Reflections on the First Week of Fall – Adventure at Tea Cup Rock

Thunder Cove Beach

Spence and I visited Prince Edward Island for our official 50^th Wedding Anniversary celebration. Below are four of fourteen postcards I wrote about our vacation. To view all fourteen, visit WellsWoodPa.

Adventure at Tea Cup Rock – Part 1

Dear Lori,

Spence forgot to pack beach shoes and shorts. So, on the way to Tea Cup Rock on Thunder Cove Beach, we stopped at Walmart. After getting lost and gawking at scenic farms, we found Thunder Cove Road. Spence parked behind a line of cars on the berm, and we squirmed into shorts and beach shoes. In long sleeve shirts and adding sun hats, we stepped out. Spence pulled keys from his jeans pocket, closed our jeans in the trunk, and pushed the fob button. No click. He pushed again. “The button’s not working.”

“Maybe the battery’s dead.” I bit into a granola bar, my snack to delay lunch.

Spence pushed the lock button three more times. “How will we lock the car?”

“Easy.” I opened the driver’s door and flicked the lock button on the side panel. “We can lock it from the inside.” I pushed the door―

“Wait―”

Slam!

“What if the key doesn’t work either?”

I grabbed the key. “Of course it will work.” I stuck the key into the slot. It didn’t fit. I glared at the grooves on both edges. Didn’t the rental car key have straight edges?

Spence took the key. “It’s the Subaru key. The rental key must be in my jeans.”

We stared at the locked trunk. We were locked out of our rental car 18 km (11 mi.) from the nearest service station, and our cell phones couldn’t call in Canada. Great.

Spence approached a woman in the car parked in front of us. “Can you help me?”

Love,

Janet

Trail to the Path Down the Cliff

Adventure at Tea Cup Rock – Part 2

Bottom of Path to Thunder Cove Beach

Dear Eliza,

After Spence asked for help, the woman, sitting sideways on her driver’s seat and resting her bare feet on the red dirt road, looked up. “I can try.”

“We locked ourselves out of the car, and our phone doesn’t work here,” he said.

“Do you have CAA?”

CAA? “No,” I said. “We have AAA.”

She tapped her phone “Maybe CAA will work.” She explained our dilemma to the CAA operator, asked me questions, and relayed answers. “The card’s in the car . . . Janet Wells . . . Pennsylvania . . . 106 West Creek Road . . . phone doesn’t work here . . .” She turned her phone off. “The tow truck will be here within forty-five minutes.”

“Thanks for rescuing us,” Spence and I said in unison.

She smiled with the corners of her lips, pulled in her feet, and drove away.

“We have time to see Tea Cup Rock before the tow truck arrives,” I said.

Spence shook his head. “I’m not taking the chance. I’m staying with the car.”

“But the tide is low now. We can only get to it at low tide.”

“You go. I’ll look at your photos. I don’t want to miss the tow. I’ll wait here.”

His here stretched to walking along the top of the cliff to help me find a path down to the beach. When we found one, he descended first and held my hand to ease my descent. Then he climbed back up, stood like a sentry, and waved.

I ambled through soft red-tinged sand to the hard deep-red sand edging the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Then I turned west for my kilometer walk (5/8 mile) to find Tea Cup Rock.

Love,

Janet

Spence Waving from the Cliff above Thunder Cove Beach

Adventure at Tea Cup Rock – Part 3

Cliff to Wade Around to View Tea Cup Rock

Dear Nancy,

Sunshine sparkled off the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As I waded west on Thunder Cove beach, waves felt as cool as our creek in spring. I waved to Spence, who waited atop the cliff for the tow truck to rescue us after we locked ourselves out of the rental car.

A few couples and other single beach goers crossed the kilometer [5/8 mile] of sand in search of Tea Cup Rock too. When I reached the red cliffs extending to the gulf, waves lapped the rocks―not a problem since I’d been wading for pleasure. Rounding that cliff brought me to a second cliff rather than a view of the famous Canadian rock. Determined, I rounded the second cliff. Tea Cup Rock towered above me. The base alone rose to my waist. I took a dozen pictures of the formation that waves and weather had carved from red sandstone. Several people came and went, but I lingered, circled the rock, and rubbed my hand along its smooth base before returning to Spence.

He still stood on the cliff―waiting and responding to questions about how to find Tea Cup Rock with answers Viola, the B&B owner, had given us at breakfast.

I climbed up the cliff. “Did the tow truck come?

“Not yet.”

After Spence explained how to find the rock to several more groups of visitors, the tow truck arrived. It had a bed long enough to haul three of our rental cars, but the driver didn’t need the space. He inserted two air pump wedges in the door, inflated the wedges, stuck a long reach tool in the resulting crack, and unlocked the door. Sixty seconds. He needed another two minutes for the paper work. Vacation rescued!

Love,

Janet

Tea Cup Rock

Adventure at Tea Cup Rock – Part 4

Second Cliff to Walk Around to See Tea Cup Rock

Dear Reid and Claire,

Spence and I watched the long-bed tow truck back up the red dirt road to Thunder Cove Beach. Then Spence pulled the rental car key from his jeans stowed in the trunk, and I grabbed the Subaru key from him. “I’ll put this in my camera bag until we’re at the Pittsburgh airport.” I stuffed lunch into a Walmart bag. “Come with me to Tea Cut Rock.”

“It’s late. You need to eat lunch.”

“I’m fine. I had a snack.” I handed him two beach towels from the B&B. “I’ll eat on the beach after we see the rock.”

“You can eat before we see the rock.”

“No, the tide turned. It won’t take long.” I headed for the path to the beach.

He muttered about the female race, and we edged down the cliff. Spence walked on dry sand. I splashed in the surf until we reached the first cliff barring the view of Tea Cup Rock. The tide had risen several inches since my solo trip. We waded then rounded the second cliff. I threw my arms wide and shouted, “There it is!”

In a deadpan voice he said, “It’s awesome. Now will you eat?”

I circled Tea Cup Rock for a last view then walked back around the cliffs with Spence. I spread the beach towels on a large red sandstone rock. We perched. While I dipped bread sticks into a jar of almond butter and munched dried berries, lunch-skipper Spence watched people. “It’s a twenty-first century beach on a sunny Monday in September―old people, gay couples, and families with preschoolers and dogs.”

Hand in hand, we walked back across the red sands of Thunder Cove Beach.

Love,

Janet

Tea Cup Rock