3200 miles

I took a week off to pick up Grandma in Nova Scotia and bring her to my brother's wedding, and bring her home again.  It was a great trip, but it was long.  Very, very long.  According to Google, if I was to drive the same distance from Boston to San Diego, I'd end up about 100 miles into the Pacific Ocean. 

And I have to give a giant, HUGE thank you to Eliza and Marcey, who lent me their air conditioned Volvo ("Dagmar") for the week.  It was an enormous relief and a treat during a hot and humid week.  Our hairstyles and tempers were grateful for it.

I left on Sunday, July 29 after a rockin' bachelorette party and arrived Sunday night.  After a day of recovery, we left for Prince Edward Island to visit Grandma's mother's grave as well as some old friends across the street from her old house.  As kids, we used to visit Grandma during the summers there.  It was a wonderful thing completely different than Massachusetts Suburbia.

St. John's Anglican Church in Ellerslie

Great Grandma's gravestone... with the WRONG BIRTH YEAR.  Scandal.

"The Lane", the long driveway leading to the old house in PEI.

Grandma at home again.  =)

The house we used to stay at... a wonderful sight.

Seeing my old friend Donna was a trip.  Mary and Ray Milligan lived across the street and visited all the time.  Ray was a fisherman, and gave us loads of lobsters at an incredible price.  Their daughter, Donna, is the same age as me, so we got along famously, and stayed in touch for many years.  When we found each other on Facebook, a reunion was in order!  Ray has sadly passed, but everyone else is in the area, and aside from a stylish haircut, looks almost exactly the same, 20 years later.

Donna, Mary and Eric

It was so great to see the island again as an adult.  Some things have changed... some local fish shops have been replaced by larger tourist traps, but on the whole it was wonderful to see farmland again, smell the air, and remember.

Another day of rest and we were off to New Hampshire!  Brendan got married, everyone cried, and we ate ourselves silly.  It was a gorgeous day...but that's a separate post.  I was so glad Grandma was there, and so was she.  Saturday we went back to Nova Scotia, flower centerpieces intact.

Then Grandma casually mentioned in conversation that she had a gun.

Um.  What?

I love that everything is labeled in her house.  Leo is her uncle.

Apparently she used to have four guns, but sold three of them when she inherited the house.  This is the last one, tucked away in a secret spot only she can find.

Annie Oakley, the later years.

The joke is that it would take her so long to load it any robber would have come and gone in the meantime.  That said, I don't recommend it.  She might surprise you!

DON'T.  MESS.  WITH GRANDMA.

We already have plans for next year.  Digby, NS is where my Thurber ancestors are buried, and I'm told it's beautiful.  Meanwhile, enjoy the full set of Canada 2012 pictures HERE!