Thursday, July 30
Temperature: High 69°F / Low 62°F
Conditions: High clouds with a few sprinkles
Distance Walked: 20.7k
Experiences of the Day
So we get some funny looks sometimes. For example, people ask where you are from, how long you are here, and so on and so forth. And then you mention the Island Walk and some people look at you a little sideways. In a nice island-like way of course. But when you tell Jeff the taxi driver what you are doing and he is picking you up at 7am to drive you 2.3k, he just lets out a big belly laugh. As in, seriously, you are walking 700k and you want me to drop you off at McDonalds so that you can catch the PEI Transit Bus? Yes. We have to save our feet for the trail. And we all had a good laugh with him. Of course now that we have left Summerside (land of the taxis), we are on our own. Well for the most part anyhow.
Stephen the bus driver who we have come to know over the last couple of days took very good care of us and got us up to the trail in Wellington. There, we met up with Therese and today's trail angel CJ! Having Anne join us on the trip means that we had a few logistics to address and CJ stepped in to lend a hand. Well, actually a truck, and he transported Anne and Therese up to the trail in Wellington where the four of us all met up again. Therese ended up riding all the way up to O'Leary while the rest of us walked to Elerslie Elementary, where we caught the bus, for the second time today, up to O'Leary. The clouds stayed high and we stayed dry. It was a great day of walking.
Question: Does anyone know what was on the very flat plot of land adjacent to the trail marked on the map below? There was a nice green bench placed along the trail so that you could sit and look at the flat area. Guessing that maybe there was a sawmill there at one time??
Advice: If you are planning a walk and all of this sounds confusing, here are the logistics:
1. PEI Rural Transit Bus from Summerside to Wellington
2. Walk Wellington to Ellerslie
3. PEI Rural Transit Bus from Ellerslie to O'Leary
The bus requires a reservation.
We trudged over to the Potato Museum for some dinner and ended up getting pretty wet on the walk over. I never know what to order, so I was eyeing everyone's dinner as it was served. One lady was sure to let me know that a small plate of poutine would be plenty. She was right and after dinner, I went over to talk with her. Turns out Marion is a local and so I asked her if she would be willing to give us a lift to the Co-op so that we might pick up some breakfast items. Not only did she give us a lift, but she waited for us and then drove us home for the night!
I'm not always so on top of the note taking during a trip, but we have found that if you use Blogger, you can print a very nice book of your posts. Adding water colors to the blog is new...after talking water color classes this spring we put together a miniature painting kit for the trip. It has been really fun to talk about what should go into each painting as we walk the trail. Therese is doing a terrific job with her painting!
Breakfast: Yogurt, blueberries, granola, leftovers
Snacks/Lunch: Cashews, V8, banana, apple, peppers, carrots, pita bread with humas and ADL choc milk!
Dinner: Pulled pork poutine and milk at the Potato Museum
Lodging: Airbnb in O'Leary