I must say, it's a nice piece of tail. After the frustration of not finding a "Welcome to PEI" sign, Nova Scotia delivered with this behemoth. If you look closely, you may see a happy Landon in the picture.
Isabel and I, the sightseers of the group, took a short side trip to downtown Pictou, which I had never visited before. It had some nice old buildings and a nice waterfront with a recreation of the ship, Hector, that brought in some of the first Scottish settlers to Nova Scotia in the late 1700's.
From there, we booted it to the campsite. It hit me that I was close to home when we got on the 104, a road I've traveled many times to get to Cape Breton.
At camp, I set up my tent for the last time. As per tradition, the girls got me a parting cake. It said "We'll Miss You Landon". I'll miss them too.
The girls, Chelsea and Nieka, have done a great job under sometimes difficult circumstances. Working a trip like this is no cake walk! Spending this much time with a small group, you get to see a few layers under the surface of people's personalities. We were tired most of the time, physically uncomfortable in various ways, bored sometimes and generally not at our best. We all had bad days, and that manifested in different ways.
Some people would retreat and lose the will to be social. Others might get fixated on certain details that weren't to their liking (e.g. powdered milk). Occasionally there'd be conflict over something trivial like who's turn it was for the shower. This would be a great trip for someone studying human social behavior. Unfortunately, at this point not everyone is talking to each other and I doubt that will change before the official finish in St. John's. I think we've all accepted that now and at the atmosphere is peaceful even if there is some underlying tension. I'll still miss the evenings at the campsite spent eating together and comparing notes about the day's ride - routes taken, animals spotted (dead and alive), people encountered, disasters narrowly averted, etc.
Although this is my last night with the group, I will be riding (and blogging) for three more long days. Tomorrow, to my dad's place in Cape Breton and then two centuries to my mom's place in Halifax.
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