Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Halifax Explosion

After being in the Fundy area for a few days and with it being overcast and rainy, we decided we'd go to Halifax for a day. We got there and I was running out of gas so we started looking for a station. Going through an intersection suddenly WHAM! We were broadsided on the rear passenger side - no one was hurt just ratttled. The impact spun the car through the intersection and we were fortunate that there was not a pedestrian or another car there. My car was undriveable as the rear wheel was all bent as was other stuff under the car. The young woman who hit us was talking on her cell phone while driving. Fortunately, a very nice fellow from New Brunswick stopped and helped. He was our witness that we had the green light. In Nova Scotia the police only come out to an accident if there is a personal injury; otherwise you go to a station to report the accident. Linda found that out by calling the police while I was calling insurance. Tim, the nice guy from NB, took us and Kaylee to the station, waited, took us to a rental place and then wouldn't let us take him out for lunch! I've sent him a gift certificate as he really did help us. The insurance adjuster told me there was "some question about the light" but it was good I had a witness!!! So, I got a Ford Fusion (either that or a Dodge Charger!) and put 42000km on it over the next few weeks. Linda couldn't handle the seat as it hurt her back but we got an Obusform and that did the trick. Of course, fixing the Volvo took longer than expected so we got the car four days after we were supposed to leave. It gave us more time to explore the south shore so that was fine. Glad to have the tank back and that everything went smoothly and no one was hurt.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Been and Back

It's August 12 and we got home at 1 am on Saturday after 17 hours in the car. The trip to Nova Scotia was fun, filling, and often beautiful. It took us a over two days to get there. The CAA had the trip through the States as the most direct so we took it. Never again. It was very slow - 2 lane highways, lots of construction and one depressing little town after another. The cottage at Porter's Point was a very nice place- post and beam construction. The garden was very pretty but now being neglected. It was the owner's mother who was the gardener and she has moved back to Ontario. The tide is extreme in the Minas Basin so for most of the day all we saw was mud. It confused Kaylee who wanted to play in the water but it was nowhere to be seen! I did finally find a beach that we could go to and play. The water in front of the cottage had a lot of sea grass, so once the tide started to go out (an inch per minute) it quickly became unapproachable. We did a fair bit of exploring in this area and really liked Wolfville, Halls Harbour but not Halifax and it had nothing to do with the city itself. I'll explain next time.