I’m tired today. I went out last night to the Blue Monkey, which is fast becoming one of my favorite bars in Birmingham. (It helps that they have awesome martini’s.) Got home too late, got up too early.

I tweaked my neck at work today, which is Not Fun, but it’ll be okay. Got home and my phone was awaiting me from the Westin Nova Scotia – while it hasn’t been terrible to be without any sort of phone, it hasn’t been great fun either. So, you can call me again!

I’m waiting for Emily to get home from work, so we can meet Kelley and Nanci at our favorite Mexican place – La Iguana Grill. The food is average, but the atmosphere is awesome, and they have the best margaritas in Birmingham (although tonight is my night to drive).

I’ve been listening to more college pop than I have in a long, long time – first Lily Allen and now my latest ear crush is Regina Spektor. Her last album – “begin to hope” – is fantastic.

I got a subscription to the local paper, so i can get up in the morning and have a cup of coffee and read the paper. How adult is that?

I had an absolutely amazing time, but I’m glad to be back home. Except for this heat – it’s sweltering down here (heat index around 110) – quite a change from Nova Scotia where I had to wear a jacket most nights.

Best campground: tie between Quechee State Park in Vermont (absolutely pristine campground, private campsites, beautiful scenery) and Cedar Dunes Provincial Park in PEI (on the beach w/ lighthouse, private campsite, great sunset, free hot showers)

Worst campground: we didn’t really stay in any bad campgrounds, although the water ran out while I was taking a shower at Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean. That sucked.

Best food: Halifax all the way: Anatolia Turkish Cuisine (lunch) or Sweet Basil (dinner).

Worst food: a McLobster sandwich from McDonalds (I don’t know why I had to try it, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time). It was on a hot dog bun and I only ate a bite.

Best B&B: Evening Primrose – owned by a lesbian couple who were super nice and felt like family (no pun intended). The room was not quite as pink as in the pictures (thankfully) – and after a few nights of camping, it felt like heaven.

Favorite memory: Whale watching in Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia on the Cape Breton Trail. The Cape Breton Trail goes around a national park and is definitely a place I want to go back to – absolutely pristine views of mountains and ocean. After a ferocious thunderstorm the night before (which we watched from the porch of a b&b), I was worried that our whale watching trip would get rained out. Around 10:30 am the weather started to clear, and by the time we got on the water the weather was perfect. We followed a couple pods of pilot whales for about an hour, and then ended up in a pod of about 50 pilot whales that surrounded the zodiac – some almost close enough to touch. The baby whales were breaching (jumping completely out of the water), and then turning and swimming on their backs. The female whales were swimming in pods of 8-10 – each group gliding through the water in unison. It was magical.

Places I Never Want To See Again: St. John, New Brunswick sucked. It didn’t help that it was raining buckets, and I almost got into a wreck, and Garmin The GPS took us in circles trying to find a library.

Places I Want To Go Back To: Cape Breton Trail, NS (Pema Chodron’s abbey is in Pleasant Bay – I found out after we left). Halifax, NS. Portland, ME (like Asheville, NC, only cooler). Boston, MA (except I’m not driving next time).