Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

And so as all travels must, ours came to an end Sunday morning, arriving back to the Farm at 4:30am after about 18 hours in the car on Saturday/Sunday. TSO suggested as we drive along the coast we try and go see the Hopewell Rocks; the huge rocks that at low tide stand as flower pots protruding from the sea, and at high tide are flower pots whose bottoms are covered by 50 feet or so of water. We got to the little town of Alma, where there is an entry to the Park, but were unable to find it, trying to follow these lighthouse signs, which we finally figured out weren't infact leading us to a lighthouse on the coast, but rather mark the Fundy Drive, the route that follows the coast. (Yes, it took us all day to figure this out--I just kept thinking that there were lighthouses tucked away out of our sight!!) We were dissapointed to have missed the Hopewell Rocks , getting so close and not finding them, but I felt a little better today after looking at the website and realizing that the ...

Last night I copied down directions (from Mapquest) to get us home from Truro, NS, where we were supposed to see the Bay of Fundy. And see it there we did. It was dissapointing--a ghetto view from behind a motel. So, TSO suggested we keep driving and head towards the towns that run alongside the Bay of Fundy. This has provided us with some breathtaking views and helped us find Mo's in Five Islands, NS. We are eating their awesome chowder (with fish, clams and scallops caught locally) and BLTs. SO GOOD! Come here if you are ever in the area! We are going to change our route a little and once we cross back into Maine, head for the coast and follow it down which should allow us to see the Bay of Fundy on the Maine side. It is beautiful here, even with the misting rain and though I am longing to sleep in my own bed, I love Nova Scotia. *sigh* So lovely here.

1. The SwissAir #111 crash memorial 2.-4. Peggy's Cove Today TSO and I headed towards Peggy's Cove, stopping just outside the town to look at the Whalesback Memorial for the SwissAir flight #111 , which crashed in 1998. It is amazing to look out at the ocean and think that this once held the wreckage of a plane crash, since as we looked out all we could see was beautiful, diamond-like sparkling waters. Peggy's Cove is one of those absolutely lovely places that I fancy I will come across one day if ever I lose myself and magically pop out in a new world, sort of like Ewan MacGregor's character in Big Fish. I was more than just a bit surprised, however, that this scenic, little fishing town was so swarming with tourists so late in the season. Maybe it was that today was a particularly warm, sunny day in the midst of many cool and rainy days? I asked TSO where all the town people were hiding out, as it seemed all we saw were tourist--I definitely felt like Dorothy in Oz be...

So, we're doing it. TSO and I are camping...kinda..."car camping," as M & N called it this past weekend. I mean is it real camping if you are simultaneously rubbing your cold nose, facebooking and writing a blog? Ok...umm...maybe not 100% real camping; but we are sleeping outside, in a tent that M & N let us borrow, in mummy bags which TSO provided, and we cooked over a fire: a tasty dinner of well done hotdogs and foil wrapped and roasted sweet corn and baked potatoes and slices of cheese. TSO made the comment of, "and we both work in kitchens!" but I was proud of our meal. It was better than the alternative: eating vinegar packets which I made TSO save from our ferry ride earlier this afternoon, "just in case of emergencies!" This morning S took us to see the ocean before we left the lovely little town of Cardigan, PEI. The visit was per my request, as I heard so many good things of the ocean vistas of the island. It was cold and windy and a ...

The house is quiet. H, S and their daughter E are sleeping and TSO is now reading some depressing Flannery O'Connor book. Wanted to mention what we've done so far, though yesterday and today have been very low key. Yesterday we drove from Massachusetts--leaving at 2am--to Cardigan, Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.), home of my friends H&S (and no, not home of those wonderful sweaters, don't worry I asked) . The roadtrip was fairly uneventful; there was no moose sightings, though signs in both Maine and New Brunswick had us on the lookout. It also must be said that in New Brunswick there is a sign on either side of the highway telling you to be on the lookout for moose in both French and English--TSO suggested that we look for moose speaking both languages, which is a great segue into the bizarreness that are road signs throughout New Brunswick and P.E.I. Reading said signs has been entertaining and I have made it my job on this trip to come up with the odd scenarios that th...

TSO and I are taking a road trip/vacation of sorts--what?! A real roadtrip/vacation! I mean, I think so. Right? Going to a foreign country: Canada. Check. People who speak a different language: Canadian, eh? Check. Sightseeing: check. Carrying cameras and taking pictures of...things: Check. Sounds good enough for me. My friends' Hockey Guy and Wife (who I met while in undergrad) live on Hockey Guy's native island: Prince Edwards Island (PEI) and had thrown out a "come and visit some time, you'd love it," invite some time ago, so all of a sudden it sounded good and WHAM...I was going...kinda. The flights started at $700, so I thought if I could only find someone to go with me to help with the driving (it is about 13.5 hrs), I could go that route. It wasn't too much arm twisting (I hope...?) before roomie TSO agreed. So, now...we are leaving in less than a week and have made some tenative plans of staying with Hockey Guy and Wife for a couple of nights, then m...