We're in Sunset, Texas with Heavy Rain, Thunder & Lightning

We forgot to set the alarm last night and slept in until 7:30. It was overcast and 52° with a wind chill of 42° and there was a forecast of rain for today. We plugged in the small electric heater to take some of the chill off while we had breakfast. Just as Mike went out to start breaking camp, it started to sprinkle.

The little bobtail cat showed up this morning and walked with me over to the dumpster and back to the RV. She tried several times to jump into the back of the Pilot while we were putting stuff away. 

It was 9:30 and sprinkling when we left Southern Living RV and got back on to I-20 West. It was still 52° but the wind chill was now 47°. A few minutes later we entered Texas and I missed getting a photo of the "Welcome to Texas" sign because I was checking the weather on my phone.

We passed by this picnic area on I-20 and I managed to get a photo. I had forgotten that Texas had picnic areas on highways and this one has oil derricks as covers for the picnic tables.

We stopped at 11:00 at a Pilot station at Tyler, TX to get gas and paid $2.629 a gallon. We stopped at a Rest Area at 11:30 to have lunch. We had sandwiches and potato salad and sat in the trailer to eat lunch since the temperature was still in the low 50's.

Then this pink Bunny caught my eye on I-20 near Canton. It's part of the Yesterland Farm attraction there.

We exited I-20 West east of Dallas and got onto I-635 North that took us around Dallas and to I-35 East which we took north to Denton and to US-380. We stopped for gas at an Exxon station at Alvord and paid $3.199 a gallon.

We took US-380 west to Decatur and then US-287 North to Sunset, Texas. We arrived here at Sunset RV

Glacier National Park to Calgary, Alberta

It was cool again this morning when we got up - the mid 40's and overcast. By the time we stopped at the dump station to empty our tanks and get some water in our fresh water tank and leave the park it was almost 9:00. I drove the Vue and Mike followed in the RV.

We stopped at the St. Mary Gas Station to top off the tank in the RV and paid $3.999 a gallon.  We also stopped at the St. Mary Supermarket to get some propane in our on board tank and found out that they had run out of propane. We hitched up the car to the RV there and headed north on US-89 to the U.S.-Canadian border. We again tried to call the Symon's Valley RV Park where we're planning to stay tonight and only get voice mail.

We passed through the small town of Babb and saw this large log house.

From Montana to Calgary

We arrived at the Canadian border at 9:45 and were the only ones crossing into Canada. 

From Montana to Calgary

We handed our passports to the border officer and she asked us the usual questions - purpose for entering Canada, where was our residence, any alcohol & tobacco and how much, any firearms, what our occupations were, and did we have any items we were planning to sell in Canada. She also wanted to know if we had spoken with an immigration officer on our 2 previous visits to Canada. On our first visit to Canada we had to go inside and spoke with an officer and he entered our information in the computer, but we didn't know if he had been an immigration officer. She handed back our passports along with a yellow paper and instructed us where to park our RV and that we were to come inside and talk with an immigration officer.

Once inside we handed over our passports again (& the yellow paper) and he asked us if we had ever been to court or convicted of a felony. He asked some of the same questions the other officer had asked and then entered our passport information in the computer. After a few minutes he handed back our passports and wished us a pleasant trip.

We headed north on Highway 2 and passed through some small towns on our way to Calgary. We drove through Cardston and saw a Fay Wray Fountain (we did get a photo of the sign for the fountain).

From Montana to Calgary

We saw this gas station in Cardston $1.219 for regular. Not bad, but that is for a liter and that works out to $4.614 a gallon (that's not accounting for the currency exchange rate).

From Montana to Calgary

We stopped at a pull-off about 25 miles north of Cardston for and early lunch at 11:00.

We then drove through Fort MacLeod and decided to drive on the historic Main Street instead of the truck route

From Montana to Calgary

and if we had taken the truck route we would have gone by the reconstruction of Fort MacLeod which is now the Museum for the North-West Mounted Police.

From Montana to Calgary

We saw this gas station in Claresholm and the gas is lower here - $1.154 a liter ($4.368 a gallon)

From Montana to Calgary

and saw these familiar businesses

From Montana to Calgary

and this cute drive-in.

From Montana to Calgary

We saw the Happy Face Equestrian Farm near Nanton

From Montana to Calgary

and this interesting building or ten near High River.

From Montana to Calgary

We continued north on Hwy 2 and drove on the east side of Calgary and then on the Beddington Trail to the north side of Calgary where we saw housing areas built up on the hills around Calgary. The housing developments extended as far as we could see - talk about urban sprawl! But the houses are really nice looking and some are quite large. Some have almost no space between homes and others have large lawns.

From Montana to Calgary

We arrived at Symon's Valley RV Park at 2:30 and the office was closed! Mike called the phone number on the office door and got voice mail. He saw a couple of men at the park and they said to just walk around and find a site and register later. It had been raining here and the roads inside the park were muddy. Mike called me while he was looking for a site and said the place was a mess - there was mud everywhere.

From Montana to Calgary

While Mike was looking for a decent campsite, I was trying to find an alternative campground nearby. Mike eventually found a site that would do and we pulled the RV into it.

From Montana to Calgary

From Montana to Calgary

We are in site #112 and have 30 amp electric with water and sewer. There is free wi-fi here - it isn't a strong signal, but it is adequate. Mike put blocks under the jacks to keep them from sinking into the mud under the RV. Tomorrow we'll see if anyone is in the office so we can register. This is a Passport America campground and the cost if half-price.

Lake City to Kissimmee

Last night there were 8 other RVs parked in the same row we were in and appeared to be staying just 1 night like us. This morning when I walked Tinker a little after 8:00 one RV had already left.

After breakfast we prepared to leave to head down to Kissimmee. Mike had only connected the cable, electric and water hookups last night, so we didn't dump our tanks this morning. By the time we were ready to get on the road, there were only 2 other RVs left on our row.

We left Oaks 'N Pines at 9:45 and headed back west on I-10 to connect with I-75 south. Last year when we were here we drove south on US-441 and took US-90 through Lake City to I-75. We decided to drive the few extra miles by taking I-10 back over to I-75 and avoid the traffic lights and traffic in Lake City.

We stopped to get gas in the RV at a Pilot station at Wildwood and paid $3.859 a gallon. We had already decided to avoid taking the Florida Turnpike and the approximate $30 or so toll and took SR-44 east to US-27. After leaving the Pilot we found a Winn Dixie in a strip mall about 4 miles east of the Pilot on US-44 and stopped there to fix lunch at 12:45.

After lunch we continued east on US-44 to Leesburg.

From May 2011

At Leesburg we turned south onto US-27 which is a very nice four-lane highway.

From May 2011

When we reached Clermont we saw the Florida Citrus Tower

From May 2011

and a little later the entrance to Lake Louisa State Park.

From May 2011

We spent a week last June at the state park and visited the Citrus Tower.

We exited US-27 at US-192 and drove east to Kissimmee. We decided to try the Osceola Parkway instead of driving through Kissimme on US-192 to save time and to avoid all the traffice lights. We knew Osceola Parkway was a toll road, but since we were only going to be on it for about 3 miles how much can the toll be? We paid $5.25 for 4 axles - that's about $1.75 a mile - not sure it was worth it.

We turned off Osceola Parkway at Michigan Avenue and drove south to Mill Creek RV Resort and arrived here at 2:45 and checked in with Chris at the office. We are using a Passport America discount at Mill Creek RV Resort and we're paying $128.00 for 8 days. We are site #210 (our favorite), a back-in site, and we have full hookups (50 amp electric) and wifi.

This evening after we had finished setting up camp and taking a little break, we drove over to a Zaxby's for dinner where we both had their House salad. Afterwards we drove over to my brother's house for a visit for a couple of hours. It was good to see Cyril and Elaine and catch up on their news.

Mike and I then came back to the RV. We forgot to take photos of our campsite today here at Mill Creek and will have to get some tomorrow.

2011 Trip Started

We got up this morning at our usual 8 a.m. After having our morning coffee and breakfast, I started preparing the inside so we could leave this morning. Mike worked outside dumping the tanks, disconnecting the electric, water and sewer hookups and stowing some last minute items in the bays.

After saying goodbye to our friends, Glenda & W. T. and Jimmy, we left The Willows about 10:30.

We headed east on US-84 to the Ross Clark Circle and then south to the Flying J in Dothan. Since we want to weigh the RV on the truck scales at Flying J after filling the onboard propane tank, Mike drove the RV and I drove the Vue to Flying J.

When we got to Flying J we found out that they wouldn’t have anyone who could fill the propane tank until 2:30! Mike drove over to the truck scales and weighed the RV. After paying for weighing the RV, we hooked up the Vue and headed south on US-231.

We stopped at Wal-Mart Supercenter just south of Dothan for some last minute shopping. By then it was 11:30 and we decided to fix lunch and then do our shopping. Mike called Oaks ‘N Pines RV Campground in Lake City to make a reservation for tonight. We left Wal-Mart at 12:15 and headed south to I-10.

All the excitement of breaking camp and getting on the road is really exhausting for a puppy (Tinker is 4 years old, but still a “puppy”). Tinker managed to get in several naps today.

From May 2011

This motorcycle and trailer passed us on I-10.

From May 2011

We saw the motorcycle and trailer at one of our Rest Area stops and got a better photo.

From May 2011

From May 2011

We arrived at Oaks ‘N Pines RV Campground about 5:30. After checking in, we were escorted to our campsite. We are in site #48 and have full hookups including cable. Our discount through Passport America makes the camping fee $19.80 for the night.

From May 2011

There is free Wi-Fi here, but the signal is weak at our site so I’m using our Verizon broadband tonight.

Our trip from Dothan to the campground was 215 miles.

Saint-Alexandre-de-Kamouraska to Granby, Québec

We left Camping le Rayon de Soliel this morning at 9:15. We continued on TC-20 still following the St. Lawrence River.

One of the road signs we saw along the way was this one warning of a rough road ahead and they were right.

From Quebec

After about 150 miles we stopped at a rest area at the Villeroy Halte    Routière (Villeroy Rest Area) at 12:30 p.m. for a 30 minute lunch break.

From Quebec

Then back on TC-20 until we reach Exit 141 were we take Rte 116 north of Sainte-Rosalie for about 4 miles. We then took Rte 224 at Sainte-Rosalie for about 2 miles to Rte 137 south of Sainte-Hyacinthe,

From Quebec

then Rte 137 for 18 miles to Rte 112 west of Granby and another 1½ miles to Camping Tropicana. We arrived here around 3 p.m.

Camping Tropicana is a Passport America campground. We're paying $19 for our 1 night stay here. We are in site #714. Yes, you read that correctly - site #714 - this place is HUGE! There are 880 RV sites here. There are a lot (I mean a LOT) of permanent RVs here. There is a lake with a nice beach, paddle boats for rent, mini golf and much more. This is definitely a destination campground for families with a lot of activities and planned events.

Site #714 is one of 25 pull-through sites. We have full hook-ups (30 amp); the electric voltage and water pressure is low. We were guided to our campsite and didn't plan on disconnecting the Vue since we're only staying for tonight. When we pulled into the site, we ended up with the Vue sticking out in the roadway. When we tried to disconnect the car, we couldn't because the hitch was at such an angle that it was impossible to get the pins out. Mike wanted to pull forward so we could straighten the hitch out, but our guide was hesitant for us to do that.

Fortunately the owner, Gilles Savoie, came by on his bicycle. He had Mike pull the RV forward so we could disconnect the car. Then Mike backed the RV into the site so it was in there at a better angle. We then hitched the car back up and it wasn't sticking out in the road. Gilles was extremely helpful and knowledgeable about straightening out (no pun intended) our situation. He was also about the only person we've met here that speaks English. Maybe I should have taken French in high school instead of Spanish!

We found out why Gilles knew so much about RVs and spoke such good English - he is a motorhome owner. Mike asked him about the amount of snow that Granby has during the winter (the campground is closed then) and Gilles said he didn't know! He said he takes his motorhome and travels south to the US during the Canadian winter. He said he not only doesn't know how much snow is there in Granby, he doesn't care since he's enjoying the warmer weather in the south. He keeps his motorhome at the north end of Lake Champlain when he's not out traveling during the winter.

Amherst, Nova Scotia to Woodstock, New Brunswick

We left Gateway Parklands Campground about 10:15 this morning. Just down the road from the campground we saw this firewood stacked near a house.

From Leaving the Maritimes

We crossed the border into New Brunswick less than a mile after leaving the campground. Hwy-104 becomes Trans Canada Hwy-2 in New Brunswick. We drove back through Moncton and on to Woodstock, New Brunswick on Trans Canada Hwy-2. TC-2 followed the course of the St. John River through New Brunswick. We had some great views of the St. John River at various places along the highway.

From Leaving the Maritimes

We exited TC-2 at Exit 191 and drove east to Hwy-165 and there was Cosy Cabins Campground. Cosy Cabins is a Passport America campground. We are on site #3. It is a pull-through and we have full hook-ups with 50 amp service and wifi. These are gravel sites with some grass and are pretty level. The regular fee is $30 a night and with tax we're paying $16.39 with Passport America.

From Leaving the Maritimes

But the view alone is worth staying here! We are facing the St. John River with nothing to obstruct our view. This afternoon while I was walking Tinker we startled a beaver that had come up near the campground.

From Leaving the Maritimes

Now we wish that we had allowed more time to stay here at Cosy Cabins. We've learned that Woodstock is New Brunswick's first town and was incorporated in 1856 and has many Victorian properties on a local historic register. We won't have time to see them before we leave tomorrow - another reason to come back this way another time.

Badddeck to Amherst, Nova Scotia

We left Adventures East Campground this morning around 10:15. We retraced our route along Hwy-105 to Hwy-104. We paid another $5.25 toll at the Cobequid Pass Toll Plaza. We stopped at an Irving gas station in Antigonish to fill the RV tank. We bought 208.1 liters for $1.431 a liter (54.99 gallons at $5.416 a gallon). While we were there we found a place to park the RV and fix lunch.

We continued north on Hwy-104 to Amherst. We stopped at a Sobey's grocery store there to stock up on groceries before going on to Gateway Parklands Campground which is just 5 miles north of there. The distance from Adventures East Campground to Gateway Parklands Campground was 219 miles.

We arrived here at Gateway Parklands Campground a little after 4 p.m. Gateway Parklands is a Passport America campground, but the discount is good for a minimum and maximum of a 2 night stay and we're only staying tonight. The manager gave us a discount for paying in cash which came to $25 - the discount price for Passport America would have been $14 (cash) a night. If we hadn't already made reservations up the road in New Brunswick and Quebec, we could have stayed for 2 nights.

We are on site #W5, a pull-through, with full hook-ups (30 amp). We have good electric voltage, but the water pressure is low. Some of the sites have concrete pads, but we are on a grass site and it is fairly level. We have satellite TV reception finally.

Lower Cape, NB to Glen Margaret, Nova Scotia

We left Ponderosa Pines Campground this morning at 9:15. We stopped at the Nova Scotia Welcome Center to pick up brochures. We stopped for lunch at the intersection of Hwy-104 and Hwy-4. There was a vacant building near the exit with large parking lot and we parked there to make lunch.

Part of Hwy-104 is a toll road and we paid $5.25 at Cobequid Pass Toll Plaza. North of Truro we exited Hwy-104 onto Hwy-103. We stopped at an Esso station in Elmsdale, NS to get gas in the RV. We got 193.784 liters and paid $1.423 Canadian – which translates to 51.207 gallons and $5.385 US.

We then continued west to Wayside RV Park south of Glen Margaret. Wayside RV Park’s address is listed in Halifax, but it is about 17 miles west of Halifax as the crow flies. We got in to the campground around 3 p.m.

From Nova Scotia

We’re in site #4 in a pull-in. Wayside RV Park, or Wayside-Supercity Camping Park, is a Passport America and Good Sam campground. We’re staying here under Passport America. We have full hookups (30 amp). It’s a gravel site and we’re mostly level. We have good water pressure, but here again the 30 amp service has low voltage. We do have a view of Mahone Bay out the front windshield.

From Nova Scotia

We’ll be here 3 nights while we visit Peggy’s Cove and Halifax.

E. Orland, ME to Robbinston, ME

We left Balsam Cove Campground this morning at 9:15. It was only 120 miles up to Hilltop Campground, but we wanted to have time after getting there to go into Canada to find somewhere to exchange US money into Canadian and visit the New Brunswick Visitor Center.

We took US-1 from Balsam Cove up to Robbinston, ME. We found a place about 2 miles north of Whiting where we could stop for lunch before going on to Hilltop Campground. We got into the Hilltop Campground a little before 1 p.m.

Hilltop Campground is a Passport America campground. The Passport America discount is good for 3 nights, but we’ll only be for 1 night. We’re in site #11, a pull-through, with full hookups (30 amp).

From Maine

After getting settled in, we got our passports and drove to the border crossing at Calais, ME. The campground is about 16 miles from the Canadian border. There weren’t too many cars crossing the border then. We were directed by a Canadian customs officer to park our car and go inside the Customs building at St. Stephen. After waiting only about 10 minutes we were interviewed by a customs official as to our purpose for visiting Canada and how long we expected to be in Canada. The customs official entered our passport information in their computer and we were on our way.

We stopped down the street to exchange our US currency into Canadian – almost $1 for $1. Then we drove to the New Brunswick Visitor Center to pick up maps and brochures. The staff there was very helpful and informative and knowledgeable about the places to visit.

Then it was back across the border and the RV. This time there was quite a long line crossing the border into the US (it looked like workers going to their homes in the US after working on the Canadian side). The US customs officer checked our passports and we explained that we had crossed the border to exchange currency and get travel brochures. Then we were on our way back to the RV.

Our first border crossing experience went without any problems and all of the officials were friendly and helpful.

Pownal, ME to East Orland, ME

We left Blueberry Pond Campground this morning about 10:45. We took I-295 north and got off at Exit 28 to get on to US-1. We took that route instead of driving into Freeport to get on US-1 - that way we avoided driving through tourist traffic in town. We stayed on US-1 for the 118 mile drive up here to Balsam Cove Campground. The campground is about 1 1/2 miles off US-1 down a dirt road.

We arrived at Balsam Cove Campground around 1:30 and was assigned site #1 - gravel pull-through site that was extremely unlevel. Mike took a ruler and took photos to show how high off the ground our front wheels would be if we stayed at that site. Mike showed the owner the photos and he took Mike around the campground in a golf cart to find another site.

From Maine

We're now on site #29 (we were set up here by 3 p.m.) which is pretty level. It's a back-in site with full hookups (30 amp) and wifi. Balsam Cove is a Passport America campground.



The only negative we have about our location is we have no cell phone service out here. We'll have to go into Ellsworth which is about 12 miles from here.

Concord, NH to Pownal, ME

We left Concord this morning a little after 10:00. We took US-4 east to I-95 and then north on I-95 until York Center, ME where we got on to US-1. We passed LL Bean in Freeport, ME and then turned northwest to Pownal to Blueberry Pond Campground.

We got in here at Blueberry Pond at 2:30 - it was 114 miles from Concord to Pownal. This is a Passport America campground. We're in site #8 - a dirt/gravel back-in that is mostly flat. We put up our portable satellite dish and it's pointing through the trees, but we are getting a signal. We have full hookups (30 amp service); the wifi service hasn't been installed yet. The library in Freeport has wifi. The last 1 1/2 miles of the road to the campground is gravel.

Gifford Pinchot State Park to Saylorsburg, PA

We were on the road this morning at 11:15 after stopping at the dump station before leaving Gifford Pinchot State Park to empty our tanks.

We had planned on stopping at the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, PA to tour their brewery – their Black & Tan is one of our favorite beers. We had called the brewery to check on where to park the RV & were told that there was large parking lot nearby that we could park in. Pottsville is a quaint Pennsylvania town with narrow streets once you are off the main roads. We did go by the Yuengling Brewery, but never found a place to park the RV. We ended up driving about 10 blocks through narrow residential streets before we found a cross street that we could turn onto to get back to the main street through town. We’ll have to save the Yuengling tour for another time when we’re not in the RV.

We stopped at Cabela’s in Hamburg, PA to visit their store. Since we were parked there, we decided stay and fix lunch.

We arrived at Silver Valley Campsites in Saylorsburg, PA a little before 6 p.m. – a total of 176 miles from Gifford Pinchot State Park. Silver Valley is a Passport America campground. We’re on site D3. Our front tires are up on blocks & we raised the passenger side up so high that even with putting the extra folding step out it’s still quite a high step up in to the RV.

Bristol, TN to Lexington, VA

We got an earlier start than usual this morning & left Wal-Mart in Bristol, TN at 8:30. We stopped for gas this morning at a Petro at Glade Springs, VA & paid $3.419 a gallon. We stopped for lunch at a rest area on I-81 near Childress, VA.

We arrived here at Long's Campground at Lexington, VA a little after 2 pm this afternoon. We are on site #28. It's a gravel site & not a very level one. Long's does have wifi, but the signal is weak. Since Long's is a Passport America campground, we're only paying 1/2 price ($15) for tonight. We have a pull through site with full hookups & 50 amp electric.