Anne & Andi's Maritime Provinces Adventures
Friday, August 23, 2002

Awoke in the morning in the hotel room to find Andi was missing. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Where WAS she????? The mystery became momentarily deeper when I noticed that the bed-things and Andi might be missing but all her luggage was still in the room. I thought I heard a noise in the bathroom and quietly tiptoed to see what manner of intruder was in the room – Hahahahaha! It was Andi sleeping in the bathroom. Oh! I felt sooo bad! How loud I must have snored to make her escape to the bathroom! Turns out it was NOT the snoring but my yelling at school kids in my sleep that did it. Poor Andi – she should be so happy to be rid of me so she can get some decent sleep. We decided to drive as far as we could today so we could get to Ottawa on Saturday.

Oh! I forgot to mention that we were taking the Great Circle Route home from Newfoundland - Argentia to North Sydney to Antigonish to Maine to Ottawa to Hamilton to Buffalo to Philly. Big detour. On the way from Antigonish to Frederickton, we passed a reminder of home and I HAD to take a picture.
The small town where I live is East Goshenl
Drove like a bat out of hell through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. We didn't let any grass grow under our feet, let me tell you! We had decided on a slightly convoluted route since there are really NO good roads into or out of Maine. I-95 is too boring and on the way up was nowhere near where we wanted to be. Route 9 through the mountains is the most hair-raising road I have ever driven on and Route 1 is maddening slow. The last thing we want right now is slow. So we decided to do I-95.

The road to Frederickton was our route through New Brunswick then. As we passed Frederickton, I nearly drove off the road from laughing at the sign along the roadside. WELCOME TO FREDERICKTON - THE DRIVE-BY CAPITAL OF NEW BRUNSWICK. When I think of "drive-by," I certainly do NOT think of it in the same vein as they did.   But we proved their advertisement right by driving right by. I called to make reservations in Farmington, Maine, where I calculated we'd be dropping "dead" at 9 PM.  I was right - enough roadtrips have made me realize my limits of driving.

No problems through Customs going into Maine although they had us open the trunk and looked at our plethora of "stuff." Hidden back there was a bottle of something which means "a high-pitched scream." But all he did was ask us, "Are all those cases musical instruments?" When we answered in the affirmative, he shrugged and let us go.
I-95 was as boring as I remembered but we spent the time laughing at strangely-named Rivers - Moose Brook and Fish Stream in particular. One of the problems on this run was our opposite climate needs. Andi was freezing and sitting in the back with a blanket wrapped around her while I was sweating up front. I still don't know which one of us was abnormal. Ha ha! Probably both of us, our friends would say.  The cops in Maine didn't seem to mind Andi driving at 90 mph. Thay passed by her several times without a care.

I was right - we barely made it to Farmington, Maine. We spent the last 50 miles trying to entertain ourselves by making fun of the names of towns we passed. The best one was "Norridgewock." We had a whole slew of jokes going about what to call the inhabitants of Norridgewock - Norridgewockians? Norridgewockers? Norridgewankers? Norridgewackos? Norridgewockistas? And when the old guy in front of us decided that 45 was NOT the speed limit, but 35 was, as we actually passed THRU Norridgewock, well -  then we had some choice things to say about Norrigewockian drivers!

I thought Farmington might be a big town but it was in the middle of nowhere. Despite its location, the hotel was filled to the gills! I guess it was the proximity of the mountains and the fact that there was a huge National Folk Festival in Bangor, which was only an hour away. We got smart and rented separate rooms. It was nice to get there at 9 PM and have time to shower and watch a little TV before bed. I really don't know how the b'ys in GBS do it night after night. I was not cut out to be a touring musician.
Saturday, August 24, 2002

Awoke very refreshed and rarin' to go. We drove through rural Maine to Vermont and New Hampshire. They have REAL mountains in New Hampshire and Vermont - not like Mt. Smokey in the Cape Breton not-so Highlands. This is Mount Washington.
We decided to go through customs in Quebec Province and drive through Montreal on our way to Ottawa. Seemed like a pretty straight shot. No problems going thru customs at all and I was shocked to find how BIG Montreal is. Wow! The stuff I don't know would fill volumes. Here are two views of Montreal - one going in and the next going out.
We made it to Ottawa and had a chance to visit with Joanne, the Official Great Big Sea Site Manager, and Andrew and baby Quinn. What was wonderful family they make. Both Joanne and Andrew were very welcoming and Quinn was absolutely adorable. Oh! I almost forgot that we also met Jasmine, the Shar-Pei. Such a sweetie! Didn't get to see GBS Central as it was in the process of being remodeled. But we sat outside and had drinks and pleasant conversation. Andrew's birthday had just passed and they were waiting for friends to arrive for a celebration dinner so we didn't stay too long. Joanne told us about being there for the Ottawa show they filmed for the GBS Live Special and Darrell took a photo of Quinn who was wearing Joanne's "All Access Pass" on his Snuggli carrier.  She also assured me that Darrell had received the gift I had sent to him.

Well, being so close to Buffalo at this point we decided to go for it. We were supposed to see Moe in Hamilton but we ended up passing Hamilton about 1:30 in the morning and didn't think Moe would have appreciated a phone call at that time. Pulled into Buffalo about 2:00 PM. Thank God Andi was awake enough to drive home. I had driven as far as the QEW from Ottawa and could drive no further. She flew home from there. No fuss at Customs on the Peace Bridge.

Slept at Andi's in Cheektowaga and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow! I know Andi had to be thrilled to be in her own bed at last. In the morning we unpacked and had a terrible time figuring out whose CDs were whose. ANdi treated me to breakfast at this great place in Buffalo. It was weird to be leaving her in Buffalo. I was so used to traveling with her at this point. But I was definitely ready to go home. The ride home was uneventful, thank God, considering I had put 4500 miles on the car this roadtrip. Ira was a wonderful car right up to pulling in the driveway at home. Poor car ended up in the shop two days later when the main belt in the car just slipped off, but Ira did a yeoman's job all throughout the trip - especially on the road to Glencoe!

Many hours were spent in the transfer of pictures and putting my thoughts from the little notebook to the computer to the website. I hope you have enjoyed sharing them. If you ever get the chance to go to Cape Breton, jump at the chance. You won't be disappointed. Same goes for Newfoundland - just do it!
Closing with three of my favorite photos. The first Cape Spear Lights, and the second the Battery in St. John's and the my favorite place in Cape Breton, Baddeck.
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