After breakfast I loaded up to head to the ferry from PEI to Nova Scotia. The night before, Sam gave me sound advice to drive through some beautiful areas on my way to the boat. It was a lovely day for a ride and I was grateful to see more of PEI before catching my ride to the mainland.

Again, timing was on my side! Although I was a little concerned when Petunia took me off the highway and the boarding time was leaving little runway four extra touring, I reminded myself I could just catch the next sailing if I missed this morning’s departure. The ride was beautiful, traffic was virtually non existent, and it turned out that I had 20 minutes to spare when I arrived at the terminal.

I chatted with three other bikers from Quebec while waiting in line. She was traveling with her 70 year old dad and her boyfriend. Although the boys didn’t speak English, they were full of smiles while she and I swapped stories. She told me she was tired of having to do all the planning of routes and rooms on her own. It was hard, she explained, to have to figure out this trip without any help I just smiled. It’s exhausting at times and although I’ve had my own stresses over these decisions, at least I didn’t have to plan for others too. It was another reminder as well, that this adventure is helping me grow and stretch in ways beyond what I’d imagined.

I chose to take the ferry off PEI, rather than go back over the bridge, to save myself a couple of hundred kilometres. I was headed next for the Cabot Trail and wanted to get to a good sleeping spot before riding the trail the next day. While on the boat, I heard from my sister-in-law that my mom-in-law was staying close to the trail head. It had been 2-3 years since I last saw Mom, so I looked up the Cove Motel in Aulds Cove and booked myself for the night. Perfect timing again as I’d gotten their last room!

When I finally pulled in, I saw Mom walking towards me in my mirror. I couldn’t get out of my lid fast enough for the hug I knew would fill my cup to the point of overflowing through my eyes. Seeing her always does that to me! It’s what makes goodbyes so hard too. Although I left her son more than a decade ago, she’ll always be Mom to me. I love her to the moon and back and once again I cursed the map makers for making Nova Scotia so far away from Alberta.

Hurricane Erin was expected to hit land that night/next day. By the winds I battled from the boat to the Cove Motel, I half expected Erin to pick me up and carry me out to sea! I booked myself in for a second night as I wasn’t interested in having Erin blow me off a cliff on the Cabot Trail.

The Cove Motel is a very pretty place, the room was comfortable, and the restaurant was second to none! It was about 80 k to the trail head, but that felt like nothing at this point in my journey.

When I said goodbye the next morning, I still felt a bit weepy, even though I knew I’d see them again in a few days. I’m very blessed to have people I love and that love me back on the other side of the country!