Friday 6/17/2022 - Day 6 of 31 on our 2022 Canadian Maritime #2 Caravan with Yankee RV Tour

On Friday June 17th, 2022, we departed Ponderosa Pines Campground. It was an excellent park with views of the Bay of Fundy!

I met up with a friend of Nancy Ragland's that did the Key West Rally with us. This trip she is on a 72-day Fantasy RV trip in the Canadian Maritimes. But, she did not give up her Yankee RV sticker! Good job, Marla!

Look at the co-pilots that Jack & Ann Sapp have! Aren't they too cute!

We took our rigs and cars separate, back to Hopewell Rocks. We drove the cars down below and took the short walk to the viewing platform and headed down the stairs to the bay’s floor at the base of the “flower pots.” At the base of the rocks it was still a bit moist, as the tide was just starting to go out. We were able to walk under the arch and get some pictures up close. We tried to get to the water’s edge, to dip our toes in the water …. But the sand by the edge was more like mud and all we did was sink! Good thing we had boots or water shoes on!

We continued to skirt the Bay of Fundy as we headed to our next destination. We are traveling on Route 114, which is a major tourist route to the Hopewell Rocks Park, Fundy National Park and the Fundy Scenic Drive.

We came upon the town of Hillsborough, New Brunswick. It made me think of our kids in Florida, they live in Hillsborough County. The village of Hillsborough is located on the banks of the Petitcodiac River. The village promotes itself as the “Eastern Gateway to the Fundy Tidal Zone”. Hillsborough boasts many historic sites, the Steeves House, the New Brunswick Railway Museum and a historic post office.

The Old Hillsborough Post Office is a two-story brick and sandstone Beaux Arts style institutional building that stands proudly on Main Street in Hillsborough. Just inside the double front doors, the original wall of mail boxes still scrutinizes the public area. For ninety-seven years the joys and sorrows of the villagers waited behind each brass and glass door to be revealed by the box owner’s key. The old Hillsborough Post Office has local historic significance as the symbol of a turning point in the development of the village. The stunning contrast of red brick highlighted by local sandstone door and window surrounds, string courses, keystones, entablature and foundations. The unflinching angles and plans of the building’s masonry exterior are unmistakably a class apart from the softer contours of the frame buildings cascading toward it down Main Street. Completed in 1913, the Old Post Office is more recent in design, material and construction techniques than its neighbors, setting it apart along the streetscape.

We came upon the town of Memramcook, New Brunswick. It is where most Acadians rallied after the deportation and the loss of their lands, it is quite natural to refer to this area as the “Cradle of New Acadia”.  It was here where dispersed Acadians re-established their homes. Bit by bit, the Acadian spirit slowly rekindled itself and began breathing life into the newly settled Acadian communities hugging the three Maritime Provinces’ coastline. Memramcouke really is the foundation that re-energized Acadians to rebuild their lives and their villages. Dating back to 1700, the Parish of Memramcook’s first settlers were aboriginal peoples from the Mi’kmaq tribe who made their home along the river. Did you know that “Memramcook” is a Mi’kmaq name that, according to some, means “crooked river”? Many controversies marked the final spelling choice of the parish’s name. At the beginning, it was written “Memeramcouque”, and then it became “Mamramkook”. Finally, after many years, the spelling “Memramcook” was universally adopted. Memramcook, like many other Acadian villages, was built around salt marshes.

Charlie is ready to hold the wheel tight, as we get ready to enter Nova Scotia. There are large signs indicating “High Winds.” It must be winding, because we can see several wind turbines here. There are also a series of bridges we must traverse to enter Nova Scotia.

As we entered Nova Scotia, Highway 2 becomes Highway 104. This is where the wind turbines are located that we saw before we crossed the bridge.

We stopped at the Information Center for Nova Scotia and pick up the books and maps. We were lucky and just before we were scheduled to depart we got to hear the bag piper play!

Highway 104 in Nova Scotia is also known as Miners Memorial Highway. It runs from Fort Lawrence at the New Brunswick border near Amherst to River Tillard near St. Peter's. Except for the portion on Cape Breton Island between Port Hawkesbury and St. Peter's, it is part of the Trans-Canada Highway. The provincial government named the highway the Miners Memorial Highway in 2008, one month before the 50th anniversary of the Springhill Mining Disaster of 1958. The 1958 bump, an underground earthquake, occurred on October 23, was the most severe "bump" in North American mining history. The 1958 bump injured Springhill residents and devastated the town's economy. It is not exactly known what causes a "bump". It could be the result of coal being totally removed from a bedrock unit. The resulting geological stresses upon overlying strata may cause the pillars to suddenly and catastrophically disintegrate, so that the galleries themselves collapse. No. 2 colliery was one of the deepest coal mines in the world. Sloping shafts 14,200 feet in length led to a vast labyrinth of galleries more than 4,000 feet below the surface. Mining techniques there had been changed 20 years before the 1958 bump, from "room and pillar" to "long wall retreating" after reports had shown the increased danger of "bump" phenomena resulting from the former technique. A small bump occurred at 7:00 pm during the evening shift; it was ignored, as this was a somewhat common occurrence. However, just over an hour later, at 8:06 pm, an enormous bump "severely impacted the middle of the three walls that were being mined and the ends of the four levels nearest the walls". The bump spread as three distinct shock waves, resembling a small earthquake throughout the region, alerting residents on the surface over a wide area to the disaster. "Dräger" teams and teams of barefaced miners entered No. 2 colliery to begin the rescue effort. They encountered survivors at the 13,400-foot level walking or limping toward the surface. Gas released by the bump was encountered in increasing concentrations at the 13,800-foot level where the ceiling had collapsed, and rescuers were forced to work down shafts that were in a partial state of collapse or were blocked completely by debris. Miners not saved by being either in side galleries or some other shelter were immediately crushed during the bump, the coal galleries and faces being completely destroyed. 75 survivors were on the surface by 4:00 am on October 24, 1958. Rescue teams continued working, but the number of rockfalls and the amount of debris slowed progress. Meanwhile, the Canadian and international news media had made their way to Springhill. The disaster became famous for being the first major international event to appear in live television broadcasts. As the world waited and those on the surface kept their vigil, rescuers continued to toil below ground trying to reach trapped survivors. Teams began to arrive from other coal mines in Cumberland County, on Cape Breton Island and in Pictou County. After five and a half days, contact was established with a group of 12 survivors on the other side of a 160-foot rockfall. A rescue tunnel was dug; it broke through to the trapped miners on Thursday, October 30, 1958. On Saturday, November 1, 1958, another group of survivors was found. None were found after those. Instead, bodies of the dead were hauled out in airtight aluminum coffins, on account of the advanced stage of decomposition. Decomposition was accelerated by the earth's heat in the depths of 14,000 feet below the mine entrance. Of the 174 miners in # 2 mine at the time of the bump: 75 died, and 99 were trapped but rescued.

The town of Truro has a sign that indicates it is “the hub of Nova Scotia.” Truro is located on the Salmon River east of the head of Cobequid Bay. No one knows for sure where the name "Truro" originated. Before Europeans came to Nova Scotia the Mi'kmaq had been in the province for thousands of years. In this area they camped along the shores of the Salmon River.  In 1689, Mathieu Martin "the first born Frenchman in Acadia" secured land along the Wecobequitk River at the site of present-day Truro. He founded the Acadian settlement of Cobequit. By 1748 there were 142 families in the Cobequit district. In 1755, at the time of the expulsion of the Acadians by the English, the Acadians left their homes at Cobequit to avoid deportation and the villages were eventually burned by the English, discouraging the Acadians' return. In 1758, the Governor of Nova Scotia, issued a proclamation which was circulated in the New England colonies offering free land to settlers who would come to Nova Scotia. Captain Alexander McNutt applied for land for himself and others from New Hampshire. These people were of Scotish-Irish descent. In 1761, about 60 families came to settle Truro Township on the south side of the bay. The year 1858 can be considered the turning point in the history of Truro, the railroad opened between Truro and Halifax. No other single factor in Truro’s history had such a profound effect on the life and growth of the community. The railway line, with its potential to expand in several directions, gave rise to Truro’s nickname, “The Hub of Nova Scotia”. After the coming of the railway to Truro, the dangers of fire were even more possible from the sparks of wood-burning train engines. George Jones, Truro’s first barber and an early African Nova Scotian resident of the town, suggested that a public meeting be held to discuss the situation. From this meeting, it was decided to form a “Bucket and Ladder Company”. World War II brought the development of Camp Debert as a training center for the Canadian Army. This camp was designed to hold 15,000 men. Over 4,000 men were employed in the construction and operation of the camp and many carpenters, electricians, drivers, painters and laborers earned from 35 cents to 65 cents an hour, better than many places in Truro were offering.

Antigonish, is the highland heart of Nova Scotia. It is a small town with a rich in Gaelic history. Home of one of Canada`s most prestigious universities, St. Francis Xavier University. Antigonish is a Mi'kmaq name and, depending upon whom you ask, has two quite distinct meanings. One is ‘The place where the branches are torn off by bears gathering beechnuts’ or ‘Meeting place of five forked rivers, West River, South River, Brierly Brook, Wright's River, and east Wright's River’.

The French arrived in the 1650’s, but were driven off by the Mi'kmaq. The Mi'kmaq, a branch of the wandering Algonquin race, once were scattered over New England and much of Atlantic Canada. In 1755, the Acadian French began to settle the east end of Antigonish County. The largest centers of Acadian population in the county became Pomquet, Tracadie, and Havre Boucher. After the American Revolution, 3000 free black citizens enter Nova Scotia. Some of them settle in Antigonish. The first Highland Games, celebrating their Gaelic heritage, was held in 1861. The railroad service opened between New Glasgow and Antigonish in 1880. During World War I, a fund drive was launched to raise money to equip a hospital ship for the wounded soldiers. A plea for volunteers went out from every pulpit, platform and classroom. Many university students enlisted in the Canadian Officers Training Corps and in other units as well. During World War II, everyone from soldiers to the women of the area did their part for the war effort. Lloyd MacDonald was the first Antigonish soldier to give his life in the war. Antigonish was the first town in Nova Scotia to have all of its streets paved. In 1989, the Town of Antigonish celebrated its centennial.

We arrived at our home for the night, Whidden’s Travel Park. We enjoyed dinner at the Maritime Inn and Main St Café. My dinner was haddock. It was very good food and conversation. A quiet night was enjoyed by all.