June 26: Cabot Trail to Sydney, NS

Ahhhh, I forgot how nice it was to wake up to warm sunshine!  We stayed dry last night and all our stuff has officially dried out from the rain we encountered in previous days.  We threw on some shorts and continued along the Cabot Trail, stopping a few times to do a small hike or check out some look-out’s.  

These Wildflowers are growing everywhere in Nova Scotia in white, light pink and purple.  They are gorgeous!

A wild Orchid

Unfortunately, that hot sun didn’t stick around for long and after about 20 minutes of driving, the rain was back in full force and sitting here at 9:40pm, it still hasn’t subsided.  The rain, mixed with fog meant that we didn’t get the views we were hoping for on the second half of the Cabot Trail…On the other hand, the more driving we do and with the sights we see, we realize that we are really spoiled with where we grew up!  So far, pretty much every place we have gone, we can compare it to somewhere back home whether it be driving in the rockies (a smaller version), the Okanagan or the Oregon Coast.  I’m sad to say that in a sense we are kind of disappointed with what we thought were going to be amazing places.  Having said that, the rain doesn’t help and I’m sure if we had more time to explore, we might appreciate it more as well.  Our travels ended today in Sydney, NS where we had our first taste of lobster!  

Don’t worry, it won’t be our only taste, we just had to try this.  

It wasn’t worth the $6, tasted like lettuce on a hot dog bun with some slimy white stuff.  

From Sydney, is where we are to catch the ferry to Newfoundland tomorrow.  And that’s where the next dilemma stands…We were supposed to leave tomorrow at 2:30pm and head to Argentia, about an hour away from St.John’s.  Well apparently that ferry needs mechanical work and therefore there are no ferries running to Argentia.  We have been re-scheduled to go to Port Aux Basques on the other end of Newfoundland at 10:30pm tomorrow!  Luckily I was able to call and at least get switched to the 11:30am ferry so we don’t waste a day in Sydney (there is nothing here), although now we’re wasting a day on the ferry, as opposed to a night like originally planned.  The other dilemma is that they don’t know if the ferry from Argentia, Nfld back to Sydney, NS will be running again by the time we need to get back!  This could mean we have to do the drive between Argentia and Port Aux Basque (about 10 hours) twice, which adds an extra day of unexpected driving!  Ugggghhh, if it only it wasn’t pouring outside, maybe I’d fee better about things!  At this point, we are praying that we stay on schedule and that the sun makes an appearance and sticks around!

We had to have our BBQ chicken over the fire at some point - can't let the rain take away all our fun!

June 25: Peggy’s Cove to The Cabot Trail

Today was another long day of driving…Who am I kidding, everyday seems to be a long day of driving!  But that doesn’t mean we aren’t loving it!  We left Peggy’s Cove this morning and headed towards Halifax.  One of Carl’s friends from his program at Queens is from Halifax and just happened to be home for 2 weeks!  We sent him a text and were able to meet up with him in downtown Halifax.  We only spent about 1.5 hours there but in that time we were able to catch up with a friend, walk the boardwalk along the water and get a bit of history about Halifax from Will, Carl’s friend.  It was pleasant.  Then it was back in the car, destination the Cabot Trail!  We stopped and picked up some groceries and decided that since the weather was nice, we were going to have a fire and do up some BBQ chicken – Yum!

We entered the Cabot Trail around 6pm and were in search of a campsite.  The first one we were hoping to stay at was closed…So we kept driving and came to the second one, basically a parking lot with a bit of grass (and I guess I should mention the ocean front view).  It would have to do, the next campsite wasn’t for a long while.  We pulled in, looked around and realized there was no firewood!  So much for our delicious BBQ chicken, guess that will have to wait.  Ok next on the list, spaghetti!  Just need to find some water to boil the noodles in…Ummmm no water…Let’s see here, ok there is a sign “closest potable water, 10km south” – oh so you mean at the campsite we passed that is closed!?  Ok, well thank goodness we are smart little campers and had some water left over from our last sight!  Just enough for spaghetti and to fill up our water bottles…We’ll have to see how we make out without our morning coffee!  

For now, it’s time to take in the ocean view and watch the sunset!  Good night!

June 24th: Fundy to Peggy's Cove, NS

Well we managed to stay somewhat dry last night!  It did rain most of the night but our trusty tarp did it's job!  Today, the goal was to get to Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia!

A pit stop enroute

We started out with a small detour so we could see Cape Enrage which according to some, is the beautiful view in Canada!  Unfortunately, not all the rain had subsided and along with the rain came fog!  There was no view :(  So this is all I've got to show you, the pretty picture on the brochure...   

Our next stop was one that we figured would be a highlight of the trip, Hopewell Rocks!  Here, when the tide is out (which it was) you get to see "flower pot" rocks.  Cool rocks, shaped by the ocean.

The rock formations were very cool and quite beautiful but we have to admit, the area was a little disappointing in that it was so touristy!  You drive up to a massive parking lot, have to purchase a ticket to walk along the beach, are forced to walk through the gift shop and are surrounded by hundreds of other tourists.  Not our idea of "natural beauty" but still beautiful to say the least.

We continued our drive...  

And to our surprise learned a little fun fact - Anne Murray was born in Springhill, Nova Scotia! 

Instead of driving the straightforward routes and major highways, we usually like to take the scenic routes however on this trip the scenic routes haven't been to scenic and seem to take twice as long to get  to our destinations!  After a few hours on a boring side road, we ditched the "scenic route" and booked it to Peggy's Cove!

Apparently the lighthouse in Peggy's Cove is the most photographed lighthouse EVER!  It is a gorgeous area!

We are currently camped just outside of Peggy's Cove and are looking forward to seeing the SUN that is forecasted for tomorrow!!!

June 23rd: Grand Manan and Fundy

The adventure continues!  We awoke Friday morning and had a relaxing leisurely morning because we knew we couldn’t catch the ferry to Grand Manan until 1:30.  It was nice to slow things down after all the driving we had already done! We boarded our ferry and an hour and a half later, arrived at our accommodation for the evening at "Hole in the Wall Campground"…

Not bad huh?  Here's the view looking in each direction...

  

Carl and I both agree that this is probably the most beautiful spot we have ever camped at.  We quickly set up our tent and went to explore the island!  We did about an hour hike to the lighthouse we could see from our campsite.  The trail was slightly treacherous, ducking under trees, walking through long grass and almost running into a deer but we made it!  The reason the campground is called "Hole in the Wall" is because of this...

Afterwards we did a short drive to the town of Gran Manan only to discover that there isn’t much of a town!  But we did end up getting this shot when the tide was low.  You can see that fishing boat in almost no water.

From then on, it was time for more relaxing!  We had dinner and a fire and enjoyed our cliff top ocean view.  

The following morning (Saturday) we had to get up early to catch the 7:30am ferry!  If we wanted to stay on schedule, we had to keep moving.  Just as we were getting up it started to rain so we shoved our wet tent into the car and headed to the ferry.  We drove to Saint John’s, NB and hopped out for a few hours to explore.  We stopped in at a local market, checked out an old store where we bought the first ever chocolate bar (yum!) and tried a town favourite, Dulse (basically seaweed that's used for a snack, as an extra spice or to add salt to something without using salt).  

Houses in downtown Saint John's

Apparently the first Canadian chocolate bar made in the 1920's

We were lucky enough to see Saint John’s in the sun because the rest of our day was wet!  But that didn't stop us from stopping to check out the scenery!  Covered bridges are a big thing in New Brunswick, they are everywhere!  I'm not sure what the big deal is about them but it's on my list of things to read up on!

  

We continued on to St.Martin’s where we saw some sea caves.  Unfortunately the tide was in so we didn’t get to close.  

From there we went to The Fundy Trail Parkway which some people (or maybe just the brochure I read) claims that it is "the only remaining coastal wilderness between Florida and Newfoundland.  We stopped for a short hike which actually ended up being longer than than we anticipated.  On the way back up the hill we had hiked down, Carl had to assist me but pushing me part of the way to give me a bit of a boost!  If the weather was nicer or if we could hike or bike the Fundy Trail I think we would have enjoyed it more.  But the weather was lousy and the fog blocked our view so we ended up turning back early and heading on towards Fundy National Park.  When we arrived it was pouring rain so we decided to get our tarp up and go for a walk  to see if the rain would subside before we put our already tent up.  

On our walk, the tide was out so we got to walk along the ocean floor

During our walk to the beach the rain did subside…But not for long!  By the time we were back at our site, it again was pouring and hasn’t let up since.  It’s now 10pm and we are sitting in the car, me on the computer typing and Carl is reading.  It’s now dark and still pouring and the tent isn’t up yet….Guess we better get this party started its gonna be a wet one!

The East Coast Adventure Begins!

Our East coast adventure has begun!  We left Wednesday morning at 9am.  The sun was shining, so bright in fact that by 9am it was already 23 degrees but with the humidity, felt like 31!   Our goal was to reach Burlington, Vermont, however once we reached it, we decided it was too hot to walk around or set up camp so we decided to stay in our air conditioned car and keep driving!  The drive was somewhat uneventful although we did see a deer!  Driving through parts of Vermont and New Hampshire reminded us of driving in the areas around Hope or Shuswap, although most of our drive was through tiny towns, trailer parks and the odd old house.  In Vermont, there was a small community of Amish folk and we saw one Amish man out plowing his fields with his horses.  Their lifestyle intrigues me so I always love it when we get a glimpse into their daily life.  

A sign we got used to seeing on our drive through Ohio but not a sign we were expecting to see on this trip!

Although his neighbor had a yard full of tractors, this Amish man was plowing his field manually with his horses

Always gotta get a picture of the state signs!

 For our first night we settled in a little campsite in New Hampshire near the border to Maine.  We had driven a total of about 11 hours so we were ready for a good night sleep!...I wish I could say I had one but I think insomnia is a common occurrence during pregnancy - yay for me!  The following morning we were excited to get up and see our first moose of the trip!

 I was even more excited when were able to stop at one of my favourite stores in the USA :)

 We drove through Maine which we did not find very welcoming...I mean, who doesn't have a welcome sign welcoming people into their state?!  Besides the Target, Maine was uneventful.  As we crossed the border back into Canada, we felt our East coast adventure had really begun!

 We are currently settled into a campsite in St.Andrew's by the Sea in New Brunswick.  The Atlantic ocean is right across the street so we took a little stroll!

Carl put his hand in the Atlantic Ocean!

Today was another hot day but it has cooled down nicely and we are looking forward to another good night sleep (pleeeease!!!).  Tomorrow we have a short drive and a 1.5hour ferry ride to a little island called Grand Manan.  We may get our first sight of whales!  

Upper Canada Village

So I need to make a shout out to my favorite friend here in Kingston!  Julie has lent us her laptop until we can get a new one!  It's been very helpful for Carl as he is completing another designation for Urban Planning and for applying for jobs and for me so I can check my email, Facebook and of course write blogs :)  Thanks Julie!  We are hoping (and praying) that we will have a new computer before we go on our trip to the East Coast in one week so I can continue to blog throughout it!  We've cashed in all our points from various things and should have some Future Shop gift cards arriving soon! 

This past weekend we made a last minute decision and went camping with our friends Jenn and Andrew Saturday night!  We drove about 2 hours out to the the Long Sault Parkway which connects several islands along the Rideau Canal.  Although our campsite didn't have many trees, we had a waterfront view!

 

 The following morning we got up and went to Upper Canada Village, a historic tourist attraction similar to Barkerville in BC. 

 It just happened to be Medieval weekend at Upper Canada Village so not only did we get taken back in time, we got to see a real life joust!  I would have cropped these pictures but I haven't figured out how to edit photo's on this computer yet!

  

Now I'm not sure what pickles have to do with medieval times but as a pregnant gal, I was sure excited to see them being sold!

 

We had a fun time, even though 28 degrees was a little warm to be in the sun all day, we weren't complaining!  We don't have very exciting plans for this week as Carl is studying to write an exam in Ottawa on Monday to get his LEED designation.  We are counting down the days until we leave next Wednesday and head all the way to Newfoundland!