Adieu Quebec: Peaks-Kenney State Park, Dover-Foxcroft, ME 9/28/2009

(This is Ned sitting in for Debi tonight.) We woke up again this morning with lots of rain pelting the roof of the van. After a slightly claustrophobic, but good shower in the “former school gymnasium” bathroom, we took off for historic Quebec, without even making our traditional morning coffee, determined to experience another French Quebec culinary experience. Rather quickly we spotted an omelet place that seemed like it would do just the trick. Sure enough, after our BOWLS of piping hot Café au Lait (Debi) and mocha (Ned), we were served with really delicious omelets. Debi was beaming the entire time that we were in the restaurant, as this was just the sort of experience she had hoped for. While dining, the entire uniformed crew of a new Canadian Naval ship, which is currently docked in Quebec marched passed the restaurant window, complete with marching drums. This is apparently a daily routine to encourage people to visit this newly commissioned ship and promote the Canadian Navy. We saw the entire crew again a little later in the town square, standing in formation, as the town mayor made some sort of speech honoring them. (Debi descretely whispered to me that, from the looks of the moderately rotund and fairly middleaged look of the fellows in formation, she didn’t feel that the U.S. needed to fear an invasion from our northerly neighbors any time soon.) For the following hour we walked around different parts of the neighborhood, photographing and marveling at all the great colors and old buildings, as the sun broke through the clouds. (See today’s pic) Soon we were headed south toward Maine, passing lots of spectacular farmland and rolling fall-colored hills. At the border crossing, our customs inspector did a thorough job of asking us how long we had been in Canada, where we lived, what was the nature of our visit, and whether or not we were bringing back any produce, alcohol, firearms, tobacco, or any cash in excess of $10,000. Debi , in turn, asked him where HE lived, to which he replied Dover. Well! For any of you who have listened over the last several months to Debi’s memorized itinerary of our trip, one of her favorite parts was to recite that, once we left Quebec, we were planning on staying at Peaks-Kenney State Park in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. (Mainly just because she likes the way it sounds!) Well our inspector was very pleased to hear about this, especially the fact that we were anxious to get there before it was scheduled to close, two days from now. Soon we were headed on an alternate scenic route (Route 15) toward Peaks-Kenney, as recommended by our inspector. We rolled into the park about 5:00 and were amazed to see that only two other campsites are occupied. The park is absolutely beautiful, particularly the way every campsite is nestled in amongst the trees. Tomorrow we head for Bangor, Maine, and then Arcadia National Park.