August 23 through August 28, 2018 Traveling home, Part 1

So, y'all, we've had a wonderful summer, but alas, it's time to go home.  Things to do, people to see.....  We crossed from Canada to Maine on August 23, and pointed the truck south.  Here are some random pictures along the way.

We stayed a couple days in Bangor and enjoyed the area.  The Penobscot River flows through the middle of town.  It's a pretty big city with plenty of traffic.  We would have gone downtown by the river but there was a huge folk music festival happening and the area was jam-packed, which we don't particularly enjoy.

Nicky's Diner. 

One part of a wall in Nicky's Diner.

Dam on the Penobscot River;  power plant on the far side.

Reckon they mean business?  Probably doesn't apply in the dry fall months.....

Truly weird sculpture on the bank of the Penobscot River, just downstream from the dam.......

.......titled "All Along The Watchtower".

Milkweed pods;  grew up with these in the fields around our house
in Niagara Falls, played with them in the fall.  The sap that oozes
out of broken stems or leaves is very much like milk.

We drove a few miles up the road from Bangor to Old Town,
and sure enough:  they make canoes there!

On I-95 at the bottom of Maine;  all the people who spent the weekend
at the beaches on the shore in Maine are on their way home on Sunday evening.
Not to mention the toll booths that contribute to the traffic jam.

Yup.  Miles and miles of this.
But it did move, just v e r y slowly.

Finally out of "New England" and into good old Pennsylvania.
"pursue your happiness" .......

.......but there's not much  happiness on their interstate highways.
Hard on the truck and camper.

"Road Work"  "Right Lane Closed Ahead"
Oh yeah.  

Once we got down below the Mason-Dixon Line we started seeing lots of corn.
(click the link, it's interesting)

We are camped tonight in Mount Jackson, Virginia.
They have a truly fine water tower!

August 22, 2018 Grand Falls Museum and drive to New Denmark, New Brunswick

It was a cloudy rainy kind of day, so we started with the one-room Grand Falls museum.  Sometimes we have the best times cruising around one room and examining old and interesting things.  After the museum, we decided to drive a few miles to a town named New Denmark, just a way to spend the afternoon.  It was a wonderful drive!  Ended up on a little road that wound all around thru the  hilly countryside, through farm after farm.  Under the heading of "who knew?" we learned that this part of New Brunswick is famous for growing potatoes.  LOTS of them.  We drove past a zillion acres of potatoes, still blooming.  Also some type of grain, we never did find out exactly what it was.  We both really loved this afternoon drive.

How granny used to sew.

We had fun looking at pictures thru this viewer.

How granny got her perms.  (yow!)

Cake made in 1940 and still here!  (I would not eat it....)

Well lookie here what we found in New Brunswick, Canada!

Awesome train trestle!
(unfinished paint job there) 

Taters.

Nice name for a joint in New Denmark..... 

Enlarge this and see the nice Danish name on the barn.

Beautiful grain.....

The lovely little road we wandered on.....

August 20, 2018 Grand Falls, New Brunswick

We spent a couple days in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, our last days in Canada.  (click the link to see where it is)  The St. John River flows thru here and there are (were) falls.  (click the link to see where this river flows)  Of course, the falls were dammed for hydroelectric power so the awesomeness is gone.  But in spring when the snowmelt fills the river, they turn it loose and it can be awesome again.  We hiked the trail along the canyon edge and saw the falls and the gorge downstream.  Always amazing to see what the power of water can do....

Outside the visitor center.

See below for pictures of the Coffee Mill and the Drivers' Rest.

"Coffee Mill"

"Drivers' Rest"

Oh, oh, oh!  Signs of autumn!  Yay!

In the gorge where Falls Brook comes tumbling down to join the river.
Enlarge this picture to see the yellow lawn chair perched
on the left side of the stream.  It's not there by accident -
held in place by a big rock.  We think it's actually used by somebody... !!!

Camel's Back.

What water can do....  makes a pothole!

The upper end of the trail near the dam.
Here is a monument to the people who built the dam.

A beautiful poem was on the four sides of the monument.
I'm sharing it here.

This picture is heavily cropped but it shows the St. John River
in the four seasons.....

A different view;  mostly high and dry.

Never did find out what all those workers were doing out there.....

......and here's the upstream end of things.

I can never resist taking a picture Under The Bridge. 

Free apples!  We picked a couple up that didn't look too bad.
Sure wish we'd had a ladder....

Bittersweet.  Isn't it lovely?
(could be an LSU flower).....