Day 6 - Battery Provincial Park - St Peters Canal & Tall Ships

Bird at Mira River

Geese seen around Gabarus

 We left Mira River and drove down the Fleur de Lys trail. At first it went around Mira River to Marion Bridge then went towards Gabarus.

HMCS Oriole arrives at St Peters Canal

Battery Provincial Park only had spots for us for one night, not for Friday or Saturday.  We called to see if we could find anywhere to stay and Whycocomagh still had 2 spots. We weren't planning on staying there but it had spots!!!

Battery Park Chalet with Canada 150 flag

Putting up small tent at Battery Provincial Park

HMCS Oriole docked at St Peter's Canal

Lion's club Marina on Bra d"Or lake in St Peters

The HMCS Oriole was already docked in the canal when we arrived at Battery Park. By dinner time there was 3 boats, including the St Lawrence 2, the HMCS Oriole and the Mist of Avalon. We were told the If and When was arriving later.  We went to Lion's club marina to take photos on Bras d'Or lake, and we saw 2 RCMP vehiles in st Peters.  One car one, SUV.

Figures it was hard to find camping in Cape Breton this week. Between the Canada 150 celebrations, free entrances to National parks, Tall ships... no wonder.

More Photos from Mira River Provincial Park

Cormorant fishing in Mira River

Day 5 - Sydney, Big Glace Bay Lake & Dominion Beach Provincial Park

Main-A-dieu Beach

We were up early and at Main-A-Dieu beach by 8am. We then travelled back to Mira Gut Beach, where were walked a bit until people started showing up. In fact Terry was tanning in the lifeguard chair when I realized the lifeguards had just arrived, around 11am.

View of Port Morien and it's beach that we couldn't find access to

 We saw seals at Dorkin beach. Stopped at Port Morion but could not figure out how to get to the beach there, yet later in the day at Sydport we ran into a vendor that lives at Port Morion and collects rocks from there for his art!!!

Big Glace Bay Lake

We also stopped at Glace Bay Lake beach for a bit. This appears to be a good place to stop for the night if you were out of a camping spot.

View of Dominion from Dominion Beach

Lingan Generating Station

Dominion Beach Provincial Park

We found the road #4 in Sydney and it goes to George Street which becomes Mira Road! We also noted that road #4 has every fast food know to man and found in Sydney. We went back to the SydPort, and there was a large cruise ship in port and lots of vendors. I got a Tshirt for Mado.

We got back to Mira River around 2pm after stopping at Wendy's where we saw a Sydney police car. Found amazing beach glass at Main-A-Dieu beach though I didn't find much since it was coming to high tide.

Sun setting on Mira River

Toby caught a mouse!

Toby stole one of Zoey's Pads!

They like to hang out on the bed together.

Sometime in July Toby caught himself a field mouse. It was tan colour like deer and wild rabbits.  Terry has been letting the cats out when he's out tanning and progressively the cats have gotten used to roaming around the neighbourhood but coming home at dusk. If not on their own, lured by cat treats.  

So Terry and I were sitting talking together and Toby walks in and drops something at Terry's feet. I looked and realized it was a field mouse.  Terry was all freaked out and let me deal with it "Since your kids had mice". Uhm. Yeah.  So it was a fresh kill as the mouse was still warm and rigour had not set in.   Of course he would gift it to Terry.  Toby is so fond of Terry, it's like his best buddy. Though he stunned that Toby would gift him a mouse.  Well Toby was returning the favour, by giving him a tasty treat!  I wonder how many field mice Ziva and Toby have caught so far? 

I honestly didn't think that Toby the pure breed born of 2 pure breed parents would ever be able to hunt. But apparently he and Ziva have almost caught birds and squirrels as well. Toby likes running up the big maple to chase after the squirrels. 

Day 4 - We end up in Mira River because Cape Breton Highlands National park is COMPLETELY BOOKED.

Let me start by saying, that Cape Breton Highlands National Park should have more overflow camping, or at least campsites that are first come first served. Having everything booked months in advanced is not good. This was was canada 150. I couldn't use my pass because I couldn't camp anywhere near the park. Even the private campgrounds and most motels, hotels, and B&B's were fully booked months ahead. I coulnd't book months ahead. I didn't know if I'd be going on vacation due to my sore head after the MOHS surgery.

On day 4 we woke up to rain. The bit I slept. I was up till almost 3am and got woken up at dusk pretty much. We packed up everything and were out of there by 7AM.  We drove to Neils Harbour and stopped at the Lighthouse/chowder house to go look at the Atlantic. I took many pictures of Seals from this point.  We also saw an RCMP car driving out of Neil's Harbour

Then we drove down to Broadcove, and found out that all sites there and at Igonish Beach were all booked solid. So we went to the Beach at Ingonish and we were to the Beach at Ingonish Beach. We saw an RCMP in Ingonish near the entrance of the park.

Afterwards we decided to head towards Mira River and were thrilled to find out they had at least a spot for us for the next 2 nights but were booked solid for the entire week-end.

United Heritage Church in Sydney

We ended up in Sydney for dinner, we went to the SydneyPort to Flavour on the Water for dinner.

Sydport

From Flavour on the Water at SydPort

Day 3 - We take the Ferry to Nova Scotia - and meet ASSHOLE CAPE BRETONERS

After last years experience we decided to reserve our ferry ride the night before, just to make sure we'd get on the Ferry from Woods Island to Caribou. We chose the 2:45 crossing figuring it would give us time to slowly make our way to the Ferry.

Near Woods Island Ferry

In the end we ended up at the Ferry around noon, so we asked them if we could move our Ferry ticket to the 1 o'clock Ferry. They put us in the standby line and we got in to the 1pm Ferry.  On the ferry I ran into a woman with a Pitbull called Mira, that she was taking to Mira River :) The lady said she was "Taking Mira to the Mira"

Ferry going in the other direction

We stopped at the Canadian Tire at Port Hawksbury because the cooler fried both 12V plugs in the truck. I suspected since both went out, that it was a fuse and not a fried port. We had debugged the cooler with an electric plug and the cooler was really dead.

The mechanic was super nice and he took a fuse from another place to make the 12V work again. I will have to get that checked next time I go to the mechanics.

 We got to Corney Brook around 5pm and the camping spots were fully booked. So we went back to Cheticamp for dinner. We saw RCMP car there just before the entrance of the park, giving tickets.  That's when I realized that the picnic sites at Grand Falaise was overflow camping.  We considered camping on the beach at Pleasant Bay but when we passed there was a bunch of locals drinking around a fire already.

We ended up at MacIntosh brook and realized that it was also overflow camping. The sad part is that we only noticed the stops on the right side of the road. There were nearly as many spots of the left side of the road.

We setup our tent and were probably asleep by 10:30. Around midnight I started to hear loud talking, singing and general noise. Eventually I had to get up and go to the bathroom after Terry got up to pee. I wandered to the bathrooms next to a kitchen shelter, and noticed that there was 4 people drinking, 3 men and a woman. I figured they were camping too and just having a drink. WHile I was in the bathroom, there was knocking at the woman's bathroom door, I assumed it was a moron letting out some steam.   I finished washed my hands and left pretty quickly, like I tend to do in the midlde of the night.  I heard just as I hit the grass going towards our spot "FUCK, I missed her. She left the bathroom too fast, I couldn't FUCKING SCARE HER".  Which got me to run to my tent.

The noise did not stop. In fact one idiot decided to get into his car and start playing music at a pretty loud volume.  One man nicely said "Could you turn it down, it's almost 2am and I have children trying to sleep". The guy said "no problem" and turned it up as loud as he could. Then he got into his car, and drove about a foot away from each tent a couple of times and then left the campsite tearing off like a bat out of hell in one direction. Came back a few minutes later going in the other direction.

The sad part is THERE IS NO FUCKING CELL RECEPTION THERE!!!  There is also no emergency phone. There is emergency phones about 20 km one way near French Mountain and there is another emergency phone 20 km in another direction. BUT NOTHING AT MACINTOSH BROOK.

Are the Cape Breton folk that live near Cape Breton Highlands National Park so rich that they can afford pissing off and scaring off tourists?

Basically these 4 morons in 2 cars, terrorized about 30 people trying to sleep, some with children between midnight and 2:45 AM. It was about that time when they finally fucked off.

few more photos from PEI

Hi from PEI

Hello from Cavendish

Around Cavendish

JellyFish at Greenwich

Lighthouse at Stanhope

Hello from Greenwich beach

Day 2 - Prince Edward Island is always charming

Stanhope Campground

We went to a few of the beaches around Stanhope and then drove to Souris.  This was likely the third time I'd been.  I've gone with my parents when we went to "Les Iles de la Madeleine" and we'd passed through last year together.

Souris Beach

This year we went to the  beach and looked for sea glass. We found lots of it but most of it was of poor quality.  It was mostly broken glass vs sea glass. I will at some point show the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to sea glass vs broken glass.

Greenwich Beach

On the way back from Souris we stopped at Greenwich beach. It's very nice and peaceful, most people go to Cavendish, so Greenwich is pretty deserted. Unfortunately for us, it was full of Jelly fish. Ick.

Cavendish cliffs

We drove back and went to Cavendish beach. It was a nice beach but I think Greenwich is nicer.  There was tons of people at Cavendish and Jellyfish there too.

Cavendish Beach

There was an Osprey's nest near Dalvey lake. I managed to take a couple of photos.  We also saw lots of cormorants. Those black duck looking coastal birds.

Osprey

Day 1 - We camp at PEI's National Park!

We got to Stanhope Campground in the Prince Edward Island National park by 9am. We left Montreal around 9:00pm after I had a nap.

Our site, the last one available for the two nights we wanted when we checked a few nights earlier, did not get freed before 11:30. We checked out several beaches along the long strip of land around Stanhope.

I ran into a local woman on the beach near the lighthouse. She heard my shutter going, saw me take panoramic views of the beach behind the lighthouse and asked me what type of camera I had. When I told her I clicked a lot to remember where I'd been she asked where home was.  She also told me about the beach glass festival at Souris for that week-end. Of course at first I had no idea what place she meant when she said Souris in English.  And then it hit me.

We stopped at the Blue water Grill Take-out at the Covehead Wharf for dinner though Terry wanted to try Richards. However Richards had a 20 people line-up pretty much from 5-8pm.  Funny part is that the owner of "Richards" restaurant, and sea tours is a ex pat Quebecois!

At some point we went to park to chill for a few minutes and I looked up to see the cutest little fox. Terry threw some potato chips out and she ran to eat them. Of course we're not supposed to feed the animals but how do you say no to a really cute little fox????

Finally it's that time again.

So sometime this evening we are hitting the road. First stop is Stanhope campground at PEI national park.  Terry really wanted to go hang on the beaches there last year but it was so fully booked, because the first Monday in August is New Brunswick provincial holiday and it's also a day off in Nova Scotia.

Wednesday night when trying to decide what our first stop would be before getting to Corney Brook in Cape Breton, we looked at Amherst Shores, it was fully booked, we looked at a few other places and it seemed hopeless. Then he suggests PEI national park. I figured it would be fully booked, but the Stanhope campground had ONE SPOT that was free for Saturday and Sunday night. So we booked it. 

This is all sorts of awesome because with the entrance to Federal parks free... we'll really be able to enjoy both the Cavendish area, the Stanhope area, and the third area of the federal park in PEI.   I went to Cavendish beach with my parents as a teen and with husband #1 in the 1980's. Haven't been since, though not looking forward to spending that much time on the beach. Will have to get myself the mother of all fucking hats to wear on my head. not supposed to get sun on my scar... could make it look bad. Other than the fact I really don't want to have more skin cancer. 

After Corney Brook, we're thinking Broadcove, then Mira River.  This year were definitely going to do the bird island boat tour, and it will be the 5:15 photographer's one next Friday.  Will be reserving that very shortly.   Also will be doing a lot of the trails in Cape Breton highlands National park. I've done many trails on the Cheticamp side, this year I hope to go on trails on the Ingonish side.

Once we leave Cape Breton, we'll be going to the Halifax area. We plan on staying at Graves Island Provincial park, which is 45 minutes from Hatchet lake, and also we want to visit the Thomas Raddall Provincial park. Would also like to visit the Kejimkujik Federal park, but don't know if it's going to happen. The seaside Kejimkujik is right across the bay from Raddall Provincial park.

I LOVE Rayon

As fabrics go, many people go on and on about silk, and while I do like silk, my absolute favourite is Rayon. Especially rayon challis. Some varieties are so soft and comfortable I would use them as bed sheets. I'm not even talking bamboo rayon. Just plain rayon.

My favourite is the one I used for the dress below. The texture is absolutely divine.

Of course Rayon comes with it's own challenges, it seems the fabric stretches and grows even when it's a woven.  I've learned to wash my rayon, fold it perfectly and sometimes even iron it, let it sit, then cut it.  AND NEVER RE-CUT thinking it's too big. Fabric may have shifted and if you recut, garment isn't going to fit!

I've been in love with Rayon since I've been a little girl. My favourite pieces of fabric and kerchiefs were made of rayon. I suspect my grandma might have liked rayon too.

Of all the "synthetic' fabrics rayon is my favourite.  It's man made but with natural fibres. It breathes. It feels divine.  Don't tell me that viscose is the same. I've had a few clerks at club tissu trying to tell me that viscose is a form of rayon. Yes.. but not natural fibres. Viscose makes me sweat and stink and feels like nasty polyester. Rayon, is another story. Then there's modal which is also a type of semi synthetic rayon, often used with cotton in my old navy shirts, and that seems ok. Makes for extra soft garments when modal is added.

So it's normal.

This is how my head looks today. I still have a bump on the scalp end of the scar, and numbness on the top of my head. Since it's now 6 weeks from the surgery, I decided to call the dermatologist at du Marché. The one who did the biopsy and ask if I could be seen this week.

As it turns out, he was working only till noon today and then he's on vacation. I let his assistant know about how I still have a bump, and I still have numbness at the top of my head and I wanted to make sure this is normal. I said the scar was beautifully healed, but the bump and numbness and pain was of concern.

 She said she'd leave a message for the doctor and hoped he'd see it before he quit at noon. Well 30 minutes later she called back to say that due to the location of my surgery, the bump and head numbness is normal. There has been a nerve that was affected. I can massage the bump when I'm not doing anything and it's bugging me, it should help and that the doctor would like to see me in a followup in December.