Jun 4, 2025 -Friends on the Way to Canada

As the sun warmed me in the brisk 65-degree Maine temperature, I laughed at how it was not so long ago that I cursed the Florida heat and humidity. On our travels north, we have celebrated the transition from tropical heat to the cool air of Virginia, New York and now Maine. And we have enjoyed the coziness of our Casita at night while temps have dropped as low as 43 F.

To avoid a large swath of storms passing over much of our travel route, an extra night was added to our South Carolina stay. We didn’t mind this as the palmetto state’s low country was not yet in the throes of summer, cool enough for an afternoon tea outside. If not for the relentless mosquitoes, we could have enjoyed staying longer to paddle the Edisto River. But, we are on a mission to Newfoundland with no time to waste!

With only one night sandwiched between 300+ mile travel days, we could barely enjoy the Stony Fork Creek area in the foothills of Big Walker Mountain within the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. In the evening we sat outside under the canopy of very tall trees and listened to the babbling water of the stony fork creek. Soothing to us, we could also stay here awhile to explore the area with some forest hikes. But we are on a mission!

Still on schedule to arrive at the Canadian border, we spend the next night at one of our favorite Harvest Hosts, Antietam Brewery in Hagerstown, MD. An evening of pizza and beer turned into a fun observation of a cornhole tournament.

It wasn’t the game itself that drew our attention, rather it was the competitors with their stone pre-game faces that gave away their seriousness and complete focus on the game. I imagined their thoughts as that of athletes – performance visualization, positive self-talk, anxiety management, selective attention. Cornhole was no longer an annoying sound of corn bags dropping on a wooden board in a campground late at night, but instead I saw it as a means for every day people to enjoy a competitive commaraderie with the anticipation of going home with some well earned cash, and leaving behind their burdens of life for a short time.

Continuing on, we stayed a couple days in Shokan, NY while moochdocking at friends’ Scott and Kathy. Not only did they let us park in their driveway, but they gave us a grand tour of the Catskills, as best as possible given the rain.

We learned a lot about the Catskills, especially about the 8,315 acre Ashokan Reservoir. A major supply of water to New York City Water since 1915, the creation of the reservoir flooded several hamlets and displaced a couple thousand people living in the Catskills.

You can’t visit the Catskills without visiting the little town of Woodstock – THE Woodstock. This is when I learned that the town had nothing to do with the music festival of peace and love. Rather, the artist town, 60 miles from Max Yasgur’s farm merely lent its name to the festival producers.

However, the town Woodstock has been a haven for artists way before 1968, including the Hudson River School painters in the late 1800s. In 1915, Woodstock became a “free love art colony” for several years. Later it attracted many folk and rock musicians including Ritchie Havens and Van Morrison. Walking around the little town led me to believe the spirit of “Woodstock” lives on (maybe the tie die clothes or that familiar smell?) although we did not see a drum circle, which is known to happen frequently in the downtown square.

Our travels are not complete without something needing to be repaired. This time, we no sooner arrived in Maine at our Boondockers Welcome site that one of our truck tires went flat. Although the tread on these tires looked great, despite having over 70,000 miles on them, they were long overdue to be replaced.

At last, we got the tires on the truck in Bangor, and were back on the road by 4 pm. Barely a hundred miles from Canada, we had one more night in Maine before crossing the border. Once again, we take advantage of our small Casita trailer and having friends in all the right places.

Our friends Jim & Linda greeted us at their home on Cobscook Bay where we enjoyed one more beautiful evening in Maine. Their piece of paradise in a remote area of Maine’s coast was the perfect ending to our travels to Canada.

It’s now time to cross that border and get in the Canadian groove!