Mal and Connie's Cross Canada Adventure 2.0

This morning I awoke to the sounds of campers, dogs and chit chat. The sun was shining, there was no rain and it was warm…in fact almost too warm but I will never say that after the rain we’ve recently experienced.

Zach was first up and off to the showers while Connie and I rested for the what seems to be the first time in the past 2 and 1/2 weeks. After returning from the showers, Zach expressed his displeasure with the campground lady coming into the men’s washrooms/showers to chat with a US traveller about which route to take to their next destination. He said he felt particularly bad for another guy who was sitting on the throne trying to be quiet, while the conversation was going on.

Upon returning from the shower, Zach got to work on repairing his bike. Connie made the two of them breakfast and I sipped my coffee. It was a very relaxing morning until the campground lawn crew showed up. When we pulled in yesterday I commented on how long the grass was and wouldn’t you know it today was the day they cut it. Now these guys were not exactly safety conscious and seemed to care less if sticks, rocks and grass spewed in our general direction.

At this point, we decided to pack up and drive to downtown Montreal. I searched for a parking lot near to the Jazz Festival and Old Montreal and plugged it into the GPS. The GPS lady was good at getting us to downtown Montreal but she was clueless about the construction underway. What a nightmare! Once we reached the downtown core it was bumper to bumper so Zach decided to hop out of the truck and walk to meet with his friend David. Connie and I made our way to the obscure parking lot. Upon our arrival we discovered it was full. Further, we checked a number of other parking lots on the way and found they were either full or were underground and maximum height between 6 feet and 6 feet 4 inches. Unfortunately for us in the Tundra, the underground lots were not an option. After driving around trying to find the next closest outside parking lot – the GPS lady and iPhone maps were not at all helpful – we stumbled upon a lot at the corner of Bleury and Concorde.

I drove in and the attendant greeted us. I asked if he could accommodate and us and he said yes. He asked me to wait a minute then walked away to find a suitable spot before he returned to ask if I’d like him to park the truck or was I okay doing so. I said, I’m good and he said I’m sure you are. His name was Dito (deet toe) – I introduced myself to him – and he was most pleasant. Parking was going to be $20 until midnight, which was perfect for us. I slipped him a little tip (which he tried to refuse) and we were on our way to Old Montreal.

After spending 90 minutes trying to find a parking spot, we were in need of a washroom and after walking for 20 minutes, we were now in need of a drink. Within a few minutes we found a nice little spot to have lunch.

After lunch, Connie and I toured Old Montreal in the 33 Celsius heat with high humidity. Apparently, we arrived in the middle of a heat wave and Montreal residents were being asked to check in on their neighbours regularly. I thought this was wise, so decided to stop at virtually every watering hole to see how the locals were faring.

Zach was having a great visit with David, touring McGill University and other parts of the city. We left Old Montreal about 330pm to check out the Jazz Festival venues and take in a few performances.

Zach joined us at about 430pm and we listened to several more performers before going for dinner at 745pm. After dinner, we decided to head back to the campsite.

We arrived to a hot and stuffy trailer, so turned on the a/c and as I write this we are cooling down before bed. Tomorrow we head for Oakville (Zach will stay with the Dias’s and we will camp in Milton about 30 minutes away).

We left a very foggy Edmunston this morning. The Republique Provincial Park was very nice; however, very damp. It is how I imagine camping in parts of Vancouver Island.

Within minutes of leaving Edmunston we were in Quèbec and immediately gained an hour. Zach commented, “see how early it is?” After crossing the provincial boundary we took the first exit because it had a Tim Horton’s, a gas station, and a Quèbec information centre, and I was ready for a coffee.

We didn’t need gas because, I took the advice of Tim who said fill up before you enter Quèbec as the prices are higher there. He was correct. I parked beside the big rigs and we all headed towards Timmy’s. Connie and Zach went ahead and I brought up the rear. It wasn’t long before I was distracted by something and before you know it, they had disappeared from site.

As I walked along, I must have appeared lost because a grey haired gentleman (I’m chuckling right now because how long before I’m referred to as one of these) spoke to me in French. I had no idea what he said but responded with “Tim Hortons?” Using his thumb, he pointed towards the door behind him. I said “thanks” and he asked me where I was from. I said “BC”. He looked at me as if to say “and where in BC?” So I said “Kelowna”. He smiled and said, “I lived there for 32 years. I had a beautiful house with a 360 degree view of the lake (I’m thinking the only place like that is Rattlesnake Island but anyway) and I lost it all in the divorce”. I responded “Ah that’s too bad” and asked him where he lived now. He responded, “here”. Now trust me here is Dèjelis not anything close to being of Okanagan quality. He then smiled and said “well the roof doesn’t leak and the fridge is full”. I gave him a great big grin and said, “I like that!” How true it is, having things doesn’t bring happiness. More often than not it brings headaches.

With our Timmy’s in hand, we got back on the road and headed towards Rivière du-Loup. You may recall this is the birthplace of Connie’s grandfather (on her mom’s side) Lindsay. We decided to drive through the downtown, so she could see the place. Well the downtown streets were extremely narrow and this week they were doing road work (oh yes, remember Bernie, he was full of it – there was all kinds of roadwork in Quèbec today). Anyway the most special part of the road work in Rivière du-Loup was the 1 metre mounds of gravel placed every 10 metres or so. These were used to cover the temporary water pipes. Now imagine towing a trailer through streets barely wide enough for one vehicle let alone two and then driving over these massive speed bumps, praying that the trailer wouldn’t bottom out. To add insult to injury, several of the streets in River du-Loup are about an 8 percent grade. Slowly but surely we were able to turn around and make our way back to the TransCanada.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. After stopping for gas east of Quèbec City, we noticed the temperature was significantly warmer. The sun was shining and after our many days of cool damp weather, we decided to make the best of it and turn off the a/c and open up the windows. Zach slid into the driver’s seat, which was a huge treat for me. I sat in the back seat and enjoyed being a passenger. I snapped a few photos with my camera, read a few on-line articles but I won’t admit to checking a few work emails.

Zach drove all the way into Montreal, so I had the pleasure of enjoying the bumpy roads from the back seat. Honestly, whoever paved these roads should (I won’t say what I want to say) be required to drive on them in a car with no shocks or springs – this would be mild punishment.

The campsite is about 30 minutes outside of the downtown core in Saint Philippe. After setting up camp, I headed out to get a few supplies from Canadian Tire and find a car wash. I was successful in the former but not the latter. After Google and Apple Maps steered me wrong, I thought I’d stop for gas and ask a local if there was a place to wash one’s car. She said “No. There is no place to wash a car”. I gave up and returned to the campsite.

Upon my return I decided to sit down and enjoy a PEI blueberry ale wheat beer. On a hot day it was most enjoyable. Now I wasn’t certain I wanted to share what happened next but in hindsight it is pretty funny.

Being a man in his mid fifties I am equipped with a personal hair trimmer. You know the kind that prevents one from having hair protruding from ones ears and nose. I just happened to purchase the deluxe model, which comes with an eye brow attachment. After being on the road for over two weeks I decided to give mine a trim. I normally do this in front of a mirror but today I thought I’ll just take it outside and give it a go.

All seemed to be going well. In fact a bit too well. I thought to myself wow these brows are bushier than I thought. I could hear the trimmer really digging in. For some reason I pulled it back and noticed the guard had fallen off. My response was to shout out oh shoot! Zach called out what’s wrong? I said I think I just shaved my eyebrows off. Needless to say he and Connie who had just arrived from the laundry room began to laugh hysterically…to the point of tears.

Fortunately, it isn’t too noticeable with my glasses on but I’m pretty certain I will never live this one down.

Tomorrow we are off to the Montreal Jazz Festival. Zach is meeting his friend David there for lunch and Connie and I will visit old Montreal.

I awoke to the sound of silence…well at least no sound of rain. Since we had a fairly long drive ahead of us, I decided to move quickly to pack up things, so skipped the coffee and went right to work.

As I emerged from the trailer, the air was filled with a maritime mist and everything was sopping wet. The mat we place outside the trailer is soaked through and normally dries quickly given a little sun and hot weather, so we just packed it up wet and stowed it.

As we drove out of the campsite, I decided a Tim Horton’s was in order, so we headed back to Charlottetown – a big mistake. There is no where to park a truck and trailer and we ended up parking on the side of a narrow street covering the side walk with the 4-way flashers on.

After we reached the TransCanada and pointed ourselves towards the Confederation Bridge, Connie pointed out to me that we could have bypassed the city entirely. I responded with a smart comment about wanting to spend a little more time experiencing this beautiful city. I immediately sensed her displeasure with me and then Zach chewed me out and strongly suggested it was time to stop with the negative vibes. I decided holding my tongue for a good while was in order and concentrated on the driving.

When we reached the toll both, the young lady said “that will be $64.25.” Within 10 minutes we reached the other side and New Brunswick and within minutes the temperature began to rise. Shortly thereafter a trucker came up behind me and began flashing his lights. I pulled over and he pointed toward the roadside. I waved to say thanks and got out to check what was up. We had lost our bumper plug on the passenger side and the drainage hose was dragging on the highway. A little electrical tape and a few minutes and we were back on the road again.

We made our way toward Fredericton and stopped about an hour east to gas up and have a bite of lunch. When we opened up the trailer, we found the floor covered in water and the carpets under the dinette soaking wet. We looked for the cause but found no immediate culprit, so assumed it was the mat, which is placed in the storage compartment accessible from the outside and adjacent to the dinette.

When we arrived in Fredericton, we searched for a spot to park right downtown and were fortunate to find the parking lot behind the old Legion was empty. When we opened up the trailer again and found more water, we moved the sopping wet mat to the back of the truck.

On our way through New Brunswick heading east, I had been messaging with my cousin Charlene, who lives in Fredericton. I arranged to meet with her, her husband Tim and daughter Amy-Lynn on our way back today. They were kind enough to join us down town and save us from trying to find their home and a suitable parking spot. Before they arrived, we walked around the downtown, checked out the music store and tried to find a license plate (unsuccessful again).

We spent about an hour with Charlene, Tim and Amy-Lynn…it was so great to catch up.

After leaving Fredericton, we headed towards Edmonston, where we will spend one night before moving on to Montreal. On the way, we encountered a massive thunderstorm, first with pounding rains and then with hail. The hail was so loud, we were yelling at each other in the truck and couldn’t hear a thing.

We are staying a provincial park just outside of Edmonston. It has fresh water, 30 amp power, a swimming pool, laundry and a Sani station. Pretty impressive. BC Parks perhaps it’s time to step it up a notch.

PS as I’m writing this, it has started to rain again. I think it is a thunderstorm, so likely will be short.

I’m sure Prince Edward Island is beautiful…particularly when it’s not raining. However, this beauty was veiled by the continuous, multi-directional and incessant rain. I think the only direction it hasn’t been raining is up from the ground but that was made up by the many puddles, or should I say small lakes, that make a great super soaker effect as cars pass by at full speed and project a wall of water on unsuspecting and naive tourists. This is the PEI I came to know and…well not love today.

Connie is pretty much sick of my complaining – that is my interpretation of her reactions to my less than positive comments about the continuous mist in the air. Well, you be the judge.

After listening to the IT guys turned musicians, we were treated by a fire works show in the campground. Shortly after, the wind began to blow and the awning was bopping up and down (I think it might be a bit damaged after our heavy rain storm on Cape Breton Island), so I decided to retract the awning part way and move the chairs, campfire in a can, etc under the covered part of the awning. After I fell into a deep slumber, the wind picked up and Connie decided to fully retract the awning and move everything under the trailer to keep it dry. I decided to remain in my cosy bed.

The rain started to fall about 11pm and it along with the incessant wind continued all night until about 730am. After about an hours procrastination I got up and went outside to assess the damage. Not surprisingly everything was soaked. Even the chairs placed under the trailer didn’t escape the sideways torrent of rain. Methodically I wiped everything down, packed it up and placed it in its rightful place. Rather than enjoy my cup of coffee in the campsite, I convinced Connie and Zach that we should go downtown Charlottetown and find a breakfast spot, where I could get a decent coffee and they could have a bite of breakfast.

However, before we could depart, we needed to wait for Zach to rise from his restful slumber. While I waited, I decided to warm up and sit in the truck. Connie joined me within a few minutes and surprisingly Zach a few minutes following that. I said “wow that was quick! I though you were going to shower.” He went on to explain that he needed to cut short his morning regimen to join us in the truck because the idling vehicle was killing the polar bears.

We arrived downtown about 1015am, parked and made our way to the the Receiver Coffee Company. We sat inside, a nice reprieve from the drizzle and on/off again downpour.

After leaving the cafe, we made our way through some souvenir shops and Zach found a PEI license plate – the 1997 version (the year he was born). Connie picked up a few things and I amused myself reading the humorous greeting cards.

The rain started to increase its intensity, so we made our way back to the truck to find directions to Victoria Park, where the 21 gun salute would take place. Under normal circumstances we would have walked to the park but today was far from normal. We drove through the lovely rain and parked relatively close the park. From there we walked with our rain coats and umbrellas and found the cannon, accompanied by a sole soldier. I went over and chatted with him…a nice young man…Peters was his name and he was born somewhere on this lovely island. I asked him about the weather and whether this was typical. His response was that typically that it can change at any moment. I thought to myself, that sounds splendid! I felt proud of Mr Peters though as despite being soaking wet he remained cheery.

Just before noon, the rest of Mr Peter’s troop arrived and right on the dot of 12 noon, they began to fire the cannon. Twenty-one times they fired it and by the time they were done we were soaked to the bone.

Connie informed us that the Canada Day festivities would get underway immediately following the 21 gun salute, so we headed over to that area of the park to find the CBC television crew filming the small crowd of people. They were pleading for us to come over and join them, so it didn’t look like such a small group. Being the good Canadians we are, we went over to join the group. However, after standing in the pouring rain for about 10 minutes, we decided to leave (small crowd or not) and return to the truck. I suggested we go find a place to have a hot toddy and something to eat. We decided to return to the truck using a different route…a much busier one where copious amounts of water filled the street and cars became water cannon launchers to us pedestrians walking on the sidewalk. By the time we reached the truck, we were completely soaked, so drove back to the campsite to change.

After a quick change of clothes, we returned downtown Charlottetown to have lunch at an Irish pub. Following lunch we walked around town some more, visited some shops, walked to the waterfront, Zach played a very out of tune piano (I think it might be the rain), and later I sat and chatted with Sir John A MacDonald.

We then decided to drive out to Cavendish to see the beach and visit Green Gables.

After returning to downtown Charlottetown, Zach went to meet up with Aiden, one of his friends from UofT who has a daily gig playing jazz downtown on Victoria Row. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to hear him play as their gig was cancelled due to rain. We also learned the Canada Day fireworks were cancelled tonight due to…you guessed it rain.

While Zach chatted with Aiden, Connie and I walked down to the Lobsters on the Wharf to say hi to Dave Mac, the brother of Connie’s friend Andrea Cooper. Unfortunately, Dave wasn’t there today. The guy at the front counter thought he was and went back to get him but shortly after returned to apologize. He said, “Dave is usually here”.

We then made our way to The Old Triangle Irish Alehouse to have a bit of dinner and listen to some live Irish music. These guys were really good and it was a great way to top off the evening.

Tomorrow morning early we are off to New Brunswick for one night on our way to Montreal. Can’t say I’m going to miss this PEI rain.

Last night it poured in Baddeck. In fact it rained so hard that the awning couldn’t handle the weight of water that it tipped down on the front side with a resounding crash waking most all of us. Zach was convinced it was a moose ramming the trailer. Connie asked me what was that? I responded with “what was what”? Zach got up to check things out, so I thought I’d do the same. I opened the door into the downpour and sure enough the front of the trailer side of the awning was dipping to its lowest point. I pushed it back and brought the awning in. Fortunately, we put everything away the night before so nothing would have to be put away wet in the morning.

While I normally like sleeping with the soft sounds of rain, none of us slept well for the sound of the pounding (literally pounding) rain. By early morning it had eased up and at 730am I rose to complete my morning ritual but today I decided to drive up the road to top up the Tundra and pick up a Tim Horton’s large dark roast. While I was there I purchased a vanilla dip donut for Zach and a small pack of Timbits for Connie and Zach to share on the road.

When I returned to the campsite, Tommy’s girlfriend and kids were packing up and leaving – likely off to home and work. I began readying the trailer for today’s 5 hour trip. My intention was to sip my coffee while I worked but as you know best intentions tend to go by the wayside. While I was packing up, Tommy emerged from his tent trailer to say “good morning” and “that was quite a rain we had last night”. If this Cape Breton’er said it was quite a rain then I’m thinking it was quite the rain.

We made good progress and were on the road by 830am. Unfortunately, my coffee was nearly cold but I drank it anyway. We were making good time, the rain had ceased to a drizzle and the traffic was light – perhaps due to it being Sunday morning. There was nothing much out of the ordinary as we made our way to the Canso Causway (the man made connection between Cape Breton and Nova Scotia. Along the way, we saw three cars without plates or noticeably posted temporary permits! Two looked new and one was rather full of gentlemen (I’m being generous here) who looked like they were up to some mischief. Shortly thereafter we saw in the distance the flashing lights of a police car. I thought well one of these cars got nabbed. As we approached, I noticed the car pulled over had a license plate. Go figure!

Mid morning we reached Antigonish, so I pulled off the highway to drive through the town. It is a cute little town and on Sunday morning there was very little traffic in the downtown core. The few that were out, appeared to be driving to attend church. It didn’t take us long to reach the outskirts of the downtown and as we did, I drove over some railroad tracks that were rather bumpy and by the regional hospital. I was looking for a spot to turn around and head back to the highway. Just as I found one, I heard a noise that just didn’t seem quite right. It sounded like dragging chains. I pulled over as quickly as possible and Zach and I hopped out to see what was up. We discovered Connie’s bike had been dragging on the ground behind the trailer. The back tire was attached to the bike rack and the handle bars were scraping on the road.

Now you will recall, a few days ago Connie was concerned about her bike being attached securely and I disassembled and reassembled the bike rack. After doing so, I secured her bike in a manner that…well let’s just say it wasn’t the way I should have. So, her nice padded handle bar grips are slightly worn now having dragged along the road for a piece.

Frankly, I am relieved it happened in Antigonish when we were travelling at low speeds. Had it happened on the highway at 100km/hour, I’m afraid her bike wouldn’t have been salvageable. Thankfully it is still rideable, albeit a little worse for wear. That being said, Zach gave me a lengthy lecture about how crappy my bike rack is and that I should secure the bikes or I’m likely to injure someone.

I secured the bike (the way I should have…the way it was when we left home) and headed for the highway. On the way, we topped up the Tundra (seems I write this a lot) and grabbed another Tim Horton’s dark roast for the road.

The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful. At 1pm we stopped at Oxford, Nova Scotia, the Blueberry Capital of Canada (to top up the Tundra) and grab a bite to eat. From there we headed towards New Brunswick and the exit to the Confederation Bridge. Even though it was a bit foggy and rainy, driving the bridge was a great experience. While it isn’t the longest open water bridge in the world, it is an amazing engineering feat.

Once across the bridge, we headed toward Charlottetown and our campsite (about 20 minutes outside of the capital city). We arrived to a very busy campsite, full of locals and visitors ready to celebrate Canada Day.

Given we are only here for two nights, we were given a choice spot (not!). While it is grassy and clean, it is rather sloped from the back of the trailer to the front, so much so that we barely had enough blocks for the front levellers to reach the ground. We made the best of it and were all finished setting up by 430pm when we drove back into Charlottetown to buy a few groceries.

When we returned to the campsite, Connie put another choice Atlantic Salmon on the BBQ. While dinner was cooking, I chatted with the neighbours who commented about us being a long way from home. I responded by commenting on the weather being colder than I expected. They responded with, “yes it is a little colder than we expected too!”

After dinner we went to the clubhouse to listen to a couple of local musicians. They were good…not terrific but good for a couple of IT instructors at the local college.

Tomorrow is Canada Day and we will celebrate it in downtown Charlottetown, the birthplace of Canadian Federation.

It was a beautiful day on Cape Breton Island. We had a mix of sun and cloud and not a drop of rain – at least not at this point (I’m getting started early on today’s blog entry).

I awoke at about 330am to the sound of Tommy snoring! Now keep in mind I am in a hard shell trailer and Tommy is in a tent trailer, so his sounds were not diminished as much as mine would be. I avoided bring this topic up with Connie because she claims that I am the world’s loudest at snoring – particularly if I’ve had a glass or two of red, which was the case last night. Fortunately, Tommy didn’t keep me awake for long as I rolled over and drifted off into dreamy oblivion.

Connie was first to rise today. After a quick shower, she began doing her hair in front of the bathroom mirror. Being the patient man that I am, I decided to join her in the spacious trailer washroom to brush my teeth and shave, while she attempted to finish her hair. Having enjoyed almost 31 years of married bliss, it’s amazing what she tolerates!

After departing the trailer, I went outside to complete my daily ritual of a cup of Starbucks Via instant coffee. For some reason, I decided to place my newly purchsed tin coffee cup on the shelf that attaches to the side of the trailer beside the barbeque. So my tin cup is very cute but lightweight, and as I learned today slides quite easy on a slippery surface (such as the shelf attached to the trailer). The other thing I learned is that the shelf slightly declines away from the trailer. These two conditions, coupled with the laws of physics, contributed to the following series of unfortunate events.

As I placed the coffee cup on the table, I turned to relocate my chair to a more suitable spot. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my steaming hot cup of coffee sliding towards me with increasing velocity. Rather than jump out of the way to let it fall to the ground, I intervened by attempting to catch the cup. As a result, the hot coffee was projected all over the side of the trailer, the citronella candles, the barbeque and everything else placed beneath this area for the purposes of protecting it from the potential rain.

Now timing is everything. Before I had a chance to clean up my mess, Connie emerged from the trailer to obtain some hot water for her morning tea. Rather than wait for her to react, I said in a calm voice, “you really don’t want to know what just happened. You really don’t.” Being the saint she is, Connie said very little and gave me one of her disapproving looks that speaks volumes.

At about 930am, we drove into town to the local bakery for scones and coffee. Sitting outside the bakery in downtown Baddeck was very pleasant. I love to watch people going to and fro and today (Saturday), I was amazed the Canada Post office was open as people were dropping by to pick up their parcels. The Home Hardware was buzzing with activity as the proprietor was washing his front windows. I could see why someone would want to live here – at least on days like today.

At 10am we began our Cabot Trail journey. Now you will recall from yesterday’s blog, this journey could be anywhere between 1.5 and 5 hours. Well, it was 6 hours! Actually it was 5 hours if you subtract the hour we spent for lunch. Apart from lunch and a few short stops to take a photo, we were driving most of the time. However, it was time well spent as this is some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen.

We drove up the east side of Cape Breton. This meant that Connie and Zach always had the ocean view out their windows. What a fantastic view it was! Here are a few photos that give you a taste of the stunning beauty of this piece of God’s creation.

We drove through some of the most pristine forest.

I can only imagine what this looks like in the fall.

Once we reached the west side of the island, the weather turned a bit and we encountered some fog, which prevented us from seeing much at several look out spots. We decided to stop for lunch at the Rusty Anchor in Pleasant Bay and I snapped a couple of photos from the top of the cliff in front of the restaurant.

Zach decided to have lobster, Connie the seafood wrap and I chose fish and chips. When in Rome…

The road to Chèticamp was scenic in spots without the fog.

After we reached what appeared to be the summit of 440 metres (we saw snow), we were glad we saw, rather than ran into, this big fella.

After we reached Chèticamp, I found it fascinating how different the communities were from one side of the island to the other. Based on the number of for sale signs I concluded Chèticamp is likely struggling a bit economically.

The road from Chèticamp to Baddeck was less scenic and quite in need of some tender love and care. We rolled back into the campsite at 4pm and decided we’d had enough touring for today, which has led me to write today’s entry.

We had intended to eat dinner in town tonight but we were still full from our big lunch on the road that we had smokies in the campsite instead.

After dinner I got a text from Sam asking to FaceTime. He had just arrived home from working in the the UBC lab (the life of a PhD student). It was great to connect and catch up. After we disconnected the call, I thought about how amazing our world has become. We can immediately connect by video from the east coast to the west coast without giving it a second thought. My Dad had a car phone (basically a 2 way radio) in the late 1960s and we thought that was amazing.

Speaking of communication, Connie and I were having a discussion about her cover photo on Facebook. Zach was half listening and thinking we were arguing over bed covers. He poked his head around the corner to say “Mom, you can sleep outside tonight then!” I’m pretty certain if there is a disagreement over anything in the bedroom tonight, the one sleeping outside is not Connie.

Zach suggested it would be fitting for our last night on the eastern coast, to repeat our theme song on the outside speakers all night long. I’m thinking the neighbors won’t appreciate that.

Tomorrow we head to Prince Edward Island, another lengthy drive. In leaving Baddeck, we begin our journey westward and home – exactly 14 days after leaving home.

All in all it was a restful night. I slept quite well although I’ve been complaining about the mattress on our bed and its impact on my ribs. Connie reminded me that I was struck by that mobile post in Quèbec City and suggested perhaps that was the reason behind the pain.

In hindsight, I likely should have risen 1 hour earlier as we would have been able to pack up without rain. However, I decided to snooze until 8 am at which time Connie asked ‘what is that noise”? I suggested thunder, she said ‘no it must be the awning’. I looked outside and found no evidence of wind but who am I to argue.

As it turns out, I was right – I know there is a first time for everything! I was busy packing up and about 1/2 done when the skies opened up and the rains began to pour. We basically packed everything critical up in the pouring rain, so everything was soaked through. After all was done, here is a photo of me – drenched.

Given the rain, I skipped my morning shower and coffee and decided once we departed I’d stop at the first Tim Horton’s to grab a large dark roast (actually Connie purchased it for me while I topped up the tank in the Tundra) at the nearest Shell station.

By 10am we were on the road headed for Cape Breton. What I didn’t anticipate was the torrential downpours along the way. The benefit of this was that the trailer was washed thoroughly and the bugs were removed without the need of a car wash – the natural way. I’m not sure I’ve driven through this heavy of a rain before…and certainly nothing that lasted this long. We stopped at an Irving ‘Big Stop’, grabbed another Tim Horton’s (thanks Connie).

At about 1230pm we reached Antigonish (home of Zach’s good friend Nathaniel who is still in Toronto) – I just love the name of this town. We didn’t stop but we plan to do so on the way back. I think it is only fitting that one stops at Antigonish…particularly because I will likely never be back.

Shortly after we crossed the Canso Causeway to Cape Breton and stopped at the visitor’s centre for a bite of lunch. I took the liberty to visit the welcome centre and gift shop and purchased myself a Cape Breton cap and scarf…it will come in handy in the winter.

Within an hour we arrived in Baddeck to our campsite. Actually, we drove right by it and into town because Connie neglected to point out the turnoff to Zach and me. Apparently, we were being too critical of her navigation earlier in the day. So, we turned around and drove back to check in. We are staying in the Bras d’Or Lakes campsite, which is not spectactular but clean and green.

After getting set up, we made our way into to Baddeck to check out the town. It is the home of Alexander Graham Bell Historical Site – I can see why he loved it here – it is a pretty little town. We plan to visit the centre tomorrow, time permitting. We picked up a few groceries and some Nova Scotia beer and returned to cook a fine steak dinner at our campsite.

While we were cooking dinner, our new neighbour Tommy showed up. He was having a heck of a time backing his new tent trailer into the site beside us. So, I decided to reach out and help him navigate. I tried to make him feel better by saying these tent trailers are difficult and shared with him my experience when I first started backing up a trailer. This was all complete lies of course (I learned to do this in my early teens) but it made him feel better and that is all that matters. Tommy is from Cape Breton and he came out early to set up before ‘the girlfriend’ and her two kids arrived. I told him he was a smart man. We exchanged pleasantries. He spent a couple years in Calgary so knew where Kelowna was. I found him so pleasant…I just love talking to these maritimers.

We enjoyed a fabulous filet steak meal, with potatoes, corn on the cob, caesar salad and Nova Scotia red wine. After dinner, I helped Tommy with a few more details – connecting his power etc. Connie, Zach, and I chatted and laughed and then Connie and I walked to the lake.

When we returned, I spoke to just about every camper (including Tommy) asking them if they’d done the Cabot Trail, how long it took them, etc. In true East Coast form, we received about 5 different testimonials about how long it should take us to drive the trail, which way we should go and why. It’s just like watching CBC! I love these guys and gals and their accents!

So, tomorrow we will attempt the Cabot Trail. It will take us between 1.5 hours and 5 hours, depending on which source we decide to quote. The only thing that is certain, is we are on the east coast of Canada. I love this country – there is simply no better place on earth and I am very proud to call myself a Canadian.

Once again we awoke with the sound of rain. Rain falling on the trailer always reminds me of Eddie Rabbit and “I love a Rainy Night”. Rather than get up, I decided to roll over and catch a few more z’s. The next time I woke it wasn’t raining, so I got up and this time very, very quietly went to the loo and vacated the trailer to make my coffee on the outside kitchen stove.

Shortly after Connie emerged from the trailer to make Zach a special breakfast consisting of French toast with icing sugar and geniune Quebec maple syrup along with crispy bacon and fresh raspberries and black berries. She asked if I’d be partaking and I said yes – I guess one day off from the intermittent fasting isn’t going to kill me.

I helped by attending to the bacon, while Connie prepared the French toast. It was a pleasant but cool morning at 14 celsius and the only downside was the mosquitos. The nasty things were everywhere. As they buzzed around me to bite every bit of exposed flesh, I was reminded of the signs outside the surrounding churches near our campsite. The Wesleyan stated…I wish Noah had swatted those two mosquitos. The Anglican stated, even the mosquitos know there is power in the blood.

As an aside, there are a lot of churches per kilometre here in Nova Scotia, so no one is without excuse for not finding a church of their choosing on Sunday morning. On our way to Peggy’s Cove, we drove by the William Black Memorial United Church which was established 198 years ago!

Zach offered to drive again today, which was another nice break for me. The road to Peggy’s Cove was winding but the drive was a very scenic 35 minute trip from our campsite. When we arrived, we were not dissapointed. This little community is everything you’ve heard about it and more. I chatted with a Nova Scotia Parks employee who told me that the parking lot and visitor’s centre were provincially owned and operated, the lighthouse federal but everything else was privately owned. I can’t imagine how much this little piece of real estate is worth.

We toured the shops, walked to the lighthouse and on the rocks surrounding the cove. It was stunningly beautiful. After returning to the truck we ate our packed lunch and then headed out to Lunenburg, the home of the Blue Nose II. From Peggy’s cove this was about an hour drive. Along the way, it rained off and on but when we arrived, it was warm and dry.

Lunenburg is a cute little town with very narrow streets, most of which are one way. It took us a while to find free parking. At one point, we climbed a street with about a 20% grade. Zach was out of practice on steep hills and nearly gave us whiplash as he stopped at the top and then gunned it to pull onto the one way street. We eventually parked in the recreation centre parking lot, which was mostly empty, and then made our way along the Harbour Walk.

As chance would have it, the Bluenose II (Bluenose I sunk off of Haiti in 1946) was on her way to Toronto for the Tall Ships Festival. However, there were a number of other boats in the harbour and I snapped a few photos.

We then made our way back to Mahoney Bay. We had thought we’d have dinner but after parking in the downtown and walking through the rain, we decided to head back to the campsite.

On the way we ran into some heavy rain, which intensified as we got closer to the campsite. I had a sinking feeling in my gut that we were about to find our site drenched from the downpour. Sure enough we rolled in and the water was rolling off the awning into the outdoor kitchen (Yes, yours truly decided to leave it open rather than take the 2 minutes to close it up before we left). There was about 4 inches of water in the stove and it was slowly dripping through the screw holes into the drawer below and from there onto the canvas director’s chair, which was strategically placed directly beneath the kitchen unit. Fabulous!

Connie and Zach went inside away from the rain and I stayed outside to clean things up. I had to take the stove top off, and methodically soak up the water with a cloth, squeeze it out on the grass and repeat. It took me about 45 minutes and then I lit the stove to dry everything out. Connie prepared burgers for dinner, and I lit the barbeque – ah more heat. The rain stopped briefly so I quickly ran to the truck to pull out the propane bottle. I then pulled out the campfire in a can from the trailer storage and soon the area under the trailer awning was warm. It rained on and off until about 8pm at which time I decided to call it a night and head into the trailer.

While I’m not a fan of the rain, I can see the benefit of it – it is so green and lush here. It is supposed to stay dry until about 6am tomorrow morning, which is perfect timing for us as we will be packing up in a downpour. C’est la vie!

Tommorrow we head to Cape Breton, another relatively short drive. Here’s hoping for more dry than wet!

PS Zach still didn’t find a Nova Scotia license plate today. One merchant at Peggy’s Cove had one but it was a bit too pricey. Fingers crossed we find one tomorrow.

Today was our shortest drive yet – about 3 hours. This meant we could sleep in and that we did…until about 830am. We woke up to the sound of rain.

Before I get to writing today’s post, I must point out that my personal editor on tour has been somewhat tardy in reviewing my material; therefore, if you were to go back and read previous posts (not sure why anyone of you would want to do that), you would find a number of edits to grammar, facts and quotes – particularly those quotes attributed to my editor.

This morning, like every morning my goal is to be…like Elmer Fudd…very, very quiet as I wash my face, brush my teeth, get dressed and then gather the kettle, my coffee cup, spoon and Starbucks Via Instant coffee and exit the trailer, so as to not disturb my editor. However, this morning I evidently was louder than normal when visiting the loo (I thought I was very very quiet) as I heard “shhhhhhhh!”.

Since we were behind schedule…not sure we are on a particular schedule, since I am frequently reminded by my editor and Connie that I am on holidays and need to relax…I quickly made ready the trailer for travel, taking short breaks to sip my coffee. When my editor and Connie exited the trailer, we were only minutes away from hooking up the truck and hitting the road.

While I made the final adjustments, I heard my editor speaking with a gentleman who was passing by walking his dog. He is from northern Ontario and spends every year from June through October at the Stonehurst campsite. Personally, I’d go mad. Don’t get me wrong it is a lovely spot but I can’t fathom what one would do day in and day out. He also went on to say that he has a son who lives in Calgary and another in Richmond and he frequently drives to BC. I’m thinking he must be mad.

We hooked up the trailer and were about to leave when Connie mentioned her bike didn’t look to be sufficiently secure on the bike rack. I’m not quite sure why, as it’s been attached the same every day. Knock on wood it hasn’t fallen off the trailer having travelled more than 7000 kilometres. In any case, I went to work disassembling and reassembling the bike rack to ensure that her bike remains secure. Now in all fairness, she didn’t ask me to dissassemble and reassemble the rack but I am a man and when I’m asked to do something, I do it thoroughly. I might ignore the chore for 6 months but when I get to it, I’m thorough!

With only another 20 minute delay, we were ready to depart. I made my final walk around the truck and trailer to check that all was in order and went to open the drivers door and climb in. To my surprise, my editor was in the driver’s seat and frankly I was delighted. Today, I would be a passenger and take full advantage of the freedom to sight see the sights and do whatever else my little heard desired.

As we pulled out, we gave a wave to Bernie who was substantially behind schedule in packing up. I am going to miss Bernie. Yesterday, when we were speaking about the quality of healthcare, and in particular doctors, he suggested his wife’s surgeon was very good because he was from Newfoundland and previously worked in a fish factory. I said that is really interesting. Frankly, I wasn’t sure if Bernie was joking or serious.

The drive from Moncton to Nova Scotia was enjoyable. My editor is a good driver, so it was easy to relax. The roads in Nova Scotia are pretty good too but we did hit one toll booth and paid $5.25, which is always a stimulator of discussion. Today we debated the benefits of user fees and hidden taxes.

When we passed through the outskirts of Truro, I discovered it too has a Tidal Bore. Here I thought it was something unique to Moncton…seems that it happens anywhere there is a river that runs into the Bay of Fundy.

We rolled into Woodhaven campsite (just outside of Halifax) shortly after noon. There was a line up of recreational vehicles in front of us. Seems this time of day is popular for checkin. Two motorhomes from Florida and a truck and trailer from California were in front of us and shortly after another motorhome rolled up behind us. He hopped out to make an offhand comment about so many americans in the line up. After a short delay, we checked into our spot and set up. When we were done, Connie made us a bite of lunch before we headed into downtown Halifax (about 25 minutes).

It was cold and raining, a stark contrast from the hot and dry weather we’ve had to date (excepting Zach’s convocation day in Toronto). We walked along the pier, snapped some photos and perused the souvenier shops.

My editor is looking for license plates. He wants one from each province and prefers to purchase them from the capital cities. It seems Halifax is lacking in license plates for sale, so if we are unsuccessful in finding one tomorrow, we may have to resort to borrowing one from a parked vehicle.

While walking down the sidewalk I thought I’d take a photo of Connie and my editor who were walking ahead of me. There was an odd fellow walking towards us and before I snapped it, I waited for him to pass us by. Just as he passed by me. He yelled out ‘hey! I have a question. Is it reasonble for someone to be taking a video without them knowing?’. I presumed he thought I was taking a video of some random couple’s behinds. His question caught me off guard, so I said the first words that came to mind – I’m with them. At that point I offered to show him the photo I took but he said ‘no. I don’t want to see it. I just want you to answer my question. Is it reasonable for someone to take a video or photo without them approving?’. I responded by saying certianly not…I would always ask their permission. This seemed to satisfy him and he moved on. Welcome to Halifax!

We then walked up the hill to the Citadel but unfortunately it closed at 5pm and we arrived at 5 past. However, we snapped a few photos and walked around it – a magnificent site and I’m sure worth a tour but it will have to be another time.

I did manage to snap a photo of this guy without his permission but he didnt seem to mind.

Leaving the Citadel we returned to the waterfront and continued on walking on the pier. I stopped to chat with this fisherman and ask him what he was fishing for. He said ‘mackerel but all I’ve go so far is pollock’ as he motioned me to look in his bucket at one lonely fish. He then asked, ‘do you fish for mackerel’. I smiled and said no I’m not much of a fisherman. He responded ‘me either’.

It quickly became apparent that most of Halifax closes at 5 or 6pm on a Wednesday. We did manage to pop in to see the Alexander Keith’s Brewery before heading to dinner on the pier.

Since we are in the Maritimes, I thought it only fitting to enjoy one of these for my dinner.

After dinner, we continued our walk and stopped to cool off by treating ourselves with some ice cream before heading back to the campsite.

Tomorrow we are off to Peggy’s Cove and Lunenburg (home of the Blue Nose).

It was a fabulous day in Moncton. The sun was shining and the temperature reached a high of 25 celcius.

I was up first having slept in until 7am – keeping in mind that is 3am back home. After a quick shower and shave, I quietly slipped out to sit to boil the kettle, make my Starbucks instant coffee (hey beggars can’t be choosers) and sit in the early morning sun. I finished yesterday’s blog article – trying to post photos on a verrrrrry slow internet connection. Even the cell service is 1 bar in our campsite – first world problems I know.

Mid morning I decided to meet the neighbors. Bernie is from Bathurst, New Brunswick and he too drives a Tundra – same year as ours but a supercab and long box. This is his 5th one and he absolutely loves Toyota (he and his wife also have a Yaris to bomb around town in). Amazingly, he tows a 25 foot Citation 5th wheel with his Tundra. Anyways, we got to chatting…you know the campground chatting…and he tells me they are in Moncton because his wife is going through cancer treatment. She just finished her last chemo treatment and today has an appointment with the specialist to see if she needs radiation – she hopes not. They are both charming and we talked for about 45 minutes. I just love talking to eastern Canada folk.

Bernie and his wife (‘the wife’) are both retired now and have 2 sons. One lives in Ottawa and the other in Bathurst – a miner working in the Arctic Circle – 2 weeks on and 2 off.

The first thing Bernie said to me is ‘you are a ways from home, eh?’. Yes. ‘Where are you headed?’. I told him and he pointed at the trailer and said ‘you aren’t planning to drive that thing around the Cabot Trail are you?’. No. ‘Good, cause the road will scare the bejesus out of you. And by the way, don’t be driving more than 30 when the speed limit says 30 because any faster and you won’t make the corners’. I laughed. He went on to tell me about Prince Edward Island and the Confederation Bridge. ‘You know it’s free to go onto the island but they get you good on the way out!’. ‘It’s a good thing you are driving the Tundra, cause you can see something when you drive across. If you are in the car, all you see is two walls of concrete for miles’. At one point, Bernie asks me what I do for a living. I tell him and he says ‘healthcare eh?’. I respond with ‘I am in administration’. He looked at me and gave a thoughtful nod.

I explained how we drove through the US on our way and that we will return across Canada. He chucked and said ‘not much to see from northern Ontario through to Alberta’. He then offered ‘you know in the states they have all these beautiful four lane highways and our Trans Canada is a bunch of bumpy 2 line highways. Only New Brunswick has a four lane separated highway and we are least able to afford it!’

He asked where we were off to next and I told him Nova Scotia tomorrow – we won’t make it to Bathurst though. ‘Good!’ He says. ‘Nothing up there now anyway. The mine closed. The mill closed. The power plant closed. Now the main economic driver is Tim Hortons’. Don’t you just love this guy already? He asked me if I’m taking some doctors with me to Nova Scotia. He says ‘that Eastern Health needs some’. He went on to say, ‘you know I blame them whose running the healthcare system’. I just smiled thinking, yes people just like me.

I said how much I appreciated the low gas prices here ($1.17 per litre) and told him that where Ethan lives in the lower mainland, he often pays more than $1.70. ‘That’s just not right!’, says Bernie. ‘This is one country and we should pay one price for gas’. Rather than ask how much that should be I let the topic drop. However, I did mention the poor state of the roads in Quèbec. Bernie said, well you know why that is? It’s because the mafia gets all the road building contracts and they don’t use the money to build many roads!. I could chat with Bernie all day but we did need to go, so I wished him and his wife all the best and we headed out for a visit to Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy.

The tide would be out until about 745pm, so we had lots of time. Zach was kind enough to drive, so I got to be a passenger in the back seat and check out the scenery. As we made our way to Fundy Park, we drove over the Chocolate (Petitcodiac) River – it does look a lot like milk chocolate. After a 35 minute drive, we arrived at Hopewell Rocks and sat down by the truck to have a bite of lunch. Admission to the park was $10 for each of us. Zach was not impressed. He said, ‘Provincial Parks should be free to visit but since we paid, we are going to see every bit of this park’.

We made our way down to the shoreline and walked for a kilometre or two, taking lots of photos of these magnificent rocks. While they look like dirt mixed with rocks, I assure you they are rocks and hard at that. I took about 100 photos.

A highlight of the walk was spotting two perigin falcons, one of which was screeching as it flew overhead. I zoomed in with my camera and was able to capture a couple of decent shots of these magnificent creatures.

We also explored the mud flats (by camera as people are not permitted to walk on them). Kilometres of milk chocolate coloured mud. Small shrimp stick in the mud after the tide goes out, making a wonderful feast for the birds. It is this same mud that gives the Petitcodiac River it’s nickname “Chocolate River”.

We were walking down to the beach where the mud flats were and saw this little guy.

After walking each trail to get our monies worth, we stopped in the gift shop to pick up a few souveniers and I spotted this mug. It made me think of my friend Doug – this will be us.

We left Hopewell Rocks and drove to Moncton to watch the phenomenon called the Tidal Bore. As the tide comes in to the Bay of Fundy, the water enters the narrow Petitcodiac River channel and by the time it reaches Moncton (some 40 kilometers), it is moving pretty fast and high. The locals told us these days it reaches between 3 and 5 feet depending on the moon. However, in the 60’s it used to be 10 and 15 feet high – that would be quite a sight.

We arrived in Moncton at 330pm and decided to stop by a local watering hole for a beverage to pass the time until about 430pm when the Tidal Bore was expected. At 435pm, along it came. I recorded it on video (sorry but I can’t post it to this site) and it truly was an amazing phenomenon.

I stopped to chat with a street musician who was playing folks songs with his guitar and harmonica. He was pleasant fellow, short a few teeth and likely some other things.

We then left downtown Moncton and headed toward Magnetic Hill another unique feature of New Brunswick. Bernie told me that he and his buddies nearly ended up in the penitentiary after getting out of their car at Magnetic Hill to relieve themselves. Shortly thereafter a police man arrived…I gather they were feeling no pain…but he must have showed mercy to them because Bernie was here talking with me.

Zach drove the Tundra to the gate. That will be $6 sir (nothing is free these days). When all the other cars cleared, Zach drove the Tundra down to the famous white post and stopped. He put the Tundra in neutral and released the break and sure enough, the Tundra rolled all the way back up the hill. Fascinating! We could have gone a second time but we decided we’d had enough of lines and headed back to the campsite.

Bernie and his wife rolled up shortly after and asked how our day was. I said it was fantastic. He then said to me. ‘You know. No matter how many times I explain to people how that Magnetic Hill works, they just don’t get it’. I smiled and thought – yes and I would be included in “those people”.

Time to get ready for our next adventure in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Originally, we had planned to meet with one of Zach’s professors (and professional musician) Mike Murley tomorrow but unfortunately, he is in Toronto this week.

PS Bernie Just popped by to say gas is $1.06 per litre at Costco.