More P.E.I.

There are 5 scenic drives on the island.  I bought a book, but every visitor’s center will give you maps.  LOL.  The drives are North Cape Coastal, Green Gables Shore, Red Sands Shore, Charlottetown, and Points East Coastal.  I followed the Green Gable Shore and Points East Coastal drives today, which means I saw lots of shoreline and beach, with a lighthouse or two.  I’ve been on most of the drives for a section or two, especially when I was lost.  The speed limit on the island is either 37, 42 and sometimes 50 mph, so it takes a while to see everything.

I also saw the Green Gables house.  I was talking to a gentleman who told me that the whole Anne of Green Gables story is REALLY popular in Japan; they are the biggest group of visitors to the house.  Apparently they even come there to get married on the grounds.

L. M. Montgomery, the author, went on to publish 20 novels as well as 530 short stories, 500 poems, and 30 essays.  They make quite a production out of the author, as their claim to fame.

This is Norman.  I passed him a couple of times when I was lost, looking for the campground.  The owner of the house came out to talk to me.  He says 15-20 people stop every day to take pictures of Norman.  Sometimes they leave something, like the sunglasses or a sheriff’s badge; once some kids unfastened the belt and dropped Norman’s pants down to his ankles as a prank.  The owner changes it up sometimes.  Norman has been holding a tall pole with a mailbox on top that said “Airmail” on it; and once a very tall sunflower.  For a while the owner even installed a speaker in Norman and talked to the tourists from his garage when he was bored.  The wife named Norman.

Had my first (and probably my last) lobster roll today for lunch.  Lobster is just not my thing.  I don’t see the attraction; it really doesn’t have any flavor …. Unless you eat it for the butter.

The island has these little foxes that come out to the road.  They are very cute.  I imagine they might cause some damage to the farmers, but ….. One was hiding in the ditch along the road and a Japanese family was, I hope, trying to take a picture but the fox just looked terrorized.  Poor thing.

There are rows of Queen Anne’s lace all along the roads; and there are fields of them when they aren’t mowed down.  The breeze blows the seeds and they grow wild all over the island.

In June they have the Lupins in bloom.  Apparently it is worth seeing.  They sell the seeds.

I stopped at a produce stand alongside the road.  They had the most beautiful blueberries, tomatoes and beans.  Unfortunately, with just me, I can’t use a lot of produce, but they looked yummy.  I did purchase a half dozen ears of corn (the white/yellow mix), which turned out to taste as good as they looked.  The couple that owned the stand were an add mix; he wanted to talk and talk and I couldn’t get away while she was giving me the bums rush and just kept telling me how much I owed for the corn.  I assume she had worked the stand all day – she looked tired; he hadn’t I’m guessing.

Apparently this island has it going on …. The famous oysters from Malpeque Bay, along with all the mussels for the East Coast of the US, more tuna comes from the east shore than anywhere in the world, and they supply more potatoes than any other province in Canada, second only to Idaho, in the world; and the Green Gables grounds attract more tourists than most anywhere in Canada as well.  Throw in all the beauty and it is definitely a winner!

The “ends” of the island have the big wind-power turbines, like they have out by Palm Springs.  I’ve never stood close to one before; I didn’t realize you could actually hear them. They look kind of cool out on the shore.

The East Point lighthouse is at the northeast tip of the island.  It is a 67ft octagonal tower built in 1867.

When I got there, I needed a drink in the worst way.  I drank all the water I had in the car …unfortunately, I forgot I gave all my Canadian money as a tip to the waitress at lunch.  The man running the snack stand took pity on me, said “random act of kindness” and gave me a cold diet coke.  So nice.

It’s supposed to rain tomorrow and be cooler.  It got up to 74 degrees today and the locals were complaining about how hot it was.  One lady laughed when she found out I was from California, and then immediately said how sorry she was about the wild fires.

They don’t receive much news about the election, but they seem very concerned about the California wild fires.

Philip was nice enough to file for my social security benefits this morning … from Japan, so I’m all set (hopefully!).  It’s been an entire year without an income and I’m ready for some incoming, not just outgoing.

It is really hard to believe it is coming on a year since I retired … and ordered my coach.