Monday, October 13, 2008

Saturday - Cabot Trail

After a quick stop at Deanne's studio, we drove all the way to Cape Breton Island on Friday. We stayed at a very scary B&B that first night (and if we hadn't already known that almost all of the island was completely booked all weekend long, we would not have stayed). Suffice is to say that it was advertised as a former schoolhouse, but it was really a former school, turned into a house (of sorts). We were glad to be on our way on Saturday, even though it started out looking a little grey.


We really wanted to drive all of the way around the Cabot Trail, and we were happy that the weather cooperated. Most of the clouds had disappeared by the time we got to Cheticamp...and after a couple of mandatory rug hooking stops (more details in the next post), we decided to keep on driving.


There seems to be some debate about which direction you should travel the trail (clockwise or counter), but we opted to travel clockwise and we were not disappointed. Definitely the most spectacular views were in the first part of our trip, but the whole journey was beautiful.


At the beginning of the drive, we stopped often at the scenic lookouts and pull-offs along the side of the road...but this lessened as we drove. We drove up, around, along, and down many hills and valleys. There were a few steep mountains that caused us to question whether or not our rental car would conk out, but thankfully we always made it up to the top.


It amazed me how much and how often the landscape changed...seemingly after every curve in the road.


But what really amazed me - and what I was unprepared for - were the mountains. Many times I felt like I was driving in Vermont (between Dorr and Shelburne). Of course, the Fall colours were beautiful, but I'm guessing they peaked a week or so ago (as they did at home).