When Dreams Come True

Loyalist Burial Ground

Well, we had a nice breakfast this morning at our unconventional Bed and Breakfast, after an early morning walk to the Loyalist Burial Ground. I loved the light and shadows as we walked around the cemetery, and it was refreshing getting out for a walk before we headed off for another day of driving. Oh, and I got a few pictures as well, of course! We bid our innkeepers farewell and hit the road around 9:30. It was yet another amazingly beautiful drive. This part of New Brunswick definitely has interesting landscape. The biggest, best news, though, was that today was Day 8, also known as the day we would finally arrive on Prince Edward Island!

Pay special attention to the shoulder...

We had one little adventure on the drive through New Brunswick. There was a point in the trip where it looked (on the map) as though we should go one way, even though the road signs were guiding us another way. I always like seeing scenery, so I directed R.J. to turn on the Acadian Coastal Drive. This was one long stretch of awful road. It probably was shorter than the other route, but it almost certainly was not faster. It was scenic alright, but it was hard to notice the scenery when you were constantly fearing for your life. Oh well, we did make it, eventually. As we saw the Confederation Bridge and Prince Edward Island itself appear on the horizon, I felt the need to blink quickly. I guess shedding a few tears is OK when realizing a dream that has been ten years in the making.

I was so excited to cross this bridge. I had seen pictures of it and read about it, but it’s hard to wrap your brain around an 8-mile long bridge until you really get to see it for yourself. I sometimes get the feeling I need to hold on to something in the center of the car when we are crossing a spectacular bridge, but I did not get that feeling on this one. I felt very secure the whole time. What surprised me was how the bridge had hills and valleys and curves on it. I just expected it to be one long, straight expanse. We crossed just fine, and we arrived in PEI right around noon. There was a Gateway Village just as we crossed the bridge, so we stopped there to see what we could see. We found a Subway where I bought a sandwich, and then we sat down to eat our lunches on a bench on Prince Edward Island, with a view of the ocean. The sun was shining and it was about 65 degrees with a breeze. In our book, that is just about perfect. After our lunch, we walked around and looked at a few of the shops. Then I asked for directions to a place where we could get a long view of the bridge, so I could take some pictures. It was fun to see that perspective of the bridge we had just crossed! Since we had plenty of time before we could check in at our cottage, we decided to take a coastal drive around the center part of the Island.

Our first red road adventure

R.J. said I could tell him where to turn, if I wanted to see any lighthouses. See how he is – he still trusted me, even after the Acadian Coastal Drive fiasco! I decided to try to guide us to Indian Head Lighthouse. On the map, it showed the final part of the road to the lighthouse as dashed lines, which I thought might mean we had to hike that part. That was not the case. The paved road turned to a red dirt road before we had a chance to notice or think about whether we should take it or not. There we were, driving down a narrow red road, with pastureland bordering on the ocean on either side of us. For a moment we wondered if this road really went to a lighthouse, as there were no markings at all to indicate that it did; however, we quickly decided that it didn’t matter at all because we were just plain thrilled to be on a red road in PEI. We were a little less thrilled when the red clay turned to red mud in the woods, and a little terrified when we met a vehicle going the other direction on the muddiest corner of the road, but we made it through. The lighthouse was just a small one out in the water, but I got out of the car to take pictures of it and of the red beach and “cliffs” around it. I do love adventures! We made it back to our coastal drive without event, and continued around the Island, with me “ooohing” and “ahhhing” as we went.

We arrived at Blue Crest Cottages by the Sea at about 3:30 and quickly checked in to our cottage. We are in number 11. I was thrilled when I saw that the numbers started up by the entrance and got bigger as you got closer to the water. I really wanted to be as close to the water as possible, and we are! There is only one cabin further down than us, and it is not a one bedroom like we have. I could not be happier with the place itself or the view. We unpacked the car, bought a few groceries, and settled in for supper. It feels wonderful not to be living out of bags anymore, and to be able to cook a meal. I even enjoyed doing the dishes! After supper, R.J. agreed to walk with me down to the little bit of beach we have access to on this property. I took my camera and got a couple of pictures of us at our long dreamed-of destination. More blogs will follow, I am sure, but this was one spectacular day. It will be hard to beat. Thank you, God, for your blessings all along the way!

Here we are, realizing our dream of a vacation on Prince Edward Island!