St. John River Valley

It did not take long for us to renege on our promise to hustle home. After a few hours of travelling on the freeway through New Brunswick we just had to get off.  There was a road that followed the St. John River closely that was paved but only 2 lanes. That was much more to our liking so we took it. And it was great! Even though it was a bit slower.

The St. John Rover Valley is truly grand.  But you could tell we were getting tired. We made very stops to take photographs.

The St. John River is Eastern Canada’s longest river at 418-miles. It runs down the western edge of Nova Scotia along the Quebec border all the way to the Bay of Fundy.

This also brought us to Hartland, home of the longest covered wooden bridge in the world. According to New Brunswick tourism it is the longest “by far.”  Can that be?

The bridge is 1282 ft. (390.75 metres)  long and was certainly the longest we had ever seen. the purpose of the covers was to prevent truss joints from rotting. This one was built in 1921 with the walkway along the side added in 1945. This was a grand bridge. then we went to the not so grand.

Grand Falls

In Grand Falls we discovered falls that were far from Grand.  They may have been grand at one time. Not anymore.  They have been emasculated by hydro-electric dams that have turned them into pipsqueak falls. How the mighty have fallen.  80% of the river has turned into a narrow stream. To me it seemed like sadness, not mist hung in the air.  I know we need hydro-electric power, but there sure is a big cost. Is this what “clean” power is all about? All I am saying is that the price of progress is immense.