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Wednesday, October 24, 2018

2018 Labor Day Camping trip to Fundy National Park.

It's been a very busy after school start.  Kids is back to normal school schedule.  They have plenty of afterschool activities which lead to late posting/update.  But we take every moment available and go out and enjoyed a few outdoor day.

On september 2018, we take advantage of Labor day long weekend.  We want to be outdoor and camping, but most campground in the NE will be unavailable.  Typical it's almost impossible to go camping during long weekend unless you schedule your time 3-6 months in advance.  I was not able to secure any camping spot around NH, VT, ME, MA or RI.  We love to camp near beach or mountain.  Since we visited Fundy National Park in 2014, there is a peak of interest to return for more exploration and adventure.  I was able to secure a camping spot for 4 days/3 nights.  That's how we decide to return to Fundy National Park.



Day 1

This is a norm for Chin family.  We didn't left till late afternoon.  We have a long 9-10 hours ride to Fundy National Park.  The last checkin time for the campground is 12am.  The ride through MA usually fill up with holiday traffic.  The traffic is significant in MA, NH and ME.  Once we reach ME, the traffic ease off with some heavy spot.  We continue to drive up with minimal stop for fuel and food.

Ready to roll

First stop for food, but they are closing for the day

My fav store

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

We need to turn to Bar Harbor

Route 9 to Calais

Beautiful Sunset

Dark so early

Reach the Canada border station

I filled up gas in Calais since gas is more expensive in Canada.  Then, we head to the border.  The border crossing is smooth and minimal traffic.  After crossing the border, we head up NB1 toward Fundy National Park.  It was dark and I'm driving 80mph speeding toward Alma NB.  We are luck out.  We arrived just past 12am, but I'm able to get into the campground and head to our reserved spot.  We setup our tent quickly and quietly.  Tuck in and rest.


Day 2

As usual, I wake up early in the morning.  I have a few hours of rest.  First order is to setup the rest of our base camp.  Next, I stroll around the campground having some great morning exercise and breathe some fresh air.

11:53pm is 12:53 local time

Park Canada logo

Strolling off the campsite

Town of Alma (low tide)

Prep our base camp

After breakfast/lunch, we head out to the town of Alma.  We want to do tide pooling at the beach before the tide roll in.  We hang out at the town of Alma for a few hours.  We walk at the beach, the town, fill up gas, eat ice cream and get some takeout at a local seafood restaurant.


Beach strolling

tide pooling

tide pooling

Panaroma

Alma Beach

tide pooling

tide pooling

Fundy National Park

Fundy National Park

River

Alma harbor

Boat at dock

Boat at dock

Boat at dock

Boat at dock

Boat at dock

Boat at dock

Low tide

Panaroma

Lonely chic

Walk back from town

Captain Jack Sparrow

Hi Hotties

Pokemon at Alma

View from the beach


After relaxing at the town of Alma, we head out to Cape Enrage.  We have been to Cape Enrage, but we only stop briefly as they are closing.  They didn't charge us for entry in 2014.  This time, we want to explore here.  We paid our entrance fee and walk down to rock cliff beach.

Cape Enrage

Welcome sign

rocky cliff

Selfie time

Rocky beach

selfie time


stacking stone



Spider

Members of CampWithChin

Rock stacking

Rock stacking

Rock stacking

Cape Enrage


CampWithChin is here

Fossil

Cape Enrage


We had lunch/snack at Cape Enrage.  We have fun strolling the rocky beach.  Finding fossil and stack our own rock tower.  Checkout the high tide coming in.  It's time to head back to Alma.

Back to Fundy National Park and town of Alma, we opt to go swiming at the swimming pool.  Fundy National Park has a salt water swimming pool.

no name beach

End of Tingley Lake Road

Nice rig

See the differences?  High Tide

High Tide

High Tide

High Tide

High Tide

High/Low tide comparison

High Tide

High Tide

High Tide

High Tide

I love this rig

High/Low tide comparison

Relaxing at the pool

Kid being kid


On this trip, we were able to listen to a local band performing at Fundy National Park.  A local band known as Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth was performing at the Sound of Summer Concert series.  We enjoyed the music for about 1 hours.  It was one of the highlight during our stay at Fundy National Park.

Sound of Summer Concert


Sound of Summer Concert

Sound of Summer Concert

Sound of Summer Concert

Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth

Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth

Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth

Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth

Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth

Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth


https://www.facebook.com/OfficalCrookedTeeth


After relaxing at the concert, we head back to the campground.  At around 9:30pm, I look up at the sky and found it's cloudless.  Fundy National Park is known as dark sky preserved area.  Timing is just right.  I head out with my camera searching for a dark spot and hope to capture photos.  I'm luck out and I'm able to capture awesome picture.

Dark sky

See the galaxy?

After some color tweak

After some tweak

Astrophotography session

Astrophotography session

Astrophotography session

Astrophotography session


Day 3

After a good night rest, we are ready for more exploration.   As usual, I wake up early and take my morning stroll around the campground.

Sunrise

sunrise

#sharethechair

#sharethechair

My Shadow

Sunrise

Sunrise

Wild Berries

Wild Berry

Found a toyota sequoia with Tundra Front end

#sharethechair

selfie

Park Canada location

Park Canada Logo

Found red chair

Road sign

One of our neighbor


CampWithChin would like to have a big shoutout Thank you to North Bound Expeditions.  Virgil from NB Expedition share a great spot for us to explore while we are in Fundy National Park.  The location was premier on Mountain State Overland Canada Adventure video series.

On the last full day of our stay at Fundy National Park, we choose to explore the area.  I love to go offroad exploration where normally less crowded.  From the info given by NB Expedition, there is a great location nearby, 15 miles away from Fundy National Park.  Even it's 15 miles away, we actually take the whole afternoon to explore the area.  There is no straight road/logging road to reach the area.  The actual trail actually change due to some construction around Fundy National Park and Fundy Trail.  I have to detour around the area for about 45+ mins before we are back on trail.  From our campground, we have to drive north and exit the National Park.  Then we have to find a way to get around the area with limited road access.




Secret location

Logging road

Trail going down to the beach

Drone picture

Drone picture

Drone picture

Drone picture

Drone picture

Drone picture


Toyota Sequoia

Toyota Sequoia

Toyota Sequoia

Toyota Sequoia

Our reliable Toyota Sequoia

Lunch at the remote beach




Creative cooking in strong wind


That was a great camping spot.  I hope we will return with our trailer and camp at this remote beach area.  We cooked some lunch and had a late lunch at the beach.  The fog rolled in and high tide taking up a lot of beach area.  One thing I observed at this secret beach area is lot of trash.  The local know this area usually come down here to hang out.  They party at the beach area and left trash/bottles.  If I have trash bag, I would clean up the area.  It was a great area to enjoy.  We do help as much to pick up trash and clean up after ourself. 

Tonight at Fundy National Park, there is some meet.  It's called Fundy Star Party.  Here is some info about the party.

Fundy National Park was designated a Dark Sky Preserve by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC). Join Fundy National Park Interpreters and members of the RASC, New Brunswick Chapter, for this annual event celebrating the night sky of Fundy.

If you own a telescope and need advice and expertise on how to best use it, bring it along. Members of the RASC will be available throughout the weekend to assist you in taking full advantage of your equipment. If you do not own a telescope, there will be many sophisticated ones set up throughout the weekend so you can also take a peek into the night sky.



Here is the link to the event.  https://rascnb.ca/event/fundy-stargaze/

At around 9pm, we head to the meeting area.  There are a huge crowd and lots of telescope setup for star gazing.  Since it was dark, I didn't capture any picture of the gathering.  The kids was able to enjoy star gazing with view of Jupiter, Mars and learn astronomy.  We enjoyed every activities here before we head back to the campground.  I sneak out again while the kids rest.  Before the sky covered with cloud, I head out for some astrophotography.

#sharethechair

This picture is featured by Park Canada








Day 4

All great trip usually have some ending.  Today is our day to pack up and head home.  We have a few days of exploration and adventure.  I'm glad we come back to Fundy National Park.  We pack up early and start our journey back home.  As usual, I wake up early again and stroll around the campground area for my early morning exercise.




All pack up and ready to hitch up



It was a foggy day.  We try to detour to Fundy Trail.  Since it was so foggy, all view is limited.  When we reach St. John, we opt to check out a nature area name Irving Nature Park.  The Park is located nearby St. John.

Irving Nature Park


Foggy Beach

Foggy beach

Welcome Sign

Beach Strolling


Before we leave canada, there is 2 must do things.  Maple Donuts from Tim Hortons and Poutine.

Tim Hortons Donuts at Sussex NB

BK Poutine at St John

We head to the border in Calais ME.  This border crossing is not so smooth.  We got randomly select for extra screening.  We have to head into the office with our passport.  No problem, it's just additional 15 mins spend with the border patrol agent.  We have a good chat.  He is a cool guy which drive a jeep.  He saw my rig and we all exchange props.

On the drive back to MA, we opt to have dinner in ME.  We stop by a good Pho place in Bangor ME.

My fav Pho.



We arrived home late.  Our MPG and we drove 1175 miles on this trip.

1175 miles travelled



Here is a video of our trip.


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