On my way out, after packing up, I stopped to talk to the owner and her son, I believe. I admired the property and beauty of the camp. They had a nice playroom area which I;m sue would be bustling if the weather weren't nice. This is also where the pop and ice was kept that I picked up the night before and where the owner's grandson
The manager's office where I arrived the night before was welcoming and obvious.
After the son complimented me on my helmet, I shared that I wasn't too pleased having to wear one by law. He was obviously a proponent of helmets, being a motorcycle rider. I told him that his helmet could prevent far more types of injury and falls than my helmet, which is mostly designed for head on collisions. I gathered some intel regarding the hills I would meet, and they seemed to feel there was really only 1 or 2 bad hills. I was mostly walking up bad hills to save my knee, so that made me happy. Had they been accurate.
When I got to the 7 highway, my GPS told me to go the direction opposite of Antigonish, and I saw it was a 1 km or so detour to then be by the lakes. But there was a detour suggesting the bridge to said detour was closed, and so I didn't chance it. It's possible the detour was only for car traffic and I would have managed, but it could have been that the bridge was closed.
The scenery was nice and the hills weren't *too* bad. I think I walked up one which wasn't too long. One of the nice things about getting the 120km in, with help, was that I only had about 60km to my friends in Antigonish. With the early start, I knew I'd be fine. However, the places to stop and buy things were almost non-existent. Luckily I had hydrated in the morning, had left-over pizza for breakfast, and had full stores of water.
Eventually my GPS detoured me back to the other side of the lakes, and it was glorious! Flat gravel and gorgeous scenery.
The only problem was I was getting thirsty and rationing my water. The lake was looking might promising and I wondered if perhaps I should have bought one of those straw filters.
It wasn't long before I started wondering about asking some of the people I waved to in their cottages. But my mind wandered by the beauty and I wasn't as thirsty as I am making out I was, just concerned I'd have enough to last the trip.
Luckily, the early barks of Nahla, Lindy and Cory's dog. I waved and yelled up to their place, but Cory couldn't hear me over Nahla's barking. I parked my bike at the bottom of the driveway and made my way over. I held my hand out for Nahla and she eventually stopped barking, walked over, and sniffed my hand. I then asked if I could get some water.
It was great to meet them! What is funny, and what I would eventually find out many days later, is that my friend Jenn in Antigonish knew them. As I showed her some of the trip photos on my camera, she exclaimed, "Hey! Cory and Lindy!" Small world. Cory was so kind to offer me a pulled pork sandwich as they had just finished lunch. They were just relaxing after a weekend at a big music festival. I didn't want to be too late for Jenn, but as with all my biking trips, I would never cut anyone off, and so we ended up chatting for a while. I learned that this was their summer cottage and otherwise lived in Mexico during the year for work. They were from the area and spent the summer visiting with family. They were super sweet and I'm glad I missed the previous opportunities, although I'm sure Jenn knew them too!
I continued on the gravel road to the main 7 highway again, and observed a little industry, or rather, power lines.
Not too much further, of course, was an opportunity to buy drinks and since I already had water, I bought a cold pop and ice cream. Although they had room for lots of flavours, I only had my pick of 4. Moon Mist spoke to me.
Again, a little foreshadowing. My last day in Antigonish would return to this beginning spot, for a "you pick 'em" strawberry picking with Jenn and her kids.
I hung out for a bit, relaxing while I ate my ice cream. There were very few people around, so it might have been too early for you pick 'em.
Jenn had mentioned that I would pass straight through Antigonish on my way to their place. "You actually have to to pass through town to get to our place" after I said, "Your place is well before Antigonish." You see the little dimple north of the 104 in the following picture. That's where I was heading. Jenn's house. But we'll save that for later.
After a hill, I turned almost immediately onto another gravel road. This would also prove to be relatively flat and enjoyable, with very few cars.
At one house, a dog ran out from the lawn ahead of me and looked back, then sprinted away, then looked back, and this continued, until he got comfortable knowing I was moving at a stead pace, and he just kept running. This went on for almost 10 minutes. I have videos (2 because I had to stop and swat flies away from my head... They can track well if there isn't enough wind) and they are hilarious. At one point he ran back towards me because a car drove by the other way and he chased it, and there were barking dogs in the car, but then he saw me and started sprinting away again. I don't know how many kilometres he ran with me, but I finally decided to try and catch up to him and see if I could make him turn back.
Turns out I needn't have worried. Once I got to this bridge, I think even he knew this was his limit and had to head back home.
It was a beautiful bridge, but all of a sudden, a bunch of cars came and I had to move on without getting the best shot.
At the end of the calm gravel road, I ended up at an intersection with the three staples of any community. A liquor store, a school and a church.
I spend a lot of time taking pictures in this area. It was very picturesque and although the gravel road was no hilly, I had made quite an ascent over time, and looked out over the valley.
I even got off my bike to take a few nice scenery pics.
And a panorama that was just beautiful. It was quite breathtaking.
The gravel road here lasted a little while but I was getting close to my destination! Just past the 104 highway and I'd be at Jenn's place. I managed to secure a Chase the Ace sign after managing to cross the busy and fast highway.
The only problem... Nobody was there. And some part of me felt it wasn't here house. There were some kid toys, but the place seems smaller than I thought, and I knew Jenn had just built a new home. I thought perhaps I got the number wrong, so I continued down the street to its end, saying hello to some cows. On my way back, I stopped a car driving in, and he said he didn't know their names, but that the woman was a nurse. But Jenn wasn't a nurse, she was a school teacher. Then Dwight, the purple house's neighbour, told me that Jenn no longer lived there. It was their old house. I suppose Jenn's address on Facebook hadn't been updated. What's interesting is that the parcel I sent them before my arrival, a kickstand for my bike, arrived at their new address despite my using their old address. Weird. Anyhoo, Dwight offered me a ride, and I finally heard from Jenn, telling her the situation. Dwight would ride me to an Esso station in town, but when I saw all the equipment in the back of his truck, I didn't feel it would fit, at least not without damaging or scratching my bike. So I called Jenn back to let her know I was still at their old place. She asked if the bike would fit in the back of a Mazda 5 and I knew for sure it would. Chester had a similar sized car and it was fine.
As I waited, I removed the bags from my bike and swatted at black flies. I should have gotten the bug spray out, but I was a bit deflated having thought I arrived at my destination, only to discover I was still quite far away. But, I was happy to keep with the tradition of getting a ride at the end of each day of the trip thus far!
I spoke to my mom and kept referred to Jenn's husband as Chad but his name is Carl. I think I was confusing my last pick-up's name Chester, with his. Chester + Carl = Chad? Hmmm. In any case, I finally made it. I felt bad as I made Carl late for his rehearsal. He was going to be in a play, but he didn't seem to mind and eased my mind regarding delaying his arrival at the rehearsal. Once he dropped me off, he was off, but I was created by Jenn and her 3 kids! They all called me by name... Even little Sela who was 20 months old.
Not long after I arrived, Beau expressed his eagerness to start working at setting up my tent, as I had mentioned to Jenn. I made sure to give instruction and let him struggle though certain parts, offering only verbal guidance and assistance when needed.
Once the tent was set up, and I thought we were done, he inquired about the air mattress and pillow. We did those as well, and he crawled in and made himself comfortable.
It was at this point where I was just looking in on him enjoying himself, when he abashedly asked if I was going to join him in the tent. And so in I went, and we of course took a selfie!
Satisfied, we then made our way into the house and I was asked by Eva if I wanted to play huggie monster. This is a game where I chase the kids around their staircase, which divides the house in the middle. I managed to chase and hug them, chase and hug them, but after about 5 minutes, I was done. But they weren't, wanting to play more huggie monster. With that, I went to my bag and pulled out the Nova Scotia map to explain why I didn't have the energy to play huggie monster.
It was so great to feel so much a part of the family so quickly. The kids really became comfortable with my presence fast. Even little Sela was calling me by name and having fun.
I noted that on the fridge, the two temperatures were a reminder of my dad, as his birthday is July 23rd.
I was offered use of the outside shower to wash up and I took advantage. I took a selfie with my camera, and forgot it until later in the evening as I went to bed, and then ran outside to retrieve it. Aside from a bit of dew, it was fine. Glad I didn't leave it there overnight.
It was getting late and the kids got dressed for bed. Beau was under the impression that he and I were going to camp out in the tent, but in the end, I opted for the guest bedroom. Had it not been for a bear visit not long before, he probably would have been fine by himself, if he really wanted.
Then it was time for stories. Each child retrieved a book and we sat in the living room reading them.
After Jenn put the kids to bed, Carl came home and we all stayed up. Self stayed up with us. She fed me a large number of veggies which I was craving. When I asked her if I could have dip on my veggies, she complied. I was to learn that her comprehension is uncanny, and her ability to speak was far beyond her years, or rather, months.
And that was it! I was home and planning on staying a day or two. I was liberally icing my knee with the booboo ice pack every chance I got, complete with Dora print. It felt great to finally make it. In hindsight, it's unbelievable that I managed almost 240km with a bad knee. Fortunately, and I know now, so I'll share, my knee is fine. I saw the doctor the other day (I'm writing this from home) and it was so healed they weren't sure what might be wrong, but they tested enough to know my knee is tracking fine and seems to be injury free, with no damage.
