Hellooo Vacation

Driving down the 102 from New Glasgow to Truro

So we finally left New Glasgow yesterday afternoon,  after a week of living in the culinary lap of luxury that is Eileen MacVicar.  I'm talking guacamole with goat cheese for breakfast, smoked salmon open-faced sandwiches for lunch, grilled Arctic char for dinner, and that was only Sunday!  I think her innate mothering instincts were kicking in on over-drive to fatten us up before the trip.  If this was the plan all along, thank you, Eileen, my belt may be tighter for it, but my spirits are up…and coated with butter.  Mmm.  

Sunset at Notre-Dame du Lac

So, like I was saying, we left New Glasgow, fashionably late, as usual, around 1pm on Saturday, officially beginning the road trip.  Woo!  And speaking of over-drive, we powered right on through to the quaintest of quaint towns in eastern Quebec, Notre-Dame du Lac, where we stopped to rest our heads for the night.  Let me set the picture: beautiful dark-water lake, steep, pine covered hills jutting right up out of that calm water, stone and log cabins tucked away behind the trees, only giving themselves away as the night set in and their lights turned on.  We set up camp in a family oriented campground right on the water, full of the quietest Quebecers I have ever met.  The quiet.  This is something that has to be discussed.  I think that I may have forgotten what sleeping in total silence is like in the last year.  Don't get me wrong, I love Cunard St.  I love it with all of my heart, but at midnight when the street cleaner comes thundering down Creighton, immediately after I have fallen asleep; or at 4am when some passersby decide that screaming and smashing glass is better than walking home quietly, I sometimes wanted to scream right back out the window, "Hey you!  Yah, you.  Where do you live?  Oh yah?  Perfect, you'll be hearing the woes of my day at 3am tomorrow night.  Good night and F*#@ you too!"  It never came to that, but it was close several times.  The quiet at du Lac was stunning.  It made me think twice before speaking and whisper even when I didn't have to.  Noise pollution is something that I rarely think about, but it 's at the forefront of my mind now.  I can't believe the noise that we can tolerate and even become completely accustomed to and eventually not notice in our daily lives.  I guess its necessary to set our minds at ease when we're surrounded by it day in and day out.  Well, if you're looking for peace and quiet - take a drive up the Trans Canada to Notre-Dame du Lac.

Even though we're powering through this leg of the trip (I have to be in Toronto on August 14th for my sister, Kim's bachelotette, stagette, jane, whatever party), Duncan and I managed to have a very leisurely morning.  I rolled out of the tent sometime just before 10am, splashed water on my face, got a good 45 minutes of yoga in and then went for a very refreshing (read: chilly) nage dans le lac.  There is no place for my usual rushy routine in the next few months; I'm permanently set on 'slow'.  After a hilariously greasy spoon breakfast in a tiny Lac diner, we powered on through again and have arrived at Mont-Tremblant for a long awaited reunion with Max, a sorely missed old roomie from Dal.  I'd hoped to give my liver a break after the hedonistic Jubilee weekend (let's just say that it was my first three and a half day bender in a number of years), but meeting up with Max does not bode well for that plan…c'est la vie.  Cheers to vacation!