Peg and Russ: Another New Place to Stay; More Trails to Walk; More Lobster Dinners

The third Alma hotel was not a posh as the first two, just more the size of a European hotel room than an American one. Stela would not have fit with her crate, but she is off at doggy camp having a grand romp so it worked fine for us.

We started the day at our most posh place, Alma hotel #2. Russ slept in a bit, while I made coffee and read my novel in the living room, with the electric fireplace on for ambiance :) Ah, what a vacation!

When we got our act together, we dug out our hiking boots and off we went to see more trails. We figured that climbing up into the car-top carrier to find our walking sticks would be over-the-top old-person cautious, so we didn't. We opted for the seaside trails. The first, Shiphaven -called Harbour in French-, took us along cliffs above the Bay of Fundy. Mist and fog rolled over us. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees. The sea breeze made us wish for wind breakers while we walked down the hills on the boardwalks and glad for the relief from the exercise on the way back up. Gorgeous views!

The second one we had chosen went to a copper mine. It was closed for repair. Darn.

Third on our list went along the cliffs, but the folks who were coming back from it warned that you really needed walking sticks because it was narrow, steep, and full of roots. Uh Oh.

On to number four on our list. Like a goldilocks trail -- just right. We walked down a Devil's Millhopper long stairway to the low tide "beach." We walked on the bottom of the Bay, where the water would return in 4 or 5 hours. Very cool place.

Our fifth trail was Dickson Falls. The Falls were lovely, but the gorge was spectacular.

For the final few hours of looking around, we found a pond formed by a glacier, like Star Lake. It was equally deep, but much smaller. The shared geological history made it special for us.

We returned to town for another round of tuna tacos and fish chowder. Steve taught me years ago in Prague that I should not resist repeated a meal I loved, so I followed his advice.

We went to the oldest restaurant in town when it got to be dinner time and settled for lobster rolls instead of whole lobsters this time. We could still be exploring that Park. Maybe we need a return trip.

Forgot to mention that the water in all of the Fundy National Park and Town of Alma is not potable! They are under a boil order and are so nonchalant about it that I suspect they have been and maybe will be forever. Perhaps 550 campsites, plus all the hotels, makes for more people using whatever sewer system they have than it can deal with. Brushing your teeth with bottled water gets to seem normal.

Today, Tuesday, we set out on for Maine. We arrived in Hallowell near Augusta about 1:30. For an hour, we had been discussing where among the 15 or so restaurants in Hallowell we would have lunch. We we got to town, all the roads were being dug up . . . all of them. Perhaps they are putting in storm sewers? It was a traffic mess.

However, it eased our restaurant choice because we zipped into the first open parking lot, resulting in a spectacular lunch of lobster fried rice and crispy noodle pad thai. Thank you fate! I had read about a River-Rail-Trail in town. We sought it out and walked about 3 miles, but it had no shade and was less than advertised for ambiance. Oh well, it helped exercise off some of our lunch.

We are settled for the night in the Senator Inn in Augusta. Our room is huge and we are more than comfortable. Ahhhh! Smile.