Road Trippin to Canada: Tuesday, September 29th

The morning weather forecast for Maine and New Brunswick included a major rain storm, anticipated to dump between 100 and 150 mm of rain (roughly four to six inches) over the course of about 24 to 36 hours starting that afternoon and going into the night on Wednesday. Flash flooding was to be expected and people were told to be very careful driving.

As I started my morning, the plan was to head first to the fishing village of Lubec, Maine near the Canadian border. I wanted to get four more lighthouse stamps for my passport, but more importantly, I planned on visiting the famous “barber pole striped” lighthouse of West Quoddy. Located in a Maine State Park, it was easy for Toots to navigate me to our first destination.

Once again, it was a very foggy morning. It was a dense fog that never did lift! At times, I t was actually more like a misty type of rain, heavy and damp. It seemed appropriate especially since the West Quoddy Lighthouse is still an active navigation tool complete with fog horn. Fully automated as most lighthouses in North America are; this one just had the real feel of being “active” . . . not just there for tourists to visit. Inside the keeper’s quarters was a small three room museum and art gallery.

There is also a “spark-plug” style light in the channel, also providing warning through use of a combination of light and horn. They said that under normal weather conditions you could see it out in the channel, but on that day you couldn’t see in from West Quoddy. Later I would stop back in the area at low tide to take a peek. I was able to walk about 20 yards out into the receded coastline to snap a couple of photos through the wet fog.

After stopping at the local inn at the harbor to pick up my four lighthouse stamps, I headed for the Canadian border and onto Campobello Island. This was a beloved spot for the Roosevelts and today is an International Park. They had a summer cottage on the waterfront, where FDR as a child and young adult often vacationed. It was there, at the age of 29, that he was stricken and diagnosed with polio leaving him unable to walk again.

Upon entry on the island, there’s a nice New Brunswick welcome center. I stopped in for a couple of reasons; first to see if they had WiFi and second to use the restroom. I was also able to get some information about my time on Campobello Island and to find out what was there to see other than the Roosevelt summer house.

I had already planned on visiting the Mulholland Point Lighthouse, which could be seen from Lubec as well as the bridge crossing over into Canada. The hosts at the visitor center suggested that as a first stop because the gray seals were frolicking in the surf as the tide was going out. I did head over there first, but found them pretty far from the shore, and moving even further away as the tide continued to go down.

The grounds there at the lighthouse were nice place to make and eat lunch. I found it way to chilly and windy to sit at one of the picnic benches, so my dash served as my dining table again.

I drove the length of the island, all the way to the end where adventurous folks could hike out at low tide, through the channels between two smaller islands to reach the East Quoddy Lighthouse. Tide was about half out, but even at a low tide, this was not a “hike” I was inclined to attempt. In addition to walking along the dry waterbed, the trip would require climbing and/or descending two wrought iron ladders of about 20 feet each. I was happy to enjoy the view and talk football with a couple from Kansas City, unhappy with the outcome of the football game the night before.

He had spotted a finback whale about 200 yards beyond the lighthouse island, but had lost sight of it. Shortly after he saw it, one of the whale watching tour boats ascended the area, probably chasing off whatever may have been out there to see because we couldn’t locate the whale again.

After my limited time exploring Campobello it was time to head back into Maine to continue my journey towards St John, NB. Initially my plan was to find a campground to overnight in, but with the impending heavy rains I didn’t feel comfortable car camping with the possibility of flash flooding during the night. Instead, I again used Toots to find an inexpensive motel. She came through with a room in St. George, NB. At just $73 CDN the Grove Motel was a bargain and conveniently located right off Hwy 1 which would be my route for the morning.

While I did have WiFi there, I simply wanted to relax and watch some mindless TV. Their satellite system had several channels to choose from, but to be honest I don’t remember what I watched that evening.

For the day it was 226 miles, and my last day in the USA until I begin my return drive in about 10 days.

Check out just how low the tide is at the harbor in St. George. This was just before I decided to stay in town for the night, about 6:30pm.