This evening we sat down with my brother- and sister-in-law to add some structure to our nebulous plans for our east coast trip this summer. We’re doing a bit of a rehash of our last summer’s trip but this year we are taking two weeks instead of just one in the probably vain hope that it cannot possibly rain every day for two weeks as it did for the entire time we were there last year.
Thus far our concrete plans include staying at one particular campground in Quebec (already booked). Apart from that we have several things we’d like to see but no pressing schedule or even a firm list. One nice thing about the east coast is that it tends to lend itself well to this kind of unfocused holiday. The culture out there is very different and nowhere is this more obvious than when driving.
One of the first differences we noticed was in the manner of driving. Virtually any time somebody blew past us at 40+ over the limit, it was a car (or more frequently, a minivan) with Ontario plates. Any time we got cut off or somebody blocked us from merging, Ontario plates were to blame. We had heard from friends that the speed limit is higher out that way but if you’re caught speeding, your license is taken away and mailed back to you and so you get a 2-3 day break from driving whether you like it or not. We decided not to put this to the test.
Another big, car-related difference that we noticed was in the area of construction signs. Being part of Canada and being summer, most of the roads were under greater or lesser degrees of destruction. I provide here a helpful breakdown of some of the road signs one may see while traversing the highways and byways of Nova Scotia in particular but we saw most of these in all the provinces we visited.
Warning:Â Unicyclist juggling on uneven pavement (next 20km)
Driver may become lighter than air and pull left wheels off highway.
You will be hit by a concrete truck and there is nothing you can do to stop it.
Forklift is about to pick up your car and fling it into the ether (does not apply to vehicles with more than one person inside)
Cars on the right are just better than cars on the left.
Close your sunroof. They are not wearing diapers.
Cellulite removal (by force)