Terri and Peter's RV Adventures

The luxury of staying in one campground for several days in a row is you get to lounge around in the morning and take off for a driving tour for the other half of the day, no pressure. Today, we went to the western most end of the island, West Point, where the rewards were a view of the North Umberland Strait and the lighthouse built in 1875. The beach was unusual compared to the other beaches on PEI we’ve been to so far: it was a very fine, dune-like yellow sand. The other beaches have all been comprised of small to medium size stones.

(Above: the view a few steps from our campsite.)

As we drove west, the land flattened out and agricultural use turned to ranches, with more grazing cows and some horses. Our views narrowed from the open rolling farmlands to small two lane country roads flanked by thick walls of mostly pine trees. The area felt more desolate, although small villages were scattered along the way marked once again by ubiquitous white churches, and a smattering of shops and homes for a block or two before being replaced by empty winding roads and countryside.

Our next stop was the island’s northern most point, Cape North, discovered in 1534 by Jacques Cartier. This destination has a museum on wind energy as the lighthouse shares space with a wind farm and wind energy research center. Cape North is where two tides meet at the longest reef in North America. When the tide’s out, you can walk over a mile on this reef. On one side is the North Umberland Strait and the other is the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It’s very windy there, as you’d expect, and felt very much alive.

Walking through the wind farm exhibit I finally learned how wind turbines convert wind to energy, how it’s stored (in underground lithium batteries) and transported underground to transformers where it joins the rest of the energy system for distribution. That had always baffled me so it was fun to finally learn about that after much speculation as we drove through various wind farms around the country. Wind is the least expensive energy source. (No comment about why it’s not more widely used and being developed more fervently.)

Returning to camp, we grilled some chicken and celebrated Shabbat, something we haven’t done for much of the trip. It was nice to reignite that tradition along with sharing our gratitude lists. I’m grateful we’re healthy, safe, everything is working in the truck and trailer, the dogs are doing well and we’re exploring the world, and grateful to be communicating and staying in touch with family and friends.

Yes, we are very much aware of the turmoil going on but are trying to balance that with the natural beauty here and the kindness of the people we’ve been meeting, like our camping neighbors, Woolford and his mom (I never got her name) from Toronto (pictured below), who were fun, chatty and whacky. It’s hard not to be grateful and humble when you’re a few steps away from a breathtaking sunset over the North Atlantic Ocean. Shabbat Shalom.