Canada Day Eve

We caught a break this afternoon when the sun came out for a few hours.  I actually got a little sunburn on the top of my head!  This morning was a little foggy, especially on or near the water, but at least it wasn’t raining.  Carol Ann and I drove over to a place called Blue Rocks, about 3 or 4 miles further out the peninsula towards the Atlantic.  The coast out there is very picturesque and rugged.  It was foggy on the drive out to “The Point” but the sun came out for the drive back. While out there we ran into some other members of our group – Dan & Stacha and Candy & Alice.

After enjoying the scenery at Blue Rocks we drove up to Mahone Bay, about 5 miles north of Lunenburg.  Mahone Bay is a small village that looks like it should be on a postcard. Lunenburg is larger with a harbor filled with fishing boats.  Mahone Bay is a place where the “well to do” go for a vacation and their harbor is filled mostly with pleasure boats.  It’s a little more “upscale” than Lunenburg.   Carol Ann and I saw a store named “Mahone Bay Outfitters” and decided to go in and see about the rain gear we really need.  It turned out that all they “outfitted” were women’s feet.  Carol Ann took the opportunity to look at a nice looking pair of waterproof boots but didn’t have her glasses on so asked me to read the price label for her.  I believe it read $487 so she quickly put them back and we left.  I thought the name of the store was a little misleading.   It should have been called “Mahone Bay Expensive Women’s Shoe Store.”

There was a “Drivers’ Meeting” this afternoon during which we learned that our next stop, Peggy’s Cove, is a little too soggy to accommodate our motorhomes.  The RV Park to which we were travelling tomorrow is currently having tow trucks pull motorhomes out of the mud because the unusually high rainfall has turned the park into a bog.  Therefore, we are staying here one more night and then driving on to Halifax, which would have been our destination after Peggy’s Cove.  Another night in Lunenburg is fine.  This may be a very old town but internet-wise they are way ahead of most other towns.  The city has implemented free high-speed Wifi throughout the town.  Just connect to the "lunenburgwifi network" and you are good to go.

We will be staying 4 nights in Halifax instead of 3.  One of the optional activities for Peggy’s Cove included having your nails “done.”  When it was announced that we would not be staying in Peggy’s Cove Barb wanted to know if her nail stop had been “terminated.”  It’s only 21 miles from Halifax so she will be able to keep her appointment it seems.  I never made one for myself.

Because we are skipping Peggy’s Cove and going straight to Halifax we will only have about 60 miles to drive on Tuesday.  The RV Park in Halifax will not let us check in until after 11:00 so Paul, our Wagon Master, said there is no need to leave here before 9:30AM.  Fine with me.  I asked everyone to please be quiet when they start hooking up in preparation to leave, as I would be sleeping in.  I don’t know why everyone gets in such a big hurry to be on the road so early when our drives have been so short to this point.  We do have some really long ones coming up later in the trip but so far it’s just been 60 to 100 miles from one RV Park to the next.

Have you ever heard of a "Blind Crest" or “Flying Stones?”  Sounds like the Flying Stones should be a rock band.  I also though that a Blind Crest was some kind of rare bird.  “Oh look, Harold!  There’s a Blind Crest on that limb!”  But, no, none of those.  They are orange caution signs along the highways in Canada.  Flying Stones means to beware of loose rocks or gravel that may get thrown up and crack your windshield.  A Blind Crest means you can’t see the top of the hill you are about to climb (I think).  Even that doesn’t make much sense to me.  I believe it may be similar to another sign I’ve seen warning of “Hidden Drives”.  Why did they hide them?

Tomorrow is Canada Day.  I think it’s kind of like our American 4th of July but is on the 1st of July.  The City of Lunenburg is sponsoring a celebration tomorrow from 11:00AM to 1:00PM with free hotdogs, burgers, music, etc.  Most of us are going to see what it is all about.  Should be fun (if it doesn’t rain!).

It’s almost 9:00PM and still not dark but the fog is rolling in as it did last night.  There is also 10 mm (millimeters) of rain forecast for tonight.  That sounds like a lot if you aren’t familiar with the metric system but it’s only about ¼ of an inch.  When I was in the third grade in 1953 we had to learn the metric system because the US was going to change over to it.  That was 60 years ago and we are no closer now than when I was in the third grade.  In the pharmacy profession we finally did switch over to it and I am really glad.  When I was in pharmacy school I had to work with grains, scruples, and drams.  That system originated in Greece and was in common use in England in the 1600’s.  I much prefer using grams and milliliters.