Had a very hard time getting up out of bed.   Comfy bed, basement room with effectively no lights.  Very cave-like environs led to a bit of a comatose sleep.

Eventually made it upstairs and relaxed in the living room over coffee and caught up with the past decade.  As the discussion went on, more people dropped in for morning coffee and plans were made for the afternoon evening.  As with all meetings, it was very much the  ‘pooling of ignorance’ as everyone seemed to have a very different piece of the picture.  In the end, the gist of it was that a few groups were going to leave in the late afternoon, which meant dinner would be served early.

It was to be a traditional Acadian meal of Rappe Pie.  There was some bantering about whether, as a guest, I should be given special dispensation to eat something else(ie, left over pork chops), or if it would just be more entertaining to watch me choke it down.   I couldn’t see how it could be bad, but anything described as “chicken jello” or wallpaper paste could take a turn for the worst…

Since we figured it was a civic holiday and everything would be closed anyway, we might as well hop in the car and take a tour of Clare.  I got a bit of a history lesson and education about the pace of life.  I definitely see the appeal of retreating back to family and slowing down for a spell.  Can’t say I’ve ever had that opportunity, North Van just isn’t much of a change of pace.

To introduce me to ‘good’ fried clams (and potentially to give me something to eat before the Rappe Pie), we stopped by the “Roadside Kill(Grill)”.  The fried clams were very, very good.  Much better than the ones I had in PEI – although sitting out on the patio in the sun beats indoors looking out the window at the grey gloom.

After a few more stops, it was time to go home and sit down for the traditional meal.  Not quite as ‘sit down’ as the night before, but still a full table.

My plate of Rappe Pie:

It really isn’t the most appetizing looking dish.  I could definitely see a fair population being uncomfortable with the appearance and texture.  No problem for me – I’d say it’s just like baked, starchy chicken congee.  I had seconds and will definitely try to make it myself at home.  Very solid comfort food.

But, eventually, it was time to move on.  If I had been thinking, I probably would have turned down that one beer.   Fortunately, the sun was out and I didn’t have far to go.  It was a pleasure to be with that family and I was sorry I was going to miss the 2nd Annual Christmas in August(where the highlight is the burning of last year’s tree).

Kejimkujik was a nice park – not quite what I was expecting.  Set up camp and wandered out to the evening program.  The Dating Game with the birds of Keji.   And so we were back to the low production values of the Canadian park system.  Plenty of imagination and the kids seemed to love participating.  But the AV and computer mishaps were all back.  I guess it’s an exchange for an interactive program instead of a canned movie production.