It's That Time of the Year

Summer is waning. Days are shortening. But with any luck, the weather will cooperate with warm days, cool evenings, and clear skies.

Today marks the fourth day of my vacation, which both DW and I have asserted that we need so desperately. To get away from the daily grind, from what is familiar and repetitive. We've packed up the kids, loaded the SUV, and headed east.

(I wrote this post a few days before we left Ottawa, so I can only assume that things have gone according to plan.)

1992

The first day of our vacation was a jaunt to Lévis (pronounced lay-vee for my non-French friends), which was a quick stop over and a relatively short drive for our ultimate destination. Our plan was to arrive shortly after lunch, take the ferry across to Québec City, where we'd wander the old streets, perhaps shop, have dinner, and then cross back to our hotel at a decent time so that we (mostly, I) could get a good night's rest.

Sunday was all about driving.

It's a 10-and-a-half-hour drive from Lévis to Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, and if we had any hope of arriving by dinner, we'd have to leave early, take as few stops as possible (just a quick lunch in Fredericton, New Brunswick), and push the speed limits.

I assume we did and made it, safe and sound, to our Airbnb cottage, near Lunenburg. It won't be until Thursday that I'll have a blog post that was written, since arriving.

Hopewell Rocks, 1996

Five days here, then back to New Brunswick, for a day around the Hopewell Rocks Park, and then five days in the Shediac-Beaubassin area, before we work our way back home. Depending on how the family feels, we'll either drive straight home or we'll take our time, finding places to stay along the way.

It's the first time our kids have been to Nova Scotia and these parts of New Brunswick. DW and I were last in Nova Scotia in 1996, where we travelled through this maritime province, as well as New Brunswick and PEI, for our second anniversary. It was one of our best wedding anniversaries (our first few, odd-numbered anniversaries were a bit of a bust: the even-numbered ones were better).

I'll continue to keep in touch, through Twitter and Instagram.

Enjoy the rest of your August!