The Road Always Leads Home

R.J. and I returned from our latest epic adventure about a week and a half ago. The return trip was about 75 miles longer than the trip out. It was also distinguished by the fact that we stayed on the water each night. Night number one was up the New Brunswick coast on the Miramichi River. After that, we traveled cross-country on a very low maintenance road until it met up with the highway system of New Brunswick and later Quebec. On night number two, we stopped on the St. Lawrence River. We followed the river to Lake Ontario, and then we continued on to Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and Lake Michigan. I’m still a teacher, so for your edification, here are a few Great Lakes facts that I found. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River hold 20 percent of the earth’s fresh surface water or 6 quadrillion gallons and cover a total area of 95,160 square miles. Together they span 2,342 miles or almost half of the North American continent. The watershed is one of the world’s most diverse with 3,500 species of plants and wildlife and more than 250 species of fish. The St. Lawrence Seaway, a continuous navigable deep waterway project from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, was undertaken jointly by Canada and the United States and completed in 1959. (Hey, I was completed in that year, too!) The St. Lawrence Seaway opened North America's industrial and agricultural heartlands to deep-draft ocean vessels. Our precious Prince Edward Island is located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. There, now that you know a bit more, I will move on.

I’m only feeling like a quick summary of the return trip, so here are my moments of note: 

Night #1: We stayed at a Miramichi River Airbnb. My biggest memory was that it was so, so hot (with inadequate AC), but it also had cute touches of decorative folds on towels & blankets, new-looking finishes, and a short walk across the road to the river.

Miramichi River

Night #2: Our stay was at an Airbnb on the St. Lawrence River. We enjoyed beautiful accommodations, incredible landscaping in the yard, a smoky view of the river, and fastest internet of the trip.

Smoky St. Lawrence River

Night #3: We stayed at The Breakers on the Lake on Lake Ontario. We had a big room. This one was cold (64 degrees) inside the room when we arrived. I learned we are picky about temperature, and too cold is a much easier fix at this time of year than too hot.  We had nice access to a sandy beach with a beautiful sunset.

Lake Ontario

Night #4: Our stay on Lake Erie was definitely our worst Airbnb ever (garbage in the vents, a wet, mildewy towel under the refrigerator, uneven, saggy flooring, stained grout in the bathroom – none of which showed up in the pictures) but there was a good (if smoky) view of the lake.

Lake Erie, looking eerie

Night #5: No more Airbnbs for the rest of the trip! On Lake Huron, we had a great motel room on the first floor. We devoured the delicious pizza we had delivered to our room, and the free breakfast was excellent. It was an easy walk down to the lake.

Lake Huron

Night #6: Our stay on Lake Superior was another great room with beautiful landscaping and another easy walk down to the lake. The next morning, we were disappointed that the Spray Falls Painted Rocks Tour had to turn around because of thick fog.

Smoky Lake Superior sunset

Night #7: Lake Michigan was our last night on the road. The motel had a gas firepit, a view across the water to a lighthouse, a nice picnic area, and a comfortable room.

Lake Michigan

Overall: I liked how so many of the motels had fire pits and wanted to build community among guests. It would be interesting to actually vacation in some of these places rather than just be passing through for a night. 

And now it’s time to do a wrap-up of highlights and low points of the whole trip. It was truly amazing, and I’m not just saying that because I have slept well in my own bed for a week and a half now. Let’s start with some highs! I was surprised and delighted with the great room we had in Ellsworth, ME, in a motel in the thick of renovations. From the time arrived in PEI through our last night on the road, every night (17 consecutive nights) had a water view! On the night we had our professional pictures taken, it was also the first time we had seen “our” beach illuminated by sun. The light was truly magical. I am forever grateful for the pictures to remember that time. And I know it’s vain, but I am also truly grateful that I like the way I looked in the shirt I got for the pictures. There were some question marks about that along the way! I loved experiencing PEI through the eyes of my family. I had so many “pinch myself” moments during our time on PEI. This may seem like a funny one, but I liked the waste/recycling system on PEI which separates out compost, waste, and recycling EVERYWHERE. I felt greener than I ever have! I liked not driving even one of the 4805.4 miles of this trip. And most of all, I loved sharing this adventure with my love.

Now for some of the less-desirable moments from the trip. So much of the beauty around us was hidden by the smoke/haze from the Canadian wildfires, and the air quality was often poor. That was unfortunate. (Let me add that we did not have air quality issues while on PEI at all.) I didn’t love when the family’s flight home got cancelled and they had to figure out what to do about that. I was less-than-thrilled with the fact that we had to add 6 quarts of oil to our little car over the course of the trip. I was not crazy about picking a real dud of a place for one of our stays on the road. I was frustrated that we could NEVER remember to bring bags (which we DID have with us) to the grocery stores in PEI, so I could extend my joy of being greener than at home. I was disappointed when our Pictured Rocks tour on Lake Superior had to turn around because of the dense fog. I was unhappy about coming home to a malfunctioning refrigerator that we are still dealing with. None of these disappointments diminished the joy that this trip gave me.

I have one final note about the trip. Before we left, R.J. made us a massive travel playlist, over 700 songs long. I requested that he add seven of my favorite songs to that playlist. As it turned out, we never heard any of my songs in the regular playing of said playlist – which is not actually surprising, given the scope of the list. Without any prompting from me, R.J. made a special “Liz” playlist with just my seven songs for me to play on the final day’s drive. That was such a gesture of love, and I definitely appreciated it. Anyway, there was one song, not on my list, that played THREE times as we travelled (almost like I needed to hear it or something). It was a song I hadn’t heard for a while, and so I was surprised that it made me cry all three times. The song was “Go Light Your World” by Chris Rice. I still can’t read the lyrics now without having tears spring to my eyes. That message is near and dear to my heart. I’m including one of the choruses here:

“So carry your candle, run to the darkness
Seek out the lonely, the tired and worn
And hold out your candle for all to see it
Take your candle, and go light your world
Take your candle, and go light your world”

I have been lonely, tired, and worn over these past five years. Those are real, tangible experiences to me. I am incredibly grateful to all those who held out their candles to me when mine was flickering. I am coming back from this trip refilled in many ways and feeling the light of hope and joy. If you are in a season of darkness, my wish for you is that you can find people who will run to your darkness and places that are infused with God’s peace and presence to restore His light in you. And I want you to know, my friends, that my candle is shining for you.

R.J. & me, in PEI (picture by Jen Elder of Midwest LifeShots)

 Thanks for joining us on our adventure! That's all for now.