Head West, Young Man

Sunday morning marked goodbye to my brother and sister-in-law.  Mark graciously got up at the crack of dawn and cooked a full breakfast for us, knowing the lack of services at 6 am at the airport.  When I had said goodbye to him last September, I blubbered away.  This time, there were surprisingly no tears.  Perhaps it was because I know it won’t be long before we’re together again.  The country between us may be vast, but we’re now close in spirit.

It was good to greet our van again.  The new car smell is officially gone, replaced with the pungent aroma of stinky shoes and musty clothes.  Nevertheless, the van is familiar as home.

When I was little, my parents would occasionally take us to Bridal Falls, near Hope, BC.  There was a rock museum attached to a restaurant, and I remember being completely awed by the place.  As an adult, I felt a warm sense of nostalgia every time I drove past that restaurant.  One day, Kim surprised me and we stopped for lunch there.  We should have left well enough alone.  The diner was the greasiest, grubbiest place I’d eaten in for some time.  The rock museum was a pathetic, cheesy aisle of rocks that you  could probably find in dollar store.  My childhood memory was squashed.

It was thus with a bit of trepidation that we pulled into Magnetic Hill in Moncton, NB.   I had wanted to visit this place since my Uncle Bob and his family had described the phenomenon two decades previously.  Would it be another Bridal Falls??

While the incline of Magnetic Hill was definitely less than I was expecting, the overall experience was cute.  We put the van in neutral and went backwards up the hill, gaining momentum.  I realized after the fact that I hadn’t taken a video, so we went and repeated the drive.  A bit tacky, yes, but fun nonetheless.  The neighboring Wharf Village had all the usual tourist trappings, including beaver tails and a knot tying station.  Levi and Theo were thickly concentrating on their knots, but to no avail.  Good ol’ Dad came in and got the job done.  While it was fun, it is the sort of place that you do once and then don't need to do again.

  

                                                                                How did this puffin get here??

                                                    Levi deep in concentraion.....

                                                 Theo sure he can do better....

                                                                Dad's turn....

                                                                    The knot! 

New Brunswick had actually yet to charm me.  When Ayaka and I drove from Halifax to PEI in 2006, we went through a bit of New Brunswick, and hadn’t been overly impressed.  The 200 km drive to Miramichi certainly didn’t win us over.  Saint John was the province’s third chance to impress, and I have to say, New Brunswick was redeemed.

                                                                  Where the rivers meet

Who knew that kiwis grew in Canada??

                                             Check out this spider, Mark and Bobby!

                                                                               

                                               Uncle Bob and his amazing perennial garden


My Uncle Bob and Aunt Teresa live in a suburb called Rothesay, about 15 minutes east of the city.  After our initial greeting and garden tour (my uncle has an amazing garden.  He has invested 31 years into his perennials, so now boasts continuous color from spring to late fall) we took the scenic route down to the beach.  We passed block after block of grandiose estates with sprawling front yards; very picturesque.  The beach access was  the confluence of two rivers: the Saint John and the Kennebecasis.  The Bay of Fundy mixed partially with the Kennebecasis, so the water here was slightly salty, but much warmer than the Bay.  Levi went in immediately.  Theo stayed by the shore tentatively; not quite ready to commit.  My cousin, Alison, and her two boys, Ronan and Malcolm (ages 12 and 9) met us here.  It was nice to be able to explain the relationship of second cousins to the batch of them.

Ronan, Levi, and Malcolm

                                                                                 
                                                                                           Malcolm, Levi, and Theo

                                                    Uncle Bob, Jodine, Alison, and Aunty T


We spent the rest of the evening listening to my Uncle tell stories of his youth; rich, delectable stories ready to be passed down.  My mother rarely speaks about her childhood, so it was very nice to have some pieces of the puzzle of my heritage put into place.

                                                                   Don't try this at home!!!

                                           Picture of Leonard homestead in Brackendale, BC