We were smitten when we met our new friends here, Harry and Judy Wray, from Chicago. Once again, ominous skies backdrop our camping site along the southern shore of P.E.I. near Summerside.

Pedal Power

Our most recent adventures found us in Tidnish, NS bearing down on PEI amid overscast skies and seriously ominous clouds. We hoped the weather would hold out until we could find our next camping spot, but soon the skies opened and it began to dump (think Asian monsoon rains). The water on the road was up to our rims in no time, and just when we thought we were completely screwed, our favorite sign, the small, brown question mark from heaven, appeared out of nowhere...an information center. We followed the arrow 100yds up the road only to find it closed due to lack of government funds and support (so said the sign on the window). As it turned out, that was the best case scenario, as we commandeered the 10 square feet of covered porch space and took shelter. We had crackers, cheese and a half bottle of wine, left over from our tasting the day before, which we quickly devoured. We just as quickly realized that the rain was not stopping any time soon and that our tenting options were limited to 1)the porch where we stood, in very plain sight of the road or 2)the 4ft wide mowed buffer zone between the back of the building and the jungle-like tall grass wilderness beyond it. We opted for the latter and after waiting for an appropriate level of dusk to settle and an equally appropriate lull in the torrential madness, we quickly got our tent up, threw gear in, and then ourselves. After a restless (at best) nights sleep amid the constant patter of rain on the tent alternating between hard and really hard, we awoke to more rain, soggy everything and...SLUGS!...EVERYWHERE. And where there wasn't a slug, there was a gooey, slimy, disgusting trail of slug grossness where one had been....in our shoes (found 3), helmets, rain gear, soaked socks and all over the tent. We contemplated staying in the tent forever, not wanting to face the prospect of taking down the tent and our slug-infested gear in the rain, but decided our next destination was the nearest hotel and there we could deal with all of the sogginess. We headed to the town of Port Elgin, N.B. and its' one motel, Indian Point, run by a cute German woman and her Nova Scotian husband. We proceeded to assault every square inch of hook, chair-back, hanger and towel-rack space this tiny room offered, hanging clothes, gear and soaked shoes to dry. The German woman then proceeded to cook us a homemade breakfast from heaven with a huge spread of homemade breads, jams, jellies, eggs, bacon and the best coffee we have ever had! We gorged ourselves silly over cribbage and settled into a lovely day of lounging (on a bed!) and watching trashy, daytime television (the best Oprah we've ever watched!). We took long, hot showers with scrubbing, shaving, soap and all over cleanliness. Possibly the first ever haircut with a Gerber tool was conducted on Kirsten's hair in that little room. (Don't try this at home folks!) Seth is considering a new profession-or maybe we found a new sport for the Redneck Olympics!

We watched the weather channel, which included depressing forecasts of rain, rain and more rain! After a long and restful nights' sleep (again, on a real bed) we woke to overcast skies and ominous-looking clouds-by this point we have forgotten what the sun looks like, but it seemed it was holding steady and check-out time loomed, so we packed up our newly dried (mostly) gear and set off to conquer the 25k to the Confederation Bridge, linking New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island. If you are unfamiliar with this bridge, as we were, it is an engineering feat of almost incomprehensible proportions. It spans over 8 miles of open ocean and you almost can't see one side from the other. As bikes are not allowed on it, we waited amid the masses of mosquitoes for the shuttle that would take us across. According to some other cyclists we met from Quebec, Francois and Frederique, who had already been to PEI, calling for the shuttle was like calling God..."Hello, we're here on the N.B. side...can you come pick us up?" "I'll be there in ten minutes, replies God" He appears in a white van with a large bike trailer hauling behind.

Having finally made it to the other side after a lengthy wait, we found the nearest Tim Horton's for some coffee and a muffin (or 3...each). We set off then for Summerside, a small town where we hoped to secure a location to watch the Euro Cup finals on Sunday, find a laundromat and get some groceries. We marveled at the rich, deep red soil, abundant seas of potato fields and above all, a new map with a much more bike friendly scale...we were in Summerside in no time (~30k) where we stumbled upon the College of Piping and Celtic Arts weekend long festival of bagpiping, fiddle music and Scottish step-dancing...it was so fun! As we were enjoying the festivities, our bikes found us some new friends. We came back to find Harry, a poly-sci professor at DePaul University in Chicago checking them out and we instantly hit it off. He had done a cross country tour in the mid 70's, is a big fan of all things bike and was interested in our trip. We exchanged stories and talked about our bikes...he has even written a book on politics and biking (Pedal Power...check it out!) and after meeting our respectives wives, they went on their way. After meeting yet another cycle touring couple and chatting for a bit, Harry and his wife Judy returned, offering to take us to dinner!

Never missing an opportunity to make new friends and hear exciting tales from the road (not to mention eat!) we humbly accepted and proceeded to have a magical evening, eating delightful island food (killer mussels!) and talking about traveling, family, politics, etc. By the end of the night, we were exchanging emails and hugs and best wishes for all our travels (they were leaving today to drive back to Chicago). What a truly wonderful, serendipitous occasion (and we found ourselves stuffed full for the first time in weeks...thanks Harry and Judy!!). I can't wait to read Harry's book.

We found yet another superb camping spot a few minutes outside town and just a couple feet from the lapping tide and we are ready for another big day of adventure...and soocer...and rain (it's pouring right now).
Best wishes and love to all...do some "no more rain dances" for us...we love to get your emails and notes on the blog.
S+K

On the Northumberland Strait

Headwinds BLOW!!!! Ughh. This is fun, but not every minute in equal measure. We hit a sick, sustained headwind all day yesterday. We decided we needed to rub our tailwind fetishes that Susan gave us a little more! Seth mercifully blocked the wind for me yesterday and made my legs feel a lot better. We also met our first pair of touring cyclists on that ride. They were a young couple our age from Montreal. We had fun chatting it up with them a bit. We've rode past many farms. Some proclaiming how long their farm has been held in family lineage. The oldest one we saw proudly declared "Family Farm Since 1783." The insects here are relentless. We've been peeling them off our face like wallpaper and with it our blood. Yet, we have been able to camp the last four nights on waterfront, which is gloriously scenic for after dinner reading and journaling. And....we managed to stop at a vineyard for wine tasting yesterday. Some of you would be proud and jealous, I know who you are! The winery was beautiful, 45 acres and a classy, large barn to display wines and sell boutique-ish things. We learned that the taproot of a grape vine grows forty feet into the earth. Amazing! Unfortunately, the cheese we bought to go with our crackers and wine melted to an oozy slime, so we just had to drink the wine! Today we are headed NW along the northumberland strait on the way to the PEI confederate bridge. We're in a cute little town,called Pugwash, apparently a world famous peaceful village. The coffee shop here has free internet access and we've been entertaining ourselves with coffee and cribbage. We miss all of you a ton! Kristie-You are hilariously...we totally made a scene laughing out loud in this coffee shop when we read about Edwards St. carrots! I was singing "this is for tha G's and this is for tha hustlas..." the other day...and I kept thinking of you. Thanks everyone for keeping in touch. It's great to hear from all of you. with love- kirst and seth

We've made a bit of headway since I was able to write last. We've probably rode over 400 miles by now and our ravenous appetites cannot be satiated! We feel like eating everything in sight. I was just in the grocery store and hotdogs looked good to me if that says something. We've run into some exciting people recently. We met an elderly woman named Hilda at Tim Horton's, the Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts- She seemed so lonely and probably had her wits about her in better days, but she was a delight to listen to. She told us she had 6 kids. The 1st four all girls and when her husband said the 5th was a boy, she didn't believe him. So he turned the baby around to show her and he pee'd all over her! She was a hoot. The next morning, Sunday, we were riding through a small town and came across an elderly woman walking across the crosswalk coming out of church. We stopped for her of course and exchanged our customary "good mornings" and she shouted, "I envy you!" I glanced at my fully loaded bike, wondering how she could be jealous of this load and questioned, "Really???" She pumped her fist in the air and shouted a triumphant, "To Be Young!"

That same day we met Allan. He had a dozen bikes all lined up on his front lawn in his "collection" Most had streamers on the handlebars and funky art attached to them. When we stopped to take pictures, he came out to give us the tour. Seth said he had a lot of stuff and even more to talk about. A boy he did. The photo here shows the bike that he put a portable record player in and he kept his records in the front basket. He demonstrated the differing pitches of the horns, the mufflers, the dancing Elvis, the flags, buttons and so much more. Then he took us into his tool shed and showed us his collection of you name it. He like to play a little game with us. It was kind of like 20 questions but only backwards. He asked, "Do you have a garden? What do you think you use this for?" Our reponses were always close but never on the mark and he would say, "You're getting there, I'll give you a hint...." And this went on and on for at least 10 different tools. This man had over 100 tricycles in his garage. He said he brings them all out for July 1st, Canada's independence Day. Can you even imagine? We even signed his guestbook.

Later in the day, we went to a beautiful provincial park to camp. We have a site right on the Meander river and there was no one there since it was Monday. We decided to stay an extra day to give our bodies and well deserved day off. It felt great. Seth made a couple rock sculptures with these river rocks that were extremely flat, we read a lot, ate and just plain laid around. Ooh-and we made strawberry-rhubard otameal-yum! We have decided to head north to the northumberland strait to get a change of scenery. We have heard that the water is really warm for swimming and then we'll head to P.E.I. It is a joy to hear from those of you who have written...Kristie & Jenny...mom...Jess

We love you all! Kirsten&Seth