Family Time on the Banks of the Bras d'Or Lakes

I love Iona and the areas around the Bras d'Or Lakes, but I don't spend a whole lot of time there.  Perhaps that will change since my sister moved home and her little family has a summer place there.

I was looking forward to finally seeing her place the day I hopped in the car and made the long drive there.  Actually, the drive is usually not that long but I took a little detour because I had to stop at my friend's trailer in Jersey Cove to pick up something I forgot there a few days earlier. 

Instead of taking the 125 and exiting towards Boisdale or St. Peter's, I exited onto the Trans Canada Highway.  After my stop at Jersey Cove, I turned right onto the TCH and took the exit to Little Narrows.  After a little ferry ride, it was a short drive to Iona.

I was given directions on how to get there and they didn't sound too complicated.  I found the road I had to turn down or at least I thought it did.  I found out later that there were two roads with similar names.  I took the wrong one, of course.  I got lost, made some wrong turns, ended up back on the main road and had to call someone to meet me and lead me to where everyone was waiting for my arrival.  

 My little nephew was the first to come greet me. A little game of run around the tree and peek-a-boo and it was off to the nearby beach where we spent the rest of the day.

It was a warm evening and I had my swimsuit so I went for a dip.  No one else wanted to come in with me because there were so many jellyfish but I didn't really care.  I just brushed them away and kept an eye on them to make sure they weren't getting too close. 

That day was the first time I used my underwater action camera.  And yes, it worked perfectly!  I got some pretty neat pictures of those jellyfish from underwater.  

When the sun started to dip towards the horizon and the air started to cool, I retreated back to the beach to dry off .  I sure tired out quickly running after my little nephew.  He just never stops.  He's back and forth to and from the water's edge, back and forth to the edge of the forest, rolling around in the sand with his dinkies and just being a little ball of energy.  I got a little break from the action when I took a relaxing stroll down to the end of the beach with Dad.  

When it was almost dark, we piled back into the cars to go back to home base.  Everyone had an SUV except me.  Everyone pulled out of the sandpit just fine except me.  First, I got stuck and had to be pushed out.  That was fine until I was driving down the gravel road and started hearing a scraping sound that sounded like something was being dragged beneath my car. One look under the front end and I could see that I had torn off the engine shield.  A "perfect" end to what was a perfect day up to that point!

Long story short, we temporarily tied the flimsy metal up as best as we could and I drove home with no issues except for when the low-hanging piece hit a high part on the road.  I took it to my backyard mechanic and he had it fixed in no time.  Nothing like car repairs when you least expect them!