Are we there yet?

A couple of weeks ago the children and I had quite the adventure. My mother suggested we celebrate her year off from work by taking the children on a road trip. The destination, the Cabot Trail. I enthusiastically agreed.

It was decided that we would leave first thing on Thursday morning and drive a section of the Cabot Trail before turning around. We knew that with such a young baby we were only going to be able to travel a proportion of the trail plus we wanted to arrive at our accommodations at a reasonable time so we could enjoy ourselves.

At 9:00am on Thursday morning my mother, 10 year old and 5 month old son, 9 year old nephew and I headed out. Fall leaves, country side and discovery were our objectives for this trip.

Before leaving New Glasgow we made a quick stop at Wal-mart. Mom had decided it would be neat for the boys to have their own disposable camera to take snapshots of "moments" on our road trip. Around 9:30 am we head towards Antigonish. After 40 minutes on the highway we make our first official pit stop just outside Antigonish. I wanted to stop at Tim Horton's for a coffee and pee break but my mother suggested the Dragonfly Cafe. I agreed because we wanted to stay on the main highway and I could have Tim Horton's anytime.

Next stop, Port Hawkesbury. By the time we drove over the causeway, the baby was ready for lunch. We stopped at Smitty's for a bite. I got the baby ready to go into the restaurant and the rest of the crew was a few steps ahead. Just as I was getting out of the car they came back to say the carpenter informed them, Smitty's is closed. In hind sight we should have known something was up. There were no cars in the parking lot. On the main sign was, sorry were closed and then a for sale sign below that. Two blonds on the road, I guess stuff like that is going to happen.

We decided Subway was as good as any place to stop. The baby was so excited by the lights and fans in the place he barely ate. By 12:30pm we were on the road again. For the next 1/2 hour the baby fusses and wants out of his car seat. My nephew and son try their hardest to cheer him up, just when we think we will have to pull over on the side of the road to hold the baby, we drive past this walking trail in Judique. What timing. We start walking and within minutes the baby is fast asleep. All I was thinking was the poor dear; I'm really putting him through the ringer.

Our walk was beautiful and the children were snapping photos left, right and center. Everyone got the break they needed. We load back into the car and head out again. 20 minutes later we arrive at Mabu. Everyone is in need of a bathroom break. However, this town (were the Rankins have their restaurant called The Red Shoes) has to be the smallest town I have ever seen. There wasn't even a garage to use the restroom. So we located the provincial park and decided that was the best bet for a outhouse. Once we arrive at the Provincial park to our surprise not only is there no outhouses, the place is quite deep into the woods and a wee bit scary. My son went into the woods first and he came out, I can here noises in there. I go into the woods and sure enough it sounds like I'm on a cow farm. I swear the whole time I'm peeing I looking around the woods for a cow to jump out.

By this point we are more than ready to turn back and head to Sheerbrook and check into our accommodations. According to my husband we didn't even make it to the Cabot Trail. At this point I just want to get off the road. Throughout our trip I continually ask my mom, do you want me to drive. My mom's response, no it's ok. I guess I understand why she didn't let me drive, not that I'm a bad driver but at this point in the trip I think I lost a little bit of sanity. Sometimes when I get over tired or low on sugar I start laughing hysterically, others who didn't know me and that saw me in this state would swear I was either high or drunk. Others have used the term, high on life, I can actually support this statement.

Anyway, we get back on the road and have at least another two hour trip ahead of us until we get to our accommodations. I pray to God that the baby will finally relax and sleep a good proportion this section of our drive. But if we continue at the rate we are going we should be at Liscomb Lodge but midnight. It had taken us all day to travel 3 hours from home. Our prayers were answered and the little guy was able to sleep most of the way. We arrived in Sheerbrooke and according to the reception at Liscomb Lodge we are only a little bit from the grounds. We were a little confused as to which road to take to reach the lodge so we asked a gentlemen on the street. The Aussie looked at us and said "I reckon you go a wee bit down the road, take the street on your left and keep heading out a bit, quite a bit and you'll find it. Not so bad for an Aussie. I had to giggle once we pulled away, what are the odds of asking a Aussie for directions is such a small Nova Scotia town. They have to have the sexiest accent. I'm sure I had quite accent myself with the ehs and such.

Our 15 minute drive to the cabin felt like an hour in itself. We drive pass one section of the Lodges numbered one to ten. I look at mom and said I sure hope we get one on this side. Reason being on the opposite side of the road was the reception area of Liscomb Lodge and bulk of the cabin area (50 or 60 cabins). Mom heads in to check in and comes out within a few minutes, she gets in and says cabin 9. Wish granted. We drive across the road and find our parking spot but to our surprise the cabin is no where in sight. The cabin is actually 50 feet or so away from the parking area. Great. I'm the lucky one who gets to unpack and pack. The unpacking goes pretty quickly. I was just so happy to get off the road. The view is so beautiful. Out on the cabins covered porch we could watch the river running forcefully down the hill. There is a small water fall right in front of us and beside the cabin, a little brook which was quite soothing. Mental heaven. Ah, I felt pretty blessed at that moment. I'm the type of traveler that would rather a so so cabin and a beautiful view that a awesome cabin and a terrible view. It's all about surroundings.

That night we go to the restuarant and have a lovely evening with the kids. My baby boy is so good. He loved being out at the restuarant, he's quite the attraction, what a charmer. We get back to the cabin by 8:30 and by 10:00 pm we are sound asleep.

The next morning we get up and pre pack our stuff (check out is at 11:00am) and head down to breakfast. Eggs, bacon, sausage, fishcakes, pancakes, french toast, hash browns, cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit, fresh bread, muffins, cinnamon rolls and cookies plus tea or coffee and fresh juice. Not only was there a lot of variety, everything I had was delicious. After breakfast we hiked one of the few trails they had. It was so relaxing. My long and tiring day yesterday was well worth it for this place. After our hour walk we packed up our stuff as fast as we could, fed the baby and checked out. Then we headed to the pool/ sauna/ hot tubs. There was no one there, we got the whole building to ourselves to swim and soak in the hot tub. Mom and I took turns holding the baby and he was as good as gold. An hour of this activity was just what the doctor ordered before our 1 1/2 drive back.

We took the scenic route home, the baby slept just about the whole way. Although we were all tired we had such a great time. I would definitely go back there, but not until my youngest is old enough to enjoy it.

I've heard the expression, it's the journey that life is all about not the destination. I have always agreed to this statement until this isolate trip. For us, it was all about the destination not the trip.