I suppose you're wondering ...

I suppose you're wondering why I'm sitting here in my undies in the middle of the day writing a blog.

Let me back up a bit.  

This morning I was going to take the dogs for a walk along the service road that runs off the Lucasville side road.  Been there lots of times.  It's one of our favourite spots.

You can imagine my surprise when my car decided to turn right at Beaverbank Road  two kilometres before my intended turning point.  Sometimes I just don't know WHAT my car is thinking; but since I was in the car and it was travelling at speed I felt it unsafe to jump out so decided to tag helplessly along to see where it was going.   

Apparently at some point in the past I had mentioned an abandoned radar station that was located 15 km up Beaverbank Road and my car had remembered that and felt that today's fabulous weather was a good reason to have an adventure.  Who am I to argue with a compact car with a mind of its own !

The radar station opened in 1950 to fill a pressing need to watch out for an imminent Soviet invasion.  By 1964 the technology was already out of date and the station was slowly shut down.  The only building remaining is the operations building in the top left corner of the image below and that was our destination on today's hike.

Roads and power poles that once serviced the people living there are the only other things that remain.  

 The long road that leads to the remaining ruins bears a warning.

Since "E.A." clearly wasn't deterred by the warning, neither were we.  

The remains of the operations building.

Some folk find graffiti bothersome but I like it.

Sometimes it raises some interesting questions: "Who is the wind?".   I guess that's as good a questions as "Who has seen the wind?".

"All Monsters are Human Cool"  could prompt a good discussion.

I wonder how they got up there to paint that flag ?

I usually try to get inside these buildings but in this case the "entrance" was fifteen feet off the ground and rather perilous to reach so sadly I had to settle for just seeing the outside.

And checking out some nearby ruined structures.

It was a very hot day and much of the walk revolved around finding ponds and puddles for the dogs to cool off in.  Turning to head back to the car I was struck by how far we had walked to reach our destination !

Yep.  Up over that hill and another kilometer past that.   Heading back we sometimes managed to find prettier side trails that took us off the blistering hot concrete.

And back to my car whose idea this whole outing had been, but who had opted to chill by the side of the road while the dogs and I went on our forced march.

And that brings us back to the present moment.

And me sitting in my underwear.

Do you wanna know why I am sitting here in my underwear ?

Tough luck -- I'm gonna tell you any way.

No wait.

I'll show you !

TICKS !    

I just took 14 Ticks off Sooki.  When I idly itched my belly button and found one gleefully hiding in there I pretty much stripped everything off and subjected myself to an inspection in my full length mirror.    My jeans are in the wash and the dogs have been checked again and again.

Stooopid car !

P.S.  I am a malicious person and press the ticks between pieces of Scotia tape.

I should have known better.

Yesterday Trey and I paddled back over to Lawlor's Island.

Once there I dragged the kayak up the shore and threw the ball for Trey to help him get rid of his bad case of the "sillies", as he'd whined and wiggled the whole way across.  I had had to keep telling him to: "LIE DOWN !!!".

Then we headed into the island's interior to seek out the ruins again.

On Canada Day when I found located the fallen water tower for the first time, I was soooo disappointed when the batteries in my camera crapped out and I couldn't share photos of my find.

This time I found some ruins that I'd not seen before.  This is the "Winter Hospital".

All told, Trey and I slogged our way over and around that island for over four hours.

We walked the interior of the island from the Cemetery (left end) to the Winter Hospital near the "Sand Flat".  

We then walked back along the shore to the site of the original "Deep Water Wharf".

Site of the original Deep Water Wharf and the Disinfection Units.

Disinfection unit.

Massive door hinge on the Unit.

I lingered to admire a Cormorant drying its wings on the remnants of the wharf.

We just had to walk around the point and we should see the kayak.

And we did.

See it there ?

Floating gently in the harbour !   WHAT ?   FLOATING GENTLY IN THE FRIKKIN' HARBOUR !?!

And there is Trey's life jacket bobbing near the shore and floating nearby -- my paddle !

My life jack, with my car keys in the pocket is in the kayak.

I know, I know -- I'm an idiot !  

I wadded out and grabbed the kayak.  Unfortunately I had to put the sodden, cold life jacket on poor ol' Trey.

He was NOT amused !


You can bet I'll be dragging my kayak above the high water mark in future.

A wet, dull, day

Tuesday was damp.  It was that kind of damp that gets into your bones.  And it was dull. It was that kind of dull where the daylight seemed tired and shadows were invisible.

Nevertheless, Lynne and I went exploring.

View from the top of the dyke.  The tide is out and little water is left
in the drying river bed.

Scarcely an hour after leaving Halifax,  we made our first stop, to wander along the top a dyke that bordered the Avon River.

Dykes, large berms of earth, were built by early settlers to hold back the salt-water, tidal rivers, thereby creating and preserving, arable farmland.

Walking along the top of the dyke, river to our right and farmland to our left.

Back on the road, we stopped briefly under a tree near Canning.  I'd been prattling on at Lynne about the Eagle Watch weekends each winter in nearby Sheffield Mills, where scores of eagles come to feed on chickens parts cast out by local factory farms.

Can you see the eagle ?

Next stop was the Lookoff at Blomidon.  I love taking people there -- especially for the first time.

No matter what the season, the view from Blomidon is always awe inspiring, and Lynne was suitably impressed.

A few kilometers down the road, after stopping briefly to explore an abandoned church, we arrived at Scots Bay -- a large beach on the Bay of Fundy.  The tide was now well on it's way in.

The abandoned church on the road to Scots Bay.

Sadly, we were too cold to linger there long.  We chucked the ball for the dogs a few times and peered down the shore at a couple of eagles perched on a distant piece of driftwood, then high-tailed it outta there.

We stumbled across a lovely little café and Lynne treated me to a lovely lunch.

We got back to the city by 4 o'clock.

Not a bad outing for a wet, dull day.