For ease of communication I write mostly in the first person singular, but much of what I report was also done by Barbara, Ted, or both. Nova Scotia has a population of about 900,000. Halifax is the commercial and governmental center of Nova Scotia, with over half the province's people living within an hour's drive of the city. There are both modern factories and older industrial operations, generally near Halifax or one of the other seaports. Agriculture is also an important source of income.
Tourism is very prominent, and growing.
I was able to access the Internet and my email account free several times from public libraries throughout Nova Scotia. Fortunately, I easily got a ride hitch hiking and arrived at my first stop as quickly as I would have if the bus had been running that day. Later in the trip we rented a car to get to some of the attractions we wanted to see. The inspiration for this adventure came from some magazine photographs of Cape Breton Island and trains running next to what appeared to be the ocean. The accompanying article, and further research, suggested that for much of the length of this railroad such scenery was common, and that the tracks were actually adjacent to inland saltwater lakes.