12) Summer trip to the Maritimes

Summer trip to the Maritimes
(New Brunswick + Nova Scotia)
By Chantal Bellehumeur

During the Summer of 2016, I almost had to cancel my flight to Moncton. Long story short, I started taking antibiotics for an infection and wasn't able to get my regular Remicade infusion to treat my digestive illness before my planned trip.  I was really worried about flaring up, but my Gastroentorologist didn't seem worried so I stopped being paranoid.

I was able to board the small plane in Montreal with my husband Jeff and fifteen year old son Aidan on Friday June 24, and arrived at the Moncton airport which is technically in Diepp after a 1h30 hour flight.  My younger sister Karyne arrived to pick us up a few minutes after we had gotten our luggage.

It was a nice little reunion where my sister and I ran towards each other and hugged, bobbing our bodies from side to side in excitement.  

My sister soon led us to her parked grey Hyundai Accent.

Once we were in the car, my sister drove to downtown Moncton and we stopped at a country style restaurant called Montana's for dinner.  We sat on their outdoor terrace, enjoying the fresh air as well as the warmth of the evening sun.

I ordered a burger which satisfied a craving, and treated myself to a sweet cocktail.

After supper, we headed to Aldouane which was about an hour away from Moncton. On the way to my sister's, there were mainly trees and conifers in sight on each side of the practically deserted highway and roads we rode on, but we also crossed a bridge over water where small private docks and boats behind residences or cottages could be seen.

After passing by the few stores and houses of the small town plus big lawns with crows on them as well as a fenced in grassy area my sister claimed to usually have horses, we rode into a wooden area, passed by a pond, and reached the big house my sister was renting the basement of.

Karyne parked her car beside a big pile of cut up firewood.

When we got out of the vehicle, the air was fresh and the surrounding was peaceful; unlike what I am used to, living in a big city.  It was quite nice to hear many types of birds chirping and even the wind blow rather than loud vehicles and sirens plus numerous people talking.

After unloading the car, my sister lead us towards a pebble path. It was difficult to roll my large suitcase on it so I tried to pick it up but it was much to heavy.  My husband helped me with my luggage as we headed towards the back of the white two-story house with a nice circling porch, and down some cement tile stairs with tall white, yellow, and purple wildflowers on the sides to my sister's entrance.  

Karyne's big dog Mila, a white Cockadoodle that had recently gotten shaved at the groomers making her look more like a Golden Retreiver, barked at the door.  We could see the big dog through the clean glass rectangular windows.  She was friendly though.  

When we got inside and the dog saw that my sister wasn't in any danger, she stopped barking.  She didn't want to approach us though, being either shy or slightly scared of us.

With my sister's approval, I brought treats that would make the dog as well as my sister's cat warm up to me.  

Karyne's fat white and caramel coloured cat Moe was lying on the long entrance windowsill.  He barely even looked at us, but paid a lot of attention to me once I took out the treats a little later.

As I looked around the open space, I found that my sister's home had a cottage feel to it.  It wasn't just because of its location in the middle of nowhere or the nice view of the woods from all the windows, but also because of its brown wood panel walls and doors plus simple decor.  I thought it was quite lovely.

After giving us a quick tour of the one bedroom place with a large bathroom which doubled up as a laundry room, Karyne told Jeff and I we could have her bedroom.  She then took out a futon mattress for my son to sleep on as well as a sleeping bag, and tried to figure out where she was going to sleep.  She first set up on her dog's large square cousin which was pretty funny, but then relocated to her small couch with her pillow and blanket.

Before going to bed, Karyne brought Moe into the bedroom and placed him on the windowsill so that him and the dog would not fight during the night.  Mila was used to sleeping on the double bed with my sister lying under the sheets and comforter, but this time she had to stay in the living room.  The dog paced around all night, unsure of what was going on. I could hear her claws tapping on the hardwood floor and she moved.

The few times I left the chilly bedroom during the night, Mila growled at me but once she realized who I was she let me walk in the darkness to the bathroom in peace. I accidentally stumbled on some of her dog toys along the way.

Moe didn't let Jeff and I sleep.  He kept walking from one side of the other of the long windowsill, then jumping onto the bed to get pet and walked around us purring then back up on the windowsill.  
At one point I thought the cat had sneaked out of the bedroom because I could not see him when I returned from the bathroom.  It turns out he was simply hiding under the bed.

Early in the morning, Moe meowed at the singing birds.  The window was slightly open to let air in so the sound of the birds carried into the room.

*****

Jeff and I were not the only ones who did not get much sleep. Mila had kept my sister up for a good part of the night.

We all laughed at our sleepless night, and the peacefulness of the previous evening resumed shortly after a light breakfast.

After eating, I headed outside on my own to explore the beautiful grounds.  Standing on a big cement space under a bare wooden gondola, enjoying the heat of the morning sun, I heard a rooster caw far away.  He wasn't announcing the crack of dawn though.  I actually heard him caw a few times that morning, and later on during the day as well. In fact, I heard him at random times throughout my stay.

My husband soon came out and followed me towards the large pond where I searched for some ducks between the tall greenery surrounding the dark water.  Aidan was the one who spotted three of them in the pond once he joined us in the large field of maintained grass and wildflowers.  

After a short while, we went back into the apartment and all got ready for a day at the beach and possibly a walk in the woods.

My sister proudly took us to the national park she works at; Kouchibouguac.  It was about a fifteen minute drive from her home.

Once we were out of the car in the fourth public parking lot, we headed towards the calm woods and followed a wide pebble path that lead us to an outdoor staging area with log benches as well as a covered pick nick area and wooden deck. Further to the right was a cantina and public bathrooms.

We walked towards a long wooden bridge that lead to the sand dunes.  

As we walked on that bridge above shallow water, my sister told us that we could sometimes see crabs below so we looked down.  We didn't see any; only a bit of seaweed within the dirty water.

A few white birds were flying in the clear blue sky, going down towards the water every so often.  They were trying to spot crabs too so they could eat them.  My sister told us that after finding the crabs the birds would fly up high into the sky to drop the crabs on land a few times in order to crack open their hard shells. We did not witness this.

There was an open section on the left side of the bridge with a few wooden steps to head towards a sandy and weedy area near the water while the tide was low, but it wasn't the beach; just a fun place to explore.  Apparently, many empty crab shells could be found there, among other things.

We gave a quick look in that direction without stepping off the bridge, but were more interested in going to the beach so started moving again.

When we finally arrived at Kelly Beach which was very clean and pretty big, we chose a random spot in the hot sand full of shells to place our towels down and kick our shoes off.  

We mainly just sat or lied down in our bathing suits, talking to each other while looking at the mass of blue saltwater ahead.

I made sure to apply some sunscreen all over my visible skin to avoid getting a sun burn.  I could almost feel myself cooking.  Aidan kept his favourite black and red hoody on and I wondered how he did not roast.

Despite the heat, none of us wanted to go swimming.  There weren't many people in the water, mostly just lazing around on the sand.  Some people had large parasols set up, and a few kids were building sand castles.  Some small pails and shovels had been temporarily abandoned near the water and we were tempted to borrow them.

My sister informed us that there were usually many jellyfish in the water of this beach and that they stung, but it wasn't high season yet so there was nothing to worry about.

We expected the ocean water to be really cold, and once we decided to test it with our bare feet we realized we were right.  Nobody wanted to venture in.

Aidan finally braved the water with Jeff.  They both walked in up to their knees and came back.  Aidan then returned in the water on his own to shoot a short video with his Ipod. He had a Youtube Chanel with hundreds of viewers.

My sister decided to go into the water next and I hesitantly ended up following her.  The water was almost painful on the skin of my feet and legs at first, but once I got used to it it wasn't so bad.  I walked far from the shore, following my sister as well as Aidan who joined us and gone ahead, but I never put my full body in the freezing water.  

When my sister pointed out that there were large seashells in the water, I did a balancing act and picked one up with my toes to avoid having to dip one of my hands and arm in the water.  

I collected three white and beige clam shells then heard Aidan shouting in surprise that there was a crab underneath the one he was about to grab.  It had just crawled out from underneath.  My sister and I went to go take a look at it.  

It was kind of hard to see the crab on the sand within the water as it looked more like a dark blob, but Aidan said he saw it crawl sideways so we believed him.

We slowly made our way back to shore a few minutes later.  Shortly after we got back onto our towels, we were all dry again.

Jeff decided he was going to dunk himself completely in the water.  I watched as he walked into the water like he was on a mission.  Without any warning, his upper body disappeared into the water and came right back up again.  He walked back to shore quite fast.  

We were soon all back to just relaxing on our towels.

I had made myself a small seashell collection which pleased me. Jeff kept asking me what I was going to do with them, seeing that I already had many shells at home.  I answered that I would find a good place for them as always.

Hunger struck so we packed up our things and headed to the cantina near the end of the long bridge.  We ordered our lunch and ate our fast food at a pick-nick table located on the wooden deck surrounded by trees and conifers.  That didn't stop the sun from shinning between the branches though, and we were boiling.

After our meal, we headed back to the car and my sister took us to one of the many nature trails of the park.  Karyne thought we would find the Bog Trail most interesting and she was right.

With my sister in the lead, we started walking on a man-made wooden path within the woods.  I saw a small fury animal, possibly a fox, run right across the left side of the woods to the right.  When I asked what it was, thinking it could also be a squirrel even though I had not seen any since arriving in New Brunswick, my sister teasingly said it was people.  A few other hikers were walking towards us.  

When we crossed path with the other hikers who were older than all of us, we politely greeted each other.

In less then ten minutes, we had arrived at a large clearing full of dead trees and a surprising amount of living plants as well as wildflowers.  There were live trees and conifers in the distance.

We walked up the circling steps of a four-story wooden observation tour and looked around in amazement.  

My sister pointed out red carnivorous flowers below and she spotted a different kind once we were back on the wooden path.  It continued far into the bog but we decided to head back.

Since my sister mentioned that the acidic ground within the bog was spongelike, I had to see for myself and took one small step outside of the path.  My foot lightly sunk into the moss and bounced back.

We were going to walk on another trail, but everyone was tired so my sister gave us a quick tour of the park instead which included a drive by to another beach.  There was a large tipi set up in the grass field before getting to the sandy area which was interesting.  My sister said it was an interpretation centre. We did not exit the car to explore inside though.

After my sister pointed out where the other nature trails as well as a wharf were as we drove by their wooded entrances, we headed back home, making a pit stop at the small grocery store as well as the liquor store to get a few things to eat and drink.

I helped my sister prepare a spaghetti dinner while we both sipped on individual glasses of chilled rose.  Jeff happily drank his cold beer, a local brew called the Barking Squirrel he had tried at the restaurant the previous day.

After our filling meal, we watched part of a funny movie before going to bed.

Unfortunately, I started feeling ill so went to bed early but was better the next morning after some well needed sleep.  The cat was placed in the bathroom this time so he did not interrupt mine of Jeff's slumber.

*****

 I woke up to the pleasant sound of birds chirping.  

When I left the bedroom, I found my sister and Aidan awake in the living room.  Mila was up too and ready to play.

My sister took my son and I for a short walk around the grounds as Jeff continued to sleep.  Mila came with us, running ahead most times and dashing back towards us.

We headed towards a small empty greenhouse plus dry well and took the pebble path on the right.  It was leading towards the pond, but when we got close to it we turned left to head towards a bigger mass of water.  I saw several fluttering butterflies flying between the tall trees, conifers, and wildflowers.  A monarch gracefully landed on a big pile of cut up wood and flew away before I could photograph it.

Our little group continued on the path and reached a field of long grass and wildflowers.  They were mainly yellow and purple, but there were also a few orange dandelions.  I had never seen them that colour before; only yellow.

Mila ran in the field and came back a bit wet while we stuck to the dry path, seeing many parked trailers in the distance.  We didn't get too close to the water since the path didn't go that far but the view was still nice.

On our way back, we stooped to take a quick look at a nice rock garden.  We then went near the pond where there was a cute yellow sign of a black mama duck and three ducklings, and walked on the dirt land between the u shaped water.  

I thought I heard ducks and finally spotted three of them in the water; most likely the same ones as the previous day.  They flew away once Mila ran into the pond to cool herself off.  She went in and out of the water a few times, to my sister's dislike, and shook herself.

While the dog was playing, my sister showed us the small fire pit that was set up.  It was at the top of the small dirt hill we had just gone up, almost directly under a small wooden bird house hanging on the branch of one of the many healthy trees.

I had seen a large sign indicating a forest fire warning in effect, so I knew we would not be able to sit around a fire together.

After exploring, we headed back to my sister's place to have a big bacon and eggs breakfast with Jeff.

As we ate, we considered going to an Aquarium but it was much farther than my sister thought it was. We decided to go see a movie instead.

We left for the town of Miramichi to go to the nearest movie theatre, sticking on the calm highway with trees and conifers on each side of the maroon gravel.

At one point we passed a construction site which caused a bit of traffic, it you even want to call it that.  My sister was not used to seeing this. Jeff and I jokingly apologized for bringing the construction with us since there was a lot of it in Montreal. We never knew from one day to the next which bridge would be closed or what detours needed to be done.  It was quite chaotic.

Once we arrived into the calm town of Miramichi which took us about forty five minutes, we crossed a long metal bridge above a salmon river and spotted the small movie theatre along with several familiar stores and fast food chains.

We bought our tickets to see "Finding Dory" at one of the two self serve machines and headed into our cinema without buying any food despite the alluring smell of butter popcorn.

Before the feature presentation, there was a short animated film about what I believe was the white birds we had seen near Kelly beach the previous day.  A baby bird had to learn to feed himself which involved finding clams.  The film was pretty cute and I enjoyed it as much as the fun animated movie we had chosen to see.

Although a fish, the main character of the story reminded me of myself since she liked sand and seashells.

After our movie, I would have liked to walk around near the shore but the fisherman's village I read about on the internet was about an hour away and my sister didn't want to make the drive.  I didn't blame her.  We were supposed to be heading to Cape Breton the next day if I was still feeling okay, and that was going to be about a five and a half hour drive.

We headed to a Tim Hortons across the street for some snacks.  Jeff found a pick-nick table under a flowering tree that provided enough shade to keep us cool so we sat there to eat our doughnuts and refreshing drink.

Back at my sister's, we had a simple boiled chicken dinner with cold pasta salad for dinner. I then decided to head back outside because I just couldn't stay indoors.  Jeff came with me.

From the front of the house, we took the left pebble path and it lead us to a small unsupervised beach.  I walked on the wet sand full of small white clam shells and picked a few of them up before dipping my feet in the water.  A motor boat had created small waves.  

The water was rather warm and I enjoyed walking on the side of the mucky shore, half in the water and half in the sinking sand.

I noticed that there were small bubbles appearing in the water and thought there might be fish in there, but then saw little water jets coming out of the sand and realized there were clams below. I would not have figured that out had it not been for the short film we had seen earlier that day.  I pointed the jets out to Jeff and we were both amused by them for a few minutes.

Once that novelty wore off, I continued walking along the shore.

I found an area full of seashells and a little flowing stream with them inside as well.  It led to the wildflower field I had seen earlier with my sister and Aidan.

As I approached the green land, my foot sank deeper into the wet sand and when I pulled it up my left flip flip broke from the suction.  I managed to fix it but walked barefoot back to Jeff to tell him about all the seashells because I loved how the sand felt on my feet.  My husband had staid not too far behind on the sand because he was wearing socks and running shoes.

Jeff and I eventually headed back to my sister's where we all finished watching the movie we had started the previous evening before I started feeling unwell.  

I then wanted to head back out to the beach to watch the sun set.  Nobody really wanted to come with me, but Jeff finally put on his flip flops to join me which made me happy.  I didn't mind going by myself, I just thought it would be romantic just the two of us.

The red sun was just settling over the houses or cottages and trees across the water when we returned to the beach.  I enjoyed watching as it slowly came further down from the sky, beautifully illuminating part of the water, and disappeared from my sight.  The sky was still partially bright once the sun disappeared.  

I would have liked to walk near the big accumulation of shells again, but the tide had risen so that part of the beach was completely covered at this point.

Jeff was getting bitten by the mosquitos even though he had put repellant all over himself. They weren't bothering me, but for Jeff's sake I decided it was time to go indoors.

Before walking back to my sister's though, I took a piece of broken shell and wrote "I love you" in the dark wet sand.  Jeff made me turn around so I could not see what he was doing, and when I turned back I saw that he had written "I love you too".

*****

When I returned to the beach on my own early the following morning when everyone else was asleep, I saw that the tide had washed up the writing Jeff and I had done.  

I sat on the hard dirt ground among the wildflowers and silently watched the calm water, focusing on the soothing sound of the small waves.  I wasn't the only early riser.  People were already out on their motor boats.

I decided it was the perfect place to read or do a bit of writing so I opened up my Ipad and started typing away on my attached keyboard to capture the last tree days.

As I was loosing myself in my memoir, I heard movements within the plants beside me.  At first I thought it was just the light breeze making the leaves blow, but I began to curiously took to see if something might be hiding in the greenery.  I didn't see anything so continued typing away and heard the sound again.

A small brown mouse ran out of the plants and into another set of greenery as I turned around once more.  

I told everyone about what I had seen when I got back to my sister's, unsure of the time.  Although I had a digital clock on my Ipad, I wasn't sure if it was still on the Montreal time or if it had automatically adjusted to the Aldouane time one hour ahead.

Since I hadn't told anyone where I was going, I didn't want them looking for me when it was time to go. I had left the beach fifteen minutes before our planned time to leave, acting as though the time on my Ipad was that of the Montreal timezone, just in case.

It turns out I could have remained on the beach for another hour, but as everyone continued to get ready to leave for Cape Breton I returned outside and sat on one of the uneven stone steps leading to one of the house entrances.  It looked like something from a magical fairy land.

I thought I heard ducks and was tempted to go towards the pond to find them, but I had resumed my writing and didn't want to loose my train of thoughts.  

Aidan came out shortly after and disappeared from my sight. He returned to show me a picture he had just taken of ducklings with his Ipod.

I practically ran to the pond to see the baby ducks live but could not spot them.  Although I could still hear what I was sure were the ducks and followed their sound, I could not find them and neither could my son. They seemed to be teasing us as the sound seemed close one second and farther away another.

After a few minutes I gave up and went back to the stone steps to resume my writing.

Jeff came out and I saw him express discuss as he stood on the cement under the gondola.  When I asked him what was wrong, he hesitated to tell me and I knew it had something to do with a spider.  

My husband finally informed me that he had seen an odd looking black arachnid with a big white but.  I figured it was carrying eggs.  Rather than freak out and kill it like I normally would though, I actually left it alone.  When I told my sister about it a little later, she wanted to make sure the spider was not in her apartment and I assured her that I would not have purposely allowed a spider to go hatch her eggs indoors.

We soon put all our luggage in the car and left with Mila in the back seat between Jeff and I.  We weren't taking her on the trip with us, just dropping her off at a kennel she had been to a few times before.

During the forty five minute drive there, the dog would not stay still and kept wanting to be pet.  She also drooled on my husband and I a few times and let out some gas which made me open up my window even though the air conditioning was on in the car.

When we arrived at the Kennel, we saw a large black dog in the fenced yard as well as two brown puppies inside a small gated pen at the front, hiding in the shade.  Mila was excited at first, but my sister said the dog didn't look like she wanted to stay once inside.  Of course, she had no choice.  There was no way we were going to do a long road trip with the dog moving around in the back seat.

We got back on the road, with a bit more room in the back seats, and drove past houses by the water.  Some of them looked like they were in serious need of renovations while others were brand new.  My sister informed us that it used to be a poor neighbourhood but was now being populated by richer families.  Although the average rent rate was cheeper than what Jeff and I paid for our basement apartment each month, it was considered high.

We continued rolling along, listening to the radio. Jeff sang along to the rock tunes he likes.

I thought our drive was quite scenic as we saw a lot of water masses sparkling because of the bright sun, or tall healthy trees as well as conifers.  But, it was nothing compared to what we were about to see in Cape Breton.

As we rode on the highway, my sister ended up spotting an eagle but I didn't look up fast enough to see it myself.    

Later on we saw several modern windmills right before we crossed the Nova Scotia boarder.  The windmill farm was actually in the other province and we got a closer look at the windmills as we drove right by the farm from the highway.

We passed a toll booth shortly after and paid the $4 fee to pass.

When we saw an exit further away, we got off the highway to make a pit stop at the gas station then crossed the street by car to go get something for lunch.  

There was a fake lighthouse nearby and I would have liked to go inside since there was a fish market, but my sister is allergic to seafood.  Instead, we went to the Masstown market. We each chose freshly made wraps, seafood salad for myself plus chicken for the others, and sat outdoors at a blue half pick nick table against the wall to eat.  

My sister shared the Nenamo bars she had purchased for dessert once we were done eating our wraps.  She cut the different flavoured rectangles in half with her handy Swiss Army type tool.

Back on the road, we saw a lot more greenery, a few more modern windmills, and horses within their enclosed pens...

We came to a congestion on the highway and had to stop for a few minutes.  We watched as vehicles drove by us in the other lane going in the opposite direction as us, and when it was finally our turn to go again we saw that the roads were being repaved which is why there was only one lane open in that section.

We continued on our way and my sister spotted another eagle.  I saw the large black bird flying above the trees this time and was quite happy about that.

It was a long ride to Cape Breton, but as we approached the island we got a glimpse of the rocky coast as well as the tree filled mountains and knew that it was worth it.

We finally crossed the bridge going over Canso Canal to get to the island, passing by a large mining ship docked in the clean water by a tall sandy mountain.  Everything looked more and more impressive as we rode from this point on.

My sister accidentally made a wrong turn shortly after we got onto the island, but that was soon rectified.  After passing by a few motels, hotels, and houses, we drove a while with green lands and clear water in sight; the view was amazing.  However, we were all eager to get out of the car and walk around. The ride had bit slightly longer than anticipated.

The GPS on my sister's cell phone made us continue driving on the famous Cabot Trail for a while then take a shorter route to the Cornerstone Motel located right at the edge of Cheticamp and only a couple minutes away from the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  Following the GPS's directions, we left the Cabot Trail for a bit and were happy to finally arrive at our final destination.

We exited the car and entered the main blue cabin together to register.  Although my sister was the one who had made the online reservation, I suggested using my credit card to pay for our stay and have everyone pay me back their share when they could.  As a seasonal employe of Environment Canada, my sister had a major problem obtaining her last paycheque as well as the document needed to collect EI before starting her other contractual job so I didn't want her to stress over a credit card bill.  I wanted her to fully enjoy her vacation.

My card was charged right away but it was okay by me.  Apparently Aidan was supposed to get charged the adult price rather than the children's for the extra guests fee, but the nice man behind the counter waved it because we were staying a few nights at the motel.   

Aside from being super friendly, the motel owner had a good sense of humour, and when we asked him how we could get gas he casually responded "broccoli."  He was actually very helpful answering this questions properly afterwards along with giving us helpful information about nearby restaurants and outings.  He even wrote recommendations with a blue pen on a fold out map within a free booklet for us.

Before heading out of the long building which looked like it used to also be a small restaurant, I took the room key hanging from an oval blue plastic keychain and became the official key holder.

We drove across the street towards the other two long blue cabins and found our room, number 16, attached to the second one.  As we were ridding on the pebble lot towards our door, we saw a chipmunk on the perfectly cut lawn near a large fire pit surrounded by six plastic orange chairs and the beginning of a private forest.

When we entered our cabin room with our luggage, we saw that the view from our back window was amazing.  We could see trees and conifers on as well as below a high mountain which were all part of the national park, the flowing Cheticamp river which was full of rocks of all sizes, healthy green plants, plus grass filled with yellow dandelions.  It almost looked like a painting we could get lost in because it was so perfect.

A dark bird flying by brought us back to reality.  We saw many of them around during our stay.

As much as we would have liked to explore the lovely grounds, we settled in then drove to the downtown area of Cheticamp for dinner.  It only took us about six minutes to get there.  

We went to the very end of town, looking at the blue ocean water to our right as we rode on the main road in the car, and stopped at a restaurant called All a Board

I would have liked to sit on a terrace, but this restaurant didn't have one.  It did have amazing wall paintings of a harbour scene with seagulls though, and you could see the ocean from one of the small windows.  If Jeff and I had come alone I would have asked to sit next to it, but we needed a table for four.

Once seated by a different window, we opened up our menus and saw that there really was something for everyone's tastes like we were told.  Aidan and Jeff both ordered fish and chips, I requested the local salmon, and my sister indulged in a club sandwich plus a poutine.  

I treated myself to a strawberry daiquiri with whipped cream.

As we ate and drank, many more groups of people came into the restaurant.  It's like we had lured them all there.  

When we paid our bills the waitress actually apologized, saying she provided bad service because of the rush.  I was surprised by her comment since I had not felt neglected at all and told her she did a good job.

We headed back to the motel and decided to go explore outdoors.  Aidan stayed in the back of the long cabin to draw while my sister, Jeff, and I each grabbed a long walking stick that was leaning against a tree and followed a cleared dirt path into the woods.

After only about a minute or two of walking, we found some long benches facing the water and stopped for a few seconds.  A young couple was swatting away mosquitoes and we were told that the bugs were horrible.

Despite the warning, we went deeper into the woods.

We came to a dead end shortly after, but I found a way to get closer to the water and rocks.  It was a bit hard to walk in the ditch among all the dry rocks and pieces of broken wood wearing my flip flops, but I made it to the river and my two companions followed.

By the time I reached the water, Jeff was being viciously attacked by mosquitoes and chose to head back.  My sister stayed with me for a few minutes.  

We contemplated walking across the river but knew it would be dangerous because the rocks within the water were full of wet moss so they would all be slippery.

Karyne soon started getting bitten by the mosquitoes, and although I usually don't attract the blood thirsty insects they were all over me too.  So, we walked back towards the motel.  

Aidan was still drawing and I was surprised to see Jeff with him. I had expected him to be making coffee in the mosquito free motel room, then remembered that I was the only one with a key.

As we walked to the front of the cabin together, we saw another chipmunk on the grass.  This one stuck around and let us get close up shots of him before running into the forest.

When we got into the motel room, we more or less planned the rest of our week.

It would have been nice to sit around the fire pit afterwards with some hot chocolate, but there was a fire ban because of the dry heat.

I tried to do a bit of writing, but the sound of people talking was distracting so I went outside and sat on one of the two chairs by our door.  I could still hear everyone loud and clear since the window was open.  I could also hear a television as well as the voices of the next door neighbours, the young couple we had met earlier, who both ended up talking to me once they were outside.  I didn't get much writing done because I could not focus but that was okay.

When I went back inside to be social, I prepared some hot chocolate for Aidan and I from individual coca powder pouches I had brought with me.  I then played a card game with Jeff, who decided to have a cold beer.  He thought he would need a bottle opener and was about to go to the reception cabin to get one, but it turns out he could just twist off the cap.

My sister and I soon went to bed with the television on.  She was watching it while Jeff and I were playing our game.  Karyne had been too tired to think and opted out of playing with us.

The television was soon turned off once we realized that nobody was watching it anymore.

Jeff and Aidan stayed up a bit longer, keeping the light of one of the lamps open.  By the time they both decided to go to bed I was still awake.  Once the dim light was turned off, I watched the small curtain of the open window being blown inwards and back out which eventually put me to sleep.
 
*****

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and fresh air entering the motel room, feeling like I would miss that once I got back to Montreal.  It would be nice to live in a quiet little town with a great view and feel relaxed most of the time, but finding work would be hard.  

My sister woke up and went to take her shower.  During that time, I invited Jeff to come cuddle with me in bed since he had shared a double bed with Aidan and I had slept in the same bed as my sister.

While my sister was taking her shower, we heard a big bang and I felt the need to go knock on the bathroom door to make sure Karyne was all right.  She started laughing and told me that the curtain rod had fallen. Luckily, it was easy to put back in place later on.    

While everyone else got ready one by one, I enjoyed sitting by the main window with the sun entering the room and warming up my face, plus looking out towards the rocky river and green mountain.  

When we were all ready to leave, we headed out to the local bakery by car to get some freshly baked goods for breakfast.  It smelled so nice when we walked in and we could see the pastries being made.  It was hard to decide what to get because everything looked delicious.

I finally chose a glazed cinnamon roll.  Aidan wanted the same plus a croissant.  Our goodies were given to me in a small brown paper bag.   

Once everyone had what they wanted, we all went back in the car.

Before eating, we went to a small kiosk for whale watching tours by a fish smelling wharf full of docked ships. Everything was booked for that day, but we managed to make a reservation for the morning we were leaving Cape Breton.

Wanting to sit by the water to eat, we headed to the boardwalk by car and walked down a set of wooden stairs towards a bench facing the ocean.  As we sat down, we noticed that there was a bunch of brown cows on part of the green land we were facing; not something we were expecting at all and we found it rather comical.

We ate in the peaceful environment as a nice breeze hit us, then went to a grocery store to pick up some sandwiches and snacks before heading back to the motel to get ready for a day on the Cabot Trail and the woods.  

Once ready for a day of driving, hiking, and maybe the beach, we drove to the Cape Breton Highlands National Park which was just a few minutes away.  We needed to get our day pass at the welcome centre.  

My sister got us all in for free because she had a discovery pass. It allowed her to make ten visits to any Canadian Nation Park without paying.

Karyne placed the small paper receipt she was given on her dashboard before we all sat down together to decide exactly where we wanted to go.

My sister opened up a large folded paper map of the park on a pick nick table, then we looked at the many trails and other options available such as the beaches.

As agreed, we went to the Skyline Trail first, enjoying a scenic view of the rocky coast and green mountains on the way after passing by a construction site that really seamed out of place.  We had been warned about that, and saw several trucks and men at work as we rode in the large park that day.  

Right after parking the car behind many other vehicles on a hill full of pebbles, we ate outside the vehicle.  I wasn't super hungry so only ate half of my seafood salad sandwich.  It didn't enjoy it as much as my wrap from the Masstown Market, but it had been sitting in the hot car for a bit.

Once everyone was well nourished, we headed up the rest of the long hill on foot.  

After walking along a wide pebble path between tall trees for about 1.5 km, we arrived at the official beginning of the Skyline Trail.  A sign warned hikers about brown bears and coyotes as well as moose, although sightings were rare with many people around.

We first followed a narrow wooden man-made path in what looked like a prehistoric jungle because of the types of plants on each side.  

As we walked further there were many dead trees around, yet the ground on each side of us continued to be perfectly green.  Aidan asked if it was a bog and my sister confirmed that it looked like a small one.   

The wooden path eventually turned into a pebble one.

When we reached a fork in that path where there was a map of the area, we chose to go right.

The view just kept getting better and better.  We wanted to look everywhere at the same time as we walked, but had to watch where we were stepping because of the large rocks and roots partially out of the uneven dirt ground.

Also, a few people were heading in our direction so we had to look forward to avoid bumping right into them.  Each time we would cross path with other hikers, everyone would politely say hi. It was like an unwritten rule to do so.

We saw so many different types of trees and conifers, both dead and alive, while walking in the wooden area which turned into an open field where we could see the pale blue ocean as well as more mountains in the distance.  It was pretty warm walking under the clear blue sky, completely exposed to the sun, but we soon returned to a woodsy area.

There were a few places to stop to look at the ocean and mountains.  My favourite was high up in the highlands although it was quite windy there and gave me vertigo.  I was a bit afraid to fall, but felt the need to venture down the long wooden path of the lookout anyways.  I was surprised that the edge was not securely fenced in as it would be easy to tumble right down the mountain.

Eventually we headed back towards the main path and continued on our way from that point.

A few minutes later, we saw several people taking pictures of the forest on our left and wondered what that was all about.  Apparently there was a moose sighting.  I saw a hint of brown within the trees but wasn't sure if it was the animal.  Jeff said he saw a pair of antlers.  

We continued walking and both my feet as well as my legs were starting to get tired.  I had run out of water too and was thirsty because we had been out mainly in the sun.

After a short while, we reached a fenced in area and had to open a large metal gate to get inside.  The purpose of this enclosure was to keep moose out and protect that part of the boreal forest.  We had to open another metal gate to get out.

Finally, we were back at the beginning of the trail and headed back towards the car on the wide pebble path.  I saw a big yellow butterfly flying across our path a few times and managed to take a picture as it landed on a short plant.

After two and a half hours of walking in total, I was quite happy to be sitting in the car once we reached it even though it was hot inside.  I ate my other sandwich half as we drove to the next trail of interest, looking out of my car window in awe one again.  

The view continued to be spectacular, even when we simply drove on bridges over streams.  It was all almost dreamlike.

The second trail we went on, the MacIntosh Brook, was a short one and was more in the woods so there was a lot of shade.  We walked on a dirt path full of dead dry leaves, making it look almost autumn like, crossed a few wooden bridges above a flowing stream and I stopped to cool myself off at one point.  The clear water looked drinkable and I was tempted to cup some into my hands to quench my thirst but didn't because I did not want to risk getting sick.  

As we continued walking, we heard a sound to our right and my sister said it was a bullfrog.  It was the exact same sound I had mistaken for ducks near her house and I felt really silly.  It explained why I could not find the birds while searching for them though.

At the end of the trail there was a small waterfall coming down from a small rock formation and we stopped to look at it.

Jeff saw a more adventurous path on the other side of the waterfall so we decided to take it, seeing a chipmunk along the way, and arrived back at the car safely in about as much time as it had taken us to get to the fall; ruffly 15 minutes.

My sister had been wanting to go to Ingonish which was on the other side of the island so she drove there with us, passing by many other trails which we chose to ignore.  

In the backseat, I ate the cut up fruits I had purchased earlier that day to go with my lunch, giving all the blueberries to Aidan.

When we got to our destination where all the beaches were, none of us were really in the mood to go swimming nor just sit in the sun and do nothing.  We were tired.

We were all hungry too, so we went to the first restaurant we saw.  It was called Coastal Waters.  They had an outdoor patio, but it was closed for some reason so we sat inside in the cold air conditioning. A fishing show was playing on the flat screen television.

I ordered fish and chips, Jeff as well as my sister asked for a burger with onion rings inside, and Aidan had a plate of bacon nachos.

After dinner, we debated whether to go back to our motel the same way we came or finish the Cabot Trail even though it would take us longer.  My sister finally decided to see new scenery and I am glad that she did.

Although we saw much of the same which was still impressive, we also spotted some wet lands during low tide.  I also saw a large group of about twenty ducks in the water at one point.

The sun set above the mountains and on the ocean near the end of our car ride which was lovely to see.

Despite the nice scenery, we were all quite happy to be back at our motel once we arrived.  It had been a pleasant yet long day.

I didn't realize I had a major sunburn on the front part of my legs, arms, and upper chest which looked like I was wearing a red bib, until I got changed into my comfortable pyjamas.  I must have gotten it while walking on the Skyline Trail, and thought I was going to look quite odd if ever we went to the beach again.

It was an early night for my sister and I, but the boys stayed up a little later than us.  I had trouble falling asleep again, but eventually dosed off.

*****

I woke up to the sound of light rain hitting the ground.  At first I mistook it for wind because the previous day I had mistaken the sound of the wind for rain.  At some points during our stay, my sister mistook the sound of me typing for rain and vice versa.  It all sounded alike.   

When I looked out the front window of the motel room that morning, I saw that it was raining.  I had expected it too since the weather called for it, but had hopped it wouldn't.  We had been afraid to have to stay in our room for most of the day.

The sun slowly appeared and the rain died down.  By 9:00 it had completely ceased.  

We left the motel to go eat at a recommended restaurant for breakfast food, and it started to drizzle.  By the time we had to get out of the car in the parking lot a few minutes later it had stopped.

Evangeline's food was as good as we expected it to be and Jeff loved the coffee so everyone was happy.

After our brunch, we rode to a nearby beach I had seen on our tourist map. It was located on Cheticamp Island, and as we drove onto it we saw a blue heron standing on one of its thin long legs in the water.

The beach turned out to be a private one within a campground. We had to pay to get to that beach, and since we only really planned on walking on the sand until it rained again we chose not to go.

Instead, we played a game of mini-put by the water on the same campground.  We played by the rules and kept score on a piece of provided paper. My sister won which was quite surprising because she hardly ever wins anything.  

On the way back, we stopped on the side of the road to take pictures by the water, and in doing so we found a free beach although it was not maintained like the advertised one.  I thought it would still be a nice place to sit and relax so we considered it for the following day; my birthday.

Since my sister's receipt for the National Park was still valid until 4:00, we decided to take advantage of the sun still shinning to go on another trail.  Aidan wasn't in the mood to go hiking so he stayed in the motel room while my sister, Jeff, and I rode a few minutes to Le Buttereau trail.

The parking lot was right across a high rock formation as well as the ocean.  We walked down a set of wooden stairs plus on several boulders to get closer to the calm water. I noticed that there were no seashells; only many rocks.  At the time I assumed we were looking at the St-Laurence, but it was in fact part of the ocean so I became a bit confused by the lack of shells.  My sister later explained that the types of creatures who live in shells need sand plus salt water, and the lack of sand on that shore as well as the small concentration of salt in the water made it impossible for them to survive.  

We walked along the rocky shore for a few minutes, looking at the calm waves, then headed back up the stairs and started the trail.  We had to walk up a long pebble hill, and another one to an observatory which was a bit tiring, but the main dirt path soon led us downwards so I ran all the way to the bottom and waited for my sister and Jeff to catch up.

Strangely, we left the beautiful greenery and entered a dark forest of tall dead trees. It was both creepy and pretty at the same time.

The dirt path lead us to an erosion site with a nice view of the Cheticamp River and part of the ocean which were separated by a small piece of land.  We could see a church in the distance and I tried to imagine the past habitants walking there like the history sign mentioned.

We continued on our way, passing by other observation sites.  As we looked downwards from the small mountain, we saw two people on the land pulling a large green net out of the river water.  A canoe was docked on the rocky land.

As we followed the path into super healthy as well as dead forest parts, we found the foundations of a few small houses from large families of the early 1900's.  There were signs with the couples' full names on them as well as the number of children they had.  Most of them had 9 or 10 and it was hard to imagine everyone living in such small spaces.

When we were almost back at the beginning of the trail, having done a loop rather than continue on an adjoining trail that was much longer, I spotted a brown baby squirrel on a long white fallen tree branch.  It was the first squirrel I had seen since arriving in the Maritimes, and the first baby one I had ever seen in my entire life.  Another one was spotted right across the path a few seconds later and they both seemed to be communicating with each other.  We thought they might be scared so we left them alone.

After our short hike of about thirty minutes, we headed to the nearby welcome centre because my sister wanted to look in the souvenir shop.  She didn't end up buying anything, but Jeff and I both bought some short matching black raincoats without planning to.  I also bought a black hoody with the same park logo on it as the coats.

I saw some round chocolates that were advertised as moose poop near the cash and Jeff decided to buy a bag for Aidan to amuse him.

The woman at the cash was very catty with us, and as she rang our items we all talked about the things we had done during our trip and still planned on doing.  When we mentioned possibly going to a place called the Frog Pond Cafe, she told us it was really nice.

We ended up picking Aidan up at the motel and headed to the little cafe we kept passing by in the car.  It was quite lovely.  After buying some drinks, we sat at a round green painted table on a small fenced terrace with a roof right beside a nice frog pond.  Flower pots were hanging here and there.

Jeff discovered that we could borrow board games and play them at the cafe for free so he got a cribbage board as well as a deck of cards so that him and I could play.

As we were nearing the end of our game, it started drizzling and some frogs came out of hiding.  We could see their green heads sticking out of the dark water.  There were also a few birds, mainly crows, perched on bird feeders as well as standing on the grass close to a little wooden pedestrian bridge going over the pond.

When we were done our drinks as well as our game, we went inside the art gallery on site to curiously check out the artwork.  There were many wooden carvings and paintings done by local artists for sale, as well as ceramic items, hand made jewellery, and other crafts.

It was raining harder by the time we left the cute site, but it stopped once we were back at our motel to just relax before dinner.

We decided to go to Le Gabriel to eat, a family restaurant with a fake lighthouse at the front of the big building.  The inside was quite charming with its sea themed decorations and wall display of handmade mini rugs for sale by a local family.

After we placed our food orders, we saw a waitress carrying a plate with a giant cooked lobster on it.  We wondered how much it weighed and got our answer after we saw a second plate go by a little later during which a couple asked the question we were all thinking inside our heads.  The waitress answered that the lobster was 6.5 lbs!  My sister told us she realized why the restaurant was said to be the home of the giant lobster.

Normal sized lobsters were served at other tables for people who didn't have a big appetite, although I saw later on that the giant lobster was supposed to be shared.  The restaurant had a special for two which included salads and desserts.  The lobsters were advertised at 5lbs though which is still pretty big.

We were all quite full after our meals.  I had the surf and turf and really enjoyed my medium rare steak as well as four giant shrimps. The others weren't that impressed with the taste of their food but didn't find it terrible.

When the waitress came by with a trolly full of displayed desserts behind a glass dome, we had to pass even though they all looked so delicious.  My sister and Aidan had ice cream sundays though, and I ordered an Irish coffee which ended up being quite strong.

After paying our bills we wanted to go play a game of pool since it was free, but because the tables were in the bar section we could not stay seeing that Aidan was with us and underage. You had to be 19 or over to legally be allowed in the bar area, regardless of whether or not you were drinking alcohol.

Our evening plan being busted, we left the restaurant in the pouring rain and went back to our motel.  We noticed that the heavy rain was making the distant mountains almost invisible to us. They were almost ghostlike.

The fire ban had been lifted, but of course we could not make a fire because of the rain.  So, we just stayed inside our room and relaxed.

I started looking at properties and homes for sales in Cape Breton out of curiosity and found several affordable possibilities for cottages.  The catch is that they are all car dependent and of course far from where we currently reside. It's nice to dream though right?

Once I came back to reality, we played boardgames until bedtime. My sister had packed Jok-R-Ummy as well as a solitary game of plastic bricks. My son was quite good at completing the various challenging puzzles and Jeff had a hard time catching up with him during our stay.  He was a good sport about it though.

Nobody ever went to bed frustrated or annoyed with one another.  In fact, we usually went to bed laughing.

*****
On the morning of my 35th birthday, my sister rolled over to inform me that our father had texted her earlier in the morning to wish me a happy birthday.

After getting out of bed, I sat at the motel room table by the window with a view to open up my cards and presents.  

Three cards had been mailed to me at home and I brought two of them with me; one was from my young nieces Zoey and Skye, and the other from my sister-in-law plus brother-in law.  I had already opened the one from my mother before my trip.

The last card I opened was from Jeff who also gave me some superhero earrings as well as a sterling silver starfish necklace I had seen in Ingonish by the cash of the restaurant we ate dinner in.

My mother called on my sister's cell phone a few minutes later to talk to me.  Our conversation was unusually short because we were on our way out.

Our morning plan was to check out a restaurant attached to a hotel called Laurie's because I had seen a breakfast buffet advertised.  Unfortunately, I had not seen that it was only from 7-9 so by the time we got there it was too late.

Instead, we ate a light breakfast at a cozy fast serving restaurant called The Happy Clam which had an ocean view.  Looking out of the set of big windows, we saw the small fishing boats returning early to the harbour so we knew something was up.  The sky was a light grey and it had already started drizzling on and off so we expected a storm to come.

Despite the bad weather, we decided to go walk on the beach while we still had the chance.  It was my birthday request.

My sister had seen a beach closer to our motel on the tourist map and we tried to find it.  We ended up on somebody's private property looking at a big sign that said to enter at own risk.  To avoid a possible trespassing fine, we left the area and drove towards Cheticamp Island.  We saw two blue herons on the way this time.

Rather than go to the public beach in the campground, we stopped midway right between the the St-Laurence Golf and Atlantic Ocean then parked the car on the side of the road like we suggested doing the previous day after our discovery of the unmaintained beach.

When I walked up the small grassy hill full of wildflowers and plants to get to the sandy area of the side of the St-Laurence Golf, I saw that there were five large crows standing in the wet sand.  They flew further away once they saw me and my companions heading closer to the rocky ground and water.

We slowly walked along the shore as the sky continued getting darker. Although it was cold mainly because of the cloudy sky and wind, I was enjoying myself.  I liked the calming sound of the waves.  

I strategically placed my feet close enough to the water so that a small wave would come cover them for a second and found the water freezing.  I chose to only walk on the sand from that point on because of that.

My sister found a large black feather and determined that it belonged to an eagle.

Aidan found a random crab leg in the sand.  He also spotted a big log and decided to lift it up.  It was too heavy for him to flip it like he seemed to want to do, but on the way back he found a smaller log and picked it up using the caber toss technique he had used at the Highland Games in the past and flipped it. Had he been competing, my son would have gotten a perfect 12.

Once we were done with that side of the water, we went back up the hill, past the greenery, and crossed the road to get to the other side where the ocean started.  I preferred it because it was full of clam and oyster shells; most of them were broken and scattered in the sand or water, but a few still had a live oyster inside them.

I walked in the water which was not as cold as I expected it to be and ended up finding a small white crab.  Unfortunately, it was dead.  Aidan found a bigger crab's shell in the sand but its legs were separate from its empty body.  A bird must have feasted on it.

The rain started again so we all got back in the car.

To pass the time, we ended up visiting a small Acadian museum within the tourist information centre.  Inside, we saw antiques plus learned the hardship of rug making.  A female employe wearing an old Acadian style costume was doing a demo in the back and it did not look easy.  Several decorative rugs were on display on the walls and we found them quite impressive.

I had originally considered buying myself a small kit to make myself a small decorative rug to hang on the wall as a souvenir, but I no longer felt I would have the patience.  Although the kits were sold in the museum's boutique, I did not select one for myself.

After leaving the museum, I felt the need to go visit the nearby gift shop where hand made rugs were sold.  They were all done by local women who called themselves hookers because of the hooking technique used.  I didn't end up buying anything, but not because I didn't like the variety of rugs mainly made to hang on walls or be used as coasters. Jeff however, ended up purchasing a couple of things to give away as Christmas presents.

Shortly after returning to our motel room, the sun surprised us by fully coming out of hiding so I wanted to spend time outdoors again.  Aidan wanted to be reunited with the free Wi-FI and my sister was tired so they both stayed in the motel room while my husband and I spent some quality time together.

We first went on a hike with hiking sticks in the nature path near our motel, heading towards the rocky river.  I had my water shoes on this time so I walked into the cool water until I was knee deep.  I started heading left towards a fallen tree and what I thought might be a small waterfall because of the sound I heard, but didn't make it far since I could not see the rocks below properly. I didn't want to slip and fall.

When I returned to the dry rocks, I saw a small curled up snake on one of the rocks and pointed it out to Jeff.  It soon slithered away quickly into the plants.  It was a good thing my sister had not come with us since she is afraid of snakes.

I decided to follow the path of large rocks within the ditch which was partially flooded by the rain, deep into the woods until it became impossible for Jeff to follow me and keep his running shoes dry.  

We headed back to our motel, being attacked my hungry mosquitoes.

When we went inside our room, we found my sister napping and Aidan using his Ipod, not wanting to be separated from it anytime soon.  I took my Ipad out for a short while to do some writing but could not stay indoors.

Jeff and I decided to go for another walk together.  At first we were just going to go take a picture of the sign above our motel grounds.  It was in the shape of a lighthouse and announced the town of Cheticamp which was apparently always singing.

My husband and I ended up walking to the National park, myself partially barefoot in the middle of the calm highway then both of us on the safe sidewalk to the right.

We headed down a grassy hill towards the welcome centre and took some silly pictures behind photo op signs where we could stick our heads in the holes; me behind a religious Acadian woman, and Jeff behind a fisherman.

Since we had seen people by the river when we were crossing the bridge, we passed the camp ground's kid's playground and looked for a path that would lead us to the water.  We found a very narrow one and walked through the greenery surrounded by trees to hang out by the river.

The family we had seen near the water was just leaving so we soon had the area to ourselves.

I tried to walk on the rocks within the river, but it was much harder with my flip flops than it had been with my water shoes and I ended up breaking my left one again.  I laughed as I was fixing it in the middle of the forking stream.

When Jeff and I had enough of hanging out by the water, we took a different narrow trail back to the park.  The child in me decided to make use of one of the swings.

Before returning to the motel, my husband and I went to the souvenir shop of the welcome centre to buy some post cards.

We all had dinner at another waterfront restaurant, The Harbour, where I ate fresh lobster, paid for by Jeff, and was treated to a refreshing cocktail by my sister.

I was given a small metal bucket full of tools I didn't know how to use as well as a plastic disposable bib which made my family laugh.  I had to read instructions on how to eat the lobster which made it slightly entertaining for everyone including myself. My sister looked a bit horrified though.

There was live Acadian music being performed by a old woman in the main dinning room while we ate which was pretty good.

After dinner which included a delicious apple cake with hot carmel sauce and whipped cream for me, we headed out and went down a set of stairs right beside the restaurant to walk on a wooden dock.  It had a tall brick lighthouse painted in the colours of the Acadian flag; blue white and red.  A yellow star was on the top blue layer below the light.

A small fishing ship had just docked and the cheerful men aboard were stepping onto the dock.

My father had tried to contact me on my husband's cell phone while I was making a mess with my lobster, so I sat on a wooden bench facing the water and returned his call.  While I was talking to him, I heard cows loudly mooing.  It was coming from the other side of the water and I found it funny considering the fact that I was near the ocean.

After my short conversation, I joined my family who were sitting at a pick nick table  closer to the water.  As I turned my head to look at the fishing boat, I noticed that it came all the way from Montreal.  I told Jeff we could buy a boat and make the trip to Nova Scotia by sea. My sister ruined my daydream by reminding me that the gas would be very expensive.

Speaking of gas though, my sister announced that as a birthday present she would wave the gas fees from the trip for me which I thought was really nice.

As we all chatted, we watched the sun start to set.  It looked really beautiful on the water and I managed to take a picture just a as small fishing boat was passing by the illuminated part of the water.

My tired sister soon wanted to head back to the motel so off we went.  I thanked everyone for making my special day fun.

The evening ended with Jeff and I siting together by the motel's fire pit and drinking hot beverages. The friendly motel owner helped us get the fire started after him and his wife finished eating their take out dinner.

Jeff and I had already gathered kindling wood from the forest where we saw another baby squirrel and realized that perhaps squirrels in general were just smaller in this area because they did not eat people's junk food like the ones in Montreal.  

As the owner tossed some cracked branches and rolled up paper into the pit and set the whole thing on fire with his black lighter before putting a thick log in, he gave us survival tips on what to do if ever we saw a black bear, coyote, or moose.  

We were informed not to act like prey in front of bears, but to slowly walk away backwards with our hands in the air to look big as well as to make a lot of noise.  For coyotes, their weakness is their nuzzle so we were told to aim for it with a long stick.  Moose did not tend to attack, but if they felt threatened our best defence was to hide behind thick trees.  

Luckily, we didn't have to put any of those helpful tips into action.

We did hear a coyote or two in the distance shortly before calling it a night and pouring a bucket of water over the dying flame though.  This happened shortly after we looked up at the dark partially cloudy sky and saw many stars as well as a few flashes of lightning.

*****
On our last day in Cape Breton, we woke up early, checked out of our motel, and headed out to have a big breakfast at Evangeline's again.  

When it was time to pay, I used my Visa and my sister her interact then the machine broke.  Jeff didn't have any cash on him but luckily I did so I covered his meal as well as the two bags of coffee he wanted to buy from the restaurant.

Once we were all paid for, we headed out to the wharf by car for our booked whale watching tour. It didn't smell as fishy as the previous time, but the air still did not smell that great. We got used to it rather quickly though.

No other group was waiting around and we soon realized that we were going to have a private tour.

We had all dressed up warmly even though it was hot out, knowing it would be much cooler on the water.  After adding extra layers of clothing, we were given some yellow life jackets to put on and our guide led us towards the floating zodiac boat.

To get there, we had to walk on a wooden dock which was on the same level as the dirt and pebble ground we had been walking on but high up from the water.  There were several hollow crab legs scattered on it.

One by one, we carefully went down a short metal ladder from the dock to get onto the small boat attached by a thick rope to a post.  My sister was told to go sit on one side of the boat and the rest of us sat on a black cushion seat on the other.

Our guide walked down a different ladder than us to get to the back of the boat where he would be driving.

We soon headed out of the wharf and far onto the blue ocean water, getting a nice view of the coast and a different perspective of the Cabot Trail.  We could see vehicles moving along the distant road from time to time.

Our guide stopped the boat near Pleasant Bay and told us to keep an eye out as another ship captain had dispatched the location of a Minke whale earlier on and it had just been spotted again.

We looked for the big marine animal every which way, getting a bit distracted by the view of the beautiful mountains ahead of us.  Instead of seeing a whale, we ended up seeing a dark seal in front of the boat. It bobbed it's head out of the water and back in a couple times.  The way it did that reminded me of a whack a mole game.

A few minutes later, our boat moved rapidly forward and came to a complete stop again.  We managed to see a Minke whale's dark back as it quickly went in and out of the water.

We spent a lot of time trying to locate the whales as they were fast swimmers and once we caught a quick glimpse of them they sometimes resurfaced much farther away.  We were three boats from different companies helping each other out with their locations.

After about the fifth sighting of mainly just a back fin out of the water for a brief couple of seconds, our guide took us closer to the sandy shore.  We saw several dark pink jelly fish in the shallow water. They looked almost plantlike with their big squishy looking heads and long flowing tentacles.

Our guide took us to a few other scenic spots, including the entrances to two dark caves.  A big yellow butterfly seemed to be following us on this part of the tour which was pretty odd.  My sister claimed that it had been following me since the Skyline Trail.

A grey seal was spotted close by, bobbing it's head in and out of the clean blue water then making a dive.

As we made our way back to the wharf, we saw two small waterfalls within the rocky parts of the mountains as well as a flying eagle, and also got a really nice view of the green highlands.  We saw how high we had been on the Skyline Trail and thought it was impressive.

When we got back from our three hour expedition, our guide gracefully docked his boat and tied it back up to a post.  We disembarked one by one and thanked the man who had given us a great sea tour before bringing our lifejackets back.

None of us really wanted to leave the area, especially that there was going to be an organized Canada Day celebration in the park, but my sister had a long drive ahead so we all made use of the porter potty and went in the car to head back to my sister's place.

On the road, we saw many eagles flying near trees.  One of them soared down onto Trout River to catch a fish.

Right before leaving the Cape Breton island, we took a quick bathroom break.  The historical site and museum I went in to use the facilities looked interesting but we didn't have time to visit.  It was definitely something to think about if we ever came back though.

We thought about returning to Cape Breton one fall because we knew it would look really nice with the different leaf colours, plus during the first week of October we could enjoy the trails with Celtic music.  It was recommended by the cashier at the welcome centre gift shop as well as the owners of our motel.  We were told that it wasn't too hot or cold during that time either so it sounded perfect.

Needing to continue heading back to New Brunswick, we quickly got back on the road.

By the time we reached New Glasgow, we were hungry so we stopped at a Swiss Chalet off the highway exit to eat an early dinner.  

Jeff and my sister wanted coffee to go after their meals but there were no more take out cups available; only soup bowls.  They did not think it would be convenient so skipped on the coffee.  

We did one more stop along the way before arriving at my sister's.  Near the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick boarder, shortly after we passed by the toll booth again, we got some cold drinks to go at the local Tim Hortons and were quickly back on the road.

Just as we were about to turn into my sister's lot, I saw that three dark horses were near the road in their big pen. Since I excitedly pointed them out, my sister slowed down the car for us to take a better look.  She didn't stay there long though since she was eager to get home.

I considered getting out of the car and staying with the horses for a bit but figured I should help unload the car and but the leftover food away etc.  Plus, I needed to do a load of laundry for Aidan and wanted to get it done as soon as possible.  

The following day would be a long one for my son.  We would be driving an hour to get to the airport, going on a one and a half hour plane ride to Montreal, and taking a taxi home.  Then, Aidan would need to walk to the bus stop with either myself or Jeff to take a bus as well as a metro to get to the train station because he needed to board a train heading to Ottawa.  He was going on a road trip to Stratford with his granny and two cousins the next day.

After settling in and starting the load of laundry, I went back outside and walked as fast as I could towards the horse pen.  I took a shortcut through the well kept lawn to get there.  

I could not see the animals as I got closer to their pen but walked forward anyways in case they might still be out but a bit further away.  They weren't.  I started walking back, a bit disappointed, and saw Jeff coming towards me.  I told him the bad news.

Not long after we had gotten back inside, I decided to go to the beach just to be near the water one last time. I didn't expect Jeff to want to follow me because of the mosquitoes and didn't want to try to persuade him.

I slowly walked to the beach on my own, smelling campfire smoke in the air.

While I was contently sitting on the dirt and grass by the sand, looking up at the darkening sky as a set of three lit red lanterns were gracefully flying by, Jeff came to join me.

I pointed up to the lanterns and told Jeff that another one had already gone by.  While we stood on the beach together, seven more of them went by in the sky.  They were being set loose by nearby neighbours.  We could see the faint lights of the lanterns flickering on the ground a few properties away before they rose up. Jeff and I herd kids yelling in excitement each time a lantern started moving upwards.

I imagined that more of them would be set free and that we might see fireworks once it got completely dark, but because of all the pesky mosquitos I told Jeff we could go back inside. I knew he was just trying to make me happy by staying and I didn't want him to suffer.

We saw some fireflies on the way back along with many campfires from nearby campers.

Shortly after we got in, I heard a loud bang and was about to head back out to see if I might be able to see a fireworks show.  Nobody wanted to come with me and I didn't hear another bang until about 5-10 minutes later.  

When a series of explosions was heard, I looked out of the entrance window in the direction of the sound.  The cat was doing the same from the windowsill.  The only illumination I could see were the fireflies though.  They were pretty, but I would have preferred to see exploding lights in the sky.

A while later, I heard something that sounded like a series of gun shots.  The cat must have heard it too because he relocated to the bedroom window. My sister assumed that they must have just been firecrackers.

The loud sound continued for a while on the beach side so I finally decided to go check it out.  I quickly put on my flip flops and headed out the door.

I walked fast up the cement tile steps and into the parking area. Having caught a glimpse of on and off lights between the trees, I continued on my way to the beach in complete darkness.  I am not really sure how I made it there without tripping or falling, but I managed to watch many colourful fireworks go off from the property that had been releasing lanterns.

When the show was done, I continued looking up at the dark sky for a few minutes because there were absolutely no clouds in sight and I could see the stars clearly.  It was very beautiful to look at.

I found the big dipper right away but didn't know enough about constellations to recognize any other.  I'm sure they would have been easy to locate though.    

When I was ready to leave the beach, I used my instincts as well as the dim lights of the campfires to find my way back to my sister's home.  The two lights in front of the separate garage were on so that helped me too.   

I remembered that there were wild animals in the forest and realized it had probably not been safe for me to go out alone without at least a walking stick.  

Just as I thought about the dangers of the forest, I heard something move in the bushes to my left.  I think it was just a small animal, but I quickened my pace as my heart raced from being startled.

I locked the door once I got safely inside the apartment, and was able to finish my load of laundry and get my packing done before going to bed. It was nice to be able to cuddle with Jeff again.

*****

We woke up early to get ready to leave for the airport and rode in the rain.  I was afraid that our flight might get postponed by several hours or even a day because of the thunder and lightning advertised but it was not the case.  I don't think it would have bothered me though, since it would mean spending more time with my sister.

As we parted inside the small airport, we both started to tear up.  We probably wouldn't see each other again until the Christmas holidays.

After my sister left, Jeff, Aidan, and I checked in and went through security.  I found the three big vertical posters of the Kouchibouguac National Park my sister had been looking for when she picked us up at the beginning of our trip.  I took pictures of them so that I could e-mail them to Karyne once I got home.

Jeff wanted a coffee for the wait so we went to the small cafeteria together.  He bought a hot chocolate for Aidan and some red jello I decided to pick up for myself, knowing it would be easy to digest.
 
Our twelve o'clock flight ended up being pushed back by a half hour close to when we should have been boarding.  The sky had cleared up by then so the delay was unexpected.  No reason was given.

I started getting hungry and wanted to get a lunch, but after the sleepless night of continuous running to the bathroom which continued into the morning I was afraid that a meal would make me sick on the plane.  Having hunger pain was no fun either.

In the end I chose to save myself a possible embarrassing moment and only ate once I got home.  Things were not looking good for me as it appeared that I was flaring up, but I remained positive and hoped that my Remicade treatment would be enough to get me back to normal.

I took it easy during the rest of the weekend, missing my sister as well as the ocean plus my son who was away on his next trip, but I was in good company with my husband so I did not feel lonely.  

It was nice to be home, although I really wasn't looking forward to going back to work. I guess nobody does, but I was afraid that the stressful environment would cause me major issues and the thought of having to catch up on my work plus replace the receptionist during his vacation was making my head spin.  I tried not to think about it too much so that I could enjoy my last days of vacation.

On the Sunday, Jeff and I took a nice walk to Starbucks together and sat on their terrace, then cooked steaks on our charcoal BBQ for dinner.

My rescheduled Remicade treatment the next morning went well, but once I got to work my fear came true and my trips to the bathroom became more frequent.  I ended up going to the ER the following day.  Turns out I had contracted another bacteria that affected the digestive system and had to take more antibiotics.  Lucky me!

At least I had an amazing vacation and was given a necessary two week sick leave to relax afterwards. During that time I wished I could be near the ocean again, feeling the heat of the sun on my skin rather than be in bed during the first days, but I could hear the birds chirping and it brought back good memories of my trip which made me smile.

My creative juices flowed, and since I had time I was able to do some scrapbooking, writing, and painting once I found the energy.  The Acadian lighthouse as well as the view of our motel gave me inspiration, so I took out canvases plus my acrylic paints.  I also used a piece of bark I had found in the woods to paint a cardinal on.