102km today, 70km of it before breakfast. Bron a bit hangry by then.
We shared a croissant in the motel before heading out of Halifax early to get ahead of the traffic. But it was foggy, and busy anyway. Breakfast was supposed to be at 37km but the chosen cafe was closed for the long weekend so we just pressed on towards lunch in the charming town of Windsor with just a Circle K (think garage) coffee to fill the hole along the way. And we stopped for a stroll through a roadside tailgate market that yielded nothing but fun conversations and relief that we didn’t need any of the wares – from golfballs to rusty tools to a high chair that had seen many meals and better days.
We were happy to climb towards blue sky then descend to the west coast and wine country. The landscape was all scrubby woodlands, lakes, fields and neat clapboard houses and churches.
A stop at the Tangled Garden was delightfully whimsical – herbs, wildflower ice cream and wind chimes. Then on to the historical site of Grand Pre which stands on land reclaimed from the sea by the Acadians and cultivated ever since, even though they were deported in 1755 for trying to stay neutral in the Anglo-French war. They went south and their name became anglicized to Cajun in places like Louisiana.
We tried to ride the Harvest Moon trail for a bit but almost all trails in the province are closed to keep people from setting fire to the woods in an unusually dry spell. But we still got to the Tattingstone Inn in time for happy hour cocktails, a welcome shower and stroll back to town for great dinner at local restaurant Troy. The heavens opened over our dinner table so we can hope the fires will now be controlled and trails opened.
Today: 101km, climb 867m
Total distance: 4,515km
Trans Canada Epic 