Two sleepy days on Prince Edrward Island

We are close to the end, and our bodies and minds can sense it. As we near the last few days of the trip, the exhaustion from the long trip is catching up with us. Now on Prince Edward Island with a bit of time on our hands, we decided to make the most of our time and spend as much as we could here. We decided to not take a rest day on our way from Metis to the ferry, and instead took two slow, short, and easy days across the Island.

The first day was a 60km trip to Charlottetown. It absolutely poured on us as we came into town, where we met Pat's Mum and Dad for lunch. While we were there, CBC Radio came and interviewed us, and funnily enough Pat saw Mike's family taking a horsedrawn carriage ride right past where we were eating! They were taking some time to see the city before continuing on their way around the Maritimes. We later found a hotel room, and everyone stayed around before we went out to dinner to see the sights. It's a beautiful little city, and with the trip nearing an end, it was nice to have time to enjoy it and take it in.

With only a short trip down to the ferry, we took the morning to sleep in before heading off today. We had a place to stay right near the Woodlands ferry with Darla Thompson and John Rousseau. They stayed in the Eastern Townships with my grandparents about a month ago, and they were returning the favour to us. The location was perfect for us, and they were gracious hosts at their beautiful property. They fed us well while John told us stories about his masonry business, an absolute passion for him. While we were there, we also took the opportunity to decide who was going to get what gear to take home. we had an NHL-style draft, with 10 packages up for grabs. Funnily enough, nobody really wanted to take the trailers which carry it all, but everyone went home with some good loot, and it avoids our having to divide it up in St. John's last minute! The Island has been absolutely beautiful to bike across. The rolling landscape is complete with farming fields, and views of the water. Most distinct are the potato crops, with the red earth that they are planted in.

Tomorrow, we'll take the ferry off of the Island onto Nova Scotia, our ninth province of the trip, heading towards Antigonish. And the countdown continues...

Six...

Five...

Spanning the Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island

All our family is slowly making their way to St. John's.

We met up with Pat's parents in the morning for breakfast, and soon after Bob, Polly, and Mary McDonald drove by us on the road. They drove from Ontario and will tour the Maritimes before crossing to Newfoundland.

We wanted to get to PEI today, and it made for a long 135km day. The scenery along the small highway we took for the last 20km was absolutely beautiful, and we could just make out the Island across the water, a pencil-thin line on the horizon. As we moved South, the Confederation Bridge slowly came into view, and it is very impressive. It was completed in 1997, and spans 13km from NB to PEI. It is even slightly curved to force drivers to pay attention to the road. Unfortunately, no pedestrian or bicycle traffic is alowed on the bridge, so we took the shuttle which runs back and forth.

Once on the other side, we found a campground quickly, and set up before the rain hit. The McDonalds met up with us, taking us out for a seafood dinner in Summerside. Tomorrow, we'll continue to Charlottetown to have lunch with Pat's parents. One week to go!

Seven...
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A visit from Pat's parents on our way to Rexton

It's been a while since we last had to wake up and take down camp in the rain, and this morning was brutal. We got up to rainy weather, a road under construction, and wind in our faces coming out of the rest area where we made our home. It was slow enough that we only made it 25km by lunchtime in Miramichi, where we settled down at Boston Pizza to use up the last of our free individual pizzas. Delicious.

The conditions weren't showing any signs of improving weather, and we weren't too sure what lay ahead, so once we crossed the bridge we picked up food for our next two meals to carry with us. Ironically, the rain died down soon after, the sun came out, and the wind improved, so we made quick time the rest of the way to Rexton, where we found a site and set up camp.

As we got there, Pat got in touch with his parents. They arrived in Halifax a few days ago, and have been driving around the Maritimes in a Ford Mustang rental car. They came and found us at our campground, and it was nice to see them, as Pat has not seen them since the third day of the trip. They took us out to dinner at their motel, and we'll have breakfast with them tomorrow before heading out, at Eastern Canada's version of their Vancouver Starbucks: Tim Horton's. Good thing we got all that food in Miramichi, eh?

Tomorrow, we'll cross over the Confederation Bridge to camp out just on the other side. On to PEI as the count goes on.

Eight...
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Leading the parade through Bathurst on our way down the coast

A few people in Bathurst might now about the ride now.

After covering 50km to get there for lunch, we ran into a parade that was running along the main drag through town, also our route out.

We had options. There were a number of streets available to take around it to get on our way. There was also the option of just joining the parade itself and acting like we were a part of it. We went for the latter.

We bypassed the lineup of vehicles that were actually part of the parade, slowly pedaling while waving to the crowd and smiling for the cameras. Eventually we got to the front, passing a few firetrucks and a cop car or two, and were leading things along. People who were waiting for the parade in behind us saw us first, and clapped and cheered us on. It was a pretty funny experience.

The winds have been fighting us all the way South, and today was no different. Complicating things was the fact that there was essentially nothing to be found between Bathurst and Miramichi, a full 80km apart along a deserted highway. Worse, there was a repaving project on the road making riding a nuisance, and with the hour getting late, the outlook was bleak. Luckily for us, a rest area opened up, with a gas station across the road. We've set up camp and will stay the night.

The countdown continues as we continue down the coast towards the Confederation Bridge to take us across to PEI.

Nine...
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The countdown begins in New Brunswick

We're in the final countdown to St. John's, and now that we are in the Maritimes in New Brunswick, it is hitting us that we are very close to the end.

At our campsite last night and this morning, we waged a serious battle with the local blackflies. They were by far the worst we've had to date, just swarming every part of our body, worst when we were standing still trying to actually do something. They definitely won the fight, and we got out of there as quickly as possible this morning to avoid them.

There was little between Sainte-Florence and Matapedia, so we made it through in solid time. The ride was absolutely beautiful, following several of the regions rivers through the valley, surrounded by pine forest. We weren't quite ready for lunch when we arrived, so we pushed on across the border to Campbellton. It was quite a feeling to be in the Maritimes, and thankfully they had a great sign for us to get a picture with!

There's not much along the East coast of NB, and we went a long distance without seeing any grocery stores or restaurants. Worse, we had lost an hour coming into the province, so it was getting late to find something. Signs to one campsite were completely false, but regardless we didn't have any food, and after 120km of riding, all we knew about was Pizza Delight in tiny Jacquet River 10km away, which somehow came up in searches. We figured we had no choice but to go there, so we ordered 4 of their biggest pizzas for takeout, and figured we'd find somewhere to camp once we got there.

We lucked out big time. Not only was the pizza delicious, but there was a campground right next to it. It was right on a beach, and with clear skies the sunset was amazing. We took the pizza with some beers down to the water, had a swim with LOADS of jellyfish (Jon got stung), and had rock skipping, rock throwing, and caber toss competions. The caber toss was the most exciting, and everyone was able to get the first, lighter log to 12 o'clock. The second log, taller and heavier, posed a greater challenge. Contestant after contestant tried and failed, until Jon stepped up to the plate for his third attempt, throwing it up in Herculean fashion to get it to land at the 12 o'clock position. We even had a crowd, as a couple had just ridden over along the sand in their ATV. With the competition settled, we headed back up to set up camp, with two full pizzas left for tomorrow. They were huge, so we'll definitely have enough for breakfast, possibly even lunch!

With the trip nearing an end, I've decided to run the battery on our GPS locator down, and have it tracking us all the time through the day. If you click on the "current location" link on the homepage, you can see where we are throughout the day, and follow us all the way to the finish line until August 5th. It is a cool extra feature for you who follow us along.

Moreover, we sit about $11,000 short of our fundraising goal to date. Please help us out be telling anyone you haven't already about the ride to help us make it before we're done! Every little bit helps.

With that out of the way, the countdown is on to St. John's.

Ten...
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Up and down and into the wind along the Matapedia to Sainte-Florence

After getting an incredible welcome into Metis, we were treated to an equally impressive sendoff this morning.

A crowd of 100+ people had gathered for our 9am departure, and cheered us on as we wheeled our bikes onto the Beach road outside my house. Lots of cameras took pictures while I went to find my 90-year-old grandmother, who was waiting in the middle of the street with her scooter donning a helmet to lead us out, with the firetruck trailing us. Kids, parents, and grandparents alike dusted off their bikes to ride East out of town with us to the highway, before the following crowd stayed behind as we rode off.

Turning onto highway 297 after Baie-des-Sables, we ran into steep hill after steep hill as we climbed up to the Matapedia highway (also the 132). Once there, the road flattens out as it runs along the river valley, Southeast towards New Brunswick.

In Amqui, we were met by their fire chief who trailed us out of town until the far side of Lac-au-Saumon. There he switched off with one of his colleagues to take us to Sainte-Florence. We didn't know the area very well, so we were lucky that he asked us where we had planned to stay for the night. We hadn't gotten that far ahead in the plans, so he warned us that there was essentially nothing between Sainte-Florence and Matapedia, another 50km away, which would make for a long day. Thankfully, he led us to a municipal campground where we could get set up. Another big thanks to the region's firefighters, who have been very supportive of us and extremely cooperative.

Once in, it was Jon's turn to make dinner, the last meal of the competition. He went for a fettucine carbonara of his own creation, with baguette on the side. It was good, but it was now up to the judges to decide. Each person ranked the other meals 1-4, with a reverse points system to make a score. We must have saved the best for last, because Jon came out on top, followed closely by myself, then Pat, Brian, and Mike respectively. We'll have to find some kind of prize for Jon, but until then, he gets bragging rights as MMR's Iron Chef.

Tomorrow we'll cross into New Brunswick as we make our way along the coast.
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