My June Vacation. (56k stay away!)

[alhope34]

This is going to be a long post, with lots of pictures.

Well first off, my vacation to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia was not my first. I usually go up with my family once a year, this time being my first vacation on my own. I took my Fiance last year, and went with her this year, too. She lives in Baie-Comeau, QC for those of you who don't know, about a 14 hour drive away, 1280kms one-way to her place.

Anyway, I didn't take any picture on the way to her place, all boring main highways, anyway. So here is where we started. Baie-Comeau is on the north side of the St. Lawrence, so we had to drive an hour farther north-east to Godbout, QC. Much of the highway looked like this...

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2090.jpg

So we arrived at the ferry, snapped a few more pictures...

My car waiting politely in line.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2097.jpg

The shore in Godbout.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2099.jpg

My Fiance. Her name is Eloise.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2102.jpg

For some reason she wanted a picture of me, so here I am!
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2103.jpg

Anyway, after we spent 2 1/2 hours on the ferry, we arrived at Matane, QC. From there we headed out towards the New Brunswick border.

These are just some random roads and fields taken by Eloise from the car. I picked the best pictures out of about 2gb worth.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2107.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2111.jpg

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Well, after all that things started going downhill weather-wise. It started raining a lot New Brunswick is mostly boring, and by the time we got to the good highways on CB Island, it was dark. So no more pictures until the next day in Sydney. This is my parent's cottage/summer home in Sydney. Not bad for $20,000, eh?

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2121.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2123.jpg


So after spending a day in Sydney, we decided to hit the road again for the 2 hour drive to Ingonish, to stay in my Aunt's trailer on my Grandmother's lawn, where we'd stay for a week.

First, just two random highway shots I liked.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2126.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2127.jpg

Here we are about 1/2 way up Kelly's Mountain, at a sight-seeing stop thing.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2130.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2131.jpg

Just over the top of Kelly's...
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2133.jpg

And on the way down...
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2134.jpg

Waiting for the English Town Ferry. $5 each time you want to cross that 100ft of water!!
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2136.jpg

Here's the view from the car heading up Smokey Mountain. Now we're on the Cabot Trail where the real driving is!
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2144.jpg


See next post...

[alhope34]

Here we are again, still heading up Smokey.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2145.jpg

Now on the other side, just driving the Cabot Trail, still on the way to Ingonish, My personal paradise.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2151.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2154.jpg

So we get to Ingonish, spend the first night, all nice and fine. So the next day, one of my cousins from Sydney drive to Ingonish in his new '07 3.5L charger, gets me to drive it, try it out. MUCH slower than I ever imagined, BTW.

So my cousin and his 4 friends were staying at a camp site a 10 minute drive from my Grandmother's house. So Eloise and I visit. Ok, two of his friends have never seen my car yet and ask for a drive...I bet you can smell trouble here. Well, I take them, and I admit I was cruising around 100km/h in the 80 zone, most of the Cabot is 80km/h. So I come up behind buddy going 70km/h. Well, this won't do for a show-off drive! Next broken yellow I got was MAYBE 100 meters, so I went to pass. And when I say I went to pass, I mean I passed with a vengeance, let all the horses in my car run free and wild flat out to the floor. My car snarled and grunted in glee, happily taking all the throttle I was suggesting to it by the DBW system. Pass the Ford Contour containing the seniors, they had no chance! I got back to my right lane in time and was just about to hit the brake and slow down, but what's this car comming around the corner ahead??

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/89843536.jpg

...DARNIT!!! WRONG TIME TO PASS!!!

Long story short, I got a $400 ticket, 3 demerit points, and a month after the ticket was issued my license was suspended for a week. Now, what, oh what, is the only thing to make it better? Yes, in a town of ~50 houses, this RCMP is my Grandmother's neighbour. I can see his cruiser from where I park!

So after that was all done and over with, Eloise and I decided to have a nice drive over to Cheticamp, an Acadian town on the west side of the Island.

Just some shots of the Cabot along the way.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2163.jpg

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http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2201.jpg

Next post...

[alhope34]

More pictures on the way to Cheticamp. (It's actually pronounced Shet-ee-camp)

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2206.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2210.jpg

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http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2213.jpg


So we're just on the outskirts of Cheticamp. We stop for an outhouse break, and after that just head into town for some pizza then go back to Ingonish. We got all the good picture on the way there, so didn't bother for any on the way back. These pictures are just from the outhouse stop.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2215.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2216.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2217.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2218.jpg


The way back was also a bit foggy, as happens from time to time.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2226.jpg

Got back to Ingonish at night, not too much to say for a couple days, do some fishing. Look what I caught on my first cast into the great Atlantic Ocean!
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2229.jpg

We took a trip up the Cabot a bit to a freshwater lake, called Warren's Lake. I did some fishing for river trout, got 4 decent sized ones. Didn't get too many pictures because Eloise was busy fighting for her life from the mosquitoes.

Me fishing...
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2237.jpg

And my catch, our dinner back at the trailer.
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2239.jpg

Well, we headed back to Matane to get the ferry again, nothing too special along the way. Just after I passed back to the main land, there was a monstrous thunder shower. a section of road was washed out right in front of me, barely missed falling into oblivion. But, I am still here to tell my tale, so all is fine. Back through south-eastern Quebec, remember that field of Dandelions? Well, after two weeks, there was this:

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2266.jpg

I don't know, I just found it funny.

Well, here it is, the end of the story and last picture. This is back at Eloise's apartment building, I'm parked right beside her balcony. I leave for home 2 days later, nothing special arises except my blown right rear shock problem, which I got fixed under warranty when I got home.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/PICT0015.jpg

Well, that's it, the end of my 2008 vacation. Thanks for reading this long!

[chu]

Looks good the pictures are awsome, makes me wanna go travel.

[07three]

Man those roads look so inviting to put the medal to the floor. Pics are top notch. Hope you had a good holiday.

[kaval]

Amazing documentary! Too bad about that ticket! :(

[FONZ]

Ahh Brings back Memories, while looking at the pictures from Cabot Trail and Sheticamp.



Nice to hear you had a blast Allan!

[Unoriginalusername]

cabbot trail ftw

[tweak_s]

wow looked awesome man.

[bubba1983]

i miss the east coast now!!

[thesober]

Thanks for sharing :)

[MattC]

lmao oh shit, i bet you are glad you didnt get that ticket in toronto.

[mleblond]

either way it's not the type of ticket you want on your record. Fight it big guy!!!

[Fobio]

great pics...always wanted to drive the Cabot Trail...but if I go, I'll go WITH protection!

just wondering, if you fight the ticket, maybe by the time court date comes around, it'll be perfect for your next trip there...

[3GFX]

Looked like a great trip! That sucks about the ticket, good thing it wasn't in Ontario or you would have lost your car!!! I really envy the roads you drove on, some of those looked like they were achin for a drivin!

[ds2chan]

wow.. nice pics.. the summer home sure comes in handy.. hopefully it won't blow away during a tornado.. =P



http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/alhope34/NS%202008/100_2226.jpg

Looks like a scene from the movie The Mist (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884328)

[alhope34]

The ticket is done and paid for, and so far the insurance company hasn't called me to hike my rates. I'm hoping they don't do an abstract on the next renew.

Unlike Ontario, Nova Scotia cops get a couple days a month specifically for court dates for tickets, and issue a court date and time on the spot (it's actually written right on the ticket, if you can see it clear enough). My date was July 14th, 10am, in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. That's about 45 minutes from Sydney. No way I could have gotten back there. Oh well, live and learn.

[Hypothrml]

Those twisties looks amazing, wish I could take my R6 out there!

[alhope34]

Those twisties looks amazing, wish I could take my R6 out there!

Haha, you'd have enough twisties on the straight parts just dodging the 4" deep pot holes. The roads are terrible out there. Some of the corners, the hump in the middle of the road is a good 5" tall. A lot of you lowered and lip'd guys would scrape on them, some spots I had to ride almost on the small gravel shoulder to my right so my left wheels would ride the top of the humps. Only smooth parts of the Cabot were around the mountains, where I got all of the pictures.