Fredericton, New Brunswick, CanadaMay 5, 2012
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| Monday the 30th of April we left Bangor, Maine around 0900, The weather was clear but cold with the temperatures in the upper 30's in the morning and by the time we got to Fredericton the temperature had climbed into the 50's. Brian McEwing, husband of Marge's cousin Rosa, is a retired civil engineer for the New Brunswick Department of Highways. He has read with interest my comments about the various highways we have driven over on our trip and is eagerly awaiting my comments about the highways in New Brunswick. We drove the Trans Canada highway from Woodstock, New Brunswick to the river road turn off located about 35 kilometers from Fredericton. The road is good and it has a large section of it protected by fencing to control the moose crossings and to try and reduce the number of moose and vehicle encounters which can be deadly to not only the moose but also the vehicle occupants. This fence is not 100% effective but it is much better than nothing which is what you find in most other States as well as Provinces. One the downside of the New Brunswick highway system is there are no "Rest" areas in the entire province. Apparently this was not Brian's fault as he lobbied for them but was over-ruled. The campground in Fredericton is under a major renovation but the owner had told us the facility would be open by April 28th. At arrival we realized very quickly the renovation was definitely not finished. The manger came up to us as we were surveying the situation and told us we were welcome to stay and that older section that is not under renovation was open but the water system was turned off and would not be turned back on until Monday the 7th. We only had a 50% load of fresh water but one of the employees said we could fill our tank across the road at his farm. So for this past week we have conserving water as best we can and have been taking advantage of Marge's relatives generosity for showers. Tuesday we drove to Marge's sister's home where we were suddenly greeted with what seems to be an overwhelming task of getting the home ready for sale. We have been working there every day and have got a lot of work done with the generous help of Marge's cousins and without their help it is unlikely we could ever complete the task. The job is further complicated by the demands to settle the financial part of the estate and closing the accounts, paying bills, and filling out forms, etc. It is a nightmare. Today is Saturday and we had an open house for the family and friends to drop by and pick out anything they might want of Geraldine's which would be made available to them at no charge. We had one visitor and to our delight she took a great deal of stuff. We rented a large dumpster for a week and we began loading the dumpster Friday morning just after the dumpster was delivered. Marge was taking a load of rotted wood into the dumpster and tripped on the floor of the dumpster and landed flat one her face. Today she has a blackened left eye and a left lens of her glasses badly scratched. Marge is now calling herself the "Dumpster Diva". Tomorrow we will probably go down to the house to use the washer and dryer to clean clothes but we will limit our work around the house. Monday should be a very busy day. We have someone that wants the piano and the piano movers are expected on Monday. At 0830 we expect a cleaning service that will attempt to remove the smoke smell in the room that had previously been occupied by a low life, lazy, dirt bag of a border. Never in our lives have we ever seem or smelled a room such as this. The walls, furniture, and bedding are stained an ugly dirty yellow stain from the cigarette smoke and according to the cleaner this is the worse case he has ever seen. It will require at least two employees 8 to 10 hours to complete the cleanup and then we must paint the room with a special sealing paint to prevent the orders from returning. The paint is a special paint and it is very expensive. That is all for today, Ross |
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