shop up at the office, an area to fill up tires, and a place to fill your propane tanks. This place was absolutely massive with 285 campsites.
Mom kept on commenting on how it didn't feel like we were camping, but rather had set up at an amusement park.
It can see why it was the most expensive thus far, but it was absolutely worth the price.
We started off the day with some breakfast and laundry. Thankfully the washers and dryers here were the best out of all the campsites we'd been to. We tidied up the camper some, got it closed down before the rain hit (no one wants wet, moldy canvas for walls), then went off to enjoy the activities.
While my mom and sister went to grab some breakfast at the food truck across from our site, I went off to enjoy the pool. Most campgrounds we'd been to had pools, but we didn't get the chance to enjoy any of them with the late nights and early mornings. I finally got to enjoy this one, but sadly it was pretty cold and started to rain.
Before I got into the pool though, I was taking a look through the fence and the worker there said "It won't bite, come on it. But you gotta be 16 though". The look on her face when I told her my age was so funny.
Back when we were visiting my dad's parents, they also commented on how I don't look old enough to be a teacher. It's been a common theme throughout my adulthood that I look a lot younger than I am. Let's hope that continues.
After the pool, I went to take advantage of the free hot shower before we set off on our way towards Syracuse, NY. On the drive to Syracuse, we stopped at 5 different Starbucks to find a Massachusetts mug. At the 5th one, I was finally able to find a Boston mug! The Been There Series is so much more popular in the states than in Canada it seems.
When we were booking the campsite just outside of Syracuse - Cedar valley Campsites - the man on the phone had the most amazing New York accent! He also mentioned they were having a firework show this evening, which I was definitely looking forward to. We were able to snag a site with 3 services, something we haven't had since Quebec.
When we got there, the owner, Paul, greeted us and showed us to our campsite. He was really kind and quite friendly. Definitely had an accent over the phone, but couldn't hear it in person. In person, he just sounded like a country man, same as in Canada.
We did get one with all 3 services, but were meant to have one where we'd need to back in. However, when we got there, Paul gave us the 1 of only 2 pull through sites. It made setting up and setting off so much easier.
It also wasn't expensive to stay. A pull through, 3 service site at his campground - Ceder Valley Campsite - was only $40 USD, about $54 CAD. I took a peak at what seasonal is at this site too, and it's less than $2k USD for the season which is really cheap in Canadian standards.
The only downside to this campground was the washrooms, which seems to be a theme for most campsites. I think the more common seasonal campers are, the less nice the communal washrooms are. Everything else was wonderful. Cute playground, basketball court, and a horse shoe pit.
The firework show was due to start an hour after we rolled in, so he said he'd let us get settled in and handle the payment tomorrow.
We got all set up for the night and shortly after, the firework show began. Our site happened to be right in front of it, so we got an amazing view of the fireworks. It was wonderful getting to enjoy the fireworks with everyone, especially since we didn't have the chance on Canada day.
Once everything quieted down, we called it a night.
Day 10 Syracuse to Home
Around 7am or so, we got up, had some breakfast, then began closing up the camper for the last night this trip. Before leaving the campground, we settled up at the office, where we accidentally woke up the owner since we're such early risers.
On the drive into downtown Syracuse, we passed by a bunch of Amish folk on bikes, and some in horse drawn buggys, on their way into church. We have a huge Amish population back home, so it was nice to see them.
Our next stop before the Niagara border was Trader Joe's to grab some gluten free everything bagels. I first tried these back in Austin and fell in love with them. For some reason, we don't have gluten free everything bagels in Canada, so when I am in the states I try to pick up a bunch.
Once the bagels were acquire, we got started on our way towards the Niagara border. It was a short drive, about 2 hours or so, thankfully. By the last day, I think we were all done with long drives.
The Niagara border was also a nice experience thankfully. The border guard was kind and it wasn't too busy. Maybe I just had an uncharacteristically bad experience at the Michigan border?
Once on the Canadian side, I felt that sense of relief you always feel once you're back on your own turf. If anything bad happens now, it wouldn't matter. We have CAA here, we aren't far from home, we know more people here, etc. All was good again.
The drive home wasn't too bad either, not much traffic, but we did have to stop for a pee break along the way.
I love to travel, but it was also so nice to be home again after 10 days away. I think what I missed the most was my own space. I love my family, but since moving out almost 9 years ago, the dynamic has changed.
I'm used to a certain lifestyle and so are they. These two lifestyles don't seem to blend very well together anymore, at least that was my experience.
Would I do this trip again? Yes, and I might be soon. That said though, I don't think I'd go with my family again. I love them, and that's precisely why I wouldn't go with them again.
The trip put a lot of strain on our relationship seeing as we were practically glued to each other, not farther than 10 feet from each other, for 10 days straight.
I think with how we are now, shorter visits seem to be the approach.
Would you travel with your family?
Thanks for joining me on this road trip! See you on the next one!
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