After leaving St. Andrew we meandered along the coast driving through towns that had the potential of ocean views, but mostly due to low tide, we only caught views of mud flats along the river. Most of the towns were small and not the quaint villages I had in my mind. The architecture was mostly ranches and small homes of newer vintage. However, the majority of the churches were Carpenter Gothic style. They brought a bit of interest in an otherwise uninteresting landscape. All along Route 1 were vast areas of forests.

We did go to St. John’s the day before and got to see the reverse falls but it was not during the dramatic tide times. The paper mill was impressive. Having grown up visiting my grandparents in Spring Grove, PA, where the paper mill spewed the obnoxious smell of sulphur, I was surprised, despite the amount of smoke coming out of the factory, it did not smell. I am hoping that they have taken better environmental measures.

It is a long drive to PEI and much of it is on highway. We encountered the large white building (see below) with no windows and two doors. What it was used for is anyone’s guess but Shap thought it held all the Epstein files. I wish I could tell you about exciting events along the way, but the most I can share with you is, we are now on Chapter 41 of “Theo in Golden.” It is quite good and entertaining and does not consist of our usual blood, guts and murder choices.

We arrived late in the afternoon into Charlottetown and settle into our hotel downtown which is quite nice, the Hotel Holman. It is located in the center of the town, an easy walk to the restaurants. This morning we took off to see the “Bottle Houses.” What to do in your retirement when you can think of nothing else while you are drinking bottle after bottle of blue, green, amber or white substance. The houses were started in 1980 by Edward Asenault. He used 25,000 bottles to build them and created a chapel, a tavern, and a house. They really are amazing and are a photographers dream, especially for me doing in-camera multiples. We spent most of the day getting there and back.

Our trip begins tomorrow at 9AM with a 2.5 hour ride out to the eastern tip of the island. We are packed and ready and prepared for rain. My poncho is large enough to fit 10 people in it. It spreads over the bike with a plastic window to see my gears, etc. and plastic mittens attached to the poncho so my hands will not get wet. A visor to stop the dripping into my face and enough material to go over the saddle bags. I will look like some hunch back creature plowing my way through the rain that is predicted to fall the entire 6 days we are riding. I will continue updating this blog if I do not melt in the meantime.

Pictures of the glass houses and of two of famous people we met along the way, plus the vault with the Epstein files.