New Brunswick

July 22
As much as we loved PEI, we feel the pressure of our time running out as well as a building longing to start heading for home. We miss our grandkids, our kids, our home, our dogs... We've been on the road for 5 weeks and if I'm being honest, we're beginning to feel a little road weary. We decided to cut our PEI stay a day short for the only reason that the Western Tip of the Island is much the same as what we've seen in the past 2 days - stunning beauty - but we wanted to continue on. We came across the Confederation Bridge which is an incredible work of engineering. It's 13 kms long and connects PEI with New Brunswick. It's free to come onto PEI but it costs a toll to leave (I think they want you to stay! Not a hard twist of the arm I might add...) but a hint to travelers, it's cheaper to leave by the bridge than by the ferry.
Given that we suddenly had an extra day on our hands and a little bit of leeway, we decided to make a run through Moncton and head down the New Brunswick side of the Bay of Fundy to Hopewell Rocks. If you don't know about this place, look it up on YouTube. There are great quick time videos of the tide coming in and out there at what they call The Flowerpots. The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world. On average, where we were, the tides are about 40 feet but the tide has peaked at around 55 feet  at different times. This means the water gains or loses 7-8 vertical feet every hour. Crazy. It's hard to imagine all that water moving so quickly. The Tidal Bore is when the water comes in and, as it back fills the rivers and streams, people actually go out and surf the waves upstream! We didn't see that but apparently it's a sight to see!
The Flower Pots are really cool and, when the tide is out (which it was when we went) you can go down and walk on the ocean floor! I don't have a picture to post here because I only brought my big camera down there but when I get home, I will post photos off of it. Suffice it to say, it was really neat to see.
We camped down the road from here at the Chocolate River Motel and Campsite. This is a BIG MISS!!! We didn't see the Motel rooms - that wing of the building looked fairly new and they might have been OK but the campsite was a total dump. The only reason we stayed was that we were so tired, we just needed a place to flop our camper up, sleep and leave again. The washhouse was beyond disgusting - I wouldn't let my dog pee in there it was so gross... falling apart, FILTHY and looking like it should be shut down by a health inspector. Honestly. As an owner, how could you look at that and not be embarrassed for others to see that? There was another campsite down past Hopewell Rocks which may have been better but didn't have a view of the Bay. The only redeeming qualities of Chocolate River were that the food was all homemade and very good in their little run down cafe and the campsites were right on the edge of the Bay with great views through the trees. That said, we would not stay there again.

July 23
We were up and gone by 7am, we were so wanting to get away from this crappy campsite. We headed up the main highway to Miramichi and then, from here, we headed up the Acadien Peninsula. We decided to go right up to the very tip, where the road runs out. It was a nice drive and there were little villages along the way with many houses flying the Acadien flag and/or displaying Acadien red, white and blue paraphernalia in their yards. Clearly, the cultural identity is strong and displayed with great pride here. Shippagan is quite a big town and they have all the ammenities you might need plus a well regarded aquarium with touch pools filled with local sealife. We drove out to the lighthouse at the tip of Miscou Island and it was a surprisingly warm, overcast afternoon with almost no wind which we couldn't believe, given how exposed it is out there. Great icecream there too... As we headed back, we intended to go to Caraquet where they have an Acadien village with interpreters in costumes recreating daily life back in the 1800s. We put the address for a recommended campsite in our GPS and that's when things ran amok. Our beloved Zumo doesn't know about road quality. All it will do is tell you your route possibilities and will, by default, give you the quickest way to get to your destination. Well, suffice it to say, we ended up on small back roads, one of which was so pot-holey, Lynn couldn't navigate it at all with his trike pulling the trailer. Plus it had gotten cold and was no raining quite heavily. We were somewhere near Maltampec. Good grief! Anyway, we managed to find our way to the 135 and made it out to the coast and Route 11 again, on the North shore. By now it was getting dark and we were cold, wet and tired - a triple threat on motorbikes - so we were anxious to just get off the road and find a place to hunker down. We passed one campsite because it looked too exposed. Not one tree to sidle up to. What luck we gave it a miss because just down the road, we came across the best place ever - the place which has become our favourite we've stayed at this whole trip - the Navigateur Cafe-Bistro Campsite.
How to describe this place. Well, probably the best thing is for you to look up their facebook page. Do a facebook search for campnavigateur (all one word) and it's the first part of the facebook page name. You can't miss it. It was like manna from heaven in the cold, wet afternoon.
The building is actually a bunch of smaller buildings squished together in a most delightful way - buildings built onto other buildings until it's become a patchwork of nooks and crannies, balconies and bedroom, sheds and decks in a wonderful way. Rejean Gosselin (the owner) and his partner Francine are warm and friendly hosts. Of course, when we pulled up, Rejean's beautiful reproduction Indian motorcycle was sitting in the front yard so we knew we were with kindred hearts right off the bat. The Navigateur is brilliant it a zany, totally hippy kind of way (in fact, Rejean's nickname is Hippy) - like something right out of Burning Man. The back property is right on the cliff, overlooking the ocean with a magnificent view of the shoreline and, perhaps the most brilliant of all, he's put old fishing boats up on props and turned them into little cabins you can stay in, complete with a table and chairs on the deck. They've been strung with white lights so at night, they're all lit up. Seriously - if you ever go to New Brunswick and do the Acadien Peninsula, this is a 12/10 for an awesome, fun, quirky, delightful, unique and beautiful experience. We could have been quite happy to squirrel in for a couple of days...
Inside the place, Rejean and Francine have a bar, a sitting area and really, it's an extension of their living space which they're happy to share. They have a lovely little black dog, Drifter (same name as his motorcycle) - full of beans and very friendly. He took to us for some reason so I had my doggie fix as I'm missing my fat little sausage dog, our pug Stella. And our big dogs too, Dooley and Libby.
The Navigateur was used in a French movie called La Vraie Belle Baie and Rejean showed us some clips from it which was fun to see. They were so good to us - they invited us to use their deck and covered in porch to BBQ and eat our meal in and invited us in for a beer afterwards. Francine presented us with a gift of a tray laden with coffee and fresh out of the oven cookies after our dinner and in the morning, she had breakfast all laid out. All of this and our snug little cabin for $50. Camping is only $15. The best spot we've been to in all our travels and by far the least expensive.
The Navigateur is on the North Shore of the Acadien Peninsula and is just East of the wee town of Stonehaven and West of Pokeshaw. Fantastic. We REALLY hope to come back here again some day.

PEI

July 20
I don't even know where to begin when it comes to describing PEI other than to say, it's perhaps one of the most beautiful places on earth that we've ever seen. Honestly. My friend Susan D. told me this before we left on this trip and I remember thinking to myself, "Well, I'm sure we'll see many beautiful places all across Canada" - which was (and is) true but there is something undeniably different and consistently mind-blowingly incredible about PEI that sets it apart from everything else we've seen (and we've seen some stunning places along the way to be sure!)
I think part of what is incredible about PEI is that the entire Island is one giant garden. If you're not right downtown in some town or city, it's all rolling green farmland that has been farmed to perfection and cared for with great love and attention. The entire Island is one giant hunk of red red sandstone. There isn't any gravel on the island at all - no rocks at all! Imagine THAT! All gravel (for cement etc. ) has to be hauled in from Nova Scotia. The dirt is red red red you can't imagine the crops they grown here - potatoes like you've never seen but also a lot of wheat, corn and hay. Every turn in the road, every crest of a hill reveals another postcard vista and I could honestly spend 3 months here just taking photos. There are little lakes, rivers and, of course, miles of coastline and coves to be explored. Throughout PEI is a network of paved roads which are in GREAT shape for motorcycles. One fellow told us there are more paved miles of road per capita in PEI than anywhere else in Canada. We can believe it. And there are also TONS of motorcycles here which makes sense given this is incredible motorcycling country.
Today, we took the #1 through Stratford and into Georgetown. We got held up because of a small town parade that was happening today so we chatted with a Bell Mobility van driver who gave us some tips on what to see. We followed the coastal road north to Cardigan but decided to hoof it on the main road to Rollo Bay because the "Coastal Route" wasn't so coastal after all - lots of lovely country roads through trees but we wanted to "Make A Mile" (as Lynn would say). There was a Fiddle Festival in Rollo Bay this weekend but honestly, by the time we got there, it was over 100 degrees and the farmers field the festival was being held in had NO TREES. Not one shred of shade to be found. There was just no way we could tolerate an entire afternoon in the sweltering heat with no relief in sight - fiddles or no fiddles. Next time. Off we went, back on the coastal road from there which was along the shoreline for the most part and was lovely. We went through Souris (where you can catch the 5 hour ferry to Isle de la Madeleine - sorry Mom - we just didn't' have enough time this trip!!!) and to the East Point light house. From there we followed the North Coast road over to a place called St. Peters. It you haven't heard of the TV show (and book) called "You've Got To Eat Here" - it's all about the best hidden restaurant/cafe gems in Canada. In St. Peters is a place called Rick's Fish and Chips which made it into the TV show and book. We had heard about it from our neighbour at the campsite, Rhonda, who told us it was the best fish and chips in the world. Well, we've heard that a few times on our trip so we take those kinds of comments with a grain of salt (and a little tartar sauce on the side) but we saw it so we thought we'd check it out. At first, we weren't sure we had the right place - it's small and out of the way and just a non-descript mom and pop shop looking fish and chip joint like we'd seen about 1000 times in the past 2 weeks in the Maritimes... but boy did we get schooled in the art of fish and chips!! Un-Be-Freaking-Leavable. Seriously. Truly, the best in the world. We're not sure what they put in that batter but it's light and crispy and melts in your mouth like ambrosia de la mer... topped by PEI's own Iron Horse beer which was fantastic. Incredible. 10/10.
Leaving St. Peters he hoofed through spectacular farmland back into downtown Charlottetown and went straight to the Confederation Arts Center. Alas, the Anne of Green Gables musical only shows on Mon/Tues/Wed nights (why, we can't figure) BUT - they had just mounted a brand new show this season called Evangeline - a musical historical fiction piece about he expulsion of the Acadiens from Grand Pre, Nova Scotia based on the epic poem of the same name written by the American iconic poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This show was 10 years in the writing by Ted Dykstra (who also wrote Two Pianos, Four Hands) who originally teamed up with Mirvish Productions but was dropped due to financial constraints. Along came the Charlottetown Festival who saved the day and they finally mounted the production this year. We went and saw it and it was fabulous. What a show. The talent were all Broadway veterans so you can imagine the quality of the singing/acting/dancing and the music and dancing was a wonderful mix of traditional Acadien and Cajun. The story follows Evangeline and her husband Gabriel who, on their wedding night, were separated by the Grand Derangement - the expulsion of the Acadiens by the British government. True story - over 10,000 Acadiens were put on ships and sent off in all directions, separating families and friends to the 4 corners of the New World without any knowledge of where each other went. Imagine THAT back then, with no phones, internet etc. Many people never did find their family members again and more than half of them died in the process from starvation, disease, exposure etc. Hard to imagine. All because the British felt they were a threat to their plans for colonization. ANYWAY - the show was brilliant. Another 10/10. We're at the point now where we can't believe how each day just brings more amazing experiences our way. We're so grateful...

July 21
Up early and off we went up North on route 2 through Bedford, Grand Tracadie and into PEI National Park - a strip of stunning beaches along the north shore. We stopped a few times along the beach and took pictures and walked along the red sand - so beautiful!! We headed over to Cavendish which is the now very famous "Anne of Green Gables" part of PEI. You can't come to PEI and NOT do Anne of Green Gables even though yes, it's very touristy BUT - for those of us who have grown up with this story and have watched the Mini Series 100 times, it's a bit of a pilgrimage. The Green Gables house is now a National Historic Site and, contrary to what many expect, is NOT the house the miniseries was filmed in. Shocking news! The miniseries was shot in Ontario!! OY!! Sacrilege! The historic site is, in fact, the farm house that belonged to Lucy Maud Montgomery's cousins and Aunt and Uncle who she used to visit frequently (as she lived just down the road with very austere grandparents after her mother died and her father buggered off). This was the house the inspired her to write Anne of Green Gables and, in fact, she was a great lover of the outdoors and she had two walking trails on the property, one through the haunted woods and one called Lover's Lane, both of which appear in her Anne books. So - this is where she roamed as a young child and into adulthood and where she imagined all of her Anne books. As a side note, she married a minister and they eventually moved to Ontario and she never lived in her beloved PEI again which greatly saddened her but it was nice that, when she died, she was buried in the Cavendish graveyard so she did, finally, come home...
Our last stop in this area was the Cavendish beach itself. It, too, is part of the PEI National Park so a day pass will get you into all of the beach areas. It was perfect. The day was perfect. A sunny, warm day with puffy clouds scudding across the sky as the seagulls hovered on the seabreeze. Whitecap waves hammered onto the red sandy beach and the wind blew drifts of sand up and over the miles of grassy sand dunes. The sand is so fine, it's like sugar and the water was very warm - people were swimming and I walked for a couple of kilometers, soaking it all in. It wouldn't be hard to spend a summer vacation here...
After we Green Gabled ourselves out, we noodled on down yet another spectacularly stunning country road to a wee township called New Glasgow. Remember that TV show/Book I told you about yesterday - "You've Gotta Eat Here"? Well another PEI establishment made it on the show and it was none other than the New Glasgow Lobster Dinner (that's the name of it).
I'd heard of this place before, when I was researching the top things to see and do in PEI before we left on our trip. Again, our lovely KOA neighbour, Rhonda, told us about this place and, in fact, her son Alex works there. Well, gosh - it was right handy by the time we were getting peckish after all the Anne-ing we did. It opened at 4:00 so we got there around 3:45 and there was already a line up outside the door. When the door opened, we went inside to a till where you buy your dinner and they give you a ticket for the dinner you bought. They seat you and the server comes around and starts to bring the grub - you see, THIS lobster dinner is all you can eat seafood chowder, fresh steamed muscles from the local bay, homemade buns, 8 different kinds of dessert, tea and coffee. Oh yes, and then you get your whole lobster too. My God. That's all I can say.
The New Glasgow is to PEI what the Collander is to Italians in Trail as far as Italian food goes. The story is that back in the 1950s(ish) there was a farmer's coop and they jointly purchased an old community hall for a couple hundred bucks. They started to have fundraiser lobster dinners for the community and before you know it, it took off and is still going strong all these years later, still owned and operated by descendants of two of the original coop families. So awesome... It's still a huge big dining hall that seats about 350 people (and 150 more downstairs) and is noisy and loud and full of locals and tourists alike. Our server said that on a busy night, they can serve 800-1000 people. Hard to imagine. And so freaking good.... Seriously, this is the best traditional lobster dinner experience we found.
After dinner, we headed down yet another spectacularly gorgeous rural farmland road back to Charlottetown in time to catch another musical theatre production called Anne and Gilbert - this one focussing on the second part of the mini-series when Anne becomes a teacher and she and Gilbert circle around one another until they finally get together at the end and get married. A lovely, light musical with great music, excellent talent and a dearly beloved old plotline... a much smaller theatre this time - only 150 people and we ended up in the front row with only 3 feet between us and the actors. Great fun.

Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg

July 18
After really enjoying our day and evening in Halifax, we left to go to Peggy's Cove - arguably the most photographed cove in the Maritimes (according to those in the know)... we went right through Halifax and once again, our beloved Zumo GPS didn't let us down - we effortlessly cruised through the city, even enjoying the scenery and popped out the South side through Hatchet Lake, Shad Bay, Bayside, West Dover and into Peggy's Cove. This drive, I should mention, is gorgeous all by itself. The little villages along the way are lovely with beautiful coastal homes and picture perfect little coves with marinas etc.
We'd heard that today there were two big cruise ships coming into Halifax - in fact, we were told we were lucky yesterday to be at the Halifax docks when we were, before the ships arrived. Well, arrive they did and today, hundreds of the cruiseship folk  hopped onto huge, accordion tour buses that made the journey to Peggy's Cove today. It was quite bizarre, actually, although it did make for a certain brand of entertainment. Peggy's Cove, as you drive out, seems quite off the beaten path so it was very weird to pull in and see tour buses everywhere and tourists all over the town and on the lighthouse rocks like ants. I can't imagine what it must be like for the people that live there - a bit of a mixed blessing, I assume, as tourists are their bread and butter but on the other hand, no end of ogling people peering in your front room windows.
The cove really does meet the built up expectations. The lighthouse is on a huge expanse of sea worn rock which goes for miles in each direction and you can walk on. There are great walking paths all over the place. There is a very touristy restaurant there, right beside the lighthouse, called the Sou'Wester which was started back in the mid-50s and, yes, it's touristy as all get out BUT (and it's a big BUT) the kitchen cranks out quality food like you can't believe. In fact, we decided their seafood chowder was the best we'd had in all our trip. It really was incredible and worth it to stop in, if you can wade your way through the touristy knick-knacks and doo-dads in the gift shop to get there.
What is really great about Peggy's Cove is the little fishing village itself - the wharves and buildings are exactly as they've been for all these years and are still in use. Nothing has been "cleaned up" for tourism - and it's perfect exactly the way it is: old anchors, chain, piles of rope and bouys all over the place along with stacks of lobster traps and old boats. There was a famous painter from Finland who moved to Peggy's Cove - his name was William deGarthe and his old studio is now a museum of sorts. His paintings of the area are very well known and in his later years, he carved a huge mural into a wall of granite in his back yard which is still there today. He died before it was finished but what a legacy he left to the people of Peggy's Cove. Apparently, he did two murals in the local Catholic church as well but the church was closed when we tired to visit. Despite the mounds of tourists there (like we weren't two of them! ha ha ha...) Peggy's Cove really is a must see.
Just south of Peggy's Cove is the memorial to the SwissAir flight which crashed off shore in the late 1990s. The people from the Cove and from Bayswater all responded quickly to the crash but alas, 229 people died. The memorial is very well done and is just off the road.
We continued along the smaller coastal road south into Lunenburg this afternoon and arrived around 4:00. What a GREAT town!!! Then entire downtown core (about 100 square blocks) has been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site and wowsers, if you're into architecture, this is the town for you. I think my mother will spend her time in Heaven in Lunenburg! Pretty much all of the buildings in this area were built in the early half of the 1800s and, for the most part, are all well preserved and/or restored. Lunenburg has a permanent population of about 2300 but it swells greatly in the summer. We didn't have nearly enough time here (like so many places on our trip) but this is definitely a place we will return to when we come back this way again. There is so much to see and do here and just wandering the town and appreciating the buildings and the life of the town can fill several days. We camped at the municipal campsite just at the top of town which was perfect - you can walk down town if you want although Lunenburg is built on a hill so coming back up is a bit more challenging.
The waterfront is awesome and many of the old commercial fishing buildings and wharves are still in use today. Not much cod fishing but lots of lobster and crab fishing still. We had dinner at the Old Fish Factory right on the waterfront - quite a touristy looking place and, indeed it is, but the food was GREAT (we had the crab/lobster pizza!) and the prices were very reasonable. After dinner, we went upstairs and they have a fantastic little fishing museum and a little theatre. For a donation of your choice, the amateur theatre company puts on an incredible show. The show is called "Glimpses" and all the music is original and written and performed by local musicians and actors.  It's a combination of story telling, songs, dances and projected photos and film clips which cover the key pieces of Lunenburg's history. We didn't know what to expect but I have to say, it was brilliant - it was so well written, the music was fantastic, the quality of the performances were great and some of it smacked a wee bit of Monty Python (the Oxen song in particular) which had the whole audience roaring. What a brilliant night. In the street above the waterfront, all the little shops have a great selection of things to browse along with lovely cafes, icecream houses and inns. Perfect. We were sad to leave and certainly plan to return here. One of our favourite spots on our trip so far.

July 19
We didn't quite see everything we wanted to catch in Lunenburg yesterday so we spent this morning there, cruising up and down the streets taking photos and having some breakfast. We went down to the wharves again and saw the Blue Nose II, the reproduction of the original Blue Nose which is the ship on the Canadian 10 cent coin. A very famous ship whose home was Lunenburg. Can't remember what happened to the original Blue Nose (will have to research it and update this blog) but the Blue Nose II was built and, today, was up in dry dock getting some repairs done. Still - it was pretty cool to see her. She is a schooner and, at the time she was originally built, was the fastest in the world and won many international races.
As we were touring about this morning, the sky opened up and delivered a torrential downpour rain. We ducked into a cafe and had breakfast, trying to wait it out, and left when it had calmed to a dull roar. Donning our trusty rain gear, we were ready for anything the East Coast could deliver and we set out for PEI. The entire trip back across Nova Scotia was heavy rain but it was quite warm (mid-70s) so actually, not too bad at all! From Enfield to Truro, we took Route 2, a smaller secondary highway that runs parallel to the big and fast Route 102. At Brookfield, we stopped at a small bakery called Hurricane Heidi's. Great baking and quite possibly the best Mulligatawny Soup I've ever had...
Onwards and guess what? The rain slowed to a spit as we headed back up to our beloved Pictou although we didn't have time to stop - we carried right through to the PEI ferry terminal  at Caribou. By the time we arrived there, the rain had stopped and we caught the ferry over to PEI. We decided to find a campsite near Charlottetown so we could do day trips from there and catch some of the nightlife. We checked it out and the closest campsite was in a small town just outside Charlottetown called Cornwall. A bit of a trek to get there but the Cornwall KOA was like a fantastic resort with clean everything - bathrooms, laundry, a pool, an incredible playground area, beaches... the list goes on. It was exactly what we needed so we could get caught up with our laundry etc. and enjoy a few luxuries which we haven't had for the past 4 weeks (like TV in the laundry room! We haven't had any news since we left!). This was truly a 5 Star campsite. It was awesome. We registered for 3 nights...

Halifax

July 17
Today, we made it to Halifax. Did I mention just how very much I love our GPS - our trusty Zumo??? (I know I did but I'm emphasizing it again...) The joys of a GPS, especially in a big city! It takes all the stress out of coming into a city you don't know and with complete ease, we've been able to effortlessly find exactly where we want to go... love it!
OK - enough about that...
The drive from Pictou  to Halifax was great, especially on the secondary roads... Route 2 runs parallel to the Trans Canada. It's a bit slower but it  meanders through rolling farmland. In this part of Nova Scotia, there are so many beautiful little farms everywhere!! Everything is green and lush and I can see how the Scottish who arrived here felt at home (based on photos I've seen of parts of Scotland). There are also a lot of dairy farms as well. This is such a huge change from Newfoundland where so much of the undeveloped areas are marshy and muskegy... here, you're into postcard perfect farmland, worthy of any rural calendar. The other thing we noticed - my God, do they love to mow grass here!!! Honestly, in Newfoundland, everyone has a 4-wheeler but in Nova Scotia, everyone must have a  heavy duty ride'em lawn mower! Every other yard is at least 3 acres of mowed and manicured lawn and I'm  not even exaggerating. This is a true story. I would have taken pics but it's hard to do from a moving motorcycle... but trust me when I say, we've never seen such HUGEMONGOUS lawns  anywhere!!
Halifax is a really great city, from what we managed to see today. We drove around Dartmouth (the other side of the shore from the Halifax waterfront) and then parked our bike. WHAT LUCK! The parking ticket dispenser was Out Of Order! Free parking!
We hopped the little shuttle ferry (like the Seabus in Vancouver) and it lands right in the middle of the Halifax piers. Yes, I know, it's a little touristy but what the heck - we're tourists! It was great fun to walk up and down the boardwalk and see all the goings on. We also went to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic - a must see, honestly, if you're interested in history. In the museum, they have a comprehensive collection including Halifax's maritime involvement in the World Wars, the Arctic Expedition, they also have a great display on the devastating Halifax Harbour explosion in 1917. I was so moved by the little movie we watched, both a lady behind me and I were teary-eyed and sniffling. So incredibly, unspeakably tragic... and so unimaginable. It was the largest man-made explosion before Hiroshima. They also have a really great Titanic museum with quite a few artifacts. Even though the Titanic was on it's way to New York and the survivors were taken there, almost 200 bodies of people who died in the sinking were brought to Halifax and are buried in 3 of the cemeteries here. They also have a huge collection of artifacts from a whole bunch of other shipwrecks from this area, a boat building shop where they restore old boats  and lots of old, vintage wooden boats on display. They also have two boats at the pier you can walk on - the Acadien which is from 1913 and was used for charting coastal waters and a naval ship (can't remember the name!) A great museum.
After all of that, we were hungry so we sat on the pier and had some take-away dinner (I had a killer lobster salad!) and watched all the boats go by. We crossed back on the ferry and started to head out to our campsite (The Shubie Campsite - can you believe the name, Erica??) and we saw a bunch of rowers practicing on the little lake in the middle of Dartmouth. We stopped and watched for quite awhile - some were Dragon Boat racers, some were single and double racing boats.  Another great day...
Tomorrow we're off to Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg!
I'm not posting as many photos right now because the camera on this mini tablet isn't that great and its awkward but we have some great pictures on our big camera which I will add later, when we get home...

Catch Up Post - July 15

July 15 (Posted after the fact...)
So irritating! Not sure what happened to my July 15 post but I hit save and it got stuck in save mode and now I can't open it! ARG!!! Anyway, here goes...
So we left Louisbourg and headed up to the small town of Baddeck where Alexander Graham Bell and his family eventually settled after immigrating from Scotland. Of course, he's most famous for his invention of the telephone but he was a prolific inventor and worked in so many different areas, it's hard to imagine when the mad slept. Honestly - any one of his achievements would have been a life's worth and he had multiple disciplines. He initially worked closely with the deaf, continuing the work of his father. He invented the first machine to test hearing loss and worked with a "visual language" method.  He was instrumental in Helen Keller's life and helped set her on a path of communication with her outside world. He was also intensely interested in aviation and his work (with some partners) led to the very first flight in Canadian aviation history, in Baddeck. He also developed many different models of hydrofoils and one of his hydrofoils set the then world record for the fastest speed. What an amazing man. He would be on my list of people I'd like to have lunch with when I die...
What's really great is that his two daughters donated thousands of artifacts to the museum, including the transmitter and receiver from the very first telephone call he made to his assistant Watson in which he said, "Watson, come here  - I would like to see you." (or something relatively close to this...)
This is a fantastic museum that honours an incredible man who contributed so much to society, both in terms of technology and compassion. We would highly recommend this stop in your travels if you get a chance.
From Baddeck, we continued on up the East side of the Cabot Trail. There are so many artisans who have roadside galleries and shops, it's so much fun to hop from one to the next. Along this stretch is our friend Sarah Beck's Wildfire Pottery studio. We stopped in and had a great visit with her and her partner, Paul. Sarah is an incredibly talented potter and she sells a lot of her work online as well. I can't put my hands on her card at the moment (sorry Sarah!!) but google her and you'll find her website. When I can, I'll update this information.
After leaving Sarah and Paul, we continued up through Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Apparently, this area looks a lot like the Scottish Highlands - gorgeous. We made it to South Cape and found a fantastic little campsite off the road, overlooking a harbour. So lovely. What a fantastic (and HOT!!!! 100 degrees!) day!!

Cabot Trail - Cape Breton

July 16
Had a great night in Cape North and carried on our way around the Cabot Trail this morning. The weather couldn't have been more perfect! We made it down to Pleasant Bay and had breakfast there and then went to see the fishermen unloading crab at the dock. A beautiful little harbour and lots of whale-watching boats going out. From there, we carried on down to Cheticamp. This stretch of the Cabot Trail was our favourite - absolutely stunning views of the winding road as it twists in front of you along the rugged coastline. We climbed over a couple small mountains and apparently this area looks just like the Scottish Highlands (hence the name of the park - the Cape Breton Highlands National Park). They must get a lot of rain here because it's like temperate rain forest - densely packed, thick green trees like a carpet up steep mountains and into deep crevasses. Gorgeous.
We stopped in Cheticamp and the Acadian culture is very noticeable here - from their bright colourful folk art wood carvings to their classic hooked rugs and, of course, the Acadian dialect of French. We spent some time in a carving shop which was fun to see and then had lunch at the Co-op Artisanale Restaurant Acadien - a lovely little place that (we're told) is the only place left on Cape Breton you can get truly authentic, traditional Acadien food. I had their meat pie and thought of my mom, who still makes the best "Tortierre" in the world. This little place is a must see if you come through Cheticamp - they have a traditional craft co-operative which has beautiful rug hooked pieces and more and today, we were lucky to be able to watch one of the women working on one. They also have a little museum and, of course, the restaurant. Great food, very good prices and friendly staff in traditional long skirts and bonnets. www.cheticamphookedrugs.com
From here we hugged the coastline and took route 19 down to the Canso Causeway which connects Cape Breton to the rest of Nova Scotia. This was a LOVELY drive and the countryside opens up into lowlands and rolling farmland along the water. Lots of beautiful little farms and small villages, green hay fields and red barns. Fabulous route to take.
Once over the Causeway, we got onto the the Trans Canada and zoomed along, making some fast miles. We decided to try to find a place near New Glasgow. After turning off there, we stopped at a gas station and a fellow there told us the only place he knew to camp was in Pictou, a small town a few miles down the road. We headed that way and off we went to Pictou, a FANTASTIC little town we would have otherwise totally missed. Sometimes, the random chances lead to great experiences and this was certainly true of our experience in Pictou! We found the Harbour Lights campground (selected soley based on the name!) and when we found it, it was a sea of RVs! OH NO! Good grief - totally NOT what we were hoping for but by then, we were tired and didn't care - it was only for one night.
We went to the office and there found Cameron, the owner. What a character! He said he thought he might have something quiet for us and walked us past all the RVs and lo, down a little hill and right beside the water was a beautiful little green treed meadow all quiet and secluded. Unbelievable. You just never know!! After setting up camp, we headed back into Pictou to wander around the waterfront. Pictou has a great history - the first load of Scottish immigrants arrived there back in the early 1700s aboard the "Hector" - a replica of this sailing ship is in the harbour there. This first landing marked the beginning of the Scottish presence in what would go on to be Nova Scotia and the Scottish culture is alive and well to this day. After having some great food at Sharon's Place, we took photos up and down the streets - gorgeous heritage buildings everywhere. As we wandered, we could hear bagpipes and drums which led us to the deCoste Centre, down on the waterfront. There, a fantastic pipes and drums group played for an hour, free for all to watch. I don't know what it is about pipes and drums - I'm French and Italian but somewhere in my genetic makeup, maybe there's a little bit of Maritimer because I hear them and I get teary-eyed!
At a break, we went into the Center and what a place! They host a weekly series called "The Summer Sounds of Nova Scotia" and each week, they have different musicians, storytellers, dancers etc. from Nova Scotia come and do performances or traditional Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-Lee) - a Nova Scotian "Kitchen Party". For $15 (they give discounts to people staying in local accommodations) you get an incredible night of top rate entertainment. Last night we had singer/songwriter  Jimmy Sweeney doing old time stories and songs, some lovely highland dancers, a wonderful harp duo - Ardyth and Jennifer - and an incredible fiddler, Fleur Mainville, who played with a guitar accompanist. What a show!  For more information on the incredible job the deCoste Centre is doing to support and preserve Nova Scotian culture, check out their website - www.decostecentre.ca
We love Pictou! What a wonderful little town - like so many others, we wish we could stay for a few more days but alas, tomorrow we're off to Halifax. We'd like to stay and see all their concerts! They're all first rate - in the past they've had Rita McNeil, Stompin Tom, Mamas and Papas, Natalie MacMaster, Liona Boyd, the Rankins, Valdy, the Barra MacNeils - the list is impressive! Definitely a must see...
Yesterday's post is missing... Sorry about that. I wrote it and it got stuck in save mode... Not sure what the issue is but will try to post it later. It was a great day in Baddeck visiting the fabulous Alexander Graham Bell museum and then heading up the first half of the Cabot Trail, visiting our friend Sarah Beck at her awesome pottery studio, Wildfire Pottery.

Newfoundland - Part 2

July 10
After a bit of a slow morning (due to the late night merriment) we headed out to New Bonaventure, about 25 kms from Trinity. There they have the site where they filmed the fantastic miniseries called Random Passage. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it! I watched it years ago (2001 I think?) when CBC first aired it and it's an historically accurate but fictional account of a family who landed from England on the coast of Newfoundland back in the 1700s and began cod fishing. It was so well done and the film producer who is from Newfoundland, donated the set for tourism because it is so well reproduced and accurate to what it would have been like back then. We did the tour and Bride, our tour guide, was an incredible story teller! She brought us through all the buildings and told us the story as well as giving us a lot of explanation of the fishery and the tools they used etc. I would highly recommend this, especially if you've seen the movie!
After spending the morning here, we took off and headed into Clarenville where we stopped and phoned to make ferry reservations for Saturday to cross from Argentia, Nfld to North Sydney, Nova Scotia. We also called the Harley dealership in St. John's. Gerry - one of the owners, answered the phone and God bless him, he squeezed us in the next morning for an oil change and to replace my back tire.
On we went to St. John's. Right in the middle of town is Pippy Park, a huge green belt parkland that also has an RV and campsite area. The bonus, it's pretty much 5 minutes from the waterfront and all the shops. It was a bit pricey at $45/night for a serviced site but the location was too good to pass up.

July 11
Boy we got lucky this morning - we got up early to get to Harley and on our way it started to rain. By the time we got in at 8:00AM, it turned into a downpour. We missed the rain my mere minutes! While our bikes were being serviced, we hung around and drank coffee. What a great bunch of people! Gerry, the owner, made sure we were looked after. We had nice chairs to sit in and some of the staff came and chatted with us and shared some snacks. By the time we were done, the sun was out! Perfect! Gerry left us with his card and told us if we ran into trouble or needed help of any kind in both Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, to give him a call. What a great guy...
From there, we we up to Signal Hill - a National Historic Site. It was a military post high up on a hill and from there, you can look into the St. John's harbour on one side and out over the open water on the other. A lot of the site is still intact and you can wander all over on trails. It was also the site where Marconi received his first trans-Atlantic wireless message and there is a radio room there with lots of artifacts. Very cool.
From there, we headed out to Cape Spear - the Eastern most tip of North America. There are 2 lighthouses there - the original from the early 1800s and then a newer one from around the mid-1900s.
We went back downtown and the two streets that parallel the harbour, Water and Duckworth, have awesome little shops and a vibrant nightlife. We had some of the best pizza we've ever had at Yellowbelly brew pub and, as we sat at by the window and watched the world go by, we realized, on this busy Friday night, that people were cruising!! Especially on motorcycles! Up and down the street they would go! Very funny so after dinner we decided to join the cruise for a lap and rode up Water St. and down Duckworth with the rest of them on parade. TOO FUNNY!!!

July 12
After passing a sleepless night due to drunken, arguing neighbors at the campsite (good grief already!!!) we headed straight over to Argentia to catch the ferry to Nova Scotia. We got in quite early so the gal at the ferry terminal told us to go into Placentia for a couple hours and come back. We headed over there and were just getting off our bikes at Phillip's Cafe (AWESOME PLACE!), who drives up behind us?? Yvan and Carol!! HA HA HA... too funny! And the great news was that they were catching the Argentia ferry too! We had lunch and then headed back to the terminal and got on the boat.
This particular ferry is 17 hours and is really like a mini cruiseship. Yvan and Carol booked a cabin and got a 4 bunk room because that was all they had left. They generously offered to share their cabin with us which was fantastic. After we settled, we went and had their buffet dinner which was honestly one of the best meals we've had on this trip. They had everything and it was all so good. After stuffing ourselves with cod and roastbeef, hung out in the lovely bar area and listened to a singer/songwriter and had an after dinner aperitif. Perfect. We retired to the cabin and I have to admit, those bunk beds were heaven as the boat chugged and rolled along that night. I slept like a baby!

July 13
Woke up this morning at 7:00 and we were still 3 hours from port. We all had breakfast together - again, their buffet breakfast was absolutely top notch. This boat trip was one of the highlights for us. We would highly recommend it and if you can, spring for the cabin. Much nicer than sleeping on airline type reclining seats for 17 hours...
This time we had to say goodbye to Yvan and Carol for sure because they were heading home to Quebec - no chance meetings from here. We've made arrangements to see them on our way home and, of course, they've offered us a place to stay. I suspect they'll become long time friends. So wonderful...
We headed straight to Louisbourg once we got off the boat. It's only about 1 hour away. The Fortress in absolutely incredible!! It's rated as one of the top 10 things to do in Nova Scotia and now we can see why. It's a military fortress town that first began around 1720 and protected the harbour and, ultimately, the cod fishery. Over the next 25 years or so, the British and French fought over this ground and sacked one another repeatedly. Not much remained but in the 1950s I believe, when so many Nova Scotia coal miners were out of work, the government funded a program where many of them could help rebuild 1/4 of the site and learn new trades. Brilliant really. They've done an incredible job and the site is so impressive. It's huge and all the buildings are open and most have interpreters. We also did the little town tour to learn about it all. We would highly recommend this National Historic Site. Incredible.
From there, we went back into the small town of Louisbourg and stayed at the campsite right by the docks. When the wind is just right, the stinks to high heaven of the fish and crab processing plant next door but mostly, the wind carries it away. The site is lovely and right on the water. Next door is the Louisbourg Playhouse - a theater built in the design of the old Globe Theater in London England. It was part of a movie set shot by Disney in the Louisbourg Fortress a number of years ago and they donated it to the town. The townsfolk cut it up in 4 pieces and loaded them on barges, floated them across the harbour and reconstructed it near the docks. It's been a busy theater since and last night we saw Sheldon Chant and his band. All we can say is WOW!!!! Some of his band have played with the Rankins, Rita McNeil and the like so absolutely first rate musicians and they had that place hopping!!! The fiddler cranked our reels like you can't believe and the piano player was another Billy Joel. One of the best piano players I've heard and he can sing just as well. Sheldon is the local undertaker as well as a minister in one of the little churches and he's also an incredible singer, songwriter and guitar player. And very funny! Lots of great jokes and banter. One of the best concerts we been too ever! What a GREAT DAY!!!