Across Canada in 10 Days, Day 10 (A Little Late) – Feels Like Home

Editor’s Note: Thanks for waiting for this one. Once we got to Halifax, we found ourselves without many services and getting this last post done took more time than I’d hoped. This trip was amazing and we loved having you along for the ride. Now, for the arrival at our new home.

We knew the final hours in the car would be few and mildly thrilling. After nearly 4,000 miles, crossing the exquisite marshes and looking out on the Bay of Fundy as we crossed into Nova Scotia forced nearly endless amounts of tears. I couldn’t contain myself. From the moment I stepped out onto the land of this new place it felt like I had been there, maybe a few lifetimes ago.

It felt like, well, home.

We stopped in at the N.S. Visitor’s Information Center and gathered up as many pamphlets, booklets, newspapers and information sheets as we could about anything at all that would help ground and familiarize us with this new place. Mhari and I excitedly pored through the bulletins, discovering endless amounts of goodness. We could make it here. Now, we were sure.

Ken made sure to score the kids and him some maple candies and I scored a couple of books on Nova Scotia history and one of those handy guides that tells you everything every tourist could ever see or do in the region. I figured the quaint, non-cheesy neighborhood goodness would come when we met the neighbors. But, for now, the tourist guide was king.

Upon buckling in and hitting the road for the last 90 minutes of our journey, Ken blurted out “Now I feel like my heart might just not explode.” His audible sigh of relief matched all of our emotions. Ten days, the whole of Canada, not one single incident. The guardians who watched over us must have logged some serious overtime. We knew it for sure when, in the downpour of rain that greeted us, we passed a huge accident in which a little car had hydroplaned and flipped into the median. It wrapped our joy of making it all the way into a little bundle and tucked it away for a bit, reminding us how very, very, very (did I say very) blessed we were.

Humbled.

Apple maps and our Ipad now rule the known universe as we made it all the way mostly because of that crazy satellite map. It guided us into town and straight to our new home at the edge of Dartmouth Cove across the harbor from Halifax. The neighborhood made me pretty much swoon – classic old-school homes, oozing charm, tree-lined streets with stained glass windows aimed at them, the waterfront right in front of us.

We pulled up to our little bungalow and both Ken and I gasped. If someone had said “If you could buy a starter home in Halifax, what would it look like?” we both would have picked the very home we now had a key to.

Inside it got even more into the “wow, universe, you kick ass” department. We ended up renting from a guy who used to work for Halifax Film and is now headed out west for a stint. Ironic, maybe. But, he had left behind all of his great art animation art, stuff from movies and tv shows he had worked on. The kitchen is to die for. The neighborhood, urban, lovely, gritty and sweet.

I stood in the upstairs hallway late that night with my eyes closed, head against the wall, and had one of those odd yet remarkable dejavu moments where it felt like I had been at exactly that place doing exactly that thing before.

The kids flew around the space. I ordered some pizza. Ken unloaded everything. Quinn actually ate a full meal after weeks of revolting against road chow.

Being the freakish organization nerd that I am, I attempted to unpack everything in one evening and failed miserably.

Then, we had a moment of silence (sort of) for all that had passed in the last four weeks.

We had come to a place that three of the four of us had never been, yet somehow in it all knew this was meant to be. I am now a firm believer that all roads lead to the same place. Until May, none of us had ever seen that road before. Now, it seems like an old friend that tagged along, showed us around and kept us going with love and hope and a sense of “this is where you need to be” all the way.

Tags: Canada, Canadian, family, featured, Halifax, home, Kids, Nova Scotia, Our Big Earth Media Co., road trip

Category: KIDS, NATURE & OUR HERITAGE