We were up early this morning anxious to make the last leg to home. After a quick breakfast in the motel, we loaded up the car one last time, programmed the GPS for the FASTEST route home and were off.
With the 4th of July holiday this week traffic was heavier than normal, particularly on I-85 but the trip was finished without incident.
After a short recovery period, we put together this final daily log. We plan to add a summary after we have a short period to appreciate what we have accomplished. Our goal of finding the "Extreme East" cache was accomplished but the true goal was exploring all the land from here to there and back.
We liked what we saw. This was a road trip.
Final leg - 211 miles, 2376 feet, 6 inches.
Total distance traveled - 6715.11 miles
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Day 17 - Roanoke to Asheville
Our goal today was to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Roanoke, VA to Asheville, NC. We left the hotel and were soon joined the parkway at Roanoke Mountain and started driving south.
We made a stop at Mabry Mill. It features a restored gristmill, sawmill, and blacksmith shop all restored to operating condition. There is also a virtual cache at the site. 
Of course, there are a number of overlooks all along the way. With today's good weather, some were just stunning. 
We were surprised to notice there was a geocache just off the side of the road. Here I had just climbed back up the hill after finding the ammo can.
It was a clear day and cool so we put the top down and it stayed down all day.
We made a stop at Mabry Mill. It features a restored gristmill, sawmill, and blacksmith shop all restored to operating condition. There is also a virtual cache at the site.Of course, there are a number of overlooks all along the way. With today's good weather, some were just stunning.
Unfortunately, the parkway was closed for road construction not too far south of the North Carolina state line. Bummer. It was a tough drive into Asheville on the detour route.
Tomorrow, we will drive the last leg back home.
Today's trip - 277 miles
Cumulative mileage - 6501.56
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Day 16 - Scranton to Roanoke
We started the day going south on I-81 but as soon as we were clear of the congested area around Wilkes - Barre, we got off the interstate and used two lane roads roughly paralleling the main roads. It's slower but a lot more enjoyable.
Then we were back on the road. In this part of Pennsylvania you are likely to encounter horse and buggy traffic on the roads which we did. We also spotted this in a small strip shopping center parking lot.
As we continued south, we went down into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. We saw a sign pointing off to our right labeled "covered bridge". We couldn't resist turning off and found the longest covered bridge in Virginia. We didn't realize it at the time but it turned out to be a virtual cache.
As we were driving along, Hannah was looking at a road map and noticed the Appalachian Trail running in the general area. We made a short detour to find where it crossed one of the local roads.
While we were there, we took a short hike down the trail to stretch our legs.
Then we were back on the road. In this part of Pennsylvania you are likely to encounter horse and buggy traffic on the roads which we did. We also spotted this in a small strip shopping center parking lot. As we continued south, we went down into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. We saw a sign pointing off to our right labeled "covered bridge". We couldn't resist turning off and found the longest covered bridge in Virginia. We didn't realize it at the time but it turned out to be a virtual cache.Finally, after a long day of driving, in rain at times, we reached Roanoke, VA, our destination for the day.
Today's mileage - 446 miles
Cumulative mileage - 6224.33
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Day 15 - Ottawa to Scranton
After checking out of the hotel this morning, we left for downtown Ottawa to do a little sightseeing. Since it was a Sunday, we were able to get around easily and saw quite a bit.
Passing through customs was relatively painless for us. Show our passports, answer a few questions, and we were on our way.
As we moved south, we got off the main roads in Pennsylvania and stopped at a really great cache location - "Lost In The Fifties" (GC126KM) which appears to be a Shell service station from the 1950's. All of the items are authentic and most are in working order. It is a privately owned collection and the owner was good enough to come out and talk to us and show us more of his collection that was inside. It was a one of a kind and we thoroughly enjoyed the stop. 
We continued south on the secondary roads and were amazed to find a very large concrete structure near the road that looked like a Roman aquaduct. It turned out that it was the Tunkhannock Viaduct, a railroad bridge built in 1915 that is over a quarter-mile long and 240 feet high.
Then we headed of south towards the border. Before crossing over, we made another stop in the town of Brockville on the banks of the St Lawrence River. Here Hannah is enjoying the boating activities on the river.
Passing through customs was relatively painless for us. Show our passports, answer a few questions, and we were on our way.After entering the states, we were looking for a cache in New York to drop off a geocoin. We stopped at "I-81 S. Parking Area" (GCTQPQ) and, although we couldn't drop the coin here, we did meet another cacher and a caching couple at the cache. Hannah got this shot of us returning from the cache.
As we moved south, we got off the main roads in Pennsylvania and stopped at a really great cache location - "Lost In The Fifties" (GC126KM) which appears to be a Shell service station from the 1950's. All of the items are authentic and most are in working order. It is a privately owned collection and the owner was good enough to come out and talk to us and show us more of his collection that was inside. It was a one of a kind and we thoroughly enjoyed the stop. We continued south on the secondary roads and were amazed to find a very large concrete structure near the road that looked like a Roman aquaduct. It turned out that it was the Tunkhannock Viaduct, a railroad bridge built in 1915 that is over a quarter-mile long and 240 feet high.We continued on down the back roads, ending the day on the south side of Scranton, PA.
Today's travel - 367 miles
Cumulative distance - 5778.44 miles
Day 14 - Edmundston to Ottawa
When we left Edmundston this morning it was damp but not yet raining. We were back on the Trans Canada Highway headed northwest and soon were out of New Brunswick and into Quebec and the rain started. We immediately noticed a difference when we stopped at the Quebec welcome station just over the border. Hannah went in and asked for a Quebec map: She was surprised when she was charged $3.50 for the "Official Road Map - Ministere des Transports". Maybe it was because it was in English.
We soon reached the Fleuve Saint-Laurent (St Lawrence River). We left the TCH for a while to drive the local roads along the bank of the river. We had noticed that occasionally there would be what appeared the be shrines along the road. We stopped at one of the more elaborate ones and took this picture.
After returning to the highway, we stopped at a rest area that had a geocache nearby - "Autoroute 85 – Halte routière" (GC158VF). This rest area had a long walking trail behind it with picnic tables along it. Following the GPS, I was led to a hiking trailhead.
After following the trail a few hundred feet, we located the cache after a short bushwhack.
We wanted to make a short visit to Quebec City so we crossed the river bridge into the city and started driving towards Vieux-Quebec. We got within six-tenths of a mile and stopped. From that point, we moved one short block in fifteen minutes. We weren't sure what was going on but it is the 400th anniversary of the city so we guessed that given 400 years worth of days to choose from, we picked exactly the wrong one to visit. Reluctantly, we turned around and continued our drive.
Driving through Montreal is always a challenge and today was no different. Eventually we made it to the west side of the island and made a short detour to Point Clair on the southwestern edge of the island. Here we found the house that Hannah lived in many years ago. This was a manse owed by the Anglican Church of Canada, located across the street.
Back on the TCH, we were soon out of Quebec and into Ontario. There was another pause in the rain as we saw a geocache come into range - "Towering Over the 417" - (GC1BNZB). We were lead down a dirt track until the GPS pointed here:
Beautiful spot but once inside, the cache was a tough find and the mosquitoes were huge.
After finding the geocache, the drive to the hotel was easy.
Today's drive - 499 miles
Cumulative mileage - 5410.95 miles
Friday, June 27, 2008
Day 13 - Charlottetown to Edmundston
We started the day in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in dismal weather. The showers that greeted our arrival last night had turned to a steady downpour. And we needed to find a geocache before we left the island. We did a quick scan of all the caches around our hotel location, found some candidates, loaded the car, and started out. The first one we tried was perfect. We drove right up to the location, the cache was slightly visible, and we signed the log in the car and were on the way.
We had arrived on P. E. I. from the east by ferry and we were continuing west on our departure. The route off the island was by the Confederation Bridge over the Northumberland Strait. We were surprised by the amount of the toll - $41.50.
Traveling northwest along the coast, we were in the rain until we got a break around the small town of Cap-Pele. There were several caches in this small town and we were able to snag our first New Brunswick cache here, a tradition micro in a small park. As we left the town, the rain started again.
We continued on east on the Trans Canada Highway with rain off and on all day. At Edmundston, on the western edge of the province, we decided to stop for the day. Throughout our journey so far, the areas we drove through were predominately English speaking. In New Brunswick, we started seeing more areas that are predominately French speaking. Surprisingly, Edmundston is a is 98 per cent francophone.
As usual, we had not made hotel reservations for the night so the first order of business was to locate a place to stay. We spotted a few from the highway and turned off to take a closer look.
There was a brand new major brand hotel that we noticed so we stopped to check on room availability. Here is what greeted us in the lobby.
The hotel had just recently opened and the price was OK so we booked the room.
Tomorrow, we continue west into Quebec.
Today's travel - 387 miles
Cumulative mileage - 4911.58
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Day 12 - Sydney to Charlottetown
Today we left Cape Breton Island and made our way along the northern coast of Nova Scotia. We left the heavily traveled roads and drove along the coast to Cape George. Along the way, as we were taking some photos, the camera announced that the memory was full. It turned out that I failed to reinstall the SD card in the camera after I downloaded the card the night before. Unfortunately, the laptop we are travelling with will not download the camera's built in memory so those photos are trapped until we return home and can rescue them. So photos for today's travels will be added to the blog after our return home.
When we reached the town of St. Peter's, we stopped to see the canal and locks that connect Bras d'Or Lake with the Atlantic Ocean. The locks canal and locks are unusual in that they are tidal locks which either raise or lower boats depending on the tidal differences at the lock location.
We stopped at a point of land above St. George's bay and took this shot of a fishing village harbor.
As we drove, we noticed one familiar sight with a little different twist.
When we reached the town of St. Peter's, we stopped to see the canal and locks that connect Bras d'Or Lake with the Atlantic Ocean. The locks canal and locks are unusual in that they are tidal locks which either raise or lower boats depending on the tidal differences at the lock location.We stopped at a point of land above St. George's bay and took this shot of a fishing village harbor.There was a display at this overlook with a pair of lobster traps and a description of how they worked.
Our route to Charlottetown took us to Caribou, NS where we waited to board another ferry. This ferry connects the northern coast of Nova Scotia to the southeastern coast of Prince Edward Island. The crossing takes about 1 1/2 hours and today the weather was warm and clear and the waters of the Northumberland Strait were perfectly smooth.
We met our ferry's sister ship going the other way about halfway across the strait.
It was a very pleasant trip across. Unfortunately, just as we reached the far shore, the rain started.
We made our way across the island, checked into our hotel in Charlottetown, and then went out for dinner.
Tomorrow, we will attempt to find a geocache on PEI and then cross back to the mainland over the Confederation bridge and continue our travels eastward through New Brunswick.
Today's mileage - 269 miles
Cumulative mileage - 4524.36 miles
We made our way across the island, checked into our hotel in Charlottetown, and then went out for dinner.
Tomorrow, we will attempt to find a geocache on PEI and then cross back to the mainland over the Confederation bridge and continue our travels eastward through New Brunswick.
Today's mileage - 269 miles
Cumulative mileage - 4524.36 miles
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