Life is good for me right now. I'm a boy of seven asleep in my Davey Crockett bed at my parent's home on Gradyville Road in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. I'm curled up with my favorite "binkie" and my Dwight D. Eisenhower doll. It's a school day, and I know that my mother will be coming in soon to wake me...now I can hear her calling: "Billy, wake up, you've got to get ready for school". But...something is won...Mom's voice is low and coarse...distorted. Looking up, I can see her face, and she looks like...Ed! Wait...it is Ed...he's calling for me to get up because we've got to get packed up and on the road to the ferry. What I thought was my "binkie" is actually part of my sleeping bag...and my Eisenhower doll is really my headlamp.
Ed and I pack up quickly...tent down and packed up...trailer hitched up and ready to go. By 6:00AM, we're on the road to Woods Island to catch the ferry. We called yesterday to try to reserve a spot, but they were booked. We're hoping to get there early enough to snag an open spot. It's only 48 miles to the ferry, bu the trip takes nearly an hour and a half. Arriving at the terminal, we're surprised to find it virtually empty. We are assure of a spot on the 8:00AM departure. Waiting in line, we grab a coffee and chat up the terminal agent...another friendly PEI type.
The ferry ride is great fun...an hour and a half across the Bay of Fundy. You wait in line, drive on, and get out for the ride. Ed and I go up to the dining room for a quick breakfast...coffee, juice, bacon and toast.
There's time to walk around the docks and grab a few photos along the way. Soon, we're disembarking in Caribou, Nova Scotia and hopping on the highway. We're landing in northeastern Nova Scotia, and Ed's friend, Brenda, lives in Yarmouth way over in the southwestern part, so we've got a long drive ahead. It's an easy drive, though, on a good highway over rolling hills and the valleys of central Nova Scotia...about 280 miles total. Along the way, we grab a sandwich at a Tim Horton's and fill up with gas...$50.00 to fill up the tank (ouch!).
Around 4:00PM or so, we meet Brenda in Yarmouth in the parking lot of the local Canadian Tire store (my new favorite place to shop!). We follow her on the ten-mile or so drive from Yarmouth to Tusket.
Debra lives in a great old house in the country. I's just back from the river and some rapids that used to offer the best salmon fishing in the area. The property is big, with ponds, gardens, a big garage and a boathouse. The house itself is big as well, with those cool old narrow stairways up and down between the first and second floors.
Brenda has bought some steaks for dinner, and we're able to relax over a few cocktails before Ed and I fire up the grill. Debra's got some nice shrimp, so I whip up a nice shrimp salad to go with dinner. There is much interesting conversation, as Ed and Brenda know each other from participation in various poetry websites, but are now meeting for the first time.
After dinner, we head into the town of Yarmouth. It's "Canada Day" here, and there's a celebration in town with music. We're able to meet some interesting local folks, including a ninety-four year old gentlemen who tells a fascinating story about learning to drive in a 1938 convertible on the shores of Cape Cod. Later, we stop at a local restaurant on the wharf for a locally-brewed lager...excellent!
Back home, conversation lingers late into the evening. We're all exhausted, but there's much "catching up" to do. I am the first to "fold...I am really beat after an eighteen hour day.
For me, it's a luxury to sleep in a real bed...plus, there's the added benefit of three cats...Aragorn, Golem and Tannis...falling asleep, I'm thinking that it's just like home.
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