8/19/09: Off Day in Cape Breton Highlands National Park at the Ingonish Campground, Nova Scotia.
Check out Barney’s blog on http://www.nwpassage2.blogspot.com/
Whoooo. Bad night last night. Woke up very early in the morning with some kind of throat thing going on. Kept me up for a while, and then I finally went back to sleep, only to hear the tender sound of Barney’s voice calling my name out at 7:15am. My legs, my body, my mind were totally cooked this morning!! I was suffering from just being so beaten down that I wanted nothing more than to just lay in the tent and totally veg all day long. But I got up, bid Ralph goodby, as he was riding back to Baddeck to complete the loop, and then heading back to Ontario by car. Then got on the bike and went to the Keltic Lodge for breakfast. No chance in giving that dinner place from last night a second at bat – I’d rather eat the ants, one at a freaking time, off of the pine tree next to my tent, than to stick my mug in nuthouse again. Rode out of the campground and up to the lodge. At first it looked as though the dining place wasn’t open for breakfast, but then we found out that the lodge, the hotel portion, it had a dining area to, so we rode another quarter mile up to that.
Very fancy place, and probably pretty expensive to stay in, being right on the periphery of one of Canada’s most famous parks. And this place IS as famous in Canada as say Rocky Mountain or Yellowstone is in the US. So we’re ushered into this very laid out dining area, and I see people down at the end at these massive buffet tables……..and my brain goes: “BUFFET!” Yes. And indeed it was, at the price of 17 bucks a head. Now when you think about it, and Barney mentioned this, that we’d been ordering 2 breakfasts for the past two weeks, it’s actually a better deal that what we had been getting for the 15 bucks. No need to convince me. I’m all about BUFFET. So what happens? I fill up a plate with eggs benedict, fatada, fish cakes, bacon, baked beans and sausages, and Barney………..granola, yogert, fresh fruit and a grapfruit. I looked at his plate and was totally disgusted with myself……..NOT! Zipped through that and then went for more fish cakes, two blueberry pancakes with blueberry sause and maple syrup, and then finished off with 2 plates of danishes. Add to that some great black coffee and I got my 17 bucks worth all right.
That was the kind of breakfast that can fill you up until dinner. Now, just between you and me…..I’m kind of hoping for a dinner buffet. So we’re sitting there, both sporting our newly filled Buda Bellies, and kind of taking it all in. And a guy from the next table asks us where we’re riding to, and Barney replies “to North Sidney.” And the guy’s like astonished, and tells his wife we’re riding to North Sidney on bikes. Doesn’t ask where we started, or where we’re ending, but just where are we going. Pretty funny. Neither of us added anything else to the conversation, figuring that he just didn’t get it. Finish up with the breakfast detail, and then we went into the lobby to get some very important wifi. No problem there and the signal was like a lighthouse beacon.
So I’m doing my business work, and Barney’s doing his blog, and we’re just listening second hand to all the goings ons around the front desk and the information desk of this fancy hotel. People are booking whale watching trips, asking directions to various places in the park and around the area, and so forth. And they have this youny fellow carrying out luggage for the guest etc. And the real kicker is that this preppy dude, probably Joe Golfer – there’s a big fancy course up here right next to the park and the lodge – asks the youny fellow if there’s a shuttle back to the main parking area, that one that was about a quarter mile down the road. And we’re sitting here in a national park that’s noted for it’s outstanding hiking and biking, and this lead ass needs a shuttle back to his car after a buffet breakfast. Got to rest up for the back nine!! Funny how jaded you can get after riding a bike for thousands of miles huh? But Barney and I both though it was amazing.
Well, we’re just having a great morning sitting in there doing our computer work after a stellar breakfast, and I mention to Barney that this would be a great place to just take an off day. We only have about 74 miles to get to North Sidney to meet the gang. Need I say more. Bareny was sold on the idea within the second. Done. Recovery day in the park. After 9 straight days of riding, I really needed this one. So we finished up and rode back to camp. I just pulled out my thermarest from the tent with my pillow, and put them on a picnic table and snoozed while Barney went for a hike to the beach area. After a good hour on and off snoozing, and by 11am the heat was kicking in and I was in need of doing something other than sleeping all day. So I decided to go to the beach and check things out, while Barney went back to the Keltic Lodge for a brew and a moderate hike to the point.
I hit the beach and it was very nice and sandy, but just filled with people and had just way too much action for me, so I hiked off towards the rocky coastline for my own little private utopia. Hiked about a mile over the boulders and cobbles, and up along some low rocky cliffs. Found a wonderful little cove secluded from everything, with my own private bathtub that filled in with water every few minutes with these big, splashing waves of water, just filling the thing way beyond capacity. This was a “bathing suit optional area” thank you. I stepped down into the pool during one of the lulls in the tidal action and it was about shoulder deep and just fantastic. Did my dip and then climbed out to dry off in the very hot August sun. Got dry, and then dipped again. After that I just found this natural “recliner seat” amidst the rocks, about 4 feet above the gurgling caldren of ocean water and took a nap for about an hour in the sun. It was glorious just listening to the waves splashing just a few feet below me. At times sea spray would hiss up into the air and very lightly rain down on me. Not a soaking, but a very very light misting of sea spray. Fabulous.
Was pretty hard to finally leave this wonderful little piece of paradise. But I wanted to shower, wash disgusting cycling garb and get some business work done at the camp’s pavilion. So I hiked up and out of the cove and back onto the Keltic Lodge roadway, and then back to the hiking trail that we took down into the bay from the campground. Forecast for today was for 94 degrees and sun. And it was all of that by the time I got back to camp. Let the cloths just air dry in the hot sun by our tents while I came into the pavilion to work in the shade. There’s electicity in here, so I’m just sitting at a picnic table with the door open for a nice breeze and working away.
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