Sunday in Moncton, NB

Bright and early Sunday we loaded a bus and headed to New Brunswick since it had been impossible to get a flight out of Charlottetown.  How did all those other advisors and students beat us to the seats?  Our flight didn't leave until 5:30 so we could do a little of this and a little of that in New Brunswick.

First we had to wave goodbye to the beautiful province of PEI which showed us so much hospitality.

Then it was a trip across the Confederation Bridge.  Our bus driver had paid $5 to walk the 14 kms across it when it was first opened.

Here's my last view of the island.

And here is the first view of New Brunswick.  I'm sure I'm a changling who was actually born to a lighthouse keeper somewhere in the world rather than being born a prairie child.  I love the water, the views, the shores, the sea glass, the lighthouses, the sand.

We went out to the Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy.  Here I saw trees rewording the adage "bloom where you are planted."  They live by "root where you're planted" as some cling to the sides of the eroding land.

Bob and I were here last October and had the place to ourselves.  This time I had to frame my photos carefully to keep people out of them.

This warning made me think.

These four students missed out on seafood when we were in PEI.  The conference didn't serve any because some people are so allergic to it that they can't even be in a room where it's being served.  We stopped at this restaurant so they could have seafood, others of us could too, and those who didn't want it could have burgers or chicken.

It was a great place to wash our hands!  Look at the basin in the restroom.

It was also a great place to eat ... this seafood platter was delicious.

And, look, the food could be toys too as Justin proved.

Our two flights home were on time, thank goodness, as we were tired.  If any of our fellow travelers on the planes were thinking, "oh, no, a group of teenagers got on," they needn't have worried as the students slept.

I wanted a photo of the gang as we waited for our luggage in Regina but the girls vetoed the idea since they didn't think they looked their best after a busy day and hours of flying.  I thought they looked fine.  This group of teenagers is beautiful inside and out.  They are already leaders and will be amongst the finest of Canadian leaders in their adult lives.  I'm so lucky I got to travel with them.

 

 

Last Day in PEI

Katie Bell, people are going to think I am blogging for you and you alone as I have more library photos.  The advisors meet in the library every morning so I have time to notice things like ...

 

all the Lee Child books

and all the Hunger Games books.

The graphic novel section is empty but I don't know if it's because they are all signed out or if it's because the librarian ran out of budget.

The trip to and from Montague was slow today because there was a 70 mile garage sale happening on #1 highway.  People pull over helter-skelter to hunt for bargains.

I mentioned to an islander that Tennessee has something similar and sometimes there are fatalities because of it.  His response was "Yup, we have those too."

After lunch the students did volunteer work and then had time to get ready for the closing banquet.  Bob and I used that time to see the musical "Evangeline"  in Charlottetown.  I noticed all these impressive banners in the downtown area.  I don't know if CSLC put them up of the city did, but they are a nice touch.

Here are all of our folks looking spectacular at the closing banquet.

Quite a few boys had on bow ties.  I hadn't seen them as a fashion statement since my graduation from high school in 1974!

 

Now the students are having their final dance while advisors are partying or sleeping or blogging.

 

Our group couldn't get a flight out of PEI so tomorrow we cross the Confedertion Bridge, sightsee in Moncton a bit, and then fly out from there.

 



400 Kms of Fun

Bob and I spent part of the day on a jaunt to PEI's west shore.  We went up to North Cape which has Canada's wind institute.  The sight might not be lovely, but serves a purpose.

On the way we saw all these fishermen on a river.  Being landlubbers we have no idea what they are fishing for:  oysters?

We saw lighthouses and here are the ones at Tignish, North Cape, and West Point.  We were looking forward to a stop at Miminegash as I had read on the internet that it's famous for seaweed pie.  After nineteen years of selling this pie, the Women in Support of Fishing disbanded so no pie for us.

 

I needed a walk by the water so put my flip flops in a protected area so they wouldn't be sandy.

We visited the bottle houses in little Cap-Egmont and liked this attraction a lot.  A fellow created three buildings using tens of thousands of bottles.

The little chapel made me reverent while ...

the tavern made us thirsty.

The gardens around the buildings were still lovely ...

and made us smile with unexpected surprises.

Once we got to Charlottetown, we met up with Joanne and Rod plus three advisors from Manitoba to have supper at this pub which has been featured on "You Gotta Eat Here."  Our appetizer was one which John Catucci also had:  french fries with curry dip.

Tonight, while the students had a dance, advisors had a kitchen party at the PEI Brewing Company.  Beer, nibblies, and live music were on the agenda.

 



Lobstermania

Yesterday was another day packed with activities from listening to the Stadacona Band of the Royal Canadian Navy to learning from General Rick Hillier. Standing ovations abound at this conference and they are always well deserved.

I saw some lobstering paraphernalia

 another lighthouse

and more water,

but my theme for today's entry has to be the food!

I had a lobster clubhouse for lunch, 

and an advisor road rally led us to the New Glasgow Lobster Supper.  The four of us from Weyburn were a team with Bob as the driver, Rod as the navigator, and all four of us as the seekers of answers to the questions.  Some of you may believe that Bob drives slower than he needs to, but he doesn't, and, on this rally, he became a speed demon.  We had to remind him it wasn't a race and we had to yell "SLOW DOWN."  A couple of times we needed him to stop and back up because he was speeding by everything we needed to know without giving us a chance to answer the questions.  No matter ... it was a lot of fun and now I want to create one along similar lines for anyone in Weyburn needing such an activity  (WCS staff perhaps?)

 

Our supper was amazing with endless mussels for appetizers.  (Linda Duttera, I hope you are reading this!)  They were followed by seafood chowder, salads, lobster, and a choice of pies. 

I cannot imagine how many egg whites they use in their meringue.  I use four and I never have mile-high meringue like this. 

Joanne continues to be our great leader.  We love her; we admire her; we thank her.

Stay tuned for another entry later tonight.  We're off to a kitchen party at PEI Brewing Company in a few minutes and after that I can relay today's adventure.

 

Speakers, Sea Glass, and Anne

Katie Bell, let's start with you.  Why don't you have a fireplace in your library?  And why don't you have large windows with beautiful views?  Huh?  Huh?  Huh?



Here are a couple of photos from Montague Regional's library.

There were good, entertaining, motivating speakers this morning which are always a plus at a conference.  The nutritional break this morning impressed me too.  Can you recognize everything in the bag?

One of the vegetables is summer turnip which I love.  I'm sure lots of the students didn't have a clue what it was.  I mentioned how much I liked it to one of the organizers and she said, "it's an island thing."

Bob and I went to Montague's Rotary at noon and were blown away by how a small group raises so much money for so many good causes.  At the meeting we met the host mom of two of our boys.

We headed along the east shore for awhile and were behind these fisherman.  No, Bob does not tailgate on the highway; we were stopped for construction.

We went to Souris Lighthouse (pronounced Sue-ree).  It needs a lick of paint.

All roads should lead to the ocean.

This is Red Point Beach, one of the beaches which has singing sand.  I was virtually alone on it and could make it sing all I wanted.  Good thing it can carry a tune because I can't.

 

I like how this photo of the ocean looks like an abstract painting.

We went to East Point lighthouse which is the most easterly point on PEI.  The girl in the little café lives in Estevan in the winter and at East Point in the summer.  Small world!

This was one of the vehicles at the lighthouse.  Too bad we never spotted the people who drive it as I'm sure their story would be interesting.  And some of you think Bob and I travel too much and too cheaply.

At a beach on the north shore, which I will keep a secret, I found sea glass galore.  This was all found in less than an hour.

This evening was fantastic with 1000 conference delegates attending "Anne of Green Gables."  I've already texted Colleen to let her know she'll have students begging for this to be the Comp's spring musical.  Colleen, there's  tons of opportunity for big production numbers with this one so maybe you should save it for when the theater is finished in 2019. 

PEI, once again we thank you for a special day.