What an incredible month Project Zoom had in Fredericton.  Our final day was a busy one as we zoomed around the city one last time.

Yvonne earned her cheat treat today!

We packed our suitcases and loaded the car before heading over for our daily workout.

Project Zoom meeting @ 2:00 pm

Next, we zoomed over to the Fredericton Convention Centre as Project Zoom had a meeting scheduled.  Okay, maybe it wasn’t a big event, but it was a very special one, and seeing it displayed on their state of the art directory was pretty cool!  

Delish dessert!

The agenda featured Jim and I enjoying a Banana Bread Trifle dessert their Chef whipped up for us, thanks to our new friend, General Manager, Cathy Pugh.  Somehow Mayor Woodside got word of this event and showed up to share in the fun.

Time for some running fun!

The day finished with our final run along the beautiful trails with some Freddy friends, and aross my favourite bridge in this city – the old train bridge over the St. John River.

Mark, Yvonne, Dale and Jim refueling after a run.

We loved watching a beautiful sun setting over the clear summer sky as we made our way to a local hot spot for a tradition we will miss dearly – our Wednesday night steak dinner.  Tonight, two friends joined us.  Not sure whether they wanted to say ‘see ya later’, or enjoy the $9.99 dinner special we’d been bragging about all month during our runs!  (wink, wink)

Project Zoom has physically left Fredericton, but the memories of the people we met and the experiences we enjoyed will stay with us forever.  There’s lots more to share, but….you’ll have to wait for the book Zooming across Canada.

Couple says goodbye after city adventure

The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton)
Wed Sep 7 2011
Page: A5
Section: Main
Byline: TARA CHISLETT chislett.taralynn@dailygleaner.com

When Yvonne Price and her husband Jim began their cross-country trek, she didn’t think one month would be long enough stay to make it hard to say goodbye to a city.

Since April, the pair has said goodbye to four different communities as part of Project Zoom, a coast-to-coast tour the couple began planning about a year ago to learn what life is like for Canadians living in each of the 10 provinces.

On Sept. 1, Fredericton became the fifth city after the couple’s month-long stay in the capital region.

“(Leaving) was really emotional,” Yvonne Price said in an interview with The Daily Gleaner from Quebec City, the next stop on the tour.

“All of the sudden we were part of the community. And when we went to leave people were saying to us, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re leaving?’ They knew we were only there for the month but they were saying, ‘You fit in. You’re going to go?’

“It’s something I never anticipated on this project. Now we just say see you later and I tell people that. It’s become a joke. No one says goodbye to us, they just say see you later because they know it’s difficult.”

As part of the project, the Prices spend one month living like a resident in each city they visit.

Yvonne Price said this means they don’t stay in hotels and they do everything they can to live the same lifestyle they live at home in Mississauga, Ont.

“We try and stay three to four weeks in each city and live our lives as a resident and see how easy it is to adapt and fit in and what the people are like and find out about the culture,” she said.

As they travel, they capture details about life in each city on their blog. When they return home in February, they plan to write a book, with all the money raised from sale of the book benefitting Chip Charity, an initiative that helps long-term hospital patients afford services such as phone and Internet to stay connected to the world outside the hospital.

During their time in Fredericton, Yvonne Price said they were impressed by how well run and clean the city is, along with the number of free activities for residents in Officers Square.

“It’s small, but you have a lot of the amenities of a big city,” she said.

For Jim Price, a retired Toronto firefighter, one of the highlights of the trip involved meeting with Fredericton fire department Chief Philip Toole who took the couple to the northside fire station and firefighter training facility.

“I never met the chief (in Toronto) because it’s big and there are over 3,000 firefighters,” he said.

“In Toronto, the chief is in the big ivory tower and no one gets near him unless you’re bad.”

Jim Price said he also enjoyed catching a performance of the Bricklin at The Playhouse during the first week.

“It was really well done,” he said.

The couple said it was surprised to learn the comments everyone makes about people being friendly on the East Coast are true.

“For example, we were running along the trail one day and we stopped to get some water. And a lady said ‘oh we have free coffee inside.’ And I was like ‘seriously? Free coffee.’ It was just so nice,” Yvonne Price said.

“And the people, every time we would stop somewhere and we’d pull out a map to look or read, even if we were on the trail or downtown, somebody would immediately try to help us.

“I definitely noticed the whole East Coast, there’s warmth there. We really started to feel like residents.”

But while she said she misses her time on the East Coast, Yvonne Price said she’s already had some great experiences in Quebec, catching a performance of Cirque du Soleil and visiting the Old Port Market.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said of the trip.

“You just never know what to expect. It’s like that Forrest Gump quote: life is like a box of chocolates.”