Jun 19, 2013 - Deer Lake, Nfld, Canada

On Wednesday we drove to the Gateway to the North RV Park in Deer Lake. Not long after we arrived we drove our cars to Shire Falls where we were able to see the salmon jumping up the falls to lay their eggs. That night we drove to a ski lodge where we had a "screech in". Many of you know that is how you become an honorary Newfoundlander. This is my third trip up here and the third time I have kissed the cod fish. I think I am an official Newfoundlander for sure. The entertainers were the Sharecroppers. They are school teachers who do this...

Jun 18, 2013 - Ferry to Newfoundland

On Tuesday we took the ferry to Newfoundland. It was a smooth crossing. Although it is a six hour ride we left our campground about 9:00 am and arrived at the next campground in Newfoundland about 7:00pm. Trip stayed in the RV for the crossing and seemed to do fine. We stayed about 30 miles from the ferry at the Grand Codroy RV Park. We are now on Newfie time which is 1 and 1/2 hours ahead of EST.

Jun 18, 2013 - Ferry to Newfoundland

Today we left for Newfoundland. We drove 3.7 miles to where we boarded the ferry. We had to be at the ferry two hours before boarding time to get our boarding passes or they could be given to someone else. The Highlander Ferry was a new ferry. It looked to be the size of a small cruise ship. We were parked on level 3 along with tractor trailers and campers and motorhomes. We were sandwiched in bumper-to-bumper, five across. We had to turn off the propane, close the blinds and immediately leave our coach leaving Roxie locked in the coach. We...

Sep 30, 2012 - Day 77 - Gros Morne Park, NL

We started today with mundane routine of laundry. It is very nice to have campsites with a decent laundromat because the machine in the bus takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to do a small load. At the laundromat we have it all done in 1.5 hours. We purchased tickets for a boat tour on Western Brook Pond that was leaving the dock at 1 o'clock. We packed a lunch and headed out to the site. It is a 3 kilometer walk, on a boardwalk or gravel path, over the bog to get to the lake. On the way we saw a bull moose in the distance across the bog, he kept...

Sep 28, 2012 - Day 75 - north to St Anthony, NL

We left the RV at the KOA and headed north about 9:00 AM. The route was along the coast and the Gulf of St Lawrence was calm and the sun was shining. I guess someone is watching over us, or Mel's luck is holding. We filled up at Plum Point and continued on the southern part of the loop to St Anthony. We went into Rodderickton, had lunch at the Lumberjack Inn. An old couple, also having lunch, had been picking partridge berries at the airport. They said that they had picked 50 gallons over three days and were selling them. We were not buying...

Sep 27, 2012 - Day 74 - to Gros Morne Park, NL

We left Country Inn RV Park in Gander at 9:30 AM. We found out this morning that someone had been looking for us yesterday morning. It must have been Roy and Inez Phillpot, Trina Shiner's parents. On Facebook the other night Trina told me that they were in the park same park as us before flying out to Fort Mac. We found their camper but they were not home when we checked, and we never saw them come back. They then checked for us the next morning after we had already left for Twillingate. Close but no cigar for that meeting. We travelled in...

Sep 26, 2012 - Day 73 - Twillingate area

Today we toured up to Twillingate and area. I can not get the song out of my head."Hip your partner Sally Tibo, hip your partner Sally Brown, Fogo, Twillingate, Morton's Harbour, all around the circle." We didn't go to all the places but they were just a short boat ride away. It did not seem to be much point in taking the tour as most of the tourist sites are closed for the year. We went for a lovely hike at Twillingate lighthouse out to the point. We could see fellows out in their dory's fishing as the cod season was open for sports...

Sep 25, 2012 - Day 72 - Back to Gander, NL

Today we are off too Twillingate area. We planned to stay at a campground in Lewisporte but when we called to reserve we got no answer so assumed that they were closed. We then decided to stay in the Gander area. Our drive was again wet, with short glimpses of sunshine. We can see Marie's frustration with the weather here and we have only had a few days of rain. We found a campsite at the Country Inn Trailer Park. We have internet again after several days without so we are updating everyone on Facebook. When my former co-worker Trina saw...

Sep 22, 2012 - Day 69 - Burin Peninsula

Todays' tour took us around the Burin Peninsula, and again Marie was right; this is a beautiful part of the island. The town of Burin is on a narrow peninsula and is full of narrow, short dead end streets and lots of hills. The homes are beautifully painted and maintained. We travelled this Heritage Run through a little town named Garnish and had lunch at Mulligan's at Pine ??? Golf Course. We continued around the peninsula through Grand Beach, Grand Bank, Fortune, and St Lawrence and back to Burin and saw mountains, ports, ranchland, sun...

Sep 21, 2012 - Day 68 - to Marystown, NL

On the road again. Still no fog insight and nothing but sunny skies as we leave St John's. Marie says there was fog at her place this morning but we didn't have any. We drove north and then turned south-west into the Burin Peninsula and then we found rain and fog. The highway is narrow and driving was slow. By the time we reached Marystown the fog was cleared but it was still raining. The Allstays program steered us wrong on the location of the Golden Sands Campground but with some help from a friendly local we got turned in the correct...

Sep 20, 2012 - Day 67 - Bay Roberts area

Today we travelled with Marie to the Bay Roberts area. I travelled with Marie while the rest followed, trying to keep up. We found Paradise that we had missed the night before and continued up the Bay finding a lot of familiar names from payroll entry at work. At Bay Roberts we met my former co-worker, Catherine Norman-Lundrigan and her baby, Lydia for a quick visit and catch up. It was great to see her again in her natural surroundings. While Catherine & I visited, Marie took the rest of them to see "Mad Rock". THis rock in the ocean was...

Sep 19, 2012 - Day 66 - the Irish Loop

Today we toured the Irish Loop. This is a drive around the Avalon Peninsula of about 200 km through many villages. We finally found Marie's fog near the far end of the loop near Trepassy. We watched the fog roll in from the ocean while had lunch at a lovely little restaurant and B&B. The fog never interferred with our drive and we continued around the loop. Very many picturesque villages and harbors. We finished the evening with supper and a visit with Marie to plan our next day.