Nova Scotia

Unlike some of our friends, we don't have a wedding to attend every other week all summer long. We had only one to attend, and it was in Nova Scotia.

Another couple wanted to come along to enjoy Nova Scotia, but the ladies couldn't get as much time off work as the guys. So in the end we decided the girls would fly and guys would drive. WOOO ROADTRIP!! How childish.

The girls were going to land in Halifax shortly before 11pm on a Thursday, so we figured we'd have to start driving by 7am to be there to pick them up. But we also wanted to do some sightseeing on the way...

Google chat conversation between Reuben and me the day before leaving (paraphrased for greater accuracy, of course):
[2pm]
me: so to get there on time we'd have to leave at 7am, but that's without stopping anywhere
him: so we should leave at like 4
me: ouch... 3:30 wake-up... haha, i'll get to sleep in!
[8pm]
him: so i'll try to be at your place at 4am
[11pm]
me: i can't believe you're still up! go to bed already!
[11:01pm]
me: hmm... thought: why are we leaving in a bunch of hours and not now?
him: i need some sleep... just finished packing
[11:05]
him: i'll be there in 30 minutes
me: AWESOME!

So we left at 12:30am on Thursday because, well, why not? Hours later, we had a leisurely breakfast at some diner and then didn't stop until Hartland, NB, home of the world's longest covered bridge.


Next stop was Fredericton, NB. Not because it's known to be terribly exciting, but because... well, why not? After starting a guided walking tour, we abandoned it before too long and wandered about for a bit.

Fredericton conquered.


As we drove out of town we noticed a peculiar sign. I guess Tim Hortons is such an institution that it warrants mention on local traffic signs.


After a delicious dinner at a pub in Moncton called the Pump House Brewery, we drove on and ended up in Halifax right around 10pm. Unfortunately I'd gotten the flight time wrong and we had to wait about an hour.

We stayed at our former minister's place in Kentville area, which is truly more wonderful than any bed and breakfast. I need only to dream of fruit loops and chocolate milk and, PRESTO, they appear on the breakfast table.

Oh yeah, we took the dog. The options were to drive her, buy her plane tickets or have someone dog-sit. The road trip was the best option at the time. Our hosts had a sad old beagle, a fat cat, and (temporarily) a big retriever pup that couldn't control its gangly paws. One of our friends was initially the least impressed by the menagerie, but Daisy took the longest to adjust. The playful retriever pup wanted nothing more than to properly greet Daisy, but his sudden movements and lack of limb control meant Daisy would have nothing to do with him. The first day or two she hid behind things or fled to people for safety. After that, she started barking with such ferocity that eventually he got scared of her and gave her cautious detours every time he passed by. I wasn't impressed by her sudden command of her vocal cords, but most others seemed amused.

Friday was designated for Halifax and environs. Carrie spent a few hours visiting with former colleagues and classmates. The rest of us went to Peggy's Cove and various other sites.

The obligatory photo of scenic Peggy's Cove. What do you mean, "where's the lighthouse?"


That evening each couple had respective dinner plans with acquaintances in Halifax, after which we headed back to home base.

Saturday was wedding day. While Carrie and I attended a wonderful wedding and reception, our friends spent the day hiking and touring the northern shore of the province. We didn't really use the camera much during our stay so we'll have to borrow photos from someone else for our records.

Sunday was filled with church and visits, pretty much the way we like Sundays to be. Except for the weather. Not to complain, but I like my Sundays cool. We had 30+ degree weather during our entire trip (other than the drives to/from NS). Some people like that sort of thing... ugh.

On Monday Carrie had to work, so we dropped her off at a restaurant in Wolfville where she worked for most of the day. The rest of us checked out the Acadia University campus, visited some local wineries, and generally hung out trying to avoid the heat.

After supper, we drove to the airport and the girls flew home. We guys headed back to the house and socialized with a number of others for a time. Or a little longer than 'a time'. One guy and I had a history of staying up a little later than the rest, so I didn't get to bed until after 4am. I'll just say that getting up 3 hours later wasn't as easy as it used to be...

On the road again by 8am. We had planned to see the Hopewell Rocks (a.k.a. flowerpot rocks) at low tide on the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick. We were there before noon and spent a couple of hours roasting outdoors.


The stairway down to the beach.


Hopewell Dog.


Daisy on the beach. She got good and muddy; she also became very thirsty, and it was amusing to watch her constantly trying to drink water only to find that it was gross and salty.


You almost expect Obelix to show up and haul that thing away.


Reuben's rock collection. It seems to be growing fur.


Cool formations...


... and seaweedy ones too.


After traipsing down the beach for far too long, we decided to continue on and look for a way out rather than head all the way back to the stairs. Except that every bunch of rocks and cliffs we went around would give way to more rocks and cliffs. Notice the yellow danger sign hanging on the chain. There were plenty of these, as going into the caves or climbing up the cliffs is highly discouraged.


Here's a clue that you're far enough down the beach: an elevated platform in case you're still in the area when the tide comes in. On we traipsed.


Traipse, traipse. Not too easy with flipflops on.


We finally rounded a bend to find miles of muddy beach... and no rocks!


Mission accomplished (making it out alive).


And that was it. We drove straight home after that, making it by 1:30am or so. I did the same road trip with Reuben two years ago for another wedding (the brother of this wedding's groom), but it was nice to see some things along the way this time.

These days

It's been about a month, so I must have something to say... no? We've had a few guests and we've gone some places, so I suppose I best report these things.

Around mid-July we were graced with a visit from my eldest sister and her husband and kiddies. They left the comforts of the farm for a weekend and decided to put up with the busy-ness of traffic & city. A sacrifice we appreciate (since we never make it out their way...)

We made a visit to Mackenzie King Estate, the country retreat of Canada's 10th prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King. He was prime minister for 21 years (though not consecutively), longer than any other. This was in the 1920s to 1940s.

He donated the estate to Canada, and it's now open to the public. It consists of several lots totalling 570 acres. Lots and lots of room to run around, trails to hike, gardens to enjoy. His main residence there can be toured as well; it's not much to look at, but shows what cottage life was like half a century ago (and still should be, in my opinion).

Homes on the estate:



Awww... (of all my nieces named Megan, this one's my absolute favourite)


Mackenzie King was a creative sort. This is from a facade of an old Ottawa bank, transplanted here as his own Arc de Triomphe.


The Abbey Ruins. They're not ruins at all, just built to look like ruins.


We took a trail to Bridal Veil Falls, also on the grounds somewhere. In the photo below, the boys seem to be looking for evidence of the falls; I mean, it's been dry this summer, but c'mon, not even a trickle? Well, it turns out (upon reading the plaque there) that ever since the source upstream was dammed sometime in the '40s there really hasn't been much of a falls here. Really!? You couldn't tell us that a little earlier? Sigh... back we all trudged.


It was a nice but short visit; hope all that driving was worth it!


Montreal

The following weekend we went to Montreal just for the Saturday. Friends of ours have just moved back to BC and this was to be their last chance to hang out in la belle ville. So we drove out together and spent the day walking our feet off.

The primary target was the Botanical Gardens. The Biodome would have been nice to see too, but there's a strike going on so it's closed. Just as well, since the Gardens themselves took a few hours to walk through.

The park where the gardens are is right beside the Olympic Stadium, so a lot of my pictures have its lovely leaning tower poking into the scenery.


There were lots of miniature/stunted trees (under two feet tall), and not just in the Japanese section either. These things are incredible; without a reference item in view some of them might be mistaken for a 50-foot tree.


This white cedar is about 450 years old.


The Chinese section. Not sure how they made the water so blue, but it ain't natural.



Lots of crazy landscaping.


There were also vegetable gardens, which were about the least thrilling part. For me anyways.


Our friends' young'un. She did very well all day. This little lady knows me as Opa. Why, you ask? Why not, eh?


We weren't planning to do any real sightseeing in the city. We've all been to Montreal before (16 years ago for me) so we could say we'd already seen the sights. It was just nice to walk in the old town and enjoy the ambience.



We had to visit the clock tower in the Old Port to look for a penny. Our friend had thrown a penny from the tower during a previous visit, and the penny had landed on a ledge. This penny is going to be a reason to visit the tower every time we go to Montreal from now on... at least until it disappears. It was still there this time.




Camping

For the long weekend, a bunch of us went camping at Fitzroy Provincial Park. It was a civic holiday, not a stat, so some of us had to work on Monday; we ended up camping only for two nights. The weather cooperated... a little too much, maybe. The campground is situated on a river, and the water level was so low that one of the two beaches didn't really even exist. Which only matters if you like swimming... pffft!

Well, back to the old grind for a few weeks. We have a wedding to attend in Nova Scotia at the end of the month, but Carrie's work schedule is not going to be very friendly in that regard; guess we better work out some plans. She also has to go to Geneva in a month or two, and it's up to me to convince her I don't need to go with her on that trip. I'm sure I'll keep you informed...

Winter yet?

Okay it's warm enough. Today was a piddly 34 degrees with a humidex of 44. Yesterday the humidex hit 46. I should really move my office to the basement during the summer but that's a ton of work.

On an unrelated note, I have a question for I.H. and K.S., two people who recently wrote me cheques. Why aren't your cheques washing-machine-proof?! The quality is sincerely lacking... not cool at all.

On another unrelated note, my wallet is sparkly clean. As are my $5 bills. And my credit cards. And my driver's license.

Sigh.

Camping

We took our first camping trip of the year this past weekend. The place: Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park, which is about 300km west of Ottawa and north of Algonquin Park.

The Canada Day holiday didn't really make for the traditional long weekend, but we turned it into one anyway. Three couples made our way up Thursday and stayed until Sunday afternoon.

Last fall, Carrie and I had bought a massive 13-person mansion of a tent, upgrading from the little dome tent we've used forever. 13-person is hardly an exaggeration; this thing is huge! We didn't quite realize it when we bought it, and we hadn't set it up yet before now. So the 17'x21' dimensions (minus some cutouts) mean that this baby can't be set up just anywhere. (Although I think I can leave some wings down to save space... yes, this building has wings!)

Three wings to be exact: two side rooms and a mud room, centred on a main square room, together forming a T-shaped tent.

Oh, and I can stand in it (probably the clincher when we decided to buy). At the centre it's 6'11". I can't remember the last time I stood upright in a tent... at least without pulling up all the corner pegs. What a luxury!

Of course all my tarps are too small to go under or over this thing, so we're waiting for a good rainfall to test the waterproofness. It did rain a little bit on Thursday, and all six of us took our chairs into the monster tent and sat around quite comfortably.

The tent was like one big Tetris piece, fitting nicely between some trees.



We got to the site first and set up our stuff. I didn't take many pictures, so I don't have a shot of all the tents set up (the camera remained elusive amongst all our junk).



On the drive up I noticed the car was sitting rather low so I took it easy. The considerable number of beverages and ice didn't help. Neither did the table I managed to cram in. Nor the various appliances we took just because we could (the bane of having an electrical site).

I wanted to take firewood but Ottawa is a regulated area, from which firewood of any kind may not be transported. Since firewood is ridiculously expensive at the parks, it's a good idea to hunt around locally for wood. My brother-in-law and I did the same last year while camping in Alberta and got a load of free wood that way.

As we neared the park on the drive up I kept an eye out for homes with firewood piles. Once we'd emptied the car later on, one of the guys went with me and we drove just five minutes before seeing a stack of wood on a front lawn. We drove in and asked for $10 worth of wood, please. We struck a deal with the homeowner who looked less than sober and smelled like pee. But we're not the discriminating sort when there's a good deal to be had, so we filled the trunk and the back seat with enough wood to last the weekend. That amount would have cost over $50 at the park.

We all had a great time sitting around, enjoying the mosquitoes and the sun. We hit the beach a couple of times. The first time we had the dog along and had her on the sand and without a leash; on top of that we may or may not have been enjoying a few cold ones. The park warden caught us and could have had a heyday with all these infractions but merely warned us on all counts. The personnel were fantastic overall, genuinely friendly, apparently liking their jobs; I don't think I've ever been to a campground where all the employees were quite this congenial. A real treat indeed.

Mosquitoes weren't the only critters we enjoyed. Aside from the occasional chipmunk appearance, we discovered a massive insect in our campsite. A bit of research leads me to believe that this is a giant water bug, also known as a toe-biter. Apparently a delicacy in Thailand. Not to judge or anything, but EWWWWW gross! Consider yourselves judged, giant water bug eaters!



We tackled a couple of hiking trails. The one we did on the last morning was done without any bug spray, as we'd run out of the stuff the night before. Not pleasant. I happen to attract bugs fairly consistently; it seems to have something to do with dark hair (maybe I should go grey). I've discovered that, apart from simply not stopping to let the bugs land, covering head and ears does wonders for one's sanity in such a situation. Perhaps I'll pack my toque next time.



Next camping trip: next weekend. Yay, I don't even have to pack away all the gear! Sister and her family are camping near Ottawa and we'll join them for a couple of days.