I’m here. I’m in Prince Edward Island. Holy moly. I did it.

I arrived on the day I was hoping for. My birthday, August 21st. My goal was to reach my Dad and have a brandy toast. Well, it happened. We were ecstatic! And, have been talking and sharing stories non-stop.

My last day on the road took me … …from Rivière-du-Loup to Montague, Prince Edward Island. Before hitting the road I found a cute French boulangerie and cafe for my espresso allongé (Americano). I couldn’t resist and asked for a spontaneous buffoonery moment. One gal, ironically from Surrey, BC, got the ball rolling. The main baker couldn’t say no to my plea that it was my birthday, and came out to play, too. On a eu du fun!

New Brunswick is wide and expansive, similar to Northern Ontario with less trees, I think. The roads are in great shape. Unexpectedly the divided highway lasted much longer so I made good time.

One brief moment, however, near Edmundston, I thought I may be going the wrong way so I took a quick exit so as to peek at my map. I glanced around after map browsing and to my left was an enormous sign pointing to Fredericton which was where I was headed. I was on the right trail. Haha… perfect!

Since I was stopped I decided to have a bathroom break. I wandered into a large, cold building that sort of looked like it might be a mall.

A very colourful, magical world awaited me. A massive Quilt Show (over 300 quilts hanging everywhere!) and many wild, spirited, talented women. The rest is history. What a blessing I stopped!!

Talking to Dad last night, we discussed the merits of not having a GPS. I like my maps, my instinctive “pulling overs”. So many of my stories would never have happened had I followed a cold GPS direction.

My determination to arrive in PEI on time kept me focused and only stopping for gas and the loo!

I have been filming a lot of my route (my camera taped to my dashboard) so I rolled my camera when I saw the first PEI sign. Some emotional tears caught me off guard and I felt odd. Wasn’t sure why, but I guess I suddenly realized that I had indeed driven across Canada.

Of course, parking my car at the Riverview Manor where Dad is and walking in to see him was even more emotional. And, all the staff who were helping him were equally excited with us. Quite the greeting!

My first night was actually in Dad’s building. My second night, a heritage house in Montague where one of the staff invited me to stay.

I am truly blessed.

Safe and sound…. well, almost sound. 🙂

Another part of this adventure begins. A different type of buckling up.

Thanks for making the drive with me. Want to stick around?