New England Trip

Today we played golf at Le Portage Golf Club in Cheticamp on the northwest coast of Cape Breton Island. It has been a long time since we played golf, and we were as rusty as we had feared. Among some beautiful shots, we had some really dreadful ones, and our scores were not worth reporting. We did take some pictures of the golf course, which was beautiful, and enjoyed the views of the highlands and occasional glimpses of the Bay of St. Lawrence.

On the way home, we stopped at a Co-op in the town of Cheticamp for groceries, and at a turn-out along the coast to take some pictures and enjoy the pounding surf. We got some fresh salmon to grill for dinner.

We were really tired when we got home, in part because we had gotten up at 3:30 a.m., hearing a strong wind, to retract the motor home awning so it wouldn’t be torn up by the wind. (Since he was up early for the awning retraction, Steve noticed that the sky began to lighten at 4:15 a.m. – a clear indication of how far north we are.) We did some housekeeping chores in preparation for tomorrow’s drive, then cooked the salmon and enjoyed it for dinner.

Tomorrow we are headed back to the southwest end of Nova Scotia, to the Cove Campground in Annapolis Royal, where we stayed before the drive to Cape Breton. After one night there, we will catch the ferry back to New River Beach, New Brunswick, where we stayed on our way up, then head for Bar Harbor, Maine for several days.

A puzzle for us has been the insect bites we have had in New Hampshire, Maine and Canada. A few times we have felt the bite when it happened, but other times we have just noticed bleeding at the site, or a terrible itch and large swollen welt that lasts for a several days and keeps itching. Insect repellent seems to help, but does not totally prevent these bites. We thought the Asian Tiger Mosquitoes in Georgia were bad, but they are weak compared to these critters!

Looking back at the blog on the Internet, we found that a part of the July 3 post was missing. Here is part of it. Maybe the server deleted it because it’s a quote from an Arlo Guthrie song.

All around here we are warned about wildlife. Road signs advise us to brake for moose, and warn that a collision could be fatal, not just for the moose. We haven’t seen a moose, but we did see a deer along the road not far from the campground entrance. At the campground dumpsters, a sign warns not to over-fill the dumpster, else we will be visited by critters – not the cuddly kind. We are also warned not to leave garbage outside at the campsite. The dumpster has been overflowing, and we haven’t seen any bears or other critters yet.

Here’s a little ditty Margaret has been trying to recite from memory along the road, and almost could. Anybody know if there’s a tune to this?

Mooses Come Walking by Arlo Guthrie

Mooses come walking over the hill Mooses come walking, they rarely stand still When mooses come walking they go where they will When mooses come walking over the hill Mooses look into your window at night They look to the left and they look to the right The mooses are smiling, they think it's a zoo And that's why the mooses like looking at you So, if you see mooses while lying in bed It's best to just stay there pretending you're dead The mooses will leave and you'll get the thrill Of seeing the mooses go over the hill.

1993 Arloco Music, Inc. (ASCAP)

A picture of the golf course follows.