We are now well into our ninth province as we continue to drive across Canada. Every day has been a new adventure, and with Ethan roadschooling, there are always new things to learn.
Video to come!
Morning
Last night, we stayed at a local Walmart and when we woke up, we were greeted with pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins made by Loretta. Ethan was happy to see them again, as usual, and was even happier to have a muffin for breakfast. Dong Eun also liked not having to cook.
Ethan worked some more on his fourth grade assessment. We’re still trying to find a way to motivate and encourage him to write. We know he’s creative and we know that he can write if he put his mind to it.
Once we were done breakfast and cleaned up, we headed for Cape Breton. We followed the directions of a new navigation app, which told us to mostly take a smaller road, rather than the Trans Canada Highway.
But interestingly, we got to experience something new… There was road construction and to get through the construction area, we were escorted by one of the construction trucks.
We went back onto the Trans Canada and eventually made it to Cape Breton.
Afternoon
We kept seeing signs for the Farmers Daughter market and were curious what it was. So we pulled in to check it out and were impressed by the local products and the in store bakery.
At one point, an older fellow asked if were the ones from BC and told us about how he’s been across the country 3 or 4 times. He also mentioned how he has two daughters living in BC. We then found out that he was the owner of the market and had a nice chat with him about the store.
He told us about the contest he held where if someone worked with him for 5 years, he would give them 3 acres of land. I remember that story in the news and told him that I might have even applied. Obviously, I didn’t get the job.
Before leaving, we bought their oat cakes and Ethan and Dong Eun had to get a photo with the giant red chair outside the store.
Back on the road, we couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of Cape Breton.
Everywhere we looked, it was nice and we had to stop to enjoy the views up close and to have lunch.
Ethan also got a much needed toenail trim.
He then picked some leaves to press them using his new math book. This is something he learned from seeing Loretta do the same thing.
With our belly’s full, we drove on and encountered the rocky shores of Cape Breton. This was the first time that any of us have seen something like this.
It was easy to see how the earth pushed the fault lines up to create this dramatic shoreline.
Driving further along, we came up to a grassy area overlooking the water.
A little further and we were back down at sea level, visiting a local beach. Ethan took the opportunity to write something into the sand for Dong Eun.
A short distance away, Ethan collected sea snails and made a game from them… If the snails started trying to move, we had to flip them over and poke them so they’d go back in their shell.
We also saw a mask making shop, that unfortunately, was closed for the season. It seemed like many places were closed for the season, but it meant no tourists, too.
Ethan has been enjoying all the little things he can do on the trip, such as finding sticks and carving them.
Evening
There was so much to see that it was dark before we started looking for a place to camp for the evening. We drove along Cabot Trail until we found a quiet pull out area. It turned out to be a great spot because we saw more stars in the sky than we have ever seen in our lives.
How amazing that the people here get to gaze up at the sky and see such a sight every night. Ethan ended the night by doing some math. He then stretched with Dong Eun to get ready for bed.
We took one more look at the sky and called it a day.
If you’re just reading this blog for the first time, we are a family of three traveling across Canada (and likely beyond) in a 1994 VW Westfalia camper van called Juju Jr. Our son Ethan, age 9, is unschooling and so we want him to learn from being on the road and traveling. So he’s also now a roadschooler and we are documenting the trip and his learning on this blog.
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