North Sydney, Nova Scotia - July 24 - 27, 2015

North Sydney, Nova Scotia - July 24 - 27, 2015

July 24, 2015

We had a rather smooth sailing, as the winds weren’t too bad.  There was a little bit of chop from time to time and had to watch our step some.

After showering, we went to get a bite to eat before the boat docked.  That was supposed to happen at 9:30 a.m Newfoundland time, which after the ½ hour time change, ended up actually being 9:00 a.m.  Bev was particularly anxious to see “the boys”.   As it turned out they made it through quite well, except for the fact that they didn’t eat and signs of having thrown up during the night.  We don’t know if the motion bothered them, or if they just “missed” us.

We got off the ferry quickly, and were at the park by about 10:00.  We all have pull thru spots which makes it nice.  However, still no TV, no WIFI at the site, but we do have cell service. 

We had the day to get settled in, then we drove around the area and found a grocery store.  There is a “Hobo Stew” dinner tonight.  This is where we all bring a can or two of something to add to the pot.  We wanted to get some diced tomatoes and black beans to add.

After we got back to the RV Park, Bev found out that there is Wifi Service in the Office and Information Center, so she spent a few hours catching up on email, and updating the blog.  Poor Stan still didn’t have TV, but got the TV to work for the DVD’s that we bought, so he watched “Dumb & Dumber”

At 5:30 p.m. we needed to bring our contribution for the dinner, so that it could be added to the pot.  Then we returned at 6:00 p.m. for the dinner.  It is amazing what a wonderful soup it ends up being. Yum.  After dinner, we were pleasantly surprised that Mike, one of the members of the group, plays the guitar and sings.  He was great and we all had such a good time.

 

 

 

July 25, 2015

The day started at 9:00 a.m. with a bus tour to the Fortress of Louisburg, where we had a guided tour.  The fortress was an 18^th century French fortress.  Unlike a fort, a fortress was a civilian community as well as military.  There were people in costume of the era.  There were men in wigs, women in hoop skirts.  They also had demonstrations for the children that came to the fort, letting them wear hats, and march around – real hands on learning.

It was a huge place that had many levels of housing.  The military men lived in a barracks that had three people to a bed.  One would be on guard duty while the other two slept.   They did not have a very good life – rations were scarce and pay was low.

In contrast there were some large houses and apartments for the higher level families.  You could tell which level you were viewing, not only by the size of the rooms, but by the size of the gardens.  The wealthy didn’t have to worry about planting big gardens, because they had plenty provided for them. 

We were able to see a demonstration of the fife and drums, muskets, and cannons.   We also got to see the “iron collar” in the street, where people that were punished had to be chained for a period of time.

People “actors” in costume where in the various buildings such as the artillery forge and bakery, telling about the working and living conditions during the time the fortress was open.  To Bev’s delight there were animals – goats, sheep, turkeys, chickens, geese & birds in nests under the eaves.   

There was also a lace maker - they are able to make about 1 inch of lace an hour.

Lunch was served in the Hotel de la Marine.  It was served family style and very tasty.

Once we got back on the bus, we traveled to yet another lighthouse – Louisbourg Lighthouse.  Stan was beside himself with excitement.  NOT   If he never sees another lighthouse or garden, he won’t be too disappointed.  

Lace Making Demonstration

Turkeys at the Fortress

One of the two goats

Cannon Demonstration

Bird nests under the eaves

 

 

 

July 26, 2015

Another day on the bus – we left the park at 8:00 a.m. returning at 6:30 p.m.  

We had a guided tour along the Cabot Trail – a 185 mile trip.  There were a lot of beautiful views of both the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the west side and the Atlantic Ocean on the east side.  We went through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.  It was nice to be chauffeured, since the roads were narrow.  The bus driver did an amazing job.

Stan was particularly excited about visiting Flora’s Gift Shop in Cheticamp, Nova Scotia, were the first thing in the door was a demonstration of how to hook rugs.  Of course, Bev was fascinated.  She did resist buying a kit to make a hook rug sampler. 

We had lunch at a restaurant in Pleasant Bay.  There were many motorcycles on the road.  There were men and women of all ages.  The weather was nicer than it has been, so wasn’t too bad. 

Continuing on our travels, we went to the Les Trois Pignon Museum.  It was a collection of items that were all collected by one woman, who never married, and donated them to the historical society before going into a nursing home.   They also had demonstrations on hooked rugs – this time Bev didn’t resist, she decided to try making a sampler – a lighthouse – what else? 

There were rugs on display that were amazing – especially considering the amount of time it takes to make just one square inch.  There were portraits of US Presidents, Canadian Dignitaries, and religious pieces.

We took a tour of St. Peter’s Church in Cheticamp, Nova Scotia.  For the small community, this is an amazing church.  It even has a tomb of the original priest buried in the lower portion of the church. 

We got to stop at another lighthouse.  The bonus at this stop is that they had an ice cream shop in the lighthouse.  As though lunch with dessert wasn’t enough, we all had ice cream. 

The last stop of the day was at the Keltic Lodge.  This is a hotel, golf course, gift shop – it also had restrooms, which is great since we had a bit of a drive back to the RV Park.

Hook rug art demonstration

St. Peter's Catholic Church in Cheticamp, NS

St. Peter's Catholic Church in Cheticamp, NS

St. Peter's Catholic Church in Cheticamp, NS

St. Peter's Catholic Church in Cheticamp, NS

Another Hook Rug

One more hook rug

Hook Rug Flowers

US Presidents done in a hook rug

Ice Cream at the Lighthouse

 

 

 

St. John's, Newfoundland - July 20 - 23, 2015

St. John's, Newfoundland - July 20 - 23, 2015

July 20, 2015

Today was a travel day.  We left Bonavista, Newfoundland and headed to St. John’s, Newfoundland.  This is the last park we will visit before we head on the ferry back to Nova Scotia.

We all unhooked in the park and got settled in our site.  It was cold, so we just BBQ’d a roast and stayed in.  Again, we were not able to get any TV, WIFI, cell service.  Bev drove up to Loop 4, where there was supposed to be WIFI, but only stayed for a few minutes, because that was not very good either.  

We ended up playing more cards.

July 21, 2015

Even though it was rainy and blustery, we started a St. John’s bus tour.  The guide, Frances, told us about many of the buildings around the city. St. John’s is the capital of the Province, so they have many of the government buildings.  There are about 100,000 people in the city, so it is a bustling place. 

From there, we continued to Cape Spear, the most Easterly point in North America.  We had our picture taken, with hats on and hoods up.  It is fun to say that we have been there.  You might even find that picture on your Christmas Card next year.  Following Cape Spear, we went to Signal Hill National Park and wandered about that fort a bit.  The fort itself was closed for renovation, but we were able to walk out and see the view.

We dropped off Frances, the guide, but Murl, the bus driver then took us out to have lunch then to go on a whale watching boat trip.  The weather was wet, windy and we couldn’t go out very far.  We were able to see some Puffins and other birds, but whales were not to be found. 

One of the crew, Hillary, sang some Newfoundland songs, and the rest of the crew gave us a lot of information about the area.

With it being rough, it was tough to hang on to the boat, so we didn’t move around much.  Only one lady got seasick.  She happened to be sitting across from Bev.  However, Bev was able to keep her lunch down.  We headed back to shore early.

  

July 22, 2015

This was a day to explore St. John’s further.  However, we used the day to search for a new door handle for the RV, since ours broke.  We were concerned that we might get locked out of the coach one of these days.

Unfortunately, we tried three different places with no luck.  We went back to the coach to see what we would be able to do to get it to lock on the ferry in the current condition.

Our next project was to check out St. John’s Liquor stores for Iceberg Beer.  It is actually made from the water from icebergs, which is very pure since it has been frozen for years and has not gone into the ground to get contaminated.   There is a problem at the bottling plant, so the supply is scarce.  We finally found six packs for each of the kids.  At one of the Liquor Stores the manager gave us a chuck of Berg Bit – this is a piece of ice from an iceberg and it is very dense and will melt very slowly.  We may possibly be the only people in Stanwood to have some iceberg. 

There were still a lot of chores to do at the motorhome.  We needed to take a layer of dirt and cat hair off the floors.  Stan did the vacuuming and Bev did the bathrooms and tile floors.  We dot it whipped out pretty quickly.  Then, of course, Bev got to do some ironing, before we finished the evening with a few games of cards.  We have been playing a lot of cards since there is no electronics.

July 23, 2015

Today is the day Bev has been dreading.  We will be on the ferry for about 16 hours, and Monte & Max have to stay in the RV below deck, while we are in a cabin above deck.  The good news is that it is during the night, so hopefully they will sleep and not be too lonely. 

The day started with figuring out where to get fuel for the RV.  Since we have had to run the generator more than normal, the diesel level dropped.  Luckily, there was an Irving Station a few miles from the RV Park.  We scouted it out before breakfast and the meeting, so that we could head there on our way toward the ferry.

The breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon juice & coffee was prepared by the Fantasy staff.  They we had a meeting telling us the details of the ferry crossing.  Even though the ferry leaves at 5:00 p.m., they want us at the terminal by 2:00 p.m. at the latest.  Luckily, we can be comfortable in the coach during the wait to board.  As usual, with old people, being on time means you are late, so most of us were at the terminal about 12:30.

Finally, we were able to get on the ferry about 4:30 p.m.  We got a spot up near the front of the boat.  We passed at least 50 motorcycles that were strapped in for the ferry ride.   We bid the kittens goodbye and headed up to the deck.

On deck it was like a mini cruise boat.  There were bars, soft seating, a dining room, snack bar, a singer entertaining.  We got our key to our cabin, so we could drop off our things and of course to check it out.  The room had two sets of bunk beds and a bathroom with shower.  It’s all we needed for the night.  Once we got settled we headed to check out the bar.  They had “Bloody Caesar” drinks, so we tried that.  Not bad.  We got to visit with several of the people on the trip.  One guy we visited with was heading to Sturgis, South Dakota, with three other people.  That has to be a long trip on a motorcycle.

The ferry left the dock at 5:00 p.m. and we were on our way.

Later, we decided to check out the buffet, since we had a dinner voucher.  It was wonderful, but, of course, we ate too much.   Finally, we headed back to the cabin, and off to sleep.

 

 

Bonavista, Newfoundland - July 17 - 19, 2015

Bonavista, Newfoundland - July 17 - 19, 2015

July 17, 2015

Bonavista is a community about 215 miles from Twillingate.  We headed down the road.  We stopped in Gander, Newfoundland, at the Atlantic Aviation Museum.  There was a lot of great information about heroic rescues of planes in the area.  Stan and the other guys really enjoyed it.   Another part of the museum was dedicated to 9-11.  On September 11, 2001, when disaster struck in the US, many flights were rerouted from all over the world to Gander Airport.  The town of Gander, population of less than 10,000 people, stepped up to house and feed in excess of 6,700 people.  There were letters from people all over the US thanking the Gander people for their generosity.

Stan with one of the planes



Gander, NL on 9-11












101st
Airborne

From there, we continued on to the Silent Witness Memorial.  This is a memorial to the flight that crashed in 1985 carrying the 101^st Airborne Infantry Division “The Screaming Eagles”, from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.  There were 8 crew and 248 passengers returning from Cairo, Egypt after a 6 month tour.  They made a fuel stop in Gander, Newfoundland.  They couldn’t gain enough altitude on takeoff and crashed on the site we visited.  All passengers and crew were killed.

Arrow Air Crash at Gander, NL



 

Silent Memorial Statue












From there we continued on to the Paradise Farm RV Park.  It is a beautiful site that the owner, Shawn is trying to get approval to upgrade power.  We found out at our evening meeting, that he received approval today for upgrading a portion of the sites to 50 amp.   He will be ahead of most of the RV Parks up here.  Most of the parks we have stayed at only have 30 amp service.  We also have cell service here.  Yippee.  However, there is still no WiFi or Direct TV.  Each day we are getting more anxious to get back to the services that we have been spoiled by.   We have about one more month in Canada.

We will be sightseeing on our own for the next couple of days, so Wagon Masters, Jon & Jenny and Shawn told about some of the places to visit in the area.  Seeing the Atlantic Puffin Sanctuary is high on Bev’s list.

Stan spent most of the late afternoon, tackling the lock on the door of the coach.  It has been sticking and we have fear that we will be locked out again.  Highly unlikely that they have a locksmith or RV center here in Bonavisita. 



July 18, 2015

We woke in the middle of the night to pouring down rain.  I guess, better at night than during the day when we are trying to be outside in it.  We have had a few days like that too.  This morning the wind was whipping up pretty good, so we stayed in the coach in hopes that it would clear.  

Finally, we decided to have some lunch at Mary Brown’s a local chicken fast food place.  It does not compare to KFC, but at least we can say we tried it. 

On the way to Cape Bonavista, we saw the Sealer’s Memorial.  This had been mentioned to us by an employee at the Aircraft Museum.  It was a statue of a Father & Son, along with a listing of hundreds of names on a granite memorial.  We didn’t find out more, but decided we needed to ask some questions.  More to follow.

From there, our next destination was the Cape Bonavista Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site.  We drove up toward the lighthouse and of course we saw a lot of beautiful rock formations and rocky shorelines.  We were also surprised to see horses and cows alongside the road without fences.  I guess there is not a lot of places to go since it’s a peninsula. 

We chose not to get out of the car because it was SO windy.  We took pictures and decided that was good enough.  From there we went to the Dungeon Provincial Park, where there are unusual rock formations with a twin extracted sea cave.  It was amazing. Again we could take pictures without getting out of the car.

Bev was insistent on seeing the Puffins at the Elliston Puffin Sanctuary.  Stan did not find any need to see the birds, so sat in the car while Bev walked up the path to the top of the hill overlooking the Bird Island.  Oh, my gosh, there were so many birds out there – both Puffins & Seagulls.  It was so cool to see them – of course we see Seagulls in Seattle, but not the Puffins.  On the path there were several Root Cellars also.  Apparently, they have more root cellars than nearly everywhere else.

We drove around the area, visiting other towns.  We drove through Melrose, Port Union, Catalina, Little Catalina, and Maberly.  In Port Union we found a place that we plan to visit tomorrow.  It is the Port Union National Historic District, developed by Sir William Ford Coaker.  More to follow tomorrow.

We needed to get back to the RV because they were having a dinner put on by the Fantasy Staff.  We all met in the barn for Walk Around Tacos, Moose Burgers & of course, dessert.  What in the world are Walk Around Tacos – You take an individual serving bag of Dorito’s, cut open the side.  From there you add taco hamburger, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sour cream and salsa.  Take a fork and eat it right out of the bag.  Easy cleanup and YUMMY.  It was also great to try moose burgers – they were wonderful.

The interesting thing about the meal was – keep in mind it is July 18 – we were sitting out in the barn with jackets, hats and gloves.  The temperature was about 50 degrees.  Needless to say, we made an early night of it.

July 19, 2015

At least we don’t have rain, but it is still 50 degrees, so we sat around in our robes and played cards for a while before taking off on our adventures.  We even tried Cribbage for a bit – we need more practice.

We heard last night that the lighthouse was well worth the visit, so we decided to go back and investigate.  Truly, it was quite different from the other lighthouses we have visited.  The living quarters of the family was built around the outside structure of the lighthouse.  Also, there were six lights on the top rather than the one mirrored dome.  They had an interesting system to notify the light keeper that it was time to rewind the cable to keep the lights going.  There was a weight that brought the cable down every two hours – then the lighthouse keeper needed to go up and crank the cable up – which took about 15 minutes – which meant that he had to work around the clock.  Luckily, he had an assistant.  Being a lighthouse keeper was a very prestigious job.  They were paid in cash, so no taxes and they had money to pay others.  The Cape Bonavista Lighthouse was a very desired job.

Yesterday, we had gone by the Port Union National Historic District and decided to go back.  We are so glad that we did, because we got our own private tour and received a lot of information on the area.  We were told about William Ford Coaker, who at 11 years of age started to work on the fishing docks.  By the time he was 16 he was managing a general store.  He went on to become a farmer (owned and farmed the land in which our RV Park is located).  However, he was a forward thinking man and down at the docks he found that many of the young men were paid less than in other areas, and started the first Fisherman’s Union. 

Mr. Coaker, also brought electricity to the area in the early 1900’s, building a hydro station.  He formed a factory, using electricity, built housing for his employee’s, build a church for the town, and the first newspaper in the area.  He really wanted Port Union to be the Capital of the Province.  Unfortunately, that ended up in St. John’s instead.  I am sure that I have missed some of his accomplishments, as he was an amazing man. 

While we were there, Bonnie, the tour guide, told us more about the Sealer’s Memorial.  As the story goes, there was a Seal Hunter and his son that owned boats for seal hunting.  They each took out a group of men to hunt.  All of the hunters were on one boat, but the weather changed, and they could not all be accommodated, so they sent part of the group across the ice to return to their original boat.  However, the men on the ice did not get back to their boat and all froze to death.  One pair in particular, were a father and son that were found frozen together.  The Father had hunted before and did not want to return to the hunt, but the son wanted to try it, so the father went with him on the trip.  Disaster struck, the mother and wife was left to grieve.

We had wanted to visit a couple of more places in Bonavista, but found we were running out of time and having difficulty locating the last two places.  We decided to visit Mifflin’s Tea Room instead.  We wanted to try some of the local fare.  We had Fisherman’s Brewis, Touton (fried bread dough), Fish Cake, Baked Beans & Bologna.  Of course, we had to try Iceberg Beer – a local beer.

When we got back to the RV, Bev went in, but Stan stayed in the Jeep to hear the end of the Nascar race since we don’t get XM Radio here in the motorhome.  Kyle Busch won the race and Stan came in for the night.

 

Twillingate, Newfoundland - July 15 - 16, 2015

July 15, 2015

We left Rocky Harbor, to head toward Twillingate, Newfoundland.  Twillingate is an island on the north end of Newfoundland.  Looking at a map, it is way out there. 

We all got settled in the RV Park and then it was time to assemble to go to the Tillingate Dinner Theater.  That was FANTASTIC.  They had seven performers.  They had guitar and accordion players as well as singers.  They sang many of the local tunes.  In between the musical numbers they had little local skits.  We laughed so hard at the cute skits.  The performance was wonderful and LOCAL.

One thing about the whole Newfoundland area is – THERE IS NO CRIME.  What a refreshing idea!!!

 

Twillingate, Newfoundland - July 15 - 16, 2015

July 15, 2015

We left Rocky Harbor, to head toward Twillingate, Newfoundland.  Twillingate is an island on the north end of Newfoundland.  Looking at a map, it is way out there. 

We all got settled in the RV Park and then it was time to assemble to go to the Tillingate Dinner Theater.  That was FANTASTIC.  They had seven performers.  They had guitar and accordion players as well as singers.  They sang many of the local tunes.  In between the musical numbers they had little local skits.  We laughed so hard at the cute skits.  The performance was wonderful and LOCAL.

One thing about the whole Newfoundland area is – THERE IS NO CRIME.  What a refreshing idea!!!

July 16, 2015

The day started out driving to the Prime Berth Museum.  Dave, the owner, told of his family history in the fishing industry in Newfoundland.  He was a fourth generation fisherman.   He told of the catching and processing fish – Cod fish. The fish process used four people.  One was the Header (removing the head – taking out the tongue and cheeks- disposing of the rest of the head), the Cutter (which slit the fish open and removed the liver – used for Cod Liver Oil), the Splitter (that took out the backbone and laid it flat) and Salter (that salted the fish).   Since there was no power or refrigeration, the only way to preserve the fish was with salt and drying.

After “gutting the fish” we went out to dispose of the remains.  He through in the head and guts out in the water and the fish went crazy.  They all worked so hard to get their share. 

Dave also told us that they did not have electricity in the area until the 1960’s.  He didn’t have power until he was 19 years old.  Stan & I can’t imagine living like that. We thought we were roughing it without TV until we were in elementary school.

Dave also had a whale skeleton at the Museum.  He told how he had heard of a dead whale that had been beached in the area.  They needed to have it removed from the populated section of the beach.  He approached about the whale – they agreed to let him have the whale if he removed it from that beach and moved it to another location.  He dragged the carcass to an island with no community on it, and let it rot for about three years.  After that time, he cleaned each piece of the skeleton, with the help of his Grandson, and reassembled it at the museum. 

On the way back we drove around a bit at went by Long Point Lighthouse.  We didn’t stop as it was foggy.

When we finished the museum, we drove around the area and returned to the RV Park.  We had expected rain, but were pleasantly surprised with sunshine.  Yippee.

 

Rocky Harbor, Newfoundland, July 12 - 14, 2015

Rocky Harbor, Newfoundland, July 12 - 14, 2015

July 12, 2015

Today, we are off to Rocky Harbor.  This will be retracing our steps today, since there is only one road up and down the coastline.   We passed Green Island Brook and tooted, but didn’t stop.

We started the morning with Tim Horton’s donuts to celebrate Wagon Master Jennie’s 70^th Birthday.

We spent the trip on “Moose watch”.  We wanted to see one.  Finally just before Hawkes Bay we spotted on beside the road, but were going too fast to get a good picture of it.  Bummer.  We hope to see some more on our travels.  

The closer we got to Rocky Harbor, the more the rain picked up.  Wow was it wet.  At least we were inside other than to unhook the car for parking.  Stan was nice enough to let Bev stay dry when he hooked up the water, power & sewer.

Luckily, nothing was planned for the evening, so we played cards, Bev did laundry.  We had a quiet evening and Bev made a ham dinner.  It was a nice change from eating out so much.

 

July 13, 2015

Thank heaven, the rain stopped, since we were scheduled for a Bonne Bay Boat Trip.  It was cold and windy, but the boat had an inside cabin so we decided we would take a chance.   We are sure glad that we did.  We saw eagles and they gave a lot of details on the Geology of the area.   

The tour guides were very entertaining.  They did quite a bit of joke telling which kept us all laughing.  Since there was a group on the boat that had not gone through the “Screech In”, we had a ceremony.  Lucky for them, they didn’t have to kiss a “real” cod like we did.   They even had music, with some Newfoundland flavor.  Two of the performers were part of the group “Anchors Aweigh”, which we were scheduled to see in the evening.

When we returned to the dock, we headed off to the Hotel to get our tickets for the evening show.  With the sample that we got on the boat, we didn’t want to miss the show.

We went back to the RV for a little rest and relaxation.  We have taken more naps on this trip than we normally do, but they keep us pretty busy.  Then, of course, there was ironing to be done before we went to dinner.

The evening was as advertised.  Wow, the group of five guys can put out some great music.  They have so much talent that brings to life true Newfoundland culture.  The lead singer, Wayne and the accordion player, Reg, have been playing there for 19 years.  We had a wonderful evening.  They played for three hours with only a 10 minute break.  We didn’t get back to the coach until midnight.  

 

July 14, 2015

Today was a free day.  Wow – it is the first one we have had.  The sun has been shining, so it was a great day to catch up on projects.  Stan fixed a seal on the slide.  Bev continued to wash and clean the coach.

We decided to go for a ride, to see if there was anything that we missed in the area.  We started out toward the Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse.   I don’t think we have missed many lighthouses on the trip.  Unfortunately, the lighthouse was closed since they were adding a new exhibit.  Oh well, we got a shot of the outside.

On the way back from the lighthouse, we saw a sign for the Gros Morne Wildlife Museum.  We decided to check it out.  There were stuffed animals from the area.  Since we haven’t seen too many in the wild, at least we saw what they should look like.  It was very interesting and we got lots of good pictures.

When we got back to the coach we checked Trip Advisor and found that we had visited the top five places to visit in Rocky Harbor.  1) Gros Morne National Park (though we didn’t do any of the great day hikes), 2) Anchors Aweigh, 3) Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse, 4) Bon Tour Boat Tours, 5) Gros Morne Wildlife Museum.

We will turn in earlier tonight, since we have an 8:00 am drivers meeting before we head to Twillingate, Newfoundland, tomorrow.

St. Anthony, Newfoundland - July 10 - 11, 2015

St. Anthony, Newfoundland - July 10 - 11, 2015

July 10, 2015



Elva, Phoebe, Bev & Mona

Today we headed to St. Anthony, Newfoundland.   The highlight of the trip came before St. Anthony, however.  We stopped in Green Island Brook, Newfoundland.  This is the home of Elva Caddy.  Her home is just two houses from the road we travelled.  We pulled up the motorhome out front and were greeted by Elva and two sisters-in-law, Mona and Phoebe. 

Elva, Phoebe, Stan & Mona

Mona couldn’t stay long, because she had an appointment, Phoebe got her car out and the four of us went on a tour of their village.  What a cool place.  We were able to see Elva’s Mom’s home, though it is vacant now but still standing. 





Phoebe, Cyril & Elva

We also got to go to the grave of Orval, Veronica’s Dad.  In the cemetery, there were many of the family buried – Phoebe’s husband (Elva’s Brother) was there too.  There were flowers on all of the graves as there is going to be a ceremony on Sunday.  Elva’s cousin, Cyril Hughes, was there maintaining the cemetery.  It is all about family in Green Island Brook. 




 

Many of the people in Green Island Brook are older.  Elva told us that there are only two children in the town that are transported to the area school.  Once they graduate, there probably won’t be any more, since most of the children go off to University and don’t come back, but rather stay in that area to work.

In true Newfoundland tradition, Elva had a wonderful spread all prepared for us.  They had also dinner made at Mona’s, if we would have been able to stay.   Unfortunately, we needed to get to the RV Park in St. Anthony.  Bummer.  They are all such great cooks, and we didn’t get nearly enough time to visit.   Elva was going to be leaving for Deer Lake in the afternoon, as she was flying to Manitoba, to visit Mark (Veronica’s brother), Jody and the girls, then on to Washington to visit Veronica, Darin, Katie & Cameron.

We arrived at the RV Park – a little late but we were forgiven.  Here we really understand the meaning of remote.   We have NO cell service, Wifi at the office only, and that is not strong, no TV and Sirius radio is intermittent.  OH MY.  Now that we have complained - onto the good part.  The area is beautiful, and we always have plenty to do.

In the evening we went into St. Anthony for the Viking Feast.  It is a Viking Dinner Theater.  We were greeted by the Viking’s in full dress.  The Captain, Thor, was seated in his chair in the center of the sod hut where we ate.  There we dirt floors and a series of long tables for the guests that had the appetizer on it – dried fish about the size of smelt and cod tongue. 

We had a wonderful dinner buffet they included, Jiggs Dinner (a boiled dinner of vegetables – potatoes, turnip, carrots, cabbage and corned beef or a similar meat), roast beef, rice with seafood, salmon and moose stew.  Dessert was a pancake with fruit and whipped cream – don’t remember what it is called.

After dinner was finished, they held “court”.   This included Jim Lund aka Fred I bringing a case before the court against Bill Hale aka Fred II, for being the last rig out of all of the sites, because he is polishing his wheels.  Donna Hale aka Frederica was called as a witness.   The sentence for Fred II was to clean the wheels of all the other rigs on the trip.  The voting of the council “all the rest of us” was by pounding on the table to vote yes.    Fun was had by all.

 

 

July 11, 2015

This morning it is 47 degrees and windy.  Hard to believe it is mid-July.  At least it is not raining.  We can wear coats and gloves to keep warm.

Today was a day of visiting Viking Village Historic Sites.  First we went to L’Anse Aux Meadows.  There we were able to see the likeness of a Viking Settlement, including the boat the Snorry.  This is a boat that was built in 1998.  It is a replica of the one that was sailed by Leif Erickson.   They sailed for 87 days in open sea.  They used a sail as well as oars to move the boat along.  

We also got to see the replica of their living quarters and cooking facilities.  The buildings were all sod buildings. 

From there we went to lunch at the Norseman Café.  It was a nice lunch of Fish Chowder and a shrimp wrap.  We also had a berry shortcake dessert.  We have never had this many desserts.  Not complaining mind you.

After lunch we continued to the Norstead Village & Viking Port of Trade.  This included another village similar to that of L’Anse Aux Meadows.   We then were left to go on our own for the remainder of the day.  We opted to go back to St. Anthony and drive around to see the town. 

Then, we went back to the coach for some rest and relaxation.  A bit later we got a wonderful surprise.  We heard a knock at the door of the RV.  Who should be there but Mona & Phoebe Hughes (Veronica’s two aunts).  They came to bring us some homemade jam (Partridgeberry, Apple Bake, and Rhubarb) that Elva had made and had forgotten to give us.  In addition, Mona included a fresh loaf of bread.   Since Elva had flown out this morning to Mark & Jody, they brought it to us.  In turn, Elva took leftovers to Mona’s daughter in Deer Lake when she when down there.  That just shows what a wonderful family they have. 

We got to do more visiting.  It was great to get to know them better.  We sure hope they can come to the Seattle area to visit some time.  

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St. Barbe, Newfoundland & L'Anse Au Claire, Labrador - July 8 - 9, 2015

St. Barbe, Newfoundland & L'Anse Au Claire, Labrador - July 8 - 9, 2015 

July 8, 2015

We left Port au Choix, Newfoundland this morning heading toward St. Barbe, and meeting with Elva Caddy, Veronica Stordahl’s Mother.  Elva is going to ride over on the ferry with us to Labrador and spend the night and come back on the ferry tomorrow.  Bev was worried we wouldn’t be able to make connection, but that was not a concern.  As we drove up to the RV Park at the ferry dock, there was Elva in her van waving and smiling.  

We had plenty of time to visit and introduce Elva to the others in the tour, before we loaded the ferry at 3:00.  We sat at the RV for a bit then when to the Restaurant for lunch. 

The trip across on the ferry was very smooth.  Elva was an immediate hit.  Since she has been on the ferry many times, she knew where to take us for the best view.  First it was just the three of us up there, but as others followed, and soon everyone was up on the top deck.   The rain was coming down pretty good, so we were glad to be inside.

The ferry actually docked in Quebec, but it is only a short bus ride to the Hotel. There was concern that when we exited the ferry to catch the bus for the hotel, we would get wet.  However, we soon found that the bus was backing onto the ferry to pick us up.  What service.

Elva Caddy with her niece Bernette

When we got to the hotel and settled in our rooms, Elva went scouting for her niece, Bernette, that worked at the hotel.  Before long we met up with Bernette, who was just getting off shift, but was due back at 5:00 am to ready the breakfast buffet.

There was a Basque dinner served at the hotel.  Once again we had a great meal.  We were all so tired that we turned in early because we had breakfast between 6:00 & 7:30.  We needed to be at the bus at 7:45.

July 9, 2015

We had a busy day on the bus tour.  Frank, the bus driver had lived in the area his whole life and was very informative.  We were taken to Red Bay, Labrador.

On the way, we saw a snowbank alongside the road, so Frank said it was a first for him, but he pulled the bus over and some of us, Bev included, had a snowball fight. 






 

Our first stop was the Basque Museum.  There we found about the Basque people and their arrival from their country between France and Spain.  The early Basque people were whale hunters.  They would go out in small boats and harpoon the whales, tow them back to the larger ship for processing.  They melted the whale blubber down for whale oil that was sent by the shipload to Europe.  It was very profitable, bringing about $900 - $1,200 per barrel. 

We were told of the ships that had been sunk in the harbor during that time.  Many lives were lost.

Following the Basque Museum, we had lunch at the Whaling Station.  We had time to visit the gift shop before we got back on the bus.

Point Armour Lighthouse

Our next stop was the Point Armour Lighthouse.  We were actually able to climb to the top of the lighthouse and look out.  It was an active lighthouse for many years with two families that lived in the lighthouse and maintained it.  Now it has a light that is run on power so no need to haul kerosene for the lights any longer.

Nina (Genge) Woodward & Elva (Hughes) Caddy

We caught the 3:30 pm ferry back to St. Barbe.  That turned out to be the most fun of all.  Elva was just sure that she would probably see people that she knew on the ferry.  Sure enough, we ran into her cousin Nina (Genge) Woodward and her husband, Ky.  Nina is a wealth of knowledge on the Genge family, so Bev was excited to meet her.  Wonderful people. 


Ky & Nina Woodward

 

Elva with our bus driver Frank

The bus driver, Frank, came over to join us at our table.  We got visiting with and found that his Aunt Winnie & Uncle Luke were friends of Elva & Orval.  They even traveled together to California, years ago, to visit Darin & Veronica.  After further discussion with Nina, we found that Frank might also be related.  Small world.  So much fun.






 

When we docked, Elva headed home, Stan & Bev headed to the coach to check on Monte & Max.  The cats were doing fine, but Marlene said they had not eaten while we were gone.  Their plates were still full – we through that out and gave them new food and they made up for lost time.



Ice Burg
 

Ice Burg