An East Coast Ending

I have always wanted to see more of Canada. I have been to Africa, South America, Central America, Europe... but no where in Canada. So Jan agreed to go on an East Coast Camping Trip (if you know Jan, you know that was quite the compromise). The plan was to drive from Windsor to Cape Breton and back through the US. 'Plan' being the key word...

First stop... Montreal!
Passing two accidents on the way to Montreal made for a pretty long first travel day. It took us about 12 hours in total to arrive at Matt and Kat's place in Outremont. There was a huge heat wave in Montreal at the time so it sure made for a sweaty visit. But we had a very enjoyable stay with Katthew and Sylvia. We walked around their neighbourhood, had a delicious BBQ lunch, dinner at Manitoba, ran into Sarah D and her gal pals at Cicchetti, danced to some 80's tunes at La Tulipe and had a quick visit with Hilda.

On to Quebec City

Our cute little studio apartment was a quick walk to Old Quebec. The first night we stayed in our neighbourhood. We visited some breweries - Korrigane and Noctem and had a dirty poutine at Chez Gaston... which we ate for breakfast the next day too! Officially in vacation mode. There was a massive staircase we had to climb to get back to our apartment though, so we definitely worked off that poutine.  

The next day we braved the heat and walked down to Old Quebec. We made a stop at Chateau Frontenac, had drinks at Papes Georges (a 300 year old house), walked around an old anglophone cemetery, found free books and visited the market. Before our dinner reservations, we had a cocktail at Maeestorm and then a delightful farm to table meal at Le Renard et Chouette.

Bay of Fundy, NB

We hoped to arrive at our campsite in Fundy National Park around 5pm, but as seemed to be the trend of the trip, the travel time took way longer than we expected. We didn't get to our site in Point Wolfe Beach until 8:45pm. At this point, the roads were dark, windy and foggy... and it was kinda intense. Of course, our first night of camping on the trip and we had to set up in the dark and the rain. To top it all off, we killed our car battery by using the headlights to set up. Gah... It was a rough start. BUT, the camping gods showed us mercy... in the morning the sun came out and the car started with only a few groans. During breakfast Jan made a squirrel friend who he named Joshua - things were looking up!

We did the obligatory stop at Hopewell Rocks. The tide had already receded by the time we arrived, so we were able to walk around on the ocean floor. We headed back to our campground to watch the tide come in... and boy did it come in fast. We had to help a family lift their son over the side of the staircase because the tide quickly rose over the stairs. Three words describe Bay of Fundy - moss, fog and mist.

Province #3... PEI!

We crossed Confederation Bridge and entered province 3/4 of the trip... Prince Edward Island! We decided to start with the Central Coastal Drive to see some of the island and find my co-worker's cousin's restaurant 'O'Neils.' The island is beautiful - colourful houses, rivers throughout, bales of hay everywhere and lobster traps for sale at the end most driveways. Our first stop at O'Neils was great for a quick bite and our first taste of PEI brews. Scott had a beautiful gallery, and I finally learned the name of the gorgeous flowers I was seeing everywhere - lupins! The PEI National Park was pretty close quarters, but luckily we had a private site tucked in the back. Our site was walking distance from the beach, so we headed down to the Atlantic Ocean to watch the sunset. There were jellyfish everywhere on the beach! You had to be careful not to step on them. 

As we were having a beautiful fire on this chilly evening, I saw something walk in between Jan and I. We turned on the flashlight to see a skunk trying to open our cooler! He was aggressive and clearly very used to people. Jan thought I should get in the car and honk the horn to get rid of him... LOL! Instead, I continued to shine the light on him and he eventually headed back into the bush. That could have been bad. 

The second day in PEI was a gorgeous day. We woke up early and hit the beach. It was a very hot day, so it was nice to be there early. The red sand and red rocks are very unique. I attempted to go in the water, but there were so many critters I wimped out - crabs, jellyfish and some other creepy crustacean I couldn't identify. We stopped at Cow's Creamery and had some PEI fries at Boom Burger. Next, we headed to downtown Charlottetown for a drink on the harbour at Brakish before visiting Chelsie! It was so great to see Chelsie, Tim, Ewan and Bronwen in their new home. They made us a delicious meal which included local beef and scallops. More than palatable :) As we were heading back to the park, we saw 3 orange and brown foxes jumping around... they were so darn cute!

The final province... Nova Scotia

We took the short ferry from Woods Island, PEI to Caribou, NS and the weather was yucky. Our plan was to camp in Whycocomagh Provincial Park, but we decided to grab motel for the night. It was a classic strip motel... and I totally felt like Sam and Dean :)

The next day we hit the road and we were ready to explore the Cabot Trail. We hiked the Uisge Ban and visited a beautiful waterfall. Then we stopped in Baddeck to explore the Alexander Graham Bell museum. 

And then... we got into an accident. I was driving and we missed our turn for the Cabot Trail. I made a left turn into a gravel turnaround, and as I did, the guy behind me decided to pass and t-boned us. We went into a ditch and that was the end of the road for us :(

Everyone was okay... except for the Impala. A very nice officer drove us back into Baddeck where we stayed at the Silver Dart Inn. The staff were so caring and hospitable - they comped our room and breakfast. Sarah and Mark even sent us a bottle of wine... so our rough day was made a bit better by some kindness. We spent the night making calls and strategizing what to do next.  

We took a cab over to Sydney the next day, as that was the only city around us with a car rental office. Unfortunately, there were zero available cars for us to rent. We really didn't know what to do... and our plan changed quite a few times. But finally Jan said it was "Maritime for us to go home." We shipped our camping gear on a Greyhound bus, donated what we couldn't ship and booked a flight home for the next day. 

We missed out on the Cabot Trail, Halifax, Portland and the Finger Lakes. I am still pretty bummed and wish we could rewind time... but I take solace in the fact that Jan and I don't have a scratch on us, and the kindness shown by our friends, family and many strangers.

The positives - We got this amazing photo, and we were able to see all 4 provinces we set out to visit. Hopefully, when I finally get to visit the West Coast of Canada, it will go much smoother!