Adventurers @ Large: Day 16: Kensington to Stanley Bridge

Monday, August 10

Temperature: High 80°F / Low 64°F
Conditions: Mostly cloudy with a nice breeze; hotter in the afternoon
Distance Walked: 21.4k

Experiences of the Day

Our wonderful host made us breakfast the night before and left it in the refrigerator for us so that we could get an early start to deal with the heat and humidity (81% when we left). We walked approximately 10 K where we met trail angel Kendra at the intersection of Burlington and Long River Road. She delivered us to the Anne of Green Gables Museum, where we had a short tour and then had time to explore the house, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Our only issue is that we were having trouble finding a ride back to the trail — we must look worse than I thought! The five of us were all spread out in different places trying to get rides and one of our companions flagged down a family of four from Québec in their RV! Trail magic for sure! Once on board, she had them pull over and pick us all up. It was a wonderful and crazy ride as we all sat in the back of their RV: three sat on the back bed, one joined the cute kids and the mom at the dining table, and I sat on the floor next to the dog food and water bowl and of course the big furry dog. Dad was driving and every so often he would turn around to have a conversation with us and we would weave down the road joyfully. We had him turn off onto the Long River Road (a long red dirt road) and he was totally up for it...apparently it was his father-in-law's RV and what a ride we had! He dropped us off 5k later at the intersection and we rejoined the trail. What a wonderful experience this was — the six year old couldn't stop grinning...such a lovely family and a terrific dog!

Walked on to the Birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery, where we got a short tour from a woman who seemed to know more about Maud than even Maud herself! Interestingly, One of the two guides spoke Japanese and a tour group of Japanese were there when we arrived. We learned last week that during World War II there were only certain English language books that were approved for reading in the schools in Japan, one of which was Anne of Green Gables. This, there is a quite a large Japanese fan base.

We eventually all made our way down the road, with our three companions stopping at the oyster place and Therese and I sat out in front of the Village Pottery Shop and enjoyed lunch in the shade!

Oh and the Stanley Bridge Hall Ceilidh! What an amazing experience. The audience was all in, Gordon Belsher had an amazing voice and Cynthia MacLeod fiddled like nothing I've ever seen before! And ice cream with rhubarb sauce at intermission.

Best part of all is that to get a ticket? I just texted the musician. Glad I did because the performance was sold out!

I ❤️ PEI.