We woke Friday to another gloriously sunny and HOT and HUMID day. The breeze off the water made the temps a little more tolerable while we puttered around doing odd jobs and bits around the bus and outside in the morning. I did turn my back once only to note that Dale did his disappearing act with the car! He reappeared shortly thereafter with the news that a) he had got the car washed and b) he ordered two lobster from Sobey's to be picked up in about an hour (he was having Sobey's steam them for us).
So, got ourselves organized and headed to Sobeys for a few groceries and to pick up the lobsters. They were HUGE...2 3/4 lbs each!!! Put them on ice when we got home and then headed out for a drive.
Our tour took us through what they call the North Cape Coastal drive. A good portion of the drive was through farm country, but we did hit the coast often enough to enjoy some spectacular water views. We went through charming little places such as Bonshaw, De Sable, Tryon, Bedec and arrived in Summerside in good time to enjoy a delicious lunch at a waterside restaurant. Walked around the waterfront, in and out of all the delightful little shops (made a few purchases to help the economy along!) and drove in and out of streets to see as much of the city as we could. An old town with a long Acadian history.
Leaving Summerside, we drove to Miscouche (remember, there is that spelling test coming up)and then turned inland to meet up with Hwy 2 and head back to Charlottetown. We didn't get to the western end of PEI; the day was getting on and we had a good 1 1/2 hour drive back and, of course, we had lobster waiting for us!
We knew from the previous nights experience that we needed to eat earlier if we were to avoid the mosquitoes so got everything organized and on the table by 6:30. We had stopped and purchased, from the $1.00 store, plastic ponchos to protect us from all the flying bits of shell and juice..we had learned our lesson well from the nigt before. Oh my goodness, was this lobster ever tasty. It was so big that I, who loves lobster, could not eat all of it. We were stuffed to the gills. Here we were, overlooking Charlottetown across the harbour, sun shining, seagulls circling, breeze blowing, feasting like royalty..we are so fortunate!
Saturday dawned rather calmly, a bit of a wind coming from behind the bus so we were able to sit out front and enjoy our morning tea/coffee. We watched the clouds scud across the sky, and the waves turning from gentle lapping at the shore to whitecaps bounding across the channel and then the wind picked up and the rain came.
We watched the storm from inside as it came thundering down on us. Torrents of rain, squalls of wind/rain racing across the harbour, wind bending the trees. And then the wind changed and came right at us. Sounded like machine gun hitting the bus the rain was so hard.
During this, Dale decided it would be a good time to get the bugs off the windshield as the rain would rinse everything off. So out he goes with my dishpan full of hot soapy water and not only scrubs the front windows, but decides to wipe down the stainless on the bus as well. He put the full pan of water down and the wind picked it up, threw it up about 15 feet in the air, turned it over and dumped the water out and the pan went sailing down the cliff. Dale came in, laughing over this scene and absolutely soaking wet! While he was doing this, I had the pleasure of a) laundry and b) cleaning out the fridge. A good day for inside chores.
The winds/rain continued well into the night, but Sunday morning, the skies were once again blue, the temperatures were down about 10-12 degrees or so, most pleasant. The wind was/is still up but gusty and quite pleasant.
This was a good day for another drive so we took ourselves off to drive around the Eastern part of PEI. We followed hwy 21, taking the odd off shoot to see what was "down there"; campbgrounds, little bays, etc. We stopped at St. Peter's Bay to visit some shops and found another delightful restaurant to stop and enjoy lunch(we seem to always be eating! We then continued to follow the coastal route through Morell, Monticella, Hermanville and to the East Point lighthouse. Other than Nfld, which was way off to the East of us, it was open ocean all the way. Quite breezy and must have been quite a site in the storm yesterday.
Coming around the point, we were now heading west, directly into the sun. Out of the wind, it was very warm! Our travels took us through Red Point, Souris, Rollo Bay, and then we turned back onto Hwy 2 to come back to Charlottetown. We missed doing the whole western side, but once again, with all our dithering about in the other spots, it was getting late in the afternoon and we were a good distance from Charlottetown. By the time we got back it was close to 5:00. Amazing how tiring being a tourist can be!
Saturday nights dinner was going to be Seafood Chowder, homemade by little old me! Dale was somewhat skeptical that it might not be as good as the samples he has had so far but I sure fooled him. Filled with white fish, lobster, shrimp, scallops, secret sauce and a few other goodies, it was, I must say, delicious. Even Dale was impressed!! Good thing too because there is enough left over for tonight as well!
Our early evening entertainment was watching a young couple erect their tent in the wind; we were going to offer help but they seemed to know what they were doing and we would have probably got in the way. (they were successful in short order). After that it was a quiet evening on the bus, a little scrabble for me (playing 7 different games on facebook), a little TV and a little reading. Nothing too strenuous.
Today, Monday, September 6 is going to be a day of organizing everything after being settled for five days. We've been spoiled with all the amenities so tomorrow, when we leave, will be back to conserving water and power. We will be taking the ferry to Nova Scotia and heading to North Sydney area to start our NS tour.
We've been in touch with Dale's cousins, Glen & Glenna Boden, who live just south of Boston and we'll be visiting with them later this month. As well, have been in touch with Patricia Wilkinson, who was our wonderful neighbour in North Palm Springs, and we'll get a visit in with here as well in Pasadena, Maryland. Looking forward to seeing these folks..been far too long.
So more travels and adventures await us. Till next time.....
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