It's Official

Hello from Prince Edward Island!

I am proud to say that I am an official resident of PEI. Life on this pocket sized province has been a whirl wind thus far so before you read any further make yourself extra comfy.

First off the journey to PEI was exceptionally long. My parents and I thought it would be smart to go through the States to avoid any huricane Irene issues, however, she had other plans. In New York I-90 was closed from Albany to Minoa due to flooding. When we pulled over at a gas station to map out a new route a friendly biker, who had viking horns on his helmet I might add, saw us struggling and came over to help. He put us on hwy 5 and it was smooth sailing all the way to Fonda. Once at Fonda we found the traffic backed up for 14 kms! A state trouper told us the water was 8 ft above the bridge on the other side of Fonda and that the river had flooded to widths of 18 ft! So we pulled over once again and recalculated. It was close to 11:30 by the time we arrived at our hotel. What should have been an 8 hour drive turned into 14!

The next day we had plans to visit Wilson Castle Vermont but the whole lower valley near Wilson had been washed out. So like any good road trip troupers we pulled over into a visitor station and asked how to get to our next destination, Bangor Maine. The friendly and wirery man told us exaclty how to get there and suggested that if we still wanted to do some site seeing to head up to Burlington Vermont. With nothing better to do and feeling pretty good about the day ahead we took his advice. Boy was that a miscalculation. Don't get me wrong driving through the mountains and stopping along the lake side in Burlington was lovely but adding site seeing to an already long driving day was unwise. Again it was late by the time we reached Maine but with the promise of hitting Canadian ground the next day we slept well.

Day three of driving proved to be the best yet. We took our time leaving the hotel and even stopped to ooo and awww at a spectaculat view of the some mountain that I can't remember the name of. Before we knew it we were in New Brunswick. We had never been more excited to be on Canadia soil!

After 3 days of zig zagging through the States, being rerouted almost 200 km out of our way, and several arguments with Lizza our GPS we arrived in beautiful PEI. The scenery is everything that the brochures advertise it as. Lush green fertile soil floating on a delicious blue ocean and wrapped securely with a red ribbon of sand. The first hour of arriving at my apartment went by at warp speeds. We unloaded the car in record time, parked my bike, checked in with the landlords and then mom and I made our war to the theatre. It was the last night for Anne of Green Gables the Musical so if I was going to see it, it had to be now. The musical was fantastic!! The set was stunning! The colours, costume and characters were rendered phenomenally and the architecture of the theatre itself was breath taking. When the applause had died Mom and I walked backed to my apartment taking in the soft Charlottetown night life and after a long day I slept soundly in my new bed.

The next two days that followed I took mom and dad on a little site seeing around the island. We visited some of my favourite spots on the island like Basin Head, The Preserve Company, and Cows Ice Cream. With mom at helm of Edna (our Toyota Camry) we stopped at every look out along the shore line, every beach and every light house. We ate lobster, searched the sand for star fish and sand dollars and I even got a sun burn, not only does my hair match the red soil but now my skin does too. I got to see some amazing things with my parents: the tide rushing out and creating a rip current, an immature eagle snatch a fish out of the water, and a bag piper seranade a tour bus full of spunky elderly.

But now my parents are gone, my room is fully set up, I've had a good cry and my hands hurt from writing all this down. I've had my moment of regret and I'm sure I'll have a couple more but I feel good about being here. I'm finding little things that remind me of home everyday and I feel secure. However that ocean breeze is a quick reminder that I am not in Ontario anymore and no amount of clicking my heels will get me home. But in a strange way being so far from home is sort of encouraging. I can't bail out suddenly and I can't pack up and leave. I have to stick it out. So stick it out I shall, with a smile on my face and a spring in my step.