Monday 4 August 2014

August 1 - Day 58- I Love New Brunswick

Our day started very slowly today, and it could be that I am feeling a little gassed after our consecutive days on the road. We are at 12 in a row, and heading to 15 before a day off in Moncton.
 It felt good just to lie in bed a little longer than usual, so I did.  The time change also factored into the mix as we dropped an hour when we crossed into New Brunswick, just north of Edmundston, so when I suggested we just suit up and find a breakfast spot on the road rather that do our usual routine in the trailer, the response was unanimous.  Not too far down the road from camp was a great little gas station, restaurant setup, and we just knew the breakfast there would be great, and it was.
The  #1............The #1 ten minutes later

Fully fueled we headed off down Highway 144, again a secondary road which runs parallel to the Trans Canada, and found the road and traffic conditions quite favourable. We have come to really like the secondary roads on the eastern swing, and wish there had been similar options out west.  Highway 144 runs through the St.John River Valley, and the river itself is the border between Canada and the USA in this part of the country.    The river, and the USA were in sight for most of the morning stint until we connected to the 108 which led us into Grand Falls, NB.  
Canada in the foreground........USA across the river

Tourist stop there for sure, and the falls were spectacular.  We watched some kids doing the zip line thing over the canyon and it looked like a lot of fun, and believe me if it wasn’t for those cycling shoes, I would have been right in there.  Grand Falls is a really nice town, and connected us to yet another secondary road, all this time purposely avoiding the Trans Canada, that would lead us to our destination for the day, Perth Andover. 
Grand Falls

How ya doin

Riding into town we stopped at the Nissens General Store, picked up a cool drink and a snack, got caught up on all the local gossip, and had a nice chat about our ride and what was happening in town.  What a great store with an excellent selection of foods, spices, and local produce, all arrayed amongst a collection of antiques that were for sale also.  Perhaps the best piece of information we received was a restaurant recommendation.  I had received word from GB that York's was the place to go in Perth Andover for great home cooking, but our new friend informed us it had been closed for a couple of years, and that we should go to Bistro just across the river, because there was a cook in there that really knew what he was doing.   We would find out soon enough that truer words have never been spoken.

Nissen's Store in Perth Andover

Jon had set up camp just on the edge of town at Baird's Campground (no relation Mum), a well run, and very clean operation, and where we first heard about the flood of 2012 from Alfred the owner.  He showed me an arial shot of what the campground looked like after the water had receded somewhat and it was total devastation.  As normally happens every winter, this section of the St John River is largely frozen, with the ice 10 feet thick or more in most places.  When temperatures in March 2012 soared to 30 degrees C and stayed there for a week, the ice started breaking up and heading downstream only to create massive dams and resulted in a huge flood in the valley.  It was a devastating flood, that wiped out many homes and businesses, and caused a huge amount of property damage.   The town did rebound.......residents were relocated with their homes to higher ground, businesses re-opened, and the community has survived and thrived going forward.  


Sid called the Bistro to see if a reservation was needed, and we found out it was OK to come on down, but the grill would be closing down shortly.  We arrived just in time, and were warmly greeted by Shirley, and shortly thereafter by Charles, her husband, the proprietors of the Bistro.  The menu was a treat even to read, and with Shirley's guidance I selected some local beer to drink, smoked salmon spring roll appetizer, and a grilled chicken topped salad for my main.  Sid had a lamb burger on portabello mushroom that was to die for, as was everything that was served that night.  The attention to detail, and presentation were superb, and the array of flavours in every dish made it such a pleasure to eat.  Being the last group in the restaurant (as usual) we had the full attention of Shirley and Charles, and were enjoying a friendly chat with them as we moved through to dessert........Charles's Interpretation of a Banana Split was fantastico.  It was so nice to have someone cook us a meal that wasn't just part of a formula, or dropped in the deep fryer.  There was a cook here that really knew what he was doing!
Perth Andover bridge........the ice was jammed up against it, eventually submerging and making 
its way downstream to the blockage

While we were having dinner, Charles called Stephanie Kelly from the Blackfly Gazette, a local publication that who knows, might just be interested in a story on The Ride, C2C.  Stephanie came by and joined us for a beer, and we were struggling to answer her gruelling questions, but she let us know that there was a boat parade on the river scheduled for 9'ish, or whenever it got dark, so we decided to hang out, chat with Stephanie and Charles, who was now finished in the kitchen, and wait for the parade.  Shirley had gone to visit her Mum in the hospital but would return soon.  The parade was fun, and after it was over, we all decided it was just too late and we should reconvene at the Bistro for breakfast.......truth be told, we had already seen the breakfast menu and there was no way we were staying away.
Best we could do after a couple of brewskies in low light conditions.......this one by Steph is the best we had

I will report on breakfast tomorrow, but we made it home to camp safely and passed out immediately........explains why this blog is so late in coming.......sorry kids

Parting shots....................

Wat the eck eh.......der is a car up der

OK so this one requires an explanation..........when I saw this sign, I thought, this must be an area where you can expect to find fiddleheads........I saw them all along the valley, so obviously thought there were a lot of fiddleheads around here........in actuality, this is the symbol for River Valley Scenic Route put out by tourism New Brunswick, and combined with the Acadian Coastal Drive, Appalachian Range Route, Fundy Coastal Drive, and Miramichi River Route, provide tourists in the province with unique routes across and through it, and will let you experience New Brunswick at its best.  This is a really great province.  It is beautiful, diverse, interesting, and the people are wonderful.  Come to New Brunswick........period.......full stop...........
They have churches in NB also

Struggling to remember where this is.........can't, so just enjoy


LYJ




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