Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

It's wet and windy, but not a bad place for a lunch stop. Then again, it's not doing much to bring our solar back up above 50% after three overcast days. We decided to drive back over the long Confederation Bridge between PEI and New Brunswick instead of trying for the ferry on a Sunday. Just means we'll make a pit stop along the Northumberland coast of Nova Scotia for the night. Any recs? We're thinking the brewery at Tatamagouche might be too good (or at least fun to say?) to pass up. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #novascotia #visitnovascotia

After 27km+ of these roadsigns, there was no way I could miss the Tatamagouche Brewery. After getting the family settled in a site overlooking the Northumberland Strait, I valiantly offered to pick up pizza and local favorite "donair" so I could check out the tasting room. All 5 beers in the flight (plus a glass of cornuts!), were tasty but the IPA and the Mild English were my favorites. I left with a six pack of a session IPA. The donair up the street, a variation on the Middle Eastern shaved meat in a wrap I've had before as "doner," came with a sweet sauce made from condensed milk. Not sure I can get behind that particular adaptation, but the rest was good! #Tatamagouche #tatamagouchebrewery #donair #beertavel #beertourism #effectivesignage

Roof box mounted drone with mobile aluminum command center. @PresidentTrump, call me! (I'll have moved to Canada)

Actually, just a weird perspective in the parking lot at a grocery stop where we committed one of the most basic of fulltimer fails; We parked on a slope with the fridge on the uphill side so everything we Tetris in there just falls right back out. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #airstreamandaviation

We broke up a long day on the road with a late afternoon stop at the Red Shoe Pub along the western coast of Cape Breton Island. Snagging one of the last tables at 4:45 before the music started at 5:00 and the crowds arrived, we had a great view of the fiddler and guitarist running through Cape Breton tunes in the small, noisy dining room which was a bit much for the girls to take. We listened as long as we could, I scarfed my cabbage and bacon soup with Irish soda bread and a ginger beer, and we headed across the street to the vintage trailer selling ice cream before getting back on the road. #capebreton #capebretonisland #redshoepub #travelwithkids #familytravel

Made it to Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail, roads and a coastline we've been thinking about for almost two years now. Can't wait to explore over the next week. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #capebreton #capebretonisland

Views for miles. Between a 2 yr old who insists on being carried, a 4 1/2 yr old who can whine on a dime and a 44 yr old who seems to have pulled something in his groin while trying to make himself look awesome jumping off a dock in PEI, we picked the shortest hike we could find in the Cape Breton Highlands National Park and weren't disappointed. #capebreton #capebretonisland #parkscanada #familytravel #travelwithkids #hikingwithkids #hikingwithimmatureadults #totallyworthit

This afternoon, Wynne and I drove back into Cheticamp for a whale watching boat trip. After a pretty boring hour for a little girl, five miles out past the lighthouse at the edge of the harbor, we came into a few pods of pilot whales, maybe 50 animals in total, that swam around us and surfaced within 30 or so feet of the boat. Pretty exciting for a little girl. #firstdayofroadschool #roadschool #travelwithkids #familytravel #pilotwhales #whalewatchjng #capebreton #capebretonisland

Don't all pre-schools have nap-time? #imonaboat #childhoodunplugged #travelwithkids #familytravel #roadschool

Don't come to Meat Cove. It's too crowded and you can't bring your trailer there. Plus, you can barely even whale watch from your dinette. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #capebreton #capebretonisland #meatcovecampground #meatcove

We'll stay put up here at Meat Cove for a little while longer, but here's a shot from yesterday driving the spectacular western coast of the Cabot Trail. We sure were glad we'd gotten the brakes redone along the Blueridge Parkway. And coincidentally, the Cape Breton highlands are actually an extension of the Appalachian Mountains which at one point likely rose higher than the current Himalayas as the super continents of Euramerica and Gondwana collided. 💫 #themoreyouknow #thankswikipedia #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #cabottrail #capebreton #capebretonisland #capebretonhighlandsnationalpark #parkscanada

Pony recital with a view. #childhoodunplugged #pianolessons #airstreamwithkids #capebreton #capebretonisland #meatcove

So much right with this picture. #vintagebus #cliffsidecampsite #campfire #r2d2chair #ponies #toddlerlife #childhoodunplugged #capebreton #capebretonisland #meatcove #campingwithkids

Good friends and a great campsite. @bodes.well and @mali.mish arrived this morning (and parked in front of us). #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #nomadiccommunity #littleredairstream #capebreton #capebretonisland #meatcove

Meat Cove at the northern tip of Cape Breton Islands is the farthest north and farthest east we'll get in 2016. Our farthest north and west point for last year was Homer, AK, 5,341 miles away by the most direct route. Our next farthest west point for last year was Tofino, B.C., 4,181 miles almost directly west. Farthest southeast for this year was Rainbow Springs, FL, 2,113 miles to the south of us. And the farthest west for this year was Austin, TX, 2,815 miles away.

While there's still tons to see and do along the way, tomorrow starts a 10 week, 3,931 mile (if we took the most direct route) journey down through the Canadian Maritimes, along the Maine Coast, around New England and across the U.S. just in time
for the move-in date on our currently-being-renovated small house in Petaluma, CA. We just passed our 2 year mark of living in the Airstream this month, and are looking forward to re-establishing a homebase that gives us community and family but doesn't discourage future wanderlust.
#roadtrip #fulltimefamilies #travelwithkids #familytravel #maps #northamerica

Gorilla is pretty happy to be in one place for a while, especially a place where she can alternate between raising the temperature of her black fur to approximately 137 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun and then slinking under the trailer to cool off. #dogslife #dogsofinstagram #airstreamwithdogs #yeswehaveadog #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife

One more from Meat Cove. Last night a strong thunderstorm came in around 2:00 am and parked off the cove with near simultaneous lighting and thunder for an hour or so. We woke up this morning to drizzle wondering if we'd be trapped inside all day, but it cleared into a pretty perfect lazy day. I sanded the rust off my hatchet and made reservations for Halifax, Ann read and the kids played before we shared a nice veggie taco dinner with @bodes.well who we'll say goodbye to tomorrow. As the sun sets, I've got the last couple fingers of Noah's Mill chilling over an ice cube in my glass, the smell of a loaf of wheat sandwich bread in the oven filling the trailer and the sounds of "Room on the Broom" coming from the bedtime routine on the other end of the trailer. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife

Airstream, tiny house, trees, beach. That'll do. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #tinyhouse #capebreton #capebretonisland