Friday, September 9, 2016 – Cabot Trail Part Two:

 

Yesterday we drove the ENTIRE Cabot Trail.  That’s more than 185 miles since we started and ended back at the KOA.  Oh – a couple of things about yesterday’s post (truth in reporting and evidence of fact-checking):

1.     The rock I claimed is at Green Cove, not White Point as reported;

2.     It’s spelled “Smokey”, not “Smoky”.

 OK – back to our adventure.  Well, the pics will definitely show the difference between the west and east side of the trail.  Fall has begun to kiss the southern, more inland areas of the trail.

 

And the west is populated with predominately French descendants.  We saw the name Aucoin EVERYWHERE.

The loaf of bread is easily separated into two smaller loaves -- very practical AND delicious

Cheticamp – where we stopped for gas, postage stamps, and lunch – is an Acadian fishing village (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A9ticamp,_Nova_Scotia).  We also stopped in to look at some tapestries from the region.  Instead of weaving, most of the tapestries are created using latch hook or needlepoint techniques.  Modern ones are very colorful depictions of birds, lighthouses, etc., but the older ones are more muted with specific scenes or patterns.  Pretty spectacular.

both images from Flora's Gift Shop in Cheticamp

Cheticamp livelihood is still predominately based on fishing.  As a matter of fact, fishing is the primary source of income (outside of tourism) for all of the western part of Cape Breton.  Lobster is even less expensive here than in Maine (take note, Patrick and Connie)!!!  We decided to stop for lunch:

Where Rick teased me about stopping

Where we actually stopped and everyone was speaking French

 

 

Leaving Cheticamp we headed north to start circling our way back.  But then we saw this house with the owner putting up more art:

My idea of how to cover up the chipped paint!!

Coming to a look-off (that’s what they’re called here – like washrooms and pop instead of look-out or turn-off, restrooms and soda), we see a Class B RV with the same color paint as ours.  From the back it looks like a Roadtrek, so we decided to pull up next to it.  Turns out it’s a Great West – similar to ours but built on a Ford chassis.  So as we’re talking and comparing notes with the couple from Alabama, another Class B pulls up.  Same paint job, but a PleasureWay from Missouri (and built on a Dodge chassis).  OK – all our Class B RV’s are from 2007/2008.  All were made by Canadian companies.  Each was designed with the same concepts in mind, but executed differently.  We six decided that Americans appreciate these Class B’s perhaps more than Canadians because we’re the only ones we really see driving them (the gas-powered as opposed to diesel versions).  And we also decided that there must have been an overproduction of the particular paint color used in 2007/08 because that’s all we’re seeing.  A fun chance encounter – the type we enjoy on our travels.

 

Interesting road signs -- didn't see any firearms nor the hairy mythical beast:










Here on the island it is road improvement season, just like back home in New Hampshire.  For those of you living in more temperate climates, road improvements go on year round.  For those of us living where there are actual seasons, well we call it either the season of destruction (usually winter) or the season of construction (usually any time after the last hard frost until we think we can still drive those big trucks over the roads without them sliding on the ice).  So everything on roads get backed up right now.  Good thing we aren’t in a hurry.

 

 

As we continued the Cabot Trail, we came through Wreck Cove once again:

 

Just like my tee shirt

 

After dinner, we returned to our campground to get ready for the night.  A young couple had just arrived and, in the quickening darkness, was trying to set up a tent – FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!  The couple didn’t even have a flashlight.  So – we turned on Goldie’s headlights and, with conversations in English, Arabic, and shadowy hand signals, got the tent set up so they could get their sleeping bags out of the car and get some rest.  We left them (Sandy and Shahid) our small flashlight so that they could get settled (we have extras).  Maybe today we’ll see how they fared, but if not – it was another fun (for us, anyway) adventure for us.  [Note -- we did see them the next morning, IN THE RAIN.  We felt very sorry for how damp they were and helped them out a bit more.  That's what campers do, you know.  We hope they don't give up on camping -- but maybe be a bit more prepared next time.]

Yesterday over breakfast we decided to extend our stay by two more days.  That will give us a full week here in Cape Breton.  And we still won’t have seen very much!!  Today we are going to try to make it to the eastern portion – to North Sydney, Sydney, Glace Bay, etc.  We want to see how that area compares to what we’ve seen thus far.

OK – we’re ending our third week on the road.  What has Rick missed:  the birds and lunch with Bob.  What has Dona missed:  actually not much (except more contact with her friends).  All-in-all we’re really enjoying this visit to Nova Scotia.

 

Enjoy the journey…Dona and Rick