Thursday June 21,2007

A full day is ahead for the crew. Bill Miller arranged for a bus tour of the city of Saint John. Staring out we drove thru a residential section where the Irving family has their abode. Irving is the big name in oil and many other enterprises. We drove by many stately manors built in the 1800's. A stop was made at the Reversing Falls during low tide. This is an area where the Saint John river runs into Saint John Harbor over some rapids. As the tide comes in, the ocean water level goes above the river water level and creates rapids in the opposite direction. 180 miles upstream, the force of the rising tide raises the river level about 1 foot. We also stopped at an old fortification built by the British during the War of 1812. Its purpose was to defend against any ground invasion that might occur. None did. A concrete structure was added during WWII to coordinate defenses against any German incursion. None did. We continued thru a section of vintage houses that belonged to ship builders on up to an old section of Saint John. A stop at City Market for souviners, food, trinkets, or whatever and then back to the RVs.
The afternoon was free time for sightseeing, shopping, or hanging out. Several of the group took the jet boat ride at the Reversing Falls. The idea was to see the Falls from water level and to get a little wet. John Boulton wasn't going to be fooled so he donned his brand new yellow raingear and waited for the drenching. Unfortuneately, when he took his raingear off, it disintegrated and the remains clung to his clothes like a new set of underwear. Some of the local sites visted included the Angelican Church, the old courthouse, and the NB Museum.
When the tide came in, several of the group went back to the Falls to see the reverse. Not as impressive as the outward flow but still quite a sight. Happy hour and and another great dinner created by Janet Payne and her army of helpers. For those of us taking the 4 week New Foundland extended trip are trying to figure out how to kidnap Janet without Russ getting wise. Off to Hopewell Cape tomorrow.
The Johnson's were south of Washington DC and trying to catch up.