Wanderings of the old sloat: PEI

I'm on Prince Edward Island, in the Gulf of St Lawrence. Here, I'm halfway to London from the west coast...4 hours ahead of Cali, only 4 hours behind England. Lupines are blooming profusely in Maine, New Brunswick, and PEI.

The waters of the Gulf from New Brunswick. The weather is gentle in mid June...temps around 70, light breeze, sunny skies. But in winter, it's harsh and arctic. Spring and fall tend to be plagued by nor'easters.

The Confederation Bridge links PEI with the mainland. It was completed in 1997...before that the only way onto the island was by ship or air. Both could be dicey when Northumberland Strait was choked with ice and a storm was raging. Now, a smooth trip...but expensive! The bridge is about 8 miles long...similar to the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland. But the round trip toll is a whopping $44.75...versus four bucks in Cali!

Being in Canada, the signs are all in English and French. Actually, there are a lot of French speakers living around the bridge. They are descendants of the Acadians...Francophones who settled the region in the early 18th century. Many left after the British defeated France in 1758 and went to Louisiana, where they evolved into today's Cajuns...a bit of a shortcut on Acadians. The descendants of those who weren't evicted by the British are still here.

Many of the beaches on Northumberland Strait, between the mainland and PEI, feature reddish sand. The primary rock is limestone, which is easily eroded into sand (at a rate of a meter a year on the north shore of PEI). This strand is on the New Brunswick side near the bridge.

Fine shot of the bridge.

I'm staying in a comfy cabin with all the modcons on the north shore of PEI. From my deck I can see the Gulf on one side, and my bovine neighbors on the other.

The red cliffs of PEI...sandstone laced with iron. I guess this is what Utah would look like if it had a seacoast.

Cool sandstone as the Golden Hour before sunset kicks in.

Sunset at the Gulf of St Lawrence. Though PEI is well developed...lots of farms and towns...to me, the Gulf has a wild quality about it. The north and east shores are sparsely populated, and even now there are still a few icebergs in the far north of the Gulf, about 250 miles from here.