Day 29 - Antigonish

Intruders in the night. Real or Not?

The next morning I was awaken with a wet dog kiss from Tam the Golden Retreiver and right behind her was Weaver the mix Husky and Lab. He jumped on the bed and put his head right under my chin. To complete the wakeup committee was Alister the cat who plunked herself right under my armpit and began to purr. It was just after 6am and I got up and started putting my things together. It wasn't long and I could hear Mary in the kitchen putting coffee on. She was doing some volunteer work today at a kennel for a friend of hers. When I went into the kitchen she was watching some birds and rabbits in the yard. It was a very peaceful place. She had made some porridge and toast. Mary had been great. She looked up some contact numbers for me and sent me off with a care package of raisens, cheese and an orange. I thanked her for everything and went on my way.

My first two miles started with climbing another one of those monster hills. When I stopped at the top I was glad to get it out of the way early. It was Mother's Day today and I thought about being at home with my Mom. I was dissappointed that I would miss this day and dinner with her but would try to call her later.

The sun was warm today and I took off my jacket. I would go as far as Antigonish and put up my tent at the Oasis Campground. It wasn't open yet but the owner, Jim, let me camp there anyway. He didn't charge me and thought what I was doing was a great cause and signed my flag. Once I got my tent up I went over to the gas station and called my Mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. It was great to talk to her.

I also called Betty of the Antigonish Animal Shelter but she was far from the T.C.H. and didn't have a vehicle. We chatted for a bit and she wished me luck. It was Sunday and I didn't have any luck reaching the local media. I chatted a bit with Judy who worked at the gas station and she told me about two dogs she was trying to find homes for and just found out one was pregnant when she gave birth to a pup recently. She hadn't known she was pregnant. She signed my flag and I went back to my tent for the night and it always felt good to get off my feet. It was fairly quiet except for the faint sound of traffic. It was a cool night and it didn't take me long to fall asleep. During the night I felt something heavy fall on my legs. I was half asleep and thought something must have jumped on my tent. Then I felt something claw at my legs from the side of the tent. I figured it must have been some raccoons so I rolled over and fell back to sleep. In the morning I checked my tent but there wasn't any damage or scratches. It made me think that it must have been a dream.