Prince Edward Island Here We Come - Day 2

Our plan this day, July 7, was to be on the road by 8 a.m.  I awoke at 7:15 with a start as I realized we didn't set an alarm.  This is how I can tell that I'm in need of a holiday.  I felt anxious that we were late!  I obviously wasn't in a relaxed, holiday mode yet.  We gathered up our various pieces of luggage and packed up the van.  The mountains surrounding Gorham were still beautiful in the morning brightness.  We drove down the street to McDonalds for breakfast.  I know this wasn't very original but I love their Egg McMuffin so it was a treat for me to have that as well as a cup of coffee.  The place was busy with only a few employees working.  The line up was long.  This is when I like to watch the different types of people in line.  There were 2 couples at the front of the line who were travelling by motorcycle.  We had seen the bikes in the parking lot and it caught my husband's attention who has just bought himself at Honda Goldwing this past Spring.  The men and women looked like "bikers".  One couple was more noisy and outgoing while the other couple were quieter but "rougher" looking.  Eventually we got our breakfast, ate and were on the road.  Well, I can only say we were on the road after we filled up with gas.

We left the valley in which Gorham was nestled and followed Highway 2 East as it twisted and winded its way through the mountains.  I stopped taking pictures because they would all look similar to Day 1's pictures through the mountains.  I sat back and enjoyed the scenery.  While we were still in the New Hampshire mountains, we passed a big doe in the ditch ready to jump up onto the highway.  We were past in a flash and I had no opportunity for a picture.  But the image is burned into my memory.  She looked close enough for me to touch when I saw her in the ditch just as the front corner of our van was level with her.  She looked so healthy!  She was well rounded and that beautiful burnished reddish brown colour that deer are.  Her eyes were soft, brown and so gentle looking.  When I saw her, I excitedly called out "Deer!  Deer!" just like a little child.  She was so beautiful!  Unfortunately, my husband didn't see her as he was busy driving on the two lane winding highway.  I was sorry that I wasn't able to get a picture so I could share the image with him.  However, I did describe it but it's not quite the same.  On we continued and as we crossed into Maine the mountains were getting smaller and you could see flat farmland way up in the distance.  We were leaving the mountains behind.  I was a little disappointed to  leave the mountainous terrain because it is so lush and vibrant with all the various shades of green, and all the hills and wonderful views.  However, leaving the mountains meant we were getting closer to our final destination in Prince Edward Island.

We continued our travels through Maine.  At one point, Highway 2 in Maine took us through a small village called Farmington Falls.  I had the camera out in the hopes to catch a photo of Farmington Falls.  Instead of the fall, I captured a picture of an old cement, narrow bridge which Highway 2 took across the river.  It was beautiful scenery and a quaint little place.  We continued on our way and stopped at Rumford Falls in Maine in order to stretch our legs and take some pictures.  Rumford Falls is an original waterfalls which has been harnessed to create energy and run sawmills in the past.  Where we stopped there was a plaque full of information and a small park in order to walk down to the river on the flat rocks in order to wander and take pictures.  Someone has made black metal figures to replicate Indians fishing, cooking, working and playing with a teepee sitting nearby.  This was all made out of metal.  I walked down to the water's edge on the flat, table rocks and took a picture downriver towards the main part of town.  Off in the distance, near the modern bridge, on the left shore was another metal figure of an adult male fishing off the shore.  What a surprise!  This was a beautiful place to stretch our legs and enjoy the drive through Maine.  As we headed back to our van, I saw the 2 couples from McDonalds in Gorham, New Hampshire!  They must be following Highway 2 as well.

We continued through Maine and arrived at the border to New Brunswick, Canada.  We crossed over into New Brunswick at Woodstock, New Brunswick.  We had no problems at the border and continued on Highway 2 in New Brunswick.  We noticed that there were several signs indicating moose crossings.  We also noticed that the province of New Brunswick has installed fencing in order to keep the moose off the highway.  If a moose does get outside the fencing, there are one-way gates at the end of a short narrow fenced alley to get them back inside the forest.  It was an interesting view.  As we travelled farther in to New Brunswick, we could see mountains or large hills way up in the distance.  These were so far in the distance that they were blue in colour.  We did see a wild turkey way up near the trees from the road.  The trees have been cleared so that there is a large distance between the tree line and the road.  We arrived at our destination of Moncton, New Brunswick.  It was just about 6:00 p.m. when we found our hotel.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in Moncton, New Brunswick.  When we booked the hotel from home, we didn't realize it was right beside Highway 2 which we were travelling on.  This made it easy to find.  It was also located just across the road from a casino.  We went to a place called "Magnetic Hill" in Moncton.  Various people had told us we needed to see Magnetic Hill.  So before finding some supper, we drove to Magnetic Hill.  We arrived and followed the directions on the sign.  At the top of the hill, you drive down on the right-hand side.  When you get to the bottom of the hill, there was a white post on the left side of the road.  As you arrive at the bottom of the hill, you pull over to the white post and put your car into neutral and take your foot off the brake.  We saw cars doing this and they would start to automatically come up the hill.  When we got to the bottom, my husband put the van into neutral and took the foot off the brake.  We were pulled very quickly to the top of the hill!  A friend had told me that it even worked with his big transport truck!  This is all an optical illusion.  From inside the car, it really does look like you are being pulled backwards up the hill.  Since visiting Magnetic Hill, I was told that  if you stand on the bank on the right hand side of the road, you can see that you are actually going backwards down the hill.  An interesting experience to be sure!  We then went for dinner at the Tide & Boar Gastropub in Moncton, New Brunswick.  While I was doing chemotherapy in the winter of 2012, I had seen this restaurant/pub featured on a show on the Food Network.  Both my husband and I had the Atlantic Seafood Chowder as an appetizer.  It was magnificent!!!  It is made fresh to order every single time.  There were large chunks of salmon so big I had to break it up with my spoon.  The chowder included mussles, shrimp and haddock.  It was easily the best chowder I've ever had.  My husband had beer-battered fish and chips for his main meal.  I had the Boar Poutine.  It was poutine (French fries, gravy, and cheese curds) with boar as a meat topping.  It was very good but very filling.  My husband enjoyed a local beer brewed in Fredericton and I had a sangria.  It was a very nice meal indeed.  I would definitely go back and have a full meal just of the chowder.

We headed back to our hotel which was a wonderful suite including a kitchenette with table, sitting room, a bedroom separated rom the sitting room with pocket doors and a typical functional bathroom with 2 doors.  One led to the bedroom and one led to the kitchenette.  While I downloaded my pictures onto my laptop, my husband went across to the casino.  That was the end of Day 2.