Pick Your Roadtrip Partner Carefully

A causal conversation via FB lead to some of the best laughs I’ve had in awile.  But I don’t think Colleen knew what she was in for when she said she’d swing by and pick me up on her way to Blogjam…

To be clear, the title of this post is not that I regret my choice to drive up to Moncton with Colleen by any stretch, it’s more so that she probably should’ve heeded this advice before taking me on board. Little did she know… 😉 😉

Friday night’s drive was filled with a lot of catching up and filling each other in on the recent events in each others lives.  As we got closer to the city of Moncton, I realized I would have to navigate.  Oh dear! So I pulled up Google Maps and gave directions…and all was ok until we got to the rotary…I knew where we had to go, I just didn’t realize we’d have so few lanes to work with….so a slight detour, no biggie!

We get onto Main Street and Google Maps marked the Delta as a spot off the road without giving me any clue as to finding the entrance!  A couple back and forths and then we found it!! Phew!! I don’t enjoy driving around a strange place in the dark, looking for where you are supposed to be!

So, the trip up wasn’t too bad, only a small hiccup at the end.  We parked and went into the hotel, ready for the weekend of blogging goodness and inspiration. Friday night, Saturday pass and we land on Sunday morning, the last day of the conference and then things got interesting….

One of the things the hardworking Blogjam team does is get sponsors for the event.  And this year’s sponsors were wonderful!  But, I’ll admit the one that intrigued me the most was Paper and Peony.  I have been following them on Instagram for years so I was excited to see what they were up to! And let me tell you, I was not disappointed!  A flower wall backdrop!!!  Eeeeekkk!!!  So beautiful!

As the conference wound down on Sunday, they announced that if you could get the flower wall home, to put your name in the draw for it!  Umm, hello!!! How could I say no???  Carpooling or not, if that was up for grabs, I was game!  Meanwhile, Colleen is sitting across the room, not putting her name in because how would she get it home – it’s the size of a single mattress!!!  You can see where this is going, right??

Well, I have to just take a minute to remind you that when it came to Blogjam draws last year, I kinda won a doozy, right??  Trip for 2 to Punta Cana!!!  { You can read about our trip HERE and HERE }  Thank you Blogjam and Sunwing!!

 

You guessed it, they drew a name and yep, it was mine!  I hoop and holler a little…the conference ends and then I see Colleen, who has every doubt that this will fit in her car.  I’ll just say I’m a tetris kinda girl.  I can pack a load of furniture in a hatchback car, van or pick up without batting an eye.  She doubted me….BUT I WAS RIGHT!!!! Lol!!!

You know we’re going to Instastory the crap outta that, and I’d have to say the stories are good for a chuckle.  You can find them HERE  Thanks to Jennifer for doing some of the recording of that event for us!!!

We get it loaded up, we’re ready to roll….and the car battery is dead.  Dead, dead, dead.  And guess what? No booster cables.  What???  Thankfully Jennifer’s husband made sure she had a set in her rig so she pulled over, we popped some hoods and my country-roots-farm-upbringing came in handy and we { read I } got the car going….LIKE A BOSS 😉

Okay, we’re starving, ready to roll, for reals, this time.  We head out of Moncton, Colleen behind the wheel, me behind my phone, loading all the laughs of the flower wall fiasco up onto Instagram….and we missed the turn off for Nova Scotia so we’re heading for the Miramichi!!!!  Ooopps!!!!  We get turned around, she doesn’t kick me out of the car, with my flower wall, thankfully and we head to Aulac where we planned to stop to eat.

The Aulac Big Stop tends to be busy on a Sunday afternoon and so it seems quite natural to strike up a conversation with the people next to you.  The ladies were very friendly and suggested we check out Trueman’s Blueberry Farm, which they raved sold the best baked goods and ice cream.  I’m always game for ice cream so we headed there regardless of the fact we just finished a huge meal.  And boy, am I ever glad we took their advice and drove a few kilometers in the opposite direction of home!

There was a corn maze, sunflower maze, play equipment, homemade ice cream, delicious smelling baked goods and lots of honey.  It looks like a very fun place to spend some time.  Colleen and I took some pictures in the sunflower field, because that’s what one does…no matter that they were well passed their prime….  We also got some tasty ice cream – they sweeten it with honey and serve it in a waffle cone!!  I think it may be the best ice cream I ever had!  A detour well worth taking! #sunflowers

We hop back in the car and head for Truro, where we met up on Friday.  We need to transfer the flower wall from Colleen’s car to mine.  I drive a Matrix, nothing huge.  I pop the seats down and Colleen slides it in and…..IT DOESN’T FIT!!!  Serves me right, eh??  But I am bound and determined to get it home…so I flip the front seat forward and angle and wiggle and push and turn that wall until I can close the hatch.  YES!!!!  I got it in!!

Colleen and I say our good byes and head home.  Will she ever road trip with me again? Hard to say.  😉 Did we have some great laughs and even better conversation? We sure did.

Will I enter my name in the Blogjam door prizes next year? Maybe I’d better not….

To be continued,

Lori