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Down By The Sea (33-5)  Text and photos by Melanie Taylor

Like many Canadian RVers, my husband Nic and I have always had a long list of places that we've wanted to visit. We have dipped our toes in the Pacific Ocean, thrilled to the majesty of the Rockies and toured the wilderness north of Lake Superior. Last summer, we focused our attention on Atlantic Canada -- New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. With the ocean, beautiful vistas and seafood galore, we knew it would be a fantastic trip. Our plan was to try to see as much as possible in the short time we had, spending no more than one night in each location. While this ambitious itinerary meant a lot of driving, we were more than ready to go. We also thought it might be a great opportunity to spend some quality time with Nic's parents. Bruna and Lyle are seasoned RVers themselves, so as the summer approached we were all eagerly counting the days till we got under way. Traveling with four adults meant we needed an RV with plenty of space, so the trip would also provide an excellent opportunity to road test a new Glendale Titanium fifth wheel. Derek Dobson and the staff at Leisure Time Sales in Saint John, New Brunswick, set us up with a unit towed by a Dodge Ram 2500 Quad Cab pickup. Derek had the Dodge hitched up and waiting for us, and after a quick review of the Titanium's unique features, we were on the road. We headed south on the Fundy Coastal Drive, stopping in at Oak Bay Provincial Park. Situated right on the Bay of Fundy, it was the perfect base for our exploration of southern New Brunswick. Our first stop was the beautiful seaside village of St. Stephen, New Brunswick's famous Chocolate Town. The home of the Ganong Brothers chocolate factory, this is where the first chocolate Valentine's heart was created. Romance, and chocolate - talk about a perfect combination! From there we headed north along the Saint John River to Fredericton, where Michael Kileel welcomed us to the Hartt Island Campground. With a mini-golf course, driving range, canoes, water slide and more, plus all the attractions in Fredericton, we could have stayed there for a week. One of the park's full-time residents, Yves Richard, took us on a one-hour cruise on the Saint John River on his pontoon boat. Flowing peacefully through rolling hills, it's an idyllic scene with bald eagles soaring above the calm waters. Wild sheep and cattle roamed on several of the river islands, which was quite amazing considering we were just a few miles from the parliament buildings in downtown Fredericton. New Brunswick's capital city has a lot to offer travelers. There's no shortage of wonderful restaurants or historic and cultural sights. We were particularly impressed with the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, where Salvador Dali's Aantiago El Grande, a masterpiece from the artist's religious period, fills the entrance hall. Early the next morning we started on our way on highway 102 across the bridge to Highway 8, and headed north on Highway 105 along the Saint John River, stopping at several farms along the way to enjoy fresh produce and home-made baked goods. We headed through Moncton on our way to Shediac, the lobster capital of New Brunswick and home to the annual Lobster Festival each July. No trip to Shediac is complete without a stop at Captain Dan's, so we indulged in a fantastic seafood lunch while local musicians strummed their tunes. After exploring the town and walking off the lobster, we continued along the shores of Northumberland Strait to Murray Beach Provincial Park, where we stayed for the night. This is a very spacious campground, from which you can clearly see the shores of PEI on the horizon. (Page Top) Murray Beach is just a ten minute drive to the Confederation Bridge. An integral part of the Trans Canada Highway network, the 12.9 kilometre Confederation Bridge opened on May 31, 1997. Carrying two lanes of traffic 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the bridge has resulted in an increase in tourism by more than 60 per cent. When we arrived on the island at Borden Carleton, we toured the exhibit explaining how the Confederation Bridge was built. We also talked with some fellow RVers who informed us that the ferry crews had gone on strike that very morning. We were glad for the bridge! Prince Edward Island is 224 kilometres long and anywhere from six to 64 kilometres wide. No spot on the island is more than 16 kilometres from the sea. Home to just 138,000 people, PEI is a quiet jewel in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Roads are excellent and there's never much traffic, so you can cover a lot of territory over the course of a day. We took the Lady Slipper Scenic Drive west toward Summerside, where we stopped for lunch before checking in at our campsite at Rodd Mill River Resort in Mill River Provincial Park. We dropped off the Titanium and headed off on Highway 2 to North Cape, the northernmost point in PEI where the gulf of the St. Lawrence meets Northumberland Strait. The historic lighthouse, built in 1866, is a well-known PEI landmark that was constructed to protect ships from North America's longest natural rock reef. At low tide, it seems like you can walk on it right off the horizon. As you stroll, you see all sorts of sea birds and marine life. Ever heard of seaweed in ice cream? You probably have and just don't realize it. Most ice cream includes an ingredient called carageenan, which is extracted from Irish Moss - much of it is harvested on the beaches around North Cape. They gather it here with either a tractor or a horse-drawn cart, then spread it in fields to dry. The carageenan is then extracted at a processing plant, and used to make ice cream. (Page Top) North Cape is also home to the Atlantic Wind Test Site and its huge windmills. Established in 1980, it's Canada's primary research site for the production of clean energy. An interpretive center explains the whole program. With the wind at our backs, w we left North Cape and set out on Route 14 to Skinner's Pond, home of Canadian folk icon Stompin' Tom Connors. We continued on to West Point for dinner, where we had blue mussels, lobster and crepes with ice cream and chocolate sauce. West Point is the site of the only functioning lighthouse with an inn. While taking the tour, you couldn't help thinking of what it might have been like here at the turn of the century, living the life of a lighthouse keeper. It certainly gave us plenty to discuss at the campfire that night, back at the RV. The next day took us from the historic to the eclectic, as we drove to Wellington then on to Cap Egmont to see PEI's unique bottle houses. Inspired by a postcard, the late Edouard Arsenault began collecting bottles in the late 1970s and in the spring of 1980, at the age of 66 and with more than 25,000 bottles piled up on his property, began constructing a house from them. One house became three and today, the site attracts tourists from all over the world. Almost as impressive as the buildings themselves are the magnificent gardens on site, overlooking the ocean. Mr. Arsenault passed away in 1984, but the property is maintained today by his daughter, Rejeanne. From there we lunched at Spinnakers Landing in Summerside, then continued through Kensington, where the countryside is a magnificent mosaic of potato fields, brick-red sand and lupins - PEI's ubiquitous purple flowers - growing everywhere. The lupins continued right into North Rustico, the stunningly beautiful seaside community that appears in so many of the province's tourism ads and TV commercials. By the time we arrived at Brudenell River Provincial Park, with its 80 RV sites and three golf courses, we understood how so many people come to fall in love with PEI each year. Brudenell Island was just steps from our campsite, so we stretched our legs by walking over to view the historic cemetery there. It was a bit like walking through history, and once again we had plenty to discuss over the campfire before turning in for the night. The next morning took us to Greenwich National Park, on the end of St. Peter's Bay. The interpretive center provided wonderful insights into the area's history and how the island's famous sand dunes were formed. From Greenwich we traveled past Bay Fortune and the community of Five Houses. Talk about a village being appropriately named - exactly five houses for the entire town. That night we learned that the strike by the ferry crews had been resolved, so rather than turning west to return to the bridge, we elected to go east and take the ferry to Nova Scotia. This route would take us through the lovely community of Montague, where we enjoyed a cruise on the motor vessel Manada, and saw a wide variety of marine life, including dozens of species of birds and a large number of seals. In fact, it seemed like every buoy we passed had its share of harbour seals stretched out on its base. (Page Top) From the Manada we also passed row after row of mussel socks. Mussel farming is a huge industry on the island, and you see the floats marking the location of mussel socks everywhere - they look like swimming lanes marked in a pool. Each float is secured by a small anchor and, on the line between the two, bag-like devices provide surfaces for mussels to attach. When the lines are pulled up months later, the mussels are collected and shipped fresh to restaurants and fish markets all over the world. We saw more mussel socks from the ferry as we departed PEI at Woods Island, on our way to Pictou, Nova Scotia and the Harbour Light Campground. Said to be the birthplace of New Scotland, nearby Hector Heritage Quay commemorates the landing of the first Scottish settlers. Thoroughly refreshed, the next morning we were on the road early for Halifax, where we were greeted by Barry and Donna King at the Halifax West KOA in Upper Sackville. We dropped off the Titanium at our campsite, then went to explore the historic city of Halifax, the second-largest natural harbour in the world. We enjoyed visiting the Citadel, as well as the boardwalk with all of its buskers (there was actually a busker festival - the Annual Busker Festival - while we were there) and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic where we learned about the 1917 Halifax explosion and fire. Talk about total devastation! It was hard to say what thrilled us more - that exhibit, or the vast array of Titanic artefacts. No matter where you travel in Canada, you find that people are very opinionated when it comes to beer, so we couldn't possibly visit Halifax without taking a tour of the Alexander Keith brewery. Alexander Keith was born in Scotland, but came to Halifax at the age of 22. In 1820, he started his own brewery. Still brewed only in Halifax, Alexander Keith's India Pale ale remains a favourite of beer drinkers across Canada. The next morning we said goodbye to Halifax and hello to Nova Scotia's fabled Lighthouse Route. With the rocky shoreline, pounding surf and picture-postcard views of fishing villages and lighthouses, it's arguably one of the most beautiful seacoast drives in North America. Because my birthday happened to arrive midway during our trip, my aunt and uncle back home had arranged a special present - they had reserved a lobster for me at Shatford's Lobster Pound in Fox Point. Shatford's is a Nova Scotia institution - you bring your own wine and table cloth, pick out a lobster and the staff prepare it and set you up with butter, coleslaw and even a bib! It's the best priced lobster we saw anywhere, and it was absolutely fantastic. After our lobster lunch, we continued on to the Evangeline Trail. We stayed at the Land of Evangeline Family Camping Resort, where the Boyd family were our hosts. We could walk to the beach easily, where we watched the tremendous tidal bore. Talk about an awesome sight! Sadly, the next morning marked our last full day in paradise, and we were all aware that our vacation was indeed winding down. So, we set out to make the most of our remaining time. Following the Evangeline Trail, we visited the historic communities of Wolfeville and Annapolis Royal before arriving in Digby to check out the Digby scallop fleet and, of course, dine on the catch of the day. It was rather late when we finally pulled into the Dunromin Campground at Granville Ferry for the night. Our ferry back to Saint John's would leave early the next morning, and we wanted to stay nearby. (Page Top) They say time flies when you're having fun, and after our week enjoying Atlantic Canada from the comfort of our Glendale Titanium and Dodge Ram, I would have to agree. If you haven't had the opportunity to visit Canada's maritime provinces, then make it a priority for this year. Even if you only have a week, you'll find you come away with a lifetime of memories. Glendale's Titanium 33E38TS Melanie and her family enjoyed the luxurious comforts of a Glendale Titanium fifth wheel while touring the Maritimes. For 2005, Glendale has introduced a new Titanium triple slide model with a spacious and innovative floor plan featuring new interior fabrics and decor. In the forward section of the trailer, a spacious master bedroom featured a queen size bed and his and hers wardrobes, as well as an ensuite bath with provision for optional washer/dryer combo. One option that will be very popular for 2005 is the Bug Room, a full rear patio that folds down from the end cap of the trailer. While our 2004 test model did not feature this option, it would be a must-have item were we ordering a 2005. You really appreciate the rear lounge area when entertaining guests. The rear driver's side slide houses a computer workstation desk and an entertainment center, placed a very comfortable distance from the twin swivel chairs and the optional sofa bed. When the guests go home, the sofa bed extends to a full queen size, and the TV makes this area even more spacious than the master bedroom. The three slide-outs are powered by the12 volt system, with rack and gear drive, and flush floor design. In the event of a power failure, there is a gear driven lever system for relatively easy manual system override. For the latest in model specifications, please visit the website at www.glendalerv.com. Dodge Ram 2500 Melanie chose the Dodge Ram 2500 quad cab with four wheel drive for her east coast tour. With its 40/20/40 front seat and 60/40 split rear seat, the quad cab provides sumptuous comfort for four adults even on long trips. The centre section of the front seat folds down to provide great storage, is big enough to hold a laptop computer and features a convenient power outlet for your cell phone. The cab on the 2004 truck has been extended another three inches over the previous model for extra knee room in the back seat. Or, carry more cargo. There's enough room back there for a couple of five gallon pails. The doors open a full 85 degrees for easier loading and unloading and the windows actually roll all the way down. The rear seat can be folded down to form a flat load surface and the regular cab model has convenient storage hooks on the rear of the seats with a removable storage bin for tools or supplies. The 2004 Ram's hydroformed frame is wider, offering 400% greater torsional stiffness and 150% greater lateral stiffness with torsion bar suspension on a 4x4 instead of a solid axle. This gives us less unsprung weight for a smoother ride. Longer leaf springs in the rear reduce wheel hop and improve durability. Rack and pinion steering also helps provide that car like feel for more precise handling when you travel down the road. The Electronic Brake Proportioning system is part of the rear anti-lock braking system. It balances the front-to-rear braking effort when the truck is lightly loaded in the rear. The truck can be ordered with adjustable accelerator and brake pedals for more comfort and a better seating position for short drivers. Properly equipped, the Dodge Ram can tow up to 16,400 pounds. Check with your local Dodge truck dealer for details. (Page Top)