Day 54 - Thursday, July 24 - Leaving Cape Breton

Sad day today - we are leaving Cape Breton.  I believe I could stay here much longer if possible.  It is such a warm and friendly place to be.  Good food, majestic scenery and as much music as you want to fill your being.  Just an easy place to visit. 

On our way out we stopped at the Celtic Music Intrepretive Centre.  

There is an exhibit room that describes the past and present of the types of music that you would encounter at a gathering.  It is called the Tom Rankin Room.  There is an interactive journey where you you can listen to samples of the various type of fiddle tunes and what they are used for.  You can try a fiddle lesson with a video - I tried that.  As you can see there is a lot of concentration going on here!

A fiddle is a neat little instrument. Or you can learn to step dance from a video - I tried that too.  There is also a history of the bagpipes and other musical instruments that the Scottish brought with them from Scotland.  We also attended a session given by a fiddler, in fact it was Donna May that we saw at the Baddeck Gathering Ceididh a week ago.  She gave us a little history on the fiddle and played examples of the various tunes - a March, a Strausbae and a Reel.  She also told us of the interest that started in 2000 of the youth wanting to preserve their roots that brought back the Gaelic culture to Cape Breton.  The visit was awesome.  

On the road to the Canso Causeway, leaving Cape a Breton, there is a freighter in the bay.  

Now we are back on the mainland of Nova Scotia.  The wind has come up and it is blowing us all around - hard for Dan to keep us on the road.  We decide to stop at Igonish for a break.  Okay on the way again, the sky is getting very overcast, the wind is blowing and it is getting very, very muggy.  We are in for a storm tonight for sure.  

We reach New Glasgow around 3 pm and this is our camp for the night. 

Walmart parking lot - there are very few Walmarts in Nova Scotia and we knew this one was here.  It is obviously new as the signs are not yet up.  They are putting in a fresh food area and they have a tire section so I think it will be called a Superstore.  This Walmart even has Wi-Fi!

And besides I need a Walkin clinic.  I have had some reactions to some bug bites and need to get checked out.  I googled and found a clinic here that starts at 5 pm - so that is where I am going.  I saw a doctor there and have some type of penicillin that will help.  I hope so - in 10 days I should be better.   Leftovers for dinner and the rain comes beating down on us.  At least the storm has cleared the air a bit.  There are a few other campers here with us so we should not be too lonely.  Tomorrow is another day and we are off to Pictou (piktoe).