lori@farmfreshstyle.ca

This weekend, we hit the road and chased down a few waterfalls throughout the North Shore.  We packed along one of our bubble buddies, too, because a road trip is more fun with a friend.

You may remember Miss Marley from the side walk chalk post HERE, but here’s a close up because she’s so stinkin’ cute with the freckles, right?  Loads of personality and wit, this one….

The other road trip peeps are the DJ and video content creator – Lena

The adorable, chatty, joyful, freckled Miss Hannah!

And of course, me – driver, snack buyer, itinerary planner and photographer and as the mom – limiter of fun 😉 { No, we are not crawling through the cave, climbing down into that gorge, and please, for heaven’s sake – stay away from the edge AND GO EASY DOWN THAT HILL }

The first set of falls we hit was is just a little one on the New Road #2 in Millsville.  It’s along the Cape-to-Cape Trail which stretches out between Cape George and Cape Chignecto.  We did about 30m of the trail to get to the falls, it very close to the road.  The path is a steep but very manageable if you are not wearing flip flops….but flip flops make crossing the river a whole lot easier….so pick your poison!

Note to self:  When setting out on an adventure, maybe suggest a few options of footwear to the people you are taking with you….

We then set off for falls further afield with a pit stop for lunch at a drive thru.  Since the dining room and outside eating areas are still closed, we sat on the curb and the kids waved to all the passing traffic and got lots of waves and smiles in return.  I think people are looking for those little spots of joy in their day and a group a of waving, smiling children might be just that.

Our next set of falls were Wentworth Falls in the scenic Wentworth Valley.  I’ve never been here before and it is such an easy walk in!  Now, if you want to climb up to the cave at the top of the falls, that’s a different thing!  Steep, rooty and sketchy but worth it!  We didn’t walk through the cave ourselves but in the light at the end of the tunnel, we did see some people who either walked through or knew where the other end was.  We did try to find it but we didn’t take the right path in the end.

Of course, we stopped for more treats { no road trip is complete without out too much junk food } and headed towards home.  But my car can’t drive by the Balmoral Grist Mill without turning in.   So, one last stop…at my favourite place in the world!  I know I have probably mentioned this place numerous time here but it never gets old. { The Grist Mill isn’t actually open for the season yet, not sure when the park will officially open }

We wandered upstream to the set of falls and played in the water…and guess what happened? Hannah fell in!!  Soaked to her shoulders!!!  Like I didn’t see that coming…

I have no idea what this summer will bring in terms of vacation, travel or anything, but I know we’ll hop in the car and go on road trips and explore this province any chance we get.   We love picking up a buddy or two to take along and having a fun day together.

If you have any great places to suggest we explore, let us know!  We are always looking for new places to find!

Warmly,

Lori

There are two ways to do things in life – the hard way and the easy way.  The easy way is typically the path well trodden…it’s paved, wide, and well….easy.  The hard way is exactly that, the hard way.  It is filled with twists, hard climbs, shaky footing and not much of a crowd.

Why am I bringing that up, you may ask….well, it all has to do with a recent adventure we went on in Whycogomagh with my bestie, Janice.  We haven’t seen each other in far too long and you know I get antsy to see her if too much time has passed since our last visit.  So, we planned to meet up for an afternoon of hiking and picnicking on the edge of the Bras d’Or Lakes in Whycogomagh.

We set out a trail we had hiked before, our previous hike was just for a short way that trip, just enough to give Penny-dog a break from the car on our way to Barbara’s cabin one other trip to Cape Breton.  So, I had no real idea where the trail lead or what kind of trail it would be.  I’m not sure Janice knew either, so off we went.  Hiked up, and up, and up some more.

We hiked up a bit more…

We took a few breaks along the way up so there wasn’t mutiny….how cute is this girl?  We’ve known each other for 20 years now, I can’t imagine life without her.

While on a break, I handed my camera to Lena because I’m never in the adventure pictures. And this is what I get….barely in the frame and a tree sprouting from my head…..but proof I was there I guess!!

Anyway, we hiked onwards or maybe I should say upwards…this sign lied…it was still upwards….

And finally we reached the top!!  Hannah decided she was done climbing this mountain by this point and was waiting for us down the trail a bit, thus not summit pictures of her.  I wish she had’ve pushed on a little bit more for this vista!!  But sometimes, as a momma, you need to pick your battles 😉

This view was amazing – well worth the hike up!  A panoramic view of the Bras d’Or Lakes!!

This is the face of a kid who even ran up parts of the trail….oy!!

And here are Janice and I doing a good job of social distancing…and note – most of my body made it in this picture!

Then we set out to descend the mountain.  Ummm, I think I’d rather climb up.  My quads were screaming by the time we reached a fork in the path.  So, we decided to go down a different way than we came up.  This path lead us to this section, with steps formed out of the local rock! Neat, eh?

This is where things got waaaaay easier.  The path was wide and not very steep.  We met more people on the trail and then…suddenly, we are out in the campground part of the park.  I absolutely love the expression I managed to capture when we surprisingly came out into the opening after a very short hike down…

Hannah didn’t take it well….at all!!  She was pretty ticked off about the fact that we hiked up the very hard way when there was a super easy, much shorter way up….she did a good job of expressing her dismay to me…

Here she is in mid rant 🙂  Still mad, but still adorable and very much like here momma, talks with her hands!!

So, just as a reference, we hiked up the yellow trail and out to the peak on the rest of the blue trail { the bottom right set of binoculars } and came down the blue trail that ends on the white loop which is the campground.  And yes, we walked right past this sign on our way up, without a second glance….

Highlights not shown here – picnic lunch from The Dancing Goat, our friend the squirrel, singing the Sound of Music while frolicking through the field, swinging from tree branches, a fish tail snack and ice cream at the Farmer’s Daughter – all worthy of a mention though!!!

All in all, we had a great day together, outside, exploring nature and catching up.  But between you and I, I’d hike that yellow trail again any day if it means getting to spend time with my bestie.

Warmly,

Lori

The weekend past was our May long weekend and it was a weird one.  No major roadtrips, no major gatherings, no major anything.  Did we have fun anyway? Why, yes of course!  There were bonfires, s’mores, sprinklers, yard work, sunshine and rain.  I even managed a quick, fun little photoshoot for the magazine that involved mid-afternoon s’mores, a turquoise bench and buffalo check.

By Monday afternoon though, we were all craving a little more adventure than our own yard provided.  So we gassed up the car and hit the road….but didn’t leave our county.  Now, I have to tell you I pretty much lived in Pictou County my whole life.  You’d think I had seen most of the landmarks and knew where the fun spots were.  But nope, there is so much to explore still.  So explore we did!

Just down the road from the church in Hopewell, there is a little path that leads to a long swinging bridge over a beautiful river.  I had no idea where it was so I did what we do now, ask on Facebook!  And one of my friends sent a note that she could get us there and kindly called with directions! { Thanks, Arlene!! }  We found it easy peasy and set off to explore.

Let’s pause for a moment to admire the girls and how grown up they are getting and how beautiful they are.  Sigh – I’m so fortunate to be able to be their mom.

Grins, freckles and grace.  I love these two!!

Next stop was MacPherson’s Mills.  I think I’ve only been there a handful of times in my life, but the textures of the buildings make my heart pitter patter.  And it was kinda fun to be on the other side of the camera on our adventure….usually I’m the only one taking pictures but I handed the reins over to the girls for a bit and they had a blast!

Last stop of the the day was a quick peek in at Park Falls.  It is a stunning set of waterfalls.  The power of water is amazing!!

Not knowing what the restrictions might be for summer travel, we might have to stay within our own province and thankfully, Nova Scotia is beautiful and has so much to offer, even within our own county!!  I have plans to do some day trips and the neighbour kids are asking for another roadtrip this summer { we went on one over March Break together before things really got shut down and had so much fun!! } We’ll see what the next few weeks and months bring, but I expect you’ll be seeing a lot more provincial sights here on the blog….not that I went that far before….except I am currently suppose to be in Iceland but I don’t wanna talk about that….

Warmly,

Lori