Friday, May 31, 2019

East Coast 2019 - Part IV

We bid farewell to Kay, Geoff, Jay and Wilson, and The Island. After a quick goodbye coffee, we headed south to catch the morning ferry at Wood Islands, to take us across the Northumberland Strait to Nova Scotia. The crossing was pleasant, and after a quick stop in New Glasgow for a new cooler and hoodie sale too good to pass up, we carried on.

We took a quiet back road, following a scenic and circuitous drive (289/336/357) through the interior, hitting Upper Musquodoboit, Middle Musquodoboit, and finally Musquodoboit Harbour, all en route to our camping destination at Porters Lake Provincial Park.

Site 51 was wonderful - on an island across a causeway, on the point of a peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides. After setup, we darted back to the nearby village for groceries and liquor....only to see the sign on the second time entering that it was prohibited to consume or even possess alcohol on the premises!

The camping was good, with fair weather though a fair bit of rain. Unlike last year, when someone forgot the tent fly....this time, we brought the fly, but it leaked at the first sign of rain! As the drizzle began overnight, we ended up pulling a tarp over ourselves INSIDE the tent as the drops continued to fall. At least there was a break the next morning to dry out our bedding.

All in all, a great spot for relaxing, reading, and campfires - though maybe selling people DRY wood would be a good start to the park season.

We scooted into Cole Harbour for some water repellent spray to treat the fly, once it was dry and calm enough to do so.....but to no avail. It leaked again two nights later when the rains returned, though it took a little longer before the drip drip dripping began.

With two more days of straight rain in the forecast, we made the late decision (i.e. when we woke up one morning) to leave early and head for home, to spend the extra time visiting family in eastern Ontario instead. Spelling each other at the wheel, we drove for sixteen straight hours through mostly rain to reach a warm bed by just before midnight, even after gaining an hour to time zones.

We had a great visit with my mother and sister, and friends of ours from Kingston popped out for a few hours too. We also set up the tent again and dried out everything which had been packed up wet.

Only the six-hour trek home remained, to long grass and cooped up cats and a considerable mess, owing partly to a 22-year old feline starting to have some issues. Luckily, we had a team of three people taking rotations to look after things while we were away.....or it could have been much worse! (thank you thank you thank you)

Leaving PEI on the Wood Islands ferry


Great camping spot!


Reading by the fire

Hamburger Helper for lunch!

Great view out the door....

Drying out after the flood

Some good reading material!

An aqueous awakening

Site 51 at Porters Lake Provincial Park


Drying out wet camping gear at Mom's!

Thursday, May 30, 2019

East Coast 2019 - Part III

Our PEI visit continued with our convivial hosts touring us around the eastern reaches of the Island and visiting with family. We visited the nearby town of Georgetown and the national historic site at Roma. Opting to give our hosts a break, we also headed into Charlottetown for a day, to stroll the historic downtown, grab lunch (and beer!) at The Gahan, and some sorbet at Cows!

Having lamented the missed blueberry pie at Peake's Tee, and Kay having planted a few seeds with family.....a still-warm deep dish blueberry pie was found awaiting us on Kay's kitchen counter when we arrived home one night....thanks to sister-in-law Darlene!

Kay also took us to Murray River and Murray Harbour, in search of a local woodcrafter. The three of us took the opportunity to have a nice lunch in Murray Harbour, complete with some award winning local seafood chowder (none for Jane) accompanied by Gahan Iron Bridge brown ale.

Much time was also spent by three of the four of us (ahem) exploring a new and highly addictive Game of Thrones slots game. We also squeezed in visits to Cooper Bottom Brewing in Montague, and the excellent local Chinese food restaurant, The Dynasty....plus visits to the local liquor store and the cannabis dispensary!


Gahan House!

Confederation Centre

Confederation House....where Canada became a country

St. Paul's Church in Charlottetown

Murray Harbour

Buoy Oh Buoy!

Georgetown waterfront


Kings Playhouse in Georgetown

Roma

Thanks Darlene!

Strawberry Sorbet at Cows

Fish cakes!

Great lunch at The Gahan!

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

East Coast 2019 - Part II

We left our beautiful Airbnb early in the morning, and made a quick gas and coffee stop in Cabano. In minutes, we crossed into New Brunswick and followed quiet Highway 2 through rolling forested hills. Lower New Brunswick was still fairly flooded around Fredericton, where the Saint John River  threatened to crest the highway in several spots......but the highway remained open.

By early afternoon, we crossed the Confederation Bridge onto Prince Edward Island. After a brief stop at the Gateway Village, we continued eastward. Skirting the many roundabouts on the Charlottetown bypass, we crossed the Hillsborough Bridge and sped in earnest for eastern PEI and our destination near Montague.

We arrived at Kay and Geoff's place by late afternoon, as our amiable hosts welcomed us for the coming week. After a cold beer (maybe two) and a dinner of Sheppard's Pie made with bacon grease (in place of milk!) , the visit began.

Jay and new puppy Wilson also welcomed us, and Wilson quickly attached himself to Jane's lap, where he would remain a fixture for the next several days. We had to leave him for a time, to tour Panmuir Island and take a loop around Mooney's Pond, before some visiting at Peake's Tee for some wings, frings, and another cold one.....after all, Kay was driving! Sadly, despite what the menu board said, they had run out of their homemade blueberry pie.

We also visited Kay's family property along the North Shore, where a patient drive down a sketchy (and wet) road led to a beautiful oceanfront property with several trailers shared by various family members.....what a wonderful spot!


Confederation Bridge - welcome to PEI!


The dunes and beach at Panmuir Island


Panmuir Island Lighthouse - oldest wooden lighthouse on PEI

Wilson!

Jay!

North Shore scenery

The Family property

Mooney's Pond

Friday, May 24, 2019

East Coast 2019 - Part I

With the Juke fully loaded, we headed out for the first leg of the annual trek to the East Coast. After a quick work-related stop in Guelph, we opted for the 407 to avoid the majority of the GTA chaos. By evening, we arrived in eastern Ontario for a brief visit with Mom and Burt and a comfy bed for the night.

We set out early on Friday morning, covering the remainder of Ontario before crossing into Quebec by mid-morning. We chose the handy Highway 30 bypass around Montreal, and spent most of the day peering through windshield wipers as heavy rains washed us northward on Highway 20 up the east bank of the St. Lawrence River.

Turning east at Riviere du Loup, we followed the 85 across to Cabano, where we stopped at a Metro for groceries and a few select local beverages. Leaving the main highway, we skirted north along the shores of Lake Temiscouata, where we would spend the night at a great Airbnb overlooking the lake and directly across from a national park.

With an entire apartment to ourselves at a ridiculous price ($64!!), we spent a quiet night enjoying a meagre meal and placid scenery as drizzle, fog and darkness enveloped the lake.


Great Airbnb just outside Cabano in northern Quebec

La Belle Province!



Gorgeous views of Lake Temiscouata!

The Town of Cabano from across the darkened lake

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Carry On

We hit the casino for Cinco de Mayo to check out Kansas, still prog rockin' after 46 long years....though down to two founding members on drums and lead guitar. Mind you, some of the "newbies" still have 30+ years in with the band!

After a quick dinner at a busier than expected Johnny Rockets, accompanied by some live 70's cover tunes in the main casino, it was off to the Colosseum for the show. We opted for our new favourtie seats in the very top right corner of the mezzanine, for easy entry and escape....though escape was delayed as they held "Carry on My Wayward Son" until a very rousing encore!

We even ran into our friend Lesley at the slots on our way out!

Jane loved his pants!

Kansas!

Rock on