Our first big road trip reluctantly comes to an end

It's hard to believe it has been three months since we left for our first big road trip in Rose. What a fabulous adventure we've had - beautiful sights, wonderful memories and interesting people and history! Rose's windshield was a constantly changing panorama of incredible scenery. We've learned so much about travelling in an RV and we'll put our hard earned knowledge to work on our next adventure to Alaska in the spring!

We spent the last 10 days of our trip meandering our way south along the Maine coast before heading to Atlanta to move our stuff to Tennessee. We had visions of eating lobster every night in Maine for $3 each like we did 15 years ago. Well - unfortunately lobster prices have increased even more than gas prices - from $3 to $14 for a "take out" lobster dinner eaten at a picnic table at a lobster pound! So needless to say - our lobster consumption was very limited this time in Maine....but still delicious! Fortunately the scenery hadn't changed - it was still beautiful! We had a special surprise in Acadia National Park - we were asked to interview for a TV program highlighting National Park Day - the day we were there. So Molly and I did the interview for the 6pm news! The last of the interview is posted on this blog....

Highlights of Maine

• Campabello - Roosevelt's summer home and Eastport - a quaint historic village on the very northeast coast of Maine

• The scenery in Acadia National Park and Molly's TV interview on National Park Day

• Lovely little seaside villages of Camden, Stonington, Booth Bay, Freeport and Rockport

• Kennebunkport - very picturesque and interesting to see the Bush compound

Reflections of our first big road trip....

• There are helpful, friendly people wherever you go - it's fun to meet new people and hear all about their travels
• Only take things that we REALLY need -it's amazing how much we can do without and how little space we really need
• It's a good thing we didn't know how how much we didn't know about traveling in an RV before we started our trip ....
• We can't be in a hurry when you travel in an RV (especially Rose) - it did help us to stop and smell the roses
• Flexibility is key - plans will constantly change either by desire or by circumstances beyond our control - we never knew what "surprises" lie ahead - we weren't bored that's for sure!
• It's a great environment to raise a puppy - that was a big surprise, we thought it would be harder but it was actually easier in a smaller space!

• Don't trust the GPS exclusively- use a map to verify!
• It's a fantastic way to REALLY see North America !!!
  

Next stop - Atlanta....

As soon as we finished our trip along the coast of Maine we were like cows headed to the barn. We couldn't wait to get back to see our family - especially our little grand daughter Emmy.

We dropped Rose off at the RV dealer in Tennessee for some R&R and warranty repairs. We'll pick her back up in early October with hopefully all of the little "bugs" fixed - including new windshield wipers that won't break -we hope.....

We spent the next week in Atlanta visiting with family and a fun day taking care of our little grand daughter Emmy while Drew and Anna were at work. Emmy and Molly had a great time together. Molly just LOVES playing with Emmy and also LOVES Emmy's food!

Spring will be here before we know it and then we'll be off to Alaska in Rose!

It was a REALLY long ferry ride......

We survived the last ferry ride (barely) and we’ve been exploring the south coast of Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick for the last week- beautiful scenery and amazing tide changes!

It was the easiest ferry ride for Rose – easy on and off the ferry and she had plenty of “personal space”on the 15 hour trip. It was quiet down in the bottom of the ferry so Rose got some much needed rest. The rest of us were not so lucky. It was a really long night for Molly and us. Molly had “roommates” in the kennel that barked and howled all night. Every time we went to check on her, the little dog in the crate next to her was barking. So Molly didn’t get much sleep and was exhausted the next day as we drove to the south coast of Nova Scotia. Gary and I had a “roommate” sitting in the seat in front of us that snored all night. We were wishing we could put our roommate in the kennel and put Molly in his seat but he weighed 300+ pounds and there wasn’t a crate big enough for him!

We have been on the road for over 2 months now and it is just starting to get warmer – we’re spoiled by the nice cool temperatures we have had this summer but the warmer weather will help us get ready for warmer temperatures in the southeast! We've really loved exploring in the Canadian maritime provinces - beautiful scenery and friendly people!

Highlights from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick :

Mahone Bayand the Ovens Nature Park – lovely scenery and wildlife

Lunenburg – a picturesque, well preserved old ship building port that is a Unesco World Heritage Site

Digby neck – a string of islands in the mouth of the Bay of Fundy

Joggins Fossil Cliffs – 500 million year old fossils of plants and animals

Digby scallop festival – the best scallops we have ever had

Port Royal - old french fur trading fort

Next – and last stop before we head back to the south is the coast of Maine. Fingers crossed that Rose continues to behave herself and we have an uneventful trip back to the south - we are really excited to see our family again -especially our little grand daughter Emmy ( she's grown a head full of curls since we left)

Puffins plus more beautiful scenery and more whales!

Our lumpy bug bites from Labrador are slowly disappearing and the wrinkles are back......

As we spend 0ur last 10 days in Newfoundland exploring the east coast, we were hoping to see puffins but never dreamed we would see them so close up and in such large numbers! The scenery was beautiful as the west coast and the north and we saw lots more whales! Rose and Scooter have both gotten quite a work out - it’s a surprisingly large province with lots of peninsulas to explore – and we did!

We stayed in Walmart parking lots for 6 nights in a row ( saves the pennies to help with Rose’s drinking problem and all the fuel we have to buy for her!). We are becoming quite familiar with the subtleties of Walmart parking lots- is it level enough to put out our slide outs, is there a grassy area near by to walk Molly, is it quiet and away from the road noises, do we have enough water and capacity in our (gray and black) tanks to be self contained for 6 nights in a row??? We never thought about this stuff before we started our trip!

A not so nice view at a campground, guess they can't all be good....

Our view at one of the campgrounds was of the dumping station (across from Scooter) - it made the Walmart parking lot look really picturesque!

Our reflections on Newfoundland/Labrador

Now that we have been in Newfoundland and Labrador for 3 and a half weeks and have traveled over 2,000 miles between Rose and Scooter, we have some general impressions that span all areas of the province…. Very friendly/helpful people ( a lot like Ireland), some Newfies even have a bit of an Irish accent and the traditional music sounds Irish; beautiful scenery of coasts/mountains, bogs and lakes (we’ve never seen so many lakes!); picturesque fishing villages, miles and miles of wilderness, plentiful wildlife( we were always looking for moose in the woods and whales in the sea) and a refreshing step back to simpler times with a strong spirit of self sufficiency. Each little town and village has their own walking trail that they have developed and maintain and also a museum about their area - lots of pride in their community!



Highlights of eastern Newfoundland:

*Puffins – we love puffins and have seen them in Alaska, Ireland, Scotland, Nova Scotia and Maine but none of those can compare to how close we were and how many we saw in Elliston on the Bonavista peninsula – it was amazing! We have included a video clip because it was such an incredible experience!





*The Skerwink trail – a beautiful hike along the coast of the Bonavista peninsula ( one of our favorites we have ever done) – it is rated as one of the top 10 hikes in North America – we can see why – fantastic scenery and whales too!

*Bonavista lighthouse and headlands – beautiful scenery, more whales and more puffins

*Picking wild blueberries - it was a real bonus to find and pick wild blueberries on our hikes - they are delicious! Much sweeter than the domestic ones





*Trinity – a lovely little village on the sea

* Cape Spear – the eastern most point in North America and we saw lots of whales right from the shore

*The Dover fault – the place where the "super" continents collided 500 million years ago and formed Europe, North and South America and Africa - fascinating!

*St John’s Regatta ( quite a tradition in St John’s) and seeing our friends again that we met on the ferry on the way over– France, Daniel, Brenda and Dave

Next - Rose's last ferry ride from Newfoundland back to Nova Scotia...15 hours long!

Now we’re off on a 15 hour ferry ride from St John’s, Newfoundland back to North Sydney Nova Scotia. We had to buy an airline approved crate for Molly – she has to stay in her crate in a kennel but we can visit her during the trip. Hopefully Rose will have plenty of room this time and Molly will tolerate the long time in her new crate….and we’ll be able to get some sleep in our “reclining”seats… Assuming we all survive the ferry ride, we’re planning to spend another week in Nova Scotia exploring the south coast and the Bay of Fundy.

Icebergs, whales, vikings and free botox!

We left Gros Morne National Park and headed north to St Anthony at the northern most tip of Newfoundland. Although we were told the road “was fine” it was VERY bumpy and Rose was really bouncing up and down a lot – and so were the rest of us – including Scooter in the garage! We were questioning our sanity for deciding to go north to such an undeveloped area but after all, it was supposed to be an adventure - and it was!!! It is truly a wilderness frontier and was an incredible experience for all of us !

On the Viking Trail at the very northern tip of Newfoundland

We spent four nights in St Anthony and gave big ole Rose a well deserved rest after the long, bumpy drive up the coast - she did great! The side roads were even worse and Scooter quickly turned into an SUV whether she wanted to or not - just to survive the potholes and gravel roads. We guess it was part of the “frontier experience”. The coastal drive to St Anthony was absolutely breathtaking and the little fishing villages were so picturesque - it was well worth the

effort to get there!

Highlights of the Viking trail:

* L’anse aux Meadows – the only Viking settlement in North America from 1,000 years ago

* Seeing icebergs floating close to shore and watching an iceberg crack up and turn upside down

* Seeing humpback, fin and minke whales

* Lots of moose

* Beautiful coastal scenery

* Learning about the contribution Wilfred Grenfell made to Newfoundland and Labrador by introducing medical care for the very first time in the 1800s. It was a great example of how one person can make such a profound difference in so many lives. A great quote from him “When two courses are open, take the most venturesome”.

The Labrador coast

Our trip to Labrador started with yet another ferry ride across the Strait of Belle Isle. It turned out to be an old ferry and an even tighter squeeze for Rose than the last ferry to Newfoundland– so tight that Rose’s mirror rubbed against the side of the ferry on the way out. No harm done to Rose thank goodness. But Rose and I have decided to do some deep breathing exercises before the next ferry ride to calm our nerves! Gary on the other hand takes it all in stride – it’s a whole lot easier than landing on aircraft carriers! This is actually Gary's second trip to Labrador. The last time he was in Labrador he landed the F4 fighter at Goose Bay after intercepting a Russian bomber. Quite a different experience than taking a ferry in big 'ole Rose to get there!


Labrador is even more remote than northern Newfoundland –you don’t have to drive very far from the ferry port to feel like you are leaving civilization behind and going back in time at least 50 years! It is very pristine – miles and miles of wilderness – untouched by development – hard to find that anywhere else unless it’s in a national park! The major highway in Labrador is still a gravel road. Fishing and trapping are still very important industries. The “major” towns along the coast have populations of 150-250 people. They have a VERY large population of black flies. There must be trillions of them. We were well prepared ( we thought) with insect repellent BUT it was 3 years old and we found out real quickly that it had lost it’s effectiveness. There was one positive outcome for not having good bug repellent - we discovered that when they bite you on the face it works like botox – your face swells up and the wrinkles go away!.

Highlights of Labrador:

* The experience of seeing such a pristine arctic environment

* Red Bay – a 500 year old Basque whaling settlement that was abandoned in the 1600s

* Seeing icebergs and whales

* Seeing 500 year old whale bones on the beach

Next we’re traveling to the eastern portion of “the rock” – we’re hoping to see puffins, more whales and explore the east coast of Newfoundland!