Up late this morning, visited with the motel owner over the complementary breakfast she served. Lovely and interesting lady. A real joy of this trip is talking to local people, who have all been so friendly. New Brunswick businesses are hurting from the economic woes of the US, a common theme that we have heard across the country.
Bound for PEI today, across the (shudder) Confederation Bridge. I have, as some people know, a few issues about bridges. In fact, the big ones scare the crap out of me, and have for many years. I cope, pick my times, do what I have to, but I don't like them, and today was the mother of them all. Thirteen kilometers of hell, way up high. Look at the pictures, and imagine. The longest bridge in the world.
Once safely here on the island we stopped at the visitor's center to get maps and brochures. I was still a bit twitchy from the crossing, and consumed a full, large bag of the island's finest product, potatoes (in chip form). It is who they are and what they do here, and apparently the red earth of PEI is the finest for growing spuds. So they say, and the chips were great.
Roamed the Island roads today and we are spending the night in Summerside, a lovely town. I'm going to have to get a Thesaurus to find alternative words for 'lovely' and 'spectacular' and 'friendly', I use them so often they become trite. But true, no other way to put it. My mission statement for the maritimes visit is to find the best Clam Chowder. Until today it was at Tim Horton's. A new leader has taken over, The Loyalist Inn in Summerside PEI is clearly ahead now but the challenge is not over. I am the judge and I love my job.
