ELDON TO STANHOPE P.E.i. GLOOMY START TO THE DAY WITH A BRIGHT CHEERY FINISH

WOOD ISLANDS LIGHT HOUSE

Rained in the night again and by 5 a.m. it was pelting us pretty good.   Weather people are calling for rain all day Friday as well.  Needless to say these rains and gray days have been very discouraging for us.  Certainly not the best photo weather for Prince Edward Island:((

Under dull gray skies we kind of half heartedly puttered around the coach until about 10:30.  We couldn’t seem to drum up much enthusiasm for going anywhere.  Skies brightened a bit and that got us off our duffs so we  left the Lord Selkirk Park and headed ourselves back to highway 2 and turned right.  It was a short distance to a turn off we were looking for and a 7 mile drive to the Point Prim Lighthouse.  Paved all the way except for the last quarter mile. 

BUILDING IN BACKGROUGH IS THE POINT PIM CHOWDER HOUSE

OUT THERE ACROSS THE NORTHUMBERLAND STRAIT IS NOVA SCOTIA

 

ONE OF THE OLD ORIGINAL LIGHT HOUSE LENSES

For five dollars one could make the climb to the top of the Lighthouse inside and ‘OMG’ what a climb it was.  But not as bad as coming back down.  I was Okay but what a challenge this would be for older folks or anyone unsteady or afraid of heights.  Maybe my photos can show you what i mean.  The stairs are so steep and narrow it’s akin to climbing up a tall standing step ladder…..only worse.

AND YES THESE STEPS ARE AS STEEP AS THEY LOOK

THERE ARE SEVERAL FLOORS ON THE WAY UP AND EACH HAS A DISPLAY OF LIGHTHOUSE HISTORY

THE LIGHTKEEPER COULD LIVE RIGHT IN THE LIGHTHOUSE WHEN NECESSARY

 

‘MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL’

JUST A FEW MORE STEPS TO THE TOP

Great views from the top of the Lighthouse and with it’s historical connection to Canada’s earliest days and beginnings of Confederation in nearby Charlottown it may be one of the oldest and most important Lighthouse’s in all of Canada.

LOOKING WEST

LOOKING SOUTH TO NOVA SCOTIA

LOOKING SOUTHEAST

LOOKING OFF TOWARDS CHARLOTTOWN

THIS IS THE NEW DIGITILIZED LIGHT WHICH CAN BE SEEN FOR EIGHTEEN AND A HALF MILES

TO REACH THE OUTSIDE DECK THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER DUCKS THROUGH THIS OPENING

 

OKAY IT’S TIME TO BEGIN THE DESCENT

BEST WAY TO GO DOWN IS BACKWARDS IN OTHER WORDS GO DOWN FACING THE STEPS AS IF YOU WERE GOING UP

THIS LAST FLIGHT DOWN IS A BIT OF A SQUEEZE

THERE’S A GUIDE ON THE BOTTOM FLOOR TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS

  

Also at this location just up the road a few hundred yards or so is the Point Prim Chowder House and with Kelly’s love of Seafood that is where we headed after the Lighthouse.  Luckily we were there about 20 minutes after it opened at 11:00 so we found us a table Okay.  Wasn’t long and the place filled right up.  Now readers know I am not a seafood person at all so I had to really scan that menu in search of something acceptable.  Ended up with chicken and dressing and veggy stuff.  Now here’s what Kelly had, Clam Chowder, Crab Cakes and a Beet Arugula Salad. And she loved it.  Mine was Okay but would have much preferred a hamburger with mashed potatos and gravy.

 

AND THAT’S ALL KELLYS

MINE WITH CHICKEN ON THE LEFT, DRESSING ON THE RIGHT, AND VEGGY THINGS IN THE MIDDLE

COMPLETE WITH A DOGGY BAG

CHARLOTTOWN OVER THERE METHINKS

From Point Prim we slipped back out to highway 2 and continued southeast on a quiet winding road to Wood Islands Ferry Terminal and Lighthouse. We were still under brightening skies.   Although I can’t remember much of it but this was my second trip down this road.  In 1986 my Volkswagen Camper and I loaded ourselves onto the Woods Island Ferry and slipped across to Nova Scotia.  We stopped at the Wood Islands Lighthouse today for a few photos and how nice to see some widening blue sky appearing overhead. 

WOOD ISLANDS LIGHTHOUSE

  

LOOKING ACROSS TO NOVA SCOTIA

STOPPING TO SMELL THE ROSES

 

Leaving Woods Island we decided to set our sails for Prince Edward Island’s northern shores so steadied us a course up highway 315 passing through a few small towns along the way.  Montague surprised us by it’s large hustling bustling size.  It was nice to see how the centre of the Island looked along the way and we decided it didn’t look much different that the rural farm lands of southern Ontario or the woodsier lands of northern Ontario.  And oh how we enjoyed driving through the occasional Sun splash whenever they appeared like magic on the road ahead of us.  Sunlight is so healing…………..

STOPPED IN MONTAGUE AT THAT GAS STATION ON THE LEFT AND WIGGLED OUR WAY IN

Somewhere east of Morello we re-joined highway 2 and headed west.  We were near the ocean againd but couldn’t quite see it.  The afternoon was wearing on and we needed to find us a place for the night so turned off highway 2 onto highway 6 heading a short distance north to the coast and entered one of Prince Edward Island’s National Parks (Brackely-Dalvay) which is the area of the Shifting Sands.  By another stroke of luck we came across a huge parking lot and with it being ‘off-season’ there were very few people around.  Found us a flat paved spot in one of the 3 parking areas and shut it down for the day.  By 6 o’clock the few people who were here were pretty much all gone leaving us all by ourselves for the night.  Sometimes we just get so gol darned lucky:))

HEADING TO STANHOPE BEACH

OUR SPOT IN THE PARK NEAR THE BEACH TONIGHT

OH NOW NICE TO SEE SUNLIGHT FLOODING INTO THE COACH

We are very close to the Anne Of Green Gables location so in the morning we’ll slip over there and see what we can see…..if it isn’t raining.  I have photos of the beach at the shifting sand dunes where we are now and will post those in Friday’s post.

We are really enjoying not towing a vehicle and we’ve had at least half a dozen situations now where we where glad we didn’t have the Jeep on behind us.  There isn’t anywhere we can drive into that we can’t back out of if necessary.  Turn arounds are much easier and sometimes driving the Motorhome without the Jeep I think it feels like a sportscar.  If I never have to tow another vehicle again it will be just fine with me.

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A Few Signs Your Spending Too Much Time With Your Smart Phone::

- You wake up at 3 am to go to the bathroom, and check your  phone’s e-mail and texts on the way back to bed.

- Your firstborn is named iPhone.

- You turn off your Smart Phone and are suddenly filled with a feeling of emptiness, as if you just pulled the plug on a loved one.

- You spend half of a plane trip with your phone in front of you, and your child in the overhead compartment. 

- You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

- Immediately after reading this you send it to someone.

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Ways to tell if a redneck has been working on a computer

10. The monitor is up on blocks.

9. Outgoing faxes have tobacco stains on them.

8. The six front keys have rotted out.

7. The extra RAM slots have Dodge truck parts installed in them.

6. The numeric keypad only goes up to six.

5. The password is "Bubba".

4. The CPU has a gun rack mount.

3. There is a Skoal can in the CD-ROM drive.

2. The keyboard is camouflaged.

And, The Number One Way To Tell If A Redneck Has Been Working On A Computer...

The mouse is referred to as a "critter".

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