Let the Adventure Begin!

Son in law Justin drove us to Halifax airport yesterday morning. It was just easier for daughter Lindsey to stay behind with the young ones. Made it to Halifax airport with lots of time to spare for our 12:39pm departure to Newark, New Jersey.

We checked in and got our boarding passes. Figured we may as well go through security and wait in the boarding area. Oddly, U.S. customs has a pre screening area in Halifax airport. This means that you actually go through U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Halifax, once you cleared security. That way you don't have to do it in Newark.

But this was a strange experience...

October Expenses

Well, I figured that October was going to be difficult to budget for. We came within $200 of our budgeted $1,400 worth of expenses. Too bad it was $200 on the high side of things!

Fuel and entertainment were quite a bit higher than expected, but groceries were lower. Miscellaneous came in on the high side too. Here's how it all broke down...

We scored Letterman tickets!

And so we better tell you how we did it in case you want to get tickets on your next visit to New York City!

We'll be going to the show on Tuesday November 5th. They don't make it easy to get tickets, and there's a bit of luck involved but we're proof that things can come together if the stars line up the right way. And hopefully we'll be seeing a star or two...we don't know what the guest lineup is for that night's show yet!

Nova Scotia's Lighthouse Route

The little motel we stayed at had breakfast included, so we didn't actually vacate the room until almost 9:30am. We still had to explore the town of Shelburne, and it turns out that it's a pretty little town to wander around.

If you've never been to Nova Scotia...

You really need to go.

There are so many little harbors and coves and beaches to explore. We're doing the Yarmouth and the South Shore route in only 3 days with a rental car, but if we had the motorhome with us we could easily spend two weeks exploring this area.

Wolfville to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

Ruth drove me down in Lindsey's car to pick up our car rental yesterday morning at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. We were handed the keys to a nice little 2013 Nissan Versa with only 11,000 kms (6,800 miles) on the ticker.

Shhh. The little blue car doesn't know we're cheating on him!

Road Trip!

As our regular readers know, we love a road trip.

So we've decided to rent a car for a couple of days and go on one! We've visited beautiful Nova Scotia several times, but there is one part of the province that we've never been to.

Gaspereau Valley wine

It is only recently that Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley area has become a popular winery region. The smaller Gaspereau Valley next door has also taken off as a prime location for growing grapes.

There are now eleven producing wineries in the Annapolis Valley and three more in Gaspereau. One of them, Luckett Vineyards, is on the opposite side of the valley from our daughter Lindsey's house. Yesterday, Ruth and I took a walk across the valley and up the hill on the other side.

Our Health and Health Care

We don't talk very much about our health or health care. That's because this blog is about our travels, it's not about politics or religion or current events. And health care (especially in the U.S.) is a very political topic. We definitely have our opinions about all of these things, but we've learned that people in general are very polarized when it comes to these topics and some people aren't able to grasp that if we disagree on something we can still be friends!

But our health and health care is related to our travels in some ways.

Kevin, ready for the War of 1812!

The acquisition of Canada this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching, and will give us experience for the attack of Halifax the next, and the final expulsion of England from the American continent. Thomas Jefferson, Aug 4, 1812.

Apparently not.

The Traveler IQ Challenge

Came across a fun game yesterday that will test your geography and travel knowledge.

A screen showing a map appears. Different place names and famous attractions come up near the top of the screen and you have to place your cursor and click where on the map you think that place is. You are scored based on how close to the actual location that you clicked. But there is a time factor as well and you get bonus points if you click fast!

Planning for New York City

A week and a half from now, we arrive in New York City. The Big Apple! And so we're doing some planning. We're going to be there for four nights. We arrive November 2nd at Newark Airport in New Jersey and we depart November 6th from JFK Airport in Queens.

We were in New York City in October of 2000. Eleven months before the twin towers came down.

Great views at Blomidon Provincial Park

We dropped Cameron off at daycare yesterday morning, and then went for a hike at Blomidon Provincial Park. (GPS 45.25702, -64.351691). The park is closed for the season, but you can still leave your car at the lower day use area and go for a walk on the beach or the trails. We chose the trails, as we were due for some exercise and the trails are steep in places.

Noggins Farm Corn Maze. Amazing!

We had never been to a corn maze before this, and we're glad we chose one of the best around as our first attempt. We didn't realize that it's actually an educational game...you have to find various information stands in the maze and fill out a form to find hidden words.

Lots of fun for young and old. Besides the corn maze, there's also a special haunted house feature done by the local Red Cross as well as a rope maze, duck races, washer toss game, puzzle mazes, and the barnyard adventure area.

Fossil Hunting at Blue Beach, Nova Scotia

Yesterday, we went for a walk at Blue Beach, Nova Scotia. The rocks on this beach have produced some of the oldest fossils found in the world, dating back 350 million years ago!

Blue Beach is located on the northern shore of Nova Scotia, in between the towns of Windsor and Wolfville. It's also situated on part of the Bay of Fundy where the highest tides in the world take place.