Plan B, v.2.0

Ile d'Orleans, Quebec, Canada

It didn't just rain last night it poured - all night long. We stayed up way too late watching Downton Abbey and it felt good to sleep in. When we finally started pulling out of the campground a fellow camper told us our tire was low. Again?! Turns out it was the opposite tire and we had picked up a dry-wall screw somewhere. The gods did take some pity on us and it stopped raining long enough for Ned to put on a spare.

When he was just about finished, two other campers came on over and asked if they could help us. When we told them it was just a tire one of the guys said he would be more than happy to take it back to Fredericton to get it fixed for us! How sweet was that? We told him we were planning on hitting the road in the direction of Edmunston. He said wait just a sec and came back in a bit. Turns out both he and his buddy are in the military and are mechanics. They were looking for their tire repair kit, but couldn't find it. Instead, he called ahead to the nearest Walmart, in the direction we were headed, told them our problem and said they we waiting on us. On top of that he wrote out very clear instructions with a map on how to get there. When we got to Walmart they guy who took care of us said he'd only charge us $5 for plugging it, forget about his time. He knows what traveling is like. Canadians are sooo nice!!

The biggest lesson for me of this road trip is the inherent good in people. We've been in sticky situations, and been dumb tourists in other situations, and we've always been aided by the kindness of strangers. I try to be a good person, but I'm going to try extra hard to pay it forward!

After our little tire diversion we headed "Ouest" or West and stopped at Grand Falls. This is a huge gorge with spectacular water falls. During the spring run-off, 6 million liters of water per second runs over the falls. This is 90% of the volume of Niagara Falls. A few months later virtually all the water is diverted to the power plant. Luckily, we hit it on a roaring day. Even better the rain had stopped for awhile so we were able to get out and stretch our legs and be silly taking photos of the touristy things around the area. Legend has it that a young native girl saved her village by luring a Mohawk tribe over the great falls and down into the gorge.

The craziest thing to me about these falls is that there are two zip lines that actually go across the gorge (a 230 ft. drop) and falls. WTF?!! You couldn't pay me enough to do that. The rates are $40 for adults and $30 for seniors 70 or over. Ned wanted to know if the senior rate included complimentary CPR. Totally cracked me up.

We are now in the world of all things French. Ever try using a gas pump with only French prompts? And the pumps don't work the same way as in the U.S. Yeah, that caused our credit card to be put on hold by the bank. (Another story, but I digress). We got a kick out of all the French town names. So, my French speaking friends tell me the joke about the city called "St. Louis-du-Ha!-Ha!" We didn't get it...

Our destination for the night was going to be Riviere-du-loup on the St. Lawrence River. When we got there it was raining like crazy, we had picked up an hour crossing into the province of Quebec, so decided to keep moving on. We drove another couple of hours to the City of Quebec and then our final destination for tonight was Ile d'Orleans. This is an island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River next to the city of Quebec. It was founded in 1679 and is still very agricultural and artsy. We passed apple and blueberry farms, wineries, cheese makers, cider mills and greenhouses abundant with beautiful flowers, and the most picturesque stone houses and barns. It feels so much like the French countryside. We are really looking forward to exploring this island tomorrow, as well as sunny weather.

Back in New Brunswick

Mactaquac Provincial Park, New Brunswick

After sleeping for a solid 11 hours(!) we thought it was about time to pack up and head off Prince Edward Island. As expected, we woke to a soft drizzle. Sure made me appreciate the warm days we had to explore and bike. They call this province "the gentle island" and it definitely fits. Laid back, beautiful and tons of outdoor activities to explore. Bye PEI, we'll be back!

We crossed back into New Brunswick following along the Acadian Trail. This route hugged the Northumberland Strait before dropping down to Fredericton. Ned keeps teasing me about my dislike of potatoes and how so much of this part of Canada is all about potatoes. There are potato museums, potato farms, potato chip wagons, and even potato statues wherever we go. God forbid we order something that doesn't have potato in it, on it or with it.

Continuing our education in Canadian history, our big plans today were to visit the historic district of Fredericton and take in a couple of museums. Good plan for rainy weather! What we didn't know were the two big events happening in Fredericton today - the University graduation and a huge Country Music Concert. Traffic was gridlocked and most everything was shut down for the events. We did manage to visit a couple of the Historic Sites such as Barracks Square, the Soldiers' Barracks and some of the Craft shops, but it was pretty low key. The Soldiers' Barracks were built in 1827 and at one time it housed 200 soldiers, 19 to a room. During the War of 1812, the 104th Regiment, stationed here, made a 1128 km, 52 day march to Quebec and then onto Kingston, Ontario between Feb and April with no loss of men. That must have been some feat in these Canadian winters!!

The town still has very much a soldier's feel. Walking up the steps to the Visitor's Center there were two red-coated guards on duty. True to form, they didn't make eye contact and were ramrod straight. As we were eating lunch we spotted 3 of them marching down the street. Everyday there is a changing of the guard, so not sure if they were part of that or not. (We were busy having a few beers at the time).

Tonight's campground is right outside Fredericton. It's enormous, situated next to a golf course, but in a very wooded area. I think there are over 400 campsites, and even though it's a Friday night there are very few people here. Is it possible that Canadians can be scared off by rain?! After taking a short spin on our bikes we decided to have a quiet evening at "home" watching movies on the laptop. Other than checking email once a day and trying to pirate a wifi somewhere to post our blog, we've been completely detached from technology, tv, etc. We are hand delivering, from Kristy and Leon, Season 4 of Downton Abbey back to Kathy. (You don't think she'll mind we are watching it do you?) The juxtaposition of the opulent and proper Downton Abbey next to us eating brats and sauerkraut in a campground does not go unnoticed. I wonder what the Dowager Duchess would say. "What is a week-END?"

PEI - from history lessons to storybooks

Cabot Beach Provincial Park, PEI

This morning was the warmest day we've had yet in Canada. It felt glorious.
After dropping off Winnie for a shoe repair (okay, new tire), we went for a bike ride on The ConfederationTrail. Prince Edward Island (PEI) has 221 miles of dedicated biking paths. This is truly a bikers heaven. We picked up a trail closest to the tire place and rode into the harbor town of Montague, a very low key quaint little village. What cracked us up was the outdoor elliptical trainer on the biking path, right next to an ice cream stand sign. Ned gave it a go, the exercise equipment that is and not the ice cream. We rode for a couple of hours (14 miles) stopping along the way to take photos and appreciate the scenery. We really enjoyed having the path to ourselves and crossing over trestles and rivers and riding through the woods. It was incredibly peaceful.

Once we picked up Winnie, we headed into Charlottetown to check out the largest city on the island. This year marks the 150th anniversary of The Confederation and most of the festivities begin this weekend. My history lesson today was learning about the birth of Canada, as a country. The Charlottetown Conference was the first time that representatives from PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Canada had ever met together to discuss common interests. The representatives that met were called The Fathers of Confederation and were a diverse group of English and French, lawyers and journalists, shipbuilders and soldiers, poets and businessmen. Apparently this was quite the conference that lasted for 7 days and included business meetings, balls and parties. It took many years for something formal to be arranged, but this is where the question, "Shall We Unite?" made an important breakthrough.

We thought the best way to explore the city was on bike. We rode along the waterfront and up and down all the historic streets really soaking in the history and culture. By this time we had worked up quite an appetite and decided to finally try one of the "chip wagons" that seem to be scattered all over Canada. First I have to admit that I hate potatoes. I don't care how they're fixed - baked, fried, mashed, or boiled - I hate potatoes. So, it was with a great deal of trepidation that I decided to jump in. Ned ordered fish and chips and I ordered the pulled pork poutine, having no idea whatsoever what a poutine was. (Ned originally wanted to try the lobster mac n' cheese, a local favorite, but the fisherman hadn't arrived with today's lobster as of yet). Upon getting our food I discovered that a poutine is a huge pile of french fries smothered in gravy & cheese, and this one had a bunch of pulled pork piled on top. Let's just say that Ned was a real gentleman and just automatically handed me the fish and chips. Yeah, he knows me. For the record, the fish was delish.

The big tourist attraction on the island is all about Anne of Green Gables. The author who wrote the book, Lucy Maude Montgomery, was born on PEI. Families now come to enjoy The Green Gables House, the site of L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish Home, The Anne of Green Gables Museum, Avonlea Village and even take in "Anne & Gilbert", the musical. Did you know you can even buy Ann of Green Gable raspberry cordial?! Other tourist attractions such as mini-golf, amusement park and a water slide are all nearby. We had to check it out, especially since I loved the book as a child. In all fairness to PEI, they've done a marvelous job of offering something quite touristy in a very low-key fashion. The 45 minute drive to the north side of the island took us through lots of agricultural farmland, through a seaside national park and some fishing villages. Once you hit the town of Cavendish the Anne theme does get a little overplayed, but it's nothing as glaringly cheesy as Dollywood, Gatlinburg, or many of the seaside boardwalks we've seen. The official tourist season doesn't start until this weekend, so I'm sure my opinion would change during peak season. For now, Ned and I are enjoying the off-season and cooler weather so that we can explore the island, sans lots of people.

Tonight we are camped at Cabot Beach Provincial Park at the very tip of Green Gables Shore. It's an odd little campground and one that would feel more like a tailgate party rather than camping if it was full. As luck would have it, there are only 2 or 3 others that we are sharing with this 150 site campground. It's basically one big mowed grassy area with a few trees scattered here and there. Ned and I are out on the point overlooking Darnley Bay and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It's pretty awesome. A big storm is supposed to come in tonight, could make for some dramatic views of the clouds and waves.

Prince Edward Island - Eastern Shore

Brudenell River Provincial Park, Georgetown PEI

Driving down the Atlantic side of Cape Breton early this morning was just as spectacular as the western side of the Cape. Clear blue skies, shimmering water and sandy beaches made for a great journey on our way to Baddeck. I encouraged Ned to take one particular road, even though it really didn't make too much sense to me. It looked on the map like it was a bridge jutting across a small harbor, but the two lines for the roads didn't quite line up. I was hopeful that it would work out. Turns out it was a very small car ferry that took all of 5 minutes for us to board and ferry across. It was hooked up by a cable and held maybe 10 cars. I love when short-cuts work out:)

Our big adventure of the day was visiting the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck. Alexander Bell's summer home was here and he worked on many of his experiments while here too. The home still exists, is privately owned by family and not opened to the public. Alexander was very fond of his beloved "Beinn Bhreagh" (beautiful mountain) and said it reminded him of his home back in Scotland. He especially enjoyed the cool weather. Ned was looking forward to Bell's inventions and in particular his foray into powered flight. I was looking forward to learning more about his work with the deaf community. Earlier in the trip we stopped at Helen Keller's birthplace and I picked up her autobiography. It was really interesting to get her perspective on the huge impact Alexander Bell had on her life and I was looking forward to learning about his point of view on their relationship.

Everyone knows about Alexander Bell and the telephone ("Watson, come here I want you"), but learning about Bell, the man, and all the other inventions and things he dabbled in was truly remarkable. For example, sheep husbandry. "Bell's desire to help the local economy prompted him to experiment with sheep breeding. He attempted to develop a flock of sheep which would consistently bear twins. He believed that a relationship existed between the number of nipples a sheep had and the number of lambs to which it could give birth. Over 30 years of research led Bell to conclude that no such relationship existed. He was successful, however, in breeding a flock of multi-nippled sheep." After reading that it was quite fun to see all the photos of Alexander and his children flying kites and enjoying the outdoors, with sheep often milling around in the background.

His other accomplishments were building the world's fastest boat, a hydro-foil that was used in WW1; helping launch the first successful powered flight in Canada, named the "Silver Dart"; was a founding member of National Geographic; pioneered the use of the tetrahedron, as a structural element; created a telephone without wires, called a photophone; and multiple inventions to help deaf people with their speech. The list goes on and on. Unlike Thomas Edison who was a professional inventor, Alexander Bell loved the process of learning new stuff and considered himself an amateur inventor. In Helen's book she talked very fondly of kite flying with Alexander Bell. It was really special to see photos of the two, hand in hand, flying kites together.

What I admired most about Alexander was his love of children. He made a point of listening to all their questions because he loved how children have no preconceived ideas. He said this gave him true inspiration to think outside the box. Truly a genius and an inspirational man.

Our second ferry of the day transported us from Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island. This ferry was a big one! It had elevators that put passenger cars on the lower deck. We were placed with all the big boys - logging trucks, fuel tankers and 20 wheelers! It was a little intimidating to say the least. The 75 minute ride across Northumberland Strait was glorious. Lots of sunshine, blue skies and I even got internet! While waiting in line for the ferry a gentleman informed us that one of our tires had a big bulge. Uh-oh. We just bought 4 new tires in Maine and had less than 2,000 miles on them. Once we were on the island, we located a Michelin dealer just a few minutes before he closed. Fortunately, he was able to get us a replacement that should be in by noon tomorrow - fingers crossed. Since our plans for tomorrow include biking the Confederation Trail, this shouldn't put too much of a crimp in our style. I'm kinda digging this "bike while car work gets done" routine - haha.

Tonight we splurged for a seafood dinner, dining al fresco overlooking the Cardigan Bay. For a change we took a break from lobster. I had salmon, Ned had halibut. It was our favorite meal of the trip so far. Delish!

Cape Breton, Victoria Side

Broad Cove Campround, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Knowing that we had several days to spend in Cape Breton we definitely took it easy this morning. Reading in the sun, moving kinda slow and figuring out what activities we wanted to do before driving the Cabot Trail was the big activity this morning. My two big goals of the day were to take in a hike and see a moose. I knew we had control over the one, and were hoping for the best with the second. The Skyline Trail hike is supposed to be one of the best in the park so the Skyline it was.

We hiked the Skyline loop which took us about 2 hours. When we started we were the only folks on the trail, but by the time we headed back the trail was well populated.
The trail takes you through the scrubby pines, open wooded forests, wildflower meadows all the while giving you glimpses of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. When we at last reached the coast, we were on a bluff about 1200 feet, and had an incredible view of the Cabot Trail, the Gulf, the village of Chetticamp, and in the distance Prince Edward Island. It took our breath away. It was an incredible place to meditate, relax from the hike and enjoy the 180 degree vista. Definitely one of the best places of our trip so far. (Bubble Pond in Acadia still gets first place).

We decided to take the long way back and do a loop hike. It was rockier and more wide open then the hike to the water. The day was quite warm, for Cape Breton, and we really felt the sun beating down on us. By the time we got back to Winnie we were ready for a picnic.

The next big delight was spotting a moose while driving through the park. We pulled over on the side of the road and watched her eat voraciously, tearing into one tree after another. It was definitely a female (cow). The park literature says "cow moose are most dangerous during calving season - mid-May to the end of June" - so give them a wide berth. No problem there. We did get out and watch her for quite awhile. They are such funny looking odd creatures.

We continued our journey on the Cabot Trail, getting one great vista view after the next until finally reaching North Cape. This "town" or more realistically a restaurant, ice cream place and a few gift shops was note worthy because it officially marks the half way point of our road trip. From this point on we will be looking for all signs South or West and no longer following those North and East. We curved around the Cape and drove along the Atlantic Ocean. This side of the Cape has more beaches and is at sea level.

Tonight we're camped at Broad Cove Campground. It's a huge campground, at least 200 campsites. We opted not to stay with all the RV's on the electrical loop and are rewarded by having this entire remote loop to ourselves. We're in a nicely wooded campground, it's completely quiet and the only sound is nature and the popping of a cork.

Cape Breton, Inverness Side

Cheticamp, Cape Breton Highlands National Park

Blue skies and warmer weather, looks like a good day for a drive. We crossed over Canso Causeway, leaving Northumberland Shore behind us and ready to explore Cape Breton. We decided to go round the cape via the Northumberland Straight side first (clockwise) and ending up on the Atlantic side tomorrow. Our reasoning was we eventually want to see the Alexander Bell Museum and it's not open til Wednesday.

Cape Breton is split down the middle by two sides - Inverness County on the west and Victoria County on the east. As one travels up the western side, the first section is called the Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-lee) Trail, named after the Celtic Music and dancing of the Scottish Highlands. The scenery is breathtaking varying between groves of fir trees, wide vistas of the Straight and lots of rolling hills. This area has very proudly retained their Scottish culture and language. The town names and signs are in both English and Gaelic. There are many pubs and music halls along this stretch that feature lots of Celtic fiddlers, pipers, guitarists and singers. We had wanted to spend some time at the Celtic Interpretive Music Centre, but unfortunately it doesn't open til next week, in time for the high season. We decided to take in a distillery instead.

The Glenora Distillery specializes in single malt whisky, and in fact are the only single malt whisky makers made in North America that makes aged (at least 10 year old) whisky. Apparently there are a couple of upstarts in British Columbia. Ned, continuing his research for constructing his own still, was looking forward to the tour. In reality they weren't brewing right now. They don't brew during the summer months, they claim, for safety reasons. Ned suspects it has to do more with keeping the production low and driving up demand. Our tour guide was friendly, but a little jaded. I think he had done a couple of tours too many. My favorite part, of course, was the tasting. Damn good whisky! Afterwards we had a picnic with the smoked salmon and pumpernickel bread we had purchased yesterday in the sun. The best part was that it was in the sun. Not taking that for granted!

We continued our drive up the Cape and when we crossed over the Margaree Harbor we had left the Ceilidh Trail behind and begun the Cabot Trail. This part of the coast is even more wide open with luscious green rolling hills and incredible views of the water. It reminded us very much of Highway 1, particularly around Jenner and Mendocino. This is the Acadian Region and the signs are now in French and English. When the English had forced many of the Acadians from Nova Scotia, some of them had hid out in the highlands of Cape Breton (rather than swear allegiance to the British Crown) surviving some pretty harsh winters. Finally, years later when they were allowed to return they settled back in this area and til this day very proudly retain their French language and culture.

This afternoon we are camped at the beginning of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park in the Cheticamp Campground. We discussed doing a bike trail (this place is famous for some of the best biking on the planet) but honestly have decided to just take it easy soaking up the sun. We decided it was a good opportunity to break out our bottle of Nova Scotia wine. (Don't worry California, you have nothing to worry about). Reading and napping won out.

Tonight we rallied and went into town for a lobster dinner. Dang they grow them big up here! Ned got a 2.5 pounder. After dinner we took a drive along the Cabot Trail and were the only people on it. Amazing. We were in search of wildlife - whales, moose, bear or coyotes. Didn't catch any of those, but we did stop on a bluff to catch a beautiful sunset over the calm waters. Okay peeps back home, we are 4 hours ahead of you. I've just said good-bye to the sun and am passing it along your way to put it to bed. See you all tomorrow.