Home on PEI Soil

Natalie catches a fly ball

We had a great night sleep last night in Tracadie-Sheila.  Gilles and Joanne had set up their hard top trailer for us which we really appreciated.  We woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise and a big blue sky.  The river was very calm as I watched a fisherman out checking his nets.  We had breakfast, packed the van and decided to make our way to Miramichi for a church service that was scheduled for 11:00 am.

David on the phone

We arrived at St. Patrick's Parish a few minutes late for the mass but quickly found a seat at the back of the church.  The church service was nice and the homily had a great message around not judging others but finding ways you can help those in need.  After church, we headed across the street to a heritage park that had some green space and picnic tables.  It was right on the Miramichi river which was very picturesque.

Our last day in New Brunswick

We were getting to the bottom of our food supplies so we had a mixed meal to use up what was left.  After lunch we played some catch as the girls are eager to join their ball team this week.  They've missed most of the summer practices and games but are anxious to get out and play with their friends.  After playing around for a bit we made our way to Tanya's Aunt Marie and her husband Gerald's place.

Tanya with her Aunt Marie

We were warmly greeted at the door and it took Gerald no time to become best friends with the kids.  He got on the floor with David to show him a dinky car toy and then set the girls up with the outdoor badminton net and rackets.  The kids were off and playing which gave us a chance to get caught up on how their summer was going.


After a few minutes Gerald announced that he had to get the potatoes started for our late lunch.  They had prepared chicken, potatoes, salad, home-made biscuits and desserts which was very appreciated.  Even though we had only eaten a short while ago, we found the room to enjoy the wonderful meal that was prepared for us.  We took a few minutes to share some of the many photos we had taken with them on the way because Gerald had shown some interest in the Midwest States that we had visited.

Marie and Gerald with the Kids

After a couple of hours of visiting, we decided to make our way back to PEI.  About 15 minutes after we got on the road we came into a huge thunder and lightning storm.  The rains were torrential with some hail mixed in.  Many cars had pulled off to the side of the road but we decided to slowly drive through it figuring the storm was likely heading in the same direction we were.  We drove through it and had clear sailing all the way to PEI.

We're almost home - Confederation Bridge
 in the background

After a quick bathroom break in Cape Jourmain, we crossed the Confederation Bridge and were all smiles when we could see the red soil of PEI.  The kids kept seeing things on the way into Summerside  and would say there is ..... and then say, we are getting closer to home.  We safely made it to our driveway and were happy to see our home.  We were so blessed to have great neighbors and parents who looked after the place for us while we were away.  In fact my parents and the Frasers had even stocked the fridge with some food and had a casserole ready for supper.

Welcome to PEI

Cruising with the Carons back on PEI

Once the van was parked the kids quickly jumped out to run over to Darren and Cindy's house to say hi.  It wasn't long until many of the neighbors were out in the street welcoming us back.  As they say, there is no place like home.  The kids were looking forward to sleeping in their own beds and I'm happy that we all got back home safely.  Natalie said as we drove into to town.  It's kind of hard to believe that we did everything we did this summer... and I have to agree with her.  Tomorrow will be our last post of the trip as we have a few stats we want to share and talk about a few of the highlights of our 61 days on the road.


Good night,

Andrea was very excited to be getting out of the van

Francois