Something is wrong with my karma. No sooner had I gotten off the boring trans-Canada Highway and gotten on a more scenic secondary road in Nova Scotia than I drove over a sharp piece of metal the size and approximate shape of a tiger claw. In less than three minutes, my right rear tire was completely flat.
Not knowing what to do, I called 911. They were most gracious about helping me with what was not really an emergency, and gave me the number for a nearby towing company. He (Matt) attached my spare, unhitched my camper, and sent me to a mechanic ‘guaranteed’ to fix my tire in no time, which they did, despite the fact that their ‘tire guy’ had gone home early. I drove back to reclaim my camper and drove another two hours to Kejimkujik.
I arrived at Kejimkujik National Park (the locals just call it Keji) tired, grumpy, and hungry, to find Russ equally tired, grumpy, etc., with the added problem of being mentally frazzled. He’s not enjoying this trip the way he did last year’s trans-America trip. Maybe it’s because there’s no big goal on this trip. It didn’t help that we found our campsite soaking wet, full of animal poop, and steeply sloped. We managed to set up for the night, I cooked food, and we both tried to sleep despite the onslaught of millions of mosquitoes.
The next morning, I appealed to camp staff and was able to relocate to a flatter, drier, and altogether more enjoyable site. Good thing, too—we were both about ready to call it quits on this trip.
After re-setting up, I took the boys on the trail around Kejimkujik Lake and then booked ourselves on a free guided hike to some ancient petroglyphs tomorrow. Keji has the distinction of being the only National park in Canada that is both a park and a national historic site, as it was and still is an area with deep significance to the Mi’kmaq people. I’m looking forward to the petroglyphs (something to warm the heart of a long-ago anthropology major) and to getting my kayak into the lake, with its many islands and coves. I understand Nancy Cove 😁 is a good place for a lunch break.
