HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

Since its Canada Day today, we figured that there would probably be some activities going on in some of the communities close to Graves Island Provincial Park, where we were staying. Bridgewater was our lucky community of choice to check out because they were talking on the radio about all the activities going on there throughout the day, including live music - and who doesn't love live music?!?

We got to Bridgewater in the morning around 10:30 or so, and let me tell you - town was not really hopping compared to what we thought it might be. I guess it was still early, but still - the person on the radio had really talked it up so we had some high expectations! We did hang around for a while, though, and wandered down the main street in town. Compared to so many other towns we have seen here in Nova Scotia, this town did not feel like it thrived off tourism. The shops did not seem quite so oriented on tourists (i.e., there weren't more quilting and jewellery shops than a small town really needs!). After wandering around a bit, and checking out the first live musical act, we decided that the festivities in Bridgewater were not really all that exciting and so we decided to go for a drive towards Lunenburg, planning to stop along the way for lunch and expecting that Lunenburg would have some activities going on considering how focused they are on tourism there.

We drove south from Bridgewater to the coast, and followed the coast up to Lunenburg. We didn't end up stopping for lunch along the way, and so we grabbed lunch in Lunenburg. But as it turned out, there wasn't really much going on in this town either. So after our bellies were content from fish & chips, we just headed back to the campsite and spent a lazy afternoon reading out in the sun.

I thing I am quickly learning about people from the East Coast is that they LOVE to talk, and that`s a lot coming from me because I also love to talk. But these people put me to shame when it comes to being able to go on and on when talking to complete strangers! Last night, we had a lady come up to the campsite when Dad was getting the barbeque ready; she wanted to ask what size our fifth wheel camper was because every time she walked past it she thought about how nice it was and her and her husband are in the market for a new one. So, up to Dad she came with her few questions about the camper, and since she was so curious about it we invited her in to check it out and showed her what it was like inside and answered some questions for her. And from there sparked a nice, long conversation. I learned a lot about Lois in a short time!

Then tonight, a man was walking past our campsite, taking his dog for a walk, and Dad made a friendly comment to the man about it being a nice evening. (Everyone greets everyone here as you pass a campsite, whether it`s with a "Good morning!" "Hello!" "Nice day out!" etc. or with a wave.) From Dad's simple comment of "Sure is a nice evening!" an hour long conversation sparked, with only the occasional line from Dad, Mom or myself. As it turns out, though, the man lived in Argyle, Manitoba for a while (which really isn't all that far from where I grew up), and the conversation ranged from the man telling us about his experiences living in Manitoba to him riding his motorcycle across Canada to how he no longer hunts because of a hunting experience one time to how him and his wife rescued his dog. One topic just rolled into the next, which rolled into the next, which rolled into the next! And finally, it was almost like a light switched on in the man's head and he was quickly like "Well, I should go!" and off he went an hour after the conversation first started. Friendly folks out here, that's for sure!