road trip to the Maritimes

it could be worse

I'm sure everyone has some bad travel stories, but like life you can accept what you can't change, be grateful because you know it could be worse, and you can grow stronger and closer to those with you...or you can cry...  if you have to cry, do it (in a blog?) and then find some silver linings, there are always some :)

Saturday was the LOST race, we wanted to be off, starting our road trip as soon as we could after.  Of course I extremely underestimated our turn around time, I actually hoped to be on the road by noon, when in fact we didn't even get home from the race until noon.  Bill was last off the course as he was zipping around on the zodiac picking up all the buoys.  Thanks to Denyse for helping me get the other car from the start to the finish before the swim wrap-up.  Then I kayaked the little ways up the river to the boat ramp to get the kayak on the other car.  While Bill got the boats secured, I did the little walk around to my car, really trying to look like a LOST swimmer, with a towel skirt, and wet messy hair on the street!  Once home we still had to pack (I also underestimated my ability to get that done the night before), eat (I was starving after my mini-multisport event - registrations, swim, kayak, walk) and do a quick house tidy.  At least I had my "things to bring" list and so far haven't noticed anything we forgot to pack.  We were on the road by 5pm.

We went through Montreal in the middle of the night, it was still busy though, I was glad Bill was still driving then and also when the real bump in the road got us next:  going up a hill the engine revved really high - was it all the weight on the car from 2 bikes (Bill was changing the hitch so we could bring a 3rd bike, but the hitch lock busted, in hindsight this may have been a good thing), a luggage bag and a kayak too? Then it happened again, no that's not right even with our road trip weight, so we pull over to the side of the road (before exit 123 - now my unlucky #s) Turn the car off and back on but it won't go into gear, we aren't going anywhere!  It is midnight, it is dark, we get out of the car and go behind the guardrail for safety, it is cold, we pull some warm clothes out (my swim parka comes in handy - holding Dahlia in my arms it warms both of us)  We call CAA (which having never used before, it was a bit of silver lining that I found my membership card in my purse) and wait for a tow truck.  Cadence is extremely helpful when the French speaking tow truck driver arrives.  He allows all 4 of us to pile in the tow truck beside him and takes us to Canadian Tire (or else Cadence mistranslated and he didn't know how to tell us to get out once we had squished in).  It is now 2am, there is a hotel just over the highway the tow truck driver offers to take us to, but we decided to sleep it out in the car.  What could make a family closer than snuggling into a Matrix for the night in a Canadian Tire parking lot?  Silver lining: we are together and safe (car doors are locked).  Dahlia and I get the back seat, oh to be 5 yrs old again, she slept like a log - on me (a big heavy log, she's tiny but didn't feel so light during the wee hours of the morning ;) ) I was a bit cold even with my parka and Dahlia's body heat, Bill and Cadence faired okay though or at least grinned and bared it. 
We heard Canadian Tire employees arriving for work (silver lining: they were open on Sunday), we brushed our teeth in the parking lot and then went in with fingers crossed for a quick fix and we could be back on the road again... but this was a grey cloud, it was one delay after another, we were going to be here overnight so we grab some stuff from the car, and hike to the hotel (silver lining: great bike/walking path, which we came to know very well by the end of our stay)  All the things we needed were within walking distance including a place to buy beer (mush easier in Quebec to find)  We waited in the lobby for our room to be ready, letting Dahlia run a bit wild, hoping that would speed things up (maybe we should have tried this tactic in Canadian Tire)  Originally the wait regarding the car was for the technician who wasn't in on Sunday, when we went back Monday morning, they had ordered the part, expected it that afternoon and they hoped to be able to have the car ready by 9pm, but it depended on the arrival of the part.  That made it a little hard for us to know if we should rent the room for another night, but we decided we would rent it so we would have a place to rest for the day and then be ready to drive through the night (Monday) if it was done, if not done we would have a place to stay for the night... Except we did not anticipate that we would have trouble getting a room on a Monday night, but our hotel was already full.  There was a hotel next door, so we packed up and walked to the next hotel, on the way we notice all these signs for a convention, our hope was draining.  This hotel was full too.  We ask about other hotels and there is one not too far down the road but we ask if he could call and check on its availability instead of walking with our bags, and it too was full.  At this point we really doubt with our current luck that our car will be fixed tonight, we have time to waste being hopeful though, we go for lunch taking longer than normal to enjoy our meal; then we find that the nearby St Huberts has a little outdoor patio area - we make it our home for a few more hours.  Cadence was embarrassed at how homeless I looked as I lay on the grass and rested.  After failing to get through to an English speaking person in the automotive department at Canadian Tire on the phone, Dahlia and I make the trek back over the highway for an update.  The update was not what we hoped for.  When they took out the clutch they found the fly-wheel needed to be re-surfaced.  The fly-wheel needed to be out-sourced, would add a bit more to our bill and meant we would not be on the road for another day and we had no place to sleep.  I ask them to help find us a place to stay since we had been unable to find one.  It took awhile but eventually he told us he found something but it was not in walking distance so we would need to take a cab.  We had a very nice cab driver, but got slightly nervous when he made a comment about the motel we were going to not being like the one we had stayed in the night before... and it was very sketchy- Cadence figured she would sleep standing up when she first walked in.  The 6 channel tv had 3 French stations 2 English stations and 1 porn station (universal language I suppose) - a little awkward when you are flipping through channels with your kids!  We made it through the night and returned via another cab to the Canadian Tire to find our car still raised up and would not be ready until noon -probably; I was starting to distrust any thoughts of When we would be able to get back on the move.  More hanging around, this time in Tim Horton and finally we received a call that the car was ready, what a sight to see it out front.  And we were on the road again at noon on the dot - if you can believe it! (only 60hours after breaking down)
Bill was a driving machine, knocking off the kilometers, our breaks were quick, we cut through Maine on some nice hilly windy roads... It grew dark, Bill kept going.  I didn't take a turn in the drivers seat until we hit New Brunswick, and as soon as I did it started to pour rain.  I hate driving in the rain when it is dark, what kind of luck was I having!  Even though I was driving pretty slow, Bill very considerately said "don't worry about it, at least we are moving forward" and it really helped calm me and I drove all the way through New Brunswick, turning off just shy of the Confederation Bridge (see below for more on this Maritime location) and over to Nova Scotia where we had a couple more hours of driving, before finally making it to this "way out there" (not even on the map) cottage at 5am in the morning.  P.S. I think Bill & I might apply for the Amazing Race Canada!

we are here - beer
& walk in the ocean

We flopped into bed for a few hour.  Having missed so much time with my parents, sister and new brother-in-law, I found I couldn't sleep very long.  Once up. we went out our lane to the beach, Ariana and Adam had warned us of the mosquitoes, it was foggy and a bit chilly, not the most welcoming after the long drive, but it was great to walk around and to have arrived!

nice place for a picnic

The next day was brighter, Bill and I did a little morning ride down to the wharf, where with the many lobster cages it felt like Nova Scotia.  Then we all went on a road trip to the Digby neck.  Bill and our car got a break as my dad and Adam did the drive.  We arrived in the city of Digby at low tide, things would look very different when we came back for dinner.  Then we made our way down this little spit of land known as the Digby neck, stopping at high cliff cove, for a little hike to our beautiful picnic destination. 

Cadence and her lobster claw

Dahlia and Ariana at Sandy Cove
Digby neck, Nova Scotia

Then we went on to Sandy Cove, a sweet beach, although no one was swimming, the kids found lobster claws and nice shells and we watched at how quickly the water made its way up to where we were sitting on the beach, Dahlia's little sand castle got washed away and once the water made us move, we were ready to go back to Digby for dinner, right at high tide, a very different view from earlier in the day.

Lynn & Stacey before swimming
across the Northumberland Strait

The next day, Friday, Lynn and Stacey swam across the Northumberland Strait from New Brunswick to PEI along the Confederation Bridge.  This was something I had intended to swim with them (and Bill intended to kayak).  The coincidence of being in the Maritimes at the same time was too much for me to pass up on.  A 4 hour drive to the swim originally seemed not so bad and to close to miss, but then after the delays we encountered, the long drive just days prior to their swim, the missed days with the extended family, a 4 hours drive for a 7am swim start (we would need to arrive approx. an hour prior) then a 12.7k swim (the girls made quick work of it in 5 hours, but the window of time you need to give yourself is much more) and then another 4 hour drive back, only to have to pack up and be back on the road the next morning for the beginning of the trip home; it was no longer feasible, fair or logical.  It was however disappointing, regardless of the reasonableness of not taking part.  It is hard to be left on shore, it is hard to feel you aren't there supporting, working with, and pushing and pulling with the team. 

the PEI news

On another level it was hard because of the cause "we" were swimming for: Diabetes.  Stacey has diabetes and accomplishing this swim along with 2 previous ironman is truly amazing.  I have learned things about Diabetes from her and seen some of what she must do to manage it instead of having it manage her.  I was going to swim with another diabetic in mind, my sister-in-law, who has been a wonderful supporter of Bill and I when we do races or athletic adventures and in training for them.  My sister-in-law has been struggling with her diabetes recently in particular, having her toe removed and this swim was suppose to be for her, so on this higher level I am also very disappointed.  But back to the silver linings, my friends Lynn and Stacey were successful; I really enjoyed training with them; and am extremely thankful to them for getting me excited about trying a swim event again.  Prior to training for this, I wasn't sure I would ever want to swim more than 5k again or sure if I could, but we did accomplish at 13k training swim back in Lake Ontario in preparation and these steps are greatly appreciated by me.  So congrats to my friends Lynn and Stacey, I was with you in spirit and I am so proud of you both!

So before we knew it, it was time to depart and head back home, but there was one stop I really wanted to make, that was at the Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick, so we made a stay-over of it and visited the Flowerpot rocks.  It was magnificent, at low tide, you go down and walk among these fabulous rock formations on the ocean floor.  I love seeing things like this - the power of water so visible, the formation of the land so incredible! 

 

great for dancing on the muddy ocean floor