Travelling in Style with our own personal Tour Guide Extrodinaire! September 13, 2012

Before I begin, Ken and I would like to wish Dana and Linda Coulombe (our East Coast Travelling Guelph Buddies!!) a very Happy Anniversary!  We hope your day was exceptional in Annapolis Valley and Fundy Lobster with the local wines made your day complete!

Today was a day of travel, but this time we had our own personal tour guide - Davis Edwards!  If you are going to see foreign land - anytime, anywhere, we'd highly recommend finding a local and get off the beaten track!  Ken and I are pretty sure we saw parts of this province most, if not all of our friends and relatives who have travelled this way has never seen before!  What an amazing day!

Leaving Davis' house at about 8:15 this morning, we headed north then west through the Cumerland County.  We travelled on highways we have already travelled on, but this was just to take us into the thick of the county which revealed landscape one could only dream of.  Our destination for the day was a cheese factoy call "That Dutchman", which Davis raved about and insisted was a MUST STOP kind of place, then onto Parrsboro. Davis however pushed the envelop and we made it as far as Cape Chignecto just off the Minas Channel.  This is the most western point of Nova Scotia and contains some of the most breathtaking views you can imagine.



Famous Post Card picture found at
artist Joy Laking's Studio

 While travelling we shyly shared our adventures of being lost in Urbania, of which his wit only teased us more as we drove by the exit.  Truro, a place where we just made it through on the day of those nasty rains thanks to Hurricane Leslie was a quick fly through for us this time.  We since learned a Dyke busted at the seems flooding most of the lower lands of Truro.  The lakes and rivers, according to our resident guide, have never been seen to be as high as we were being witnessed today.  While travelling down the road, I made mention to Davis I would be interested in seeing some local quilts if he knew of any such crafters in the area.  It then seemed to become his purpose to find us a quilting place.  He suggested we stop by a local artist, Joy Laking, who specialized in water and oil landscapes of the region.  He hoped she might recommend someone to us.  Unfortunately she was not there, but her husband was, and even though they were not open, he let us in and we had an opportunity to view her studio and paintings.  We ended up purchasing 6 photograph cards of her works.

That Dutchman did not disappoint either!  Several tastings of their endless different twists on their Gouda Cheese and almost $100 later, and Ken and I set out again on the road.


That Dutchman knbows how to stir the pot!

Portapique was the start of the most winding roads which teased us with scenic views overlooking Cobequid Bay at low tide.  We stopped in Bass River (the town, not the middle of the water) and enjoyed a delicious lunch of fresh halibut, flounder and scallops which was beyond description.  I have never tasted scallops so perfectly cooked as these! 

After lunch, Davis asked our wait staff if she knew of any quilters in the area who would consider selling their craft to visitors.  She went back to the kitchen and reappeared in front of us with a name and address, after she had already contacted the crafter herself to see if we could drop in!  Sure enough, we headed down the road, only 2 farms away from where we dined and within minutes we were in Donna's kitchen watching her make fresh bread.  Apparently as soon as she received the call from the diner, she called Rose and asked her to come by to meet us.  No sooner were we smelling rising bread, Rose was there ready to drive us down the road to show us their communities collection of quilts in a little Baazar, where they sell their goods to tourists and travellers to raise money for their church and missions they support abroad.


Donna (L) and Rose (R) pose with our
25th Anniversary gift & memory quilt
to commemorate or trip

 Wanda, Lynne and Joyce, I am pretty sure at that very instant I died and went to quilters heaven!  Honestly!  The had what appeared to be a room the size of a community church quilts of all sizes, shapes, colours and meaning hanging from ever rack and rafter imaginable!  Now ladies, be assured I am not giving up on my 5 year quilt...but we bought one!  I am an East Coast Quilt Owner!!!  YAHOOO!  I fell in love with 3 of them, and the one we purchased, Ken picked out.  We've decided it's our 25th Anniversary gift to each other.  What a way to remember our trip.  Perfect for the trailer!

Onward to Lower Economy, where Davis pulled over for us to take a gazillion pictures of the Five Islands, a land formation of jetted out rocks from Cobequid Bay viewed in five different shapes and sizes that screamed to be explored, but remained untouched and preserved within the landscape.  Parrsboro was a quaint town with historical significance to the shipping industry and now stood largely as a fishing town in addition to housing folks of the health and education industries.


Look carefull and see the peer pillars
of days gone by!


We were making good time, so Davis carried on to Spencers Island where old peer pillars still jetted out of the water which used to stabilize the ships as they were being built.  In addition, I had my first ever opportunity to climb the stairs and experience the thrill of standing at the lighting deck of an operational lighthouse!  My small stature SQUEEZED through the final opening which allowed me to tower over both Davis and Ken with what was likely one of the biggest grins on my face ever to be seen!  In fact, I probably had to stop smiling as I was probably sending off some kind of Morse Code message to someone looking over the bay on the other side!

Our second last stop was at Cape d'Or  where three joining bodies of water converge in the bay at the same time and where tides meet obstacles on the shoreline and the sea floor which produces tremendous tidal disturbances causing the "Dory Rips".  Nature was definitely on our side once again!  As soon as we snapped our last photograph, the fog rolled in and we couldn't see a thing!  Water and land disappeared before our eyes.  It was so eerie, yet so majestic at the same time.

One minute blue sky, next minute,
can't seebefore our eyes!

The final stop of our "10 cent tour" was a provincial park called Cape Chignecto, a park open to only walk-in campers as the terrain is so rough and rugged, only the crazy folk camp here!  Just kidding, but you do need to be adventurous!

The Three Amigos share their love of
ice cream!

Davis chose to turn around and return home the way we came, this time removing all the photo opt stops along the way.  We returned in continuous awe of the landscape, while observing the bountiful blueberry fields (a source of dependence to the economy of this region) and wide rage of housing structures nestled with the landscape. 

It didn't take much arm twisting to convince Davis to stop and stretch our legs for a well deserved ice cream at a roadside booth, where the treat was deserved and enjoyed by all.  Ken took over the driving from here and we were safely back in Davis' driveway at 7:40, almost 12 hours later!

We started our day with the layered look of shorts, shirts, pullover sweaters and wind jackets, and by the time we were back we had striped down to the basic first layer.  Temperatures varied throughout the day, but we fluctuated in above and at sea level landscapes which warranted the layered apparrel.

Sharing this day with Ken and Davis has been a great treat.  Our plans beginning tomorrow are to leave the trailer behind and take Davis to a Bed and Breakfast in Lunenburg for the next 2 nights.  We hope to explore the South Shore in style with our local friendly Tour Guide close at hand.  We are so thankful for Davis' hospitality and have thoroughly enjoyed his wit and commentaries all day long.  The way Davis shares his knowledge so openly with us is incredible, and he often catches us up in our naivety and eagerness to learn.  Like I said, these East Coasters love to be witty!

"That's 'bout it"...talk to ya tomorrow,

Ken and Tricia