The North and the South

Well its been a busy couple of weeks. As some of you know we took a big road trip to Nova Scotia at the beginning of July. Jane and I drove back and took the ferry from Portland Maine to Yarmouth with Isabelle and Maggie. The purpose of the trip was both business and pleasure for me. I had a week in the plant in Waterville and then we had a week at Milford House near Keji. We also put some time in at my parents place in Saulnierville. We did the usual visits and even saw my Uncle Gilles and Aunt Penny who were visiting from Saskatchewan. Of course we went to all the local Frenchy's. The drive up was long but nice. We saw lots of beautiful country and managed to squeeze in a little fun and shopping too. We did really well at an LL Bean outlet along the way. Some of the driving here is just wonderful. What the Americans call parkways are just that-a great way to see a park on your way somewhere. Here is one near New York. Jane will know exactly where it is. All I know is that it is just after the Tappan Zee Bridge. It had all these great old bridges across it. Our week at Milford was great. I'd never spent a week on real vacation before and it was nice to relax, canoe, swim, and eat. I think Maggie even enjoyed it. She even got her belly wet, although I had to carry her in for her to swim. Most days the water in the lake was just perfect. Cool and refreshing on the bottom and bathtub warm on the top. The cabin we had-Hollow-had a great dock with a nice walk into the lake. The bottom was clean and it was very secluded. Even the flies weren't too bad. Isabelle practiced her floats and bubbles and even managed to learn how to do the crawl. It was amazing to see how well she can swim. I haven't seen her swim on her own in a while because I couldn't go to her last swimming lessons at Acadia. She sure enjoys the water, although Maggie gets worried when everyone leaves her on shore! (You can see her in the background above.)

While at Milford we caught up with some friends we hadn't seen since last year at Milford. Isabelle had a great time but was really sad to see them go. Oh well, there's always next year.

Now one of the problems with Isabelle is that she hardly ever stays still long enough for a good picture. I don't know how we managed this on but it seems to be one of her better ones. I think I took it near the main lodge at Milford one morning.

Isabelle discovered the library while we were there. She really got into a few books. Here is another good picture of her.

Now, as for me, I left Milford late on Saturday night via Taryn-Thanks again ;-) and made a break for The Inn on the Lake. After four hours sleep I was up and to the airport for a 6 am flight. It was nice getting home by 10:00 but I don't think I'll be doing that again.

This week I managed to finish up the rest of my paperwork. It too wasn't easy. I had to wait until now because my visa, also known as my I-94 card, had been destroyed in the wash on a particularly bad day in my old apartment. Anyway, armed with a new card and all my paperwork I headed for the Taxation and Probate building here in Greenville. You see, here you pay taxes on your car every year like you do on your house. In my case it wasn't much but it had to be done so I could register the thing. (I've been driving on NS plates for almost two 45 days and that is the limit for out of state registration.)

Thankfully the process was easy and quick but what I hadn't counted on was locking the keys in the car! Even worse, the ignition was one so the air conditioner was chugging away! Luckily one of the programs I enrolled in here for our insurance had roadside assistance so I was on my way in about 45 minutes.

After that I went up to the DMV and got a new set of plates, tags (stickers for the plates) and a temporary drivers licence printed on yellow paper (go figure), valid until they mail me mine in four to six weeks. Thankfully that is it for now. The only thing left is for Jane to get her licence.

Now I just sit back, go to work everyday, do lots of yard work, and wait for Jane, Isabelle, Maggie, and Elizabeth to drive down next week. It sure will be nice to see them again.