The Friendly Island August 24

We had heard tales.  Between language barriers and the lack of beer to offer along the way, this trip is a much more solitary experience.  Rumor had it that Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia would find a change of hospitality and it was apparent as soon as we crossed the bridge!

We travel without any set itinerary.  Every day we see where we ended up and see where we decide next to wander.  I suppose that’s how we’ve ended up at so many WalMarts!  No matter, we looked at the map and started to create the day.  First stop a bike ride into Summerside before taking the LITTLE roads to an Acadian community along the coast and the Cap-Egmont glass houses. 

The glass houses were a private family endeavor with amazing gardens and flowers all around and it made the detour worthwhile.  Following our loop back, we end back in Summerside for the friendliest gas station shop EVER!  Offering propane filled, tanks dumped, water filled and fuel – our new friend Sonya was like a personal assistant!  By the end she had even offered us her land to stay on!

Taking Sonya’s recommendation, we headed for the eastern coast and Cavendish.  We found the roads to be small and unpredictable at best and took quite the beating along the way.  Undeterred, we did find Cavendish – well sort of!  The towns were so small and we’re so big, we’d find ourselves through them before we even knew where we were! 

We did end up at a touristy version of Cavendish and after stopping to support local commerce were pleased to find a National Park trail right across the road.  Hopping again on our bikes, we found the trailhead and wandered the seashore, the dunes and the forest along the way. 

The sun started to move closer and closer to the horizon and we still didn’t have a place to stay!  Figuring the right thing would certainly show itself (it always does!), we jumped back onto the road.  We found another few towns, a very out of the way surprise detour and then ended back up at the next National Park! 

Being a Friday, there was no room at any campground and we considered just camping in the parking lot but chickened out, not wanting to be known as interlopers from down south! 

With daylight at a near end, we made one last attempt at finding an abandoned lot, a cozy seaside church or pub or ANYWHERE we could park for the night.  Word here is – if it doesn’t say no overnight parking, it's allowed!  But we were out of luck!  With one last ditch effort to unsuccessfully contact a hostel for use of their parking lot, we saw there was – wait for it – a WALMART in Charlottetown only 18 minutes from where we were! 

Thankful to have a reachable destination no matter how unexpected or off-itinerary, we headed back to civilization and were welcomed back into the loving arms of our parking lot home once again!