When I left Parrsboro, I headed south. My first stop was in Saint John, New Brunswick, for an exciting visit to a Canadian Costco. Yes, I’m such a good tourist. No museums, no art galleries, no historic sites, but Costco, definitely!

But when R and I were grocery shopping, we discovered some delicious pretend trail mix at Canadian Costco and I wanted to get more of it before returning to the US. What makes it “pretend” trail mix, you ask? Well, it’s a combo of dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate, which sounds like trail mix to me, but the chocolate in it is so good that it feels like trail mix that belongs in fancy bowls at cocktail parties instead of out in the woods. Funnily enough, the American version, as shown on Amazon, calls it “Deluxe Chocolate Trail Mix” but the Canadian version is just “Deluxe Chocolate Mix.” Maybe the Canadians don’t feel the need to pretend that mixed nuts and chocolates are health food?

Anyway, post-Costco, I’d intended to keep driving, but I was already tired and just not in the mood to be on the road. So I looked for a nearby campground and found New River Beach Provincial Park. Or Parc Provincial Plage New River, depending on where you start reading the name. (The actual paperwork reads “Parc Provincial Plage New River Beach Provincial Park” which would be the fully bilingual name.)

It was a one-night stay, arriving mid-afternoon, departing first thing in the morning, and so it could have been a totally forgettable campground for me. But, the campground was really, really nice. It made me feel so much better about being back on the road. The sites were shaded and private, the walk around the campground was lovely, there was a beautiful beach nearby, and best of all, the showers were clean, hot, and free!

And modern. One of the things that most annoys me about campground showers is that there’s rarely any place to put your shampoo and soap inside the shower except on the ground. These showers had two built-in ledges on the fiberglass walls. Just remembering it makes me sigh with pleasure. Yes, the small joys of being a full-time camper, ha.

The next day I headed to Acadia, which is where I am now. I think I’m probably not going to write a separate post about Acadia. I’m in the Schoodic Woods campground and it’s lovely — nice, modern, big sites, reasonable privacy, lots of nature around. But Zelda is resisting going for long walks and I’m not sure we’re going to see much of the park.

And it feels like my head has already moved on. I’m visiting lots of people in the next ten days, scheduling a night here and a night there, and looking forward to all my visits. But also feeling like I’m not being where I am very well right now — I’m busy thinking about all the places I’m going to be and all the things I’m going to do instead of appreciating this day that I’m in. I think I’d like to get back to appreciating the day I’m in, instead of trying to think about it to write about it. But it’s 48 degrees outside, sunny and beautiful, and I’m glad to be here, even if I do just sit in my chair and breathe for a while.