Day 40, May 25, Digging Digby

Today's action was limited. After breakfast, we made ready to leave. We ended up talking to the couple in the RV next to us. "Couple" is not accurate in that they were not married; they were a brother and sister. The sister's husband had passed away, the brother's wife was ill and not able to travel. So the two of them had left Montreal and were traveling together on a large , 45-ft RV. He and his wife had apparently been doing this for over 20 years. At any rate, they were in a pickle, because the axle on the RV had broken and they were having a hard time finding someone who could fix it. (It has to be welded back together, and the bus sized RV lifted up.)

Anyway, we had a nice discussion. about the horrific massacre in Uvalde, TX, and the United States political culture that glorifies guns and will sacrifice its children for the sake of some ridiculous extreme positions on gun rights. The Founding Fathers would be horrified, I am certain of that. What they intended to be a means of defense so that the British Crown could not return and overtake a young nation has become a condition of collective madness. Children get shot and massacred, the response is "arm the teachers." Next, these gun extremist will be saying "arm the children." They will eventually run out of people to arm, at the same time they take away tools from law enforcement to deal with the most extreme cases. (E.g. Georgia recently made it okay to carry a concealed weapon without a license, and it's not even the first state to go to such induced extremes.) And in the greatest symbol of hypocrisy and privilege, the National Rifle Association will not allow guns at its convention, when former the former President (Trump the Rump) speaks.

Sorry, I digress. We wished our camp neighbors well and bid goodbye to the Halifax KOA camp and the Halifax region. It was a wonderful visit to a wonderful city. Patrise drove all the way from Halifax to Digby. Doug laid down half of the way, because he was not feeling well. It felt like a cold, but without the nasal or chest congestion. The second half of the trip, he was sitting up in the passenger seat, taking pictures occasionally. Here are some of those pictures that reminded us of the agricultural nature of much of Canada.

(Farmland on NS101, between Halifax & Digby)

(Farm on NS101, between Halifax & Digby)

(Farm on NS101, between Halifax & Digby)

(Farm on NS101, between Halifax & Digby)

(Unknown river between Halifax & Digby)

(Annapolis Royal is a port city in the Annapolis Valley region of Nova Scotia)

(Farm off of NS101 in Annapolis Valley region)

(Note that Digby is the scallop capital of the world. We've been told that 90% of the scallops consumed globally are supplied by the Digby scallop fleet!)

We were excited as we approached the Digby region: city and county. A few approach photos:

(First view of Digby Region)

(Approaching bridge construction across the Bear River in the Digby region)

(The Bear River in the Digby region)

(Getting close! Eleven kilometers is slightly less than seven miles)

(Another early view of the outskirts of Digby, Nova Scotia)

(An old, bare cemetery on NS 101 as we approach the town)

We made our way into the city and took a quick look around. It's not a very big town -- 2,001 residents as of 2021. The town hosts a big motor cycle rally every year, called the Wharf Rat Rally. As many as 50,000 people and 25,000 motorcycles descend on a town of 2000 inhabitants each Labour Day weekend. Here is a photo of the Wharf Rat Rally, followed by photos of the downtown area.

A picture of a picture in the Fundy Restaurant. This aerial view shows how motorcycles stretch the entire length of Water St, when the Wharf Rat Rally occurs.)

(United Baptist Church on Water Street, "downtown" Digby)

(United Baptist Church next to the nearest laundry for us)

(Digby Lighthouse on Water Street. At one point in the town's history, the lighthouse was taken to New Brunswick; later, it was returned to its rightful home.)

(Water Street in Digby, looking east)

(Further up Water Street, looking east)

(Water Street Memorial to all Canadians who have served in various branches of the military throughout various wars and conflicts.)

(The Digby Town Hall is a block off of Water Street.)

We ate a delicious lunch of scallops at the Fundy Restaurant, sitting on the outside terrace overlooking the wharf.

(Our restaurant and hotel complex are all in one conjoined series of buildings.)

(The dock at low tide. Notice the dark water line higher up on the end of the pier.)

(Digby dock at low tide)

(Broader view of the dock at low tide)

(Our hotel suites as seen from the restaurant terrace. The first patio was the patio outside of our hotel room.)

(Lunch consisted of scallops, fries, Cole slaw and a drink.)

(Digby selfie at lunch the first day in town.)

After lunch, we checked into the hotel and settled in for the rest of the afternoon. Doug slept for about one and one-half hours. Hotel and room:

(Sign over the door to our hotel room.)

(Our suite and several others are in the 44 Water Street building, next to the restaurant, which has additional rooms overhead.)

(Step in from the street and voila! this modern, tastefully appointed interior appears.)

(Beautiful vase of flowers in the atrium of our hotel lobby.)

(Patrise taking pictures of the spacious bathroom and shower.)

(Looking from the front door into the room.)

(View of the room from the front)

(The view outside our bedroom window)

(From the headboard looking to the living space)

We spent the rest of the day lounging in our room and going out to the patio every 1-1/2 hours to document the rising tide. The Bay of Funny has the largest tidal swing of anywhere in the world -- as much as 53 feet. And it experiences a high tide and a low tide twice a day, roughly every six hours. Here are some photos of the same dock areas and ships, to show over time, how much the tide changed in the six hours we were watching it.

(A small ship comes into the harbor during low tide.)

(The tide is rising)

(Now you can really tell the tide has risen, but it is not at its highest point yet.)

(Tide rising)

(View of the dock at high tide in the evening, about 9pm)

(Another series of views of the rising tide: here at the low point)

(Tide has clearly risen.)

(Now see the dock at high tide.)

(Looking at the beach area from our room patio -- low tide)

(Panorama of the beach from our room patio -- mid tide)

(Panorama view from the room patio at high tide, about 9pm)

Tomorrow, we will take the ferry, crossing the Bay of Fundy from Digby, Nova Scotia to St. John, New Brunswick. From there, we will work our way back to Maine and other northeast states aiming to reach New York City by May 31.

Today represents the turning point of our trip. From tomorrow on, every day will be another day headed back toward Atlanta. We are already feeling a bit sentimental about the end of the trip. We have seen such wonderful sites through all of the many states and provinces we have traveled through. And we have met so many people, the overwhelming majority of whom have been warm, friendly, hospitable and helpful. We hope, we will continue to experience the universal spirit of hospitality as we slowly make our way home. We believe we will continue to see interesting new sites and places, However, we will be doing a little less wandering each day.

For now though, this journey has been a blessing beyond expectation and description, although we have tried to share parts of each day with you. We will continue to do that as best we can.

Good night!

.