Sunday & Monday, August 5&6, 2012

Sunday, we stayed around the house, a little maintenance, a walk, and relaxed.

This morning, we drove back into Canada via the Houlton border crossing, and then drove up to Bristol, NB to see the Potato World Museum in New Brunswick.    Just as in PEI’s potato museum, we learned that potatoes are very nutritious depending on what you add to the potato.  Of course the fries we had for lunch at their café were not the best way to eat potatoes.

After leaving the potato museum, we drove to Florenceville, where we saw this partially covered bridge (the original bridge had burned).  We also had hot fudge sundaes to complete our lunches.

We headed north from Florencville intending to cross the river at the next bridge before heading back to Houlton.  The next bridge was in Perth-Andover.  We crossed the river, and went back to Bristol to cross back in to the US.  Today was our lucky day, and we were the “x” number car that had to be searched.  We parked, filled out the declaration form, they found nothing (we knew that would not be anything), and were on our way back to Houlton in a lot less time than if we had gone back to the I-95 crossing in Houlton.  (When we crossed this morning the US back-up was horrendous. 

Saturday, August 4, 2012

It was a great day.  We spent time working around the motorhome fixing  things.  We went to Wal-Mart looking for some hinges and drawer locks.  We found some hinges in a hardware store, and ordered the drawer latches from an RV dealer.  The hinges were the wrong design, and we will see if the drawer latches come in before next Friday.  I moved a hinge from a bedroom cabinet to one in the kitchen.  The bedroom can get by with only one for a while.  There is a Lowe’s or Home Depot in Bangor next week.

After lunch, I updated the software on Marilyn’s Droid.  This eliminated the unlimited hotspot on her phone.  I then added PdaNet to my phone to create and unlimited hotspot on my iPhone.  So far, it works great.  But it did take all afternoon to download and jailbreak the iPhone.

It is still nice to be able to access data on the phones now that we are in the US.

Canada Day 57, August 2, 2012

Today was our last day of sightseeing on PEI.  Tomorrow, we will leave via the Confederation Bridge.  Our first stop was in Fernwood, PEI to see the Seacow Head Light.      Looking out to the Northumberland Strait, we saw the eight mile Confederation Bridge for the first time.  The bridge spans the Northumberland Strait from Borden-Carleton, PEI to Cape Jourimain, NB. 

We continued along the coastal trail to Borden-Carleton to get more information about the bridge crossing, and to see the local lighthouses.  The toll on the bridge is C$44.25 for the first two axel vehicle, and C$7.25 for each additional axel.  We just hope it is not too windy tomorrow for the crossing.  We saw the following lighthouses near the bridge. 

After leaving Borden-Carleton, we drove to Victoria Seaport to take pictures of the following lights, plus to get lunch on the pier.  (Our lunch specials were 2 cheeseburgers plus corn chowder for me, and clam chowder for Marilyn.  They were great.)

On our way  back to the house, we stopped at the harbor area of Summerside to buy 5 pounds of frozen haddock, and found the Peacemaker in port giving tours.  We only took pictures.   

That is it for today.  Type at you later.

Canada Day 56, August 1, 2012

Seven months of the year are gone, and we are starting the eighth.  We woke up to a gray and rainy morning, so we were not in a hurry to start sightseeing.  We did leave before lunch, and our first stop was “Les Maisons de Bouteilles” (The Bottle House).  It was started by Edouard T. Arsenault.  He was also the last lighthouse keeper at the Cap Egmont.  Arsenault started the house because he had seen a similar one on Vancouver Island.  The one he built had to be re-constructed, and other buildings were added to create a museum.  For those who have been to south Florida, the museum reminded us of “Solomon’s Castle”.  First is the chapel – notice the cross made from beer bottles. 

Here are pictures of the house itself – notice the bottles on the rafters. 

They have a replica of the Cap Egmont Lighthouse since he was its last light keeper.

The place would not be complete without a tavern.  Of course, the bar is stocked with empty bottles. 

We did stop to take a picture of the actual Egmont Light. 

Our final stop for the day was the PEI Potato Museum.    After paying the C$7 each admission price we proceeded to the café for lunch.  We each had Potato Soup with a Biscuit, and we shared a small order of fries.  We did not finish the fries, so we will have the leftovers tomorrow night heated up with the fish.  After lunch we actually went through the museum.  Even old folks like us can learn new things.  The potato came from the South American Andes area where it was cultivated by the Incas.  Spain introduced the potato to Europe, and thus it has moved to other continents.  Today, China and Russia are the number 1 and 2 producers of potatoes, with Russia producing the highest per-capita amount.  Canada is number 3 in potato production, with PEI producing the most.

That is all for today.  Type at you later.

Canada Day 55, July 31, 2012

Today we took the North Cape Coastal Drive just to see what was there.  Our first stop was a view of the Cascumpec Light Station,followed by the rear Northport Range Light. 

We also found Jude’s Point Light. 

Then we moved on to North Cape Lighthouse.  This is the Northern-most point on PEI.    While here we went to the Wind and Energy Museum to learn about windmills generating electricity.  While there, we had lunch at the Wind and Reef Restaurant.  Marilyn had Seafood Crepes that she said were delicious, and I liked the fish and chips that I had. 

We could see some of the 2K reef that extends out from the Cape.  It is almost covered at high tide. 

Our next stop as we headed down the west side of PEI was the Seaweed Pie Café.  We read about the collection of Irish Moss and its uses in beauty products and ice cream.  We sampled the Seaweed Pie.  I won’t say that I would rush to get another piece, but I would not refuse to eat another one.  It was kind of a heavy blueberry whipped topping (green from the seaweed) on sponge cake.    The placemat at the café showed us a picture of Howard’s Cove Lighthouse that was not in our books or flyers, so that was our next stop. 

Our last stop of the day was at one of the most photographed lighthouses in the Maritimes – PEI’s West Point Lighthouse. 

Marilyn even climbed this one, so I took a picture of the beach from the top, and the light itself. 

Before we left, we both walked out on the beach to get our feet wet in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

That is all for today.  Type at you later.

Canada Day 54, July 30, 2012

We moved again today, from Bayside RV Park in Oyster Bed Bridge to Crystal Beach Campground near Summerside, PEI.  The park is Passport America in the off-season, but even its seasonal rate is not bad by Northeast standards.  We paid C$34.65 per night, and will stay here for 4 nights while we do our sightseeing in the western side of PEI.  We will leave PEI on Friday via the Confederation Bridge.    We have a water view site, and a beautiful view of Malpeque Bay through our windshield. 

After lunch we drove down to the Summerside waterfront where we stopped in to the Visitor Center, walked through the shops and the boardwalk.  We also stopped to take pictures of four different lighthouses.  The first lighthouse is Indian Head.    The second lighthouse is called Summerside Inner Range Light.    The last two are called Summerside Front and Back Range lights. 

On the way back to the house, we did what everyone does, we stopped at the grocery store. 

That is all for today.  Type at you later.

Canada Day 52, 2012-07-28

We have made our last stops in Anne’s Land.  Two more museums were enough, plus we purchased several Xmas presents for nieces.  We first stopped at the home of LM Montgomery’s birth.  Due to her mother’s illness, she only lived there for a couple of years. 

Next, we stopped at “Silver Bush”, the farm of Lucy’s Aunt and Uncle, where she went to stay after her grandmother died.  This was also the home where she was married.   Silver Bush is also the location for the “Lake of Shining Waters”.  It is actually just a pond. 

Of course, we can’t have a day without taking photos of lighthouses.  We found the following de-commissioned light named Old Fish Island in Cabot Provincial Park on PEI. 

Then we  found Malpeque Outer Range  Front and Back Lights.  They were on Private Roads, but we found that I could take pictures near Twin Shores Camping Area (600 sites but expensive).

We stopped for a nice lunch at the New London Seafood Restaurant.  Then we checked out the price of shellfish at Stanley Bridge.  We are back at the motorhome, and CTV has all day coverage of the Olympics.  We will see a lot of evening Olympic coverage.

That is all for today.  Type at you later.