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23.89 kms done today on day 6

It was a beautiful 🌞 day today with some very blue sky.

Albeit still a little too cold for my liking.

All Confederation trail walking, we all guessed this morning before we started how many people we would pass on the trail and Petra won. We passed exactly two people so it was a very quite walk.

I have vowed on this trip that there are 3 things I want to see and photograph before I leave PEI;

1 – Photograph a Blue Bird

2- Photograph an fox

3- See the official PEI wild flower (the Lady Slipper) growing in the wild and get a picture.

Well we saw many a bluebird today but they are fast and shy so I did not get a photo 😒 but I will keep trying. And unfortunately our host dropped us off at our start point this morning and told us not 5 minutes after he dropped us off low and behold he saw a fox running along the side of the road 🤬 thanks Kyle. 🤣 We still have lots of time. As for the elusive Lady Slipper also working on that.

The closest we came to wildlife spotting, a couple of rabbits on the trail. (You cannot see me, I am not moving therefore I am invisible)

Now for the keeping it real – It seems like no matter how many kilometers we have to walk the last couple are always very difficult and really drag on. Thank goodness I have got the crew to keep it light as we really do lift each other up.

Blister update Meadows seem to be on the mend, but it looks like I am getting a doosey on my right foot. Also a pet peeve, when we complete a leg of the walk we really want to see the way point marker, there was no sign yesterday for the 5th waypoint, and no sign today for way point 6. 😕 We really would like to see those milestones and record them with a photo, almost like a reward for finishing the day.

We made our own 5 today but might have to add a felt marker and paper to our everyday kit just so we can make our own. 😅

Hope you all are enjoying the blog and check in tomorrow for another update.

Thanks All!!

Day 5 is done and dusted. Meadow and I both play darts so we are looking at this walk as a game of 702, each day knocking a little off the score. With another 22kms done we are at 112 kms so we have 592 left on the board. It is hard to believe we have already covered 112 kilometers

The day definitely started out cold, but eventually it did warm up. The entire walk today was on the Confederation trail so it was thoroughly enjoyable. Very quiet on the trail otherwise, we saw one person walking their dog, and one cyclist but did not encounter anyone else on the trail itself all day.

We stopped into Cooks Convenience store today. Our first stop in 5 days where somewhere we planned to stop was actually open!! Woop woop. They no longer operate a full Cafe but the convenience store has a number of food options, our group had the hot dogs, chicken tenders, and cinnamon rolls it was all delicious and super reasonably priced. We arrived just before the school lunch crowd so it was fresh and hot.

Saw many lovely wildflowers on the Walk, tried to snap a picture of the beautiful blue jays but they were much to quick for me.

But pretty much this is what the trail was like all day. At the end of the day we checked into our accommodations Aisling Cottage where we will be staying for quite a few days. Our hosts Kyle and Connie are very accommodating and the cottage is so perfect with three bedrooms and a wonderful view of Mill River.

Stopped to pick up some groceries so we can do some cooking and eating in for the next few nights and looking forward to what the next few days hold. Looks like 23 kms tomorrow so just some relaxing and Tacos 🌮 tonight.

Thanks all for following the blog, and please feel free to posts questions or comments if there is something you would like to know.

Wow this was a long one. We found the kms listed for yesterday 20kms was more than the actual trail walk of 18.61, today was the opposite the walk for today was listed as 21kms but was actually 27.78 following the revised route which does not follow the highway.

Yikes today was a tough one, it started very rainy, and the first 5kms along the highway were not great it was raining, and windy and combined with the highway walking it was not fun. Several large trucks passed by and we had to turn our backs to them as they passed as the wind and spray was to much to take straight on.

We were excited about the fact that we could stop at Baba’s kitchen for lunch, we should have done our homework as when we got there it was closed. (Closed Mondays and Tuesdays) we are having very bad karma so far this trip with restaurant choices. But we laughed about it and carried on.

(Us crying outside Babas kitchen when we found out it was closed)

We did 🎵”stop into a church I passed along the way “🎵 to get out of the rain and wind for a few minutes and add a layer of clothing as it was very cold. (Thank you for having your doors open!!)

As I mentioned we took the new route which adds about 5 kms to the day instead of taking the highway all the way, which is shorter. If the day had not been windy and rainy we probably would have enjoyed it more but we were fighting the wind which made us pretty miserable and I think although we hate the highway walking, we would have chosen that option had we known how bad the wind would be.

I really want to praise my two team mates as they were very miserable but carried on like troopers and we all manged to maintain our sense of humor. (Although I found a couple times I was walking ahead, I was sure When I turned around they were secretly plotting my demise). I am very lucky to be sharing this adventure with Meadow and Petra, and I could not imagine better friends to go on this journey with……….. although it is only day 4.

In the end we made it. Way point 4! 💪

But super happy the next few days are all along the Confederation trail!

Now time to annoy my roommates with my heavy snoring after this very long day.

Island Walk Day 3

Well Island Walk day 3 is done.

silly me I forgot to turn my map app on when we started so I missed the first 1.9 kms. So our total kms today was about 18.7

Today was a crazy day of ups and downs a lot of laughing and some singing.

We checked out of our B&B today and headed straight on to the trail, it was very difficult to dress today as we were very unsure of the weather so we really layered today which was very fortunate as it started out cold, got very hot and muggy, then windy, then calm, then cold and a bit of rain.

Something I have not shared yet is a little bit about hurricane Fiona. Hurricane Fiona hit PEI in September 2022 and there are many signs of the devastation it caused on PEI, talking with a number of residents they pretty much all feel like it will be impossible to clean up the Island entirely as there was just so much damage.

Today being a statutory holiday there was not much open but passing through Cape Traverse there is a wonderful Antique shop it was closed but we stopped there to take wee rest on their bench before moving on.

The same owners own another shop just down the street called Ice Boat Rarities and Antiques.

The shop is not yet open for the season but there were two lovely ladies getting the shop ready for the season and they very kindly let us in to use the washroom and let us browse the store. Very interesting shop we spent quite a while looking at the various treasures and recommend everyone stop there if they have the chance.

They also boast that they have the world’s largest egg beater.

The trials and tribulations of the day, we’ll the entire day was walking beside a secondary highway. We cannot wait until we get some confederation trail walking, or the red clay roads are also very nice. Also at one point the black flies were in full force, they were swarming Meadow and she looked like she was doing some crazy dance as she was swatting them away. We were carrying some mosquito patches which were ineffective, definitely we needed some heavy duty bug spray to repel these suckered. Luckily the wind came up which was colder but it seemed to take care of the bug problem for the rest of the day.

When we got to way point 3 we were very hungry so we thought we would stop for a bite at a little pizza and donair place, Petra asked what was good on the menu and the cashier said “I don’t know I do not eat the food here” I am a vegetarian. Ok we laughed it off and Petra ordered a Quesadilla, she double checked that it came with Salsa and sour cream and the cashier said they were out of sour cream. Next up my order, we’ll I love a good donair so I ordered the donair, sorry no donair meat we ran out yesterday 😅 well I ordered a burger and fries. Next up Meadow she ordered chicken tenders well sorry no chicken tenders, ok how about chicken wings, sure we can do that. Meadow goes to pay, sorry I do not have any change, I will be right back- then he leaves the restaurant literally walks right out the door (there are no other employees there) and comes back about 5 minutes later sorry I could not get any. By this time Petra and I are literally peeing our pants because we are laughing so hard. He was also the cook in the end we all got food and it was not terrible, but it was the funniest interaction I have ever had at a restaurant.

Our B&B hostess for the evening picked us up at the restaurant and kindly offered to drive us to see the Confederation Bridge up close, we had been seeing glimpses of it all day.

Then brought us to the B&B.

We are now chilling and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

PS – found out Meadow and I have almost identical play lists (frightening) It was definitely nicevto have some music during the walk today.

PPS – we also found put Petra is always right 🤣

Day 2 is in the books!

Well day 2 is a much nicer walk than day 1. The scenery was much nicer, a lot less road walking, and so many fantastic islanders waving as they drove by, one very nice lady even stopped her vehicle for a little chat and then asked us if we would like a ride. We laughed 😅 and told her to come back on day 25.

Found a very nice Island Walk bench in just the right spot.

Saw some absolutely beautiful scenery

Our B&B hostess for 2 nights Jean and her dog trooper.

She is an excellent hostess, and has gone above and beyond in her hospitality, her breakfast and home baking was excellent and she also helped us with a packed lunch, and has shared so much Island history. It has been a real pleasure staying at her B&B.

The walk challenges today- one of our group developed a couple of blisters we were not carrying bandages or moleskin so we won’t make that mistake again. Ouch. And the winds they were fairly strong at times, but we persevered.

We ended our day with a delicious dinner at Lobster Barn. Back at it tomorrow 🤪

Well section #32 – 1 Complete

23 kilometers with our full packs today.

My pack weight 22lbs,

Petra – pack weight 32 lbs

Meadow – pack weight 19lbs

whoever told us PEI was flat, well they were dead wrong. As you can see by our route map our elevation gain was 221 meters it really felt like we were going up hill all day, and with our full pack weight it was a bit grueling.

We had planned to have lunch in Clyde River, that was also a mistake as there are actually no restaurants in Clyde River, so anyone else doing this section there are lots of places to eat in Cornwall or before, we ended up stopping at the Clyde River golf course and picked up a sandwich thank goodness they were open because we were hungry.

We also stopped before that at Owls Hollow a toy and game store.

The ladies working today were so nice, and gave us a really nice PEI sticker for our collection, they are just on the outskirts of Charlotre and the store is very interesting with some an awesome toy collection and they do birthday parties on site.!

At the end of the walk today we were expecting to see some kind of way point 1 marker so we could document the occasion but there actually isn’t one, it was confusing 🤔 so for anyone doing the walk take a picture of the Island Walk sign when you see it, it shows a 1 on it with a wayfinding arrow that is waypoint 1. When we start tomorrow we will take a picture of it but we thought it meant we had to turn right and then we would find way point 1.

So all in all it was a good day with only a minor amount of swearing when we turned a corner and saw another hill. Looking forward to another lobster Roll tonight, and 24 km tomorrow but with only a day pack as we are staying two nights at our B&B.

Well it is our last day of shenanigans before we get serious.

We stopped in at the Island Walk office today, picked up our passports, updated the Komoot App and received some tips and tricks about how to use The Island Walk page to assist us with directions and location finding. Many thanks to Heather for her assistance.

We also had coffee with Bill (from GO for a Walk PEI) and his lovely wife Mary and he updated us on a construction site on the Walk where we will need to detour and just generally had a very nice chin wag.

Took in a few more Charlottetown sites had our first Lobster Roll

from Water- Prince Corner Shop featured in You’ve Got to eat here. And really you have to! It was delicious, even Petra who is not a lobster fan said it was delicious .

Had another Ice-cream from Cows (voted best Ice-cream in Canada by Readers Digest) and it was also delicious 😋

Then back to our hotel to get ready for our big first day tomorrow.

Well thanks for following along stay tuned for walk day 1 and all it’s glory.

Well it was a long night of travel but we made it to Charlottetown. And this is team BPM in order from left to right. Betty, Meadow, and Petra and I have figured out how to add photos to the blog so it may be a little more interesting 🤣

Arrived in town at about 11:30 am PEI time I was exhausted as I cannot sleep on planes so I had a nap while Meadow and Petra did some exploring in Charlottetown, after a couple hours of napping the ladies came back to retrieve me and we went out in search of some food. Found a cute little Irish Pub in the neighborhood and as we enjoyed we also questioned our life choices. Are we crazy for attempting this? Or more like are Petra and Meadow crazy for joining me? We are actually paying good money to walk 700 kilometers we could have done it at home on the treadmill for free. Good Grief .

Lets just have a drink and not think about it. One more day in Charlottetown for some exploring tomorrow and then it is off on the trail Saturday.

Looking forward to meeting Bill Kendrick tomorrow, from GO For a Walk PEI who helped us plan a lot of the trip, and also stopping at the Island Walk office to pick up our passports for the Walk.

Shits getting real!!😬

I will post again tomorrow when I have had a full night’s sleep 😴

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Well it is travel day today so just repacking and triple checking everything. I will give you some insight into some of our preparations for this trip.

Booking accommodations for three people where none of us is a volume has been tricky. Luckily I have done a lot of room sharing in my day from various sports trips so I am used to sharing but most of the accommodations are geared for couples so there are not many B& B’s with two double beds so Meadow and I will be sharing a lot of the time, really good thing we are good friends, and Petra will be taking the cot or sofa or pullout bed etc. There are even a couple of accommodations that cannot even offer us that so we actually have to book two rooms so my recommendation is go with two or 4 but odd numbers are trickier.

Also to consider is it is pretty expensive just getting to and from each starting and ending point. There are options listed on The Island Walk site one was PEI bus service, we are very open to making new friends so I thought yes that would be a fun option for us. I found it tricky using the transit website as I am not at all familiar with PEI so I sent an email to the transit website and listed about 15 different locations where we would like to use the bus service and unfortunately the bus does not run to or from any of the destinations we wanted to get to. Also listed on the Island Walk site is an app called Kari so I downloaded the app and keyed in some of the locations we wanted to get to and according to the app none of the locations is serviced by the app. So we are unfortunately using the more expensive options of shuttle or taxi some trips are as much as $125. For one way, some as low as $25. Some hosts will shuttle you for free. So check carefully before you book your accommodations so far transportation cost are adding up to about $1500. And there are still about 7 trips that I do not know the cost of. This is just getting us to and from the trailheads we opted to carry all of our gear so if you want to have your gear transported to each accommodation this would be additional charges.

And I will finish today’s post with some fun stuff about my traveling companions. Petra is probably the most fit of the three of us she is retired and probably walks or hikes every day, I have known her for over 20 years, and she and her partner Shannon hosted my wedding at their house also 20 years ago. Meadow I have know for well over 15 years and we met playing darts, she is the youngest of the group and probably the one who has done the least amount of training, but she is also the one who would be the most determined so once she has made up her mind she will get it done. I myself am the oldest of our group, have done a fair bit of training but also still work full time so have not had a ton of time. Adding to my dilemma I got very sick about 5 weeks ago and was off work in bed for 3 full weeks with pneumonia, and now 5 weeks have passed and I am still not 100% but there is nothing that will stop me from going 😆

My two companions have met each other before but not spent a lot of time together but as we have been training together on weekends they are slowly getting to know each other. What I can say is they are both great, I know if we are having a bad say they will motivate me and each other, one really limes seafood so I am thinking I will have a crab and lobster companion nightly 😋 and I am really looking forward to going on this journey together with them, and for some reason none if us could convince our spouses to go with us so we are stuck with each other .

Allright that’s it for today we will be one the red eye tonight and into Charlottetown tomorrow.

Tuesday May 13, 2025

For those who will be following my blog, I will tell you now you are going to learn everything about the walk, the good, bad, ugly, fun, challenging, and everything in between……….. so hold on it could be a crazy ride.

I hope you will enjoy following along on our journey – I am no where near a professional blogger this is my first time, and it is definitely not scripted so it will probably be a bit all over and for that I apologize in advance.

Well we are just about to fly to PEI for our Island Walk.

Team BPM (Betty, Meadow, and Petra) started about a year ago when I decided I wanted to do something epic for my 65th birthday, and a walking challenge has always been a goal. So I did a little research and found this 700km walk and thought to myself, this is it!!

My next thought who the heck will do this with me?? Well I turned to Facebook for the answer. I posted on my Facebook page – Hey anyone interested in walking 700 kms with me next year? with a link to The Island Walk info site, I was actually amazed at how many people responded to the post, and over the next few months we had some conversations and it came down to my two crazy companions Meadow and Petra.

We have been training for about 4 months and I am currently questioning if we did enough. We will be packing our belongings with us so essentials we need for approx 35 days, but we will be staying at B&B’s during the entire trip so no cooking utensils, sleeping bags, or tent. On average our packs weigh about 20 -24 lbs each.

Planning the walk accommodations was not easy even though I hired Bill Kendrick at Go for A Walk PEI, I booked 10 nights on my own and Bill booked the rest, and sent a very comprehensive plan for each day. Me being me, I dissected every days instructions over and over even though they included where we start, where we end, where we are staying, if there are places to have lunch etc (I will get into the plan more in my next post)

For this first post I am going to sign,off as tomorrow is our travel day and I have to go and repack my pack 15 more times before I go to bed only to repack it again tomorrow.