Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure...Day 13...Monday, June 27, 2011...Camping in Fundy National

Another great night's sleep...there's just something about the outdoors that makes for comfortable sleeping.
We want to hike the Hopewell Rocks, but low tide isn't until mid-afternoon...so we spend some time "housekeeping". That means cleaning out the coolers, reorganizing the camper and repacking the Escape. All that work makes for a healthy appetite, so Ed and I make some super-duper ham sandwiches for lunch...very good.
After lunch, we head out to Hopewell Rocks for a hike. There's an admission charge ($9.00), but that's no problem. We head down a long trail that borders the cliffs on the coastline...occasionally hiking down to various viewing platforms to take photographs. A mile or so down the trail, we head down a steep path right to the coastline...then down several long flights of steps to the shore. Now, we're standing on the ocean floor amid some huge rock formations that have been exposed by the low tide. It's a very impressive experience...walking among the rocks. After an hour or two of hiking around and taking photos, we head back up the trail and, eventually, back to the parking lot.
Now we're on our way back to the Park...but not without another stop at the Parkview bar for a few beers with the locals and the great owners, Karen and Dave. The beers are cold, the welcome warm and the conversation stimulating. Karen and Dave's son knows the head Ranger at Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, and he agrees to send word so that we get a great experience there. Canadian Customs Officers excepted, the people here are wonderful...friendly, welcoming, open...I can't speak highly enough of the people.
Many beers later, we're on our way back to our camp...but not without another stop at Butland's for lobster...this time a cold, cooked one. Back at camp, we enjoy a few more of our "expensive" cocktails. Ed cooks up a batch of Tandoori chicken, and I turn my cold lobster into a lobster salad...onion, celery, mayo, salt, pepper, and a little paprika...excellent.
There is, however, a small problem with the Tandoori. I have the grill stored in a storage container with the lid inverted inside to save space. I'm concentrating on the lobster salad, so I don't notice that Ed has started the grill with the coals inside the lid instead of the bottom part. The resulting chicken has an "off" taste, produced no doubt by the melted handle of the lid. We're calling it "polyethylene" chicken...a new recipe!
Another great day!