East Coastal Drive – Day 4, Kouchibouguac National Park

It’s pronounced KOO-She-Boo_quawk. I drove through the Appalachian Range – forest on either side, right to the road. We were cutting through north New Brunswick. It’s not a regular route – the Trans Canada goes south. Our first pee break stop was Bathurst, NB. The have a new Waterfront Promenade with little shops. They weren’t open but the Tourism place was. She was very nice and welcomed me to Bathurst.

We walked a bit along the waterfront. Bathurst is about half between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River. It was very cold but Eve insisted on saying hello to the large flock of Canada Geese.

I had planned on taking the Acadian Drive. It goes along the coast to Miramichi. However, the tourism person says it takes about 4 hours and that is without stopping. I could have done it but the clouds were getting darker, looking like rain so decided to drive straight to Kouchi.

Sure enough the rain started coming down. By the time I got there it was a light rain. When I went out west I purchased an umbrella tent for the trip. I brought it along this trip. It opened up in less than 30 seconds. It allows the pugs to get out of the car and hang out without getting wet.

By the time I got everything setup the rain had stopped. It was mid-afternoon so decided to try a canoe rental. We got down to the place but it was closed. We still had cloudy skies but no rain so we went down to the beach.

Kelly’s Beach is famous for not only the beach but the boardwalk trail that goes across the dunes. Unfortunately, both the beach and boardwalk are closed to dogs. Callenders Beach is the dog beach so off we went. Greta couldn’t figure out what the seaweed was. But she followed Raisin and stepped in it.

I got their PFDs on and took Eve and Greta out first. The water was so cold. I should have tested it first. They were in for about 10 seconds then pulled them out.

I think we’ll wait until we are in Nova Scotia before we try that again. Got back and started a warm fire.

We all huddled around to dry out. Dinner was rotisserie chicken and raw veggies with dip. Raisin was soaking up the heat because she knew it was going to be a cold night.

The rain started up again. I put the umbrella tent near the fire and sat quietly listening to the patter of the drops and the crackle of the wood burning. In bed, they all huddled next to me under the sleeping bag. I woke up every once and awhile to the sound of rain. I slept for 10 hours and felt refreshed the next morning.

2 comments

  1. Sounds a little chilly! I hope you all are warmed up. You are such a great Dad bringing along that huge umbrella tent for the girls.

  2. Love the umbrella tent , what a great idea ! So jealous of your 10 hours of sleep , like what is that ??
    I am so enjoying the pictures and stories of your trip

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