I have returned from the far north...

...and must say I had a great time. The weather was bad for most of the trip but I could still see that Nova Scotia is beautiful. I stayed on Cape Breton which is the northern end of Nova Scotia. I have to thank my hosts while I was there. A doctor my mom works with is from up there and she extended an invitation for me to stay with her husband who lives on Cape Breton and is also a doctor. I have never met Ann and until Friday had never met her husband Harry. They invited a perfect stranger into there home and Harry extended amazing hospitality and I thank them. I was able to go to Fortress of Louisbourg which is a fort and town the French built in the early 1700's. It was captured by the British, given back and captured again by the British before being destroyed in the mid 1700's. About 20 percent of the town has been rebuilt using the actual blueprints and building codes from the original construction. The employees wear period costumes and the soldiers do demonstrations of musketry and different things. I was able to get about 3 pictures of different buildings before the rain poured down but being there on a cold, damp dreary day and imagining what it would have been like back in the day was quite fun. Seeing how the soldiers lived was very neat. They slept two to a bed and 24 I think it was to a room. When the British first captured the fort they were not allowed to live in the barracks because the conditions were so disgusting. Kind of put some of the barracks I lived in when I was in the Army in perspective. On Sunday Harry took me out on his sailboat and we had a great time. The wind was non existent when we set out so we motored around but then some fog and rain rolled in which brought a breeze so up went the sails and I got my first sailing lesson. What a great way to be out on the water. It is so quiet and peaceful. I have always wanted to sail and so now I can say I have. I was going to drive the Cabot Trail on Monday but it was very foggy and raining quite hard so I turned around after about 10 kilometers (hey it's Canada) and will have to do that some other time. I am heading south now sort of. Don't want to deal with Boston and NYC so I'm jogging west then south. Planning on wandering my way back down the eastern states for a while so hopefully the weather cooperates. I must run but again a very sincere thanks to Dr's Ann and Harry. I had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Don't know where I'm going but I gotta get going- take care, Jim