We are nearing the end of our trip and only now are we faced with the possibility of inclement weather. The forecast is for heavy rain this afternoon. We have already cut off a section of our bike tour to take our daily mileage total down to around 40 miles from over 50. We may well need to decrease it even more.
Before we leave, however, we tour the gardens of our B&B hosts. It is lush and well cared for with many specimens. Though hostas are a foundation plant, peonies, roses, bleeding hearts, coral bells, astilbe and other flowering plants sit thick on weedless beds.
It reminds us of the fact that all the residents of PEI seem to be avid gardeners. Regardless of dwelling, everyone appears to have a bed of flowering plants in perfect condition. It helps, however, when you don’t have deer.
Hopping on our bikes, the skies are cloudy but it is warm and humid. I don’t regret the lack of sun as I may have gotten a bit sunburned yesterday and my skin could use the rest. After 267 miles, we are in good shape and ready to leave Montague and get to Little Sands before the rain.
Like many of our recent days, we are greeted by a steep hill upon our departure. Because we had little momentum, we decide to walk it. A few hundred yards up the hill we are greeted by the gaze of a life-sized winged angel that is being carved out of a tree. Its arms reach out, appearing to call to us. We continue our hike.
It’s another day of wind in our faces; it seems to be the strongest so far. Wind breaks make a big difference but they stop the wind for only a moment. Our B&B hosts told us that Route 4 was pretty flat, but the PEI definition of flat does not match that of a pair of boys brought up on Long Island. With the wind in our faces, the morning trip forces us to focus and just move forward. There is nothing special in the scenery we pass so there are no diversions to take.
We stop at Companion Coffee in Murray River and our spirits are revived. I get a blueberry ice cream cone and Ted a coffee and three-berry muffin. We walk around a quartet of little shops and take a view of the harbor. It is a nice diversion before we get on our bikes for lunch.
We enter a spur of the Confederation Trail that will take us into Murray Harbour. Without wind or hills, it is a delightful ride though it feels as if a storm will hit us later. The tops of the trees sway and a few fresh leaves litter the trail. Still, we are content to be on the trail surrounded by wetlands, native birch trees and accompanied by a squadron of dragonflies.
We reach Murray Harbour and before we go to lunch we find a grocery and hardware store that sells beer. We pick up four bottles of our favorite beers for dinner and go to the Harbourview Restaurant for lunch. We decided to go to this place as its chowder was highly recommended. We were not disappointed.
Checking the weather, any hope of going to the Cape Bear lighthouse and Marconi museum is dashed as a prediction of driving rain and high winds around 2 pm make us decide to head for our B&B right after lunch. We buy desserts for later.
Our waitress recommends we take the river road to start and we have an easy ride. Though our day will end earlier than typical, we have enjoyed our time and are pleased that it appears we will beat out the rain. But we do not linger as the sky darkens, the temperate drops and the wind picks up. We want to beat the rain.
We turn onto Route 18, which runs next to the ocean. There are many farms here who’s fields run down to the cliffs fronting the ocean. A few fledgling vineyards take the place of potato fields. The sky continues to darken.
There are few cars on the road even though it is a strikingly beautiful highway. A fox is scavenging in an adjacent field. It looks at us and then trots away. I feel a sense of melancholy as I pedal but we don’t stop to reflect. The storm is coming.
We see our B&B coming up on the left and turn into the long dirt road leading to it. The owner greets us, happy that we were able to beat the storm. Within the next 15 minutes, the winds start to blow and rain comes down in sheets. Ted and I look out our room’s window watching the storm roll across the water as the wind bends the trees in a nearby wind break.
We are very lucky.
In the next hour, the sky clears giving Ted and me the opportunity to search for sea glass. Our host directs us to a cove where a ladder is set up so that we can climb down the cliff. Ted finds a few pieces while I come up empty handed.
The rain and wind comes and goes all afternoon and evening.
Because of the remoteness of our B&B, we must cook the final dinner on our trip but we are not suffering. Our host was nice enough to get a pair of sirloin steaks, garden salad and potatoes for us. We brought beer and dessert. Ted has lost none of his BBQ skills and we have a tasty dinner; it is a nice change of pace to have a steak rather than fish.
After we clean up I think about going back to the cliff to search for some sea glass. The rain has stopped and the wind has died down. But instead of clear skies, the air is filled with a flotilla of mosquitos and flies. I stay in for the evening.
