"My Brother's Campground" - Houlton, Maine

So, just when you think your plans are all set something happens to turn everything upside down! We spent the night in Houlton, Maine before heading into Canada Saturday morning.  The campsite was really pretty and perfect weather.  Nearly every camper there was from New Brunswick, Canada.  We spoke to our "neighbors" and he said they come across the border periodically to stock up on provisions because the prices are so much cheaper here than in Canada.  He loaded his RV fridge with 2 cases of beer and had one more case on the counter - the essentials - lol!

Saturday morning I even got up and went for a run before we headed across the border.  As we are driving into the border crossing station I'm explaining to the girls where we are headed in Nova Scotia and am looking at the KOA campground magazine and realize with horror that I have booked the wrong KOA!  I booked the one in Newfoundland!!!  Good lord, it takes "planes, trains, and automobiles", not to mention ferries, to get there.  It's on the edge of nowhere! So I frantically call the Halifax KOA just to find out that they have no space - UGH!

Unbeknownst to me, all this time Jeff is having a conversation with the Canadian Border Guard about the shotgun we have on board.  Last year we took it with us through Canada up into Alaska with no problems whatsoever.  Jeff filled out the proper form, paid $25, all was well.  But this time the guy was not very pleasant (to put it nicely).  Jeff said he had the form and that last year it was okay.  They guy said "I know the law!"  He said it was because our destination was in Canada - we weren't just passing through - like last year. So our options were to possibly leave the gun with the police in Houlton, Maine but that would have meant coming back through there to pick it up, which we hadn't planned on doing. Or forget the whole thing. And since we had no where to stay in Halifax we just decided to skip Canada.  Jeff was so mad he didn't want to go to Canada anyway - the heck with them!!!

So I spent the next hour canceling or changing our reservations that I'd made for the following week or so.  Thank goodness the guy in Newfoundland was understanding and he even refunded our deposit.  I called Sunset Point where we were supposed to stay on 7/3 and asked if we could come in that night and stay two nights, then had to call the KOA in Bar Harbor to see if I could scoot up those reservations by three days.  Did all that.  All is good.

Sunset Point Campground, Lubec, Maine

NOT!  We arrive at Sunset Point RV Trailer Campground - the place Jeff wanted to stay - only to find out they have never heard of us.  We were in Lubec, Maine.  The campground I made reservations for is Sunset Point Campground in Harrington, Maine about an hours drive further down the road!!!  Jeff never told me what town - just the name of the campground. I was beside myself.  Fortunately, this place had space and the other guy was understanding of the confusion. Apparently it happens frequently because they are so close together and the names are nearly identical.

The Croaking Toads - couldn't sleep with
 the windows open they
made so much noise.

West Quoddy Lighthouse
Eastern-most lighthouse in the US

What a day!  It was a mess.  Fortunately, it all worked out well in the end. Lubec, Maine is a beautiful coastal town right across from Campobello Island, New Brunswick. Jeff debated whether to drive across because he was so mad and said he wasn't going to spend his money in Canada.  But we wanted to see President FDR's summer home and the lighthouse on the other side.

So we grab our passports and away we go - only to be searched by the Canada Border Guards!!  They made us park and all get out of the car and they went over the dang car with a fine-toothed comb!  He even rummaged through my backpack and our cooler!  Jeff said they are either bored or he wanted to check out my car - the Jeep Trailhawk they just started making again - lol!  So weird.  Anyway - I think we are done with Canada for awhile.

President FDR's summer home on Campobello Island,
New Brunswick, Canada

Classroom for the children at FDR's summer home

The tour of the summer home was marvelous.  Most of the items in the house were truly owned by the Roosevelt family.  So awesome for the girls to see this first hand.  They both were fascinated by the house and furnishings.  They were challenged in trying to understand the tour guides with their accents.  It was funny!

Kitchen at FDR's Summer Home

Artwork in downtown Lubec - that's Canada on the opposite shore

Lubec Maine from across the bay and
Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada

At Mulholland Lighthouse on Campobello Island.
That's Lubec, Maine in the background.

 It was also interesting to see Lubec, Maine from across the water.  It looks just like all those postcards you see of little coastal fishing communities.  We had lunch at one of the local diners, out on the patio overlooking the bay (Johnson Bay I think) Magnificent! Of all the places we've stayed, I think this is one of our favorite.  So picturesque.  The weather has been perfect but apparently they have had quite a bit of rain in the area and their is rain forecast for 4th of July.  Hopefully, no hurricane's along the east coast.

So today we headed to Bar Harbor and have decided to stay here through the 4th of July weekend.  We didn't want to chance not finding a place to stay over the holiday weekend.  Acadia National Park is actually on an island called Mt. Desert Island.  I thought the whole island was the park but it's not.  There are a bunch of little island communities around the park.  We have a lot of exploring to do over the next few days and we are looking forward to it!