We awoke early to brightness, but not sunshine. Clouds moved quickly overhead, but there was little activity, save for emergency sirens constantly patrolling the streets. Our hotel could not offer breakfast and everything was closed, so we depleted our food supply and pondered our next move, as we learned that Halifax was probably going to be without power until 11 pm at the earliest. We took a short walk to survey the damage and saw a few trees downed by the storm, but there was an eerie silence over the city. Some people were out cleaning up, but mostly it was dead.
I called our hotel in Cheticamp, our next stop four hours away on Cape Breton Island. The manager said Cheticamp was not hard hit, still had power and gasoline and that we'd be OK. Off we went, navigating malfunctioning traffic lights and crossing the bridge over the somewhat turbulent waters of the harbor.
Our biggest concern was gasoline and, sure enough, a few towns out of Halifax on the highway had no open stores or power: therefore, no gas stations operating. We had less than half a tank, so I was conservative with my speed, not knowing for sure if we had enough for Cheticamp. Finally, in Antigonish, there was power, so we gassed up, had a Timmies breakfast and resumed.
Crossing into Cape Breton was dramatic. Nova Scotia looked a lot like Southern Ontario, but Cape Breton looked like the Scottish highlands, only with taller trees. We saw many impressive hills and rivers. Then, along the coast, the angry remnants of Dorion, stirring up monster waves crashing madly and angrily on jagged rocks in a fast, wind-driven fury. At one stop, to get some video, the wind drowned out my voice completely and almost toppled me over. Then, after struggling back into the car, we had a final sprint into the Acadian enclave of Cheticamp, where the Gaelic road signs became French. We found our comfortable hotel, had a superb seafood dinner and settled in for a comfortable, calm and quiet night. Good bye Dorion ! And Happy Birthday, Dad !
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| Grey skies out of Halifax and into Cape Breton |
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| Crossing into Cape Breton |
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| The angry Gulf of St. Lawrence near Cheticamp |
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| Stormy seas |
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| Clearing that evening in Cheticamp as we enjoyed a wonderful dinner |
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