Terri and Peter's RV Adventures

This is where the trip is starting to get really interesting. I’ve never been this far north and east on the North American continent. We left Halifax wanting more; more time, more information, more experiences. Maybe another day? For now, we are acting like this may be our only time in this area and I’m glad we adjusted our schedule to go there, if just for one full day.

Here’s a map of this segment of our trip for those of you who want a sense of where we’ve been and where we’re going.

We made another adjustment to our trip; a major one and I’m thrilled. This has been a real lesson in making reservations and yet being flexible and innovative to make changes based on the moment and experience of a place. When I was planning this trip and making reservations in January, I had little understanding of the Maritimes’ geography. I felt compelled to lock in ferry dates to Newfoundland, Parks Canada campsites and other campgrounds that looked desirable and might book up quickly. What I’ve found is that being very early in the season, commercial campsites are available for same day reservations. That’s why we could make arrangements earlier this week to leave Alma, NB and go to Halifax for two nights and our current destination, Arm of Gold Campground in Little Bras d’or Nova Scotia on Cape Breton for one night.

Once we arrived at Arm of Gold, I’d been stressing about not having a dog-friendly cabin for the seven hour ferry ride to Newfoundland at 11:30 pm tomorrow night. They would have to be in separate crates in a hold area and we would be sailing all night. None of that appealed to me. Call it divine inspiration but I thought I’d call Marine Atlantic and just see if they had any pet friendly cabins for tomorrow morning’s sail. Turns out they have four and that rather than leaving at 7:45 am like they do weekdays, they leave at 11:45 am, a much more civilized hour considering you have to be there two hours ahead of sailing. After a discussion of pros and cons, Peter agreed to making the change. I called the campground at Port aux Basque in Newfoundland and secured a site tomorrow night, a few minutes from the ferry landing.

I’m learning the balancing act of having the security of a reservation without feeling locked in without the ability to make a change. So far, it’s working great.

One reason Peter was so reluctant to leave this campground, Arm of Gold, is because it has acres and acres of green, green grass, bordered by an “arm” of water and very few campers. When we arrived, the owner apologized because the “washrooms” as they call them, and the laundry were both being remodeled. He was clearly frustrated calling his contractors crazy and feeling like he was in a reality tv show. I said, “Oh, it’s a shit show?” He replied, “That’s what I would have called it but I was trying to be polite.” He also said he just invested thousands in an upgraded wifi and it still wasn’t working. So he discounted our full service (power, water and sewer), pull through, view of the water site with no one around, to $30. That’s 1/3 of what we would have otherwise been charged especially in the US. With our beautiful rig and Starlink, we’re set!

So, we are basking in this lovely spot that’s clearly heaven on earth for Lily’s nonstop retrieval needs and Cali can meander, both without leashes. It’s quiet, peaceful, and the views spectacular. It’s 8:30 pm and still light out.

One aside, we stopped to make lunch along a pull out near water, and a truck with Manitoba plates pulled up in the next picnic spot. A middle aged man and older woman got out with fishing poles hoping to catch mackerel. Peter made an off handed joke saying that we love Canada and don’t approve of what our country is doing. Turns out the woman is the Canadian equivalent of a MAGA person. With a wild eyed look, she started railing about all the murders around here and at least Trump is taking care of crime. She said Canada is a communist country, with all the taxes and regulations. I could go on but you get the idea. I asked to take her picture and she primped herself up and posed. You decide. Sassy? Crazy? Personality? Interesting.

I’ll write tomorrow’s blog on the ferry. Thank you for following along and for those who observe, Shabbat Shalom.