Before we start with our latest adventures, we wanted you to know that California's long-awaited "Three Feet for Safety" law is now in effect! We believe it will help protect cyclists. The San Francisco Bike Coalition will be doing a lot of outreach and education about the law. Here's a link to more info.
We were excited to visit Cape Breton National Park in Nova Scotia. The views of the ocean were wonderful.
Here we are on the Middle Head trail that snakes out onto a narrow peninsula.
And here’s the same peninsula seen from the Franey trail.
While hiking we came across this red chair. It had great views! We later read that the Canadian Park Service has ten red chairs spread throughout Cape Breton Highlands Park at the best view spots.
In Nova Scotia it was starting to feel like Fall, with the leaves just beginning to color.
The forests were moist and we saw lots of interesting looking mushrooms.
We bought running shoes in July, and we have been jogging for cardiovascular exercise.
Usually we find a park with grass but it’s more fun to run on a trail. Pete is at Warren Lake, which has a flat trail that goes around the lake.
We loved being by the water.
This beach had lots of smooth cobble stones. It gave us a sense of the power of the ocean that these hard granite stones could become so smooth with water and time.
Here’s a view of the Keltic Lodge from the beach.
This is a fresh water lake, right by the ocean.
We kept seeing moose signs, and we were hoping we’d see one.
Here we are at MacKinnons cove on a beautiful sunny day.
The rocks are mainly rose colored granite, and some have interesting lines.
We rented a sea kayak and paddled all around the salt marshes in South Harbor. We saw kingfisher birds, two juvenile harrier hawks and lots of gulls, ducks and cormorants.
Alas, the closest we got to seeing a moose was a moose skeleton. We learned that last December there was a storm that dumped six feet of snow. This poor moose tried to walk across the frozen sea water, but fell in and couldn't get out. A bear had dragged the body onto the shore to have an easier time scavenging; We were amazed that the skeleton was still fully intact.
We stopped at a goat petting farm and enjoyed watching their frisky behavior.
Our last day on Cape Breton Island was drizzly. This is a bog that has a boardwalk, and we hiked with an umbrella!
We drove the 185 mile Cabot Trail, which is named for the 15th century Italian explorer John Cabot. This photo was taken at the furthest northeast that we will go on our road trip.
We found another red chair. The views were less dramatic due to the weather.
Our next stop was Halifax, largest city in Nova Scotia. Pete is greeting some of the city wildlife.
We hopped on the ferry to enjoy the views from the water.
Across the bay is Dartmouth. There was a mural project there.
This is an international peace pavilion.
Inside every country had given symbolic stones or bricks. Germany gave part of the Berlin Wall.
So far we have found Canadian beer to be expensive but with meh flavor. All the restaurants we visited in Nova Scotia had Alexander Keith on draught. We learned he was a Scotsman who started his eponymous company in 1820, but Anheuser-Busch now owns it - enough said.
In Halifax we happened upon the Propeller Brewery store, and we were finally happy with Canadian beer! Yes, Pete has a 6 pack on his head.
We especially like their Organic Pale Ale.
In case you are wondering about what we ate in Nova Scotia, we’ll show you the lobster highlights, with a special shout out to our friends Pat and Lance who each encouraged us to eat lots of lobster! We had started our lobster fest when we got to Maine, eating it at least once a day. But in Nova Scotia we found lobster to be less prevalent. On Day 8 we ate fried clams and lobster potato salad.
We sampled lobster sliders at the Keltic Lodge. The corn meal muffin buns were a nice touch.
Sea Gull Restaurant in Ingonish Beach had a tasty lobster roll.
And on Day 11 in Halifax we had our best meal in Nova Scotia at Edna.
We started with lobster risotto.
We stayed in an Airbnb on Gottingen Street in Halifax, just a few buildings down from Edna and the Propeller Brewery store. We really liked the neighborhood. This is the local charcuterie shop named Ratinaud.
We had a hard time deciding what to buy, finally choosing duck prosciutto for sandwiches.
Ratinaud is a French artisanal charcuterie that sources locally and makes all their own cured and smoked meats, sausages and pates. We also bought their Ratinaud pate made of pork and duck liver, and their smoked salmon - wow!
The morning we left Halifax, we went to the public pool for a swim workout.
We drove to Fredericton, which is the capital of New Brunswick. Our Airbnb was on the third floor of this house.
The neighborhood was filled with big, beautiful old houses.
We stayed across the street from Christ Church Cathedral. Construction on this Gothic revival cathedral began in 1845. The copper roof has turned green.
Fredericton is by the Saint John River. We enjoyed walking along the shore and across the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge.
There are lots of walking trails in Fredericton, and it was fun to jog along the river in the morning.
This is Fredericton City Hall, a National Historic Site of Canada.
The downtown also has a modern convention center with an undulating facade.
In the evening the New Brunswick Legislative building is nicely lit.
At dinner we tried Picaroons beer and liked it. We learned that their brewtique was just a block away, so we went by and tasted their beers.
The next morning we took our growler and got some draft Upstream beer.
Upstream is a limited edition beer with sales supporting the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation.
We put our growler in our cooler and headed off to Quebec City where we will meet up with Kristina's folks!
We were excited to visit Cape Breton National Park in Nova Scotia. The views of the ocean were wonderful.
Here we are on the Middle Head trail that snakes out onto a narrow peninsula.
And here’s the same peninsula seen from the Franey trail.
While hiking we came across this red chair. It had great views! We later read that the Canadian Park Service has ten red chairs spread throughout Cape Breton Highlands Park at the best view spots.
In Nova Scotia it was starting to feel like Fall, with the leaves just beginning to color.
The forests were moist and we saw lots of interesting looking mushrooms.
We bought running shoes in July, and we have been jogging for cardiovascular exercise.
Usually we find a park with grass but it’s more fun to run on a trail. Pete is at Warren Lake, which has a flat trail that goes around the lake.
We loved being by the water.
This beach had lots of smooth cobble stones. It gave us a sense of the power of the ocean that these hard granite stones could become so smooth with water and time.
Here’s a view of the Keltic Lodge from the beach.
This is a fresh water lake, right by the ocean.
We kept seeing moose signs, and we were hoping we’d see one.
Here we are at MacKinnons cove on a beautiful sunny day.
The rocks are mainly rose colored granite, and some have interesting lines.
We rented a sea kayak and paddled all around the salt marshes in South Harbor. We saw kingfisher birds, two juvenile harrier hawks and lots of gulls, ducks and cormorants.
Alas, the closest we got to seeing a moose was a moose skeleton. We learned that last December there was a storm that dumped six feet of snow. This poor moose tried to walk across the frozen sea water, but fell in and couldn't get out. A bear had dragged the body onto the shore to have an easier time scavenging; We were amazed that the skeleton was still fully intact.
We stopped at a goat petting farm and enjoyed watching their frisky behavior.
Our last day on Cape Breton Island was drizzly. This is a bog that has a boardwalk, and we hiked with an umbrella!
We drove the 185 mile Cabot Trail, which is named for the 15th century Italian explorer John Cabot. This photo was taken at the furthest northeast that we will go on our road trip.
We found another red chair. The views were less dramatic due to the weather.
Our next stop was Halifax, largest city in Nova Scotia. Pete is greeting some of the city wildlife.
We hopped on the ferry to enjoy the views from the water.
Across the bay is Dartmouth. There was a mural project there.
This is an international peace pavilion.
Inside every country had given symbolic stones or bricks. Germany gave part of the Berlin Wall.
So far we have found Canadian beer to be expensive but with meh flavor. All the restaurants we visited in Nova Scotia had Alexander Keith on draught. We learned he was a Scotsman who started his eponymous company in 1820, but Anheuser-Busch now owns it - enough said.
In Halifax we happened upon the Propeller Brewery store, and we were finally happy with Canadian beer! Yes, Pete has a 6 pack on his head.
We especially like their Organic Pale Ale.
In case you are wondering about what we ate in Nova Scotia, we’ll show you the lobster highlights, with a special shout out to our friends Pat and Lance who each encouraged us to eat lots of lobster! We had started our lobster fest when we got to Maine, eating it at least once a day. But in Nova Scotia we found lobster to be less prevalent. On Day 8 we ate fried clams and lobster potato salad.
We sampled lobster sliders at the Keltic Lodge. The corn meal muffin buns were a nice touch.
Sea Gull Restaurant in Ingonish Beach had a tasty lobster roll.
And on Day 11 in Halifax we had our best meal in Nova Scotia at Edna.
We started with lobster risotto.
We stayed in an Airbnb on Gottingen Street in Halifax, just a few buildings down from Edna and the Propeller Brewery store. We really liked the neighborhood. This is the local charcuterie shop named Ratinaud.
We had a hard time deciding what to buy, finally choosing duck prosciutto for sandwiches.
Ratinaud is a French artisanal charcuterie that sources locally and makes all their own cured and smoked meats, sausages and pates. We also bought their Ratinaud pate made of pork and duck liver, and their smoked salmon - wow!
The morning we left Halifax, we went to the public pool for a swim workout.
We drove to Fredericton, which is the capital of New Brunswick. Our Airbnb was on the third floor of this house.
The neighborhood was filled with big, beautiful old houses.
We stayed across the street from Christ Church Cathedral. Construction on this Gothic revival cathedral began in 1845. The copper roof has turned green.
Fredericton is by the Saint John River. We enjoyed walking along the shore and across the Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge.
There are lots of walking trails in Fredericton, and it was fun to jog along the river in the morning.
This is Fredericton City Hall, a National Historic Site of Canada.
The downtown also has a modern convention center with an undulating facade.
In the evening the New Brunswick Legislative building is nicely lit.
At dinner we tried Picaroons beer and liked it. We learned that their brewtique was just a block away, so we went by and tasted their beers.
The next morning we took our growler and got some draft Upstream beer.
Upstream is a limited edition beer with sales supporting the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation.
We put our growler in our cooler and headed off to Quebec City where we will meet up with Kristina's folks!
