After a somewhat soppy start we headed out to Fundy National Park with the hope of sunshine, long (dry) hikes, and toasted marshmallows. We had considered staying another day in Saint John, for Canada day, but figured if we weren't planning on being back in time for our own 4th of July it wouldn't be right to celebrate someone else's. Or something like that.

Northeast we went, a light rain falling most of the drive. When we arrived at the gate the nice person told us the day's park pass would be free...Canada day and all (they are so nice). She was a little unsure about our chances of getting a camping spot...Canada day and all. Since it's a popular park you can/should make reservations.

Those of us without reservations are called walk-ons, or something like that...ask Faith. What it means is that you have to wait until 2pm at which time the no-show reservations are handed out on a first-come basis. Faith stood in line, while Zeke and I walked the Point Wolfe campground to scope out the prime spots. There's a hundred and seventy eight spots (no RVs in Point Wolfe) some of them nice and secluded, others wide open right next to the road. I was starting to worry that we'd have a tree-free tent site next to the ranger station for the next three days.

As luck would have it we got spot #8, which was nestled into the trees a bit and didn't have a nearby tent spot. This after Faith waited over forty minutes in line. She didn't just sit idle, in fact I think she started a walk-ons union and probably a mailing list or two to stay in touch.

The light rain let up long enough for us to setup the (new! bigger! drier!) tent and go on a short hike, after which the sky opened up and poured out its heart the rest of the night.

The next day started off a bit damp but by the time we headed into the nearby town and bought a rain jacket for Faith, the sky cleared up and we wouldn't see another drop the rest of the trip. Lucky rain jacket.

It was time for some serious vacationing...

There are a lot of nice hikes (and mountain biking, but we didn't bring ours) at Fundy. With all of the recent rain the waterfalls were running quite nicely. Bugs weren't bad, much better than Campobella, and the temperature was perfect. We hiked and hiked and hiked some more (see dog photo below).

Fundy bay has the highest tides in the world. At the head of the bay the tide can rise fifty two feet! Nowhere was it more dramatically illustrated than when we went into the nearby town during low tide. At the dock large boats were resting on dry ground, twenty feet or more below the dock and high tide line, the ocean a quarter mile or so away.