Turn Around When Possible

Location: Dundee, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada

"Turn around when possible."

That's our GPS, Susan, protesting the fact that we're deviating from her carefully calculated route. Like a loyal sheep dog, she tries her best to keep us herded in the right direction, but we always seem to go haring off on, what must seem to her, a whim.

Mark says "I'll turn her voice off for a while."

We imagine her involuntarily holding her hands over her mouth going "mmfff... mmmm.... mmfmf!". Poor thing.

 We head down to the coast. Not having had enough of Keji, we decide to go to the Keji seaside adjunct. When we arrive we read on the noticeboard that a family of black bears have been sighted over the last few days. Hmm... We've driven quite a way off our track to get here....and they'd close the trail if it was really dangerous... so we decide to walk the trail anyway. 

 Yet another wonderful walk alone in the wilderness. We do find other people when we get to the shore, but still have plenty of space to be alone together. It is here that we find and sit in two more of the park system's red chairs. 

There's a rock just off shore that is covered with seals. We watch their antics as they clamber up onto the rocks to lay like slugs in the sun. Very entertaining. We did not see the bears but chatted with a Swiss family who had - they showed us pictures.

 "Turn around when possib..mmmff...mmm...mmfff."

A night spent at the house of cruising friends of cruising friends. We have a dish that's new to us – "hodge-podge", a Nova Scotian vegetable stew consisting of whatever's in season. Delicious!

 Lunenburg. UNESCO World Heritage City. Say no more. We have a great time, walking up and down all the very steep streets looking at the well preserved old buildings. What wonderful architecture! Also a wonderful, world-class fisheries museum – well worth the admission.

 "Turn around when possible."

We do, but not because Susan is telling us to. Instead, we're heading back to our new friends for another great evening – this time we cook! It's wonderful how friends of friends can quickly become our friends, too. Thanks again for your hospitality, R & H, and we look forward to seeing you again.

Next stop Halifax. The Citadel is a reconstructed fort, built in the 1700s, rebuilt 3 times since then. Complete with costumed docents, canon and musket fire, pipers piping, drummers drumming, and a partridge in a pear tree. Well, okay, not really the partridge. Or a pear tree. But they do have yet another excellent maritime museum.

"Turn .. mmmff..mmfff"

"My. That was quick!" remarks Julie.

We arrive at Sherbrook Village at closing time. That doesn't stop us – we park the RV and walk into town. This is a very pretty old town. The buildings look like they did at the turn of the century. From 9:00am until 5:00pm, the streets are closed, and the town is populated by re-enactors dressed in period clothes. Unfortunately, we missed all that, but it's still pretty cool. We can imagine the townspeople walking around and can almost hear them telling us their stories.

"Turn around when possible." This time, she's right – Mark has totally spaced out, looking at the beautiful scenery and has missed a turn. Thanks, Susan.

Our friend, who we're going to visit in Cape Breton, had told us to look out for a day lily nursery along the way and we're so glad she did. It overlooks the Atlantic ocean and was bursting with plants on a steep hillside. As we walked around, we saw literally hundreds of varieties of lilies, iris, and poppies, among others. When you buy a plant they dig it up and send you on your way. See "https://harbourbreezes.ca" for more info.

A night parked at a trail head is followed by an early morning visit to Tor Bay (we affectionately call it "Mel"). We've spoken to many people who have blown off this part of the trip because "there just isn't much infrastructure there and the roads aren't that great." Au contraire! Well, maybe the roads can be pretty bad, and maybe there isn't a lot of tourist infrastructure, but it's some of the prettiest shoreline we've seen so far. Mel (Tor Bay) has a shoreside park with a really nice trail to the beach. Once again we're the only ones here in yet another stunningly beautiful place – blue sky, sandy beach, rocky spit, waves crashing, and pitcher plants. We saw some in Oregon a few years ago and were surprised to see them here, although they turn out to be pretty common in this wet, boggy land. It's hard to pull ourselves away, but we finally decide it's time to get going and we're off again.

Next stop Canso and the Grassy Island National Park. There used to be a fort here and there's a nice interpretive walk around the island. And here's the best part – the park provides a free ferry service on a lobster boat out to the island! Shades of Mark's youth in Maine, we take the ride. We are once again thrilled to be the only people in sight – not sure why, but we'll take it! We have the entire island to ourselves as we wander through the interpretive walk, checking out the exhibits and just soaking in the natural beauty of this place.

Another boat ride back to the mainland, chatting with the captain and crew on the way, and we're off again, this time on our way to Cape Breton and our friends in Dundeee. We haven't seen them since we met them 10 years ago in the Bahamas, our first year of cruising full-time. We are looking forward to renewing our friendship.

"You have reached your destination."

Thanks, Susan. Job well done. Mostly. You're a couple of hundred yards shy this time, but who's counting? We find their driveway, anyway.

We arrive, pull in, and are greeted with warm hugs, fond memories, and a waiting dinner. It may have been 10 years ago but it seems like only yesterday to us as the bonds of yet another cruising friendship are renewed. We relax, cook, do dishes together, visit some local places, go hear our friend's band play at a local inn, and generally decompress for a few days. What a great life!

"Turn around when possible."

Sorry, Susan, not this time...

Keji

 Location: Shelburn, Nova Scotia, Canada

Kejimkujik National Park, known affectionately as "Keji", is a real gem. We spent three days there and had a wonderful time. We pretty much did all of the activities as they all sounded interesting and we wanted to learn about the indigenous people in this area.

 On arrival, we checked into the park and got assigned a campsite (the last one available!!?!) for the next two nights. Our first stop is always the visitor center to get acclimated and decide what we want to do. An easy decision since it turns out that the trails along the creek around the visitor center are pretty nice! Along the way we found two really comfy red Adirondack chairs where we sat for some time, contemplating the flow of the water over the rocks. Apparently, the park service places these red chairs in various locations throughout the entire national park system. Pretty nice find!

 Then it was off to the beach where Todd Labrador, a Mi'kmaq (pronounced "MIG-maw") native American is building a birch bark canoe. Todd is one of the last, perhaps the only person currently building canoes in the Mi'kmaq way. Quite a process. He and Mark hit it off right away and chatted for quite a while, discussing arcane things like tumblehome, gunnels, and willow root stitching.

Then it was back to the campground where we took on the difficult decision of whether or not to stay up late to go to the "theater" from 9:30pm until 10:30pm – way past our usual bedtime. Being the adventurous types you all know and love, we opted for the theater. On arrival, we were greeted by a woman dressed up in man-drag with a penciled in moustache. "Welcome to lumber camp!" she shouts in her sort-of deep voice, hands on her hips in a manly stance. "You folks look like crosscuts. Go on over there and sit down on those benches. The cook will get you settled in." (S)he then returns and greets the others as they arrive, assigning everyone to one of three groups.

Apparently we are all in an 1887 lumber camp. The boss tells us all about the pay (not much), the work day (long), the expectations (high), the sleeping arrangements (not comfortable), the food (not so great), etc. It's dinner time, so they offer us some authentic 1887 vegan beans and gluten-free bread, butter, and molasses. Each group has to growl loudly to find their place in line – ours was the loudest, so we got served first. We were each given a flimsy coffee stiring stick as a fork, so had to eat our dinner one bean at a time. Many bad puns ensue during their talk. Everyone is having fun. After a particularly painful series of puns involving butter, the boss and the cook are collapsed in tears and Mark pipes up "You deserve a pat on the back for that one, sir.", eliciting more groans and tears from both actors and audience. Wonderful time, and we're really glad we pushed ourselves to stay up so late.

 On day two we did a really nice hike through a stand of virgin hemlocks, one of the most popular hikes in the park. We got there at about 7:30am and had it to ourselves for the entire walk until right at the very end. The trail was interspersed with boardwalks, to preserve the roots and fragile undergrowth. Fantastic!

Then it was off to a session on Mi'kmaq heritage, where we met Jill and Donna, an actor in last night's skit. Then back to see Todd at the canoe again, where we met Ashley, who played the boss. She looks a lot different with her hair out and no moustache! Small world, this park <grin>. We finished the day off back home at the campsite with dinner and a nice, quiet campfire.

Our third and last day started out with yet more hiking, followed by a particularly pleasant petroglyph presentation (alliteration, anyone?). We met the presenter (who turned out to be the cook from lumber camp) at a parking lot. She introduced herself as Ursula or Little Bear, a Mi'kmaq from up in Cape Breton and proceeded to enthrall us with her storytelling. "When I was a little girl this old white man came to visit my grandfather with a great, big book full of pictures to ask him about the petroglyphs. I was only 7 and couldn't speak English yet, so I said to my grandfather <a long paragraph of Mi'kmaq none of us understood> Grandfather, Who is this man? What are these pictures? Who drew them? Why is he showing you his book?"

It was great. She'd tell us part of the story in Mi'kmaq, then translate for us into English. While she told it, she really was the little girl. We absolutely loved it – she showed us by example that the art of story telling is still very, very much alive and well in her culture. On our walk back to the start, Mark told her how much we liked the lumber camp a couple of nights ago. She said "Was that you that said the boss deserved a pat on the back?" "Yes", I'm afraid so" he replied. She said "That was really funny." So nice to be appreciated.

One last trip back to Todd to check on his progress with the canoe, and we were done. Some of the best three days on our trip to date. Keji was full of surprises for us and we are really grateful for our experiences there.

Mark & Julie

Time and Tide wait for no man!

 Location: Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada

We last left you just south of Punxsatawny, Pennsylvania, home of Punxsatawny Phil, the world's most famous weather predicting groundhog. We had a lot of fun there, visiting all the places made famous by the movie "Groundhog Day". We even re-watched the movie that night. 

 We also were surprised to find some lonely, disused oil field pump jacks alongside the road where we camped at a forest service dispersed site for the night.

Kinzua Bridge State Park boasted the world's longest and tallest railroad bridge until it was nearly destroyed by a tornado in 2003 that took out two thirds of it.  The remaining third is now open to walk out on (with a glass floor at the end - we didn't go all the way!!)

 From there, we worked our way further north for a visit with Mark's cousin Gratia and her husband Bill. We'd been craving pizza, but didn't want to stop just anywhere – who wants to waste their semi-annual pizza fix on a frozen pizza? As luck would have it, they have a place named "Kay's Pizza" nearby. Apparently it is famous in the area for having the best pizza ever. It was really, really good!!! 

We then hopped across town to visit old cruising buddies in Troy, New York. We told them about the pizza and Kate said "Kay's?" Apparently she took her first steps there as a child. See, we told you it was good!

Lock 2 on the Erie canal

 Our next hop was up to Mark's brother, Pete and his wife Sandy in Peru, Maine for July 4^th celebrations. We were treated to a wonderful cookout and an awesome fireworks display in Rumford. OK enough of this dawdling we need to get to Canada or it will be time to head south before we get to Nova Scotia!

 Our first stop was St John, New Brunswick. Located on the north shore of the Bay of Fundy, it is famous for its reversing falls. We'd heard of them but didn't really understand exactly what it was. We arrived at low tide and it was amazing, water churning, swirling whirlpools, cormorants riding the currents.

The information suggested that we should view it 3 times, at low tide, slack tide and high tide. We decided to do that and were so glad we did. They were all so different and we really got the feeling of what was going on. 

In between the reversing falls viewings we found a delightful spot - Irving Nature Preserve - on an island via an isthmus with lovely trails and a couple of Cedar Mazes, which were really fun.

Due to the massive tides the incoming tide actually pushes the water backwards up the river over the waterfalls. At slack tide (and you really don't want to misstime it) there's a 20 minute window of calm water during which you can actually traverse the falls on your boat!

 You may have heard of the huge tides at the Bay of Fundy. We drove up the northern shore then entered Nova Scotia and drove down the southern shore.

Known for having the highest tides in the world (some in excess of 55 feet!!), the water is in a near constant state of flow, reversing every 6 hours or so.

 This causes some pretty amazing erosion and keeps the bottom pretty churned up, resulting in some very red colored sea due to the predominance of red sandstone that surrounds the Bay. The farther up the bay and it's tributaries, the redder the water, the rocks, the soil, and the roads.

We got to see a tidal bore in Truro. The tide comes in so fast, a standing wave moves upstream against the river's current. At our viewing point, a small, low bar separated the river. As the bore passed, we could actually see the bar disappearing over the next few minutes. Amazing to see.

On the road again

Date: 22 June, 2018

Location: Confluence, Pennsylvania

Subject: On the road again

We've been in Blacksburg since early May with the exception of a few road trips in the area. Now it's time to get back on the road. We've done a few "shakedown cruises" in the new RV and are pretty happy with it. Just like a boat, there are some things we really like about it and there are some things we wish we liked more. There are always compromises to be made when you try to fit a living area for two people into such a small space.

Our ultimate destination this summer is Nova Scotia, Canada. We'll spend over a month there but right now we're just meandering through some areas we haven't visited before.

If you click on the picture to make it bigger you can see some little yellow dots in the river, they are kayaks!  It's THAT far down!

Our first stop was New River Gorge National River. The views are amazing from the top and the bottom and we've really enjoyed walking the trails, one of our favourite things to do.

One trail eventually led us to a long, narrow spine of rock far above the gorge where we had a specacular view of the New River Gorge bridge. It spans 3,030 ft and is 876 ft high. We had a lovely panoramic view of the gorge, too.

We like to dawdle and have no schedule, giving us time to stop and explore any little interesting things that pop up along the way.

Yesterday we came REALLY close to running over Bambi, a tiny fawn with it's spots still on right in the middle of the road. Poor thing was terrified! If we hadn't been going slow he would have been a goner. That would have been terrible!

We are currently camped at an Army Corps of Engineers campground near Confluence, PA. It's on the Youghiogheny River (pronounced "yahk-ah-GAY-nee"). We love these Pennsylvania pronounciations (for example, "Schuylkill" is pronounced "sKOO-kl")!!

We came here because our house batteries are not charging when the engine is running and we wanted to plug in for the night to get a good charge on them. Just like on Rachel, Mark is troubleshooting and is confident he can come up with a fix.

Tomorrow it's off to Punxsutawny, Pennsylvania, home of Punxsutawny Phil, the world-famous weather predicting groundhog – you may remember the movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray and Andie McDowell. Maybe we'll see if we can watch that tonight so we know what to look for when we get there.

Bog balls, burgers, and beetles

 Location: Sumter National Forest, Brick House Campground, South Carolina

It was still cold in Blacksburg, so we decided to take a “shakedown cruise” in the new RV. We just aren't having much luck getting warm this spring! Last night here in South Carolina it got down into the upper 30s. Sheesh! We have had some lovely weather and warmer nights than this but the cold nights are not much fun, even if we do have a heater. What a pair of wusses!

Heading south: Had a lovely visit with Mark's mum in Greensboro, North Carolina for a few days, helping her with chores and shopping, and enjoying each other's company.

Further south: We spent 4 days with some ex-cruising friends (they are no longer cruising but they are still our friends :), who have made Beaufort (“bow-furt”), NC their home. We always enjoy our time with them and our walks around this lovely town. We spent some quality time just hanging out, cooking, and sampled several bottles of wine with our friends. Since we're planning to go to Nova Scotia next summer, we also made plans to travel with them for about 10 days to Grand Manan Island in August while we're both up in that neck of the woods. That should be a fun time.

Even further south: We ended up having another great visit with Mark's son and his family over the weekend near Burgaw, North Carolina.

Yet further south: Still a bit chilly, so we were on the move again. We just happened to get in touch with some other still-actively-cruising friends who also just happened to be spending the night at Osprey Marina on the Waccamaw River. Always looking for opportunities to get together with old friends, we headed down to meet up with them.

We decided to splurge for lunch and ended up at the Socastee Station restaurant in Myrtle Beach. It turned out to be a great choice. It just so happens that Monday is $5 burger day - what luck! We had a great waitress who recommended their “bog balls” as an appetizer. Curious, and always ready to try regional fare, we had to give them a try. So we split an order between the 4 of us. Yum – good decision! Apparently, “chicken bog” is a local delicacy consisting of chicken, rice, sausage, and “other stuff that's secret”. “Bog balls” are simply chicken bog rolled into balls and deep fried - what's not to like? They were accompanied by a secret spicy “dippin' sauce” and made for a really tasty (though not necessarily healthy) appetizer.

  Then came the Monday special – an 8oz. grilled burger on a bun with lettuce, tomato, onions, and a mess of fries (“chips” if you're from England) – all included in the $5 price! We all rolled out of there feeling more than sated!!

We finished this part of the trip off with a series of stays in US Forest Service campgrounds, most of them free. One was right on the Intracoastal Waterway at McClellanville, SC. We have passed by it several times in our boats. Lots of fun watching the boats passing by. 

 The campground we're in now has a $5 / night fee, but with our America The Beautiful Senior Pass we're in for half price – a whopping $10 for 4 nights. Livin' large!

 Finally warm enough to start heading north: We came across a North American Trail Ride Conference (http://natrc.org) holding it's South Carolina Derby trail riding competition here in Sumter National Forest. We had an opportunity to meet the organizers and several of the riders as we hiked the shared trail system this weekend.

And our biggest find so far this trip was seeing a dung beetle in action! They roll dung into a ball and then roll it along with their hing legs on top of the ball and push it along, backwards, with their front legs (video below).  It looks remarkably like a bog ball !!? Yikes!

No Sails!

Location: Near Deltaville, VA

Subject:  No sails?

Hold onto your hats! Those whacky Rachels are at it again!!

Let's set the scene. They've just returned from Florida after selling Rachel the catamaran, and are sitting in a two bedroom flat at their friends' house near Deltaville, VA. It's cold outside and they seem slightly bored. Perhaps it's because they have no sails to adjust, and no boat jobs to do. Let's listen in....

“Now that we've sold the boat what are we going to do next?” she asks.

He replies “I dunno. Move back into the house?”

“Okay.”

(Two days pass during which initial plans are made to move back into the house at the end of April)

“You know, I hit my head in Houdini, too.” he says, looking bored again.

“Yes.” she says, “I remember.”

(Two more days pass – he's been looking around on the Internet for potential replacements for Houdini the Toyota)

“Feel like taking a road trip down to Myrtle Beach to check out a 2007 Winnebago View 23J and see if we like it? That vintage is smaller than the newer ones we've seen.”

“Okay” she says “but we're just going to look, right?”

“Of course, darling.”

(Two more days pass - you may be able to sense where this is going – they drive a Wanda-load of boat stuff down to Blacksburg and drop it off, then head down to Myrtle Beach)

 “Wow. This is in really good condition – it looks almost new.”

“Wow. I like this layout.”

“Yeah. And the 5-cylinder diesel has more power than the Toyota.”

 "Right. And I love the bed in the back and the slide out dinette that creates so much more living space.”

(The excitement builds. They are starting to sound like an advertisement)

“YES! And the big fuel tank would give us a lot more range!”

“YES! And the 6' 5” headroom means I wouldn't have to listen to you whining about hitting your head any more!”

“YES! And it has cruise control! And comfy seats!”

“YES! And a guest bed for the grandkids!”

“YES! And a shower stall I can stand up in!”

“YES! And a 3-burner stove and a big fridge!”

“YES! And it only has 47,000 miles on it!”

“YES!!” 

 “OH, YES!!!”

(Uh oh...what's that smell? Could it be the acrid scent of boat money burning holes in pockets?)

“Let's buy it!”

“Okay!”

And they do. As they're driving back to Deltaville they stop for an overnight visit with their newest granddaughter, Celia Rose, born last December, and her family.

“Wow! She's even more beautiful than her pictures!”

“And absolutely precious!”

“Can I hold her?”

“Ooh! Me, too! Can I hold her, too?”

(Two more days pass – we rejoin our spendthrift friends back in the flat near Deltaville – they don't seem to be as bored now)

“You know, I was awake in the night thinking..”

“Always a dangerous proposition.” he interjects

“.. about moving back into the house. We just spent all that money on the RV, and we're going to be doing a lot of traveling this year. Maybe we should rent the house again instead of moving back in. We could really use the income.”

“Okay.”

(See how congenial they are? :-)

(Closing scene: it's a warm, sunny spring day. The camera pans to a distant View bouncing jauntily down a back country road.)

“Beep beep!”

<scattered applause>

So here we are near Deltaville, staying a bit longer with our friends, helping them with painting and wiring and cooking and doing dishes and pouring wine and whatever else they need us to do as they remodel their kitchen.

Then it's off to Blacksburg around Easter weekend to haul back the final load of stuff from the boat, drop off Wanda the Honda, and take care of a few other things at our house. After that we're saddlin' up and headin' south in the View until May. It's become apparent that it's much too cold for us up here in Virginia. And, anyway, we could use a good shakedown cruise.

Keep an eye out for us – we shouldn't be too hard to spot since, for the first time ever, we've decided to spring for personalized license plates: “NO SAILS”.