Glamping Days

Seems I didn't actually make the reservation to stay at a farm tonight, so am crashing in a Walmart parking lot in Ebensburg - not my favorite thing to do, but fine for a night.  Every drive across PA is a reminder of what a beautiful state it is. There weren't good places to stop for photos, so just this one will have to represent.

My drive today brought me across the border into PA.  I'm spending the night on a reindeer farm, which is most interesting. At this location (they have 2 farms), they have a male & 4 females now being kept in a separate area & left alone in hopes that they will make babies. There are 2 males, one about 3 years old & one about 5 months old, that we got to visit.  Besides the reindeer, there are 20 guinea hens kept in the same pasture, 2 cats that roam around, & 2 big dogs that are penned between the pasture fence & an outer fence. Reindeer don't have any immunity to all the stuff that lives this far south, so the dogs keep away the big animals, the cats hunt the small critters, & the guinea hens eat the insects. Before entering the pasture, we stepped in pans of disinfectant to kill whatever was on our shoes.     

Today found me driving from Sidney ME to Bristol CT. With no interesting stops, & camping in a ho-hum campground tonight, there are no pics. Here are a few notes that I collected around NL, but didn't work in to any earlier posts.  Along the southern coast of Labrador, when heading north, one is "going down the shore"; when heading south, one is "going up the coast". The local who told me this had just returned home after living away for 30 years. She knew that it was somehow backward, & had no idea why they put it this way.  I mentioned in a previous post how ubiquitous ATVs are there. A few younger men wear army helmets instead of safety helmets - cooler, I suppose. And one ATV had replaced the 4 wheels with treads like one sees on tanks or construction equipment.  Folks from NL have many fun sayings, & there's a whole book of Newfoundland English. Here are a few of the sayings:      I dies at you. = I think you're exceptionally funny.     

I'm camping tonight on an alpaca farm in Maine. It's a beautiful farm.  An exotic turkey greeted me & pecked at my truck.      My neighbors for the night are beautiful & quiet. 

The ferry arrived in North Sydney, Nova Scotia about 9am, then I drove on to Moncton, New Brunswick. Camping tonight at a winery with this for a view & "dinner".   I posted pics of "spring flowers" from a around NL in June & early July in a post a while ago. (Spring comes late to NL.) Here are the "summer flowers" I saw later in July & during August. Most are wild flowers, but a couple are escapes from gardens which have become naturalized.                                                                           

Getting ready to get in line for the afternoon ferry from Argentia NL to North Sydney NS. It's a 12-14 hour overnight trip. Took a short walk on The Boardwalk this morning; the line of painted rocks is a "snake" named Boardwalk Billie.  The weather was warm but foggy, classic summer NL weather.       I've completely fallen in love with NL & have been having trouble explaining why. This board from The Rooms in St. John's speaks to my feelings about it.