Ok...I'm back.

Arrived on the Island Wednesday and then spent the majority of Thursday in bed sleeping. It was bliss. This is Sunday morning and while I am still a tad tired it is likely just a combination of tiredness from the trip, sleeping in a different place, a minor bit of anxiousness before starting the new job and the adjustment to living in an environment with humidity.

Tuesday is my first day of work. I'm actually glad to be starting on a short week. It is going to be a long one. After having 3 months off and maintaining my own schedule I'm sure it will be a bit of a challenge....not to mention learning all the things there are to learn about a new job. And don't forget to times that by 2. I have two work locations--one in Victoria and one in Charlottetown. Two sets of new co-workers. Two offices. Two lunch rooms. Two buildings to memorize the layout of so I don't get lost on my way to the loo. I'm not really concerned about work--in fact I need to keep reminding myself that I have a job and need to get to work. After 5 years of visiting PEI it has yet to fully hit me that I am living here--not just stopping over. The realization will hit on Tuesday morning.

So...the road trip.

I had great weather the entire way. Two small bits of rain for less than an hour each time. Once just outside Regina and once in Northern Ontario. The rain in NO was well worth the rainbows that appeared. One was so wide I couldn't fit it all in the camera but I could see where it ended. There was a second half rainbow beside it and one almost peeking out from behind the big one--like a double rainbow. Very nice. Photos of course do not do it justice.

Edmonton--Packing Day
Picked up my uhaul early in the am and headed back to my apartment to await the two strong men I hired to help me pack the trailer. I brought a few items outside before their arrival--pillows, blankets, etc and generally wrung my hands with nerves hoping that it was all going to fit in the trailer...and trying to imagine what I would do if it didn't. The movers arrived and in just under two hours we had everything inside the trailer. I was left with an empty apartment and some cleaning supplies. I had 9 hours until my landlord would be available to do the final walk through and since it wasn't going to take 9 hours to clean I showered and headed out for a nice lunch and a couple glasses of wine.

Book in hand I headed for another outdoor deck to eat some lunch and have the wine. It was great. I was there for about 2 hours and finally dragged myself out of the restaurant for one final walk down Whyte Ave--and to get an ice cream. The ice cream was so worth every single penny. It was pistaschio (sp?) and almond. Bright green with little bits of nuts in it. SOOOO YUMMY!!

Back at the apartment I cleaned, scrubbed and surfed the internet. I had finished the cleaning within an hour and then had time to kill. Luckily my nieghbour from downstairs arrived and we took her dog for a walk. Then I finished the cleaning and sat down to await the landlord and the lady who is subletting. The checkout went quickly--connsidering he was almost an hour late and I was finally on my way.

So, it's 10:30pm and it is pouring rain, no, not pouring, torrential downpour. Funny, I had forgotten that until just now as I try to remember how I felt that night. I was rather concerned actually as I pulled away. It was the kind of rain that the wipers don't seem to help with and it was dark and I just hoped that the entire trip wouldn't be like this. I was very relived the next morning when I awoke to sunny skies. Start as you mean to go on.


Day 1
Short drive from Edmonton to Lloydminister and Alberta was off the list of provinces to cross. I had a lovely drive that first day. I remembered getting used to the feel of the trailer and how to adjust gears when going up or down a hill and the feel of the whole thing at 110km/hr.I had booked a hotel for the night in Regina and when I pulled in around 5pm I was a tad disappointed that I hadn't decided to drive a bit farther my first day. But once I was settled in for the night decided it was the right thing that first day to only go a short distance.

Day 2
Regina to Kenora, ON. Another great sunny morning and I was heading East across the praries. The driving of course was super easy and I was enjoying my jaunt. The praries are flat yes, but they are also filled with hills and valleys around the rivers that wind themselves across the province. The fields of yellow mustard. The fields of purple flax. The golden wheat. All very beautiful and very colourful.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba were crossed off the list as I entered Ontario just before supper.

I filled up with gas just outside of Kenora--a bit of a touristy area and the gas was 120.9 per litre. The most expensive gas the entire trip...and of course the largest fill up of the trip as well. 65 litres. Funny how in Edmonton when the gas light came on I could get 60, maybe 62 litres into it but on this trip when the gas light hadn't come on the lad at the pumps managed to get 65 litres in. Why couldn't we squeeze 65 litres in when I was in Alberta paying 88.9 a litre? Ah well.

I had a lovely view of a lake from my hotel room that night and after a nice meal I was fast asleep.

Day 3

Ontario. Ugh. I started off early and headed out for another day of driving. I had a destination for the night in mind and was quite pleased when I arrived in White River that night. I stopped in White River on the way to Alberta--two years ago. It is where the Winnie the Pooh story starts. Well, sorta. That is their claim to fame anyway. The soldier who brought the bear over to England which started the whole books series came from White River...that is where he bought the bear.

Now...before I arrived in White River I had a brief stop at the Terry Fox memorial in Thunder Bay AND decided to go mining for amethyst! I remembered from my trip West that just to the East of Thunder Bay there was a place (or two!) that I could go and see an amethyst mine. I convinced myself that I needed to stop this time. I mean, how many chances am I going to get? How many times will I be driving across Ontario and get the chance?...on second thought, don't answer that. LOL.

The lady at the tourist info centre warned me about the road into the mine...'it's a bit bumpy, potholes and such.' No worries I said, I'll go slow, the truck can handle it. What she didn't mention was the 15 degree angle of the big hill I had to get up. I was driving nice and slow, enjoying the ride and shaking my head at the girl--the roads were great. No potholes and I was feeling a bit cocky about the whole thing when suddely the truck slowed to a crawl and I down shifted to accommodate the hill. 4 to 3. We continued on slowly until I realized I needed to go from 3 to 2. I was starting to get worried when I realized I was going to need to go into 1st gear. This is not a good gear to be in and suddenly the tires did that sort of stop turn they do when you are stuck. Panic crashed into my head. I'm on a huge incline with a trailer weighing thousands of pounds attached behind me pulling with the help of gravity towards the bottom of the hill. If I start to slide backwards or need to go down this hill backwards I might as well get out of the truck now. I reached over and clicked on 4x4--4 wheel drive. The tires gave a small lurch and the truck slowly started to move forward. I was able to get up into 2nd gear as the truck continued the slow climb upwards. It was running high and the sounds coming out from under the hood had me a bit worried but I knew we needed to reach the top of the hill...or I wouldn't make it to PEI.

I was driving up the middle of the road and was praying that no one would be coming down the hill...I wasn't sure I'd be able to move to the side of the road. As I rounded a blind corner and was hoping that this would be the end of the climb I knew I would make it. And I finally did. My hands were shaking when I stopped the truck but I had made it. I was at the mine. I suggested to the girl inside that she post a sign at the start of the road 'large inclines ahead'.

I paid my $6 and had the official 3 minute tour and explaination then was set free to mine for amethsyt. You pay $3/pound for any you wish to keep. It was a bit of fun though not really difficult to mine. The amethyst is all over the ground and one just needs to walk along and pick it up. You can dig and get bigger pieces and I did a bit of that but mostly picked up a few pieces that were sitting on the ground. After my hour break it was time to get back on the road. I put the truck into 4X4 low and slowly headed back to the highway. When I was at the end of the road but not on the highway I turned off the truck and hugged the dashboard--good truck.

This is the actual mine where they don't let the tourists..they expect the mine to last another 60-70 years.

<><>Cleaning off the treasure we had collected.

P

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The rest of the trip will be posted in a day or two. Tomorrow is my first day of work. Wish me well.