Marcia, Cam and Me at the Brigus Tunnel

Brigus

Blueberry Crisp in Brigus

Sunset at Clark's Beach

Marcia and Me

St. Pierre Lighthouse

Strolling down the street

The Island of St. Pierre

Island of St. Pierre

Wednesday we went to France - sort of. The Kings, Murrays and Warrens all decided to visit St. Pierre's while we were in the area. Wednesday we took the long drive down to Fortune and the ferry and crossed over in about 2 hours. It would have been shorter, but the catamaran is broken.

Upon our arrival we checked into the Hotel Robert and ordered a minibus tour of the island. It took us about an hour to see the whole thing. There are approximately 6,000 people living there (plus 5,000 in the cemetery). Add 150 horses owned by young girls, and a few government officials from France (as well as a few gendarmes also imported for about 2 years each) and there you have it.

I was most impressed by the colorful houses. It's as if they take all of the prettier colors from the crayon box and put them in a basket. Blindfolded, they pick two or three colors from the basket and that's what colors they have to paint their house. Certainly not boring!

After the tour we took off to a local bar for some wine and then went to a restaurant for dinner.

The dinner was fabulous, although the desserts were only adequate. And, the bill took forever to straighten out. But, the dinner was fabulous. I had prawns with vegetables risotto. YUM!

The next morning (yesterday) we awakened and had a continental breakfast at our hotel. The pastries came from the local bakery (where we also bought bread to take home) and it was delicious. Then, we walked around the town for awhile until it was time for the ferry. It was a most enjoyable trip.

St. Johns - The End of the Lind

What a caravan this has been and it's almost over. The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity. During the entire caravan everyone has tried to do and see as much as possible. At the last few stops there has been a lot to see and do.

After we returned from Woody Island we still had to visit the Bonavista peninsula and the striped lighthouse, puffins, Random Passage filming site, Trinity, etc. Did it. Loved the tour of the Random Passage set. The puffins were adorable and the striped lighthouse was pretty cute. And, best of all, Hurricane Bill fell apart and we only had a bit of wind and quite a lot of water.

But, then it was off to Clark's Beach, so it didn't affect us much. Our first night there we had a nice dinner at the Canadian Legion and learned that Nancy, our resident shopper and bead jewelry artist extraordinaire had won the lottery - to the tune of $100,000. She and Sarge are very happy campers and we are all thrilled for them. We all feel that the only way we could be happier is to win it for ourselves!

My favorite part of Clark's Beach was the town of Brigus, right next door. Such a quaint and charming place, not to mention that one of our favorite meals was eaten there. Cod chowder and blueberry crisp. Especially the blueberry crisp - with blueberry sauce and blueberry ice cream! Heavenly...

Nor Cal Members ready for the Woody Island ferry

Arriving on Woody Island

When Fireweed turns to cotton, summer is forgotten

Larry dancing with a Mummer on Woody Island

Returning from Woody Island

The only moose some of our members have seen

Woody Island Adventure

Friday was our Woody Island overnight adventure. We left in the morning for the boat dock and took the short ride over to the island.

Once there, we were given our room assignments and then served lunch of soup, bread and toutons with "lassie" (molasses) for dessert.

Since we are supposedly still young and agile, we were given the small triplex building with Chuck and Maggie and Ted and Donna. Ted and Donna had the "bridal suite" with its own bathroom and the rest of us shared. Our little building is over 100 years old and very cute, but...don't ask me how I slept!

Activities for us included hiking down the path to the cemeteries and hiking down the path to the beach.

Ted and Al managed to find more "treasures" from the beach. Donna told Ted he could only take things he could fit in his pockets. Boy, were his pockets stretched!

The beach at Salvage

Waterfront at Salvage

Marcia's decorated gourds

Larry Jones and his bird skeleton hat

Shirley and her new friend

Eastport to Clarenville

We head out this morning for our next stop - Clarenville. Eastport was a very wet stop and we didn't do a lot of sightseeing while we were here.

But, we had a great cookout last night and a local man brought in his Newfoundland dog to show us. He was very slobbery and I just missed getting a big, wet kiss! And, I smelled like him for the rest of the evening.

The laundry was good, the WiFi great, a fellow camper entertained us the first night with her singing and guitar, we had room to spread out and play Joker, etc. All was not lost.

Our next spot is dry camping for 4 nights, but for the better part of two days we'll be at Woody Island Resort. We're with Group 1 and leave tomorrow morning for our big adventure.

All the while we're keeping an eye on Hurricane Bill, who lurks down the Atlantic Coastline.

Hopefully, our trip to the French island of St. Pierre will still be a "go".

Eastport

We are now in Eastport and it's raining. Puts a damper on any plans for outdoor activities. We hope tomorrow will be sunny and then we'll take the ferry to St. Brendan Island.

Yesterday's journey yesterday was short, but eventful. Shortly after leaving, Larry discovered he had no trailer brakes. We pulled over at the rest area/lookout and checked. Sure enough, the line was severed (again). A vegetable stand was set up at the lookout, so he went over and asked the proprietor if there was a repair shop available in the town below. He said he'd call his friend and the guy showed up several seconds later; he and wife and son were already on their way to get some fresh vegetables for their dinner. He got the vegetables and then led us down to the town and his shop. About an hour later we left with a repaired brake line. We then headed out of town, but stopped briefly to see if we could spot a couple of beached whales at the shoreline. They'd already been towed back out to deeper water and we did see the fin on one of them.

After all that, we still weren't late in arriving into the RV park. Dinner was at the Canadian Legion Hall and we enjoyed a Jiggs Dinner, very much like the brunch we'd had the day before in Gander at the airport. Everyone loved the desserts, especially since we were able to get seconds! We liked Rosie's Bakery and Cafe (and gift shop) also and got two T-shirts.

Gander

Gander is the site of the largest military plane disaster in US history. In 1985 a plane carrying soldiers returning home from the middle east crashed into the lakeside shortly after take-off.

We visited the museum and the crash site itself yesterday. There is still a lot of controversy about the actual cause and we may never know the answers. What they did know was sealed for 70 years.

Gander was also an emergency landing center after 911. Planes from all over were forbidden to enter US airspace, so diverted to Gander instead. This town of 10,000 grew exponentially overnight and the details can be read in a book, The Day the World Came to Gander, or something like that, anyway. Several people we talked to yesterday and the day before related their stories about it.

Traveling On

This is our last day in Twillingate and we've been blessed by sunny weather.

Yesterday we all toured a fishing museum. We learned all about the fishing industry from a local, whose father was a fisherman (although he, himself, was a schoolteacher). Later he took Sarge, Chuck and Ted out for a fishing trip. Not only did they catch fish, they saw whales. The icebergs have almost all melted.

Last night was a dinner theatre experience for 12 of us in Crow Head, not far from our campground. It was very funny, although I'd heard most of the jokes before from Readers' Digest.

It did not detract from our enjoyment in the least and the dinner was excellent.

Today is a free day and tonight we have another caravan cookout. My cooking duties were over long ago, so we just get to eat and enjoy from now on.

Susan King says Twillingate is her favorite Newfoundland place and Chuck and Maggie are already planning to come back here another year. Susan and Jamie are on their third Viking Trail caravan and Donna and Jim Wilkins are on their second. It's definitely worth a return trip, but for us it's so very FAR from home. As some of their T-shirts proclaim: Newfoundland: Been there, Going Back.

Yesterday I tried twice to call Mom and wish her a happy birthday, but she wasn't home. I did get through to Roxy on I-Chat and we had a nice video visit. I highly recommend it, but the time differences here are a bit problematic.

The group is getting very well acquainted with Newfoundland music and can sing along quite adequately. We're going to be singing along with our CD's all the way home.

Caravan Hardships

Newfoundlanders have endured incredible hardships during their long history. St. Johns is the oldest city in North America and the Vikings' ruins have been unearthed near St. Anthony. Until the 60's or 70's, they didn't even have electricity. We have noticed that people here do not have cell phones attached to their ears at all times. Possibly due to the lack of service up here.

On the caravan we have also had our hard times. Not all of our RV parks have electricity, water, sewer or WiFi. Sometimes (like now) we have to sit in the basement of the office while we do our laundry and check our email.

The roads are not all good. When we get to a new place, we often find our belongings in the trailer have shifted and can come crashing out at us when we open the doors. Yesterday my pitcher of grape juice spilled all over the rug and floor. If I were home, I could take it out to the driveway and hose it off, but alas, it's a drizzly day and would never dry.

Several weeks ago I thawed some fish and then stored it in the refrigerator until it was time to cook. The trailer still smells a bit like fish.

One day the roads were so bad and full of potholes that Marcia Murray's pedometer registered steps taken while she sat in her seat!

I could go on, but don't want to depress you all - especially those of you who are enjoying triple digit temperatures and nice swimming pools. We shall survive!

Twillingate

We recently arrived in Twillingate after a fairly short drive from Grand-Falls Windsor. With Cam and Marcia, we stopped at the Titanic exhibit in Norris Arm. Excellent display. Now we are in the Bay of Isles where we are supposed to be able to see whales and icebergs. We saw a whale yesterday while visiting a Heritage Center and eating lunch on their back deck.

Last night we attended a dinner theatre where "I Will Survive" was the entertainment. Our wait staff also doubled as the stars of the show and we thoroughly enjoyed it. During the audience participation segment, we contributed Sally Jones, Beth Jones and Chuck Helwig to the Disco Dance Contest. Two Canadian men also danced, but our very own Beth won the coveted T-Shirt which proclaims on the back, "I Won the Disco Dance Contest at I Will Survive" or something like that. She'll be swimming in it, as it's an XL.

Tonight we have another dinner at the Masonic Lodge with entertainment by Karen Churchill.

Al and Gracie say she's very good. We're going to be hauling home a lot of CD's from the entertainers we've listened to here. All have been very personable and enjoyable.

Some thoughts on Newfoundland and Labrador: It's one province and Canada's newest.

Most of the houses have new vinyl siding and it makes everything look quite new and fresh. Most colors are light and it's a government stimulus program.

Laundry hangs on clotheslines and I have been trying to photograph "the perfect line of clothes" I keep looking and taking pictures.

Moose are hard to spot and not all of our caravaners have seen one so far.

The people are wonderful and VERY friendly. Up in this area, their accents are "thicker".

Every view is worthy of its own picture postcard. I've taken thousands of pictures so far. I have no idea how I'm going to sort them all out to make them viewable or shareable.

Where Am I

I think we're in Springdale and tomorrow will leave for Windsor-Grand Island, I believe. It's not very far away.

Two days ago we were deparkers, meaning we checked the departing rigs for safety checks. While on duty, we had a conversation with the campground owner, Girard, who told us he had a house near where we'd be going and to come on by for a fish fry that evening. We, Jamie and Susan King (who'd pretty much orchestrated the whole thing) and Beth and Ed Jones decided we'd take him up on his offer.

At 5:00, we set forth to go visit Girard. We probably gave the poor man a heart attack when we showed up. One should not dangle the promise of food in front of an Airstreamer and expect him to forget about it later. He had three other couples as guests and they were boiling lobster. We'd brought our own drinks and a bag of pretzel chips, so we didn't starve, but after a couple of hours of delightful conversation, we made our excuses and headed for a nearby restaurant. The food was delicious and we all loved the crepes for dessert. They were stuffed with ricotta cheese and topped with Partridgeberry jam and whipped cream. Yummy!

Things to see and do in the area include a wonderful pottery store. We can never resist pottery and got some lovely pieces. I also visited a quilt shop downtown and met some charming ladies there and at the Womens' Institute where they do hand weaving and longarm machine quilting.

We bought a set of woven placemats.

Near the pottery studio is a general store run by Dulcie (widowed 5 years ago, but she has 2 sons and runs the vegetable farm and store by herself. Words to describe the place escape me.

She has a little bit of everything and no prices on anything; she just knows. Or, maybe she just guesses because Maggie got a very good price on a Boyds Bear.

The accents are heavier in this area and we've all been called M'Dear and M'Darling or M'Love many many times. And, they mean it.

Last night we had a mussel boil (they steamed pots of mussels for us at the campground) and then a singer-guitarist played for us. Shirley and Marcia swatted mosquitos in time to the music with an occasional loud slap that was thrown in for good measure. They were vicious!

The mosquitos, not Marcia and Shirley - although they swatted with a vengeance, that's for sure.

Yesterday we also hiked up to Rattling Brook Falls - many many steps worth of a climb. Today a weaving demonstration down at the Womens' Institute is planned at 1:00 and we have a cookout tonight - I believe it's baked potatoes and chili because I've had meatballs and bell peppers stored in my refrigerator all week. Some caravaners have empty refrigerators at all times, but I'm not one of them; I had to squeeze them in.

In talking to Girard's guests, we found that they are native Newfoundlanders, but have not done a lot of traveling around this province. Two stops from now we'll be at Twillingate and they said they've never been there, since they never stray from TCH 1. Many of them do travel to the states and quite a few of the retired residents winter in Florida. This is a homecoming year, so many natives are returning home to see relatives and friends this summer.

Deer Lake

This has been a great stop. The WiFi is the best ever. We all got our laundry done - and trailers, trucks and motor homes. Yesterday the weather was hot and sunny. Entertainment last night next to Larry and Martha's site. An accordian player/ singer came and played for several hours.

He made a killing, selling his CD's. A very nice guy and he'll make a return trip tonight.

We also went to Richard Squires Provincial Park to see the salmon jump. Boy, did they. I'll post pictures later, but they are very visible. We also took wildflower pictures and will determine later what exactly they are.

This morning we walked across the highway to the "Newfoundland Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion". Great displays, especially of the any colony and bee hive. They also had some very interesting bugs.

This afternoon it's back to Meyers Minerals to check out the Laboradorite jewelry one last time before moving on. I got a pendant and earrings last time. We'd have gone yesterday, but there was stalled traffic, probably due to an accident. Not a lot of roads around here, although this has been a more populous town. Yesterday we stopped at an antique shop and I found a Norwegian sewing box with rosemaling on the top. We'd seen one very much like it when we went to Little Norway in Wisconsin. I think the owner wanted to get rid of it because he practically gave it to us.

Port au Choix

From St. Anthony we drove to Port au Choix, a relatively uneventful trip with the exceptions of a very bumpy (roadwork) road and the viewing of portions of two separate moose - one by Larry and one by me.

Nothing new about the weather, either. It was getting increasingly colder from the high of almost 80 degrees. When we arrived at the campground the winds had picked up considerably. By the time Barry and Shirley arrived it was a torrential downpour with heavy heavy wind. We all spent our afternoons doing similar activities (all indoor). Napping, reading, listening to the rain and wind, etc. What a storm! Beachfront property, but no one could enjoy it.

Dinner at the motel that night was delicious and by the dinners' end, the rain had also stopped.

The owner gave a talk after our meal and told of her life in Newfoundland. Her ancestry is French, but no family member speaks a word of French. She was one of 21 children and had fond childhood memories of her siblings and parents, although she said life wasn't easy.

The next day we toured the Heritage Center and Interpretive Center and Philip's Garden by the Sea. Also took some lighthouse pictures. We very much enjoyed Pierre's talk at the Interpretive Center, as he was determined to tell us everything he knew! We all really enjoyed the gift shop as well.

Moose Stew

On our last night in St. Anthony we had a moose stew dinner, thanks to Larry and Martha Jones, who went to great lengths in obtaining the meat. It's a long story, but basically they got the meat from a woman who cuts meat. They were given her name by a couple they met in a restaurant and went to Bird Cove to find her. We were in the information center/museum when they came by and asked the workers if they knew her. They did and proceeded to call her. She wasn't home, but they called a few neighbors and managed to locate her. Larry and Martha were then taken to her home and she produced a small roast. They said that it wouldn't be big enough for 40 people, so she called some friends and they managed to come up with enough moose meat to feed a hungry crowd. Since it is illegal to sell moose meat, they gave it to them for free. Later we all signed a "thank-you" card to them and the caravan donated to their local charity.

Sid and Sally and Carol and Charlie also had a tale to tell about their Labrador experience. When we all regrouped on the ferry at the end of the day, they were ecstatic about their boat ride to see a glacier. They'd been viewing it from ashore when a young boy approached them and asked if they'd like to go see it up close. Would they!!! He said his dad could take them - for free, but they refused that offer and eventually agreed that $10 a person would be a very fair price. They have lots of pictures and Carol and Sally even shared a drink from a piece they broke off. The boat also took them between the two pieces of ice - one that had broken off.

That was undoubtedly the highlight of their trip and they doubt anything can top it - ever!

Deer Lake

We've had many adventures during the past week. After Rocky Harbour and Gros Morne National Park we drove far North to St. Anthony.

Our first night's dinner was at the Great Viking Feast. The food was good and we caravaners provided most of the entertainment. Larry Jones and Gracie Buchanan were brought before the court on charges. Larry's was that he deliberately fed an ant to a pitcher plant, which then digested it. He also walked on the bog after Lorna, the naturalist, told him not to do so. Gracie's crime was her continual use of the Canadian word, EH? They both survived the punishments and we all had a good time at their expenses.

Icebergs were in the area, so we spent a great deal of time chasing them. Unless they're grounded, they don't stay in one place.

Monday 12 couples took off for Labrador for the day. Our ferry boat was in St. Barbe - about a 2 hour drive from our RV park, so we left early to catch the 10:30 boat. Even saw a whale on the way. Thankfully, we had a beautiful sunshiny day. Chuck was our driver while on Labrador and we went up to Red Bay and visited the Point Amour Lighthouse. There wasn't much time for anything else. On the way back home we saw several moose and got some great pictures.