We are settled "On the Mira" in beautiful Cape Breton.  Travelled Marine Drive from Dartmouth to Antigonish, stayed at Murphy's On the Cove one night, ate breakfast at Liscomb Lodge, then headed for the causeway, we are here to "mend" as the song says! 
"Out on the Mira, on a warm afternoon, old men go fishing,with blackline & spoon,
And if they catch nothing, they never complain, I wish I was with them again."

"Can you imagine a piece of the universe, more fit for Princes & Kings?
I'll trade you ten of your cities, for Marion Bridge and the pleasures it brings!"

Camped in Beavertails Campground the last night in the USA, right on the Vermont /New Hampshire  border, I walked from State to State to State, back and forth across the bridge for my morning walk! Then we headed for Tim's in Bangor, then the border, then camped another night free, behind Sobeys in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada. Lots of wildlife behind the Sobeys , the only thing disturbing us was a guy mowing his lawn nearby with a sit on mower and jacking lights on the mower!  Remember we mentioned IE (illegal electricity), well in Louisiana, Lucy & Andy provided the camper with IEEEEEEEE!, That's free electricity for more than a week!     Two cartons of cigs and two forty pounders of whiskey for exactly $100.00.  Would cost 250 bucks here at home, I wonder if it would pay to move near the border once you are pensioned off!  Stopped off to visit my buddy, Jimmy Flynn in Cornhill, N.B., we had a great chat, I gave him some new jokes, I have been giving them to him for years, Ha,Ha.  Two hawks, welcomed us as we neared the Nova Scotia border, we then spent the most relaxing time ,as always at Paul's daughters place in Amherst, the next day seen us ambling along the Noel Shore towards home!
Today we took the truck in for it's first oil change, so I guess our trip is officially over! We hope you have enjoyed following us, we had a great time, all 5200 miles of it! Thanks once again to our Louisiana friends for the most relaxing end to our winter, first day of summer tomorrow in Nova Scotia!

We are still winding down, that was a wonderful trip, cleaned the camper and truck all day yesterday, doing laundry, sleeping in, went down to the legion today for a few, our wind up of the trip is still forthcoming, stay tuned!  Paul & Trish

We're home, later on today, when we fianlly wake up, we will finish up the report for the trip and then maybe summarize the whole experience, it was a fantastic month, thanks  to family and friends for following!

A state trooper stopped us in New York, he said we were doing 45 in a 30 mph zone, I told him there must be something wrong with your radar, "Why's that," he said, I told him how Trish keeps very accurate records during our travels, that we travelled from Louisiana and every day she does the math, we never ever accompished more than 29.7 miles per hour no matter how many hours we drove!
We stayed in the quietest Wal*Mart ever near Schenectady!  There were even picnic tables near the camper! Stopped in Manchester, Vt, fly-fishing museum, Orvis fly-fishing school, all on the Battenkill River.  Then we seen damage from flooding on the Mad River, two houses on their sides, a trailer broke in half, and lots of hold-ups, while they repair the roads!  We asked a guy in a New Hampshire town if they had a Tim Hortons, he said no , but there's Duncan!   I said is that on the #2 highway, he said no, it's across the street,  see, Dunkin Donuts!

Sunday morning and we found Tim Hortons in West Virginia, we went in and worshipped our luck,  we do travel with own can of Tim's, but now we could have a breakfast sandwich, and a chocolate glazed do-nut to go, just like heaven!  We thought we seen everything when we saw dead coyotes hung on the fences in Texas near the cattle, but here in WV, they hang dead crows in the gardens, instead of scarecrows!  We spend so much time in Wal-Marts at night, that we yawn each time we pass one during the day!
The Wal-Mart in Morganstown, WV is on Don Knotts Boulevard, made us think of our short stay in Mayberry, actually Mt. Airy, North Carolina, get a hair cut at Floyd's Barbour Shop and get a $20.00 ride in a Mayberry Sheriff's car! Managed to get gas today for 3.39, that will be it, 3.85 by the time we hit Maine, that will still be $1.40 a gallon cheaper than NS. I'm talking our gallons!  Trish bought cigs today for $4.00 compared to $12.00 at home, thirty beer for $21.00.
We seen a sign on a truck today , it said,  "Got - r- Done, Now Retired"  , we are having one made for the camper, Trish and I worked for over 100, yes 100 years between us, we deserve every minute of this, this being the "life", the life on the road!  Homesweethighway! 

When we signed in to the state park in Kentucky, I asked the password to acquire wifi, the kid listed off 26 characters and numbers, I told him, he must be joking, and then told him one of Jimmy Flynns jokes, Jimmy gets on the mike and says, who has the license plate number A4FB07630FAC3CS7C3D98EF6,
please move your car, your license plate is blocking the driveway! The time change screwed us up on meeting Bopper & Mark in Manchester, Kentucky, we tried twice, but would encourage all our followers to go to (bopperand mark.com) and support all their efforts for Charity.  Help us support Bopper and Mark, by far the best contestants ever on The Amazing Race. Made a wrong turn, we were in Ohio for ten minutes, setteled back in West Virginia for a rest, only drove 4 hours today!  Tomorrow Pennsylvania, next day New York State!  

Why we stay off interstates, we got on one by mistake, a big sign said don't be the 350 third person to die on this highway since it was built!  On the Trace for over three hundred miles we drove the speed limit, which was 50 mph and saw nothing but trees, turtles and turkeys!  The maps don't keep up with the politicians, one guy promised to get rid of highway two in his state , so he changed it to highway 68,  one free way was named after Daniel Boone, but the govenor decided  his own name was better, then they changed the name of the state park to some famous baptist minister,it's no wonder we get lost at times!
Didn't make it to Kentucky today, relaxing in Catfish Farm RV park!  a very long day, trying to catch up to our daily average of 250 miles, Trish was exhausted, I said wine, whiskey or beer, she said "Yes Please!" 

Across Louisiana, gas for 3.33 a gallon in Alex., then to Natchez, Miss., then we found America's best kept secret, the Natchez Trace Parkway, 444 miles of nothing but trees, not one billboard, trucks not allowed, like heaven for us!  We have been on it for two days, leaving it  this mornng as it nears Nashville! None of those big cities on the way home! 
Found our five for 19.99 meat stores, Trish put it in Zip-locks, looks like 14 meals for us for under 20 bucks!  Did we mention, there was free camping, three different places on the Parkway!  The only negative was heat and hornets when we stopped, really short smoke breaks for Trish. The State park we stayed in to catch up on showers and power our camper battery only costs $13.00!  We rave about the prices down here because the cost of living is one half what it is at home!  Wake up in Mississippi, drive through Alabama, then Tennesee, and sleep in Kentucky! 

Our staycation is at an end, staycation usually means staying home, but we can say we felt at home on the LSU Porch with Lucy and Andy!  What a relaxing time we had, we got to meet many of Lucy's family members, and ate ,drank, and sometimes got merry during our ten day stay!  Leaving was hard, Trish cried and I also wiped a tear away! They made us so comfortable, as we say, just like home, only much hotter!

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Chester Lobster & Leesville Tuna Steaks, what a succulent meal !

Andy lowering Chester Lobster into boiling Laverty water

Mr. Andy lowering the Lobster Trap

Paul securing Lobster Trap for long journey to the Laverty Mansion !

Paul & Brian loading Lobster Trap at the Haase's

Happy birthday, Happy birthday Lucy, today is Lucy's day and tomorrow is a big American Holiday, Memorial Day! We all should get through the party time ok because we have been practicing for seven days, Saturday we went to the baptism of Lucy;s youngest grandchild, Cameron, in Sunset, LA.  It is illegal to stay in the left lane while driving unless passing, the left lane is Lucy's Lane and she passed everything between Leesville and LaFayette.  Memorial Day here is like Nov 11th at home, they celebrate the loss of life right back to the start of the US,  sometimes they even send reps to Halifax, to remember the American Revolution servicemen buried near the Armdale Yacht Club.We will likely go to the service at the monument in Leesville, America doesn't forget the fallen! 

Paul bought this Amazing Cake for my party, all LSU colours!

Porch to pool, porch to pool, porch to pool, it's 93 degrees in the shaded porch, and 80 degrees in the sunny pool!  No rain in the forecast for the rest of our stay, sounds good to us!  Really laid back now for two days, aside from a few trips to Wal-Mart for more cold beer, and cheap, cheap, cheap whiskey ,we are almost as settled as Hercules, the cat that really owns the porch.  Yes,one stop shopping when you go to the Wal*Mart here!  We can't say all the comforts of home, because at home we don't have an air-conditioned house, a pool, a covered deck, inexpensive beer, wine and whiskey, wide-screened TV on the deck, , even the dogs house is air-conditioned, imagine that! We are living the life in  Leesville, Louisiana!     

Our Scottish Friend, Mr. Andy

Birthday Girl showing off gifts of Hawk jewellery received from Paul and Lucy & Andy !

Guess who is coming to dinner ?

Coal Barge on Mississippi River

Final resting place of Elvis !

GRACELAND   MANSION 

Wooden Wurlitzer

Trish and The Colonel .

Paul with other Baseball SuperStars in Cooperstown.

 THE HAASE HELPER !

Day two and three on the LSU Porch

Sunday saw us visiting Post 145, met many of the regulars we met two years ago.  A train went by while we were there and Trish was wearing her Whoo, Whoo! shirt, but you can't get two discounts at the same time.  Normally ,everytime a train goes by you get 50 cents off your drinks, but during yesterday's happy hour drinks were very cheap to begin with,  our hosts bought a round for 12 persons, a dozen beer for 13 bucks, we love the price of everything down here!
Lucy and Andy gave Trish a beautiful gold hawk pendant to match the hawk ear rings they gave her last trip.  
Beer and Boudin for brunch this a.m. just got out of the pool, temp is 91, pool is 80 degrees, really cools you off!  You hear us often refer to the LSU Porch, that is not Louisiana State Uemployment, is means Laidback, Serene and Unforgetttable!

trish's birthday

Trish had a great birthday party on the Laverty' deck, Lucy mixed the fruity drinks, the kind that sneak up on you!  Lucy's son Adam, his wife Krystle and Ryleigh arrived, Ryleigh is just over one year, almost walking, almost talking, and of course ,the center of attention all day, especially from Grandma and Paw-Paw! A great time was had by all!  This backyard is a little bit of paradise, cool off in the pool, then continue to enjoy the 88 degree heat, the temp is in english here!  Took the camper off the truck, give the springs a rest!  Lucy and Andy got that Southern Hospitality shit down pat! Now, if only we could get them to visit the Maritimes.

On the last leg of our journey, the leg is only 100 miles from a great Louisiana state campground to the Laverty's, cold drinks on the LSU porch this evening!  2800 miles for us, probably about 2000 if we used interstates, none of that crazy driving for us, cars passing you on both sides at 75 miles per hour, we did have to use the interstate in Memphis, big sign, slow down, you don't want to be the 353 person to die on this highway since it was built, believe me, many people are trying to die, many came inches from hitting us as they entered the highway or cutting in front to exit!  65  and above is not for retirees!
I know people that try to cut minutes off their trip time from Canada to Florida, each year, imagine! I went from home to Florida 45 minutes faster than last year! Go figure!

Who dat? Who dat" , we are finally in the Who Dat State, Who Dat say they gonna beat them Saints, one guy had it on his home, this is a Who Dat house.  We stayed in Cane Creek campground in Arkansas, now in Cany Creek Louisiana. Trish had another of her reactions to bug bites, two hours in the doctor's office,  two shots and three prescriptions later, she started to recover, she was well enough tonite to heat the beans, all we can afford after the medical crisis! Filled out the medical forms  Patricia Robb and next of kin, her spouse, Paul Crawford, receptionist couldn't  grasp that, she called out Mr. Robb,  finally realized she meant me, Than she asked for an explanation, none of that commom -law stuff in the Bible Belt! As we entered into LA, Trish played the Saints CD from the Superbowl , given to us by Miss Jo from Post 145!  They call this the Bayou State, we call it the Hi You state or How y'all state!

We travelled down the Buford Pusser Highway, we passed up going to the museum and Buford's home, Elvis is on our minds.  Heading for Graceland, we had a personal police escort to Elvis Presley Boulevard by a cop when we asked directions. We are presently listening to Tennesee Ernie Ford sing Sixteen Tons, we watched a coal barge going down the Mississippi, there was a lot more than sixteen tons, looked like thousands of tons to us!  Graceland was amazing, you could feel Elvis in his living room, dining room, pool room, jungle room, and then his swimming pool, handball court and gym, then his  horse paddocks, his airplanes and of course his cars.  He is buried on the property  in his meditation garden along with his mother, father, grandmother and a stillborn brother!  Trish cried throughout the garden tour,  Elvis was special, I stood in line in Halifax for 2 hours to see Love Me tender , his first movie, at 13 years old, then my thirteen year old daughter Karen, and her friend cried when Elvis died, how many entertainers go through two generations like that? We talk a lot about prices, tonight we ate at the Iron Skillet, a truck stop in West Memphis, a three course dinner, with all the iced tea you can drink, what a buffet, total cost 23 dollars for two! Camping right on the ippississiM, in Tom Sawyer RV park,   free wifi, free laundry, showers, everything for $32.00. Barges galore, carrying coal, chemicals, then we seen the American Queen, an actual sternwheeler, it was like a luxery liner, we know one passenger aboard, he was interviewed in front of us at the Elvis Sirius Radio station today at Graceland,  this was Paul Revere and the Raiders famous for Indian Reservation.

Driving through Corbin , Kentucky, came upon the Kentucky Fried Chicken original restuarant and museum,  so funny, Trish always calls it  _ucky Fried Chicken.  It is a modern outlet, but has his original kitchen, his office with what must be the first electric typewriter, and an original motel room furnished as in the 1940's. It was around eleven o'clock, but we resisted having _ucky Fried Chicken for breakfast, believe me, many people were! I remember the very first KFC opening on Quinpool Road in Halifax, Ernie Edwards from Edwards Fine Foods on Barrington St. got the Franchise and from then on, called himself Colonel Ernie Edwards, a good friend of mine went straight from Vocational school to the KFC, his name was Brenton Hubley, he later had a KFC franchise in Bedford!  I think back to when we travelled two years ago with a GPS,  it was a women's voice, I used to call her the nagavator, Trish is becoming a great map reader and navigator, don't need that modern technology!  Magnolia trees are in full bloom and many Canada Geese are still here, waiting for a little warmer weather in Canada!  Buying gas for $4.00 a CANADIAN gallon, getting 14 miles per gallon with camper, we were getting 19 miles per gallon at home but truck wasn't broken in, only 500 miles on it ,when we left home!  Trish's cigs are more than half less than at the reserve home, 38 bucks a carton! GOD BLESS AMERICA!  

Trish and I are in the Amazing Race across half of America, averaging 130 miles a day to Louisiana, so we stopped and tried to find two Amazing Race participants,   Mark & Bopper from Manchester ,Kentucky, neither was home at the time, we did meet Bopper's father and girlfriend, they said to try on the way home, so we just might! We are sitting in a campground when the longest 5th wheel we ever seen sets up beside us, I joked to the lady and said you must have two bathrooms in that, she said no, but she did have a washer & dryer in the bathroom, Trish asked her if a maid & butler came with it, she again said no, but she did have central vac,  then the lady pressed the buttons for the five pop-outs and automatic leveling, I waved my right arm and said this was my automatic leveler.
Stopped at a flea market on the Country Music highway, the owner gave us a mat for the camper, because we mentioned Hank Snow,  it seems Loretta Lynn, Keith Whitley, Ricky Skaggs, Dwight Yokum & Hylo something or other who was bluegrass all lived along here!
Remember our Story about the Peach man dying in Georgia, so no peaches, well the campground man died in Clay County, so we drove 15 miles back in the hills to find no Friday night banjos or cold beer as advertised,  we were right up there with the moonshiners, meth labs and grow ops, we found out the next day!  Remember we said we invented the acronym IE, stands for Illegal Electricity, we ended up getting some that night, couldn't find anyone to pay and no drop box!

"Don't forget your Mother on Mother's Day, remember, your the reason she drinks!" We have all the amenities even in a Wal*Mart parking lot, we have stove & oven, toilet & shower, Queen size bed, cold beer fridge and last evening we even had a wildlife show, we saw a crow grab a baby rabbit and fly away while the mother rabbit chased it! Then we watched a Baltimore Oriole leading a crow away from her nest & eggs, then we had a Robin's nest with three eggs in it drop off the light standard beside our camper!  Saw many hawks today, a great omen!  We found a Tim Hortons in West Virginia, what a treat!  Paid 3.61 for gas, that's 4.33 for a Canadian gallon compared to 6.00 at home! Tomorrow Kentucky!

We are sitting in MacDonalds blogging, looking at the sign that says, over 99 Billion served, must be getting old, we remember when the sign bragged over 1 Billion sold!  Another day, another State, left Maryland, now in West Virginia.   The manager at our last campground showed us the yurts, said he thought they were used by Canadians, we explained that Mongolia is not in Canada!   We bought a forty pounder, a Carolyn's liquer, 5 litres of wine, and and six sixteen ounce beer, all for forty -eight bucks.  Can't even buy the fourty-ouncer in Canada for that! Propane exchange twelve bucks cheaper than home!  We saw a sign that said "Don't Drool and Drive", that's how we ended up at MacDonald's, despite those stupid buzzers, that the employees pay no attention to!  We have stayed at enough Wal*Marts now that the Wal*Mart trucks follow us, it used to be the other way around!  No joke, we stopped in a place called Accident, Maryland.  Maryland has many signs saying no texting, no cell phones while driving, how come you never see a sign saying no BJ's?

Gas is over four dollars a gallon in New York State, now I   understand why Nova Scotia bases their gas prices on New York Port something or other,, then they can get more taxes from us! Dropped right down again when we entered Pennsylvania. We stopped in Whitehall ,New York, on Lake Champlain, can you believe this,the birthplace of the US navy,Whitehall is on a river leading to Lake Champlain where the US built the first ships to fight the British from Canada, a navy battle took place on the Lake! Seen a neat sign, "Camping without beer is just sleeping outside!"  That's us tonight, We asked where to get beer or whisky before coming to the campground, they told us 30 miles in one direction for beer and 50 miles in another direction for alcohol, see, we told you we only go on back roads! When we were getting our propane filled, the young guy said he heard us ask about beer and whiskey, he told us if we were interested we could get Marijauna in a house across the street!
We visited the Baseball |Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, Cooperstown is twinned with Windsor ,NS, The Birthplace of Hockey! The cheapest sunglasses in the Baseball Hall of Fame were $80.00, but a automobile safety inspection is only .99 cents, yes .99cents. The highways called Parkways run along side the Interstates,Trish calls theintetstates runways, because everyone is flying! None of that for us!

Live Free and Eat Fries

New Hampshire, the no taxes state, a burger joint had their license plate motto in the window "Live Free and Eat Fries"  A forty ouncer costs $11.00 , 12 beer only 9.95.  No seat belts required, but can't stop that damn buzzer in the truck! Near the end of the day, we treated ourselves to MacDonald's new Cherry Berry Chiller, we had most of it left when we pulled into the Wal*Mart parking lot in Lebanon, N.H., we got out the whiskey and changed them into Cherry Berry Thrillers, some good! We seen a hawk diving into the Conectticut River this morning!  Brunch in Rutland, Vermont, blogging and heading for the Empire State, looking for a real campgound tonight!

on the road again

On the road again, stopped in Oxford, Nova Scotia , Blueberry Capital of the World, Karen gave us a mini-tour of the plant, last year's berries were being brought out of the freezers and processed, it is quite an operation, then a great supper at Karens, early to bed and hit Tim's in Sackville by 9 am.Saw a butterfly in New Brunswick.    Crossed the border , then hit the higher spots in Maine, Crawford, Mexico, Banger and Peru,camped on a beautiful lake in Amherst, Maine.The Haase Helper worked well, Brian made us a bit for my drill that helps us level the camper, without a lot of arm twisting!        Friday was a hat day, showers not operating in the campground, too early in the season!

Hooray, hooray, it's the 1st of May, outdoor screwing starts today! Well, it used to, but too damn cold this week, below zero every night lately, and that wind from the West makes the days very cold, even with the Sun.  Tomorrow, we are on our way to the Southern States, stopping in Amherst to see my daughter Karen as we usually do, then across the border Thursday morning. It will be Wal*Mart parking lots for the first few days, probably have to drive a while to find our first campground that is open this time of the year. Hope things warm up, while we are gone for a month! Hello to all our followers, we like your company & comments!

Yahoo!

We may be leaving a little earlier for LA east, thats Louisiana, Leesville to be exact,probably May 2nd!
We plan a liesurely drive, stopping in Cooperstown,NY, (baseball hall of fame) and Graceland, and many Wal*Mart. parking lots!. Let's see? Sixteen days to drive 2000 miles is just about 125 miles per day, now that's liesurely! We will miss the Western Shore Annual Flea Market & Fish Fry, but there is always next year.  We will also miss the Grand Opening of the Galley Restaurant, we wish our friends Ben and Jeff all the best, hope you are as successful as Ben & Jerry's!

healthy & happy

As we said on Valentines Day the plan is to hit the highway to Louisiana for the month of  May, we never blogged all winter because Paul was waiting for results of health tests, well, we can safely say now that he has no heart problems,after an ultra sound, no hernia, no cancer and the hemmoroids are gone. We are ready to travel, so thought May, with Trish's birthday, Miss Lucy's birthday and Memorial Day all in that month, we would wait until then, hope all our followers will enjoy our daily blogs during our travels, some things we plan to see on the way and on our return are Graceland, Cooperstown(baseball hall of fame) but most of all we look forward to Leesville on the LSU porch & pool.  

were back

Valentine's day, we just made a major decision, we are going "on the road again" ,going to Leesville , Louisiana, , leaving on 8th  May and returning on June 8th, the plan is to spend Trish's birthday, Miss Lucy's birthday and Memorial Day in LA.  We are so excited, it will be two years ago that we attended the Memorial Day celebration in full Legion uniform,. Look forward to once again representing Canada at  Leesville Post 145 of the American Legion, Trish and I will drink from  our Saints 2010 glasses, we won that night that the Saints won the Superbowl.  "What a Party". Free beer, Jagerbombs?, food up the ying,yang! We will never forget the conga line that lasted for over an hour!, Every time you passed the bar some one tried to put another free drink in your hand!  Yahoo, we want to put you on  notice, party time, Louisiana, here we come!