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Here’s my New England 2008 ride report.
Here are all of the pictures.

… days until Christmas.

I have always been a fan of Precious Moments but lately I have seen so many I like. There are some REALLY cute ones out for Christmas… *hint hint*

So both Disney World and Disneyland are offering free admission on your birthday during 2009. So I am wondering, since my birthday is on a Saturday next year, if it’s reasonable to fly down Friday night and come back Sunday… It is risky since I was born during a blizzard… and had a blizzard on my birthday last year too…. Hmm… So I would save something like $60 but how much would I have to spend. And March is a nice time for 48 hours of warm weather…

I did my St. Jacob’s Saturday routine as summer is now over… and thought a trip to Anna Mae’s was in order. Anyway, on my drive past the market I noticed a ‘walmart’ sign. It appears that Walmart is going in beside the St. Jacob’s market?? How sad is that?? Talk about ruining the atmosphere.

On an aside, I was beside a table of six adults at Anna Mae’s and it was interesting hearing them explain things to their American friends… first about the Amish and Mennonites… and that Anna Mae’s is all run on wind power (they wind tower is new since I was there a month ago)… and then how Tim Horton’s started on the east coast… and on and on. Kept me amused.

Lucy, my first bike, has been sold. A bit of paperwork, and then on Saturday night I say goodbye. She’s a great bike, and I’d love to keep her but I can’t justify paying extra insurance, giving up garage space (even with a Smart car), and seeing her sit there un-ridden and un-loved. She’s going to a good home where she’ll be loved. I’m sure I’ll feel better when Maggie is back in the garage (she had to get a ride to the clinic to have her foot fixed - can you believe it, a nail in the tire after only 1800 km?) - ah, she’s in a totally different class. It’s like how you feel about your elementary school girlfriend, but now you’re with a supermodel.

Outside of Rockwood, ON along highway 7, there is this entertaining property. They have a lot of geese lawn ornament things and they position them in different themes. So this week the geese are all sitting at desks and there is a blackboard that says “Welcome Back Students”. Last week they had little plastic pools and diving boards with the geese on them. At Thanksgiving they are sitting around a table with food, there had them riding horses a few weeks back. It’s just a fun thing to see on the way to work.

Maggie arrived yesterday, at ~ 10:30 a.m., measuring just 7 km, and an estimated 500 lbs. Her tank was mostly full, she was shiny and clean, and the mechanic said she was ready to go. I brought her home the long way, and took her out again a couple of times today, and she’s doing better and better. She had a good night last night with Lucy. We’re really looking forward to a lifetime of adventures.

More pictures

Supposedly there are no snakes, deer, porcupines, groundhogs or skunks in Newfoundland. The latest invader is the coyotes who are rumoured to have arrived on an ice flow.

Newfoundland is fantastic! Some highlights include, whale breeching, whale watching, puffins, moose, jigs dinner, cod tongue (not my highlight - Doug’s), live music, George Street Festival, cardboard box boat races, the regatta day sale, chilling with Dena and her family, the ocean, lighthouses, great views, fog, rain, sun (all in one day).

Well, the Bath and Body Works is slowly coming along in Stone Road Mall. On the facebook site it says that it should be open by Sept. 2… do I believe those rumours? I limited myself to a $10 purchase when I was in the States last week…

It’s August? Crazy! I think I have done a good job of filling my time up in July… I visited lots of friends, went on a few road trips, and spent lots of time outdoors. August looks to be promising as well!

I used to hate Bell. Now I hate Bell and Rogers. Oh the reasons! The latest.

For all of those do it yourself people, or people who like to waste time trying to find a ‘better’ way to do something, I this perfect organization website. Oh, it’s also good if you hate to buy new planners every year, you can make your own here .

Doug and I are known for our separate vacations (we go on together vacations too…) but this past week was my week away in Kingston! It was great to reconnect with old friends (this fall I moved to Kingston 10 years ago). I did a whirlwind tour squeezing in as many visits as I could and visiting as many of my old haunts as I could as well. My highlights were 70% off at Marshlands (2 Queen’s sweatshirts!!), 90% off at Hallmark (20 cent votive candles), and of course the US Walmart back to school specials (20 cent glue sticks, glue bottles, 88 cent Crayola markers!). I got my haircut by my old hairdresser, saw my old house, walked the mall, strolled downtown (MY FAVOURITE), went to Westport, sat at my friends cottage for the afternoon… It was just great being around the familiar. Not much has changed in Kingston….oooh… except that the Women’s Prison, which closed around 2000, has been bought (by Queen’s I think). They have taken the big wall down around it so you can actually see the prison now which is cool. It would have been cooler if they had taken it down while I was in teacher’s college as it is just across the road - it would have been more attractive to look at then the big cement wall. I also saw a fox running by the prison while I was there. Also, in traditional Kingston fashion, I bumped into at least 3 people…

I hadn’t been on a plane for almost 10 years and then we went on two flights last year. Anyway, flying is totally different than I remembered it to be. I thought for sure I could read on the plane, but nope - I get motion sick. I watched the movies fine but if the movie sucks, I get pretty bored. The flights with your own TV were fine though… I am a very antsy person - and can’t sit for long periods of time. Oh, the plane was so much louder than I remembered as well. Very loud. Anyway, the purpose of this is I keep wondering if I would ever be able to travel overseas? I think my longest flight lately was 3 hours and that was really pushing my boredom/antsy factor. My friend downloads books onto her iPOD… that might be an option. But yeah… these people on 13 hour flights? HOW????

I have been out of the loop. I had some time to kill yesterday so went for a walk around Square One. Wow, I haven’t been there in years. My first mistake was that I went in a different door - I was very lost for quite a while… There is so much in there now!! I think I went over five years ago when there was a new addition but I didn’t really get the feel for it. I’ll have to go again soon now that I know the lay of the land.

Side note, Breakfast Television says that women find their 30’s their toughest decade. Hm…. they are tired and stressed! Supposedly woman in their 80’s are happier than those in their 30’s. Interesting.

Doug and I are on track this summer. We have been busy every weekend and have been planning ahead! It’s great. Anyway, this past weekend we met up with some old camp friends, Chris and Dianna, to go camping just south of Tobermory at Cyprus Lake. It was a perfect weather weekend and the bugs were non-existent! Doug and Chris seem to inspire great cooking so each meal was fantastic. We learned that anything on a bun needs cheese. Also, who knew you could eat gourmet crepes for breakfast!!? Breakfasts consisted of bacon, eggs, crepes with strawberries… and on the second day we had sausage as well. The bacon was so good that even the vegetarian had some! We had a paddle on the lake (Doug went solo each morning) and hit the candy shop in Tobermory. We always have a great time with them and enjoy Chris’ story telling. Oh… Dianna brought ingredients for Smores… and used Caramilk for the chocolate base… yummm!

We had a nice Canada Day exploring parts of southern Ontario. We went to the St. Jacob’s farmers market and bought peas and cherries. We paid the owners young son for cherries and he gave me the same amount back but in different denominations… so told him what change I needed. The owner seemed happy to have an honest customer and we saw her sneak another handful of cherries into our bag. Yumm! From there we headed to Stratford. They have the best tea store (for Doug) and the best toy store (for me!). We each made a purchase and then headed to the chocolate store for their chocolate mints! Umm… I spent a gift card at the Rocky Mountain chocolate store and bought some caramel corn with nuts for our journey. From Stratford we headed… through small towns and ended up in London. We found the best historic general store called Legg’s. I won a free ice tea package in their Canada Day draw thingy… and the girl giving samples was SOOOO cute and nice. Just a friendly kid that you don’t see much of any more. They had quite an eclectic mix of stuff and it was one of those stores that kept going at every turn - I like those places! We headed by Doug’s old house and he chatted about all his memories in London along the way. Of course we had to go to the BMW dealer (which was oddly open today) and Doug drooled over the bike he wants. We had dinner at Kelsey’s and took a scenic drive home. The weather was gorgeous today too! Hope everyone had a great Canada day… hopefully the fireworks end sooner than they did last night!! (11:30!!).

Yep, saw the “Bath and Body Works Coming Soon” sign at the mall today. I’m still a little sad that it is coming as it is always a treat to go in the States and see what you can find that round. Ah well, I’m sure I will get used to it.