Saturday, October 3, 2015 - Beginning the Circle Tour of Nova Scotia

Leaving Cape d'Or after breakfast was a bit anticlimactic.  After two wonderful nights staying at the Lighthouse, it was back in the truck, with a campsite with my name on it for that night.  When it was all said and done, I rolled into the camp ground as they were getting ready to close the front desk at 8:00pm.  I had logged over 300 miles on the day, dodging weekend traffic in some of the little villages plus wind and rain throughout the day. Yes, more rain.  BLECH!

After a week on the road, it is easy to get tired of the driving.  But for some reason, I have always found driving and sightseeing along the way to be cathartic.  It probably has as much to do with how I was brought up and my Dad's own wanderlust.  I'm pretty sure he enlisted in the Army back in the early 1950's because like Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, he thought he would get to see the world on Uncle Sam's dime.

For me this day was more about getting from point A to point B.  I had a stop or two along the way I wanted to make, but in reality, other than getting to Digby and stopping at the Walton Lighthouse and checking out a 5-pin bowling alley along the way, it was really just a transit day for me.

As I was coming back into cell phone service range, I did make a call to the whale watching tour company I had reservations with for Sunday afternoon.  Fact of the matter was, if they were still unable to go out due to the high winds and rough water, there was no reason for me to make the time and effort to head in that direction.

When I called they said the forecast was favorable but that they weren't going to be able to make a go no-go decision until 9am on Sunday.  Because I really wanted to get out on the water if at all possible, I made the gamble and continued on with my original itinerary to including keeping my campground reservation at the Whale Cove CG near Digby.

I did stop in a candlepin bowling alley.  It was a huge dome sorta of building.  The kid inside told me that it used to be the old skate-dome and that they put in bowling lanes after the skate center was closed.  For a rainy Saturday, it was disappointing to see only one family bowling.

As I was driving through another village, I stopped in to buy some groceries at the little town store.  Bread, milk and bananas . . . $10!  I had to remind myself, it was ONLY $7.50 with the USD conversion.  LOL,  More important than the stop for food, however, was the realization that earlier that morning at breakfast the couple from Europe mentioned a town on the road along the Bay of Fundy, where the bore tide was the highest in the world.  This village market was in that town . . . Maitland!

So I took yet another detour when I realized that the day's bore tide forecast had the water rising in about 60 minutes.  There was even a bore tide calendar and chalkboard, where the storekeeper maintained daily information to help visitors.  She was nice enough to tell me where to go to view the tide as it came in.

 

 Here are the kayaks waiting to ride the wave.

This is where I express disappointment.  I spent nearly 20 minutes waiting in the cold rain to see the phenomenon pass by me in all of about 20 seconds.  It was so minimal, it was barely noticeable.  I asked a guy who was out on the wharf with me.  He said "Yep, see the kayaks down there?  That means the tide has already come through."  Then I thought, "Wait, what do I have to feel disappointed about?  I didn't spend $150 to 'ride the bore tide' on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon."

He was full of helpful information though. He also commented that with all of the rain, the water was heavy with dirt, making it a little less dramatic.  The week before was the Super Full Moon.  Reports of the highest tides ever were all along the Atlantic Seaboard.  He told of how he was out in the water to body surf the bore tide as it came through.  So proud of his accomplishment, he rolled up his trouser leg to show me his scuffed, bruised and scabbed over shin.  All I could really do was shrug, thank him for his time and move on down the road.

I was aware of a five-pin bowling alley near the RCAF at Greenwood, NS but wasn't sure if it was actually on base or open to the public.  How fortunate I was that it was off base AND open to the public.  The gal working the counter immediately stopped me as I walked onto the carpet barking for me to take off my street shoes.  "No street shoes on the carpet!"  Fair enough . . . took them off and proceeded to ask about the place.

The manager came out and was much friendlier.  So much so, she offered to turn on a lane and let me throw a few balls.  It was strange in that the "curtains" stay down when the lane is off.  Also the five pins are on strings and if you knock them down, they remain on the pin deck until you have completed the frame.  They are reset by the strings.  It was very hard to knock them all down, even getting three chances per frame.

When I arrived at my campsite, it was nice to have a limited connection through their WiFi.  I called home, posted a Facebook update or two and crashed!  I was whipped.  It was 9:00pm and the overnight temperature was anticipated to drop into the low 40's.  Thank goodness for my subzero sleeping bag!

Total miles driven = 318.