In February of 2019, we had an ice storm that blew through overnight. Check out our video of the aftermath:
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You have probably played this game before but these are unique to experiences that we have had since we left Utah in June of 2018. You get one point for every line that you have not experienced. Like golf, the lowest score wins. Leave your score in the comments and a short story about your craziest experience related to the list.
Never have I ever.... 51. Gone ghost crab hunting 52. Sat in the cockpit of a Blue Angel plane 53. Ate gator 54. Ate dinner with a wild flock of turkey 55. Been to a field of painted Cadillacs 56. Walked the rim of a volcano 57. Driven through a canyon in a car with the top down 58. Listened to sea lions barking for 24 hours a day 59. Used the toilet with the company of a scorpion 60. Become a Jr Ranger at over 15 US National Parks in just 3 months 61. Walked through the forest of Endor from Star Wars 62. Experienced the distinct aroma of a 2 month old rotting whale carcass 63. Constructed a sea creature out of driftwood on a Washington beach 64. Visited the cabin of Lewis and Clark 65. Climbed through the bow of a shipwreck 66. Went hiking with banana slugs 67. Visited Tillamook cheese factory 7 times within 4 days 68. Walked across a covered bridge 69. Ate dinner with a grey whale 70. Been splashed by a puffin 71. Shared a cave with 2500 lb sea lions 72. Added my gum to the famous Gum Wall Seattle 73. Ate lunch from products exclusively from a farmer's market 74. Climbed a 30 foot mountain made of oyster shells 75. Played ocean keep away - and won 76. Slept in a tree house 77. Been on evacuation watch for wild fires 78. Had our picture taken with Paul Bunion and Babe the blue ox 79. Driven through a tree 80. Spent the night at a highway rest stop 81. Explored a sea cave 83. Been to Glass Beach and not taken a piece of beach glass with you 84. Had a picnic at a winery in Napa Valley 85. Swam in Lake Tahoe 86. Visited an old west ghost town frozen in time - (Body, CA) 87. Walked on a columnar jointing rock formation 88. Rode on electric bikes through the mountains 89. Explored an abandoned observatory in the Mojave Desert 90. Ran into a friend from your home state in the middle of Joshua Tree National Park 91. Experienced 114 degree Fahrenheit temperatures 92. Sledded down the sand dunes in White Sands National Park 93. Walked in 11,000 year old dwellings in New Mexico 94. Said, "Remember the Alamo" at the Alamo 95. Toured the Earthship Community in Taos, NM 96. Saw the "Worlds Largest Rocking Chair" 97. Walked around inside Colorado's oldest church 98. Took a picture with the Worlds' Largest Pistachio 99. Ordered your burrito Christmas style in New Mexico 100. Met your favourite princess, in her castle, at Disneyland You have probably played this game before but these are unique to experiences that we have had since we left Utah in June of 2018. You get one point for every line that you have not experienced. Like golf, the lowest score wins. Leave your score in the comments and a short story about your craziest experience related to the list.
Never have I ever.... 1. Bought a crab pot to go crabbing 2. Pet a baby tiger, lion, and/or cheetah 3. Made eye contact with a grey whale 4. Had a chickadee land on my hand or head 5. Built a shelter in the woods 6. Sold my house, most worldly goods, and moved to another country 7. Slept in a mini van for 3 straight months 8. Ate bear 9. Walked among the Saguaro Cactus 10. Been within 10 feet of a wild bear 11. Been in 3 provinces within 40 mins 12. Built an ice igloo in the middle of a town square 13. Been approached by a wild shark 14. Drank beer with an Orca (Killer Whale) 15. Went ice skating on a driveway or parking lot (in actual ice skates) 16. Stood in line for more then 25 minutes for a doughnut 17. Ate a "bird's nest" 18. Walked on the ocean floor 19. Have made maple candy on fresh snow 20. Have won free doughnuts in "roll up the rim to win" 21. Have seen a two headed cow skeleton 22. Made an outdoor ice sun-catcher 23. Been hit by a deer while driving 24. Waited over 7 hours at a hospital for a very minor concern 25. Drove across the longest bridge over frozen water 26. Took a porcupine for a walk on a sled 27. Had the magical experience of being present for the birth of a grandchild 28. Had a visit from Flat Stanley 29. Known what a fishing weir is 30. Cut your own Christmas tree from your property 31. Participated in Dinovember (this was our third year in a row!) 32. Made an edible snow person 33. Stacked 3 cords of wood for your winter heat 34. Had partridge berry jam 35. Snuggled with an emu 36. Ate lobster in Maine 37. Experienced fall colours in Acadia National park 38. Travelled across the US with Buddha on your dashboard 39. Seen the Hope Diamond 40. Stargazed with the secret service 40. Met a 4 star general 41. Watched the VP fly in and out of his home 42.Touched writings from Galileo and Plato 43. Been smiled at by a whale shark 44. Played chase with a Beluga whale 45. Gone beach combing on a Florida beach in the nude 46. Walked in the footsteps of Marten Luther King Jr. on the freedom walk 47. Scratched the head of a Texas Long Horn 48. Been to a slave market 49. Done grave rubbings on a great grandparent's stone 50. Picked cotton As the snow has melted and driving conditions have improved, we have been itching to get out and do some more exploring. Although, spring in the Maritimes brings with it a whole new exciting set of driving conditions... potholes, washed out roads, and MUD. We have begun a few driving exploration trips and had to abort them as we were worried we would get stuck. Not today though! We have been wanting to head over to Moncton, New Brunswick for a while now and today was the day.
Ultimately, it is only another 30 minutes past the bigger town we visit for our larger shopping trips... so only about an hour and a half from home - closer then Halifax even. Being spring, things were still pretty quiet on the tourist front but we did drive down the river to visit the Hopewell Rocks and iconic Bay of Fundy destination. The drive out to the rocks took about 40 minutes from Moncton and was on a lovely, meandering road that followed the river to the open bay. Although the area is "closed" and there were quite a few signs warning that if we do go down to the beach we are doing so at our own risk, we decided it was worth it. We actually spoke to 3 locals, one of whom worked for the visitor's center and mentioned we were allowed to go down. Normally, I am a rule follower and would not have gone but the locals made us feel more confident. I do have to say that I am very glad we did as the rocks are just beautiful, and we had them all to ourselves. I can imagine how busy it gets there in the summer, so to have the beach to ourselves was quite a treat. We were cautious of getting too close to the cliff, with it being spring, the danger of rock fall would be even higher. As we wandered back towards the car we looked back at one of the rocks and discovered it looked very much like a face which always makes me smile as I feel as though it is a guardian for the area. After speaking to a lovely gentleman who lived up the road we know that we want to come visit in the summer to explore that shore and travel further south to the fishing villages, Fundy National Park, and Cape Enrage. After spending a good month and a half getting the house, and ourselves prepared for the winter season we decided it was time to do some exploring in our area. On a very cold, but sunny, January day we packed up Reddy the Van and drove the coastline to explore the beaches, lighthouse, and communities between Parrsboro and Advocate Harbour. Many of the establishments were closed for the winter but the sheer natural beauty of the area was mind-blowing. We spent time in Spencer's Island walking the beach and poking around the river. And then on to Advocate, stopping at the only store open to talk to some of the locals. It was a lovely day to poke around and look at the properties and things that are offered in that area.
We had to make a run into Halifax for the night to drop off our fur nephew and run a couple of errands so we took the opportunity to check out the Discovery Centre on the waterfront of Halifax. This amazing 40,000 square foot, hands-on, interactive STEAM science centre opened its door in February of 2017 It houses 4 permanent galleries and a 6000 square foot roving exhibit hall which housed a Ripley's Believe it or Not display while we were there. The centre also houses a cafe on the children's floor which allows you to grab a cup of coffee while you allow the kids to run amok.
Each floor as a myriad of hands-on, interactive exhibits that create an environment of exploration for all ages. My sister Laurie, Will, and I found ourselves trying out just as many of the exhibits as Dylan. A few of the favourites that stick out were the wall of visual illusions, the amazing interactive wall depicting the water cycle, and the flight simulator which allowed you to fly over the Halifax region. The centre seemed like a compilation of a traditional children's museum and science centre as it really had something for everyone. We decided to take advantage of their rural membership (an offering I have never seen offered elsewhere) and we can now visit as much as we would like for a whole year. How many of you remember Flat Stanley from elementary school? WELL, he came to visit us from Utah in Nova Scotia. To those of you who have no clue what I am talking about - Flat Stanley was a children's book written in 1964 by Jeff Brown about a little boy who was flattened by a bulletin board and his parents mailed him to visit his friend in California. In 1995 a teacher from London, Ontario saw an educational opportunity to recreate this in his classroom. Each student in the class makes their own "flat Stanley" and mails it to a friend or family member anywhere in the world. The recipient then takes Stanley on adventures that are iconic to the area in which they live. They then mail him back to his owner with a story and photo of the adventure they had together. The class then shares the stories of what their Stanleys did throughout the world. What a fantastic lesson in geography, literature, art, and even math.
One of Dylan's close friends, Three, sent us Stanley from Utah and boy did he have an adventure with us. He got to experience the life in Nova Scotia with which we have fallen in love, including fishing boats, lobster pots, native history, Tim Hortons, and board games. A lovely, sunny, yet cold and windy, winter day called for a walk in a new area. This beautiful bird sanctuary, on the outskirts of Amherst, is a lovely area for a stroll in the woods. Although the paths were iced over, we could tell that the area was full of groomed trails weaving through the woods, leading to a pond or two. On our walk down we passed a couple carrying skates and we were later followed by two gentleman carrying hockey gear - obviously, it is a popular spot for skating. The biggest draw for us was the fact that the birds in the area will actually interact with people. Dylan has worked very hard all winter to have the chickadees at our house land on her, but to no avail. It only took about 3 minutes after arriving to have the first chickadee to land on her hands, and soon after on her head. She was in her glory.
We were lucky enough to spend the afternoon on a lovely family farm on Saturday afternoon. The Baker/Beeler family were offering sleigh rides on their new family farm between Amherst and Parrsboro for the weekend. Their Belgian horse team worked beautifully together and Earle was an amazing driver, deftly manoeuvring around 90 degree turns through the forest. I had been in contact with Rebecca for many months as she helped me get situated in the area and provided valuable information on areas of the province fit for homesteading in NS and local hits. It was lovely to be able to meet face to face, see their lovely property, and meet their fur family.
Watch our video of the ride on our YouTube channel |
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April 2019
AuthorCarolyn and Will Bollwerk share their adventures with their 5 year-old daughter, Dylan. |