New Brunswick Fundy National Park gathering June 25 to June 28 2015

[PEIslander]

Dixie the dog, my wife and I made it home okay after a great weekend with new friends. On the way back we stopped for a hike & then at the homemade ice cream place where the guy gave us a discount because he liked our trailer. (Okay, not really, he gave us the ice creams for what little cash we had - so we got a big discount and promised to return again. I'm sure he would have liked our trailer if he'd looked out the window). 

It was great to meet y'all. Unfortunately my wife's visit to Paul's 13QBB has her thinking the extra two feet is significant relative to our small but mighty 11FDB. She mentioned the "sell ours and get a bigger one" idea but I like ours too much to listen to that disloyalty.

I wish my wife & I could have arrived earlier and David and his wife could have stayed longer. We missed the lobster & snow crab dinner and David & his wife missed seared scallops with rosemary & bacon, accompanied with bbq potatoes and camp-fire cooked mushrooms, asparagus, & brussel sprouts, and a salad. All together, we enjoyed a great dinner hosted by David & his wife. David grew up in Texas so he had his Memphis Style BBQ Ribs, potato salad, and baked beans. It was delicious!

Another highlight for me was that David introduced me to Bourbon Whiskey (so good it gets capitalized). While the group shared talk about the differences between scotch (barley)whiskey, Canadian (rye) whiskey, and Bourbon (corn) Whiskey, I thoroughly enjoyed the Bourbon. I'm now a fan. Campfire talk also ventured onto traditional campfire favorite subjects like careers, religion, politics, Cuba-US relations, & gun control -- all without any arguments or fisticufs!

On Friday before the small but mighty 11FDB arrived, the 13QBB & the 16TBS crews went to explore the park. On Saturday after David & his wife left, the rest of us went for a hike. I was later surprised to check my fitbit and see we had vertically climbed the equivalent of 95 flights of stairs! The hike was hilly but it didn't seem like 95-floors worth. After the hike, my wife made mojitos using mint from our garden and the Maritime's favorite rum --- Captain Morgan White Rum. We had another great campfire.

I'm looking forward to having another  Livin'Lite International Jamboree next year. I hope it grows every year!

[rideandfly]

Appreciate the great report!!!!! 

Understand what you said about family members being envious of larger campers, but our Mighty 11 is also doing fine for now! Sounds like everyone had great fellowship & food.

Hope to attend next year!

[DavidM]

Joan and I were one of the three couples who met up at the Fundy National Park for the rendezvous. We had a great time and met some wonderful people- Paul and Melanie and Ross and Heather.

The trip was more than 600 miles from our home in Connecticut. We broke it up into two legs by stopping at state parks in Maine on the way up and back. No problems with the camper, a CL 16TBS, other than the grey water tank filling up sooner than expected and water in the floor by driving in the rain on the way back.

The first day Paul and Melanie joined us for a drive around the park. The pictures below are of the covered bridge into Pointe Wolf and the river's inlet into the bay. The Bay of Fundy has huge daily tides- 40' or 12 meters between high and low. The pictures were taken near low tide and the river is flowing out to the bay. Six hours later it will be flowing inland due to the higher bay water height.

The third and fourth pictures were taken at Hopewell Rocks, a provincial park. The picture looking down shows people walking around on the exposed beach at low tide which will be covered several hours later. The next picture shows me in the gap of a rock arch that will be completely flooded later.

Later that day Ross and Heather joined us and we had a great time eating BBQ, drinking and chatting, and well drinking. The last picture shows the guys toasting Fundy NP and the get together.

David

[rideandfly]

David,

Appreciate the fine photos. Sounds like a good time was had by everyone!

[Mitch]

Sounds like it was a fun time, maybe next year my wife and I can join in since she's now retired.  Regarding Bourbon, it's a great food group, if you want something interesting try Apple Pie Moonshine.  Moonshine is usually corn based so I guess it's Bourbon, I'm not an expert, but nowadays one can get legal moonshine in a wide variety of persuasions.  Apple pie is very nice.

[PEIslander]

Sounds like it was a fun time, maybe next year my wife and I can join in since she's now retired.  Regarding Bourbon, it's a great food group, if you want something interesting try Apple Pie Moonshine.  Moonshine is usually corn based so I guess it's Bourbon, I'm not an expert, but nowadays one can get legal moonshine in a wide variety of persuasions.  Apple pie is very nice.

Mitch - where do you live? I don't think we can buy Apple Pie Moonshine here in the Maritime part of Canada. You will have to bring your Moonshine when we have the Second Annual International Livin'Lite Jamboree.

[Mitch]

Sounds like it was a fun time, maybe next year my wife and I can join in since she's now retired.  Regarding Bourbon, it's a great food group, if you want something interesting try Apple Pie Moonshine.  Moonshine is usually corn based so I guess it's Bourbon, I'm not an expert, but nowadays one can get legal moonshine in a wide variety of persuasions.  Apple pie is very nice.

Mitch - where do you live? I don't think we can buy Apple Pie Moonshine here in the Maritime part of Canada. You will have to bring your Moonshine when we have the Second Annual International Livin'Lite Jamboree.

I live roughly an hour north of Albany, NY which is very doable for the Second Annual International Livin'Lite Jamboree.  More importantly, if nothing serious changes between now and then my criminal record will still be clear.  I'll bring the booze.

[PEIslander]

You know how mothers are always worried that new friends will corrupt her child? Mom's are right --- today I went and bought a bottle of bourbon. A brand called Bulleit Bourbon "Frontier Whiskey". Straight bourbon pride of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, USA. It seems I've got it bad -- now I'm thinking about adding the bourbon distillery trail to my bucket list. It would be fun to travel around Kentucky with the small but mighty Camplite 11FDB checking out distilleries & sampling their amber nectar. Somewhere my mom is saying "damn you DavidM & your straight bourbon"...

[PEIslander]

Sounds like it was a fun time, maybe next year my wife and I can join in since she's now retired.  Regarding Bourbon, it's a great food group, if you want something interesting try Apple Pie Moonshine.  Moonshine is usually corn based so I guess it's Bourbon, I'm not an expert, but nowadays one can get legal moonshine in a wide variety of persuasions.  Apple pie is very nice.

Mitch - where do you live? I don't think we can buy Apple Pie Moonshine here in the Maritime part of Canada. You will have to bring your Moonshine when we have the Second Annual International Livin'Lite Jamboree.

I live roughly an hour north of Albany, NY which is very doable for the Second Annual International Livin'Lite Jamboree.  More importantly, if nothing serious changes between now and then my criminal record will still be clear.  I'll bring the booze.

Mitch - we'll be counting on your participation. It will be fun to see if each year this thing grows. A seed has been planted -- perhaps it will grow into a sturdy aluminum tree.

[DavidM]

Ross:

That Bourbon we drank at Fundy wasn't even a true Kentucky Bourbon. It was made in Massachusetts and was labeled Berkshire Bourbon for the Berkshire Mountains in that area. There are funny rules about Bourbon labeling. I think that the term "straight bourbon whiskey" applies to only Kentucky produced corn based liquor. Kind of like Cognac or Champaign is only allowed to be from a specific region of France.

The three "premium" Kentucky Bourbons that I like are Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve and Makers Mark. I think that they are each owned by one of the big guys in booze like Seagrams.

But it is all good sitting around a campfire,

David

[WWBushhog]

"I live roughly an hour north of Albany, NY which is very doable for the Second Annual International Livin'Lite Jamboree.  More importantly, if nothing serious changes between now and then my criminal record will still be clear.  I'll bring the booze."

Mitch, don't forget to bring your banjo!   

Thanks for the report and photos, Guys!  It's fun putting faces to the posts and sounds like we missed out on some great food and fellowship.

David, where in Texas did you live?

[PEIslander]

Oh... I almost forgot a funny thing that happened at our last campfire! Too bad David & Joan missed this incident. I'm sure they would have enjoyed the oddness of it all!

It was about 11pm. The base of the campfire glowed like a blast furnace while flames above licked the darkness. In the glow & bug-free zone sat Paul & Melanie and Ross & Heather. We talked & laughed like we had been friends forever. Out of the darkness walked a stranger. He approached us silently and slightly cautiously from behind. The first thing I noticed about him was he was wearing a uniform with his military medal ribbons proudly displayed on his chest. Above the rows of ribbons was his paratroopers wings - that I immediately recognized meant he was from the Airborne Regiment of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. It was my father's regiment when he served in the Korean War. (The Airborne Regiment were the most gung ho soldiers of the Canadian military - or at least they thought they were). The next thing I noticed as his face was lit by the glow of the campfire was that this guy was old. Really old! He looked to be at least 80! I could see Paul squirm with a puzzled confusion in a sort of "what the f*** is this?" moment. When he was almost close enough to touch us the old soldier announced in a rehearsed voice something like "It is now quite hours and you'll need to keep your voices down". I immediately understood that the old soldier was from the Canadian Corp of Commissionaires -- a private not-for-profit group that employs veterans for security guard jobs. Parks Canada must have contracted out campground security to the Commissionaires. We, the four loud campers, responded to his command in unison with something like "Oh, okay". While my fellow campliters seemed to still be processing "who is this freakingly old guy in uniform telling us to be quiet" I started a conversation with him. I commented about his paratrooper wings telling him my father had the same ones and that my father had served in the Korean War. That flicked on a switch -- no more rehearsed conversation with potentially unruly drunkard campers. He started talking with me about his service and it clearly was one of his favorite things to talk about. He almost seemed apologetic that when he joined the army he didn't get to serve in Korea -- and he left no doubt that it was something he had hoped to do. Now the funny thing about the conversation was during it he was every bit as loud as we Campliters had been -- perhaps even louder. He left and I felt good. The conversation had clearly made the old soldier happy. Perhaps I had helped make his otherwise boring job a little more fun that day.

Today as I write this it is Canada Day. I give thanks to the veterans who served our country and on United Nations missions -- and who help keep our National Parks safe & quiet at night.

[Mitch]

"I live roughly an hour north of Albany, NY which is very doable for the Second Annual International Livin'Lite Jamboree.  More importantly, if nothing serious changes between now and then my criminal record will still be clear.  I'll bring the booze."

Mitch, don't forget to bring your banjo!   

Thanks for the report and photos, Guys!  It's fun putting faces to the posts and sounds like we missed out on some great food and fellowship.

David, where in Texas did you live?

I don't leave home without it!  I assume moonshine will make me a better banjo player too. At the very least I'll think so.
 

[Paul]

Oh... I almost forgot a funny thing that happened at our last campfire! Too bad David & Joan missed this incident. I'm sure they would have enjoyed the oddness of it all!

It was about 11pm. The base of the campfire glowed like a blast furnace while flames above licked the darkness. In the glow & bug-free zone sat Paul & Michelle and Ross & Heather. We talked & laughed like we had been friends forever. Out of the darkness walked a stranger. He approached us silently and slightly cautiously from behind. The first thing I noticed about him was he was wearing a uniform with his military medal ribbons proudly displayed on his chest. Above the rows of ribbons was his paratroopers wings - that I immediately recognized meant he was from the Airborne Regiment of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. It was my father's regiment when he served in the Korean War. (The Airborne Regiment were the most gung ho soldiers of the Canadian military - or at least they thought they were). The next thing I noticed as his face was lit by the glow of the campfire was that this guy was old. Really old! He looked to be at least 80! I could see Paul squirm with a puzzled confusion in a sort of "what the f*** is this?" moment. When he was almost close enough to touch us the old soldier announced in a rehearsed voice something like "It is now quite hours and you'll need to keep your voices down". I immediately understood that the old soldier was from the Canadian Corp of Commissionaires -- a private not-for-profit group that employs veterans for security guard jobs. Parks Canada must have contracted out campground security to the Commissionaires. We, the four loud campers, responded to his command in unison with something like "Oh, okay". While my fellow campliters seemed to still be processing "who is this freakingly old guy in uniform telling us to be quiet" I started a conversation with him. I commented about his paratrooper wings telling him my father had the same ones and that my father had served in the Korean War. That flicked on a switch -- no more rehearsed conversation with potentially unruly drunkard campers. He started talking with me about his service and it clearly was one of his favorite things to talk about. He almost seemed apologetic that when he joined the army he didn't get to serve in Korea -- and he left no doubt that it was something he had hoped to do. Now the funny thing about the conversation was during it he was every bit as loud as we Campliters had been -- perhaps even louder. He left and I felt good. The conversation had clearly made the old soldier happy. Perhaps I had helped make his otherwise boring job a little more fun that day.

Today as I write this it is Canada Day. I give thanks to the veterans who served our country and on United Nations missions -- and who help keep our National Parks safe & quiet at night.

Nice post! Happy Canada day!

[DavidM]

David, where in Texas did you live?[/color][/b][/font]

I grew up in Houston and my mother still lives there. Went to college in Houston. But since then I have lived in NJ, Ct, Ga, Md, Ca, NC and now back to a little town in NW Ct- Litchfield.

Going back to Houston in late July for my Mom's birthday. July in Houston is not a great place to be, but it is her 90th birthday and she is my mother.

David