Day 4: Summerside to Borden-Carleton

Tuesday, July 28

Temperature: High 75°F / Low 63°F

Conditions: Clouds and fog turning to sun.

Distance Walked: 22.9k

Experiences of the Day

Today we walked the trail "backwards" so that we could self shuttle with the rural bus. We weren't sure how far the trail was today — our walk was from Summerside to Borden-Carleton and there were two trail options. Leaving early (5:47am) and taking the shorter route from Summerside worked out quite well as we missed a lot of the highway traffic that would be on the road in the afternoon. 

Advice: Bring earplugs for highway walking as it can be quite noisy at times.

Grabbed coffee and the washroom at the ESSO and before we knew it we were having our "lunch" break in Lower Bedeque. We sure loved that the museum was closed because we all made good use of the bench outside! Did you know that LM Montgomery taught for a short period of time in Bedeque in the little schoolhouse in 1897-98? You can tour the schoolhouse in Lower Bedeque.

So far, my favorite part of the walk was the red road just outside of Lower Bedeque. We noticed that there was some asphalt that was used to patch potholes in the red dirt road, we haven't seen that before. Two tractors went by and gave us an obligatory coating of red dust; I guess we are now official Island Walkers!

Our trail angel today was Kapiz Dev Chauhau. We finished our walk from Summerside and walked over to Island Pizza (902-855-3000), which is getting ready to for its grand opening. We were immediately greeted, offered Gatorade and a washroom! Kapiz, a former cancer biologist, and his crew were busy finishing up renovations, but took the time to talk with us and offer support. What a terrific guy...he even held my Gatorade so that I could take the selfie! We had planned to take the PEI Rural Transit bus back to Summerside, but we arrived so early that we decided to call a taxi. It was nice to have the extra three hours to relax at our Airbnb.

While we were walking, Therese was off to SportChek in Summerside where she bought a bike, Anne, to ride the Island Walk. She also picked up a tire pump, two spare inner tubes, bike shorts and shirt, tools, and a helmet. All items that we would later leave behind for someone who would benefit from them.

Finished off the night with a trip to Red Shores to see the harness races. Not being familiar with the sport, we talked to Rocky Schurman (a former driver) and took his suggestion of a box bet on #124. This turned out to be a good bet (I wagered $6) with a lousy payout ($5.95). The ladies sitting behind us in the stands were from Ontario and asked about the Island Walk (I had my shirt on...it's my only clean shirt...). One of them had heard of it, but had never seen or known of anyone doing the walk.

Summerside

PE-1A outside of Summerside

Callie from SportChek!

Anne on her first outing!

LM Montgomery taught in Bedeque in 1897-98.

Lunch stop at the museum.

Road repair?

Confederation Bridge

Crazy drivers!

Why does the barn have rectangular pop outs on the side? Potato storage?

Kapiz Dev Chauhau, owner of Island Pizza and our trail angel!

Harness racing at Red Shores.

Rocky Schurman gives winning advice on the races.

The truck had a gate that was used to start the race.

Day 4: Summerside to Borden-Carleton, 22.9k

Meals & Accommodation

• Breakfast: Yogurt, blueberries and granola
• Trail Snacks: Veggies, nuts, cheese, banana, V8, ADL chocolate milk(!)
• Lunch: Egg, cheese and hummus pita roll at home
• Dinner: Chili Mac, Kale, veggies and hummus

Lodging: Airbnb in Summerside

Day 3: Victoria to Borden-Carleton

Monday, July 27

Temperature: High 76°F / Low 55°F
Conditions: Sunny with some clouds later in the day.
Distance Walked: 18.7k

Experiences of the Day

We wanted to get an early start, so we left right around 6:30 a.m. and enjoyed the cool morning air. We enjoyed the peaceful countryside, ocean views, and watching the machines harvest potatoes in the fields.

As we approached the end of the third section, I spotted three gentlemen who appeared to be working on a car in their driveway. Therese and I decided we were going to ask them for a ride to the visitor center in Borden-Carleton while the others opted to walk. Fortunately for us, more trail magic occurred and a very nice gentleman named Grant quickly agreed to take us into town. We had a nice visit with him and were very grateful for the ride. Our trip into town did not disappoint: views of the bridge, some fun with Anne, and COWS!

We bought month-long senior passes for the rural transit system and took the bus from the visitor center to Summerside where we are staying in an Airbnb. Tomorrow we will walk from Summerside to Borden and then take the bus back. Our bus driver Stephen was amazing! He gave us a nice little tour and told us all about what we were seeing along the way.

Victoria Road potato fields

Potato harvesting along Victoria Road in Lower Tryon.

Potato fields

Trail magic: Grant gave us a ride!

Therese gets a costume consult.

When on PEI...

Day 3: Victoria to Borden-Carleton, 18.7k

Meals & Accommodation

• Breakfast: Susan at the Oxley House B&B was absolutely amazing and sent us away with a to-go breakfast. Her bread is off the charts amazing!
• Lunch: Snacks
• Dinner: Veggie burgers, kale, veggies and hummus. 

Lodging: Airbnb in Summerside

Day 2: Dunedin to Victoria

Sunday, July 26

Temperature: High 79°F / Low 55°F
Conditions: Sunny
Distance Walked: 25.6k
Evening Walk: 1.9k

Experiences of the Day

We were feeling good, left nice and early and started our walk. In fact, we were feeling so good that we walked an extra half kilometer because we ended up missing the turn off for MacEachern Road! Heather, who did this walk two years ago, told us how she got lost in this general vicinity. I completely get it now. We saw the little hiker sign and in fact I even had my picture taken with it, but there was no Island Walk sign with it and we just kept walking right on by, right up that great big hill!

Advice: if you see a hiker sign, double check your map because it may be that the Island Walk sign is missing.

Once we got on the correct road, we had a very delightful walk through the trees. The road was quite perfect because it wasn't too dry and it wasn't too wet, making for a nice firm yet comfortable walking surface.

Very shortly we came upon an adorable little building with a sign, New Argyle School. We saw a gentleman sitting on the front porch and recognized him as the runner we had passed earlier. Believe it or not he was a MacEachern — his grandparents had been students at the school and later his mom had taught there. We had a delightful conversation, he offered us water and presented us with fresh raspberries! What a wonderful treat. Trail magic!

We knew it was going to be a long walk, with not a lot around. So I had reached out to Bryson to ask him if he knew where we might be able to get water along our way. He directed us to the Free Church of Scotland and Reverend Compton. Being Sunday, we were sure to find people there. 

We arrived to find parishioners inside listening to the service. We took our shoes off and laid on the ground with our feet against the tree for a little bit of relief. Once the service was over, we introduced ourselves and the Reverend Compton invited us in for water, the washroom, and lunch! We took him up on the first two, said our goodbyes and continued on our journey. Trail angel!

We heard barking and suddenly two Great Pyrenees showed up on the trail. They were the loveliest dogs we have ever met and escorted us for about two kilometers. At one point we wondered if they were going to walk us all the way to Victoria! Eventually they disappeared down a small driveway.Trail Guides!

Our host, Susan at the Oxley House B&B told us that we just absolutely must meet Sheldon White, who is one of the people on the Island Walk board. I let him know we were going down to Richard's for some dinner and who walks up but Sheldon himself! He had all kinds of great advice for us and assured us that today's walk was one of the hardest. Phew, were we glad to hear that, because it had been really hard: humid, hills, and heat all contributed to a tough day.

It was only our second day and we were all pretty tired — the humidity was between 64% to 78% (at least that's what the internet tells us), with lots of sun. That said, we met terrific people and are looking forward to continuing our walk tomorrow to Borden-Carleton.

Professor MacEachern treated us to raspberries and cold water.

Crops on New Argyle Road.

Another long red road.

We love our umbrellas!

Argyle Shore Cemetery (1850)

Reverend Compton at the Free Church of Scotland.

Potato fields by the sea.

Therese with our Ferguson Road trail guides.

Rest area on Ferguson Road

Potato fields

Sheldon stops by to say hello!

Day 2: Dunedin to Victoria, 25.6k + 1.9k evening walk

Meals & Accommodation

• Breakfast: Freeze dried scrambled eggs, and cheesy GF rolls from Mary's Cornwall Baker!
• Snacks: Broccoli and hummus; cheese
• Dinner @ Richard’s for fish tacos, including deep-fried haddock, roasted beets and pickled onions. Scrumptious!

Lodging: Oxley House B&B on the trail in Victoria

Day 1: Charlottetown to Dunedin

Saturday, July 25

Temperature: High 81°F / 61 Low °F
Conditions: Sunny
Distance Walked: 24.2k

Experiences of the Day

After months of anticipation, the day was finally here and our friend Billy led us to the trailhead. After some quick goodbyes and thank you's for hosting us, we made our way to the trail.

The two really fun things that happened along the walk:

We were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a friendly couple of honks and a wave only to discover that it was Billy!

As we were leaving Cornwall, a very nice lady on a bicycle approached us and asked us if we were doing the Island Walk! It turns out it was Verna Lynn Weeks from the tourism association out on a bike ride. People here are so friendly!

One of the most interesting things we saw was a big stump that was covered with shoes! There was a gentleman doing some work out in the yard so we stopped by to ask him the story. As it turns out, his mother saved shoes of various family members that they had worn on vacations and decided to attach them to the tree as a remembrance of the trips. A walk down memory lane if you will.

We had a really nice time at the Matos Winery, where we met the owner. We lounged out front in the shade, fought off a multitude of spiders, and chatted with some people from Montreal. From there, we had just 500m to go!

When it was all said and done we walked for about 6 hours, which does not include the time that we spent at the grocery store, eating lunch, or wine tasting at the winery.

Tomorrow we head to Victoria.

Start of the walk.

We will also be walking part of the Trans Canada Trail.

And we are off!

Giant bee condos.

Charlottetown art from the Confederation Trail.

A walk down memory lane.

We loved our umbrellas...a 100% must have for the sun!

Clyde River along Rte 27

Day 1: Charlottetown to Dunedin, 24.2k

Meals & Accommodation

• Breakfast: Bananas, oranges, apples, yogurt, blueberries, oats, GF muffins and Tim Horton's coffee. Thank you, Billy!
• Lunch: Cornwall Independent Grocery.
• Dinner: Made dinner at the house. 

Lodging: Airbnb

Charlottetown Here We Come!

Friday, July 24

Temperature: High 75°F / Low 60°F
Conditions: Sunny
Distance Walked: 3k

Experiences of the Day

We knew before we ever arrived here that the people of PEI were wonderful based on the interactions we have had with folks both through the Island Walk FB group and by phone. The four of us (two Oregonians, one Californian and one from Thailand) have been planning our trip since last November.

How lucky were we to have Billy host us on our inaugural visit to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. I had posted our trip to the Island Walk FB group and fortunately Billy happened to see it. He reached out and has been a wonderful ambassador - answering questions, making suggestions, picking us up from the airport, helping us with some errands and touring around downtown!

Airport meeting!

We ordered Island Walk swag from All Star Cresting at the end of June, but shipping to Oregon would mean that we wouldn't receive it prior to departure. Brenda at All Star was so kind - she suggested holding on to the items for us to check out once we arrived. She even sent us her number in case our plane was delayed and we arrived after they closed!

Brenda at All Star Cresting

Dinner in Charlottetown

Evening walk, 2.9k

Meals & Accommodation

• Dinner @ John Brown: Haddock, beet salad and sweet potato and bacon poutine.

Lodging: Billy's House

The Island Walk: Prince Edward Island

On Friday, July 24, 2026 we arrived in Charlottetown, ready to start the big walk around Prince Edward Island the following day. We had been making preparations for months. As for the island, it really didn't look that big...

A couple of fun things:

1. When we arrived we were greeted and hosted by Billy, a random stranger turned friend. It was fun having him as a resource as we planned our trip. 
2. After the big walk, we did a driving tour of Nova Scotia for five days.
3. We finished out the trip with a wedding in Waukesha, WI which was the whole reason did the walk.

Here's how the conversation started back in Oregon last fall...

"Let's see, if we have to go to Wisconsin, what else could we do in the area?" Out came the maps and on goes the computer, where we found Bryson Guptill and the Island Walk, and somehow this became the most expensive wedding we have ever attended!

It was the adventure of a lifetime: wonderful people, food and island. 

Oh and it was hard. Really hard. This was our first long walk...we probably should have tried long distance walking on a little shorter trip. But, as they say, go big or go home!

Career Change

During a hike at Great Basin National Park, we ran into a gentleman who had retired early. People would ask him what he was going to do with the rest of his life. When he replied that he would be hiking, camping, and being in the outdoors, he said people would just look at him with a blank stare. "Why would you want to do that?" He finally decided to change his answer to something people could understand..."sleep in and go out for coffee."

We talked a bit more about the irony that the word "retire" actually means to go to bed and get some rest when in our reality, to retire means to have unlimited time to adventure. After saying our goodbyes, we continued the discussion ourselves and decided that we would never "retire," but that we would be making a career change to "adventurers @ large." This blog documents our adventures during this new career.

Our strategy for almost every adventure is to find a challenge, learn about what we need to do to prepare, study up on the area we will be visiting, and go for it! That said, it's important for you, the reader, to know that we are middle aged women of average physical ability who have a lot of determination and passion for adventure.

Lynn is a full-time adventurer @ large and recently retired from her gig as a school district administrator overseeing instructional technology and library services.

Therese is a full-time adventurer @ large having transitioned from her most recent career as a massage therapist.

Hot Logic Mini-Mac Personal Portable Oven

When Therese was diagnosed with Celiac, stopping at restaurants while traveling suddenly came to a halt. We needed a strategy in place so that she felt good about her food options, while at the same time, I could stop for a meal...after all, I didn't want to miss out on regional food opportunities!

So we looked around to see how we might heat up a frozen gluten-free meal while driving. We read some crazy things, like people baking potatoes or preparing meals using their car engines while on road trips (Google it, it's fascinating...Car-B-Que). But that wasn't for us. We ended up finding and buying the Hot Logic 16801060003 Mini-Mac Personal Portable Oven, which has worked nicely.

Here are our take aways:

1. We purchased the one version with the AC power cable in the event that we ever wanted to use it when staying overnight in a microwave-less hotel or Airbnb and plug it into our car power inverter.
2. If a meal is frozen solid, plan on 2.5 to 3 hrs. 
3. If a meal is partially frozen, plan on around 2 hours. 
4. Frozen burritos, especially small ones that are partially defrosted should be checked after 1.5 hrs.
5. Do NOT puncture or break the seal of the meal container. We had one experience where the cellophane had come away from the edge of the container...this did not turn out well...

Keep in mind that this is a small unit and is appropriate for heating up one or two meals at a time.

Knox Electric Cooler (and Warmer)

I cannot say enough about this Knox Cooler  (model KN-CCW27QB). It is amazing and does the job.

We needed a cooler for a road trip, and since we were flying in and getting a rental car, our first thought was to get a cheap styrofoam cooler and toss it at the end of the trip. But that was inconsistent with our reuse/recycle beliefs.

After a lot of research, I settled on this cooler. Here's why:

1. It included two power cables: one for the car and one for indoors.
2. We would be able to take it home with us on the airplane as carry on luggage. It measures 13 x 17.2 x 18.4 inches and the airlines carryon limits are 9 inches x 14 inches x 22 inches.
3. The reviews were good. There were some negative, but that most likely had to do with people not reading the directions.
4. We could have it delivered to our hotel and the price was right.

A couple of notes...

• We used this cooler during a 10-day road trip and not once did we did not eat out (pandemic + Celiac = self food prep).
• Food was kept nicely cold. Some of the items we stored included 1/2 gallon of milk, 1/2 gallon of orange juice, a giant tub of yogurt (which we used all 10 days), almond milk, frozen dinners/burritos, bagged salad, boiled eggs, and so forth. For two people, it was the perfect size!
• Before loading it up with food, we would pre-chill it for 20 minutes or so. For example, when staying in a hotel for the night, we would put the food into the refrigerator overnight; the next morning, we turned on the cooler prior to loading up our food. 
• The fan is very quiet. But, I am a person who doesn't like to hear any noise at night, so I opted to use the hotel refrigerator. We did leave the food in the cooler plugged in one night and it worked great.
• Since the cooler shuts off when the car is off, we had brought a quart sized freezer bag, filled it half way up and froze it each night so that we had a little piece of ice for the cooler. I don't know that this was necessary, but I liked not worrying about the food when we stopped to do something for a few hours. We also had one frozen meal in the cooler just about every day (more on this in our "oven" post)
• Our experiences are based on a road trip in mid March, and the high temperatures were in the mid-70s. If it had been summer time, I would have moved the cooler to the trunk when we made stops, just to keep it out of a hot car.
• The lid is heavy, so when it is empty, it is helpful to position it so that the lid is against a wall so that it doesn't accidentally get tipped over. 
• We did not use the warming feature on this cooler.

Going Home

There was no breakfast at the hotel. Not even coffee. Unlike any other place we had stayed in the last 10 nights, this place was packed and I'm assuming there were a lot of hungry people.

Remember that cooler we were toting around back in Dallas on the way to retrieve our rental car? That thing rocks! We actually had a nice amount of food with us the whole way and everything was nicely chilled. And we have this little food warmer for our car, so we were able to have hot meals on the road...you just had to plan ahead because it takes 2-3 hours to "cook" a frozen meal.

As for our trip home...the Governor had closed everything down the previous day, so things were pretty quiet. Even the wind wasn't blowing in the Columbia Gorge.

Notice the flat water of the Columbia River.

We had left our hotel and were determined that we would not stop or be around any people until we got home...so we found this facility in The Dalles.

Great riverside location.

The drive through Portland was uneventful aside from a heavy rainstorm and a LOT of semi-trucks. The closer we got to Eugene, the fewer cars were on the road.

Our intended vacation was a civil rights tour of the south but we ended up on an unintended road trip across America. Why did we go? At the time, things were worse in Oregon than they were in the south. How bad could it be? 

The night before we left.

We watched the New York Time's Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count and routed ourselves home as safely as possible. If we had to drive through an infected region, we kept on driving — gas and food were obtained 100 miles out, just to be on the safe side.

The day after we returned.

We got to see how different people in many different places reacted to a pandemic. A couple of reflections on this...In Arkansas, we saw a total disregard for others, at least in Hot Springs. As we drove north, we were mainly in small, uncrowded towns. People were polite and it was easy to navigate if you needed groceries. 

When we got to Ogden, and again our only stop was at the botanical garden, people were everywhere and paid absolutely no attention. Maybe that's what you get when too many people living together in a large urban area. Who knows. I just know that it wasn't comfortable.

Would we do it again? Probably not. 

Did we enjoy our trip? Absolutely. 

Did was see awesome things? For sure.

Were we glad to get home? YES! 

Ordered to stay home by the governor...no problem!

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Read other posts about our unintended drive across America.

Day 1: Coffee & Robots!

Day 2: A Trip to Target

Day 3: Hoping for Diamonds

Day 4: It's All OK

Day 5: In Search of...

Day 6/7: Dr. Deb

Day 8: 80 on the 80

Day 9: Don't Step in It...

Day 10: Botanics @ the Pen

Day 11: Going Home

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