Where does the time go? Part 2

So this is the last day of January and I am determined to keep my goal of writing once a month.  So this might be quick, but here it is.  The last several months will actually be pretty easy to catch up on because I have been doing a lot of one thing:  work.  There were a few other fun things though, so I'll focus on those.

August

Tara and I fulfilled our childhood dream of driving up the Eastern coast to Prince Edward Island (PEI).  If you're asking yourself why we would go there, you probably also don't recognize the quote I have at the top of my blog.  PEI, home to the one and only Anne Shirley, one of my favorite fictional characters ever written.  L.M. Montgomery placed the majority of her stories on this island and for good reason.  It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  The trip was full of family, good food, and beautiful scenery.  Just what I needed before I started the craziest 4 months of my life.

Ben & Jerry's was a must see with some of our favorite cousins, the Ryan and Amber Jensen family (they may look familiar to you from recent Romney campaign ads).

Yes they have a Flavor Graveyard.  There were some in there I wish they would bring back. 

The sample flavor of the day was "Late Night Snack" created by Jimmy Falon.  It has chocolate covered potato chips and was surprisingly delicious. 

We stopped by the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith on our way back to New Hampshire.  It was raining and very beautiful.

We had a yummy birthday dinner for Amber before we hit the road.  I just love everyone of these faces!

One of my favorite parts was all the lighthouses we got to see.  This one was close to Kennebunkeport, ME where we stayed with some of Tara's friends.  This stop was mostly about food.  We had lobster the first night there then we went up to Portland for the day and had amazing fish tacos and fruit buckles.

There was this random place close to where we were staying that looked kind of like an organized junk yard.  We stopped by to see and it turns out the man who owns it is a collector (hoarder?) of items and old buildings.  So he has had a bunch of old buildings moved to his property.  I loved this old gas station.

He let us see inside this place and I couldn't believe the amount of stuff he had inside this building.  

This is the wedding cake house.  The story goes that a desperate man built it for his love in hopes that she would be his bride.  I don't know how it ended, but I probably would have gone for it.  Look at all that detail!

You probably didn't know that the larget LL Bean store is in Maine as well.  We had to stop in just to say that we did.  And of course take a photo by this very large boot.

Next stop, Bar Harbor in Acadia National Park.  If you are ever in Maine, don't miss this place.  It was raining and cold but still so lovely.  The photos don't do it justice.  We only had a few hours there and I wish we would have planned for more.  There is actually a point called Cadillac Mountain that is one of the first places you can see the sunrise in the US.  It's one of the top recommended activities, we of course didn't have time to do it.  Guess I'll just have to go back.

Don't judge my large, orange shoes.  Somehow I overlooked packing tennis shoes so I bought those sweet ones at a thrift store in Portland. I love me some thrift stores.

Beautiful.

And we finally made it to magical PEI by crossing the Confederation Bridge, one of the longest in the world. This is the home that inspired Green Gables.  It belonged to L.M. Montgomery's aunt and uncle.

Dressing up like Anne and wearing an "I heart Gilbert" shirt just seemed like the right thing to do.  Probably one of my favorite souvenirs EVER!

Part of Lover's Lane.  Everything was so green and beautiful.  I'm not a writer and don't have any flowery thoughts, but if I were, I can only imagine how this place would inspire me.  It is just as lovely as she describes in her books.

The original covers to the Anne books.  I wish I owned these.

Yes there is a haunted wood.  It is the woods between L.M. Montgomery's home and her aunt and uncle's.  I'm sure she really did have some terrifying walks through there as a child.

She is buried very close to where she grew up.

The view from the cafe where we lunched.  

Not a very good view from our incredible bike ride along the coast.

Better view, especially the lighthouse.

The "White Sands" hotel.  Not quite the same as they show in the movie, but still fun to see.

I love the contrast of the red dirt and the ocean.  I have an affinity for red dirt, being from Southern Utah and all.  But we didn't have any oceans down there.  

The front desk clerk at the B&B where we stayed in Charlottetown recommended we go see some local talent and it was wonderful.  I felt like a local and I went and met her after because I enjoyed her music so much.  I just can't remember her name right now...

This is what the entire city of Charlottetown looks like.  Beautiful flowers everywhere you looked.  Charming window boxes and such nice people.  If it didn't get so cold there during the winter, I might consider moving to PEI.  

Our charming B&B.

And the red, sandy beach we stopped at on our way out of town.  I was getting creative with the camera and wishing that Ani and Christina would have been there to participate because Tara was not that excited about it.

Just me trying to be artistic. 

The entire trip was wonderful and I highly recommend it to everyone.  And that all took a lot longer than I was planning and I was supposed to be in bed an hour ago, so it looks like there is going to be a part 3 to the update.