Day 19 - Cabot Trail–Chiticamp, Nova Scotia

Not too much happening today. Woke to another day of  torrential downpours.

The tent campers gave up the ghost and packed up all of their rain soaked gear and left.

We decided to sign on for today and tomorrow anticipating the weather might improve. We are still holding on to the hope we might get to do the Cabot Trail.

We took Jewel for her two walks between downpours. The CG is a mud hole from all the rain so Jewel has to be showered before we can let her back in the MH. At first she didn’t like the idea but then enjoyed the warm water and especially getting wiped dry. She likes the massage thing going on. LOL

On my, what is that bright thing in the sky. YES! At 5:50 PM the sun came out!!!!!!! Wow, we forgot how nice it was to see blue skies and sunshine

We decided to take the opportunity and drive the western side of the Cabot Trail up to Chiticamp. We have read the the western side is not as spectacular as the eastern side so we will do the east t tomorrow regardless of what the weather looks like.

The ride was nice and reminded us of the forests in Maine and New Hampshire. As we drove along  we commented on how the landscape and farmlands  were like those in Pennsylvania and Up state New York as well. It is a 70 mile ride to Chiticamp, a fairly large Acadian town that sure did resemble Provincetown with its narrow streets and many small shops.

 

 

The route changed from forest to ocean and is very pretty. Ron commented that it looked a lot like the coast of Oregon. We’re told it looks like the coast of Scotland (I think I said Ireland before) with its rolling hills and cliffs. It’s very pretty and of course we love the ocean.

 

We took a leisurely ride through town.We didn’t stop because at 8 PM everything was closed up tight for the night.

On the ride back to the CG we discussed that we were happy to have been able to finally get out to see that section of the Cabot Trail. Although very nice, we didn’t see anything that was as awesome as we had been told. Ron said the eastern side is claimed to have the most spectacular views and also some trails that we  might like to hike.

 

On our way up the Cabot trail we saw some people looking under the hood of their SUV. They were pulling a huge camping trailer.. From everything we have read the road on the east is really steep and difficult to navigate. It looked like he was having engine trouble after pulling those grades.On our return we caught up with them limping down the road. It’s not so rare that people have blown their  engines after towing up and down steep grades, especially when towing something as big as the camping trailer they had with an undersized SUV.

We got back to the MH around 8:30 PM. Shortly after arriving it began pouring again!! Hopefully, it will clear for tomorrow.

 

Day 18–Rain, Rain and More Rain–Miner Museum, Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

At 3  AM we woke to the thunderous sound of rain on the roof. It was raining so hard you would have thought you were going to float away. We wondered how our neighbors in the tents were doing. I can’t recall ever seeing or hearing it rain so much for so long. Everything here is saturated.

 

Since this was going to be another blow out for the Cabot Trail we opted to go to the Miner Museum in Glace Bay some 60 miles from  here. At least it is something interesting to do here in the rain forest. LOL.

  

                                                            

 

Did I mention that getting around this part of Canada can be tricky. There are road signs  but not real clear road signs. We forgot our Tom Tom – not so sure it would have worked well anyway. We do have our laptop with DeLorme but it went wacky just getting us here. It was lost most of the time so I did feel better about my  navigational skills. LOL Ron, who is generally always knows where he is was getting frustrated.

 

After 90 minutes of misleading road signs we finally stopped for direction. As it turned out despite our stops and starts we were only about 30  minutes from our destination.

We finally arrived at the Miner Museum around 1 PM. We watched a video about mining in Canada and were surprised to hear that the issues facing the miners in the US were not different in Canada. In some ways they were even worse because the miners in the US had formed a union earning protection against poor working conditions and low wages. Not so in Canada, and their fight was as brutal as the fight for rights in the US.

LINK:

http://www.minersmuseum.com/

 

Our tour guide had worked in the mines for thirty years and was able to bring his experiences to life for us. He had worked 650 feet underground below the ocean as a third generation miner.

As everyone knows a trip for us would not be complete without some type of underground adventure!

 

   

                                       

 

In the early days they used Shetland ponies to haul the  coal in the carts. The ponies lived in the mines and were not allowed outside  except for one week per year when the miners were all on vacation. The ponies became blind after living so many years in the darkness.

Our guide told us a story about a miner from Germany who  had planted a garden in one of the mines and kept it alive. A garden is planted in this mine annually as a tribute.

 

 

The tour was excellent but reinforced that neither Ron or I  would be cut out to be mine workers.

Outside we planned on looking at the mine related  artifacts but we only got to check out one of the miners’ rental homes and a couple of pieces of equipment before the monsoon rains kicked in again.

   

                                   

 

Since it was still early we decided to check out the Marconi Museum. There were signs to the museum so we thought it would be an easy place to find. We followed the signs then nothing!!!!!!  Not a building, sign or indication where this museum might be. Ron was frustrated so we opted to head back to the CG.

This time we took a more direct route following our instincts instead of road signs. It worked out well because within the hour we were back on PH 105. The weather had not improved and the fog just as bad at 4:30 PM as it had been at 10 AM.

 

Since we were unable to take in the Cabot Trail we decided to stop for dinner at a restaurant on the Cabot Trail. The food was great, although pricey, then it was back to the CG.

 

Since  morning the CG had really exploded with people. There were more tent campers - all who seemed to know each other. The only difference was there were now  canopies set up for protection from the rain. I guess everyone was waiting for that group to arrive.

 

Once under cover the party really got going. They were enjoying themselves with loud music , hooting and hollering  and just having a great time. Someone played a guitar for hours. Whoever  was playing was pretty good and when he stopped I missed the music.

We did some research and found that the weather doesn’t look much better  no matter which part of Nova Scotia we decide to travel to or north east Canada.  Not sure what to do. Will be checking the weather pattern in the morning and make a decision then. We are both craving some sunshine.

 

 

Day 17–Adventures East Campground, Alexander Graham Bell Museum, Baddeck, Nova Scotia

 

The weather has been miserable with low hanging fog and non-stop rain. I guess there is a front stalled over the Northeastern part of the USA and Canada. It is the first time in all of our years of traveling in the MH that we have been prevented from taking in the scenery because we can’t see it – period.

The fog is so heavy at times that you can’t see 2 feet in front of you. So much for driving and hiking the Cabot Trail. Since that activity is out for the day we opted to take a tour of the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck.

LINK:

http://www.visitbaddeck.com/attractions/bell.html

 

Never really thought about it but Alexander Graham Bell was born in Scotland, moved to the United States with his family as a young boy and then made his summer residence here in Baddeck, Nova Scotia because it reminded him of his homeland of Scotland.

The home that he built and lived in with his family is still occupied by his descendants today. The home is located on a 500 acre parcel of land on the peninsula. Unfortunately, it is not open to the public for touring.

 

     

 

Although he is well known for his development of the telephone, Mr. Bell was very much involved in the development and success of  the first manned flight in Canada much like the Wright Brothers in The USA.

 

The plane used for it first manned successful flight looked much like the Wright Brothers Plane. It flew 1000 meters and from here aviation in Canada took off.

LINK:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell

 

 

Mr. Bell was also instrumental in teaching the deaf how to speak. His own Mother was deaf so he took a keen interest in helping young children learn how to speak and communicate. He taught at the school for the deaf in Boston, MA .

One of his students became his wife and played a huge role in helping him develop his inventions. He worked constantly at trying to improve on things that had already been developed and to develop new inventions of his own  to better society.

In Baddeck, he had a house boat that he would spend the day alone on, lost in his thoughts and working on new inventions. It was told that no one was allowed to bother him and his wife would make lunch for him and send it to him in a cart pulled by a Shetland pony. The pony would then return on its own to the house.

 

Mock up of  a hydrofoil developed by Bell and his partners. It was to be used to skim across the waters at a high rate of speed. It held a world speed record for twelve years racing at over 70 MPH. The intention was to sell it to the US government during WWI but the war ended before it was perfected.

 

It took about two hours to go through the museum. It was lunch time so we checked out a couple of restaurants in Baddeck. None interested us, so we got out of the pouring rain and drove around looking for the elusive grocery store.

We finally found the Co-op and picked up a few items. Again, I was taken aback by the prices. A 1/2 gallon of milk cost $4.05 and that was the cheap stuff. I don’t know what the average wage in Canada is but it would have to be pretty good  just to afford food and fuel, not to mention housing.  I was told that everything is so high here to support their government health care programs.

Back at the MH we settled in, had lunch and watched it rain all day. We have no cell service or television,  so it was reading or surfing the web for the rest of the day. We are trying to wait our the bad weather with the promise of some sunshine in the next couple of days.

The CG started to fill up in the afternoon with many tent campers . Brave souls, setting up all their gear in the pouring rain. I guess the rain is part of life here in Nova Scotia because everyone was soaked and not  even trying to get under something out of the rain. Tis a hearty bunch here in Nova Scotia.

Again, we are hoping for some clearing skies tomorrow. It would be a shame to come all this way to do the Cabot Trail and not be able to.

Day 16–Traveling to Baddeck, Nova Scoria, The Cabot Trail and the Adventures East Campground and Cottages

Our original plan was to get up really early and get on the road by 8 AM. Well, that plan didn’t work. For some reason neither one of us could sleep last night and were up wandering about the MH until the wee hours of the morning. I think it was because we had a long, boring day yesterday so we weren’t tired.

Anyway we got up at 8 AM and didn’t get on the road until 10 AM. It wasn’t raining but still overcast and cold. I’m glad I brought long sleeved shirts because we sure need them.

We have been in Canada for a week now and have not had to gas up the MH but today we did. We stopped in  Hillsborough and choked on the cost.  It was $4.73 per gallon or 1.259 per liter. OUCH!!! Normally  it would cost us around $160-$175 to fill up at just below 1/2 tank instead of the $ 226.00 it cost us today.  So a pretty significant difference in fuel expenses.

It was a nice ride over the rolling hills of Canada. The area looks and feel very much like up state New York  and New Hampshire. Except for the road signs in Kilometers and  in English and French we would have never believed we had left the US.

We stopped at the Visitor Center in Nova Scotia to get some info. The people in the Visitor Center are extremely helpful and even called the CG for us to secure a reservation. The woman at the CG  thought we were crazy trying to get a site on a holiday w/e but after she realized we weren’t going quibble over a site with no sewer hook-up she got us in for the next three days. I guess a three-way hook-up is in demand. We had dumped all of our holding tanks so we are good for at least 5 days. Also we were looking to use our Passport America Card that would give us 1/2 off the cost of the site. We lucked out and got the site for $17.63 per night. In the US if it is a holiday w/e they will not give the discount.

We arrived at the CG around 4:30 PM after a 6.5 hour drive. The CG sits on part of the Cabot Trail – a must do in this area. It has been called spectacular and compared to Ireland and its beauty. 

 

Although our site looked very flat, we soon realized it was anything but that. It took two efforts to get the MH level. Ron had to put blocks under the front tires and with the jacks in the front fully extended we still weren’t level. It would have to do, so we  settled for an almost level MH.

We decided to go to dinner at  The Red Barn,owned by and adjacent  to the CG. The food was excellent and reasonable.

 

After dinner we took a ride into Baddeck to try to locate a grocery store. No luck there, but we did find another gas station to fuel up the car. OUCH, again. We should have filled the car when we filled the MH. The price was even higher and it ended up costing $5.03 per gallon for the car.

 

We’re hoping that the weather holds out. Hoping for no rain if not some sunshine, but the forecasters are predicting rain for the next three days. We plan to drive at least part of the Cabot Trail tomorrow and if it rains it will be OK as long as there is no fog to obstruct the views. We shall see.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 15–Ponderosa Pines CG, Hopewell Cape, NB

It rained most of the night and well into the morning. We had booked two nights  but actually only needed one night. But, since our payment was non-refundable we decided to just spend the day and plan for the next leg of our journey.

Since the only big attraction here is the Hopewell Rocks there wasn’t much else to do. Of course the internet access is intermittent so we were unable to post the last two days and worse yet Ron was unable to get into the internet to further his research.

 

Did I mention that the caravan left his morning and now the CG is virtually empty. We have no one to our right so we don’t feel so boxed in and were able to open the shades to let in some light.

I spent some  time cleaning and Ron decided he had cabin fever so took Jewel for a walk in the rain.

 

      

 

Jewel enjoyed her walk. There was no one around so she was able to roam free in the fields and on the rocky beach.

 

 

 

When they got back to the MH they were both soaked but in better spirits. Hanging around on a dreary day can get boring really quickly.  Later in the day we took a ride to the local gift shop and an art gallery. The owner of the art gallery was very accommodating and friendly and was more then happy to show us her studio where she had her ceramics in various stages o f completion.  She is an amazing artist and we fell in love with her work, albeit we didn’t buy any.

We had a light dinner and wondered why we hadn’t forfeited the $36.00 for the site and left for our next destination instead of sitting here all day. Let me think!!! On yes, that would have been a waste of money. Instead we stayed and then were unhappy with our decision.

 

Tomorrow we will be traveling about 275 miles  to Baddeck, Nova Scotia and the Cabot Trail.   The weather has  been at best  fair and we’re hoping for clear skies for the next couple of days.

 

Day 14–Ponderosa Pines CG, Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, Hopewell Rocks

Well, we were off and running for our long journey to Hopewell Cape where the infamous Hopewell Rocks are.  Not really a long journey – only 26 miles. For some reason Ron did not want to drive to Hopewell Rocks in the car. He preferred taking the MH and camping  near the park. If at all possible he does not like to back track.

When we arrived at the CG the owner was a little flustered. He had a caravan of MH’s in and was not sure what to do with us or the other people waiting to get a site. Despite it only being Tuesday he made sure we were aware that there was a long w/e coming up (July 1 is Canada Day much like our 4th of July) and that the CG  would be full. Never thought about a National holiday so it might be a problem getting into a CG for the w/e.

We only wanted two nights, so after some wrangling he found us a site. The other couple wanted to stay through the w/e and luckily he was able to give them a site as well.

Whoa, talk about  tight sights. We had to pull in behind another camper and the MH next to us you could touch if you put your hand out the window.

 

After settling in we took the 5 minute ride to  Hopewell Rocks Visitor Center. The iconic rocks that are depicted in travel magazines and commercial for the bay of Fundy.

After we paid our two day entrance fee we were surprised that you had to hike

approximately 3/4 mile  to get to the overlook and stairs to the ocean floor.

 

The tide was in but had not reached slack tide (when the tide has peaked before it starts to drop again). 

 

 

 

The tide was still coming in when Ron  took the top picture. You can still see the water marks at the lower end of the rocks or “Flower Pots.”

    

 

An hour later it was full high tide – can no longer see the water marks on the rocks. Every day at high tide they offer a kayaking tour of the rocks.

                                                         

The ranger told us that the tide today was 44.7 feet!

 

                                                 

                                   

 

After getting our high tide pictures we stopped in the gift shop then headed back to the MH. The Ranger recommended we come back at 5 PM for our low tide experience walking on the ocean floor and viewing the infamous flower pots.

When we got back to the CG there was a Sysco Canada truck waiting to greet us. Everywhere we go we see Sysco trucks. Keep that food moving because we love those stock dividends.

 

 

This was the second caravan we ran into in the last two days. Traveling in a caravan is very expensive. Anywhere from $4,000 for an RV and 2 people upwards of over $8,000.00 for a longer (47 day) trip. This does not include gas but you are guaranteed a CG every night and special events as you make your journey. There were 23 RV’s in this caravan at the CG.

 

 

LOW TIDE

Back at the “Flower Pots” we were ready for our ocean floor experience. In the pictures we have seen it would lead one to think that the area is rather confined. Not so, there is at least one-mile of “Flower Pots” to view. Just a spectacular site to see. Ron could not stop taking pictures.

 

 

   

 

 

 

                                                                       

 

 

 

 

   We were very fortunate because there were not many people. The Ranger stated  that by the middle of July there will be abut 400 people walking the ocean floor at every low tide.

     

                                                           

 

Of course we couldn’t leave until we got a picture in front of the “Flower Pots” you see in all the advertisement and travel magazines.

 

On the way back up the trail we  stopped at an overlook that rewarded us with a great surprise. As we  were walking onto the platform a couple from Montana told us about the Peregrine  Baby Falcon out on a ledge across from the platform. Of course, we didn’t have our new binoculars with us so they let us look with theirs.

What a sight. A beautiful white baby flacon waiting for Mom to return with its food. The couple had been waiting and hoping that the Mom would return. They decided they had to get going to walk the ocean floor before the park closed. By now it was 7 pm and you had to be off the ocean floor before 8 pm.

Not three minutes after they left the Mom and Dad Falcon returned and we watched them feed their screaming baby. How lucky were we to get to  see this!!!!!  I managed to get a good shot of the Mom bringing its baby food. It was difficult and took both of us at least 5 minutes to get focused on that little ledge.

We were told that there was originally two baby falcons but  about two weeks ago they were fighting over food and one fell to its death. 

 

 

    

 

Either Mom or Dad decided we were a threat even though we were a long way from the baby. The bird came and sat on a rock screeching at us at the top of its lungs. We took the hint and left.  

 

 

 

We stopped at another lookout and viewed the mud flats.

 

 

                                                          

 

The weather held and it turned out to be a beautiful day for our adventure. Not sure what we will be doing  tomorrow. Ron is planning the next leg of out journey.