We're hitting the road for three weeks...here's a preview!

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In about 12 hours, G and I will be taking off for a three-week-long road trip. We’re taking the van, and that, of course, has an update since yesterday’s post: the check engine light went off AGAIN—this time, while driving home from my mom’s after our weekly Sunday dinner tradition. G was at the dealership bright and early. The cause? the purge valve. It will need replacing, but it can wait until after the trip.

Later this week, G and I will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. These last 20 years have been an incredible journey—not without their ups and downs, of course—and we’re celebrating by testing our marriage with three weeks together. In the van. Driving. A lot. (Sidenote: G’s an introvert; I’m an extrovert. You can imagine what that’s like in the car).

The origins of this trip started last year, when I accompanied G to a conference in Prince Edward Island. While he worked, I played tourist—and absolutely fell in love with the island, its food (seriously, best lobster rolls ever—and mussels! and oysters!), and its people. On the long drive home, we talked about returning and spending time in the rest of the Maritimes…and so, here we are, ready to do just that.

The real origins of this trip, however, might actually date back to 2000, when we were celebrating our first anniversary. We had wanted to visit Nova Scotia, but we were young and the price of taking our car on the ferry on top of all of the other costs was prohibitive at the time. Instead, we settled in for a few days in the town from where we would have taken the ferry—Bar Harbor, Maine—Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park soon became one of our most special spots, a place we return to again and again to ground ourselves and feel at peace.

And so this trip will have us driving up the coast of Maine with stops in Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Monhegan Island, and Bar Harbor. From there, we’ll cross the border to New Brunswick, visiting Campobello Island, St. Andrews, and then Fundy National Park. We’ll drive across to Nova Scotia and make our way around the province—all the way around and up and around Cape Breton Island. We’ll then travel from Wood Island, NS, across the Northumberland Strait to revisit PEI. After a few days there, we’ll head back home.

Days 17-21: Cape Breton/Nova Scotia, Ferry to PEI, Maine, Home

In order to make it past 20, we won’t be staying in the van each night. In fact, we’ll only be staying in the van 5 of the 20 nights; the rest of the time, we’ve booked inns and hotels. Stay tuned for lobster rolls, lighthouses, van escapades, and everything in-between. We can’t wait to get started, and we hope you’ll follow along. Here’s to three weeks of road tripping…and here’s to 20 years!