Home Sweet Home

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

We made it home!   It feels so good to be back in the Hoosier state!  We covered 492 miles today, and arrived home early in the afternoon.  It was good to see the Indianapolis skyline and I waved at my work friends at the OneAmerica building in the distance! 

The house did fine without us, but the weeds took over the flowerbeds…we have some catching up to do.   Now starts the task list of doing laundry, washing the vehicles, sorting mail, catching up on crossword puzzles, and trying to get back to a more normal routine.

We had a surprise visit from my oldest sister who was driving through Indy and stopped by in time to see our mountain of laundry and piles from unloading.  It was fun to see a face from the family after being gone so long.

We’ve been gone for 58 days.   During that period we have driven 4,362 miles, used 566 gallons of fuel, spent 90+ hours behind the wheel with an average moving speed of 48mph, while driving through 10 states, and 7 Canadian provinces!

We have also gathered countless memories, experienced so many awesome adventures and formed new friendships, many who we plan to connect with in the coming months.

It was a wonderful trip, but there’s no place like home!   And, to answer the question that a few have already asked:  We have not booked a new adventure…..yet!

One More Day…

Monday, August 3, 2015

We drove 500 miles today--just one more day til we’re home!   We got up early and stopped for a good breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  (I forced myself to bypass the shopping opportunities in the lobby area.)  Shortly after breakfast, our travel buddies had a small problem, so we pulled into the rest area and filled in as the tailgunner!  Everything turned out ok, and we made it to the next campground, Woodland Campground in Woodland, PA.  There was a lot of construction and a lot of traffic. The trip today, although shorter in mileage than yesterday’s, seemed longer because of the tough drive.  The Maritimes seem to keep following us….last night there was a family in the campground from Newfoundland.  And then today we went through Newfoundland, PA! 

The scenery here isn’t quite as pretty as the Maritimes, but we saw a nice skyline as we passed through Hartford, and then crossed over the Hudson River. 

We had a nice “grandchild fix” through face-time yesterday with Benjamin and today with Taylor!  They are growing up so quickly!   We are beginning to make our mental list of “things to do”, and are very much looking forward to getting home tomorrow.

Homeward Bound

Sunday August 2, 2015

Yippeee…we are headed home to civilization!!! 

The Confederation Bridge was just as amazing going the other way.  Also amazing was the toll to exit…$68.00-Yikes!  Guess they want to keep people on the island of PEI!

The signs continued to warn about moose crossing, and we kept looking for moose, but all we saw were a lot of moose fences along the highway to keep them off the roadways.

 

 

 

We thought we saw a moose, but it was just a statue in the back of a truck in front of us!  We couldn’t get close enough to see who it is—I’m sure it is someone famous—how funny! 

We saw more pretty bridges and scenery, and finally reached the border.

 

 

 

 

 

We made it through customs with little fanfare.  The border patrol officer came into the bus, did a walk through, and stayed long enough to pet Spot.  We were smart enough to dispose of our citrus and vegetables before we left.  (And, most of the alcohol is gone, so that wasn’t a problem either!)

After $20 more in tolls, we arrived at Black Bear Campground near Boston.  We drove 601 miles today…a very long day!  We changed our clocks to Eastern Time, got hooked into the internet and had dinner.  We will get a good nights sleep and get on the road early again tomorrow.  Our friends from Indy, the Herberts, who also went on the trip are parked right next to us!

As we reflect on the trip, we feel so fortunate to have been able to make a trip like this.  We were struck by the beauty of Canada, the warm, welcoming people, and were surprised at the remoteness of the lands we visited in the Maritimes.  There is so much land and so few people…all covered in a rich history.  We were impressed by what the country has done to preserve and promote the history and significant places.  The people of Canada have so much pride…everyone flies a Canadian flag.

We also realize how spoiled we are with connectivity and the “comforts of home”.  I did not make a phone call in 48 days—a record!  But, I was able to face-time and make two calls as soon as we hit the USA!  I already have a haircut appointment the day after we get home…hooray!

Final Farewell…

Saturday August 1, 2015 – Day 47

Today marks the final day of our Maritimes trip, as tomorrow morning we hit the road early to head back to Indy.  Everyone was packing up and reviewing the route for home.

We were able to do a little more exploring on the island and found some interesting things, like this rotating house.  It sits on high land, so there is a beautiful view of the water.  It rotates so that all of the rooms will eventually have a view of the water! What a creative way to take advantage of the view.  Wonder if it was designed by a Purdue engineer?

It was a gorgeous day…nice and sunny (which we haven’t seen very often) and temperatures close to 80 (which we haven’t felt very often).  There were lots of people enjoying the nice beach along the dunes. 

 

We also noticed a funny looking traffic light…the different lights are unique shapes—green is round, red is square, yellow is diamond.  We were told they are testing these lights on a trial basis…they are supposed to help color-blind people “see” the lights!  Hmmmm….

This is a long weekend for Canadians in this province.  The first Monday of each month is “Civic Day”--a day off, so they get a three day weekend once a month.  What a great idea!  The campground is full, and things in the area a very busy because of the three day weekend.

We had our farewell dinner tonight…a great dinner of PEI Mussels and Lobster.  What a great way to end a wonderful trip!

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone hugged and said goodbyes, and talked about the beautiful country we’ve seen, and the wonderful new friends we’ve made.  Another trip of a lifetime!

Final Friday

Friday July 31, 2015 – Day 46

After a busy few days, today we slept in and took it easy.  I finally was able to get the blog posted this morning, while Jim washed the Lundcruiser and the car…said it was probably as dirty as it has ever been!   We did a little shopping and sightseeing and came across some interesting things.  We saw a Mountie from the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police)!   We were driving down the street and saw him riding along the side of the road, so we pulled into a parking lot and got out the camera, and he came over for a picture.  The horse’s name was Goliath (wanted to ask if the Mounty was Dudley Dooright).

Then, we saw this HUGE dog.  I asked if I could take a picture, but didn’t stop to ask more details…like what kind of a dog is it?  It had the face of a lab, but the body of a Great Dane. 

Since this is a center for potatoes, it seems appropriate that we would find lobster flavored potato chips!!  Haven’t tried them, but don’t they sound delicious??  I bought a bag to bring home.

The entire group went to the Fisherman’s Wharf for a lobster dinner tonight.  It was really good…the meal began with a trip to the 60 ft. long salad bar (no kidding!) complete with mussels and plenty of other goodies.  We each had a lobster, and followed with dessert.   Since Spot couldn’t join us for the lobster meal, we brought him a stuffed lobster toy. He was so excited, he already pulled off a claw, and won’t let go of the rest of the lobster! 

Right outside the restaurant was another osprey nest, and it seemed as if the birds were waving to us.

The temperature reached 80 today!  Just yesterday was the first time we felt 60 degrees in quite a long time!  What a welcome change.  We finally got to wear shorts again!

Tomorrow is our last full day of this wonderful Maritimes adventure.  It’s hard to believe we’re on the last page of the travel book!  Will get a good night’s sleep and be ready to pack in as much as we can on our final day.