International Travel Alert (credit cards, talk, data, text)

I made a few telephone calls for Jim when we were on the  Digby Bay Ferry to Nova Scotia on July 17, 2013. One of his credit cards was declined & we learned that the credit cardcompanies needed to be notified prior to leaving the United States. I then checked my data information and it appeared as if I had plenty of text, minutes and data but I did see 3 overages. I did not know what that meant but I did paid extra on my cell bill in addition to setting aside a few extra dollars just in case. A few hours later, I received a text from AT&T stating to call them and the call is free. It turned out that I used 8.7 MB of data at $15.00 per MB at a cost of $131.00. I got an international plan for $30.00 for 100MB of data and they waived $100.00. This plan did not include calls or text and a few days later I called to actually find out and was told that I used  23 minutes at $23.00 dollars. This was a dollar per minute. Again I got another $30.00 international plan giving me 80 minutes and they put the 23 minutes under the plan. I also got a $10.00 international plan for text. All minutes, data, text and voice mail is included even if I do not answer the telephone. It was suggested that I turn off the cell telephone while on the Harley.

JUST BE AWARE

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

On Monday, July 29, 2013, The Marriot Hotel in Springfield Massachusetts extended the courtesy of holding our luggage while we visited the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. We learned that this present location is the 3^rd one. It keeps growing.

It was established in 1959. Funds were raised and the building opened on February 17, 1968. This was at the Springfield College where Naismith invented the sport in 1891. Seventeen years later and more than 630,000 visitors, a new building was constructed beside the Connecticut River and recognized women for the first time. This was in 1985. In 2002, the new building was moved 100 yards into a $47 million facility. To date, the hall honors 314 individuals and 9 teams.

James Naismith invented basketball in the winter of 1831. He was a 30 year old physical education instructor from the local YMCA in Springfield. He wanted a game that could be played between football and baseball. He was interested in the development of the triangular relationship between the mind, body & spirit of young people.

Jim and I were there for about 2 ½ hours. After coat checking my helmet, the hall took our picture and we purchased it once we completed our touring. There were two floors of exhibits and the first floor was a basketball court. People of all ages were having fun shooting balls. We read so many informational boards; saw trophies, rings, pictures, interactive stations and other exhibits. We, of course took pictures. It was so much fun. I knew that Jim would enjoy it, but I was surprised how much I, too enjoyed it.

The Kancamagus Highway

We did the Kancamagus Highway when we were in New Hampshire on our way to Canada. That, as you know was several weeks ago. We are now, closer to home. It is a 34 mile scenic highway, also known as "The Kanc" and is located in the White Mountain National Forest. We saw so many beautiful Highways & byways and we climbed/rode so many mountains on this trip. There were times when Jim said that some of them reminded him of the Dragon's Tail of which we did last year. The Dragon's Tail was 11 miles and 318 curves.

Cadillac Mountain

I am reflecting back to what we did when we were in Maine several weeks ago. On July 15th we were in the town of Bar Harbor and  on that day, we rode Cadillac Mountain. It is in Acadia National Park and at 1,532 feet, it is the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard and is the first place to view sunrise. Wish I could have seen this.  This mountain is actually in the city of Bar Harbor, Maine. The mountain is composed of pink granite. It is a winding scenic road that was officially opened in 1931. There are several small observation points along the way. They also have informational boards to read about the sites. This was another beautiful & breathtaking experience.

Springfield Massachusetts

Today we rode from Bangor, Maine to Spingfield, Massachusetts. We rode about 350 miles that included going through Parts of New Hampshire again. We travelled to Springfield to visit the Basketball Hall of Fame. That is our task for tomorrow, Monday, July 29, 2013.

Today we learned that Springfield was called, "the City in the Country" but today, it is called " the City of Firsts". The game of  basketball, the gasoline powered automobile, frozen foods and the post card all originated in Springfield.

Our Daily Travel Routine

Once we find a hotel for the evening, unpack what observers can not believe we have on the Harley,  (5 black bags), get into the room, we start our routine. The first thing I usually do is find ice for Jim's drink. The first thing Jim does is fall on the bed or video the room. After that, we immediately look for electric outlets. We must recharge all of our electronics. These include: the video camera, the GPS, my camera, Jim's camera, my iPhone and Jim's iPod. Some hotels have enough outlets and at others, we unplug lamps or coffee pots. We must re-charge every night. We also turn on the weather channel for the next day's forcast and we pull out the maps to determine our route and mileage for the next day.

Laundry

Last night we went to the Springhill Laundry in Bangor, Maine. So far we did laundry about 4 times but this was the first time that we did not do it in the hotel. It wasn't bad. We used one 30lb washer but two dryers so it did not take us over two hours to complete this task. They had 45lb & 62lb washers. This was a new experience for me.

Directions to the other END

Our mileage goal for today was to be 200 miles, but we only did about 30 miles today. We were in Canada this morning but only 3 miles from Madawaska, Maine. Once we crossed the border, we found Plourde's Harley Davidson Store. This store is located in the "most  northeastern corner of the United States." This is what is on the back of Jim's newest Harley shirt. The other three corners are: Key West, Florida, National City, California and Bellingham, Washington. From the store, we rode a few blocks to the Four Corner Park. Plourde's Harley Davidson had a extremely large stone marker. The base had the store's name and the Harley logo. There were flowers above this and wording that read,

"the most northeastern town of the

United States. One of the four corners."

The top of the marker had a map of the U.S. with a gold star identifying our location. From there we had about 20 miles or so to get to the beginning of Route 1 north.

 

The historic marker is in Fort Kent, Maine. It reads,

"This site marks the beginning of the U.S. Route 1

which ends in Key West, Florida. 2,446 Original Miles.

 U.S. Route 1 is the easternmost route of

main North-South United State Highway System"

 

As you know, we rode to Key West, Florida last year and saw that maker.                               The Southernmost.

 

We took pictures and was going to travel route 11 for a few hours and then 95 south. After maybe 15 minutes of riding, the heavens opened and the rains came. We turned around and found the Northern Door Inn and got a room. We are directly across from the Route 1 historic marker.  We did not go very far, however, we saw several landmarks today.









The Cabot Trail

This is our last day in Canada. I am just starting to blog about the trails we rode. The one in Canada was the Cabot Trail. The Kancamagus Highway is in New Hampshire. Last night, we had dinner at O Pub here in Edmundston, New Brunswick. We learned of another food that is native to this area. It is Ployes. This is a buckwheat flat bread that dates back to the 18th century and is French. We were told that you can put butter and sometimes brown sugar on it. It came with our meal so we were able to taste them. They were like pancakes. We also saw someone eating a pizza burger. This was a cheeseburger with red sauce and ground beef on top of it.

Well, I guess I should start discussing the trail. The Cabot Trail is on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. It is an amazingly very scenic highway. It is 185 miles and loops completely around the island. It was suggested that the best way to ride and view is counter clockwise. According to online sources, "It is named after the explorer John Cabot who landed in 1497. Construction was completed in 1932. The Cabot trail is the only truck secondary highway in Nova Scotia which does not have a signed route designation. Road signs along the route instead have a unique mountain logo."

It took us two days to do the trail. The first day was raining and that particular part of the road was very bumpy. This was not fun and we saw no beauty. Jim was not impressed. We needed to get out of the rain so we checked several motels and cabins. There were lots of NO VACANCY signs but we finally found the Skyline Cabin on the trail near Ingonish beach. This was our first cabin stay and it turned out to be really nice. The room was large and we had a deck. There were two chairs on the deck and also a complete glass top table and 4 chair set. The weather the next day was pleasantly warm and sunny. We continued the trail and it was truly beautiful. We had a nice lunch on Ingonish beach. Parts of the trail ride included climbing 3 mountains. Of course, Jim stopped to take lots of pictures on the trail. It seemed that we stopped every few minutes to take pictures of the ocean, the trees, the mountains and the plants. They had look outs and other places to stop. This was truly God's handy work.

Canadian Food

Canada has some food dishes that to us are very different. They also have many foods that are native to the area. On July 20, 2013, we tried their Poutine. This is french fry potatoes covered with gravy and cheese. We got ours with bacom. At another restaurant, one of the menu items was fries with the works. That was described as "a pile of fries, hamburg, smothered in gravy, topped with peas & carrots, fried onions by request. AWESOME!"
On television, they advertised a cheeseburger with lettuce & tomatoes on a pretzel bum at Wendy's. What about a McLobster at McDonald's? Did you ever have garlic fingers with donair dipping sauce. Well, we did with our pizza. The dipping sauce is made of sugar, vinegar, can milk, starch and garlic.

Foods that are native to the area are lots of seafood. I had a wonderful white fish one evening named "Hake." They have clam strip boats which are fried clams and fries. I had several lobsters and several lobster dishes. Wild blueberries are also native to the area. Yesterday I had a blueberry salad with blueberry beer. They had blueberries in the glass. This was not the first time I had blueberry beer.

Fellow Riders

Met a couple, travelling from the Vancouver Island. This is an area of British Columbia. They were coming from the other side of Canada. Shortly after starting their trip, their Harley blow up so they brought another one. They were pulling a tent trailer. I had never heard of a tent trailer but it is actually a home on wheels. They have a few coolers, maybe buy a few things for breakfast but shop for food to BBQ at camp sites for lunch and dinner. They keep cereal, milk, coffee and creamers. They were an interesting couple.

The Ebb & Flow of Fundy

We returned to Hopewell Rocks at about 11:40AM this morning to watch the high tides for a while. This is what I read on their information board.  "Imagine 100 billion tons of fresh water moving in and out of the bay every 25 hours. Powered by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun. Fundy's tides are among the highest in the world and vary daily with the changing positions of these celestial bodies. The tides travel at 6 - 8 vertical feet per hour depending on the moon."
Before the water got too high, we saw people kayaking under the Lover's Arch. The last one almost did not make it.

Dinner

Had a great meal at Montana's Cook House in Fredickerton, New Brunswick. Tonight was all you can eat ribs. Jim really enjoyed his meal. I had a combo. Ribs and chicken. I ate the ribs with a fork. Very tender, Very good.

Hopewell Rocks

Last night, July 23, 2013, we decided to go to Hopewell Rocks evening though it was raining. We went about 6:30pm or so. Lucky for us, we found a motel that was about 2 minutes away. We went there at low tides and the lowest for the 23rd was at 8:10pm. Imagine walking on the floor of the ocean. Jim described it as AWESOME. For me, it seem unbelievable. I was also filled with awe.

They are also called Flowerpot Rocks or simply the Rocks. They are formed by tidal erosion and stand between 40 - 70 feet tall. They are located on the shores of the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy at Hopewell Cape near Moncton, New Brunswick. The base of the rock formations are covered in water twice a day. Again, we were able to view the formations because we were there at low tide. We took plenty of pictures including of a rock formation named Lovers Arch.

Confederation Bridge

Today we crossed the Confederation Bridge from Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island to Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. Yes, we returned to Nova Scotia. The bridge is 8 miles long and is curved. It is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water. Ten years after construction. It was considered one of Canada's top engineering achievements.

The decision to replace the existing ferry service met with heated debate throughout the 1980s. It was decided to settle it at the polls. Prince Edward Islanders made a decision on January 18, 1988. At the polls, 59.4% voted YES. It took four years to build using crews of more than five thousand local workers. The Confederation Bridge opened to traffic on May 31, 1997. Construction costed one billion dollars.

Still In Canada

Will be leaving Prince Edward Island today by way of the Confederation Bridge. This will take us back to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. For the last two nights, we stayed in rooms with no TV. We had Jim's great music. He had his speakers.

Miles to Go

Today we rode from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Sidney, Nova Scotia. It was a total of 253 miles and over five or six hours of riding time. We left one hotel at 12 noon and arrived at another hotel at 9:00pm. We did stop at the Harley shop, for gas, to eat and at times for breaks.

The Bay Ferry to Nova Scotia

This time, Jim was the second motorcycle to get on the ferry. I walked ahead of the motorcycles so that made me the first to get on. I wanted to beat all of the cars. The ferry was wonderful. It took us 3 hours. We needed to be there by 11:00AM and we started getting on at 11:20AM and it left at 12:00noon. The had all kinds of presentation on deck. They had places to eat, gamble,shop or just relax. I wrote out a few post cards. I also relaxed and I really enjoyed the experience. I think I just like being on the water.

Back Down Memory Lane

Visited a candy store when we were in Littleton, New Hampshire with the longest candy counter. They had glass jars and glass jars and more glass jars of all kinds of brightly colored candy. Jim got cherry & orange slices, gummi candies and a few other items. I put some cherry balls in the bag. They had all of yesterday's favorites like squirrel nuts, baby jane, bit o honey, penny candy and candy necklaces just to name a few. The name of the store is Chutters and the store is in the Guinnes Book of World's Records. They are located at 43 Main Street and the counter is 112 feet long.

Canada

We crossed the boarder yesterday and rode for a while on a great constructed highway. We stayed at a Comfort Inn in Saint John, New Branswick. We are now taking a ferry to Nova Scotia.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Bar Harbor, Maine was settled in 1763. It is  town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County. It is the home of Acadia National Park that includes Cadillac  Mountain. We will be visiting this park and mountain today.
Last night we rode around the Town of Bar Harbor, took sunset pictures at the pier, had dinner and then drinks by the water.

If It's Not Fun, Why Do It - Jerry (Ben & Jerry's)

Saw what I used for the title of this post at the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory Tour in Waterbury, Vermont. Well, the tour was a lot of FUN, the ice cream was wonderfully good and I was impressed with their whole mission. They do a lot of  community work with non profits and many other great
Things.

Travelling to Vermont

We rode from Swampscott, MA to Montpelier, Vermont today and this was about 190 miles We are staying at the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Montpelier. On the way, we saw a sign, "Robert Frost Farm". This was the family's home from 1900 to 1911 located in Derry, New Hampshire.

Visiting With Friends

Today, we rode around town in Lynn's van. Lynn and her family live in Swampscott which is located in Essex County in Massachusetts.  It was settled in 1629 and incorporate in 1852. Today, it is a fairly affluent residential community as reported on line. On line research also informed me that Revere Beach which lies just several miles down the road has the honor of technically being America's first public beach. Swampscott was the de facto first resort town. We saw a very old house, the "Sir John Humphrey House". The house was 376 years old and built in 1637. We also saw the house of Mary Baker Eddy. She was the founder of Christian Science.

Lynn also took us to Abott Hall in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Marblehead is the birthplace of the Navy. Abott Hall is the home of the picture, "The Spirit of 76" by an artist named A. M. Willard in 1876.

Museums

We were in the land of Witches and Pirates on Wednesday. We were in Salem, MA and we visited three Museums. We went to the Witch Dungeon Museum, the New England Pirate Museum and the Witch History Museum. Each one gave us a lot of information.

The Hawthorne Hotel, Salem, Massachusetts

This hotel is listed in the "Historic Hotels of America, National Trust for Historic Preservation" 2013 Annual Directory. The directory's description is that that it is a beautifully restored, stately Federal-style hotel and is named for author Nathaniel Hawthorne. He spent his childhood in Salem and returned in 1846. He served 3 years as Surveyor of the Port at Custom House. In 1849, he wrote the Scarlet Letter at his home in Salem. Other books he wrote were:

The Custom House (short stories)

The House of Seven Gables

The Blithedale Romance

The Mable Faun

The Television Show, Bewitched" was also filmed in Salem. Elizabeth Montgomery and her husband the TV Producer stayed at the Hawthorne Hotel. Jim and I took pictures at the Bewitched Statue of Samantha.

Our First Family Visit

On Monday, July 8, 2013, we visited with Jim's 85 year old cousin in Medford, Massachusetts. We arrived about 7:25pm and stayed the night. Naturally, Jim got him on video explaining family history. This took place several times throughout our short stay.

The next morning, I had a brief conversation with Buddy while Jim was in the shower about food. We were deciding  where to eat. The conversation brought back great memories. Buddy has ice cream and he emphasized a large bowl (4 scoops) with his lady friend, Joanne every Thursday, Friday & Saturdays. Growing up, we had dessert every night. I thought about halloween and how my grandmother made applesauce from the many apples that the 8 children got from trick or treating. We talked about Jim's every Sunday steak dinner and Buddy said that they had a different meal for each day of the week. This was a regular schedule. I thought about my dad's large pots of stewed chicken and dumblings and also the large pots of spaghetti. I also thought about Mother's (Jim's Grandmother) weekly dish of American Chop Suey (this dish consists of elbow macaroni, groung beef, a thick tomato based sauce and seasonings) Those were the days.

The Weather So Far

So far, the weather has been pretty good. When we left home it was about 93 degrees. It was hot but dry. We did experience rain, but only for about     15 minutes. Yesterday, the temperature dropped to 70 degrees. It felt good. Today it will be about 77 degrees.

On a BIG Boat

We were the first to get on. Jim rode the Harley on and I walked. Waiting to leave the dock on the way to Martha'a Vineyard.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES. . .again

Saturday, June 6, 2013 which was about a month ago, I listed things that I needed to do including creating this blog. Thinking about a name and a picture to use. The last one was Coastal Crusin' so this one is Canadian Crusin'. It is now 11:20AM and Jim said that we are going to leave today at 12:00noon. We will see.