The Cabot Trail

 I had another “You know you are getting old when….” moment again this week. Sadly, they are occurring more and more often and I am not even trying! This one went like this….. I woke up and had no idea what day of the week it was. Only when I went to the medicine cabinet and pulled out my pill container with the days of the week on it and saw that everything before Friday was gone did I realize it must be….. Friday! Well, unless, I forgot to take them on Friday and it is actually Saturday. That has been known to happen as well.

But we did know what day of the week it was when we took the ferry from Prince Edward Island to Caribou Nova Scotia. It was Sunday, 6/12 at 8:00am to be exact. Well, we did have to show up 40 minutes early, check in, turn off our propane and get in line. Pretty soon the mouth of the ferry opened up and we were signaled to drive on in. This is the first ferry ride for the Ram, Dakota and Zoey. The Ram did good, Dakota and Zoey were a little more apprehensive.

After parking, we put the dogs in the camper and went up on deck for our 70 minute ride across. Thankfully the winds were light and the seas were calm. We got to talking to another couple from Alberta and before we knew it we were approaching the other side!

The ferry was $134 for the one way trip. The ferry opens on both ends so you drive in one end and out the other. For those of you who are unfamiliar with how the ferry works, here is a short video of us loading and unloading. 

The first thing we had to do was fill up with fuel. I had waited hoping that it would be a little cheaper once we got off the island. It was $2.14/liter. $0.14 cheaper per liter which equates to $0.53/gallon. Still over $8.00ca/gallon but cheaper! It was a full service gas station and the attendant was a kid about 18 with a mullet Billy Ray Cyrus would have been proud of. He saw we were from South Dakota and commented on it. I asked him what we should make sure we see while in the area. His exact words were “There ain’t nothing to see around here”. Oh well, so much for Nova Scotia!

We were on our way to Baddeck when we saw this sign and they were not kidding!

A little while later Barb saw a sign for a brewery along the way. The Big Spruce Brewery was the perfect first adventure. Dog friendly, good beer and outdoor seating. 

After that we needed to work off our beers so we went to Uisage Ban Falls for a hike. The weather was cool and it was only 45 minutes each way so we decided to take the girls.

The trail are gravel and smooth for the most part with a little scrambling here and there. There were a few water puddles along the way which Zoey hopped around in like she was on a pogo stick. Up and down, up and down, it was hilarious. Too bad we were not able to get a video of it as would have been a video even dog hater Harry would have enjoyed!

Near the end you had to go a lot of scrambling to get near the 50’ waterfall. Zoey would jump gracefully from rock to rock. Dakota, not so much. She is a panic scrambler, legs and paws everywhere as she tried to work her way through the obstacles. But we finally got there and took a few group photos.

Then it was back on the road to Baddeck. Barb had found a spot on line to boondock right in town at the Masonic Lodge. We parked in the deserted parking lot and settled in. Pretty soon a few cars started to show up like something was going on in the lodge. I was outside and an old-timer came up and talked to me. There was an A.A. meeting tonight. Pretty soon another guy walks up and starts talking and then another. Just about when I thought that maybe this was an intervention they went inside. Whew!

Our plan was to go to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum the next day but a check of the weather showed that tomorrow was going to be the only nice day all week so we opted to leave the museum for a rainy day and do the Cabot Trail instead. EVERYONE we talked to said you have to do the Cabot Trail. It was definitely worth it! 

When we got there we checked out the hikes for the area and found that the Skyline Trail is by far the most popular. It is described as: A dramatic headland overlooking the rugged gulf coast. 1.5-2.5 hours, 4 miles round trip. No dogs were allowed on the trail so we parked in the shade and tucked them away in the camper. The trail was very easy with a gravel pathway or boardwalk the entire way.

The top had some open sections, some wooded section and some amazing views of the surrounding area and coastline.

The hardest park was at the end of the trail where there are a series of stairs leading down to viewing area. The walk down is not bad but you can feel the burn on the walk back up!

From there we drove more of Cabot Trail stopping to take pictures along the way.

We had decided to spend the night at Meat Cove, one of the northern most parts of Cape Breton Island. It was remote and slow going up we found an awesome boondocking site right on a bluff. I would not not bring anything larger than our rig down here. As a matter of fact, I would not bring our rig down here again. A camper van, yes, but not a cabover truck camper unless you want to go REALLY (20mph for 25 miles) slow. There was some beautiful scenery along the way. 

We got to the campground which was on a one acre rolling grassy knoll overlooking the Atlantic. There a half a dozen vans, tents and pods already there. The cost was $40 a night with no hook ups. The woman comes out and says “You can try and squeeze between the tent and the Pod”. We look at it and it has about a 10° sideway slant. No can do so we passed and headed back to a turnout on a bluff we saw a few miles back. An even better spot and we saved $40!

During one of the lulls in the rain this young couple stopped at the turnout to take some pictures. Barb and I watched carefully to see exactly how we should be posing for our next photoshoot. I even took a few pictures so we made sure we got it right!

The window was slightly open as I was taking their picture and I am pretty sure I heard the girl say "That creepy old couple in the camper are taking our picture!"

The rain continued all night and into the next day. As a matter of fact it was ALL the next day!  But it still made for some interesting pictures.

We headed back to Baddeck to check out the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. It just was not our thing and we were in and out of there in about 20 minutes. So we headed over towards Sidney were we were set to catch the ferry on the 16^th.

Arriving after 5:00pm, we just went to the Walmart where Barb did some shopping and I worked on the blog. That is when catastrophe struck! I was merrily typing away on my computer when Bam! Blue Screen stating that a critical error has occurred and it is shutting down. No matter what I did I could not get it to boot back up again. So I looked up computer repair in Sidney NS and found 3 locations. The next morning we drove to the one closest to us. It ended up being a house in a residential neighborhood so I called the number to see if we could come in. At first he was skeptical as it came across as an American number. He asked why we were calling and where we were. I explained the situation and said I am parked in front of your house. He let me in and we went to his office to work on the computer. After taking the back off he asked if I dropped the computer. Of course I did at least a half a dozen times but not recently. He found a board of some sort inside that was a little askew, took it out and reinserted it. Then he did some other magic cleaning up some files and it was as good as new! 

Interesting story about this guy and his family. They moved from Pakistan 12 years ago saying that they were Christians who were constantly persecuted by the Muslims. It took him 7 years to go through the immigration process and says he will never go back. 

Relieved we went to lunch at Governors Pub then for a walk with the girls along the waterfront. We did not know it at the time but it was home of one of the Roadside Attractions Barb had on her list for this area! Are you ready for it? The worlds largest fiddle! I know, I could hardly believe it either!

This statue is a depiction of a "Barrel Raft". During WWII the merchant ships were being torpedoed by enemy submarines so the merchant ships carried these barrel rafts as a lifeboat.

After that adventure I figured that I needed a beer and what better place than Breton Brewing Co! Barb had a flight, I had a pint of Island Time Lager which was very good. Barb's favorite was the Son's of Hector Brown Ale.

Since we were preparing for another ferry ride in the morning we decided to get a campground so we could do laundry, fill with water, shower and work on the blog. By the way, we do take showers in our camper too, not just when I mention we stop at a campground! Arm of Gold Campground is within minutes of the ferry terminal and for $40ca/night (w/e) it was the perfect spot to get ready for our next ferry ride. Goodbye Nova Scotia, see you in two weeks, tomorrow morning we head over to Newfoundland!

Last, but certainly not least, Barb and I want to wish Farmer Bob and DeAnne Happy 40th Anniversary this week! Congratulations DeAnne, I know it is a challenge putting up with him!