July 9, 2017
Day 73: New Glasgow, NS to Murray Harbour, PEI
So, this is how today was – I woke Kerry up about 7:45. He said we had agreed last night to leave by 8:30 this morning and I was supposed to wake him at 7:00 I don’t doubt that he said that and I agreed, but I’m sure that that conversation took place after 11:00 PM and I had no memory of it. We got ready, Kerry had some breakfast and we were away just a little after 8:30.
We rode the 12 miles to Pictou where we planned to visit a fisheries museum and lobster hatchery. As we came into the waterfront area, we saw that they were having a classic car show. We stopped and walked around and talked to some of the owners. There were some really nice cars. Then we went to the museum and hatchery. That was a waste of $12.
We decided about 10:45 to look for a place for an early lunch before we rode to the ferry. It was getting to be time for my first meal of the day. We found a place that looked good, went in, saw the full dining room and the people waiting for tables and decided to find another place. We didn’t have enough time for a long lunch. We rode around a few blocks and found another place. They were only serving breakfast, but weren’t busy, so we got a table and ordered. We waited and waited and waited. We kept thinking about leaving, but we already so much time invested that we just kept waiting. We were finally served 45 minutes after we sat down. The food was good and they gave us a nice discount for the delay, but now we were worried about getting to the ferry on time. We took off and road as fast we could and got to the ferry landing only ten minutes later than they ask people to arrive. We waited our turn at the gate where we learned that one of the ferries was out of service, so the next departure would be in 2 ½ hours. If we were in a car we would have been turned away because all the vehicle slots were full for the next crossing. So, there was no need to worry about getting to the ferry on time. Fortunately, the ferry terminal had WIFI so we were not too bored while we waited for the next ferry.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The ferry ride was pleasant. We had smooth water, sunshine and warm temperatures. We met a number of very nice people. Everyone seems amazed to hear that we rode the bike all the way here from Florida. I especially enjoyed meeting Marlene, from Woodstock, NB. She and her husband are on their inaugural trip in their new motorhome. She is very warm and friendly and we had a lot of fun talking.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We arrived on PEI at 4:00 and almost immediately made a turn away from nearly all of the traffic. We rode past farms for miles – we saw corn, potatoes, soybeans and a grain that might be wheat. It was very scenic with the fields extending down to the waterfront.
There was a small winery on the route. They had mostly very sweet fruit wines. The owner is apparently a big cyclist. There were pictures of him at cycling destinations around the world.
We decided to stop for dinner before we checked in to the motel. This is the reading material in the restrooms of a restaurant which was church for over 100 years.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
After we ate, we walked across the street to a little grocery store. It looked dark inside, but the door was unlocked, so we went in and picked up a Diet Coke. Alarms went off! Two other people came in after us and both said the store was always open until 9:00. The cash registers were open and empty. All the lights were off. It looked to us like they closed the store, set the alarm and then forgot to lock the front door. We were actually in there for several minutes talking to the other two guys before we left. (I thought about leaving some cash for the Diet Coke and taking it with me, but decided that was not a good plan.) No one ever came to check on the alarm.
Now we’re in for the evening and looking forward to our first full day on PEI tomorrow.
Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 2,958 miles (4,760 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |