Time to Park the Van

Just when I thought that the Keltic Lodge couldn't get any more fabulous, we found out in the morning that a full breakfast buffet was also included.  The four of us dined in style, complete with white linens.  We had originally thought we'd get an early start, but there was no way that we were going to rush such an enjoyable breakfast!

We did eventually pull ourselves away from the lap of luxury, and continued on down the Cabot Trail.  We had been given a tourist brochure at the entrance to the national park.  There was a suggestion to try out the playground at the Cheticamp Campground.  My interest piqued, we sought it out once we were in the area.  There weren't any signs directly us to the campground, which we did find odd.  The Cabot Trail abounds a plenty with hiking trail, picnic areas, and lookout spots, all clearly marked.  We asked the traffic flagger that we were stopped at, and he gave us directions, but neglected to say that it was still about 5km down a questionable road.

The "Must See" playground at Cheticamp Campground. 

We arrived at the campground, to discover that it was a private campground.  The beach was private (not too sure how they get away with that??  Access, perhaps?)  and there was a charge to use it, which irritated Kim enough that he decided to stay in the van and have a nap.  I bought a coffee, which seemed to appease the owners, and took the boys to the playground.  It was definitely less than wonderful.  However, the great thing about children is that they do not need the finest and newest of equipment to have fun.  My boys still had a blast on this simple wooden playground structure, and we did venture off down the grassy path to have a peak at the beach.  I figured we could get away with a free look!  It was pretty.   This little outing brought me back to that rubber time.  It didn't matter if the playground was sub par, or that the beach was off limits.  I was there with my boys, walking through the tall grass, and we were enjoying each others company.


Trying to recreate the Little House on the Prairie scene




 

The tempting private beach

100 photos and still no shot of them both looking at Mom

                                                                                                  

Driving the Cabot Trail

                                                                                                                                                                                                 More lobster traps



A variety of terrains along the trail

We finished the trail and turned to head en route to our final driving destination: Halifax.  We were all hungry and the cooler was running bare, so we pulled into Antigonish for lunch.  As we drove down the main street, we were serenaded with the college's piper band.  I rolled down the window,  listened to the pipes and thought, "Nova Scotia and bagpipes...it doesn't get more Scottish than that!" 

A favorite song for Levi and I is from the musical, Rent: 525600 Minutes.  I know that's not the correct name for the song, but that's what we refer to it as.  We've sung the chorus many a times on this road trip so far.  As we drove that last stretch into Halifax, I hummed away, replacing the minutes in my mind with miles.  That's how many miles this trip had seemed to be!   We had clocked nearly 8000 kilometres. 

In Halifax we stayed with a very dear friend of mine, Wendy, and her sister, Janis.  Wendy and I were neighbors in Inuvik, NWT.  She is an amazing friend.  We can go years with barely a phone call, but I walked through her door in Halifax and it was though our Arctic time was just yesterday.  We decided to go to Peggy's Cove for supper, just as we had done in 2006 when Ayaka and I had visited her.   I was excited to take Kim there.  The drive out is very scenic and I always thought Kim would enjoy it.  Somehow driving a minivan full of women and children wasn't as exhilarating for him as I had imagined, though!!

                                                                                       Love ya, Wendy!!

Peggy' Cove was as beautiful as I remembered.  The evening light was so pretty as we arrived.  We took a few photos before supper, while the sun was still out.  We were treated to a spectacular sunset, though, as we left the restaurant that night.  What a fabulous and serene way to finish our eastern trek across North America.

                                                                        Levi's first photo to take of us by himself!!

                                                                                                     

Obviously I have something about lobster traps!