tiredThe crossing: Fantastic! Hardly anyone was on it, and you felt like you kind of got to know all the people that were. When the ferry is crowded it has the impersonal feel of a busy public place - when it's nearly empty, it's a completely different atmosphere. I loved it. Will try to cross at night more often from now on.
Nova Scotia: Augh. The rain pounded and the roads were a mess. Of course, you could scrupulously avoid the dangerous standing water (where you tend to hydroplane), but only if you could see them, which of course you couldn't because it was raining so hard. This was nighttime travel at its scariest - outside of Hurricane Bill, I probably picked the worst night of the summer to head back here. The rain didn't just fall straight down, either. It came in sideways sheets and blew across the road, always threatening to unseat my precarious, precious perch between the lines of my lane.
The 106 wasn't bad, but it was kind of tricky because the road isn't twinned. The 104 is where things got downright miserable - at least once on Mt. Thom I was pretty much swimming as all four wheels were hydroplaning. Yeesh. I went between 60 and 80 km/h most of the way and I still had my fair share of scary moments. At least the road was twinned and fairly empty - although once a truck was bearing down on me, and it bugs me that they tend to wait until the last possible moment to signal their intention to pass me! Nothing reminds you of your mortality quite like the headlight pattern of an 18-wheeler coming closer and closer in your rearview mirror while travelling downhill on a slick road.
The 102 was OK - still bad, but I was getting used to it. There was predictably a lot more traffic, but somewhat less than on a normal night - locals were presumably showing good sense and staying home.
When I got home, the rain was pounding full force - I waited in the car for it to let up a bit, and ran in with just my laptop and camera. I even phoned Mom from the car to tell her not to come outside and get me with the umbrella - it wasn't really necessary. I'll take my things out of the car in the morning - tonight I would just get myself and my things wet. No time to rest, though - tomorrow we're going to Toronto! And then once I'm back from that, it's into school. I don't really feel like I got a summer vacation - between earlier haying and later functions with relatives it's been busy busy busy. That's alright, though. I'm a young man yet and can handle it.
