I woke up before my early alarm, but went back to sleep.   Probably a bit of a mistake, since when I did wake up, it was to a wall of fog.   Everything was damp – and without enough time, I didn’t really have the luxury of wiping it all down.

Still, the prep work the night before helped me get on the road in 45mins.  Things on the bike could have been packed a little better, but more than adequate.  Unfortunately, the weather made things rather stressful.  Minimal visibility.

There was fog everywhere, but you could see where the trees had blocked the worst of it. Very clear lines and beginnings of walls of fog.  Going the speed limit was something I wasn’t all the comfortable with…  Not something that bothered the truckers.  I pulled over for a truck, but just no way I could keep up.   Made me a touch nervous about being on the road and getting run over…

Fortunately, the fog was sparse inland and the sun even poked through and I made good time.  It got thicker again as I got closer to the ferry terminal, but I made the 8am ferry with a few minutes to spare.   Plenty of room, and I got my first experience at tying Mendy down for the ferry ride.  With her occasionally refusing to cooperate and lock the steering, it can be uncomfortable just getting off.  Winching it down with tie-down straps isn’t a great feeling either.   Still, what’s done is done and upstairs for some breakfast:

Ferry ride really isn’t all that long.  Barely enough time to eat, walk around the boat and take pictures before it was time to go down and release Mendy.   Gassing up in Pictou, I took the coastal route.  Nice windy bits of road, kind of makes me wonder what 236 would have been like – the turn off looked great, but I thought it more important to get a feel for the Bay of Fundy.

Gassing up again, I realized that I should probably shouldn’t show up empty handed.   (Technically, I had the Hershey magnet and chocolate bar.  But it was pretty melted.) I looked for a liquor store before realizing it was Sunday and they probably weren’t open.   Fortunately there were signs for wineries along the way.   I ducked off to the Grand Pre Winery, and ended up at the Historical Site.

Beautiful place:

Got to pick up some more Canadian history.  In the struggle of empires, it’s always the peasants that get run over.  From the British perspective, it probably was easier to expel the Acadians from the land rather than sort out who was or who was not loyal.  They had a rather neat multimedia movie/hologram presentation.  Definitely one of the better ones this trip – brings the Canadian Park AV standard up a few notches.

But in the process of my education, I managed to drop my Discovery Parks pass…  Lots of wandering in the hot sun to retrace my steps and find it again.  Uncomfortable and sweaty, I got back on the road to go 3 blocks and onto Grand Pre Winery.  Very nice place and made me reminisce over the Napa and Kelowna wine tours of years past – “I love paying tolls.”

They didn’t have anything on reserve at the winery – everything on their shelves was available at the gov’t liquor stores.  But their top seller, the Tidal Bay is often sold out so I picked up a bottle.  And because it’s a touristy kind of place, my BCAA card got me 10% off.  Score!

I made it outside of Digby before needing to stop for gas.   Grabbed a cup of coffee at Timmy’s and then crossed the parking lot to McD’s.  They had a sign for the McLobster –  it’s in season!

Not the best lobster I’ve had this trip, but it was also the cheapest.   I suppose you get what you pay for.  Checked it off the list, no real need to ever eat it again.   Especially since almost anywhere they’re going to have this, there will be better lobster available for not much more.

By this time, the grey fog and clouds had rolled in.. It was looking to be an ugly night.  Still a couple of wrong turns before making it to the address I was given.   Rolling into the gravel driveway, I parked the bike and the inhabitants of the house came out to ask what I wanted.

I guess my superb communication skills had neglected to include a few salient points.  That I was alone and on a motorcycle.  After that little detail was explained and a little back story filled in, I was invited to join their mini family reunion. (The bottle of award winning wine helped too.  Yay booze!)

Even though less than half the family was there, it was still a nice sit-down dinner of pork chops.  After so many meals by myself, this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.  Three generations, sibling bickering and cousins goofing around, it was just a great energy.    Very grateful to be included.

After chatting over dessert and a few beers, playing Rummikub with all three generations of family and watching some TV, it was time to retire to my friend’s old basement room.  Very good day – nice mix of riding, catching a slice of east coast life and meeting a friendly group of people.   Couldn’t ask for much more.