Day 23: Truro, NS Canada

Day 22: Truro, NS

July 5, 2016

Miles: 65 miles

Halifax to Truro


It was a long ride to Truro and it is very late as I write this blog entry.  The pictures took a very long to upload as well, plus I dozed off and so did Steve.  To start let me answer Jen's comment question, the ride was indeed hilly, and the wind was blowing out of the SW the whole way; we were traveling NE.  Yeah!  Despite the wind pushing us along, we did not arrived at the hotel until after 8:00p.  We had some unanticipated happenings, and very eventful day to say the least. 

Before we left the hotel we had a very heathy breakfast - starting the day off right.

Breakfast at 7:45a

As we navigated our way out of Halifax this morning, we headed east toward the bridge that we needed to cross taking us into Dartmouth; well, the bridge was closed due to it being under construction; essentially, the bike and pedestrian path was close.  After much wasted time, we figured out that a shuttle service was being provided for cyclists and walkers.  So we took the shuttle across.  When we got to the other side, the drop off point, it was about 10:30a.

Getting a lift

Steve waiting patiently

On the shuttle we were fortunate enough to meet Alain, (pronounced Elaine).   A fellow cyclist, and retired navy guy, who showed us the way to a bike path that was on his way home, and in the same direction that we were headed. I could write so much more about Alain, such a nice guy, but its too late and I'm very tired so all you get for now are pictures.

Steve riding ahead with Alain

The day had dramatically improved given this short cut Alain showed us; after a few miles, Alain headed east as we continued north. It was only about 9 miles into the ride and it was close to 11:00a at this point.  We were not making good time.

Alain and Steve saying goodbye

We stopped off about 3 miles up the road at a Tim Horton's to use the facilities and because Steve wanted to adjust/raise his bike seat.

Relieved

And the unthinkable happened.  The bolt snapped on the clamp as Steve was tightening the seat after the adjustment.  And half the bolt was still stuck inside the clamp thread.  Not good!

Tightening down the clamp

Not good.

Well, we did what we had to do - ride to the closest bike shop.  I googled bike shops closest to us, and we found RPC cycle just 2 miles away, unfortunately in the opposite direction adding 4 miles (round-trip) to our already, very long ride to Truro.  I called the cycle shop to make sure they were open and that they could take us right away.  George, the man on the phone, said that they were very busy today, but for us to head over so he could take a look at Steve's bike.  He then asked what kind of bike it was and I told him a Surly, the Long Haul Trucker.   Oddly, he said he never heard of this brand.  We were a bit concerned, but it was the closest shop so we rode our bikes there anyway.  Steve rode slowly with his seat all the way down, and unsecured.  It was mostly back roads so we were safe enough.  We made it there just about 15 minutes later. To our surprise, and George's too, the bike shop was a motorcycle shop, not a bicycle shop. Oops!  

Luckily, George could still help us out.  George had one of his guys drill out the broken bolt stuck in the thread and to our relief, they had a new bolt that fit perfectly.

George - nice guy!

 George never charged us for the repair, just said good luck to us!

Steve putting seat back on his bike with new bolt and clamp

We were finally off again.  It was about 1:45p at this time.  We had over 50 miles to ride to Truro.  At this point, the ETA was estimated after 8:00p.  The rest of the ride was long, but beautiful.  Again weather spectacular.

We rode along three different lakes.  The sights and roads were great, and so was the wind too!

We stopped for a short break to fuel up on chocolate milk, gatorade and cashews about 18 miles into the ride, about 2:30p.  Because of the time, we decided to skip lunch but to stop along the way to eat snacks - fruit, bars and nuts that we were carrying on the bike.

Steve and his chocolate milk

We rode straight through and hard for about 30 more miles before stopping for dinner at the Whistler's Pub about 17 miles outside Truro.  We were very hungry and needed fuel.  It was about 5:30p.  We forgot to take a picture of our dinner - Steve a turkey sandwich and me chicken breast.

Steve's selfie that he took with my camera without me knowing. 

To our surprise, when we left the restaurant at about 6:45p it was raining.  So our last leg, estimated at 17 miles was both hilly and rainy.  As we rolled into Truro the weather improved. The rain stopped and the sun came out as we pulled into the hotel parking lot.  We arrived safely at the Holiday Inn at about 8:15p!

We are off to Pictou tomorrow - between 40 to 45 miles.  

Day 22: Halifax Rest Day

Day 22: Halifax, Canada

July 4, 2016

Miles:0 (its a rest day!)

Happy Fourth of July!  Spending the Fourth here in Canada is not the same as spending it back home in the USA.  I miss the celebrations and why we celebrate.

I got up before 9am but everybody else was still sleeping.  Apparently, Andy, Jen and Ben enjoyed their visit to the Bier Garten last night too much to allow for an early morning wakeup.   Here is a shot from last night at the beer garden:

Why there wasn't an early start to the morning (photo credit: Andy)

Jen wandered up to our room around 10am and her knock on the door awoke Di, so now at least three of us were up.

Jen at the window overlooking Halifax Harbour

Jen woke Ben and Andy by calling them from our room and soon we were walking through the streets of Halifax looking for the ideal place to eat breakfast.  Eventually, we realized our wandering was aimless and Jen performed an internet search to locate a worthy breakfast provider.  She decided upon Black Sheep restaurant so we now walked with aim.

When aimlessly wandering a Monday morning Halfix street

The results of walking with aim

The Black Sheep gave us an awesome breakfast.  We have yet to have anything less than a stellar meal while the kids where with us.  I hope that is not another thing we are going to miss in addition to their absence.

Andy's breakfast (photo credit: Andy)

We brought a small American flag with us as we walked to breakfast.  The waiter at the Black Sheep told us all his customers that morning had been Americans.  "And they all carried a small American flag with them!", he said while pointing to ours.  "Really?", we said.  "No", he replied, "you are the only ones."  We love Canadian humor (sorry, humour).

On our walk back from the restaurant, Di gave money to a mendicant and received a "God bless America!" in return.  Di said she was amazed that the woman could tell we were Americans.  Andy then showed her a picture of what she looks like from the back to explain the mystery.  Unbeknownst to Di, one of us had stuck the small flag into the top of her backpack, thereby making her nationality much less a mystery than might be supposed.

Di proclaims her nationality (photo credit: Andy)

Andy and Ben in awe of the enormous jackhammer

Me doing my best Winston impersonation (photo credit: Jen)

We had walked back to the car and it was now time for the kids to go.

Ben's bike up on the car

Jen smartly get others to put her bike on the car

One last picture before they go

And they are off

Di and I greatly enjoyed having Andy, Jen and Ben with us for these last three and a half days.  Everything we did just seemed like a lot more fun simply because we were all together.  A parent gets to enjoy events two ways: as they participate in the event itself and as they see their children enjoy the event.  Parents never truly stop marveling at how their children experience the world.

After the kids left, Di and I didn't know what to do so we decided to do nothing.  We went back to the hotel room and lounged for a bit.  Di did some laundry and then we lounged some more.  Finally, at about 5pm, we decided to head out to find some food.

Di in a town square

We walked for close to two hours before desperation led us to choose Cask Restaurant And Pub.  That's not the real name.  I couldn't remember the real name so I made one up.  The food there was very good (not actually as bad as the made-up name's acronym would suggest).   I can remember what I had: corn chowder and fish and chips.  I can't remember what Di had.  I'm going to zoom in on the picture below to see if I can make it out.

Okay, now I remember.  She had British Bangers.


We headed back to our room after our meal and we called it a day.

Hanging in our room with laundry

Tomorrow Truro.  It is over 60 miles from Halifax, but we have been pretty lazy lately and should be rested enough for a good ride.  I'm sure we'll miss Jen and Ben inspiring us to ride with alacrity and also Andy carrying our bags and bringing us goodies along the way.

Day 21: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Day 21: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 3, 2016

Miles: 71 driving

Wolfville to Halifax




Leaving the Blomidon Inn was hard to do this morning.  We found ourselves just relaxing this morning; we ate complimentary fruits and assorted breads and drank coffee and orange juice - Steve, Jen and me.  The guys slept in, but not too much later they joined us - unfortunately they did missed breakfast.  It was after 12:30p when we checked out.  At this point, we wanted to visit the town of Wolfville before heading out to Halifax.  So we packed the car and set off to explore the pennisula.  So here I am correcting my mistake calling Nova Scotia an island in my previous blog entry. A mistake I paid dearly for the past two days ;)

 

Our first stop was to get second breakfast (first breakfast for the guys) at a place that offered 20+ crepe assorted recipes.  This place Andy recommended based on his research from the previous night.  It was a place we had past on the road that peaked all of our interest, and was the recommendation from the hotel as well. 

Steve ordered a crepe from the sweet category, and the rest of us ordered from the savory category.  Jen a salmon and poached egg crepe, Ben smoked salmon and cream cheese, Andy a roast beef, onion and cheese, and me thai spicy-chicken with cheddar.  Both Jen's crepe and mine were made with buckwheat (GF).

Steve's sweet breakfast dessert

After breakfast we walked down Main Street before deciding on a cafe to get another coffee; the kids said they would meet up with us in a few minutes, but first they wanted to check out the place just next to the cafe.   

Main Street

So Steve and I went into the cafe and ordered a coffee.

Then after about 20 minutes, the kids hadn't should up so we decided to go looking for them.  Well, this is how we found them (below).  Sitting at a bar enjoying a cider tasting - four different brews.  They had forgotten all about us; no wait, not really, they just had priorities!  They're on vacation afterall.

Three big smiles :)))

Ben bought this baseball cap that he liked and wore all day.  He had been looking for a cap and here in Wolfville he stumbed upon the perfect choice.

We decided to head to our next location, the Look Out.  A place with the most spectacular views of Nova Scotia.  It was about 15 minutes from downtown Wolfville. Steve checked and secured the bikes, and we were again on the move.

Here is a panoramic that Andy took on his cell phone from the Look Out.  A spectacular view of Nova Scotia.

Now below a series of shots of all of us.

The three musketeers

Brother and sister

Di and Steve in the middle

Just the two of us

A's selfie

It took us about an hour to get to Halifax.  It was about 60 miles from Wolfville. We arrived in Halifax at about 4:00p.  We checked into the hotel and decided to bring our bikes to our room and get situated; we even had time to see a wimbledon match and the highlights of the Tour de France.  The kids didn't want to waste anytime, so they set out right away to explore the city. Their first stop - to get poutine (taking Brian's advice), then to a candy store (taking Nannie's advice)!  No pics of their candy selections, sorry, but it involved canadian smarties, caramel and hazel nut, coffee crisp and one other that I cannot remember. 

An hour later, we were all back together on the wharf roaming about and taking in the sights. It was a beautiful night.  The weather was just perfect!  

Father and daughter

Andy found himself in need to help a small yacht dock.  It had twin motors, and one motor had died.  The captain of the yacht was having a hard time docking with just a single motor, and the slight wind made it difficult for him to control the boat.  Andy help the captain navigate the boat to the dock and then tied down one of the lines.

Ben decided to climb the giant Wave sitting in the middle of the square. Here is Ben on top celebrating.  Some might think that this doesn't look like a giant Wave, but looks like something else; trust me it is the back side of a giant Wave with the wave break is on the opposite side.   I know ... just imagine it.

So at this point, we had worked up an appetite.  We searched for a place, but we didn't have to look to far.  We found the perfect place close by that served seafood and beer.

Here is Steve with three beer samples.

Here we are eating fresh local oysters.

We forgot to take a picture of dinner.  Between all of us our selections were - grouper, haddock, fish and chips, mussels, and lobster.  Tonight we decided to get dessert - ice cream.  We found an ice cream parlor 15 blocks from the restaurant.  I ordered coffee ice cream with chocolate chips (my favorite), and Jen coffee ice cream and pistachios ice cream mixed.

Yummy!

A cool cubby

So now it is late and Steve and I said goodnight to the kids.  They decided to make one more stop - to a beer garden not far from the hotel. They wanted a final night cap before leaving Halifax and ending their vacation (its good to be young).  We headed back to the hotel.  We had our priorities.  We had a blog to publish!

We had a wonderful day exploring Nova Scotia with Andy, Jen and Ben. We covered a lot of ground, seeing and experiencing so much.  This place is a real gem - quiet, clean and naturally beautiful.  It is the first time visiting Nova Scotia for all of us making the past few days very special.  Tomorrow the kids are leaving sometime before noon, but we really don't want to think about that right now, so more to come tomorrow!