Weather Underground has a relatively new blog feature and I noticed today that there's a lot of blog activity centered around the approaching Hurricane, Dennis. Here's a couple wublogs to watch:

• Jeff Masters
• Steve Gregory

Update: Dennis has hit Cuba. Here's the Radar.

The gully washer at the end of our Quoddy Park hike accompanied over the bridge into Canada and to Campobello Island. Despite once being a favored getaway for Franklin D. Roosevelt the island doesn't have much in the way of grocery or eating establishments (1 and 2 respectively) with three quarters of those closed due to an island wide power outage. That would be the Faith-and-Jerry-just-hiked-a-bog thunderstorm induced power outage.

We found a cozy camping spot at the Herring Cove Provincial Park and set up our tent between rain showers. The rain and cool weather may have put a damper on the number of campers in the park, but it certainly didn't have any effect on the mosquitos.

The speed with which we set up our tent was directly proportional to the speed that the mosquitos discovered our damp, blood filled bodies. Rather than brave mosquitos AND rain long enough to cook dinner we decided to treat ourselves to a restaurant meal. Power was still out on the island so we got somewhat bland fish dinners from the only open restaurant. Somewhere in the back the cook was valiantly slaving over a propane stove by candlelight and for that we are appreciative.

Faced with yet more rain and mosquitos the next morning we dashed all of our island excursion plans and hopped the next ferry to Deer Island and then the ferry to the New Brunswick mainland. From there we drove non-stop to Saint John and checked into a hotel.

Fly away!

It was a good escape. The next day was Canada day and there bands playing in the pavilion next to the hotel. We bought a roomier tent, hung our wet clothes to dry in the hotel room, and went out for Indian food. Clean, dry, and rested we headed out early the next morning (in the rain) for our next stop: Fundy National Park.

p.s. it does stop raining before this vacation is over...
p.p.s. thanks to a link to pedometer from Pedraum I can now map our stops