Solo Camping Trip

Lunch at Spitfire Pub

For this summer, I decided that I wanted to go on some camping trips and the first one was last month. The only times I have been camping before was in junior high during a school trip and 2018 when my mom and I went to Cape Breton. People say that when you get a new RV or want to go camping, you should do at least one trip that is close to your home to familiarize yourself with your setup, etc and that is what I did. 

I live in Dartmouth but had no idea we had a KOA in Nova Scotia which is in Lower Sackville so this is where I decided to make my first solo camping trip be. There really isn't much to do as a tourist in Sackville so I did a few things in Windsor but the whole weekend did not go as planned. Windsor claims to be the birthplace of hockey and it is also host to one of three ski hills in the province. Across from Martock ski hill is a business called OnTree Adventure Park where you can do rope courses and zip-lines. So my first stop was here where it was quite hot actually around noon, it was really only about 25 celsius but very sunny. It was a bit expensive; adult fee and price of gloves came out to be about $61. I went through the training course and was fine, then moved to one of the actual courses with an easy rating and this is where I ran into problems. I am scared of heights but wanted to try to get over my fear, however that didn't happen as I got up the ladder, did three planks then had to turn around because my legs were shaking so much. 

Fort Edward Historic Site

So I decided to leave and go out for lunch at the Spitfire Pub in town. After I finished eating, I walked around then visited Fort Edward historic site which was unfortunately not open officially so there were no information plaques out yet. One thing that was suggested to me to do was go see Ettinger Falls. I got to what I think was the correct entrance but it was a dirt road with lots of rocks so I did not feel comfortable driving my car further then I got out to walk but hit a wide river which I could not walk across. By this time, it was about 4:30pm and I didn't want to check in yet so I hung out at the park near Mount Uniacke Estate Park and read my book. 

I checked in to the KOA, got set up and had my supper while watching the sun go down. I decided to sleep in the back of my car which this time was a bad idea, I only slept about two hours the whole night because I was uncomfortable. I'm going to try a few other things the next time I go out. Because I was up early, I checked out of the campground around 8am. 

Sunset from my campsite

I got home and had a nap then my mom and I went to the waterfront for the Taste Asia Food Festival for the afternoon. I was thinking we would go down for supper but I am glad we decided to do lunch as we had a lot of food we ended up wanting to try. We weren't sure if we were going to go but I after my nap, I felt good enough to go. My mom got some tofu kebab that came with bbq corn on the cob and I got a pasta dish which I could not eat because it was too spicy but I did enjoy the corn. Then we got lamb kebabs and dumplings which were delicious. After we ate we walked along the waterfront and saw some of the new restaurants and shops on the boardwalk. Then we went back for more Asian food; she got a Chinese burger (again to spicy for me) and I got another order of lamb kebabs and dumplings - both from Mr. Yan's Chinese BBQ. 

Lamb kebabs and dumplings

This was a bit of a negative post but I wanted to share my experience anyways and let you know what you can do in Windsor if you go at the right time. My suggestions for the area are OnTree (if you are not afraid of heights), the Birthplace of Hockey Museum, Fort Edward, Ettinger Falls, the previously mentioned Mount Uniacke Estate Park where you can go learn history and walk on a trail and see the tide change on the dykes. Of course if you are coming from away, the Halifax West KOA is a great place to park with a rig then take your vehicle to downtown Halifax, Dartmouth and Peggy's Cove. 

Make it a Summer to Remember

I say this all the time but boy, I cannot believe how fast time is going. It always seems slow at the time, especially when you are excited for something that is months away, but then five months of a new year have gone by. Anyways, since it is now June I thought I would share my summer fun list with you all, along with some ideas that are more general for family activities. I'll also share how I did on completing the activities on my spring list. 

Little Meander Falls from 2020

Summer 2023 (Jun 1-Aug 31)
-Improve my photography skills
-See the noon cannon go off
-Have a yard sale
-Visit Kejimkujik National Park
-Girls night with my bestie
-Boat to George's Island
-Touch a waterfall
-Celebrate my 30th birthday
-Walk in 3 5k's
-Explore a new town in Nova Scotia
-Hike five new trails
-Sleep under the stars
-Ice cream with cousins
-Ride in a limousine
-Meet Marc & Trish from Keep Your Daydream
-Attend Touchdown Atlantic
-Go on four camping trips
-Check out the potato museum
-Walk on the ocean floor at Hopewell Rocks
-See a bear or moose

Here are some general ideas for you to add to your list. Summer is a great time to get outside and be a tourist in your own town or province/state. I am a big advocate of exploring your own back yard especially with all the craziness happening the last few years. 

Go stargazing, have a picnic, make homemade popsicles, visit a national park, read a book, bonfire and s'mores, go to a baseball game, have a beach day, watch fireworks, eat ice cream, go swimming, do a lemonade stand, volunteer somewhere for the day, visit a fair/carnival or waterpark, build a sand castle, outdoor movie night and go on a vacation to another state/province/country 

Maud Lewis house at AGNS

Below is my updated spring fun list. I only did one blog about my explorations but I plan on doing another one soon. 

Spring 2023 (Mar 1-May 31)
✔ Check out the Maud Lewis exhibit at AGNS - this is a permanent exhibit at the art gallery but there was also a travelling one that showed more of her paintings visiting back in April so my mom and I went
Go bird watching
Watch the sun rise and set in the same day
✔ Participate in the Bluenose Marathon 5km
Read a new book
Spring clean my apartment
✔ Visit OnTree Adventure Park
Eat at 3 restaurants you never have before
Learn a new recipe
✔ Cheer on the Mooseheads in the playoffs - we got to cheer the team on all the way to the league finals where unfortunately they lost to Quebec 4 games to 2 in the championship series. it was an exciting post-season 

Playoff victory

Update my wardrobe
✔ Go on a solo camping trip
Walk under the cheery blossoms
✔ Partake in burger bash 2023 - I was really trying to make it to more restaurants this year but things didn't work out so I only ate two speciality burgers but they were both delicious. check out my instagram to see which ones I had 
Self-guided art tour
Figure out hockey memorabilia display
✔ Take/share more outdoor photos
Complete two Conqueror challenges
Visit a new waterfall in the province

Busy Victoria Day Weekend

Well it's been a couple of months since I have written a blog post, the spring went by really fast and I've been trying to decompress. 

I love long weekends and though it really wasn't for me this time as I'm unemployed again, my mom did have Victoria Day off so we had a bit of a busy weekend. Our plans changed just a tad when the Halifax Mooseheads forced a game six in their championship series. 

On Saturday morning, I had my first 5km race of 2023 where I walked in the Bluenose Marathon. The 'adventure' began with the race kit pick-up which was held at the Zatzman Sportsplex in Dartmouth on May 19. There was two days for kit pick-up but most of the participants seemed to have showed up to the Friday time. I ended up having to wait for about an hour and 40 minutes in line before I got my kit (which tend to be a waste on me) and bib number. I looked around the expo for a few minutes then left. The actual race was good. It was cool when I arrived at the Emera Oval where the start was but once we actually began the race, the lower temperature was very comfortable. I hadn't done much walking in the weeks leading up to the day so I was slower than I probably would've been but my chip time was still a respectable 1:03:20 so happy with that. My mom was at the finish line and cheered me on, then I got some post-race snacks and took some pictures of me with my new medal. I wasn't ready to go home yet so we went out for breakfast at iHop than drove to and around Bedford for a little while. 

We were going to go to my grandfather's on Sunday but because the Mooseheads ended up having to play a game in the afternoon, I went to that instead with my cousin. The home team didn't win so that finished the 2022-23 season for Halifax but it was still a good game and I was happy to spend time with my cousin.

The next day was full as well. I picked my mom up early in the morning so we could drive to the Bay of Fundy region for low tide. Our first stop was at Burntcoat Head Park where you can walk on the ocean floor if you arrive at the right time. It was windy and cold plus my mom ended up walking along the main cliff so we ended up leaving after about an hour. Even though this was the second time we had gone during low tide, it shocked me yet again that you can even do it and to see how high the water really does go. The flower pot island is neat to see with its different colours and little caves. We than drove to the Walton Lighthouse which we've also been to before but I didn't take pictures with my digital camera last time. There is a short trail here as well that allows you to get a couple of different angles of the Minas Basin. You can also go up to the top of the lighthouse but I will warn you, it's a tight squeeze. 

Afterwards, we continued on to the little community of Cheverie. The only reason we visited this community was because my mom had found an article about an attraction that is there. Some Dalhousie architectural students made a structure called a Camera Obscura back in 2012 and placed it in Cheverie off Highway 215. It was really cool! One of the domes has a door which blocks the outside light and you step inside here. On top is the camera obscure which projects a real-time image of the coastline outside on the concrete floor you are standing on. Check out my Instagram story (@adventuresofansgirl) for a video that I took while in the structure. There's also a trail that goes around/across the salt marsh and picnic tables too. We were able to eat a late lunch here before we headed home. 

image is upside down & reversed

Spring fun list
- Participate in the Bluenose Marathon 5km ✓
- Cheer on the Mooseheads in the playoffs ✓
- Walk on a new to me trail ✓

A Year of Seasonal Lists

While I have been able to complete about half of the things on my seasonal lists, I haven't felt most of them deserve its own post and because I am weird, I don't like having similar things right after the other, I haven't shared what I have done on my seasonal lists the past year. So below you will find what I was able to check off on them. Some things will have been on previous lists because I don't always get to the activity or I like to do the same activities every year during that particular season.

Spring 2022 (Mar. 15-Jun. 12)
Read a new book
Have ice cream with cousins
✔ Wake up early for a sunrise
Search for murals in your city
✔ Eat strawberry shortcake - my cousin made a really good strawberry shortcake for dessert after our Easter dinner
Try two new recipes
✔ Check out a new beach - visited crystal crescent on the first hot day of the year for a couple of hours, did a bit of reading and people watching 
Visit the immigration museum 
✔ Play glow in the dark mini-golf - this can be done at Putting Edge in Bayers Lake
Do zip-lining and a ropes course
✔ Hike on the Kentville trails
Yard sale day
✔ Learn about the Titanic - Maritime Museum of the Atlantic has a permanent exhibit on the Titanic and its relation to Halifax 
Spring cleaning
✔ Road trip with my grandmother - I took my grandmother on a weekend road trip to the south shore as she hadn't been in a long time
Eat at 3 new restaurants
✔ Photograph the cherry blossoms - you can see the cherry blossoms on Park Ave in Dartmouth during the month of May
Complete two Conqueror challenges
✔ Grill outside 
Have a no screen time day

I had started a new job in April and was working weird hours so it became difficult to make any plans meaning I didn't do as much in the summer as I was planning. The only thing I did really was my birthday trip which you can read about here. 

Summer 2022 (Jun. 13-Sep. 7)
Visit a new to me bakery
✔ Have a wiener roast - we had a big family wiener roast to celebrate my grandfather's birthday
Eat from a food truck
No screen day
Search for murals in your city
Take a photography class
✔ Road trip for my birthday
Go on a picnic
Play board games I did as a child
Hike a new trail
Do a random act of kindness
✔ Walk on a red beach - my cousin and I visited Argyle Shore provincial park on PEI
OnTree Fun & Adventure Park
Visit the immigration museum
Touch a waterfall
Read a new book
✔ Check out a national park
Go to Georges Island
Have a yard sale
Put together a summer photo album

Fall 2022 (Sep. 8-Dec. 3)
✔ Visit a pumpkin patch - decided to go somewhere else (Riverbreeze Farm) and I took my little cousins for the afternoon
Drink hot chocolate from a local cafe
✔ Participate in Maritime Race Weekend
Take photos of fall foliage
Go on a scenic drive 
✔ Have a Hallowe'en movie night
✔ Cheer on an original six NHL team - I saw the Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks on a Saturday night which was pretty cool, especially since both teams wore their new Reverse Retro jerseys
Eat from a food truck
✔ Navigate a corn maze
Look at vintage cars
✔ Visit my best friend
Burn a fall scented candle
✔ Decorate for fall
✔ Spend Thanksgiving with family - so nice to have so much family at my grandfather's for the weekend, there was 12 of us I believe
Make a pot of chilli 
✔ Walk in the Valley Harvest Marathon
Explore the immigration museum
✔ Check out the bean
✔ Take the kids to the zoo - we went to Magnetic Hill zoo in Moncton for the afternoon
Go for a hike in another city

I never posted my winter list which was originally going to be winter and spring together but I ended up wanting and doing more during the cold months. So I decided to split up the seasons again. Hard to believe we are done another year, hoping 2023 will be a better one.

Winter 2022 (Dec. 3-Feb. 28)
Put up holiday decorations
Do a jigsaw puzzle
✔ Visit the immigration museum - hadn't been to Pier 21 for a number of years 
✔ Try a new restaurant
Have a family game night
✔ Eat from a food truck - got some mini donuts from Ol' School Donuts, they were really good and not just sugar
✔ Walk around the north end
Go bowling
✔ Look at Christmas lights - my mom and I drove around the city to look at how people lit up their houses
✔ Sip hot chocolate from a local cafe - got hot chocolate from Rousseau Chocolatier, I didn't really like it but only because I don't like dark chocolate
Pay for a strangers meal at a restaurant
✔ Watch a live world juniors game
✔ Check out the ice festival 
Do a winter hike in the woods
✔ Make your goals for 2023
Take my friend's kids out for the afternoon
✔ Eat at 3 Dine Around restaurants
✔ Have a Christmas movie marathon 
Ring in the new year at grand parade
Finish Conquering 1,011km - I did get the Conquer 2022 medal but I had to lower my goal to 975km

February is for foodies: Dine Around 2023

Every year in the month of February, the city hosts an event called Dine Around Halifax where participating restaurants have special menus that cost either $10, $20, $30, $40 or $50. The event is a also a fundraiser for Feed Nova Scotia and in 2023, over 100 restaurants across the city took part. There weren't many places that had menus I liked this year which kind of sucked, but I still enjoyed the ones I went to. 

On February 12, my mom and I went out for the afternoon because one thing I wanted to do was explore the north end of Halifax. It was a beautiful day out and we started out at Rousseau Chocolatier in the south end. Rousseau's is a chocolate shop and I had never been to it before this day. Their Dine Around menu was called 'Pause Parisienne for two!' which included two drinks, two chocolate tasters and two madeleines or cookies for $20. We got there right after they opened which was a smart idea. I got hot chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie while my mom had a coffee and ginger cookie. I forget what kinds the tasters were but they were really good. I mentioned we were there when it opened and I'm glad we were because the cookies had just come out of the oven and they were delicious; soft on the inside and a crunchy outside. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the hot chocolate, only because it was made with dark chocolate and I find it really strong. 

Then we drove up to Gottingen Street and parked near the library to walk along the street to see what was new. We walked from Staples to the bridge and back to our car. Then we drove further north to the Hydrostone to walk up the hill to Fort Needham Memorial Park. I hadn't been to this park since I think 2009 or something and it has changed from what I remember it being back then. The North End was ruined back on December 6, 1917 by an explosion and the city decided to put a big bell structure to memorialize it and honour the people who passed away and were injured in the blast. There is now a pretty cool playground there now along with benches/metal pieces that have information about the explosion. If you want to learn more about the Halifax Explosion I recommend visiting Fort Needham along with the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic plus there are stories on the Halifax Public Library website. 

To end our afternoon out, we went back to the south end and tried a new restaurant; Halifax Pier Pub. We didn't even know this restaurant existed until I saw it on the Dine Around menu. It is a sister company to Cafe Chianti which is right next door and both restaurants are at the end of Pier 20 where the farmer's market used to be. Their menu was a burger and a pint for $20. I don't drink wine or beer so my mom drank both. I had the Pier Burger which was a 7oz Atlantic beef patty with garlic aioli, aged white cheddar, onion and pepperoncini slaw & arugula. I normally steer clear of slaws but this burger was really good, definitely worth the twenty dollars. My mom also enjoyed hers, I think she got the Haddock Burger, so much that we went back a week later with my younger cousins. 

The following Friday, I met up with a friend for dinner after work and we went to The Auction House. We had a three course meal for $30 and you had two options each for the appetizer and main course. Both my friend and I chose the fried brussel sprouts, pear & bacon grilled cheese and beer battered Oreos. 

Winter fun
- Try a new restaurant ✓
- Walk around the north end ✓
- Sip hot chocolate from a local cafe ✓
- Eat at 3 Dine Around restaurants  ✓

Travel to a New Country Solo

Like I mentioned in my introduction post, I love hockey and a life goal is to see a game at each of the NHL arenas. To give myself some guidance I decided to try and finish seeing the Original 6 teams before my 30th birthday (which won't happen now) so in November I traveled to Chicago, Boston and Detroit. I say finish as I have been to Toronto and New York already. This was the first trip that I had gone on outside of Canada all by myself which was a little scary. 

My first stop was to Boston, I had an early morning flight and thankfully it left basically on time as I only had less than 24 hours in before I had to get to the next city. Once I got to Boston, I got a bus to my hotel  from the airport but was unable to check in so I just dropped of my bag with the main desk. I headed out for lunch and decided to go to the Neptune Oyster restaurant. I've got a few "rules" for these NHL trips with one of them being have the local/well known dish of the city/area I am visiting. For Boston it is clam chowder so that is what I got. 

The Neptune is a pretty tiny restaurant so I ended up having to wait outside in a line for almost an hour. I was going to walk the Freedom Trail but by the time I finished eating, it was about 2pm already so instead I did the Sports Museum to learn about the history of sports in Boston. I wasn't expecting the museum to be on the upper concourses of the TD Garden so that was cool to see the ice surface from the box seats. The game I saw was an Original 6 matchup on Saturday night so it was a full house at the Garden. I don't like the Bruins but being there on a Saturday night was kind of special and I was happy to see them win on home ice, a dominating 6-1 victory against Chicago.

On Sunday, I flew to Chicago for the next stop on my vacation and it was another early flight. I took the train from the airport to downtown but I made a pit stop at the Greetings from Chicago mural first, which I forgot to actually look at. There was a restaurant nearby so I had lunch there (chocolate chip pancakes) since I was pretty hungry. Once I got to the hotel, I checked in then I visited the Shedd Aquarium for a couple of hours. The trains I took in Chicago were a bit freaky because most of them were on platforms and I'm scared of heights so I didn't like that part. I also lost data and my Visa card stopped working on this day so I was stressing out. 

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Chicago was playing the Pittsburgh Penguins and it was Evgeni Malkin's 1000th NHL game which was exciting. My second team is the Pens so I was cheering for them but I also would've been fine if Chicago had won. On Monday, I walked around and visited Cloud Gate. I've seen lots of photos of The Bean, which is a gigantic silver bean shaped sculpture, before and wanted to check it out. I didn't do to much more on that second day in Chicago, but I did go to Giordano's Pizza for lunch to get Chicago's deep dish pizza which was the best meal I had on my trip. 

As mentioned, I also visited Detroit and this part of the trip didn't go too well. I arrived to the city a little delayed then I had an hour bus ride to my hotel from the airport. However, the first bus broke down and the driver didn't let us know so I was very confused and I had to wait a half hour for the next one. I wanted to go to the Henry Ford museum but it was too late in the day plus it is closer to the airport which I didn't really realize while planning. After I checked in to the hotel, I just went to the Lafayette Coney Island restaurant for an early supper and got a Coney Dog. Mustard, raw onions and chili are things that I do not like but on a hot dog, they aren't bad. For the rest of the night, I just hung out in my room.My last full day was the day before Thanksgiving Day in the US and they were preparing for the parade so many of the main roads were closed so it was hard to get around on the bus. There was some kind of game place that I wanted to check out so I looked at the hours to make sure it would be open but when I got there it wasn't - I guess I looked at the wrong day. This left me a few free hours to kill before the game so I decided to go have food at Hockeytown Cafe and wait, however that restaurant didn't open until 4pm. The last game was the Red Wings versus the Nashville Predators with Detroit coming out on top so that was exciting. Little Caesars Arena is one of the newer ones and it is quite nice, the concourses are really big. They even had a drum band playing trying to hype people up. 

I was heading back home on Thanksgiving Day but as I was getting ready, I received a message that my flight to Toronto had been canceled because of fog. I waited for a little bit then I called the airline to see when they could get me on another flight but they already had. So instead of leaving Detroit at 11am, I would now be leaving at 4:30pm and going through Montreal. This gave me a chance to watch the parade though which was interesting. Even though I had some headaches and didn't get to see all the things I wanted to, I did have a good time and it was certainly an experience that I will learn from. 

Checking things off on the lists

30 before 30 - Travel to a new country solo ✓

Fall fun 

   - Cheer on an Original 6 team ✓

   - Look at vintage cars 𐄂

   - Check out the bean ✓

Photos of the arenas from outside

TD Garden - Boston Bruins
NHL arena 5 of 32

United Center - Chicago Blackhawks
NHL arena 6 of 32

Little Caesars Arena - Detroit Red Wings
NHL arena 7 of 32

  

A Day At Riverbreeze

Every year, I love doing the basic fall things - decorating my apartment for the season, going through a corn maze, taking a scenic fall drive, visiting a pumpkin patch and picking apples. There are more probably but these five have been on my fall 'bucket' list for a number of years now. I feel kind of childish admitting that I love going through corn mazes but we never really did any fall activities when I was growing up so now I'm making up for it with my young cousins and friend's kids. 

The last few falls I have gone to Noggins Corner in the Annapolis Valley but I wanted to go somewhere else this time. I was taking those cousins I mentioned above and since they live on the way to Truro, we visited Riverbreeze Farms in Onslow. We went up on the first weekend of October, it was a beautiful day and my cousins probably could've stayed even longer than we did but I had a hockey game to go to that night. 

I would say Riverbreeze is more for pre-teens and younger at least in the day time as there are a number of other activities on the property that kids can interact with. These include a petting zoo, human hamster wheel, a tire structure you can climb, pig races and many games that you can play plus more. As it was pretty much the first thing you come to after getting your tickets, we did the petting zoo first. You really can only pet the alpacas, llamas and goats but they also had bunnies and even kangaroos which I was surprised by. 

My cousins then did some of the games and had a ball on the human hamster wheel activity. It is very hard to stay standing so they couldn't stop laughing and went probably 10 times back and forth. Then we went to the corn maze. We had a hurricane about a week before so the stocks still hadn't had time to regrow to their full height when we were there. Meaning it was quite easy to navigate around the maze but we did still get a little lost. You were also able to play an 'investigation' game while going through the corn. Then we took a tractor hayride to the small pumpkin patch to get a few gourds. They had set up a few photo opportunities around the property as well which were cute and a couple of them had a stand to put your phone on. 

All and all, it was a great afternoon with my cousins. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with them.