Terri and Peter's RV Adventures

When I was planning this trip back in January, I saw this segment as the first stop on our way home (as in a journey of 4,000 miles begins with the first block). And while it’s true that we drove 225 miles northwest of Shediac today, leaving the North Atlantic Ocean behind, we still very much feel the warm vibe of The Maritimes and Canada. If anything, there’s a shift to more dominant French speaking among the people we are meeting. They quickly switch to English but it’s clear that French is their preferred language.

The countryside was largely forested and a lush green we’ve come to expect and appreciate. Our drive started out with mostly oak and maple trees with some birch thrown in. It looked much like the Northeastern part of the US. (And why shouldn’t it?) But then, seemingly within a mile, it turned into a pine forest. Not the kind we see in the west; the tall, more spindly sugar pines and ponderosa pines. These were all like perfect Christmas trees only crammed together, one as dark, rich green and full as the next. The texture and color of them as a forest were striking. The skies hung heavy with grey clouds pregnant with rain which kindly held off until we arrived at our campground around 3 pm.

Grand Falls, New Brunswick is at the northwestern corner of the province, with the next town up, Edmonston, right on the border with Maine. There’s no mistaking the main attraction of the town of Grand Falls. You guessed it: a grand falls. I haven’t looked up all the data on it but it’s impressive and beautiful. The granite rock walls lining the freeway on the way up here were precursors to this main event.

The gorge and falls are located right in the center of town and our little tucked away campground is set at one of the edges of the gorge. The location would be even more striking for us if we didn’t have to look through another camper’s screened in tent behind us. But, as with all of the campers we’ve met, save the Massachusetts MAGA couple in Cavendish, everyone’s been exceptionally friendly and fun to talk to.

Nonetheless, this is a very tight campground with 29 sites packed in on all sides. Apparently, it’s a pretty big deal to get into this campground. I’m glad we’re here but we’ve been spoiled by all the space of half empty campgrounds that we’ve had up until now. We talked about shortening our stay to one night and moving on to Quebec City for an extra night but have decided to just hang out here tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll find things to do including hiking a trail down the gorge and probably walking around this little town.

The rain didn’t dampen our spirits but caused us to alter our set up pattern. We actually used an awning we haven’t used before to protect us while we grilled. It worked out pretty well. We grilled chicken, added rice and vegetables, lit candles, had a slice of gluten free bread and sparkling water and called it Shabbat. It does feel a little strange singing our blessings and looking around knowing that it’s likely that no one in this campground has the foggiest idea of what we’re doing if they were to hear us. It feels a bit isolating being Jewish around here where it’s clear that the majority of people here are some flavor of Christian.

Happy summer solstice where the sun is setting at 9:29 pm and will rise at 5:35 am, and Shabbat Shalom.