Evangeline's Tower B & B, Parrsboro

I enjoy driving my Prius and living in it during my winter travels, but there are times that a stay in an establishment works better.  I have never boondocked in Canada and going to the small town of Parrsboro, NS was not the time to figure it out.  The last time I was here I stayed in a B & B and I thought it would be a good choice again.  My cousin recommended the Evangeline's Tower B & B right downtown.  Note that there are no hotel chains in the immediate area with the closest being in Amherst, NS 45 minutes away.

I checked out the Evangeline online and called and booked the Gabriel Room that has a private bath in-suite.  Being by myself the second floor suite was more room than my needs, but it had a great sitting area near the front windows.  There is no in-room TV, opting for a central TV on the first floor guest area.  I am not a big TV watcher so this was not a problem.  I decided to set up my IPad and watch a TV series online though the house's fast wifi.

My room is the room on the second floor right, bay window area.  You can see my Prius hiding on the side of the building.

I was greeted by the woman who runs the B & B for the owners.  She was very friendly and interested in my genealogy visit and knew my cousin from town.  There were others that were booked there for the first night (Friday) that were in Parrsboro to do environmental testing in the bay for impact of the recently installed tide water electrical generation station.

Above is the sitting area that I enjoyed when I was not roaming.

Looking to the entrance door across the well appointed room and the main bed in the foreground.

Off to the side is the single bed for the suite.

Then through the suite to the bathroom.


Each morning they offer a gorgeous breakfast, that I enjoyed Saturday and Sunday AM, opting to leave about 5:00 AM for my long 650 mile ride home to MA

The dinning room is off the living room with the guest TV and then there is a sitting room as you enter with the check-in desk.

It was a pleasant stay with a wonderful host that made for easy conversation.  It's proximity to the small downtown is great and made my walk to the Bistro for a couple beers a non-driving event.

I would recommend Evangeline's Towers B & B for a visit to the area.  Summer time is high tourist season so you should plan ahead.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Parrsboro, NS Family

Above is the reason for heading to Parrsboro, NS to visit relatives.  On the left is cousin Sandra Dunphy, who lives in town and is very good a genealogy and researching the Mc/MacAloney's of NS.  On the right is Graeme MacAloney, who came to Parrsboro to speak to the MacAloney families about his research about the family and its origins in Scotland as part of the Cameron Clan before they moved to Northern Ireland and then on to other parts of the world.  Graemen's family moved back to Scotland.

It was nice meeting you Graeme and knowing our families are linked genetically from our Y-111 Male Chromosome test.

The last time I was in Parrsboro I missed my great, great, great grandfather's grave as it was grown over and not very visible anymore.

Above is the top half of the broken stone at Andrew McAloney's grave.

Below is the lower half zoomed in to see the dates.  He was 62 when he died.

His father, Robert McAloney (great, great, great, great, grandfather) who originally migrated from Northern Ireland grave is known.  The family were farmers and there is a lake near by called Lake MacAloney.

Andrew's son was also named Robert McAloney (great, great, grandfather) and he moved east to Wolfville, NS, where my great grandfather William M. MacAloney (great grandfather) was born.

It was William M. MacAloney who migrated with his family to Massachusetts around 1900 and eventually had a dairy farm.

What the DNA testing I did along with Graeme is trying to figure out, or prove that other MacAloney, families with same or different spellings are related and then their tie back to the Cameron Clan in Scotland.

If you are interested in the Male Y-111 chromosome DNA testing for the MacAloney family please let me know.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Two Islands Hike

Its Sunday morning 11/20 and the rain stopped but the low overcast remained but it was good enough for another hike.  I drove east along the coast from Parrsboro to Two Islands.  Depicted in the picture above.  Here is a nature trail that is actually a very rough dirt road to drive down to the beach where you can walk the bluffs.

Yes dinosaurs once roamed Nova Scotia.  Nova Scotia was once in tropical climates millions of years ago.  There is a very nice museum closer to Amherst, NS I have been too where they find dinosaur bones all the time from the eroding banks.  I understand they have found them here too.

Here is the fog and very steep and rutted dirt road that two vehicles did traverse while I was there parking on the beach.  Note this is AM and low tide again.

I mentioned rock hounding and you can see the clay and the mixture of all different kinds and colors of rocks mixed in.

I kept an eye out for bones but didn't find any.

There in the distance is the biggest of the "Two Islands"and you can just about walk to it on the ground left bare by the outgoing tide.

Off in the distance in the haze you can see the peninsula about a mile away that you could walk to when the tide is out.  Not me.  I have seen how fast that tide rushes in.

Above the rain washed the clay away to the ocean and makes this slippery slime.

Washed rocks that used to be in the clay soil that now make the beach.

With the tide out the perpetual stream still makes it way to the ocean although about a mile away.

The above cliff area rock formations and trees behind it actually got me thinking of a Jurassic Park where a dinosaur would come out from behind.  Yea my imagination was running away with itself.

I don't often do selfie photos but figured I would share.

Here is another clay area on the move and more rock colors to check out.

Here is a fallen formation leaving an arch to explore.

I saw this "fall colored" plant resting on the embankment and wanted to add color to my post.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Parrsboro, NS Bistro

As I previously stated Parrsboro is small and in the winter even smaller as there are many camps in the area that support more businesses.  The Black Rock Bistro was open on Saturday afternoon and was a warm spot to stop in with the low overcast and drizzle and some rain preventing more adventures on the outside.

I chose to try a local beer.

I had checked the local blog on what was going on in Parrsboro for the weekend and there was a band playing here that provided a diversion for an hour or so.  Although a small place it was very friendly and the owner came and knowing I wasn't a local came to talk with me for awhile.  Every seat was taken except the one across from me.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Partridge Island Hike

Partridge Island in the view above at low tide on Saturday AM.  This beach is covered with so many colored rocks that Parrsboro is also known for rock hounds who like to collect them.

At low tide you can walk around the island.  The sign I saw states use extreme caution walking around the island at low tide as the banks are so steep that when the water comes in there is no way to get on the island.  It stated that all hikes should be done as tide is going out so you have enough time to hike around it before the tide chases you back.

Above is a view back towards Parrsboro Harbor.

Here I am on the top of Partridge Island and looking back to Parrsboro at low tide.  I did see a partridge too!

I drove a bit past Partridge Island toward the new power plant built on tide movement.  Unfortunately it was closed this Saturday, but I did get some great views of area, although the rain was coming in.

It rained each day I was there but I was thankful it wasn't snow.

Back in town he tidal rivers are drained during low tide.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Parrsboro, NS Tides

Parrsboro incredible tides.

As I previously wrote Parrsboro, NS is noted for the largest tied swing in the world recorded over 50' st the top of the Bay of Fundy. I arrived just after the King Ties in November so today this tide was about a 46' swing.

On Saturday 11/19 I decided to drive around the area as I have been there before but never had the time to just look around the way I like to.

Above is the public dock with the tide out.

On the other side of the public dock here was these boats that were basically dry docked.

Above is a look out to the Bay of Fundy and this is the Parrsboro lighthouse.

There is a lot of water that comes in and goes out twice a day and all sailing must be with the tides.

Above the flat areas are vast and you you can walk them when the tide is out.

But watch out when the tide comes in it is fast and you don't want to get stuck way out and drown.

At high tide the boat that was sitting on dry land is now high and other boats were loading up to head out during the high tide.

Above the flat land that you could walk across at low tide is now under feet of water.

The Parrsboro lighthouse now does duty on this spit of land.

I watched the tide swings twice on Saturday.  So interesting!

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Trip to Parrsboro, NS

I took a last minute trip up to Nova Scotia on November 18, 19, 20, 21 with my Prius for a MacAloney Family gathering.  My most distant family left Scotland and landed for a few years in Northern Ireland before heading to Nova Scotia around 1800.  100 years later my great grandfather and family migrated to Massachusetts.  There were about 10 other Mc/MacAloney families that also landed in Nova Scotia over the years but with no available records in Norther Ireland the various families have assumed their relationship to be common.

Graeme MacAloney, currently of Victoria BC, Canada has set about an effort to use genetic testing to try to pull the families together.  His family history is similar to mine in that his family migrated back to Scotland in the 1800's.  Although we have know of each other since the 1990's we have never met, but he was headed to NS for business and agreed to present to the MacAloney's still in Parrsboro, NS, where the MacAloney's landed when they first immigrated his information about the MacAloney family and its tie to Scotland and the Cameron Clan.

Since I had seen he had his male Y-Chromosome tested for the 111 markers and was encouraging other MacAloney lines to also do it I did the test in October and my results came in just before my trip there and we matched on 109 markers and were only off by one on the other 2.  This degree of difference is acceptable based on what we estimate as a 200+ years ago we had a common relative.

Anyway, I drove about 650 miles to the land of my relatives on Friday with the gathering planned on Sunday.  With a population of less than 1500 it isn't a big town. I arrived late afternoon after loosing an hour as it is in the Atlantic Time Zone.

I arrived for the annual Parrsboro Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the town common just down from the bed and breakfast I was staying in.

I joined in the celebration and was given a hot chocolate and cookie from a wonderful group of people.  I seemed to fit right in, and not just because it is the one place in the world I don't have to spell my name.

Parrsboro and the surrounding area is very New England like and accents are nearly the same as mine other than the random local saying "aboot" for about.  Heck they get the Boston TV stations and it is like home watching local television.

Parrsboro is known for a few things one being the largest recorded tide of over 50' as they are at the top of the Bay of Fundy,  My visit brought me to NS just after the November King Tide that was related to the moon and sun orientation so I saw tides in the 46' range.

Above the red hew is the other thing that Parrsboro is noted for and that is blueberries.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Preparing For 2017 Travels

It has been some time since I last posted as I have been traveling to see family for the holidays and I have been staging for my travels.

The staging for my 2017 Prius Travels started about a month ago and over the last week I have added to the pile.  My clothing is mostly already in my storage bin above my water storage in the Prius under my bed.  With Christmas done I will be moving this pile to the car this week and the items that can't stand the cold will be staged downstairs.  This is not all that I bring as some things never came out of the Prius and I have a storage bin in the garage.

The plastic bags on the left is my canned or packaged food.  I will not be buying fresh food to cook until I get to Tucson and make my last purchases before heading to Quartzsite, AZ for the RTR gathering.

In the center is my pillow, backpacking self-inflating backpacking mattress.  The blue rolled fleece is a sleeping roll that can be used as a liner in the sleeping bag if real cold or by itself if real warm.  The maroon material to the right is my sleeping bag liner.  I use a flannel flat full sheet and fold lengthwise and sew the bottom and knee height on the open side.  I do not like liners that are sewn up too far as it makes it hard to get in and out of bed.

Well you will be getting a tour of all these details on my travels this year as I will be going back to places I like as well as new places and I will not be covering the exactly the same things I have in the past.

My departure date has been 1/4/17 for some time but it means I have little time to spare if I hit bad weather and need to layover a day or so on my way to AZ.  So, I have a contingency to leave mid-day on 1/3.  I will be ready to do this even if the weather is good to go on 1/4 as I will appreciate the extra time so I can be at the RTR on 1/10 when it starts.

My first two years of travel took me south to I10 and across southern TX.  Last year was mild and fair and I saved time and mileage going to I20 across northern TX with big savings of time and distance.

I will be posting every day but usually a day late of where I was the night before as when I drive and stop I have put on many miles and just want to sleep for the night.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com

Installing The Prius Bed (Part 6 - Installing the protective covers)

Above i am ready to put the protective covers over the wiring.  Note that you can store some light, thin and soft items under the panels I put down.  You just need to be aware of the risk of damaging wires.  Soft things, including wires, etc., fit well in this space and stuff under nicely

My first protection is a cut corrugated plastic to protect the wires that cross the gap to the carpet such as the fuel pump wires.

This panel above is again the 1/2" plywood with a piece of plastic attached to stabilize it from rocking.  These floor panels sit on the metal bracing.  You can see this bracing above.  It is black and panels rest on top.  There is no mounting hardware.  Also note all the intricate angles and notches in the plywood.  When I originally designed this system it took me a long time of trial and error to get it right. 

Here is my 60% side protective panel is in place.  Notice the space on the end facing us for small things to be stored.  This is an easily accessible space.

Now for my 40% side protective panel with my fire extinguisher mounted to it.  Since I don't use this side for a bed I use it to sit on with a couple of cushions when I want privacy usually before I go to bed.

Removing the seats and making the platform opens up so much space over leaving the back seats in.  

In a few weeks I will take the next step and start installing the water tank and storage unit that goes above where I store my clothing. Although I have covered all these items in various blogs before I will group them together to make it easier for future visitors to see.  I will also be more comprehensive on what and how I do what I do as I did here.  

Much tanks to an avid reader of my blogs for getting me to blog this build series and provide details on all the pieces and how I did it.  I plan to be at the RTR in in Quartzsite, AZ with other Prius travelers starting January 10.  I am a member of CheapRVLiving.com where you can find details on the event and join and learn about how others modify vehicles to travel in.

A shout out to others that have asked for a greater YouTube presence from me.  This series of blogs on how I build my Prius bed system is an excellent example of a good YouTube upload.  I find it hard to do videos in such a small space as a Prius and I need someone to run a camera while I do my thing.  Hopefully in the future I can make it happen.

Until next time safe travels everyone.

Brent

macaloney@hotmail.com