What were they thinking?

Today, Mon. we faced the big bridge connecting PEI to New Brunswick. It's 8 miles long, 2 lanes, concrete barriers on each side but no cables or upper support. Bill has some mental issues with bridges, especially high ones, so this will be a challenge. But, we made it, no problems, just a bit breezy up there. Our destination was planned to be up in northeast NB, but most of the side roads in eastern Canada are in pretty poor condition. It's tough to drive and continue to beat up the truck, house and us. So we changed plans and stopped short, along the coast. Then we can get the trans-Canada highway all the way to Houlton, ME. The trans-Canadas are the freeway and usually very good. We wanted to drive the Acadian cape and will do some our second day in Shediac. 


Most of NB from the northeast to the border is peaty or blueberries. Apparently some good salmon fishing too, but smaller, poorer roads so we will skip those. We liked the provinces we did get to, Nova Scotia was wilder and more wooded, loved riding the tidal bore. PEI is called the gentle isle and is pretty peaceful. NB has the Fundy coast and some spectacular coastline.

Motoring around the lake,

We liked all we saw in Canada. The scenery was beautiful, the weather delightful most of the time. We didn't get any of the heat from the U.S. The people were very friendly and helpful and wanted us to like Canada. We saw some different sides of the Atlantic Canada, Scottish heritage and Acadian (French). At times, it was almost like being in Europe with the immersion possible in the cultures. We learned to speak more Canadian (meter, kilometer, lookoff, eh, from away (not from there), Tronno (Toronto) and ran across some things that should never be, like those pictured below. We made some very nice friends, share the road and blogs now and will meet again some day. We really met nice people all around.

Taste just like ketchup.

Didn't try

We probably won't complain about the price of milk, gas, beef, chicken, eggs and certainly not taxes anymore. 8 even 9% is way better than 15% sales tax!

We will be back in Maine soon and will head for NH and Vermont. Canada was a great summer trip and we would do it again. We have to because we missed NFLD.  Look for more blogs from down the road

Music, driving and EH!

Yesterday was chore day and we investigated the town of Summerside, PEI. Not a big town, but then the entire island has a population of only 141,000. We passed a College of Piping, (bagpipes and other Celtic arts), stopped and found out there was a show, Highland Storm, on that night. We decided to go. Well, it turned out to be a wonderful show of dancing, piping, singing and drumming. These weren't college students, they auditioned and were all very good. Unlike a ceilidh (kaylee), this was a professional show. The ceilidhs have authentic music but are more of informal jam sessions. 




The weather has been beautiful after all the rain that followed us here.  We drove 2 of the well marked scenic roads of PEI. The Central Coastal Road takes you along the north coast, through Cavendish which is the home of the book Anne of Green Gables. We've never read those books so we're not caught up in all the "history" or museum things. Maybe it is more of a Canadian thing too. But the coast and small towns are very pretty. Red dirt and cliffs, large very green farms and small harbors. The North Cape Route takes you to the tip of the west end. The big draw there is the wind farm and research center, and the red sandstone cliffs. Basically, these provinces are starting to look pretty much the same. PEI has more farm land than the other eastern provinces and grows a third of all the potatoes for Canada, small round ones. It's very peaceful, and all the bays are lovely and serene.  The photos don't really do the scenery justice.  The beauty is all around you  and with the camera all you get is just the small picture.  To go over a rise in the road and see the vista all around you is just breathtaking.

North Cape, the end.

Our last night on PEI, we treated ourselves to a dinner show at the local theater. The food was excellent and the show, EH!, was very Canadian and funny. There were some jokes we didn't get, but we learned some things too. All and all, our stay on PEI has been very enjoyable. Now we start heading back and tackle the big bridge!  

To PEI or not to PEI

We were up early, like before 7am, and on the road a little after 8. We had a ferry to catch from Pictou, NS to PEI (Prince Edward Island). This ferry required no reservations, as with the one to NFLD, was free, we think, and we were trying for the 11:15 crossing. We had about 100 miles from our camp at Port Hood to the ferry. Around 9:30a we were going through the largest town so far, Antigonish, just starting up from a red light, and suddenly Bill says some unprintable words.  (Actually, I think I said "Holy crap, the tires are smokin')  We look in the mirror and there is smoke coming out of the trailer tire area on the drivers side. Just ahead is a large dirt turn off the highway. We pull in, see the smoke, smell the burnt rubber, but no signs of a flat tire, my first thought. Bill gets underneath and discovers one of the leaf springs on the trailer is broken. This has caused the 2 tires to be touching, and instead of turning freely are skidding along the pavement as we tow them. Guess we aren't going to make our ferry.  

GOOD

BAD

 See Bill patiently waiting

Fortunately, we were right across the street from a shopping center with a large grocery store (Atlantic Superstore), gas station and even a Wal-Mart. At the Superstore, we found 2 very helpful young ladies, a phone book and advice to call a local diesel service business.  Within a couple of hours a repairman was at our trailer with the right equipment to take the old spring off.  He did so and even managed to find a replacement.  We were up and running again by 5:00pm but way too late to get any ferry.  Found a  campground in Antigonish and the day wasn't a total loss. We were prepared to spend the night roughing in/dry camping in the turn out. I really can't get over how friendly and helpful the people are here.  It seems that they still understand the concept of "customer service"

Waiting

On Wednesday morning we got up and were on our way again with plenty of time to get to the PEI Ferry. In fact we were there by 10:15 and were first in the RV line. There were a lot of cars and semi trucks  parked in their lines and not everyone made it on.  Oh well, it is what it is. It was a double decker ferry with cars going on the top and the taller vehicles on the lower level.  You can't stay in your vehicle so we went to the top level, found a good table in the cafeteria and enjoyed a cup of coffee while we read for the 75 minute crossing.


As we were approaching the island, we saw a large rain squall in the distance.  It turns out we ended up driving right through it on our way to the campground.  The rain had actually spent quite a bit of time at the campground and the whole place was practically a lake when we got there.   After some finagling we found a site that was suitable for a 5 day stay, right on the bay.