The Gorgeous Bay of Fundy
It was a relatively short drive today - but we needed to do laundry, and seeing as how we passed right through the metropolis of Saint John, we thought (or I thought) why not try to kill two birds with the same stone, or some such thing. If you recall we had the terrific story of walking an hour in the poring rain in search of our cabin in the Gatineau woods - most of our clothes were wet and soiled. So laundry would help a lot in our day-to-day creature comforts. I had visions of us dropping off our load at the conveniently located laundromat and strolling through the famous Saint John city market while our goods were being washed and dried, picking them up after enjoying what the market merchants had to offer, and carrying on our way to Fundy National Park with full bellies, content minds and clean/dry clothes.
Alas, it wasn't to be. It proved hard to find a laundromat. Googles first two options are no longer laundromats. The first we walked to, up the steep and colourful Princess street (if you've been to Saint John you know the type - cheery shops, Everest-like incline) and noticed that a man was hard at work fixing the sign - Princess Laundry. But when I pulled on the handle the door stood firm. A closer glance inside revealed an empty space. "So it's not a laundromat anymore" I foolishly said to the workman. "Hasn't been a laundromat in 4 years" he told me, grinning. I didn't ask what it needed a sign for then.
The next one Siri suggested we called. "This hasn't been a laundromat in near on seven years" the kindly lady told me. Thanks Siri. As many of you know, Theresa, though the quieter one of us, is the smarter, so she flagged down a nearby postal worker. He thought one was still working a few blocks over, and after strolling around a few more baby Everests and asking another passerby, we found what we were in search of. It wasn't the nicest part of town, but it worked and had many machines available (it was deserted).
After running to a corner store to buy detergent, we started. Luckily there was a thrift store next door where we could woo our son with a cheap toy (a small price to pay for keeping him locked away in a dingy laundromat all afternoon) and Theresa found a nearby deli to quench her growing hunger.
After a few hours we were done, but hadn't yet seen the market, still needed groceries, and were dangerously close to afternoon nap time. We bit the bullet and headed out of picturesque Saint John with Gord and I seeing little more than the inside of a discount laundromat in the seedy part of town. Such is the unpredictable life of travellers.
We had our spirits buoyed in any event because we were heading for the Bay of Fundy and Fundy National park. Our home for the next three nights.
Enjoying the front porch.
In mid March, as soon as the booking season opened, I jumped online and booked an oTENTik, the National park's latest attempt at ready-made camping. The idea started in Europe and is simple. For a little more cost, the park provides you with a semi-permanent A-frame canvas tent with two rooms, one for eating and one for sleeping. There's screened doors and windows, modest mattresses and bed frames for up to 6, a furnace, a solar powered light and charging station and a fire pit, picnic table and two chairs outside. You bring your own linens, cooking/eating ware and a cooler and you're camping - sort of. Anyway, T, G and I enjoyed it a summer ago when we visited the townships in Quebec and Mt. Orford provincial park, so we thought to do it again. And we could drive right to our door - no more hike ins!
It took us about 20 minutes to set up our beds and get dinner started, the rain on the outside a nice accompaniment to our meal, and our clean clothes stayed dry!
Tomorrow we would go exploring our surroundings. Fundy, we love you.
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