My Country Peanut – East Coast Part 1

At 7:08am Friday August 13th the car was packed, the dogs were loaded and mom and I were on our way with Peanut in tow. The excitement was high but I made sure to have a good night sleep so I could drive the distance. GPS had our journey for this day pegged at 8 hours and 34 minutes. This of course did not include the gas, food and pee break stops. We left Havelock and headed east towards Belleville… This was an eye opening stretch which freaked me TFO (pardon my language but I was having a small panic attack) and I say this because I watched the gas meter drop SOOO FAST – 1/4 tank gone in less than 40 minutes which was about 75km. OMG we contemplated turning around unhitching and driving sans Peanut. But we kept going. I’ve always wanted to do this and a little extra gas money (OR DOUBLE AS IT TURNS OUT) will not stop us.

Since we didn’t know how far gas stations were going to be between towns and with the rate we were burning through the fuel we decided not to go under half a tank. So about every 2 hours we were filling up. This additional time cost us about 1.5 hours extra hours to the trip.

Day one I drove roughly 10 hours and boy was I pooped. And since it was 42 degrees with the humidex we opted to stay the night in a hotel since there was still 8 hours left to drive the next day. First official stop: Riviere-Du-Loup, Hotel Universal. Honestly we’ve stayed there every single trip for years. Tons of restaurants, parking, gas and super comfy beds. We pulled in at about 5:30pm. Unpacked, put the dogs in the room and headed down to the restaurant for some take out. We quickly ate and ended up going to bed since we were so tired. Unfortunately for me Little Man J had slept too much in the car and was up the entire night. But we got up, ready and out at 6:18am Saturday morning for the next leg.

Day 2 – started off with some cooler weather which was refreshing. We left Riviere-Du-Loup and headed in to Edmunston New Brunswick. One thing we both forgot was the number of hills and mountains throughout this province… ugh that gas meter once again was taking a beating. Anyone who has never pulled a trailer should just automatically double their fuel budget. No regrets. Just some shock.

We made it to the Confederation Bridge around 3:30pm ADT. Once we got over the bridge we went to the Covid Screening Check in – the best part about pulling the trailer was that the line we were sent to only had one trailer ahead of us so we were through (after filling in a screening report and me getting my 100th covid rapid test) in less than 15 minutes. If I was positive I would receive a call within two hours from the test. No call = negative. I was good to go. 40 minutes later we were at my Aunt Brenda and Uncle David’s place where Peanut is parked taking in the incredible view. You really cannot beat this view.

Sunday we took it easy. We were a little burnt out from the 18 hour trip. All we did all day was a short trip to get gas, lottery tickets and hit a drug store. This was a day to relax and recover.

Monday Monday (La la lalalala) – Refreshed from a solid night sleep we opted to touring the eastern side of PEI which we have never done. We started in Vernon Bridge which has a property I’ve been following that I’m obsessed with called Honeysuckle Cottages. A century home property with 3 separate dwellings to rent out. Perfectly manicured gardens, right by the water and so beautifully appointed. What an idillic place. Dream!

Second stop of the day was in Murray Harbour, The Clow House. This property was for sale many years ago. It is a heritage designated property that was in disrepair and we had high hopes that someone purchased it and fixed it up… sadly that was not the case. Hopefully someone will turn this massive home into the mansion it likely once was.

Our next stop was Montague. A small town on the Island. We came into town and drove the main strip to see what it had to offer. We ended up grabbing some breakfast and planning out our next destination. Off to Souris on the Atlantic Ocean.

What a beautiful place to be. Breathtaking views all around. I’ll be honest I am more in the moment and do forget to take pictures or I just choose not to take them. I almost didn’t get any shots. But we ended up at a local shop on the water and so I walked to the fence line and took a few shots.

We drove down the little streets lining the waters edge on the way to the local bakery. All homemade no mass production baked goods. The best kind! Pretty sure we’re going to gain a few pounds. But well worth it.

Our last leg of the journey was through St. Peters Bay, Morell and Tracadie. St. Peters Bay was lovely. Small and quaint with some little local vendor shops of homemade goods. Chocolates, crafts, ice cream, art and jewellery. A nice way to end the day.