Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure...Day 31...Friday, July 15, 2011

Plop
Plop
Plop
Plop
Plop

Oh yea...that's what I'm hearing this morning. This morning that Weather.com said was going to be sunny...not. So...we're doing gloomy, cold, damp and overcast again.
I'm making coffee in the back of the camper...some relief from the rain.
Ed's up, but breakfast is out of the question...until...there's a short break in the clouds. Eggs, ham, cheese...all together...toast, coffee, OJ, milk...ah...things are looking up.
But looking up after breakfast, the rains is back...no hiking today. Instead, we drive back west...towards the town of Margaree. There's a small artisan operation that makes cutting boards from local larch wood. Pricey, but very, very nice. Ed and I both buy one...a nice souvenir.
After, we stop at the bank...the Post Office...the local grocery. At Cote Harbor, there's a lobster pound...dinner is soon in hand.
Then we're back to our favorite local watering hole, Le Gabriel for beer and WiFi...more blog posts...some interesting conversation with a few locals...friendly people they.
Back at camp, it's still cold and damp, but at least it's not raining. While I'm boiling up a nice two-pounder, Ed chops up leftover pork tenderloin for tacos..there's a salad. It's all good...the better for a bottle of Jost Pinot Grigio.
After dinner, one of our camp mates, Kurt from Switzerland, stops by with a few beers to share. His wife joins us for awhile as well, and we learn that tomorrow will be their first anniversary...so we toast that.
I'm up much later than usual...it's almost midnight when I head off to the tent. Ed stays with the fire...until 2:00AM actually, when he wakes up. By then, I'm long asleep.
I expect a tough drive tomorrow.


Ed's Sidebar, Day 31:

The Winds of Blomidon have struck tiny Belle Cote near the Cabot Trail. The cold and wet assail us. Waves pound the seawall. We will head north again on Sunday, deeper into Summer where lobsters are jumping into pots for warmth.

People are speaking French behind me, beside me, at the grocer, at the pub, everywhere is French. Everyone can switch to English effortlessly. I am the unschooled, here in rural Cheticamp.

The last time it was this cold in July, there was a mile of ice on Nova Scotia, and July had not been invented.

Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure...Day 30...Thursday, July 14, 2011...One Month In...and A Break in the Weather

Wow...no sound...no "Nova Scotia Rooster" waking me up this morning. It's cold, damp and overcast, but it's not raining. Last night, I "scoffed" at Ed's suggestion that we hike today...but...now there's hope.
I'm able to brew the morning coffee out on the picnic table and haul out the XM Radio "boombox" for the morning news. I'm feeling much cheerier this morning, particularly after a bowl of cereal for breakfast.
When Ed gets up, we start planning our hike for today. We're going about twenty minutes north on the Cabot Trail to the "Skyline Trail", about a six-mile loop up in the mountains along the coast.
Driving up to the trail, I can't help but notice the steep grades. Yes, I made it over the Rockies, Cascades and Sierra Nevadas last summer but, this year, I'm hauling at least 250 pounds of extra gear...plus Ed...it's going to be an interesting drive out of here on Saturday to get down to Sydney for our Sunday ferry to Newfoundland.
The Skyline Trail is pretty nice...even though it's pretty cloudy. The first half goes through forest, mountain plateaus and a few glimpses of the ocean. There are some uphill parts, but the grades are very manageable. People coming the other way are reporting some moose sightings further up the trail, but we don't see any. At the halfway point, there's a steep boardwalk down to the cliffs...250 meters straight down to the ocean. Ed ventures down to take a look, but "Mr. Vertigo" stays behind. The second half of the trail is tougher than the first...all uphill, but easy grades. By the time that we get back to the Escape, we're both pretty sore...and hungry. A well-deserved Milky Way bar is our reward. I'm proud of myself...almost six miles of hiking...all those hours on the treadmill at Bally's are finally paying dividends.
Back at camp, we take our leftover pork tenderloin and "jazz it up" a little with a Thai green curry sauce over Indonesian noodles...excellent with a bottle of L'Acadie Blanc that Ed bought at Jost Vineyards.
After dinner, Ed heads over to a performance by some local artists. They're performing a traditional "Milling Frolic"...which involves wool and music (a classic combination). Later, Ed and some friends from the campground head over to a local motel for some more local music. Your humble blogger, however, sticks close to camp...tired after a long hike and more than content to listen to the radio before bed...a much-deserved sleep tonight.


Ed's Sidebar, Day 30:

They should have a bumper sticker that says 'I drove the Cabot Trail' in Cape Breton. More so, they should have a sticker for those who (successfully and completely) hike the Skyline Trail there. It should say 'I would have watched for moose and coyotes except I was watching my feet for 5.7 miles'.

When you are hiking, things can happen. One thing that happens is roots, rocks and mud pools. And you thought golfers had it tough with their carts and two-irons to the green from the rough. Let me tell you about rough, mister golfer. Rough is a pack of leach-looking things feasting on something squashed beside a mud pool in the shadow of a standing root growing around a granite from the Ice Age. A pride of lions would do no less with a stumbled zebra. That's rough. Try not to trip now.

How does a wet, slimy thing that looks like a leach get on my picnic table, inches from my notes around midnight, without me seeing it? Holy crap, it's raining invertebrates. Run away!

Went to a Highland 'Milling Frolic'. Look it up, if you're into history and culture.

Met fellow campers Bruce and Heather, Carl and Karen for drinks and cielidh (kaylee) at a local pub. Fiddle music, dancing and fun ensued til midnight.

Uh oh, where did that leach go?

Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure...Day 29...Wednesday, July 13, 2011...Gloomy

It's that sound again...as I awaken, I can hear it...the steady "plop"...the "pitter-patter" of rain. I'm calling it the "Nova Scotia Rooster" because it's the sound that I've been waking up to for days.
Staggering bleary-eyed out of my tent, I can see that everything is soaked...picnic table is wet, lantern is water-logged...there's a steady "mist" of rain. When Ed gets up, I make coffee in the back of the camper...a little shelter there. There are two puddles the size of Lake Superior to cross on the way to the bathroom. For most of the morning, I'm sitting in the Escape drinking coffee and watching CNN.
Around 11:00AM, Ed and I head in to Cheticamp for lunch. We stop at a little seafood restaurant for lunch. A tiny portion of fried clams, a beer and a piece of coconut cream pie set me back over $30.00 Canadian (Welcome to Tourist Country!). After lunch, we decide to drive through and visit the "sights" on Cheticamp Island...it's deserted and mostly barren...even gloomier in the rain.
There's no hiking today, so we head over to a local bar/restaurant, Le Gabriel, for a beer or two and use of their WiFi. Ed and I catch up on our blog posts, and I'm able to sort through emails and pay a few bills. We see that Le Gabriel has "local" music tonight at 7:00, so we decide to come back after dinner.
Back at camp, the rain lets up considerably, so we are able to grill a pork tenderloin marinated for a few days in Cuban mojo...a nice goes well with that. Still, I'm still feeling gloomy in this weather.
But...soon it's 7:00, and we're at Le Gabriel for music. It's somewhat of a disappointment since most of the music (Beatles medley, hits from the 60's and 70's, etc.) is not very "local". Still...we're inside where it's warm and dry...and the beer is good (if somewhat expensive). We meet two women from New Orleans up here camping on vacation. It's a chance to talk about our favorite places in "The Big Easy"...mostly restaurants (of course!).
Soon, it's 9:00 and the entertainment is over...time to head back to our wet camp. I have a beer at the soggy picnic table before heading off to bed.
Things have got to be better tomorrow.


Ed's Sidebar, Day 29:

Sometimes the measured day begins with midnight warmer than at noon, and just as damp. Cape Breton is a wilderness at any time of day. Clouds hang from the mountains here like millions of years ago. And this small bucket of mist that I inhale in the cone of my writing light is the life sum of dinosaurs, the moss beneath their feet.

In the salmon stream's rapids, boulders remain. They murmur, chirp and babble their centuries away. --On Fifth Avenue today, the decades also murmur, chirp and babble, but in a different kind of salmon stream.

We're going to get damn trench-foot here, sure as anything. That's what comes from living in the water too long like a fish. We look like some sorry asses from World War 1 huddled over journals in an age before Wi-Fi. Our socks are soaked through and through, our feet are cold. The fog closes in. Not even a sniper is stirring.

We've met four poets so far, and no CEOs. What are the odds? Hardly anyone reads poetry, much less claiming to be a poet. But everyone has the answers for how to run a country or a company. Armchair CEOs outnumber poets everywhere, but we meet poets and not CEOs. Maybe that's what camping is all about. So hello, Brenda, Allan, Anne, and Dave. Our here there is real life.

Some famous Acadian songs from the Le Gabriel Lounge in Cheticamp:
"Kansas City"
"Que Sera, Sera"
and Beatles medley.

Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure...Day 28...Tuesday, July 12, 2011...The Road to Cape Breton

There's a sound that I hear as I wake up this morning...it's the sound of raindrops hitting the tent...it's yet another rainy day. I will say that my tent has done a magnificent job in the elements. I have an REI "Base Camp 4", and it has been absolutely dry inside despite numerous downpours (like this morning).
Despite the rain, I'm able to brew up a pot of coffee...something to enjoy while packing up for today's drive to Cape Breton.
It's only 144 miles or so, but the "Cabot Trail" is known for it's mountain climbs, sheer drops and "roller coaster-like" drops. Yes...my vertigo is a factor, but I'm more worried about load. We're way over twice the load capacity of the Escape, and I'm concerned about getting over those steep hills.
Around 10:00AM, we set out...first, a stop at a local meat market (disappointing with everything frozen). Then on to Wal Mart, where Ed picks up one of those plastic pads that you use while gardening...those picnic benches are mighty hard. One last stop at the Provincial Liquor Store for beer, and we're on our way.
The fist half hour or so from Antigonish to the Cape Breton Causeway is pretty uneventful. We do stop right before the causeway to pick up a lobster...lobster season closed a week ago in Antigonish, so the pickings have been scarce indeed. So...I'm happy to grab a 3.5 lb. "behemoth" for tonight's dinner.
Once in Cape Breton, the Garmin guides us inland...not as scenic as the coastal drive, but you can't see anything through the fog and rain anyway. About twenty-five miles or so from Cheticamp, we're back on the coastal road for some magnificent views as the rain slows and the fog lifts.
At the Cheticamp campground, we manage to find a good spot, and I'm actually able to back the camper in nicely. A the entrance to the Park, we again run into Ed's poet friend, Dan...what a coincidence!
We're fortunate in that the rain holds off while we set up camp...then enjoy a beer or two as our reward. Dan stops by for a beer and stays for dinner...leftover stir-fry for them and the "behemoth" for me. This lobster is so big that my "cracker" is useless against the huge claws. I actually have to use a wood log-splitter to get them cracked...but it's worth it...an excellent lobster!
Dan heads off after dinner, and Ed and I work on trying to get the All-Star game...but all we can find are updates, rather than the actual game.
By 10:00M, I'm packing it in...Ed's doing some reading and journal entries.
Another successful day.


Ed's Sidebar, Day 28:

Misc...
The Minas Basin (a bay off the Bay of Fundy) is a sort of 'ground zero' for the collision of three continental components that form Nova Scotia. Near Five Islands can be found 240 million years of the history of these on-going collisions. Beginning with sand-dune stone associated with Morocco, as I recall, there is a sequence of abrupt changes to rock formations in the cliffs, which have been tilted sideway, bent and twisted. From this we could easily see that the dunes were succeeded by sea floor, then volcanoes, then sea floor again, and finally, glaciation and modern deposits. In a two mile hike, two hundred forty million is revealed in one continuous set of layers, turned sideways due to the continental collisions. That is, unless you think the world is 6,000 years old, and people never landed on the moon.

Bill wants to know how many islands are at Five Islands. And why are rocks hard?

Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure...Day 27...Monday, July 11, 2011...Another day in Antigonish

Ed and I really haven't been big on breakfast so far on this trip...coffee (certainly)...maybe cereal. But, this morning, we're opting for a full-scale "spread"...I'm cooking up eggs, Spam (yes, "Spam"), toast...a great way to get the day started.
We spend most of the morning at camp...packing up and preparing for tomorrow's trip to Cape Breton. Later, we're back at our favorite local "watering hole", Piper's Pub to use their WiFi. Later still, we drive out to the local mall to look for chargers for Ed's phone and camera.
Back at camp, we eat a hearty dinner of Korean stir-fried beef and rice. The weather is cloudy, but warm. After dinner, Ed's new "poet friend", Dan, stops by to have a beer and discuss "iambic pentameter". In spite of this thrilling conversation, I'm tired and, by 9:30PM, I'm off to bed.
A big day tomorrow...the 14 mile drive up the Cabot Trail to our next camp in Cheticamp at Cape Breton Highlands National Park.


Ed's Sidebar, Day 27:

There is fair weather today for sailing at Antigonish. A fleet of teen girls circumnavigates our campground. On spindly legs like masts, in shortest shorts they sail, their flagship in the middle, on either side the signal ships.

Misc...
The cielidh bands (pron. 'kayleed'?)of the Maritimes sound like the Zydeco bands of Cajun country and East Texas. There is surely a historical link between the French Akadians, the Scottish settlers of Nova Scotia, and the Cajuns.

Cajun is a corruption of Akadian--that from our Sr. Correspondent for litte-known facts.

The Bay of Fundy, with its 50' tides, moves more water in a day than all the world's rivers combined, according to sources near the President.

Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure...Day 26...Sunday, July 10, 2011...Antigonish

We're sleeping well at a nice campground (Whidden's) here in Antigonish. We've got electrical hookup, so we're brewing coffee every morning and charging up all of our electronics.
I deliberately scheduled three days in Antigonish to give us a little break from "hard-core" camping. Here, we've got the comforts of home , and we're a short walk from the local pub.
This morning, I'm doing my first laundry of the trip. Whidden's has plenty of washers and dryers, but it seems like everyone else in camp has the same idea. But...a few hours later, everything is washed, dried and put away. For lunch, I whip up a batch of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches...along with a cold beer, a great lunch. I've even got time to roast a few batches of coffee (a nice Fair Trade bean from Rwanda).
Later in the day, we're off again to Piper's Pub for their WiFi (and their beer). Ed heads further into town to watch the closing ceremonies of the Highland games, while I lay back at Piper's to post on the blog, comment on Facebook, pay bills, etc.
Ed's back around 6:00PM, so we head back to camp for dinner. It's cheese-stuffed pasta with a tomato/vodka sauce and a slice of baguette for dinner tonight...all washed down with another bottle of red.
Ed and I have discovered that we can watch DVDs on the Pioneer sound system in the Escape. So...we've been renting movies. So far, our favorite is "Brokeback Mountain"...Man, I think we must have watched that twenty times already!
As night falls, we're kicking back with a few cold beers...even though the weather is still chilly (particularly at night). I make it until almost midnight, then I've got to call it a night...way cold tonight.


Ed's Sidebar, Day 26:

Three International dialogs:

Nova Scotia does not know it is mid-July. In a tragic misunderstanding, all prior reports of Summer's approach have been intercepted at the border, shredded, and cast to the Winds of Blomidon.

No agreement was reached at the Summit on Global Cooling, recently held at...

'Gmornin.'
(Unintelligible)
'Hyadoon?'
'Ooooo-eh.'


No kidding? Beneath a clear sky at a minute to midnight, I have frost on my breath?
And it's still mid-July? And it's getting colder? And maybe this whole trip is some kind of bizarre weather hallucination? I could pinch myself to find out, but--what's that? The voice of a Great Hypnotist in the background?

Bill & Ed's Excellent Adventure...Day 25...Saturday, July 9, 2011...Antigonish

We're up early again (I see a pattern here). Brenda is returning to Yarmouth today, and she's anxious to get an early start on a long drive.
My admiration for Brenda is limitless...I can not a imagine a better frind, companion and guide to the wonderful Province of Nova Scotia. She drove long miles with Ed and I in her own car without complaint...over hill and dale to show us a side of Nova Scotia that we would never have seen without her. And, all along the way, she relayed a steady stream of information about people, places, history...a special person for a special journey.
It's rainy this morning, so packing up is a priority. Our friends camping next to us, Wayne and Nancy, stop by for awhile...fun conversation with fine people. Brenda is off around 9:00AM, while Ed and I are still packing up. Around 10:30 or so, we're off to Antigonish...about three hours away.
We've booked a campsite at Whidden's in Antigonish for Sunday/Monday, but not Saturday...so...once in cell phone range, we call...and we're in! Our first stop is in the town of Malagash...home of Jost Vineyards. They have some excellent wines...so...I buy a few bottles. Further on, we stop in a small little town for a "Donair". This is Nova Scotia's version of a "Gyro"...and, I suspect, the name "Donair" is a variation of the "Doner" that you find all over Germany and the Netherlands. Our Donairs are excellent...a great lunch.
On we go, through a pouring rain, toward Antigonish. Around 3:30PM, we arrive at last at Whidden's Campground. It's raining too hard to really set up camp, so Ed and I head off in the rain in search of a friendly tavern. Fifteen minutes later, soaked to the skin, we're sitting at the bar at Piper's Pub for a few cold ones. It's the next to the last day of the local "Highland Games", so there are many people about...some of whom play the bagpipes. So...we enjoy our beers, listening to the music, watching a Tampa Bay Rays game on television...here in Antigonish.
Around 6:00PM, there's a break in the rain, so Ed and I head back to Whidden's to set up camp...and enjoy a few beers before dinner.
We use the Coleman Camp Oven again to heat up our leftover Donairs...and easy, but hardy, dinner. A couple from Indiana stops by after dinner, and we have a nice conversation. It seems like they've visited all of the National Parks that I have visited...so we spend an hour "comparing notes".
Then a few Molson Cold Shots before bed...another long (and very rewarding) day.


Ed's Sidebar, Day 25:

Our friend and guide, Brenda, left for Yarmouth this morning. Thanks Brenda! May the Winds of Blomidon blow favorably for you.

The gods are still displeased today. The Five Islands have become four. The flood rises around us. We depart as refugees for higher ground, no ark in sight. Through wine country we flee, past Tatamagouche Bay, past the Pictou Harbor, and on to Antigonish with its Highland Games. We reach the highlands at last. Yes!