Day 72-73: Bishop's Falls

 

We left Marystown this morning and our next stop was Bishop Falls. We stopped in Clarenville to load up on Propane before moving west on Trans-Canadian One highway. It was a long day of 248 miles and roadside repairs. We smelled burning tire smell, and turned out to be leaking coolant from the heater diverter valve. So I bypassed the valve and heater core as no chance on getting a diverter valve in Newfoundland today. All good, just no dash heat the rest of the trip, we can work with that. We arrived to our surprise, and empty campground in Bishops Falls municipal park. Evidently this is a fishing camp and the fish are not running so no campers. We enjoyed the river and falls, even though no Salmon were running up the river, that would have been nice to see. We stay for two nights and enjoy walks along the river and to the old train bridge that is part of the T'Railway Provincial Park that runs from Port aux Basque all the way to Saint John's that can can be traversed by foot, bike, ATV, or snowmobile in the winter. What we call a Rail's to trails adventure.

Miles: 248 / 5410

Day 71: Left behind

 

Today, Craig and Kim left this morning to head back towards Saint John's to get some work done on their truck. We took the day off and enjoyed the sunshine, went for walks, grocery shopped, and got caught up on all things internet. Not a lot done today, just chillaxing in the sun.

Below are some pictures I got from Kim before the headed out. Fish cleaning and Cod Kissing being Screeched in as they say.

Day 70: Point May Loop

 

We got up this morning and moved the RV's to an empty gravel municipal parking lot just down the road which was much more peaceful than the Wal-Mart lot. We buttoned up the rigs and took the jeep for an all day tour of the peninsula to point May and back. We drove the coastal route from Marystown down to Point May where we could see France. Yes, France, Saint Pierre Island a French province just lies off the Newfoundland coast. We were planning on taking a ferry ride to france for the day, but all the reviews persuaded us that it was not worth the cost and effort. Just not the french experience you would expect, so we skipped the ferry and all day adventure for just a car ride around the cape. We saw several interesting seaside towns, and spoke with many locals and travelers from all over. It was a fun day, but most important, it was Sunny and warm all day.

Day 69: Marystown

 

We are tired of the fog, rain, and generally crappy weather we have had here for the past 3 days. We saw lots of whales, but nothing spectacular in the fog and rain. We play cards, we have endless happy hours, we eat fresh cod, but it is now time to move on. Today was a travel day as we set off to Marystown 200 miles away. The weather was bad almost all the way, the road was rough, so I was glad to get to Marystown where we decided to stay in Walmart parking lot then move tomorrow to another spot. We dumped our tanks and filled with water at the city municipal site so hot showers for all.

Miles: 205 / 5157

Day 66-68: St. Vincent

 

Today we rolled on to our next spot at Saint Vincent, where a deep beach is the hot spot for whales to come up close to shore chasing capelin. Not a far drive today, but it was so foggy, and the road was so rough, we could only do 30-35mph. It was only a 28 mile drive, so not so bad, just slow. We got lots of whale shots, but they were not too close and in the fog. Not a great whale sighting, but was an interesting even t none the same. Yoli makes chicken noodle soup and we call it a night binge watching Netflix thanks to Starlink our savior. The next day, it was more of the same. We also had major rain storm over night, so we slept in the second morning at St. Vincent's in hopes to get a clearing to see more whales. No such luck, we were socked in with fog all day. We make great effort up and down the beach, we see plenty of whales, but it is just dull and grey with all the fog. It was cool to watch the birds dive bombing like a Japanese squadron on pearl harbor attack the capelin swimming in the surf. We end up calling it a night and play cards for happy hour before dinner. Yoli made an awesome chicken noodle soup, and we dug in for seconds tonight in the cool foggy weather, and another night of Netflix.

Miles: 28 / 4952

Birds Diving on Capelin

Day 65: Portugal Cove

We broke camp at the latest hour of 11am, dumped our tanks, and headed south to Portugal Cove this morning. We stopped in Ferryland at the Foodland for some groceries and restocking of our provisions. We made our way to Portugal cove where we plan to take the tour to Mistaken Point where 580 year old fossils have been found. But first, we got us a premo campspot on the beach, and then drove out to Cape Race Lightouse where the first communication came in from the Titanic. The museum at the Cape Race Lighthouse had all kinds of stuff relating to the titanic communication when it was sinking. Today, the fog was rolling in and the fog horn was booming. We tour, we walk, we snap some selfies, and lighthouse pics, then head back to camp. We meetup with Craig and Kim, along with new friends Jock and Jackie from Ontario for a bonfire and fish fry. We had Cod and Cod Tongues fried, grilled, and capelin. Some folks in a pickup camper from Colorado pulled in, Tom and Heidi, so they joined us for happy hour and fireside chat at sunset. A wonderful day, new friends, and ocean waves lapping at our door step. Life is short, but life is good. Every day is a good day, and today was a gooder day. One we will cherish forever. Good night zzzzzzZZZZZZ.

Miles: 51 / 4924

Model boat regatta

Cape Race Lighthouse

Portugal Cove South

Bundled up with friends

Happy Hour

Sunset

Bonfire time