Epic Road Trip Part 1: Prince Edward Island

July 14th, 2016

Finally, the post you've all been waiting for! Today was our first day of big adventures on Prince Edward Island. And we did have a lot of adventures.

Ginny, Ben, Anne, and Lindsay, with the house in the back

We started off at the Anne of Green Gables heritage place, which is a historic house that the author, L.M. Montgomery, spent time in as a child and based Green Gables on. Inside is set up with period-appropriate artifacts, as well as little inside jokes for Anne fans, like a broken slate in one of the upstairs rooms, and a brooch on a wardrobe in another. There is also a historic barn, walks in the woods, guided tours, a movie about the author's life, an Anne walking around, and lots of activities like games with Miss Stacy, old-time sing alongs, and costume bins. We all had a great time. But Ben had a REALLY great time. He took a picture with Anne when we first got there, and then, some hours later, we saw her again in a different costume, and so he took another picture with her! The heritage place is a Canadian National Historic Site, so it was staffed by summer park rangers who were happy to have us ask them a million questions. We learned a lot! One thing I learned that Lindsay and Ben didn't hear, and I never told them, was that L.M. Montgomery died by committing suicide. So if they read this blog, they will know, but other than that, it was a happy, fun place to visit!

Ugh, you can SEE the sand whipping by in this picture!

Next stop was Cavendish beach, which I didn't love as much as the Shilatys, because it was incredibly windy, and the sand was blowing into everything, like my eyes and ears and mouth. So while I took my turn sitting with our stuff, I read my magazine and put a towel over my head to fend off the sandstorm. The rest of the trip, Ben called me 'towel-head-it's-not-offensive-because-you-were-wearing-a-towel-on-your-head'. Fortunately he didn't call me that ALL the time.

Once I had gotten thoroughly exfoliated, we headed inland to get dinner at the PEI Preserve Company, which had a nice waterfront garden we explored, and there was a loose goat running around that had nothing to do with the restaurant but was standing in front of it when we got there, so we pet it. The dinner was delicious, and Ben and I shared a bowl of PEI mussels that were heavenly.

July 15th

Day 2 on PEI started out at Avonlea Village, which is mostly a cutsey shopping area, but there are historic buildings there, too. We met Benny and Goliath, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police and his horse, who are basically there for tourists to take pictures of. Ben asked Benny (the man) if he had had any interesting cases in his career, and Benny then told us a 20-minute long story about one of his cases. The story was about 16 minutes longer than strictly necessary.

RCMP Benny and Goliath. Goliath lives next door at the water park. Seriously.

Next we headed to Charlottetown, the capital of PEI. We had yet another delicious meal and walked around looking at old buildings and checking out the waterfront. We wanted to see the university that Anne went to, but it turns out that was fictional.

We visited a lighthouse on the southern coast (Point Prim) that we could walk up to the top of. A very young tour guide took us up. And though James, our guide, was probably 16 years old, and wasn't the most amazing guide, he really loves lighthouses!

Point Prim Lighthouse

If there's one thing I love, it's Fresnel Lenses!

Then we drove back up to the north shore to track down a place called Thunder Cove. This turned out to be my favorite part of PEI. There was almost nobody else there, and almost no wind. The beach was red sand and red rock, and there were these gorgeous rock formations along the beach that were just awesome. We spent a lot of time there, just running around, climbing things, and getting our feet wet. The beach also had singing sand, which makes a barking sound when you drag your feet in it.

Thunder Cove is Awesome!

We took a back road to a dirt road to a rut and drove til the land ended, and there we came to another lighthouse. This one was old and we could not go in it, but the view from the cliff it stood on was excellent.

Cape Tryon lighthouse

View from the lighthouse cliff

For dinner, back to where we started, Avonlea Village, where we ate a delicious pizza place, and made friends with the waiter, Jonathan. Visit him in Avonlea Village, or in Halifax, where he lives in the winter, and tell him we sent you. He suggested Ben and I would make a good comedy improv duo. We didn't deny it.

Epic Road Trip Part 1: Quebec City

July 12, 2016

We decided to not worry about the car. It was leaking oil, but if we checked it regularly and kept it filled, it seemed to be okay.

So we spent the day in Quebec City. We were staying across the St. Lawrence River in Levis, so after breakfast, we took the ferry across to the old town.

Chateau Frontenac as seen from the ferry

We had a great day! We explored the old town by touribus first, getting seats on the top deck of a double decker bus and listening to an audio tour guide. This was a great way to see parts of the city we wouldn't have had time for in one day. We had lunch at a food-truck themed restaurant on Grand Avenue (I know...food-truck themed?), and it was quite good. We walked around in the old streets and felt like we were in Europe. We walked along the old city wall for a bit, looking down on all the business happening below. We went through the Plains of Abraham, which is a massive central park named after an old shepard named Abraham who used to graze his sheep there, nothing biblical about it.

We liked the touribus, but we also like making faces

After walking a bit, I sat on a bench and said, "I would love some crepes. Let me look on google and see if there's any crepe places nearby." As I was pulling up maps on my phone, Ginny says, "there's crepes, right there." And literally 10 feet in front of my face was a crepe stand. Oh, technology. So we got crepes, and sat in the plaza outside the impressive hotel Chateau Frontenac. We wandered some more, coming upon cute old houses, pocket parks, and lots of gift shops!

Charming.

We came home in the late afternoon on the ferry, and took naps. Now that we were back on the Levis side of the river, there were not many options for dinner, so we picked a pub nearby that appeared to be the only place open at 8 pm that we could walk to. Not that we DID walk, of course, we are American! We drove!

Saint Louis Gate in the old wall

This pub turned out to be amazing. The food was delicious, the view across the river was gorgeous, and our waiters were also delicious. Could it be the french accent? It could be. We were all pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. After dinner we went to an ice cream place just a block from our apartment that we had noticed always had a line out the door and around the corner. We got there around 10, the Shilatys got ice cream (I'm not really an ice cream fan), and for the next half hour I regretted my decision not to get anything, because they were just raving about the ice cream. Lindsay said she had never ice cream so good, and she is already planning the 5 hour trip from her home in Seattle to the Chocolat Favoris location in British Columbia for her birthday in February. February! (They are only in Canada, and mostly in Quebec, sorry!)

July 13, 2016

Another day of mostly driving. We poured more oil in the car and left Quebec City. We got lunch in New Brunswick, and spent a long time discussing the relative height of moose compared to cars, but despite these signs everywhere, we never saw a moose.

We arrived at our house in Prince Edward Island around 7pm and walked to a nearby oyster bar and got lobster rolls while looking out over the water at sunset. Could anything be more pleasant!? I doubt it.

I'm sorry to make you jealous. This really was as pretty as it looks.

Epic Road Trip Part 1: Vermont Part 1!

July 10th, 2016

Ben and I drove from Syracuse, New York to Montpelier, Vermont, where my brother Paul, and sister-in-law, Sarah live. We got there around 4:30pm, and Paul took us on a walk around their property. Sarah made us a delicious dinner, and we played two games of Settlers. Ben's friend Leigh came over from somewhere not far away and joined us for dinner.

July 11th,  2016

Sarah, me and Paul! Sarah is about 8 2/3 months pregnant here!

Paul and Sarah had to work today (suckers!), so Ben and I explored on our own. We took an interesting tour of the state house (Vermont State Capitol), and went to Paul's work to hang out for a little while, and have lunch with him.

Vermont State House

We then drove on to Quebec city. As we rounded the corner of the street our air bnb was on, the car started shaking and the check engine light came on. Ben pulled up to our air bnb, and I was filled with dread, remembering the oil incident that was now a week and 1,500 miles behind me.

I opened the hood, and checked the oil, and discovered the worst - it was completely empty. No oil! And, my oil pressure light had never come on! I still had the extra quart Scott had given me in the car, so I put that in, and after we had unloaded, we went out to get more oil.

At the first gas station, I asked the attendant, "do you speak English?" and he said, "a little." So I said, "Do you have motor oil?" and I got a blank stare. I looked around, but couldn't see it anywhere. So Ben and I went to the next gas station. I asked the attendant, "do you speak English?" and she said, "a little." So I said, "do you have motor oil?" and she said, "yes, of course, it's right there." Yay! I bought the oil and asked her if they did service there and she no, but found me a place nearby where she takes her own car (Monsieur Muffler!) and got me the address and phone number. We bought extra oil, too, just in case.

It was too late at night to take it to Mssr. Muffler, and anyway, we had to go to the Quebec airport soon to pick up Ben's sister, Lindsay, and their mom, Ginny. We decided to fill it up with oil and see how it did on the airport run and decide what to do in the morning. We headed back to our apartment.

Through a combination of flight delays and our inability to correctly read a flight schedule, we thought we had to pick them up at 7:30pm but it ended up being 1am before they got in! We drove out to the airport, picked them up, and got back to the apartment with no car troubles. We were all quite tired and fell right to sleep.

The gorgeous living room of our Quebec City apartment

Epic Road Trip Part 1: Mormon Culture

July 9th, 2016

Ben and I got up earlier than we would have liked in order to get on the first Maid of the Mist trip of the day. We walked back to the state park, got in line, got our blue ponchos, and boarded the Maid of the Mist. Ben had been telling me how great it was, because he had done it before. I wasn't convinced at first because I don't love boats or getting wet. But eventually he talked me into by telling me it was just so cool, and a really unique experience. And I love unique experiences. But as we were standing in line, and he was telling me again how drenched he got last time, I said, "why did I agree to this? This sounds horrible!" But I got on the boat anyway.

"Pretend you're excited to go on a boat and get drenched at 9am!"

It was not horrible. It wasn't like the most amazing experience of my life, but it was pretty cool. The boat takes you right up to the foot of Horseshoe Falls, and 'mist' is a gentle way of putting the amount of water that sprays onto the spectators. Looking up the falls to the top, as the sun was coming out of the clouds, okay, THAT was really cool. How often do you get to stand at the bottom of a gigantic waterfall, looking up?

There are no pictures from that trip, because, as mentioned, it was pretty wet. But Ben said he didn't get nearly as wet as he had the previous time. And I didn't get as wet as Ben, because the one-size-fits-all poncho goes only to his knees, but all the way to my ankles, and only to his elbows, but all the way past my fingertips.

Back on dry land, we checked out of our hostel, loaded up the car, and headed to Palmyra, New York, birthplace of the Latter Day Saints. Ben was really excited for this day, and as I said, I love unique experiences, so I was game.

We got to Palmyra just after lunch time, and headed first to Hill Cumorah, which is where Joseph Smith dug up his golden plates, and the site of the Mormon pageant we would be attending later that night. We climbed it the hill. IT IS A VERY STEEP HILL. I complained the whole way, which is something I like to do.

Look how steep this hill is! Down below is the stage for the pageant, and that sea of green is seats for the pageant.

At the top, we took some pictures of a very excited Ben with a statue. Then we went down and took a little tour around the visitor's center.

Next stop, the farm where Joseph Smith grew up. This was more my thing, because hey, historical farms and houses? Sign me up. We wandered around the various houses, took some pictures of a very excited Ben next to an old fence, and took a walk through the sacred grove, which I don't remember what happened there, but it was a really lovely place to take a walk.

Lovely, no?

On to the town proper of Palmyra! We took a tour of the print shop where the first Book of Mormon was printed. Wow, if I thought I enjoyed a historic farm, imagine my delight at a historic bookshop/print shop! We got a tour and learned how the book was bound, had a hilarious misunderstanding that led our tour guide to become really excited by the thought that Ben scrapbooks (he doesn't).

Book binding!

Next we went to a place I wanted to visit, the local used bookshop. It was exactly what you would expect from a small town used bookshop, and we spent a long time chatting with the owner.

Pizza for dinner at a local pizza place, then we drove back to Hill Cumorah for the pageant.

I really cannot describe the pageant to you. There are hundreds of people involved, and they walk around in costume before the show, and want to talk to you. I talked to a couple of them, but only with Ben there, when I had to walk back to the car by myself I pretended I couldn't see or hear anyone who was politely greeting me.

Before the pageant

The stagecraft and special effects were really amazing. The stage was set up on the side of the super steep hill, and had all different levels and areas for acting. There were water effects, tons of lighting effects, pyrotechnics, sound, and huge props. Lots happening. Really well done staging.

I must admit that I was quite tired and not very invested in the show, so most of the pageant I dozed. Sorry, Ben! The pageant was telling the story of what's in the Book of Mormon (I think), so none of it was familiar to me. Also, it started after dark, which is like 10 pm! You all know I love going to bed early. As a result, I cannot really describe the pageant to you. But I bet Ben can! All he says in his blog about it is: "The Hill Cumorah Pageant was super cheesy and I loved it."

After the pageant, Ben drove us on to Syracuse (while I slept some more) where we got a motel and I went to sleep again. 

Epic Road Trip Part 1: Niagara Falls!

July 8th, 2016

Played Quirkle with Sierra in the morning, had some breakfast, then hit the road to Canada!

In a couple hours we were at the border of Michigan and Ontario. We spent ages in line waiting to get into Canada. Then when we got to the customs booth I had to surrender my pepper spray because I didn't declare that I was bringing a weapon into Canada. The drive across Ontario was both uneventful and uninteresting. Both of our phones stopped working, despite our checking beforehand that they would work in Canada. We drove straight through to America again, and breathed a sigh of relief when we made it to Buffalo, New York.  Nobody here is gonna tell me I can't have a weapon!

From the American side: Ontario, Rainbow Bridge, American Falls

American Falls

We checked into our hostel near Niagara Falls, and went out right away. We visited Niagara Falls State Park, which was very pretty and nice. We got right up next to the American Falls, and visited Goat Island. Then we crossed over to Canada again, this time on foot, which again took another hour of waiting before we were allowed in. The customs agent asked us all kinds of questions like how do we know each other, where did we meet, what is our relationship, what are we doing in Canada, how long will be there, etc. Ben was cool as a cucumber, but I was nervous.

From the Canadian side: American Falls and Horseshoe Falls

Canadian side: tourists walk along the top edge of the gorge and can see the river below and the falls

On the Canadian side we just walked along the river, which gives you a great view of the falls. Tons of people were out, so it was a bit crowded, and also very humid. We got some dinner and then headed back to the good ol' USA. On the Rainbow Bridge, as we walked back over, a fireworks show started, being fired from the Canadian side! We had an amazing vantage point to see the fireworks, and they were awesome.

Colors are projected onto American Falls at night

Back at the hostel we took showers and went to bed. Two trips into Canada in one day is quite exhausting.

Fireworks!

Epic Road Trip Part 1: The Farvers!

July 7th, 2016

Our driving day was real easy today: just a 2-hour drive north to East Lansing, home of the amazing and wonderful Farvers!

Sarah, Tyler, and Laura on the playground. Too much fun.

Since we didn't have a lot of driving ahead of us, we got to spend the morning exploring a nearby park and an avenue lined with beautiful homes. Sarah and Tyler took us on a little post-breakfast (chocolate chip pancakes!!) adventure, and it wasn't even too hot and humid yet. Ben and I gaped at the luxury homes and were quite judgy about their yards.

Wow, Ft. Wayne!!

After a stop at Kroger so I could stock up on delicious, unattainable-in-Minnesota, Kroger-brand peanut butter cheerios, we were on our way to East Lansing.

Cheerios-y bliss!

If you've met the Farvers, you know they are just the funnest, kindest, most enjoyable people to be around. I haven't figured out a way to become a permanent part of their family, so a visit will have to do for now. Scott and Erin are more old Peace Corps friends, who I got to see fairly often when they lived in New Mexico, but haven't seen them in their current life in Michigan.

Family photo: Scott, Erin, Brayden, Sierra, and aunt Laura

When we got to their house, the kids gave us a tour of the house, and then we went to campus (MSU) and walked around a bit, and got ice cream. That afternoon, we watched a Germany/France soccer game, played bocce ball, and then had tacos for dinner. The Farvers had some friends over to watch the game, and we all (even the kids!) ended up playing a round of Complicated Charades of Death (fun!!) and after the kids went to bed, and the friends went home, Horse Thief (even more fun!!) And I don't want to make ya'll too jealous, but.... we ordered cookies. Warm, gooey cookies. Delivered to the house. At 10pm.  I guess there's no way you wouldn't be jealous about that, sorry. Day four started off with fun at the park, and ended with fun in the dark. With cookies. 

Epic Road Trip Part 1: Three States in One Day

July 6, 2016

Goodbye Wisconsin! On to Chicago!

In Chicago, I was picking up my friend Ben, a grad school friend of mine who was there visiting a friend of his named LeAnne. I had never met LeAnne, but Ben has told me wonderful things about her, all of which turned out to be true.

Ice Cream in sea shells in Chicago! With Ben and LeAnne

I got to LeAnne's apartment mid-day, and the three of us hit the street! We walked her neighborhood (lovely), complained about the heat and humidity (one of my favorite activities) and got lunch at a Greek restaurant (where none of us felt compelled to convert to Greek Orthodox in order to marry the waitress.)  We also visited a Chicago library (another of my favorite activities) and got ice cream on the walk back.

Back at LeAnne's place, we relaxed on her comfy furniture, then all too quickly, had to say goodbye. We were trying to get to Ft. Wayne, Indiana by 6pm.

Ben and I got in my car and sped off into the Chicago suburbs, barely glancing over our shoulders at the skyline rapidly receding behind us. This is a sentence I would like to say is true, but it is not. Instead, we got into my car and sat in traffic for several hours, getting plenty of time to look out the window at the skyline, take pictures of the skyline, take selfies of us looking at the skyline, do a mad lib, and generally begin our time together by being irritated.

A deceptively lovely skyline. As seen from the car window. Notice the absence of any type of motion.

When we finally broke free of the hell that is Chicago traffic, and drove through charming and lovely Gary, Indiana, we made another discovery: we were changing time zones, and therefore, were now another hour later than planned.

The most beautiful part of Gary, Indiana: the empty highway

So, we made it to Ft. Wayne not by 6pm, but still in time to enjoy a delicious homemade dinner with my college roommate, Sarah, and her husband Doug, and their adorable son, Tyler. We were happy to be out of the car and get some tasty lasagna in our bellies. Yet again, I had a wonderful evening catching up with Sarah, and getting to know Doug and Tyler. Day three, three states, three new friends.

Tyler and I quickly became friends

Epic Road Trip Part 1: Wisconsin!

July 5th, 2016

I left Northfield, MN in a timely manner the next morning. (If you know me at all, you know leaving on time is one of my strengths).

I parked next to two other older-model silver CR-Vs in Madison. It was kind of amazing!

I made it to Madison, Wisconsin for lunch with my old Peace Corps friend, Tim.  It was great seeing him and catching up. He has a boat, too! People out here have a lot more boats than people in Colorado or Arizona do.  Tim and I got lunch and walked around Madison for just a bit, and it's a very nice city.

As you can tell from this picture, Tim is a very important lawyer now.

On the road again, I went to Waukesha, Wisconsin (suburb of Milwaukee) to spend time with another Peace Corps friend, Erin Dowe Steinman. We caught up, and went to dinner with her husband Eric, at a really pretty and tasty lakeside restaurant, The Seven Seas.

I bet you wish you were at the Seven Seas restaurant with us. Look how pretty the view is!

A relaxing evening at their place after dinner, and day two was in the bag!

Wisconsin has some very thoughtful highway rest area restrooms.

It also has some interesting roadside attractions, such as this pink elephant.

Epic Road Trip Part 1: Fourth of July

July 4, 2016

Day one of the epic road trip. The day started out pretty poorly, as I discovered a bad oil leak in my car. I had taken it in to the mechanic a week earlier with the instructions "get it road-trip ready, including an oil change." As it was the 4th of July, they were closed, so I couldn't take it back to them. This was also the last day I had to move everything out of my apartment, and I was driving to Buffalo Lake in the afternoon to spend 4th of July with my friend Claire and her family.

So, not knowing what else to do, I called my friend Belinda and asked if her husband Scott would help me. Since they are both the best people in the world, he came right over, with his brother, his truck, and all the parts a CR-V needs. I felt bad that they were missing the St. Joe 4th of July parade (I felt bad I was missing it, too,) but they said they really didn't mind, and I am inclined to believe them.

A real American Hero

They jacked my car up, went underneath, replaced my oil filter, and told me they couldn't figure out what was wrong. They filled my car back up with oil, as it was quite low, gave me another quart for the road, and left me feeling extremely grateful for competent and helpful friends. I don't know what I would have done without them, but starting my road trip on time probably wouldn't have happened.

A real American way to move out

I finished moving everything from my apartment to my storage unit. The apartment has a convenient shopping cart so instead of making 100 trips to the third floor and back, I only had to make 5.

A real American amount of household crap

Dropped the last of my things off in storage, and I headed for Buffalo Lake.  I spent a delightful afternoon and evening with Claire, a good friend from grad school, and her family, at their lake house.

A real Minnesotan 4th of July

 I went on a boat ride in a pontoon boat, ate delicious 4th of July food, and just had a nice time chatting with people. Claire and I left near dusk to head to her parents' house in Northfield, MN, about an hour and a half away. I spent the night at their house, and day one ended much better than it had started!

A real American friendship

Claire and her cousin about to get pulled around the lake behind a jetski. AMERICAN!