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Elm River Campground
The seasonal RV's are so close together they can watch each others TV'S. The place is totally accessible and has four washers and dryers. Toilets behind blue and pink doors are poorly lighted. Imagine my panic when one of my diamonds dropped from my right ear! tankgott I found it even in the dim light ...payment comes in the form for finding out I have to get new rack and pinion sterring mechanism ... better to have found the diamond!May 31 Tuesday
On the last day of May I drove out of Nova Scotia via the Confederation Bridge.
I went first to the Masstown Market for breakfast and blogging time. Cheese on an English muffin with sausage and cheese plus coffee cost $6 …cheaper than Macs and just as good if not moresucculent. By the time I was finished publishing the place was filling up fast. Some people were having chowder for brunch.
Highway 4 heads towards Amherst and then The Bridge.
The getting was good until the van began making load grinding noises at every turn. Stopping at a gas station and asking for directions to the closest mechanic the van headed for Oxford. I was just a little more than worried and anxious. Finally found the garage. With great expectations I tried the door. LOCKED! Lots of vehicles in the yard. Derelicts? Was the man out of town? Was the business closed?
The house across the street had two cars parked in the driveway. Somebody had to be at home.
When I knocked a woman, who ran a home day care, (there was double stroller evidence on the porch) answered. She told
A Teapot Tree
...for you Sherry. me that the man had been at the garage that morning. She looked up his phone numbers. I called his home phone. He was having ‘dinner’ at 12:00. …it’s Oxford, in the middle of the map, written small!
When he arrived back from ‘dinner’ he took one look under the hood and filled the power steering receptacle with two bottles of juice. He looked under the motor and said I had a leak. He recommended I go to the nearest Canadian Tire, in Amherst.
On the way to Amherst I phoned my garage man in Sudbury. He recommended the same.
The Canadian Tire was busy …of course ... but the manager, Annie, was nice enough to put the van up on the hoist to make sure it was safe to continue driving. She showed me on a diagram what had to be fixed. Rack and pinion … that which controls the steering …seems to me this has been done before … have to ask Jackson.
She did not have the parts. We phoned Summerside where I would be staying for two sleeps. They had the part…it was put on hold and I made the earliest appointment
possible …13:30 for June 1. After buying a big bottle of steering juice and paying $37 for the ride up the hoist I continued to make my way to the Bridge.
The Confederation Bridge is under 13km long. It is open 24/7. “The Confederation Bridge is designed to minimize the effects of extreme weather conditions, and it is rare that the Bridge is closed to all traffic. The most common wind restrictions usually only apply to high-sided vehicles, motorcycles, and vehicles towing objects. Because of its phenomenal length, the Confederation Bridge uses a multi-span concrete box girder structure. At its highest point, the Navigation Span, the bridge reaches 60 metres above sea level, allowing large sea vessels, including cruise ships, to navigate under the bridge between its piers. Construction began on October 7, 1993 and the bridge officially opened on May 31, 1997. A wide range of computer-facilitated traffic control options including standard traffic signals, changeable speed limit signs, and changeable message boards, allow Bridge Control personnel to respond immediately to fluctuating road and traffic conditions.”
http://www.confederationbridge.com This year it will have been open for 19yrs. I have been a long time coming to cross this magnificent wonder.
Is PEI still an island?
On the New Brunswick side there was little info. The lady in the gift shop told me that an observation tower was out back and by climbing it one could take shots of the whole bridge. I did that. The only thing missing in the shots is the place where the bridge rises to 60m. While on the bridge the rise looked like a big hill but driving it was smooth and the rise in elevation was indiscernible.
I did not drive one kilometre over 80…I wanted this drive to last as long as possible. Without the black vehicle behind me I would have gone even slower ...OMG it was exciting ...OMG such a phenomenon...OMG I am actually on IT! Can you tell I was VERY impressed?
Once on the other side I was on the search for a bridge patch to sew on my backpack. After visiting four stores the patch was available at the Celtic Crafts Shop. A whole colony of shops have been built here available to the tourist; Shop&Play, Cows Ice Cream, PEI Gifts, PEI Dirt-Shirt, various food outlets. In 2015 one million359,858 tourists visited P.E.I and spent
$401million. Seems to pay to build a small town of shops ... Cows Gateway Village.
After adding steering juice to the van, in front of PE.I. Tourism office, I followed religiously the road signs heading for Summerside
My nose being on the alert directed me to Granville Street in Summerside and I passed the Canadian Tire where I had a date for tomorrow. By driving this way … inadvertently… I surmised that there would be no dropping the van off and doing the town.
Summerside looks like a town on an elastic that has been stretched to extreme. Water Street is distressing. Here at the beginning of Granville from the highway both sides of the street are filled with big box stores. Further, a short distance on the street shows off some of the old houses that are nestled in a few blocks of the old town. Did not find anything pretty. Would never consider living here. Sorry to anyone loving this neck of PEI.
Willowgreen Farm is rustic, convoluted ,,, lots of nooks and crannies because of the many additions and renovations. My room in the basement; is painted maroon with dark green accents …DAHHH!;
Illegal Shot
...pic taken while driving towards Bridge ... very dangerous ... how do those texters do it? is cheaper than the room upstairs with a jacoozee in the corner. The breakfast consisted of three wholewheat blueberry pancakes(could count the berries) with artificial syrup, juice and a tiny bowl of fruit. The cereal would have been healthier. By one oclock I was having hunger pangs ... this does not happen after an egg breakfast. Where was the peanut butter for protien value?
WiFi was good. Phone connection not so good.
It was a day under a dark cloud especially since I have tomorrows big bill to look forward to.
The luckiest part of the day is that I made it to Summerside and that I am staying here two nights.
The Bridge was a total OMG OMG OMG OMG!
Box girder bridge in Borden-Carleton, CanadaThe Confederation Bridge spans the Abegweit Passage of Northumberland Strait. It links Prince Edward Island with mainland New Brunswick, Canada. Before its official naming, Prince Edward Islanders often referred to the bridge as the "Fixed Link".
WikipediaAddress: Confederation Bridge
Total length: 12,900 m
Opened: May 31, 1997
Construction started: October 7, 1993
Bridge type:
Box girder bridgeLocation:
Borden-Carleton,
Cape Jourimain, New BrunswickArchitect:
Jean M. Muller When In Rio I passed over a long bridge. 13,290 makes it longer than The Confederation Bridge.
The Confederation Bridge is the longest over frozen water
“President Costa e Silva Bridge, commonly known as the Rio-Niterói Bridge, is a box girder bridge crossing Guanabara Bay, in the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It connects the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói.
Wikipedia Opened: March 4, 1974
Total length: 13,290 m
Construction started: August 23, 1968
Height: 72 m
Body of water:
Guanabara Bay Location:
Rio de Janeiro”
Next ... the 56km tunnel under the Alps in Switzerland.
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