Month: August 2024 (Page 1 of 2)

Saturday, August 31, 2004, 44.1 miles: After a great night’s sleep, and a hearty Dalton breakfast (we didn’t plunge this time, but Dalton did), we headed off to the Summerside area for our last full day in PEI.

Dalton suggested we check out the indoor Farmer’s Market in Summerside and we did so, but didn’t find much we needed or could keep without refrigeration. We did, though, get approached by a couple of guys “selling” the “Love Summerside Community BBQ” at a local park. It was put on by area churches and open to everyone. As it was on the way to the campground we were considering, we headed that way. Free BBQ (for me, anyway) and ice cream and other food and treats and we imbibed.

Friday, August 30, 2004, 37.4 miles: After a restful night, we joined Dalton for his morning dip in the Gulf. Cool, but not cold, and very refreshing. Certainly got our blood moving. And what a beautiful, wide beach. With sand, vs. the rocks that make up the beaches in the Bay of Fundy.

After breakfast, the three of us took off for a 34 mile ride that morphed to 37 with a few sightseeing detours. Dalton, though he’s done a lot of touring, had mostly been doing 15 & 20 mile rides, so we tired him out a bit, but he was right with us the whole ride. We stopped for gorgeous views of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, little harbor villages, a rec center, and finally, to Kensington again for lunch. The Island Pub had a two hour wait, so we opted for the C&B Corner Cafe right across the street, and got our order in just under the wire as they were closing soon.

Thursday, August 29, 2004, 50.3 miles: Coffee in the room today, so no scramble to get going, and we have a host tonight! We eased out of the motel just before checkout time and headed back to the Confederation Trail heading west.

Wednesday, August 28, 2004, 31.1 miles: Another no coffee day, but we only had 15 miles to get to Charlottetown where we were sure we could get our caffeine. Rain was threatened for the afternoon, so we broke camp rather early and were on our way at 8.

Tuesday, August 27, 2004, 75.6 miles: Word of the day: Coffee! With an exclamation point! Coffee was on our minds from waking to morning ablutions to breakfast of granola and YOPs^* to packing up the gear and getting on the road. And we purposely had not brought coffee prep material because I assured Dana there was a Tim Hortons on every corner. Not today and not here.

Monday, August 26, 2004, 56.1 miles: Bob cooked us pancakes for breakfast, and “instructed” us in how to eat them: “A little plain yogurt first, then fresh fruit bits, and finally, a little maple syrup.” Glenda had her own style and just used butter and syrup. We liked Glenda’s, “Yeah, I’m doing it my way” attitude. However, the pancakes were great and we ate them up to fuel our trip to the ferry.

Sunday, August 25, 2004, 58.6 miles: We left Andrew and Kelly to the peace and quiet of Rockcliffe Dr. and started off on our tour to PEI. First leg was to Truro and a warm showers host. To start off, however, we first had to navigate two and a half miles of gravel road through Charlie’s development and a logging area which was closed to traffic. Going this way meant some gnarly gravel riding, especially fully loaded, but it saved 15 miles (and still 2.4 miles of gravel riding) vs. going into Parrsboro first. We averaged 5 mph for those first 2.5 miles, but also saved a hour and 12.5 miles. Fortunately, we had ridden that road in the other direction on our first ride, so we knew what was coming.

Saturday, August 24, 2004: Dana heard from a few people that Chignecto Provincal Park had good hiking and was a definite must visit. Dana wanted to ride, I didn’t. I’d been struggling with a ball of foot issue and wanted to be able to hike without adding 37 hilly miles beforehand (and 37 miles back!). So, off she went, and it was a hard ride as it was challenging enough in the car! 😉In the park, we checked out the various trails. Many were meant for two or three days with overnight stays, but we found a good option of about 6 miles with a mile of that on the low-tide beach. We started off on the beach leg to beat the coming high tide and a great, quiet hike. The cutouts I made in my insoles worked like a charm and I was able to hike pain free until the last 1/2 mile or so. All-in-all a win.

Friday, August 23, 2024: Still exploring Parrsboro. We drove into Parrsboro today, saving our butts the two miles of gravel on the 7 mile ride to town. We took a hike out onto the Two Island Beach, with the locals warning us not to get caught by the incoming high tide. The Bay of Fundy is famous for experiencing the “Highest Tides in the World!” At low tide, you can walk out to the Two Islands (we were too late for that, though) and camp overnight if you’re so inclined. We didn’t experience that this trip, but maybe on a future outing?!

Thursday, August 22, 2024 On our first full day in NS, we rode into Parrsboro to scope out our “home base” for the next few weeks. When we got into town, we were immediately met by the unofficial “ambassador” (Tom?) who pointed out things to see and do in this quaint little town. We headed off to Ottawa House a few miles south, took in the mini-museum and spent some time walking the beach out towards Partridge Island. We couldn’t do the island trail because the tide was coming in — one of the first things we learned about this area is that most everything outdoors is tied to the tides, which covers things like the trail to Partridge Island in seawater and makes them impassable. Locals warned us multiple times about not getting caught by the tides. We took that advice to heart.