Acadia Journey

Acadia historically was a part of the former French colony in northeastern part of North America. To this day, you can find traces of the past French colonization. Local residents often speak their own Acadian French dialect. In some places, they even raise the Acadian flag, the french tricolor banner with the yellow star.

Acadia Journey - Expedition Map The Land of Covered Bridges North Maine Woods Gaspe Peninsula Prince Edward Island Fundy Shore in Nova Scotia

The main purpose of this trip was to get the basic experience while traveling by Jeep. Sleeping in a tent, preparing meals and using the equipment required in such escapades, are the things we need to get to know. In addition, we were interested in Acadia. It was the whole team's (Eva, Matt, and Matthew) journey through the northeastern corner of the United States. In Canada, we continued our trip through the Gaspe Peninsula and the Maritime Provinces. Searching for off-beaten path places, we navigated many miles of logging roads in northern Maine and some dirt roads in Nova Scotia.

Trip Statistics:

Title of the expedition:
Acadia Journey
Objective:
Get to know basics of overlanding
Where:
Northeastern corner of the USA and Maritime Canada
When:
July 2011
Total Distance driven:
4,753 km / 2,953 miles
Distance driven on dirt roads:
300 km / 190 miles
Flat tires:
2
Border crossings:
2

Preparations for the expedition:

I bought my Jeep two months earlier. We gave him a name Balios after immortal horse of Greek mythology. Before the first trip, I worked on a few simple and basic improvements such as the car alarm with motion detector and power locks in front doors. I also added the mesh grille, hood lock and the tailgate tray table. We bought a SUV Tent. These were not any serious preparations because the region where we headed did not to put high demands on the expedition vehicle. Therefore, I have not even changed the tires and I decided to drive quite worn stock rubber.

Photo Diary:

Lessons learned:

While on the journey in Acadia, we gained some traveling by Jeep experience.

  • Goodyear Wrangler MT stock tires are absolutely worthless; they get a puncture very easily and turn into smooth and slippery donuts very quickly in the mud

  • never hit the road without a tire repair kit

  • rear bench seat is extremely uncomfortable while traveling long distances

  • Jeep headlights do not illuminate the road at all

  • while driving, our equipment is constantly moving inside the cabin and easily comes off when tailgate is open; we need to organize storage space better

Besides that, our Jeep Wrangler Unlimited is great!


© 2011 Maciej Swulinski