Day 61 - St. Anthony, Newfoundland

It is another travel day to St. Anthony on this Monday, July 30th.  Wow, the month is just about over!  Not too much happens while we are going from Point A to Point B but we still try to do a little sightseeing.  We drove 235 miles on one road - all the way.  Couldn't get lost.  No animals were seen today along the road - darn!!

We traveled along the Gulf of the St. Lawrence so we saw a lot of typical fishing villages and docks for their boats - small or large.  The water was very calm again today.  If there was a whale out there, we would have certainly seen them.  We stopped at the Arches Provincial Park and did a little walking around just to stretch.  Some day that arch will no longer be standing - how sad.



We stopped at a museum in Port au Choix that told about the history of the Maritime Archaic Indians.  It was quite interesting.  Bottom left is a picture of what they thought they would look like.  We then stopped at Port Richie to see the Lighthouse where we eventually sat back and enjoyed the view of the gulf and even a couple whales. 

Picture of the Day!!

Anthony, my Dad's name, is special to me.   His spirit would be sailing if he was on this trip with us.

God Love him! 

Day 60 - Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland

Off we go again – no rest for the wicked – this Sunday, July 29.  It is 8:30 and five of us are driving North to Western Brook Pond for another boat cruise through the Fjords.  However, before we even get to the dock, we had to walk a good 45 minutes on the trail.  Nothing like getting our exercise.
Info regarding this lake:  Most of the water comes from clear, cold, mountain streams.  Resistant bedrock, a small drainage basin, sparse plant cover and limited human use give Western Brook Pond some of the purest water on the planet.

There was a small pond on our way to the lake and already you can see the reflections.  This is a picture of our boat we took to cruise the lake. It was a beautiful smooth outing.  The water was like glass – not a ripple until we turned at the end of the lake to return back to the dock.

The reflections were so dynamic that it was hard to distinguish between the surface and the water.  One thing that wasn’t a reflection was the Bear – so exciting.  This is something we certainly didn’t expect to see.  There was also a baby duck  that got separated from her Mom and couldn’t fly.  We watched her flutter across the water to no avail – finally gave up and rested.  There were quite a few waterfall sightings.

Couple more waterfalls.  They were amazing as they start up so high that the water never gets down into the lake or if they do, not enough to add to the lake.  A picture of the five of us that took the cruise -  Bruce, Roni, Fran, Wendy and Wayne.  Another set of chairs and these aren’t the cheap plastic ones either.  We sat and had lunch after our cruise before our walk back to the car.

Bruce and I decided to take another hike since it was so beautiful.  We hiked to the base of the Gros Morne Mountain – over 2 hours.  It was hot, humid with no breeze.  Starting out at 2 p.m. wasn’t one of our better ideas.  Bruce can walk in the heat, but I don’t do that well.  The trail consisted of a lot of rocks and various sets of stairs.  It took us almost 1 ½ hours to get there (I'm just talking to the base not the top of the mountain like what Bruce did yesterday) and 50 minutes on the return trip which was downhill.  We met a lot of people coming down off the mountain and they all commented on how tough the hike was.  We saw many children from age 6 on up that did the hike (Bless their Hearts), but our Hiker of the Day was Baby Jeromy – l0 months old – that did the hike on the back of his Daddy in a backpack baby carrier.  I couldn’t believe he would take this baby with him and his wife was pregnant with Baby #2 and she did the hike as well.  Crazy in my book.  It was dangerous just doing the part I did as it was so easy to slip and fall.

When we got back to our campground, we were informed that we had 45 minutes to get cleaned up and eat before we headed to the theater to see a local play.  Unfortunately, it was further away than expected so we had to leave earlier and had to really rush.  We made it but a nice cool drink would have helped.  The play, as it turned out, was okay.  The best part of the evening was driving back and seeing a moose on the side of the road.  By the time, we were able to stop, the moose moved further into the bushes so Bruce was only able to get a picture of his head – one big dude!!

It was a great stay here in Rocky Harbour and hopefully, with all the hiking, we were able to shed some of the calories and pounds we’ve been gaining.

Picture of the Day!!

Oh yes, it had to be the Black Bear looking down on us as we cruised the Fjord's.

Hope you had a great weekend as well!!!



Day 59 - Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland

It is now Saturday, July 28^th and we have a very busy day planned – a lot of hiking.  Thank goodness the sun is out and we can enjoy the outdoors.  Bruce has had it planned for months now to hike the Gros Morne Mountain.   It is a 10 mile hike and very strenuous.  He will be going out on his own- no one from our group will join him - nor will I - but there will be other people hiking as well.  I’m going to be walking with some of our other friends.

As you can see from the poster and the rocks, it wasn’t an easy hike at all.  It was pretty much straight up climbing up and over rocks.  The rounded mountain is what he climbed and the bottom left is looking down some of the gully that he went up.  Good job Babe!

He made it to the top and he was thrilled – now it’s time to head down.  He saw a Rock Ptarmigan (the bird) with a baby – always a nice sight.  They don’t fly often – only if frightened.  He sat up there, enjoyed the view and had his lunch.  He made it in 5 1/2 hours which is great.

While Bruce was hiking, I was off on my own little journey walking along the coastline as well as through a bit of a forest.  It was pretty neat.  The trees look like they have frost on them but with temp’s in the 70’s – don’t think so.  In the parks, they have red hard plastic chairs just sitting out in the open.  Yes, they are cabled into the ground but they are a picture all of their own.  Chris is collecting rocks for her grandson – came back with two pockets full.  There were guys fly fishing - most of them tossing them back in - good men!

While hiking Berry Pond Trail, I saw many different plants.    The two pictures on the left side are the front and back side of the same plant.   It is called a Pitcher Plant.  The other is a pretty blue berry on one straight stem - very unusual but colorful.  The other pictures are scenery and another path through the forest.

After three hikes with my friends, and after Bruce’s hike, we connected and did the Baker’s Brook Falls Trail together.  The walk was nothing special but the waterfall’s was spectacular.  It had three levels.  We had to walk down two flights of stairs to get to the different sections of the falls.  Bruce is on his way up.  I hiked 12 miles and Bruce hiked 16 - now we can eat!!  lol

After dinner, our entire group took a Sunset Cruise and Tour on the Bonne Bay.  It was a perfect night.  At the pier was this huge yacht.  What a beauty.   I saw it when we arrived in Rocky Harbour but it was further out  in the water, but tonight we saw it up close and personal.  I looked up the name on the internet and it said that this boat is a luxury rental yacht for the rich and famous.  Who would have thought?    It may be hard for you to see, but inside the rock is a form that looks like a woman kneeling.  The smaller boat is what we were on for our tour (nothing like the yacht).

We had a great night seeing animals. During our cruise, we saw Eagles sitting on top of the trees as well as in their nests.  I also lucked out and got a picture of an Eagle after she swiped up a fish.  We were very fortunate to see a Moose walking along.  Certainly didn’t expect that.  To top off the evening, we also saw a Minkie Whale.  It was too dark for a picture but it was there as well - honest!

As the sun was setting, the lighting gave us perfect shots of the rocks as well as the Light House and a fishing boat.  It was a great night to view the sunset.  We had entertainment on the boat – mostly Irish and New Foundland music.  We were all clapping and stomping our feet.  Great fun – hated for the night to end.

Different photo’s of the sunset – I only took a couple dozen.   You can see how the color of the sunset changed as the clouds drifted through - just amazing.   The yacht was all lite up when we returned to the dock – pretty impressive.  We had all hoped that we could have had a tour of that boat.

Picture of the Day!

There were a lot of pictures that I could have used but I thought with the Mountain, the clouds, cliffs and water - what more could I ask for.

Hope you had a picture perfect day as well.

Day 58 - Rocky Harbour, Newfoundland

It was a travel day on Friday, July 27th and not to much happens.  We drove 265 miles and only stopped for grocery, etc. along the way. Kept an eye out for a moose but no such luck - again!!  We turned 37,000 miles on the RV - where did all the miles go?

 
We saw more beautiful scenery along the way but with lakes not the ocean during this stretch.  I had to take the sign of Green Bay - Go Packer's!!!  Thought I was at home.  We stopped at a "look out" for lunch, only there was no look out so we all brought out our chairs, gathered around and had lunch.  Other people from our group stopped as well so we had a mini Happy Hour without liquor.

The lakes were so pretty.  The color of the water was different in each lake.  We are getting into more hills as we get closer to our destination.  Bruce already has a l0 mile hike lined up when we arrive.  I will go hiking w/friends but along the coast not up mountains.

As always, when we get into camp, we setup our units and enjoy a Happy Hour.  Chris and Gordon invited us over for dinner - had chili.  Excellent!!  Long day planned for tomorrow so need to get some rest.

Hope your travels - short or long - were safe. 

Day 57 - Twillingate, Newfoundland

Oh my, I think I hear rain on the rooftop and yesterday I was bragging about the great weather we’ve been having on this trip.  I think I put a jinx on today, Thursday, July 26th.   What else is there to do but tour another museum, which we did – The Durrell Museum & Crafts.  There are crafts everywhere and some things aren’t really too bad.  These people need to have something to do during the cold, windy winter months.  The smart thing we did yesterday was to take the boat cruise as we sure didn’t want to be out in the rain.  Funny thing though, the water was very calm even with the rain today.

The museum had a lot of antiques but the big story was the Polar Bear that came to town on an iceberg from the Arctic.  In 2000, the bear startled the people in town and approached the fisherman as well as other residents.  Because of the threat, they had to put the bear to sleep; however, they were able to tranquillize the second bear, who was further away, and transported him to safety.  Wish they could have done the same for the first one, but at least they saved one.    Polar Bears can weigh up to a ton, run 25 mph, and swim 80 miles in icy water.

After it quite raining and while I was doing laundry, cleaning, ironing, etc. Bruce took a hike up to the highest point of the island.  The grass was going to be wet, so I opted to stay home and be domestic.  He said it was really beautiful – maybe next time.  Note the yellow mushroom - pretty cool!

The entire group had tickets for another evening of entertainment - this time by the Split Peas.  Seven elderly and retired ladies played instruments and sang. They were terrific.  One of the ladies had written many of the songs – mostly about New Foundland and they are a very proud people who love their homeland.  During break, we were treated to Touton’s, jam and tea.  Touton’s are fried dough.  Our Mom use to make those as well, but hers were thinner.  These were about an inch thick – perfect for the waistline.

We did a lot of miscellaneous things today, such as visit a winery, stopped for coffee and homemade rolls, went for a walk and collected rocks on the beach.  The sun finally did come out. The town is having a festival so we stopped in at their Arena and checked out all the crafts, etc.  A nice relaxing day.  Hope your day was a good one for you as well.

Day 56 - Twillingate, Newfoundland

Here we are again on Wednesday, July 25th in Twillingate.  There were predictions for rain this afternoon, but it turned out to be a windy but beautiful day.  Our plans for the day changed, but we still started out touring the Prime Berth Fishing Museum.  We’ve toured more than our share of museums but this one was a more hands-on type of tour. 

The owner took out a family fishing for Cod before we got to the museum so when they all returned, he demonstrated how to slice and clean the fish – even cutting out the tongue and cheeks.  The little white bones are from the ear section and his wife makes earrings from them.  There was very little that wasn’t used of the fish.  The bottom left picture is an overview of some of his buildings and fishing boat.  The red building is The Stage.

The owner told us the story of how a whale was found on a beach and he was able to haul it back to his property and later he put the skeleton together for display.  It was a Sei Whale which is very rare and is about 50 feet long.   It is from the same family as the humpback whale.   He is a very impressive and energetic guy always coming up with ideas to keep himself busy.  He also hauled his Dad’s Stage (building used to process the fish) from his Dad’s home to his. 

The change in plans this morning was to take the Whale Watching Cruise today versus tomorrow because of storm predictions.  Good idea!!  Did we see any whales?  Heck No!!!  Of course, we heard of all the stories as to how many whales have been seen as well as Dolphins just off the shores.  Right!! We did see a few fisherman out but that was about it. 

Lot of rugged and rocky shores.  It was fun to watch the waves hitting the rocks.  Middle picture is of the boat that we took.  The black streak in the rocks is lava.

We then took a ride and ended up seeing the Long Point Lighthouse.  There were several walking paths that we took around the grounds.  They are working on the lighthouse so we couldn’t go in, but we did find good photo-ops. Bruce found himself a comfortable place to get a birdseye view, as did us girls.  The lighthouse is a natural brick color - not sure if they are going to paint it or not.

 It really got warm so afterwards, we went back to the campground and changed into shorts.  There are great paths here so Bruce and I took a quick walk before dinner.

Three of our guys went Cod Fishing the other day so they donated their catch for a Fish Fry – so nice of the guys.  The rest of us brought goodies to go with the fish - another great meal.  We went for another walk with Wendy, Wayne and Chris.  I think we worked off our meal - thank goodness.

Picture of the Day:

These red berries are so pretty.  I found out that they are Bunchberries and thought they would make a pretty picture.

Hope the sun is shining where you live.

Day 55 - Twillingate, Newfoundland

Today is another travel day so off we go about 8 a.m. on Tuesday to Twillingate, Newfoundland this 24th day of July.  I hate to brag; however, it is another gorgeous day.  It actually got up into the 80’s, which is so rare for this area, but we’ll take it.  There wasn’t a lot to see until we got to Gander, which was about 40 or so miles from our destination.

 You might recall the story about this little town, when on September llth, 42 aircraft – 38 commercial and 4 military carrying just under 6700 passengers and crew members, land at Gander.  Suddenly and without warning, the town’s population of less than l0,000 almost doubles as it’s inundated with thousands of bewildered passengers from around the world – many with no idea where they are, what’s going on or, how long they’ll be stranded.   The people from Gander all volunteered their time, houses, food and anything else the passengers needed or wanted.  It wasn’t until days later that they found out why they were there.  Even the pilots were told to land their planes there and not to ask any questions.   

There aren’t any pictures that I was able to take as most of it was all in writing at the air museum.   They had a video of the passengers being interviewed as well as the people from New Foundland.  Bruce put on a headset with conversations to the pilots ordering them to land and “now”.  How they even got so many planes onto the runways at the airport was just as amazing, but they did it.

A disaster also happened here on December l2, l985 when an Arrow Air Flight 1285 crashes less than a minute after taking off from a refueling stop in Gander.  All 256 on board perish.  Among those lost include 248 peacekeepers mostly from the U.S. Army’s l0lst Airborne Division en route from a peacekeeping mission in the Sinai to their home base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Above is a memorial to the victims at the crash site that overlooks Gander Lake.  The sculpture depicts a soldier holding the hands of two children, each with an olive branch, symbolizing the peacekeeping mission of the Airborne Division.  The trio looks southwest towards home in Kentucky where another sculpture looks back in the direction of Gander.  There is a list of all those that died.

Someone laid rocks in the form of a cross on the ground as well as flags.  There is also a huge cross overlooking the grounds.  The cross has an inscription “Rendezvous with destiny” that was carved out of the doors of the plane.

This crash remains the deadliest aviation disaster in Canadian history.  There was no agreement as to the reason for the crash.  As we walked around the museum, we saw and read about many other plane crashes in New Foundland.

Twillingate is another small fishing village.  After dinner, Bruce and I hiked up to the top of some rocks protruding out into the Bay.  The campground is next to a Bay. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any whales.  As a matter of fact, we haven’t seen that many moose either and they are suppose to be in abundance here – sure!!! 

          Picture of the Day!

Today, it’s not so much about the picture, but the story that the picture tells.  These are just a few of the many Thank You letters written by the Passenger’s to all the Wonderful and giving people of Gander after their stay following September llth.  Some of the people still keep in touch.  I’m sorry you can’t read any of the notes, but I’m sure you can just imagine what was written.

      The sun is setting  so will close for today.  Have a good night!!

Day 54 - Bonavista, Newfoundland

We are off and buzzing again this morning, Monday, July 23 – just so much to see and do.  We are off as a group this morning to tour Port Union – the only town in Canada built by Union Workers founded by William Ford Coaker in l9l6.  It was the headquarters for the Fishermen’s Protective Union and Trading Company.  The fishermen made very little money, so this union really helped them out.  Port Union had electricity in l918 while parts of New York City remained in the dark. 

Willliam Coaker was a visionary, activist, labor leader, businessman, publisher, and politician.  He established the newspaper, and was knighted for his achievements.  Port Union was founded in l9l6 and grew quickly to be a successful industrial and commercial centre.  In its heyday, about 600 people lived here and worked in a variety of business - shipbuilding, seal processing, woodworking, salt fish exporting, printing, soft drink bottling, and so on.  Above are pictures of where some of the employees lived.  The bottom picture is of a printing machine that still works.  It is not used, but still works.  The "President Coaker" (model of the schooner) on its maiden voyage left Port Union in l923 with a load of dried fish for Brazil.  She had a crew of 6 men.  On her return,  she ran aground and was completely destroyed.  All the crew were lost at sea.  I just thought this was such a sad story.

Pictures of various buildings in our travels.  We stopped and had lunch at Two Whales.  Vegan soup and sandwiches – very good.  There are quite a few new houses, such as this red one, going up here in the Maritimes.  Not quite sure what these people do here, but whatever it is, they are doing well.  Have a good view as well.  Lighthouses all along the coast – some in better shape than others, churches in every community and the little red building by the water, well I have no idea what it is but thought it was interesting.

We were told about the Skerwink Trail so we decided to check it out and take a nice little walk along the coast.  It was the most beautiful area we’ve ever walked in as you can see by the many pictures.

 Patty, Bruce and I walked the 5.3 km and the weather was perfect, sunny and breezy.  Sometimes darn windy.  I look like a wild woman but the view was breath taking.  They actually had park benches but sure don't know how they got them up here.

I can’t believe I got this photo of the whale.  We saw several spouts but with the water glistening, I couldn’t see very well so I just clicked away and got lucky.  The trail was so pretty along the coast as well as in the trees.

More pictures - sorry, but it was so pretty.  No matter where we were, there was another photo-op. Middle picture shows you some of the steps that we had to take - of course, they were very uneven.

At Two Whales, Bruce found an article in the newspaper about this guy that built his own sailboat and after three years launched it.  We took a ride to see it and met Henry, the builder.  He was a sweet little ol’ man.  The boat is named for his Granddaughter and deceased wife.  His entire family was there for the launching two weeks ago.  He let us go on it and check it out – pretty cool stuff.

We were invited for a traditional dinner by the women in Port Union.  Had some interesting but very good food using moose meat.  I was a little skeptical but ended up going back for seconds for the meat as did everyone else.   We were also “Screeched”.  (Similar to when we were “Hyderized” in Hyder , Alaska.)  Only this time, we put on fishermen’s jackets, took a shot of rum and kissed a fish.  The rum was very good, but could have done w/o kissing the fish.  It was all in good fun followed by music and dancing.  In Hyder, we drank a shot of whiskey that burned all the way down.

The guy in the colonial costume, is the owner of the park where we are staying.  He is just a jack of all trades.

A lot of us were given old fashioned instruments to play.  Gordon and Chris are having a great time stomping w/their little gal as well as Wayne.  With music, there is always dancing.  Finally, the sunset on our day and it was time to leave.

We left a little early as I had to find a café to do my blog.  We didn’t get back until after l0 at which time I started all over with going through the pictures and creating collages.

Picture of the Day!

Of course, it had to be from our hike with perfectly blue skies and water.

Hope you all had a beautiful day as well.

Day 53 - Bonavista, Newfoundland

Another busy day today, Sunday, July 22, and thankfully it is another beautiful day.  We’ve been talking to the locals and they said we are extremely fortunate to have such great weather.  Last year they had very few sunny days.    We must be doing something right!!!   We left the campground early as we had a lot to see so it was another long day.  I will try to be brief - try the key word!!

Our first stop was the White Rock Murals and Lookout.  The pictures on the water tower tell the story of the fisherman.  We were at the highest point in the city so we had a great view. 

This is the James Ryan Premises which represents a thriving l9th & 20th century resident fishery operation, which sold its fish in Europe and the Caribbean.  There was a great museum of artifacts from that era.  The boards in the top right are where they dried the cod.  The statues of the family are showing how they laid the fish on the boards.  The D.J. Thornbill (schooner in picture) is typical of the schooners used in the offshore bank fishery.  Once on the banks, dories were sent out to set longlines for codfish, which were later split, salted and stored in the hold of the mother ship for transport back to port. 

Jackie, Bob, Patty, Rod, Bruce and I made ourselves a picnic lunch and found an area by the water as it was such a beautiful day, we didn’t want to sit inside a restaurant.  As we were getting out our chairs, blankets, etc. two guys bring over this yellow bench from their house next to where we were.  We’ve heard how nice people are here but we couldn’t believe our eyes.  They said not to worry as they would pick it up when we were finished.  Of course, we weren’t going to just leave it, so Bob and Bruce took the bench back to them.  Patty and I went over and they showed us all the other furniture they had and then invited us into their home and gave us a complete tour – even upstairs.  The house is over 100 years old – what a treat that was. 

The Mathew Legacy is the story about John Cabot and the boat that brought him over to Bonavista.  The building was built to store the boat.  It is on a lift but it can be lowered back into the water.  I've never seen so many ropes on a boat before.  It seemed like a pirate boat.

The Mockbeggar Plantation is the former home of F. Gordon Bradley, who served in Parliament and in the federal cabinet in the l950’s.  Originally built during the l870’s, the house has been restored to its l940’s appearance.  Because of the multiple buildings, it was called a Plantation.  The furnishings were lovely - very comfortable.

On our way to the lighthouse, we saw more coastline, three handsome horses in the field, and a statue of John Cabot .

This is Cape Bonavista Lighthouse.  Was built in l843 and restored in l870’s.  This house is quite unique as rooms were built around the tower giving the family a lot of space.  The middle picture is of the lights used - different from other lighthouses.

Took the road out to The Dungeon Rock.  More impressive coastline and the hole with two spaces is the dungeon, where the water eventually washed a hole in the ground.  Another photo-op of a horse.  I’m just sitting and enjoying the view.  "Do I have to leave?"

Skeeter, Pat & Fran toasting marshmellows.  Roger (w/horns) & Lorna.
Wendy and Wayne - our entertainers.
Bev and Stuart; and Larry & Mary enjoying the festivities

Tom & Pat; Chris (park owner) and Ruth
Wendy, Wayne, Helen (joined in w/the guitar) and Pat
Joyce & Richard all enjoying the evening

We stopped at Neil’s café to get my blog done.  This time I ordered the Carrot-Ginger soup – excellent.  Was a good thing that I ate something because as soon as we returned to the campground, a Happy Hour started with Wayne and Wendy entertaining us.  Great fun.  Toasted marshmellow’s over the fire and before we knew it, the entire gang came out to join in the festivities.  Then friends of Sharon and Wally joined us bringing a guitar as well.  Bruce got out some lights to sing by.  Another fun night.

Picture of the Day!

Looking out the museum window onto the Bay.  Looks like it could be a picture.

I really tried to be brief - honest, but when we do so many things, it is hard not to be a bit lengthy.  Trust me, I have another couple hundred pictures I could have added, especially of the coastline, but I'm trying to be kind to all of you and not put you to sleep.  Speaking of sleep, it is time to call it another day.  Night Now!!!