Real Talk!

Well, I haven't been able to blog... we were out of internet service for the past three nights. After we left Riviere de Loup we headed out toward New Brunswick fill up at lunch time where our mileage read 7463 and spending $19.00.

We stopped again near Lake George mileage 7676 and put in another $20 and then off toward Magnetic Hill where we stopped and topped up with a further $19.02 and read the mileage at 7880 km. We crossed the Confederation Bridge and finished the day at Victoria By the Sea P.E.I. and our mileage was 8026. Total so far 1681 Kms and $147.55 in fuel.

We stayed three nights with Homer Sampson and his lovely wife and fabulous family. We feasted on fresh lobster, collected sea shells and toured the landscape. First stop we had only added slightly to the mileage, reading it at 8032 and the following day to the other side of the Island and back 8101 and then 8219 when we finally returned to Homer's.

Last night we held a cribbage tournament for what was left of the best carrot cake any of us had ever tasted! It was so much fun. It was hard to bid our farewells, this morning... they are such lovely folks and spoiled us rotten. I do hope they let us return the favour and come visit Ontario sometime.

We paid a $16.50 toll (for motorcycles) leaving P.E.I. on the bridge... which is something else... quite a feat of engineering. We got rained on, quite heavily for a while. I found myself nodding off on the back of the bike. Seems that P.E.I. has worn us out with relaxation...

We hemmed and hawwed about going to the Cabot Trail (which had been our planned destination). It seems that a tropical storm is visiting the coast and it is unlikely that we would be able to enjoy the scenery of the trail. We decided to scrub that plan for another time.

Our next stop was Shediac for a fill up: Mileage 8335 and $19.01. Then Breakfast at "Bogarts" which was very nice. We stopped again, just outside of St John's... the boss said he was getting weary. Fuel: $14.80 Mileage: 8502 There was a "Tim Hortons" right there, so we had a cup of coffee and decided to head over to St Andrews By the Sea... mileage reads 8633.

It's fun to see the beautiful Algonquin Hotel, my gr-uncle Tony was the executive chef there, for a number of years. You can see the resemblance with other Fairmount Hotels... like the Royal York and the Banff Springs... historic places, really.

I guess St Andrews is almost a theme park these days. While there is a population of 1400 (which is close to size of Barry's Bay), most of the stores close up in the fall, winter and spring. Thank goodness Barry's Bay stays open.

Touring the countryside, I am reminded that Canada is an absolutely gorgeous country and the people are friendly and helpful. Still, I am ready to go home... even though we have another several days planned... but there's no place like home.

Cottage prices in PEI are eerily similar to Bancroft and Barry's Bay... but closer together and they tell me that getting a good well is a bit of a trick. Plus, many of the folks won't do the winter at their cottages... I guess it gets pretty gusty and white.

I'm sure it's pricier here in St Andrews... when we slip out for a bite, I'll do some research.