Monday July 25, 2016 Rocky Harbour, Gros Morne Nat. Park, NL, Canada

A panoramic sunset at Rocky Harbour

Our plan had been to make a leisurely start at about 9 AM.  We only had a little over 200 miles to travel to the next park.  We heard the first engine start at 7 and then others.  Sleep was over.  I got up and brewed the coffee.  The rain had stopped during the evening but the morning was overcast.  We were hooked up and on the road by 8:15.  Only one unit and the tail gunners left the park after us.

We stopped at the first station that we passed and could see from the highway that they had a diesel pump.  I didn't fill the tanks because of the blow by on the sides I had experienced a couple of times.  I have put on a new cap but don't want the mess.  I put in 250 liters of diesel at the equivalent of $4.229 a gallon.  Newfoundland-Labrador have the highest fuel taxes in Canada.

You don't see many traffic jams in NL

We traveled almost the entire distance on Hwy. 430.  There was only one area where we had to stop for construction.  Over all the road isn't too bad, but in several places it needs a lot of work.  We had come this way going north, so we were seeing much of the same scenery only going in the opposite direction.  The sky had cleared and we either had small lakes on both sides or a cobalt blue sea on one side and heath on the other.  There were forested areas but the trees are stunted, probably from lack of topsoil and the cold weather.  It is a beautiful country and we enjoyed the drive. The only animal we saw on the way was a flattened fox.  I am surprised how few cattle and horses we see.  Probably for the same reason we see small trees.


We arrived at the RV park in Rocky Harbour in the early afternoon.  We had eaten lunch on the way.  The section of the park we are assigned to is little more than a flat gravel lot, but it has full hook ups.  We are in a pull through site.  Through at least the evening and morning the power was adequate for Gerri to do wash and have the electric water heater running.  The internet isn't what we would have liked but I was able to catch up on my computer chores.

 We teamed up with Moe and Pat and drove into the small town of Rocky Harbour.  There are a few restaurants and pubs, several B&Bs and Motel/Cabins and one strip mall.  I didn't see a population figure but it is probably several hundreds judging by the number of home scattered around.  We found one fish market.  Lobster went out of season and the mussels won't be in until tomorrow.

After looking around in town we drove to a light house that is part of the Gros Morne National Park that surrounds Rocky Harbour.   The light house is at Lobster Cove Head.  It was different from most in that the tower is cast iron.  We found one cache near the light house and I gathered information for an earthcache.

And this isn't even the Wild Rose Provence

Back downtown we stopped at a pavilion on the beach to look for a cache aptly named the Best Sunset in the West.  The pavilion had a table and some benches and of course faced west towards the ocean and setting sun.  Moe found the cache under the pavilion.  We decided to come back later to watch the sunset.  It isn't often you get to see a sunset over the ocean near the east coast.  Newfoundland is an island and we are looking west toward the mainland and Quebec Provence.


We had supper of left over soup.  After supper at about 10 till 9 we went to watch the sunset.  At the pavilion we could see that the sunset was going to be behind  Lobster Cove Head with a dock and some boats in the foreground.  We decided to go around to the point where the fish market was.  From there the sun would set into the ocean with only ocean and tide pools in the foreground.  Gerri had looked up the time for sunset.  But the sun didn't actually set until about 9:20.  We took a lot of pictures as the sunset.

Back at the RV park we visited for awhile with some others of the group around a portable fire pit.  It was getting chilly and onto 10 so we didn't stay out long.

We read for awhile and called it a night.

Tomorrow we are on our own until the wagon master dinner at 6.

Sunday July 24, 2016 St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Canada

A brook near the RV park

The rain had stopped during the night.  It was still overcast and cool when we got up.  We started our coffee before a group trip to St. Anthony for a tour of the Grenfell Experience.   This was a museum dedicated to the work of Dr. Grenfell who came here in 1892.  He was the first doctor here.  He was also a gospel preacher.  If you ever think you have contributed to the good of society, read his story.  You will be humbled.

We also visited a hospital dedicated to a protégé of Dr. Grenfell, DR. Charles Curtis.  We also visited the Grenfell house.

Overlook from a cache

We stopped at Tim Horton’s.  We got on the internet today.  I caught up some by posting two blogs, Wednesday and Thursday.  I hope internet is a little better at the next stop and I can get completely caught up.

After returning to the RV park I went out and found 3 more caches.  I took some pictures of a nearby brook, the welcome to St. Anthony sign and another part of the harbor.

Gerri made a delicious soup for dinner.  It was bitter cold outside.  We stayed inside until bedtime.

A firefighter memorial

Tomorrow we drive about 200 miles to Gros Morne RV park at Rocky Harbor.  We will be there 5 nights.

Welcome to St. Anthony

Saturday July 23, 2016 St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Canada

1st moose picture this trip, at L'Anse aux Meadows

We didn’t sign up for the boat tour that many of the group went on.  This morning the generator kicked on a few seconds after I turned on the coffee to brew. But at least the power hadn’t gone on and off all night disturbing our sleep.

The people who had signed up for the boat tour left at 8:30. I went up to the office to see if I could get on the internet.  No luck there.  Gerri and I drove into St. Anthony and tried at the library.  The library was closed and the signal wasn’t strong enough outside to post the blog.  We also tried Tim Horton’s.  Not much better there.

We met some of the group that had gone on the harbor tour at Tim Horton’s.  The boat ride had been very rough.  Several people got sea sick.

Back at the RV park, I dropped Gerri off at the coach.  I found Moe and we went back to the park at D’Anse aux Meadows.  One of the park staff had set out 5 geocaches.  Each cache had a distinctive punch and we had been given a card to punch.  We found four of the 5 which qualified us for an especially designed geocoin.  IAMviking, the cache owner, must have gotten the coordinates wrong for the one we didn’t find.  The area wasn’t like the others.  The first four had been near points along trails through the park.  Moe bushwhacked to the given coordinates.  After about ½ an hour he gave up.  I took Moe to 2 caches that I had found yesterday.  We also found 2 more caches before returning to the RV park.

At a cache in L'Anse aux Meadows

Tonight was another wagon master dinner and briefing on tomorrow and the next campground that we go to Monday.  It was raining heavily just before we went to the clubhouse and raining heavily again soon after we got back to the coach. Dinner was a hearty vegetable soup served with quesadilla and salsa.  We were assured that the next RV park has full hookups, and we hope existing WIFI.

The heavy rain continued into the night.  We read and listened to the radio before going to bed.

Friday July 22, 2016 St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Canada

The clunking noise we heard last night continued intermittently all through the night.  After the alarm went off at 7, I found out what it was.  It was the Autoformer turning the power off to the coach when the amperage dropped and then back on when it came up.  I unplugged or turned off everything but the fridge.  I started the Generator so the coffee pot would complete the cycle.  Once there was less draw on the system the house batteries recharged.

The group left at 8:30 for a tour of a rebuilt Viking village, at L’Anse aux Meadow.  This is a world heritage site.  It was also the site where in the 1960’s proof was found that the first Europeans in North America were the Norsemen.  I found 1 cache near the park entrance. One of the park employees has set up a series of 5 caches.  For a fee you can buy a card and after visiting at least four of the caches you earn a special Geocoin.  Unfortunately, only two of the caches have been published due to spacing problems.  













































































We also toured a nearby rebuilt Viking port at Norstead.  Near the port was a statue of a Norseman.  It was about 10 feet tall.  There was a cache nearby.  Info in the cache claimed there were 3 statues like this, one in Norway, one in Seattle and this one.

We all met again back in St. Anthony for lunch at the Light Keepers Restaurant.  This is where we had dinner last night only this was in another building overlooking Fishers Point.  Gerri and I both had a cod dish served with salad. The cod was in a cream sauce topped with cheese.  Different and very good. I gathered information for an Earthcache here.

We fueled up the Jeep and then checked on the electric system back at the coach.  With everything off or unplugged the batteries were at full charge.  We then drove back along Hwy. 430 to take pictures of the roadside gardens.  The guide at the historic site told us that these gardens were along the right of way where the road builders had exposed topsoil.  Some of the pots are tended by people who live as far away as 50 miles.

Gerri tried the internet at the park office with no luck.  It started to rain pretty heavily and we spent the rest of the day and evening reading and solving Sudoku puzzles.

For us tomorrow is a down day.  Many of the others are going on a boat tour.

Thursday July 21, 2016 St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Canada

We were up and having our coffee by the planned departure time of 9:30. The drive was all on Provincial Highway 430.  The ocean was in site much of the way.  The terrain became much like that in Labrador.  Small trees and ground cover of peat moss.  Whether on the ocean view or not there were a lot of small bodies of water. 

We had noticed a couple of things the last few days driving. A lot of firewood length wood stacked along the road.  I mean a LOT of firewood.  We also noticed several small garden plots along the road.  Some of these plots were well tended and they varied in size.  In both cases there were often no houses in sight.  Our guess is that the gardeners find a place with a little top soil and plant there.  Some of the plots were fenced others just marked by small strips of cloth on string.

Much of the road was curvy and with potholes.  I seldom drove at the speed limit, always slower.  Even by driving slower than the speed limit we were in our next RV park by noon.  It was only 70 miles.

After setting up, which didn’t take long.  I noticed the right rear wheels were off the ground. I lowered the coach until they touched the ground.  Gerri made sandwiches for lunch.

View from the Jammin cache area

 Moe and I went geocaching.  We found 7 and DNF’ed 2.  We got back to the RV park at about 4:30. Our hunting didn’t take us into St. Anthony.  While we were gone, Gerri heard popping noises from under the coach.  I re-leveled, but it continued.

We went as a group to a Viking feast in St. Anthony.  It was a buffet with no separate plate for salad.  The food was so-so, but I tried the moose stew which tasted the same as beef. 

After the meal there was entertainment of sorts.  The restaurant staff were all dressed in Viking period clothing and held mock trials involving complaints among the diners.  Someone was found guilty at every trial, either the accused or the accuser for making a false accusation.

Loraine and David Waddell, wagon masters

At the viking feast

Appetizers?

After dinner we returned to the RV park and were in bed by 10:15. The clunking noise continued during the evening and after we went to bed.