Man logs 160,000 km visiting P.E.I. for past 60 years

Crossing the Confederation Bridgeis a moment Charles Rogers looks forward to each summer and thefirst glimpse of P.E.I.is an image that has kept him coming backfor the last 60 years.

Rogers said he's made the tripfrom his home in Framingham,Mass., more than 75 times over the years, driving more than 160,000 kilometres to and from the Islandin the process.

He said his love for the provincestarted when he and his brother spent a summer working on theiruncle's farm in Southportin 1948.

"We had some real adventures," Rogers said. "There was just so much to see and we saw so little of it. We were just so enamoured by it and just wanted to see more."

After marrying his wife, Jean, who is originally from P.E.I., Rogers decided to make hisvisits to the Island an annual event. For him, nothing compares to the feeling of driving the final few kilometres.

"The minute I see the red shores of Prince Edward Island my heart starts to race I know I'm entering into a whole new realm, waited almost a year to get there and I have never been disappointed," Rogers said.

"The miles just seem to melt away," he added. "Every year I come there, there's something more to enjoy."

'You're never bored'

Rogers said he likes to spend his visits exploring as much of P.E.I.as he can, and despite covering the Island tip-to-tip several times over, he never fails to find something new to do.

"You don't get bored because it's always changing," he said.

The family usually stays in the same small house near the beach in Pinette.

Rogers said some of his fondest memories of the Island are from time spent deep sea fishing, watching the horse races at the Charlottetown racetrack and sharing lobster suppers with his wife.

But it's the people that keep him coming back, he said.

"Never have I met such wonderful people, I am just enhanced by them. They're friendly, they'll go out of their way to help you," he said."They seem to just be, as they say, the salt of the earth."

'Always changing'

In the 60 years Rogers has been visiting the Island, he said he's seen many changes. He remembers the days before the bridge, sitting in his car waiting to board the ferry, anxious with anticipation of another Island adventure.

Rogers also remembersthe first time he came to Charlottetown and A&W wasthe only fast food restaurant in town.

"Now you look at it and it's a mega city almost a small mega city," he said.

In the many years he's spent travelling to the Island, Rogers said he had enjoyedwatching it grow and become more diverse.

"It's become a lure for many other peoples and different cultures to visit and to stay," he said. "They all bring and add to the tapestry of the Island."

Rogers and his wife ended this year's visitlast week and he saidwhile it always hurts to leave, he's already looking forward to returning next year.

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