cape spear...

so i've been in st john's for just over a week. it feels like longer, i must say. so far, other than today, the weather has been great. and actually today isn't so bad - just some rain....something that i am oh too familiar with!
as far as touristy things, i haven't done all that much. vernon has been working at tuckamore all week (another festival here in st john's) so i've been on my own. lots of time to sit and freak out about not having a job. :)
last sunday we did manage to make it out to cape spear though - it was a georgeous day and we took lots of great photos. cape spear is the eastern most tip of north america so there really is nothing out there....just europe. it's extremely beautiful. i spent an entire day walking around st john's although i didn't take any photos. i will though at some point. i've also spent some time exploring the great network of trails that run through the city (one of them runs right behind my house!). there are quite a lot and they are well maintained. it's great for running and in the winter it will be great for.....cross country skiing? snowshoeing? the people here ARE really nice as well. the house is great - i've bought a few things like more shoe storage of course - and i think i am finally ready to say that i've officially put everything away. the stuff that is lying around now is really just because i'm a slob.
anyhoo - here are some pics.....

the old lighthouse and the coast....

looking back towards st john's....

me and the coast.....

notice how the waves are crashing in perpendicular to the shore....it's really weird. it must be because it's a point and this is where it wraps around....

vernon and the life ring. i have a feeling if you are stupid enough to "fall" into the water (after hiking over the rocks and climbing a fence) you are going to need a lot more help than this little life preserver....

thank god that boat ride is over...

ugh. the boat sucked. it wasn't "rough" i guess but it was too rocky and rolly for me. i guess it really is just really exposed. i napped in the morning for a couple hours and after lunch for a couple of hours. lunch consisted of an orange and some water - that's about all i figured i could stomach. once we were closer to land again, about 11 hours into the trip, it got calmer. of course, we spent the entire trip in a fog bank so i have no idea how close to land we were. the fog lifted around 7:30 and by 8 we could see land. it was cool. i went out to take some pics and ended up seeing whales! it was really cool. there were a few of them, maybe a lot, it's hard to tell. they were just coming up and blowing. i attempted to take a picture of one but got this shot just as the fin went under. if you look closely you can see the back. anyhoo. the drive from the ferry to st john's was terrible - raining and FOGGY. nothing here is lit either - the highway exits are like mysteries. you see a sign so you know it's coming and then boom - ooops there it was.

anyway, here are some pics from the trip...

here we are leaving north sydney nova scotia. the light was really beautiful. it was 6:26 and i was already loaded onto the boat!


the elephant spots land for the first time! this is just at the entrance to placentia bay i guess. looking off in the general direction of cape st mary's.


oh look - a whale...


here we are getting ready to offload. notice how now it's dark. fun.


for anyone who hasn't been here (i.e. non family) this is the apartment:
living room (dining room is behind that half wall)

kitchen...

there is one bedroom and a little office, a big bathroom, a nice deck. it's really nice. now i just need a job....ya...a job....... oh but first i'm going to new york! ya that's right - new york!! wooo! vernon has to get some work done on his cello and so i'm going with him because - hey, now i know people there and have free places to stay in manhattan! yay! we're going on the 24th i think. i don't really remember. i think we're just going for a weekend - arriving thursday, coming back monday morning. vernon can't really afford to take the time away. whatever. i'm goign to new york!
:)

atlantic canada is windy

the monkey, the elephant and i headed out from moncton this morning. the weather was sort of stormy - it was thundering and raining lightly. anyhoo.

oh look i'm in nova scotia....

and it's so foggy i can't see a damn thing....

actually the weather was only really foggy for about 50 km or so. not so bad. i passed a sub shop called McPuffin's which really just made me think of a bad McDonald's menu item. although everywhere i saw signs for McDonald's it was advertising the McLobster.......which just sounds gross. anyhoo.
oh and now i'm in cape breton....

i stopped in baddeck, nova scotia and took some nice scenic shots. it's a really quaint little place. i bought some yarn at Baa-deck yarns and some new knitting needles. oh ya. then i had lunch at the yellow cello cafe. tee hee. it was cute. the service was very slow. yellow mellow is more like it.

now i'm in north sydney at my hotel. here's the view.

tomorrow i take the boat. i'm not really looking forward to it. i mean - it's 14 hours on a boat. how fun can that be??

portland head light. yay! it's really old. 1791. crazy.

here it is - the lighthouse of jigsaw puzzle fame...

and here i am with it!

close up...

longfellow - cool! sail on sail on - ya!

someone crashed their boat. oddly - this happened after the lighthouse was built....too much sauce on christmas eve maybe??

more close ups.....


random maine coast...

and then i got a coffee - at tim horton's - i must be getting close to canada!

portland is a really pretty city. this is the only picture i have - i took it out of my car window while stopped at a street light. too bad i didn't have more time.


and now i'm in moncton new brunswick. tomorrow i'm heading for cape breton. yikes! i am so tired. it is really boring driving alone. like, really really boring. only one day left though and then i can drug myself with gravol and pass out on a boat.

ok - another boring blog entry. deal with it. :\

the final day.

so that was it. band camp is officially over. everyone there jokes about it being band camp - so don't think that joke was lost on the musicians. :)
anyhoo - here are a few final photos.....

vernon's cello students made him a hat for staff appreciation day. the block lettering says "yeah celli" which is what they always say and yes that is a jesus head on top (not sure why that's there...) and the lightbulb up top says 'vernon' in glitter. fancy eh?


me and vernon outside the concert hall at the last concert.


the kids sing bach's cantata 150 complete with organ and strings. jerry conducted. it was fun - most of them are bawling before and after this. jerry also asks the audience to use their imagination and give the applause before hand so that we all leave the concert with the sound of music in our ears. it's pretty neat. anyhoo. you can see vernon in this photo. the accompianment is a mixture of staff and students.


too bad this is so blurry (taking photos without looking while driving - yeah! but the symbol for the mass pike is a pilgrim hat complete with buckle! yeah!


i'm in maine now (portland maine to be exact)...

but i was also in.....


i was in connecticut too but don't have a photo. do i need a photo? no. i wasn't there long and there was nothing interesting there.
now here are some random facts. in newhampshire if you're under 18 you have to wear a seatbelt by law, but over 18 you don't. why bother? is the cop going to pull you over and check your i.d.? in maine fireworks are illegal. what about the fourth of july? do they just not do it? does everyone throw sparklers in the air? i'm curious.
anyhoo.
tomorrow i'm driving to canada. probably fredricton or moncton. in the morning before i leave i'm going to go to the portland head light which is a really famous lighthouse. it's only about 15 minutes from my hotel so i figure why not.

usps, old school....and pink eye

here is the united states post office in weston vermont - zip code 05161 (not that you would know that considering no one sent me mail, not even once. ok fine, mom mailed me a package with mail and magazine in it - but the rest of you - NOT EVEN ONCE!)

check out these post office boxes circa the civil war. they are combination - but with letters! i thought this was the coolest thing. very old school new england.


on an entirely different note, vernon has pink eye. and apparently if you soak you eye in black tea (cooled of course) it is a great homeopathic remedy. might take a day or two longer, but clears it right up. so far it is working for him, but i just had to take this photo because it's creepy to look at. he wouldn't let me get any closer. he must be onto me and my web posting habits....

the weston priory

mom - i went to the weston priory and took some photos for you. i bought you their latest cd and i'll mail it when i get to newfoundland. it is a really beautiful spot - only about 2 miles down the road from kinhaven....

only a couple of days left....

i said it was hot earlier this summer......but i was wrong. it's hot now. it is at least 100 degrees and humid. it is awesome since really, we can spend our afternoons sitting by the pond or driving to a swimming hole.....i can't imagine being in the city in this heat. ew. and ugh. :)

yesterday we drove to hamilton falls. it was fantastic. it's a nice little 5 minute stroll from the parking lot straight down the side of a ravine basically. it's about 20 degrees cooler at the bottom and the water is so nice and refreshing. the water coming down the falls is like a natural massager (hang onto your bathing suit though!). we went with nick and adrienne (composer and pianist respectively) - they are really fun. after our swim and stroll through the woods looking for mushrooms we went and binged on mexican food. yum!


here is a shot of me at work. seriously. i love this job. obviously i'm about to go out on the road on "official" business because i'm carrying my purse avec drivers licence. of course, when i was sick i carried it around full of cough drops and tissue....but i don't look sick in this photo.


the farmer's market we went to last weekend was really neat. i bought maple syrup and we ate curried shrimp skewers and homemade lemonade. unfortunately when we were there an accident occured which involved a car improperly e-braked rolling through a stand and over the guy running it. he was conscious - it seemed to go over only his leg - but really scary for everyone who saw it (we arrived right after). hopefully he was ok.


a typical sunday morning working.