Pictou to PEI

August 4

Pictou to PEI

The trip to Cape Breton left us tired, but we knew that once we got to PEI, we could just kick back. We didn’t know the effort involved in getting to PEI on a holiday weekend.

First, Stella and I had to do the photo shoot at the beach as well as some visiting with the family we met. The Canadian soldier that had died in Afghanistan the day before was the son of a cousin of the Dad that we met. He was watching 4 of his 6 adopted children play on the beach while thinking about his cousin being left childless. It’s hard to take the pulse of Canadians on the war(s). Though they have a separate identity from us, they are pretty joined (at the hip) economically, a powerful force. They also have a conservative government very comfortable with W, so we are in the same boat pretty much.

Anyway, we headed out in time to catch the ferry, but somehow missed our turnoff and found ourselves on the overpass looking at the growing line waiting for the ferry. It was not such a long trip over the patchwork road back to the rotary where we got the road to the ferry. At about 11:15 we were pretty excited that we would catch the next ferry. At 2:30 we were the last large vehicle to catch the third ferry after we arrived. Then there was a two hour drive to the KOA.

We landed, we ate leftovers, and we crashed.

Today we slept as late as we could. The KOA is atop a hill overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence. You can see the Gulf from here, but you have to take a walk down the long rows of campsites to do so. Lots of people have come for a long weekend of fun in the sun before it all goes away. There is a steady wind cooling us all and reminding us that fall is just around the bend.

There is a baby in the tent just under our bedroom window. Baby is apparently not interested in sleeping in. Nevertheless, it was about 8:30am when I woke up. MDT was up a bit earlier. We hope baby will be headed home tomorrow.

It is somewhat ironic that all of these people are in PEI for Natal Day, and PEI does not celebrate Natal Day this weekend. I am thinking that Natal Day is the day that the Confederation was formed. We will fill in our embarrassing lack of knowledge about Canadian history when we visit the site where the confederation was signed. What I do know from reading the tourist materials is that PEI did not join the confederation for several years after the other provinces did. This leads me to believe that that is why PEI does not celebrate Natal Day with everyone else. I could be wrong. No one I ask seems to know. Perhaps our lack of knowledge of Canadian history is not so embarrassing after all.

Here is the highlight of this KOA for us. The laundry is sparkling, and there are great big dryers. There is a store with bags of ice. It is rather centrally located. We will be exploring the Acadian areas to the west, have a day or two in Charlottetown, and eat mussels and lobster at nearby restaurants recommended in the Lonely Planet. We were granted a campsite that a working camper who did not show was supposed to get. Our campsite has trees. We are about the only one with trees. There is a petting zoo that Stella loves to sniff, and a field of wheat. Martha wants to make a floral arrangement with wheat, but she was busy in the laundry mat and cleaning the Cronemobile today.

The good news is that this KOA has good high speed wireless. The bad news is that one must have a log in number (available for free at the store) and it is good for one hour. Once you have signed on, you have one hour online. Once you have used your hour or signed off, it is time for a new login number. I was able to get several slips of login numbers from an unnamed source by telling them that we work online, but this is really cramping our style. I might be able to fill in some of the embarrassing gaps in Canadian history if only I could get online for longer. Further proof that we need Ray Sat in the RV.

Addendum: here is the website that explains, more or less, Canadian holidays:http://www.craigmarlatt.com/canada/symbols_facts&lists/august_holiday.html I really like the idea of Boxing Day. Maybe we should institute something like that ourselves.