Day 2: A Return to the Land of Red Clay
DAY TWO: AT A GLANCE
Starting point: Bangor, Maine
Ending point: Linkletter Provincial Park, Prince Edward Island, Canada
Starting mileage: 15,775
Ending mileage: 16,146
Daily total (miles): 371
Trip total (miles): 610
Ugh. The last night sucked, and this morning, my back let me know just how much it did. I hated the bed (too soft), and my Garmin agreed, with crappy sleep and body battery scores. Needless to say, I’m actually looking forward to sleeping in the van…only time will tell how that goes, though.
I was moving pretty slowly this morning and gearing up for a long day in the van en route to Prince Edward Island. The weather was, again, gray and drizzly/rainy, so I guess I’d rather be in the van than out exploring. On past trips, we’ve taken the coastal route through Maine (our favorite drive), but for this trip and for the sake of efficiency, we took the more direct routes of I-95 to Bangor and then Route 9 from Bangor to the border. In just under two hours, we crossed over at the very small Calais (ME)-Milltown (NB) border crossing (I’m not sure why the GPS took us to that one and not the larger one in Calais), but we had no issues. And just like that, we were in Canada and on Atlantic time (one hour ahead). Our plan was to drive more or less straight through New Brunswick, stopping for gas, and then at the last exit before the Confederation Bridge—at Cape Jourimain Nature Centre. This is such a great stop, with incredible views of the bridge and a nice chance to stretch a bit and get some walking in. We paid $10CAD for entry and then headed into the center and out to the viewpoints of the bridge and the trails. This time, we decided to walk the lighthouse trail, as I knew my back would benefit from movement. Oddly enough, after the lousy night’s sleep, the relative stiff and upright back of the van was actually beneficial. Still, I needed to loosen up, and the short 2km walk was just what I needed. I also climbed the steps of the lookout tower, while G decided to stay below and wave :)
Then, it was time to cross over The Confederation Bridge and into PEI. I’m a sucker for great bridges, and this one is definitely a great one. According to its website: “The curved, 12.9 kilometre (8 mile) long bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water, and continues to endure as one of Canada’s top engineering achievements to this date.” Very cool. We’ve traveled across on sunny days, with the bridge cutting through bright blue skies and waters, but today, the bridge, the sky, and the water were all shades of gray. Still, we were heading to one of our happy places. . .
Yes, PEI and, more specifically for G, COWS ice cream. Just across the border, in Borden-Carleton, PEI, we stopped for our first COWS. If you’ve followed this blog for any time, you’ll know G loves ice cream (and sweets in general, if we’re being honest!), and COWS is his absolute favorite. So, a single scoop of PEI blueberry for me and a double scoop of Wowie-Cowie (vanilla ice cream, English toffee marble, chocolate flakes, and Moo Crunch) and Brownie Explosion (Vanilla ice cream, chocolate marble, and brownie pieces). And then, we were off to grab dinner salads at Sobeys (because, well, balance) and then to our final destination for the day: Linkletter Provincial Park. Our campsite had a lovely view of the water, and while the skies didn’t necessarily cooperate, we both had a chance to relax in the van and decompress a bit.
