I like to shop at the Irving Big Stop

Last night Maryn and I took our bikes (Black Stallion and Colonel Custard) out for a ride to get some fresh air and exercise. We went back onto the Trans-Canada Rail Trail and rode till the 10km mark and then rode back so that we did 20km in total.

When we biked to Port Elgin a few weeks back we did 33km in one day and were both quite tired by the end of that trip. This time around I felt really good so the mixture of new bikes and more practice has really helped us out.

Later on in the evening, Craig came by with his new blue Dodge and we headed out for dinner at Pizza Delight which is a little further out of town. We found out that the restaurant closes at 10:00pm and we had arrived at 9:55pm so we had to go for Plan B.

Plan B turned out to be going to Amherst, Nova Scotia and having a bite to eat at an Irving Big Stop. This was an exciting evening for me since I’d never been to Amherst before and also had never eaten at a Big Stop. There are a lot of truckers in Maryn’s family so she’s quite familiar with the place and Craig’s used to going there after a night of drinking for some late night breakfasts and milk shakes. For those of you in Montreal, the food fare is very similar to Serre Picasso where I’ve had many a late night poutine or breakfast after a night on the town.

After a tasty meal of chicken fingers with mashed potatoes and gravy, we headed back to Sackville. Looking out the passenger seat window and listening to the soundtrack of Six Feet Under – which is quite trippy by the way – I had a chance to reflect on how different it is to drive on the highway at night here. Everywhere you look, it’s black. There are no lights from buildings, no streetlamps, and even if there are some stars in the sky, they’re too dim to really make out. All you can really see are the headlights in front of the car and if you’re lucky maybe another car far out in the distance.

It was a really fun evening and I’m glad we got to take a little break from the Sackville bubble. The bubble is nice to be in but it’s always a pleasure to experience something new.

Have a great night.