Extreme Tides at Hopewell Rocks

I’m in the Moncton, New Brunswick area and visited the Bay of Fundy today. The Bay of Fundy sees the highest tides in the world. There were two provincial parks on the Bay of Fundy that I wanted to visit. The first is Burntcoat Head Park in Nova Scotia, where the tide rise is the most extreme. But that park sustained sufficient damage from Hurricane Fiona that it’s been closed all week - due to open tomorrow (Friday). The park I visited today was Hopewell Rocks, which sees high tides of up to 46’ (today’s was 43’).

I got there a couple hours after low tide so I could get down onto the beach. I brought some snacks for lunch and a book and hung out for the day so I could see the rock formations at both low and high tides. It made for a nice, relaxing day.

View from the top viewing deck when I arrived near low tide

Same rocks from the same location at high tide

A tower of stairs takes you down onto the beach

Peggy’s Cove and Lunenburg

I had a beautiful drive today outside of Halifax. Here are some of the stops I made:

Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse. I’d read that the parking area fills up quickly and it was recommended to get there early before the cruise tour coaches arrive. Although it was a foggy morning, at least I timed it right to get some photos without people.

And then the buses showed up. By the time I left, there were 10 coaches in the parking lot.

As the buses arrived, a bagpiper started to play. It was a neat addition to a misty morning.

Mahone Bay

Lunenburg

Rainy Day in Halifax

 

I didn’t take many photos of Halifax today because this is what they all would look like. And it was so wet out, my cell phone camera started malfunctioning. One thing you don’t see from this pic is the 3” of water on the ground all along the waterfront so my feet were squishy wet all afternoon.

There are still a large number of power outages in this area. The hotel that I’d reserved a room at across the inlet in Dartmouth still didn’t have power so I called around and ended up with a pricy room right in Halifax near the Citadel. At least tomorrow’s weather is supposed to be much nicer for my road trip down the coast south of here

Yesterday I had a nice relaxing day in Wolfville. I drove around wine country, checked out a couple wineries that I’d read about, and had dinner at a brewery in a former church building.

Luckett Vineyards has a beautiful view of its vineyards, the local farmlands, and out further, the sea.

In the middle of their vineyard, near the tasting room and restaurant is an old British phone booth. 

The phone worked until recently, and they allowed guests to make calls.

Church Brewery in Wolfville

I Survived Hurricane Fiona

I’ll start with the fact that I’m doing well and am comfortable in a hotel room with power and running water in Nova Scotia tonight (Sunday). While I was in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, the storm began in earnest around 9:30 p.m. and the power went out at 1:30 a.m. Despite not having power or water, they managed to have a few breakfast items available for anyone daring enough to run across the parking lot to get it. 

I’d been due to check out Saturday morning, but the storm was still raging and there was no way off the island, so I needed to make arrangements to stay. The manager insisted that was the only reasonable option - the only complication was that we assumed my key card would stop working at 11 a.m., and their system was down, so they couldn’t do anything to change that. I was able to use the deadbolt to keep the door from closing while I took the dog out, and was able to stay comfortable in the room. 

I was on the best side of the building - the most protected from the winds. Still, there was a good deal of stuff flying around. My pickup, parked just outside my room, has a number of scrapes and scratches, and was covered in shredded leaves and bits of what looked like seaweed, even though I wasn’t particularly close to the water.

The bridge opened late Saturday night, and I was able to go online early this morning to see that the highway was clear, so I headed out. It was clear that the area will be without power for several more days. Rows and rows of power lines were snapped and down. I saw houses and buildings with trees down on them and a house with a roof that had lifted and doubled back onto itself. So many trees snapped and many just totally uprooted and blown over. The cornfields looked so sad - all the stalks slanted over at the same angle from the wind, stripped of all their foliage.

A couple days ago I was sad that I didn’t visit at a low enough tide to see Teacup Rock. Today I learned the storm destroyed it - it’s gone now, eroded off its base and washed away. I also learned that a couple of the small bridges I had driven over on my lighthouse tour have been washed out.

Once I got to Nova Scotia, I started looking for a place with running water, a cup of coffee, and thought I should fill my gas tank. However, the first few communities I got to still did not have power, so none of that was available. I used my Gas Buddy app to figure out where there were stations currently selling gas, only to find super long lines (so long there were cops controlling street traffic to keep people from cutting in). Priority at that point seemed to be finding a bathroom, so I found that, a coffee and breakfast sandwich, and gen got in the gas line. Just over 3 hours later, I was able to fill up. In that meantime, I learned the hotel I had reserved for tonight was without power, and realized from what I was hearing on the radio that my plan to drive the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island just wasn’t a wise idea at this time. Even though the road had just opened, except for one spot that was expected to open this afternoon, I was concerned about whether I could get stranded without being able to get gas. Fuel stations are few and far between during regular times, and there were still widespread power outages, especially on Cape Breton, with no estimate of restoration time.

So, when things get tough, why not go to wine country? When planning my trip, I wanted to spend time here, but didn’t have time to do everything I wanted before the dates of my reservations in Maine. But this agricultural area on the west side of.Nova Scotia wasn’t hit as hard by the storm, so here I am now. Another nice thing is that a popular lobster restaurant is a short drive from here so I had a great lobster supper (a real treat compared to the Clif Bar dipped in peanut butter and some pistachios that was dinner the night before).

Halls Harbour Lobster Pound

Winds blew over this trailer where I was staying

Wind blew some of the siding off the building I stayed in, but I was better protected around the corner

The main hotel building had more damage. Winds ripped out much of the material from the underside of the drive-thru.

Just outside my room, the wind uprooted the fence posts, concrete and all.

This tree, just outside my room, had full foliage on all sides when I arrived. That’s bits of tree foliage all over my truck. The leaf bits were plastered all over the building too.

Hurricane Update - Friday Night

Saturday’s ferry crossings have been canceled so now I’ll plan to use the bridge and drive around. I was able to cancel my hotel reservation for Saturday night at no cost - it seems highly unlikely I will be able to get to Baddeck, Nova Scotia tomorrow. Everyone I’ve spoken with expects the bridge to get off Prince Edward Island to be closed. I’ve also asked around to learn how to get info about road closures so hopefully I can stay put until the route is drivable. PEI has a wonderful network of visitors centers providing information.

Right now (Friday, almost 8 pm) it’s just been rainy and windy. It’s supposed to kick up overnight. Waiting and watching, and staying dry in a comfortable room. I figure I’ll try to go to sleep early in case I wake up to howling winds in a few hours.

Thankfully my route to the bridge won’t take me on any more red dirt roads. They’re already a mess - I can’t imagine how bad they are right after a spring thaw. They’re so notable one company makes shirts dyed with the red dirt.

Hurricane Warning for Prince Edward Island

Covehead Lighthouse

St. Peters Harbour Lighthouse

Charley and I walked the lovely Greenwich Dune Trail, which included a long floating section of “trail” across a pond

The East Point Lighthouse was getting some maintenance

The lighthouse at Skmaqn-Port-La-Joey-Fort Amherst National Historic Site

More lighthouse photos from Prince Edward Island. 😊

With Hurricane Fiona forecasted to affect the island later today, I’ve been forced to revise some plans and be prepared and flexible for the next couple days. I’m in Charlottetown, but thankfully not right downtown, where flooding might occur. My motel’s uphill and there aren’t big trees close. It looks pretty safe.

I spent extra time yesterday driving around looking at the sights, knowing that conditions won’t be good for that this afternoon. It’s unlikely that the ferry crossing I have a reservation for tomorrow morning will run, and I’ve downloaded the app to know when/if the bridge closes. If I need to spend another night here, that’ll be okay. Conditions aren’t likely to be better anywhere else within driving distance from here. So I’ll stay put and stay safe as long as I need to.

Home of Anne of Green Gables

 

Victoria Lighthouse, Prince Edward Island

Hooray! I’ve finally made it to one of my three East Coast destinations! My goal is to explore Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and coastal Maine, including Acadia National Park. PEI is lovely, as advertised. Rolling hills of farmland, red bluffs overlooking the sea, and charming homes and buildings. I can’t even count the number of white houses with green gables. Or the cute steepled churches.

Thunder Cove Beach (tide wasn’t low enough to make it around the corner to see Teacup Rock)

Cape Tryon Lighthouse

Unfortunately, news is that Hurricane Fiona is likely to affect the area in the next couple days. Doesn’t sound like anything catastrophic here, but we’ll see if that affects my planned (and prepaid) ferry crossing Saturday morning. At the very least, I think today was the only day I’ll have dry weather here. The red dirt roads are already a mess from earlier rain - glad I’m not driving a tiny rental car or a big motor home.

Lovely Tour of Québec City

By the time I’d driven about 50 km away from Montreal this morning, the pouring rain subsided and just became grey skies. That set a better tone for my Québec City visit. I was able to find parking in a couple different locations I wanted to explore and had a wonderful day.

This great mural was on a Crêperie. Having a crêpe at a sidewalk table in Québec sounded like a great idea, so I did.

At the end of the day I drove just a bit north of the city to see Montmorency Falls. The waterfalls are 272’ tall, which is 99’ higher than Niagara Falls. They were pretty spectacular, but I passed on the opportunity to zip-line across.

World’s Worst Tour of Montreal 🤣

I had a half day of driving today and hoped to spend most of the afternoon and evening seeing parts of Montreal. My first challenge was getting stuck in traffic approaching Montreal - there had been an accident and everything was stopped for miles. 

By the time I got to where my motel was, on the outskirts of the city, it was after 2:00, which was check-in time according to my confirmation email. Well, at least I could find the place in the daylight and unload bags before driving on into the city. I checked in with the friendly guy at the desk, grabbed my bags, and headed for the room. Hmm - the door was wide open with a mop propped up against the door jamb. The room wasn’t quite ready. It was about 3:30 before I got to the city center. And POURING (can I emphasize that enough?) down rain.

I had three places I thought I’d go, then see if there was time for anything else. Probably too late for the Marché Jean-Talon (farmers’ market), so I headed up to Parc du Mont-Royal (park), where I should be able to enjoy some nice views. After two failed attempts to make my way up the hill and find the entrance, I gave up listening to Google’s navigator and finally found my way in. Only to find fog obscuring the city view. 

Okay, so headed down to Old Montreal and the waterfront. Drove around and looked at stunning old buildings, but the narrow streets were a mess of detours, and I couldn’t figure out the parking signs with confidence, not that I found any open spaces large enough for my pickup anyways. So I wasn’t able to see Place Jacques-Cartier, another site on my list. I didn’t give up trying to find parking easily, but when it started getting dark, I threw in the towel. I was hungry for dinner, so I went to another part of town, where the lanes were wider and things weren’t so compressed, and finally found a large parking spot open on the street near a couple of restaurants. And bonus - by now it was 6:00 and parking was free. 

So much for seeing Montreal. I hear it’s lovely. Hopefully I’ll have better luck and better weather tomorrow in Quebec City!

Driving Thru Ontario

I spent the day driving through a stretch of Ontario. The photo is of a nice roadside stop outside of North Bay, Ontario, called Duchesnay Falls. After hours on the road, it was nice to have a short trail to a place where the nature sounds drowned out the highway noise, and Charley appreciated all the forest smells.

Mackinac Island

The Grand Hotel

Took a break from driving today and ferried to Mackinac Island. It’s a popular tourist spot where no motorized vehicles are allowed, and people get around on foot, bicycle or horse carriage. I walked around the town and took a carriage tour to see more of the island. I’ve never seen so many bicycles in one place before. It seemed busy enough to me, but I heard someone say in the summer the downtown streets are clogged with people so much it’s hard to move. Glad I went today!

Planning to cross over into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie tomorrow morning.

Charley enjoyed sight-seeing from the horse-drawn carriage

First Time I’ve Seen the Great Lakes

Reached the Great Lakes today. The photo is my first view, of Lake Superior from above Duluth, Minnesota. I’m spending tonight in Marquette, Michigan, also along Superior. 

Since entering Minnesota, my driving route has been more interesting, as I’ve gotten off the interstate and onto smaller highways. The only wildlife I’d seen earlier was deer, including a lot of beautiful bucks in Montana. Now I’m seeing a ton of wild turkeys, a fox, and eagles, including one that had been on the road shoulder and took flight just as I was approaching. It threaded the needle between me and an oncoming pickup so closely I was concerned about it (and my truck). Thankfully, all was fine.

Walked Across the Mississippi River Today

This evening I visited the headwaters of the.Mississippi River, where it exits Lake Itasca. It’s hard to comprehend that this modest-looking stream becomes the mighty river. 

Today was another full day of driving, but at least I was able to take a little time at Itasca State Park. Tomorrow’s another long drive, but hopefully Friday will be mostly sight-seeing when I hit the Great Lakes.

Glendive, MT

Sept 13: I can’t get my location map to work, so I’ll just update here. Another full day of driving and now I’m in eastern Montana, along the Yellowstone River.

Big Sky Country is Looking Like Brown Sky Country Today

I’m on the road again, this time to see the autumn colors on the east coast. These next few days I won’t be doing much sight-seeing. I’ll mostly be driving  But I’ll try to at least keep my location updated on the map each night. 

My posts will be pretty basic since I didn’t bring a computer. But hopefully I can share a few photos here. Bye, for now, from smoky Missoula.