Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday August 30
I arrived here on Prince Edward Island in Cavendish, home of Anne of Green Gables, around 2 p.m. I’m staying at the National Park, which is right on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. From my trailer, I can here the surf. The waves are quite big because of Danny and an evening walk along the beach sounded like a roar.
There are many “Anne” and Lucy Maud Montgomery attractions, and I’m trying to decide which ones are worthy. Tomorrow is my day to be Anne of Green Gables. I have three full days to be here, and I plan to just relax part of the time. It is supposed to be sunny and 70 degrees most of the week. Perfect!
Here are pictures of Hopewell Rocks at low tide, walking ont the ocean floor and medium tide with water all around. I missed the highest tide. Here also, are the stairs I carried Tucker and Abbie up and down.
Monday, August 31
What a beautiful day! The temperature was in the 60’s and cloudy then sunny in the afternoon. The wind from Danny has died down, and all is good. Today, I was Anne Shirley and toured all of the Green Gables places – museum, birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Green Gables and Avonlea. It was great fun. Then I went to PEI Preserves Company and talked with the owner to get his story of how he started the company straight so I could retell it:
Bruce Monaghan had closed a failed restaurant venture and was “down and out”. He had a large order of strawberries that had been delivered that day and knew he should do something with them to try to recoup his loss. He remembered that his mom had made preserves, so he called her and got the recipe. He borrowed his friend’s restaurant kitchen, since his had been locked. While cooking, his friend, drunk on champagne strolled through and handed him a big glass to drink. Not being a drinking man, but not wanting to waste the champagne, his poured the whole large glass into the vat of strawberries. When he canned and sold the preserves, everyone said they were “outstanding” and thus was born his company. He is still there every day and I first met him when he greeted the bus from the cruise ship I was on with Dad last fall. What a great guy! And he looked quite nice in his kilt!
Also, here are some pictures of the countryside and a Garden of Hope nearby. See why I came here? It reminds me of Scotland – (Nova Scotia!)
Tomorrow, I’ll got to Rustico Harbor and wander around and then go hiking on some trails with the pups. Tomorrow night is Anne and Gilbert – The Musical in Summerside, about a half hour away. I’ll probably eat some scallops before the play.
This island is a little piece of heaven on earth.
Blogspot is not letting me post photos today, so I'll try again tomorrow!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
I arrived here on Prince Edward Island in Cavendish, home of Anne of Green Gables, around 2 p.m. I’m staying at the National Park, which is right on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. From my trailer, I can here the surf. The waves are quite big because of Danny and an evening walk along the beach sounded like a roar.
There are many “Anne” and Lucy Maud Montgomery attractions, and I’m trying to decide which ones are worthy. Tomorrow is my day to be Anne of Green Gables. I have three full days to be here, and I plan to just relax part of the time. It is supposed to be sunny and 70 degrees most of the week. Perfect!
Here are pictures of Hopewell Rocks at low tide, walking ont the ocean floor and medium tide with water all around. I missed the highest tide. Here also, are the stairs I carried Tucker and Abbie up and down.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Saturday, August 28, 2009
Yesterday, we explored the Bay of Fundy at high and low tides – a dramatic difference!
Doing so involved climbing down to the ocean floor - at one place there were 117 steps each way 234 in all! Plus, I had to carry Tucker down most of the steps due to his leg surgery. He can go up steps great, but I could tell he was trying to protect his leg going down, so I carried him. The other area had more steps, but I didn’t count. My poor ole left knee! Afterwards, I picked up some Fundy scallops for supper. In all of my life, I’ve never had been scallops. Sweet, lightly breaded and melt-in-your mouth good. The boats were coming in during high tide bringing the catch. They can only make it to the pier twice a day at high tide. Otherwise, as noted in the pictures, they would be coming in on sand. This place is a wonderland of nature and there is so much to see and do.
The dogs are passed out on the couch and I’m planning tomorrow’s adventures. I think we’ll go to Hopewell Rocks and Cape Engage'. More about those places next time.
It’s 51 degrees at 8:30 p.m. It’s a great night for sleeping!
Saturday afternoon
51 degrees and rainy, but not too hard. A little rain never hurt anyone. However, NOTE TO SELF #3: If you think carrying 35 pounds of dog down 87 steel steps to the beach so they can play on the rocks is a good idea, IT ISN'T! You have to carry them up, too!!! (the hole in the steel were too big for their tiny feet) And furthermore, the rocks were NOT a good idea at all! They were slippery (duh! They are under sea water 1/2 of their life!) It was an especially bad idea when I stepped on one end of a rock and tipped it while Tucker put his foot under the raised end! When I stepped off, the rock went down on his foot, and he started screaming bloody murder! I was sure I had broken his foot, However, he is just fine. Sure got everyone else's attention, though. Dog abuse!
I'll post picture from today at Hopewell Rocks and Cape Enrage another day, but here are a few from the high and low tide and the bay of Fundy.
The first is the dogs on the beach. The second is in the bay at high tide and the third is 6 hours later at low tide. It's amazing.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
A good end to to LONG day! I was up and on the road by 7 a.m. this morning and headed to Canada. Thanks to some entertaining phone calls before I crossed the border, the morning went quickly. It took about 30 minutes in line, - enough time for me to stash the marijuana before the border patrol got to my car. (just kidding, students!) and they looked at my passport and that was all. They asked what I did for a living and if the dogs were vaccinated. So, fellow RVer’s - at Milltown, New Brunswick, there was no dog food check, no wine check, no amount of meat check at all. They also asked if I had fire arms, which I don’t.
Nothing else happened until I got on the road to Fundy National Park. About 6 miles out, there was a flagman and as he let us go through, there was NO ROAD! It had been bulldozed and just a trough was there about 8 feet lower than the road had been. It was a disaster! I was in ruts bigger than my tires! I drove about 4 miles an hour for 5 miles and finally got here about 5:50 p.m. after losing another hour (now on Atlantic Daylight Time).
But the campground is great – tall trees, nice sites. I could hardly get set up for all the people coming to see the dogs and meet me. I now know where to hike, where to buy live lobster, where to get good take-out seafood and why this is the best campground to stay at! Good ole RV park reviews on the internet had already told me that. And best of all ------ it is COOL! I’m in sweats and it is 51 degrees outside.
Tomorrow, I plan to sleep in (ha!), go see the Fundy tides (more about that tomorrow) and hike with the pups!
I drove to the little village this evening. It is so picturesque! There are three or four seafood restaurants, two inns, a general store, two gift shops and a small harbor full of shrimp and fishing boats. I plan to spend the day! There is supposedly free WIFI just down the street in the little village, so I’m going to send this tomorrow so family (and a friend or two) will know I arrived. Hurricane Danny had better STAY AWAY!
Friday afternoon, August 28
It is a perfect day! When I woke up in my little house this morning, it was 50 degrees! Nice and crisp! I turned on the little electric heater instead of the furnace and it warmed up nicely.
The pups and I explored the Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy is phenomenal. It’s one of nature’s anomalies – as the tide comes into the bay, it “sloshes” like in a bathtub creating a very high wall of water on one end and as it “sloshes” back every 6 hours, it creates a very low water line, creating beaches that weren’t there. The rise is between 24 and 40 feet every twelve hours, and at low tide, you can walk all over the beach. We hiked to a beautiful waterfall and drove through part of the park – it is HUGE! The bay itself it hundreds of miles long and runs along New Brunswick on the west and Nova Scotia on the east.
I’ve been enjoying this crisp 70 degree weather and just relaxing this afternoon. I plan to go into the village and look around and maybe pick up some scallops for supper.
Fellow RVers – do not miss this part of North America. Terry and Carolyn – I’m so sorry you aren’t here, but you’ve got to make it here next year. The scenery is breathtaking. The national park sites are quite spacious and about a kilometer from the village. Just perfect!
The Atlantic maritime area is fabulous!
A good end to to LONG day! I was up and on the road by 7 a.m. this morning and headed to Canada. Thanks to some entertaining phone calls before I crossed the border, the morning went quickly. It took about 30 minutes in line, - enough time for me to stash the marijuana before the border patrol got to my car. (just kidding, students!) and they looked at my passport and that was all. They asked what I did for a living and if the dogs were vaccinated. So, fellow RVer’s - at Milltown, New Brunswick, there was no dog food check, no wine check, no amount of meat check at all. They also asked if I had fire arms, which I don’t.
Nothing else happened until I got on the road to Fundy National Park. About 6 miles out, there was a flagman and as he let us go through, there was NO ROAD! It had been bulldozed and just a trough was there about 8 feet lower than the road had been. It was a disaster! I was in ruts bigger than my tires! I drove about 4 miles an hour for 5 miles and finally got here about 5:50 p.m. after losing another hour (now on Atlantic Daylight Time).
But the campground is great – tall trees, nice sites. I could hardly get set up for all the people coming to see the dogs and meet me. I now know where to hike, where to buy live lobster, where to get good take-out seafood and why this is the best campground to stay at! Good ole RV park reviews on the internet had already told me that. And best of all ------ it is COOL! I’m in sweats and it is 51 degrees outside.
Tomorrow, I plan to sleep in (ha!), go see the Fundy tides (more about that tomorrow) and hike with the pups!
I drove to the little village this evening. It is so picturesque! There are three or four seafood restaurants, two inns, a general store, two gift shops and a small harbor full of shrimp and fishing boats. I plan to spend the day! There is supposedly free WIFI just down the street in the little village, so I’m going to send this tomorrow so family (and a friend or two) will know I arrived. Hurricane Danny had better STAY AWAY!
Friday afternoon, August 28
It is a perfect day! When I woke up in my little house this morning, it was 50 degrees! Nice and crisp! I turned on the little electric heater instead of the furnace and it warmed up nicely.
The pups and I explored the Bay of Fundy. The Bay of Fundy is phenomenal. It’s one of nature’s anomalies – as the tide comes into the bay, it “sloshes” like in a bathtub creating a very high wall of water on one end and as it “sloshes” back every 6 hours, it creates a very low water line, creating beaches that weren’t there. The rise is between 24 and 40 feet every twelve hours, and at low tide, you can walk all over the beach. We hiked to a beautiful waterfall and drove through part of the park – it is HUGE! The bay itself it hundreds of miles long and runs along New Brunswick on the west and Nova Scotia on the east.
I’ve been enjoying this crisp 70 degree weather and just relaxing this afternoon. I plan to go into the village and look around and maybe pick up some scallops for supper.
Fellow RVers – do not miss this part of North America. Terry and Carolyn – I’m so sorry you aren’t here, but you’ve got to make it here next year. The scenery is breathtaking. The national park sites are quite spacious and about a kilometer from the village. Just perfect!
The Atlantic maritime area is fabulous!
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