Wednesday, July 3, 2024, Move to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada

Our move to Lunenburg from North Sydney was the longest of the tour at 300 miles. Unfortunately, because of the change to the Tattoo schedule in Halifax, the tour route was juggled in a way that we had to retrace the exact mapping we had just driven from Halifax to North Sydney only in reverse with an additional 50 miles tacked on. I would have preferred a different route to see something new but the familiarity made it easy to follow.

Crossing the causeway we left Cape Breton Island behind.

I do mean we followed the exact mapping passing by the same landmarks. The oddly proportioned church below was just before the right turn into the Woodhaven campground. We waved as we went by.

The same schedule juggling meant the Lunenburg campground did not have accommodations for our entire group, so several of us had to set up in the lower section for a night before moving to the upper sites to join the group.

We drove to a Google-recommended "Lunenburg Photo Spot" to view Lunenburg across the water. This town was the most picturesque we visited to date. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Established in 1753, it is the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America.

After our drive around town, we decided to explore some more on foot. Lunenburg has some very steep hills but overall it was a very walkable place.

Along the waterfront, restaurants, businesses and museums reflected their nautical history. 

The Bluenose II was at the dock and allowed us to roam the deck. The original Bluenose was an award-winning fishing vessel.

The ship's bell was rigged to prevent people like me from ringing it.

I wondered if they might let me take the helm when we sail on Friday.

It was a short day of exploring after a long day of driving but it was clear the town had a lot of potential for being our top spot on the Maritimes Fantasy Tour.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013, Crater Lake National Park, OR

It was cloudy, but we decided to chance it and drove from Sutherlin, OR, to Crater Lake National Park. It was a pretty drive with good roads and very little traffic, but as we gained altitude it got more and more foggy. We passed Diamond Lake on Oregon Highway 138 and stopped for a few minutes at an overlook. Even with the fog, it was a beautiful view - we will have to explore Diamond Lake one day in the future. 

A few miles inside the north entrance to the National Park, the landscape opens up and you are in the middle of the Pumice Desert. Quite a change from the thick forests of the previous hundred miles.

Pumice and ash is more than 200 feet deep in some places.

Sometimes the fog was so thick, we couldn't see more than a few hundred feet from the car. A few times the road fell away on each side leaving us with the illusion we were lost in the clouds. At one point the fog thinned out a bit, so I pulled over along the road thinking we might get a glimpse of the lake. We did, but it was cold - Joani quickly got back into the car. I walked a bit further around the bend and saw Wizard Island. As I went back to get Joani, a strong wind cleared the fog for us and we were able to get some really nice pictures of the lake.

A tiny ray of sun broke through and shown on the cove of the island. It gave us a glimpse of the amazing blue that you can see on a clear day.

While we were at the Crater Lake Rim Village, the temperature dropped 20 degrees in a few minutes. The fog blew in thicker than ever and it started sleeting! We continued down the mountains to the main visitor's center where I got my National Park Passport book stamped. We watched the new movie about the park and we studied the map as the sleet turned to rain. At the desk, we asked the ranger about the weather forecast. He looked familiar and we realized he was in the movie we just watched. He said the Pinnacles might be good to visit in the rain. On the way, we passed Vidae Falls and had the picnic lunch we had packed.

By the time we reached the Pinnacles Overlook we were below the fog and we even got to see a little sunshine. I think we were pretty lucky to get such an opportunity to view these strange and intriguing natural wonders.

You can see our car in the center top of the picture for a little scale.

Heading for home took us up the mountain again where we saw, through the fog, how much sleet had accumulated.

On the way back to Sutherlin, we stopped for a few more photo opportunities before calling it a day.

The Tioga Foot Bridge was built in 2012.

The late afternoon sun was amazing on the rolling hills.

Sunday, September 8, 2013, Revisit to Multnomah - Plus Four Falls , Columbia River Gorge, CO

Another beautiful day in a beautiful area. We headed back to Multnomah Falls (along the Columbia River Gorge, CO) again, thinking we would do some of the hiking we missed earlier. We got there pretty early (maybe too early) and found it was a bit foggy and a little cool. Joani had hoped to get some nice pictures of the Lodge without the crowd, but people were already setting up for a small arts and crafts fair.

Even with the fog, the falls were spectacular!  

There was a path from the falls parking lot leading under I-84 to a rest stop. How cool is it that traveling down an Interstate highway you get to see a waterfall like this?

This was a walkway through a tunnel under 1-84.  It was tiled with a reflective surface.

We both decided we could skip the hiking to the top of the falls in favor of continuing our drive along the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway. What we didn't know was that every few miles there would be another turn-out with a short walk to yet another beautiful water feature.

Wahkeena Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Shepperd's Dell Falls

The wall next to the trail was beautifully built.  I took this through one of the little arches (about 18" tall) in the wall.

You can barely see the Latourell Falls in the lower right corner.

 You were allowed to walk behind the falls, but only if you were willing to get pretty wet from the mist.

 A sunbeam was shining through the top of the falls!

Very peaceful and completely hidden from sight.

Vista House is on a cliff that is 733 feet above the Columbia River and was built in 1918 costing $100,000. Above ground is a domed rotunda that is 55 feet high and 44 feet in diameter. The 64-foot diameter base is underground and houses a tiny museum, restrooms, snack bar and gift shop. An interior staircase leads to an exterior balcony that encircles the entire building.

The views from the balcony were fantastic.

Look at that smile!  David is smiling, too.

I enjoyed the museum and snapped a few pictures from the exhibits.

That says it all!

Early "car camping" appeared to be a bit rough compared to today's standards. People would drive down the gorge highway, have a picnic and sleep over on bunks in these tents.

Back in town, we visited "The Grotto." It was a Catholic Church set against a rock bluff surrounded by beautiful grounds and gardens. The quiet solitude was a great end to the day's sightseeing.