We’ve been back from our Northeastern road trip just over a week now. The final mileage total was 4,839, driven over the course of 25 days. This makes it our longest trip yet, jumping ahead of our summer 2015 western national parks loop by 266.7 miles. We’re still sorting through all the photos and memories, so the gallery and travelogues will be coming soon.

Our final map varies slightly from the planned route. On day one we got a phone call that our ferry from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia had been cancelled due to mechanical problems. After a brief panic, we researched and booked an alternative, traveling instead via ferry from St. John, New Brunswick to Digby, Nova Scotia. It created a much longer drive for that day, but was a minor inconvenience overall. We’ve planned enough trips at this point that it would take a pretty big disaster to faze us. One chipped windshield from a rogue rock was the only property damage incurred.

Other than steady rain during our night in the Adirondacks, the four nights of camping also went well. We thwarted two squirrel attacks but were rudely awakened at 4:00am by loons hooting like monkeys, so for those keeping score it was 2-1 in “us versus animals”. Our backcountry campsite at Kejimkujik National park was truly stunning, even if afterwards we’ve decided we generally prefer the company of other campers within earshot.

Our Nova Scotia route traced on a road map. We covered the province pretty extensively.

Spending so much time in Canada during their 150th anniversary year was a special experience. Every city and town rolled our the red carpet with special events and proudly flew their Canada 150 banners. As an added bonus, all Parks Canada sites are free during 2017. As we start to exhaust our new US National Park options, it’s nice to know there are 42 beautiful and well-maintained parks north of the border, everyone needs travel goals.

From the early inspiration to visit Cape Breton Island and Nova Scotia (thanks CBiftrumpwins) to the full 4,839 miles of discovery, it was an incredible journey.