BELLE BAIE

Sunday, September 5

All was quiet in the parking lot when we rose at eight.

Outside there was bright sunshine and sixty degrees.

We had our breakfast, steel cut oats, blueberries, walnuts, honey, Chai tea and coffee. By nine fifteen we were on the road.

The navigator pointed out that here in New Brunswick, north of St John the leaves are really starting to turn. There were all different shades of yellow, brown and red. One had to believe they will be more brilliant in another week but already there was quite a lot of color.

The highway we were traveling is known as the Bay of Fundy route as it is just about paralleling the bay. Numerous creeks and rivers run under the road and feed into the bay. The countryside is quite hilly with long rolling tree covered hills. It is very pretty.

Highway One branched off to the east and now we were on Two, twelve miles south of Moncton where we would turn almost due east and head toward Amherst, Truro and Halifax.

The day was beautiful in New Brunswick and people were out enjoying the weather. Couples on motorcycles, quads aka as four wheelers, bikes and walking were taking in the sunny mild day.

By eleven thirty we had just skirted the upper end of the Bay of Fundy. The tides here can reach fifty two feet and had Hurricane Earl come this way at high tide the devastation could have been incredible.

A short flat plain connects New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The Nova Scotia welcome center came into view along with the Nova Scotia and Acadian flags flying at the center as well as in the median. A miniature lighthouse sat near the center.

The wind here comes up the Bay of Fundy, from the south, unobstructed and strong. The gusts are even stronger. Broadsiding us on the navigators side and making driving difficult, the wind and gust came on unabated as we passed the exit to the home of one of our favorite singers, Anne Murray. She lives in Springhill, Nova Scotia. It is also the exit where one can tour the Bay of Fundy, home of the world's highest tides.

Lunch was followed by grapes and peanuts.

At twelve forty we turned south onto One Oh Two and the final leg of our journey to get to Church Point, Belle Baie RV Park and all our Acadian shore friends. We had just passed the half way point latitude wise between the north pole and the equator. We would rather be closer to the north pole than the equator.

On the east side of Fundy headed south southwest, we saw a sign for Grand Pre, the site of the “grand derangement” the expulsion of French settlers by the English, where the fictional story of Evangeline took place. The expulsion was real and barbaric in that it split families asunder, sending different members to the four corners of the world. It uprooted them from their homes and deprived them of their property without any recourse. This was the same English establishment that later lost the colonies to the south when its high handed unscrupulous methods were called by a handful of armed patriots. The french settlers had been disarmed before they were expelled.

The roads in Nova Scotia were better now than on our last visit and a lot of new building was going on, both homes and businesses.

For all the readers who are bikers we had seen a lot of bikes today once we had turned east from Truro, going toward Halifax. But once we turned onto One Oh Two and headed toward Digby and Yarmouth it seemed twenty to forty percent of all the vehicles on the road were bikes. The driver counted bikes and other vehicles for half an hour. Forty percent were bikes. Later in the day we found out a big charity ride had taken place today. Over thirty thousand bikes had participated according to our source.

We turned into Belle Baie at a quarter to five. We stopped to register, exchanged hugs with Alvina and a handshake with Eddy. Alvnia gave us our old seasonal spot in the pit, number six.

Driving to our spot we stopped at Anne and Dan's site, cut off the coach and said hello to everyone there. Then we pulled on down to our place and stopped again. Out of the coach we went to see Yvonne, Phyllis and Paul. Yvonne invited us to supper. They had cooked it for us.

We went back to coach to hook up the land lines, level and get the jack pads out, get the jacks down and the slides out.

Then we returned for supper with Phyllis, Paul, Yvonne and other friends. Drunk chicken was the main course.

After supper we stayed to visit with Paul and Phyllis, Yvonne, Anne and Dan. Talk was of old times and friends here and those gone.

Onie went home at eleven. The writer followed at midnight.

For the first time in days we had a WI-fi connection and it was strong. In fact there were three separate units stationed throughout the park so everyone in the park had a good strong signal without leaving their rig. It was so strong even the ancient laptop the writer uses to tap out his stories was able to connect.

He checked on the web for porcelain repair in and around Houston. We had gotten a chip on the sink when a glass fell on it. Some repair places were found and will be checked out further when we get back to Lake Road.

There were lots of updates to be downloaded and installed on his computer and he got them done then wrote a while. He took off verbal notes also.

Finally, at four thirty, he gave it up and joined Onie in bed.

Outside it was forty.

He heard the surf breaking on the shore as he drifted off.

DAY ONE IN BELLE BAIE

Monday, September 6

Onie was up at ten. She turned on the Keurig and made coffee.

The driver was up at ten thirty to begin writing. Onie handed him a cup of Chai tea to be enjoyed while she made biscuits and cooked sausage.

The writer wrote a little bit on week fourteen, before breakfast.

By eleven the temp had climbed to sixty two. The duo showered, dressed and went out to greet the world at twelve thirty.

The neighbors on both sides had packed up and gone before we were out of the coach.

Walking over to Yvonne's we said hello to her and stayed to visit with her quite a while.

Anne and Dan and Tom and Phyllis were moving about by now.

Onie fixed snacks including smoked fish and salmon spread. She put it out at Yvonne's. Judy came over and joined in, then Anne and Dan as well as Tom and Phyllis came to sit, visit and snack until six.

It was cooling off and we went to our separate rigs for supper.

Later Yvonne and Judy came over for Skip Bo.

We played until close to ten, finishing two games. The unsurpassed play of Judy and the driver proved too much for the competition.

When Yvonne and Judy departed we went to bed, watched a movie, then went to sleep.

BOUNTY

Tuesday, September 7

Our day started at nine thirty, when we rose. The sky was overcast and the thermometer sat at sixty one degrees. The bay was calm.

The tide is in. Many church steeples can be seen along this shoreline.

We had some coffee and Chai tea, got out the dominoes and played two games. As we played the second game we had cold cereal with banana and milk. We each won a game and decided that was a good stopping place.

Following showers the bed was made then Onie began working on some fresh corn to make cream corn, one of her favorites. She makes it just like her Mama did.

The writer started gathering up the trash so it could be taken out when the corn processing was at an end then he settled down at his laptop.

Many days activities were stored on his recorder. He needed to take them off so stories could be written and given to the editor for her to work her magic and then post them.

Outside Saint Anne's Bay lay quiet under just a whisper of a breeze. The temp hovered around sixty five as the sun tried to break through the clouds.

Anne LeBlanc came by to invite us to her house this evening for supper, at six. We accepted and are anxious to spend more time with them.

Yvonne Boudreau also came by to invite us to her house tomorrow night for Rappie pie. We will be there. In addition she brought us a bowl of fresh picked blueberries and a bag of goodies she and Judy put together for us. Included in the bag was some locally produced maple syrup, raspberry honey, cherry amaretto preserves, some maple butter, some blueberry syrup, a bottle of locally produced Chardonnay wine and some homemade Kahlua.

Tomorrow we will visit June and Andre Turcot in Brighton. Their home looks out on a lighthouse as well as onto Saint Mary's Bay.

Our friends in Nova Scotia are near and dear to us and the bounty of their thoughtfulness and generosity seem endless.

The day was warming up so we opened several windows as well as the overhead vents.

The cook continued her work in the kitchen while the writer pecked away at the laptop pausing long enough to take out the trash and recyclables.

When the cook was finished in the kitchen she morphed into the shopper but there was a slight problem. The car was still connected to the coach. The writer took time out from his pecking to unhook the toad and set the cook free, to shop. She was gone in a flash.

The writer returned to the laptop where he stayed until he got a call from an old friend inquiring about health insurance. After a bit he gathered the information needed to get a quote for the friend and then returned to writing.

Shortly, Onie returned and it was time to get ready to go to Anne and Dan's for supper.

The engine in the Subaru never cooled off before we were on our way to Anne and Dan's at five thirty. When we got to Concessions, where they live, fifteen minutes later, Gaetan, their grandson, was playing in a pile of sand in the back yard. He had his front end loader and toy dump truck busy. We said hello and went inside where Onie started the wash.

Dan was just getting home from work. He washed up and came in to visit. He, the writer and Dan's daughter, Melissa, visited in the living room while Onie visited with Anne in the kitchen.

Ann LeBlanc in her kitchen. She is a woman of many talents--artist, story teller, coordinates

quilt making (and various other crafts) for children who are hospitalized (about 100

women participate in this project). She's also a student--always taking some kind of

class. And she's a doting grandmother to top it off.

A few minutes later we were called to the table. A big roast with natural gravy, brown gravy, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, corn on the cob and sauteed scallops awaited our dining pleasure.

The feast is on!

Forty five minutes later when we were all stuffed Anne brought out a home made apple pie, from her kitchen. Although we were all past the full point we each had a slice of pie. In fact the writer had two.

Onie finished the wash and folded the clothes then she and Anne joined Dan, Gaetan and the writer in the living room. We visited until Gaetan, tired as only little boys can be, he is six, went to sleep on Grandpa's lap.

How sweet.

The adults were all fading fast. Melissa had already left the group and gone home to her bed. The clothes basket was hoisted by the driver, thank yous and good nights were said before the Blomstroms headed home at nine thirty.

They arrived at nine forty five.

A few notes of the day were made and then they went to the bedroom to watch The Big Easy., at ten fifteen.

The movie was over at five minutes to midnight.

Onie turned out the light, rolled over and was ready for sleep. The writer was ready too but opted to get up and finish this story as well as continue work on week fifteen.

He went to bed at two.

Outside it was cloudy and fifty six.

FOUL DEEDS

Wednesday, September 8

The navigator rose around nine, got a cup of coffee and looked at her email before putting week fourteen on a memory stick and loading it on her laptop. Then she began working, getting it ready to upload to our website.

The writer slept a while longer, rising at nine thirty when he checked his email before returning to the writings. He had a cup of Chai tea.

Outside the sky was very overcast. A foggy haze hung over Saint Mary's Bay and the thermometer read sixty five.

With all the goodies Yvonne had brought by yesterday, including blueberry syrup, the writer had volunteered to fix pancakes for this morning's breakfast. He set about keeping his word. The navigator cooked the bacon in the microwave. She has mastered that so the bacon turns out just right each time. This morning was no different as the driver loaded our plates with seven oat bran pancakes and the navigator placed four slices of bacon, done to a turn, next to the hot cakes. Fig preserves, maple syrup, blueberry syrup and raspberry jam adorned the steaming cakes, just before they were down the hatch and out of sight. The hot coffee and tea that washed them down was just a bonus.

We lingered over breakfast sharing our thoughts on recent events, family and friends. The writer still reels over the loss of loved ones, recent and long ago. The comprehension is stretched by the loss of life long friends, relatives and loved ones.

The navigator brought the driver back from his reverie with the reminder that we were due at June and Andre's at two. There were teeth to be brushed and bodies to be washed and dressed. We were diligent in our efforts to get ready in time for a punctual arrival, at two.

At last we were Brighton bound. We arrived, not too promptly, a little after two. June was out on her porch to greet us. She looked just as we remembered her, bright and bubbly. Onie rushed to give her a hug and a kiss. The driver was delayed by the necessity of turning off the toad, setting the parking brake and getting out. Then he exchanged hugs with June. This is the same June that was married to our friend Al Melanson. Al was a great guitar player and singer. Unfortunately he died a few years ago. We miss him.

June was fortunate enough to meet a good Godly man, Andre Turcot, a couple of yeas ago. They married recently.

June and Andre Turcot

We visited with them for three and a half hours during which time I found Andre to be a well learned man, a retired Canadian Naval officer, an amateur astronomer, a student of the Bible and an ardent pro-life advocate as well as one who has many years of management experience in business. Our visit was quite stimulating and made the writer wish he had more time to visit and get to know this man of many talents and experiences. Perhaps they will visit us in Coldspring and the discussions can be continued. By the way, he, Andre, is Quebec French and so different from the run of the mill Quebec French as to be from another planet, he is polite, well spoken and a gentleman above all else.

All too soon our visit was at an end and we were on our way back to Belle Baie where Yvonne and Judy were waiting for us along with Jean and Jeanette.

Jean and Jeannette

Yvonne had prepared rappie pie for us for dinner/supper. This is a favorite of the driver and navigator. Trying to describe it is like trying to describe a swim in a cool creek on a hot summer day. Anything one might say will not convey the experience so the writer will just say, “Come to Nova Scotia, the Acadian Shore, find one who has lived here all her life, is a good cook and convince her to make you a rappie pie. Then you can explain it to the rest of the readers.

We got back on the spot of six. The rappie pie was done but first we had to relax and visit with Yvonne and Judy and Jean and Jeanette.

Judy and Yvonne

Tom, Yvonne and Sylvia

The visiting over and the navigator and driver relaxed we settled into supper. The rappie pie was delicious and the hot yeast rolls served with it were good as well. Home made pickles, courtesy of Jean, lent a bit of spice to the meal. Dessert, a kind of fruit parfait was excellent.

With the meal at an end , Jean and Jeanette visited for a while and then left for their rig. The rest of us, Yvonne, Judy, Onie and the writer discussed a game of Skip-Bo. Soon it was decided that a rematch was needed for team Sylvia/Yvonne. Team Judy/Tom had proved invincible up to now. The foursome migrated to Judy's rig where the battle was joined anew. Once again the captains of their own fate won, Judy/Tom. The defeat for team Sylvia/Yvonne was not so near ignominious as they thought. They had played to the best of their ability and lost. There was no great dishonor in that.

A second game was played. It started at a late hour, pitting the younger team, Sylvia/Yvonne, against the older team, Judy/Tom, when the minds of the older team were benumbed by the bewildering chatter of the younger set as well as the late hour. At the end of the game the younger set had managed to eke out a win even though Judy had caught Yvonne trying to play an eight for a nine. The older team, Judy/Tom, knew this to be a ploy on the part of the younger team, Sylvia/Yvonne, to distract then so as to let the younger team win. That and many other foul and duplicitous deeds were effective enough to permit the younger team to overcome the older team in their dazed and exhausted state. That is to say the younger team eked out a win. The older set wondered what glory could be had by such devious and unscrupulous play but allowed as how the younger set had not a prayer against the older without such deception and that such acts were to be forgiven as an act of unrequited love and kindness on the part of the elders.

With these thoughts foremost in the minds of all sentient beings the game adjourned and the players went to their respective rigs.

In the Marlin, at eleven thirty, Onie sought the comfort of the bed while the writer settled in with his laptop to finish an account of the day's events. At one thirty he returned to week fifteen to work there.

Outside the coach the wind was moaning and thrashing about like a dervish. Perhaps it was trying to drive down the temp from its current sixty three.

THE POWER OF SUGGESTION

Thursday, September 9

Mornings at Belle Baie are like most other morning for us, slow.

We got up around nine or nine thirty to mostly cloudy skies and fifty eight degrees.

Onie went right to work on week fourteen after her first cup of coffee. The writer checked his many new emails and visited Facebook, which he rarely does any more, as it is time consuming and as he nears the end of the roll of toilet paper he seems to have less of it. Time that is.

When the editor had completed her magic on week fourteen the writer had a final look and then the editor posted it. Now we were only two weeks behind.

After breakfast Onie began cleaning the kitchen and defrosting the refrigerator. The writer helped, just a little, before he settled into writing.

Later he left the laptop to shower and dress. In the process he stopped to make the bed. The electric blanket control was lying next to his side of the bed. He stopped to put it in his bedside drawer. Then he returned to making the bed. In the process he noticed something strange. The electric blanket was not on the bed. What was so strange about that was last night when he went to bed he had been cold. Once in bed he had turned on the electric blanket. Soon he was warm and asleep. This morning when he woke he was hot so he turned off the blanket and wondered why his bed mate hadn't complained. She usually gets hot long before he does. It is a wonder what the power of suggestion can do. When the writer related the episode to the editor they both had a good long laugh.

Onie was busy making gumbo while the writer pecked away at his laptop. Sometimes writing makes him hungry and today it did. At two Onie served me a steaming hot bowl of her fresh gumbo. It was so good.

Right in the middle of the gumbo Jean came by. He was ready to go. He had invited me to ride with him to see his new tractor and some of his property as well as to go to a fish plant to get some haddock. The driver wolfed down the gumbo and he left with Jean at two fifteen.

Out first stop was at his house where we looked at his tractor and the various additions he had made to it as well as some of the implements he uses with it. The log splitter alone was a machine to behold. Then we continued on to visit various properties he owns. One was in the woods overlooking a fifty foot bluff. At the foot of the bluff is St Mary's Bay. It was indeed a beautiful setting and one deserving a nice house for the owner. Multiple springs were running on property keeping the woods, ferns and marsh plants healthy and watered. After our walk in the woods we headed off to the fish processors for bits and pieces of haddock. The fish processing plant was a small operation but very clean and nice. The young guy owning and running it was very cordial and took time out his work to visit and answer questions about his operation; where he gets his fish, what kind he processes, how long it takes to handle a truck load and many more questions the writer had. On the way back to Belle Baie we took back roads that were mostly gravel. Along the way were creeks with beaver dams as well as an occasional house with a neat yard. Then we were back to Highway One. The ride had been very scenic.

We got home at five.

After a while Yvonne and Judy came over for supper; gumbo and cornbread followed by chocolate covered strawberries.

The Skip-Bo game began at eight. Judy and the writer were numb from all the gumbo and cornbread they had eaten. The younger ones had kept urging them to eat telling them it is an offense against the cook if anything is left on the table at the end of a meal. As a result the Judy/writer team could hardly hold their eyes open as the game began. Who knows what really transpired to permit the Onie/Yvonne to win. Whatever it had been it was too much for Yvonne and she went home after one game.

Then it was time for a little cut throat. Judy, Onie and the writer shuffled and another game was dealt. Judy and Onie came in second and third.

With the cards back in the shuffler Judy stayed to visit for a while. With the midnight hour approaching she walked the few steps to her rig.

The Marlin couple were in bed asleep by twelve thirty.

WONDERFUL FRIENDS

Friday, September 10

Checking the weather at two thirty the driver found it was raining and fifty two.

He and his traveling mate got up at ten thirty. It was still raining.

Coffee and Chai tea were made. Onie made a pot of tea.

We visited over our coffee and tea. There were many things to talk about, times to remember here in Belle Baie and friends who wait for us on a distant shore. When they were here there were many happy times. It is good to know that happy times are still here and we still have many friends here, new and old, with which to make new memories.

Some of the haddock that Jean had taken me to get yesterday now found its way into Onie's pan where she sauteed it. That along with hot cornbread and molasses made for a meal that would stick to our ribs for a while. We finished it at noon.

Onie saran wrapped the remaining haddock and the driver vacuum packed it leaving out two more packs for breakfast. Eight packs went into the freezer.

While the navigator showered the driver wrote then took his turn in the shower before dressing.

Outside it was cloudy and fifty seven.

At twelve thirty Onie began preparation for tomorrow night's feast. She trimmed halibut for beer batter. She de-boned and cut salmon for deep fried coconut beer batter salmon.

Onie working magic

While she was busy in the kitchen Joan came by with a gift of haddock that Harlan had picked out for us. A whole box full of nice full filets that would need to be vacuum packed soon, was what we had.

When she left to return to work, she had come by on her lunch hour, more notes were made before the writer stopped to help the cook.

She needed shredded cheese and the writer can shred cheese if he can't do much else in the kitchen. Onie continued boning and cutting salmon. It was a big job. She was working with ten full fish filets that probably weighed fifteen to eighteen pounds altogether. When the kitchen chores were at an end, for at least the time being, the kitchen was shut down and we went over to Yvonne's.

Our friends from Cape Isle, Eric and Dottie Nickerson arrived.

Eric                                                            Dottie

It was so good to see them after the years that had raced by. They were still the same good warm couple we remembered. More people began drifting in.

The larger group moved to Paul's, where there was more room. Soon Doug and Pam joined us bringing garden fresh cherry tomatoes, corn and cukes from their garden.

The bounty seems to have no end and the generosity of our friends seems endless.

Onie and the writer took the fresh vegetables to the coach. Returning to the group Onie brought smoked salmon and salmon snacks. Her cooking is always a big hit.

Music was being played at Anne and Dan's. We went over for a while to listen and sing before going back to Paul's for venison and onions with hot bread. We ate underneath the roof of the pit as rain was falling as was the temp. A fire roared in the wood burning stove.

Doug strummed his guitar and mandolin while Dan, Susanne and Daniel played along.

The navigator and driver lent their voices to those singing along.

Tired and cold the navigator went to the coach at nine.

The writer, enjoying the music stayed until midnight and quiet time when he too went to the coach.

Notes almost too numerous to count had accumulated on the recorder. The writer sat down to take them off. He stayed with it until the recorder was almost empty but not quite.

Outside the wind was blowing and the sky was spitting rain through the fifty four degree air.

Everywhere in Nova Scotia it was three a.m.

FEAST

Saturday, September 11

Onie rose at nine to a windy day. There was not one awning out nor had there been since our arrival here. As a matter of fact there never is an awning out due to the wind. That is in contrast to Castaway, in Alaska, where awnings are almost always out. Once out this summer our hadn't been retracted until we were ready to leave.

It was fifty five outside while Onie sipped her coffee in the coach. After the coffee she showered and dressed. We slept under the electric blanket last night. She checked her email and then resumed work on food for tonight.

The writer made his appearance at ten. He had a cup of Chai tea and began taking notes off the recorder. He did so for the next three hours.

Onie made cream puffs, salmon salad and beer batter.

The writer took a break to go to the store, Freshmart, in Comeauville for Onie. When he got back he unloaded the car and went to visit in the pit. Then he returned to the coach and helped Onie a little.

When he returned Mike and Yvonne had arrived back in camp.

Mike and Yvonne

Yvonne's parents stopped by for a few minutes to visit. They would not be able to stay for supper.

Audrey Comeau.

Louie Comeau

Judy, Yvonne and Onie took things to the pit to cook since the wind came up and it was followed by rain. They huddled behind a tarp Danny put up to keep the wind and rain at bay. Onie had intended to cook behind the coach out of he wind but the rain came and put an end to that plan.

The food was ready at five thirty. Word had spread about the spread Onie was putting on and about fifty people had shown up to taste her offerings. The beer batter halibut was gone in a flash. The writer didn't even get a sniff. The beer batter coconut salmon was a real hit and was eaten almost as fast as it came out of the fryer. It lasted a little longer than the halibut but then there was more of it. Several ladies, wanting to contribute, brought pasta salads, potatoes and potato salad. Onie also served cream puffs with salmon salad stuffing and salmon quiche. Many other things were contributed including a lot of desserts.

After supper the music started. It was cold and rainy so a fire was built in the stove.

Doug, Danny, Sussanne and Daniel played until quiet time, midnight. They each strummed a guitar but Doug also played the Dobro. Actually he played a resonating guitar which is like a Dobro but only those resonating guitars made by Dobro can legally be called a Dobro.

Nora, Tom, Dan, Tom

Dan, Tom, Anne, Doug and Susan

Anne and Tom                                                       Norma and Kevin

Pam and Paul

Phyllis and Yvonne

Anne, Doug and Dobro

Tom, Dan and Tom

The crowd that gathered round the musicians sang until the music stopped when they went home and to bed.