Sunday was a sunny day too.  We started the day with a ton of puppy laundry and a thorough sprucing up of the RV  prior to crossing the bridge to PEI.

We made many unexpected discoveries in our week long visit to NB and know there are dozens more untouched "finds". This process of playing tourist in our own region and seeing things anew in that context has been very enlightening so far. Our overall impression has been very positive. We travel a fair bit ourselves, and we have been applying those experiences of seeing different places for the first time to our tour. Get off the beaten track, we conclude, and we have a great deal to offer in terms of variety, relaxation and authenticity.

Hooray - rose to sunshine today and loads of prep for our friends' wedding festivities in the afternoon. Graeme Bancroft and Mel Jellett are young organic farmers living on a 90-acre property in Murray Corner, NB, in just a lovely setting.

Linda made a commitment on behalf of herself and Katharine to prepare salad (with only locally-sourced organic ingredients) for 120 or so wedding guests. Quite a challenge on a campground picnic table.

Friday dawned sunny on the St John River (and thanks to the pups we saw the sunrise).

Following a Fredericton breakfast meeting, we headed south towards Murray Beach Provincial Park in sight of the Confederation Bridge to PEI.

Wednesday brought a couple of highlights of the New Brunswick leg of the trip. Having driven north along the shore road to Dalhousie, we took the highway back down to save time getting to the Caraquet area, where the Festival Acadien was in full swing. Acadian flags and paraphernalia were everywhere. There's clearly no lack of pride here.

Percussion Camp @ Arts Restigouche in Dalhousie NB / original compositions were impressive from the 9-12 year old protégés.

We had a delightful dinner and evening @ Arts Restigouche with owners Dawn and Walter(a superb cook!) on Tuesday .

A short drive was in order today. We’ve been covering quite a bit of territory and the travel was long. This ain’t no sports car we’re drivin’.

So we headed for Mount Carleton provincial park (and down to three puppies: but they progress at a remarkable rate and the sleepy little helpless bundles we took possession of two weeks ago are now demanding little buggers who quickly tire of their toys and try to run off when we gather them up. They’re a handful.)

Sunday morning saw us trying to pack up quietly at an early hour so as not to wake our neighbours and we boarded the adjacent Westfield-Grand Bay cable ferry (which is pretty neat and exceptionally efficient) to head north.

Our whole intent is to steer clear of the major highways as much as possible and stay off the beaten track in search of a more intimate knowledge of the region. It’s worth noting at this early juncture that New Brunswick’s secondary roads are in pretty darn good shape so far.

Breakfast with friends is the perfect way to start any day, and we did precisely that at the Saltscapes Restaurant and General Store on Highway 102 near Truro—and the first occasion, a mere 15 minutes from home, to ask:

“Where are we going to park this thing?” That thing being the 30 foot RV that’s going to be home for the next month.

(Part of the mission is to scout out quality locally-made merchandise for the General Store.)

We had fabulous lobster eggs benedict at the Saltscapes General Store with our friends the Ruddocks and the Mott/Miller clan.It was interesting letting our 6 lab puppies out for a pee. It was a very cute puppy parade.

En route to NB now with the throng of U2 concert goers. We're going to miss Bono and the boys as we're heading to the spectacular Fundy National Park via Hillsborough and Alma. We heard Anne's Bakery in Alma is not to be missed:) . C U on the road Happy rainy Saturday!

Jim and Linda

1. There's still time to plant perennials, especially late bloomers such as asters, helenium, joe-pye weed (Eupatorium), Russian sage (Perovskia), sedums like 'Autumn Joy' and ironweed (Vernonia).
2. Look for shrubs with good fall and winter interest, such as corkscrew hazel (Corylus 'Contorta') microbiota, ninebark (Physocarpus), red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea) and any of the false cypresses (Chamaecyparis).
3. Don't fertilize or prune plants any more this year. You want them to settle into dormancy without having tender new growth, which is apt to die off over winter. 
4. Remember to water newly planted or newly divided plants regularly, especially if it's a dry autumn. 
5. Collect seed from ripened flowers and vegetables.