This years Buses by the Buoy was a great event. Mike and Sheila King of the Vacationland VW Association really put on a super X-trodinary event. I think that some 15 of us "Southern Tier Volks" assualted Lubec in 9 buses and it was well worth it. T-Shirts and Sweatshirts with BbtB '07 Logo designed by Kevin Norton of the VVWA and printed by Adept Printing were really neat and very popular.
The weather was perfect for all planned events. Friday, many journeyed out to explore Lubec and Campobello Island. Hi spots included East Quoddy Lighthouse and on Campobello Island, NB, former President Roosevelt's summer cottage (hardly a cottage) and the East Quoddy Lighthouse.
On Saturday, Mike and Sheila planned and lead a Caravan of at least 30 buses through downtown Lubec with a photo stop at a downtown waterfront parking lot. At 5PM everyone assembled at the lower end of South Bay Campground where the local Masonic Lodge put on a superb Lobster dinner with lobster, steamed clams, potato and macaroni salads, corn on the cob and very tasty rhubard dessert topped with whipped cream.
After this feast was the traditional raffle with plenty of novel and useful items.
Sunday morning was pack up and head for home day. The "Southerner Tier Volks" started early as it was a two day drive for most of them. With the weather still holding good, we left early too, but only heading further north on Route 1, crossing into New Brunswick, Canada at Calais, ME. Our objective was the Fundy Provincial Park. From here we could tour the Bay of Fundy coast and visit the famous Hopewell Rocks at Hopewell Cape. The Fundy Park is very large with three camping areas. The only one open was at Chignecto where we camped for two nights. This park is 206 sq. kilometers and I might add one of most beautiful and well kept parks and facilities we have stayed in.
On Tuesday, the weather turned bad and we had to packup in a drizzily rain and get going toward home. After a 275 mile drive we arrived in Ellsworth, ME and decided to dry out and rest in a local motel. This we did, got cleaned up and had a Surf & Turf dinner at a nearby restaurant and got a good night rest.
I might add that at the border crossing back into the US at Calais, ME was not as bad I thought it would be, even with the stepped up questioning and indentfication procedures. Wait times are however noticeably longer and the waiting traffic backs up on the main street in St. Stephans. We only waited about 20 minutes but last month the longest wait was reported at 1 1/2 hours. Customs inspectors now have radiation monitoring devices and the station is equipped with a portable X-Ray machine. Having a valid US Passport will surely ease your way thru the questioning and identification procedure. We were at the station at the most of 4 minutes. Couple of questions about where we had been in Canada, any beef or other purchases in Canada, what was in the trailer (which we didn't have to open) and we were on our way with a "Welcome back to the States" by the Customs Agent.
Wednesday morning we were off early thru Bucksport and Belfast.
The weather was clearing but lots of wind. At Bucksport, after crossing over on Route 1 to Verona Island and approaching the Penobscot Narrows Bridge we decided to stop at Fort Knox and the "Observatory". What the "Observatory" is a lookout, 42 stories up in the west pylon tower of the bridge. The bridge itself with its unique single- plane, cable-stay design is one of only three such bridges in the world and the only bridge in North and South America with an Observatory. Next time you're up that way be sure to stop. It's fantastic and the view is spectaculiar on a clear day!
