Hurricane Bill

Not a good time to be in Atlantic Canada I guess. We are now at the mercy of the track of the hurricane. We are supposed to be on the ferry Sunday at 4:00 pm, but that might not happen depending on the weather. For now we are in Corner Brook, Don's checking on baseball scores, and I am updating the blog. We had a great three days in Gros Morne on the way down the island. Went to the southern part of the park near Trout River. Stayed at the Water's Edge RV Park right on Bonne Bay. The man who runs it was a former principal of the Trout River School. We had some great conversations while there. They also own the new Red Mantle Lodge where we had our second dinner out, and sat in a beautiful dining room with a spectacular view...shown here at the top.Don got in some trout fishing in a small brook, caught a few small trout and a couple of very small salmon, but the water there was very low this year. We drove all the way in to Trout River. What an isolated existence. They did have a post office and we mailed a couple of post cards home for the grand kids. We went on a hike through the Tablelands. That was spectacular as it's a part of the world where the earth's mantle is exposed where two continental plates crashed together and pushed up.
Another photo below is of the Torrent River Salmon ladder. We went down into a viewing chamber where they hold salmon so that they can count and check them each day as they wend their way up from the Atlantic to spawn. That was a highlight for Don. You got to look at the salmon up close and personal. We are winding our way down the Trans-Canada highway and will continually check with the ferry service to see if we can get off the island before the storm. The next to last photo shows the pitcher plant which is Newfoundland's national symbol so we were told. These we saw while on the Tablelands...so interesting....a carnivorous plant.

The Top of the World

Well, we have had quite a ride to the top of the world. At this moment we are sitting in the Visitor's Center of Gros Morne National Park where they offer free wireless. We spent yesterday at Lance Aux Meadows, a World Heritage Site, where it's commonly believed that the Vikings had a settlement in about 1000 AD, four hundred years before Columbus. It was a very interesting and worthwhile stop. The story behind the discovery of the ruins is fascinating. A couple in the late 60's were the ones instrumental in the discovery of the archeological site, and the evidence they found confirms that the Vikings were here. We stayed at a small park outside of the site, and I followed my friend Susan's advice and had lunch at the Northern Delight, our first meal in a restaurant so far on the trip. We are quite proud of ourselves as the only money we really have spent has been on gas, and that's quite pricey at 1.14 per liter. We also went to a small place called The Dark Tickle where I purchased Partridge Berry Jam and BakeApple Jam, also recommended by my friend. Although this road we are on is called The Viking Trail, I have decided to call this leg of the trip The Susan Stilwell Trail for Susan who has given us hints and advice. A local told us to skip the Partridgeberry Pie and go right to the Partridgeberry cheesecake, so we bought a piece to go and shared it for dinner. We stopped at a place called The Arches just above the park, and that's where I took the photo of the man we met from Ontario. He's motorcycling with three dogs in tow....unbelievable. I also included a photo of the couple who camped across from us with two cats on a leash. They were camping in a pup tent and carrying along theses cats. We have now reached another part of Gros Morne where Don plans to do some fishing. We are sitting in a lodge overlooking the most beautiful view we have seen to date. I will post that photo next time.

Western Brook Pond

Yesterday and today we made 2 valiant attempts to take the boat tour through Western Brook Pond, the crown jewel of Gros Morne National Park. First of all you have to walk 6 kilometers in to a boat landing and take the tour from there. Day 1 we walked in and waited. It was the windiest walk I had ever taken...50 to 60 mile per hour winds.There are three tours per day and the first one was just coming back, so we got ready to go. The wind was so fierce they had to cancel for the rest of the day, so back out we walked. We drove back to our camp site and made plans for day 2. Today off we went again and we decided to do the four o'clock tour. More wind, but I have to say the weather has been very warm. Today was successful. We went into the most beautiful land locked lake with mountains towering on each side. It's considered to be a fjord, but technically is not one as it contains fresh water. The lake was pretty rough, and we sat on the top of the boat, and every now and then a wave would hit and we would get sprayed. It was a wild ride, but in a place of spectacular beauty. My friend Susan was right....definitely a must see if you visit here.
On our way to the pond we had time to kill so we ambled along the Viking Trail, Rte 430, and stopped here and there. We went for a small coastal walk from Green Point, and think we saw moose feeding way across a small pond. Moose here are a problem. They are overtaking the park....6 per square kilometer... which is a very dense population. The entire ecosystem of the park is changing as they feed on certain trees. Those trees are dying out and being replaced by a new variety. It's a huge problem, and they may allow hunting in the park at some point.
We also stopped at an interesting spot that contains the remains of a shipwreck. The SS Ethie went aground in December 1919. 92 passengers aboard were all saved including a baby sent ashore in a mailbag. We had lunch here overlooking the ocean. While there we talked to a very interesting young man from England who was on a solo motorcycle trip.He came to Boston in April and has been traveling for 22,000 miles. He has been to Alaska as far as the Arctic Circle and all over the US. When he gets back to Boston he plans to sell the motorcycle and go home. He and Don had quite a conversation.
After our boat tour the skies looked threatening for the first time this week so we stopped at a small seaside community called Cow Head, famous for summer theater offererings. We pulled into a small RV park right on the ocean and here we sit updating this blog. I think we'll sleep well tonight after facing 2 days of wind and walking. Below are photos of the walk,the lake, and the wreck.

Day 2 on the Island

Well, this is the second of two pristine days here on Newfoundland. We have settled in the heart of the Gros Morne National Park and will go to Western View Lake tomorrow as tomorrow's weather is supposed to be great as well. Last night we lucked out and stayed in an empty lot on the edge of an old US Air Base in Stephenvile.... Pretty interesting. The town has even named their streets after US states.. It was right on the ocean with a bike path and walking path across from it, and the other good thing was it was free. There were 2 other campers there and just one of those places people camp and no one bothers. After a morning bike ride we went in search of the Gravels walkway, a place my friend Susan recommended. It was very near by and we walked the trail along the ocean's edge. There was a man fishing for mackerel and Don stopped and talked with him for a while. Thanks Susan. We have internet access here so I can catch up and communicate so it's nice to be able to look at photos we have taken and update this blog. We met a couple of ladies traveling from Dover, NH driving an old RV by themselves. Both are in their late sixties, early seventies. They had a breakdown on the road here and people stopped, brought them to a mechanic, and let them stay in their yard overnight. We had heard people here were nice, and I guess that's a great example. I cannot imagine driving something that big by myself. It's very mountainous here, and this park is spectacularly beautiful. I am still looking for those "Buck or Two " stores and Susan's snowballs. Hope I find them. Below are photos of some of the trucks we shared ferry space with as well as a photo of the trees leaning with the wind.

Day 4...North Sydney Nova Scotia

Well, Don and I are now officially members of the Wal Mart Camping Community. We camped in the Wal Mart parking lot last night in Moncton New Brunswick. Met a couple from Ontario who were very nice and very helpful. They told us we had to buy a new 2010 Atlas of US and Canadian travel as it has every Wal Mart in both countries listed. People actually do stay here most of the time, but we have decided not to tonight as we like having a little electricity, water, and especially the wi-fi so I can talk to people and update this blog. We visited in the couple's camper...sorry forgot their names. They have a beautiful airstream travel home that they haul behind a truck. It's very nice, and I am sure very expensive., but I can see why people buy them. We plan to stay in Wal Marts when we have travel days as we do not really need much. Played cribbage and got dinner and walked around for a while. We have just arrived here and I am including photos of Don hooking up the water in "our home away from home" and the view from our motor home...... pretty impressive. We are 15 minutes from the Newfoundland Ferry, so tomorrow we are off to sea for 6 hours. My friend, Susan who is from Newfoundland just e-mailed me and asked for some "Snowballs" a candy that can only be purchased there, so I will have to check that out. We are having a great time and meeting new people and will post again once we get to Newfoundland.

Bar Harbor

Today was what Don calls a bluebird day.The weather is absolutely perfect and we spent the day with the Molls, Andrew's in-laws and Andrew's family. Kind of a quirky day as we started it with a call to the doctor. Don was bitten by our cat as we tried to put Frontline on her before we left. His hand has been swollen for two days and after Charlene saw it, she said, "Get to a doctor." Charlene is a nurse so we took it seriously. We called and our doctor put Don on an antibiotic immediately. We are already seeing signs of improvement....we knew that we couldn't drive into Canada with his hand looking as it did. We played some card games, and then went to Jordan Pond where we all took turns with Dean's new kayaks. We then made reservations at the Jordan Pond Restaurant where we ate dinner together outside overlooking a spectacular view. We even were able to pick wild blueberries growing everywhere along the Jordan Pond path. I do think that Acadia National Park has to be the most beautiful spot in Maine and I can see why so many people from around the world come here.

We are on the Road

Day One: We are Off...on our way after giving the RV a thorough cleaning, packing everything, lots of warm clothes as we had been warned, and lots of food. We are really excited to be getting on the road and plan a two or three day stop in Bar Harbor to visit with Andrew's family and beautiful Charlotte who turns three this week. We have a 650 mile drive ahead of us and a 6 hour ferry ride to get to the island. Our first posting will be from beautiful Acadia National Park.Below are photos from last year's visit there.