SATURDAY 23 July

I awoke at 5:30 AM to bright sunshine and blue skies, got up, fed the cat, and went back to sleep.  I got up to stay at 6:30 AM, early enough to make a cup of coffee and upload the blog post for yesterday before Linda got up and fixed breakfast.  The Wi-Fi connection to the Internet at this KOA is strong and fast when very few people are using it, and that has generally been early in the morning.  We had egg and cheese “toasties” (to borrow a term from my favorite English Youtube channels) made from Just Egg patties.  Yum.

Our objective for today was to drive a portion of the Cabot Trail from St. Anns to Ingonish, stopping at the Cape Breton Highlands National Park Ingonish Beach Visitor Center and doing a short/easy hike in that area before continuing to Ingonish for lunch and then heading back.  With a high temperature of 88 degrees F forecast for today, we wanted to leave at 9 AM, an earlier start than usual, and be back by mid-afternoon at the latest.  Between breakfast and departure, we set the two heat-pumps to cooling mode and deployed all of the awnings to keep some of the intense sunlight off of the trailer.

We took the F-150 for this drive; it’s very comfortable for four people, performs very well in hilly/curvy terrain (ride, handling, performance, and fuel economy) and has very effective air-conditioning.  Looking at maps last night, Linda saw that we could shorten our round-trip driving time by at least 30 minutes if we took the Free Ferry from Englishtown (Rte. 312) rather than driving down to St. Anns to pick up Highway 30 (The Cabot Trail) directly.  This proved to be a good choice as we got to ride on a car ferry, it was free, and it was cool so, triple-bonus.  (The Ferry is owned and operated by Nova Scotia as part of the highway system.)

There were food and craft offerings at various places along the Trail, and we made note of some we wanted to visit on the return leg.  Much of the Trail was woods, rock, and water, but it was all beautiful and some of the views from high up were stunning.  The Cabot Trail alone is an amazing work of road building.  It was fun for me to drive, and I think everyone else enjoyed it too.

Every Parks Canada location we have visited has been wonderful, with good facilities and great people.  The Ingonish Beach Visitor Center was small, but they had a baseball style cap that really spoke to me.  At Ingonish Beach area we hiked the Freshwater Lake Trail.  It followed the edge of Freshwater Lake and then turned into the forest, but remained level throughout.  There was a warning sign about coyotes, and what to do if you encounter one along the trail, but we did not.

 

 

 

 

Across the bay we could see the Keltic Inn on a bluff, so we drove there to have a closer look.  It looked like a lovely place in a splendid setting to spend some time.  There is also a Scottish links-style golf course there, so a super spot for a golfer.   Back on the Cabot Trail headed to Ingonish, we passed signs for two NP campgrounds.  If we ever return to this area, we will definitely try to book sites in Parks Canada campgrounds.

Linda’s research on vegan dining options led us to Salty’s Rose & Periwinkle Café in Ingonish.  We both had a veggie hummus sandwich with sweet potato chips, and they were excellent.  Paul and Nancy both had lobster  rolls.  On the drive back we stopped at the Celtic Quilts shop, the Wreck Cove General Store, and Cabotto Chocolates.  The quilt and chocolate shops both appeared to be in small, reclaimed churches.

The quilts on offer were all locally made and very nice, but seemed a bit pricey.  The proprietor made the knitted items, which were also nice.  She was delightful, with something of a Scottish brogue.  The General Store was nothing to write home about; lacking any of the authentic historical charm of the one in Wah Wah, Ontario (if it’s even still there).

 

The woman at Cabotto Chocolates was pleased to find out we were from Michigan.  She was from Ontario originally, but lived/worked near Lansing for years.  They wanted to return to Canada but felt Ontario was too expensive.  Given where they live and work now, it appeared to us that they had found a great alternative.  Without us asking, an older woman (one of the owners) in the back room explained to us what she was making and the equipment she was using.  Their most unusual offering was “ruby” chocolate.  It was dark pink in color with a slight fruitiness and a consistency similar to “white” chocolate.  We bought several different things here.

 

 

 

From this point it was just a matter of driving back to the KOA via the Englishtown Ferry.  On the approach to the dock, we saw a Bald Eagle sitting in a short tree on the right side of the road.  We got back around 3 PM, a little later than we intended, but the extra stops were worth the time.  We were glad to see that our air-conditioning had worked as intended and kept the rig comfortable (and safe) for Juniper-the-Cat.  The electrical service at this campground has been excellent.

For the rest of the afternoon, I processed photos and Linda took a nap before starting dinner preparations.  Nancy brought over mushrooms and an 8-pack of pasta for Linda to use, and keep some of it for later use.  I got to choose the pasta, so we had organic Tri-Color Farfalle (bow-tie) Pasta with mushrooms, onions, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and zucchini sautéed in olive oil.  This evening’s wine was a sparkling Pinot Grigio + Chardonnay.

After dinner we sat outside for a while but small flying bugs posed a nuisance.  The sun had slipped below the ridgeline behind us and it was starting to cool off, so Paul set up their propane firepit, hoping it would also help with the bugs.  It didn’t, and we all called it quits at 9 PM and retired to our respective RVs for the night.

After I put the finishing touches on this post, I spent a few minutes doing puzzles on my iPad Pro before getting ready for bed.  It was around midnight, and I decided to see if the stars were visible.  The night was generally clear and the sky was dark except for the horizon to the east, in the direction of North Sydney.  There was still some light pollution in the RV park due to lights on various RVs and buildings, but the stars were visible like I have not seen them in a long time.  The Big Dipper (Ursa Major) was very bright just above the ridge to the northwest, and all of the stars in the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) where visible.  I saw two “shooting stars,” one low in the west and one low in the east.  I stayed out for a while and let my eyes adjust to the dark, and was able to see the Milky way spread across the sky from roughly south-southwest to north-northeast.  It wasn’t very bright, but it was definitely there.  I did not bring a tripod for my camera, so no Astro-photography on this trip, but it was a treat that reminded me of the star-gazing I did as a child.

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