Snippets from the Drive across Canada

On July 8, we started on our westward trek back to (eventually) home in New Mexico.  Here are some snippets of what life is like on the road with our fuzzy-butt family!

Enjoy!

The Surprising East Point Drive of Prince Edward Island (PEI)

Our second day of exploring PEI was very different from exploring the day before.  For one thing, it was a beautiful sunny day.  The other thing that was very different was the shoreline.  Something I never expected to see!

Dunes on PEI

Sand dunes!! I just never thought I’d see sand dunes in far northern Canada!  Take a look – doesn’t it look like we’re much further south?  When we walked up the crest of the grass hill, I was shocked at this view!  These are in the Clarence and Alice McEwen Nature Reserve.

Bloom in the Beach Grass

And hidden in the grass were these lovely blooms.  I have no idea what type of flower this is, but it’s so lovely and delicate looking.

St. Peter’s Island Lighthouse and Old Dock

When we were checking out the dunes at the Nature Reserve, we saw a lighthouse from a distance.  We checked out the maps and managed to find the lighthouse for some closer views.  This first view was a treat, and it was interesting to see the remains of the old dock.  Interestingly, it was a dock that was on a bay, not on the ocean.

St. Peter’s Lighthouse and Shifting Sands

You can’t see it in this image, but if you walked up to the green shrubs in the foreground of this image, you would be looking down at some very basic foundation structure for the lighthouse. It was very open and at first we thought there was still work to be done.  However, we happened to meet a woman who lived there (and taught yoga on the beach) & she explained that the dunes are constantly shifting, and they had to build the foundation to allow the sand to come and go.

Shoreline at St. Peter’s Lighthouse

I was blown away by the shoreline at St. Peter’s Lighthouse.  I truly felt like I should be at some southern beach!

East Point Lighthouse

At the far end of our drive sat the East Point Lighthouse.  There was a lovely little restaurant right next to the lighthouse where we had lunch.  Miki was with us and was a hit with the other tourists, too.

End of the World

This was the furthest east point on PEI.  Obviously someone decided to have some fun with that fact!  It’s not really the furthest east that we were in Canada.  When we were on the Cape Breton Trail, we were further east than this, but it’s a fun little sign anyway!

Shoreline at East Point

This was another lovely shoreline on PEI.  It wasn’t the sand dunes any longer, but it wasn’t exactly craggy cliffs either!

Colors on PEI

As we continued our explorations, we visited another provincial park and saw some lovely lupine blooms.  Their vibrant colors, the water, and the sky made for a great shot.  I didn’t actually lay down on the ground to get this shot, but it was close!

Souris Historic Lighthouse

This was the last scenic stop on our explorations of the east side of PEI.  I really loved the way the low clouds and the fact that I was down on the docks from the lighthouse created this very cool shot! I’m not certain we were supposed to be there, but I’d rather ask forgiveness than permission!

Enjoy!

Drive around Western Prince Edward Island

Our first day on Prince Edward Island (PEI), it was a bit of a misty overcast day.  Everything seemed to take on a little bit of that calm, cool feel.

Wide Open PEI View

It was very flat and waters were relatively calm on this day.  It had a very different feel from what we had come to expect from the Atlantic Canada provinces, and, for myself, I liked the change of pace, so to speak!

Provincial Park House

We did explore a small provincial park.  The most striking thing about this park was the house that sat on it.  I think it might be a sort of museum, but we didn’t try to get inside.  I just thought it was a nice example of perhaps the types of homes that used to be on PEI.  We weren’t far from the area where Lucy Maude Montgomery had her “Anne of Green Gables” set.  There is an area set up to honor the book and author, but the weekend we were there, there was a country western music festival, so we steered clear of that, given my lack of appreciation for that type of music!

Solitary Stand

Scenes like this were plentiful.  Altho it seems rather somber in this weather, I had a feeling that if the sun was shining, things would look very different.

Lupine along the Side of the Road

One bright spot on this gloomy day were the lupine that bloomed along the road sides.  They provided some brightness to a rather gray day!

Old Clapboard House

And, as I had come to expect in this area of Canada, clapboard houses were plentiful.  This one seemed abandoned, but many homes and barns still in use are made of clapboard.

Enjoy!

Cape Breton Trail

On our full day in the Cheitcamp area, we drove the coastline called the Cape Breton Trail.  It was starkly beautiful, and almost eerily beautiful.  Take a look –

Pillar Rock Coast

You can see the road we drove on in the upper portion (left center) of this image.  We had to stop and then I saw this view which was hidden from our view due to the direction we were driving.  The day was not as sunny as the previous evening, but the cloud cover of this day only added a nice dimension to the scene.

Pillar Rock

This is just a close up of the 2 pillar rocks.  I’m not certain why the name of the location is singular when there are clearly 2 rocks, but, oh, well!  The rugged look of the rocks really illustrated how crashing against the coast in this area would destroy any fishing or sailing ship.

Looking Toward LaBloc

When I turned to look away from Pillar Rock, this is the view that was before me!  What a breathtaking sight!  A rugged shoreline is what I came to expect while exploring around the Atlantic Canada provinces.

Trout Brook Coast Drive

As we meandered down the drive along the Cape Breton Trail, this was the type of view and road we drove on.  What a wonderful sight.

Cape Breton Highlands Bog

One stop along the way was at a small bog.  There were a number of flowers in bloom that lined the wooden walkway through the bog.

Bog Pond

As we waked along the boardwalk on the bog, we would come across lovely ponds like this one.  I really loved the colors that we found in this ponds.  Too bad photos don’t come with sounds – the croaking frogs were really loud at times!

Halibut Head Coastline

The final stopping point for us on this drive was at Halibut Head.  I thought the coastline was really pretty, and not the typical rough craggy rocks.  It was a lovely break from what had become the “norm”!

Waterfall on Halibut Head

When I turned away from the coastline view (above), I noticed this small waterfall off in the distance.  It was a lovely way to end this exploring drive.

Enjoy!

Cheticamp, Nova Scotia

After we set up our camp in Cheticamp, we decided to drive around the town…..or actually across the bay from the town!

Cheticamp and St. Peter’s Church

The little town of Cheticamp certainly is home to a large church!  The spire of St. Peter’s Church has long been a landmark to fisherman and sailors returning after a trip or a long day at sea.  The town runs the length of the coastline, at least the commercial part of town. What that means is that just about all the restaurants in town offer a view of the water!  One other interesting note about the town – it’s home to Elizabeth LeFort, a legendary hooked rug maker. There are studios in town offering classes, too.

Enragee Point Lighthouse

As we drove around the small rural road (read “dirt”) past the lovely view of the town, we came to the lighthouse on the point of the island on which we were driving.  The best view of the lighthouse is from afar, as there is a fence around the entire lighthouse area.

View from Enragee Point Lighthouse

When I turned around from the lighthouse, this was the wonderful view!  Even tho the day was sunny, there was a low cloud bank that road just on top of the water.  The tiny yellow flowers in the meadow like grass add a bright pop of color, too.

Sheep Grazing at Enragee Point 

As we started back on the small road we drove out to the lighthouse, we saw these sheep grazing peacefully in the meadow.  Talk about an idyllic setting!

Enjoy!