Jeanette and I left Victoria on a flight leaving at 7:30 in the evening of the 25th, for Halifax. We were both thinking that this is a much more civilized hour to have to be at the airport. The next morning I think we both changed our minds. Neither of us had slept much on the plane so were kind of like zombies all day. We had arrived at about 7 am Halifax time….actually 3 am Victoria time. Maybe that was why we were out of it. Not my usual time for rising.

First leg…..to Calgary. I haven’t flown West Jet for quite some time. I don’t know if this time was any different than any other WJ flight but man, the pilot was just a gum-booting it down the runway, almost squealing his tires on the turn before immediately taking off. You’d think he was anxious to get home to a hot date….lol! That plane left right on time….amazing….doesn’t happen often! Second leg….to Halifax. We had a half hour delay in taking off….they had to I think, fix a relay or some such thing, so we sat in a totally quiet cabin with only emergency lights on….for a very short while. Not a big deal….just different.

Arrival in Halifax…..brrrr….only 7 C. Okay, I hope the weather smartens up. We picked up a rental car at the airport. Does anyone know that when you pick up a car at the airport, that there is a $236 concession recovery fee? One thing or another, the price doubled from what we were quoted as being the total. Not happy about that! Although we both wanted to get to our hotel, which wasn’t a hotel but a hostel ……the dorms at University of Kings College, we couldn’t get into the room until noon, so we hiked up to the Citadel and around the rim…..didn’t go in……we’ll do that another day. Too pooped! Didn’t really do much of anything that day, Tuesday the 26th.

Wednesday the 27th, we went for our first breakfast …..as provided. We met a mother and son from Manitoba, a young woman from Finland and a woman (she forgot to blend the heavy dark eyeshadow) my age, from Texas…..travelling on her own. At first, the Texas drawl was annoying….for lack of a better word, but what a gutsy lady! She told us about driving a few years ago ….on her own….in September, to Lake Louise, using her gps, getting stuck in the mud when it got her lost and having to spend the night in her car. She had to keep starting the car throughout the night because she kept getting cold. That day we drove down to Lunenburg. The last time I was there was 3 days after Floyd died. We had come all of this way to join in the celebrations that marked the 250 anniversary of the landing of immigrants from Europe. My mothers family was amongst them. Needless to say it was not a very happy time in my life for that visit. This time it was beautifully warm….as high as 30 C, blue skies, etc. We walked along the waterfront, up the hills and along the old town’s streets with it’s beautiful old homes, so lovingly crafted. Many were getting a fresh paint job. I wouldn’t imagine that with the extremes in temperatures, the humidity and nasty storms, that a paint job lasts for very many years. We saw the “Bluenose” come into port and leave with a full boatload of passengers that wanted to experience being on the lovely sailing ship. We……were not fast enough to get to go. From there we drove along the windy country roads to Mahone Bay. There isn’t much to the town but the harbour is beautiful. From there we headed to Peggy’s Cove, stopping at the memorial for the crash of Swiss Air that went down on Sept 2/98 with all 229 on board. What a marked difference when we got out of the car to see it! Suddenly it 18C and blowing a gale. Brrrrr! From that vantage point one could see the little hamlet of Peggy’s Cove with its signature lighthouse. The humongous smooth rocks that jut out into the sea, were being lambasted with waves. There are signs all over warning about the possibility of being sucked into the ocean by unpredictable wave action. One had to be careful not to get blown over by the wind, into the sea.

Thursday June the 28th. Today was cool…..had to put on longer pants. We drove over to Windsor so that Jeanette could visit an old friend of her family’s…….a lady named Veronica and then to Wolfville where Pam’s mom lives…when she isn’t out west visiting Pam. We will be back to see Shirley on our way back from PEI ….when heading home. In Wolfville you can see the tidal bore where water lowers and rises as much as 16 metres (52 feet) at the head of the bay. The current is equal to all the rivers and streams on Earth …..combined. Again our timing was off. It was very low when we arrived and an hour and half later when we were leaving, it was full. See pictures on Facebook!