Prince Edward Island

Epic Ride, Day 60:

As usual, I didn’t get an early start, but I rode to Caribou from Truro and learned that what someone had told me was true — you don’t pay to ride the ferry to Prince Edward Island.  They collect the toll when you come back, so if you do what I did and take the Confederation Bridge off the Island, you don’t pay for the ferry.

It was a smaller ship than the ones we’d taken to Newfoundland and Labrador, but even with all the wind, the trip was smooth and my tiedowns kept the bike from falling down and going boom!

I took back roads to Charlottetown and one of the things I noticed was a “Free Church of Scotland,” to go with the Anglican and Presbyterian and United Church of Canada churches I’d seen in other places I’ve ridden in the Maritime Provinces.

There were lots of pretty churches:

and houses and farms:

Even though I didn’t do any of the “tourist stuff” on the Island, I did think about Anne Shirley, the heroine of the Anne of Green Gables stories.  I enjoyed watching those on PBS back in the day.  There was a beauty and neatness to the Island that made my visit very satisfying.

It had been very windy and I was worried about riding over the Confederation Bridge.  I needn’t have been — there was a high bulwark that made it the least gusty place I rode all day.

I’m back in a Motel 6 for the first time since August 22, Day 42.  This is the nicest Motel 6 I’ve been in yet.  And tonight at Jean’s, a restaurant about 2km from the Motel 6, I had the best clam chowder and blueberry crisp I’ve enjoyed anywhere on the trip.

Tomorrow I’ll be back in the USA, meeting Dan Lux and spending the night with Alex Allmyer-Beck, two members of the NT-Owners Forum.  Alex rode to Madawaska with me.

Stats:  Day, 213 miles; Trip, 18,380 miles; Year, 24,381 miles; Total, 76,239 miles.