We woke up this morning in Canada and tonight we will be going to bed in the United States of America!  And, I am back in the Eastern time zone.  YAY!  As much as I love traveling outside the country, I always get excited when I see the border to re-enter the USA.  Today was no different.

So, this morning, St. John lived up to its reputation of being one of the foggiest cities.  The pea soup was thick, cloying and, from my room, I couldn’t see but about a half block away.  I was up and ready to go at about 7:00 AM but waited two hours hoping the fog would lift.  It did not.  I want to tell you, it was scary.  Visibility was so bad I couldn’t see signs and you could barely see cars in front of you.  I made several wrong turns and was getting extremely frustrated just trying to get out of the city.  I knew that once I was on  Canada Route 1 West, it would be somewhat better as it was a straight shot to the US border, but it took me almost a half hour to find the correct road.

The extremely dense fog persisted for about thirty minutes but finally lifted enough that you didn’t feel as if you were driving into an abyss.  St. John is only a little more than an hour from the border and I had figured I would stop somewhere along the way and spend my remaining $21 Canadian dollars but all of a sudden, there is the border in front of me.  Luckily, there was also a duty-free store.  I already had two bottles of wine in the car (maximum allowable) so spent my wad on dark chocolate.  You can never have too much chocolate.

There were three lines to enter the U.S. and I picked the middle line.  Wrong decision.  I swear, I never pick the fast line no matter where I am.  By the way, I did NOT take this picture as it is illegal to do so (there are signs stating that fact).  I found this picture on the internet.

Anyway, I finally got through and let the GPS be my guide and what a beautiful ride it was!  ME Route 9 West then ME Route 46 South, then US Route 1 South.  Winding, dipping, turning, magnificent terrain almost the entire way.  This should be listed as a scenic route…mountains, lakes, rivers, quaint little towns, the ocean!  I have completely run out of unique adjectives to describe what I’ve seen.  Suffice it to say that I am impressed with the grandeur and gorgeousness of our country.  And, Maine is particularly spectacular.

I picked Camden, Maine as a stop purely because it was a four-hour drive from St. John but, oh my God!   I love it here!  This town is so cute and picturesque.  The population at the last census was only 4,850 but triples during the summer months with tourists primarily from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.  Bordered by the Penobscot Bay and the Gulf of Maine (part of the Atlantic Ocean), the homes on its hills offer spectacular views.

Chloe and I checked into our hotel and we were both blown away.  The pet-friendly apartment with high, sloping ceilings and a skylight, reminiscent of the sea, is decorated with paintings depicting dogs on beaches or boats, the bed cover has dog pictures all over it, even the shower curtain has a dog on it.  There is a special dog bed (which Chloe has already used), baskets of doggy toys, dog bowls.  For me, there is a queen-sized bed, a full kitchen, television with Fox News (YAY)…I could live here.

We settled in then went for a walk to Camden Harbor where most of the shopping and restaurants are.  We found a little park with a waterfall and ducks (that was Chloe’s favorite).  The harbor is breathtakingly beautiful and we found a nice waterside restaurant to sit, have an ice-cold beer and fresh blackened haddock tacos, stuffed with Asian slaw and mango salsa.

Gorgeous place.  I wouldn’t mind coming back here.