What happens when you finish tip to tip ? You get a diploma and two blue ribbons with West End and East End on them. Yes, it is suppose to be 199 miles, but that does not count going 12 miles out of your way before you discover you took the wrong turn, nor does it cover having to get on your damn bike to find lunch. But we are now sitting in our comfortable bed at the Hotel Holman in Charlottetown ready to make the 11 hour trip home tomorrow. All I can say is the truck seat is a lot more comfortable than the bike seat. By the end of the trip I was looking at it as some medieval torture instrument.

We rode from Cavendish to St. Peter’s Bay on a cloudy, overcast day yesterday. It was probably the most scenic part of the trip with lots of views of the water, harbors, and long vistas of farmland to the ocean. At one point the fog rolled in and created a dreamy landscape for our pictures.

Dinner last night was a double scoop ice cream. There was not one place open for dinner as it was Tuesday night. St. Peter’s bay has a General store, an ice cream shop, a fish market where I think you can get dinner, a take out stand, and a tourist information center where we ate lunch and supposedly they served dinner. I think dinner is a repeat of lunch. So we slipped into the ice cream parlor and got an ice cream just before they closed at 7.

Today, our last day, we woke up to clear skies and bright sunlight. Of course, it would be our last day! This day was spent cycling along Route 16 the whole way to the Eastern tip. Except we took a wrong turn.We stopped at the interpretive center which was interesting and got a tip of a short cut to Route 16 without having to backtrack the entire way. This little mistake added 12 extra miles, but was worth it for the wonderful view.

In six days, we have seen chipmunks, geese (at least 50 all together), a fox, the National flower the “lady slipper,” beautiful lupine along the trail, buttercups, Sweet Williams, and various bird species that I could not identify. Included in the sites, we have seen fields of potatoes, blueberries, strawberries, and more potato fields. Lobster boats bringing in the catch around noon, much of it ending up in small eateries serving the PEI famous lobster roll. Richard’s was the best with a toasted bun, all meat, mostly claws with mayo, onion, chive, celery all mixed together. I actually think I have my fill of lobster rolls since I had one at least 4 days out of 6.

If I was asked how I liked the trip I would honestly say it was an accomplishment for me. Shap loved every bit. I have never been comfortable on a bike since I went over railroad ties onto my face when I was six, I am glad that I did it. I figure not many 81 year old women would do this unless they were extremely athletic, like my friend Carrie who bikes 100 miles like the wind. And so, the journey of this epic ride has ended, but there is always another adventure around the corner. As my father always said,”If I stop being curious, I hope I am 6 feet under.” A philosophy I hope always to live with.