Cat prancing

Early morning, driving to the dock... I arrived at Portland's waterfront to see a sign for The Cat right in front of me. But oh! Where is the ferry? My first thought was that I had the wrong day, that the ferry didn't run out of Portland on Friday mornings. I know better than to worry, and it absolutely was the right morning.

Ah, the sign has an arrow pointing to the left. I turned, drove a little further, and there it was. Sitting, waiting for vehicles and people, back end yawning wide.

I arrived at the requested time of 6:30 for an 8AM departure. The first half hour was a good time to chat with the other drivers standing outside of their cars, waiting. And then, it was time to move. Rolling onboard, looping around the inside of the boat. Up, up, turn, turn, ending with my bright blue car heading slightly downhill, pointing toward the back of the boat. (Or am I supposed to call it a ship? At what point does a water vehcle change from a boat to a ship?)

I grabbed a seat in the back of The Cat. From my memory of my last jaunt to Nova Scota on The Cat, the back is a smoother ride. Makes sense since that's where the power is, pushing back. No bouncing, just a swaying feeling (and this on a day that appears to be a quiet ocean day). Not to worry, I did take Dramamine this morning, I have a stash of crystallized ginger in my back – which my mom tells me is good at fighting (reversing?) nausea, and oh look! just like an airplane, there are just-in-case bags tucked under the seats. So far, so good...

There's a narrow deck at the back of the boat, a place to get a bit of fresh air, and to watch the wake rolling to the horizon. That's the only outside spot. There are windows all around the people areas, but oh! it would be fun if we were able to stand on the top of the boat. I know, I know, it's better than a plane. I can walk around, I can pop out to fresh air. If I were so inclined (and I'm not), I could even do some gambling. Nope, that just not in my list of activities, doesn't fit!

Some interesting information about the great body of water The Cat is crossing:

The Gulf of Maine is a 77,000 square mile semi-enclosed sea bounded to the south and the east by tall land forms called “underwater banks” that rise to form a barrier to the North Atlantic. The landward edge of the Gulf of Maine runs from Nova Scotia all the way to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Underwater valleys plunge to depths of 1,500 feed (500 meters).

It's a long ride – 200 miles, a distance that we are scheduled to cover in about 5 ½ hours. At the other end, entry to Canada, and then a drive to Wolfville, my home for the next two nights.

a short first step

Today - a first step, a relatively short drive.
Tomorrow - traveling across a large body of water.

It's time to wander. I jumped from home to Portland late this afternoon to protect my sleep. The ferry is scheduled to leave at 8am, and line-up-to-board-the-ferry time is 6:30. I know, I know, it's only a two hour drive. But I'd much rather have a relaxing evening, a good sleep, and a 15-minute morning drive.

Rules of the blog

There's really only one rule - no worrying allowed!

I hope to write most days, and all of my homes away from home are supposed to have wireless access. But you ever know, do you? There could be tired, no words days. There could be no access days.

My rule for everyone who is watching over my shoulder? Read, enjoy my writing, enjoy Rover's writing (yes, there will be contributions from my little red travel companion), and please don't worry if there are occasional days without posts.

Chatting with the weather wizard

Fingers crossed...

I gave in to my curiosity and checked the Environment Canada forecasts for Wolfville, Nova Scotia and Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland this morning. I'll be staying in Wolfville for the first two nights of my wanders, and in Rocky Harbour for five nights starting next Tuesday.

The forecast? It looks more than acceptable at this point in time.

Did I say Wolfville? I did, but Kentville is the closest town with a posted forecast...

Closer...

...getting closer! Oh! The last time I wrote I was counting the weeks, and now I am counting the days. Soon...

I've been rambling around the house, and I see that Denise hasn't started gathering things together for our wander to the north and east. I thought I'd help her a bit, to remind her of things that shouldn't be forgotten. What things? Well, I started by telling her that she should start wearing her RoadID now, one less thing to forget. She's really good about grabbing it before she heads out walking or riding, but a couple of times lately she actually got out to the road in front of our place and realized she wasn't wearing it. You know what? She listened, and she's wearing it now!

I'm leaving notes around for Denise, or I'm pulling things out and putting them where she'll trip on them. That way she won't forget anything important.

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While waiting for our adventure...

I headed out early yesterday with Denise. She told me about some big dog sculptures that she saw Friday night on her bike ride. I don't always ride with her when she heads out for exercise, but it looks like I should have joined her on Friday. Lucky for me that she didn't get enough of the dogs on Friday, so I jumped into her camera bag before she headed back for a second visit.

Denise is practicing for our trip, so she had me pose on one of the big dogs. It's a photo of me though, not of the big dog - so I've included a picture of my view through the dog's dog-bone too.




That's a really nice photo of me, isn't it? If you'd like to see more photos of the big dogs, you can find them in Denise's gallery, Dale's dogs.

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I think it's OK to start getting excited about our wanders now. It's not too far away...

--- Rover

Ping!

One more "getting ready" task done...

I don't want to rely on my cellphone for this trip. Yes, it is traveling with me, but calls from Canada are not on my plan, and they are international calls. I could change my cell plan to lower the cost of those calls, but I suspect that cell phone coverage may be spotty.

I was going to pick up a pre-paid calling card. Before I did that I went googling, and I came up with Pingo. The per minute call rate is reasonable, and the service gets good reviews. Done!

Oh, you're right, I do like the name.

Lost and found

I've been wandering through the guide book provided by the Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism office. It's titled LOST AND FOUND, and shares the words "Take this opportunity to explore this mysterious land. Let go of your expectations. Prepare yourself to be lost, and found, in Newfoundland and Labrador."

I like playing with words, and the lost and found phrases that introduce each section of the guide have been jumping off the page at me.

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From the Newfoundland Labrador 2009 Travelers Guide:

Is it possible to feel at the same time... lost and found? Getting lost... For the traveller, not the tourist. Lost: track of time Found: a whole new time zone Lost: map Found: perspective Lost: my inner tourist Found: my inner traveller Lost: stress Found: peace Lost: myself Found: myself