Sept 9, Coming Home in Style

Hard to believe but its the last day of our great adventure.  We got up and loaded the car and then headed out to find breakfast,  the first few places recommended to us were not actually open for breakfast we then found two places side by side, first one we went into was The Yolk, which I'm sure was good but they only had turkey bacon so we decided no, then we went to Casa Mia Cafe'.  Had the Egg's Benny and this place puts them on some kind of a roll and give the added bonus of spinach on them,  delish and the potato hash with it was also delish.  My only complain was to much, couldn't eat again before we left,  well I did make the ultimate sacrifice and had some "Cows" ice cream. After breakfast we split up to make sure well all seen what we wanted to see in Charlottetown.  I was actually shopped out so crabbed a tea and went back and sat in the hotel lobby and read for a while. The others joined me, then it was farewell to PEI, farewell to our car...the Chevy Cruz served us well,  was a nice car to drive.  We had to check one bag  so we could get all our booze back.  As I mentioned I was still full when we left Charlotte town which was too bad, since they had some nice salads and decent sammiches, arriving in Toronto which you would think would have lots to choose from we found a Timmies that only had donuts...no sammiches, and another place that had wraps,  being that we had just a little over an hour we really didn't have an opportuntiy to go in search of real food.  I opted for some yoghurt, OJ and a chocolate bar....almost healthy.  We then boarded our plane and were off, now here's where the fun starts,   about 20 min into the flight I was overheating ...yea menopause, and wasn't to worried as W2 was thinking it was really hot to,  then I started getting a pain in my chest (this happened in Calgary a few months ago and I was in the hospital  for 8 hrs)  I knew this was not going to be fun so told W2 I felt like crap and was heading for the bathroom,  I got to the flight attendants station, and the lady asked if I was ok,  I said no not really, buy this time the pain was spreading, and I was having problems breathing....this is what happened before,  so she phoned the help line or whatever they call it by this time the other two attendants and a parimedic who happened to be on the flight where there.  They are asking me all sorts of questions but I can't breath well enough to answer so I get a paper and pen and explain whats going on and that its happened before,  they asked if there was anything they could get me, I suggested a bullet.  When this happens not only can I not breath but its a nasty pain and I can't find a comfortable position, keep in mind this is by the bathroom near the cockpit.  there is a fold down shelf,  I lean on this, then I stand up then I sit on the floor, stand up again, lay down on the floor, and all the time this nice young man who was a paramedic was following me up and down and telling me to remain calm and try to breath deep.  The pain and pressure continued to build and then I started puking....they just kept taking the bag and giving me a new one with lots of napkins.  The puking definitely helped things and was feeling much better, meanwhile one of the attendants had rearranged some seating and I was moved to a row of 3 seats to lay down,  when I finished puking they brought me some water and an aspirin(just in case it was a heart attack) gave me some blankets, a hot water bottle, and some oxygen and told me there would be paramedics waiting for me when we landed....good grief.  I then dozed off and on till we landed,  they then announce that everyone had to remain seated till I got off, by this time I was feeling ok, a little sore and tired but whatever this was (some think gall bladder) had passed.  I had paramedics, firemen and even the pilot came out to see if I was ok.....felt so special.  they walked me off to a waiting gurney and as we were walking the one guy said something about me being 61...WHAT,  I told him that hurt more than the not breathing,  I informed him I"m only 56,  from there on we got along great,  they checked me over and said it was up to me if i wanted to go home or the hospital,  I said home,  and if I was still feeling crappy by the time we got to Moose Jaw I'd go to the hospital,  so then I signed forms for everyone, releasing them of responsibility if I keeled over, by this time W2 and E came out with all the bags, mine and there's,  managing to get all my stuff.  The good thing about all this was our bag was already out so we didn't have to wait for baggage.  It was about 15 minutes for me to find the parking ticket and my keys and then we were off.  It really a good thing this passed quickly because they didn't know where the keys or the parking stub where, plus E just got her license and doesn't know how to drive stick and W2 hasn't drove one for years so they needed me lol.  I have unpacked and am ready for bed,  poor W2 and E still have a couple hrs of driving before they arrive home, safe travels friends its been fun.  Thanks to the Westjet crew, they were totally amazing and very professional, and I really really appreciate all they did,  and thanks to the nice paremedic who just happend to be on the flight.  So next time your flying Westjet, be sure to tell them what a great job they do.......and that's all till next time the travel bug hits

Sept 8, Light houses and beaches

Good day  I started the day with a nice continental breaky  then a quick trip to the post office to send the last of the post cards, back to the hotel to pick up the others and we are off in search of light houses and beaches.  We make a stop in Murray's River  to check out a couple stores, first the general store which is filled  beautiful quilts,  then next door to the Magik Dragon, W2 looks in the window and says you go first you will like this, so I open the door and there is this giant dog coming my way, which scared the crap outta me as I wasn't expecting it, turns out to be a beautiful Irish Wolf Hound only 18 months old named Fergus.

Say Hi to Fergus.... at Magik Dragon

 I could have stayed and hung out with him all day....the store was good to I did manage to buy a few things,  definitely worth the stop check it out if your ever in the area.  Down the road we went the first light house being a little way down and being a cool misty day we drove on to the next one which were were able to go into and look around,  much smaller than I expected but very cool all the same.

top of the light house

 

From there we went in search of a beach,  I stopped and asked a nice man tending his garden who was nice enough to show us the way, the beach turned out to be where we stopped to see the first light house.  We spent a good hour there looking for shells and walking along the sand.  A local came buy with his golden retriever who took a liking to W2 and insisted she throw rocks for him to chase, E eventually got it to come play with her a while.  As we were getting ready to leave another lady came along with her dog for a walk along the beach,  another friendly dog,  ran around for a while then decided he should jump into our car, much to the dismay of his owner and something I found very funny.  From there we headed to York,  to pick up some seed, then off to Charlottetown for our last night,  our first stop was a quilt shop which I had been hoping to find more of,  it wasn't a great quilt store but I did find a few fat quarters of Ann material but no lobster material, so we headed to fabricville which is equivalent to fabricland in the west.  They had some nice east coast stuff so I feel I have got my material quota for this trip,  it was then off to our hotel, the Charlottetown Rodd, which is similar style to the Bess. in Saskatoon.  We unloaded the car and then went in search of supper at a lovely little tavern called "The Old Triangle"  I had the moonshine burger which they lit on fire for me,  very tastee and went very well with the Keith's.  After all that food it was time for me to go for a walk while the others went back for a swim.  I came across a couple stores still open... bought a book on facts from the maritime, then headed home to try and figure out how to get all my goodies into my suitcases......and yes I bought another bag just for that but still .....

Sept 7, Help I can't get out of Ann's Haunted Forest

Another lovely day for a drive and we are off to see Ann of Green Gables.  After a short drive we arrived in Cavendish and the hunt for Green Gables begins,  after passing several end of the season sales we find the the site where Lucy Maude Montgomery grew up, there is no house here but there is a little book store and a nice lady who gave us the history and told us it was a short walk to Green Gables,  so off we went past the cellar of the original homestead, thru the haunted forest and ending up at Ann's house.  We took a tour thru the house, then off to the gift store, and a stop for ice cream and raspberry cordial. Then it was time for a picture with Ann,  she couldn't be found, turns out she was on her lunch break...what the heck Ann eats lunch, time was off the essence as a zip line with our name on was waiting, not to mention a sale or two.  We decided to head back to the car and drive back to Green Gables get a quick pic and be on our way.  So off we went,  I was on a mission so with my head down I was off,  I thought if I was a little quicker than the other two I could get the car cooled off,  only one problem I missed a turn and ended back at Green Gables, so back into the forest again this time paying attention,  shortly before arriving at the car I got a text from my traveling partners asking where was I ....have  I mentioned I"m having a few problems with my directions on this trip. I finally got back and off we went with a quick trip to buy a "PEI dirt dyed dirt shirt"  then a quick pic with Ann and an even quicker stop to check out the sale and we were off to Rise and Climb in Cornwall.  What a cool place, there was all these amazing climbing things but most important was a zip line...it was only about 30 feet up and 600 ft long.  W2 bowed out on this one,  so E and I got our instructions then up the stairs, so far not to bad, oh did I mention we were going tandem,  so we could jump to our death together. anyway up we went and got all hooked up and 1 2 3 and were off....what a hoot, it was great  landing the first time was a little rough I somehow managed to smack myself in the face.  Back up the hill and 3 more jumps for me,  E did  a couple more zips than me, being less than half my age she had more energy, by the last couple times she was flipping around upside down, too much fun.

Zip lining....naa  its the other fun stuff at the zip lining that we didn't get to do, 

 After this we headed to New Glasgow for our lobster supper that I've been hearing so much about. Ya gotta like seafood to go there the smell of seafood hits you when you walk in.  We ordered our lobster and we led to our table. Our waitress informed us it was a 5 course meal.  First it was soup...seafood chowder (nope) and a tomato basil bisque (yum) then mussels  ok I'll try one, not my fav but ok, then salad, we got tossed, potato and coleslaw,  then the lobster arrived  it was ok but really all I really tasted was butter.  You get the full lobster  sliced in half, which is ok except for the liver which is supposedly a favorite of some peoples but me it was nasty green stuff, I actually gaged looking at it ,  I know don't be so stupid, but it just bothered me. We got thru it,  with E having fun playing with the poor lobsters claws and legs ..what a kid

Then it was desert awesome lemon meringue pie for desert and we headed for Montague for our second last night in the maritime.  The drive was fine but no idea what we passed as it was dark, must be cloudy cause you couldn't even see stars.  Our hotel tonight, Lanes River House is very nice, with a view of the river.....I think, did I mention it was really dark out there , that's all folks

Sept 6, Flower Pot Rocks you say?

Up and down for breakfast(as in got up and walked down the stairs),  there was a trio who were from the Netherlands, one of them having immigrated to PEI very friendly.  My little buddy (the grandson...did  I mention he was 4) eventually came for his breakfast so we had a nice little chat with him,  buy the time we left he was trying to talk his granny into spending the day at Hopewell Rocks and hanging out with us.  The rocks is where we spent a few hours of today, in low tide the place looks so different and you can tell how really high the tide does get.  Climbing down about 6 flights of stairs we reached the beech along with several hundred other people.  I have no idea how far I walked but it was great,  looking at the cliffs, the rocks, the ocean, trying not to get stuck in the red mud, great work out.

Hopewell Rocks  High and Low tide

I headed back before the other two,  stopping for my daily fix of ice cream (today's flavour was grizzly tracks, white choc swirl with choc cover caramel chunks...mmmm) then the 15 minute walk back to the gift shop where they had tons of great stuff much of which I bought or so it seemed.  Tons of lobster humor stuff...love it.  I then settled in on the deck with NB fries.  I have noticed on this trip there are lots of people with dogs and today was no exception  one of each color of lab, husky, bull dog, collie, and grey hound....I have noticed a fair amount of grey hounds since arriving here, which I mentioned to the mom of this greyhound,  she told me there has been 800 grey hounds rescued in the area....retired racers.  I was talking dogs to one guy when E and W2 got back, so after a quick snack and trip to the shopping area for them and a quick trip to the info center we were off.  About an hr later we arrived at the Confederation Bridge and I must say I have never had so much fun crossing a bridge before.  Poor W2 is afraid of heights and this was rather terrifying for her, much to the amusement of myself and E who was taping the whole trip.  Again I was laughing so hard I was crying, today it might have been more due to fatigue than fear.  I can also now get an idea why dad use to love scaring the crap out of me doing such things when I was little.   We finally got across the bridge and stopped at the visitors center where Emily was so nice and helped us book our remaining 3 nights even thought it was closing time.....3 stars to here for being so helpful. About half hour later we arrived in Summerside and booked into the Loyalist hotel, a short stroll across the street for supper, tonight W2 and I shared a fish taco and a burger, with a couple Keith's.... now a relaxing couple hrs and I'm ready for bed.  I think we did more walking today than any other day since leaving Halifax and poor E is looking a bit like a lobster....did  I mention its been around 30 since we got here.

todays sign

Sept 5 Fare thee well to Nova Scotia, Hello New Brunswick

So today was more of a leisurely day  slept in a bit, had a lovely breakfast chatted with some people from BC and from England.  Chatted with our host about her quilts She didn't make them but they were hand made on the east coast beautiful work. We then hoped in the car and headed to Hopewell Cape in New Brunswick with their famous flower pot rocks.  The drive was pretty uneventful,  which was good,  we arrived in Shepody in the early afternoon and got checked into the Shepoday Inn, nice little place and wonderful people running it.  I even had time for a quick game of eye spy with the owners grandson, cute sociable little fellow with eye lashes most women would pay good money for lol.

our Inn for the night

me and Frankie waiting outside

 W2 had kinda checked out the zip lining  and so E and I were suppose to try this out at Cape Enrage.....you'd think the title would have been a clue.  We couldn't get in till tomorrow but it was on the way to Alma where we were headed to do a little shopping and have supper so we figured we'd check it out.  I turned off the main highway and followed the signs,  the first was bad enough with lots of hills and curves and trees surrounding so you couldn't tell what was around the next corner....oh yea the moose signs, good grief that's a lot to think about while driving.  The closer we got the steeper the hills and more curves,  the power lines kept getting closer to the road edge too.....no place to put them farther out ??   So were driving along and W2 and I are getting more and more nervous which started the giggles.  We came around one corner and there was the ocean and it looked like we would drive right into it, which was bad enough but the road went way up on this bloody curvy road (I learned about white knuckling it while trying not to throw up) up up up we climbed and finally got to the top.  There was gale force winds blowing and these not so sturdy looking (I'm sure they were fine to other people but to middle age panic stricken women...not so much) stairs to the top of the zip which went over the cliff edge to another spot with the water  and rocks below.....NOPE not happening,  the lady at the gate was good didn't bat an eye when we said we changed our minds.  E was very disappointed but W2 and I were never so relieved to leave a place, I think we were on the verge of hysteria,  we were laughing so hard I had tears running down my face....maybe not the best thing when driving down a scary road to freedom.  We got back on the main highway and headed to Alma which had a pretty good gift shop where I was able to buy a few things then W2 and E made a quick stop at the bakery next door for cinnamon buns for later, then across the street for supper at the Boathouse, fish and chips and a Keith's to calm our nerves after that harrowing experience.  The staff there were awesome,  very friendly and helpful in our supper decisions.  We then headed back to go check out the Hopewell rocks at high tide.  long walk to see them but it was well worth it,  looking forward to  tomorrow when its low tide.  I noticed we were getting low on gas so a 15-20 minute trip down the road we finally found a service station, then back to the Inn and to bed.  Tonight's bed was the cutest sofa bed, single bed size.  nite nite

Frankies gets into shopping

 

one of the covered bridges we seen in NB

 

 

Sept 3 - Rum before 11 am

so the lovely Bluenose Inn gives you a basket filled with fruit, cinnamon knots, crosants  along with a kureg in each room breakfast was served.  We then headed over to the local farmers market,  where I compared to ours at home,  it was kinda fun a few artisans, lots of fresh veggies, a big long line up at one table selling breads of all sizes and shapes,  mushrooms, and wine and spirits. hence the start of our drinking before 11.  It was probably about 9:45 at this time.  The Ironworks distillery had liquors and rum, gin and vodka.  we tasted a few liquors then headed out to look thru a few of the stores in the area killing time until 11.  W2 directed us to the Ironworks Distillery as she wanted to buy  some dark rum for her men folks.  After a little tasting I found myself buying some gin....Gin and tonics all round when I get home, (combining two of my trips,  England where l learned to like G&T and NS where I found some incredible gin).  E and I then went to Magnolia while W2 went next door to the Salt Shaker for clam chowder.  I tried a Lobster Roll which was pretty good, at least I can now say I tried one.  We then hit the road first stopping in New Minas to check out the Walmart....I needed a gym back to get my extra stuff home and W2 &E find something inexpensive and white to wear Tidal Bore Rafting tomorrow,  we then headed  toward Wolfville and Grand Pre were we found our next home for the evening.  A lovely little place called "The Old Lantern Inn" surrounded by vineyards, with the exception of the spiders it was great...I don't notice them much but my travel buddies can spot them miles away, its so bad W2 had me come rid  one from the roof of the bathroom while she was in the shower...the lengths I go to for a friend lol.  We traveled back into Wolfville for supper at a little pub called Paddy's, shout out to the waitress who was really good and entertaining.  A quick stop at the nsls (LBS to those of us in SK)and back to our home.  Before settling in for the night

our B&B  and the vineyards behind

todays sign

Sept 4....Tidal Bore Rafting day....I'm the photographer

Up and off to breakfast at the Old Lantern Inn.   The breakfast was unbelievable.  I had french toast which was served with bacon, and a lovely array of fresh fruit, blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, orange and grapefruit....W2 had eggs benny and E had a ham and cheese omelet, all incredibly good.  We then drove down the road to the Tangled Garden , W2 had read about the beautiful garden with various jelly's and liqueurs infused with various herbs.  We spent about 3/4 hr there wandering around.

 It was then off to New Mina's for a towel and possible shoes for the rafting.  The "hour" drive took us closer to 2 which made it a scramble to get to the river running.  When we started our adventure W2 said were were going white water rafting and zip lining so I explained the white water rafting was not going to happen.  I would be happy to stay on land and take pictures, and that zip lining might happen.  The white water rafting is actually Tidal Bore Rafting which I  recommend you google...be sure to include Maitland NS which is where we were.  They got them all geared up and then off they went down the long trail of reddish mud out to catch the waves in the Kodiak's.  Although I was pretty happy I was on shore (only a slight ever so slight wish I'd joined them)  I started off on one pier watching the boats go by,  once they were buy everyone jumped in their cars and headed over to a viewing bridge down river.  It had kind of a party atmosphere,  had a great time chatting with all the people. then finally off in the distance we seen the Kodiak's coming.  I was surprised at how well you could see and hear,  W2 &E waved ...W2 looked much happier than I expected with being unnerved by the ocean and her sore back and legs, meanwhile E was grinning from ear to ear.

  I took pics of them then while they continued down the muddy red water.  on the way back I stopped and checked out a wood working studio, work was beautiful and the artist was a  nice fellow to chat with.  I then stopped in the local store for the days ice cream (Mariners sea salt Carmel mmmmmmm)  Then stopped by Foley House where we were staying for the evening....when I asked about a key the landlady said no one locks their doors but she'd see if she could find me a key.  Our room was  the whole 3rd floor, we all got actual beds to ourselves...W2 and E didn't have to share and mine wasn't a cot or hide a bed, nice little sitting area and a deck overlooking the neighbourhood.  I then headed back to the River Runners to wait for W2 and E, arriving just as they were getting out of the boat. both soaked and looking frozen but very happy. They went to shower and I waited upstairs to wait in the office area.  A tastee steak supper was provided with the rafting and for a nominal fee I was able to join them.  I would seriously consider doing this if I get back this way and W2and E I'm sure would recommend it to anyone. We then headed back to our B&B meet some of the other guests and then off to bed....Another day done