Newfoundland - North to South and PEI

07/31/2019 -   Today is a driving day to Rocky Harbor.  We headed south (for the beginning of our return home).    We camped in Gros Morne RV Park in a Canadian Provincial Park.  We were scheduled for a stand up comedy show called "Anchors Aweigh" at 8:00 pm., but were not interested, and needed to do some laundry.  So we spent the day doing laundry and chores.  I called Kim for her  birthday and talked to her. 


8/01/2019 - We are scheduled for a boat tour this afternoon, but are not real sure of where the harbor is.  Trish and I decided to find the harbor.  We drove to the harbor, called Norris Point.  It was a very quaint and upscale summer home location.  Then we toured the town of Rocky Harbor itself to check out the souvenir shops.  We wandered through several, then stopped to get ice cream.  Most of the houses here are painted loud colors.  It is really pretty.  Also, the businesses in town are painted too.  Here is a motel downtown. 

colorful buildings

When we got back to the RV, we had lunch and planned to get ready for the boat tour.  However, after fixing lunch, I got nauseated and went to bed.  I was dizzy and felt lousy, so I cancelled our boat tour.   Trish came over and told me that she also got sick after we returned.  We concluded that it had to the ice cream before lunch.  We all stayed back and did not go on the boat tour.


08/02/2019 - A driving day (165 miles) to the Codroy Valley again.  We were happy to return to Alice and Dennis at the Grand Codroy Valley RV Park.  The ride down here was beautiful.  We passed lush forests, lakes, and ponds.

East Arm of the Gulf of St Lawrence

a typical road through the forests

Up in this country, a lake is HUGE (more like a sea in California); and a pond is the size of a large lake.  Here is Wigwam Pond.  What do you think?  Is it a pond or a lake?

Wigwam Pond

On the road south, we stopped at the Newfoundland Insectarium.  We really enjoyed it.  They had a butterfly atrium with hundreds of butterflies. One landed on Tom's head. 

I

Tom catching butterflies

Can you see the Blue Morpho flying through

Another beauty

Inside, we saw huge beetles, big stick insects, and a very large black scorpion from Africa.  Upstairs, there were big spiders - mostly tarantulas.

beetle from South and Central America 

Great Stick Insect

The Wandering Leaf Beetle

The Eye of the Owl Butterfly

We arrived at the campground and got parked. We are here only for one night in preparation to board the ferry back to Nova Scotia.   Naps for both and dinner with Trish and Bev.  It was very good.  Tom went to the driving meeting so we can be ready for the ferry tomorrow. 



08/03/2019 - The ferry ride was 6 + hours.  We played games on the tablet, had 'linner' at the restaurant.  It was poor.  We were all ready for fish and chips, and it was not on the menu today.  I had chicken wings and a garden salad.  Tom had a chicken sandwich and a beer.  Our bill was over $47 Canadian (highway robbery!). 

When we got off the ferry, we drove about 65 miles to Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and camped at the Bras D'or Lake Campground.  They put us up on the top of the campground on soft grass, and we sunk in.  Tom had to move back out onto the street and maneuver back onto more solid ground.  Then, we found out that the power from the campground had a ground fault, and we were not getting power.  We got that problem solved, but not until around 11:00 p.m.  Got our showers and I washed my hair.  We didn't get to bed until midnight.  It had been a very long day. 



08/04/2019 - Bill, our Tailgunner, came by this morning to make sure all of our electrical issues had been resolved.  We told him all was OK. 

Later, Tom, Trish, Bev, and I went to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck, Nova Scotia (on Cape Breton Island). It was really interesting.

He lived from 1847 to 1922 (75 years old).  He did much more than invent the telephone, he also improved on Edison's phonograph (called the gramophone), invented the hydrofoil, and was instrumental in aviation - working with many aviators including Curtis.  He was born in Scotland, lived in Britain and the U.S. (in Washington DC), and summered in Baddeck, Nova Scotia.  Here are some pictures from the museum.

Bell's Gramophone

Hydrofoil - fasted boat of it's time

a Reproduction

Bell's work with Curtis in aviation created the Silver Dart in 1909

a view from the museum's window - the Baddeck lighthouse

The four of us drove into the town and shopped a little, then had lunch at a bakery - very good!  We bought scones for breakfast tomorrow.  Then we went to a DIY car wash., and Tom washed the Jeep (it really needed it).  Back to the RV for chicken dinner and mac and cheese from Trish. 



08/05/2019 - We left the campground around 9:00 and headed back to Elm River Campground again.  We crossed a causeway that was man-made from rocks and earth, connecting Cape Breton Island to the mainland of Nova Scotia. 

the causeway from Cape Breton Island to mainland Nova Scotia

the bridge before the causeway

We arrived at Elm River Campground.  We are only here for an overnight.  The campground owner drives his truck and gives you the rules via a radio, then he parks you.  We got set up and played games for a while.  Trish picked me up and we went to Mass Market for groceries.  We also visited the Creamery across the street.  Since it was a holiday in Canada, the crowds were tremendous.  Many of the shelves in the store were totally empty. 

At 3:45 p.m. Trish drove us all to the tidal bore near Truro.  This is a phenomena of nature.  When the tide comes in through the Salmon River, it forces the river to turn backwards and a wave of seawater of about 3' in height comes rolling into the river.  Today, the tidal bore was due at 4:22 p.m., so we sat and waited for the water to come into the river from around the bend.  It happened almost on time and the wave came in, ran under the bridge to our right and stopped in a pond on the other side.  Then, it flows back to the sea.  Here are some pictures. 


The Salmon River flowing out to sea (right to left)

High and dry in the middle and still waiting

Here it comes

The tidal bore has arrived

Tonight the Wagonmasters are making 'Hobo Stew'.  We all donated canned goods.  After dinner, we will have our driver's meeting. 



08/06/2019 - A driving day to Prince Edward Island, the smallest of the 10 provinces of Canada.  Here is Lucky in the driver's seat, ready to go.

Lucky at the wheel

We drove 136 miles and crossed the Confederation Bridge, a 7.5 mile long bridge from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island (PEI).  It is the longest  bridge in the world that is over ice.  The toll to go to the island is zero, but the toll to get off the island is about $68 Canadian,

Our campground is called Marco Polo Land, and it is huge.  There are 618 sites here.  This is kid heaven!  There are bouncy jumping pillows; an outdoor hockey rink; a petting zoo; a soccer field; 3 pools; and 5 play areas.  For the adults, there is an outdoor fitness area, a fishing pond, and a doggie park.  The office area houses a Café, a laundry,  and a first rate restaurant called the "Galley".  We are here for 3 nights. 

At 3:45 p.m. a bus came into the park to pick the whole group (46 of us).  Trish stayed back to go to the airport and pick up her friend, Susan, who will join Trish for the rest of our tour through the middle of the U.S.  The bus took us to the theatre in Charlottetown (the capital of PEI) , and dropped us off around 5:00.  We had about 2 hours to go out to dinner in one of the many restaurants, and gather back at the theatre at 7:00 for "Anne of Green Gables, the Musical".   Tom and I met up with 4 other RV'ers and had dinner at a restaurant called "The Brickhouse".  The food was very good and the company was great.

I was truly impressed by the singing voices of all the players, especially Anne herself.  The show ran 2 hours.  The scenery and costumes were done very well.  All in all, a very professionally produced, directed, and performed.  It had a sad end which brought a tear to more than one.  I hate to admit that I have never read the book, but I guess I must do that when I go home.  The bus picked us up after the show and took us back to the campground.  We got in around 11 p.m. and the dogs were excited when we got home. 



0/8/07/2019 - 8:00 a.m. came early for all of us.  The bus arrived in the campground and all were ready for it.  We had a guide to take us on a tour of PEI.  We learned quite a bit about the island.  Their biggest business is fishing, but the lobster season is only 2 months on the north shore and 2 months on the south shore.  In off season, the lobster fishermen take out tourists who want to go deep sea fishing.  They also raise oysters and muscles in great quantities.

PEI Oyster farming

PEI Muscle farming

The largest agricultural crop are potatoes.  They are the second largest producer, behind Idaho in the U.S., of potatoes in North America.  Other farming includes barley, soy beans, corn, mustard and other rotational crops.

Mustard farming, a rotational crop

a beautiful scene on Prince Edward Island

The entire island has only about 150,000 residents, but it gets much more in the summer, when the tourists arrive.

Our first stop was the harbor where our guide showed us how they raise and trap lobsters.  Along the harbor roads we spotted 2 osprey nests in the top of telephone poles.  Here is one. 

Osprey nest

Our next stop was the cliffs of a Provincial Park where the story of "Anne of Green Gables" was centered.  The ground is red due to all the iron ore in the soil.

the cliffs of Cavendish, the inspiration of "Anne of Green Gables"

Lucy Maud Montgomery was the author of the famous novel , "Anne of Green Gables", published in 1908 when she was 34 years old.   Her home at Green Gables her museum, and even her burial site are all shrines to her very famous life.

Our next stop was the house and museum of "Anne of Green Gables".

Green Gables 

This was Lucy's bedroom

The grounds were full of flowers.  The house (of her grandparents who raised her) was typical of a large home of 1876.   Lucy wrote her famous novel in 1908 and lived there with her aging grandmother until she died in 1911.  Following her grandmother's death, she married the Reverend Macdonald and moved to Ontario.  She had 2 sons.  In 1935 she moved again to Toronto where she died in 1942 at the age of 67.  Her body lies in state at Green Gables in Cavendish Cemetery. 

The bus took us to a restaurant, "Café on the Clyde", where the owner, a Scottish immigrant regaled us with his amusing stories and Scottish accent.  He said, "My dad is Irish, my mom is Scottish.  I love to drink, but I don't like to pay for it."  He told us that Newfies have their own words.  In America, children carry a back pack for school with a notebook inside: here in PEI, Newfies call them kid bags with a scribbler inside.  He also said, "We talk to everyone.  We are very social.  We don't ignore people, for sure."

We had a wonderful lunch of crepes with chicken and broccoli.  I think it was our best lunch of the trip.  Tom and I walked through the garden and I got some beautiful pictures. When the bus was loaded and ready to leave, the owner came on the bus with a thank you for visiting his property and gave us just one more little joke: "Do you know what a jitterbug is?  It is a Scottsman waiting for the pay toilet."  More laughter from all of us, then the bus brought us all  back to the campground. 

The Farewell Dinner (paid for by Fantasy Tours) started at 6:00 p.m. at the Galley, a very nice restaurant here in the campground.   The Wagonmaster talked about how our group of 48 were strangers, who wouldn't talk only 32 days ago, are now fast friends who won't stop talking, even when he was on the mike.  Then the camp owner, a lovely lady from Holland named Henne, told us that she was in the restaurant business in Holland, but came to this area and bought the campground  13 years ago from a doctor who owned it and was too tired to continue.  Her husband retired and now works for her, here in the campground.  They are open from May 1st to October 1st, but really only busy during July and August.  When winter comes, they close and move south to Texas or Arizona.  

We had fabulous appetizers of PEI muscles cooked in garlic and fresh veggies, and 4 delicious salads.  The muscles were the best I have ever had, and had absolutely NO fishy taste.  I had 3 servings and Tom had 4.  Jay, who sat at our table, had many more servings and then took home a box with 2 servings more.

Tom's 3rd helping of muscles

The muscles were a big hit.  They filled the serving tray many times and our group ate all of them!   Then came the dinner - Wow!  I had chilled lobster (the way the Acadians cook it).  It was absolutely delicious.

How is that for presentation?

I am one happy camper!

Tom had steak and he said it was also great.  They also served us strawberries over cheesecake.  I do believe it was our best dinner. 

After dinner, the Wagonmaster passed out awards, one to each couple.  We won "The Rose Blanche Lighthouse Pinnacle Hiking Award", for climbing all the way to the top of the hill up to the lighthouse, and then to the top of the lighthouse itself.  It took both Tom and I, and the Wagonmaster  thought it was a great joint effort.  Everyone else got awards too.  Trish got one for the "Best Canadian Guide Interpreter". 

Some of the group were planning on leaving early tomorrow morning.  Most were staying for the Farewell Breakfast.  Many of us are staying on for one more night to wind down.   We said our good nights and headed back to our rigs. 


08/08/2019 - Breakfast was from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.  We picked up Trish, Bev, and Susan at 8:15 and headed back to the restaurant where we had our dinner last night.    There were a lot hugs and passing out of cards so we could stay in touch with our fellow travelers.  Henne, the campground owner, served up a full breakfast and visited with all of her guests.

Some of us are staying on for tonight (or more) and we are meeting up for dinner tonight.  Meantime, the dogs had a great time in the 'off leash' doggie park.  Then, I picked up the girls for a shopping trip into town while Tom worked on cleaning up the outside of the RV.  Clouds are coming in.  It looks like rain.