The last two weeks have been full of amazing experiences and sceneries.

We stayed a few days in Moncton, New Brunswick, near the Bay of Fundy, famous for the highest tides in the world. Hopewell Cape is an area where at low tide we literally walked on the bottom of the ocean among the Hopewell Rocks. These rocks were formed by eons of tidal power shaping them to look like huge flowerpots. The tides here change every six hours and at high tide the water level is as high as a four-story building. We came back at high tide amazed to see only the top of the Hopewell Rocks — what an awesome experience.

From there we drove across the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island (PEI). This bridge is eight miles long and the longest bridge over ice-covered waters — in the winter that is.

PEI is where the author Lucy Maude Montgomery lived in her childhood and youth. All her stories and books are about the people of the island — the most famous book being "Ann of Green Gables." We visited the house Ms. Montgomery lived in. The house is very much like the one she described in her book. It was very interesting.

PEI is the smallest of the Canadian provinces. Although it is surrounded by water, it is mostly agricultural. We drove through beautiful green country areas; the air was so fresh and clean. And we also drove along the coastline and visited a couple of light houses. Fantastic scenery everywhere.

Jordyn, our granddaughter, is enjoying the trip and the many new experiences. Interesting for her is the French influence here. Most people here are bilingual and everything is written in English and French. Jordyn is taking French in school and had fun practicing some of her French

One evening we went to a church lobster supper. This is something that is very typical for the island. Churches, in our case St. Ann’s Catholic Church, put on these suppers, including seafood chowder, salad, mussels, potatoes, vegetables and, of course, lobster. They do, however, have also entrees for the "landlovers." These are much like the church suppers I know from Maryland with the exception lobsters being the main dish.

A wonderful experience was the "Highland Storm," a performance of Scottish dancing, singing and bagpipe music. The performers were students at the College of Piping in Summerside, PEI.

I have seen “River Dance’ several years ago and these young people were as good as any of those dancers. Marty, our traveling friend, is of Scottish decent, so this was very special for him. It was a great evening.

On the way back to the mainland we took the ferry which took about 1 1/4 hours. It was quite interesting watching the workers on the ferry directing our motorhomes to fit on the ferry.

I swear there was one inch at best between the front of one coach and the back of another. And just enough room on the side to open the door to step outside. Also interesting is that the toll on the bridge and the cost of the ferry is only charged when you leave — it doesn’t cost to get on the island, but you have to pay to leave! I could have stayed longer — it was so pretty there.

Most of the gardens are very natural – wildflowers in all colors, flowering bushes and greeneries, all looking like they are growing wild.

Canadians appear to be very concerned about their environment. Recycling is very big here. All trash bins — at fast food stores or on the streets — have different containers for the various recyclable or non-recyclable items. In some campgrounds we were given different plastic bags for recycling. Unfortunately we were not very knowledgeable on what has to go where, so we didn’t use them.

Another thing I noticed is how clean everything is in the Provinces we have been in so far. The houses and properties are so well kept; it is a pleasure to just drive around and look at the beautiful areas.

We are now in Nova Scotia and have already done a lot of sightseeing, but I’ll write about that later. I really should write more often, because we see and do so much. However, I just don’t have the time! It is busy life being retired and traveling!

We are in Canada and stopped in Fredericton, New Brunswick for the night. Fredericton is in the ‘New Maryland’ region. I guess our town Frederick is in Old Maryland.

The crossing of the border at Houlton Maine was very uneventful. We had expected more questions since this time we had our granddaughter Jordyn with us and also Rascal our dog. We had all the required papers but were only asked for the passport.

Actually, that was a good thing. I have heard horror stories of RVs being searched from top to bottom for no apparent reason. I guess they do random searches and our number has not come up so far. Hope it stays that way.

Jordyn joined us in Bangor Maine and will travel with us for the next three weeks until we get to Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is 16, and this is a great experience for her and a lot of fun for us four ‘Oldies’ to have a young person with us.

Before we came to Maine, we stopped in Connecticut for a couple of days to see Ralph’s daughter Dawn, Ed and the girls. We always enjoy spending time with them. We drove to Mystic and visited Mystic Seaport, a living history maritime museum with authentic buildings and boats. It was very interesting.

From there, we drove to New Jersey and took a boat to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Ellis Island was the stop where the immigrants were inspected and given admission to the United States. From 1892 to 1954, about 12 million people came through Ellis Island.

I have been here before, but I am always amazed to read the stories of these immigrants coming here in hopes of a better life. I am so moved by the pictures on the walls. They show lines and lines of people standing there with just a suitcase or a bundle in their hands waiting on the inspector to allow them into America.

Touring the Statue of Liberty was very interesting. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go up to the crown. Tickets are required for that and they were sold out through September.

Our first stop in Maine was in Old Orchard Beach near Portland. We decided to go on a harbor tour of the Portland harbor and booked tickets. We didn’t realize until we got to the harbor that we had been on the same tour last time we were there with our camping friends Ray and Clara. Oh well, can’t remember everything!! Good thing I am writing this blog. At least I can read about where we have been and what we did!

This was the first day we had lobsters, and they were, oh, so yummy. Peggy and I really got into it, and, while in Maine, we had lobster almost every day. The guys weren’t that crazy about them.

One day we visited Kennebunk Port, a typical Maine little town. It is also the town where George Bush, the father, has a summer house. It is called Walkers Point. It's a beautiful house on a point jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Our next stop was Trenton, Maine, a few miles from Bar Harbor and the Acadia National Park. Ralph’s sister lives in Searsport (we stayed there two years ago), and we spent the 4th of July with them. And, what did we have for our 4th of July picnic? You guessed it: lobsters. Welles, Ralph’s brother-in-law, boiled 13 lobsters for us. Everyone had two and Peggy and I “suffered” through Welles second one.

At night, we watched the fireworks over the Frenchman Bay near Bar Harbor. On Saturday, Bar Harbor had a parade and 4th July celebration. This included a lobster race. Peggy and I bid on some of them, but ours never won. They didn’t even move. This was a first for me. I have seen horse races at fairs, but never a lobster race. But that is what Maine is mostly about – lobsters!

The Acadia National Park is located on Mount Desert Island and is breathtakingly beautiful. We drove all over the park and stopped at many scenic overlooks. We also drove up to Cadillac Mountain, the highest elevation on the eastern seashore from where we had an awesome view of the park. We did test the water at one of the beaches, but it was much too cold for swimming for those of us who are used to Florida beaches.

Next, we will visit the Bay of Fundy.