Nova Scotia (New Scotland)--the Emerald Isle of North America

June 1, Sunday, we left the Land of Chocolate Rivers and headed into Nova Scotia. We lost no
time getting to Linwood Harbor Campground as we were looking forward to a week of ocean
views and walks on the beach! Well...while a nice campground, their ocean view was a tiny tip
of an inner most harbor (technically an ocean view, but not what we were expecting). Wi-fi in
Nova Scotia is hard to come by so that's why we are delayed in getting this blog to you.

Nevertheless, Linwood Harbor was a good jumping off point. We spent some time at the
Visitors Center and found out about the different regions. We saw beautiful pics of Cape Breton
and the Cabot Trail, the northernmost part of NS. Since the house in Indy hadn't sold yet, we
needed to be thrifty with our cash, so we made the decision to drive Serenity as little as
possible. Gas was pretty pricey. We decided to spend our time on Cape Breton, driving the
Cabot Trail in the jeep and doing as many side trips as possible. So let's get started...follow us
into the magical land of Nova Scotia!

We went to Port Hawksbury, had breakfast at Fleur de Leigh, yum!, and stocked up on
groceries. In the afternoon, we went to Antigonish to find out more about the Scottish/Irish
region of Cape Breton. There are several scenic drives named for the different regions. The
Ceilidh Trail (pronounced "kay-lee") was our first endeavor, and gave us a Scottish/Irish taste of
NS. We took a quick drive up thru Port Hood (great little beach where we found sea glass),
Mabou (had a farmers market coming up on Sunday), Inverness and checked out MacLeod's
campground in Dunvegan for our next week's spot. It was clear most places were not open yet
for "the season"--we couldn't find MacLeod's CG by any signs only by GPS.

We stopped at the Glenora Distillery where we had a scrumptious lunch and Ron sampled 10-
year old Scotch. It was smooth! We were serenaded with some Celtic music and there was a
beautiful garden with a little stream.

Another day we packed the jeep and headed to the Eastern Shore. It started out as a misty day
with the clouds hanging low into the water. We stopped at some little beaches and Zoe had her
taste of freedom, she loved running and sniffing all sorts of strange things. We went to Canso.
We saw working fishing villages, lobstermen racing to get back to the harbor to unload their
catch and seagulls chasing all the way.

 

We spent another day driving up to the Cape George lighthouse. It was cold and windy up
there.

We did a little cycling on Lucinda, our tandem, with Zoe in the doggie cart. We rode part of
the Celtic Shores Coastal Trail, about 10 miles. We saw the Cabot Links course and had lunch at the Cabot Public House.  So long from Linwood Harbor, Antigonish, area, for now!

More Canada: It's a Big Place!

We took another long driving excursion before heading east to Nova Scotia.  From our base at Ponderosa Pines Campground, we pointed Jayne (our Jeep Liberty) up and east to Prince Edward Island (PEI).  No particular goal other than to get a feel for the land, see more great scenery along the coasts, and if possible, find  a decent beer and meal.   Part of the drive there past Moncton, NB, was via the major highway, 15.  Interesting the differences we see on the Canadian 'freeways', vs those in the USA:  Decided lack of billboards, lack of rubbish, and I suppose that is tied to the thin population and traffic.  We were keeping a sharp eye out for moose, but did spot deer (larger than Midwest whitetails), eagle nests in the power transmission towers, and lots of trees.  We have yet to spot a moose. 

The highway took us to small route along the south east corner of NB, a bumpy road that is tagged as one of the tourist/sightseeing loops.  That in turn lead us to the Confederation Bridge to PEI.  A sign prior to the bridge noted the toll $40!  A bit of gut tightening said this required a investigation.  A stop at the NB info center provided a washroom break, and the reassurance that the toll was charged just one way, when returning from PEI.  Fine, we decided to suck it up so we could visit the much hyped province. 

The bridge is I believe longer than Mackinaw Strait, so was a beautiful thing to see and drive.  The day was bright sunny and the water shimmered.  We decided to drive the Central Coastal Drive loop around the middle section of PEI, taking us to the north shore. 

Seems that some of the best parts of such scenic drives is when you miss turns and wind up in small crossroad towns or tiny fishing villages where you get the real feel for these lands and people.  The farms and ranches speak to the hardiness of the folks living and working here, knowing it gets colder and snowier than we can imagine, even after our difficult winter in Indiana and Ohio.  This is lovely country, with rolling fields and views of the ocean and inlets. 

Along the north coast we found much more tourist facilities, including summer rental cottages, campgrounds, and activities.   However, in late May we found most all shops, restaurants, etc., closed for the season.  It's mid-June before the coast is active.   But that's OK, we were happy to stroll unpopulated beaches, drive back roads, and even the main route, without competing vehicles.  After a while we reached to eastern end of the north shore drive, and headed south toward Charlottetown. 

Had noted that there is a brewery, with the strange name "Prince Edward Island Brewing Company".  Stopping in to check their hours, we proceeded to Downtown to the Gahon House to eat dinner (since PEIBC did not have food, ala SunKing).  Gahon is a microbrew restaurant, brew on premise facility.   Food was just fine, and the ale decent. We were able to sit on the deck and have Zoe, my co-pilot, sit with us.  She much prefers that to having to wait in Jayne. 

Visited PEIBC after our dinner, had another brew and bought a half dozen of their big bottles to enjoy later in our journeys.  Then we began the long drive back to Serenity, having enjoyed the day, drive, sun, beaches, and views.   Oh, yeah; we did have to cross the big bridge again, paying for the privilege.  Still no sign of moose, and the drive back was uneventful.  That is good, but makes for poor story telling.   I am sure we missed a lot on PEI; I hear it is a hotbed for bagpipers.  I am sure there is a summer festival that would be a blast, given enough craft beer and earplugs.  But pre-season has its advantages too.   Enjoy the photos!  When we get back to the states with better net access, we will post more to our Got Gurth Flickr account. 

What Do You Have?

What do you have when you have beaver, great blue herons, Canadian geese, ring-neck ducks, red fox, deer and a woodchuck?  What about when you have tides that rise a foot every 6-10 minutes during high tide, chocolate rivers and tidal bores (do you know what that is?)?

You have New Brunswick, Canada!

You have Hopewell Rocks with the highest tides in the world!

You have Ponderosa Pines Campground, with the best site in the camp!

Who would think that muddy water could be beautiful, or that miles of red mud tidal flats would be so interesting, that sitting for 3 hours watching the tide come in after walking on the ocean floor would be so much fun!  It was amazing!

I loved getting up in the morning, looking out the window and seeing the beaver swim by, and sitting in the sun, drinking coffee, and a large woodchuck saunters right past your chair.  Of course, Zoe gave chase!

The stars were spectacular as there was no ambient light!  The depth you can see in the sky is unreal!

A fabulous week for sure!

Ohio to Massachusetts

Well, I'm going to do a quick update for you.  We had a little family time in Ohio and saw Chloe as Oogie Boogie in the Nightmare before Christmas performance.  She was awesome!  We spent a few days back on Ruckle St. while getting some maintenance done on Serenity.  We ate at Big Mikes and beat the Julian's at cards then headed to Goshen IN for RV Bootcamp.  Ron will fill you in on those details.  Suffice to say it was very well worth it and we learned some great, life saving, tips.  My plug for all of you who RV or plan to, make sure you have good CO detectors in the right locations and the same for fire detectors and extinguishers--your lives depend on it!  Check out Macthefireguy.com.

We left Goshen and spent a night at Geneva State Park in NE OH.  We were so close to Niagara Falls that we decided to make a side trip and take in this beautiful wonder.  I couldn't believe how over the top touristy it had become on the American side.  We didn't have time to do the Canadian side--next time.  We left there and boondocked at Cracker Barrel because we were hungry and it was late!

Heading across NY, Ron chose to take the road less traveled, and I'm so glad he did.  Not only were the roads much better (shame on the turnpike for taking money and not keeping the roads mended), it was so pretty.  We made it to Cooperstown NY and stayed at Hartwick Highlands CG.  It was very nice.  Didn't make it to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Ron did go to the Ommegange Brewery, had a tour and bought the cap!  Yay!

Next day we made it into MA and boondocked on Rt 9 near Dalton, MA.  Pretty little Reststop.  Finally the next morning, bright and early, we made it to Littleton, MA.  We are staying for a week at the Minuteman CG and it is super--tall pines, landscaped beautifully, good amenities.  Ron will start his Adventure Cycling Leadership workshop on Monday.  I'm sure he'll have some great stories to tell.  For me, I plan to relax, do some laundry, and hopefully start on our TOSRV T-shirt quilt.  I think we might need it in Maine!

Spring is bustin' out all over...

We've passed our first month and things are going well, with a couple of exceptions.  We had a little jack problem and now we have a little slide problem, but it's all good!

I wanted to take the time to expound on our trip through VA, especially the Natural Bridge.

The wildflowers were beautiful!  It reminded me of walking with my Mom in the hills of southern Ohio when she taught me the names of the wildflowers.  We saw columbine, spring beauties, dutchmens' britches, trillium, jack in the pulpit, and some others that I have to look up.

 

Roughin it Easy

After leaving FL, we had a relatively uneventful two day drive to Pisgah National Forest south of Asheville NC.   Found Davidson River Campground, and secured two adjacent sites with electric hookups (one for Tom and Jill, who would arrive the following day).   The camp is along a lovely trout stream, and we saw several fly fishermen in the shallows.  The hike/bike paths along the banks lead to the area's famous mountain bike trails, which is the draw for the other Indy folks that we're joining us (a group of friends that call themselves "The Halfwheelers Cycling and Social Club of North South Central Indianapolis".

While not MTBers, Sallie and I enjoyed short trail rides on level gravel paths, and on two days I ventured on the long path into Brevard. This lovely town is home to good restaurants, galleries, coffee shops, and of course, two breweries.

The week was pretty relaxing, with dinners at some of the good restaurants, visits to several brewpubs, euchre tourneys with the Julians (split wins, as usual), and a couple of fine evenings around the campfire.    Sallie and I drove over to Chimney Rock one day, and I climbed the countless steps to the top.  Once there I found there were higher viewpoints yet, so I continued on. While the views were beautiful, my legs are still sore and achy 3rd day after.  This was not helped by our visit yesterday to Biltmore Estate in Asheville.  This is the enormous French chateaux constructed by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800s.  So you pay a lot of money to tour the castle and grounds and see how rich folks live.  Pretty interesting though, especially if you are a fan of Downton Abbey.  We did stock up on some of their very fine estate wines, and hope to enjoy those soon.

Overall we had a fun week in the woods and towns with great friends, enjoyed fine beers, and rode bikes.  Hey, we might have a residence a bit smaller than Biltmore, but I guess our week is about how rich folks live.

Next up, a blast from the past reunion with an old friend in Virginia.