August 2025 PEI Trip Report

Friday Aug 1, 2025 We were up bright and early and got away from home at 7:30. Traffic was light and we made good time. We pulled off Highway 401 at 9:45 near Lancaster and filled up with gas at the FlyingJ there before crossing into the Province of Quebec. We won't see gas this cheap until we get back in three weeks. Carol picked us up some coffee while I pumped the gas! We made a quick stop at about 12:30, walked the dogs and then had a bite of lunch at Tim Horton's. We enjoyed good roads and dreadful roads as we followed the St. Lawrence River all day! We pulled in at Camping Rayons de Soleil in Kamouraska, Quebec at 4:00 p.m. After connecting the utilities I spent a few minutes cleaning a bug-splattered windshield, then enjoyed a well-earned nap. Dinner was a casual affair. Burgers and poutine at a Casse Crout (translation - light meal or basic meal) on the roadside right beside our campground. It was indeed basic but it was tasty. We even shared a bit of it with the dogs as we sat at a picnic table behind the diner. The boys were happy to be off the road at last . . . so were we!	Just leaving home.
There were lots of RV's on the road as a long weekend began.	We gassed up at Lancaster before leaving Ontario. The cheapest gas we're likely to see on this trip - $1.279 per litre
La Belle Province at 10:00 a.m.	We followed the St. Lawrence River all along the south shore.

Giant ocean-going freighters pass through this canal. They can travel from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Wisconsin.	One stretch of highway was so bad that one of our cargo bay doors popped open. That's never happened before!

Saturday Aug 2, 2025 We pulled out 7:30, filled up with $325.00 worth of gas at 10:15 Edmunston NB, then had lunch and walked the dogs at Popeye's. At Aulac we filled up again for $237.00 then arrived at Trueman's at 4:40. We spent the night parked in front of their home.

9:55 a.m.	The Saint John River
I sit on my brother when I'm nervous.
Piping Plovers	The Trueman family has farmed at Aulac New Brunswick since 1755. When we pulled our motor home up to their house to spend the night, Tom said, "We own more than 1,000 acres and we don't pick up after our dogs. You don't need to pick up either, but watch your step!"
We all hopped in Tom's truck and took a tour of the farm.	As we drove through a few of the fields behind their house and barns, Tom explained the Aboiteau. It's a French system of dikes, drains and gates that is used to reclaim tidal mash lands. The fields we were crossing in the truck were all reclaimed marsh. In the 1,500's French settlers built dikes to enclose the marshy areas they wanted to reclaim, then they built a floating gate in a sluice. Rising tides would lift the gate and enclose the marsh, holding back fresh water which would normally flow into the ocean. While the tide held the gate closed, the silt in the fresh water settled to the bottom of the marsh. When the tide fell, the gate opened and allowed the fresh water to escape, but the silt remained behind, Ditches were also dug centuries ago, all by hand, to drain excess water away from the marshy areas. This process has been repeated with every tidal cycle for more than 400 years and has created some very fertile farmland! An amazing story! Those early pioneers were hard working and ingenious!
That stream ahead of us is part of the very northern tip of the Bay of Fundy. Everything in the photo is reclaimed marsh and is part of the Trueman farm.
Evangeline - the Trueman Mill Railroad train! She runs on a 1/2 mile track around the farmstand!
Tom & Krista Trueman behind Carol and I.
	Carol and Genivieve, Truman's antique truck.
The Trueman farm, once a traditional farming operation, has transformed, in the last couple of decades, into a very popular tourist destination. It's now an agri-tourism business. You can pick your own blueberries, pick raspberries, enjoy their spring tulip festival, their autumn sunflower maze, savour their amazing home-made ice cream . . . and ride their train! If you are driving to Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island you will pass within a mile of Trueman's Blueberry Farm. Do yourselves a favour and stop for some ice cream. You'll be glad you did. They're at 255 Etter Ridge Road, Aulac NB

Sunday Aug 3, 2025 I cleaned off our bug-splattered windshield, then we both grazed on fresh blueberries while the dogs ran through the field of pick-your-own berry bushes. Visited with Krista for most of the morning, Tom came home from work just before noon to say goodbye. He had two bags of fresh baked donuts from the farm stand for us to enjoy while we drove. Pulled out 11:43 and scooted along NB Highway 16 to the Confederation Bridge. The bridge is 13 kilometres (8 miles) long and crosses the Northumberland Straight connecting Jouriman NB and Borden-Carleton PEI.. It opened May 31, 1997. Prior to that the only way to the island was by ferry. We arrived at Yogi Bear at 1:30, pulled directly into campsite and set up. By 4:00 p.m. we were all settled and enjoyed a nap. After we fed the dogs we struck off for North Rustico for dinner. Unfortunately our first choice, The Blue Mussel was full so we reverted to plan B, The Fisherman's Wharf Lobster Suppers. Very gpod.
Buckwheat behind the dogs. Trueman's bee hives will generate a lot of buckwheat honey.	Here's one of the Trueman bees helping with the harvest!





Don't forget this address - 255 Etter Ridge Road, Aulac NB



That hazy shore is 13 kilometres (8 miles) away!	We zipped along at 80 kph (50 mph) in steady traffic.
There are elevated spans near both ends of the bridge.	Large ocean-going ships pass under the tall spans.





	That's a lot of lobster pots!




Monday Aug 4, 2025 We spent our first day exploring. First a trip to Charlottetown to reconnoitre the Confederation Centre where we're seeing a play tomorrow, We poked around the waterfront area and then headed back to Cavendish via Grand Tracadie and Brackley Beach.	We're seeing both of these play's in Charlottetown!
A tour guide on her way to work!

Peake's Wharf, Charlottetown PEI	"Over there Jasper - Over there!"

	Jasper and I waited near the Cows ice cream shop while Carol browsed through a few of the crafty boutiques along the wharf. While we waited, we watched a pair of workers deliver eighty-five two-and-a-half gallon tubs of ice cream to the Cows shop. WOW!
"I'm over here Mom"



	Fin Folk Food at Grand Tracadie
Seafood chowder.	Possibly the best hot lobster roll in the world!
We shared the chowder and the fries! The restaurant was dog friendly. Jasper liked the fries, but not the lobster or the chowder!
	The Dunes Gallery and Gardens, Brackley Beach PEI



They had some very strange benches and tables carved from tree trunks!

As we crossed a bridge across a shallow straight, these two guys were fishing for something. They banged on the bottom with a pole, then picked something from the bottom and dropped it into the creel that floated behind them. Wonder what they were catching?	Let's end the day with ice cream on the Cavendish Boardwalk!

Tuesday Aug 5, 2025 We headed out at 10:00 a.m. to visit the Anne of Green Gables Heritage Park close to our campground. Next was a quick shopping trip to New Glasgow where we stopped at PEI Preserves then walked around Avonlea Village. We enjoyed the drive through PEI National Park, and a lot of gorgeous coastal scenery, on our way to lunch at Blue Mussel Café in North Rustico. Today they had room for us! We had a restful afternoon with the dogs then drove to Charlottetown for dinner at Sea Rocket Oyster House where we both had halibut and chips. Tasty! We ended the day at Confederation Centre where we saw Million Dollar Quartet. It was a wonderful show! Old time Rock & Roll with an interesting plot . . . right in my wheel-house!

	Each Anne of Green Gables book is in a different languge!
This house was owned by Lucy Maud Montgomery's grandfather's cousin.	This is the house that inspired the author as she described Anne Shirley's home in her famous series of Green Gables novels.





	Not too sweet, not too tart . . . very tasty!

L. M. Montgomery was a school teacher and the building pictured on the right is the Cavendish schoolhouse where she taught before moving to Leaside Ontario.

Carol browsed the Green Gables Store while I picked up ice cream next door!
	P.E.I. National Park is beautiful!


	We shared seafood chowder and pan-fried halibut. Yummy!
After a quiet afternoon with the dogs we headed to Charlottetown.	We enjoyed dinner at Sea Rocket before a show at the Confederation Centre.
	We watched 'Million Dollar Quartet' the story of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash who recorded together at Sun Records in Memphis on December 4th 1956. It was a terrific show! All four stars were talented musicians and great singers. On Thursday night we're going back to see Tell Tale Harbour.

We had great seats, six rows back!

	There were acrobatics too!


Wednesday Aug 6, 2025 Today was Jake's 11th birthday. We took the dogs for a gala birthday party at Thunder Cove Beach, Darnely PEI. Then we had a very good dinner at New Glasgow Lobster Suppers and watched the sunset from Cavendish Beach!
	It looked a bit steep on the way down the hill to the beach.
When we were coming back up we needed a pair of mountain goats to pull us!
Jasper loves the water!	Jake joined in for a minute, then went and took a nap.
Jake's official 11th birthday portrait!	It's a virtually unknown beach. The locals try to keep quiet about it so it stays a bit 'private'!

Jake was happy to snooze under the lawn chair!
	Carol tried to coax Jasper out to the sandbar. No dice!
He loves the water . . . but only up to his belly!	'Brrrr . . . the water's cold in the Gulf of St. Lawrence!'
	We had lunch at a nearby campground. They had a dog-friendly outdoor seating area beside the snack bar. The walls were adorned with some some interesting signs that kept us amused.


	That little red plaque reads: Lester The Lobster Age: 23 Weight: 19 lbs.
The sun was setting so Carol hiked out to Cavendish Beach to watch. I had no hike left in me!	A boardwalk takes you across the protected dunes.
This is a nesting area for the endangered Piping Plover.	They nest in the sand.


Behind Carol the moon was rising over the Information Centre.

Thursday Aug 7, 2025 Sun and sand at Cavendish Beach. Dinner at John Brown Grille. Tell Tale Harbour at the Confederation Centre.	Looking at Cavendish Beach from Oceanview Outlook.



	Back at Cavendish Beach, Oceanview Outlook is the point in the background.

This is not a piping plover . . . it's a pesky pigeon!	After a quiet afternoon with the dogs we headed back to Charlottetown.


It was an interesting show. A small fishing village finds that their fish processing plant is closing and they plot to attract a new french fry factory. Lots of song and dance, a few laughs, but not as 'high energy' as Million Dollar Quartet which we certainly enjoyed more!




Friday Aug 8, 2025 Butterfly house and gardens - New Glasgow. Bottle Houses & Gardens - Cape Egmont. Cape Egmont Lighthouse.
There are llamas and sheep at the bottom of this hill.














The glass houses were built by Édouard Arseneault in the early 1980's. Édouard was a local fisherman, carpenter, boat builder and was the last lighthouse keeper at the nearby Cape Egmont Lighthouse. The vine-covered bottle house pictured on the right is the chapel.
It's a very pretty glass bottle church!	Gary is praying for salvation!

	The original six-gabled bottle house completed in 1981.
	A model of the Cape Egmont Lighthouse in the back yard.

The tavern.	Now he's tending bar . . . make up your mind Gary! Salvation or demon rum?
	Thar' be gnomes here!
This narrow gravel road leads to the real Cape Egmont Lighthouse. Sure hope we don't meet another car!

A fishing harbour in the distance.
	This ice cream parlour only had pre-packaged ice cream like Drumsticks. Boo!

Saturday Aug 9, 2025 Tracadie Beach with the dogs. Shopping and Holman Ice Cream in Summerside.	The beach at Tracadie was almost deserted.
It's a nice sheltered bay so the water is warmer and very calm.	You don't see many pink flamingos in PEI
	Jake surprised us by wading right out into the water!
Jasper found a stick he could chase!


	The boys both had a good morning at the beach!
Carol and Jasper went for a walk. They found an osprey at a nearby nesting box.

In Summerside we enjoyed lunch at JMK Fish Mart	We shared Seafood chowder and a lobster roll. Very good!
Spinnaker's Landing in Summerside
	Folks have been recommending Holman's Ice Cream in downtown Summerside, so we stopped to sample some. It was good, but the ice cream at Trueman's in New Brunswick is much, much better!
We went to Avonlea Village, next door to the campground, for dinner at Turkey Tavern	We both had hot turkey sandwiches. The food was very good, the portions were huge!

Sunday Aug 10, 2025 We didn't have far to go today. It's only 102 kilometres (about 60 miles) to Somers by the Beach Campground at Murray Harbour	So we started the day with breakfast at PEI Preserve Company, New Glasgow.
We had a window seat looking over the river and the gardens.	The acoustic baffles overhead were handmade quilts!
	Carol had bacon, eggs & pancakes. I had breakfast poutine.
More quilts!	We had the car all hooked up and were on the road by 10:30.
You're never far from the ocean in Prince Edward Island

	We pulled into the campground at noon.
	Carol went to the office to check us in while I unhooked the car.
	We pulled into our campsite at about 12:30 but couldn't get level in the first position we liked. When we tried to move to a better spot . . . tragedy struck! The hydraulic jacks wouldn't retract. This led to great weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth! We checked fuses and relays, we tried with brakes on and brakes off, we watched YouTube videos . . . finally, after about an hour trying various combinations of control panel button pushing, they finally let go and retracted. Halleluiah! By 2:20 we were in the best spot with the utilities all connected and the slides extended. Time for a quick snack and a nap!
Carol took Jasper for a walk to the beach while Jake and I put out the patio mat and set up the lawn chairs. By the time they came back from the beach everything was 'homey'. When the dogs were fed we headed to Murray Harbour for dinner at the Harbour View Restaurant. Wow! Did we ever enjoy the coconut cream pie! We'll be heading back for another slice of that . . . and we won't be sharing!

Monday Aug 11, 2025 We had nothing planned for the day so we enjoyed a very leisurely start. We took the dogs for a walk to the beach in the campground, only a few hundred yards from our campsite. There are plenty of floats, marking traps in the bay and a couple of boats were working, checking the traps. We're not sure what they were catching!

We dropped the dogs off at the campsite and went in search of beaches and lighthouses!	The Beach Point Lighthouse
Driftwood and flowers near Beach Point	Lobster pots at the Cape Bear Lighthouse
	The Cape Bear Lighthouse is a designated historical site!
	'Look, I found Dory!"
	The coastline at Cape Bear.
Fireweed hiding in long grass!	We followed a very dusty road a few kilometres to Black Brook Lookout Point. It was so scary that we didn't go anywhere near the edge!
In Montague we stopped at the Tourist Information Center looking for information on the Points East Coastal Drive.	We also learned everything there is to know about potatoes! Wow . . . 18% more potassium than bananas! Who knew?
The Station Pub is in the old train station, below the Information Centre.	We ate inside because it was brutally hot outside!
This wooden plaque with a railroad motif was on the wall behind Carol.	This weathered old salt was on duty at the marina beside the pub!
	We were home by 2:30 and once again enjoyed a quiet afternoon with the dogs. After a well-earned nap, I went out and washed a weeks worth of red dust off the car. When I was done I was absolutely wringing wet . . . man, it's hot! When dinner time rolled around it was still 91ºF and the humidity made it feel like 102ºF. We decided it was just too hot to go out, so Carol whipped up some tasty grilled cheese sandwiches and we chilled out at home for the evening!

Tuesday Aug 12, 2025 We enjoyed more beaches, lighthouses, and coastal seascapes! This time the dogs came along with us. We left the campground about 10:00 a.m. and stopped briefly in Montague where Carol picked up a few groceries. Then we headed to the coast, near Georgetown, and followed the Points East Scenic Drive back toward our campground near Murray Harbour. The map pictured on the right shows the route for the Points East Scenic Drive and highlights the 50 beaches on this eastern end of Prince Edward Island. Today we saw a handful of those beaches!
The Cardigan River Lighthouse near Georgetown
Morrison's Beach	Jasper waded in the bay near the lighthouse while Jake laid in the sand.
Burnt Point Lookout	The Georgetown Wharf
The Georgetown Wharf	Carol browsed through a gift shop in an old apothecary store. There were some interesting relics!
A biological break at a beachfront restaurant in Georgetown.	Beach rose covered the dunes in front of the Come As You Are restaurant.
We had lunch at Stella's food truck just north of Montague. Yes, that's Stella!	We ate in the car . . . it was too hot to sit at Stella's picnic tables!
Lower Montague Wharf	Lower Montague Wharf
The Panmure Head Lighthouse

	There are some amazing beaches near the Panmure Head Lighthouse and we will be heading back there with the dogs once it cools down enough that we can be comfortable sitting on the beach! We were back home by 2:45 and, just like the day before, I removed a week's worth of red dust from the car. Then I went inside to join Carol and the dogs. We got comfy in our nice air conditioned motor home. In fact, when dinner time came we were so comfy that Carol checked the weather on her phone (90ºF feels like 100ºF) and said, 'Let's just stay home and have a sandwich!' We had another quiet evening at home. We sure hope the heat wave breaks soon!

Wednesday Aug 13, 2025 More beaches, lighthouses, and wharves.	MacFarlane Road Beach
MacFarlane Road Beach with Wood Islands on the horizon.	Wood Islands Lighthouse is about 8km away!
Jake stayed home resting while Jasper romped in the sand . . .	. . . and frolicked in the surf!
Carol has to take a flower picture every day!	Let's get the sand out of our shoes!
The Wood Islands Visitor's Centre & Markets	The Wood Islands Ferry takes you to Nova Scotia.
Both lighthouses at Wood Islands were being refurbished.
Right beside the Wood Islands Ferry Terminal . . .	. . . was Treens's Takeaway.
Carol and I shared a bowl of chowder and an order of fish bites at Treena's. Yummy! Jasper had ice cream. (Don't tell Jake!)	Every road leads to a beach!
'C'mon Mom, hurry up!'	Stewart Point Beach
It was a bit dirty - no swimming for dogs!

There were plaques explaining the history of the lighthouse . . .	. . . and the challenges it has faced!

	The lighthouse was in operation when the Fathers of Confederation met in Charlottetown in 1864.
	Our dinner plans went awry! We planned to go to the Harbour View in Murray Harbour but their walk-in cooler was on the fritz and they were closed. Plan B was 'The Deck' just a couple of miles away. The girl scooping ice cream there explained that they can't cook because of the heat wave. Yup, that makes sense! Plan C was 'The Millstone' just a couple of blocks down the road. Google Maps cautioned us that they were closing within an hour. The empty parking lot and dark windows told us they hadn't opened in quite a while! We drove 15 miles to Montague and had a very nice meal at Windows on the Water. Plan D hadn't been planned but it turned out well!


Thursday Aug 14, 2025 Another day of lighthouses, beaches and wharves. And buffalo! There is a buffalo farm just a few miles from our campground. Today they weren't far from the fence!

St. Peter's Wharf on the north shore.
Oyster shells.
	Bud The Spud had a roadside stand near the St. Peter's wharf. Carol bought some new potatoes.
This is where potatoes grow!	Every red dirt road leads to a beach!
St. Peter's Lighthouse
	Jake likes the fluffy white sand!
The dunes were beautiful!
St. Peter's Beach

	The plaque displays a painting of the St. Peter's Lighthouse when the local Acadian community here was a thriving fishing port.known as Havre St. Pierre. The original Acadian settlers were expelled to France and Louisiana in 1758 and much later the nearly town became known as St. Peter's. There is little trace left of the original wharves or fishing shanties . . . just a magnificent white sandy beach!
Skunk House Beach
A couple from Montreal were boondocking at Skunk House Beach	Jasper bonded with their dog Luke.
Jake found a shady spot to chill.	Jasper and Luke headed to the water.

Carol spotted an osprey as he swooped down into this marsh and began to eat something. We waited a few minutes, but he didn't take flight again. If you look closely, you can see the osprey's head, dead centre in the picture.	We stopped in Souris for lunch at The Breakwater Restaurant
The ferry to Les Iles de la Madeleine was just pulling out as we arrived at the restaurant.	The dogs joined us at a table on the veranda.
	We shared crab dip and nachos.
The Souris lighthouse. We'll visit it another day.	The beach at Souris. Plan your swimming for low-tide!
	We were back home by 3:30 and enjoyed a nice nap with some tuckered dogs. After they had their dinner we headed out to Murray Harbour for dinner at the Harbourview Restaurant. Their cooler was all fixed up! Before our food arrived I said to Carol, 'Let's not forget to get a picture of our food.' As we ate our meals I said, 'Ooops, we forgot pictures . . . let's get a picture of dessert' There was nothing left but crumbs of our pie when I said, 'Ooops!'

Friday Aug 15, 2025 Another day of beaches, lighthouses, and wharves . . . but mostly lighthouses! We drove straight from the campground to East Point, climbed the lighthouse and then slowly made our way back home, seeing the sights along the way.	Gary drove and Jasper navigated!
Our first glimpse of the East Point Lighthouse.

I waited with the dogs while Carol climbed!	Jasper got bored and curled up on a chair.
Carol took my picture from up top . . .	. . . and I took hers from down below.
The currents are always swirling at East Point.	It's a very dangerous area for sailors. There are shipwrecks galore in the area!
The last lighthouse keeper at East Point.


There are four levels to climb and three landings featuring historical displays.

Then I took Carol's picture from the top . . .	. . . and she took mine!
Basin Head Beach - famous for it's singing sands.	We discovered that our climbing legs were still back at East Point. We didn't climb down to the beach to hear the sand sing!
The ferry from Souris to Les Illes de la Madeleine	We had an adequate lunch at Shirley's Take-Away.
A Coast Guard Cutter with the Souris lighthouse in the background


There goes the Coast Guard.
We landed back home just after 3:00 p.m. and enjoyed a short rest before it was time to feed the dogs and head out for dinner. On our way home in the afternoon 'eagle-eyed' Carol spotted the Dynasty Restaurant, a Chinese joint, in Montague. It sounded like a nice change from seafood, which we've been binging on for almost two weeks now. Dynasty was not too bad . . . the food was tasty and, so far, non-lethal. On the way home we saw a sign that read 'Seal Cove' so we took a detour. Carol likes seals . . . but it turned out Seal Cove is a campground. We ended up at Poverty Beach, then turned around and went home to the puppies!

Saturday Aug 16, 2025 Another day of beaches, lighthouses, and wharves. It was our last day in Prince Edward Island so we had promised Jasper that he could enjoy another beach day. The first two beaches we stopped at didn't work out, but we found a nice one for him after lunch!	There as a traffic jam as we approached the Wood Islands Lighthouse.
Hey . . . there's something odd about that guy in the middle!
	The ferry to Nova Scotia pulled out as we watched.
	Every red dirt road leads to a beach.
Big Point Beach didn't look too god for dogs at low tide!
Pond Road Beach was no better. Jasper was frustrated!
	Jasper enjoyed a boat ride at Point Prim Lighthouse.
They were having a big birthday party for the lighthouse. It's 180 years old. We enjoyed a free hot dog and some ice cream with strawberries. They hadn't taken this cake out of the box yet when we had to move on!
	We had heard that the chowder house next to the lighthouse had the best chowder in PEI. We didn't try every chowder on the island, but this one was certainly the best we had!
Our order can in a giant dish pan.	We sampled seafood chowder and clam chowder. Both were good but we both preferred the clam!
	Carol took the dogs for a walk on the sea floor while the tide was out.
They walked almost all the way back to the lighthouse!
	Rocks and shells everywhere!
The chowder House is in the background.	'That's it Mom, I'm not taking another step!'

Look, they're almost to Nova Scotia!
Jasper finally got to swim on Simon Beach!

Carol coaxed him out to a sandbar.
	Jasper was a happy boy after his swim! Once he dried a bit we hopped in the car and headed home. We were back at the campground shortly after 3:00 p.m. and packed a few things away to get ready for our trip home. We had dinner at The Deck which had been Plan B a few days ago. Tonight they were cooking. We've added The Deck to the list of places we won't return to. We were settled in with the puppies by 7:30.

Sunday Aug 17, 2025 We pulled out of the campground at 7:45 and spent the entire day on the road. Ugh! It was a mixed-up day! Roads were good and roads were bad. Skies were clear and it poured rain. We had a bit of everything today. We arrived at our campground in Quebec at 5:45 . . . thankfully we changed time zones at the Quebec border and gained an hour so it was only 4:45 Eastern Time. We were all set up by 5:00 p.m. (or 6:00 p.m.) and settled in for a quiet night. We were too pooped to go out for a bite so Carol tossed a pot pie in the oven. Tomorrow we'll spend another 6 1/2 hours driving, then we'll be home!

	There are 180,000 people living in PEI. Carol and I are convinced that there are 100.000 churches!
	First sighting of the bridge through a bug-splattered windshield. 9:30 a.m.
It's free to come onto the island . . . and $20.00 to escape!
	We drove onto the bridge at 9:37.

	A New Brunswick lighthouse in the distance.
	We covered the 13 kilometres (8 miles) in 10 minutes and arrived in New Brunswick at 9:47 a.m.
We hadn't seen a moose warning in two weeks!
	We crossed into Quebec at 4:30 and were delighted to pull off the road an hour and a quarter later!

Monday Aug 18, 2025 We're home at last! We got on the road at 7:30 a.m. and made good time in light traffic until be hit the Quebec City and Montreal areas. There were slowdowns in both areas and some patches of horrible roads near Montreal, but it was freeway driving all the way. There were two quick stops, one about 8:30 to fill up with gas and another at noon for a bite of lunch. Both stops were very brief and we made great time on the road.	There were some stretches of beautiful new pavement! Also some no-so-beautiful!
The dogs don't like bouncing down the highway. The dishes that jingle in the kitchen cupboards make them nervous!	Hills east of Quebec City.

We're on the south side of the St. Lawrence River. The Laurentian Mountains, in the distance. are on the north shore.	There are lots of walking and biking trails along the river.
The south shore in Montreal.	Ontario came into view at 2:00 p.m.
We pulled off Highway 401 at Exit 623 at 3:55 p.m.	We were home at 4:00 and I unhooked the tow car while Carol got the dogs settled in the house. They were happy to be home . . . and so were we! We started unloading right away, before we completely ran out of energy, and by 6:00 p.m. it was all done. Carol pulled some chili out of the freezer and heated it up for dinner then we crashed, exhausted, in front of the TV until we both began to doze off. Bedtime came early! It was a terrific vacation, we really enjoyed Prince Edward Island , , , but it's always nice to get home!