Author: rvingwithapurpose

Sunday, August 13, 2023

We said goodbye to our friends’ driveway this morning as we headed west once again on PEI.  It sure was nice to be able to do laundry and take great showers!  Our first stop was at the Canadian Potato Museum in O’Leary.   We have already told you about all the potatoes grown here in the rich red soil and originally didn’t think we wanted to take the time to go to the museum but the more we heard, we decided we needed to “just go.”  It was an excellent museum.  We thought on a Sunday morning it wouldn’t be very busy but there was a good crowd and most seemed to be engaged with the exhibits.  They have been growing potatoes on PEI for a long, long time.  There was also a collection of equipment used in the planting, growing and harvesting of potatoes from the early days of manual labor, horse and mule drawn equipment, up to the present day GPS controlled equipment and drones.  PEI potato farmers grow about 100 different kinds of spuds. We didn’t know there were that many kinds of potatoes.  You can also book a farm tour and on Tuesday or Thursday visit a working farm to learn more.  (They are all booked up until sometime in September.)  If all the education on potatoes left you wanting a bite, there was also a small restaurant where you could purchase potatoes fixed any way you wanted.  They even have potato fudge and yes, we had some – it’s great.  We purchased some and we now also have the recipe and plan to make some ourselves.

From the museum, we drove to the West Point light house and beach.  It is one that is on a lot of the PEI tourist information brochures. It was built in 1875 and is now also an inn and museum.  It is Canada’s first inn in an active lighthouse and for $289/night you can say in the tower room.  Less than we thought it would be.  Rather than staying in the tower tonight we are right outside in our BB.  We have had a great walk on the beach and will sleep well tonight.

Saturday, August 12, 2023

This morning we decided since there was a Tim Horton’s right down the street that we would just let Tim fix breakfast. We like Tim Horton’s and since we don’t have any down our way we take advantage of them when we can.

From there we drove a little over an hour to The Bottle Houses, located toward the southwest end of PEI.  There are a few other bottle buildings similar to this attraction, but these are different from ones we have seen elsewhere.  The PEI attraction has three bottle buildings, a chapel, a six-gabled house and the tavern, all surrounded by beautiful gardens. These are buildings that you can walk through standing erect, and sit on the bottle benches in the chapel.    The creator, Edouard Arsenault, who began his project by spending the winter of 1979 in his basement cleaning bottles and removing labels began construction in the spring of 1980 at the age of 66. From 1980 through the spring of 1984, he cemented over 25,000 bottles of various shapes, sizes and colors into three fantasy-like buildings.  He got most of his bottles from a local restaurant, as well as dance halls, friends, and the local Catholic churches colorful votive holders after use. There is also a replica of the Cap-Egmont lighthouse on the property.  Arsenault was the last resident keeper of the local lighthouse located two kilometers from the Bottle House project. You come to this tourist attraction for the bottle buildings.  You stay and visit and relax because of the landscaping, artwork and yard art.  The flowers are blooming everywhere, a water lily pond, a fishpond, succulents and many flowers we had to use google to identify.  We really weren’t expecting to enjoy this stop as much as we did.  It’s worth your time.

Driving back east, we stopped at the Our Lady of Mt Carmel Catholic Parish Church.  If you appreciate the beauty of old churches/building, be sure to stop here too.  The marble was exquisite.  The stages of the cross amazing. They have tours some days but not today.  There was a funeral earlier today.  Much of the information was in French so…didn’t help much.  We did learn that the community was founded in 1812 by the Acadians – remember when we were in Wolfville and learned about the French Acadians and the expulsion. That was day 24 if you want to look back. This is the third Catholic Church built on this property, built in 1898.  It is said to be one of the most beautiful churches in the province.

After visiting the church, we visited a couple of beaches.  Both beaches today were red sand beaches. We spent most of our time at Gordon Gove Beach.  Very pretty and we do love to walk on the beach.  From the beach we drove to Albany, PEI, home of the Hand Pie Factory. We did get to watch the pies being made.  Hand pies are similar to a pot pie but the pastry wraps around the filling so it can be eaten with your hand like a sandwich.  They are so very good!  Think we will have to stop back by when we leave the island in a few days.

Next we walked off some of the calories by walking the Confederation Trail.  There is a trail from one end of the island to the other.  We just walked a couple of miles but it’s a good trail.

From there we got our ice cream dessert and then back to our friends driveway for another night of moochdocking.  Another beautiful day in Prince Edward Island.  This was the kind of days we were expecting – beautiful sunshine with a high of 70 and a low of 60.  Don’t forget to be praying for your pastors and the services tomorrow.  BTW – you don’t have to wait till Saturday to pray for pastors all over the world. Missing all our Alabama and South Carolina Peeps.

Friday, August 11, 2023

The weather forecasts for today were unfortunately correct.  Rain all day.  We left our wonderful Boondockers Welcome site about 9:00 and before we arrived in Charlottetown at 9:55 it was raining, and it continued pretty much all day.  We met four of our Beyond Group friends, who are also visiting PEI, in Charlottetown to just say hello and share notes on PEI and Nova Scotia.  We met one couple at the Ocala Beyond gathering two years ago and the other couple last year.  We communicate electronically but it’s always good to get together.  Safe travels friends and hope to see you again in the spring.

We then took some NOMADS friends up on their offer to driveway surf and do laundry at their house in PEI. We really couldn’t enjoy site seeing in the yuk weather so might as well do the laundry.  Our friends even left their camp site at the provincial park and came back to their house for a visit and took us to dinner. Thanks so much.  You guys are great!  It’s nice to take a break from traveling and relax with friends.  That’s it for today.  The laundry is done and we got to renew friendships.  It was a very good day.

Thursday, August 10, 2023

It was a gray morning but cleared up as the day went on and was a beautiful afternoon and evening.  Perfect temperatures of low 60s in the morning and middle 60s this afternoon.

We decided to visit a local diner for breakfast, Lady’s Slipper Café.  Very good “farmers breakfast” (huge) with good service as well.  Decided we wouldn’t need to eat again til supper – except of course for snacks.  We then headed toward the east end of the island.  Lots of farmland.  Huge fields of potatoes.  Potatoes are the primary cash crop on PEI and PEI is the largest potato-producing province in Canada.  Who knew?  Smallest province in Canada produces the most potatoes – produces 25% of the potatoes for the entire country.  We learn a lot when we travel.

Next stop was at Basin Head Beach.  It is a provincial park, with free admission – nice.  We had a great walk on the beach, about four miles. There were not many people there since it was such a gray morning but by the time we returned to the van the sun was out.  The beach is what they call “beautiful white singing sand beach.”  Those that grew up on the Gulf of Mexico would have to disagree, about the color but it was a nice beach.  Just wasn’t white. It appeared to us to have a lot of red in the sand.  The singing is the squeaking sound you hear sometimes when you walk in sand.   Regardless, we had a great time.

Next stop was the East Point lighthouse – Canada’s Confederation Light.  At the point, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Northumberland Strait converge.  They are visible by the turbulent waters.

The final stop before returning to our Boondockers Welcome host was the Brudenell Provincial Park.  Another lovely park with many amenities.  We have NOMADS friends who live in PEI who are vacationing there currently.  We stopped by to say a quick hello and visit a little.  It was great to see them!  We love to get to meet up with friends when we travel.  We will see them again.

We then returned to our hosts home for our afternoon visit.  Before we returned to BB for the evening we were given yellow beans and carrots, fresh from their garden.  Guess what we will have for dinner tomorrow.  We are sure enjoying our time on PEI.  More exploring to come tomorrow – if the weather isn’t too bad.