I got into PEI by way of the fairly new one billon Canadian dollar bridge. The bridge is 7km long… it’s really and impressive bridge for lots of reasons, including be subjected to winter ice flows, but I’ll let you look up all the cool engineer stuff yourselves.

The evening I got in I met him at a Tim Horton’s where he was already meeting a friend for coffee. Later that evening we headed to Dooley’s Pool Hall to shoot some pool with some of his friends and have a beer or two. It was a great introduction to some really cool friendly people, exactly what had been missing in Quebec City. I was already loving the couch surfing thing.

After a hour or so of playing pool I followed him home and got settled in. Patrick’s mother had already made up a futon bed for me, complete with a blanket on the floor for Tucker. Sooo sweet! It was late though so I wouldn’t actually met her until morning. Since it may sound strange, Patrick had moved back home to help take care of some family business for a while, I think it’s great that his family is cool with him continuing to host couch surfers. In fact as I search for couch surfers I’m finding a surprising mix of couch surfers and couch surfing hosts. They come in all ages and living situations just friendly people willing to offer what ever they have to offer. More on that some other time.

In the morning Patrick’s generosity didn’t stop when he offered to make me breakfast, pancakes and eggs. All I can say is the man makes some wicked good pancakes!

Since I was there on a weekend and Patrick wasn’t working he was able to take the day to show me around PEI on a driving tour. What a great tour it was, he took me to corners of the island I never would have found on my own. I was so amazed at what a better experience it was to be able to nag out with a local than I ever would have had on my own. We visited lighthouses down dirt roads, beaches of all sorts, and toured downtown Charlottetown. One of which was the building where the signing of the confederation of Canada occurred on PEI. After grabbing a beer in town we headed back to Patrick’s home where Patrick again cooked for me, this time some fabulous spaghetti in spicy alfredo sauce. What a guy! I decided to try couch surfing on a whim and it turned out to be such a fabulous experience, such wonderful people. It all made me realize the couch surfing isn’t really about a free couch to sleep on, oh I’m sure it’s that for a few people, but for most it’s about connecting with people from all over that are interested in experiencing a place in a different way than your regular tourist.

In the morning I got up early to head for the ferry off of PEI towards Nova Scotia. Again Patrick the consummate host even set HIS alarm to make sure I got up on time and then made me more pancakes while I showered and packed up my stuff.

The Gaspe Peninsula was beautiful. The north coast of the Gaspe along the St. Lawrence sea way was breathtaking. Words wouldn’t do it justice, so just go look at Flickr for more photos. As night fell I got into Gaspe National Park at the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula as called Cape Gaspe and sometimes spelled Gaspie. I became a bit confused looking for a campground, signs said winter camping was available some places, but then only in group sites… Anyway, after quite a bit of searching an staring at locked gates in front of campgrounds I finally discovered there was an entirely separate small campground just for group camping that appeared to be open, although it was totally empty. Eager to get to sleep I pulled in and went to bed. It was a cold night.

In the morning I had to scrape the frost of the inside of the windows… I was up just before sunrise and figured it’d be nice to try to see the sun rise over the ocean so I headed a little further down the road in hopes of finding a spot I could view the sunrise over the ocean. Instead I found a trail head… I thought well maybe if I walk a little way down the trail I’ll be able to see, and besides Tucker could use a good walk.

So I started walking… then I kept walking… it was a beautiful trail… As I walked along the quiet cliffs I heard something from behind me, when I turned and looked down toward the water I discovered it was a whale, 20 meters off the cliffs, 20 meters down, breathing… wow what a great way to start the day. So I kept walking… I kept thinking I’d turn back, but I just kept walking because it was so beautiful and peaceful and quiet. Somewhere along the way Tucker chased something up a tree. At first I thought it was a beaver, but later realized it was a porcupine. I’m very happy it ran up the tree rather than quill him, that would have been ugly. By the time I reached the tip of the cape, my five minute morning walk turned into a 4km hike to the end where I discovered a beautiful lighthouse quite unexpectedly. It was a beautiful morning. I didn’t actually see the sun come up out of the ocean, but it was all worth it. With that I hiked back. So I started driving a few hours later than planned, but that’s what is really nice about this… no real schedule to keep means I can find, whales and porcupines and lighthouses I didn’t even know to look for.

The drive down from Gaspe to PEI was equally beautiful. Patrick’s suggestion was a great one and I was looking forward to meeting my first couch surfing host.

I spent two days in Quebec city. I had really only planned on one day, mostly because I figured there wouldn’t be anywhere to camp. However, thanks to dog-friendly.com and petfriendly.ca I found a cute little hotel right in the middle of Old Quebec that allowed pets (with reservations only and in specially designated rooms). It was a little pricey, but not ridiculously so, and for the benefit of staying in heart of the old city it was worth it. I decided to plan on staying two nights so that I could get one really full day of seeing the old city.

The first night I spent mostly just getting settled into the room. I had dinner downstairs at the restaurant/pub attached to the hotel and then took Tucker for a short walk around the area near the hotel at night.

On the first day I did what I like to do best in old cities like this, take a walking tour. Early in the morning I went about looking for a good one, and found one that said taking Tucker along wouldn’t be a problem at all, yeah! It was advertised as a 2 hour tour, but went just over 4 hours! Which was good but also a bit tring. On the tour I started chatting with a really nice older man who was thrilled I was traveling the way I was. It turns out he was from Doyelstown of all places, right next door to Matt and Em in Pensylvania. He really wanted me to come visit his family when I came back down into the US, but I told him unfortuntaly there just wouldn’t be time. He was so friendly though, he really left an impression. As we walked I later found out he had just turned 80 years old! Wow, I was impressed he was getting around Quebec city, up and down the steep streets and stairs, really well. I little shuffle to his feet, and certinally a little extra care going up and down the stairs, but I was amazed. I hope I’m still traveling and exploring at 80 the way he is.

After the long walk I took a very tired Tucker back by the hotel room, and headed out solo to find dinner and walk into the newer part of the city. Everywhere I went I was blown away with what a majestic city it is new buildings, old buildings and streets. It all comes together very well here. I think part of it works because it is North Americas only walled city. The old walled city is maintained in all it’s historical beauty and glory, while a new city grows outside the old walls. Yet, the old city is still fully functional not just a tourist zone.

Worried a bit about where to stay in Prince Edward Island I checked out couchsurfing.com again. I signed up a long time ago and have always loved the idea, but never bothered while on the road trip because it seemed like a lot to ask someone host me and Tucker on their couch. In part because I realized my solo explorations of Quebec City left something lacking, and because I figured there was no harm in asking I sent an email to a pair of couch surfers in PEI. One, Patrick, responded very quickly with a “absolutely, no problem with the dog give me a call when you get here”. Way more hospitality than I expected. The other responded a few hours later with equal generosity, but I took the first offer.

Patrick also suggested I check out the Gaspie Peninsula on my way down from Quebec City towards PEI. Always one to take a locals advice I changed my plans a little to spend an extra day going up and around the Gaspie and camping in a national park there. With plans for the next couple days set, I left Quebec City by way of another locals suggestion (Sylvie’s this time) and took ferry between Quebec City and Levis… wow what a great view back towards Quebec City.