May 14 & 15, 2006

May 14 & 15, 2006

Shediac, New Brunswick to Oyster Bed Bridge, Prince Edward Island

YEAR 2 DAYS 331 & 332

 

Sunday ; The weather today was variable. On the coastline in New Brunswick it was cool and foggy. On the coastline in Prince Edward Island it was cold and foggy, while inland it was sunny and warm.

This morning we prepared for departure, and left Wishing Star campground in Shediac, heading southeast along the coast on Hwy. 15. Near Port Elgin we turned east onto Hwy. 16 heading for Cape Tormentine, and the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island. The last time we went to P.E.I. the Confederation Bridge had not yet been built, and it was a ferry crossing from N.B. to P.E.I.. The Confederation Bridge is quite an engineering marvel, at 13 km. / 8 miles long. It's too bad that the fog was so thick as we crossed the bridge that we couldn't see much.

We stopped at the P.E.I. Visitor Information Centre and picked up a map, campground guide, and some tourist guides. Lanoire was getting low on fuel. We should have filled up in New Brunswick, but we didn't see any service stations with diesel since we left Shediac. We started driving on Hwy. 1 towards Charlottetown, looking for a diesel service station. Lanoire's low fuel warning light and alarm buzzer came on. We checked the overhead console computer, and it said the "distance to empty" was 35 km.. Hmmm ... we were 34 km. from Charlottetown. Might be close ! Before we got to Charlottetown we found a service station with diesel, and filled up. Geeez ... a hundred and forty bucks ! Big tank !

At Charlottetown we turned west onto Hwy. 2 and followed it to Hwy. 7, where we turned northwest to the town of Oyster Bed Bridge. We found our way to Bayside RV Campground on Rustico Bay. We registered, then got set up in our campsite.

We had lunch. I napped. We wasted the rest of the day, unproductively fighting, generally making one another feel quite miserable. Again ! Additionally, I was feeling ill. The colonoscopy seems to have produced a colitis flare up.

 

Monday ; Today was a beautiful, sunny warm day. I started the day by doing yesterday's accounting and journal entry. When Joanne got up, we had a discussion, trying to put an end to our bickering misery. It took us the entire morning to achieve that !

I trimmed some hair off Bo's face. Now we can see his eyes again. I cleaned Teddy's ears. He hates having his ears handled in any way. We had lunch, then set off to do some exploring of Prince Edward Island. First stop was across the road from the campground, where we walked out onto the tidal flats of Rustico Bay. The tidal flats seemed to be a mussels bed. Next we drove toward Prince Edward Island National Park. We entered the national park, then stopped at the fishing village of Covehead Harbour. We walked out onto the fishing wharf, and watched a lobster fishing boat return from a day of lobster fishing. I took some photos. We walked across the road to the beach and looked at the lighthouse there. We continued driving through the national park, exploring by road. At the eastern edge of the park, we turned around and drove back all the way through to the western edge of the park.

We drove out of the national park, and explored the back roads of P.E.I.. All of P.E.I.'s roads are back roads. The island is very rural. Fishing villages along the coast. Fertile farms and frequent small villages inland. We stopped at a small "Mom & Pop" gouda cheese maker in Winsloe North and bought some gouda cheese. We continued exploring by road, stopping in North Rustico to buy some groceries at Co-op, and refill some water jugs at Home Hardware. I didn't realize until I was looking at the map as I type this journal entry that North Rustico is the last little village before coming to "Green Gables" of Lucy Maud Montgomery's story "Anne Of Green Gables". We bought some very nice cod at the Co-op. We didn't buy any salted cod bits. What does one do with salted cod bits ? ? ?

We drove back to our campground. I worked on today's journal entry and accounting while snacking on some fresh cookies Joanne baked this morning. Our family physician’s nurse phoned. He wants Joanne to return to his office to discuss results of blood tests. I really detest “doctor games” like that. We’re on the road, a thousand miles from Ottawa ! What difference does it make whether you discuss these results over the phone, or in person, other than the larger amount of revenue you can generate with an office visit ? ! ?

I downloaded and processed the photos I took today. Joanne went outside to spray paint the undersides of the sink covers ... again. I painted them last summer at West Hawk Lake. The result was unsatisfactory. She painted them with a primer / sealer while we were in Ottawa recently, and now has painted them with a finish coat. The result is still unsatisfactory, in my opinion. I went outside and worked on some paint touch ups on the truck. I bought a can of spray paint recently. I had previously done a few little touch ups with a small brush, and today I did some spray touch ups. The driver's side rear door handle, the back of the passenger's side mirror, and the inside edge of the tailgate. Some people, like Lanoire's original owner, sure are rough on new vehicles. Or maybe, if you're planning not to make your payments, and have the truck repossessed anyway, you don't really care ? ! Actually, the little white paint scratch on the back of the passenger's side mirror happened since we got the truck, in the Dickinson's condo parking lot in Ottawa. Lanoire's huge trailer towing mirrors stick out very far. A white truck parked next to us, and clipped Lanoire's mirror, with its mirror, I guess. I'm going to have to remember to fold the mirrors down flat against the truck when parked in small spaces in crowded parking lots.

While eating supper we watched a show on CBC from Newfoundland. I love learning regional colloquialisms, like "red head step child" ( silent "d" ) from Louisiana. I learned from tonight's TV show that someone in Newfoundland that is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier is "stunned as me arse". HA HA HA !

After supper I went out to the picnic table to clean up Joanne's painting mess. Bo was on his tie out. A skunk walked through the campground. Bo barked furiously at it. Bo ... don't be so "stunned as me arse". HA HA HA HA HA !

DSK