Day 21 of the vacation, Friday, July 15: We entered a time change yesterday, and I am not sure how I feel about it. This morning I got up at 6:00 – by my internal clock. Of course, I went to bed earlier last night too, and the big bonus is that we have a whole extra hour to get where we are going today. All in all it is a good deal. Today’s drive took us deep into Nova Scotia . . . with a destination of Cape Breton National Park which covers most of the tip of the island. In the town of New Glasgow we stopped for a grocery buy and a beer/wine stop, and a sandwich lunch, and then continued with the coast scenery getting more picturesque by the moment. Our campground, Cheticamp, is inside the park boundary and has full hook-ups . . . and wifi! There are even 4 other Airstreams and an Argosy in residence. We went for a walk and met about half of that population! I spent the evening posting to my blog (I am about a week late!) and then we took a short drive to scout out for tomorrow. Saturday morning, on the famous Cabot trail, we followed along the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Cape Breton National Park. This scenic roadway offers options of hiking trails and viewing points every few miles, with promises of wildlife: bear, moose, whales, eagles, and even carnivorous plants. Our first hike was a bust – just an old road – that might have opened out into a good view after a couple of hours, but we didn’t give it the chance. Our second hike was just a little boardwalk around a bog. The signs said you “will probably” see a moose. Payoff. We came upon a smallish/juvenile moose that was stuck up to his withers in the bog. He huffed and puffed and grunted and he could NOT pull himself out of the marshy mess. Suddenly, the mother, we think, appeared, and she ambled (not really in a state of alert) into the quagmire beside the juvenile but could do nothing to help him. She came out and moved off as other people came along the boardwalk – we all knew better than to get between the mother and the baby. The mother moved off with the youngster still trying to get unstuck. Oh Ranger . . . . ! Continuing along the Cabot trail, we found a Ranger kiosk and stopped to report the moose mishap; the ranger seemed genuinely glad, probably more from concern of people getting hurt by the mother. Occasionally stopping at overviews and other stopping points, we located The Dancing Moose for lunch. Featuring a Dutch pancake cooked and topped with an infinite variety of options, it was hard to make a decision. Tom had the Farmer’s version with eggs, bacon, cheese, peppers, tomatoes and onions cooked into it, and mine was served with a good variety of fresh fruit and whipped cream piled on top. At that point, after 5 hours, we were not quite ½ done with the Cabot trail, and we put the rest of the drive in high gear to get back to Charlie Button. Well, we did stop at the Lobster Pound to rescue a couple stray lobster for dinner tonight. At the campground Information Center I told two girls working the desk about the juvenile moose; she said they had heard about it over the radio, and the trail has been closed all day. As I was there, an update came in that the trail was still closed! I guess our little errant moosie is still stuck! During the next two days that we were at Cheticamp we kept checking on the progress of the moose. At one point it was reported that he had been able to climb out, and then collapsed and stayed in one place for the rest of the day, They are not sure if he injured himself or if he is just exhausted. The mother left for awhile, but then was back and acting very irritated. The trail remained closed. Wish I knew the eventual outcome of the story. We slept late Sunday and went into the town of Chiticamp to wash some bedding and Tom washed the truck. Chiticamp is a real working lobster/crab town, and there is not much pretty and not much shopping to entice tourists, except there are lots of restaurants combined with fresh fish markets. There was one store that advertised “Real Hookers Work Here” and I had to stop for that. The hookers are rug hookers (not to be confused with latch-hook rugs we did as children!) who work with wool and rug backing to make intricate tapestries. The backing is stretched four ways and the hooker works small loops of wool into the pattern. When the whole thing is finished the backing is released and it springs together and locks the loops together. The finished products were horribly expensive – a 3’ X 4’ wall hanging was $800! The ladies that own the store mostly work at home, and each sign up to work a day in the store to demonstrate the process, and sell their finished products on commission. The hookings (you would never use as a rug) are lovely. At the campground we prepared to pull out on Monday – Tom banged the dirt out of the rugs and I washed Charlie Button and we had a wonderful dinner of: BBQ chicken on the grill, roasted red potatoes, corn on the cob, salad and a fresh peach. During the early evening it sprinkled rain lightly and we enjoyed being outside and reading under the awning.
1 Comment
7/23/2016 01:40:21 pm
We really enjoyed our visit with you (and the Charlie Button Show). Patty has also been worried about you moose friend. Just arrived at the very Airstream-friendly Bayside CG near Rustico PEI. Comin this way?
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |