On the Road Again

I know it has been awhile since our last post so lets get going. We have spent most of the last three weeks with Kelly's family in Amherst NS. He has been re-introduced to the most interesting game of cards known as auction 45's or just 45's. It is a game that is played only on the east coast between Newfoundland and Maine. They tell me it was invented years and years ago I think a couple of "Stoners" invented the rules because they make very little sense. On Fridays Kelly plays 45's with his 97 year old grandmother and his Uncle Aunt and Cousin. They play bingo for 45 minutes first then 8 rounds of 45's and after that around 1015pm they have a "lunch" which consists of quartered sandwiches and sweets. It has been good to get caught back up with them.
After three weeks we were anxious to get back on the road. None of the campgrounds around Nova Scotia open until the Victoria Day long weekend so on Thursday we set out for Cape Breton Islands. 
Our first stop was Pictou. It is a small fishing village with a very strong Scottish background. The first Scotts landed here in the late 1700's and did well so boat after boat  of them kept coming.

Mural of the Scotts coming ashore

Replica of the "Hector" which brought the first Scotts to Pictou

A closed maybe for sale Seafood restaurant right on the water in downtown Pictou............Opportunities abound.

We walked around Pictou for about an hour which included 20 minutes talking to an ice-cream vendor who was just setting up shop before Kelly arrived. Twenty minutes and some free ice-cream later we moved on. On the main drag there is a building that was the old post office, according to the sign it is the only building in the world that has a window in the chimney.

Window in the Chimney Why???????

We left Pictou this morning and took the scenic route to Port Hood on Cape Breton Island. Now I am not saying the road was rough because that is just not fair to rough roads. I spent more time dodging pot holes than breathing. The "Scenic Route" we were told was there so you could avoid the traffic and enjoy the scenery at a slower pace. They were right because if you drove faster than 60 km/h you were "bounced" off the road. We stopped at Cape George lighthouse for lunch and it was a very nice.

Cape George Lighthouse and June

We arrived in Port Hood around 3pm and found the campground no problem. We are parked across the street from the Al MacInnis recreation centre. Yup Al MacInnis of the NHL 3rd all time scoring defenceman was brought up in Port Hood. A few years ago he donated 100,000 dollars to the arena fund so they named it after him. There is a great sandy beach just below the campground and it was about 22 degrees today so we hit the beach for the afternoon.

Tides out more room for us

Feels good on the tootsies.

We were told that the sunsets here were spectacular so after dinner we went back to the beach to check it out.

"Jedi June" holding up the setting sun

Ok but we have seen better.

We are off to Cheticamp tomorrow for a couple of days as there are some hikes we want to do. Wifi gets sparse over the next 4 or 5 days so I will update when I can.

Hope things are ok with you all and thanks for reading and sharing in our adventure.

Junkel