Vacation

It seems like I haven't blogged in forever... Now that I'm back, I figured I'd spend a post on more personal matters, for a change.

I was on vacation for a couple of weeks - most of it spent in the Fredericton area, mind you, but I just tried to lay around and relax with Erin (when she wasn't working). I needed the break, I'll tell you - I have this way of biting off way more than I should, and I can wear myself out if I'm not careful (as my darling wife keeps telling me...)

But we did get out of our usual stomping grounds for a couple of days. Erin and I went camping at Parlee Beach Provincial Park, near Shediac (on the coast of the Northumberland Strait, in southeastern New Brunswick). It was great - we camped in the middle of the week, and so the campground was almost empty and we got a great spot.

The beach itself was fantastic. We had perfectly clear blue skies and temperatures near 30 degrees (that's in the 90 range for any American readers). We lay out on the beach and read books, and swam. Erin got burned all over her back and shoulders, though. But we loved it. The water was fantastic - Parlee Beach is supposed to have the warmest water north of the Carolinas, or so I was told by a local (there must be an element of truth to it, if ocean water off Canadian coastlines is enjoyable in September!)

Two minor mishaps made the trip interesting, though. The campground had showers, much to Erin's joy (I don't know why girls don't seem to fully accept the "get out of civilization and into nature" idea behind camping, but I digress) but her joy soon turned to horror as we took our first showers. The stalls were individual and opened to the outdoors (you can lock the doors) and are not ventilated. So the campground staff have to keep them open between showers, so that they stay safe and free of mold and mildew. Well, that meant (of course) that these stalls develop their own communities of insects and spiders. I remember waiting outside Erin's stall for her to finish her shower (having swatted several moths and flies out of the place before she went in) and suddenly hearing a scream, followed by a plaintive wail:

"Jeeeefffffff!!!!!!!"

She emerged in short order, almost in tears and shaking. I went in to look, and discovered two craneflies - totally harmless, of course, but scary to look at. For those who aren't familiar, craneflies look like gigantic, six long-legged spiders with wings. These two, perched on the walls, had a leg-span of about four inches. They had flown out of nowhere and buzzed her in the shower. Erin didn't fully buy my assurances that they were harmless...

We eventually moved to a Holiday Inn in Moncton, however, because both of our backs were bothering us (we've both managed to wreck them working our respective jobs - I've developed a disturbing ibuprofen habit, and that at just 25!) and our air mattress had sprung a leak. I took Erin to Old Navy to make up for the cranefly incident - guys, that's the BEST way to make a girl feel better. No substitute. We felt sad coming home - we had a great time.

That's all for now, I guess. Back to regularly scheduled programming tomorrow, God willing.