The weather had finally turned against us and all of our plans changed. Today was going to be a fairly nice day then the whole northeast corridor along our route had rain predicted. We made the decision to make a dash home, at least see how far we can get. First order of the day was to head to the Farmer's Market in Fredericton as we love farmer's markets.
Fredericton Farmer’s Market Saturday Morning
What a nice collection of things this marketplace turned out to be. We met so many friendly folks and they all had such good wares. Unfortunately you can't bring vegetables and such back into the states, but we did find some pastries that we knew wouldn't last to the border. As we were wrapping up our tour of the market I was approached by a young man in a safety vest and was told there were no dogs allowed at the market and that we must leave. We had been there for well over an hour and Harper made many friends, but rules are rules, we wandered away.
Harper makes friends at the Farmers Market
As we drove toward the border we made a mental list of the things we had purchased so we could answer questions truthfully at the border. We had purchased some Iceberg beer, some Screech Rum and several t-shirts and sweatshirts and a few other souvenirs.
Approaching the US border
When we got to the border, once again, all the guard wanted to talk about was Harper. With a nice smile and very few questions he welcomed us back to the United States. Even though we just crossed some imaginary line, it felt good to be 'home', back in the USA. Our Canadian adventure came to a close crossing that line in Maine. The next several hours were typical driving hours, reading maps checking out the area and Carol found several places we can return to when the weather is not pressing us for time. We traveled south on 95 toward Bangor, and then on to Portland and the weather held. We actually had mostly sunshine and puffy clouds. We stopped in Portland at the Miss Portland Diner, a favorite stop whenever we come through this area.
One of our favorites
We have been stopping here since we first discovered this diner back in the early 1970's, great food and service always. I had a fish burger and Carol had the Downeast Reuben, both are local Haddock and delicious. Harper had her share of both and even some sweet potato fries.
Harper loves diners too. . .
We then wandered down to Kittery for a quick stop at the trading post and then to the New Hampshire Liquor Store (you just can't drive through NH without stopping there). And finally the mad dash on toward home. Then the rain started. We could see it coming and it arrived on the Massachusetts line, as did the traffic. The is something about Massachusetts drivers, Massholes as they are known. Canadian are the most courteous drivers I have ever seen, always polite, they drive the speed limit and play by the rules. Massachusetts drivers on the other hand seem to make up their own rules of behavior or ignore the rules altogether changing lanes on a whim across several lanes of traffic or passing you in the breakdown lane at twice the speed limit. And all of this in torrential rain.
Massholes
The traffic was heavy and we came to a complete stop several times. It seemed to take forever to get around the Boston area. We figured once the we made our turn toward Providence traffic would be less, but no, it was just as heavy and the final indignation was a complete stop as we entered Rhode Island in Pawtucket.
Approaching Rhode Island and our final traffic jam.
It seemed we would never get home, but we did. Safe and sound ofter 11 hours on the road and without any real incident. Harper squealed with delight when we pulled into the driveway and she realized where we were. She too was glad to finally be home.
