Today is Joe’s birthday and we celebrated by driving from Nova Scotia to Fredericton, New Brunswick. Fredericton is the capital city of the province. While looking for a carwash and a Starbucks we discovered a lovely section of the town with some beautiful homes looking onto Lake Saint John.
After sixteen days of camping, we are excited to spend the
night in a hotel this evening. A shower not shared with strangers! Our air/foam
mattress has worked well, except for the night Joe deflated it accidentally and
I slept in the car. Still, to not have to crawl off the floor, get on my knees,
and then get up off the floor to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night
will be a real treat!
On this trip we have learned to appreciate electricity, good
internet reception, rest areas, the Waze application, gracious hosts and
hostesses, friends and family taking time out of their schedules to pamper us,
and so much more.
I continue to work on developing better communication
skills. Today I had an aha moment while navigating to find a Starbucks because we
were 2 hours early to our hotel and the library was closed (it’s Sunday). The
aha moment happened when I was directing Joe to the hotel first so I could then
find the closest Starbucks. I thought I had explained this to him. It seems he
was keeping an eye out for Starbucks, and I’m telling him, “No, hotel first.” He
was getting frustrated (no kidding!). He then wanted to tell me how he would
have communicated with someone who is a rookie in his shop. I told him to stop
as I didn’t need to know how he would do it. I know it would be better. I explained
to him that the problem is that we are trying to communicate while he is
distracted with city driving and that when I am not communicating clearly, we
need to pull over in the closest lot and talk it through.
Joe and I process information differently. He likes the most
information he can get while I’m okay with enough to get me where I’m going. Recognizing
this I need to step up my game and do what works best for him. The obstacle is
that it takes more time than we have when in city traffic. So, we must accommodate
by removing ourselves from the traffic, so we are both fully engaged in the act
of communicating.
I know – we should have figured this out 61 days ago.
The good part is that we both have our hearts and heads in
the right place and want to find a way to make the trip less stressful while in
traffic.
Anyway, we ended up not getting the car washed and never made it to Starbucks. The hotel let us check in early without penalty at 1:30 pm instead of the 3:00 check in time. I love nature and camping. I love hotels and hot showers and soft beds. I think this means I am a well-rounded individual.
Here are photos we took yesterday while traveling from Yarmouth to Walton, Nova Scotia.
P.S. The highlight of Joe's day was a call from Megan, Jeremy, Charlotte, and Caleb this morning while we were driving. They called to wish him a happy birthday.
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