Today we said goodbye to Kouchibouguac National Park and headed south to Fundy National Park.
It was only about two and a half hours, so we stopped in the metropolis of Moncton for lunch on the way. Moncton is the largest town in New Brunswick. We found a cool seafood diner/market, the kind of joint with a lot of locals-old locals. So old that they made us feel young, something that’s harder and harder to find:) Some fresh fried haddock for me, a lobster roll and sweet potato fries for Kari.
We pulled into Fundy NP late afternoon and set Shirley up. The park is gorgeous, another magical coastal setting. It’s very natural feeling, not overly developed, and not many people. It was adjacent to Alma, a charming little town about a mile away. We walked down and checked it out, it had five or so lobster shacks, several restaurants, and a few shops. It sat on a small harbor where the fishing boats were grounded at low tide, and floating at high. The Bay of Fundy is known for the world's highest tides, they can reach over fifty feet.
One of the great things about staying in these park campgrounds is the kids. They’re a joy to watch. Little kids actually outside in nature with no electronic devices in sight. They’re poking fires, playing baseball with sticks and stones, riding their bikes, bummin around on the beach. There’s something about their completely genuine, carefree, happy state that just feels good. It makes you smile. It also reminds us of all our trips with Sam. We hauled his little ratchet ass on all kinds of excursions, backpacking, sea kayaking, hiking/biking, parasailing, we put some miles on him:) Those are my fondest of memories.
Another great thing about campgrounds is they are a place where one sees a mix of people. Different ages, different socio-economic backgrounds, etc. The self-sorting that is so pervasive today is understandable on one level, but unhealthy in the aggregate. It contributes to our polarization. We’re as guilty as anyone, living in our gentrified urban enclave. But campgrounds are a place where red and blue America still find a way to share our nation. It’s nice.
Meanwhile, we’ve been gone about a week and a half and all is well. We’ve adapted to life with Shirley-small spaces, spotty cell service, a leisurely driving pace, and having only a small subset of your “stuff”. I can’t think of “stuff” without thinking of George Carlin’s “stuff” routine-how you have to pare down your stuff to your most important stuff when you go on the road, etc. It’s brilliant and very much applies to our life at the moment. If you’ve not seen it check it out: https://youtu.be/MvgN5gCuLac
Over the last few years we’ve become pretty efficient with life on the road. I’ve jettisoned all extraneous items and we each have our area of chores. Everything we bring has a place. Here's Kari's efficient use of Shirley's kitchen:
But, the small space and constant companionship is interesting. Successful couples typically do many things together, but this 24/7 thing takes it to a new level. But so far so good, we’ve only argued over mundane things like wrong turns and menu items, we’ve yet to call each other bad people:).
We ended the day binging a couple Jack Ryan’s, I’d solved our connector issue.
Another successful day…
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