Safe and Sound

I'm back on PEI! It was a long 3-day drive, but I made it.

Interestingly, as I cruised towards the Confederation Bridge, I heard the following songs, randomly in a 10 minute span, on the radio:

• Life is Highway (Tom Cochrane)
• Carry On My Wayward Son (Kansas)
• Highway to Hell (AC/DC)

All of them seemed appropriate.

I forgot how late the sunsets are in the north. 9:30 pm! The summer evenings last forever, and I was treated to a gorgeous sunset (the disc was down, and the sky was streaked with yellows and pinks against the clouds, with only the ocean as the horizon) as I crossed the bridge. Unfortunately, PEI was traversed in darkness, but I will have the rest of the summer to explore.

Next up: start the job, start the apartment search, find a gym, and wait for my stuff to arrive.

CC

ps. If you are on PEI, and have read this far: do you have a smart phone? If so, which one? iPhone, Droid style, or Blackberry? What about your friends? I need to make a choice soon

Pedaling PEI revisited

The photos on Pedaling PEI are taken near my old turf.

I don't know why, but seeing these photos posted on a blog, in a decent size, is truly moving. Some may seem like random snow-covered fields but they are usually on neighbouring farms. Often, these fields had names (e.g. The Rabbit Patch) and were our playground for bicycles, motorbikes, and especially snowmobiles.

I'm pretty sure I know exactly where this one and this one was taken. This one is a no-brainer. It is like seeing family, in a way. Very weird and wonderful. Especially to think that, as a teenager in times of strife, I would look out across the snow, and wonder where I would be someday. I certainly never thought I would be in a good career in the midwest USA, with easy access to photos of PEI.

The thing is: the scene portrayed aren't really much different than when I was a teenager. I can tell that the trees have grown, but the vegetation and the drifting of the snow is exactly the same. They are time capsules.

Back in the Lou

It is funny that the title sounds like "back in the loo" which is not especially charming from a British perspective.

I'm back! The trip was fantastic. The weather was perfect and I was able to catch up with a lot of people.

No pics, alas (sorry Hege!). I find that there is no "half way" when it comes to pictures and/or getting gifts for people: they become all-consuming. So this was just a trip home with a carry-on bag and my ubiquitous backpack.

It's hard to summarize even 3 days but here is a quick recap:

-- I saw an open-air theatrical performance (Quebec a la carte) that featured 8 players from La Belle Province and 4 from The Island. It covered 400 years in 45 minutes and was a mix of English and French. As keen readers will know, I am moved by music and was suckered-punched at the end with an unexpected "Canada is..." I hadn't heard that song in 15? years.

-- Inspired by the songs and bilingual nature of the performance, I walked around my old elementary school. Very keen readers will know that from grades 2 through 6, about 30 students were in the same class, learning French. We were family. It is heartening to know that my cousin Shannon now teaches there.

-- I confirmed that there are some very high-tech companies at the Atlantic Technology Centre in Charlottetown. High-tech as in 3D gaming for mobile phones. That's wicked stuff, and hopefully a new era for The Island in terms of becoming a hot bed for tech. It is cool to see that UPEI has reacted to it with a CS degree with a specialty in video game programming.

-- I started to write about some personal stuff but I can't include everything/everyone and yet I hate to leave anything out. Wonderful summer days and evenings with very special people. Some powerful, thoughtful and at times, heavy, conversations. It would take me 8 hours to relay it all and then this post would be insufferable.

So, to recap: A great trip! My new rule is to come home every summer.... I will send some pic links later perhaps but a great source is this site. It was postcard-perfect when I was there. No Photoshop necessary.

CC

ps. Jesserando and others will remember a fun gag in front of the Island webcam. This time, Miss Gila phoned out of the blue, and I was walking near it. So she went online and I waved :-) It was a hoot, eh?

I *heart* my old PC

I love the new Mac. It is very cool and highly stable. It was a trusted companion on a recent tech talk, my first, in my new era of employment. But it is a laptop.

I'm writing this on my PC which needed some work at the shop. It is still slow, and it is still Windows, but it feels like my right arm.

This is because I am neurologically wired to my split keyboard and my big mofo speakers that date back to 1997.

I can't explain it. Perhaps it is re-connecting to my old songs on iTunes (I'm sure of it), and being able to type at 90 wpm again: I feel like my old dog just came back after days away.

CC

ps. Buy a Mac, though. Seriously. It will be my new right-arm one day.

Maritime Travel Questions

As you know, my friend Berlin will be visiting PEI in September.

Her daughter is getting married at Fortune Bay. She and her husband will tour the Island for 4-5 days, and then drive over to Cape Breton to go on the Cabot Trail. Then off to Peggy's Cove before leaving via Halifax.

Questions for the Maritimers:

• Recommending a fancy Lobster Supper on PEI is easy. Berlin asked for a recommendation for an informal restaurant that she could visit on a daily basis. She is from Taiwan, where seafood is a staple. I told her that lobster is far more of a delicacy on PEI than a staple, but I want to check with my people: where could she go for non-fancy lobster? Note that she will be mostly on the eastern part of the Island.
• The plan has 1 day to visit New Brunswick after leaving Borden and before driving to Cape Breton. Any sights to see in NB? I've been telling her to skip it ;-)
  
• How long does it take to do the Cabot Trail? I guessed 2 days at a leisurely pace, with perhaps a stop at a B&B on the Trail itself. Does that sound right?

thanks gang
CC

Old Home Week

Here are some miscellaneous factoids about home:

• Old Home Week is a festival in August on PEI. There is a parade, concerts, and a major horse race (harness racing) called the Gold Cup and Saucer.
  
• Miss C's fam (and BryGuy's soon-to-be fam) have sent a missive from their vacation on The Island. They are having a fun time but find the water at the beach to be pretty nippy. Like me, they find the temps to be a bit chilly (probably 70s) whereas the locals are suffering. LOL
• I have it from a reputable source that my cousin Richard has a new ride that is very cool indeed. And yet there are no photos to substantiate this claim! Help!
• Both Nickelback and Aerosmith played The Island this summer. That's just crazy and is a testament to the tourism planning board. Especially Aerosmith. The population of The entire Island is 140,000. I doubt if they could cram more than 15,000 at the venue, even if it was outside. That is so much better than when I was there.