PEI - Day 9 - A few errands and heading out towards the East coast trail

We finally pull ourselves out of bed and Gab and I go to the front to see if we can stay for an extra night.  No go - no room.  Oh well! It's a gloomy day.  Not bad since the weather has been perfect every since we left home.  I figure we will leave the camper in the overflow, go into town and come back for it but Justin says we should unpin it at Walmart.  Great idea.  We decide to book a campsite about 55 minutes away.  We don't want to chance it.  Off to town we go.  We leave the trailer behind at Walmart and head to COW's for their famous ice cream.  It sure is delicious but after not having ice
cream for so long any type of ice cream would be yummy!!  The famous COW's t-shirts are really  MOO-some.  Ok - my play on words probably wouldn't make the cut but I tried! 

Next stop is a must selfie with the city of Cornwall sign for obvious reasons.

Next we stop at Walmart, Dollarama and attempt to get Justin's sandals fixed before heading out to Northumberland provincial campground.  Not sure if I'm on a sugar crash but I am done in!  Still decide to make a small detour to Pt Prim lighthouse.  Well worth the detour.  We climb to the top and take in the beautiful view which I am sure on a clear day would be even better. We are lucky because there is only a slight mist. 

The day seems to have flown by.  We are at the campsite by probaby 5 and I get the supper going - Shrimp alfredo!  Yummy!  The laundry is right beside our lot so that is great seeing as we have TONS to do!  James literally had no more shorts to wear today.  Only thing we missed out on today was that we had planned to do  the water/street hippo ride in Charlottetown today but we opted against it because of the weather.  We might be able to do it this weekend on our way back to the bridge.  After supper, Justin takes the kids to play at the park. Gab makes some friends and we facetime mami et pepere.  Before bed Gab has her mind set that she is going to take her front tooth out! So GROSS!!! She plays with it so much she succeeds!  What a girl!  

She puts her tooth in a ziploc along with a 2$ she had found the other day.  When we ask her why she says it's because she wants to be nice to the tooth fairy and also that she might give her more money that way!! LOL!

PEI - Day 8 - Charlottetown - Birthplace of our Oh! so beautiful CANADA

This morning we are leaving our beautiful campsite.  We are going to Cornwall!  Cornwall, PEI that is!  We hope that we can find a spot at the KOA there even though it looks like there isn't much room left according to their website.  We arrive at around 11 and the lady is not sure if they will be able to find us a spot.  She says she can give us a 50 amp lot in the back of the campsite but that it has to be cleaned first so we are to go park in the overflow and wait.  We head back there and decide that we will go hang out at the park while we wait.  KOA's are always expensive but always well kept and very fun for the kids. The 2 lots she told me we could have doesn't make much sense to me as there are trailers on them and it doesn't look like they will move.  I wasn't sure how we would know when the lots are ready and sort of explain that I am not sure those lots will be emptied and she tells me that they have a waterview site that just came available.  I think they play this lot shuffle game everyday but we are happy to get a nice site.  We still have to wait for it to be cleaned so after a while at the park we decide to head back to the trailer and have a picnic.  Not long after they come and let us know that our lot is ready.

 It's not the best site for water view but it will do and it's an easy pull in!  Hurry up and unhook and off to Charlottetown we go.  We debate going on the hippo bus tour (bus/boat tour) but they don't have one available until later and the plan is to bring Gaby on a date to see the Anne of Green Gables musical tonight.  We stop at Confederation Centre of the Arts to purchase tickets for a walking tour and the play tonight.  James fell asleep on the way in so they all wait for me after finding a parking spot.  We have a 10 minute walk to the start of our tour so we chill until it's time to go.  It was almost a smooth transfer from the car to the stroller but James wakes up.  Our tour guide is an Acadian native to the island.  I love tours :)  This tour is centered on the historic 'Great George' street.  It runs from the wharf to the Confederation building.  One of two historic streets in Canada (the other being Sparks st. in Ottawa). Let me tell you, a 2yr old little boy is busy! He does not want to stay in his stroller! But we had left his sand toys under the stroller so that amuses him while we listen.  The tour was very interesting and even Gaby seemed to enjoy it.

 Following that we head back over to the Confederation Centre of the arts and Parks Canada has a virtual reality set up of the Confederation building.  The original building, next to where we are, has been under renovation since 2015 with the hopes of it being ready in 2017 for the 150th but the latest estimate is 2021 possibly 2023.  We can just imagine that bill!  The rocks in PEI are pretty much sand stone and they fall apart very easily.  When they did the initial repairs they realized it needed way more work hence the delays.  There is also a replica of the room where the confederation meeting took place and the nice part of it being that since it is all replica the kids get to sit in the chairs.

 We need to head back to the campsite to have supper so that me and Gab can make it back for the show.  We spot an M&M and decide on their yummy salt & pepper chicken wings! Easy supper and Gaby and I head back into town.  What a nice evening out with my little girl! We even put our dresses on :)

 The boys stayed back and went and played at the park.  James just loves playing at the park and in the sand.  At intermission we facetime Kim as promised.  She absolutely loves Anne (with an E) of the Green Gables :)  I even spoiled Gaby with a strawberry cordial (a drink Anne and Diana have in the play).  Head on back and go to bed with the hopes that we can stay put one more day but very doubtful.

PEI - Day 7 - We be Beaching!

Great kids!! James slept all night!!! Kids didn't wake us up until 8 and Bones only asked to go out at 6.  Sweet.  We feel rested this morning and that's a good thing because we are hitting the beach.  I don't mind the beach that much but Justin is not looking forward to it. Pack up ALL the stuff and we head out towards Cavendish.  We, of course, take the tourist route and I make a navigators mistake but thankfully you can't make big mistakes here since everything is so close.

James has his snooze on the way and we stop for lunch at some tourist spot right in front of the National Park entrance.  Fish and chips! Yummy!  We forgot to bring along the beach toys we brought for James so we splurge on the 8 dollar shovel (that breaks minutes after arriving at the beach) and bucket set and off to the beach we go!   UGHHHH! The tough part of the beach is lugging all the stuff.  We find a spot on the busy beach and it turns out that it's a great afternoon! James LOVES playing in the sand and picking rocks.  It takes us a while to get him to understand not to break Gaby's sandcastles but we get the hang of it.  The weather and water is just perfect.  Gaby plays with Justin for a while.  He throws a rock and she gets it...fetch for kids.  We practice our handstands in the water.  James does not want to leave 'la plage' but it's time to go.

We need to stop at the grocery store so we head towards North Rustico and grab some steaks for supper.  Unfortunately they are not as good as we expected but the yellow beans and salad are great and the view is once again amazing so we can't complain.  The park is right across from our lot so that is great for Gab but makes it a bit harder to manage James because he wants to go as well. Also hard to discipline your kid when you have people so close to you.  But too bad... il est en punition et 'dans le coin' even though he is yelling bloody murder!  A little facetime with copain to plan our meet up next week and showers all around.  Justin notices a leak under the trailer and good thing because the shower pipe was completely undone.  Same thing that ruined our previous trailer.  My man has it fixed in no time and we are good to go!  Turns out the beach is more fun that we anticipated!! Not sure where we will go tomorrow.  Want to stay at the Cornwall KOA near Charlottetown tomorrow but it looks like they only have room for one night online.  Would love to stay because it looks like Wednesday will be rain and I would like to take Gab to the Anne of Green Gables musical.  Would be perfect timing.  Also seeing that it's the biggest town, we might find indoor things to do.  Anyhow, we will call and decide in the morning!

PEI - Day 6 - Singing along to Stompin' Tom on the North Coast

Pretty good morning considering James decided he was not sleeping for a few hours in the middle of the night.  We leave the campsite and head towards O'Leary to go to the Potato Museum.  The North Coast trail is alright but I wouldn't say a must see.  It's hard to take in everything at the museum with James.  The first thing he sees when we arrive is a sand box with tractors! We try to take in as much as we can but I've got to say that it is tough with my crazy monkey going around.  We found his
exhibit! Old tractors.  That boy loves tractors.

 The potato museum wouldn't be complete without a taste test so we decide to have lunch there and we break the Keto rules for a poutine and an amazing order of fresh cut fries.  Worth the cheat for sure.

Next, Stompin' Tom museum in Skinners Pond.  Wow! Great little museum.  Gaby loved singing karaoke to the 'Good old hockey Game'.  They have a live singer and we took in a good 30 minutes of songs.  We really enjoyed it.   Even James was singing and clapping along. On the grounds, they have the oldest school house of PEI furnished the way it would have been and also the house where Tom spent 4 years of his childhood.  He was adopted from an orphanage from a couple from Skinners Pond.  He had a rough go in his early days.  Comparable to the 'Hip', Stompin' Tom is a true Canadian legend.  Canada written all over his heart, he sang in nearly every little canadian small town.  We even drove to Belleville not long before he died to watch him play and it was indeed a memorable night!

We continue our trek up the coast to make it to North Cape. They have a museum on wind turbine energy.  Janet, my RMC girlfriend, had told me that at North Cape the tides meet...If she would not have told us, I would have never known. 

We enjoyed the museum and the kids actually aloud us to take it all in.  It must be because it was more geeky science stuff that I enjoyed it :)  I'm not a museum girl. We head back and stop in Tignish for some veggies for supper.  It was a small Co-op grocery store and there wasn't much available.  We were hoping to find a spot to boondock but we have come to the conclusion the the entire island is populated. Locals have their own trailers set up on what I assume is their property by the ocean.  We tried but to no avail so we head back to the spot where we spent the first two nights.  Justin loves the view of the ocean.  The last 30 minutes is just a little too much for James.  Luckily, there is one spot left for us by the ocean!  We setup, feed the kids and James is off to bed and Gab is off to the playground with tons of kids.  I get to enjoy the last GINORMOUS lobster!  yum!!

and a repeat... Ocean view, sunset, fire and my lover!
Island life is great!

PEI - Day 5 - RMC reunion and West Port

Everyone sleeps in till 9 this morning! nice!  Good teamwork and we are out of the campsite and heading towards Cape Egmont.  A lady that was camping beside us had told us that it was a hidden gem.  Not only the lighthouse but the scenery around it.  We drive by it as there are no indications.  We back track and I don't let Justin venture down the one way small dirt road that leads to the lighthouse.  The disadvantage of travelling with our mega trailer.  We drive to a pier near by and Gaby and I decided that we can walk along the shore to get to it.  Justin is not amused by our idea but he does give it a go pushing James in the stroller.  He gave up half way but Gab and I make it to the bottom of the cliff of the lighthouse.  We are able to get around the corner but unfortunately, we don't get any further.

It was still a fun walk and she found what she calls 'galaxy' rocks! By the time we get back, James is sleeping and Justin has the chairs out.  So we eat some lunch overlooking the ocean.  We then head toward Campunstec where we will meet up with Janet that I went to RMC with.  She's a member of the BGOLG club :)  OMG! Do I understand why she came back to live on the island.  They have a little paradise!  Her nephews are there so Gaby makes insta friends like always and they play catching weird ocean creatures and then have a blast on the Stand up board.

We then make our way to West Port.  Justin is a bit cranky and he is not loving this campground.  I guess we were spoiled yesterday.  They don't have any ocean front sites left but in my opinion, none of them really are ocean front.  We have some supper and make our way down the beach to the west port lighthouse.  We are disappointed as the grounds are pretty run down.

The kids love it so that's all that matters.  A quick stop at the play structures and we get James ready to bed.  I read a bit of the Ann of Green Gables book I got for Gab and we settle in for the night.

PEI - Day 4 - Summerside Lobster Festival and 'PEI' Ninja Warriors

On a fait la paresse!!!
Justin decides to get up at 1130.  I'm pretty proud of myself for not pushing him to get ready too fast.  When we finally get ready we head out to Sunnyside.  We want to check out the Lobster Festival.  We end up at the wrong credit union place downtown. The shops there are having a sidewalk sale but we are not at the festival.  We make our way to the festival and grab a lobster sample and watch a unicycle show that the kids enjoy! Even James.  He likes to clap!

We saw this 'American Ninja Warrior' type installation on the harbourfront yesterday and Gab would love to try it out.  Justin ends up going with her and it is entertaining watching them.  I guess it is a lot harder than it looks.  It was worth every penny just for the video I got of Gaby flying into the air!   Can't post it now because the shared wifi is not good but it is on instagram and hilarious!

There is lobster for sale on the pier so I spend 80$ on lobster. I paid 12$ a pound - splurged as that is the cooked price - 11$ pounds for live.  We were going to go to the lobster festival to grab a lobster supper but I figured I would spend all of that money on lobster instead! We got 2 ginormous lobster, 2 canning lobsters and one Mega Ginormous.  A quick stop at Loblaws to pick up some butter and lobster claws (and a quick dollar drink days stop at McDs!!) and we are back to the camper by 6ish.  Gaby has been saying all day that her tummy hurts but I am always so tough on her, I tell her that she should have supper.  I should have believed her because she was telling us that she didn't think she should have lobster.  She plays with little kids next door and of course they go looking for seashells once again.  She ends up going to bed and within minutes she is sick everywhere.  Oh Joy!!! We set her up on the bottom bunk with James and I head to the laundry.  We were pretty 'parenting' maxed out today.  We both can't wait to sit by the fire and devour our lobster.  Our perfect evening is not so perfect, trying to eat lobster between laundry sessions and yet another puke explosion from gab now on the bottom bunk! Agh!  Oh well, suck is life.  The lobster is still delicious and we keep the big one for maybe lunch tomorrow.  We are pulling out of here tomorrow.

PEI - Day 3 - Our last Province!

Today is the day we check off our last Canadian province! Apart from James, we have visited all of the provinces!  Even Bones!  It will get tricky now to try and the the Territories checked off but would love to do it one day!

We take off from Steph and Sylvie's house at about 0930.  We are about 2hrs away from our destination.  I saw that Summerside is having a Lobster Festival so I decided that we would start touring the East side of the Island first.  It's a good thing we don't have far to go today because we are all not very good travellers today.  Me and Justin can't believe that we made it to the Nfld Ferry last year in the same amount of time! I was in crazy Natzi traveller mode I guess.

We arrive at the bridge and it is REALLY impressive! 13kms!  I don't like bridges...this one!!! It's nuts! Driving on a bridge in the middle of the Ocean.  We facetime mami & pepere to share the fun.  On the other side we stop to change Jame's and decide to press on and find a campsite.  We will come back here and see what there is to see.  A quick call to a campsite confirms they have a spot for us so off to Crystal Beach campground.  On our way we find a great photo op spot to take our pic with the stunning Confederation Bridge.

We can also already see the red PEI dirt.  We pick an nice ocean side site! (I doubted we could fit in and of course, Justin has no problems and Gaby was set on being by the ocean!  Good call).  Quick lunch and the plan is to head back to the tourist info place after the bridge but our camping neighbor shows Gab the seashells she picked up by the ocean and Gab is set on doing that right away! The tide is out so let's do it!   Justin hates everything that has to do with the beach...he compares it to his love of fishing! HAHAH!  She finds a bunch and we adventure out to meet up with some fishermen who are collecting Oysters or Mussels (Let's be honest..I have no idea!)  The man told me but I didn't understand and there are so many times you can ask someone to repeat! :)  He showed Gaby how he walks along and feels them under his feet.  They are about 1 inch under the sand.  He wears socks to not get cut.  Gaby finds one but it is too small.  He has a measuring tool to make sure they are big enough.  17cents each is what they get.  He also explained that we can't eat them right away as they are contaminated.  He says they need to soak in fresh water for 30 days. 

We decide to leave and explore Summerside.  We are not 5 minutes in the truck and James falls asleep so we decide to drive the 25 minutes to the bridge to check out the visitor centre.  Me and Gab go in and pick up some flyers and I am surprised that there isn't more info on the bridge.  Maybe we are the only geeks who are impressed with this engineering marvel!  They have a video about the construction in a loop and a fun fact sheet.  That's it.  Drive around Summerside.  I am surprised at how big it is and how many stores they have.  Canadian Tire and Loblaw's stop and back to the camper we go.  The campsite is having a water fight and a slip n slide for the kids.  Gab joins in and has a great time.  Put the kids to bed and we have a late lovers supper.  Bacon wrapped scallops and trout.  Yumm!  We sit by the fire with our next door neighbor.  She is travelling by herself with her dog from BC in a nice Travato. We want something small like that when we retire!  It would allow to boondock everywhere!!

Beautiful sunset, fire, wine! Perfect evening!