Seeing a Giant Tide and Ending Up on the Bottom of the Ocean - Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia

Time for another Nova Scotian road trip. My dad would regale me with tales of the world's highest tide when I was a kid. It was something he always wanted to see and told my about this magical place with the world's highest tides...up to 50 feet!

Watch the Video!

When he explained it, it sounded like a giant tidal wave would come in each day..."you can actually see the wave come in," he'd tell me. I was always entranced by this but never thought I'd get there. Well, you can see where this is going. Now that we're in Halifax it's only about an hour by car to the Bay of Fundy and the Fundy Discovery Site where you can watch this very tidal action take place and watch the wave, the wave my dad always talked about, come in.

In reality, the "wave"...or the tidal bore, to be technically correct...is only 1 to 3 feet tall but it is still something amazing to see.

Gray clouds are threatening as we leave Halifax towards Truro on the other side of the province. There will be rain but this will just be a normal, late summer precipitation, not the hurricane that came in a couple of days ago.

We dress appropriately and bring our raincoats and hats along.

It's a very easy drive, if a bit wet. We had checked the tide table before we left and the tide was scheduled to come in at 11:56am. We arrived, parked, and turned off the engine. It was 11:36.

With just enough time to get Tim out of the car and into his chair, we make our way over to the viewing area, a couple of hundred yards away.

There are about 40 to 50 people here for the same reason. We find a couple of chairs on the bank of the channel and then wait. It's raining so it's not the most comfortable wait but it shouldn't be too long.

The tide's a bit late. 11:56 comes and goes with nothing. Then, about ten minutes later, a flock of seagulls sitting on the ground of the estuary suddenly take flight and a shout of "here it comes!" from the visitor center behind us tell us to be on alert.

The estuary is on a curve so we look down to the bend and there it is...the magnificent, one foot tall tidal bore. Yes, it looks a bit like a large ripple but there it is (you can see it very well in our video).

It comes by and past us. The water keeps rushing in afterward like a rushing river. Soon, the water has risen about 6 feet. We stay for about a half hour before we decide to leave and look for some lunch.

One of the best restaurants in Nova Scotia is about a 30 minute drive down the bay. The Flying Apron comes highly recommended but I call just to make sure..."we just go our power back this morning so we're not going to open until tomorrow."

Scratch that on the list of Dorian related vacation casualties. Now, it'll just be a scenic drive along the bay and then back to our plan B restaurant close to the Halifax Airport.

Awhile later, we're in the town of Noel where I stop to get gas. Full serve out here in the boondocks at similar prices to what we pay in California. At the edge of town on the edge of the bay, we have to make a stop at Burntcoat Head Park. It's here where you can really see the effects of the massive tide here.

Tim's not interested in getting out of the car in the rain and the park's really not accessible anyway. He waits and listens to music while Letty and I take a short walk.

The tide's gone back out now so we walk down some stairs and soon we're walking along the bottom of the ocean, about 30 feet below the high tide line.

Nearby is a mushroom looking tower of red rock that is under water when the tide is in with a forest of trees on top. When the tide comes in, it's a small island offshore.

We spend a few minutes wandering around the seabed and then we meet back up with Tim for the drive back to Halifax.

Along the way, we stop by Oliver's Gastropub...located at the Inn on the Lake near Wellington...for a delicious lunch in a very cozy, warm atmosphere.

It'll do us nicely as we get back to our hotel and relax for the rest of the night.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

THE COCKTAIL HOUR: Captain O

Too easy so this will be short...

The name comes from Captain Morgan rum and the O is for Organic for the organic fruit juice we got at the Haggen Oaks farmers market in Bakersfield, California.

Watch the Video!

Get fresh pressed organic juice of your choice at your local farmers market.  Fill a glass with ice. Pour 2 ounces of Captain Morgan over the ice, fill with the juice.

You're done.

Cheers!

Day Trippin' on the Day After

After burning a day of doing nothing but sitting in our hotel room yesterday, courtesy of Hurricane Dorian, we're back at again today. Looking at the weather, you'd never know a big storm blew through the day before but looking on the ground, there's a lot of evidence looking at all the dark shops and torn out trees.

Still, it's a beautiful sunny day and there's really nothing to do in our neighborhood. Let's take a drive.

Letty wants to see a quaint Atlantic fishing village. Her pick is Lunenburg, about a two hour drive out of Halifax. I'm wanting to go a little closer to Peggy's Cove, about half that distance.

Of course, we're going to Lunenburg.

The signals are all out in Halifax so it's a bit slow going until we get to the freeway, then it's a quick cruise. Tim has a loose bolt on his wheelchair and the toolkit we carry along with us doesn't have the right wrench for it so I swing off halfway down to stop at a hardware store.

Of course, it's closed because there is no power. I'm thinking this is going to be a quick trip to Lunenburg if there's no power there.

Hurricane Dorian actually made landfall a bit north of Lunenburg, sparing it the full force of the storm. Still, we pass plenty of downed trees. Some block over half of the road with no emergency personnel or signs of any kind. We can see where this might be a problem if traffic will be coming in both directions.

We also see dozens of dead porcupines on the roads. We don't know if this is a regular thing in Nova Scotia or maybe storm related.

Exiting at highway 3, we wind through Mader's Cove...another postcard perfect Atlantic village...where we see a huge, uprooted tree laying across someone's house. Eventually, we end up in Lunenburg where we find a nice, handicapped parking spot right in the middle of downtown.

It's a hilly little town and we climb up to the top of the hill on King Street from which we can wander downhill through the shops and restaurants on the way to the waterfront.

About half of the businesses here are still without power but enough is open so it doesn't feel like a wasted trip.

A friend of ours recommended we stop by Ironworks Distillery at the end of town. We walk over and, even though they have power and a few people are inside, they're taking the opportunity of the storm to have a day off and are closed to the public.

We continue to the waterfront, take in the views, and talk to a few shop owners.  A cemetery at the other end of town makes a good spot to look at the gravestones and take a few pictures.

Here's one where a tree grows through two tombstones.

Finishing the day with a forgettable lunch at Big Red's, we stop at a hardware store on the way out of town that it...thankfully...open and with power to get the wrench we needed for Tim's chair.

It's a slow, scenic drive along the coast on the way back as we decided to drive through Peggy's Cove to see what's there.

It's much smaller than Lunenburg but with about twice as many tourists milling about. There's an almost full parking lot at the famous lighthouse perched on big rocks that make for a stunning picture.

We cannot find an accessible spot but park in a normal parking spot while Letty goes out to take pictures.

While there is a tiny, picturesque fishing village here, there's not much else to recommend trying to navigate the area with a wheelchair so we continue on and back to Halifax.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

Some photos by Letty Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

National Family Caregivers Month: Taking Care of The Caregiver

Welcome to National Family Caregivers Month. What is a caregiver? Basically, if you're someone with special needs necessary for living a normal life, you will need someone to help you meet those needs. That is a caregiver (also called a carer in some parts of the world).

While our blog focuses on disabilities, particularly mobility deficiencies, most of it is written by a caregiver with input by the one cared for (for the perspective of the person being cared for, you can check out Tim's series of posts called Cerebral Palsy Stories).

During this month, we'll be posting some articles about caregiving, what it is, how to do it, and how to pay for it. Our focus will be on persons needing help due to mobility issues.

As we've noted before, caregiving is an all-consuming 24/7 affair. The temptation to give into that would be easy to fall into but if the caregiver has a problem, everybody has problems.

I often remind Tim he needs to be an active participant and help me out. If I fall, he falls. If I get hurt, it's likely he will to. If I'm sick or out of action, he suffers because he no longer has my help.

One thing I try to do is take care of myself and stay in shape so I'll be healthy enough and strong enough to help him for as long as possible.

I admit that I don't always have the healthiest of lifestyles. I like to eat. I like to eat foods that aren't considered healthy. I like a cold glass of beer, a sublime sip of wine, or even a nice cocktail at a friendly little dive bar and I'm paying for that lifestyle by being overweight and dealing with type 2 diabetes.

That, of course, has to change so I've been eating and drinking less, trying to be healthier when I do (usually just one big meal a day and another very light meal). I've also increased my exercise considerably.

I walk just about everyday. My quota is 15 miles a week and most weeks I exceed that by several miles. I've gotten it to be such a habit that many in my county now know me as "that walking guy from Ione."

Tim goes with me at least once a week and he's now developed a liking for hiking when we go on trips.

He also joins me for a weight training workout session twice a week.

While I'll never be mistaken for a bodybuilder, I have gotten noticeably healthier and stronger. I've lost over 40 pounds...and counting...my cholesterol has dropped 80 points, and my blood pressure is consistently normal now. Yes, part of that is due to medication but I'll take it.

It's also helped me mentally and shedding of stress is a big part of my lifestyle and philosophy these days. 

If I can stay healthy mentally and physically, I should be able to take care of Tim for some years to come and keep pushing the day where we'll have to rely on someone else back to the future.

If you are or become a caregiver, make sure you put time aside for yourself and keep yourself healthy.

Darryl Musick

Copyright 2021 - All Rights Reserved

Dastardly Dorian Dumps on Halifax

We've had marvelous weather in Nova Scotia since the fog of the first day lifted. Daytime highs of around 70 degrees, sunny, with a slight breeze. That's about to change.

Just before we left, Hurricane Dorian pummeled and devastated the Bahamas on its course through the Caribbean. As of this writing, 58 people have been killed, more than 600 are still missing, and some endangered species...like the Bahamas nuthatch...are now believed to be extinct after the storm.

Dorian left the Caribbean, headed out to sea, and is now headed north. Looking at the track on the weather map, we can see a dot right smack in the middle of the storm's path...the next landfall will be Halifax.

We are going to experience our first hurricane.

Walking along the waterfront, we see changes. The floating pedestrian bridge is gone, it's been stowed away for the storm. A parade of Navy ships are headed out of the harbor from the big base here. They're headed to safer waters for the duration. Cranes are being lowered. The ferries have stopped running. Waterfront restaurants are boarding up their windows and, in our hotel, dozens of cots have been set out in the conference room to accommodate employees who can't go home and stranded guests who can't leave.

It's Saturday morning. On the news, the storm is expected to make landfall sometime in the afternoon. We head to a nearby convenience store to load up on snacks and drinks to hold us over until the storm passes. We each get a microwavable dinner from the hotel's lobby shop to have some nutrition to go with it.

Then, we get comfortable in the room. We're hunkering down, waiting for the storm, and will not be leaving the hotel until it's gone.

A consideration for us is that our room is on the 10th floor. We visit with the manager to see if we need to be concerned. We're told that all should be well, the hotel (Homewood Suites) has plenty of backup generator power and the elevators will still be running in the case that the local power goes out.

Now we wait...as long as the cable TV, lights, and internet hold out, we'll be good. Hopefully, the large windows will remain intact as well.

Mid afternoon, the rain starts. Not long after that the wind kicks up. Soon, we also have snow that is blowing sideways. The snow doesn't last long and then the rain comes in sheets with 80-90 mile per hour sustained winds.

Hurricane Dorian has arrived. A category 1 storm, just enough to be a hurricane, but not the category 5 that hit the Caribbean, thank God.

The windows shake...even the building shakes with the buffeting of the winds. I make a quick trip to the lobby just to take a little video of the storm for posterity. No way I'm going beyond the front door.

Back upstairs, now and again, the internet and cable go out. Just for a few minutes at a time. The lights flicker now and again but no sustained power interruptions. If you're our friends on Facebook, we apologize for all the silly posts...mainly, we were bored.

We're lucky...the neighborhood around us is lights out and the area to the east of us would not see a flicker of electricity for three more days.

By 10 o'clock that night, the winds have died down and now it's just a steady rain.

Halifax was very lucky...no one died, no major injuries. A crane toppled onto an empty apartment building under construction, hundreds of trees were taken out, windows broken, and hundreds of thousands of Nova Scotians were without power for several days. Minor inconveniences in the big scheme of things.

Some things we planned to do will either have to be modified or scrubbed but now it's time to count our blessings and continue our trip.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

The Cocktail Hour: Halifax Pub Crawl

We were told that Halifax has more pubs per one thousand people than any other city in Canada. I guess we should try a few while we're here.

Let's start with the 2 Crows Brewery, which is right next door to our hotel. Beers a bit overhoppy for us but it's fun to go next door with a couple of beers and throw axes at the wall at Halimac.

Watch the Video!

Another stop we enjoyed better was the Stubborn Goat Beer Garden, on Halifax's waterfront. This is a nice place with good beer to enjoy the activities on the water when the weather is nice although I'd call it more of a patio than a beer garden.

Onto actual pubs that we visited, we start off with the Split Crow Pub which sits at the entrance to a small pedestrian mall on Granville Street at the north end of downtown. It's a bit tight inside with the wheelchair so we sit in the small patio out front.

It's happy hour so we take advantage to get cheap glasses of Molson Canadian and Garrison Red along with Letty's wine. I like the red, Tim likes the Canadian.

Up the hill across from the Citadel is the Halifax Ale House. It's an ancient looking bar but it's only been in business since the 1960's. The building is indeed old (1893) but it used to be a church for the Salvation Army.

Keith's Red is my pour while Letty gets a giant mug of Hoegaarden and Tim goes with a Leffe blonde. We each think our selection is the best.

Next, we'll pop back down to the waterfront and visit Halifax Distilling Company. On our outing to Lundenburg, we missed out on the rum distillery there because of Hurricane Dorian related issues (basically the staff used it as an excuse to take an extra day off). Luckily, there's a good rum maker right here in downtown Halifax.

We taste a selection of their rums going from light to dark and including spiced varieties. It's all good and we take a bottle of the black and another of their chocolate rum to take home.

Next it's up to the lively climes of Argyle Street and Durty Nelly's which has a nifty side entrance for wheelchairs to avoid the old steps built into the main door. It's another Keith's Red for me and wine for Letty. Tim's going back to Coke at this point.

We're finishing up down the block at The Pint Pub, a much larger facility that includes a rooftop patio (that's not wheelchair accessible, unfortunately). We finish with a forgettable Olan lager, Fireball and Captain Morgan shots.

That's it from our drinking tour in one of Canada's most pub friendly cities. 

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

Splish Splash and Cannon Blasts - Forts and Cruising in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Fully rested up, we're ready to start exploring a little deeper into Halifax.  After breakfast and getting ready, the phone rings. It's the Harbour Hopper tour office telling us we will not be able to do the 1:30pm tour we booked because the accessible vehicle will not be ready until 2:30pm. Would we mind waiting an hour?

Watch the Video!

No, we're good. Actually, this is great because it gives us a litte more time to explore what would become my favorite attraction here, the Halifax Citadel.

This is where the English part of the city was founded back in 1749. A heavily fortified hill that was the North American military backbone of the English Empire. It also just happens to be right across the street from our hotel.

It may be just across the way but it's still up a steep and big hill. We have to track up five blocks, feeling every step in our glutes, to get the accessible route up to the entrance. Tim has a power chair so it's no big deal for him.

We buy our tickets and pose with the guard.

Over the moat and into the cobblestoned entrance, it's another photo opportunity with the guards but this time, they can break the pose and smile with you.

Inside, there's a large parade ground covered with hard packed gravel. It's not a problem for most chairs. There are some deeper, softer spots around the edges that you should take care to avoid.

Built into the wall, there's a museum of British and Canadian military history that winds you through several rooms.

It's interesting, especially as an American seeing things explained through the British side of things when you get to the period of the Revolutionary War.

Tim's surprised...as am I...at what sounds like a cannon going off repeatedly. Actually, it's a musket demonstration going on over in another corner of the fort. I amble over, too late to take pictures, but hear a very interesting spiel about why the armies of the day marched in attack lines, hundreds of soldiers wide, as opposed to taking cover.

In short, it's because the soldiers were nervous, the guns smooth-bore, and they figured with everybody shooting at once, there was a good chance that someone would hit something, even if a lot of shots went wild.

Over in the barracks building, a docent tells us the fascinating story of everyday lives of the soldiers.

Here, he demonstrates some of the games the soldiers would play to pass time in the barracks.

I must say that the docents here at the Citadel are among the best we've ever encountered in our travels. They were very knowledgeable, engaging, and made the history come alive. We enjoyed our visit to the Citadel a lot more than we thought we would.

At noon, another crew fires off a cannon over the wall that was to alert the ships and citizens of the town so they could set their clocks.

At this loud point in the action, we take our leave of this fascinating old fort that also has an elevator so that wheelchairs can access the path around the top of the ramparts.

It's about four blocks down the rather steep hill to the city's waterfront. This afternoon, we need to be there for our next adventure. We're going on the Halifax Harbour Hopper tour. This is like the Duck tours you have in cities like Boston but up here they're named after a frog instead of a waterfowl.

An old army surplus amphibious vehicle is used so that after tooling around the city streets for the first half of the tour, the truck turns into a boat and floats in the water for the second half.

You need to book the wheelchair accessible vehicle at least a day ahead of time. We stopped by the office yesterday to do just that.

At the appointed time, the vehicle pulls up and a manual, hand-cranked, wheelchair lift is deployed to get Tim onboard.

Once he's in, and strapped down, we're off.

First stop is a couple of loops around the Citadel, where we'd just come from, so we got a bit of a rerun.

Then, it's off to the streets where we see some old cemeteries and the large park known as Halifax Common.

It's through the shopping district and then by St. Paul's Church, the oldest building in Halifax dating back to 1749.

It's off to the casino where a ramp hidden alongside allows us to splash into the water.

It's a slow cruise along the waterfront, an area we've been exploring on foot for a couple of days now. The HMCS Sackville, a Canadian Corvette that was a legendary U-Boat hunter in WW I, is docked next to the Maritime Museum.

Georges Island, with it's pretty lighthouse and another historic fort, is the next landmark we pass.

We see the Halifax Transit ferries ply their way across the harbor, make one more pass along the waterfront from the casino to the cruise ship dock, and then it's back to the base.

It's a lot of fun and one of the few, truly accessible boat tours in the region.

Afterward, we make our way back down the waterfront to Pickford and Black, a waterfront seafood restaurant where we can bask in the late summer sunshine.

Letty has their wonderful seafood chowder and lobster roll...

...Tim the fish 'n chips...

...and the landlubber in the family has a creamy pesto chicken thigh.

It was all marvelously delicious and a perfect way to end this day.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2019 - All Rights Reserved

National Family Caregivers Month: Nut and Bolts - How It Gets Done

Welcome to National Family Caregivers Month. What is a caregiver? Basically, if you're someone with special needs necessary for living a normal life, you will need someone to help you meet those needs. That is a caregiver (also called a carer in some parts of the world).

While our blog focuses on disabilities, particularly mobility deficiencies, most of it is written by a caregiver with input by the one cared for (for the perspective of the person being cared for, you can check out Tim's series of posts called Cerebral Palsy Stories).

During this month, we'll be posting some articles about caregiving, what it is, how to do it, and how to pay for it. Our focus will be on persons needing help due to mobility issues.

How, exactly, does this caring get done? What does it entail? 

I'll be relying a bit on Tim's posts for some of this explanation but here is a typical day.

7:30am (8:00am on weekends)- I open Tim's bedroom door, raise his curtains, and remove his CPAP machine (Tim has sleep apnea to go with his other disabilities). I give him ten minutes to "work up a feeling" as he puts it, the feeling to go to the bathroom.

7:40am - I transfer Tim from his bed to his commode chair. I position the commode chair near his bed, swing his legs over the side, and stand him up. He is able to support his weigh on his legs while I swing him to the chair. A quick lift gets him onto the seat.
(We use a Drive Commode wheelchair, which is almost an exact copy of the Aquatec Commode chair but about half the price. It works very well for us - Ed)

I wheel him into the bathroom, positioned over the toilet to do his business, then leave him there until he's finished (see Tim's post about answering the call of nature for more information).

When he's finished, I have to clean him up. Yeah, it's about as fun as you think it is.
(You'll probably want to have some disposable gloves, good toilet paper, and wipes on hand for this.- Ed)

I wash up then wheel him a couple of feet into the shower. Tim has a roll-in shower and a shower head on a hose to make things easier. I give him a shave and a shower (see Tim's post on taking a shower to see how it's done).

When shower's over, I dry him off, apply a little medicine to help prevent pressure sores (skin lesions on his behind that can develop from constantly sitting) and wheel him over to his room.

A little deodorant and then I get him dressed, including putting ankle foot orthotics on him (AFOs) to help position his ankles. These are commonly called braces.

Once he's dressed, I'll help him stand for four minutes, putting weight on his legs, for therapy. Then I'll transfer him over to his wheelchair, which has been charging overnight.

Once done, I'll give him his morning medication and send him over to his mom who will install his tray and he'll eat the breakfast I've prepared for him and watch TV. Tim's not a big breakfast eater so his meal consists of pieces of fresh fruit that he can feed himself.

Twice a week, at mid morning, Tim and I will do a workout together which includes weight training with resistance bands. Otherwise, he's done until lunch except for another bathroom break, mid-morning.
(We use Veick Resistance bands for our workout.-Ed)

Lunchtime is usually around 11:30-12 noon. I'll prepare a lunch, or maybe buy a sandwich at our local deli, and feed it to him. When that's done, I'll floss and brush his teeth and help him go to the bathroom.
(Tim's toothbrush is a Collis Curve which is very handy for brushing someone else's teeth. -Ed)

When that's done, I can eat my lunch and he'll be good for most of the afternoon except he may have to go to the bathroom again, take his midday pill, and want his water glass refilled.

Either my wife or I will prepare dinner for all of us or go out to eat. At home, I usually feed Tim dinner. When we go out, it's usually my wife. Either way, after dinner one of us brushes his teeth again and I help him go to the bathroom.

After we're done, I'll transfer him to a recliner where he can relax and watch TV until bedtime.

At bedtime, I'll transfer him back into his wheelchair, give him is nighttime medication, help him go to the bathroom, and put him in the bed. My wife will set him up with the CPAP machine and make sure he's covered.

That's the end of our day but we'll sleep with a monitor in case he needs something in the middle of the night. Most of the time, he doesn't but once in awhile something will come up.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2021 - All Rights Reserved