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!

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

Rose’s first ferry rides - two very different experiences!

The ferry ride to Nova Scotia…
The first ferry was from Prince Edward Island to Caribou, Nova Scotia – Rose was the first RV in line. She was anxious to get a big parking spot and avoid a very tight squeeze! As it turned out the ferry was not even half full so there was plenty of room for Rose to stretch out! Plus she didn’t have to “drink” on the ferry so her gas mileage was really good!
Since it was only a 75 minute ferry, Molly was allowed to go up on deck with us. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and we all enjoyed the fresh air and pretty scenery along the way! It was Molly’s first boat ride and she loved it!

Six beautiful days on Cape Breton Island...


The skies cleared the day we arrived and we had 6 cloud free, blue sky days – we needed it so badly! Doesn’t everything seem better when the sky is blue and the sun is shining?! The view from our campsite was lovely – we were perched on a cliff looking over the largest lake in Nova Scotia – Bras d Or!

Rose got to rest for 6 days while Scooter went to work as we went sightseeing around the island. Scooter got to go on her own little cable ferry that crossed the lake. She felt like a very big girl!


Highlights of Cape Breton Island:

-Louisbourg, a completely restored fortress built in the 1600’s in a lovely setting on the northwest coast of Nova Scotia. You can really see what life was like back then. They have people in period costumes performing all sorts of tasks – cooking, fishing, baking, military firing weapons, blacksmiths, magistrates, gardeners, restaurants, and on and on! It was fascinating!

-The Cabot trail drive with amazing scenery of the sea, mountains and lakes

-The Marconi museum and site where Marconi transmitted the first transatlantic message to England using tall radio towers

-Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck

-Hike to a lovely waterfall outside Baddeck


The ferry ride to Newfoundland…
We were lured into thinking that all ferry rides were going to be that easy but the ferry from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland was quite different. The weather was rainy, windy and cold, the ferry was 2 hours late departing, the seas were rough, the space was really super tight with only 2” on each side ( Rose is very picky about her personal space!) and Molly had to stay in Rose “down below” for 5 and a half hours while we were on the “people” deck ( no offense to Rose but it just isn't the same as being on the "people" deck!). If that wasn’t enough, right before we docked in Newfoundland they made an announcement that the winds were gusting at over 70 mph at “Wreck House” (as if everyone on the ferry knew exactly where that was but nobody we asked did know). We couldn’t help but wonder if Wreck House would be a problem as we traveled 3 hours north on the highway…..

As we were driving off the ferry to begin our journey to our first night’s destination we fortunately saw several of the folks we had met on the ferry. They told us that Wreck House was a stretch of road 20 minutes north of the ferry that we would be driving through and with winds that high there was a chance that RVs and even semi trucks would blow over. Just picture Rose on her side – she’s such a big girl, she’d never be able to get up again on all fours! One of the couples was from St John’s, Newfoundland and knew the area. They suggested that we all go stay at a campground very close to the ferry and wait out the storm until the morning – we were all for it – especially Rose! It turned out to be a fun evening with our new found friends and we woke up to beautiful sunshine the next morning and left on our journey north to Gros Morne National Park!



Gros Morne National Park – our first impression of Newfoundland

If you could only pick one place to go in Newfoundland, we were told Gros Morne was it. We certainly understand why – it is filled with beautiful scenery – mountains, lakes, fjords along the sea and the only fresh water fjords in the world, fascinating history from aboriginal people to the European settlers, and geology that spans millions of years! We absolutely loved Gros Morne National Park!
Highlights of Gros Morne:

-Western Brook Pond boat trip through the fresh water fjords

-Lobster Cove lighthouse and interpretive center

-Seeing lots of Moose and beautiful scenery

-Local Trout River fishing museum where we learned about how life has changed dramatically for the fisherman and their communities





-East point coastal walk where we picked wild raspberries and had gorgeous views of the coast



Next stop.. the viking trail to the northern tip of Newfoundland and a ferry ride to Labrador!!!
Although it wasn’t part of our original plans for Newfoundland, we decided to take the Viking Trail north from Gros Morne to the very northern tip of Newfoundland (about 180 miles, but with these roads it takes 5 hours to drive it) and then take yet another ferry – this time to Labrador – it’s too close to pass up the opportunity! Rose, Scooter and Molly are ready for the adventure, too!!

Rose behaves herself but the weather didn't!!

We were holding our breath expecting any minute for something else to break or an alarm to sound alerting us of a problem but thankfully it never happened! Rose was on her very best behavior as we drove from the Adirondacks through Quebec and New Brunswick provinces on our way to Prince Edward Island. Unfortunately the weather provided the dark clouds and rain for two whole weeks! The good news is that the windshield wipers seem to be working harmoniously together now - they have had plenty of practice lately.

Some of our fellow campers braving the rain in tents. We remember those days of camping but we sure were glad to be in the rv instead of a tent!



We are happy to report that our vet tour appears to have ended – thank goodness. And –Molly is now sleeping all night so no more walks in the middle of the night!


First stop – Montreal…
We just spent one day in Montreal on our way to Quebec city but that was enough for us –it’s a big city ( not our favorite place to be) .


Quebec City has a lovely old town – very much like a European city!
We had our one day of no rain in Quebec City ( it wasn’t exactly crystal clear skies but we were happy to not have liquid sunshine for a change)! Fortunately we went to Quebec City’s old town area on that day. It is a completely restored old town area from the 16th and 17th centuries. The city provides guides dressed in period costumes who conduct a walking tour of the old town area, We learned lots of interesting facts about what life was like for the merchants and the fur traders during that period. One thing we learned was that the fur traders measured traveling distances in “smoking pipes”. The fur traders would light a pipe each hour during their journey to keep the mosquitoes away.

We had our first trip in Canada to the supermarket in Quebec City– what a shock!! The prices in Quebec are quite a bit higher than they are in the US – especially chicken, eggs and wine. We can do without the chicken and eggs but not the wine! Funny that some of Gary’s favorite foods ( hamburger meat, hotdogs and french fries) are the most reasonably priced - so he is in heaven!




Prince Edward Island was our favorite!
It’s a combination of beautiful coastline views, rolling emerald green hills and pastures, quaint Victorian homes and wooden churches and lighthouses plus great seafood! We had a fantastic campsite right on the river across from Charlottetown with great views of the sailboats and ships in the harbor and sunsets ( when it wasn’t raining). We went on several lovely coastal drives, visited the national park where Lucy.Maude Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables. Quite a talented and interesting lady.

Strawberries were in season so we stopped and picked some fresh strawberries at one of the u-pick farms along the country roads. We hadn’t done that in years – it was fun to pick them ourselves ( seemed like such a luxury to have the time to do it) and they were so fresh and delicious!


Tomorrow we leave Prince Edward Island on a ferry to Nova Scotia. It’s a short ferry ride – just 75 minutes – so it will be a good test to get us ready for our longer ferry ride to Newfoundland on July 13th. The space on a ferry is so tight between vehicles - it’s hard to picture squeezing Rose into one of the spaces – hopefully she’ll fit. Ready or not – we’ll find out tomorrow!

Next stop – Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland – we’re hoping for sunny weather and smooth sailing for our three ferry rides….