Thirty down...22 to go...

What: #8 Set foot in a Canadian Province I’ve never been to 

Where: New Brunswick, followed by Nova Scotia
When: Aug 11-18
Why: Living so near to Ontario, that has been my most frequent experience of visiting Canada, and but for a family vacation to Quebec in high school, it is the only province I've spent any time in at all. So, I had to put to the test what I once heard someone say: Canada is like our attic, you get up there and you're like "wow, I didn't know all this was up here!"

I was already on a road trip through Maine, so heading into New Brunswick was an easy decision. We got there by car ferry via Campobello Island, and spent a few days driving around, seeing the not-so-bustling city of Saint John, the oddly empty beach resort town of Shediac, the dunes and soapery in Bouctouche, and the Kouchibouguac National Park. After that, we headed to Nova Scotia to Cape Breton Island, then Halifax and Lunenburg. We finished up coming back through N.B. to see the Hopewell Rocks and the Kingsbrae Gardens in St. Andrews, where we got to participate in a ladybug release. Yes, it was awesome.

Now, as it turns out, the Atlantic Provinces had fallen on drought-like times this summer, much as parts of the midwest. Until, much to our dismay, we arrived and so did the rain. It lent itself to many jokes we made at New Brunswick's expense, such as "Welcome to New Brunswick: Yes, it's the only way to get to Nova Scotia" or "Welcome to New Brunswick, where the sun never shines." Somehow, the scenery in Nova Scotia made the low clouds and drizzling rain seem more scenic and tolerable.

Overall, there were a ton of things I learned and loved about "The Maritimes." New Brunswick is very dominated by the Acadian/French culture, altho the biggest thing people come there to do is Magnetic Hill, which yes, actually did astound me! It also has seemingly no people, as in there were about 20 of us at the movies on a Saturday night. And Nova Scotia, they have great music, lots of rocky cliffs and rolling terrain and fragrant forests and cute seaside towns. Both of them have areas on the Bay of Fundy that will blow your mind (amazing fossils, 40 foot tides, etc.).

Enjoy a few of the photos of this trip!

Twenty-nine down...23 to go...

What: #77 Use a totally cliché pick-up line

Where: Smuggler's Den Campground
When: August 9
Why: Throughout my life, I've always had a bit of a bold streak, and it lends itself to lots of amusing anecdotes that friends will torture me with into my golden years. One of the ways my boldness manifests itself most often is in the presence of handsome strangers. So, this one seemed easy enough, but somehow premeditated boldness was not as easy as when it just randomly strikes. Thus, it took a large chunk of the year to finally tackle this list item. Alas, the moment finally arose when I decided to try a totally cliché pick-up line.

It happened at our campground; there was a new arrival at the site across from us and he seemed very well-equipped...in terms of camping gear, of course. He had his laptop, a lantern, a great tent, a bottle of wine, a nice chair, lots of fun accessories, but seemed devoid of a camping partner. So, eventually I couldn't take the curiosity any longer and just wandered into his site, sat down next to him around his campfire, and asked "So, are you here alone?" Ok, maybe not super smooth, but definitely cheesy and lame, and I guess that's what I was going for in this case. He and I struck up a conversation (he WAS there alone, thankfully). He was a photographer on assignment to get a few early morning shots of the fog rolling in around Acadia, and there was no shortage of that the days we were there. He shared some of his images, we chatted for awhile, but then it was time for me to make s'mores back at my own campsite, and sometimes, that takes priority. I did invite him to join us, he did decline, and that is the end of our story.

Twenty-eight down...24 to go...

What: #7 Hike in a National Park I’ve never been to

Where: Acadia National Park, Maine
When: August 8-10
Why: Growing up, I was fortunate to be exposed to the joys of being outdoors, traveling with my family to many national parks across the country, and I often recall vivid memories from many of those amazing road trips. With so many of my travels being international lately, I had felt I was missing out on a few of the awesome things we have in this country. After another amazing trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (which didn't count for this because I've been there countless times), I knew I was hooked and ready to get back to the parks. For me, Acadia has stood out as this really timeless place, and I wanted to experience it for myself, and as I had a road trip planned out that way, it fit easily into the itinerary.

For me, the best things to do in Acadia were biking the carriage roads, hiking on a few great trails, and getting up close in the tide pools. Or, as our ranger guide said one day, "be wanderers and wonder-ers." So, we took that to heart.

The carriage roads (imagined and constructed by Rockefeller along with the hand-built stone bridges) were a treat, hard enough to feel like you earned the views, but not so hard that it was altogether miserable.

And the hikes, up the Beehive, along the Ocean Trail, around the summit of Cadillac Mountain, and to the top of Flying Mountain...each was amazing in its own way. 

And finally those tide pools, it really was impressive how much life you find in them. I could have spent hours, days, seeing and doing more in the park, but the adventures I did have already are some of my new favorite memories.

Twenty-seven down...25 to go...

What: # 94 Offer to help clean/paint at a friend’s house

Where: Transit Street, Providence RI
When: August 6th

The cluttered backseat of our car 
on a recent road trip!

Why: My college roommate and I shared a room together for four years, and in that time, we both recognized our mutual love of random clutter. It always was an object that held special meaning or was an article or item behind an inside joke, so it was hard to get rid of pieces of this clutter over the years because it is like losing the memory it evokes. The emotional attachment is a very powerful force. So, when tasked with helping her to clean her current apartment after the departure of her roommate, I went in with emotional blinders and just tried to surgically detach her from a lot of her stuff. This was not the right approach, but when I realized I could help by providing my assistance with simply reorganizing shelves, boxes, items into groupings, and a system of maintaining that organization, it was a much more successful venture. There is so much value in keeping healthy memories alive, the ones that make you smile, laugh, and that bring a positive wave of emotion. And thankfully, she is good at keeping a lot of those memories alive to document the years of our friendship and the crazy moments along the way!

Twenty-six down...26 to go...

What: #35 Memorize a poem/sonnet
Where: Oakwood Cemetery
When: July 31
Why: When I was in high school, I had to memorize the famous soliloquy from Romeo & Juliet for my honors English class and I remember working at it over and over, and then my nerves caused me to stumble when I went to recite it to the class, and that one glitch threw me off so much that I lost the whole thing.

From my trip to Verona

After that, I realized there are ways to better memorize a chunk of information, but in terms of memorizing words only, that was always hard for me. I'm a master at memorizing words to music; give me almost any song and I can memorize the lyrics within 3-4 replays of the whole song. And the same goes for my skills at memorizing movements to sound; this was mostly only useful when I was taking dance lessons or in marching band, but I loved the ability to associate each step with a count or a beat or a piece of the music. But aside from a funny or motivational quote here or there, I hadn't given memorizing only words a try in quite some time. So, I wanted to expand my brain power and give it a shot. I hadn't really set aside time to do this until Tuesday. I was trying to fill about an hour of time on my drive up north, and had taken a detour to Fenton where my grandparents are buried to pay my respects. Upon arriving, I received a phone call from someone who is great about encouraging me to keep going on my list, and it was suggested that I could use this time to knock off another item, and this is the one that was suggested. I had a certain sonnet in my head from the poet Pablo Neruda, who earned the Nobel Prize for Literature shortly before his death at age 69. I really connected with this particular sonnet - Sonnet XVII - upon reading it a few months ago, especially the elements of the phrasing and the imagery it conveys. It is translated from Spanish, from the collection Cien sonetos de amor (1959), so that made it a bit tricky to memorize because there are many variations on the translation into English. I chose my favorite translation, and decided to look it up on my phone to spend the next hour reciting line by line, over and over, repeating each phrase, then adding another, then putting it together before adding the next verse. So there I am, sitting on my grandmother's headstone, talking to myself in the middle of the morning...I'm certain I looked like I was having an in-depth chat with her spirit, but I'm happy that she is a part of this memory. And, even days later, I can still recite it, so hopefully it's stuck in my mind for a long time.