The Knob

As a cold-blooded reptile sluggishly moves in the cold, so we arose, unwilling to depart from what little heat remained in our sleeping bags. Our once-hot water bottles had lost their life-giving warmth while the fly on our tent had dislodged and was blowing an aggressive draught over our feet.

By the time we rallied together to get moving, more complications arose. Our boots had frozen in awkward shapes and our fire had long dwindled to a lonely pile of ashes. The breakfast we had planned (pancakes) was no longer an option; instead, our morning meal consisted of a special pastry provided by our lovely friends chez Pop Tarté...

After breakfast, we took down the tent and packed up all our gear. After this activity, we began to feel limber enough for our hike to the summit. After some deliberation (take the road around or hike straight up) we opted to take a straight shot up to the summit. Despite the steep slope, the hike was much easier that the day before, since our packs remained at camp.

After hiking for about 20 minutes, we stopped for some lunch. We still had a good sized stash of dried goods, which tasted simply heavenly. It was also at this time when we took a swig of our now mountain cold hot water bottles. We were all surprised with our water's overwhelming smoky aftertaste that had evidently come from the campfire boiling process the night before. We then coined the term Spruce Smoked Water (TM), and are currently exploring different markets where there may be customers to purchase this unique product in disposable bottles. It's possible we'll make millions, so we'll keep you posted.

As it turns out, the woods where we stopped for lunch was a mere 25 metres from the top of the mountain. With some extra spring in our step, we reached the summit. Spruce Knob was ours.

We did it!
Click to enlarge photos.

Being at the highest point of Spruce Mountain, Spruce Knob, was a great feeling. We had accomplished what we had come to do and were rewarded with a breathtaking view of the vast West Virginian wilderness.

Now it was time to climb back down the mountain, and see how Lily was holding up...

Home is where you park it,
The Boys

Post by Jeremy Enns

The Camp Site

The hike up Spruce Mountain was exhausting. The cold winds, deep snow, plus our heavy packs contributed to the physically demanding adventure.

Since we were climbing up the east side of the mountain, we were racing to keep up with the setting sun. Just as we were about to give up hope of finding a good place to set up camp, I (Jeremy) heard Jamie send out a cry of victory from up ahead. His triumphant cheers gave us the rejuvenated strength to persevere through the audacious adversities of the mighty mountain for just a little longer. Dylan, Jordan and I quickly caught up to him and shared in his excitement. We had found the snow-covered road, and with it a lovely clearing: perfect for setting up camp.

We took a quick walk down the road, and found out that our site was very close to the East Overlook, which provided a beautiful view of the valley and parallel mountain ranges. We were very close to the summit of Spruce Mountain, and our destination, Spruce Knob.

Since the sun was quickly disappearing on the horizon, we hastily got to work on our camp site. We needed to clear a spot for our tent, create a fire pit, gather dry wood--and obviously--construct a homey and comfortable latrine.

The East Overlook.

We all got to work, and finished setting up our camp more quickly than anticipated. With the wind causing a little trouble, Jamie's expertise helped us get a nice fire going.

Once the sun went down, it got cold. Very cold. Our sweat from the hike and camp site set up rapidly chilled us to the bone. We also noticed that although our fire was blazing, snow that was less that a foot from the fire was not melting. The frigid winter air quickly snatched up any heat we created. We all huddled as close to the fire as possible without our eyebrows, dreads, and/or beards getting singed.

Jordan, our resident chef, got to work on dinner while the rest of us kept the fire roaring and melted snow to replenish our water stores. Before we finished our steaming hot beans with canned chicken, they were freezing cold. We filled our Nalgene bottles with boiling water and stuffed them into our jackets.

Within a few minutes of finishing dinner, we all looked at each other and unanimously decided it was time to sleep. We were all huddled together in our tent, clutching our warm bottles by 8:30.

*And cue cheesy concluding paragraph.*

At the end of the day, we felt triumphant. Yes, we were exhausted, and yes, we were cold, but we were on an adventure, braving the elements and testing ourselves. We had worked together as a team and had accomplished something. We knew that reaching the summit in the morning would be an incredibly satisfying experience. Thus began a long, cold (very cold) night, in and out of sleep.

Beans: It's whats fer dinner.

Our "warm" tent.

Home is where you park it,
The Boys

Post by Jeremy Enns

The Long and Winding Road

Around 10 am, we were still driving through Circleville, a small town at the base of Spruce Mountain. After deliberating where to park Lily in said "town"--we use that term loosely--we decided to risk her up Forest Road 28, a long and winding road.

Up and up Lily went, navigating the switchbacks and increasingly icy gravel road with conviction. However, after a few miles, the ice slowed us to a point where we decided we could go no farther safely. It was here, from the middle of nowhere, where we would commence our trek, leaving Lily roadside for the time being.

With bags packed, items stowed, and a heading set, we began to venture along the road. At one point, we reached an open pasture. We suddenly found ourselves surrounded by West Virginian Yaks, which looked quite similar to Canadian Cows. As we continued, we essentially parted the Red Sea of Cattle, with the large beasts looking on as though they knew we were from out of town. As an eerie silence fell over the hillside, we came to a fence with a sign that read: "If you can read this, you're in range." It was here where we decided that the road was no longer something we wanted to follow...

We altered our course at this point, heading for the east hills, towards the forest and away from the yaks and fearsome sign.

This hike was not an easy one. We took turns leading the way and breaking through the knee-deep snow. We rested frequently to prevent sweating in the subzero temperatures, and to set down our heavy packs. Our tactics did little good; even in the frigid weather, it was hard not to sweat due to the strenuous physical demands of our uphill climb, plus the bright sun beating down on us from overhead.

We happened upon a cool little hunting cabin and took a jerky break. It was very small, perhaps six feet by six feet, with only a few things inside including two pairs of binoculars, a stool, and a scattering of shell casings. 

Feeling uneasy about this potential act of trespass, we decided to get to the forest ahead as soon as possible, especially after we noticed some movement by one of the farm houses below. Before we had taken even ten steps toward the forest, a large blue truck burst out of the woods, beelining straight for us. Our instincts told us that the inevitable conversation would redefine our stay in West Virginia... for better or for worse.

We waved politely at the vehicle barrelling towards us, hoping for the best. The driver stopped. We stopped. As the window rolled down, the man inside bellowed, "You know this here is private property?" With smiles hiding our uneasiness, we did our best to explain our intentions (foolhardy though they may have been) and pointed at the peak we intended to summit, still embarrassed we were slightly uncertain it was even The Knob.

Mentioning we were Canadians did us well. The driver, along with his wife in the passenger seat, chuckled as we shrugged of his warnings of large snow drifts and mountain lions. We were put at ease as the conversation continued, and were happy to get positive confirmation of our peak. They were somewhat surprised that we didn't have a gun as we headed into the wild, but wished us luck regardless. As we prepared to set off once again, the driver introduced himself: "The name is Greg Bennett. Pleased to meet you guys." With that, the blue truck drove on and left us in its tracks.

Home is where you park it,
The Boys

Summer VS. Winter

There were a host of new things we learned about traveling in Lily due to the winter season that was upon us during our trip to West Virginia.

Our first lesson was learned within two minutes of driving on the QEW. As we got Lily up to her mighty cruising speed of 90km/h, I quickly noticed Arctic Force winds all up on my legs and feet. It was hard to tell exactly which rust hole or gap between the doghouse and the cab was providing us with the inconvenient air conditioning. I guess on the positive side of things, ones feet would go numb within a matter of minutes and consequently stop feeling the frostbite setting in.

The worst part was that upon coming home and telling Rudy (my father) about our little draft problem, he let me in on an old car manufacturers secret. Before AC was a widespread option, there were foot vents installed in vehicles that were operated by hand. Sure enough, when he showed me where the vent was, it was wide open.  Kids these day don’t know nothin’ it seems.

Other things that we needed to consider were the cold nights that would inevitably come our way. Hoards of blankets, sleeping bags and pillows were added to our inventory and a few space heaters to hook up to the generator were brought along as well. Lily isn’t exactly insulated, and she could use some of those energy efficient windows that retain heat in all the fancy new houses these days. Perhaps we can get in on that government grant that paid people to install them. Driving in the RV was naturally colder than driving in the summer, but you know what they say: A chilly environment is a productive environment. I don’t actually know if anyone says that.

After breakfast in Elkins, we drove to Circleville, West Virginia. This was the town from which we planned to hike.  When we climbed Mt. Fitzwilliam two summers ago, we were slightly unprepared for the snow that one encounters once you reach the top of a Rocky Mountain. This time however, we had a better grasp on what we were doing. We were better prepared for the winter weather and once we had loaded our backpacks it was time to hit the mountain.

With Lily parked on the side of sketchy Country Road 28, we set out to conquer the Spruce Knob with spirits high.

Elkins, West Virginia: The City of Dreams

During any travel day, I always catch myself thinking how neat it is that you can start a day with a delicious Porch SmoothieTM in a familiar place and by the evening you can be transported to what seems like a world away. We made the decision that the small town of Elkins, West Virginia, would be our home for the night. The question of where exactly "home" would be "parked" had yet to be answered. Over the past three years of Open Road trips, a general philosophy has been developed for when we arrive at a new location. First, make an effort to meet people (anybody and everybody), next have a good attitude, and lastly, don't say no to any opportunity, and VOILA! Things will happen.

So that's what we did. We cruised the streets of Elkins, looking for something... anything. The town was dead. However, as we rounded the bend after a few minutes and a gallon of fuels worth of searching, we decided to park in the lot across from the the first group of people we saw. Lily is our go-to conversation starter and five minutes later, after asking the folks if they knew of anyone in town that would be able to put us to good use, one man, Duke, offered each of us his card. At first we were confused, but then it happened. Duke Talbot, PHd ........Mayor. Three years after a dream for The Open Road Project, we crossed yet another thing off our TORP bucket list:

42. Meet the mayor of a small town.

Not only did he hook us up with a great parking lot to spend the night (City Hall), he pointed us in the direction of two local establishments where we would be able to meet and bless a few good folks. That night, before hunkering down in our extremely well insulated RV (sarcasm*), we indulged at a local hotspot, Gino's Pizza. Our server Krystal was wonderful, and we sure enjoyed those American prices!

The following morning, we visited the Hometown Cafe and worked a scheme with our very helpful and delightful server to to cover the meals of all the folks inside the restauraunt. The owner, Barbara, caught wind of or plan and soon came to hang out with us at our table. She share with us her love for random acts of kindness, shared some stories and passed along two bags full of baked goods, on the house! Our breakfast at the Hometown Cafe proved to be a great success. We then once again filled Lily up with gas at the local Sunoco and began the hour drive to Spruce Knob!

Home is where you park it,
The Boys

Porch Smoothies

Seven and a half hours into the New Year, Lily was packed up and pulling out of Jer's driveway in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and onto the Open Road. When we caught wind of a breakfast offer from some of our friends, Kayla and Karissa, we knew that our adventure would begin before we even left Niagara! We later found out that Jordan had essentially invited himself over, but the girls were surprisingly happy to be waking up at the crack of dawn to make us breakfast.

Jan 1, 8:00am: the one time of year when you can expect almost every human to be sleeping. Traditionally, blenders and sleep haven't jived well, so we enjoyed our first meal of the New Year outside, and accidentally invented the sure-to-catch-on "porch smoothie."

It seemed very fitting that we spent our first meal of the New Year outside (in the cold), and it was also nice that Kayla and Karissa joined us in solidarity.

Alive and Well

To Our Wonderful Mothers (and other readers of course)!

We are happy to let you know that we have made if off of the mountain in one piece. We have also found a little bit of internet, so we will fill you in as fast as we can write!

It's been a very eventful and exciting trip and we are looking forward to telling you all!

Love, The Boys

And We're Off!

Wow it's early.

That was not a lot of sleep.

... Let's drive.

The Boys

Spring Cleaning in December

Every trip requires a little bit of preparation. Due to the last minute nature of this adventure, the four of us have spent the past 3 days running around trying to make sure that we will be ready for our winter excursion. Purchases from Outdoors Oriented, rummaging through our basements for camping equipment and asking our Facebook networks for snowshoes has defined the past 72 hours. This time around, we have been kind to our snack budget, and have made some delectable dried treats, including dried apples, bananas and Torpedo Jerky (our new specialty).

Sorels. Good to -40 and then some.

Jamie working the dehydrator, like a champ.

Today, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Lily, giving her the final clean before we leave. It's always fun finding trinkets and souvenirs from our past travels, and today was no exception. Reading through our guest book is always a joy, and I even found the golden hood ornament that we failed to install in Quebec. Old parking/driving violations also turned up during the clean up, but quickly found a home in the garbage. I'm pretty sure one of us paid The New Jersey Turnpike Association...

While searching through this stuff was fun, there were also some things in the cupboards I would have rather not come across. All I will say is that The Open Road Project has truly tested the term "non-perishable" and has come out with a victory, whether we wanted it or not. There were things that should have been found a home in the garbage well before we even left for our last trip out east in May...

If there is one thing I know, it's that winter is different from summer. This fact naturally calls for different preparations. We now have a new new additions to the interior of Lily, including a nice runner to keep our feet off the cold ground, a welcoming floor mat for snowy shoes and boots and a cozy basket of slippers. My mother also put together some great shoe boxes filled with various items including some warm winter gear, granola bars and a few toiletries for us to give away to any cold friends we may meet along the way. It was crazy going through our closets and finding all of the old coats and sweaters we don't wear anymore. Got two coats? Give one away! It seems rather logical to me, so hopefully we find good opportunities to find this stuff a new home.

All of our regular traveling necessities including a spare battery, jumper cables, generator, Jerry-can gas reserve, extra oil and a jug of kerosene, are all neatly stowed away in their proper places. It feels good to be ready, and it feels good to be heading back on the road!

Warm feet: essential.

Lily's new, classy rug.

Selfies are running rampant these days. Someone must stop this. At least I found a neat hat.

I could hardly be more excited for tomorrow, especially since New Years Day tends to be one of the most boring of the year, in my opinion. Come 08:00, we will officially be in trip mode ready for whatever adventure lies ahead!

Home is where you park it,
The Boys

Post by Jeremy Enns

It's About Time!

Hello once again, faithful readers! It's about time we got back on the ol' blogosphere, and why not return with some exciting news?

Without further ado, we are honoured, delighted, excited, even behooved (imagine that!) to announce that The Open Road Project will be ringing in the New Year with our first ever winter excursion. We (Jamie, Dylan, Jordan and Jeremy) are heading out on a winter camping trip in West Virginia that is sure to be a chilling time. Along the way, we hope to share some meals with strangers, give out some warm clothes during this cold season and perhaps do some rogue driveway shoveling where we see the need.

We will depart during the wee morning hours of the 1st and drive for most of the day. Our exotic destination is called the mighty Spruce Knob. Not only is the name hilarious, but this dream destination holds a plethora of mountain milestones, and is one of the most prominent "peaks" east of the Mississippi River. Exciting stuff. You will  hear more about The Knob in the coming posts.

This evening, we took dear Lily down to the local Coffee Shoppe, Tim Hortons, caught up with each other and dreamt about the coming adventures. We are super stoked to get away for a few days, find our inner hunter/gatherer and relax before we head back to school and work.

Stay tuned; we will be updating the blog as we go.

Lily lookin' good as ever.

"It's great. It's us." - Dylan Hamm

Stay Tuned

There may, perhaps, possibly be news of new adventures soon...

Keep an ear to the ground.

NYC In Photos

All photos by Dylan Hamm.

 

Boston In Photos

All photos by Dylan Hamm! Check out his site, he's talented.

The Big Apple

The last stop on our trip this past May was to NYC. This is what happened.

After our lovely time in Boston, we started the drive to New York City.  We knew we would be arriving late (since we left after 10pm), but we were not expecting the challenges we experienced finding our way. One would think that the route between Boston and NYC would be would be smooth and simple, but our experience proved otherwise.

The roads heading into the city were atrocious, and it quickly became apparent that none of us were going to sleep along the way. We finally arrived in New Jersey, across from the city and slept in a church parking lot. We found the church through a travel directory called Mennonite Your Way. They are an organization that connects a large network of people throughout North America for home stays while travelling. The spot where we parked was less that 100 steps from a bus stop that took us into the city, so when we woke up in the morning we packed our satchels and made our way into The World's Most Exciting All Year Round Vacation Center (#98 in the list of 98 nicknames for NYC).

Since we only had one afternoon to rock The Bablyonian Bedlam (#5), we had a lot that we needed to get done. After a nice walk through Central Park, we decided that in order to see what we wanted to see, we would have to split up. In hindsight, dividing up in The Printing Capital of the World (#83) was likely not the best decision, especially because our Canadian phones don't love the extra service charges that America enjoys tossing our way.

Calvin and I hopped on the subway and headed south while Dylan and Jordan went off to the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art).

One of the highlights of The Cleanest Big City in the World (#35) was when we hung out with people who lived on the streets. We didn't leave until our packs were emptied of our extra clothes and we chatted with every homeless person we passed.

We ended off the day by attending a youth convention that was in town called the Misfit Conference. We once again experienced God's provision as an old friend of mine found a way to pay for all of our tickets so we could get in. The highlight for me was seeing ex-Underoath drummer, Aaron Gillepie, play a show. He is one of my favorite artists so it was sweet to get to see him rock.

We ended off our time in The City of Friendly People (#23) with a delicious trip to Chipotle.

With The Open Road Project East Coast winding to a close, we reminisced on all the awesome adventures we had and all the sweet people we had met.

Calvin looking sad and pensive now that our trip is coming to a close.

Overlooking the new WTC site from a 5 Star Hotel Balcony.

The new buildings.

Folks waiting for a tour.

More Than A Feeling

One of the main reasons we wanted to go through the States was to see the city of Boston. When Lily pulled into town, we drove around to get a feel for the city. Well, we drove around looking for a parking space, but due to Harvard convocation, the streets were packed. So instead we got to use a quarter tank of gas, in traffic, looking out the window. Although this sounds annoying, we love watching people check out Lily, and we're always happy to be in good company with each other.

What was incredibly surprising to us was the number of post-secondary learning institutions in Boston. As we looked at our map, nearly every block had a school.

We couldn't have picked a better day to check out Harvard since most building were open due to the graduation ceremonies.

We felt like the classy members of society that we are when we used the ritzy facilities and drank Harvard water, supposedly the best water in all the land. Naturally, security caught up with us and asked us what we were doing. Since campus tours weren't being offered, we were asked to leave the premises. We did have a nice time at Harvard though, ask one of us about it in person sometime.

This was when Jordan, Dylan and I remembered that we have some friends who go to school in Boston, and they would still be around since they are varsity rowers. We called up Ryan and Steve, and caught them just as they were about to go out to practice. What luck! They told us when practice would be over and where to meet them. After using some free Dunkin Doughnuts WIFI, we headed to their residence and waited.

It wasn't long before we were greeted by our friends. It was awesome to see them in the city they have called home for the past few years. We also met their rowing buddies, and we all looked puny in comparison to these dudes. Colossal human specimens these guys are. Since it was around dinner time, we all went to the cafeteria and had an experience none of us were prepared for.

Not only were we in America, but we were with varsity rowers. We were informed that the meal cards we were given allowed us to eat unlimited everything. We were shown what it means to eat.

We're talking: fine sandwiches, gourmet pizza, burgers, stir fry, chicken fingers, sushi, MILK!!!, juice, soda pop, CHOCOLATE MILK!!, waffles, ice cream, COFFEE!

This list is by no means complete, and we delighted in the largest smorgasbord we have ever experienced.  We were also super thankful for their generosity, as they had to scrounge some extra cards for us.

We had a bed to sleep in!

We had showers!

We even chopped Dylan's flow into a mullet!

Ryan has one of the best mullets man has ever seen, and it was magical seeing someone with a mullet give another person a mullet. These guys took good care of us.

The next day we woke up and did some touring of the town while the guys were at practice. We saw a free organ concert at an old church, checked out the market and hung out by the famous reflecting pool.

We did some more touring and catching up when Steve and Ry finished practice. We also ate some more meals at the caf. We definitely left the city weighing more. Boston is a great place and it was so nice to see these dudes. Both parties to got a little taste of home, something we all were happy to have.

As the trip was winding down, we decided that we still had time to hit NYC, so we began the last leg of the journey that night!

The You Ehs of Eh.

Once we left Peticodiac it was time to embrace the last leg of our jouney. We knew that this part of the adventure would likely contain the most uncertainty, namely due to the always entertaining border crossing.

Our drive through the last bit of Canada was smooth and we had a nice McDonalds meal with a hitchhiker we picked up. We were very confused by our first interactions with this man, but quickly realized that he was deaf. It was cool conversing by writing back and forth, and showing each other maps on our iPhone to find out where he wanted to go. He was an interesting guy to say the least, and we left him some money for a hearing-eye dog. Yes, that is an actual thing, he had pledge papers and everything.

When we arrived at the border, there were no other patrons, so we knew they were going to have fun with us. Lily is a serious hippy-mobile and, especially with me on board, we're a bunch of hippies.  They asked us if we had any drugs on board more times than I can count, and even told us they were bringing in the dogs. I was excited to see them snoop around in there, but as it turns out, we called their bluff and no pups came sniffing. After we each had an airport style body search and a lot more questioning, we were happily on our way into the land of Dunkin Doughnuts and cheap petrol.

As we ventured into the unknown, we were surprised by some of the poverty we passed through in the northeastern states. You could tell that a lot of the towns we passed through had been abandoned ever since the factories left, and it was sort of eerie.

Despite the odd aura, Lily was happy to be drinking American gas and we were just as happy to be drinking classic nasty American coffee shop Joe.

After it started to rain, we picked up a really cool dude who doing a bike trip to various historic sites in the area.  I'm glad we stopped because although usually bikers are riding for a reason, this guy was really grateful we stopped. He also had some awesome stories. Just that morning he had been visiting hermits out in the wilderness. It was awesome for us to hear about how these hermits lived, and I totally forgot that such people actually existed. He told us about their life styles and attitudes and some of their stories. He also hadn't eaten since he shared some cornmeal, water and salt with one of the hermits that morning. The way he was describing this meal was even nastier than it sounds in writing, and we weren't surprised when he told us he couldn't keep it down. This gave us the chance to share a meal with him which was awesome. While we were in the grocery store, the folks must have felt pity on us since they tossed us a free BBQ chicken which was perfect for sharing!

Our coolest memory of our time with this humble, simple fellow was when he took us to he secret fishing spot deep in the woods. Since the alewives were spawning, there was a spot where the current would swirl the fish around and you could catch the little guys with your bare hands. Sadly, when we got there, the fish had left for the day, but we still had a sweet hike and saw some neat wildlife along the way.

We said farewell to our new friend and kept on towards our next destination, Boston Massachusetts. 

National Parks

On our way out of Canada, we stopped at the Bay of Fundy National Park and Rocks National Park. What would an Open Road adventure be without taking some time to enjoy the great outdoors? We spent the night parked outside of the gates of Rocks National Park, and cooked a delicious meal in the moonlight. We may have snuck into the park after dark to get an up close look at the flower pot rocks, but we won't post photo evidence of such activities on this public blog.

It was a beautiful and relaxing time.

Ten Thousand Adventures

Before we hit the road a few weeks ago, Jordan had been proactive in sending emails to people out east who might need a hand. He was able to find a good hook up with the Ten Thousand Villages store in Peticodiac New Brunswick.

If you are unfamiliar with Ten Thousand Villages, they are an organization that specializes in selling fair trade goods made by disadvantaged artisans. The products they sell are made by over 120 different people groups in 38 countries worldwide. Their Wikipedia page has some great info if you wanna learn more about this win-win-win organization.

The location in Peticodiac is special because it is not just a retail store, but also the warehouse that sends goods to all east coast locations. When we arrived, we were shown around, and learned quickly that it was a seriously slick operation. Mostly “pop-up stores” are sent to cities on the east coast, so we saw how they set these up and even helped build and stain some wooden jewelry displays

The people that are in charge of operations are given an apartment above the store and the cabinets needed painting, so we got to it. The work was a little tedious since all handles had to be removed and each section needed to be sanded, but we were happy to do it so someone else wouldn't have to. We also took up an old tile floor that was going to be replaced.

The time we spent there there flew by, especially due to the breaks we spent slurping fair trade coffee and chatting with the one worker Sarah.

When we went to lunch at Subway down the street, we passed a house where a man was doing some yard work. On our way back, Dylan and I stopped to see if he needed a hand. Sadly, he was almost done and could have used our help an hour earlier, but, we did help him with the last of the leaves and had a great chat with him. Bob McGrath heats his house with firewood and taught us all about how to stack wood properly. We also chatted about lifes adventures and he now drives tour bus part time in his retirement. We got to meet his wife and daughter and ended up trading a jar of homemade jam for a bottle of homemade wine plus the most delicious cookies that have graced our taste buds in years.

So Peticodiac NB turned out to be one of those towns that you would never expect to be so neat. From here we were headed to Fundy National Park to witness some classic east coast beauty.

Hanging out with some dudes in a metal band we met.

The Arborist

While we were chatting at our Victoria Day bonfire, Dan’s dad asked us if we had plans for the morning. He was in luck, because well, we hardly ever have plans. He is an arborist and had a tree that was cut up and in need of relocation. Easy peasy.

We woke up early, enjoyed some delicious coffee from a percolator, and headed over to the job site. If you haven't had percolated coffee in a tin, stovetop percolator, you really need to percolate some up, as the percolating is pleasant for the palate.

Anyway, there is an old German saying, 'viele hande macht schnelle ende!' which translates (with less rhyme) to 'many hands make light work.' It’s also likely that you have heard this saying, but it’s fun to pretend like I’m sharing wisdom. We had the whole tree in the trailer in a matter of minutes, and we were rewarded with some made in Sackville ginger snaps. They were delicious and the box was gone rather quickly.

This was also a cool job, because the tree was on the property of a small museum, and we were given an exclusive early morning tour. There was a really neat old book collection and some great models of what the town used to look like. History is cool, I promise.

After we had looked around, we took the wood from the museum to a farm just outside of town. But this isn’t your ordinary farm, no sir, this is a very interesting new project that some passionate folks are starting. Although in its infancy, the goal is to have people who have varying degrees of autism live on the farm.  These folks will learn to cultivate the land and live in community together. It was a fascinating project for us to hear about and it was encouraging to see an idea that looks to integrate, rather than segregate. It was also nice that since we helped with the job, the farm wasn't charged any money! Win-win-win, love when that happens.

Once we finished stacking the wood, it was time to say goodbye to Sackville. What a great town! Big thanks to everyone who welcomed us with open arms! It was also nice that it was only about 10:00 and we had already had a productive morning filled with learning and labour. Usually at 10, we would be just starting the day…

Also, just as a side note, The Arborist would make a cool band name, so dibs.

Lobstie Candids

Jer, Dyl, Calv, Jord

Calvin sees a big one!

The Legendary Lobster.

On The Farm

Here are some pictures from our time at Nature's Route Farm. Click to enlarge!

The road we started to build.

Dan rocking the tractor.

Wide Stance.

Incoming!