Charlottetown, PEI to New York City

It's Canada Day! July 1, 2010. That's the day we will be leaving Charlottetown. And it's the day that Canada celebrates its independence from Great Britain. Unlike the USA which was more like an angry teenager who was living in the parents' second home (but had her earnings indiscriminately taken away by the parents to pay for that home), Canada was the good child that finally as an adult who was approaching thirty was kindly asked to leave (and was given the second home!)

Nevertheless, these two siblings who traveled separate paths in life have become good friends and even celebrate their independence just 3 days apart. And for Canada, that is July 1.

Leaving Charlottetown we again cross the Conferation bridge that links PEI with the mainland (New Brunswick). This bridge is the world's longest bridge over ice-covered waters. ( www.confederationbridge.com/en/ ) and for photos go to ( http://www.confederationbridge.com/en/photo_gallery.php) and for the live bridge cam ..look for us crossing about noon June 29 ! (confederationbridge.com/bridge/BridgeCam100_9.asx)

From here we travel down to the Bay of Fundy and then to Saint John, New Brunswick. The Bay of Fundy is famous for its tides. The tidal shift can be 60 (yes, sixty!) feet in 6 hours. In fact, the Saint John River actually travels backwards up rapids at Reversing Falls Rapids. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversing_Falls

Then we head up to Woodstock, New Brunswick. the oldest settlement in New Brunswick and very close to the Maine border. And here they have fireworks for Canada Day. Linda loves fireworks, so she will get to see them for Canada's birthday, then for America's birthday three days later in New York City!

Then we break the rules. We get on the interstates. But in Maine these are beautiful and uncrowded. And we stay on them. We have short time to get to New York because of our nice long stay in Maritime Canada. We have experienced New England on a few occasions, and while it is beautiful, we are going to motor through it on Larry McMurtry's dreaded I-95.

Famous for his book The Lonesome Dove, McMurtry has written many other fiction and non-fiction books. But in his non-fiction Roads Larry does exactly the opposite of what we do on this trip. He travels only interstates. Except for the I-95. He hates this road and never travels on it in his book. But here we are, because it gets us to New York and to our daughter and son-in-law more quickly. It also gets us to central Connecticut where we hope to hook up with our friends Frank and Diane on July 2.

The final leg will be on the parkways that parallel the 95: the Merritt Parkway and the Hutchison River Parkway, and then to the Whitestone Bridge and into College Point where we will spend 3 nights with our daughter and her husband in their beautiful new place, where from the guest bedroom, you see the Manhattan skyline !

4th of July in the Big Apple! Can't wait !