Rain and the Sunrise Trail

Portable steam engine

It’s been pretty cold here in Nova Scotia--high 40’s to low 50’s. Rainy too. The day after we got here, the weather was looking ominous, so we decided to visit the Museum of Industry, which traces the history and evolution of power and industry in Nova Scotia. It was pretty interesting except that there were a couple “guides” who followed us around to each display and talked to us about it, unsolicited. David finally had to tell one guy that he preferred to read the information himself. 

Hector

Then we went to Pictou, which is a cute coastal town but was totally closed up for the season. We followed the red lobsters stamped in the road to the closed Fisheries Museum and looked in the window. We did get a good look at the replica of Hector, the ship that brought the first 200 Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia in 1773.

The following day we followed the “Sunrise Trail” along the northern coast. We drove past large tracts of woods, green pastures with cows and horses grazing and great vistas of the Northumberland Strait as we climbed up and down the hilly, curvy road. We took a few short hikes and visited a couple lighthouses. The wind was howling, and it was quite dramatic to watch the waves crashing on the rocks in front of one lighthouse and on the jetty protecting a few boats. 

Then we followed the trail in the Arisaig Provincial Park to the ocean to look for fossils embedded in sedimentary rock. We didn’t find any fossils, but the foam kicked up by a raging surf was impressive. Also, the explanatory plaques, as usual, were excellent and explained the geology of the area. We drove along a country road past farm fields to the fish hatchery, which raises over a million trout and salmon every year to stock the province’s rivers and streams. It was closed. 

Last we stopped at another provincial park and walked the boardwalk over a marsh to the beach. Back at the trailer I cooked a turkey breast (one small enough to fit in our oven) and some of the trimmings to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving on October 11th. (It was a good excuse to get away from the “same old” we’d been having.) The cranberries were from Nova Scotia and made excellent cranberry sauce. Even David agreed, and he doesn’t usually eat it!

The weather forecast was sunny for the next two days, then rain. I decided to rearrange the itinerary and head straight for Cape Breton Highlands National Park the next day because there was no point being there in the rain.

The Cats

Neptune wants to go outside. Occasionally, we take him out in his harness. He just loves it. He tries to chase birds and chipmunks but can only run as far as his leash. I try to run with him, but he’s faster than I. Sometimes he’ll just keep walking farther and farther away from the trailer. When I’m ready to go back, I have to carry him, whining and squirming. 

Plato thinks he wants to go outside. When Neptune goes out, Plato’s yowling at the door. When I open the door for him to go out, he looks around, sniffs, then tentatively puts his front legs on the first step. He sniffs, looks around, looks at me, sniffs, then moves his hind legs to the first step. Then he looks back to make sure the door is still open. It takes him five minutes to get to the ground. Usually by then I’ve had enough and back in he goes. Sometimes we pick him up and put him down a short ways from the trailer. He freezes, terrified.