I woke to a driving rain at 5am this morning, so I did my daily meditation in my hotel room in Halifax.

Hampton Inns have a good buffet breakfast, so as soon as it opened at 6am, I got myself a hearty meal. But Poutine for breakfast? RU kidding?

I loaded up the car, despite the rain. I programmed Moose GPS for…

Peggy’s Cove, one of the most-visited sights of this coast. I read many warnings that crowds get large by one hour after dawn, though I thought the rain might bring fewer tourists.

I got there at 0700. The rain had just stopped and while it was very cloudy, it was dry enough to walk around and take a lot of photos.

My big brother Mike shows a brilliant photo he took of this lighthouse, so I wanted to see it for myself.

The first tour bus rolled in at 0800. I was pretty much done, and it was time to leave.

Drove further along the coast road (Rt. 3). Stopped for a break at Tim Horton’s — classic Canada. Great donuts… okay, an early birthday self-treat.

I tried to go to Oak Island, but either it was closed or I never could find it. Moose, bless his snout, tried again and again to program the GPS right, but this place did not show up. Otherwise, the updated “North America” maps in my Garmin have been spot-on.

I stopped at Mahone Bay, Lunenburg, and Port Medway. The first two are tourist traps galore. Took a few pictures then skedaddled. Port Medway local park was quite scenic and had a very different kind of lighthouse.

I rolled on 250km to Yarmouth. Man, what a long, straight, road. Reminded me of UT-67 from I-80 to Hanksville, Utah. Steve — this month’s motorcycle trip calendar image.

I settled into my hotel, took a shower, then posted some photos on FB. Then I set out to find Cape Forchu, the very western end of Nova Scotia.

Found it along a long winding road, thanks once again to Moose GPS.

Tonight, the sunset will be brilliant. Well before sunset, I headed back to my hotel, grabbed a bite to eat, another lens, then later, I will go sunset hunting. Sunset here is at 8:30pm ADT (that’s an hour later than EDT.) I’ll post any sunset photos I get tomorrow, because as soon as I get back, I will hit the sack. I didn’t sleep that well last night, so I know I will crash.

Here are some photos from today’s Nova Scotia exploration:

Life is short: explore on!