Fall to the Rising Sun // Itinerary

Fall to the Rising Sun Trip 2016 • Full Vacation Itinerary

Due to the nature of Curtis’ training, we have known all along that there would be several chances that we would have a lot of down time.  We decided that if any of those opportunities presented themselves, we would take advantage of it and go do something really crazy. We started dreaming of the places we could go back when we were in South Carolina, and threw a lot of different ideas around, from long road trips to traveling internationally. One idea we had was to visit the Northeast – New England and the Atlantic Provinces of Canada. We settled on the idea that if we were to stay in the South, we would travel North, and if we moved North, we’d travel to the South — somewhere in the Caribbean, perhaps.

Then we found out we were moving to New York….but we honestly felt no desire for a tropical island vacation. Instead, we felt drawn even further North. I started looking at pictures and places to visit in Canada, and I was instantly hooked. I remember that day well, Curtis came home for lunch and I dragged him to my laptop and showed him all these places where we just HAD to go. I think he picked up on the excitement quickly, but how could he not when these places included all of our favorite things – mountains, hiking, history, and seeing places we’d never been. That pretty much sealed the deal. We still had other trips to plan before that — like moving to New York, for instance, but I couldn’t help starting another trip itinerary “just in case”.

Planning vacations like this comes with a lot of hope and trust that you’ll actually be able to go – and knowing that even if it works out and the plans are solidified, things still won’t go exactly the way you planned. I have so many “dream vacations” that I have planned in my mind that I may never get the chance to take, but as it turned out, this one was meant to be. Now that it’s all said and done, we are beyond thankful that we had the chance and that we made the most of every day spent on the road exploring the Northeast.

All we really had was a rough itinerary at the start. We knew the places we wanted to hit. We knew that we wanted to camp for at least half of the trip, and break that up with nights in motels. We also took into account that with a trip this long, we had to plan for some down time in order to not burn out. We also knew that eating out all the time would be far too expensive, but that we couldn’t carry all the food we would need.  Most of all, we knew that it might be a long time, if ever, that we’ll get another chance to visit a lot of these places, so we wanted to go, enjoy each spot, and leave without regrets.

So here is my first post of many that will be written about this trip. I’m not going to write about each day like I normally would — some days we didn’t do enough to constitute a full post, and others would have way too much going on. Today I’m sharing our itinerary after the fact — here’s what we did, how far we drove, and where we stayed. At the bottom of this post, I’m sharing a map of all the main spots we visited to help put it into perspective. Yes, there is one point that is ridiculously out of the way from all the others…but that, my friends, is a story for another day. I can’t wait to write and share about this vacation, as it will help me to relive all those special memories we shared.

One last thing: to answer the question “How did the trip get its name/hashtag”: it’s fall and we went East. 😉

Without further ado…

9/19 Drove from Saratoga, NY to Sanford, ME – Visited Bennington Battlefield Monument, covered bridges, and scenic overlooks in Southern VT. Hotel in Sanford.

9/20 Drove from Sanford, ME to Millbridge, ME – Set up camp at McClellen Campground and enjoyed the park.

9/21 Acadia National Park – Hiked several peaks & did scenic driving. Camped.

9/22 Schoodic Point and Petit Manan NWR – Hiking and scenic driving. Camped.

9/23 Drove from Millbridge, ME to St. John, NB – Hiked along the Bold Coast, visited St. Croix International Historic Park, crossed the border. Walked around downtown St. John and saw Reversing Rapids. Hotel in St. John.

9/24 Drove from St. John, NB to New Horton, NB – Drove through Fundy National Park, set up camp at the Shire, hiked to a beach and a cove.

9/25 Fundy National Park and Hopewell Rocks – Hiked in Fundy and all over the ocean floor at Hopewell during low tide, visited Cape Enrage. Camped at the Shire.

9/26 Drove from New Horton, NB to Halifax, NS – Visited Hopewell Rocks at high tide and Fort Beausejour National Historic Site, evening walk in ravine park in Halifax. Hotel in Halifax.

9/27 Day in Halifax, NS – Visited the Citadel National Historic Site, walked around downtown and in the peninsula park. Hotel in Halifax.

9/28 Drove from Halifax, NS to Louisbourg, NS. Camped around Louisbourg.

9/29 Drove to Louisbourg, NS to Cape Breton Highlands National Park – Toured Louisbourg Fortress, hiked at Cape Smokey Provincial Park, set up camp, hiked along the Aspy River and saw Beulach Ban Falls.

9/30 Explored Cape Breton Highlands National Park – hiked Franey Mountain, Middlehead Cove, took a scenic drive, and explored White Point. Camped.

10/1 Hiking around Meat Cove. Camped.

10/2 Drove from CBHNP to New Glasgow, NS – Finished driving the Cabot Trail. Hiked the Acadian Trail. Hotel in New Glasgow.

10/3 Drove/took ferry from New Glasgow, NS to Mill Cove, PE – Visited lighthouses & beach. Arrived at AirBnB apartment for a relaxing week on Prince Edward Island.

10/4 Visited Green Gables, saw lighthouse, hiked to province high point.

10/5 Day in Charlottetown & at the beach.

10/6 PEI National Park in King’s County, saw lighthouse, scenic drive.

10/7 Left AirBnB. Drove from Mill Cove, PE to New Horton, NB – Visited PEI Preserve Company, drove across the Confederation Bridge, explored Caledonia Gorge, camped at the Shire.

10/8 Drove from New Horton, NB to Woodstock, NB via the most indirect route possible – Scenic driving in the Canadian Appalachians and hiking in Mount Carleton Provincial Park. Hotel in Woodstock.

10/9 Drove from Woodstock, NB to the White Mountains of New Hampshire – Crossed border, scenic driving in Maine, saw Rumford Falls and hiked Mount Will. Camped in White Mountains.

10/10 Hiking in the White Mountains – Mt. Willard, Mt. Jackson, and Mt. Webster. Camped.

10/11 Drove from the White Mountains to Saratoga, NY – Scenic driving in NH & VT. Saw waterfalls in VT & hiked the Robert Frost Trail. Drove HOME!