June 18 - Massachusetts

Quick update (for some reason I am still running on that Atlantic Time!).

I know I was going to post about the hotels today. However, upshot was I spent over 3 hours on borrowed phones today to Verizon trying to get the rental phone service restored to my regular phone. I called Verizon last month about getting a temporary international plan; no problem. Two weeks before I left I called back to reconfirm. Good thing I did. Turns out Canada recently switched their phone service, and my phone would no longer work up there.

I do not own a smartphone; do not want or need one. All I want is talk and text. I have a laptop for everything else! Verizon sent me a free rental 3G phone, and the activation was easy-peasy. I was told the reactivation of my regular phone would be the same.

Not so. It has been a long, excrutiatiang process to switch back. As mentioned - a total of over 3 hours and 4 different "technical support" people before one finally managed to get it correct. Ugh.

Tomorrow when I have calmed down I will call Verizon customer service and give them a good piece of my mind :)

Therefore, I was not really in the best of moods to post about the hotels tonight. Played catch-up today with my regular email (almost 100 messages in 10 days!), plus checked all my banking and credit card stuff over a secure connection to ensure no nefarious activity had occurred. It did not.

Big piece of advice, and one which I will follow next time! If you do not own a 3G or 4G phone and travel out of the US, the best bet would be to purchase a disposable cell when you arrive at your destination. Today's hassle of 3 hours on the phone for the 10 days I had on the Android (which I do not really care for, BTW) was so not worth it.


Tomorrow, I PROMISE I will review the hotels and post the pics :)

June 17 - Massachusetts, Home

Again, no pix today - another travel day.

Last night I was just tired and my back was really bothering my from the long drive. Ordered delivery from my hotel (pasta primavera) and zonked out.

Made it back home safe and sound, and glad to be back. It was not a really long drive from Bangor; took me about 5 hours total. That included a few stops, the longest being for lunch and gas at the Kennebunk, Maine, service plaza.

I think I am still sort of on Atlantic Time. I had put in a wake-up call at the hotel last night, but woke at 5:15 AM today. Could not get back to sleep, so I gave up and got up. Called the front desk to cancel the wake-up call and had the requisite in-room coffee. Showered and slowly (very slowly) began loading the car. I peeked in the dining room at the continental breakfast, but there was nothing that caught my eye, and I was anxious to get on the road and head home. I did snag a muffin for my snack pack!

Checked the oil in my car prior to leaving; it was down a quart so I added it. She is older and burns oil; but only the second time I have had to add oil on this trip (I keep a few quarts in the trunk for that purpose).

Rested a good while at the Kennebunk service plaza. Had an early lunch (still on that Atlantic Time!) and managed to snag a cushy seat as opposed to the wooden ones that make up the majority of the food court area. Fueled up the car, hit the road again, and was home very early afternoon.

Took what I could out of the car, and with hands full made it upstairs (I live on the second floor of an old Victorian apartment building). My wonderful brother came over about an hour later, saved my day, and lugged all the rest of my stuff upstairs for me.

He is the best :)

Traffic was really not bad, even with the construction on the Maine Turnpike (which is ever ongoing - however they know how to do it correctly). Hampton tolls were not too bad, fortunately even for a Friday the majority of the traffic was heading north. End of Laconia bike week.

As usual the worst traffic was on 495S in Massachusetts. Long lines of trucks, idiots doing under 70 in the high-speed lane, etc. I survived :)

Although I loved my trip and cannot say enough good things about the great time I had, the places I visited and the things I saw and did, I am glad to be home. So glad to see my kitties, who were very happy to see me as well! I am unpacked, and have a mountain of laundry to deal with. Tomorrow!

I know I said I would run a critique of the hotels today; however I am getting tired and ready to head for (my own!) bed. And Dove bars!!! My weakness. I have been deprived :) And I think I am still running a bit on that Atlantic Time.

Tomorrow I will give a rundown on the hotels (and there are pix!).

The Defiant Traveler has returned to her home base :)

The next trip I am contemplating - well it is a ways off still, and I am trying to get a few people onboard with me as it is quite a journey and would be better off shared.

June 16 - Bangor, Maine

Another travel day today (long one), so not many pix to share. I am settled into my hotel in Bangor for the night. Checked out of the hotel on PeI, fueled up for the road on a hot breakfast. Same as yesterday, except I had 2 pieces of bacon today. I am not a big bacon fan/eater, but I had a very long way to go!

Wore my new sneaks!

And of course... the day dawned sunny and bright! Not a raindrop in sight. Sigh. It was still pretty cold, but I dressed for the temp at my destination (Bangor). The trip was uneventful. A few delays due to construction, but very few. I ran into some showers before and after I crossed the Confederation Bridge and headed toward Saint John, New Brunswick.

Entry to Confederation Bridge

On the bridge

The border crossing took some time. It is like a toll booth setup, and they had 6 lanes. Only 1 was open. Even on a Thursday there was a line of traffic. I did not take pix there because, well, homeland security and all.

I WAS worried because the person in front of me was a U-Haul; if it was full it would take quite a bit of time. Fortunately, it was empty (as I saw when the border guard looked in the back) :) Mine was easy - they ask where you are from and heading, where you were coming from, how long you have been there, and if you are bringing anything back.

I just told hin gifts and souveniers; he asked what sort. Then asked if I had any food (I said no, I did not tell him I had a bag of M&Ms in my snack pack!) or alcohol. I had 4 beers left from Canada, and the guy laughed. I said I had bought them (with tax!) and was not going to leave them behind. He agreed and I was free to re-enter the USA.

It was any easy drive from there to my hotel in Bangor, albeit long. Arrived pretty much on schedule. I think this has been the longest drive yet. It was over 7 hours with stops for gas etc.

Change of plans for tomorrow. I just really want to be home at this point, see my kitties, unpack, and see my brother. Rest these weary bones and my back from the road! It will take about 4 hours; maybe a little more with stopping for gas and dealing with Massachusetts traffic. I can do an overnight trip to the Penobscott Island pretty much any time. Also you are not allowed to take any pictures without prior approval from the Tribal Council. That has changed since I last visited.

Some extremely random observations I have about what little I have seen of Canada and the Maritime Provinces. If you are Canadian and following, please do not take any of this personally. I only visited for a very short time.

Drivers: New Brunswick and PEI are tied for most polite, but I will give the most polite award to NB. Nova Scotians drive very fast. That is fine when you are in your own country, and I can definitely relate!! But I did not want to risk a speeding ticket up there (it probably had lots of taxes!). Plus I was being the major tourist :)

The parts I saw of Canada were extremely clean - the roads had no trash on the side as you see in the US, and I did not even see much roadkill. I think they must have a "road fairy cleanup crew" that comes around to keep things so clean. I am also very impressed by all the recycling and green effort there is. Canada is light years ahead of the US on this. Every single hotel I stayed in had a separate trash bucket for recycleables. Even the gas stations have separate bins for trash and recycleables. Very impressive.

The local people I met and spoke with were unfailingly polite (I have mentioned that several times) and always helpful. There seems to be a little slower way of life, and I embrace that. Slow down... smell the coffee, smell the roses, notice the scenery. They were also very cheerful! I keep mentioning that, but it makes me smile. It can make your day. I actually ran into a couple from New Brunswick this afternoon here in Bangor when I was bringing in some of my things at the hotel, and they greeted me and stopped and we spoke a bit. Nice!

Taxes.... Huge..... 'Nuff said.

Tomorrow - home!

I hit the "publish" key on this too soon, so if you are viewing this page around 8:15 tonight you will want to revisit. I do have a few photos to add.

I will give a rundown and critique of the hotels I have stayed in once I am home. I did not think it prudent to publish their names and where I was staying while I was so far away from home.

Here are a few random shots out the windshield that amazingly came out not too badly.

Random roadside PEI

Random roadside New Brunswick

Random roadside PEI

June 15 - Prince Edward Island

Another treat today, ladies and gentlemen. I have a TON of pictures to share! (And another long post.)  The weather forecast was correct; rain off and on and cold (fortunately I had my new fleece on!). I was not to be deterred from today's journey. Fueled up again with a hot breakfast (scrambled eggs, toast, a piece of bacon, 2 glasses of OJ, and coffee), and headed up the west coast of PEI.

It was about 50 today, at best, and verrrry windy! Lest you think I am kidding, I stopped and took a pic of some lilacs. They are just coming into full bloom up here.

Lilac bushes

I thought I smelled something that vaguely resembled pizza for awhile, then saw some signs and realized what it was. Garlic farms! I drove past two, and they were quite pungent. Bit of a change from all the potato farms :)

First stop was Cap-Egmont, and the bottle houses. Wow.... so cool! Edouard Arsenault apparently had quite a sense of humor. He transformed over 25,000 bottles into the current attraction which consists of 3 buildings, plus a miniature lighthouse that was added later. There are also extensive gardens, very beautiful, and well-maintained. Also a large vegetable garden. From the website: "Edouard spent the winter in the basement of his home, cleaning bottles, removing labels and dreaming of his project. In the spring of 1980, at the age of 66, he began his construction, a mere hobby yet. As his six-gabled structure was taking form, visitors started coming in. Impressed by his work, they encouraged him to continue and to advertise it as a tourist attraction. And so, in 1981, the first Bottle House was open to the public."

It took him 4 years to complete the project. I went a little overboard taking pix, so I will put a few here in the post and the rest at the bottom.

Bottle House Chapel alter

Chapel pews

One of the Bottle Houses

Bottle House tavern

Bottle House tavern

Bottle House chapel

It was just so cool! There are several pieces of sculpture around the grounds, also created with (larger) bottles. There is a small pond there as well, with goldfish that are huge! You can actually see one in the picture.  It started to rain quite steadily, but I can just imagine what the gardens must look like in good weather. They are chock-full of roses and flowers and local plants.

Pond with goldfish

Bottle House sculpture

By the time I got done and back to my car, the rain turned from steady to heavy, and the wind was picking up. Even though the Cap-Egmont lighthouse was just a few Km down the road, I opted to continue north on the journey. It is not fun standing in a cold windy rain trying to take pictures of a lighthouse! Even for me :)

So northward, and on to North Point lighthouse. I was determined to see it, and journey to the northernmost point of PEI! Where the Northumberland Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence meet. It took a little over 1 1/2 hours in the rain (and stopping for a few random pictures).

North Cape lighthouse was built in 1865 after a large number of shipwrecks and petitions to the Government, as well as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the US for assistance to fund its construction. The Island Government did not have the money available, and unfortunately no funds were forthcoming. (Prince Edward had reneged on his word to fund the building of the lighthouse.) It is unclear who eventually paid for the lighthouse, but the Government of PEI did contribute a little money, and it is believed New Brunswick and several of the neighboring provinces picked up the remainder of the tab (mostly New Brunswick).

In 1951 the lighthouse had to be moved inland due to severe erosion of the cliff upon which it is built.

I was only able to get a few pictures; it was SO cold and extremely windy (the car door almost slammed on my fingers!), and "lightly" raining - ha ha. Also there is a fence around the lighthouse so you cannot get that close to it. It is still in operation, of course.

North Point Lighthouse

Gulf of St. Lawrence

The wind turbines.... There are an awful lot of them up here in the Maritime Provinces. Fields consisting of 20-30 turbines. It was no different at Cape North; there was another huge turbine field. There was an interactive exhibit available (for a small fee - with tax :) ), but I did not view it. Having worked for some years at a company that deals with all sorts of power, I am well aware of how wind turbines work, the general principles, the output, etc. I opted for a hot cup of coffee and a donut instead!

Part of the turbine field at North Point

From there I headed back to my hotel. I have to hand it to the Canadian version of Mapquest (which is not really Mapquest) that I have been using. The directions, and Km are spot on. The time, not so much. Again, it was rainy and very chilly today. Not much construction, fortunately! Stopped at a (different) local pub for a very late lunch / very early dinner. Much better atmosphere than last night's! And the bartender, Debra, was very good and attentive. I had a very awesome lobster roll :) There were not many people in there due to the hour so we chatted awhile; it was nice! (And yes, she was very cheerful!!)

Hard to believe my time here is up; I leave for Bangor in the morning. Where did the time go?? I do not think a month would have been enough time! Alas I did not get to see a ceilidh while I was here. The closest one was in Georgetown last night, which is about 45 minutes from here. I did not like the idea of driving back through Charlottetown in the dark! The front desk did not have any recommendations for anything really local. That is the only thing I wish I could have stayed long enough to see (most of them take place on weekends).

I am happy to be headed for home, however. I really, really miss my kitties (they probably think I died or abandoned them), my own bed, and my Dove bars :)

Once again I have packed the car with what I absolutely do not need tonight or in the morning. Fortunately it is an extremely short distance to the car from my first floor room (there is a small patio outside). Couple of trips out to the car in the morning, get some of that hot breakfast, and head south.

It was an amazing day. Despite the weather, I had a good time and the scenery.... just so amazing. It is truly awesome.

I leave you with a few more Bottle House pictures, and some random shots I was able to get today :)

Window in Bottle House chapel

Pillar in Bottle House

Part of Bottle House tavern

Close up of Bottle House

Random roadside photo of Gulf of St. Lawrence

Random roadside photo

Random roadside photo

June 14 - Charlettown, Prince Edward Island - Addendum

Just a short addendum before I turn in for the night. Dinner was OK; not bad and not great. Mostly sandwiches on the menu, which I was not in the mood for. The special was pork chops with veggies, mashed potatoes, and cole slaw. The latter 3 were good. Pork chops were dry. The waitress was very good, however. I did have a glass of wine with dinner tonight (splurge!).

Small place with a cozy feel. I sat in a booth. In the booth in front of me was (what I thought) two couples. Bad choice of seating on my part. They were loud, and spoke French (possibly from Quebec?). Only one of them had enough limited English to order, and it was very, very limited. When they left, they each wanted separate checks. They were rather rude to the waitress.

In the meantime, some sort of team of 6 guys came in; they were all wearing the same jerseys (no logo so I am unsure what sport they played). They, too, were very loud and one of them kept using the "F" word until the older fellow - I assume the coach - admonished him. All of them asked for milk (except the coach, who had coffee).

I left shortly after that; I was finished and paid the bill. While I understand some places get noisy and loud, this pub was not one of them. It was billed as an upscale pub! The music was low, and the rest of the patrons were normal in their tone and behavior. Many of them were my age. Not a place I will return!

Hard to believe tomorrow is my last day on PEI. Where has the time gone??

I will wear my new sneakers & fleece tomorrow :)

I have also decided to change my route back to Bangor. Originally I was going to cut across New Brunswick through Fredricton, but if I head back through Saint John (around it actually) it will save me about 45 miles and a little bit of time. All about the gas mileage :)

I mis-spoke the other day when I thought the gas was less expensive on PEI. It is not (it was actually New Brunswick where I refueled, I re-checked the receipt). Taxes here are a little over 14 percent!!! On everything.

Bed... sleep.... tomorrow's adventure awaits!

June 14 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Alas the weather people did not lie today; it was rainy and cold (about 48/50 degrees). Rather glad I had decided to head towards downtown again today and do a little shopping. Unfortunately you will not get many pictures as the weather was not conducive to stopping and snapping pix (nor was the traffic). My goal today was to just drive around a bit, poke around and do a bit of shopping, and see what I could see.

Started with breakfast of course (I am getting a bit used to that!). Blueberry bagel, half with cream cheese and half with butter and blueberry jelly. A little fresh fruit, juice and coffee, and I was fueled up for the day!

Downtown Charlottetown is big. Huge! As I mentioned yesterday, lots of one-way streets, tons of stop signs everywhere. Here are a few pix to give you an idea. Aplogies for the quality; the paper on the map reflects the flash of the camera.

Map of downtown Charlottetown

Street map of Charlottetown

Some history on Charlottetown. This small island colony hosted the first meeting to discuss Confederation, which eventually led to the birth of a new nation - Canada. I will not go into Confederation here, although it is very interesting; if you are interested you can google it! PEI's history runs much deeper however. The major rivers were travel routes for the Mi'qmaqs, the original Native people, who followed the seasons.

Around 1760 the land came under British rule and was named in honor of (ta da) Queen Charlotte, the consort of King George III. In the 1800s a boom of shipbuilding occurred. Today, Charlottetown is home to the PeI House of Assembly.

Your history lesson for the day :)

Below is a picture of Province House, Canada's second oldest legislative building. I drove along the harbour side; next to it is a pic of what the harbor front looks like in good weather (it was raining pretty steadily at the time I was there today).

Province House

Harbor front in good weather

Did some shopping; found myself a nice fleece sweatshirt. It is a lot warmer than it looks, and I will have to break one of my rules about washing all new clothes before I wear them. It is not a zip-up, but I liked the colors and it has a hood. I also splurged on a new pair of black high-top sneakers. They caught my eye, and I tried them on and fell in love. That was that!

New sneaks. Cool!

New fleece sweatshirt

I did get turned around in a few places - Charlottetown is very confusing to drive. Obviously made it back to the hotel OK and without incident! Planning an early dinner tonight at a local pub-type place just around the corner.

Tomorrow I will head out early (after a hot breakfast!) and take a drive along the west coast of the Island. The quirky bottle houses of Cap-Egmont call! Plus there is a lighthouse there I want to see. Then up to North Cape, which is PeI's most northern part of the island. There is another lighthouse there (of course!).

According to the Canadian Mapquest version, it should take a total of about 3 1/2 hours round trip. I am allowing a few extra hours for seeing the bottle houses and lighthouses, stopping for touristy pictures, and construction :) Here are a few maps that roughly outline my agenda.

Map of Cap-Egmont

Map of West Coast

Weather tomorrow calls for showers off and on (I am hoping it will be like yesterday, with massive breaks of sunshine in between!), and chilly of course; still around 50. But I have my new fleece, so I will be nice and warm :)

Going to get ready for dinner now. I already changed into dry socks when I got back from downtown. Third time I have needed to change into dry socks (and some people make fun of me for the number of socks I pack - this is why!).

PS..... No Dove bars :( Local grocery either does not carry them or was out. Big sigh.

June 13 - Prince Edward Island

Ladies and gentlemen you are in for a treat today! Most of the roads here thus far have shoulders, and so lend themselves very well to pulling over to take the random picture or two. I have a TON of pix to share from today's trip :) Since I am still scratching my head over why the pix will not align (as in side by side) and the blog will not allow me to move them around much, I will put most of the "random" stopping off the road and at tourist view area spots at the bottom. Today's post will be a long one.

I have surprised myself at how easily I adjusted to Atlantic Time; must be the ocean air and breezes up here! Sis, I have not needed to use the travel alarm I borrowed once!

Got up early again today, had my requisite in-room coffee (which surprisingly is not bad except for the powdered lightener type stuff), got cleaned up, and headed over for breakfast. This hotel may be a little rustic, but breakfast certainly was not! I had scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, a slice of toast, juice and coffee. They also had 3 types of cold cereal available, and an assortment of fresh fruit and yogurt. I wanted the hot breakfast to fuel up for today's road trip.

First destination was East Point. It is PEI's most eastern point on the island, where the Atlantic meets the St. Lawrence Bay. The weather forecast lied. It was chilly, and breezy (I am told there is always a breeze on PEI), and there were a few spotty showers this morning. Then the sun came out and it turned out to be a beautiful day! I was so happy!

The drive was supposed to take about an hour. Between pulling over to play tourist and taking pix, and the construction, it was closer to 2 1/2 hours. Some major road construction going on.... But the scenery is almost otherworldly, and I cannot help myself from gawking. And it was so worth it once I got there! The lighthouse itself did not have much to offer, but there was a small cafe there so I got another coffee and a piece of lemon danish (it was pretty chilly out there!). But gorgeous, absolutely goregous. Took a ton of pictures.

East Point Lighthouse

Ocean at East Point

Ocean at East Point

Ocean at East Point

Ocean at East Point

Then I headed south towards Murray Harbour, which was supposed to be a beautiful place to stay and be. More construction; this time the pavement was being torn up. A 45-minute drive turned into 1 1/2 hours. But the scenery was magnificent. There really was not much to Murray Harbour; I took a few pictures (I think that is a pelican on the boat - he did not look happy to see me!).

Murray Harbour

Murray Harbor

Murray Harbor

I had intended to head over to Point Prim light house from there (remember - the oldest one on PEI), but by that point my car and I had enough of construction and delays, it was getting on in the afternoon, so I opted to head back to Charlottetown.

Figured I would check out at least some of the downtown area today while I was close to the hotel. Without a map (conveniently back in my room), I found it to be quite confusing - much like someone who was unfamiliar with the downtown Boston/Cambridge areas. I did not go in circles, but I did end up in the wrong lane at times unintentionally. Lots of one-way streets. However, unlike Boston, no one honked at me or cut me off. Again: even (most) drivers here are unfailingly polite. It is so refreshing. Especially when you are in the right lane and realize you need to take a left! People actually let you in.

What a concept.

Tons of stop signs everywhere. The overhead traffic lights in Canada are different as well: green is round, yellow is diamond shape, and red is square. Quite sensible.

I will tackle downtown Charlottetown tomorrow! I will take a look at the street maps, etc. (and make sure to bring them with me!) and make a loose plan. Have a somewhat leisurely day.

The weather is not supposed to be great again tomorrow, but one never knows. They were wrong about today, maybe they will be wrong about tomorrow :) It poured like crazy last night, thunder storms rolled through. My back is doing well even after today's drive, so something is working. Part of it is because I was able to pull off to the side of the road in so many spots and get out of the car and move. It is the long stretches for hours at a time that do me in.

I will leave you with some of the random pictures I took today. I hope you enjoy!

Potato Farm

More potato farms

Potato field, overlooking the Atlantic

Random roadside

Atlantic ocean at a tourist overlook

Random roadside picture

Random roadside picture

Random roadside picture

June 12, Part 2 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

I have arrived safe and sound in PEI and settled in my room. This hotel is a little more, rustic, shall we say, than the previous two (and the lighting leaves a bit to be desired). However, it more than makes up for it with amenities the others did not. It comes with a microwave and a fridge that is a lot larger than the mini fridge in most hotels. Also the free (hot, as one of the managers pointed out) continental breakfast hours are more generous - they run until 10 AM!

When I rearranged the days of my trip, they had to change my smoking room to a non-smoking, but it was first floor with a patio so I could go outside. No big deal (they have no elevators here, and were upfront there was not anyone who could help me with my luggage). When I arrived, I asked if by chance a smoking room had opened up on the first floor. Why yes, it had! Not only that, it was a little less expensive, and the manager gave me the CAA (AAA) discount - I saved about $84 on the hotel room! Big time score!!!

The lobby was really nice, too, and the managers wore very crisp uniforms. And were, of course, very cheerful :) About 1/2 hour after I checked into my room and began to unload my car, the manager actually called my room to see if everything was satisfactory and there was anything I needed. Now that is service! She even thanked me for answering the phone before she hung up. How often does that happen??

The trip here was uneventful, and being Sunday there was no construction. I was right on schedule. I think the taxes here must be less than they were in Nova Scotia; it cost $10 CAD less to fill my gas tank from 1/4 to full when I stopped. That is a good thing.

I tried to take a few pix out the window as I was driving. Probably not the safest thing to do at 90 and 110 Kmph (55 and 65 Mph), and therefore a lot of them did not come out. Plus the day was rainy, and quite foggy in the distance. A few did, though. There was a cool field of windmills as I was leaving Nova Scotia, and they came out sort of OK (you will need to click on the pic to make it bigger).

 Here is a picture going across the 8 mile bridge onto PEI. It is quite something! You cannot see much out the side because of the concrete barriers, but it is quite a marvel. (The $46 CAD toll, by the way, is only when you leave PEI, not both ways.)

I would like to explore the eastern shore of PEI tomorrow - visit Prim lighthouse, the Murray Harbor area, etc. I will need to buy a heavier sweatshirt. Most of the tops I packed are for warmer weather, which is what they normally have here at this time of year. Today topped out at 56, as will tomorow. Tuesday it drops to 53, and Wednesday to 50. With off and on rain.

Not so great weather, but everything else is. I am glad I chose to drive here directly rather than take the Cabot Trail Loop. That would have been a 9-hour drive, and my back is feeling pretty good right now. Besides, with the weather today I do not think I would have been able to see all that much along the Loop. It would have been a lot rainier along the coastline, and heavier fog.

I also want to spend a day here in Charlottetown exploring the city and perusing and moseying about :) It is the capital of PEI, after all! I also want to do a little research as to why the soil here (again, lots of farms) and rocks are red. This cannot be due to shrimp!