Two days in Maine; two in Western New York; On to home!


(posted from home)
(This post covers 25 – 30 September, 2010)


-------------------------------

Thursday, 30 September-

This morning I worked on catching up the blog and went through the accumulated mail. I ran a few errands and notified the post office we're back and returned movies to the Blockbuster Express box. The Redbox machines are a bit slicker in operation in that the Blockbuster box sometimes makes you think there's something wrong but it's just a bit slow in spitting out your movies. But I do think it was a great idea for the machine not to need a Blockbuster membership. All you need is a credit card-- just like a Redbox.
That afternoon I did some web research on the Trans-America Trail (the motorcycle one, not the bicycling one), on Sirius satellite radio options (I'd like to be able to listen to CBC Radio while travelling), BMW G650 Xcountry motorcycles, Auto-Locator and Craigslist ads for motorcycles, and, well, any dang thing that came into my head. It was a wonderful day.
That evening we were wondering what movie to watch when I found 'The Thomas Crown Affair' (the original) on MGM/HD. And upon seeing the dune buggy scene I realized I had just today looked through the Auto-Locator listings for a dune buggy, as I do nearly every time I look through its ads. If I ever found one like McQueen's, I don't think I could resist, impractical as they may be.
After 'Thomas Crown', we watched 'Wild Bill' with Jeff Bridges. Oddly, we had never seen that 1995 movie.
And watching the movie led me to read and savor the incredibly interesting entries for Wild Bill Hickock and Charlie Utter on Wikipedia. Loved it!

--------------------------------

Wednesday, 29 September-

We finally headed home today. It seemed like a short drive (it's about 250 miles) and the northern portion of US15 had wonderful color. Labashi estimated about 70 per cent of the trees had turned color and when the sun showed through, they seemed to light up. I don't think I've seen this much color so early in the season before in Pennsylvania. (Northern Maine, of course, had incredible colors that looked lit-up even on the rainy day we came through).
On the way home we stopped in Mansfield to check out the gun case at Cooper's Sporting Goods (as I do each time I come through) and for lunch at Wendy's.
We made it home by 1500. We had everything up and running within an hour in the house and then spent another hour unloading the van and cleaning up.
By 1700 we were watching movies. We had stopped at our local Rutter's gas station's new Blockbuster Express DVD-rental box and picked up two for the evening.
We first watched 'Solitary Man' with Michael Douglas, then 'It's Complicated' with Meryl Streep, Alex Baldwin, and Steve Martin.
I was a bit disappointed in both movies. Both of them seemed full of cliches and plot stretches. I don't mind suspending disbelief a bit when I'm being well-entertained or am enjoying the story-line. But 'Solitary Man' was just too weak and 'It's Complicated' too strained at making their one-idea points. In the former the point is that powerful men oft-times do remarkably stupid things when their power begins to fade. And in the latter, it's BOTH the man and woman who do remarkably stupid things and continue to damage their families, still trying to find out 'who they are'. Give me a break.

---------------------------------

Tuesday, 28 September-

I spent today with Orat and JustJeff. They're in the early stages of building a car for rally-cross racing and needed to drop off an engine block for work at a machine shop near Canandaigua so I went along for the ride to the shop.
We then went over to the hangar where Orat and a buddy keep their planes (!) and motorcycles and I took a ride on a BMW 650 X-Country modified for the knarlier dual-sport rides. Orat's buddy has both a KTM Adventurer 950 and now the X-Country so he's really into the motorcycle adventure-riding thing. He's talking about doing the Trans-America Trail, a cross-country assemblage of forest roads, jeep trails, farm roads, etc, running from Tennessee to Oregon. Hmmmm... interesting! (Can I go? Please??? Pleasaaaseee????)
We also checked out Orat's RV-8 home-built airplane. What an incredible achievement! His workmanship on this all-metal, 200-mile-per-hour, variable-prop, fighter-cockpit design is top-notch and the design and modern technology are very impressive.
We then went back to the house and hung out. Orat pulled a surprise out of the yard-shed-- a Honda Ruckus-50 scooter. Both Labashi and I took rides with big, silly grins on our faces.
That evening we met the new baby grand-nephew and had a picnic supper in the huge back summer room and sat around talking all evening.

---------------------------------

Monday, 27 September-

We left Maine this morning after our wonderful visit. We drove down I-95 to I-495 west and then joined I-90 west toward my brother Orat's home in western New York.
We spent the day buzzing out very nice I-90 through rain showers but with a very nice tail-wind pushing us along effortlessly. As we drove we listened to 'This American Life' and 'RadioLab' podcasts and that made the time fly.
By 1800 we reached the Rochester area, just in time to go out for pizza with Orat and family. Nice!

---------------------------------

Sunday, 26 September-

Our friend was working again for a few hours today. I spent much of this cool, cloudy morning patrolling my regular websites to catch up on whatever I had missed (not much!) and in getting the latest software updates for the laptop and checking them out.
Late in the day I drove over to the trailhead of the Atlantic Way Trail and walked for an hour or so, thoroughly enjoying it.
That evening we had dinner at the nearby Thai restaurant.

----------------------------------

Saturday, 25 September-

We had spectacular weather today here in coastal Maine. Labashi and I were just happy to relax after our few days of driving and the rainy and windy weather. Temperatures in Labrador and Quebec hadn't been bad-- low Fifties in the daytime, low Forties at night -- but we were feeling chilled when we arrived yesterday. In fact, today was almost TOO hot, as I found in working up a sweat washing down Mocha Joe this morning.
Our friend had to work until 1300 but then we spent the afternoon catching up on each other's lives. Later in the afternoon the girls continued the conversation during a four-mile power-walk to Old Orchard Beach and back while I surfed the web and dog-sat. Later, the girls drove down to the beach at low tide to look for sand-dollars. Upon their return we had a Mudslide avalanche. Our friend made up a pitcher of extra-potent mudslide cocktails and we enjoyed them on the porch-- for quite a while!
That evening we had a home-cooked meal of the most incredible haddock. I swear we can't get fish that good in our area. But now we're going to try!

************** END OF POST ************

Goose Bay ; Churchill Falls ; Labrador City ; Down through Quebec to the St. Laurence ; Quebec City to coastal Maine

(posted from a friend's house in Ocean Park, Maine)
(This post covers 20 – 24 September, 2010)

----------------------------------

Friday, 24 September-

We had a steady rain last night and today is supposed to be rainy all day. It was very nice to have warmer temperatures for sleeping, though.
I was awake about 0430 this morning and often Labashi is awake and reading around then so I thought maybe we should go ahead and get up and drive through Quebec City while traffic is light. Labashi put a quick kibosh on that one though with a gruff – 'No way, I'm sleeping!'.
After breakfast we made our way in toward the city and our GPS took us around the AutoRoute 40 away from the center of town. We saw a heavy traffic buildup on the highway going into the city and counted ourselves very lucky to not be trying to go in there. But it was only a few minutes later that we hit our own traffic jam. That one lasted for twenty minutes or so, then freed us up only to enter a longer one as we turned south to cross the bridge toward the US. That one seemed to drag on forever but was only about a half-hour. It turned out to have been caused by a jack-knifed tractor-trailer just south of the bridge so once we passed the accident scene, we were suddenly free and clear of traffic.
We continued south on the US-interstate-like highway for 50 miles or so and then the road ended at an exit ramp and a Tee intersection. The highway is brand new in this area and we could see the wide swath of land where it will continue in the future. But the road is so new that our GPS displayed a message: ERROR-- CANNOT FIND A ROAD TO CONTINUE. When I hit 'Recalculate', it simply said 'GO SOUTHWEST TO ROAD'. Fortunately Labashi is always following on a paper map so it was easy to see that we needed to turn west and within a few miles we were back in terra cognita.
In St. Georges, Labashi suddenly had a hankering for an Egg McMuffin. I had a very good bacon, egg, and cheese bagel (which I've not seen offered in the US McDonald's-- nor are Bagel-BLT sandwiches Labashi likes).
Shortly after St. Georges we reached the US Border. We were surprised to see only one car ahead of us and that one was just pulling out as we pulled up to the stop. As we were signalled to move forward, a bright light flashed. Our picture had been taken. I imagine our photos have been taken each time we crossed the border but this is the first time I've seen the flash indicating it. And the more I think about it the better I like the idea of the flash. I'd think it would make any evil-doers just a bit more nervous about the crossing. And it also tells us innocents that we need to pay attention and take this seriously.
Our border crossing agent was a good-looking young woman who was both very competent and projected a no-nonsense, ultra-professional manner. She did have to seize the half-pepper Labashi had in the ice box due to vegetable-import rules but explained it well--- she just simply said it's because the rules are different in Canada versus the US on how the fruits and vegetables are grown, packaged and handled and that could theoretically lead to a problem. But there was no question it was going to be seized, regardless of any opinion we might have.
She also didn't blink when I answered the do-you-have-firearms question with a yes. I had the Certificate of Ownership for Personal Effects Taken Abroad form for the shotgun from our transit through Canada to Alaska in 2008 so that made any question of ownership moot. She said she'd have to see it and check the serial number and of course wanted to know if it was loaded and how it was stored. Strictly routine, just as you'd expect in an area where hunters cross the border often.
We then zipped down through Jackson and along the Kennebec River on to Skowhegan. Shortly thereafter we went onto I-95. And within a few minutes we hit the first sign of civilization--- a Starbucks logo on the exit sign for Waterville.
I of course had to stop at the Starbucks and pick up some Doubleshot Lights and a mocha. We had a quick lunch of pain-et-buerre slices with the last of our Tadoussac baguettes, then continued south.
We reached the Portland area about 1530 and stopped at a Hannaford's for a few supplies, then went on to Ocean Park to our friend's house. This was the same place we had stopped on the way up through Maine but our friend had had to work and we hadn't time for more than a hello. In Quebec City I had noticed that it was only a short drive south to Portland so that made it an easy decision to drop into Maine rather than head for Montreal and then I-81 for home.
After driving all day in the rain, we were pleasantly surprised to find Ocean Park not only dry but sunny. And many people were wearing shorts, even the motorcyclists.
As evening approached Labashi and our friend went down to the beach for sand dollars while I surfed channels on the television and vedged.
Later in the evening we went to the local Texas Roadhouse for baby-back ribs and then it was a blissfully-quiet night in Mocha Joe.

----------------------------------

Thursday, 23 September-

This morning we went looking for a shower. We first tried several visitor's centers (looking for information) as we drove south down 138 toward Quebec City. But the first few were closed (they don't open until 1000) and the next few had no idea why we would want to do something like buy a shower. It appears they assume we either stay in a motel (which have showers) or in a campground (ditto).
Along the way we stopped at a Parks Canada site called Cape Bon Air and looked for whales. We saw only two whale spouts at a distance but did enjoy the walk down to the viewing site.
We then tried a nearby campground to see if they'd sell us a shower. The woman acted like she had never heard of such a thing and said the showers are for guests only-- and was a bit snippy about it. But they didn't have any guests! The campground was empty. So she was turning down an easy six or eight bucks (that seems to be the going rate elsewhere) for two quickie showers on the theory that they're reserved for non-existent guests.
But it turned out to be good for us. On the way out to the main road we found an extra-wide snowmobile trail leading back into the woods and a clearing beyond. We took a look and found a nice little pulloff in the sun and out of the wind for a 'douche-sauvage' (shower in the wild) of our own making. We're carrying the water, the pot, the stove, the soap, and the towels. On a nice day like today, why not?
We spent the rest of the day working our way down 138, stopping at lookouts and stopping for baguettes in Tadoussac.
We finally made it to St-Anne-de-Beaupre by 1800. Across from the cathedral there was supposed to be a large lot (according to overnightrvparking.com) where we could park free for the night. We found the lot and it is indeed true. We later learned from another camper that on most evenings a guy will come around with donation envelopes for the church and you're welcome to stay, though a small donation is encouraged ($5-10). He said we were very lucky to have arrived out of season. In the summer the park is full-- there may be 200 Rvs parked in very tightly. He said the church would like to upgrade the site with power, water, and sewer but since they don't pay taxes to the city, the city will not allow it. He said this is the only place for Rvs to stop in the entire Quebec City area (I'd guess that's not exactly true).
We had supper and a bit of Warre Optima 10 tawny port, made a call to our friend in Maine to make arrangements to come visit in a few days, and spent the evening catching up the blog.


----------------------------------

Wednesday, 22 September-

We took a tour around Labrador City this morning then drove to neighboring Wabush to return our satellite phone. I don't know if I mentioned the sat-phone but the Labrador government has a sat-phone lending project. Go into one of the six hotels spread around the province and you can sign out an Iridium satellite phone which is programmed to call the police via satellite. You can keep the phone for up to 72 hours and then return it to one of the other hotels on your way. We picked up our phone at the Alexis Hotel in Port Hope Simpson and returned it today at the Wabush Hotel.
We did have one little problem with the lender phone and it was an administrative one. When we arrived at Churchill Falls, we went to the Midway Hotel to ask them to check it in and re-issue it to us so we'd be sure not to exceed the 72-hour limitation. But the guy at the desk said he couldn't accept it without a faxed copy of the sheet the Alexis had filled out in lending it to us. But we had no idea where the Alexis had faxed the sheet to. We had discussed possibly taking it in at Goose Bay so perhaps the fax had gone there. We also said we were ultimately going to Wabush so perhaps it had gone there. After a few minutes the guy agreed to straighten out the mess by contacting the Alexis and determining where the sheet had gone. He went ahead and issued us a new one, resetting the 72-hour clock.
After Wabush, we went back past Lab City and on into Quebec. We spent the rest of the day driving down Route 389 from Fermont (at the Labrador border) to Baie-Comeau (on the St. Lawrence River). This road was more challenging than the Trans-Labrador Highway. First, portions of it are very winding and the road surface is quite variable. Also, we were travelling in rain and strong winds much of the time. But the scariest part was the construction zone. The dump truck drivers are maniacs. They drive as fast as they can in both directions. What they are doing, of course, is shuttling loads of stone between a stone quarry and the site where the road grader is working. And this goes on for miles. At any time you may have a dump truck behind you going much faster and two in your line of sight coming toward you from the other direction, all at breakneck speeds. The one behind you is easy enough-- just pull over with the signal on and he'll go roaring past. But the oncoming ones are throwing gravel. I pull over and nearly stop as they pass, just so our combined speeds don't make the gravel hits worse. But I had two large gravel rocks thrown up against Mocha Joe's roof and I ended up with one significant windshield chip. The chip looks like a round one so hopefully it won't spread. And it's low and on the passenger side so I think it will still pass inspection. If not, that will be windshield number six and another $250 for this van.
After our long day of driving the gravel road we finally came to hard road at the Manic Five hydro complex. But that just started another challenge. The guys working up here are just as crazy as the dump truck drivers. They come roaring right up close to your bumper and ride there until one of the few-and-far-between passing zones. When they get close, I just turn on the signal and get over as far as I can and they'll zoom right past, whether there's oncoming traffic or not. But keeping a constant eye out for them is tiring and seems unnecessary.
We had been cold today so I thought we'd stop at a campground and plug in our electric heater for the night rather than depend on our sleeping bags to keep us warm. We stopped at a campground at the 23K mark and they did indeed have campsites with power but they wanted $25 for the night and it was already 1900 hours so that just seemed like too much. I'd have to dig out the power cord and pay way too much money for a crash-and-dash stay. We decided instead to try the Wal-mart at Baie-Comeau.
The only problem was we couldn't find it. It's not on the GPS and the street it's supposed to be on doesn't show on the map. And when we finally ended our long, long, LONG drive down '389 Sud' (389 South), the road sign pointed to the Baie Comeau-Matane Ferry. That took us the long way around to Baie Comeau East when the Wal-mart is in Baie-Comeau West. But then we had a bit of luck. As we were driving about, I saw a town park and there was an old pickup camper parked there with his step-stool out as if he were staying the night. We drove past the camper but no-one seemed to be there. But then we saw an older gentleman reading signs on the other side of the parking lot. Labashi asked him (in French) if he knew whether we could stay the night and he said we could indeed-- he and his son had been told it's okay. We later talked with the son who confirmed that the town visitor's center had sent them here when they had asked about an overnight spot. We could stay two nights if we wanted.
We settled in and had supper and by that time it was well after dark. We then walked to the nearby upscale hotel and had portos. What a day!


-----------------------------------

Tuesday, 21 September-

Churchill Falls is an interesting town. It may be the only true company town in Canada. There are many work camps (like Fort McMurray, Alberta) where workers fly in and work for awhile and fly home to their families. At Churchill Falls, though, the workers and their families live here full time. Almost everything in the town is owned by the company. The exceptions are the gas station, the hotel, one of the convenience stores, and a bar. The company owns all the houses. And you don't see smoke pipes sticking out of the roofs of the homes. They're all heated electrically.
After breakfast this morning we met our tour guide and watched a half-hour film about the history of Churchill Falls and the building of the massive hydro plant. The idea behind the plant is amazing. Instead of building a massive dam, they build 30-some miles of dyke to block off multiple rivers leading away from the central water mass. They did it in such a way that all this water could drain to the Churchill River at a point where it began the greatest part of its fall. They then blasted 11 tunnels through solid granite at a 60-degree angle. At the bottom of each tunnel is a turbine and then a connection to an exit tunnel. The turbines and the control station are 1000 feet underground (!!!!).
Churchill Falls was producing 3553 megawatts of electricity today. That power is sold to Hydro Quebec and used throughout Quebec and excess power is sold to New York state. And all that power is created with using coal, oil, gas, or nuclear fuel-- just water and gravity (and technology!).
After the introductory film we were shuttled to the plant. The elevator down to the 1000-foot level took one and a half minutes and was ultra-smooth. We then stepped out into a corridor blasted out of the 3-Billion-year-old granite and shown a series of transformers --- cubical boxes about twenty feet on a side--- and the surrounding safety gear. Each transformer is oil-filled so each sits in a large concrete room, the front of which is a block wall. When the transformer needs to be refurbished (remember, these transformers are 40 years old now), the block wall is removed and a transported driven alongside. The transformer is loaded onto the purpose-built transporter which is double-ended. So it doesn't have to turn around, it can be driven from either end. The transporter takes the transformer to the surface and then to the railyard. A train takes it to a port, where it goes by ship to a rebuild facility in Brazil.
We then were taken to the turbine room. Each turbine is covered with yellow metal plates which each show as a 20 x 20 yellow square. A 400-ton-capacity crane hangs 50 feet above.
Today, though, we had a problem. Work was being done on one of the turbines-- number five or number six-- and we couldn't go past for the rest of the tour. We turned back and returned to the surface, our three-hour tour cut short only about half-way through.
Labashi and I then drove over to the town center building. It's one giant building housing the schools, the gym, the swimming pool, the community center, the library, the post office, the grocery store, and the hotel and its restaurant.
We had a lunch of fish and chips in the Midway Restaurant and then hit the road yet again.
This time our goal was Labrador City-- 150 gravel-road miles away. This stretch of road was perhaps a bit better than the last-- mostly because there was less maintenance underway. We made Lab City, site of a massive open-pit iron-ore operation, by 1530. Our first stop was the Gateway Labrador Interpretive Centre, which provided an excellent history of the search for, and development of, the mine and the city.
Our host at the interpretive center was a young woman who recently graduated college (in Halifax) with a business degree and in two weeks was going backpacking/Eurailing in Europe for an extended trip to five countries.
When I mentioned the wolf-pups we had seen, she said wolves are a big problem in Labrador City. Over a half-dozen (I'm not sure of the number) dogs have been killed by wolves this summer and the wolves can be seen in daylight on the town's streets.
After locating the Wal-mart, we drove to the library, just in time for it to close down for the afternoon at 1700. But it would re-open at 1900 for the evening.
We made supper in the library parking lot and I had the Sunday paper for St. John's which I had picked up in Goose Bay. But the big surprise today was on the radio. Hurricane Igor was pounding Newfoundland. Twenty-nine municipalities had declared states of emergency. Towns we had just recently visited-- Trinity and Marystown, for example -- were cut off from the outside world because of road washouts and bridge collapses. The Trans-Canada Highway was closed indefinitely in Terra Nova National Park and at Clarenville and Goobies. The Burin Peninsula was isolated from the rest of Newfoundland by a bridge collapse. An 80-year-old man was missing at Random and emergency services could not get to the area to search for him-- the roads were out and the winds and stormy rains were too strong for helicopters. The man had been walking across his driveway when it collapsed out from under him and he was reported to have been washed into the sea.
We, of course, were just fine hundreds of miles away in Labrador. But we did think about the French couple we had met in the visitor's center at Goose Bay. They were doing the same trip we had done but in the opposite direction. They had come from Quebec and were spending another night in Goose Bay, then would make the long drive to Blanc Sablon for the ferry to Newfoundland and a few weeks there. We had given them information and recommendations for places to visit which now were in a state of emergency.
After supper we spent a relaxing evening reading in the library. I read articles in Discovery about Biosphere II (which we had visited this Spring) and about nuclear fusion tests at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque (where a relative works) and an article in Macleans about the US becoming a second-class country.
When the library closed we returned to the Wal-mart for the night. All was well until about 2330 when a tractor-trailer decided to park next to us with the engine running, apparently for the night.
I dressed and drove around to the other side of the building only to find a noisy refrigeration unit running on a trailer parked in the Wal-mart loading dock. And on another side I could hear a loud machine noise near the Tim Horton's and Co-op stores. Fortunately, I had a backup plan. While visiting the Gateway Labrador museum I had seen a good parking spot so I moved us there for the rest of the night and that worked out fine.

-----------------------------------

Monday, 20 September-

This morning we left our bridge-side campsite and went into Goose Bay to run a few errands before taking on the long drive to Churchill Falls.
After mailing off some postcards, we found the visitor's center open today (it was closed yesterday) so we thought we'd stop in for a brief visit. When we found they have wi-fi, I posted a blog update and Labashi began writing an email to family and friends. While she was working I asked the visitor's center girl if there might be a coffee shop within walking distance. She directed me to the nearby 'Cafe Inconnu', small, unremarkable little place. It was wonderful! This little place has the only espresso machine in the town and it's a good one-- a Rancilio. The cafe had espresso drinks, delicate pastries and croissants, a wi-fi hotspot and internet terminals, art work, and a very pleasant, modern espresso-bar décor.
I had a cafe mocha and chatted with the chef, Don, for a good half-hour. Don played professional hockey in the US and had gotten to see quite a bit of the U.S., including good old Hershey, PA. But his passion now is fishing and hunting. He told me stories of meeting a black bear very close up (less than 15 feet away) and watching it decide whether to attack him. (He said while it was deciding other guides came into view behind him and the bear decided not to take them all on).
He also told me the black bears and the wolves are becoming more aggressive each year. He said there had been several wolf attacks (on people) in the last year (I'm not sure I believe that-- he was a bit of a tale-spinner, I believe). He also spoke of routinely catching 24-inch brook trout in the area and of having to kill a black bear that tore up his cabin on 'the island' (Newfoundland) (between Deer Lake and Grand Falls). Don said the cafe will close for a week soon so they can transform it into an Italian cafe and serve pizza in the evenings.
By late morning we had our errands done and headed out of town.
The drive to Churchill Falls is 180 miles. We had a relatively nice day for it and the road wasn't bad. It wasn't as nice as the section between Port Hope Simpson and Goose Bay but that was mostly because of maintenance work. When the road scraper is working it digs up a section and levels it but it's not packed down for awhile so you're running through an inch or more of loose gravel. Once a few trucks come through, a track develops and is quite good for making time.
Today I was doing 35 to 45 miles per hour, probably a bit more of the latter. The terrain was more varied today and we had some really nice views, particularly at Devil's Lookout where we had lunch as we gazed out over the Churchill River valley.
We've seen little wildlife but did get a big treat when we stopped at a construction zone and the flagger asked if we had seen the wolf-pups. We of course said no and he said he had been feeding one just a few minutes ago but now it was gone. We weren't sure if he was serious but in a few minutes, there, indeed was a young wolf back in the trees. To our astonishment it came out of the trees and walked along the new construction area, just 20 yards away, completely ignoring us.
The flagger said this one was the male and was about four months old and larger than his sisters. The den is very close to a nearby cabin.
As we drove to the far end of the construction zone, there were the two female pups, sniffing at something the flagger on that end had tossed to the opposite side of the road.
To see the wolf-pups was interesting but also, when you think about it, heart-breaking. Feeding them is probably going to cause their deaths. If the wolves approach a hunter for a handout, there's little doubt what will happen.
We had an otherwise uneventful drive across beautiful black-spruce forest with a surprising amount of roadside sand dunes. We made Churchill Falls by 1600 and as I gassed up Mocha Joe (at $5.40 a gallon) I learned we could schedule a tour of the underground power plant by seeing the secretary at the town hall and we could park overnight at the arena for free. And we could plug in to the receptacles in the parking lot if we wanted to.
We made our reservations for a tour tomorrow and parked at the arena. But we didn't plug in to the electric outlets. I was surprised to find I had left one of my two heavy-duty power cords back at the Chambersburg house where we had been working. And the other-- the long one-- was socked away deep inside the back of Mocha Joe. I had carefully taped all the seams of the back doors to prevent road dust from coming in on our bed and didn't want to undo the tape, then re-do it tomorrow morning in the rain. We've done without electricity for 30-some days so one more certainly won't hurt.
After supper we watched the rest of the 'Random Passage' episode we had stopped several nights ago and then watched the final episode. We still have the Special Features to watch another night.

*********** END OF POST ***********

Into Labrador!

(posted from Lake Melville Tourism Centre, Goose Bay, Labrador (NL))
(This post covers 17 - 19 September, 2010)

--------------------------------------

Sunday, 19 September-

I saw the coldest temperature of the trip last night—31.2 degrees—but it had warmed up to 45 by the time we awoke. After breakfast we resumed our long drive to Happy Valley- Goose Bay. We don’t mind the drive at all given the road and the scenery is all new to us. Also, the road is an engineering marvel. I can’t believe how good the gravel road is. There is no washboard, there are no rocks or mud. There are hardly any pot-holes and what pot-holes we see are only an inch deep. I thought I’d be maxing out my speed at 35 miles per hour but can very comfortably do 45 and keep finding my speed creeping up to 55—a bit much if you get out of the main track and find yourself in ‘the marbles’ and drifting toward an edge. Posted speed limit, by the way is 70 kmph or 42 mph.
We did have one sobering reminder to pay close attention to what we’re doing. About an hour after leaving our overnight spot we came to the scene of a recent accident. A tow truck was in the road and I could see a white Ford pickup with obvious roll-over damage down in the ditch and its load of 2x4 lumber spread about. The wrecker guys were pulling out cable to winch the Ford back onto the road. I asked when the wreck happened and one of the guys said it was last night—and it had been a two-vehicle collision (apparently they had already towed the first car away).
It’s hard to envision how this accident could have happened. You can see a vehicle coming from either its lights (at night) or its lights and its massive dust plume (in daylight). The crash happened on a stretch of road that was straight and smooth for a mile in each direction. Weather was clear.
My theory is that these two drivers saw each other (perhaps only as oncoming headlights) but one or the other got in trouble when he/she turned out of the main track late and at too-high a speed, got into the loose gravel, lost it, and turned sideways into the path of the other vehicle. Then both left the road in the crash.
If the roll hadn’t been caused by the crash itself, leaving the road would definitely do it. The road surface is four to six feet higher than the surrounding roadside so once you leave the road, you’re most likely going to roll and it’s not going to be pretty.
As far as wildlife, we saw only one road-killed fox (red and gray mix), two partridges, a few ravens, one road-killed rabbit, and a few bluebird-size birds which appeared to have the red markings of a woodpecker on the head (are there woodpeckers in a black-spruce forest?). We saw no moose or caribou (though I did see moose tracks on my walk around our campsite last evening).
We made Happy Valley-Goose Bay shortly after 1400. I gassed up and saw my gas mileage on gravel had been just over 14 mpg—good info for the next legs of the journey.
I wanted a milkshake or sundae (to clear the dust, you understand…) but the lady at the gas station said there was no place open on a Sunday to get one. Say what? The only alternative was the A&W, where I could get a root-beer float. That wasn’t a bad alternative--- I’ve not had one in many years--- so Labashi and I had one.
We took a drive by the famous airport at Goose Bay. We couldn’t see much, just the base facilities. The military museum was closed today. But I did enjoy seeing the base. It looked so much like an American military base. The barracks buildings looked like they had been built from the same plans as the ones at Fort Indiantown Gap.
We then drove to the little town of North West in order to see the Labrador Interpretation Centre since it’s open today but not Monday or Tuesday. We had to rush but thought we had it made when we pulled in the parking lot at 1545 and our guide book said it was open until 1630. But the schedule has changed, we were told, and they now close at 1600. We had driven 25 miles to get only 15 minutes in the museum. We took advantage of it, though. As Labashi browsed I did a quick walk-through and found that all the good stuff was in the room she was in so we split up and tried to take in all we could in the short time. And since we’ve seen much of it in other centres, we did okay. The one new thing here (for me, anyway) was a ‘shaking tent’. This was a tent-like structure the Innu shaman would use to talk to the Master (Spirit) of the Fish, the Master of the Game, the Master of Health, and other deities. As the shaman communed with the various Masters, the three-foot-diameter, five-foot-high round tent-like structure would shake, sometimes violently.
The ‘shaking tent’ is held in high regard, even today. The one in the museum was constructed by a shaman. Signs warned us not to take pictures of the tent and a half-section wall tent had been erected to protect it from having its picture accidently taken and to give it the respect and protection it deserves.
After our short visit, we then drove back to Goose Bay and on through to Happy Valley. After our whirlwind tour we had supper at the El Greco Pizza shop, the returned to an overnight parking spot we had seen as we approached town. It’s a small-boat launch ramp beside the Churchill River and gives us a nice view of the bridge and river.
We blogged and read the evening away, interrupted only by a short jaunt up onto the bridge to take pictures of the firey sunset reflected in the river.

--------------------------------------

Saturday, 18 September-

This morning the first order of business was showers. Though the Provincial Park’s washroom and showers had been closed down, when I asked about them last evening, the ranger said we could shower in the ranger’s house. Nice!
We then drove to the end of the hard road at Red Bay, where we slowly savored the Red Bay Historical Site. It was at Red Bay where a Basque sailing vessel from the mid-1500’s had been discovered. A researcher had found references to a lost ship--- the San Juan-- in the Spanish archives and this information led a team of Canadian underwater archeologists to search for and locate the vessel, then organize an extensive archeological ‘dig’ on it.
We learned the history of the project from an excellent film at the first of two interpretive centers. That one also has a rebuilt whaling shallop.
The second interpretive center has the artifacts from the project, an excellent model of the oil-rendering facility, a life-size rendering of the below-decks area where the 200-liter barrels were stacked for transport back to Europe, and a perfect 20-to-1 model of the San Juan.
The story on the Basques and whaling is that thousands of men would sail from the Basque homeland (on the border between France and Spain) to Newfoundland and Labrador each Spring, starting in the 1540’s and lasting about 50 years. The men would sail over on ships like the San Juan, which would be anchored in Red Bay. Men would go into the Strait of Belle Isle in the small shallops, from which they’d harpoon a whale and tow it back to the ship. There the work would begin to flense the whale carcass, i.e., to remove the whale blubber. The blubber pieces would then be transported ashore to boiling kettles, massive copper kettles which would reduce the blubber to an oil. Ladles of the oil would be dipped from the kettles into cold fresh water, where the impurities would sink and the purest of the pure whale oil would float on top. That oil would then be ladled into barrels for transport home. Each barrel would be worth something like $6000 in today’s money and a shipload between 3 and 4 million dollars (equivalent).
After our wonderful visit to the whaling centre, we walked next door to the Whaler’s Inn and had fish-and-chips, a bakeapple milkshake, and a piece of partridge-berry pie—all very, very good.
We then turned off the hard road and headed north for Port Hope Simpson. We had been warned that this is the worst section of the Trans-Labrador Highway so we were pleasantly surprised to find it very good road. Apparently the road crew has been working on the road’s problems but the word has not been getting back to the visitor-information people.
We made Port Hope Simpson by 1730 or so and gassed up at the last gas station for 250 miles (gas was $5.08 a gallon). We drove for another hour or so until we found a little dirt road leading off to a small quarry… our home for the night.
As Labashi was making supper I took a walk around and found a lovely view from the hilltop beside us. Shortly after returning to the van, I saw a pickup coming in. I stepped out to talk with the two men and learned they are locals from Charlottetown—about a half-hour’s drive away. One of the men’s father-in-law owns the nearby cabin hidden in the woods we passed on the way into the quarry. They had been passing by on a little evening drive to look for geese (goose season just came in) and noticed us parked back in the quarry and came in to check us out. We had a nice long conversation about hunting and weather (last winter was terrible for snowmobiling—way too much rain, way too little snow).
One of the guys also told me there are wolves in the area. He says a group of berry pickers had been ‘surrounded by wolves’. When I asked for more info he said they had been picking and noticed a wolf on a rise above them. Then they noticed a wolf on another side, and another. When I asked what happened next, he said the wolves backed down.
After supper we watched a bit of the third episode of ‘Random Passage’ but we had had a long day and fell asleep part-way through. We’ll save that for another day…

--------------------------------------

Friday, 17 September-

Our parking spot for the night wasn’t very far off the road and we would occasionally hear a car or truck go by, despite how remote the area seemed to us. Nevertheless, we slept quite well.
We woke around 0700 and though we didn’t need to be at the ferry until 0930, we had a quick breakfast and drove to the ferry terminal, hoping our lack of reservations wouldn’t be a problem.
We had no problem getting a ticket and went ahead and though we were still two hours from departure, we went on down to the waiting lanes and parked in line.
After we had waited a while I saw a motorcycle come down to line up and I recognized it as the one I had seen in the parking lot with a Pennsylvania license plate.
I went over and struck up a conversation with the guy and it turned out he was from Pittsburgh. He was riding a BMW 1200 LT, a luxury tourer, and had left home just a week ago. He was going to Labrador to ride to the end of the paved road (at Red Bay), take a picture, then turn for home. We had an interesting conversation and I gave him a brief tour of the van while we waited. That made the time fly by.
After loading Mocha Joe onto the ferry, we went up to the cafeteria and had a hot dog (for some reason Labashi likes a hot dog to start a ferry voyage!), then settled in for our hour-and-a-half crossing from St. Barbe, Newfoundland to Blanc Sablon, Quebec (just south of the Labrador border).
I thought I had heard the winds were supposed to be high today but our crossing was very smooth.
After departing the ferry we started hitting the tourist sites of the Labrador Coastal Drive. We stopped at the pulloff above the ferry area to take pictures of the ferry departing for Newfoundland.
We then visited the earliest known grave-site memorial in North America at L’Anse Amour. The site was the burial place of an aboriginal boy about 12 years old and it’s dated to 7500 years ago (!!!). He was buried face-down with a flat rock on his back and with weapons, food, and other indications of gifts intended to assist him in the afterlife.
We then went to Canada’s tallest lighthouse (and now a provincial historic site) at L’Anse Amour. We almost didn’t go in because we’ve done a few lighthouse tours now on this trip. But the price was reasonable so we decided to go ahead.
This one turned out to be a gem. The lightkeeper’s residence was typical of other lighthouses but the upstairs had an extraordinary display of the historic maps of Labrador. The earliest known map dates to the early 1500’s, when the Basques came for cod and whales during the summer, then returned home for winter.
But the highlight of the visit was the lighthouse itself. It’s constructed of local limestone blocks (walls six feet thick at the bottom, four feet thick at the top), covered by a layer of brick, then, believe it or not, cedar shingles. The lighthouse was first used in the 1850s and at the time didn’t have the cedar shingles. But after a few seasons passed, the mortar in the bricks was deteriorating very quickly—thus the decision to cover it with cedar shakes. The painted shakes also deteriorate, of course, but are relatively easily painted or replaced.
The climb to the light was 136 steps round-and-round but our climb was broken by landings where our guide would pause to tell us more about the lighthouse and the area. Perhaps the most interesting thing we learned was that for years eider ducks would crash through the very small (but ¼-inch thick) windows. The lighthouse was unknowingly placed in the migration path of the eiders and some days a dozen or more would be found on the interior steps of the lighthouse during the migration season (and of course windows would need to be replaced). Something doesn’t sound right about that but our guide then told us of a new telegraph line which had been strung locally and it had the same effect. Migrating ducks would fly into the wire and fall dead below.
We then returned to the main road and continued north, next stopping for the night at Pinware River Provincial Park. We were the only campers in the park and had a beautiful ocean-side campsite all to our own. We had had a windy day but this evening the wind died off and we had a perfect evening.
I walked a bit before supper to explore a bit and then after supper Labashi joined me for a tour of the campground and then a walk to the day-use area and its boardwalk to the mile-long sandy beach.
We started our regular blogging and reading routines but then I noticed the lights coming on in the little fishing village nearby, then the flashing reds and whites of the lighthouses and navigation markers, then the lights of the little villages across the Strait of Belle Isle—in Newfoundland, some nine miles across the strait, in other words.
I dug out our little Kwik Kampfire (sort of a campfire-in-a-can) and our chairs and lit the fire. We sat out for about an hour watching the lights twinkle and listening to the waves washing up onto our beach as the nearly-full moon rose over Newfoundland.
We then retired to Mocha Joe and fell happily asleep.

********** END OF POST **********

Trinity ; Rising Tide Theater's “Theresa's Creed” ; Jiggs Dinner ; Bonavista; Mocha Joe repair in Gander ; Port Au Choix ; L'Anse Aux Meadows

(posted from Southern Labrador Library, L'Anse Aux Loup, Labrador (NL))

(This post covers 12 – 16 September, 2010)


----------------------------

Thursday, 16 September-

We had a good night in our road-side parking lot and woke refreshed. Rain is predicted for later today so after breakfast we cleaned out the ice-box before our departure this morning.
We drove north for about an hour to the Labrador ferry terminal and stopped in to see if the schedule is still as published (sometimes they change due to weather and equipment problems) and to determine costs ($26 for both of us and Mocha Joe) and whether we'd need reservations. The agent said the ferry has been quite busy and though it has slacked off lately, she recommended we make reservations. We weren't sure how long we'll need to visit the attractions further up the Northern Peninsula so we decided we'd call later rather than make them now.
We then continued up the Viking Trail (Route 430) to L'Anse Aux Meadows, home of the L'Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site and North America's only known Norse settlement.
As we approached the Historic Site just before lunch time, we decided to try 'The Norseman' restaurant, which our Frommer guide says is one of the best in Newfoundland. Their food was indeed special. We each had a porto before the meal, then I had a spinach salad with seared scallops and partridgeberry vinagrette dressing. Labashi had a fish chowder. For dessert we shared a pannacotta and I had an 'Irish Descendant'-- -coffee with a shot of Bailey's and a shot of Newfoundland Screech rum.
We then toured the L'Anse Aux Meadows site. We first watched a 30-minute documentary telling the story of how the site was discovered and proven to be a Norse site. In short, a Norwegian husband-and-wife team of archeologists discovered the site in the early Sixties and organized the digs shortly thereafter. The site is dated to 1000 AD and contains artifacts and technology known only in Europe. The key find was a cloak pin which was used by the Norse and used only for a relatively brief time period. The technology unique to the site was the mining and processing of bog-iron and forging it into nails. The L'Anse Aux Meadows site is believed to have been used only for a few years and is thought to have been a repair-station for boats and perhaps a source of natural resources to take back to Greenland. It may have been the Vinland recorded in the Norse Sagas or it may have only been an advance station for that Vinland. If 'Vinland' does indeed refer to wild grapes, there's a problem in that wild grapes have never grown here. The farthest north occurrence of wild grapes is in New Brunswick.
Perhaps the best thing about L'Anse Aux Meadows, though, is the re-created Viking settlement. Parks Canada built several sod-houses using materials from the site. The sod buildings have walls six feet thick and they're very substantially built. They are staffed by men and women in period dress and the interiors are re-created as accurately as known. The large building has three rooms, each with its own fire and those fires felt wonderful on this cold, damp, and foggy day. The implements of daily living and the tools are remarkable, even breathtaking. It's difficult to believe such tools existed so many years ago.
After touring the buildings, we were just in time for a walking tour of the archeological site. It's filled in now, of course, but our guide, Scott, was excellent. Though we were walking about in a cold wind and the fog was condensing on our clothes, we hardly noticed.
After our tour ended, we were walking back to the van when we met our friends from Quebec who we had met on the boat trip to St. Pierre. This group of three couples had been very friendly to us and we saw them several times around St. Pierre so it was nice to once again greet them hundreds of miles from there.
We then drove to Norstead, which is a Viking port village re-enactment. But we didn't go in. With the weather so raw and they obviously staffed by only a skeleton staff here at the very end of the season, we didn't think it would be worth the cost. That may have been a mistake but we had learned so much from the L'Anse Aux Meadows site that we didn't think we'd learn much more.
We then drove on to the town of St. Anthony. We arrived at the library just as it was closing and then tried to call the ferry for reservations only to learn the reservations office had closed only minutes before.
We had supper in the van in the library parking lot awaiting the return of the librarian from supper so we could use the computer to make reservations for the ferry. Unfortunately, the web site didn't work properly and would not take our reservation.
By the time we were done in the library it was almost dark and we had 70 miles to drive back to the ferry. And now we had thick fog and of course the ever-present warnings that we shouldn't drive at night because of the many moose which wander out into the roadway. Today's news carried the sad story of a 22-year-old young man killed early this morning in a car-moose collision and yesterday we talked with a local man who had narrowly missed a collision.
With the fog and the threat of moose on the road, I didn't exceed 45 miles per hour and for a lot of it I did 35 miles per hour (“How fast would you like to be travelling when you hit a moose?”, I kept thinking). And then it started raining.
We finally got back to an overnight parking spot just a few miles from the ferry around 2100. We blogged and read for a bit to settle down from the tension of the drive.

-----------------------------

Wednesday, 15 September-

We awoke to a very nice morning today. Though we had camped near the TCH and there was quite a bit of truck traffic overnight, we didn't seem to hear it. We both slept very well and woke late (around 0800).
After breakfast we began driving west on the TCH, soon reaching Deer Lake and turning there onto the Viking Trail (Route 430) toward Gros Morne National Park.
At mid-morning we stopped at the Gros Morne Visitor's center to check on campgrounds. We learned the nearest campground was now closed for the season but Shallow Bay--- where we had stayed prior to our visit to the Gros Morne Summer Theater performance--- was still open.
We drove to Shallow Bay park and had lunch in the parking lot of the day-use area. We then took showers in the campground and made a phone call home to check messages and then made a call to take care of one of those messages.
We continued north for a few hours until we reached Port-Au-Choix. There we visited the National Historic Site's visitor center and learned about the different cultural groups which have lived in this area. A key area here is 'Philip's Garden', an archeological site where more than 50 Paleo-Eskimo dwellings once lay. These dwellings dated from 4400-3200 BC (!!!!!). They were constructed of whalebone and wood. They were circular, like a teepee, but the whale ribs lifted the conical shape off the ground four feet or so, making them similar to yurts. They were skin-covered, mostly with seal skins.
We then drove to the Philip's Garden Trail and walked for a few hours along the coastal trail. Right after arriving we saw a small whale close to the shore but it soon disappeared. We walked to the archeological sites of Philip's Garden East and West. The former is a large meadow, the latter a terrace lying well above the ocean shore. Today, of course, all we see are a few indentations, but it was here that archeologists found the exquisite stone points of the Paleo-Eskimo and the more numerous stone work of the Dorset Indian and Beothuk cultures.
After our walk we drove to the Point Riche lighthouse, where we saw a boat lying aground. This fishing vessel ran onto the rocks two days ago in high winds and today lies on its side leaking a bit of diesel fuel within a stone's throw of the lighthouse.
We then continued north up Route 430 toward St. Anthony's for another half-hour or so. We found a pulloff/parking lot for the St. Magdalene Bay Trail and had supper. We watched the second episode of 'Random Passage' and then turned in.

-----------------------------

Tuesday, 14 September-

The predicted windy night didn't happen so we may not really have needed to come back to the well-protected provincial park campground. But then again Cape Bonavista is known for its winds and I saw this morning that clouds were still racing across the sky so it still may have been quite windy up on the Cape. In any case we enjoyed the night-drive across the dirt road into the park and we made our decision with the best information we had at the time.
In leaving the park this morning we were now headed back south off the peninsula to then make our way west on the Trans-Canada Highway ('the TCH') and then up the Northern Peninsula and, in a few days, our ferry to Labrador.
As we drove across Route 233 (part of the 'Discovery Trail') I heard a familiar sound. The high-pitched squeal from the front of the engine compartment is back. This time it didn't go away. It did get better but I really, really don't want to be dealing with this later up on the Trans-Labrador. Gander is the next town of any size so we found the Ford dealer (Jim Penney Ford) there. At first the scheduler said she didn't have any openings so they could not help us today. She suggested we try their sister dealership in Grand Falls/Windsor, about an hour west. I asked her to call and we learned they wouldn't be able to fit us in today either. While we were contemplating what to do, the chief service scheduler came in. When our scheduler asked if there would be a recommendation for another shop, she said she could fit us in right after lunch-- an hour from now. Perfect.
We went to the nearby Wal-mart, thinking we'd pick up a few items but then realized we might not be getting a lunch, depending on what the mechanic finds and how long it takes to fix it. We changed course and had lunch at McDonalds and zipped back to the dealership just in time.
Our mechanic, Mark, determined the problem was simply the serpentine belt. I've heard fan belt noises before and was a bit skeptical so I asked Mark to also replace the belt tensioner assembly. That was probably a mistake. After the work was done, I examined the belt-tensioner and if I understand how it works, the only rotating part is an idler pulley and it's okay. If I had just had the belt replaced, I would have had a bill of something like $100. But the new tensioner was $125 and with the extra labor my bill was $300. But I'm still glad I had it done.
We then drove back to the Wal-mart and took care of our little shopping errand. We then looked for a Sobey's grocery store on the GPS but the nearest was on our way west at Grand Falls.
After completing our shopping at Sobey's the time was approaching 1700 and we weren't sure where we'd find parking for the night. We continued west on the TCH and eventurally spotted one at Birchy Lake. It's a classic Newfie 'gravel pit' camping spot There's an old, abandoned school bus camper backed into the trees and a few back-in spots on either side. We settled in and Labashi made supper and then we read and blogged for a few hours, then watched the first episode of 'Random Passage' on DVD.
Our weather today was quite nice. We've had cloudy, windy and raw-feeling weather for the last two days but only a few broken clouds today with temperatures around 60 and light winds. Temperatures overnight have been in the low Fifties and high Forties for the last few nights.

-----------------------------

Monday, 13 September-

We had a windy night but were far enough away from the CBC antenna tower that we weren't bothered by the now-faint throbbing noise of the wind in the wires.
After breakfast we drove north up Route 230. We took a bit of a side trip to Elliston (“the root-cellar capital of the World!”) which is also known for its puffin and murre rookery. The puffins nest in the spring and summer and are gone now but we wanted to see the bird rocks anyway. And we got lucky today. We saw a bald eagle sitting on the nearest island and had an excellent view of him when he took off into the strong wind. He was immediately besieged by gulls and they chased him all over the sky until he finally headed for another small island. But over there the same thing happened-- the gulls swooped mercilessly on him. The last we saw, he disappeared from sight behind the rock with gulls still chasing him.
We continued up 230 to Bonavista and went through town to Dungeon Provincial Park. This beautiful sea-side area is undeveloped and lies along a dirt road leading to the main attraction-- a large sinkhole formed by the sea eroding softer rocks out from under harder rocks, leaving two windows through which the sea intrudes and continues to enlarge the sinkhole. Over time the rocks above the windows will collapse and a 'flowerpot' will be left standing as we see in the next cove.
We briefly visited the Bonavista lighthouse but didn't go through the historical exhibit since it appeared to be much like others we've already seen on this trip. We had lunch under the John Cabot statue in the municipal park and on the plaque below the statue I learned that John Cabot was actually Giovanni Caboto, a Viennese (and thus Italian) explorer sailing under the sponsorship of England. He left England in May 1497 and after five weeks landed “somewhere in Eastern Canada” according to the plaque. “Local tradition”, it continues, “says the landing site was near Cape Bonavista”.
We then went back into Bonavista to the Ryan Premises, a National Historic Site. This museum did a good job explaining the cod fishery and the seal fishery and had an excellent video explaining the collapse of the cod fishery and the fallout from the announcement in 1992 that cod fishing was immediately suspended, putting 20,000 workers out of work that day and kicking off the ripple effects on fish-processing plants and communities across Newfoundland.
We spent most of the afternoon in the museum and loved seeing five or six Film Board of Canada films from the Forties through the Seventies about Newfoundland. The footage of St. John's looked very old but turned out to have been from the late Sixties.
We then drove to a nearby espresso bar we heard about from one of the guides. Like many Newfoundland businesses, there was no sign but for an 8x10 piece of paper taped to the door. 'Espresso Bar upstairs' and we never would have known about it but for the word of mouth.
The espresso bar only opened in July and is attached to a pub and small cafe. The owner, we understand, liked going down to Port Renfrew's 'Two Whales Coffee Shop' for an espresso but decided he'd like to open his own. The shop is called 'Second Story Espresso Bar' and the young guy telling us all about it was John. He says he learned how to make the espresso drinks at the 'Hava-Java' in St. John. And apparently he learned well. I had a cafe mocha and then a cappucino to go and both were very good---- better than those I've had back home, in fact. We wish that business great success. The shop had just the right feel and John had the perfect personality to make us feel at home.
It was well after supper time as we drove back to the Ryan's Premises parking lot and started shelling the shrimp Gary had given us after yesterday's Jiggs' Dinner. Labashi made a good sauteed-shrimp-and-corn dish and we finished up just before dark.
I had thought I'd stay at a gravel lot on Cape Bonavista but we learned at the espresso bar (via our wi-fi connection) that we're supposed to have another windy night. We drove back to Lockpath Provincial Park, this time via the north entrance road (a 12K dirt road which was supposedly very rough but turned out to be better than the south entrance) and got into the same campsite we had last night by 2030.

-----------------------------

Sunday, 12 September-

Winds were high last night but we were snug among the pines. We did notice, however, that around 0300 we could hear a low-frequency sound-- like boombox music in the distance. We couldn't figure out what the sound would be and our natural curiousity led us to speculate about what it might be and kept us awake for more than an hour before we drifted off. We noticed it seemed a bit louder near the park office so we think it may have been the generator. Next time we'll take a spot further away.
We still had some light rain and winds blowing about 20 miles per hour this morning as we drove to a coffee shop a few miles away. It turned out to be closed but we stopped at a gas station across the street from it and asked if there would be someplace serving a Jigg's Dinner today. The Newfoundland specialty is also known as a 'boiled dinner' and just 'Sunday dinner', the latter because it is served every Sunday in many Newfoundland families. In fact, many families also have 'Sunday dinner' on Thursdays, too. We were given directions to a restaurant near Trinity which would be serving it today.
We drove into the small town of Trinity East and looked about and we could see the much more famous Trinity across the bay.
In Trinity we visited a few gift shops and Labashi bought 'Waiting for Time', the followup to 'Random Passage' and the second of the two books upon which the Canadian mini-series 'Random Passage' was based.
In one of the gift shops we learned the Hiscock House as well as the other historical houses managed by the Provincial Government, were open for free today. We toured the Hiscock House and by then it was time for our Jigg's Dinner. We drove to nearby A&K Catering for the dinner and were surprised to find the sign outside not only doesn't identify it as a restaurant, it doesn't show Sunday hours. But on the door, under the porch, was a hand-written sign--- YES, WE'RE OPEN TODAY-- but it wasn't clear what, exactly was open!
We walked into a hallway and that led to the restaurant which turned out to be very small-- only one table which could seat six and two tables which could seat four. All were occupied but two seats were open on the six-place table. The people at the table said we were welcome to sit there if we didn't mind company.
Now a Jigg's Dinner consists of salt-beef and the winter vegetables-- potatoes, carrots, turnip, and cabbage plus pease pudding and mustard-pickles. The salt-beef and vegetables are soaked overnight in fresh water and then boiled together in a pot. A pease pudding is made from yellow split-peas which are also soaked overnight (in a special pease-pudding bag) and then boiled separately. The resulting meal is a masterpiece of tastes --- not to mention a heaping plate-ful of food.
The other people at our table were locals... 'Norm' and his wife and another fellow whose name we didn't catch. Norm is a deckhand on a shrimp trawler and a friend of Gary's, our waiter and (we think) part-owner of the restaurant. Gary also works on the shrimper.
We learned from Norm that shrimping is for what we know as popcorn shrimp and is nearly a year-round fishery. Our other tablemate works on boats but (if we understood correctly) he's not a fisherman but a marine mechanic.
Norm and his wife told us they're going for a drive today and the Jiggs' Dinner is just one of their stops. We later learned it's also a Newfoundland tradition to go for a Sunday drive nearly every Sunday. In Norm's case, he was also going to visit his elderly mother today.
After I finished my dinner, Gary brought out tea and a 'blueberry pudding', which was a blueberry cake covered with a light caramel sauce and served warm. Delicious!
We then drove back into the heart of Trinity to buy our theater tickets for tonight at the Rising Tide Theater. We toured the Mercantile store which had not one but two very good guides. Randy is a Bonavista-born lad who had such a thick accent we could hardly understand him. But he was very knowledgeable and spoke to us about the mix of cultures in this area. It's predominately British but also has a sizable Irish component and he believes there's more than a bit of aboriginal DNA mixed in to most families.
When Randy went to lunch, we were turned over to Terry Kelleher who regaled us for more than an hour about the impact of Americans on Newfoundland, his experiences on Russian ships as a Canadian fisheries observer, his run-ins with the provincial fisheries officials regarding his warnings that the cod fishery was in trouble due to overfishing and the impact of trawling nets on the Grand Banks cod nurseries (Of the Fisheries officials, he said, “The main Fisheries guy was from Saskatchewan, for God's sake!!! What would he know about cod fishing??”). After hearing of Terry's many occupations, I look forward to reading his autobiography one day.
We then drove to New Bonaventure to visit the movie set of 'Random Passage'. We had tea while waiting our tour time and were joined by a couple from Harrisonburg, Virginia. We four then took the tour together with our guide 'Bride', a local woman who knew the story and the site from the inside out. Bride was quite a storyteller and did a great job.
After our tour, we pulled off a road-side pulloff overlooking the little fishing village of New Bonaventure and had supper as the wind whistled strongly around Mocha Joe.
Back at Trinity, we read a bit while waiting our 8 pm curtain time and then saw “Theresa's Creed” as played by the Rising Tide Theater's artistic director, Donna Butt. She was amazing in her one-woman show, a portrayal of an older Newfoundland fisher-wife, looking back at her life's highs and lows.
We had met Donna when she came in past the box office as we bought our tickets and spoke briefly with her. She asked where we were from and I said 'Well, Newfoundland, of course!”. Of course I said it “New-fund-lund” and she laughed uproariously as I corrected myself to 'New-fund-LAND”. She said, “Nice try. Many mainlanders say “New-FOUND-Land”.
After the show Donna came out and shook everyone's hand as we all departed the theater. Nice touch!
I had seen an ad in the theater program for a local restaurant inviting theater-goers for a drink after the show so Labashi and I went over. The small restaurant/inn had a small loft area above the restaurant which had a few lounging chairs. Labashi had a hot toddy and I had an Irish coffee as we chatted for a half-hour or so with a young couple from Calgary, she a recruiter in the oil and gas industry and he a piling-and-shoring specialist for buildings. Nice folks.
It was after 2300 when we drove back to the Provincial Park campground. And we finally learned what the low-frequency noise was last night. It was the wind in the antenna wires. There's a CBC antenna on the hilltop nearby and the wind blowing through the wires makes the eeries throbbing sound. We asked for a camp site as far from the antenna as possible since tonight was supposed to be another windy one.


************** END OF POST ***********

Two days in France....

(posted from Espresso shop, Bonavista, NL)
(This post covers 8-11 September, 2010)

-------------------------


Saturday, 11 September-

This morning we woke late (0830) and had a slow start before heading back north. At Marystown we shopped at the Canadian Tire for lithium grease (hopefully to quiet an occasional noise from the power-steering unit pulley) and a few odds and ends. We then visited the local library which was closed but had left their wi-fi router running. Since we had accounts established in the Newfoundland Public Library system when we were at Clarenville, we could sign on and use it.
We caught up on email and made a Skype call to Labashi's parents. The library opened while we were working and we found they had a nice selection of used books. I bought three books and two DVDs for $1.50.
We then had a few more items to track down at the Wal-mart. We bought butane for the cookstove and chemicals for the Necessary. Finally, we decided we'd better finish off the bakeapples we bought a few days ago so we picked up a small ice-cream from the McDonald's and had bakeapple (cloudberry) sundaes in the van. Goood!
We then drove up back up the Burin Peninsula, now in the rain and getting heavier as we went north. Rain was still light when we passed something odd on the road and turned back for a better look. It was a road-killed beaver--- the first of those we've ever seen. The poor thing had apparently just been trying to cross the road between two ponds close to the road on each side when it was hit.
And on the subject of road-kill, there's very little of it in Newfoundland. We do see an occasional bloody spot where apparently somebody had a run-in with a moose but there's nothing there but a dark red mark-- no car parts, no moose parts. As we drive we see signs about how many moose hits there have been and it's clearly a big problem here. We try not to drive at night though we did have about an hour's worth of it on the way down to the ferry a few days ago. We notice that some of the locals have mounted driving lights on the roof-racks of their cars. And while we were driving that hour the other night we saw an oncoming pickup dim a spotlight he had mounted on his roof as we approached.
We made it to the Trans-Canada about 1700 and decided we might as well spend the night at the Clarenville Wal-mart. But then we remembered we're supposed to get strong winds tonight so with our fresh memory of the windy night at the St. John's airport Wal-mart, we carried on north to Lockston Path Provincial Park for some well-treed campsites. We arrived around 1930 and picked a well-protected site and settled in for the evening.
Labashi's reading 'Random Passage' and I've finished up 'Nine Dragons' and have started John Grisham's 'Ford County'.

---------------------------------------

Friday, 10 September-

After breakfast we checked out of the B&B and said a fond farewell to Ines. The rain and wind had stopped so we rode our bikes along the pier, walked out to the lighthouse (where we met a Frenchman visiting from Stasbourg and had a pleasant chat with him). We rode along the docks and then back through town to the Centre Commerciale where we continued looking at all the different foods and household goods.
We had lunch at the Hotel Robert where some of the other ferry passengers were passing the time.
The ferry was about a half-hour late but we had no problems boarding and our ride back across was rough at first but then smoothed out we neared Newfoundland. Neither of us was at all queasy on this trip even though we had six-foot seas for the first two-thirds of the ride.
We had a longish wait for Customs but cleared back into Canada with no problems. We retrieved Mocha Joe from his storage lot, loaded up the bikes and off we went.
On this fine evening we went into Grand Bank hoping to find a restaurant serving spaghetti but then realized we'd rather have Labashi's good spaghetti anyway, so we shopped at a Sobey's and went to nearby Frenchman's Cove Provincial Park for the night.
Frenchman's Cove was beautiful. We had it mostly to ourselves and on this sunny evening the pines and sea views were wonderful.
After our good spaghetti supper we took a long walk around the campground before retiring for the night.

-------------------------------------

Thursday, 9 September-

We had our B&B breakfast of very good French bread, small cheeses (the foil-wrapped kind), croissants, orange juice, and tea-- a very nice start to the day. It got even better when Ines informed us that we could stay another night if we wanted to. The windy day had caused the ferry to cancel so the guest who had reserved our room could not make it.
Unfortunately, we had the rain and wind for our weather today too. We walked down to the main street and checked out the stores, then as the rain got worse, went to the library.
We browsed a bit, then the librarian asked me if I'd like some English-language books and found three for me. One was a history of St. Pierre, another was about an incident in World War II there, and another was a novel about life on St. Pierre in its cod-fishing days. The history book was relatively small and had excellent historical photos so I read the entire thing in about an hour.
We then walked down to the harbor area and took a walk through the home-supply store. I liked seeing all the imported French appliances, furniture, door handles, electrical fittings, etc.
After lunch we went to the Archive Museum which had a very good section on St. Pierre history. Afterwards we stopped in a women's clothing store called 'The Twinkling of an Eye' (in French) where Labashi was unhappy to find the really nice French skirt she had seen and loved on the store window model didn't fit and turned out not to be French-made.
With the rain continuing to blow, we retreated to the library once again and were quite happy to do so. I read French motorcycling and boating magazines and loved seeing the pictures of models of both which are not available in the US.
That evening we had dinner at a restaurant downtown called 'Feu de Braise'. We had had a big meal last night so opted to share a Hawaiian pizza. After, we stopped in the bar downstairs and I had an Irish coffee and Labashi a very good porto.

------------------------------------

Wednesday, 8 September-

Something was up at the Wal-mart last night. The store closed around 2200 but I noticed several trucks had come in just before closing. One of them was a large pumping truck, i.e., a large cylinder with a pump mechanism on the back. That one backed up to the front doors of the Wal-mart and in a few minutes a very loud pumping sound began and we could see the five or six-inch hose leading into the Wal-mart shaking and bouncing.
This Wal-mart has a McDonald's on the side and I could see men going in with stepladders. I can't put two and two together and get four but whatever it was probably had to do with the McDonald's. The loud pumping lasted from 2200 to well past 2300. We of course didn't know when it was going to stop so we started talking about moving to somewhere else when the sound mercifully died away and all the trucks left, leaving the entire parking lot to us and us alone.
We woke early this morning and had a quick breakfast so we could get down to the ferry terminal in plenty of time. We had reservations to take the passenger ferry to St. Pierre, a French island 12 miles off the coast.
Since we were early we had time to visit the small visitor's center at Fortune (the town where the ferry departs). When I asked about wi-fi, the ladies staffing the center said I could get it at the RONA, which is a small version of a Home Depot. That seemed odd so after we pulled in and determined it was indeed a building supply store, I went in and asked if it was ok. The manager came out and said certainly it was okay and if we had any problems, just come in and we could use it inside the store or use one of their computers. Such friendly people, it's amazing.
The ferry is a passenger-only ferry so we had to leave Mocha Joe behind but we did take our folding bikes and we loaded the cooler with two bags of ice. We left Mocha Joe in a fenced parking lot which is locked at night so we felt very secure about leaving him for the duration. The ferry ride was $114 per person round trip and parking $8 a day.
Our ferry departed on time and within a few minutes of leaving the inner harbor it was already seeming like a long trip. The seas were at first coming at us head-on and that was okay but before long we turned and that gave the boat a motion that made us reach for the peppermints to combat our queasiness. Fortunately the peppermints settled us down for the hour-and-a-half ride.
St. Pierre and a few nearby islands have been in French hands off and on since the 1600's. They've been invaded several times but each time the negotiations afterward gave the island back to the French. It is a French territory in every way. It flies the official flag of France (and the European Union), uses the French 220-volt electrical standard (with the round plugs), has gendarmes for policemen, etc. etc. Most cars are French-- Peugeots and Citroens, though there were a few jacked-up American pickups.
When we bought our ferry tickets we were informed that the weather prediction for tomorrow suggested that the ferry would not be able to run due to high winds-- so we'd probably have to stay two nights instead of one. The ferry office also offered us a package deal for the round trip for two and a room for two nights at the Hotel Robert for $548. That didn't sound like much of a deal to us so we decided we'd take the chance that we'd be able to find a room in one of the B&Bs.
That decision worked out well for us. On the way over we met Nichole, a St. Pierre resident, who told us of 'Chez Ines', a small B&B run by her sister in law (Ines).
The tourist office contacted Ines but she only had a room for one night. We said we'd take it and look for another for the next night.
Ines' house was perfect. It was ultra-clean and neat and had been thoughtfully re-done to serve as a B&B. A kitchen and sitting room were downstairs for us and upstairs were three rooms, two doubles and a single. Ines' private rooms-- her sewing and computer room and her living/dining room, had doors which she could close off when she wasn't there.
Ines was wonderful. She greeted us warmly and made sure we had everything we needed. She took care of reservations for dinner at a nice restaurant even though it wasn't open. She had the private cell-phone number of the owner (who she knew well, of course). She had maps and directions and contacts and recommendations. All we had to do is say what we'd like to do.
One of our goals for the trip was simply to have some good authentic French bread and butter. Ines gave us directions to the bakery where we bought a baguette (for 85 centimes or about $1) but we had to bike ten minutes across town to the supermarket for butter. We used the ATM machine to get Euros and took our baguette and butter and a bottle of water to enjoy at picnic tables in small park along the bay. The weather was perfect sitting there enjoying our baguette and watching the bay.
We then took another bike ride around town, stopping at one point for a few Belgian chocolates and another to look at B&Bs for tomorrow night and another to peruse the extensive menu at tonight's restaurant.
We went back to the B&B for an hour or so, then walked down to the harbor as we approached time for our restaurant reservation. The restaurant (“L'Atelier Gourmand”) did not open for the evening meal until 7:30 and we had a reservation for that time. But at 7:30 the restaurant still was not open. At 7:35 a car zoomed up and parked out front, a woman hurried into the restaurant (our waitress, as it turned out) and the lights came on. Voila!
We had wine (of course), a demi-liter of white and one of red. For an appetizer Labashi had snow-crab and avocado layered into a light pastry. I had escargots and mushrooms and cream sauce in a pastry (EXCELLENT!). For dinner Labashi had lobster stew and I had filet mignon in Bearnaise sauce.
After dinner we walked back to our B&B quite contented.
********** END OF POST ************

Terra Nova National Park ; St. John's ; Cape Spear ; Colony of Avalon ; Cape Race ; Headed for France!

(posted from RONA (“The Canadian How-To People!) parking lot, Fortune, Newfoundland)
(This post covers September 3 – 7, 2010)

--------------------------------

Tuesday, 7 September-

We had a bit of a start last night. At 0130 Labashi woke me, saying she heard two men walk past the van. They had been talking until they came alongside the van, then went quiet. She hadn't seen any lights.
I pulled down the blackout curtain by my head and looked out the back but couldn't see a thing. The mystery of why they wouldn't have lights was solved once we saw the bright starlight. We could clearly see the Milky Way, even through our tinted windows, and stars filled the sky.
We listened for a bit and then Labashi started reading and I laid back down. After a half-hour or so we heard voices coming back toward us from the direction the men had gone and it turned out not to be two men but a man and a woman and they were showing flashlights now. They apparently had just taken a late walk up to the the little picnic grounds nearby.
We slept in a bit but were on the road by 0830. We drove back toward St. John's but our first stop was Butterpot Provincial Park. We used our annual pass to enter the day-use side of the park and cleaned out our ice-chest and re-stowed everything. We then drove over to the campground side and took showers.
We had talked with the ranger as we entered and learned we had seen a crime scene yesterday. As we drove down the Irish Loop we saw a large police van-- the size of a bookmobile-- coming toward us. We didn't think much of it, assuming they were just moving it from place to place or had used it in some weekend program.
But a few hours later we passed six or seven police vehicles alongside the road and saw they had the area cordoned off with police tape. Something big was up.
Well, we learned from the ranger what it was. It was a murder scene. A woman's body had been found by campers. The campers had been directed to a gravel-pit where they could camp free for the weekend. But they had not followed the directions properly and had accidently entered another gravel pit back an old overgrown road. While out looking for blueberries, they came upon the body.
The body turned out to be that of a 32-year-old woman who had gone missing from her home about five weeks ago. The live-in boyfriend had been a suspect in her disappearance but now that a body has been found, he is to be charged with her murder this morning. Police would not say what evidence they have to link him to her death.
After finishing up at Butterpot, we drove to the Mount Pearl Wal-mart where we had stayed a few days ago and made some phone calls from the payphone. I contacted an auto salvage yard in search of a second spare wheel and tire for our trip across the Trans-Labrador Highway. We've been hearing vague references to flats being a problem and know that the newest section of road which just opened this year is still reported to be pretty rough. On our 2008 trip up the Dempster Highway in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, we heard several stories of travelers having multiple flats. We had one there but it was on the way back and we were only 50 miles from civilization. For our trip up the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay, we 'rented' an extra spare. When I went to a junkyard to buy a spare, the guy said he'd sell it to me for $84 and would give me $42 for it upon my return.
We won't be coming back this way so I can't 'rent' a spare but I did get a tire and wheel for $60. At first the guy brought out a tire and wheel separately but when I said I had told him I needed a spare, he agreed to mount the tire though he said he couldn't guarantee it would hold air since he didn't have any sealant for the rim. I told him to go ahead. It likely will be just fine. I've mounted many tires without rim sealant. I'll just have to keep an eye on it for now and if the pressure goes down I'll have to get it fixed before we get on the Trans-Lab.
We then drove to the Marine Institute, hoping for a tour. Our guide book said tours are done in summer so we were taking a chance but I wanted to see the bookstore anyway. As it turned out we couldn't get a tour. Today was the first day of the new school year and things were chaotic. But I did very much enjoy looking through the books in the book store.
The Marine Institute, by the way, provides the training and certification of young men and women who want to staff ships (captains, navigators, marine mechanics, able-bodied seamen, cooks, etc) as well as organizations which deal with the marine environment (marine scientists, technicians, and policy and program managers and staff).
We then decided to 'get out of Dodge'. We drove west on the Trans-Canada Highway to the little crossroads of Goobie, where we turned south for the Burin Peninsula. Our goal is to go to France, hopefully tomorrow.
We made the Marystown Wal-mart by 2030 and settled in for the night.



------------------------------

Monday, 6 September-

Another perfect Newfoundland backcountry night-- not a sound, not a peep. After breakfast we drove out to the main road. Just before reaching the hard road I glanced over and saw a caribou discard, i.e., the antlers of a caribou which fell off after the mating season, about 50 yards away. Theh just happened to be perfectly lighted for me to see them. I was tempted to go get them but I'm sure the rules in the Provincial parks are the same-- no gathering of anything. And besides, where would I put a caribou rack in or on Mocha Joe? Maybe zip-tie them to the radiator grille and front bumper?
We then drove on Cape Race Road. Just before reaching the turnoff we passed a giant antenna which is a LORAN-C navigation transmitter. LORAN-C was the predecessor to GPS and has been supplanted by the much more accurate GPS system. We later learned (at the Wireless Interpretation Center) that the station had been installed in 1965 and it's shutting down this Fall. It once employed 35 technicians but the last remaining technician retires with the shutdown.
When Labashi and I helped our Maine sailing friend to sail his boat up from Baltimore to Maine, I used LORAN-C for navigation. It only gave us a position within a half-mile or so and at one point showed us in the middle of an island we were passing. As we approached Provincetown, I realized I had the opportunity to tune it to great accuracy. As we passed each channel marker, I'd make corrections and by the time we entered the harbor, the markers were right on the reading. Unfortunately, when we came by those same markers on the way out the next day, the LORAN positions for them had changed by hundreds of feet.
On our third or fourth trip we had one of the earliest Magellan hand-held GPS units. It worked well and gave us postions within 30 yards--- so long as it wasn't foggy (which of course it is on the New England coast). Just when you needed it most-- in a heavy fog-- the receiver would lose track of the satellites and thus our calculated position. So we used both LORAN and GPS (and dead reckoning) to stay out of trouble.
We drove back the long, rocky road to the Cape Race lighthouse. We were keeping an eye out for caribou but only saw a dozen whimbrels (aka curlews), a seashore bird with a long, delicately hooked beak.
At the lighthouse complex we found everything closed. But we had magnificent surroundings so sat there watching the ocean as we had an early lunch beside the Wireless Interpretation Centre.
As we began driving back, a four-wheeler coming toward us and signalled us to stop. Would we like to see the Interpretation Centre? It was two local women who apologized for their late start today but explained that winter hours had now started with the Labour Day holiday. We met them inside and had a very nice conversation about Newfoundland and what we've been up to. And guess what? They know the Bonnie we met last night at Chance Cove so we had a laugh at that small-world coincidence.
The Wireless Interpretation Centre is a reconstruction of the Marconi ship-to-shore radiotelegraph station which was first built here in 1904. After Marconi made his first trans-atlantic radio contact from Signal Hill at St. John, communications stations such as this one were set up.
Prior to this new technology, there was an amazing system for getting the news from Europe. A New York newspaper had made arrangements for ship's captains to be paid to sail close to the Newfoundland coast and drop off news messages in small tin cylindrical canisters (about four inches in diameter and about 16 inches long) with a red flag on them. Local fishermen, in turn, were paid to pick up the canisters and take them to a telegraph office.
This system, believe it or not, enabled the paper to beat its rivals to the news flashes from Europe by four days!
Once the ship-to-shore radiotelegraph system was set up, the Cape Race station radio operators would receive the news by morse code, write it out, and then give the message to a land-telegraph operator on site.
Cape Race, then, became the key communications hub for both news and for personal telegraphs from and to coming and going transatlantic ships. In 1920, the station earned $82,000 doing this!
It was also Cape Race that received the first distress call from the Titanic, which sank 360 miles southeast of here. The Cape Race lead operator and the Titanic lead operator had known each other and had been in communications earlier in the day. But at 10:25 PM, the CQD message came was received. 'CQD' was a predecessor of 'SOS' and reportedly meant 'Come Quick, Danger'. The Titanic operator did get off the ship but perished before rescue.
The building we were in also has a ham radio shack. One corner of the room is still used by amateur radio enthusiasts and particularly by Dave Myrick, a descendant of the Myricks who were the lighthouse keepers for many years.
The Cape Race lighthouse is now closed to visitors. The story is – and I don't quite understand this-- that the light has something containing liquid mercury and the mercury is slowly leaking mercury. A technician reportedly told the interpretive center staff that the repair crew won't go in at this time of year because the mercury vapors are strong but once the weather turns cold, they'll be able to go in. I don't know-- that story needs some verification.
In any case, the big fresnel lens in wrapped in a blue tarp and a much smaller light fixture has taken over the job of notifying mariners where Cape Race is.
As we toured the Interpretive Centre I saw a familiar looking page. It was a listing from Geocaching.com regarding a geocache hidden nearby. We wrote down the coordinates and after our visit, we put the coordinates in our GPS and searched for the cache. We found it easily and logged out visit. The container was an old ammo can and contained the regular stuff-- the log book, a Canadian flag on a stick, a Molson bottle opener, etc. We didn't take anything and left only our log entry-- the visit is enough.
We then drove the 19 miles back to the hard road and visited the South Portugal Interpretive Centre. There we learned more about the fossils of the Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve which ran along the road to the lighthouse. The fossils there are very special-- reportedly the oldest in the world at 565 million years. We watched a good film about a project to cast the main fossil-bed with RTV silicone rubber in order to have a record of them before they deteriorate any more. They were formed when volcanic ash killed all life in the area at the time and this layer turned into a rock formation and was later uplifted and even later revealed. The site is under consideration for a UNESCO World Heritage designation.
We then continued our way along the Irish Loop, following the coastline and seeing ocean views at every turn.
At one point, though, we turned inland and crossed miles of barrens. And before long we saw two cars stopped in the opposite lane-- watching a caribou stag! This was our first caribou of the trip and he was a magnificent one... very healthy looking and with a great rack of antlers.
We continued around the Cape and eventually came to St. Mary's where we stopped at the Claddagh Inn Tea Room for a spot of tea, m'dear. We each had a cup of tea and two fresh-berry desserts-- partridge berry and backapple (aka cloudberry). Delicious!
We drove north along St. Mary's Bay as the day wound down, finally stopping at Father Duffy's Well, a local landmark. It's also called Father Duffy's Traveler's Rest and is essentially a pulloff with a natural spring, picnic tables, and a groomed walking trail. We thought we'd have supper and then decide whether to go further tonight.
But after supper we instead took a walk on the walking trail and then returned to the van to blog and read. I'm reading a Michael Connelly murder-mystery called 'Nine Dragons' and Labashi's reading 'Random Passage' (and loving it already).

------------------------------

Sunday, 5 September -

Very early this morning-- about 0130 – the winds picked up. They are apparently the leftovers from Hurricane / Tropical Storm Earl. The wind was blowing perpendicular to the van and would occasionally give us a good jolt. After putting up with it awhile I finally got up and moved us into the wind shadow of a building at the end of the Wal-mart lot. Much better! But I really do need to find a way to stabilize the van in windy situations-- for those times there's nothing to hide behind.
After breakfast we drove to nearby Quidi Vidi Village, a picturesque fishing village very close to St. John's. We then looked up Memorial University and drove through, just getting a feel for the area. The university area had many upscale homes and lots of people out walking or jogging on this fine Sunday morning. Nice.
We drove through downtown St. John's and then on to the Irish Loop on the Avalon Peninsula. We were only a few miles out of St. John's and first went through a few miles of small farm fields (we don't see many of those in Newfoundland), then the miles and miles of spruce lands with an ocean view.
Our first stop was La Manche Provincial Park where we used our annual pass to enter for lunch and showers. The campground was filled and each campsite seemed to be parked full of cars and have a dozen kids milling around on their bicycles in the narrow little campground road. What a zoo!
After lunch we continued down the loop to Ferryland, site of an archeological dig called 'Colony of Avalon'. It was here that Lord Calvert established a year-round community in 1621. It wasn't until 1628, though, that Sir George Calvert (later Lord Baltimore) himself arrived with his family. That winter happened to be an extra-hard one and Sir Calvert decided to take his family south and start a new colony in Virginia. The Avalon colony continued for years under others until burned by the French in 1696.
Our tour showed us that the site is still actively being dug, though the work crew was off for the holiday weekend. It's exciting to see relics dug up just weeks ago instead of, say, thirty years ago. This site is truly a treasure-trove of information about English colonization, both in terms of relics and building foundations.
After our tour we drove up the dirt road to a parking lot for Ferryland Head Lighthouse. We walked the mile-or-so to the lighthouse and learned of the Lighthouse Picnic tradition. Two ladies started a business offering fresh-made sandwiches (with accompaniments) in picnic baskets for the enjoyment of visitors.
We had eaten just a bit ago so didn't have a picnic lunch but I couldn't resist trying a tea-cake (this one sort of a dark-chocolate covered marshmallow) and a caramel roll (covered in toasted coconut-- yummy!). Also, Labashi found the book version of 'Random Passage'. We hear the book story is different than the tv series and both are very good.
After our walk back to the van we continued south to Chance Cove Provincial Park. This one is a bit strange in that it's four miles back a fairly rough dirt road and it has no attendant and no facilities. It's just a parking lot beside a grassy area overlooking a small bay. It has walking trails but no water or toilet facilites.
Since we're self-contained, it was perfect for us but we had a problem—- the parking lot was jammed! There was hardly room to turn around. Fortunately we had noticed a small hunter's camping spot about a half-mile back so we moved there. It was even better than the big lot because it's surrounded by trees and shelters us from the strong winds we've been having all day-- not to mention the sounds of generators and radios from neighbors.
After supper Labashi and I walked down to the seaside walking trail and walked out a half-mile or so. We met four very Irish local women, two of whom were in the process of replacing a geocache container they had just found. We spent the better part of an hour with them, getting acquainted and having a laugh. They were Bonnie, Janette, Pam, and Janette's daughter.
We then walked back to Mocha Joe and blogged and read.

---------------------------------------

Saturday, 4 September-

We had a mostly-quiet night in the Mount Pearl Wal-mart lot. I say ‘mostly’ because some fool decided to listen to loud music in the same parking lot at about 0400. Fortunately the music was good and the listener’s enthusiasm only lasted a few songs so we were able to drift back to sleep about a half-hour later.
After breakfast we went into the Wal-mart and used the telephone book to look up auto salvage shops in the area. I’m in the market for another spare tire for the Trans-Labrador Highway portion of the trip. I have a spare and I have my tire-plugging kit but we’re hearing rumblings of flat-tire problems on the Trans-Lab. One lady told us she has been on that road and didn’t have problems but had friends who had three flats—and that’s on one trip.
I tried calling four or five of the auto salvage shops but apparently they’re all closed for the holiday weekend. If we aren’t in the St. John’s area next week, we’ll be passing back through on the way back from the southern portion of Newfoundland in a week or two.
We then drove to Cape Spear to see the lighthouse and national historic site. We arrived a half-hour before things opened but took a walk along the sea cliffs. After a half-hour or so Labashi spotted two whale spouts about a half-mile offshore. We followed them south along the coast for 20 minutes or so. We only had a glimpse of their black bodies but the spouts were quite distinctive and would hang in the air for some time, making it easy for us to direct each other to them.
We then toured the light-tender’s cottage. It has been restored as faithfully as possible to about 1839. The one very odd fact we learned was that the restoration crew had removed 167 layers of wallpaper. We double-checked that we heard correctly—yes, 167 layers. I can’t imagine….
At the gift shop we bought a DVD set of the mini-series ‘Random Passage’, a story of an Irish servant girl who comes to Newfoundland in the old days, We’re heard good things about it and tried to find it in the Blockbuster and in the Clarenville Library without success.
After lunch in Mocha Joe we drove into St. John’s to ‘The Rooms’, a well-regarded museum. The name refers to a cod-fishing family’s holdings. In addition to their dwelling they’d have a wharf, a ‘stage’ for cleaning the fish, ‘flakes’ (fish drying racks), a ‘store’ or place to store the salted flakes, and a net-mending shed and tool shed.
We saw exhibits about various aspects of Newfoundland history. A special exhibit told us of Sir Alfred Grenfell, who was a doctor and missionary to white and Innu families in Labrador. Another explained the long history of Cupid’s, a community on the sea north of St. John’s. We had just missed by a week the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Cupid’s.
We also saw geologic, animal, and bird specimens as well as extensive displays of the Beothuks and ancient Innu and Inuit.
We also saw four or five art exhibits but didn’t find them compelling.
As we prepared to leave we checked the menu at the museum’s café and decided to stay to try two Newfie specialties. Labashi had salt-cod cakes and I had tautens-and-beans. The cakes were similar to crab-cakes but were made of both cod and a small amount of mashed potatoes. They were delicately spiced and had no sense of saltiness about them (the salt had been washed out in the preparation). They were served with a mustard-mayo dip and a fresh mixed salad.
Tautons are a pan-fried dough, each about the size of a golf ball flattened on two sides. A small bowl of baked-beans in a molasses sauce is provided as is a side of black molasses and four applewood sausages. The tautens themselves were good but everything tasted wonderful with a bit of the black molasses on it.
We then drove down to the waterfront and parked at the end of famous George Street. It’s known for its nightlife but was quiet since it was late afternoon. We walked Water Street to see all the shops and restaurants. We ducked into several art galleries and clothing stores, too.
As we wrapped up our walk we decided we’d try one more Newfoundland specialty—cod tongues. Velma’s Restaurant on Water Street is known for its authentic home-town specialties and had the cod tongues as either an appetizer or meal. Perfect.
Cod tongues are actually a fleshy protuberance in the mouth and throat of the cod. They are lightly breaded and spiced, then deep-fried briefly. They--- about eight of them—were served on a lettuce leaf and accompanied by scrunchions and a small container of tartar sauce. Scrunchions, you may remember, are deep-fried pork-rind pieces—each about the size of a pencil eraser head. They are salty and a bit acrid in taste—but that’s okay since you only take one or two at a time and zest-up (zestify?) the light tastes of the cod-tongue. The consistency of the cod-tongue is similar to a scallop that has gone a bit rubbery. But with the delicate spices and light breading, they’re pretty good. Then again, I don’t think I’m going to ask for them again!
After walking back to the van we drove to Signal Hill, another of the must-see things to do in St. John’s. We visited the interpretation center and then drove to the top of Signal Hill, which was a military site for the protection of St. John’s harbor.
The view from the top is terrific. In one direction we could see far out into the Atlantic and we could see a fog bank slowly envelope Cape Spear, where we had been this morning. In another direction extend the suburbs of St. John’s on rolling hills. And in another direction is the harbor and downtown.
We arrived about an hour before dark so had plenty of time to walk around the top of the hill and then sit in the van to enjoy a wee dram of Bailey’s while we people-watched. With the holiday weekend we had many classic cars and motorcycles parading by and they were interesting in themselves.
At dark, we punched in the address of the east-side Wal-mart and drove there for the night. We blogged and read the evening away.

-----------------------------------------

Friday, 3 September-

We woke early and were on the road by 0730. We drove from our campground at Malady Head to Eastport and then Burnside, the latter a location of an archeological museum. We were too early though, so we settled for a quick dip into a Beothuk teepee. This one represented the early teepees in that it had no vertical wall. It consisted of 28 poles, the inner frame laid together in the normal manner, then covered with birch bark (the preferred covering) and more poles locking the birch bark in place. The Beothuk were also reported to have used animal skins at times and there are reports from as early as 1615 of Europeans seeing Beothuk teepees covered with sailcloth!
We then drove out to the village of Salvage, a very picturesque fishing village which claims to be the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America. The roads are very narrow and we feel like we're intruding just to drive the narrow little road with the houses so close to it, they seem to lean out over the road. The houses are all kept in very good repair, all with newish vinyl siding and multiple-paned vinyl windows. And generally the fishing sheds are also kept in good repair and they're almost always painted red, many of them exhibiting the ochre color of their historic roots. Ochre is available locally and at one time the locals made paint from ochre powder and cod-liver oil.
We then drove back to the TCH (Trans-Canada Highway) and continued through Terra Nova National Park to Clarenville. We shopped for some vehicle-related needs at the Canadian Tire, gassed up, and then looked up the local library. There was no library within 100 miles according to the GPS but our contact at the visitor's center had given us directions to this library hiding back a dirt road. This one turned out to be quite a delight. The wi-fi connection was fast, they had the local and St. John's newspapers, and they had a Newfoundland and Labrador section. We spent a few hours just enjoying the library.
Late in the afternoon we packed up and headed for St. John's. We used the GPS to find the Wal-mart and then used the phone book to find a local Blockbuster (note: Canadian Wal-marts don't have Redboxes yet). We checked on several Newfoundland titles we had learned about in the library but the Blockbuster didn't have them in stock. But they did have “The Shipping News”, the 2001 film adaptation of Annie Proulx's book of the same name. We had seen it years ago but thought we'd like to see it again.



******** END OF POST *************