29/08/2023 – Here-There-Everywhere

28 Aug 2023 – Days 21-25

Thu: Day21~12+k/7+m, 4+hrs Tracadie-York on the ConfederationTrail including rest stops and a nice long informative chat with 2bicyclist, Beth/Brackley and June/Charlottetown. Started with a cool morning when the mosquitos were in full force! after last night’s rains, but turned out to be a lovely day. Karen&Nancy went exploring in the afternoon while I stayed back to chill&relax…

Nancy: PEI- Day 21 – Aug 24 – York to Tracadie – 12k/7.8 miles. The day started great when Tiger Lil cooked us all bacon and we each cooked a fresh egg. Karen hiked alone today and dropped Tiger Lil and I off in Tracadie. Our start was miserable. It rained last night and we were literally swarmed by mosquitoes. The area was very swampy. We almost ran the first 3 km. or at least we made it in record time. After the sprint, we were lucky to find a composting toilet but couldn’t stay long as the mosquitoes were still chasing us. It wasn’t till we met Miss Wiggy at the halfway point that the sun had heated up enough to calm the pesky beasts and give us a moments rest. We met two very nice bikers in their 70s who stopped to ask us if we were doing the Island walk and had an interesting conversation with them. Because of our speedy walk from the mosquitoes and short mileage, we finished around 12:30 and got back to our cabin around 1:00 after stopping for ice cream. Tiger Lil spent the afternoon resting and Miss Wiggy and I drove through the nearby PEI National Park visiting the beaches, a lighthouse and a national historic site – Dalvay by the Sea.

Karen: Beautiful day once again on The Confederation Trail for 12k with intermittent mosquitoes & a trip to the PEI National Park including a National Historic Site.

Fri: Day22 TGIF and a good weekend to all. Day22~13+k/8+m, 4+hrs Route323/CherryHill-Tracadie(first picnic table seen that is elevated from the ground) on the ConfederationTrail including rest stops+

yummy coffee ice cream@MtStewart – like this stretch up to MtStewart. After that too much road-works and too near the highway!

Made time for a short visit to StPeter’sHabour and lighthouse

Glad to get into our accommodations@Siren’sBeachMotel/NorthLake before the sky opened up.

Nancy: PEI – Day 22- August 25-Tracadie to Mt Stewart to Rte 323. About 14 km or 8.5 miles. A little confusing because I take pics of the km markers but I missed 195. I started near 196 and ended just after 208. Oh well. Beautiful day – a few less mosquitoes but I wasn’t hopeful when I saw that most of the trail was next to a marsh. Tiger Lil and Miss Wiggy alerted me that there was an awesome bakery in Mt Stewart. Our day started with bacon prepared by Tiger Lil and an egg I scrambled just before we left our cabin this morning. At the bakery, they had ice cream but since the bakery didn’t have chocolate ice cream, I opted for a second one egg breakfast. Yummy. After we met up at the finish, we searched for a good ending on our next day. Then, we stopped st a visitor center and got directions to the lighthouse at St Peters Harbour. A beautiful setting and there happened to also be a pretty beach area with few occupants. Finally, we headed to our motel on the East end of PEI. What a difference. For miles/km, we saw no stores, gas stations, or any commercial establishments. Our new motel is located on a point and we were quickly told to go make a reservation for dinner next door as it’s the only place to eat within 20 miles (or did they say km?). I had salad and a baked potato but both Tiger Lil and Miss Wiggy had the Friday Fish Fry – haddock, mashed potatoes, veggies, biscuit and bread pudding for dessert. It’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow so we are sleeping in and taking a rest day. Woohoo.

Sat: Day23~8+k/5+m, 2hrs Route302-Elmira on the ConfederationTrail including rest stops. Glad that we got this shorter mileage done today when the rains were still light – Fall might be soon in the air with beautiful yellow mushrooms. Elmira where there are definite signs that this was once a railway+railway station marks the ending of Tip-Tip-CT but the sections we are doing are not always going to be in order.

Nancy:PEI – Day 23 – August 26 – 8k/5 miles to Elmira. We slept in. I actually slept from 10 pm-9 am. I believe I had a large sleep debt, to put it mildly. We just made it to our 9:30 reservation for breakfast-fortunately, the restaurant is only a few steps away. We were shocked it wasn’t raining as predicted when we got up and then we discovered our motel does shuttles so we decided to get in 8 km. It started lightly raining when we left but we did our 8 km during off and on light rain and we’re happy to get ahead with our mileage. We drove through Souris to check it out but it was raining too hard to stop and enjoy. Back to the motel for laundry and a quick rest before dinner. Everyone at the restaurant is so nice and friendly- we enjoyed talking with our waitress and the owner. Karen purchased a beautiful carving of a whale on a wooden stand, carved from Hurricane Fiona downed trees. Awesome piece

Karen: Once again catching up on yesterday & today. Fri25Aug2023: TGIF and a good weekend to all. Day22~13+k/8+m, 4+hrs ‘Route323/CherryHill-Tracadie’ on the ‘ConfederationTrail’ including rest stops+yummy strawberry ice cream@’MtStewart’ & nice weather with our persistent mosquito nemesis. Glad to get into our accommodations@’Siren’sBeachMotel/NorthLake’ before the sky opened up…

Sat26Aug2023: intended to be a zero day but with heavy rains predicted in upcoming week we decided to hike a Nero day @ 8k in slight drizzle again before the skies opened up.

Sun: Day24 ~8k/4m, 2hrs Route302-305 on the ConfederationTrail including rest stops. Another shorter mileage day done today in misty weathers with froggy which did not turn into a prince despite being in King’sCounty!

A visit&climb up to the SourisLighthouse. https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=18696

Today’s yummy lunch@LobsterShack/Souris at low-tide, one of the best clams tasted.

An afternoon of gospel traditional Bluegrass&CelticMusic @KingsboroBaptistChurch/Souris by a talented group – Stiff family.

Nancy: PEI – Day 24/ August 27 – 8k/5 miles. Once again, we needed to move our accommodations. We left our motel and I had breakfast at the Boat House who gave us ice for our cooler. Dave from the motel shuttled us so we could all walk together. The rain stayed mostly away and the mosquitoes were out (no wind) but we stayed covered. We saw lots of storm damage from Fiona. Apparently, the East end of the island suffered most from last year’s hurricane. The big advantage to short mileage is free time to explore. We went to the Souris lighthouse, ate lobster at the Lobster Shack, and attended a bluegrass/ gospel performance at a local Baptist church. We then found our new accommodation for the next six nights- a delightful funky house.

Karen: Misty 8k hike today after a hard rain last night, outing to the Souris lighthouse, The Lobster Shack & local Bluegrass/Celtic music.

Mon: Day25~14k/9m, 5+hrs DingwellRd-BarryRd on the ConfederationTrail including rest stops and a long lunch break@StPeter’sLanding. Glorious blue-sky day by StPeter’sBay crossing paths with many cyclists…

Nancy: PEI – Day 25/August28 – appx 14 km/9.5 miles- a glorious day – sunny, wind, no mosquitoes, and walking alongside St Peters Bay. Boy were the bikers out- I was passed by over 80, but some likely passed me twice going in either direction. I met Tiger Lil and Miss Wiggy for lunch at the Black and White cafe – pricey but tasty. A biker from Colorado joined us. He had biked from Denver to Toronto and then flew to PEI. He’s been out over a month and still going. Quite the adventurer. The shoreline today was very scenic – clear water, ducks, and great views. We ate dinner at our lodging in a feeble attempt to reduce the food we’ve been transporting week to week. So nice to have a roomy, comfortable space with a well appointed kitchen and laundry facilities.

Karen: Another day in paradise…along the shore of St. Peter’s Bay a nice breeze by St. Peter’s Bay crossing paths with many cyclists & we met a guy (Dennis) from Denver, CO who joined us for lunch