Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: Prince Edward Island

Snapshots from Prince Edward Island – Lighthouses & Lovely Scenery

Before Mark, Maya, and I drove north to “explore the Canadian Maritimes a bit”, we didn’t plan anything, as always. The only thing my husband and I discussed was visiting our friend Woody in the Halifax area – he received three days’ notice – and our friends Alex and Dave “somewhere on Prince Edward Island” (PEI). We didn’t inquire where on the island they were located, until a couple of days before we headed that way. We let them know about our arrival, which happened the following day, as things sped up thanks to Hurricane Dorian. There’s a fine line between a “surprise” visit and a “planned” visit when it comes to hosting us. You are warned!

In a car or camper, PEI can be reached by bridge or ferry. The exorbitant toll of the bridge is paid on the return journey; when you leave the island. A little-known fact is that the ferry to the island is free as well, even if you return via the bridge. The prices online are for the return trip on the boat. But what if you want to take the ferry there and the bridge back, because that makes more sense logistically? You could reserve a one-way spot and pay $79 for that privilege. Or, you could just show up early enough, get in line, and pay zero dollars. Guess what we did?

Wood Islands

Wood Islands Provincial Park was the perfect introduction to the cuteness, cleanliness, and charm of PEI. From the moment we drove off the ferry, we turned into this relaxing and beautiful park.

(Hover over the photos or click on them to read the captions and enlarge.)

Continue reading

A Hurricane… in a Van… in Canada!

I was going to post a blog about our August expenses today, but something else came up. Well, it actually looks like I won’t post anything on this Sunday, September 8th, 2019, because the electricity and internet are both down on the entire island. Good thing we have a self-contained camper van; we have power and can even take a hot shower, which is more than some tourists staying in hotels can do. Internet, however, we can’t reproduce.

You might remember my whining about how we always have bad luck with the weather, wherever we go. Somehow, we encounter extremes: the wettest spring in California in a decade (hey, it did end the drought), the coolest and rainiest September on Vancouver Island, the coldest winter in Southern California and Southern Arizona (we even escaped into Mexico for a few days to look for elusive warmth), the most miserable May in Southern Utah ever, with rain, sleet, hail, and snow instead of the average 75 degrees (24C) that time of the year, the hottest and most humid June in Toronto and Montreal, and the hottest day of the year in Massachusetts (on which Maya got lost)!

Even though this selection of the last two years sums up our weather misfortunes well, none of it beat our experience this past weekend. The three of us found ourselves in the path of Hurricane Dorian – the same one that caused havoc in the Bahamas managed to make landfall on Nova Scotia, with strong effects on Prince Edward Island (PEI), where Zesty is located. Yep, a hurricane in Canada. The last time that happened was Hurricane Juan in 2003. What’s the chance of running into this? With us, pretty big.

Continue reading

© 2024 Roaming About

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑