The happy-go-lucky great weather in Canada was bound to come to an end.   I woke up early enough, 5:30.   Things were grey outside, but not raining.  I made the mistake of turning over and going back to sleep.   By the time I was awake, it was raining.  Hard.   Solid, miserable rain.

Packing would be an adventure, so I sat tight in my tent trying to pack what I could.  Given the weather, it was time to change my packing solution.   Stuff everything into the roll and put the tent on the outside.   Relatively successful, beats my old method of dumping everything on the picnic table.

In Fundy Park, people suggested I swing by Hopewell Rocks if I could manage the tides.   It being completely miserable, I didn’t bother stopping at the Visitor Center on the way out by Alma.  I still managed to make a wrong turn, but turned back to try to see Enrage Point. Disgusting amount of rain meant it was going to be views of grey on grey.  For $5, I didn’t think it was worth it, pulled down into the gravel lot and turned around.

Next stop was actually the Hopewell Rocks.  Stinking, ridiculous amounts of rain.

Probably the worst weather so far.   And it was now very apparent my left boot liner had a leak.  My foot was swimming by the time I pulled into the parking lot.  And somehow, I had managed to arrive deadsmack in between the tides.  It wasn’t high or low tide…  It’s recommended to spend about 3h at the park.   It was 11am and I needed to be in Moncton by 3.   Stopped in the cafeteria for a coffee before heading back into the cold and wet.

Pulled into Atlantic Motorcycle right behind a GS from BC!   Rider from Victoria had spent the past few weeks coming out east.  Very relaxed pace and he was getting them to pack it up and take a flight home.  Not too bad, about $950 to get it across the country.   Nice to know that if everything fell apart, it wouldn’t be that bad to get Mendy home.

After dropping things off for servicing, I went across the parking lot to the Vietnamese place.  Spring rolls and pho!

Not exactly the best quality and felt rather bloated by the time I was finished.   When I went back, they didn’t have the bike ready, so I spent some time in their lunch room processing the GoPro footage.

The wet boots and early morning (and possibly the MSG overdose) all hit me at once.   Crashed pretty hard sitting in at their little tables.  Pounding heading, exhaustion, cold shakes.   All in all, miserable.  Even when they told me the bike was ready, it took me a good 10 minutes just to pack things up and get down the stairs.

Getting to the Shore House was rather interesting.  My bout of illness hadn’t quite passed yet and I managed to miss my exit a few times.  On top, my reading comprehension was a little lacking.  I misread the street number and ended up zipping back and forth a bunch of times looking for an address that didn’t exist.  But, eventually found it and settled in.

All smiles a tail wags to welcome me into the lot, but everyone disappeared shortly after to hide from the rain, leaving me to unpack on my own.  Stuff wasn’t too badly packed, but it did mean that the consolation to move the tent to the outside meant that the tent was soaked.  Disgustingly so.

After changing out of my wet gear, I made my way into the house and met the rest of the family.  And in particular, the new addition!  Dinner was in the oven and everyone was doing their part(except me, I suppose).  It was great telling my stories – but even better, with the baby, I wasn’t the center of attention.  I think it might have gotten a tad awkward, or at least uncomfortable for me if there wasn’t someone more important around.

I got filled in on the Olympics and got to see the new family of hummingbirds outside the kitchen window.

Great dinner and fruit and ice cream for dessert.  It was awesome being made felt like part of the family.  Although it was nice to have a few drinks with the meal, it did end up with me knocking over my glass of wine.