Monday August 1, 2016 Botwood, Newfoundland, Canada

Well, it is the first of August and we haven’t had any rain this month.  There was no group activity until the afternoon, so we slept in.  There were a lot of clouds but the sun shone through a lot of the time.  We had our coffee.

I found this eagle picture on my phone
taken on Gros Morne boat tour

Being it was the first of the month I went on line and balanced out credit union accounts.  Montyne had sent me copies of our Clark County tax bills.  They are due August 15, so I paid them on line through the credit union.

A pretty cove on the way to Fortune Bay

The group activity today was a boat tour and dinner at the Gillespie House in Fortune Bay.  The drive was 60 km on really bad road. We left the park 2 hours before the set time and it took nearly the whole time to get there.  Just before arriving we saw an eagle fly across the water and road, it was gone before we were able to bring a camera into action.

The drive was 60 km on really bad road. We left the park 2 hours before the set time and it took nearly the whole time to get there.  The boat was a small pontoon boat and we went in groups of 12.  We were in the first group.  The tour took us around the bay.  The main attraction along the was the large Mussel farming operation. The mussels are raised in bags on ropes lowered into the water.  Their nutrients come from the water as the tide flows in and out.  From the time of planting it takes about 3 years for them to reach market size.

Our bay cruiser

Back at the Gillespie House we were the first served while others went on the tour.  The restaurant was closed for our party with the exception of guests at the house.  We were first served fish cakes and bread and jam.  We then were served with hot biscuits and molasses.  Then came the mussels.  The mussels kept coming and coming.  My main course was moose stew and Gerri had fish chowder.  While we ate we were entertained by a couple of local musicians and by Dale singing a rendition of Old Man River and Herb contributed a couple of songs.  Art joined in there too.

We visited a small church before leaving Fortune Bay.

The drive back didn’t seem as full of potholes, of course I slept most of the way.  Back at the RV park, I dropped off Gerri and then Moe and I went to find a few caches.  I took Moe to some that I had been to before.  We tried one near an old bridge close to the park, but didn’t find it.  We found one downtown that I hadn’t found before, as with several other caches in the area, I replaced logs and zip lock bags on some of the caches.

Part of the entertainment after the briefing

We had an 8 o’clock briefing on tomorrows drive, but Moe and I were 15 minutes late.  The briefing was pretty much over except the giving out of directions to those who wanted to pick wild blue berries before the drive to Gander.   The briefing was followed by some locals singing and telling stories.  After the briefing broke up some of the group headed down town to watch fireworks at 9.  We passed on the fireworks.

Our next stop is in Gander and it is only a 58-mile drive.  The wagon masters have asked us not to get there before noon.