STANHOPE PEI TO CAVENDISH PEI:: WE ARE IN ‘ANNE OF GREEN GABLES’ COUNTRY ON A RAIN SOAKED DAY

Stepping out with Pheebs in the pre-dawn morning hours it was the Atlantic’s ocean waves I heard rolling ashore on Prince Edward Island’s North coast.  Wind was snapping a Canadian flag nearby and with no stars above I knew we were in for cloudy skies.  A rainy day in the forecast.

WIND BLOWN GRASSES LEAVE PATTERNS IN THE SAND

With so many photos in Thursday’s post I had to cut it off somewhere so below are the photos I took after we arrived at our overnight spot here in Prince Edward Islands National Park at Brackely Beach in Stanhope.

FROM THE PARKING LOT WE MAKE OUR WAY TO THE WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE BEACH

NICE TO SEE WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE WALKWAYS RIGHT TO THE BEACH

LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO OUR LAKE HURON COASTLINE BACK HOME

EVEN MANAGED TO GET MY SHADOW IN THIS PHOTO

SHE GATHERS SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHORE

I WONDER IF ANYONE REMEMBERS RED SKELTON’S ‘GERTRUDE AND HEATHCLIFFE’

VIEW OF THE WALKWAY FROM  WATER’S EDGE AND AS I TOOK THIS PHOTO AN ATLANTIC WAVE CAME QUIETLY IN AND TICKLED MY ANKLES

LOOKS LIKE THIS POOR WASHED UP CHAP HAS LOST A LEG

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT IS, IT JUST IS

THE WALKWAY LEADING BACK FROM THE BEACH

Under threatening gray skies It was 8:20 by the time we had the big wheels rolling with our destination being Cavendish a short 30 miles or so away.  Fifteen minutes later those skies made good on there threat and the rains were upon us.  We were in ‘Anne Of Green Gables’ country. 

WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THESE FELLERS ARE FISHING FOR

A CAVENDISH CHURCH

Neither Kelly or I had ever read Lucy Maude Montgomery’s book Anne Of Green Gables or seen any of the plays, movies, or TV productions.  We both knew of the book but that was about all.  Our first stop in Cavendish was at the information center to brush up on our knowledge.  Very nice lady there told us where things were in the area relating to the book and gave us a background on the author.

NICE INFORMATION CENTER AND IT ALSO HAS A COMPUTER ROOM

 

WHILE AT THE INFO CENTER THESE TWO JAPANESE LADIES HAD COME IN SAYING THEY WERE ON A WALKING TOUR AND WERE LOST…..THE INFO LADY AT THE DESK GOT THEM UN-LOST AND OFF THEY WENT AGAIN IN THE POURING RAIN

From the info center we drove a short distance to the site of Lucy Maude Montgomery’s home.  By now the rain was coming down in buckets and I knew there was no chance for me to get out and take any photos of the house and grounds.  Also noticed a busload of Japanese tourists coming in so knew there would be no tour of the house either. 

THIS IS THE ONLY PHOTO OF THE HOUSE AND BARN I WAS ABLE TO GET….HOUSE IS ON THE LEFT

JAPANESE TOURISTS HEAD IN FOR A TOUR OF THE HOUSE AND THE BIG MONSTOSITY OF A BUILDING IS BEING BUILT FOR FUTURE TOURISM AND YOU CAN SEE THE RED BARN HIDDEN BEHIND IT

Faced with a long rainy day the decision for the day was to either stay and wait out the weather and have a look at some of the Green Gable stuff Saturday or hit the road and continue our travels.  Seemed a shame to have come this far to one of the greatest tourist destination for many people and not at least have a look around.  Kelly said the decision was mine. ‘WHAT’!!  I said I thought we should hang around.  Luckily the lady at the info desk had told us of a scenic spot a short distance away overlooking the ocean and Cavendish beaches.  Without further ado that is where we headed to and found us a large paved parking lot with few people around.  We decided it was a good place to stay the day and spend the night.  We were surprised at the number of tourist buses dropping folks off in the pouring rain to walk the short distance to the bluff top overlooking the Cavendish beaches a mile or so to the west.  They had come to look at what they had read about in Lucy Maude Montgomery’s book.  Felt sorry for these folks who were mainly from Japan and had waited a lifetime to come to Canada and make this Pilgrimage to Cavendish and surrounding area  They finally make it all this way from Japan……..and it’s pouring rain.  You can read here, Why Anne Of Green Gables Is So Big In Japan.

BY THE LOOK ON HER SMILING FACE I THINK THE LADY IN BLACK IS THE TOUR GUIDE TRYING TO PUT A HAPPY FACE ON A GLOOMY RAIN SOAKED DAY

NO COLORFUL RAINCOATS OR FANCY BROLLIES FOR THESE NORTH AMERICAN DUDES ON ANOTHER BUS

It can make for a long day when sitting in an RV waiting for the rain to stop and so it was with us today as thoughts of being at home seemed mighty appealing with all that space to get up and move around.  Somersaults in the sunroom, kicking the soccer ball down the hall and doing jumping jacks in the living room.  Then there’s that nice big crystal clear flat screen LG TV with all it’s great nature shows.  Despite my complaining sometimes about our house life being boring we’ll sure be glad to get home again.

NOT MUCH HAPPENING AT OUR RV HOUSE TODAY

‘OH NO MOM AND DAD….NOT STUCK IN THE RV ALL DAY AGAIN!!!!’

Our plans for Saturday if it isn’t raining is to head back into Cavendish a short distance away and have us a look around at a few things then hoist our sails and set a course for the southwestern shoreline coast of the Island for a look around before heading back to Confederation Bridge.  We’ll cross the bridge back into New Brunswick then turn East for Nova Scotia.  We hope to be in the Cape Breton Highlands and on the Cabot Trail sometime Sunday.  Intend to spend a couple days making our way around the Island…….weather permitting of course.

 

THIS WAS THE VIEW OUT OUR SIDE DOOR

THIS WAS ALL WE COULD MAKE OUT  THROUGH THE RAIN OF THE CAVENDISH BEACHES WEST OF US

It was sometime shortly after 3 when I noticed the rains had let up a bit so it didn’t take Pheebs and I long to get ourselves out the door to see if we could find us a few photos.

WE FIRST HEADED DOWN THIS SHORT PATH TO THE BLUFFS OVERLOOKING THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

THERE’S A STORY ABOUT ALL THESE RED CHAIRS WE HAVE BEEN SEEING IN OUR TRAVELS AND YOU CAN READ ABOUT IT HERE AT PARKS CANADA

ANOTHER WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE WALKWAY TO THE BEACH STEW

THE WALKWAY ENDS HERE OVERLOOKING THE SHORE WITH A NUMBER OF READER BOARDS

DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF SHRUBS AND PLANTS THESE ARE GROWING IN THE SAND DUNES BUT WE REALLY LIKE THEM

IT IS THE RED EARTH COLORING THAT MAKES THESE CLIFFS SO OUTSTANDING…..WOULD LIKED TO HAVE SEEN THEM ON A BRIGHT SUNNY DAY AGAINST A BLUE SKY

CAN YOU SEE A MAN’S PROFILE LOOKING OUT TO SEA…HE EVEN HAS A BEARD

OCEAN WINDS BLOWING PHEEBS EARS AROUND

SHAKING OFF SOME DRIZZLY RAIN

When I took Pheebs out tonight I noticed it felt warmer than earlier today.  Through the beam of my strong flashlight I could see a fine mist moving rapidly in the air yet could feel nothing on my skin.  After today’s winds I could hear large waves below crashing ashore.  Pheebs was glad to get back into the Motorhome.

AWWW COME ON MOM OPEN THE DOOR IT’S RAINING ON US GUYS OUT HERE’

GROANER’S CORNER:((  The husband had an annoying habit of searching through the refrigerator for a snack, usually while his wife was preparing a meal. Once, after he had gone through this routine for the third time in as many minutes, she snapped, "Nothing's any different than it was a minute ago." "I know that," he assured her. "It's just that this time I've lowered my standards."

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“Paratroopers pull strings to stay on the job.”

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