The Fabulous PEI Roadtrip

On September 26, 2024September 22, 2024 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Retirement, Camping Adventures, Roadtripping, See the Beauty, Travel Badassery30 Comments

When your oldest friend calls you up and says “Whatcha doin’ the end of August/early September?”, the only acceptable response is “Nothin’. What are WE doin’ then?”. Thus the fabulous road trip to PEI (Prince Edward Island, a Canadian province) began, in our heads, at least.

Cath (aka CJ – my friend since Grade 2 and my Barbados buddy) had purchased an RV about a year ago. It was only a matter of time before either she showed up at my door in it, or I joined her for a road trip. Here is what happened. First things first – the itinerary Cath drew up for us:

The basic sketch of our adventure, which was followed for the most part. Catch-22 is a fabulous restaurant in Wasaga Beach – had the best halibut meal of my life there, that night. We didn’t go to the Big Apple store/bakery/restaurant (too crazy busy) but we did go to Reid’s Dairy and Taste of Country in Belleville, ON. We did not end up at Richard’s for lobster rolls, instead it was the Lobster Barn (delicious food) – in Victoria-by-the-Sea. Nearby Hampton Beach is where our friends Brenda and Ted have a beautiful place, on PEI. What’s not on the calendar is an amazing show we saw Sep 7 at Harmony House (Hunter River, PEI): The Leonard Cohen Songbook, which blew me away….even more than seeing Lennie Gallant (and that’s saying A LOT.) More on my experience at The Table, in my next WOYP post!

Cocktail hour at McLaren campground, on the Long Sault Parkway, Ontario. That’s Mini Winnie, in the background.

Cath’s miniature poodle and our traveling companion: the lovely Miss Juliette.

Miss Juliette can get a little barky 🤣. Especially if she is missing her mommy. At a Walmart parking lot on a supply run, in Rimouski, Quebec.

Stopping to take in the views of a covered bridge – Routhierville, Quebec.

More great views – Tide Head, New Brunswick.

Standing on the dock in Kouchibouguac National Park, New Brunswick. Admiring the views AND the kayak ramp. Kouchibouguac means *River of the Long Tides*, in Mi’kmaq. This is where the Kouchibouguac River empties out to the Atlantic Ocean.

A very quick exploration of Kellys Beach in Kouchibouguac National Park as the rain begins to pelt us.(Miss Juliette stayed in the RV as dogs are not allowed here.)

First view of the Confederation Bridge (12.9 km, links PEI to the mainland). The last time I visited PEI (at least 2.5 decades ago) this bridge was only a dream. We had to take a ferry, back then.

The home of our wonderful hosts, just off the beach.

It was our hosts’ birthdays while we visited. One day after the other. Two separate celebrations were planned and executed so each had their special day. Cath whipped up a joint chocolate birthday cake per request (one of her many culinary specialities) for them. I even had a (very small) piece and it was delicious, although chocolate cake is not my thing. Some of Cath’s family was on the island at the same time (staying nearby in a beachfront rental) and they joined us several evenings for meals, cards and general merriment.

Most days involved at least one walk on the beach!

Sunset on the beach in front of Ted and Brenda’s house, with the Confederation Bridge in the distance.

Going for a hike at a local park. Ted is holding onto Juliette’s grandmother: Chloe. Ted and Brenda are also parents of another poodle – the aptly named: Ginger. Who can be pretty spicy, for her size! 🤣

Little Miss Ginger. Our hair colouring kinda matches, I just realized.

Waiting for Lennie Gallant at the Souris Show Hall. Lovely, intimate show.

Trying the capture the beauty of the night sky in Souris, after the show.

Early morning walk along the shore, Red Point Provincial Park in Souris.

Typical red cliffs (and sand, soil) found on the island – Red Point Park, Souris.

Interesting sea weed growth on a rock – looks like it’s wearing a wig! Red Point Park, Souris.

One thing I didn’t remember to photograph and wish I had: I had a reunion with an old friend who lives on PEI. Kim and I started out as pen pals many decades ago – before the internet, even – when you actually had to write out your thoughts on a piece of paper and mail them to each other. Can you imagine such a primitive form of communication? 😉 It was truly heart-warming and inspiring to see her IRL – and to take in all the beauty of her home and gardens and all the gorgeous artwork she has created. Seeing her creations on Facebook is one thing, but seeing those pieces hanging around her cozy home is quite another!

As foretold in the itinerary, the adventure had to come to an end eventually. After an informative and exciting last walk on the beach with a geologist where we looked for (and found) the fossilized remains of 330 million year old trees and plant life, Cath, Juliette and I headed back over the bridge to the mainland. We revisited our route and campsites for the way back to Ontario: ending in Wasaga Beach for the first two, and the airport for me.

Another gorgeous morning at McLaren campground, waiting for the sun to rise.

Our last cocktail hour. My big goal for this trip was: that we are still on speaking terms at the end 😉. Achieved! 🤣

My flights were blessedly uneventful. Which is about the best thing one can say about air travel, anymore. The airline did not give away my seat on the plane and deny me boarding; no one parted me from my luggage; nothing was stolen from me; no one asked me to give up my window seat so they could have it instead because of their ~~poor planning~~ claustrophobia 🙄 (Really, girl?!?! Uhhh, NOPE.)…see here for my woeful previous air travel experience, if you care to.

Cheers to more travel adventures in the future!

Rock on,

The WB

Tofino Camping Adventure

On June 4, 2021June 3, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Retirement, Camping Adventures, Goals & Dreams, See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors103 Comments

Last weekend I headed out to Tofino, to stay at Green Point Campground at Pacific Rim National Park. My friend and blogging buddy, Donna, had booked a site and let me know there was at least one other site available, and would I be interested in joining them? WOULD I???? In a hot minute, I had my site booked too. Then, in the most incredible coincidence imaginable, another friend and blogging buddy Erica/Erika let us know that she and her husband were staying there too. And their site turned out to be the one RIGHT BESIDE MINE. If we had tried to scheme and plan and pull this off, it would be next to impossible as this campsite is harder to get into than it was to score tickets to The Tragically Hip’s final show.

Hammock set up, with Erica and Chuck’s campsite in the background. Note kindly left on the picnic table by Erica, letting me know they were down on the beach.

Tent interior. Due to the campsite’s BARE policy, all food had to be locked up in your vehicle or a food locker (provided every few campsites). I decided not to hook my car up to the tent, and instead use it as my food locker. So my memory foam bed ended up in the tent instead of the back of my car, due to space considerations.

After meeting Donna and Richard at Tacofino for lunch, and setting up and settling in at camp, it was time to hit the beach!

The sky, sand, and water combo was stunning.

The next day was a bit drizzly and Donna and I went into Ucluelet to check out the downtown and the Ucluelet Aquarium. Amazing place!

Mr. Giant Pacific Octopus put on quite the show for us.

We also stopped at a delicious local bakery (Zoe’s, to fuel up for our next adventure), that had this sign posted outside. Cute Schitt’s Creek reference!

And here’s why. Within seconds of us vacating this area, they descended upon it. Looking for crumbs.

Speaking of birds stealing your food: Donna, Richard and I had to defend ourselves from some very aggressive sparrows outside of Rhino Coffee, in Tofino. I had my doughnut in my hand ($4 for a doughnut??? But man, it was good!), turned my head for one second and felt something pulling at my treat. It was a~~n asshole~~ sparrow, grabbing a chunk of doughnut in midflight, and then retreating a few feet away to ~~gobble it down~~ enjoy it.

You can bet I kept my eye on these cheeky ~~assholes~~ Steller’s Jays, once back at the campsite.

The evening ended over at Chuck and Erica’s for one of our delicious, communal camp meals.

The next day was spent beach walking and exploring.

Donna, the intrepid beach walking buddy.

There are always surfers to be found on Tofino beaches. Year round.

Donna and I played around with taking simultaneous selfies. Like a simultaneous orgasm, but waaay less work. 😉

We eventually met up with everybody else and went off to explore the rocks exposed by low tide.

Ever since I was a little girl reading picture books, I have been captivated by the idea of walking the shore and exploring tidal pools in search of marine life. But in my land-locked former home, there was no opportunity…until this trip! At almost 62 years of age, I finally got to live my childhood dream.

Red sea stars and goose barnacles and clams and mussels (and probably a whole buncha other things too).

After returning to camp for another delicious communal meal (Chuck’s homecooked BBQ ribs were amazing!), it was back down to the beach for another sunset.

Filled with peace, gratitude and wonder in heart and soul…

Sadly the next day it was time to go home. It was another gorgeous day, and the drive home was filled with spectacular views, like this one.

Kennedy Lake reflection. What a beautiful island I live on!

Colour me windblown, wind burnt, and completely happy with this adventure!

Rock on,

The WB

What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Sheet Pan Edition

On June 2, 2021June 1, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, Camping Adventures, What's On Your Plate64 Comments

It’s that time of year when the weather is almost always nice, and that means a whole lot less time is spent indoors. Especially in the kitchen. A wonderful excuse to break out a sheet pan dinner! And luckily I have 2 pans because I needed the other for a crafty thing I was MacGyver-ing in preparation for future camping adventures: homemade fire starters. Very useful to starting fires here on the Wet Coast, where wood and tinder are sometimes too damp to facilitate a quick and satisfying campfire. Hey, those S’mores ain’t gonna roast themselves, ya know?

As usual, I came across something on Ye Olde YouTube that sparked my interest. The video is here:

Try to ignore all the bullet adoration in the intro to this guy’s channel. I did.

I watched the video and gathered my supplies. Then I got to work.

Note my improvised double-boiler, for melting both the petroleum jelly and the candle wax. Will the MacGyvering never end?! 😉

Cotton rounds soaked in melted petroleum jelly and ready to go into freezer to quickly solidify, in preparation for the next stage.

Starting the 2nd (and final) dip process.

These fire starters turned out great, and they burn heartily for more than 10 minutes after being lit with a single match.

The same afternoon I made these, I also made a delicious sheet pan dinner, inspired by this YouTube video:

The actual recipe to be printed off can be found here.

I hustled off to my little local grocery store and was disappointed that they didn’t have any fresh green beans in stock. They did however have some delectable-looking bundles of asparagus in the veggie section, so I made that swap. I think it turned out at least as good, if not better.

I also used sambal (Indonesian pepper paste) instead of cayenne pepper because I think it tastes better.

Finished! The sheet pan dinner, almost complete…

Now complete! Served on a bed of some deliciously-nutty brown rice.

Have you ever made a sheet pan dinner? Chime in, in the Comments below!

And, as always: please feel free to let my co-host Donna (she is dishing up some food for thought, this month!) or myself know what’s on your plate at your house, in the Comments of either Donna’s or my post. And remember if you decide to blog or Facebook or Instagram about it, to use the tag #whatsonyourplateblogchallenge so we can find you out on ye olde interwebbs!

Rock on,

The WB