Well, we didn’t fall down once today.  We fell down twice.

We woke up nice and toasty warm this morning – the weather on the PEI coast was a clear 24 degrees, and I think the bed of pine needles under the tent gave us a little extra insulation, and I slept great.  I don’t know what time Jenny was up, but judging by the photos it was around sunrise.  Even the fact that there was no cold water at the showers couldn’t damp my spirits – I guess my standards have officially been lowered to campground standards.  There’s always something with these places…

In the campground flyer we saw an ad for Cole’s Family Restaurant, and they were pretty proud of the fact that it opened at 7:00am for breakfast.  I figured that would be perfect for an early start as we wanted to finish exploring the island today and had lots to see.  So we rolled in to the restaurant around 10:00.  But the food was still excellent – I didn’t even have room for homemade pie after my eggs, sausage, bologna, home fries, toast and French toast.

After breakfast, we plotted a course for the Greenwich Dunes in PEI National Park along the north shore.  Jenny had been told about some pretty trails and nice vistas that we just had to see while we were here.  After a scenic hour or so drive, we arrived at the Interpretation Center, which is basically a giant cash register.  We paid our $15 and proceeded to the parking lot near Greenwich Beach.  We chose the beach because it was the only trail we would have time for – 20 minutes vs 1.5 hours.

Jenny led the way to the lot, and parked her bike oddly in the gravel quite a ways from the entry path.  I figured I could do a better job and make it easier to get out later, so I moved it about 10 feet or so further away.  On its other side.  After further contemplation, we decided that that wouldn’t do at all, so we parked more traditionally in another section of the lot.

Once parked, we put on our beach clothes (sandals), and made our way to the spectacle that we had worked so hard to get to.  Nice beach, but it was only a bit bigger than the campground we had just left…  Good times.

Somehow we managed to get out of the park with our bikes intact and made our way towards the Myriad View Artisan Distillery just down the road a ways.  We figured a little traditional “white lightning” couldn’t hurt at this point… as a matter of fact, it’s not hurting right now as I write this.  The highway was (yet again) under construction, so it was more fun trying to get into the parking lot, and Jenny was so worried about getting back out that she couldn’t enjoy the brick oven that was the reception hut.  Don’t expect a tour or anything here, but if you’re looking for 57.1% alcohol rum or 75% alcohol moonshine, this is the only (licensed) place you can go.

For some reason Jenny was a little gun shy about motorcrossing it back onto the highway, so I took her bike down the lane, jumped it up onto the new pavement and weaved my way through the construction workers to a convenient place to park.  Well, not exactly, but it was still a PITA.  I walked back to the end of their laneway and did the same with my bike while Jenny walked up to hers, then we were on our way.  The last hour or so had pretty much drained us, so we stopped at a Petro-Can in Souris, had a Gatorade and settled down for a bit.  I decided it was a good time to adjust the parking brake on the Mananimal at this point since it was apparently not an included service in the routine servicing it had at the dealership two weeks ago…  Thanks again GearHead!

Well, we survived this much, so we might was well truck on down to the ferry and see what that’s all about. We’d heard there’s a fantastic Fish & Chips place in Pictou, Nova Scotia and if we leave now we can make the 4:00 ferry and be there for Dinner.  I mean if we leave five minutes ago we can make the 4:00 ferry, but I won’t know that for an hour or so.

The next ferry is at 6:15, so we park at the head of the line to wait and wander around the terminal area.  We found a little lobster shack (named Crabby’s for some reason), and had a couple of lobster rolls while we waited.  Then we went over to the ferry services tourist trap and fudge factory and had a pop to kill some more time.  The excitement for the ferry workers’ afternoon was the ambulance that came through with sirens blaring to wait in line with us.  He got to go ahead of us, but he still had to wait until 6:15.

The ferry ride itself is very relaxing and gave us a chance to just sit and watch the world go by without having to do the driving.  We looked at a couple maps and snapped a few photos and sat some more.  I finally got to have my Cow’s ice cream, and Jenny found a drink with some redhead on the label.

Pictou is only a few km from the ferry terminal on the Nova Scotia side, so we took off to the famous Murphy’s Fish & Chips where we got to take a photo with the “Closed” sign before going to the Salt Water Café just down the street.  The Fish & Chips was still good, but I’ll never know if it was “the best”…

We’re at a Holiday Inn Express tonight to do some laundry and have a more moderate shower in the morning.  We’re heading for Cape Breton tomorrow, but who knows what sunrise will bring.

Watch a video of the ferry coming in for a landing from our perspective.