On The Move Again | Sisterhood of the Travelling Shoes

Those of you who have seen our recent instagram posts (@bettywouldlovethat), know that the Sisterhood was successful in completing the 5k walks they set out to do in New Brunswick and PEI. But there was so much more to our trip than just the walking. In fact, the rest of the story was arguably the more interesting and fun part of our trip. And so, here are some of the highlights.

The Colonel Is Well

Our first stop was in Montreal to pay a visit to our brother who we affectionately refer to as the Colonel due to his resemblance to a certain fried chicken magnate, although there was some discussion that he could also pass for Santa if he grew his beard a bit longer and put on a few pounds. We had a lovely brunch, traded pictures of grandkids and caught up on everyone’s family doings. He drove two hours each way on Thanksgiving day to see us and for that we are so grateful.

We’re Here For The Marathon

We were reminded when we landed in Fredericton how friendly, and chatty Maritimers tend to be. Inevitably people were interested in why we were visiting. Unbeknownst to us when we innocently said in Charlottetown that “we’re here for the marathon,” they assumed that we were doing the actual marathon. This immediately brought much astonishment and admiration raining down upon us, so much so, that we maybe didn’t always correct that we were doing 5k not a marathon.😁 Alison and her husband (shown here), whom we met while sitting at a bar having dinner, were so impressed with our endeavour that they bought each of us a shot because we were so inspiring. (Full disclosure: said shots were provided AFTER we revealed that we were not in fact doing a full marathon.)

Yes, We Are Sisters

I’m not sure when exactly it started, but we discovered that a guaranteed conversation starter was to ask people if they think we are sisters. Why does this spark conversation you might ask? I don’t think I have to say anything to explain other than look at this picture… Clearly one of these things (me) is not like the others.😂

Not surprisingly most people think Big and Little Sis are sisters but are not so sure about where I fit in. To a person they are always polite expressing this and one woman we encountered said out loud what I’m sure everyone is thinking when asked this question. She blurted out that I was “different.” She felt bad about saying this and apologized profusely, but no offence was taken as really she was just stating the obvious.

Room For Everyone

One of the most important decisions on Sisterhood trips is figuring out who gets to have their own bed. You see, we generally get a room with a king size bed and a pull out couch or a cot. As the oldest, Big Sis gets to choose where she sleeps and this trip she chose to have her own bed. Little Sis and I were envious until she encountered several mattress challenges. At one point it felt like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears with one mattress too soft, one too hard and one fortunately that was just right. Well, tolerable probably is a more accurate description.

Three senior women sharing a hotel room can produce some unique issues such as the mystery we encountered – who is snoring? I think my bedmate Little Sis was the culprit but Big Sis thinks I was the guilty party. I also think Big Sis could be a suspect but she swears she’s innocent. This mystery remains unsolved for now as none of us stayed awake long enough to nail down who was actually snoring.

And then there was the matter of the ironing board that was set up in every hotel room shortly after our arrival. Surprisingly, this trip it was Little Sis who was queen of the ironing board, unlike previous trips where I was known to spend the first hour after arriving in our hotel room ironing. After all the ribbing I took over this, I am more than happy to pass along the crown to Little Sis.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the big question Little Sis and I were required to answer daily, sometimes multiple times a day – how did the back of Big Sis’ hair look? Was it flat or nice and full? Sigh. The things we do for our sisters…

Yes We Did Walk

It doesn’t seem right not to mention the main reason that took us to New Brunswick and PEI – to complete a 5k walk in each province towards our goal of doing one in every province. Since we were traveling so far from home we wanted to kill the proverbial two birds with one stone. This meant that we had to make our own 5k walk in New Brunswick. So no race shirt, official start line, cheering crowds along the course or finisher medals. Despite this we did a beautiful 5k walk along the river trails in Fredericton and celebrated after crossing the finish line with a glass of prosecco. The 5k in Charlottetown PEI was an official event so we got all the bells and whistles that come with an organized race and I’m happy to report not only did we get shirts, medals and a photo finish, but also met our goal of finishing in under an hour despite the rainy, blustery weather.