Some good news, I now have two writers for the journey. Many of us take different routes along the way. Tom Denis has kindly alowed me to use his writting and these will compliment Karen Ramsey's, who has helped a great deal with this journal.
I have included Tom's 'Journey to Newfoundland' at the bottom of the page for your reading enjoyment. Tom`s will written in a darker colour and different script.
July 25, 2010 Sunday
Drove to Ottawa via JP and Nicolle’s place near the border. Nicolle, bless her, passed out directions the day before – “the scenic route” Pat and I giggled as we sped through greater Montreal transferring from one auto-route to another – but after a while the road took us into the country – We were surprised at how flat a large part of the area is. Except for the lane into JP and Nicolle’s place – holly smoke it was not much more than a pasture road but over a 100 cars with trailers went into their place to enjoy coffee, cake and muffins! What a fantastic couple! Took our time after we left their place but are in another comfortable campground just south west of Ottawa. Tomorrow is a free day so will try to see the Museum of Man. Now it’s time for supper
July 24, 2010 Saturday
While the serious car aficionados went to the car show,and some other coasters went on an impromptu bus tour, Pat and I struck out for “old Montreal” to sight –see on our own. As a wild off the wall thing Pat said let’s see if we can find Ramon Maissoneuve who we knew (?) was in a sisterhood in Montreal. Perhaps she could help us see Montreal! So Garmin found a “Grey Nuns” building and up the stairs I went – rang the bell and was admitted to the reception area where a wonderful lady tried her best to find Ramon - but all to no avail – turned out Ramon was not a Grey Nun! So we had to sight-see on our own.
We drove through Mt Royale, McGill university grounds, and by the Royal Victoria Hospital. Somewhere in those areas we stumbled upon a residential area that consisted of large houses designed to blend with the geography so well that I think I wore out the word “wow”. Over and over we were impressed with the beautiful buildings built with stone or brick. The yards were so phenomenal – the garden club back home should plan a trip to Montreal (or Quebec) at this time of year because the mature flower gardens are inspiring.
We drove up and down St Catherine street and St Hubert, etc ,etc. Both of these have side walk cafes so we had lunch - at an Italian one. Good food ! Also saw the Notre Dame Cathedral – you have to pay $5.00 to go inside – it was well worth it! I wonder how the ceilings are done so lovely.
Finally we decided we had enough so returned to St Phillippe. But now it was rush hour and the traffic was a lot heavier than in the morning – oh my – and this was a Saturday – what must it be like during a regular week day!!
July 23, 2010 Friday
Drove to St Phillippe via the scenic route. Wanted to stop for lunch at a quaint Quebec restaurant – as luck would have it the restaurant was run by Jamaican’s who served up a health food style menu – but it was most enjoyable. Continued to meander our way to Montreal – found a royal bank where the senior clerk was called over to help us as the receptionist didn’t have a good grasp of the English language – anyway the senior showed Pat how to make a payment on her Visa using the bank machine.
Finally arrived at St Phillippe KOA where the entire group were treated to a spaghetti and meat sauce supper – complete with wine, desert, and coffee by one of the couples in the group (JP and Nicolle). It was stupendous!
July 22, 2010 Thursday
Woke to a cloudy breezy morning. Hurried through breakfast to be ready at 9:00 for an all day bus tour of Quebec city. Drove Pat to the front of the campground and started back to our campsite when Dorothy (one of the planners/organizers) flagged me down and asked if I had set my clock back – of course I hadn’t – so we were ready and waiting at 8:00(Pat said one of the few times the Denis’ have ever been early!) – so I did a U-turn and brought Pat back to our campsite where we reconsidered the stuff we were taking on the bus. By now the sky had cleared so we decided to leave our coats behind, thank goodness! The day was beautiful!
The bus driver was very knowledgeable/informative – Pat said she didn’t think there was any animosity between the French and English like we westerners perceive there to be. (Overzealous reporting by the press?) Did you know Quebec was attacked 6 times throughout its history?! - 4x by the British, 1x by the French and 1x by the Americans
Saw old Quebec city and quite liked it! Had lunch in a small restaurant inside the walled city. The Plains of Abraham and surrounding area are beautiful with manicured flower gardens and lawns. Then we toured the north shore of the St Lawrence all the way to St Anne de Beaupre! Talk about a beautiful church – St Anne’s was started in 1920 and finally finished in 1970+ Services were being given before the church was completed. The ceiling alone was awe inspiring with the paintings on it. The pews all had different animals carved on the aisle ends. The catholic church has elevated the status of this church to the status of a basilica because historically people have been cured of their medical ailments. Next week is a special time as people come from all over the world to attend mass and pray for medical healings. Also we stopped at a chocolate factory and a maple syrup store (read tourist traps) –but the history provided by the driver made the stop agreeable. We never got home until after 5:30!
Tonight there is a light show set to music – the screen is the whole of the grain elevators beside the St Lawrence! These are the elevators that prairie grain is collected in before being loaded onto ships and exported. Apparently you can see the show from virtually anywhere in Quebec city (as long as you are on the right side of the elevators – ha) Great place this Quebec city!!
July 21st Drove the last day in New Brunswick on the Transcanada – I just couldn’t bring myself to spend unnecessary time on their lesser roads. My general impression of the maritimes is that they will provide signage saying where a town is but they don’t tell how far – because distance is deceiving – a lot of times it will take as long to go 30 miles as it takes us to travel Olds to Calgary.
Stopped at the Quebec information centre nearest the NB border – they gave us skimpy little maps – the normal maps (e.g. that AMA provides) are available but at a cost! Anyway took the scenic route via highway 132 along the St Lawrence river – very nice – touristy area – but very nice county side with quaint villages that all have churches with gigantic bell towers! We are at the KOA in Levis just across the St Lawrence river from Quebec (city) Rain over the supper hour so are eating in the trailer and is it hot!
Tuesday, July 20th – Today our parade of antique vehicles left Lester and Millie McKay’s just before 9:00 a.m. and paraded through St. George’s and then on to beautiful, historic St. Andrew’s By The Sea. We arrived at 10:30 a.m. and paraded down through St. Andrew’s. We were parked along both sides of several streets which had been blocked off by the Town to accommodate us. We made our way down to the main street where we were given coffee and cinnamon buns and then allowed to walk throughout the beautiful old Town and visit the unique little shops, beautiful historic churches and other historic sites. We were led out of Town at noon past the Algonquin Inn, a most beautiful Tudor style hotel built in 1894 and often referred to as “the jewel by the sea”. We proceeded on through St. Stevens and then on to Fredericton on our way to Hartland New Brunswick. We arrived at 4:45 p.m. just in time to set up camp and gather inside the Hartland Arena for a wonderful dinner of salads and rolls, baked beans and cake. We were entertained after dinner by a live band and then with a wonderful and entertaining fashion show put together by Carol Body and displaying all of the latest in fine fashionwear. A great evening was had by all.
Drove to Hartland. On the way the group drove to St. George and then to St. Andrews for a viewing (by the people of St. Andrews). The Hartland club put on a ham and beans supper with live entertainment. And get this – they somehow arranged for a 5 cents per litre price reduction for gas the next day at St. Leonards! Needless to say I ran the gauge down below 1/8th of a tank by the time we got to the gas station. – It started off that only Shell was doing this but apparently all the stations lowered their price within ½ hour of when Shell did it!
Monday, July 19, 2010 – Today our tour was to Deer Island, a small Island in the Bay of Fundy some 9 miles across and located a short distance from Pennfield. We left the campground at 9:00 a.m. and caught the ferry at 9:30 a.m. after the locals had crossed by ferry to go to work on the Island. It was a beautiful drive along the coast with its winding roads, fishing villages and wharfs as well as the boats hung up at noon because of low tide. We sat on the cliff side and ate our box lunch as we watched Old Sow, the whirlpool action caused when the incoming tide meets the flow of the St. Croix River. Here the tide rises some 29 feet, the highest tides in the world. On the other side of the Peninsula was the Canada Customs Office, an arrival site from the State of Maine. On our return to the mainland we headed off to Comeau’s Restaurant for a delicious fish and chip dinner. Our evening was spent in the garage, some of us enjoying the sing song while others doing some much needed repair work to vehicles and trailers.
The group went to Deer Island – it involved another ferry ride of less than ½ hour – but 100+ cars at 20 per ferry ride! Deer Island is south of the 48th parallel – across the water from the south end of the island is Maine! A submarine sandwich lunch was provided by the local car club! When the tide comes in it creates a gigantic whirlpool – especially at the high high tides. We sat on the bank and watched but had to leave prematurely – still the whirlpool was starting! It’s interesting to see a current in the ocean.
It was a beautiful sunny day - I’m afraid I had too much sun because that night I succumbed and caught Pat’s cold.
Sunday, July 18th We – left our Moncton campground this morning at 9:00 a.m. heading towards Pennfield, NB. Our first stop was in Petitcodiac to check out the Maritime Motor Sports Hall of Fame. The fellows enjoyed reading the histories and looking through the interesting displays of racing machines. We drove on to Pennfield and to the home of Lester and Millie McKay who have generously allowed us to camp on their property for the next two nights. Our campers were set up everywhere. We surrounded their home, their son’s home, their neighbours’ homes, what a sight. As Lester and Millie live right on the Trans Canada Highway, we sure did turn a few heads. Its not every day you have a hundred or so campers set up in your yard. We were served a delicious meal of salads, baked beans and weiners for dinner followed by cake. We thank Lester and Millie as well as the New Brunswick Auto Club, the local Passamaquoddy Car Club, the Border Cruisers of St. Stephen, NB and Calais Maine, the Valley Cruisers and Albert and Lill Lee for such wonderful New Brunswick hospitality. Many of the ladies made their way to McKay’s Blueberry Shop located right on the property and bought up most of their tasty homemade pies, muffins and jams. A draw for two lobsters was held and John Brown was the winner sharing his winnings with Tom Moffatt for helping get to the meat. Although this afternoon was very hot reaching temperatures of over 100F, by late evening it did return to something a little more bearable. Everyone enjoyed a wonderful evening, some walking around visiting and talking, others just sitting around the fire or listening to music provided by the DJ.
Drove to Lester and Millie McKay’s place in Pennfield, NB. They are hosting the entire caravan albeit with “dry-camping” only for tonight and Monday night. Hotdogs and beans and cake were provided by them on Sunday night and then they paid for a fish and chips supper for everyone on Monday at a local restaurant just up the road from their place! The restaurant was closed to the public from 3:00pm!
On the way to Pennfield we wanted to get off the transcanada so we took highway 7 which went through the neatest little town of Sussex – there are HUGE murals on the building – just beautiful! We stopped there for lunch. As we started off after lunch we were waved over by Brian and Edey – they were from Nova Scotia and were already in a 3 vehicle convoy to explore – so we accepted their invitation – we ended up crossing a small piece of ocean on about a 5 minute ferry ride! It was great!
The weather was great!
Saturday, July 17th – This morning we left Cavendish and after stopping at a gift shop for last minute souveniers, headed towards Confederation Bridge and our exit from PEI. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed a wonderful scenic drive across the Island. We saw fishermen in their boats just off shore, long fields of waving grain and cattle grazing in the most picture perfect meadows. We crossed the bridge at 10:30 a.m. and proceeded on to Exhibition Hall in Port Elgin where the Cumberland Car Club generously provided a lunch of fresh mussels, hot dogs and drinks to the Coasters. After looking over the local antique cars on display we journeyed on to Camper’s City campground in Moncton, NB, arriving in the early afternoon. The temperature had soared to 93 F and after setting up camp and sitting for a while trying to cool down, we were back in our cars and on the road again at 4:15 p.m. being led to the Riverview Baptist Church for a real treat of pizza and home baking for dinner provided by the NBAAC South East Club. It was a wonderful evening with much laughter, many door prizes and two more 50/50 draws. The winners tonight were Paul Thomson with $250.00 and Jim Sauder winning $157.50.
Stopped at Canadian Tire in Summerside, PEI to see about a new starter – well they had one in stock and they could jump on the job so got the starter replaced just like that! – Car starts great now!
On the way to Moncton stopped at Port Elgin for a hot dog lunch at the Port Elgin car club. Alas they ran out of food by 12:45 so joined some other Coasters for lunch at a local cafe then on to Moncton.
The weather is quite warm! Supper was pizza by the local NB club! And then they handed out door prizes by the car load – literally! This Camper City campground here in Moncton is nice. Would have preferred the shaded sites today!
Friday, July 16th – Those of us who hadn’t opted for the early deep sea fishing trip and scenic tour out of Stanley Bridge or New London Harbours gathered in the Marco Polo front parking lot and set off to tour the coastal towns and villages and to view the beautiful PEI shoreline. Our first stop was at the birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the writer of Anne of Green Gables on Route 20. We wound our way through the scenic fishing village of French River and then on to historic St. Mary’s Church in Indian River. This majestic wooden Church with its tall steeples is the largest wooden church on PEI. It is now decommissioned and used as a concert hall for artists from all over the world. We next passed through Kensington where Rudy and Ruth Croken call home and on to Summerside known for its architectural beauty, heritage homes and buildings. After pictures and stops at local gift shops we returned to Bell’s Garage in Kensington as we were invited to be a part of the first National Automotive Heritage Week Celebrations. We were served lunch and drinks as we were welcomed by the Mayor and other officials prior to the cake cutting ceremony. Earl and Shirley Weishuhn were the lucky winners of the $200.00 gift card donated by Bell’s Irving Gas Station. This was probably the most traffic congestion Kensington has seen in a while. We returned to the campground for a brief lull in our busy day before heading on to a wonderful and well attended BBQ dinner provided by Rudy Croken and his local PEI Antique Auto Club right at our campground. Our cars, together with local cars were parked out front making for quite a display and attracting a rather large crowd. Soon after 8:00 p.m. we proceeded into the camp hall for a dance featuring live entertained and prizes awarded to each Coaster and determined by their spin of the Crown & Anchor Wheel. The winner of tonight’s 50/50 draw of $200.00 was Don Richards. Some $2,500.00 was raised for the IWK Children’s Fund through donations at Bell’s Garage in Kensington and at our evening car show. We definitely packed alot into this warm and sunny day and we thank Rudy and the PEI Antique Auto Club for arranging our days and making our stay on the Island a most wonderful and memorable experience.
Pat is coming down with a cold so we went to Summerside to find a pharmacy. Today at 1:30 we went fishing on the ocean – Pat has always wanted to go deep sea fishing - I caught a cod (Pat didn’t catch anything). Reeling it in was like dragging a rubber boot out of the water. This evening there was a car show/meet and greet with PEI club who put on a great supper. Pat was upset she missed it. The car has been acting up – the starter needs to be replaced – will try to find one tomorrow.
Marco Polo campground is nice with choice of sites between trees/shade and open/sun. Shade was good but still not dry from Tuesday’s rain.
Thursday, July 15th – Today’s agenda included a road rally tour of historic Charlottetown, Victoria by the Sea and western PEI starting from the front parking lot of the campground at 9:00 a.m.
Spent a lazy day getting an oil change at Walmart and resting. In the evening was the Buddy Holly Story at the theatre in Confederation Hall in Charlottetown. We agreed to take another couple in our van – what a struggle – we had to unload about a ton of stuff into the trailer to empty the back seat – When we returned at 11:30pm we had to load it all back into the van before we could go to bed! – But it was nice to have another couple to travel with. And the show was superb – we have all seen the movie on TV but the music was live and well done.
Wednesday, July 14th – We left camp early this morning traveling on to catch the ferry at Caribou, N.S., and cross over to PEI for three days. The fog was heavy but lifting as we drove past the beautifully well kept farms, scenic valleys and silt river beds. We arrived just as the ferry was about to leave but did manage to board the 11:15 a.m. ferry to Woods Island, PEI. The fog was heavy and it rained the entire crossing. We took in the Rossingol Winery tour on Route 4 after leaving the ferry before heading on to Cavendish and the Marco Polo Campground. The red dirt, sideroads and highways are something to see as are the long fields of grain. The countryside is so picturesque with its shaker shingle homes, large dairy farms with herds of grazing cattle as well as fields and fields of potatoes in flower. We saw several bee colonies and fresh cut hay fields as we traveled the pretty countryside. We arrived at the campground just after 3:00 p.m. and had just enough time to set up camp and change before it was time to leave again and join our fellow Coasters at the Fishermen’s Wharf in North Rustico to enjoy a much anticipated lobster supper. Another full day of travel and site seeing as we inch our way westward.
Drove to Cavendish, PEI from Dartmouth, NS – would you believe 412 km?! The maritimes are surprisingly big. We planned to take the ferry to PEI but realized we had a later start than we should have had and could be late for the lobster supper at Fisherman’s Wharf. So we took the bridge to PEI – it was quite ok. Had time to take a shower and get to the parking lot to wait ---then we went to a great supper! (Afterward I noticed there was a table of “us” that were late! But they still got fed, after all Fisherman’s Wharf is a private operation.)
Tuesday, July 13th – From our agenda today we can choose from five different guided tours including Peggy’s Cove and the historic sites of Halifax, all hosted by the local antique car clubs. We chose tour #2 which left Shubie Campground at 9:15 a.m. led by Coaster Garth Scott to his hometown of Hantsport where we viewed his beautiful collection of 40’s, 50’s and 60’s memorabilia as well as antique vehicles. We were provided lunch, entertained with yodeling and kept in stitches by Uncle Jack and his jokes and funny stories. We were then led across the street where we stood on the banks of the Avon River and viewed low tide, We enjoyed the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the tides. We left Hantsport and ventured on to the Grand-Pre Historic Site where we toured a beautiful Memorial Church before having lunch and heading back to the campground. We re-grouped and gathered back together at 4:00 p.m. in Shearwater at the Airforce Training Academy for a show and shine and then at 6:00 p.m. we moved into the Sea King Lounge were we joined together for a wonderful sit down BBQ buffet dinner hosted by the Halifax Antique Car Club and the Nova Scotia Mustang Club. Each coaster was presented with a Certificate of Membership to the Order of the Good Time from the Government of Nova Scotia. The winner of tonight’s 50/50 draw was Joan Brown winning $175.50. After enjoying a wonderful BBQ buffet dinner followed by an evening of live entertainment, we headed back to pack, take down camp and hook up in preparation for tomorrow’s journey to PEI.
Went to Peggy’s Cove in the morning. The waves were higher than any seas this landlubber has seen that close up! I walked on the rocks to a point just above the damp point. As I stood there marvelling at the tempest of the sea a big wave came in --- and the damp point moved up – I got a little wet! Then we went for a boat ride to see Peggy’s Cove from the ocean – but the fog came in and we couldn’t see the shore! But we sure enjoyed the Nova Scotia roller coaster ride!
In the late afternoon we were in a car show at Shearwater that was followed by a nice buffet supper. The local car clubs attended.
Monday, July 12th – We woke up to more rain this morning, heavy downpours at times. Our drive was a slower one today as we took route 7 winding its way along the Eastern Shore with its rocky coastline and numerous little harbours and inlets. The scenery was beautiful but our view was very limited due to the heavy fog and drizzle which kept up for most of the way. I’m sure that this must be one of the more scenic routes in Nova Scotia. The highlight of our day was a stop at the Old Anderson House in the little village of Musquodoboit Harbour with its Craft Shop and Art Gallery displaying quilts and other local handcrafted works of art. The rain stopped and it got quite warm as we arrived at Shubie Park Campground in Dartmouth. I suppose we will be complaining about the heat next.
Took a wrong turn coming out of the campground at Sherbrooke so spent extra time on the road again today. But we ended up leading a convoy (through the fog) on to Dartmouth. Stopped for lunch at what we thought was a small restaurant beside the road – a couple from across the road were waving at the cars – when we stopped he insisted we look at his 1946 Ford ½ ton! It was nice
Got to Dartmouth and set up the whole camp (kitchen/patio tent and all) – tomorrow we will go to Peggy’s Cove. Need to find a fast lube again
Sunday, July 11th – It rained all day and with the wind gusts and fog, made for a difficult drive. As the fog was very heavy when we left North Sydney, we chose to travel Cape Breton’s Route 4, a rough secondary highway which ran along the Bras d’Or Lake shoreline passing through Big Pond, the home town of Rita MacNeil. We stopped in at Rita MacNeil’s Tea Room, took pictures and spoke briefly with her. She is truly a lovely lady. Several Coasters enjoyed lunch in her elegant Victorian dining room. We traveled on in the rain towards Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia and stopped in at Baird’s Tradesmen Museum for a tour of their private collection before moving on to the Nimrod Campground for the night. Half of our crew were booked at the St. Mary’s Riverside Camp due to our numbers. Setting up was a challenge as it poured most of the evening and the water was ankle high in places. It was our first rather quite evening in the campground.
Drove to Sherbrooke, NS via the east side of Bras d’Or Lake, a short ferry ride and the west side of Bras d’Or Lake with a stop for lunch at a Scottish Heritage village and a stop for low tea at Rita’s Tea House where we had a delightful waitress, Charlotte, who assured me I would like the coconut cream pie (because that was all they had!) – I did! We wanted to just travel roads that we missed when we were here with Kim, Sandi and friends.
Roads with a 3 digit number are generally less reliable – can be chuck full of pot holes/breaks or pretty good if recently repaired – you don’t know until you venture upon them. But those 3 digit roads can lead through some very interesting/beautiful countryside as we discovered today – spent about 8 hours behind the wheel to travel less than 300 miles! Will continue on the shore road to Halifax tomorrow.
Saturday, July 10th – We left Cornerbrook this morning at 8:00 a.m to catch the Port aux Basques ferry to the mainland. We were fortunate to be one of the 57 chosen vehicles to be on the 2:15 p.m ferry as the remaining vehicles were scheduled for the 6:00 o’clock run and would not be off the boat until well after midnight. After we said our good- byes to Ed and Elaine Bannister, who had joined the Coasters and camped at the Park with us last night, the early group set off for the ferry. It was foggy and misting for most of our two and a half hour drive, but it was much warmer than it had been for some time. The fog closed in even thicker as we sat on the ferry dock waiting to load. Once loaded, many of the Coasters spent much of the afternoon in the lounge enjoying the wonderful Newfoundland music and hilarious jokes of Kevin Beanland and Paul Comeau. Several Coasters were invited to sing along, including Ken Gordon who once again impressed his fellow Coasters with his talents. We came off the MV Caribou at 8:00 p.m. to a lovely warm evening and the campers paraded the short distance to the campground where the staff were awaiting our arrival and had us organized and parked in no time. As most of us had eaten dinner on the ship, once parked and set up we gathered in the recreation barn and were entertained once again by the musical members of our group. The late arrival group will have to find the campground and a site by themselves as no staff will be available at that time and direction signs are few making it often quite a challenge.
Up at 6:00am to drive to the ferry – have to be there by 12:15 – we made it by 11:30 after stopping to gas up and have breakfast on the road. Time for a snooze! Oh but how can you snooze when everyone is around & besides I needed a shave and shower which were available at the port! There was good entertainment on the ferry.
We are parked at “Arm of Gold” campground at Sydney NS – set up and watching the “watchers” by 8:00 – beautiful warm evening – time for a rum with Bill Chadderton & another couple whose name escapes me. – Afterward a fellow came around to say there was a sing-song in the “barn” – so Pat & I went up – Did I mention I bought an ugly stick at Rocky Harbour?( - I think the Newfies say “hhhhugly” It’s a stick with 4 sets of 5 bottle caps nailed loosely to a thick branch (in this case Alder is the wood) and you stamp it on the floor and/or beat it with a beater stick to make a beat (like a drum?). So I took it up to the sing-a-long and bold as you please I sat with the musicians and proceeded to learn to “play” the ugly. By evening’s end “the band” were joking as to the proper key for the next song – ha!
Friday, July 9th Today was a wonderful day. We were able to sleep in. The men visited and tinkered with their cars while the women did laundry, groceries and whatever other housekeeping jobs that needed to be done. At 1:00 p.m. we gathered for a tour around Cornerbrook and surrounding area. Ed and Elaine Bannister, who were with us on the 2000 Coast to Coast Tour and call this their area their home, joined us at the campground and led the procession. A 15 minute drive took us along a winding upgrade which weaved its way up the mountain to one of the most beautiful and breathtaking lookouts in Newfoundland. We stood on the cliff’s edge and looked straight down into the ocean. You could barely see the little harbour below. The scenery was breathtaking. We proceeded on taking a scenic coastal drive to the beautiful little fishing harbour of Bottle Cove. We then continued on to Little Port, a fishing dock protected by mountains. This little inlet, we were told, is the most northern part of the western part of Newfoundland. The winds had to be blowing at more than 100 mph, you had to brace yourself or be blown away, probably the reason why no one lives there. We returned to the campground around 5:30 p.m. after a most enjoyable afternoon. After dinner we grabbed our lawn chairs and made our way to the front entrance area where we enjoyed an evening of musical entertainment arranged by theWestern Newfoundland Antique and Unique Auto Club. Our own Ken Gordon joined in playing and singing for the crowd. Tomorrow sees us leaving this beautiful rock as we set off to catch the ferry back to the mainland and perhaps warmer weather.
The windshield washer started squirting water to the front instead of on the windshield. Discovered the hose had cracked at the windshield end. Found a NAPA outlet in Cornerbrook and bought a length of hose. On the way back to the campground spotted an emporium so went inside to look for a replacement holder for my jack knife. Inside was a beautiful Labrador dog stretched out on the floor. Of course we had to take its picture so I went back to the car for the camera. Pat asked the proprietor if we could take a picture of the dog. The proprietor said he wasn’t sure - we had to ask the dog (the dog agreed). After we fixed the windshield washer we left the group to take in the entertainment at the “Anchor Pub” in the Oceanview Hotel at Rocky Harbour. Remember this is where our favourite restaurant is located. The people remembered us from June 20 when they screeched us in. The waitress she was the one that “mummied me”. It was just like “old home week”. Anyway for $20.00 a ticket we took in the best entertainment of the trip!! This group of 5 guys played and sang Newfie songs and told stories about their songs (read Nfld) – they kibitzed with the crowd from 8:00 to after 11:00 – great fun!
Thursday, July 8th – Thursday was a traveling day. We left The Country Inn RV Park just outside of Gander and traveled to Grand Falls Windsor where we had a stop over from 11 till 1 for lunch and a car show put on by the local Botwood Car Club. We were provided with a wonderful and quite filling luncheon of sandwiches, home baking and drinks. The reception was held in the spacious Windsor Pentecostal Church Hall. The parking lot area was huge and many of the local cars joined the show. Fraser presented our hosts with a limited edition print for their hospitality. At 1:00 p.m. Fraser led the parade slowly through the parking area of a local retirement home where the seniors thoroughly enjoyed the old cars, a step back in time for them. After a slow exit from Grand Falls Windsor we headed on to Cornerbrook and to the Prince Edward Campground where we will camp for two nights.
Uneventful drive to Cornerbrook – good! We were the first to arrive so we had our pick of the serviced sites that the group would stay at. The second to arrive asked us if we enjoyed the lunch. We found out that the Central Nfld car club had lunch arranged at Grand Falls-Windsor – apparently we missed the announcement the night before! Anyway there were 19 serviced sites for the group (>80 units) so people crowded around – there were extension cords everywhere! We brought out our little portable table and set it up in front of our trailer. Later in the evening someone brought out a bottle of wine – we finally crawled out of the sack to join the party – there was too much fun going on to try to sleep! Met more good people from the 2000 tour!
Wednesday, July 7th – Morning came early as we were up by 6:00 a.m. packing and making ready to leave Pippy Park. We arrived at the RCMP grounds at 8:00 a.m. and lined up with some 120 other cars and trailers ready and excited to be starting this long awaited journey west. Dash plaques were handed out, the Mayor welcomed us to his city and wished us well on our journey, Fraser gave us his instructions and then we were off parading out of town and on to the Trans Canada for our 335 km trek to Gander. Cars began arriving at the County Inn RV Park just outside of Gander at around 2:00 p.m. and many were set up two to a campsite. Laughter could be heard as games of newfie horseshoes began, cars were looked over and any little irritations taken care of. A relaxing end to the first day of what we can only hope will be a wonderful and memorable journey.
Up at the crack of dawn (6:45) loaded and on the way to mile zero at 7:30 – where we sat and waited for the greeting from the mayor of St Johns – finally left at 9:50 – ugh - breakfast was a ham sandwich in the waiting area! Still we got to Gander in time to travel to Twillingate – a quick check in at the local tourist information booth and --- no icebergs! Ohhh – that “icebergfinder.com” was misleading – the only icebergs were still up at Labrador – groan! (you fill in the exblitives). Campground is a bit wet and it’s sprinkling. We just overnight here and we will be off to Cornerbrook tomorrow am. Uneventful journey to here – good!
Tuesday, July 6th– Today was a free morning and afternoon to make ready for the first leg of our journey across Newfoundland. In the early evening we ventured off to the University of St. John’s where we eventually found the dining hall and gathered for our beginning get acquainted banquet. We were served a delicious traditional cod dinner, including cod tongues. The food was wonderful and enjoyed by all, well maybe not all, there were a few who wouldn’t try the cod tongues). Excitement grew throughout the evening as Fraser entertained, welcomes were received, helpers were acknowledged, presentations were made and a 50/50 draw was held. Barry Ramsay held the winning ticket which netted him $250.00 of much needed gas money. Fraser did however get a groan out of everyone when he announced that the cars and trailers had to be at the RCMP Headquarters the next morning between 8 and 8:30 a.m. to pick up their dash plaques and to line up and be ready to begin our car parade out of St. John’s at 9:00 a.m. As everyone was tired and wanted to be ready to hit the road early in the morning, the coasters soon disappeared back to their trailers once Fraser dismissed them.
A lazy day planned. Only event scheduled was a kick off supper at 6:00pm in the Main Dining Hall of Memorial University. All day long we tried to strike the patio tent we had set up for 3 days. It seemed that every time we thought the tent was dry it sprinkled. Oh well there was no rush. We went to “The Rooms”, a provincial museum. About 5:00 we meandered over to the dining hall --- everyone was there already! No matter, we found seats and enjoyed a cod supper –again well done with good service. Discovered we have to get to the starting point at mile 0 of the Trans Canada Highway by 8:00 tomorrow morning. So we rushed back to the campground, struck the tent and got the car in position and ready to drop the trailer on the hitch all in about 30 minutes!
Hey - “icebergfinder.com” shows there might be bergs moving down the coast. Tomorrow we will try to get to Gander (the next scheduled stop), leave the trailer and hot foot it up to Twillingate – maybe, maybe ---??!!! Last night in St. Johns!
Monday, July 5th, – Today started off raining and cool but cleared by the time we met at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot across from Pippy Park. We received our day’s instructions from Fraser and headed to South River for registration and a bag lunch at the Anglican Church of the Resurrection and then on to Cupids for a day of tours, historical background and site seeing. 2010 is a year of celebration for Cupids as it is their 400th anniversary and our car parade was incorporated into their celebrations. Harold and Glennis Akerman, who call this little piece of paradise their home, lead the car parade through the streets of Cupids and we were made to feel like royalty as people lined the streets waving and giving us the thumbs up. The day was concluded with a crab dinner, the first meal to be served at the newly built Legacy Center, served to some 210 hungry and most appreciative coasters. We had a great time trying to crack open the crab legs and the ladies serving had to help many of us or we might still be there with our pliers spraying each other. A great traditional meal served by the great people of Cupids. After such an enjoyable day of true Newfoundland hospitality, I believe the bar has been set very high for the rest of Canada. Thank you Fraser for planning such a memorable day for everyone.
Cupids! (ku’ bids). Second tour - left at 9:00+/-a.m. and had a wonderful day – The Nfld antique car club did a great job of organizing the day! Again many people stopped their cars or stood by the roadside to wave and admire. We ended up parked on a dock, oceanside, and were loaded onto school buses (100+ cars with 2 people each, loaded into three 48-passenger buses – you do the math) for less than 5 minutes per shuttle to 3 separate historical aspects of Cupids. Each group received a guided tour of the archaeological site where excavations are being made of the original August, 1610 settlement . Then to the Masonic lodge where a naturalist gave an excellent slide presentation of Nfld geology, continental drift, fauna and wildlife. Lastly, we were taken to the legacy center which was a museum depicting the early years of the settlement. At this building we were treated to a lobster supper! When I first saw the preset plates with a scoop of something mustard coloured, a scoop of potato salad and a jelly square all covered with a piece of wax paper, I thought oh oh. But when I tasted it I quickly decided this was phenomenal! Before I was done I had seconds of everything (I could have even had seconds of the crab!) – alas they brought out dessert so I had to stop the main course there! And the service --- this lady kept the salads coming and our coffee cups were refilled over and over --- Letos in Lacombe have to move over! During the supper there was a young (read good looking) lady fiddler played Nfld music – I wanted to jump up and dance – the only place available would have been on my chair! The mayor of Cupids brought a welcome from the town. John Guy gave a declaration along the lines of a town crier circa 1610. The chairman said that Cupids started planning this 400th year celebration 20 years ago! Our group was the first to have a supper/event in this legacy building that was started 1 year ago! It was built on time and under budget! Was it fun!
Sunday, July 4th, 2010 - Today marks the beginning of a time which will see us sharing together in a most amazing coast to coast trip as part of a coaster family. We have looked forward with much anticipation to this trip which will see us cross Canada coast to coast from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia. Our sincere thanks goes out to Fraser and Dorothy Field, together with their dedicated helpers, Rick and Linda Orza and Mike and Judy Guido, who have spent in excess of three years putting together this trip of a lifetime, and who, without their hard work, planning and dedication, this trip would not be possible. Although we have lost a few participants due to recent cancellations for one reason or another, there remain some 120 vehicles registered with 90 intending to travel the entire distance. 60 are return Coasters from the Coast to Coast 2000 tour. 100 will be camping while the remaining 20 will be motelling it. Our journey will take some two and a half to four months for those who will be doing the entire trip and cover close to 15,000 miles. We will be traveling with many old friends who we met on the 2000 Coast to Coast Tour as well as many new friends that we will make along the way. We spent yesterday and today getting registered, picking up our jackets and t-shirts, setting up camp, acquainting ourselves with new campers and tracking down and visiting with former Coasters. We were each given a Tour Book containing our agenda, maps, camping information as well as pictures of all the participants and their vehicles. We have already spent much time going through the Book to pick out those we know and tracking them down to say hello. We are a sea of matching black Coasters jackets and green Coaster t-shirts. It has been a wonderful couple of days spent reminiscing and catching up. This morning, the first day of our getting acquainted pre-tour days, we gathered at 9:30 a.m. to cruise through some of the wonderful sites of St. John’s and the surrounding area. The Newfoundland Antique & Classis Car Club led the way to beautiful Petty Harbour where we took some lovely pictures and had a brief walk-about. We then drove on to Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America. We climbed up to the light house, took pictures of the ocean from the cliffs and wandered through the ruins of the old war barracks which jutted out from the barren hill sides. The tour wound its way back through old St. John’s with its beautiful heritage buildings and structures. It is quite something to see as a hundred or so antique vehicles slowly wind their way through the steep and narrow winding streets of the old city. Our late afternoon was spent gathered for a meet and greet reception held at the near by Remax Centre and sponsored by Toromont Cat. After Fraser gave us instructions for tomorrow’s tour to Cupids we were free for the rest of the evening to walk about the campground, visit fellow coasters and admire their cars or just to do as we wished. Truly, a wonderful first day as we prepare ourselves and gear up for this long awaited tour.
Our first tour of the trip! – in the morning we went to Petty Harbour and Cape Spear – both were great destinations! Petty Harbour was quite picturesque and Cape Spear is the most easterly point in Canada! – 214 steps to the top but worth every one! – Have I mentioned before how difficult touring in St Johns is? What with the poor street signage and the way this street “blends into” the next one even though you haven’t turned a corner, it is quite tricky! Well today the tour was to proceed through downtown – Water St to New Glover to Longs Hill to Duckworth – we missed New Glover --- finally I resorted to my “dead reckoning” and turned off Water St --- but at a most unfortunate choice of cross streets because immediately we came upon an intersection that forced us to turn left if you were in the far left lane and go straight or take the right fork if in the centre lane and turn right if in the far right lane. The left lane put us onto A, the center lane put us onto B or C depending which fork you chose, and the right lane put us onto D (A and D are the same street except one goes east and one goes west!) Well the cross street was so short that I had to make a decision (now) I turned left and it wasn’t correct – I knew immediately so I stopped and hauled out the maps ... there I was slouched over the centre console mumbling away when a car pulled alongside (Pat saw it first) and I rolled down my window and the lady passenger asked if were we trying to be in that group of antique cars. I shook my head and she started to tell us how to get back on track then thought better of it and said “Follow us!” So we did and they led us all the way up to the shopping center that we were to be at for lunch! What a life saver!
In the afternoon we toured to Torbay and just around – people stood at the roadside and waved. I told Pat to get out her Queen Elizabeth wave!
Gerry – your Chev truck would fit right in here! Our 1990 suburban stands out like a sore thumb because it is too new (20 year olds are nothing in this world).
Haven’t yet seen the Chaddertons or MacDonalds – I hope they are ok!
July 1, 2010
Met more of the people on the tour – Fraser, Rick, Vic, Gary and Willy – he has 2 dogs with him! Fraser said he had shipped 1200 pounds of stuff to be handed out at the start of the trip.
Went to the Geo Building up on Signal Hill. Very interesting learning experience about the earth – continental drift – and how Nfld is almost the center of it! Fascinating. The earth is about 4.5 billion years old -- Canada’s debt is about $100 for every year the earth even existed! - the US debt is about $900 for every year the earth even existed! - good thing it started when it did! – ha!
Not a bad day – cloudy but no rain until supper time and it is still raining!
July 2, 2010
Spent the day shining the car – have to try to keep up with the jones-ha
Beautiful day but had rain in the night – went for supper at Velmas – very expensive – Pat & I had clam chowder and an order of mussels with water to drink – all for $36 ! –
July 3, 2010
Woke up to a beautiful sunny day. Did the laundry downtown. Pitched our screen tent. Had supper in the tent, It was really nice. Almost like being at home! Chatted with some of the coasters. This George said he and his wife Hazel went to Velmas – their supper was $64! Tomorrow we take our first tour with the group – looking forward to it!
Here is the first part of Tom`s story, up until the start of the tour.
May 28, 2010
Spent last week or so painting white on topper and top half of trailer. At last – there are four strong people to lift the topper onto the truck! I had to caution them to not scratch the paint job...but we put two stretchers across the box and place the topper on them to test the fit of the topper to the box.
But the topper is too narrow – by about 3 inches outside to outside - damn! Well we had coffee and discussed the problem. After several alternatives were brought forward I decided to put a 6” strip of metal along the top of each side of the truck box lag-bolted to wood plugs in the stake pockets. Then I would bolt the topper to these strips. Fortunately we bought an extra roll of cushioning to go between the topper and the truck box. Now have to wait until Monday to get the metal strips.
May 31, 2010
The strips are painted to match the truck and now they are on. And the guys helped me lift the topper into position. I bolted it to the strips and stood back to admire the package – sure looks good! Glen is concerned
June 8, 2010
Truck has been heating up. Can’t resolve what the problem is – radiator/water pump?? We have decided to use the suburban instead and just go! Can’t wait anymore. Loaded and gone! Stayed overnight at Rosetown, Sask. Muddy campground but only $20.00 About 8 hours on the road.
June 9, 2010
Decided to travel Highway 13 through southern Sask. Stopped at Assiniboia to see people who sold us the air conditioner. Gave us a 5 blade fan and recommended we get a shroud for behind the radiator to force fan to pull air through the radiator. – Sounds logical.
Decided to travel Highway 13 through southern Sask. Stopped at Assiniboia to see people who sold us the air conditioner. Gave us a 5 blade fan and recommended we get a shroud for behind the radiator to force fan to pull air through the radiator. – Sounds logical.
Should have filled up at Assiniboia as we ran short at about Ogena(sp?) – Went to the restaurant in the local hotel. Told four young guys my plight – they said they were not locals and couldn’t help. The waitress/cook/bottle washer couldn’t help – suggested I try the bar – so I asked if “that” door would let me into the bar when these four guys piped up and said I should use this other door ... (but they said they were not locals – still they knew the way to the bar!).
In the bar I found four more guys enjoying a brew (or nine). One of them volunteered to get his cardlock but it wasn’t in his vehicle. However he knew this Brian who was filling up at the Coop cardlock right now and he would give us gas on his card. Stupid me ---Brian could buy at $101.90 when the normal price was $110.90 and I only took $50.00 worth! Opportunity only knocks once!
June 10, 2010
GM dealer at Weyburn, Sask. got us in to check our poor mileage – they said it was a missing “tube” going to the air intake and it could cause icing up and poor mileage as well as n’t help – suggested I try the bar – so I asked if “that” door would let me into the bar when these four guys piped up and said I should use this other door ... (but they said they were not locals – still they knew the way to the bar!).
In the bar I found power – which kind of fit the symptoms of yesterday. $230 +/- later we were on the road. But had an enjoyable time at the dealership visiting with another customer. Weyburn dealership work improved the mileage to 12 mpg – ugh!
Crossed into the US at North Portal south of Estevan. Drove to Rugby, Minnesota. Stayed here where we struck up a conversation with the owner. Told him about the car problem. He said I could disconnect the battery (both terminals) for a couple of minutes. And when I reconnect the battery, the on-board computer would reset itself which would fix the mileage – So I jumped up and left the room to do that. We’ll see how the mileage goes tomorrow.
June 11, 2010
Battery trick seems to have changed the mileage – now getting 13.5 mpg (Canadian). Long days drive to Grand Rapids. Stayed in American Legion campground.
June 12, 2010
Parked at the Gumegitche campground on the south shore of Lake Superior. For the last couple of hours Pat has been wanting to stop but the campgrounds along the way (if they exist) are not marked . Finally pulled over at a rest stop (this a good feature of this area of the US) where Pat got a list of campgrounds. We used Garmin (gps) to find an address that was supposed to be a campground – actually it was a hardware store – so we went in (it appeared to be after hours as the only person there was a janitor’s assistant who said she didn’t know about the campground but highway 28 was left just down at the light. Still the address said 2048 M28. So, on we went – now we are noticing the numbers on the mail boxes out at the road (in town there are no numbers on the store fronts?!). Finally we we pulled into this campground and lo and behold if it isn’t the same one we stayed at in early September, 10 years ago! I asked the owner if he remembered me – of course he said he did!
– truck ran fine just wish the mileage was better – but we are travelling at 60 mph with a trailer and a full inside ---
June 13, 2010
Crossed back into Canada at Sault Ste. Marie (named by Catholic priests) – stopped at Ontario government tourist information booth and picked up maps and campground info etc – on my way out I saw a chance to win a trip (or?) and filled out the raffle ticket. Later as we were driving to Sudbury, Pat asked, “where did I put the map?” – I left it all at the info booth! – some days ---
Anyway we found a provincial campground just west of Sudbury and spent the night – first hot late afternoon on the trip – I changed into shorts and a T shirt for the rest of the day. – We did the laundry !
June 14, 2010
Found a Chev dealership and enquired into mileage – service manager thought 14 mpg would be about tops for us, so decided not to ask them to change the plugs and do a tune-up. Filled up before leaving Sudbury – mileage was 14.65 mpg- slightly better yet - but we will do a proper tune-up before leaving Ontario. – Stopped at Northbay YMCA to take in an aquasize class from 2-3 pm .
Sans map and guide books, but with the help of Garmin (gps), found a nice private campground south of Pembroke. Had TV dinners for supper and now getting ready for bed. – Don’t mind helping with dishes when only have 2 plates, forks and a fry pan!
June 15, 2010
Camping in Alburg, Vermont – another “resort” that costs US$38 plus showers – but internet is free – yeah! Uneventful day except stopped twice to talk to dealers and repair people about our mileage – they all say that we are getting about as much mileage as we can expect. Maybe will enquire in the US. Countryside is beautiful here at Lake Champlain.
June 16, 2010
Camping about 30 miles west of Bangor, Maine @ US$24.25 (even here the showers are extra). Good day on the road except ran into construction on Maine #2 that slowed us down. Spent at least one day too much in Ontario – but wanted to see Perth area as it was reported to be exceptionally nice. – it was nice but – anyway the trip is great – we will just be later getting to Newfoundland - warmer weather so truck is getting 14+ approaching 15 mpg – wish the guys were here to discuss the problem – I’m sure they could fix it! – This morning discovered we had left cooler plugged in so truck battery was dead – no problem...I’ll just hook up the battery charger while we have breakfast and we’ll be off – wrong – battery charger didn’t work – fortunately a fellow traveller from Florida had one (only had to knock on the second door to fibefore all this went to make porridge for breakfast and spilled a big part of the bag all over the cupboard, stove, and floor ... but the day was still a good one?
June 17, 2010
Wanted to see the reversing falls at St. John, NB so let Garmin find it for us – except we were left somewhere on the river. After much frustration and lost time driving around St John gave it up and left the city. What a pathetic city for street signs – in fairness, from what we did see, there are many intersections with more than 4 streets !! Drove to Amherst, Nova Scotia where we stayed at the Loch Lomond. On the way (about at Moncton) decided to have lunch/supper so again let Garmin find us a seafood place – turned out to be a small father/son cafe – I had the cross-rib steak special – what a catastrophe that was – never order steak in the maritimes!
Anyway we got to the tourist info centre just inside Nova Scotia – very, very helpful - they had a computer so we booked the ferry to Nfld for Friday at 4:00pm. That meant we had to be on the road by 10:00 am Friday! – We had kind of been worried about booking soon enough but didn’t feel comfortable about booking too soon (say week in advance) . Who knows what road trouble there might have been. Remember, we decided to use the suburban at the very last minute, so no preparations were taken with it before we left. But now we have to keep that 4:00 departure or pay an extra $25.00 to alter the booking.
June 18, 2010
We woke up early and got on the road without incident by 8:00 am – say now we have time for a oil change! OK found a WalMart and got the job done at Truro – it was right along the way – perfect. The clerk thought it would take about 2 ½ hours to reach the ferry (at the top of Cape Breton). Four hours later we pulled into the ferry terminal after lead footing it all the way (wherever there wasn’t any construction)! But the ferry was now scheduled to leave at 6:00pm –groan! It seems that the winds wreck havoc with their ability to maintain their schedule.
Anyway, now we are on the ferry! Nice ride, and as we were having supper, darned if there wasn’t a peculiar white shape on the horizon – An iceberg!! – wow and just behind that another one! We were enthralled and so were the Swiss couple at our table. As luck would have as I went back for seconds at the buffet I saw one of the ships hands and I asked him if those were indeed icebergs – alas they were two ferries going from Nfld to Nova Scotia. – what a disappointment – Anyway after supper we wandered into the card room where a lady happened to be sitting – just for the fun of it I asked her if saw any icebergs – Oh yes she said (but they were the same two ships) –
Finally docked at 1:00 am – way past our bedtime – and we still had to find a campground. Got onto a side street in Port au Basque where I saw a RCMP car so I pulled over to ask for directions to a campground. Now picture this – it’s 1:30 am or so and it is black outside - this Mountie is stopped at the side of the road so I pull into the curb, park and walk back to the car, and as I walk back I see this Mountie is interrogating someone (from what I remember it appeared to be a young man and we are in the parking lot of a local pub – so ok I keep walking up to the scene to within about 10 feet and the mountie says “walk away” - but I need to ask him for directions – so I stop – but again the Mountie says “walk away”. Well hell – so I shrug my shoulders and turn –but I guess the mountie read my body language (because I really was pissed) and asked if I needed help – so I ask for directions and he tells me and I leave! And that’s how we found the campsite at Port au Basque!
June 19, 2010
Want to see Gros Morne park so headed north on trans-Canada highway #1 – About 3:00 I asked Pat if she would drive but she was sleepy too so decided to pull over for a snooze – At 5:00(!) we woke up and continued our drive - guess we were still tired from the late night before. Bought groceries at Cornerbrook. Staying Saturday night at Deer Lake. Beautiful drive through the “Table Mountains” and “Twin Mountains”.
June 20, 2010
Weather has been cool – had rain overnight – stayed at Cow Head national gov’t camp site. Left cooler in suburban plugged in and ran the battery down again. The people at the next campsite volunteered their car battery – but we still didn’t have a booster cable so cobbled one from the wires on our defunct battery charger. It would be a long time before his car would charge our battery – fortunately the park manager came along and saw our plight- he went and got a set of booster cables and we got started. During this time we had a nice visit – turned out he was French-Canadian living at Dieppe, NB who had retired from a career of teaching at the correction center there. Turned out he taught mechanics! He suggested we could use his battery to start our car and then switch back while the car was running --- I didn’t think that was possible! Learn something new every day – I’m sure going to have to live a long time! We had made a reservation for live entertainment at Cow Head that started at 8:30 so we were late by about 5 minutes (missed the first song). The evening was quite a pleasant finish to the day. This park is unique geographically.
We stopped at this neat restaurant in Rocky Harbour where I just had to have moose meat pie – was it ever good! Got invited to be “screeched in” at 4:00. So we got camped at Cow Head and came back. What a ceremony!!! Enjoyed every moment – kissed the cod – downed a drink of screech - even got “mummied”!
June 21, 2010
Now having an early lunch back at our favourite restaurant in Rocky Harbour. Will head out for parts east – ‘till then.
Same day 10 hours later at Gran Falls-Windsor, Nfld. Drove up to Rattling Brook where road dead ended – falls were beautiful – I walked to the top of boardwalk/steps and took several pictures – then drove up to Harry’s Harbour (yes these really are places) where we saw a lady waiting in a car to pick up her dad/husband(?) – told them we were looking for icebergs – she said there was one last week! Asked them who was Harry (to have this place named after him) – she didn’t know but he proceeded to tell us about a Harry who made antique furniture and lived just up the road past the church...but there would be no point in going there now because he would be out looking for antiques – ha.
Tonight we went to the YMCA to inquire into swimming hours, when the acquasize class was... only to learn the pool was closed for maintenance. Oh well. Then we wanted to buy some groceries so we stopped a couple along the road to ask where downtown was. He said “turn right at this corner go under the highway and go on up around” in a Newfie way with arms waving and all - so I repeated the directions back to him and said yes and away we went ...Pat said why do I ask these people and I said so I could hear that Newfie patter --- it is so funny to my ear - -- That sounds snobbish I guess but I sure get a laugh when I hear them talk.
June 22, 2010
Went up highway 350 to Birchy Bay then drove up highway 340 to Twillingate – “iceberg capital of the world” – along the way stopped at an information booth, rushed in and asked where are the icebergs – almost in unison the 5 girls said there were NO icebergs! “God dam I said” – they were shocked but I was/am disappointed – we left the west coast because Pat read in the tourist books that Twillingate was the place to see icebergs so we hurried to get over here---
Anyway went to dinner theatre here at Twillingate which we enjoyed – it was slap stick but got a few laughs so the $29.00 each was worth it – included salmon with potato, veg’s and dessert with coffee. Met Jack & Heather from New Brunswick who also were previous antique auto fans. Wireless doesn’t work in this campground so will have to forward at a later date. Stayed at Twillingate.
June 23, 2010
Drove to Gambo – stayed at a municipal campground – saw a lot of coast line – it’s all beautiful as can be when the sun shines.
June 24, 2010
Suburban wouldn’t start this morning – but this time we had a booster cable and were able to get a boost readily . Drove to Bonavista where John Cabot is thought to have landed. Along the way stopped at Balbour Village. This was a family of merchants who catered to the fishermen. For their time they were rich, especially the grandfather. But by the time the grandson assumed the head of family role he went into receivership (shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations?) This was a guided tour of what was an entire village. Part of the story being told was an episode where the Balbour ship was returning home from St Johns with store supplies and was blown off course by a sudden storm that came up. When the ship reached land it was in Toberlay, Scotland! So I said the captain couldn’t have been much of a navigator – ha! Our lady guide took exception saying that all aboard were safe and indeed returned to Canada safe and sound. I made amends by saying the captain was certainly capable, just not a good navigator. – she seemed pacified.
From John Cabot’s point of landing we decided to see the “dungeons” a natural phenomenon of eroded cliffs. To see them we had to take a gravel road across this pasture – yes a real pasture with cows and horses – on a whim we decided to see where this gravel road would take us so we continued on and stumbled on a little place called Elliston – “root cellar capital of the world” very interesting community – also saw puffins – a great finish to the day – camping in an out of the way spot on the way to Trinity Bay.
Another campground without internet. You will have a lot of reading to catch up when we finally forward this update – ha!
I have really been bouncing the trailer down the road – broke some of our corelle dishes!
June 25, 2010
Car wouldn’t start – got another boost and drove to a local cafe for breakfast – should have let car run – had to get another boost there. Drove to Clarenville to a Canadian Tire store and got a replacement battery which I installed in the parking lot. Drove to Trinity Bay area – it’s a beautifully restored village of mercantile stores, etc for fishers etc. Had an Anglican church with a beautiful stained glass window – especially as seen from the inside with the bright sun outside.
We took in an open air play last night. Just 2 characters outside one of the restored residences.
June 26, 2010
Had a lazy day today - Fixed the frame around the front window shade. Went for a swim at a private “community pool” in Clarenville. Paid $7.00 each! Kim & Meagan would have been proud of us “ acquasizers”.
Drove to Whiteside where we are camped on a new site in a campground without internet – there are a lot of these it seems – Will golf at Pitchers Pond tomorrow at 1:10! Hopefully in nice weather.
Now within 100 kms of St Johns. The trans Canada Highway extends east-west from Port o Basque to St Johns, basically running through the middle of the island with highways that run up the “arms” that are separated by channels of ocean. These arms all have interesting places to see – Pat says we have been up all but one of these arms!
June 27, 2010
Stayed last night at Backside Pool RV Park here on the south shore of Trinity Bay. The was in a state of expansion – rough roads – the stall we selected was a new one with a clay base and no gravel/surface preparation. Some 70++ stalls - Ok – having a shower required getting the key from the front desk but no extra charge over the $30 fee – sounds great right? – so in the morning we drove up to the lone showers, got the key and entered the shower where there was a small counter with a mirror above it – so I needed a shave – no sink! Ok shave in the shower but that was an exercise let me tell you...Before we showered we needed to use the bathroom (read toilet) – there was the outhouse! The owner didn’t waste the worlds lumber supply as the sit-upon part was only as big as the toilet seat you have in your bathroom at home! Overall it gave me a migraine! And I don’t get headaches! – “Backside Pool” RV Park should be renamed “Anal” RV Park. The lady was nice almost apologetic. It probably isn’t the worst RV Park in Canada but it certainly is one of the worst. Enough complaining.
Today we had “Sunday “ dinner at a local restaurant - turkey with salt beef and pea pudding – a full meal deal let me tell you – good wholesome food.
Then we went golfing at Pitcher’s Pond – sunshine would have made the course phenomenal – I would love to golf it again sometime.
I was saying to Pat that the roads in Nfld all have curves on them (to say the least!) that do not have a preceding sign. So when you do see a sign pointing out the upcoming curve you better pay attention because that curve is either particularly tight or quite long (like all the way around the mountain)!
After the golf game we continued to drive up this arm and found another local campground – this time there is pavement, beautiful showers, lovely parking sites – at a price of $25! But guess what – I locked our keys in the van- many bad words – walked down to the office for help but nothing available on a late Sunday evening.
June 28, 2010
Walked back down to the office and phoned AMA for help. Trevor answered for AMA and within the hour a fellow handed the keys to me! – wow – at no cost!
Drove around the last arm before the St John’s arm – so we saw the rest of the south side of Trinity Bay and the north shore of Conception Bay. At the end of the Trinity Bay we drove into Grates Cove – I doubt there were 100 people there. Pat had read that there was a profusion of rock walls built by their ancestors that were used to separate their land from the “common” for gardens and separate pastures for their animals. Very interesting – stopped and had one piece of fish and fries – very good! The restaurant had this history book we could persuse while we waited for our order. Apparently there was solid evidence to show that John Cabot had landed here and not at Bonavista like those people claim! Left the restaurant with a piece of seaweed pie that we (read I) ate at supper tonight.
Once we got back to the “main” part of NFLD we decided to drive to St. John’s where we discovered that we seem to be the first of the “Coasters 2010” people to check in at Pippy Park. – The girl in their information booth said not to leave valuables in the van overnight – everything we own is in the van! Don’t know what to do about this. First outing in St John’ is a favourable impression. Will explore more tomorrow!
June 29, 2010
Spent the day in St Johns! First found a Royal Bank – this is a bit of a feat because there aren’t that many of them in the province. B of Nova Scotia, Montreal, Credit Unions but few Royal Banks! Then booked appointment for a tune up for tomorrow and then went to Signal Hill! Garmin led us on an interesting tour – got some pictures of those colourful houses - even saw a couple that had a definite tilt! I was really thrilled – it was just like you sometimes see on TV! – Came back to the campground and did the laundry. Got beat at crib too. – Garmin has been faithful, thankfully.
June 30, 2010
Got a tune up done at City Tire(!) – because chev & gm dealers here were booked into 3rd week of July! – Tune up cost $239.99 – that’s for spark plugs, rotor cap, fuel filter and rotated and balanced tires – at that price it pays for itself even if the improvement is only 2 mpg – but not at the $600-$700 wanted in Ontario! While we waited for the work to be done we went to the mall across the street – surprisingly large mall – nice too! Last night drove downtown – found George St (the entertainment centre of St. Johns) but Pat wasn’t comfortable stopping so we found our way back to the campground –That’s a major accomplishment for me as my navigator had given up looking at the map in the dark!
...
AGENDA
|
Date
|
City
|
Camping
|
|
|
July, 4
|
St. John's, NL
|
Pippy Park
|
|
5
|
St. John's
|
Pippy Park
|
|
6
|
St. John's
|
catching
|
|
7
|
Gander
|
Country Inn Trailer
|
|
8
|
Cornerbrook
|
Prince Edward Campground
|
|
9
|
Cornerbrook
|
Prince Edward Campground
|
|
10
|
North Sydney
|
Arm of Gold
|
|
11
|
Sherbrooke
|
St. Mary's Riverside & Nimrod Campsites
|
|
|
12
|
Dartmouth
|
Shubie Campground
|
|
13
|
Dartmouth
|
Shubie Campground
|
|
14
|
Charolettetown
|
Marco Polo Campbround
|
|
15
|
Charolettetown
|
Marco Polo Campbround
|
|
16
|
Charolettetown
|
Marco Polo Campbround
|
|
17
|
Moncton
|
Camper’s City
|
|
18
|
Penfield
|
McKay/New River Beach Provincial Park
|
|
19
|
Penfield
|
McKay/New River Beach Provincial Park
|
|
20
|
Hartland
|
Arena
|
|
21
|
Quebec City
|
KOA Quebec City
|
|
22
|
Quebec City
|
KOA Quebec City
|
|
23
|
Montreal
|
KOA
|
|
24
|
Montreal
|
KOA
|
|
25
|
Ottawa, ON
|
Nepean Campsite
|
|
26
|
Ottawa
|
Nepean Campsite
|
|
27
|
Picton
|
Community Centre
|
|
28
|
Picton
|
Community Centre
|
|
29
|
Cannington
|
City Park
|
|
30
|
Chesley
|
Cedar Rail Camp
|
|
31
|
Sudbury
|
Carol's Campground 40/Vacationland 45 sites
|
|
Aug-01
|
Wawa
|
Wawa RV resort and campground
|
|
2
|
Terrace Bay
|
Aguasabon Campground
|
|
3
|
Dryden
|
Arran Provincial Park
|
|
4
|
Winnipeg MB
|
Traveller's R.V. Resort
|
|
5
|
Winnipeg
|
Traveller's R.V. Resort
|
|
6
|
Winnipeg
|
Traveller's R.V. Resort
|
|
7
|
Cypress River
|
Community park
|
|
8
|
Estavan, SK
|
Woodlawn Regional Park
|
|
9
|
Moose Jaw
|
Sukanen Ship Pioneer Park
|
|
10
|
Rosetown
|
Prarrie View Park
|
|
11
|
Maklin
|
Macklin Lake Regional Park
|
|
12
|
Ponoka, AB
|
Frank Mickey Stampede Park
|
|
13
|
Rocky Mountain House
|
Riverview Campground E
|
|
14
|
Fairmont Hotsprings
|
Spruce Grove Resort
|
|
15
|
Ft. Steele, BC
|
Fort Steele Camp ground
|
|
16
|
Nakusp
|
Three Island Resort
|
|
17
|
Kamloops
|
Silver Sage Campsite
|
|
18
|
Hope
|
Telte Yet Campsite
|
|
19
|
Victoria
|
Saanichton Fair Grounds
|
|
20
|
Victoria
|
Saanichton Fair Grounds
|
|
21
|
Victoria
|
Saanichton Fair Grounds
|
