East Coastlog

[Velvet]

East Coastlog, Stardate 081907

A rare early start had us arriving outside of Moncton at my parents’ temporary home pretty early, 9pm. There are holed up at their campground amid friends and relatives that share their NASCAR and RV lifestyle while my mom embarks on another house-building project. We tossed our suitcases in our new home, a 31’ Sunseeker RV with slider and met my folks at the Lean-To, the little rec hall, and got loaded on Crown Royal with all the campers. By 11pm I had my east coast accent back and by midnite we were in the camper ready to sleep.

The bed was comfortable and the air was clean; we slept like the dead. Got up to find dad had fetched the paper in his golf cart and mom was cooking up bacon and eggs with home fries, home made toast and jam. We got a few lessons on using the motor home, went for a drive to visit my mom’s new house-in-progress and visited my brother and his family. I’m pleased to find that my eldest nephew is seeming to turn out okay. I was worried he’d be a bit of a geek but he seems to be pulling through pretty well. Anyways, another night of drinking, another great sleep and another super breakfast, some more RV instructions (my cousin telling me, “Stick this here tube into that there hole and that’s how you drain ‘er,†while Heather tries to get it all on paper) and a last minute bike rack acquisition and finally we were off, just the two of us in the mighty machine pointed further east.

We pounded down the TCH until we hit the Nova Scotia border. Checked out the tourist info for maps and such and found a grocery store and liquor store in Amherst and stocked up with provisions. We headed up the Sunrise Trail scenic route and made our way to our first real vacation stop, Heather Beach. Fittingly we were the only ones there, and Heather made us a nice lunch. We walked up and down and found some cool rocks, eventually some more people (including two lifeguards) showed up and after debating just staying there for the day/evening, on Heather’s suggestion we made our way another hour or more down the road.

We checked in at a full serviced site in a campground surrounded by other campers, the vast majority of which are parked for the season. Most of these campers are actually cottages, and it’s quite a spot too, overlooking the ocean. The place is called Seafoam and it is aptly named; foam does indeed collect on the beach from the incessant waves frothing upon the sand. We plugged everything in and explored a bit, sitting on some rocks on the beach and checking out how wide of a jump we’d have to make over the river to get to the cemetery on the bluff. We decided to go around tomorrow on our bikes, went back to the RV and made tacos. Afterwards we reveled in our comfort, watched some tv and went to bed.

[Velvet]

East Coastlog, Stardate 082007

Woke up early and figured out how to do the dumping and such. Stuff came out, I know that, but the black water (sewage) meter read like there was no change. Mom said that the gauges weren’t always accurate so we plowed out of there without concern.

We stopped in Pictou for future ferry information and carried on the scenic route that brought us up the coast to the Cape George lighthouse and along the St. Georges bay to Antigonish where we met up with the TCH.

After our first fillup ($124) we got stopped just before crossing into Cape Breton by the moving bridge that ends the Canso Causeway. The bridge spun on its axis to allow a boat through before returning to its highway position and allowing us to officially arrive on Cape Breton Island.

Before hitting the Cabot Trail we pulled off into a picnic area and Heather made us a great soup and sandwich lunch. As we turned left leaving highway 105 the beauty of Cape Breton gave way to the stunning Cabot Trail. We drove through the gorgeous hills and as soon as the road met the ocean we pulled into the first rest area we saw and decided to stay. The camper is well equipped to ‘dry’ camp, that is stand-alone camping without any hookups. The view outside our door was uninhibited ocean, and we lay in bed together and watched the sun sink into the sea through the open window. When it got dark we made dinner and got drunk (or was that just me?) and slept with the sound of the ocean crashing into the side of Cape Breton right outside our window.

When we woke up I had a hankerin’ for an omelette. As tourist after tourist pulled in to our little turnoff for their pictures of the view I made a fabulous breakfast for the two of us and we ate it in our underwear with the dining table window open for the view of the sea.

Edited September 11, 2007 by Guest

[Velvet]

East Coastlog, Stardate 082107

It was a short jaunt from Margaree Harbour to Cheticamp where we stopped for a few more groceries. While parked we took an hour to walk through town. They had a little boardwalk and we checked into whale watching but decided not to drop the $40 each. We dropped into some gift shops and bought nothing save a rose. At one there was a stack of brochures that was a map to all the gift shops in Nova Scotia. I was gonna offer the girl behind the counter $10 to put the pamphlets away for ten minutes but wasn’t quick enough.

Heather has somehow managed over 30 years as a Canadian without ever seeing a real live moose. In past trips through areas with moose potential we’ve kept our eyes peeled but never caught sight of any. She’s taken to claiming that they are fictional, or perhaps extinct. While she was skeptical, I was hopeful that we’d get her a moose on this drive and sure enough we came along a bunch of tourists parked along the road. We stopped and there he was, sitting off about 100 metres away at the edge of the forest holding up that enormous rack of his. We stuck around for quite a while; Heather was hoping he’d stand but all we got was a few head turns and a lot of ear wiggles. Eventually we left and not five kilometers down the road we hit paydirt. A momma moose and her two young’uns in a field. We pulled in and hung with them for quite some time. It looks like the fate of the recently unendangered moose is looking brighter.

Soon we came to the entrance of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. We stopped in and paid our fee, disconnected our bikes from the rack for the first time and headed off on a ride in the woods on one of only four cyclable paths in the whole park, which makes up the top third of the Cabot Trail. After a really great ride we mounted the bikes back on the RV and hit the road. We took it slow which is fairly inevitable given the mountains the Sunseeker struggled to ascend and descend, and we stopped for a few nature walks along the way ta boot with a lunch thrown in.

Leaving the park temporarily we headed north and stopped at Cabot Landing Park, where a memorial stands (ironically not on the Cabot Trail itself) dedicated to Giovanni Caboto, who landed somewhere very close by (no one is sure precisely where) and thus ‘discovered’ America. Our trek north was intended to take us to Meat Cove, which would involve about fourteen kilometers of dirt road winding along the sea cliffs. As we were navigating the turnoff towards Meat Cove a local stopped his car and essentially told us we were crazy if we tried to get this RV to Meat Cove. That was all we needed.

So we ended up in the village of Bay St. Lawrence, a small, and I’m talking small fishing village at the end of the road at the top of Cape Breton. We parked about 250m from the dock at the end of the road. We were in the old unused boat ramp area, across from what appeared to be the only merchant in town, which was a snack shack. We did a walkabout and looked in vain for whales. There was a buoy in the distance that sounded off regularly with the most mournful drone you could imagine. We hung with the wharf birds and watched one swallow down a fish that was almost half his size. Inspired, we ordered dinner from the snack shack. Heather had the fish ‘n chips while I had the double burger and frings. We watched the sunset and listened to the accents of the bored kids hanging out while our chef prepared our meals as the buoy moaned in the distance. We took the Styrofoam across the road to our camper and ate ‘er all up before turning in really early.

Edited September 8, 2007 by Guest

[bouche]

AWESOME!

RV Tacos sound delicious. I'm very happy to see that the Type-O-Matic 3000 is now being properly accompanied by photos. Looks like Heather has given you the gift of photo uploading!

Those are gorgeous shots and they really show that there's some beautiful scenery to see in Canada that isn't landlocked.

What camera were you guys travelling with? Those are some really sharp shots.

did you see this posted yet?

[Booche]

AWESOME!!!!!!!

Thank you. Everything is gorgeous right now!

[headymamamyrna]

Wonderful pictures!

I loved reading this.Sounds like a lot of fun.

[TheGoodRev]

I haven't read the whole thing yet but this is bringing back memories of Scandanavialog, which I read with GREAT interest. Is this the whole thing, Velvet, or is there more to come?

Top notch work in any event. I look forward to reading the whole thing.

[traveler]

Go to the Red Shoe Cafe in Mabou.-owned by the Rankin sisters.

[LJFH]

I want to go home now!!!!!!!!

Don't forget to go to MaryAnne Falls...when you get to Ingonish....there is a little road off the highway on the left. It goes up into the woods for about 15 minutes or so...when you get there....beautiful swimming holes....three tiers of waterfall and at teh bottom of each a crystal clear pool of water. Lots of place to jump from, a nice "whirlpool" and a rock slide...

If you can't find it...ask a local. You WON'T regret it.

[LJFH]

says someone else:

Getting to Mary Ann Falls is an easy 5-10 minute walk. As you walk along, you'll first see the falls from a bridge, then you continue on and descend a set of stairs and platforms. To get down to the swimming area or to get an even better view of the falls, you'll need to climb down the rocks. This is a nice spot to take a refreshing swim. Much to my horror, my kids climbed up the rocks to enjoy a free fall into the water, but they've only done what thousands of kids did before them. If you feel the need to do this, make sure you know where the safest place is to jump. The big rocks on the further side make a great place to have a picnic or to sit and enjoy all the good things in life. Mary Ann Falls is also part of a fairly easy 6.5km cross-country trail. On a nice winter day, you can't beat the beauty and tranquility of the area. Parks Canada has a website that describes this trail and others in the area: http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ns/cbreton/activ/activ6_E.asp#02. Mary Ann Falls is about 30km north of Ingonish, in Broad Cove

[Velvet]

The pictures are almost entirely by Heather. I don't know what her camera is called but it's just a normal little digital I think.

There will be more logs.

[Velvet]

phorbesie here....mike i use an olympus C-770.

thanks!

[backbacon]

Nice, another Velvet travel log!

I haven't read any of it yet but you two look fuckin rad!!

[bouche]

Nice, another Velvet travel log!

I haven't read any of it yet but you two look fuckin rad!!

It's a pretty HUGE read there eh? You kinda gotta put life on hold for about 3 minutes BB.

[paisley]

excellent, yet another installment of Vicariously Vacationing with Velvet (Now with lovely accompaniment!)

cheers from heres!

[backbacon]

Nice' date=' another Velvet travel log!

I haven't read any of it yet but you two look fuckin rad!![/quote']

It's a pretty HUGE read there eh? You kinda gotta put life on hold for about 3 minutes BB.

Yeah... looked at the photos for a few minutes.. had stuff to do. I'm really planning on the site not shutting down in the next few days so I can read it when I have some time!

[Ms.Huxtable]

Oh how I love reading about your trips Todd and Heather. Thanks for documenting and sharing.

[Dr. J]

Thanks for sharing guys.

[boiler]

Very nice pictures. Next time home I want to do the Trail, haven't done it in a long, long time. We used to spend a lot of time in Ingonish when I was growing up. It's a great time of year to be there. Enjoy the rest of the trip.

The Local was right, Meat Cove would be tough in an RV to get to. Besides, once you've seen one fishing village, you've seen 'em all.

Edited September 9, 2007 by Guest

[Velvet]

East Coastlog, Stardate 082207

Woke up bright and early and walked down to the dock to see if I could spot any whales while Heather kept on sleeping. No whales, but the sea alone is a pretty awesome sight for a sleepy landlubber first thing in the morning. Back at the ranch Heather got up and took a shower, which along with everything else pretty much depleted our in-house resources. After two nights of dry camping we needed a serviced site to fill and empty our compartments that were becoming dry or overflowing.

Be that as it may, it’s not like we were on a mission to camp or anything. Again we took it slow and easy, re-entering the park and thus the Caboto Trail. We stopped for a few more little hikes and did another bike trail (sure am glad we were able to bring the bicycles along). About 500 metres from where we would leave the Trail behind we found a restaurant with a nice view. Heather was hankerin’ for some sea bug so we pulled in. She ordered the lobster dinner while I had the club sandwich. If my sandwich was any indication the lobster must have been outasite. She bibbid up and chowed down while we gazed over the water in St. Anns. On the way out I bought Heather a cute little stuffed lobster I dubbed ‘Rocky’. Rock has become our co-pilot and companion. He will lead the way to Prince Edward Island in the morning, as we leave one isthmus for another.

[Velvet]

East Coastlog, Stardate 082307

Spent our last night in Nova Scotia camped on Bras D’or Lake after following another scenic route down from Sydney. Got up and did the tank emptying stuff and utilized the wi-fi available to notify our PEI friends of our pending arrival. We continued on our scenic adventure with our little red lobster in the window pointing us the way to Pictou where we caught the ferry. It’s been a long time since I’ve taken a ferry to PEI, and never from Nova Scotia, but I sure remember the times when there was no getting on the first or even the second ferries that came in for all the cars waiting. I guess that big bridge they built took care of that problem because before you knew it we were asail across the Northumberland Strait. Landed and headed straight to Rusticoville.

And arrived just in time for dinner!

Our gracious hosts were exactly that. We ate Margot’s soup and drank Chris’ rum and parked our house at their house, both overlooking the sea. We debated going to Baba’s to see Grand Theft Bus and proceeded to drink our way away from the option. Chris introduced us to The Conchords via his enormovision and we just had a great old time. Soon enough Heather and I went out to the driveway and went to sleep.

[Velvet]

East Coastlog, Stardate 082407

A rainy morning prevented us from riding our bikes to Cavendish like we had planned so we opted for plan B. I waited for a drizzle and rode up to North Rustico, a lovely 2.5 kilometre trek, to Chris’ work. He had agreed to lend us his van for the day so we could boot around Charlottetown without having to maneuver the ‘seeker through the streets. “Just meet me back here after work around 5pm, the van is in the parking lot. It’s open, and the keys are in it.†I go out and the guy has all his gear in the van: bass head, speaker cabs, all ready for the stealin’. Gotta love PEI. “Oh, I lock it when I go to Charlottetown.†Okay, we’ll watch our asses when we hit the big city.

And hit it we did. Still in tourist mode we went to the info centre where I became enamored with a ceramic potato piggy bank. What an absurd item. It looked like a kid from a school for the ungifted tried to make a brown Easter egg and failed miserably. We walked up Great George Street, which is itself a National Historic Site and made our way to the first donair shop we could find, ‘cuz we were starving. It wasn’t serving donairs for another hour, only pizza for the lunch rush. Damn. Walked outside and scanned the horizon when I heard my named called. Always a weird sensation when you’re on vacation. Well, if it wasn’t Dmayne, whom I’d met for the first time not two blocks from this very spot back on nero tour! “Hey man, how’s it going?†“Great, do you know where can I get a donair around here?†“Good to see you! What brings…†“Uh man, a donair shop?†“Well, right behind you, but they only have pizza right now. There’s a place around the corner, but it closed down. There’s another place around that corner over there, but it closed down too.†Wow. We chatted for a bit and he invited us to a party that night that sounded like a great time, then we left in search of food. To keep it fast and cheap we hit a Tim Horton’s, which was a disappointment.

Did the tourist romp of Charlottetown, including the Confederation Centre and their excellent free art gallery, the big church, and Province House, home of the birth of Canada. Nice city they got there I tell ya. It’s a bustling little minitropolis with some damn nice architecture, a heck of a lot of history, and nothing but good people. We topped off our tour at a brew pub and headed back Rustico way.

That night we all decided to have dinner and go to the party. Good plan, but what to eat? What the hell, we’re all pretty hungry, let’s go to renowned Fisherman’s Wharf, home of the 60’ buffet. I ate about three fishermen myself, and stuffed to the gills we all wedged ourselves into chairs back at Margot and Chris’ place and were absolutely unable to move for anything. Except pouring drinks I suppose, but even that took all the effort we could muster. And oh, did we muster.

Another great night and off to the driveway for sleep.

[Velvet]

East Coastlog, Stardate 082507

In the morning the four of us went for breakfast and Chris showed us around his home village, and I must say North Rustico is a beautiful little spot, and is certainly not without its charms.

Back at the house it was hugs all around then we revved up the rig for a ride.

Drove up to Cavendish and visited Anne of Green Gables’ house. She’s fictional, yet this is her actual farm (though moved from its original location), and that alone was enough to interest me. Heather is a fan so we went all around the grounds and through the house and smooched on lover’s lane and everything, all the time trying to stay ahead of any number of Asian tourists. Come to think of it, I’ve seen no Asian tourists anywhere else on this journey. They must come here to see Anne and then leave. Heather tells me Miss of Green Gables is very big in Japan. Went to the gift shop and bought a shot glass, cracked a joke about whether or not Anne was a wizard or a muggle, and hi-tailed it down the road.

We took the scenic route again, taking in just a lovely island, and ended up at North Cape. There’s a lighthouse up there and about 30 huge windmills making good time. We got the okay from the staff at the info centre to camp behind them, which just happened to be at the exact peak of Prince Edward Island and a gorgeous spot. The lighthouse flashed and the windmills whirred as we watched seals playing in the water the whole time the sun set. When it got dark I noticed they had another one of those mournful buoys here too, and it occurred to me without a doubt that this was the best campsite we’d had so far.

I think it might be what confirmed me on the whole RV thing too. I knew it would be pretty sweet, but I didn’t really expect to be all that crazy about traveling in a big RV. But I tell you, there are places you can be where this seems to be the only way to be here. You couldn’t tent in most of the places we’ve been sleeping, it’s quite likely the authorities would hassle a tent pitched at the side of a road, or perhaps out behind an info centre. Certainly here a tent would be tricky given the constant strong winds. And the freedom to pull over and go out on a bike ride, come back and shower and get cleaned up is great. I’ve always wanted to visit the Yukon and I think this would be the way to go. I ain’t gonna go out and buy one, but I like these RV’s.

Edited September 11, 2007 by Guest

[bouche]

RV's do sound like a lot of fun. Must be a bitch on gas though, but hey, it surely beats jet fuel.

[phorbesie]

hey, you never mentioned the oysters!

i wish i'd entered the shucking contest.