We pulled out of the campground at 8:45 this morning. We only had 140 miles to go, but we didn’t know how long we might be held up at the border for customs. It was mainly overcast with some fog in the area. It felt a little cool at 69 degrees because of a light breeze. The brake control system for the trailer was acting up–giving us error codes for “overload” and “shorting out wires”. We had only been on the road for 10 minutes when we saw a Leisure Day RV dealer right off the highway. We pulled off to see if we could get it checked out. They directed us to their repair/service facility just 2 miles down the road. The man there was absolutely no help at all! We just wasted 20 minutes for nothing, but we’ll still get it checked out when we can. It works well most of the time and then once in awhile….not. After an hour, the skies turned sunny and the temp started climbing.
The sun gave way to clouds and fog as we traveled near the coast of the Bay of Fundy. The fog finally enveloped us and we had to slow our speed.
Once we got away from the water, the fog lifted and the temp went up to 74. We arrived at the border at 12:30 Atlantic time and waited in a short line to be checked into the US.
The border agent took our passports and asked to go inside the trailer. Bob escorted her there and she asked him if there was anyone inside the trailer…..like terrorists. Yeah, right! She didn’t care or ask anything about our food or liquor. Hmmm….
It took us about 30 minutes for the entire process of waiting and being checked in. Then we were off. As we crossed over the border, we entered into the Eastern time zone and set our clocks back one hour.
We drove through the border town of Calais, ME and found the Calais Motor Inn where we would spend the night in their parking lot set up for RVers. They had six slots available and we were in #2 with a full hookup. We were the second one there for the night. There was no other campground between the border and Bangor and that was too far.
Bob had heard or read about this place as a stopover, before or after crossing the border. Tonight it worked out perfect for us. The temp was now 81 degrees with mostly sunny skies. We got parked and all hooked up by 12:00 EST. Bob and I then left to go to the grocery store in town and fill up the gas tank. Gas here in Maine is $3.63/gal. compared to the $5.00+/gal. in Canada. It was crazy in town at the grocery store.
I guess they are having their International Festival starting this weekend and throughout the week with the town of St. Stephens, New Brunswick across the border. There are lots of activities going on all week and it culminates with fireworks next weekend. Tonight they have the Friendship Handshake Ceremony across the border on the bridge. There is live music and a male and female wet T-shirt contest at the local bar. People come from near and far for this event. It’s the highlight of the year! Too bad we won’t be around for the rest of the fun! We hung out watching some of the Olympics and had dinner at the trailer. We have a long day tomorrow, so we should try and get an early start…..but not too early. After today, we will be forging a new trail and visiting new places for our return trip home.
