Same Political Crap, Different Country

Rideau Canal, Ottawa

Day 100        September 17, 2014

Montreal, Quebec  to  Ottawa, Ontario

Canada

When we saw the awful rush hour traffic heading into Montreal in the morning, we made the last-minute decision to not go back into the city. Instead, we pointed the Space Shuttle west, and drove to Ottawa.

We hadn’t heard much of anything about Ottawa, but we figured since it is the capital of all of Canada, we were obligated to stop there. Passing it by would be like driving by Washington DC and not stopping.

Ottawa turned out to be a fantastic city! The only disappointment was finding out that the Royal Canadian Mint had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Junior Mints! WTF? Completely misleading.

Ottawa

The cool and hip US Embassy building

The US Embassy building

Locks on the Rideau Canal. Downtown Ottawa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rideau Canal

The back of a fancy hotel. Looks almost like Parliament!

The Canadian Parliament buildings were pretty cool, as was the fact that we walked right into a political rally on the front steps. The Ukrainian President was speaking at the rally, and from what we could figure out, he was asking the Canadians for weapons and money. So, what’s new? Same old political bull shit so matter where you go!

Parliament!

Political rally in front of Parliament

The flag of Ukraine

Parliament

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parliament

Strolling by Parliament

Parliament. This old stuff is quite pretty!

Due to the political rally on the front steps, the Parliament building was closed for tours. That’d have to wait until the next day.

At the recommendation of a local Ottawanonian, we completed our day with dinner at The Black-Thorn Cafe. Delicious beers and food!

Libations @ The Black-Thorn Cafe

The Black-Thorn Cafe

It had started raining, so after dinner we took just a short stroll around the neighborhood, and then drove off to find a campground for the night.

Moshe Safdie, Surfing & Legos…One Degree Of Separation!

Habitat 67

Day 99     September 16, 2014

Montreal

Quebec, Canada

Just as we suspected might happen, we hit morning traffic going into Montreal. It was slow going, but we did get there. Of course, the central downtown district was crawling with traffic, so we couldn’t park there. So screw that. 

Morning traffic into Montreal

Old meets new in downtown Montreal

We got out of the downtown mess and made our way over to Habitat 67. I remember seeing it on a family vacation to Canada when I was only about 9 years old.. a long time ago, in a land far far away. It was time to see it again!

This is from Wikipedia…

Habitat 67, or simply Habitat, is a model community and housing complex in Montreal, Canada, designed by Canadian architect Moshe Safdie. It was originally conceived as his master’s thesis in architecture at McGill University and then built as a pavilion for Expo 67, the World’s Fair held from April to October 1967.

According to an article on dezeen.com, Safdie planned the arrangement of the project by using 2:1 Lego bricks to build models.

“We bought out all the Legos in Montreal at the time, because we built many, many alternatives.”

I wonder if he still owns all those Legos. I hear they can be hard to find and can be quite expensive. He could be sitting on a gold mine of Legos!

Habitat was pretty spectacular! And despite all of the signs surrounding it, telling us that this was private property and to keep out, we didn’t. This is just how it is when you are with an architect. Look around…until you get kicked out. And we did look around…and we did get kicked out…but not before having a good look at the place!

Habitat 67

Habitat 67

Habitat 67

Habitat 67

We’re in!!

Trespassing @ Habitat 67

Cool view from inside one the courtyards

Habitat 67

One last shot before being kicked out

One of the little known cool things about Habitat, is that it’s located right next to a surf break. Uh-huh!! There’s a surf break on the river right behind it! When the fast-moving water hits underwater boulders…voila…it forms a stationary wave that can reach up to six feet in height.

Surfing on the river!!

The wave wasn’t that big when we were there, but the rapid speed of the water, and the fact that the surfers had to enter the wave by being swept backwards, downriver into it, made the whole scenario look rather frightening! And if a surfer missed the wave, which most of them did that day, they’d get swept downriver, get out, walk up the embankment, walk back to the entry point, and try again. Not for the weak or faint of heart.

When we’d seen enough of the surfers and enough of the architecture, we ate lunch in the Space Shuttle, and then went to visit the nearby Biosphere. Like Habitat 67, Biosphere had also been built for the 1967 World’s Fair.

Lunch in the Space Shuttle

Biosphere is now an interactive environmental museum, and, unlike Habitat 67, it is open to the public…just not on Tuesdays!!! Crap!! We could walk around and take photos, but we couldn’t go inside.

Biosphere

Biosphere

Biosphere

Biosphere

Biosphere

We thought we’d try one more time to find parking in downtown Montreal. And once more, we were shut out. So we drove over to the old historic part of Montreal, where we totally lucked into finding two adjacent parking spaces on the street.

Old Montreal

New stuff, in Old Montreal

After further exploration, and dinner, we left the city.

Shooting while stuck in traffic on the way out of Old Montreal

Industrial scenes

Industrial scenes

We’d planned to return to the city in the morning to look around some more and to go back to Biosphere, so we found the nearest RV park and called it a night.

Cities….It’s a Love-Hate Relationship!

Huge head. Coolest ever public sculpture!!

Day 98       Sept 15, 2014

Quebec City   to  Somewhere outside of Montreal

Quebec, Canada

Since we’d discovered a great spot, just a couple blocks outside of Old Quebec City, to park the Space Shuttle, instead of taking the ferry over to the city again, we opted to check out of the RV park, and drive across the river. This way we could go on another walk-a-bout, and periodically check in on the pups. It’d be a little easier to manuever about, take photos, and eat lunch inside, without our little K9 buddies.

The bridge into the city

We explored. We ate. And we ate some more. It was a perfect day!

Cool graveyard, that also doubled as an urban dog park

Entrance to the walled city of Old Quebec

Old Quebec City

Lots of hills = good exercise for us walkers

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Coolest ever public sculpture!!

Mark, rockin’ his Modern Times sweatshirt inside the big old cathedral in the middle of the city

Our pick for lunch

We wined and dined

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Flowers…Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Colorful…so the dogs can find it

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Around 4:00pm, we left Quebec City and began our drive to Montreal. We would have made it to Montreal, had it not been for the horrific rush hour traffic we hit leaving Quebec City. This was one of the very few times, since leaving San Diego back in June, that we’d seen any kind of “traffic.” It sucked! Cities suck!!

We got to about 30 miles from Montreal, and had to stop for the night. If we timed it right, we could probably hit rush hour traffic going into Montreal in the morning…if we were lucky!!

The Day That Went To The Dogs!

Mark and Dax hike up a steep, narrow street in Old Quebec City

Day 97    September 14, 2014

Quebec City, Quebec

Canada

Lucky for us, French Canadians love dogs, and dogs are allowed on the passenger ferries that cross the river into Quebec City. So Dax and Trixie would be hangin’ with us in the big city today!

Taking the ferry to Old Quebec City

Mark and I, and Dax and Trixie spent all day wandering around Old Quebec. There was one downside to having the pups with us. It was really cold outside, and although we’d have loved to been able to sit inside and eat lunch in a nice warm bistro, we couldn’t. The French Canadians don’t love dogs that much. So we ate lunch outside in the cold. That’s what coffee’s for…to warm up. So we drank a lot of coffee.

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

Interesting architecture in Old Quebec City

A lot of tourists in Old Quebec City

Old Quebec City

After lunch, Dax and Trixie met a very nice Irish Wolfhound, who was touring the city with her people. Her name was Harriet. She was spectacular! The biggest Irish Wolfhound I’d ever seen!

I started thinking that maybe Harriet the Irish Wolfhound, was my mom, Harriet Cohen, reincarnated. My mom wasn’t particularly fond of dogs, so this would kind of make sense that she’d have to come back as a regal and beautiful dog…ya know, to gain a love and appreciation for dogs! At least, I think that’s how it works.

When we were thoroughly worn out from the cold and from so much walking around, we took the ferry back to the other side of the river. Dax was being Mr. Congeniality on the ferry. He was smiling at everyone, getting lots of pets, and giving lots of kisses. He was pretty much the center of attention on that ferry ride! Trixie ignored everyone, as usual, and just searched for scraps of food on the ground.

Later that evening, we drove back into the city to have dinner. We easily were able to park the Space Shuttle just a couple blocks outside of Old Quebec. And we were able to go out to dinner, without the dogs, to enjoy a little French Canadian cuisine. Or, as we dubbed it, Cuinadian!

I tried to order in French. I have no idea what actually came out of my mouth when I spoke. But the waitress appreciated my attempt, had a good laugh with us about it, and brought me what I ordered!  Cie la Vie!

I got what I ordered!

The Dangers Of Speaking French! Who Knew?!

Longest covered bridge in the world!

Day 96     September 13, 2014

Somewhere in New Brunswick  to  Quebec City, Quebec

Canada

When I woke up this morning, and looked out at the lovely river view that we had from our camp site, all I could see was the massive amount of steam rising off of the water. I don’t imagine the water was warm at all, but that’s just how freakin’ cold the air temperature was!

I don’t know why, but I was still shocked to find out that the air temperature in the campground shower/bathrooms, was equally as frigid cold. Brrrrr!!! Mark and I decided that we’d go see Quebec City and Montreal, and then head the hell south. It was so cold that, for the first time ever, when we hit the road, we both turned on our seat heaters!

We took a detour to Hartland to drive across the world’s longest covered bridge.

Longest covered bridge in the world!

And another view of her….

And it spans this pretty river….

 

And on the inside….

And across we went, just to say we did.

And we stopped in Perth-Andover, where we had an amazing lunch at the Waterfront Bistro. Gourmet smoked salmon and asparagus panini. Delicious!

Chillaxin’ on the deck, waiting for lunch.

This would be our last stop in New Brunswick, which was a significant landmark. After this, we’d be crossing into Quebec Province, which is French speaking. I am not French speaking. Mark is barely broken-French speaking.

Our first stop in officially French speaking territory, was just over the borderline in Quebec, at Tim Horton’s. Using his not so stellar French, Mark tried to order one doughnut. We got six huge doughnuts. We proudly walked out of Timmy’s with a bag full of six doughnuts, and planned our strategy for survival.

It was time to bring out the big guns….the iPhone language translator app. Mark would speak French into the phone, and, in theory, the proper English words would be spoken back to us. Then, speaking as precisely as I could, I would try to mimic the French words into the phone, and then listen to the English translation spoken back to me.

Here’s a little chart of what I thought I said in French, and what the iPhone thought I said:

What I thought I said in French…………………..The IPhone’s English translation

I’m sorry, I don’t speak French…………………..I saved Jana Ronson

I’m sorry, can you say that again…..……….……I’m sorry, and you could diet

I’m sorry, repeat please…………………………..I’m sorry, pizza please

And then there was a translation that had something to do with telling someone they need pants. I decided that it’d probably be too dangerous for me to attempt speaking French.

At the end of our fun little day full of adventures, we checked into Motel et Camping Etchemin, just across the river form Quebec City. This was a combination motel and RV park. Lucky for us, the receptionist spoke perfect English. And so, we DID end up with a nice RV site behind the hotel, and NOT with a deluxe hotel suite!

You Call It Summer, I Call It Winter!

Local cuisine.

Day 95     September 12, 2014    part 2

Antigonish, Nova Scotia  to Somewhere in New Brunswick

Canada

There was still a lot of driving to be done today, so back on the road we went. We crossed most of New Brunswick on the highway, which meant that we didn’t see much, except for trees. New Brunswick has a lot of trees.

As evening approached, we found a really nice campground for the night. The place  was closing for the winter in three days, and it was pretty much empty except for a handful of New Brunswickians squeezing in their last few days of camping for 2014.

We had a site with a nice sunset view overlooking the river below. The view didn’t quite make up for the fact that it was butt-cold outside! We bundled up by layering on almost all of the clothes we had with us. Thank goodness we’d bought wool hats when we were in Newfoundland.

Once bundled up, we leashed up the pups to go on one last evening doggie walk. And that’s when we met a group of four New Brunswickians, out for an evening stroll around the campground. They looked at us, and we looked at them, and we all burst out laughing.

What was wrong with the picture was, that we were bundled up in lots of clothing, including hats, scarves, and gloves, and we were still cold. And they were out strolling around in shorts and t-shirts, and were perfectly comfortable.

When the New Brunswickians saw our California license plate, well, they said, “That explains it!” And when they found out we’d been living in the Space Shuttle for three months, one of them exclaimed, “Oh my gosh! You should be given some kind of award!” Haha!! Mark and I both laughed, and then agreed with her!

We bid these nice people good night, and went about our evening walk, in the frigid cold of the Canadian summer!

It’s cold out, but not so cold that we can’t drink a beer!

In Dax We Trust! When Dogs Are Smarter Than People!

Sittin’ on the dock of the bay, waitin’ for the tide to come this way…

Day 95        September 12, 2014        part 1

Antigonish, Nova Scotia  to Somewhere in New Brunswick

Canada

In a reversal of our previous decision to skip it, we decided after all, to go to the Shubenacadie River, in Truro, to see the “reversing falls.” With extraordinary 40+ foot tides in the Bay of Fundy, when the tides change, the direction of the flow of the water on the Shubenacadie also changes. The term “falls” is completely misleading, but the phenomenon is still cool to witness.

Our timing was perfect (dumb luck), and we arrived at the interpretive center 20 minutes before the tide change. We were instructed to drive ten minutes up the road to Maitlin, and to watch from the pier.

Pastoral beauty on the river’s edge in Maitlin

Mark and I and the doggies, and ten other tourists, gathered on the Maitlin pier, waiting for the tidal change  It was a friendly bunch and we had a good time talking with everyone. Dax and Trixie were extremely popular with this group as well. I guess everyone else was missing their doggies back home.

Sittin’ on the dock of the bay, waitin’ for the tide to come this way…

Yes, the riverbed IS really this red!

Coastline in Maitlin

High tide was scheduled for 12:55. I know these things aren’t exact, but there we all were, just waiting for the big moment to happen. We weren’t even really sure what was gonna happen, just that we wanted to see it, whatever it was.

Surely something special was gonna happen, ‘cause otherwise all of these crazy kayakers wouldn’t be trying to drag their kayaks through the filthy red mud to get to the tiny bit of water that was currently in the river. That in itself was a hilarious sight to see!

Crazy kayaker trying to get out into the middle of the river without actually touching any of the red messy mud.

Misery loves company.

This guy’s gonna do it standing up!

Once in a while, we’d have a false alarm. Someone would think they heard something or saw the water rising. But no, nothing was happening.

It’d been twenty minutes since the tide was supposed to change, when suddenly, Dax stands up, faces down river, and starts barking like crazy. Well damn! Wouldn’t ya know it, as we all looked up to see what he was barking at, we could see the water heading towards us, up the river in the reverse direction!

And that is how we discovered Dax’s hidden talent! Apparently, he has an uncanny ability to predict tidal changes! The crowd on the peer hooted, hollered, laughed, and applauded Dax! For just those few moments in time, he was a Superhero!!

The reversing falls was pretty fun to see. Suddenly, the almost completely dry river bed turned into a very wet river flowing in the opposite direction, and the water level was rising so fast you could see it. And the kayakers then had little rapids to run!

We hustled back to the interpretive center, where there was a platform viewing area high above the river’s edge. This was an even more dramatic view where we were able to watch the river rise 40’ in 15 minutes. That’s a lot of agua!!

Finally, some water in the middle of the river

Low water

Same view. Higher water.

Still some dry spots in the middle

No more dry spots in the middle

Tourists in motorized rafts ride the rapids!

So much water rushing in!

So yes, it was worth the detour to Truro. We got to witness the power of nature that day. But even better, we got to discover the Superhero that is Dax!

Three Californians Walk Into A Bar in Nova Scotia, and…….

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

Day 94     September 11, 2014

Glace Bay  to  Antigonish

Nova Scotia, Canada

Maybe it was due to the gloomy overcast day, but Glace Bay completely underwhelmed us. Maybe we’d set our expectations too high. Maybe it was just the grayness. Well, we checked it off the list and moved on.

Next, we drove to Louisbourg. Have I mentioned how much I dislike historic reenactment villages? I think I have. But somehow, I ended up at another one of ‘em…..the Fortress of Louisbourg.

They welcomed us. How nice!

Unlike my experience with Glace Bay, my expectations had been set very low for our visit to Louisbourg. And this was so uncalled for, ‘cause the Fortress was pretty dang cool. We took tons of pictures, bought homemade wheat and rye breads, and ate lunch in the cantina. So glad Mark talked me into stopping here!

More or less, the front door of the fortress

Let the reenactment crap begin…..

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

A fortress must have a moat, right?

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

A fortress needs some cool weaponry too, right?

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

Green door detail @ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

Red door detail @ the Fortress of Louisbourg

@ the Fortress of Louisbourg

The view of the fortress from across the water

On our walk back to the visitor center….a nice little graveyard.

It was early afternoon when we got back on the road and headed west on Route 104. We drove past the lake region, which looked pretty, but we didn’t have time to stop. We had to put on some more miles today.

We stopped for the night at Whidden Park Campground in Antigonish. This was one of those rare campground/RV parks that was situated right in the town….not two miles outside of town…right in the town.

This was a great opportunity to go out for drinks and dinner. Antigonish is home to St. Francis Xavier University. So, it’s a university town, which meant there actually was some night life!

We walked through the town, checking out a few places, and settled on The Townhouse Brewpub & Eatery. It was live jazz night, and the place was packed, but we lucked into a couple seats at the bar.

This was going to be a fun and easy place to talk to some locals, which was why I nearly fell off my bar stool when I discovered that the guy sitting next to me at the bar (not Mark, the other guy, other side of me), was a realtor from San Diego, CA. WTF??!!! What are the chances of that? He was equally as shocked to discover that we live about 1/2 hour from him back home in California!

Our new friend from California was on a fishing trip. He and his buddies would catch and release big fish during the day, and then drink like big fish in the Antigonish bars at night!

Now the guy two bar stools down from me, on the other side of Mr. California, he was a local. And he was hilarious, and had a keen mind for trivia. He challenged all three of us Californians to an informal game of trivia. This meant that he’d ask the questions, and the three of us would try to get the correct answers. He kicked our asses. And he even let us chose the categories. This must have cemented in his mind, the opinion that Californians, although we are a good looking bunch, are dumb.

It was a fun evening. And by the way, The Townhouse Brewpub & Eatery had fabulous food! Anyway, although our new friends invited us to go to another bar with them, we had to say goodnight and get back to the Space Shuttle where the pups would be awaiting our return.

A Canadian Walks Into A Bar In Boston, and…..

The perfect green shack. Isle aux Morts

Day 93                     September 10, 2014

J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park, Newfoundland  to  Glace Bay, Nova Scotia

Canada

Today we’d be saying goodbye to Newfoundland, and catching the ferry from Port aux Basques, back to North Sydney, Nova Scotia. But before catching the ferry, we took a drive east on the road out of Port aux Basque.

Heading east from Port aux Basques..

A glimpse of southwestern Newfoundland

This area was so stunning, that we’d wished we had just a couple more days to spend in Newfoundland. We walked around the small town of Isle aux Morts, population 600, before returning to the ferry terminal.

Another nice looking church. Isle aux Morts

Isle aux Morts

The perfect green shack. Isle aux Morts

Isle aux Morts

Isle aux Morts

Isle aux Morts

One last photo op on the drive back to the ferry

While waiting for the ferry (you have to arrive two hours prior to departure, and then que your vehicle up in the loading lot), we met a guy who’d grown up in Newfoundland, was back for a visit, and was now headed back to Ontario. We hung out with him on the ferry  and the time flew by as he told stories about where he grew up, how much snow they had in the winter, and about how he once visited Boston and partied so hard that he woke up the next day in Connecticut!

Port aux Basques, from the ferry.

Final views of Newfoundland

Final views of Newfoundland

Crossing the Cabot Strait

When we finally arrived back in Nova Scotia, we headed towards Glace Bay. We checked into the nearby Ryan River Campground just before dark, and just as a light mist was settling in. It felt weird to be back in Nova Scotia.

Two Californians Walk Into A Newfoundland Tire Shop, and…

Mark. Man & food truck. Happy times!

Day 92     September 9, 2014

Barachois Pond Provincial Park  to  J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park, Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

This is a long story with very few photos. Why? ‘Cause I was too freakin’ stressed out to take any photos!!

As soon as we walked the dogs, ate breakfast, showered, and pumped up our bad rv tire with the bike pump, we were back on the road. We headed south to Stephenville, the de facto New York City of southwestern Newfoundland, with a population of 8,000.

We knew there was a Canadian Tire store in Stephenville, and we knew that they’d be able to diagnose and fix our leaking tire. No worries. No stress. We enjoyed the drive south, and were happy upbeat people when we pulled into the Canadian Tire parking lot.

Joyfully, we strolled into the service center and explained our situation, where the friendly, and courteous employee explained that yes, they could help us, but not for another two days. They were completely booked up until then. And though we pleaded with him and explained that we had to catch the ferry back to Nova Scotia the next day, he showed no sympathy, and sent us to a small tire shop down the street. We walked out of that place a little less happy, a little less upbeat, and a little less joyful, than when we had walked in.

We found the small tire shop down the street, “OK Tire.” When we pulled up in front of the little garage, all four or so of the guys working there came out to say hello.

Friendly group, yes. But more so, a curious group, as they had never seen a vehicle even remotely similar to ours before. Nope, not a one of them had ever laid eyes on a Sprinter van! They were mesmerized by the Space Shuttle, and they were shocked to find out we’d driven all the way from California.

And so, started the most stressful part of our entire road trip. These nice guys were happy to help us, but, they didn’t know how to jack up our rig. And, did I not mention, that the problematic tire was the inside rear dually? Of course it was, because had it been a front tire, or an outside rear tire, that would have been exponentially easier to deal with!

I stood by and watched as Mark and these four guys looked under the rig, looked at the owner’s manual, looked under the rig, looked at the owner’s manual, shook their heads, discussed how to jack up Fiona without damaging her, and finally had at her with a bunch of equipment.

I didn’t have any confidence in this turning out well, ‘cause it just didn’t look to me like these guys knew what they were doing. I even tried to convince Mark that we should wait until we got back to Nova Scotia to deal with it. My fear was that, if they damaged Fiona during this first aid attempt, that we would be stranded in Newfoundland.

For some reason, Mark had confidence in the ability of a bunch of guys to figure out what to do and how to do it. Maybe ‘cause he’s a guy. I just saw impending disaster.

I was so nervous, this was the only pic I managed to take @ OK Tire. Fiona has no shoes.

And YEEHAW!!!! Mark was right!! Our guys jacked up the rig, removed both rear tires on the driver’s side, diagnosed our problem (our tire valve was loose. easy fix. not even a tire problem at all!), reassembled everything, charged us $50, and sent us on our way.

I profusely thanked each and every one of these great guys, and I apologized for my nervousness and for ever doubting them!

We had a celebratory lunch at Joe’s Takeout food truck, and then took a drive  around the Port au Port Peninsula.

Man & food truck. Happy times!

On the peninsula, we stopped at the one and only alpaca farm. The couple who own the farm have 16 alpacas and one llama. They shear the critters and send the stuff to Prince Edward Island to be processed. When the processed wool is returned to them, they hire a bunch of local women to knit stuff from it, and then they sell the stuff in their little shop. Mark bought a pair of hand knit alpaca wool sox. Nice!

Not to be missed on the Port au Port Peninsula! I recommend you get an ice cream cone and some wool sox in the gift shop.

The one lonely llama.

Curious alpacas.

Alpacas strike a pose.

Driving around the peninsula….

Interesting….not sure what this is…

A beautiful drive….

When we completed the loop around the peninsula, we stopped back at OK Tire. They’d told us to drive for about an hour or so, and then to return so that they could retighten our tire lugs. So, we stopped and said hello again, and then said goodbye again. And we thanked them profusely, again!

Just a little more driving, and we were back at J.T. Cheeseman Provincial Park. This was where we’d spent our first night in Newfoundland, and it’d be where we’d spend our last night as well. A bittersweet reunion.

Will The Real Adam Sandler Please Stand Up….

@ Coffee Cove

Day 91     September 8, 2014

South Brook to Barachois Pond Provincial Park, Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

In the middle of the night, we’d been awoken by an alarm going off inside the Space Shuttle. Argh!! It was our tire pressure alarm. I disconnected the alarm so that we could sleep and deal with it in the morning. So now we had to deal with it.

Fiona in the morning @ Kona Beach Campground

One of our tires had dropped from 61 psi, to 54 psi. Mark was able to use our bike pump to get the tire up to 59 psi, but, we clearly had an impending situation on our hands. It had become obvious that our problem with those gas station air pumps the day before, had actually been a problem with our tire.

But ya know what? There wasn’t anyplace nearby to get the tire looked at. And since we could pump it up to 59 psi, well, that was good enough to keep us on the road until we reached somewhere where someone could help us.

And so, off we went, up Route 391 to King’s Point and to Rattling Brook to see the waterfalls. This is where we came to the conclusion that a lot of stuff in Newfoundland was falling apart. We walked up the trail as far as we could, only to find that the stairway path leading up to the great view of the falls, had been destroyed by a rock slide. I guess that, being pretty remote, and there not being many people around, Newfoundland just wasn’t in a big hurry to fix some stuff. I don’t have a problem with that.

Mark & Dax. Going to see the waterfalls, or so we thought.

End of the hike for us!

At least the hike there and back was pretty!

Pretty scenery across the street from the Rattling Brook Falls hike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty scenery across the street from the Rattling Brook Falls hike

Dax the explorer…

Mark & Dax taking some photos

Next stop….St. Patrick’s and Coffee Cove. We parked in the parking lot at Church of the Sacred Heart, in St. Patrick’s, and ate lunch in the Space Shuttle . Down below was Coffee Cove. With a name like Coffee Cove, we were sort of hoping we’d find at least a cute little coffee shop . But, there didn’t seem to be anything but some scattered houses, and solitude.

Church of the Sacred Heart in St. Patrick’s.

The view down towards Coffee Cove

@ Coffee Cove. No coffee shop here!

 

 

 

Fiona in Coffee Cove. Mark’s down there having a look around.

@ Coffee Cove

Beachside was our next destination. Maybe we’d find a coffee shop there. Umm…nope…except for a small community of small houses, we didn’t see so much as a grocery store or anything out there. I found this, on Wikipedia,

“There is only one business located in Beachside and this is a souvenir shop called Newfoundland Souvenir Manufacturing Limited.”

Hmm, we missed that too. However, what we did find, was some absolutely spectacular scenery!

The beaches were actually a greenish color

So beautiful!

The weirdest thing about Beachside, which Wikipedia doesn’t mention anything about, was the color of the beaches. All of the beaches seemed to be green. Why? I don’t know. Too much spinach in the water? Probably not, as the water was a beautiful shade of blue. Well, there was too much of something on those pebbly beaches, I’m just not sure what.

Stopped for a photo op on the way back to the highway

Mark, taking a pic of the grand view…

Although actually not our main goal for the day, we did eventually find coffee…at the Springdale Tim Horton’s. Not so charming, but it did alleviate our cravings. Got some free internet while we were there as well.

Back from whence we came….heading south….

We continued our journey southwest on Route 1, all the way to Barachois Pond Provincial Park. We checked in with the on-duty park ranger, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Adam Sandler. And he was funny as hell too.

I bet he could make a fortune if he went on tour as an Adam Sandler impersonator. However, in the 10 minute comedic banter back and forth with him, he told us he’d never been outside of Newfoundland, and had no desire to travel outside of Newfoundland. Really? Not even in the winter? A little escape to Florida maybe?! This was kind of hard to believe.

Then it occurred to me that maybe this guy was the real Adam Sandler!! Maybe he goes to work and hangs out in Newfoundland during the summers. Ya know, to get away from the Hollywood scene and get some peace and quiet.

The ranger/Adam Sandler, did tell us that Barachois Pond Provincial Park has the reputation as a raucous weekend party destination. But we were there mid-week, and at the very end of the season. There was hardly anyone else in the park. Once again, we had our choice of campsites. We chose site #1, right by the lake. It was a good choice!

Barachois Pond Provincial Park

Evening walk around the pond

Evening walk around the pond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset from our campsite…site #1

Typically Road Trippin’ ……Cruisin’ Back West….

Twillingate

Day 90          September 7, 2014

Clarenville to South Brook, Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Damn, it was super windy all night long, and hard to sleep ‘cause the wind was so loud! But at least we had found a safe haven for the night in the Walmart parking lot.

Our overnight stay at Walmart

Prior to getting back on the highway, we went to a gas station to put some air in one of our tires. The air machine seemed broken, so we went to a second station, where we also had problems. Finally, at the third station, Mark was able to get a little air into the tire that was low. Something wasn’t quite right. It was still early on a Sunday morning, and nothing else was opened, so we basically just gave up and got on the road.

It began to rain, but our cruise west was fun. We discovered radio station OZ FM 105.3, playing traditional music, lots of jigs and reels…music to make you happy. Great road trip music!

There’s a memorial in Gander that I was hoping to stop to visit. It’s a memorial for some American servicemen that were killed when their plane (taking them home to the US) crashed just after take off.

We followed a small wooden sign that pointed down a dirt road. Since it was raining, the dirt road was actually a mud road. And the road was pretty narrow. We weren’t even sure we were on the right road, and were beginning to worry that we might get stuck. When we got to a spot where we could turn around, we did. Mission aborted. 

Although we were long past iceberg season, we did drive out to Twillingate. Twillingate is one of the primo spots for iceberg watching in the spring and early summer. 

Somewhere between Clarenville and Twillingate

Somewhere between Clarenville and Twillingate

Somewhere between Clarenville and Twillingate

Stop or turn…stop or turn…make up your mind quickly!

Dark and moody….

Newfoundlanders aren’t afraid of color!

Hello doggie…

We drove to the end of the road, to Crow Head, where we enjoyed the spectacular views of the coastline.

Crow Head

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crow Head

Mark, standing way out there at the edge of Crow Head

Long Point Lighthouse, Crow Head

The rain had finally stopped, and we were able to enjoy a nice outdoor lunch at the Crow’s Nest Cafe, followed by a little photo time at the Twillingate harbor before continuing the journey west.

Crow’s Nest Cafe, Twillingate

Twillingate

Twillingate

Twillingate

Twillingate

Twillingate

Twillingate

Twillingate

It was the end of the camping season in Newfoundland, which made it easy for us to have our choice of sites in all of the campgrounds we visited. It was a treat to pull into the almost empty Kona Beach Campground in South Brook, and park in site #9…right on the beach! It was a pebbly beach on a lake, but it was a beach and it was sweet!

And the winner is….site #9

Sunset walk on the beach

The Snow Globe, The Mighty Wind, and the Walmart

The Rooms, St. John’s

Day 89            September 6, 2014
St. John’s to Clarenville, Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Most of our day was spent at The Rooms, an amazing combination museum and gallery in St. John’s. Although half of that time was spent in the restaurant and gift shop, we really did love the great art and exhibits, all of which related in some way to Newfoundland.

Graphic interiors @ The Rooms

View of the harbor, from The Rooms

The most memorable thing about The Rooms…..the waitress in the cafe telling us that St. John’s in the winter time, is like living in a snow globe. Brrrrr..…I shudder to think about it!

Late in the afternoon, as we sat in the Space Shuttle out in the parking lot, we held a major trip planning session. We were supposed to be in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 2nd….only 3.5 weeks away. There were still a good number of places on our “to visit” list between St. John’s and Albuquerque, and this was the time we really got down to figuring out how we were gonna see everything, do everything, and still end up in Albuquerque on time. And the verdict was, we better start heading west now.

It was sad leaving St. John’s. Not only did we love this city, but leaving also meant we were on our way home. Granted, it would take over a month to get home, but, it still signified the end of our great journey east and north.

We got on the road, the same road we’d driven east on, the only road that crosses Newfoundland from east to west. We drove for an hour or so, but as the wind picked up a notch, and it started getting dark, we searched for a campground. According to our campground guide, there was a campground in Arnold’s Bay called Putt & Paddle Campground.

The one good thing the wind was doing…perfectly posing the flags!

Perfect flags!

We found Arnold’s Bay, but we never found the campground. We were wandering around some neighborhood, lost, when we saw an older gentleman walking up the street. We stopped him to ask directions. Classically, it seemed he either couldn’t hear us, or couldn’t understand our accents. And when he spoke, well, with his uber thick Newfoundland accent, we couldn’t understand a damn word he said. We smiled, said thank you, and made our way back to the highway.

By this time, it was dark. And with our high profile vehicle (almost 10’ tall), the high winds were really blowing us around. And we were scared to death of hitting a moose. There was no choice but to continue driving until we got to the next town. And as luck would have it, the next town had a Walmart! Hello, Clarenville Walmart! I’ve never been so happy to see a Walmart, and to get off the freakin’ road!

Another Day, Another Brewery? Maybe, Maybe Not!

Following Mark and Dax on the hike up to Signal Hill

Day 88     September 5, 2014

St. John’s, Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Since arriving in St. John’s the day before, we’d already sampled some local Quidi Vidi beers. However, we hadn’t yet actually visited the nearby village of Quidi Vidi, or the Quidi Vidi Brewing Company. That was Priority #1.

Had we been warned, we’d have parked outside of the little village and walked the rest of the way. But, we hadn’t been warned, and we drove right into the village. Not so smart. The streets were super narrow, winding, and hilly. A test of our driving skills and of our patience. We almost got stuck at the end of a street with almost no way to turn around….almost.

Quidi Vidi

Quidi Vidi

Quidi Vidi

We checked out the Quidi Vidi brewery, hoping to get a tour and have lunch. Unfortunately though, they don’t serve food. Even though it’d mean missing the brewery tour, we were way too hungry to stick around, so we moved on.

We found lunch and beers at the Inn of Olde. And by “lunch,” I mean, soup, ‘cause that’s all they served. Not one of our finer meals, but you couldn’t beat the atmosphere. This place was kind of a trippy pub with all kinds of crazy crap and memorabilia hanging  on every square inch of the ceiling and walls.

Inn of Olde

Front door to Inn of Olde

Mark  @ Inn of Olde

Inn of Olde

Inn of Olde

Old church that’s now a private residence. Quidi Vidi

After a good walk-a-bout the village, and satisfied that we’d “done” Quidi Vidi, we left and drove to the Johnson Geo Centre. The Geo Centre was a cool place. It’s basically a museum built underground, dedicated to geology. Hard to believe, since I almost failed geology 101 in college, but, I loved this place! There were movies, and interactive exhibits, and, just fun shit!

Johnson Geo Centre

When the centre closed for the day, we retrieved the pups from the space shuttle, and went for a little walk across the street. But first we had to pose the pups in front of the big dog statues in front of the Geo Centre. One of the statues was a Newfoundland dog, and the other statue was a Labrador Retriever. We hadn’t thought about this before, but this far away Province had two namesake dogs! Impressive!

The Newfie, the Lab, the Trixie, and the Dax

What started out as a short dog walk, turned into an epic hike. We had inadvertently found ourselves on this cool hiking path that wound around a little village by the harbor, around the sometimes precarious hillside, and all the way up the backside and up to Signal Hill. It was magnificent!!

Beginning of our epic hike

On the hike up to Signal Hill

On the hike up to Signal Hill

On the hike up to Signal Hill

On the hike up to Signal Hill

Following Mark and Dax on the hike up to Signal Hill

Looking back at the path we’d hiked up on.

We finished off the day with dinner at Tavola, on Water Street. Sweet potato soup, salad, ravioli, and some sissy pink lemonade spritzers that were oh so delicious! Great end to a great day!

Ravioli @ Tavola

Pink Lemonade Spritzers. Not just for sissies!

Goats On A Leash…Getting Screeched In… & Other Tales From St. John’s

The view from Signal Hill

Day 87     September 4, 2014

St. John’s, Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

This morning we spent time organizing, rearranging, and cleaning, and then we headed out on more fun adventures.

As we we were driving through downtown St. John’s, we passed a guy walking two goats on leashes. What up with that? Is that some kind of trend? Where does this guy live, that he’s walking his goats downtown in the city? I’m not sure goats even like cities.  Too bad we couldn’t pull over and stop to talk to this guy. This bugged me for a long time, the not knowing what the story was!

I had to shake off the vision of the guy with his goats as we drove out to Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America. Couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day.

Cape Spear Lighthouse

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

Fiona, way down there in the parking lot @ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

@ Cape Spear

While exploring, we stopped to talk to a young guy walking his puppy. He told us that he bought a house just down the road. He used to be a furniture mover, and it seemed like every time he’d be moving someone, they’d tell him about how they were moving ‘cause they couldn’t stand their neighbors. So when he was able to buy his first house, he made sure he bought one as far away from anyone as he could get. Cape Spear is pretty far away from most people!

Our next stop was Signal Hill. This is the spot where Guglielmo Marconi received the first ever transatlantic wireless signal. I figure he picked this spot due to the magnificent views. If you’re gonna be sitting in one spot for a long time, waiting for someone to call you, you may as well have great views, eh?

The view of St. John’s harbor @ Signal Hill.

@ Signal Hill

@ Signal Hill

@ Signal Hill

An interesting dude in pink high heel boots @ Signal Hill

We had the luck of the dumb with us today, as we unknowingly had ended up at Signal Hill at just the right time to enjoy the sunset and to enjoy the spectacle that is everyone cruising up there in their cool cars to strut their stuff and watch the sunset. Dumb works for us sometimes!

@ Signal Hill

@ Signal Hill

@ Signal Hill

How would we top off our day? It’d already been so amazing. Only two things left to do so late in the day…get “screeched in” and eat dinner.

I’d met a St. John’s native back in Nova Scotia, who’d told me to go to Trapper John’s in St. John’s to get screeched in. So we did. 

We drank shots of screech, kissed a big frozen cod fish on the lips, repeated some gibberish, and laughed our asses off during the 15 minute hilarious ceremony (presided over by the bartender). And so, we became honorary Newfoundlanders! We have certificates to prove it all. Proudest day of our lives!

Getting screeched in @ Trapper John’s

From the Urban Slang dictionary….

The day ended with a fabulous meal at Yellowbelly. We ordered a simple cheeseburger pizza, not really expecting too much. But, yet another surprise…this was possibly, the best pizza I have ever had…ever!!!

We were falling in love with St. John’s.

The Education And Feeding of Magical Creatures (i.e. Nancy & Mark)

Local beers

Day 86     September 3, 2014

Terra Nova National Park to St. John’s, Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Being the social movers and shakers that we are, we had a breakfast invitation for this morning. We’d been invited over to George and Pearl’s nearby motorhome for a hearty meal and conversation before we took off for St. John’s.

George and Pearl

We’d met George and Pearl the night before. They were native Newfoundlanders who lived only about a half hour from Terra Nova National Park. They were doing a little staycation at Terra Nova NP.

We feasted on bacon, eggs (I skipped the eggs..hate ‘em), toast, and homemade jam. And add to that, funny conversation. Funny  ‘cause, at times, their accents were hard to understand, and funny at other times ‘cause they were really funny and nice peeps.

Before we departed the campground, George and Pearl came by the space shuttle and gave us a jar of Pearl’s homemade canned/jarred beets. (months later, when we were back home, we cracked open the jar and ate them all in one sitting. they were absolutely “to die for!”)

On the drive to St. John’s, we listened with interest to a radio talk show discussion about what people who live in Newfoundland and Labrador call themselves. Newfoundlanders? Labradorians? Newfoundland and Labradorians? Believe it or not, this was quite a controversial discussion, and quite educational for us, to say the least!

Back on the road. A typical moose warning

Woohooo!!! We’ve arrived!

Where we were…..the little red dot….

We checked into the campground at Pippy Park, just on the outskirts of St. John’s, and then drove into the city. WOW!! St. John’s was colorful, hilly, and edgy! More rough around the edges than I’d expected, but all the more interesting!!

St. John’s

Colorful houses. Downtown St. John’s

More colorful houses on hills. Downtown St. John’s

Colorful houses on hills. Downtown St. John’s

Colorful houses. Downtown St. John’s

Colorful houses. Downtown St. John’s

Mailbox

The oldest store on the oldest street in the oldest city in North America!

Downtown St. John’s

Trapper John’s. We’ll visit this pub in the next day or two.

St. John’s would be the big turn-a-around point of our trip. To celebrate, we’d already decided that we would treat ourselves to lots of eating out while we were there. This turned out to be a good decision, as we found that St. Johns was a foodie haven!

Mark Wienke finds Winky’s food truck. How perfect!

We had the most awesome dinner at a restaurant called The Club. We chose The Club, because we happened to get a parking spot right out front, and we were hungry…pure luck. We stuffed ourselves with local Quidi Vidi beers, gourmet soup, salmon, miscellaneous sides, and a gourmet burger. Then we finished all that off with the most freakin’ amazing cake…parsnip cake!! Parsnip cake is the more delicious cousin to carrot cake.

Local beers

Gorgeous and delicious food @ The Club

Parsnip cake!!!

Now that I think back on our time in St. John’s, I’m pretty sure this is where that extra four pounds crept up on me. And it was all worth it, even though, seven months later, I’m still trying to get rid of it!!