Navigational Mishaps

Using a GPS when travelling through a city can be very helpful, but in rural areas in the Atlantic provinces a GPS has a propensity for being problematic. Cape Bretoners suggested that a GPS was useless on their island and that it was easier to follow the highway. That would have been fine if the highways and roads were all marked but they weren't. It would also have been fine if all of the roads were on the map but they aren't.

In PEI the GPS would get you where you wanted to go but there were no warnings about red dirt roads and PEI has lots of these treasures and they really are treasures and often in better condition than the paved roads. They aren't that bad to drive on but some of them dwindle down to one lane without warning and I was never sure if I was going to end up in someone's front lawn or at a dead end. 

The difficulties we had on the day we left PEI can't really be blamed on the GPS. A busy day the day before and the frenzy of packing up in the morning are the more likely causes of the frustrating but now almost funny problems we encountered.

It was mid afternoon by the time we were ready to leave Cavendish but we did so having had a good lunch of scallop burgers, fries and salad at the Lost Anchor restaurant. The plan was to meet up near Summerside and then head to the bridge. Ken was following the main road and I was travelling by the aforementioned red dirt roads in a search for farms that had new potatoes for sale at the end of the drive. I am a great fan of this method of shopping... Lift lid, remove bag of potatoes, place money in container, close lid and drive on. The problem I had with the GPS was that I never turned it on and chose instead to use the map. This became a little difficult when the map split along one of the fold lines and the piece I needed fell to the floor. And after retrieving that piece I discovered that the road I was driving on crossed the split and I needed the other piece. There was also the red dirt road that was on the map and that I was driving on only to discover I was in someone's driveway, a very long driveway and I am towing the trailer. Luckily it had a wide area part way along that I used to turn around and once again I was thankful tgat Silver Lining is just a little trailer! I did find potatoes for sale and I did eventually meet up with Ken and Ruth in Summerside at Sobey's which I think of as the eastern Thrifty's although Sobey's is actually the parent company.

The next navigational frustration takes place at Borden-Carlton which is home to the PEI side of the Confederation Bridge. When I was last here there was a wonderful visitor's information centre that explained all sorts of things about PEI including the bridge, the waves, the Irish moss horses and... I had suggested that we stop there and knowing that I was in the lead I drove in and then phoned to explain how to get into the village and not onto the bridge entry from which there is nowhere to go but up and over. Ruth calls and asks where I am because they haven't found the village. In the course of the conversation I realize they are just up the main road at a gas station and I can see the top of Denali, which is their trailer model and I really could see it but Ruth couldn't see me. I walked very quickly towards the road while still on the phone, told Ruth to look down the road and frantically waved  my arm-- the one not holding the phone. We park, walk into Gateway Village which has a lot of shops in case you didn't already buy a red dirt shirt forgot to get something for you favourite aunt or... But they no longer have the displays! That is very sad...not because of the difficulties in getting there but because they truly were wonderful displays. 

Off we go again only they weren't just behind me as I thought but didn't know until the next day. To continue...the destination is Five Islands Provincial Park in Nova Scotia. My GPS is programmed and I didn't have any worries until I left the main highway and bumped along on several extremely buckled but paved roads. A steep hill, a sharp turn at the bottom over the little bridge and... I encounter a red dirt road in Nova Scotia. The GPS is indicating 21 km to Five Islands city centre but does notindicate that   there is a provincial park there. I drive up a very large hill and there is a driveway on the right. Should I follow the GPS and continue or turn around. Clever thinking had me reprogramming the GPS for an alternate route and I found one that required me to turn around so I did. And I eventually got to Hwy 2, the Glooscap Trail, but I had no idea which way I needed to go  If you are thinking that perhaps I should be looking at a map I definitely agree and would have if I could have but I couldn't because I didn't have a map. It simply wasn't in the truck.  It is now getting dark and the GPS is telling me, again, that Five Islands is 21 km away. So I follow the GPS as wrong as it seems and i do not find the park. So I turn around, phone a friend and learn that they are on the red dirt road having verified it with a local. Where was that local person when I was there? Wait I see a Tim Horton's and people. So I ask and it turns out that I am in Five Islands and the provincial park is in the opposite direction to what I thought. I turn around again and follow the road and after about three kms watch with awe as the Denali pulls onto the road in front of me. At this point both cell phones are dead and there isn't any service anyway. And this ended my first day back in Nova Scotia.