June 2019 — yorkshirehayley.com

USA: Maine – The 25th State

Grand Lake from the Million Dollar View Scenic Highway

I’m not talking about 25^th state of the union, Maine was actually number 23, so not far off. But it was the 25^th state of the US I had visited. I’d been stuck on 24 states since 2007 and on any subsequent visits to the US, I’d just had repeat visits to a state I’d already been in, which tended to be the Rocky Mountain states or Alaska, my two favourite parts of the US. Now I was so close to Maine, I had to visit.

This beautiful railway station caught my eye as I was driving through McAdam

Originally I had planned to spend a few days in Maine and go to Acadia National Park, however, even though I was travelling for 7 weeks, going to Acadia would mean a lot of driving, a lot of dashing and a lot of simply looking at things out of the car window. I decided that if I was going to go to Maine, I’d be better off going there on another occasion when I had more time to dedicate to the area and do some proper hiking in Acadia National Park. So this was just going to be a short detour into Maine to post the beautiful blanket I’d bought on Prince Edward Island to my friend’s daughter in Oklahoma which would be cheaper and faster than sending it from Canada.

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother came through McAdam on the train although they never set foot inside the station

Judy from the bed and breakfast told me she had hiked up the highest mountain in Maine and that was hard going. It took 7 hours to get up and another 7 hours to get down. I certainly wasn’t going to have that time to spare in Maine. Judy mentioned she had friends currently hiking the Appalachian Trail, 25 miles a day and camping every night. She said they were really suffering and it sounded miserable. Judy said that she liked to be more comfortable when she travelled. I did too. So with no ambitious hikes in mind, I set off for Maine.

I’d have a long wait for a train, the last one to leave McAdam was 24 years ago!

I stopped off in McAdam, New Brunswick first, lured by the beautiful railway station. The last train to leave McAdam was in 1994, so I would have a long wait for a train there! The station was built in the early 1900s and the town grew up because of it. These days, even though the station is very beautiful, the town gets most visitors because of the local gun dealership!

Station Master’s Office in McAdam Railway Station — Station Master’s office in McAdam Railway Station

You can tour the whole station or see a portion of it for free, and as it wasn’t busy, Avery, who was working that day, showed me round the free part. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother had come through McAdam on the train although they had not been inside the station. There was a ladies waiting room in the station where women could smoke or chew tobacco which they weren’t allowed to do in public.

McAdam Station Dining Room all ready for a graduation dinner

They had redecorated one room as a 1950s style diner and there was a more traditional dining room that was being used for a graduation ceremony later that day. You could also hire the diner for events. I was particularly interested in the posters on the wall of the diner, original railway company posters of West Coast attractions such as the Rocky Mountains to encourage people to travel across the country by train. Apparently in the West they had posters for places like Niagara Falls to advertise attractions in the East in the hope of persuading residents there to travel east.

Posters in eastern railway stations advertised the attractions out West to encourage cross country rail travel

After that I made it to the border of Maine. Had I known what a time consuming rigmarole getting into Maine would be, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. Even though I had an ESTA for visiting the States, it was apparently only good for entering the US by air, so a Visa Waiver was filled in. The woman in the office who looked about 80, was at least a bit more with it than the bloke, who had no idea what he was doing. The fingerprint machine didn’t work, so it took ages to get my fingerprints processed. Then they printed out the wrong Visa Waiver, so we had to go through all that again! It took almost an hour and I noticed the prominent photo hanging on the wall of Donald Trump grinning down at me. Why was I coming to Maine again? Remind me?

A function room in McAdam Station made into a 1950s style American diner

I finally got the go ahead to drive into Maine and encountered some of the worst weather of my trip, pouring rain and low visibility. I got the parcel posted in the small town of Danforth and then started my drive along the Million Dollar View National Scenic Byway.

View of the lakes from the viewpoint near the top of Peekaboo Mountain

The Million Dollar View Scenic Highway in Maine is just 8 miles long and in sunny weather I imagined it was a beautiful drive, with a view of the mountains and lakes in the distance. But in the pouring rain, you couldn’t see too well and when I got out of the car to try and attempt a couple of photos, I was getting wet and getting bitten, since the rain was not deterring the insects. I did get some photos of Grand Lake from the viewpoint near the top of Peekaboo Mountain. Even in the rain it was pretty spectacular, so in good weather it must look fabulous.

It was pouring with rain when I took this photo of Grand Lake along the Million Dollar View Highway in Maine

I crossed back into Canada which was much more straightforward than getting into Maine and took another detour off the Trans Canada to Nackawic because I simply had to see the world’s largest axe! It’s here to illustrate the importance of Forestry to the province of New Brunswick. And it is a very big axe! It dates from 1991, it is 15 metres tall and weighs 55 tonnes. Yes, forestry is that important to the economy of New Brunswick.

The biggest axe in the world, in recognition of the importance of forestry in New Brunswick is 15 metres tall and weighs 55 tonnes — The biggest axe in the world in recognition of the importance of forestry in New Brunswick is 15 metres tall and weighs 55 tonnes

I had to drive to Lunenburg today which was about a 5 hour drive, so I only had time for a very brief look around the pretty provincial capital of New Brunswick, Fredericton. I’d have to come back here another time to explore the city more thoroughly and I’d stay at the same lovely B&B.

The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in Fredericton, the Provincial capital of New Brunswick — The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in Fredericton, the provincial capital of New Brunswick

For now I had to say goodbye to New Brunswick and head off, the weather was getting worse and driving conditions were appalling, torrential rain and strong winds.

I did notice in Nova Scotia, that the towns like to have a claim to fame. As you’re driving along the Trans Canada Highway, various signs try to lure you to visit the town. Just a couple of the ones I saw on my drive to Lunenburg were “Oxford, Nova Scotia – Blueberry capital of Canada” and my personal favourite, “Stewiacke, Nova Scotia – Halfway Point between the North Pole and Equator”.

The oldest private art gallery in New Brunswick is Gallery 78 in Fredericton

It was late by the time I got to Lunenburg and it was dark, but I managed to find the art gallery where I was staying overnight without too much of a problem, an envelope was stuck to the door with my keys. It had been a very long day. I settled into my room for the night and looked forward to exploring tomorrow.

I travelled around Atlantic Canada in June 2018.

McAdam is approximately 80km from Fredericton and a one hour drive. McAdam Railway Station is open every day from 1 July to 30 September. Tours cost $8. I visited in June, but as a special event was being held at the station later that day, the station was open for an informal look around.

Nackawic is home to the largest axe in the world. It is free of charge to see. Nackawic is approximately 62km and a 45 minute drive from Fredericton.

The Million Dollar View National Scenic Byway runs for 8 miles between Danforth and Orient in Maine near the summit of Peekaboo Mountain and with views of Grand Lake.

Description of the 8 mile long National Scenic Byway

I crossed into Maine at the Vanceboro/Saint Croix border crossing. It isn’t usually a busy crossing but anyone who doesn’t have a US or Canadian passport will have to fill out the paperwork at the border post.

Check out my posts about my other adventures on this trip.

Saint John River Valley

Magnetic Hill and Fundy National Park

Quebec – Waterfalls, Via Ferrata and A Religious Theme Park

North Cape Coastal Drive Part 1

North Cape Coastal Drive Part 2

Points East Coastal Drive

Charlottetown – Pocket Capital of Prince Edward Island

Cavendish and the Rotating House of North Rustico

Canada’s Medieval Castle

Canada: Saint John River Valley

I had waited 35 years to see the longest covered bridge in the world located in Hartland, New Brunswick

I had had a book about the Saint John River Valley since I was about 12 years old. The photograph that had made the biggest impression on me was the one of the covered bridge at Hartland because it was the longest covered bridge in the world. This Sunday I was finally going to see it in person.

Sunset on the River is a great name for the bed and breakfast where I stayed with its amazing sunsets

It was a wonderful day. First of all I had a delicious breakfast at my fabulous bed and breakfast. This was easily the best bed and breakfast I stayed in during my entire stay in Canada. There were others that were very good. But this was fantastic. A great location on the Saint John River, welcoming hosts, beautiful rooms and delicious breakfast. What more could you ask for?

My beautiful room and view of the Saint John River from the window

I’d been upgraded to a bedroom with a view of the river and a spa bath and Judy was such a good cook, omelette, vegetable frittata, blueberry yoghurt, strawberry compote with yoghurt and rhubarb cake. While the house didn’t have the novelty value of the lighthouse or rotating house I’d stayed at on Prince Edward Island, this one still stood out.

On the porch of Sunset on the River with the mighty Saint John behind me

I wanted a scenic drive today and I certainly got one. I set off on the main road and soon turned off to follow the Saint John River. I missed the town of Woodstock because I was on the wrong side of the river. It didn’t matter. Whatever side of the river you were on the scenery through the Saint John River Valley was gorgeous.

Saint John River in Hartland, New Brunswick

I took my time enjoying the route and around an hour and a half later I arrived in Hartland. I pulled into the car park for the Tourist Information Centre by the river and there it was, the covered bridge I’d first seen in my book 35 years ago. It looked exactly like it did in the photo.

The longest covered bridge in the world spans the Saint John River in New Brunswick

Hartland Covered Bridge was built in 1901, but not covered until 1921. The walkway was added in 1945.

Entrance to the Hartland covered bridge which you can drive or walk through

You can still drive through the covered bridge and you could also walk through it. So I decided I was going to do both. After 35 years I was going to savour this experience.

I walked through the covered bridge first. There was a walkway running along one side and as this was a bit off the main tourist trail, it wasn’t busy with traffic. A few cars drove through the bridge while I was walking through, but I certainly wasn’t choked with fumes.

The walkway through the covered bridge was added in 1945

When I got to the other end of the bridge there was a couple from Florida there who drove all over North America to see the covered bridges. Obviously they had to come and see the longest one in the world. As they set off back to the other side of the bridge, out came my gorilla grip to get some photos of me in front of the bridge with all the lettering over the bridge about the length in shot too. I attempted to take some photos inside the bridge, but they didn’t come out particularly well as it was pretty dark inside. I took some photos at the other end of the bridge too. I covered every angle!

Posing inside the Hartland Covered Bridge

The bridges were covered to protect the structure from the weather and increase the life span. The climatic conditions in Eastern Canada and the USA meant that a lot of these bridges were built and quite a few still survive, Hartland being one of the most famous because it is the longest in the world by far.

Florenceville also has a partially covered bridge and is home to McCain Foods

Then it was time to get in my car and drive across/through the bridge on my way to the Covered Bridge Crisp Factory. Unfortunately the factory was closed for tours, but the shop was open, so I bought some crisps. Prince Edward Island is famous for its potatoes and New Brunswick is famous for its potato products. Not only is New Brunswick home to the Covered Bridge Crisp Factory, it’s also home to McCain foods. I had never realised that McCain, of frozen chip fame, was a Canadian company. It was established in Florenceville in 1957.

Only the first part of the bridge at Florenceville is covered as the covering on the opposite side of the river burned down

I passed through Florenceville and as well as being the home of McCain, the town also has a very attractive partially covered bridge. This bridge was never covered the whole way across, but it was covered at both ends. However, the roof on the other side of the river burned down and so now only the Florenceville side has a cover.

I wasn’t intending to drive all the way to Grand Falls, New Brunswick, but as I still had plenty of day left, I decided to check it out.

Grand Falls have just a 23m drop and completely disappear when the hydro power plant leaves the water level high

Grand Falls is a strange place for several reasons. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province and while most of New Brunswick is predominantly English speaking, there are pockets of New Brunswick that are French speaking. Grand Falls is an island of French Canadians amongst Anglophones. Ironically Edmundston which is in the far north west of the province bordering on Quebec is English speaking.

Secondly, despite being called Grand Falls, the waterfalls aren’t that high at 23 metres. There’s a huge hydro electric dam here on the Saint John River, interfering with the water flow and scenery, when the water is high the falls are engulfed and completely disappear. It’s a weird place.

The hydro electric power dam at the top of Grand Falls

I went in Tourist Information and picked up a map of hiking trails around the Falls. The steps down to the bottom of the gorge were closed. These 401 steps were accessed through a school and they were worried the children would run down the 401 steps and jump into the river or that someone would walk through the school and abduct one of the children! There had been a lot of complaints about closing the steps and I pointed out that today was Sunday so they weren’t at school anyway. Nothing like this used to happen before health and safety gone mad! The steps were going to be open tomorrow, which was absolutely no good to me at all!

I managed to get a view of the gorge despite the steps being off limits

There was a zipline across the falls. I’ve done ziplines to death. I think I must be addicted to them though, because despite saying I wouldn’t do the zipline at Grand Falls, I ended up signing up for it. I had a haematoma and was a little hesitant for this reason, but as I’d done so many ziplines in the past I knew it wasn’t much of a strain, especially compared to a bungy jump.

Canada is a safe country to do adventure activities, there is legislation in place to make sure any adventure activities are operated in a safe manner and the equipment is up to standard and ziplines are generally no problem anyway. I talked myself into it.

*All harnessed and wired up and ready to complete 2 ziplines for the best view of Grand Falls*

There were 2 ziplines. One went across the gorge towards the falls, the other went past the falls. I loved them both. I was side by side with another girl who was bigger than me and therefore travelled faster than I did. We only had to hang on until we’d jumped off the box out of the covered area where the zipline began and then we could let go. So I did! As soon as I was able I let go, leaned out and turned round. I enjoyed the ride and the view immensely. On the second zipline I got the side closest to the falls. The zipline was definitely the best way to view the falls, you fly right past them.

The Camel's Back rock has remained in the centre of the river while the softer rock around it has eroded away — The Camel’s Back rock has remained in the centre of the river while the softer rock around it has eroded away

After the zipline I did the walks for a view of the falls and the gorge. This confirmed that the best view of the falls was from the zipline. However, you did get to see some of the gorge that you couldn’t see from the zipline. The trail takes you to another part of the river where the gorge narrows and there are some smaller falls and some rapids. You can also see the Camel’s Back which is a section of very hard rock which hasn’t been eroded away, unlike the softer rock that once surrounded it and stands in the middle of the Saint John River. It’s a very picturesque location, well worth the effort of driving there, I was pleased I’d gone.

Finally I had a walk down the main street, Broadway and saw a statue of Canada’s most famous jockey, Ron Turcotte who was born in New Brunswick, and reiterating the importance of potatoes in New Brunswick, advertisements for a Potato Festival. There was also the Tractor and Trailer Pull which was supposed to have been taking place that day, but I saw no evidence of it. Maybe it had just been a morning event.

Potatoes are very important in New Brunswick too!

I drove back to my bed and breakfast on the other side of the Saint John River, this time I did go through Woodstock after driving over the partially covered bridge in Florenceville. On my return to the bed and breakfast I told Tom that I’d been to the covered bridge in Hartland. Tom had been in the RCMP and said that they took a lot of pride in the covered bridge in Hartland because there had been some instances of covered bridges being set on fire and if they were destroyed by fire, they weren’t rebuilt as covered bridges because they were too expensive to replicate. He said they were always upset when they got a call out about an arson attack on a covered bridge because once they were gone, that was it. I said I’d done the zipline too. It had been a great day.

I travelled around Atlantic Canada in June 2018.

I stayed in Sunset on the River in Upper Kingsclear on the Saint John River, located on Highway 102, 10 minutes drive from Fredericton. This Bed and Breakfast comes highly recommended.

I did the zipline with Zip Zag in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. It costs $40 for two ziplines. Zip Zag is open daily in July and August and weekends only in May, June and September. Grand Falls is 210km and approximately 2 hours drive from Fredericton.

Hartland Covered Bridge is in Hartland, New Brunswick on the Saint John River, 125km from Fredericton and is a 90 minute drive through the scenic Saint John River Valley.

The Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company is open for tours on weekdays during the summer. The gift shop is open daily. It is located in Waterville, 7km from Hartland.

Check out my posts about my other Canadian adventures.

Canada: Magnetic Hill and Fundy National Park