This is how JACK feels about Canada:

(at the Citadel in Halifax, created by Katie)

After Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, we traveled back into New Brunswick over a very long bridge. I know there are no moose on Price Edward Island, but I am sad and disappointed to report that we did not see any moose for the remainder of our trip.

We drove from Charlottetown, PEI to Fredericton, NB, stopping along the way to see a few statues of giant things, which seems to be our new thing to do. Maybe http://www.bigthings.ca will sponsor JACK's third tour of Canada? (Probably not, as it was last updated the summer after we all graduated from high school, but it was still a pretty helpful website in planning our adventures.)

Fredericton was a quiet city for it being Saturday night and the opening of the Olympic games. We had dinner at a place called The Snooty Fox, which had great food and a decent selection of Canadian craft brews. Most curious to me was a sandwich on the menu called the Wyatt Earp... the only sandwich on the menu named after someone. Apparently the cooks just really liked the movie Tombstone. I was still pretty amused. It's a steak sandwich, so I had an epic quesadilla instead, along with a beer from Picaroon's Brewery right there in town. It was really fun to watch the opening ceremonies and the Parade of Nations during dinner-- the US didn't get to see it till prime time!

We walked around town a little bit after dinner, mostly along the waterfront, enjoying a humid but otherwise beautiful evening. The hostel we stayed in was just a few blocks from downtown, so we walked everywhere. Eventually, ACK went back to Snooty Fox to enjoy a bit more of the opening ceremonies and a few more Canadian brews.

Our last real day of vacation involved the trip from Fredericton and Portland, back into the US. Katie and I were nervous because this would be the fourth time our passports were swiped back into the US in the month of July, but the border patrol didn't seem to mind us (guess I didn't explain all the exits and entries yet, will get to that after I finish writing about JACK's Canada excursion). We stopped in Nackawic on the way to see a giant axe representing the importance of the logging industry to New Brunswick's history.

In the Portland area, we were able to find a few more large things-- the world's largest chocolate moose (1700 pounds of pure milk chocolate, accompanied by a few dark chocolate bears ranging from 80 pounds to 300) and also the world's largest spinning globe (three stories high!). We relaxed in Portland and watched some Olympic swimming and beach volleyball.

Driving back to New Jersey wasn't particularly impressive. I drove us out of New England, Jamie took over in Connecticut. We made good time and arrived home to sunshine, which was helpful in unpacking the Fundy wreckage. It smelled pretty rough but didn't knock us over. All in all, another wonderful adventure with my beloved JACK!