Well, there is a lot to catch up on! We haven't had decent wifi since we left Cavendish and our wifi code actually expired around 7 pm the night before we left!
We are up to over 2100 miles now, which is more than half the mileage for the trip and we're just today at the halfway point. We've been gone a week and a day and we'll be home in a week and a day. So that's good. Most of the rest of our driving days are easy days. Tomorrow we'll move to a new campground just 12 miles away in Bridgewater, where my grandmother and an aunt and an uncle were born.
I'm sitting on the sidewalk outside the visitor centre in Lunenburg, which is also the office for the campground we're at. Across from me is a monument to the founders of Lunenburg, listing the family names and I found Hirtle, which is a name on our family tree about 4 generations back, so that's kinda cool. If I look through the trees, I can just see the harbour below. It's absolutely gorgeous today.
Wednesday we got up and left the campground, driving along the Shore Road through PEI national park. We stopped and walked down on the beach for a minute, so I finally got to really see the red sand beaches and cliffs of Cavendish and stick my toe in the ocean. (Freezing!) Then we stopped in North Rustico to mail some postcards and then drove to Charlottetown, where we stopped at the Girl Guide office and chatted with the intern running the office for the summer. We didn't get his name, but he was a very nice guy, probably late teens or early 20s and he was placed there through a government program. He was incredibly knowledgable about the Guides, though, probably because he has nothing else to do but sit there and read the literature. He gave me several patches, some different flyers and catalogs and a box of Girl Guide cookies. The office was even smaller than Norcross, with about 3 rooms and a basement, which he said was a mess. Lady Powell might even be hiding down there somewhere!
After Charlottetown, we went to Wood Islands to get the ferry to Nova Scotia. I thoroughly enjoyed riding the ferry, much better than the bridge. The sailing took about an hour and the sun came out for the first time in days, so it made for a beautiful afternoon. The ferry lands at Caribou and we drove from there to a Walmart in Antigonish, because we needed milk. Then we had to decide if we needed a 1 L or a 2 L of milk! Also, the Walmart employees here still wear vests, which seemed weird to me, since it's been about 4 years since they took ours away.
Anyway, we drove onto Cape Breton Island, to Baddeck. The campground itself was okay, but the internet connection sucked. You had to hike way up a hill to the bathhouse and stand at the washing machine to get connected. So I decided to just not bother for a few days. The campsites were not level at all there, so Dad really struggled getting the camper to where he felt it was "just right." He tried 3 different campsites before he was kinda, sorta satisfied.
Thursday morning we got up and drove the Cabot Trail. It is about 185 miles and winds up and around the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. There was some truly gorgeous scenery. I'll get the pictures on Facebook eventually. We stopped for gas in Cheticamp, which is still very, very French - "la couer d'Acadienne." (I think i got that right.) Their harbour was very pretty. On the other side of the island, things are still very, very Scottish - the road signs on that side are in English and in Gaelic. Fascinating! I bought myself a scarf in the Nova Scotia tartan - a lovely blue with green accents. Everyone said the Cabot Trail should take 6-8 hours - we drove that sucker in less than 5.
So we had time to stop at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site - we were debating if we wanted to pay to go through the museum, but ultimately decided we would. And then we found out that because it was Canada Day, all national parks were free admittance! So that was awesome.
I was pleasantly suprised by the museum - Alexander Graham Bell did a whole lot more than just the telephone. He worked with deaf people his entire life and essentially invented the hearing aid. He also made the worlds fastest boat and the first machine to fly in Canada. He was really a very interesting man. He did a lot of work with Helen Keller, which, even though I've read a lot about her before, I had never realized.
Friday, we left Baddeck and Cape Breton and headed for the South Shore. We stopped at Peggy's Cove, one of the most photographed spots in Canada (probably in the world, really) and that's where we met up with my Aunts Pat & Susan and my cousin Joan. We walked on the rocks at Peggy's Cove - words cannot do justice to how incredibly beautiful it is there. It is unreal.
From Peggy's Cove, we finally made it to Lunenburg and had dinner last night at a restaurant overlooking the harbour. Our campsite looks out at the back harbour and it's just beautiful. We are close enough to Old Town to walk, but there's a very steep hill involved so I've only walked some of the time. Now that Pat, Susan and Joan are with us, we have a car, so that is great.
Today we went back down to Old Town and went to see the Bluenose II, a very famous schooner. It's won many races and it's image is on the back of the Canadian dime. We were lucky to get to walk on it, because on Monday they will begin tearing it down and restoring the hull, which will take about two years.
That brings us to now! Hopefully I will not have to go quite as long before the next dispatch. We are having a great time visiting and making each other crazy. :)
Tomorrow we'll go to Mahone Bay on our way to Bridgewater. Aunt Pat says the shopping is better there than here.
See you next time!
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