Today is Wednesday August 4th and it is our last full day in PEI and you might know, it's raining!
After we left you last we have since ventured to the furtherest most point on the Island; East Point. This means, I have now officially been tip to tip. During this adventure we stopped at Myriad. Myriad is the only legalized moonshine distillery on the island. After "sampling" the product (Rum, Gin, Vodka and Shine), we made a purchase - but not before taking a tour of how they distill. Naturally, Petit Guy had to be pulled out of one of the vats. What a pain in the arse he was, drunk no doubt. All he did was squawk for the rest of the ride.
We also went to Prince Edward distillery to sample their brand of potato vodka but when we entered this itty bitty little place that charged $10 - we said no and off we went. Between us all, we dropped a couple of hundred at the Myriad and only the cost of a bottle at the Prince Edward.
Later in the day we caught up with Frank's Aunt, Carol Anne, and took her out to Papa John's for dinner. Carol Ann had graciously opened up her house to accomodate the six of us overnight. Patty, Gordie, Kayla and Dallas were leaving on the 7 am Tuesday morning flight and since Carol Ann lives about 10 minutes, by the way the crow flies, to the airport, it was the right thing to do.
After dinner we went up to Frank's Aunt Grace and Uncle Bobby's place for a visit. Aunt Grace has MS, just like Frank's dad and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I saw her. It was like visiting an old face - she looks so much like Earl and has the same sense of humor, always laughing and carrying on. How I miss Earl, but, we were all given a gift of spending an hour or two with him again.
So, Tuesday after sending off the Smith Clan before the bear poops in the buckwheat (early, early) Carol Ann insisted that Frank and I stay on for the rest of our vacation. Saving us a whole bucket of coin, we jumped at the chance, then jumped in the car to head for Confederation Bridge. It was time to conquer one of Frank's items on his list of must do's. And conquer we did. For a mire $42.50 we drove onto the bridge! 12 minutes is not a long time to cross a bridge, is it? Not until you start driving across do you realize that yes, 12 minutes to cross from PEI to New Brunswick -is a long time. One lane each way?? Stop and think how long it takes any of us townies to cross a bridge in Vancouver, what 3 minutes if traffic is flowing? However, the reward at the other side was well worth it. Put me feet in New Brunswick soil, I did.
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Charlottetown, venturing into stores on the quay, looking at old houses in the historic district and ordering lobster to ship home. This time, we have so much we are "checking" our 30lb box as baggage. Get your money out neighbors - here they come.
Uncles Lloyd and Leonard joined us for dinner, as did Carole Ann's granddaughters -Lauren and Mallory and daughter Tracey. Carol Ann is a fantastic cook so we ate to our hearts content. Then we played cards until 9:30 - cards is a big pastime here on the island so I have a few new games under my belt. Fun, sharing stories and jokes, we fell into bed after 10:00, which is one of the earliest we've seen since we began this vacation.
We will go up to Montague and hopefully Murray River today, meeting up with Nana, Bob, John, Cathy, Carlie, Brett and Uncle Gary for lunch. Then back to Carol Ann's for dinner, more cards and preparing for our early rise to head for the airport. We should be home tomorrow around 1:00 Vancouver time.
This vacation has been fun, adventurous, tiring, spectacular, full of laughter, outstanding sights, sounds and tastes. We've talked about moving here and not moving here, visited with people who are down to earth, outgoing, funny and loving and neither Frank nor I would have missed this time here for the world. Petit Guy has many memories as well, although some I could not post on this blog. What a bird, but he has another adventure under his belt as well and I've got the pictures to prove it.
Thanks for reading along on our adventure, both Frank and I truly enjoy sharing our lives and visits with you - the people who mean so much to us all.
You never know, I may blog when I return home, so please stay tuned for more.
Good bye PEI, Frank and I will see you again soon.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Saying Goodbye to the West
Happy Birthday British Columbia - my home province!
Found us a land-er-mat down here in Alberton. Right beside the self-serve car wash. Didn't know if I was to stand inside the car wash and hose me-self down or..But got my man's knickers all washed up before heading off to Bloomfield Provincial Park for the family picnic. Boy was that day sum fun, whey?
Learned how to play Holey Board - which of course we took dimensions of, pictures of and more. We had us a tournament - 14 teams of 2 per team was in the first round and 8 teams in the second. Then while we waited for the finals to be played, we started up the Loosers Tournament. Made my way to the semi finals on that one. Won $4! Yoo hoo! Caught me a bad sunburn as well so the winnings went to more aloe vera and sunscreen. These people think of things to do in the winter months.
Off to John, Cathy, Carlie, Brett, Bob and Nana's cabin (which used to be ours at Lady Slipper) to eat; the rest of the Mackerel caught during the deep sea fishing adventure on Friday, ribs, potatoe salad, corn, beans, brownies and ice cream (burp!). Frank's Aunt, Carole Ann (she's 5 yrs older than Frank) joined us and we spent the evening discussing family connections and history. So we had our geneology lesson on the McKenna side. Always fascinating information and a lot of fun coming from Auntie.
Since today is Monday August 2nd, we are leaving the West of PEI to head back into Charlottetown and head up east to Montague, Souris and Wood Island. We are headed this way to seek out the distellery and wineries. Should be sum fun.
Found us a land-er-mat down here in Alberton. Right beside the self-serve car wash. Didn't know if I was to stand inside the car wash and hose me-self down or..But got my man's knickers all washed up before heading off to Bloomfield Provincial Park for the family picnic. Boy was that day sum fun, whey?
Learned how to play Holey Board - which of course we took dimensions of, pictures of and more. We had us a tournament - 14 teams of 2 per team was in the first round and 8 teams in the second. Then while we waited for the finals to be played, we started up the Loosers Tournament. Made my way to the semi finals on that one. Won $4! Yoo hoo! Caught me a bad sunburn as well so the winnings went to more aloe vera and sunscreen. These people think of things to do in the winter months.
Off to John, Cathy, Carlie, Brett, Bob and Nana's cabin (which used to be ours at Lady Slipper) to eat; the rest of the Mackerel caught during the deep sea fishing adventure on Friday, ribs, potatoe salad, corn, beans, brownies and ice cream (burp!). Frank's Aunt, Carole Ann (she's 5 yrs older than Frank) joined us and we spent the evening discussing family connections and history. So we had our geneology lesson on the McKenna side. Always fascinating information and a lot of fun coming from Auntie.
Since today is Monday August 2nd, we are leaving the West of PEI to head back into Charlottetown and head up east to Montague, Souris and Wood Island. We are headed this way to seek out the distellery and wineries. Should be sum fun.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
And here we go, family reunion time
Yes, that's right, the whole reason we came to PEI was to attend the McKenna Family Reunion and here we is.
Friday morning Gordie, Frank, Kayla, Dallas and Brett got up at crow piss to go to Malpeque for a little to Deep Sea Fishing. They had to be in Malpaque Harbour by 8. Meaning up at 5:45-6:00 to get the 5 of them dressed, fooded and teeth brushed. After throwing the kids in the car, off they went. Of course Patty and I simply rolled over and went back to sleep. Ahhhh. However, once we were up and dressed, it was time for us to do.... errands.
Friday nite was the Meet and Greet at the O'Leary Legion. We put together a fruit plate to take up to the festivities and ventured on up. After spending, oh I'd say 1/2 an hour standing outside saying hello to this uncle, this aunt and look a little cousin or two, we made it inside to the door. Signing in on one side of the entrance, we turned us around and started dolling out the cash to buy "find the joker", silent auction, holey board signup (only $5 a tix) and the big Poker game. We pushed through to a table, never sitting, simply dropping keys and bags to start the mingle. Frank was roped into being the Gracious Host of the Family Feud game - and I am proud to say, Earl's Pearls were the only team to shut out all 4 rounds (in case you don't know, Earl was Frank's Dad). Won us some shot glasses, yes. After much socializing, hee-hawing and what not, it was time to pull the plug. I think my head hit the pillow after 1:30.
Up and at em on Saturday morning, it was our last day at Lady Slipper Cottages. Over to the Travellers Inn Motel where we settled quickly before setting off for a bit of lunch, trip to the liqour store and simply poking around in Alberton. Then back to the motel where we prepared ourselves for our big dinner dance.
However, not before going to mass in our McKenna Family Reunion t-shirts and visting the cemetery which houses some of the family that couldn't attend. After many photo opportunities, we headed for the dinner.
Dinner consisted of mashed taties (PEI specials), turkey, stuffing, gravy PEAS (ewwww) and carrots served with a cheeky little splash of apple juice. You know I headed for the bar and grab myself a glass of wine. Which of course, they cleared away after dinner when I wasn't looking. Dang!
After finishing off the silent auction - we'se got ourselves $20 gift certificate at the Atlantic Liquor Store (buying some shine), it was time to dance. Dance we did, to every Willie Nelson, Stompin Tom and country song out there. I was done at 12:30 so we headed home.
And so here we sit at the Traveller's Inn at 8:50 a.m. in the continental breakfast doing our blog and preparing ourselves for the final day of the reunion. Picnic at Bloomfield Park where I am going to learn how to play holey board. Should be some interesting times.
Friday morning Gordie, Frank, Kayla, Dallas and Brett got up at crow piss to go to Malpeque for a little to Deep Sea Fishing. They had to be in Malpaque Harbour by 8. Meaning up at 5:45-6:00 to get the 5 of them dressed, fooded and teeth brushed. After throwing the kids in the car, off they went. Of course Patty and I simply rolled over and went back to sleep. Ahhhh. However, once we were up and dressed, it was time for us to do.... errands.
Friday nite was the Meet and Greet at the O'Leary Legion. We put together a fruit plate to take up to the festivities and ventured on up. After spending, oh I'd say 1/2 an hour standing outside saying hello to this uncle, this aunt and look a little cousin or two, we made it inside to the door. Signing in on one side of the entrance, we turned us around and started dolling out the cash to buy "find the joker", silent auction, holey board signup (only $5 a tix) and the big Poker game. We pushed through to a table, never sitting, simply dropping keys and bags to start the mingle. Frank was roped into being the Gracious Host of the Family Feud game - and I am proud to say, Earl's Pearls were the only team to shut out all 4 rounds (in case you don't know, Earl was Frank's Dad). Won us some shot glasses, yes. After much socializing, hee-hawing and what not, it was time to pull the plug. I think my head hit the pillow after 1:30.
Up and at em on Saturday morning, it was our last day at Lady Slipper Cottages. Over to the Travellers Inn Motel where we settled quickly before setting off for a bit of lunch, trip to the liqour store and simply poking around in Alberton. Then back to the motel where we prepared ourselves for our big dinner dance.
However, not before going to mass in our McKenna Family Reunion t-shirts and visting the cemetery which houses some of the family that couldn't attend. After many photo opportunities, we headed for the dinner.
Dinner consisted of mashed taties (PEI specials), turkey, stuffing, gravy PEAS (ewwww) and carrots served with a cheeky little splash of apple juice. You know I headed for the bar and grab myself a glass of wine. Which of course, they cleared away after dinner when I wasn't looking. Dang!
After finishing off the silent auction - we'se got ourselves $20 gift certificate at the Atlantic Liquor Store (buying some shine), it was time to dance. Dance we did, to every Willie Nelson, Stompin Tom and country song out there. I was done at 12:30 so we headed home.
And so here we sit at the Traveller's Inn at 8:50 a.m. in the continental breakfast doing our blog and preparing ourselves for the final day of the reunion. Picnic at Bloomfield Park where I am going to learn how to play holey board. Should be some interesting times.
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