From Nova Scotia to Indian Harbor, Nova Scotia

On the morning of Friday, August 6, we left Englishtown Ridge enroute to the Halifax area where we wanted to see the capitol city and the Peggy's Cove and surrounding areas. The ride was pleasant and we arrived at our new destination, King Neptune Campground at Indian Harbor, Nova Scotia. It's only about 5 miles from Peggy's Cove. The campground is rather dumpy, rustic and sits right on the water's edge. A great fog rolled in at about the same time as we began setting up camp and it was an interesting experience. We could hear the bells on the buoys out in the water. The fog disapated after a short while and the sun reappeared in time for a nice orange glow sunset.


We took a ride to Peggy's Cove to see the most photographed lighthouse and city in Canada. Along the way we stopped to see a memorial that's been placed along the rocky shore in honor of the SwissAir Flight #111 air crash and I've posted some pictures of it here.


The next day we took a ride into Halifax and saw the port, headquarters of the eastern division of the Canadian Navy and then went into Peninsula Park.

We stayed two nights at King Neptune. Being out of the country for such a long time has made us both a little worried that we need to tend to some personal business and retrieve our mail so we've decided to drive into Maine at least for a while.

While driving through Nova Scotia we began hearing noises outside the coach and we found the slide cover problem had returned. Alongside the highway, Wayne climed onto the ladder to try to remedy it, but couldn't get a fix that was satisfactory. We made our way, slowly, on into Penobsquis, N.B. where we set up camp for one night at Three Bears Campground. The co-owners of the campground were helpful in getting the slide cover canvas rolled in well enough to get it to the nearest RV service center, located just beyond Hampton, along the way to St. John.

Englishtown Ridge and Western Cape Breton Highlands National Park

On Wednesday, August 4 and 5 we camped at a small family owned campground on a ridge in Englishtown, Cape Breton. We had planned to take the rig across a small river on a local ferry but changed our minds when we arrived at the dock and spoke with the ferry attendant who said he "wouldn't advise it" because of our length. The intended campground was on the other side of the river. The river was swift (to say the least) and the ferry was held in place by a 2" steel cable. I guess I wouldn't advise it either! We returned to Englishtown Ridge Campground and signed on for two nights so we'd have a full day to drive up the western side of Cape Breton.

The day we arrived at Englishtown was frightfully rainy --poured all day. We made seafood chowder and enjoyed the cool night -- again.

The next full day we spent exploring the cape and ate lunch at a local cafe. We both ordered a seafood dish and every morsel was eaten.

Cape Breton Highlands National Park

We checked into the National Park campground for two nights, August 2 & 3 and took a day trip up the eastern side of Cape Breton. We'd been told about the Skyline Trail and that taking it certainly would insure wildlife sightings. We've seen only the bear on the New Brunswick roadside to this point. (We've also not had steamed lobster yet, but that's another story...) Lots of fresh sea air, beautiful mountains and sea views, but a five mile hike along a 1700 ft ridge did not produce the moose sighting I wanted. Moose signs are everywhere but NO MOOSE. We've been told they are most active at night. Anyway, along that long walk, we saw one mouse (yes, m-o-u-s-e who appeared to be trained to walk on the trail) but no moose, bear, eagle, coyote, bobcat or other wildlife. We also got a great sunburn. For 20 years I've avoided the sun and now I get burned in Canada. Just peachy. The day was great, nevertheless, even without the wildlife and after the second night at the National Park, we moved around to the western side of the cape where we stayed two more nights at Englishtown, Nova Scotia.

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Two lane bridge road and adjoining railroad.

My paternal grandmother was born in Cheticamp at Cape Breton in Nova Scotia so I was especially excited to make my first visit this part of Canada. Wayne has been good to indulge me in all these family connection places as I knew he would. We disembarked the ferry and at Pictou and began the drive up the northeastern shore planning to stop about halfway to overnight. Big problems lay ahead, unknown to us, of course. The road alternated between "horribly rough" or "smooth and really narrow" and we veered off onto the sandy shoulder many times. I was glad Wayne was driving.

A campground we had tentatively selected at Inverness was the destination. However, we arrived to find no space for us and we were instructed to turn the rig around on the grass. Within 10 feet of a successful turn around, Mona's tires began to spin on the soft grass. When we stopped, the tires seemed to sink into the boggy soil. Long story short: We were stuck in mud up to the axle and we were there for the night -- space or no space. 

The proud owner of this delimma.

Our RV Roadside Assistance service came to the rescue just before dusk after we ate our "gourmet" peanut butter and banana sandwiches. A friendly Frenchman, Louis Levelance, his son and granddaughter, arrived in a Ford F-350 SuperDuty pickup loaded with a 4-wheeler and several new large appliances (they had been shopping when the call came). Mr. Levelance attached a chain to Mona and pulled her out of the mud and onto the adjoining pavement in just one short tug. Everyone was thrilled with the success.

By this time a beautiful sunset was occuring over the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

We were given permission (with a $30 fee) to stay the night there on the spot -- no power or water. We gladly paid the fee and stayed right there on the campground roadway.  It was a comfortable night with the moonlight and the light was beautiful reflecting off the ocean.

All's well that ends well. The next morning, we pulled out early and continued our travel toward Cheticamp. The scenery was breathtaking.

Cheticamp is a seaside village

This church dates back to the days my grandmother would have lived here.
Maybe she went to church here!

Things We Noticed About Canada

Having spent almost a month traveling through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, we made some observations:
Bicycles - There are lots of seemingly serious cyclists. We've seen them on the highways loaded with backpacks, saddlebags and some even pulling little trailers.
Ice Cream - Called "Dairy Bars" dot the roadways and most of the ones we passed had customers waiting in line.
Patient People - Car horns are seldom used -- even in Quebec City. Drivers seem very considerate.
Church Steeples - I seen so many tall, narrow silver steeples. I took pictures of the first few, but then they became so common to see... We also notices lots of churches with their steeples removed. We don't know why...
Berry Pickers - The first few times we saw people squatted along the roadside, we thought... well you know. Found out they stop along the roadway to pick wild blueberries.
Motorcycles - So many motorcyclists, men and women. Many different styles too. Some that resemble snowmobiles on wheels. Many restaurants and campgrounds display "bikers welcome" signs. We saw one in a campground, pulling a little trailer that opened into a "pop out" tent.
Law Enforcement - Not that we're worried about it, mind you, but we observed very few law enforcement cars in Canada. Don't know why this is either. We did see some Mounted Police in Quebec though.
Grocery - Almost everything costs more in Canada than where we're from. Also of note is that some national brands of foods are different. Example: Quaker Oatmeal Squares are not the same texture or taste.