Back in Nature From Canada to Maine
June 26, 2012 – Cross the Border, steal some fuel and get shot.
We have a last minute request that has us rushing out of Montreal Canada and into Bar Harbor Maine. I know, everyone’s upset we didn’t make it to Quebec City, but this is a very important meeting that could help pay our bills on the road. So we pack camp and we’re off on this monstrous 9 hour drive!
We make time to do a few Canadian things on our last few loonies and toonies (that’s Canadian money by the way): 1. A stop into Canadian Tire – A huge tire store that became so popular now they have everything (similar to a Wal-Mart). 2. Return our Beer Bottles for refunds (yea! Free money). 3. With our last few coins we hopped off the healthy wagon and purchased some doughnut holes for the road. Bye-Bye Canada!
Everyone warned us about crossing into the USA from Canada: The customs agents can be real jerks. They are crazy hard during inspection, and will come on your RV and search every crack. Etc.
We crossed the border near a small town by the name Stewartstown. The Agent asked us the normal who, what, when, where…questions followed by how much alcohol did you purchase, how much cash do you have on board, and do you have any fruit on board? We had to give up an orange and a tomato, sad but no biggie. For the cash question: MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW MUCH CASH YOU HAVE ON BOARD! My wavering answer almost got us searched. If you travel with more than $10,000 dollars cash you must report it on the way in and the way out. If a customs agent comes aboard and finds cash in excess of $10k they are authorized to confiscate all your cash! It’s not worth it, just make sure you count your bucks before you cross the border.
Once we pass into the states the diesel fuel is CHEAP! $3.69 per gallon is the least expensive I’ve paid for fuel in over a year. I walk in and give the clerk my CC to open the pump, she nicely hands my card back and says she doesn’t need it. I respond with “really, what if someone drives off?”. She calmly responds with “We sell guns here, and we won’t have any problem finding you in this small town.” Wow, welcome to America! Ha.
We cross into Maine and I can honestly say it’s great to be back in nature. Trees, rivers, & waterfalls surround us, it’s a beautiful drive (except for the awful roads). We stop a few times to stretch our legs, walk the cats, and microwave some leftovers. 11:30pm we finally roll into our campground and crash; we made it.
June 27, 2012 – Work day
Today we met with some of the Equity Lifestyle Property higher ups. The regional managers were all meeting up in Bar Harbor for some pow wowing. We have been talking and dealing with a guy named Dan and he said it would be great if we could make it here to tell our story and explain how we can work with them to promote their parks. So we jumped on the opportunity and spent a couple of hours showing videos, answering questions and of course giving a tour of our RV.
Us with Dan (he is a super nice guy, and very tall)…
We expected to be met by men and women in suits with stark faces, surprisingly everyone was very relaxed and casual. It was nice. After leaving the normal day to day world of suits and corporate executives the last thing we wanted to do was get sucked right back in. It was nice to have discussions about how we can get more people out exploring the country and camping! Equity owns Thousand Trails and they have an amazingly cheap camping program. If you camp a lot (more than 1 week a year) or are a full or part time RV’er it can make a huge difference in your budget. We will no doubt make a post about the program and how it works. We are big fans, which is why we are working with the company. When we embarked on this adventure, we knew we were going to have to find a way to make money on the road. One thing we promised ourselves is that we wouldn’t sell our souls for a buck. We wanted to only promote or work with companies we truly believed in and whenever possible help out the small guys along the way. We have turned down several good opportunities for that exact reason. So far, we feel good about this opportunity and have a few more in the works. Maybe through our experiences, it will get some of you out there thinking about ways you can still make a living and live the life you want.
June 28, 2012 – working morning
We are still playing catch up this morning which is going to be short lived. It is a beautiful day outside and we are determined to get out and see some of bar harbor today!
Well, we never did make it very far. We spent most of the day in front of the computers working away.
June 29, 2012 – Bar Harbor
Today we drove around the area, scoped out Bar Harbor and had the best fish sandwhich ever! We stopped into the Atlantic brewing Co. tasting room; there was a big sign that said FREE TASTINGS so of course we went in! Turns out the guy working the tastings was super nice and gave us all kinds of local insight about the area and his favorite spots in Acadia National Park. We can’t wait to get out there and do some exploring.
One thing we have really missed about the west is the amazing National parks. Its probably our favorite part of our country. We have visited other countries, thier parks and we still think the U.S. has the best National Parks!
