Day 21 (Aug. 22) - North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Moncton, New Brunswick

During the night, the ship rocked more than Michele preferred. This ship is dramatically smaller than the mega cruise ships we've experienced, so the rocking is faster. Rob slept well the whole night, Michele did not. She felt ok, but just did not sleep because of the rocking. She got maybe 4-5 hours in spurts when the wind or seas were calmer. At 5am the crossing was much smoother and she slept well until the 7:30am wake up call that we'd be in port in an hour.

We got dressed and packed up the room, then sat around waiting for the call that we could go to our car. At 8:30am the announcement said we were in port and to wait for our car deck level to be called. The kid who won the coloring contest was also announced. Soon after, we were allowed to go to our car on deck 5. We walked from our room at the front of the ship to aft ship to catch the stairs near the car. Most everyone seemed to already be out of their rooms and the rooms were being stripped down for cleaning. Everybody was in the stairwells. It didn't take long to get to our car. We waited not even 10 minutes and were the first group out!

Back in Nova Scotia, we needed to do laundry but the place didn’t open until 9am. The car was filthy so we headed over to the gas station with the car wash we used just before leaving for Newfoundland. Michele was hungry so we stopped at a Tim Horton's for a breakfast sandwich and green hot tea.

 

With the car fueled up and washed, we went over to the laundromat and did a small load of clothes to get us home. Another lady doing her wash just found $25 in her machine. Lucky gal! While we waited for our clothes to wash, Michele wanted to take a COVID antigen test even though her symptoms were improving. It had been three days since she started feeling bad, so it was within the timeframe of when the test results are more accurate. The test came back positive! Looks like the decision to come home early was a good one. So, she masked up. She felt really bad about having walked around with COVID cooties for a few days unknowingly. Rob said that's how she got it to begin with, other people doing the same.

With that verdict in and a fresh supply of clothes, we hit the road towards New Brunswick. Our total mileage today was 300. The weather was sunny and agreeable.

The GPS routed us off the TransCanadian highway onto a scenic back road to avoid road closures. 

We found construction anyway!

We also had another ferry crossing unexpectedly. This one was quite a bit smaller than the one we got off earlier. It would go back and forth about every 5 minutes so we didn't have to wait long.

Similar to Whites Ferry at home, this one uses a cable to pull it back and forth. The cable system used on this one is a much more modern version than Whites Ferry, though.

The ferry ride was free of charge. We headed towards Antigonish for a late lunch takeout at Justamere Cafe. The fried chicken sandwich was amazing. We ate lunch in the nearby Shell Station parking lot since Michele did not want to eat inside. 

After lunch we were back on the TransCanadian Highway for a few hours into New Brunswick.

This 70+ mile section was similar to the four lane divided highways we are accustomed to in the U.S. It was probably completed in the last few years as our Garmin GPS didn't have this section in it's maps. The road surface was nice and smooth. A welcomed change over the last 10 days of roads we've driven. 

We arrived at our hotel, the Fairfield Marriott in Moncton, at 5pm. After we were settled and worked on the blog a bit, we drove a few miles to get pizza and salad takeout. Rob said he felt like he could be coming on with symptoms himself, so we stopped at the drug store to pick up more cough lozenges and sudafed just in case. We still have about 1,100 miles in front of us to cover in two days.

Tomorrow we will cross back over into the U.S. several days before we originally planned, but we are so grateful for the amazing experiences we've had so far!