Cobscook Bay State Park, Maine

We made it back to America. Physically it was the quickest and smallest border crossing I’ve ever seen. It felt like we were just crossing over in someone’s back yard. We didn’t realize it’s a very tight crossing and that RV and busses are not allowed. Too late, we are on a small narrow bridge in that grey area between border crossings. A young man in a uniform ran out to the street to greet me and told me if I’m comfortable trying to squeeze through he will let me, we folded in the mirrors and Amy and the border patrolman watched my sides and squeezed me through to America. It’s feels good to be south of the border again but for the time being I feel a bit like a foreigner in my own country. It’s going to take a bit to conform again. I keep looking at the small numbers on my speedometer as miles per hour now seem strange and unnatural to grasp, calculating how screwed I am with the cost of gas back in gallons is equally challenging. Looking at prices in general, when I see a price in Canada I naturally shave off a few dollars to feel good about the US dollar conversion. I found myself doing this with prices in America and that’s not gonna work come bill time. I accidently greeted a camp host with Bonjuer. No more ketchup flavored chips. I can buy 100% Deet instead of that wussy 30% Canadian nonsense (Wait, is this a good thing?) We are forgetting to start dinner until it’s getting dark, now much earlier than we have been accustomed to. I took for granted that every park in Canada has a clean laundry facility, something their park system values as much as I do. No one in Canada ever touches your card, they always bring a machine to you, now I’m suspicious every time a server touches my card. Instead of having individual garbages for recycling and compost and landfill, we are now back to a single can for all. Some of the customs and changes that I have noticed since returning are probably a good idea for me to incorporate into my own life going forward, other small things I have missed dearly, especially comfort foods, fresh produce, and the feeling of not being slightly uncertain all of the time which is inevitable traveling in another country. I also haven’t seen a Tim Hortons in at least six minutes.

We always felt so welcomed in Canada, the National Parks were incredible and people were helpful when needed and friendly regardless. As we drive by Acadia today, I am reminded that every National Park in Canada was free for us, the visitor centers seemed to always be staffed with a number of helpful and knowledgeable rangers and hosts. It’s clear they value their parks as we do. It’s sad that all my new friends would have to pay a foreigner tax of 100 dollars per person to visit a single US National Park this year, it feels unneighborly and cruel after the welcome we received.

We will continue to visit Canada often, now having a better understanding of their culture and natural history than before. I think we all will take a bit of the islands with us in some way or another, whether by the new foods and music we enjoy or the way in which we treat visitors in our foreign land. We all vow to return so that our goodbye feels only bittersweet but in reality it may very well be the last time any of us reach many of the spots we fell in love with over the last two months, except Newfoundland. I am definitely returning to Newfoundland.

Our trip is hardly over and exploring the New England forests is a dream vacation in and of itself. It has taken me three long days to mostly recover from the canoeing and portages. Those muscles were not prepared in advance for that. My entire chest and both shoulders are covered in bruises. Amy has asked that I keep covered before she gets accused of abuse. They certainly look concerning at first glance.

I found our next spot reading a blog not unlike mine. The young couple seemed as well traveled as us and could not believe how they never found Cobscook State Park before and now I am left with the same feeling. I always leave Maine feeling that there is way too little public land along the coast, this one park almost makes up for the lack of quantity. Cobscook snakes along the coast with little arms reaching out in to the ocean creating little coves and inlets. With the exception of a few hiking trails, the entire park is a rustic campground. With so much shoreline, many of the spots, like ours, have an incredible view right on the ocean. Although we will spend the bulk of the day relaxing around camp, after a couple days of inertia, I force us all to ride the bikes down to the boat launch to jump in and cool off. Amy got in as usual. The perfect mild weather that’s been traveling along with us forgot its passport at the border and the next few days look to be over ninety degrees with humidity to boot. The highlight of the day was the sunset lit surf and turf meal planned by Fitz and Maple. His interest in cooking shows is good news for my belly and this time lead to a nice lemon dill butter glaze on the Salmon. We were able to get herbs and fresh vegetables at a big open air style market in St. John. I like watching his interest in the random details he has picked up. He did everything from starting and building the fire to preparing and cooking. Maple was a capable sous chef who loves constantly flipping the foods, more of a rotisserie salmon by the end but they nailed the taste.

The plan now is for me to prepare us for tomorrow’s big trip. An overnight along the coastal wilderness. I know eventually Amy would finally do her research about the trail. I was prepared to defend the difficult rating and the dangerous cliffs nearby but she caught me off guard with this one. “Did you know there is no fresh water along the Cutler Coast trail.” Of course I knew this! How could I ever overlook something so important. Okay I didn’t even consider this. This idea of carrying several days worth of fresh water for five people in 95 degree weather certainly sounds like a plan, but maybe I’ll explore some other options.

Those other options include another night here at Cobscook or another big hike nearby, but since I’m trying to win dad of the year, I opted for the mini water park we can camp at and be amphibious for the day. The trampolines, arrowheads, and candy store sealed the deal, I’m amazing. It took a while but I finally convinced/bribed Fitz to try the water slide. He was hooked and began a never ending loop of chutes and ladders. Eventually his brother got curious enough to loop in with us a few times. We refused to stop chanting mom until she went, Fitz is going to need to teach her how to do it because she ended up inhaling park water.

At night Amy disappeared to the arcade while I made dinner and everyone returned with a giant rubber duck. They claim Mommy is amazing at claw machines but no one will admit how many tries it took or why twenty dollars is missing from my wallet. When I asked, she just looked at me wide eyed and said “I understand why people gamble.”

We woke up early and took the ferry from Digby across to St. John, New Brunswick for our last night in Canada. America is lucky to have such an amazing hat.