Val in Real Life LLC

Tag: rain

  • Overland Expo to TBEX: Slogging our way to Fundy

    Overland Expo to TBEX: Slogging our way to Fundy

    So when I left you in our Overland Expo to TBEX saga, we were suffering from a string of failures, bad weather, and our own stupidity. And that’s how we found ourselves moving on to Campobello — soaked, cacheless, and trying to salvage this detour that cost us so many miles and so much time. But first, our most memorable border crossing ever.

    Border Crossing #5…

    You see, when we got back in the car after the Quoddy Head disaster, we were completely soaked. Our rain gear did little to protect us from the torrents of Tropical Storm Andrea. The situation obviously didn’t improve with our frantic, wet, last-ditch, pre-border-crossing attempt for a geocache smiley at the Lubec sign. So when we arrived at the border station, the guard asked the usual questions and, as usual, asked me to roll down the back windows so he could see everyone in the car. He peered in, then gave me a quizzical look.

    Uncertain what could possibly have him so befuddled and a bit aggravated by the hassle given the conditions of the day, I turned around to look into the back seat myself. And there sat George… Stark. Freaking. Naked!… with only his laptop covering his little boy bits. I managed to stifle an “Are you (bleeping) kidding me?” from slipping out and I calmly inquired with George as to exactly why he was buck naked in the back seat of the car while we were trying to cross an international border. He replied that we was just wet and uncomfortable so he took matters into his own hands and stripped off his clothes. He’s a little problem-solver, that one. *facepalm*

    I slowly turned back to the guard and gave him a shrug and said “I got nothin’, man.” The guard found he had nothing further to say either and sent us on our way.

    Epic moment in parenting, no?

    Roosevelt Campobello International Park…

    Still trying to grasp all of the events of the day and the fact that it had all happened before noon, we slogged our way to our intended destination Roosevelt Campobello Interntaional Park. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and we sought warmth and dryness in the visitor center… with George finally dressed, of course.

    The park is located on Campobello Island where FDR summered as a child and later spent time with his family as an adult. It was formed as a memorial to him and as a symbol of cooperation between the U.S. and Canada. His “cottage” is preserved for tours and there are trails and flower gardens to explore. Not that we got to do any of that, mind you… but it looks like it would have been lovely had we not been in the middle of Tropical Storm Andrea.

    We did take some time to mentally escape the events of our morning and soak up some history in the visitor center. This is the kind of scenario where Fred finds his learning groove and he thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the U.S. equivalent of royalty. Even George, who isn’t a history buff, was a bit taken in by the Roosevelt story. Or maybe he was just so happy to be out of the car and dry…

    In my state of mind at the time, I didn’t take a single picture to share with you but it was a very cool place and I do hope I get a chance to explore it under better circumstances.

    Border Crossings #6 & #7…

    What would have made our lives a little easier at this point in the trip would have been a ferry ride across the bay instead of having to head back to Maine. It would have shaved considerable time and miles off of our journey to Fundy National Park. Alas, the ferry wasn’t running so we had to go the long way… and log two more border crossings.

    For border crossing #6 back into the U.S, I was ever-so-thankful not to have to face the same border guard that witnessed our insanity on the way in to Campobello. We smoothly returned back to the states and headed north towards Calais, Maine, our point of entry to New Brunswick and Fundy National Park.

    We attempted to soak up local flavor at a pub in Calais. Our lunch left a lot to be desired but we were hungry and bad food was the least of our concerns at the time. Cutting our losses, we scarfed our lunches and set on our way to refuel and make our third border crossing in less than three hours.

    Blubaru’s booboo. By the time we got to camp it had stretched this far and continued to grow…

    And on to Fundy…

    With nothing left to be done but drive through the rain and get ourselves to Fundy National Park, we pressed along the New Brunswick coast. I was feeling the pressure of time. I desperately wanted to make camp before dark. The rain was bad enough but thought of pitching the tent in the dark in an unfamiliar campground motivated me to keep moving.

    The drive went quickly though as I marveled at the road cuts along the highway. I could tell I was really going to like New Brunswick. Even with a stop to resupply before arriving in the park, we made good time. You might find this hard to believe given our day, but we even managed an easy geocache smiley of the lampskirt variety in the store parking lot. It was a much-needed morale boost to have a little success that day.

    And that momentum continued. As we approached the park, we stopped for another geocache smiley in a graveyard. Some folks think we’re odd but we enjoy graveyard geocaches for the peek into local history they provide. The rain was a slow drizzle at that point and we reveled in our success. We felt like we were exploring again, not just surviving the trip.

    When we finally entered the park, we were ecstatic. We were still a good ways from the campground, but it was such a relief to be within the park borders. The roads were sloppy and the rain had picked up again but I knew we’d get to camp in enough time to set up and get a warm dinner cooked up before dark. I finally relaxed and enjoyed the drive. We didn’t see another vehicle on the road for miles. But the one we did see? Well, that one was a tractor trailer barreling at us from the other direction.

    He was moving fast and not even remotely staying in his lane on the narrow road. I slowed and eased Blubaru towards the soft shoulder to make more room for the truck. He didn’t slow, which I though was borderline nuts given the road and weather conditions. He blew past us giving Blubaru quite a jolt and passing within inches of us. As a lovely parting gift of our close encounter, we were left with a rock to the windshield and Blubaru sporting a healthy crack that grew with each mile. So much for feeling like things were going our way.

    A joyful Fred at camp in Fundy National Park.

    Home Sweet Home at Chignecto North…

    At some point in a series of misadventures, you either just become unflappable or you find your sense-of-humor. Sometimes both. After the last few days of this trip (Exhibit A & Exhibit B), I could only look upon the cracked windshield with mild curiosity. I watched it grow as we approached camp and the beginnings of dusk set in. By the time we reached camp at Chignecto North campground in Fundy NP, I’d found my sense-of-humor about the entire situation — the rain, the iPhone, the geocaching, the detours, the naked border crossing, the cracked windshield… all of it.

    Fortunately, there was another lull in the rain and we set to getting camp established in quick fashion. Pitching the new tent was still a bit slow and awkward since it was only our second go with it but once it was up, the boys were in gear and did their bit for getting us set up while I got dinner going. Camp life hummed along efficiently and we busted out dinner and clean up so we could collapse after a blistering few days of hard travel.

    We rested easily, knowing we had our home established for the next three nights…

    And now for your moment of green…

    What a relief to have finally arrived in the stunning Fundy National Park in New Brunswick.
  • Overland Expo to TBEX: The Rain in Maine

    Overland Expo to TBEX: The Rain in Maine

    When I last left you in the Overland Expo to TBEX saga, we were leaving Franconia Notch State Park in New Hampshire a couple nights earlier than expected. The combination of the iPhone debacle and worsening weather led us to the conclusion it was time to take our chances elsewhere.

    And with few Apple stores in the area, we had to reroute to the south instead of sticking to our original plan of scooting across northern Maine to catch places like Screw Auger Falls and Baxter State Park. I hadn’t given up on those locations, I thought we would simply loop north after Acadia National Park and Fundy National Park instead of before.

    Soggy, soggy, soggy…

    Packing up camp in the rain is miserable. The tent is just a heavy mess and not nearly as cooperative as when it’s dry. Plus, trying to pack it in the car and still keep important gear dry (think sleeping bags and clothes) is a frustrating challenge. Nonetheless, it happens and you have to deal with it. And so we did.

    Now navigating by good, old-fashioned map power, we made our way towards Portland, Maine and the nearest Apple store. Along the way, I was dismayed by leaving behind the stunning New Hampshire scenery so soon. Did I stop to take pictures to show you the New Hampshire grooviness? Nope. I had an appointment to keep at the Apple store and I didn’t want to lose it.

    Old-fashioned map power saved the day in New Hampshire.

    Rerouting…

    While waiting for the kind folks at Apple to get me back up and running with a phone, I used their wifi to frantically consult maps and identify a new route. I was eyeing an Acadia-to-Fundy route and searching for camping accommodations in both locations. It was during this research that I discovered we were stuck in no ordinary rain but, what was in fact, the torrents of Tropical Storm Andrea which was not predicted to clear anytime soon.

    I don’t remember the details of the weather maps and forecasts but somehow I landed on the decision of driving through to Fundy National Park in New Brunswick, i.e. skipping Acadia, in order to minimize the impact of the weather. My logic at the time was that if the weather was not going to cooperate, we might as well just drive and try to get around it rather than sit around a campsite in the pouring rain. We’d just have to do our Maine stops on the way back and hope Andrea would wear herself out by then.

    With this new, unexpected route came the need to push yet again because we suddenly had a lot more ground to cover. New phone in hand, I tossed some mall food-court pizza at Fred and George and we drove as far as we could get that night. The catch was that we would take the scenic route along U.S. 1. A slower route, yes, but more scenic one that would set us up for the eastern-most geocache in the U.S. in Quoddy Head.

    So we scooted along the Maine coast with a stop on the Schoodic Peninsula for dinner… because when in Maine you stop for seafood, no? I was all excited to find a lovely restaurant in a town that seemed barely alive. In fact, when I reviewed my Foursquare check-ins to see what town it was in, it didn’t list one. It just said “Maine.”

    The stop paid off though. Dinner was fabulous. Mind you, that in spite of my best efforts to convince Fred and George that they should eat seafood in Maine, they ordered a hot dog and chicken fingers. I am not kidding.

    One of my early impressions of Maine? These folks have a sense-of-humor I can relate to.

    Creative tent-drying…

    After dinner, we forged our way along the coast in the dark and I was beginning to feel the fatigue of our very long day. Towns and lodging options were few and far between and I was concerned about getting myself in the middle of nowhere, exhausted, and with no place to sleep for the night. So as we approached the next town, we happened on a cute motel with cabin-type rooms. They had vacancies, the price was excellent, the owner was extraordinarily friendly… it was a no-brainer and one of the few things that seems to fall into place on this expedition so far.

    As much as breaking down a wet tent sucks, putting up a wet tent is infinitely worse. So while Fred and George settled in to sleep, I set to draping and spreading out the tent in every spare spot of our room, the tiny front porch, and the bathroom. It didn’t completely dry in our short time there but it was close enough.

    That night, I spent what little fumes I had remaining in my tank to sort through the next day’s push into Fundy. Only I didn’t quite cover all my bases, as you’ll see.

    Quoddy Head…

    We had an ambitious day of travel ahead of us. Even in good weather it was a lot to take on and our weather was abysmal so when we woke to an early alarm, I got right to packing up the tent and getting us back on the road.

    Our first stop was Quoddy Head State Park for the eastern-most U.S. geocache. It was a slight detour from heading straight to Fundy but it was a high priority for us. We thought we’d combine it with a trip to Roosevelt Campobello Roosevelt International Park to make it worth our while but Tropical Storm Andrea had other ideas.

    We arrived at Quoddy Head during one of the surges of torrential downpour. We tried to wait it out but I couldn’t get reasonable enough signal to pull weather maps and see if it was worth it. After a little while, I told George we were just going to have to go for it or we wouldn’t make camp that night. Fred wasn’t at all interested in securing a geocache under these conditions.

    George was initially gung-ho… until he got out of the car at the lighthouse. We thought we’d step into the park office like we normally would when visiting a new park. I always like to grab a map and just see what it’s about even if we’re not going to spend a lot of time there. I figured once we got inside and out of the rain we’d be golden. We didn’t make it 20 feet from Blubaru before George balked. He was overwhelmed by the rain and I couldn’t talk him through it. Back to the car and Plan B.

    Plan B consisted of just going straight for the geocache. I drove us down a spur to the trailhead and pulled up the geocache on my phone. With little signal (and bouncing between U.S. and Canadian cell-phone towers) it turned out to be an ordeal but I eventually got the geocache downloaded to my phone so I didn’t need a cell signal anymore. I feverishly read the details of the geocache more fully so I had every bit of information at my disposal. We were going to have to cache more efficiently than we ever had before in order to claim this one.

    And then I read the recent logs. You know that defeated feeling you get when you’ve busted your butt to do something and you fail spectacularly because you made the most basic of mistakes? Yep, that was the feeling that swept over me. I sat in stunned silence at what I’d gone through to get us to this cache only to find that it has been DNFed for months. The cache wasn’t there.

    In an ideal world, the geocaching powers-that-be would have archived this one so it wouldn’t show up as active. That didn’t happen and I’d made the most rookie of geocacher mistakes by not planning my caches carefully and checking that one basic resource in advance.

    So wet. So tired. So not finding this geocache.

    Desperate geocaching…

    With frustration being the reigning (or raining!?!) emotion in the car, we left Quoddy Head thinking we’d try to grab another geocache. It would still be one of the eastern-most, if not the eastern-most, and we had yet to collect a smiley for Maine.

    But it was still pouring, of course. With that in mind, we attempted the easiest geocache on the list in Lubec, just before we crossed into Canada to head to Campobello. We searched and searched in vain… in the rain. It should have been an easy geocache. It had been found recently and often. But under the conditions of fatigue, horrendous rain, almost no GPS signal, and frustration, we failed miserably. It was time to move on.

    On that winning note, I think I’ll leave you until next time…

    And now for your moment of green…

    I’m sure Quoddy Head is an enchanting place but we’ll have to wait until another visit to see.