Gaye's Muzings

July 31, 2007

As I said, I wanted to share more about the thread that winds through us and others as it takes us on our journeys as we travel through life.

On our way to Twillingate we stopped in Gander for a coffee and a soda at McDonald’s.  It is usually accessible in the motorhome and we can have as many refills as we want.  The problem with this is the amount of times we have to stop to use the bathroom as Chet refuses to do it trucker style which is a good thing.  The jugs of urine we see along the roads and in the rest stops is really disgusting!  These are some of the pleasures of living on the roadJJ

We were sitting and looking at our map and a gentleman came over and sat down next to Chet, almost in a gliding motion so naturally Chet had to move over.  We chatted and he told us what to see in Gander while offering to show us where things were.  He then told us his cousin owned the winery in Twillingate, gave us his name and told us to look him up.  We had no reason to go to the winery but felt compelled to because the gentleman was so nice.  We bid him adieu after chatting for some time and we went on our way.  We passed his house as he told us where he lived…..can you imagine doing that in the states?!  For a moment I thought we were going to have another passengerJJ

On our way to Twillingate we passed so many beautiful ponds, rivers, harbors and a beautiful causeway that attached New World Island to Twillingate Island .  The rock outcroppings in the ocean are spectacular.  We parked at Foodland, had wifi etc. as I mentioned before. 

After looking at the house we started asking questions of the town folk to get information about the property and all of the ramifications of owning property out of the states.  Greg, the man who restored the house and who was selling it is a very private man; bordering on hermit like.  I will refrain from revealing what we know of him but will say there was a very strong spiritual connection.  We went to the winery to look up the owner and it turned out he was no longer the owner as he sold the place and also sold the fish market to Greg.  We picked his brain and came away from there content.  While there, some Americans we knew just happened to walk in….no accidents when the thread continues to weave its’ way around.

We went back to see the house again the next day and saw the stream and that did it.

Through Greg, we met Bernie, who also buys historic properties and restores them.  We are parked at his place directly across the harbor so I can waken every day to the sight of my house directly in front of my face.  What a sight!

Bernie is a lovely person and we feel extremely fortunate to have met him.  He lives in a huge 2 story building that belonged to the merchant family on the other side of the harbor.  Downstairs is commercial space that he uses for his studio that would make a great location for a restaurant.  The upstairs is living quarters with 3 bedrooms and enough room to be a ballroom.  It is also for sale and totally affordable compared to what we pay in the states for a normal single family residence.  We hope to have a long relationship with him. 

Everything we do here and everyone we meet is so incredibly nice.  It is a special part of the world and the spirituality oozes out of the land.

What a gift, what a grand gift.  We hope to share it with our friends along with our family.

‘night……

July 30, 2007

Before I go on with my story of how we ended up with a house in Twillingate, I want to tell you of some of our other experiences over the last several days. 

Two days ago it was 93 and muggy here.  It was supposed to be hot yesterday, too.  The rain that was expected today came early, cooling the day that was on its’ way to the high 80’s.  The wind picked up while we were out at the lighthouse watching the icebergs.  It started thundering and lightning as the rain pelted us.  It was truly a welcome relief…

We have been watching an iceberg travel from the side of the lighthouse point at Crow Head, to the point at the end of the island where the lighthouse sits.  This has been going on for 4 days.  When we saw it the first time it was in two pieces and we watched as the smaller piece smashed back into the main part of the berg.  We go back several times a day and it changes each time; calving, turning completely around, moving farther off shore and then finally floating up to the lighthouse point joining another berg that we were also watching.  It is like watching the hands of a clock; look away, turn back, do this time and again and it changes every time.  When they crack the sound is like a clap of thunder.  The original one at the lighthouse point started breaking up and drifted past the mouth of the harbor and away.  The big one from Crow Head is still at the point and when we went back this morning, it had turned again and was getting smaller.  The big part that broke off was up against the rocks so we had to go out to the edge of the cliff to get a shot of it.  My knees were weak as I watched Chet backing up to get a better picture.  I finally asked him to stop as I have never been one for heights…yowzer, my knees were hurting. 

It is sad as we watch the bergs melt and fall apart.  It is like watching something die as we remember these are around 10,000 years old.  Tomorrow may be the end of it but I hope not.  There are 3 more very large bergs out from the island but I don’t think they will make it in here.  The Newfies say it is very unusual to have icebergs this late in the season.  We feel blessed as there haven’t been any for the past 2 years.

We feel blessed just being here; the history, the landscape, the people, the beauty we find everywhere we turn.  There is something that makes you feel like you have stepped back in time and there is a closeness to the Earth that we haven’t felt elsewhere.

There was a festival this past week which we attended with smiles that wouldn’t leave our faces.  There were breakfasts, lunches, dinners, dances, music, crafts, a parade, and fireworks shot from the pier right in front of where we are staying.

I have to make my 4,000 corrections now so we can head to the library to use the wifi.

Yesterday while watching the bergs we watched quite a large Coast Guard search and rescue cutter pass behind the berg and head down the coast.  When we got back to the motorhome it was just docking at the pier in front of us.  We walked over and looked and talked to one of the crew for quite some time as we were being devoured by mosquitoes.

This evening I saw him walking by us and I waved him over to see the motorhome.  He came in and while chatting he us made a rope pull for a bag or key ring by tying knots.  I asked if he could show us the boat and he took us for a tour.  He works 28 days on and 28 days off.  One of the crew said when they come next summer they will take us for a ride in one of their zodiacs and would we please have a cold beer for them in the refrigerator.  It was so hot in the ship the perspiration was running down my back.

It is so interesting to try and understand the accents of the people we meet.  It is a mix of Shakespearian English and Irish with many different dialects.  I suppose after our first summer we will pick some of it up, hey! 

Oh, I do miss my family so very much that it hurts sometimes but I feel this time and place is a gift that I would be a fool not to feel, see, absorb and roll in.

Peace and love.

July 28, 2007

Hello, I’m back!!  Sorry, Carl :)

I have sat down but haven’t been able to write…is that what they call writer’s block!  For those of you who don’t know me well or at all, I must tell you I am serious about the typing and my inability to type more than 3 wpm.  I have to watch my fingers and still make many mistakes that I try to correct.  I started editing the previous muzings but I quit and ask you to bear with me as I know I don’t get them all corrected.  My mind is going much faster than my fingers but being just a tad pig-headed, I won’t give up.  Just this, has taken several minutes…it amazes me how I can still make a mistake while I am staring at my hands.

Where do I begin to tell you what has been going on.  It may take a couple of entries as what has transpired is still difficult to wrap my mind around. It is a lot, and farther from my mind than anything I had ever imagined.

 As we stood on the deck of the ferry that brought us to Newfoundland , Chet said that he had the strangest feeling that he was going home.  He didn’t tell me this until this past week as he wasn’t quite sure what it meant.

 I have tried to tell you what this island is like but it is almost impossible find the right words or take pictures that begin to show you what we are seeing.  It seems impossible to me that it can get any more exquisite. We then round another turn and I am absolutely flabbergasted once again.  We came to Twillingate, or Toulinguet as the French say, on the 19th.  I have already told you a little about it but now I will share what has transpired. 

As we travel, and I thought the area was pretty, I would ask Chet if he would like to live there.  So far the only 3 places that have elicited a positive response have been St. Augustine , Fla. , Key West , Fla. and Moab , Utah . 

We found this to be a lovely town and it turned out to be magical.  We kept passing an enthralling house that was across the street from the harbor and commenting to each other how beautiful it was.  We were wearing our Los Angeles beachfront property mentality and kept passing it as we knew we could never afford to own a grand old dame as that.  We talked to the owner of one of the local restaurants about property values here and he suggested we go look at the house.  We drove by again and called and made an appointment  for the next morning.  I just thought it would be fun to see the inside of the house I have dreamt of all of my life.  I felt, as we entered the property, that we had passed through a shimmering force field which I keep calling, “entering the door.”

We really entered through the back door and after removing our shoes we went from room to room with my head turning in every direction possible as there was so much to drink in.  We started on the third floor which is one large room with a smaller room that could be made into a bathroom.

A little sideline….I had told Chet that I would only live in a one story house since breaking my leg and ankle as we moved out of our “stick” home to embark upon our journey of living on the road full time.  I always hated basements as I wasn’t used to them after living in Miami and then Pacific Palisades, Ca.  I had my accident while going down the basement stairs as we were moving out of the Portland , Or. house.

I crawled up the stairs to the top floor as there were no handrails and nothing at the top to grab on to.  The view from the dormer window was magnificent as I saw the harbor and the Atlantic Ocean .  We then went to the middle level to see the 4 bedrooms, bathroom and a sitting room with a huge window that I had a hard time peeling myself away from as the view was spectacular.  After touching, looking, feeling, and drinking in the views; front and back, the furnishings, fireplace, etc. we descended the beautiful staircase to the main floor.  We walked through the formal dining room, the smaller back kitchen, the original room where the large main kitchen was, the pantry, the parlor with a bay window, the hall that you pass through when you enter through the front door, to the living room with the 3rd fireplace and the windows from the turret and one of the three sets of doors that open to the front porch.  The windows in many of the rooms are purposely sealed shut as there are two small holes at the bottom of the sash that has a pivoting piece of metal that props open to let the air in.  This might explain about how the wind might blow here. 

The house is furnished down to pots and pans.  You will be seeing more pictures as we add them to the web page.  You can also see how I lived before going on the “road” on the web.

We have to get to the library to use the wifi and it is 10:51 and time for bed.

More will follow but I will add that we are buying the house on 2 acres of land, a fish market across the street, a sandy beach when the tide is out, large enough for a towel, and a whole lot of rocks to walk on and take my grandchildren out to the tide puddles, as they call them to find crabs, sea urchins and who knows what else.

Ahhhhh, I almost forgot, I have my own stream which runs down from the rocks behind the 2 acres.  I told Chet that when we settled again that I had to have a stream even if he had to put in a recirculating one…

Dreams that I have had since childhood sit on and around the 2 acres.  We have been reeling since driving from Twillingate to Gros Morne National Park , six hours from here.  We got there, made an offer on the house, stayed inside the whole time while pulling this deal together and then returning to our new home town to sign papers, etc, the next day.

I am tired so I must bid you adieu for now.  I will tell of the intricacies another time as the thread that connects us all, wove us to here and continues to weave.

My feet still haven’t hit the ground.

July 20, 2007

Here we sit at the beautiful harbour in Twillingate next to the Foodland grocery store where we were wakened this morning to the knock of the local RV park owner telling us of his place and that we could dry camp there for just $15.00. Chet thanked him very much for sharing :) . It is raining and aside from the magnificence of our own little spot I must admit that the dampness enhances the lovely odor of the harbor and resembles a wet dog badly in need of a bath that has just rolled in last weeks catch of the day. I decided to move away from the window and breathe through my mouth. At any rate we are not moving to the local rv park.

I love to write these musings, all the while hearing my son Jon’s snoring in the back of my head and his reminding me that less is more. Hmmmmm, I will have to remind him of that the next time he starts making up one of his stories and goes on and on and on and on. Seriously, he could ramble forever as just hearing his voice is a gift in itself, particularly when he calls in the evening his time which is usually 1:30 am here! I’ll manage somehow as I get to hear the little voices of my grandchildren, Jack and Lilli Mae which makes my insides melt and turns me to mush. Jack couldn’t say too much as he was busy working on a secret for me which will involve the mail…seeing it took over two weeks and two post offices to get the last letter I will have to come up with a distant spot for them to mail it to.

I have this penchant for believing everything anyone chooses to tell me and Jon is well aware of that and so are our dear friends we met in Quartzsite a year and a half ago. W.C. of W.C. and Leslie Earnst is a great teaser and very quickly caught on that I would believe any yarn he would spin and told us in his drawl “but it’s just so easy”, so now my husband takes more than a fair share of delight as he cracks up every time he says something outrageous and I bite hook, line and sinker. The smell must really be getting to me as I am starting to use nautical terms. It isn’t much better by the closed window!

We stopped to take pictures of the dock with the boat and the little red building yesterday as it was too magnificent. We hear a voice and a head pops out the door waving us in. I asked Chet if we would be safe, he said duh, so we went down the dock and entered the man's own little “museum”. He kept telling us, and a couple from Australia that he had roped in, that the town wouldn’t let him call it a museum as he would have to furnish washrooms, as they call them here, handicap access, etc. After many explanations and a lesson on how to throw the net to catch the capelins that come in once a year to spawn like the grunions on the west coast, the Aussies escaped and we were still there not knowing how to politely extricate ourselves so we listened and I looked for the infamous tip jar which was nowhere to be found. That wasn't a run-on sentence, was it? We had to leave as we had purchased tickets to see the Split Peas sing and we only had 45 minutes to get back to shower, etc.

I had grumbled all day about going to the show because I was tired, but it turned out to be a nice show. We almost left before the miracle happened as they called out the number '911' in the raffle and Chet won the drawing of a tape of their music. I kept whispering to him, no, no, no, every time they mentioned they had cd’s for sale. Someone up there has a sense of humor as now we have a tape of their music, we have no tape player so I guess there was some justice. The couple from Australia were there and we had a good laugh about our meeting at the “little not museum” and how the man kept shutting the door with all of us inside, as we would go out to the dock and go back in. He was retired and said his wife doesn’t come there as she is very shy but maybe she really isn’t as she probably hasn’t gotten to speak more than 27 words in all of their years of marriage. The Aussies ended up coming over to visit and checked their email as we stumbled upon an open wifi network we have been using here. Oh, the divine comforts of free camping. We have no tv so we have learned other ways to keep ourselves occupied. No, no….I knit, read, type my musings, which, by the way, took just over an hour to type and Chet gets to play on his computers to his hearts content.

The owner of the art gallery across the street has been over to visit and we had a great time. We’ve had more visitors here than on our travels in the states. Chet will post some pictures that coincide with this brief muze. Brief?!???

Peace and prayers for my sister-in-law who is going through some tests after a TIA.

FYI we were chatting with a fellow in Nova Scotia and I mentioned my terrible leg and toe cramps I was getting at night. He told us to put a bar of soap in the bed and it would help. I did and guess what!!!!! We googled, leg cramps bar soap, and there was a whole lot of info and it is also used for restless leg syndrome. They don’t know why it works but we each have our own bar of soap now. Don’t use Dove or Dial. I told my son Mitchell and he asked Andrea to look in the trailer, as they are camping right now, you can guess the brands of the only 2 bars of soap they had on board. My typing is improving and must be to 3wpm now.

Peace.

What is important is not what is written on the page. What is important is what is written in the heart.

July 17, 2007

We just made it to Gander where we will stay tonight and to Twillingate tomorrow for a few days.  Hopefully our mail will catch up to us there.  The ride today was spectacular along the coast, saw 2 icebergs, but I had to take some Alleve due to the headache I got from all of the potholes and bouncing we did.  I finally asked Chet to just pull over and sit still so I could unwind.  What price beauty….It feels and probably sounds redundant continuously saying how beautiful it is here but it is and have had several people say there isn’t anything like it anywhere that compares.  Many times we have the ocean or a bay on one side and ponds and lakes on the other.  There are so many ponds and lakes but at this point no moose yet.  Hope you are all well and happy.  I wish you could see with us through our eyes!

There are many hours to ponder so many things as we drive; memories of travels when I was a child and how my brother and I would divide the backseat of the car exactly in half and pity the one who crossed over that line; the years of travel with my children and my mom and dad when they spent their 7 years on the road with their Airstream, all of the trips we took the kids on when they were small and all of the places Mitchell slept through.  I love to travel but still have a lot of anxiety about leaving my family and home even though we are in our home.  The urge to just wander is always pulling me along while my insides sometimes are screaming wait, I can’t.  We made a choice to live this lifestyle and we feel so fortunate to have been able to choose it.  I was looking at my toes this morning and decided they were pretty cuteJJ  It is the first time in I have no idea how many years that they have no polish on them and I have no prospects of a pedicure after the one I had in Nova Scotia; ugh.  It was one of the things that was included in our 16 year financial plan our accountant did for us.  Just think of the money I will save in Canada !!!!!!  Cute toes, funny what goes through my mind which is busy all of the time…I was 40 before I ever looked in a mirror and thought I was pretty.  We joined the DOVES which is aa part of the Escapees group we are in and are Red Cross trained to be dispatched in our motor home to any disaster if we are able to go.  It was a way to give back for our good fortune.  Chet wants to get involved with the Habitat for Humanity one of these days.  Enough for now…..   

July 16, 2007

·         It is now the 16th and as you see I didn’t get very far as we were very tired from whale and puffin watching.  We could see whales right out our windows of the coach but really saw a lot yesterday at the lighthouse; up to 5 in one of the pods and some calves.  It was great until some dodo plowed right into of the middle of them with his power boat and managed to ruin the afternoon for a lot of people.  We went to the puffin rookery last night around 8:15 and the pictures we took were of the puffins right in front on the mainland part and not on the rock we couldn’t get to.  That was a thrill as they are soooooo cute and fun to watch.  They remind us of penguins and are not the most graceful fliers or landers.  They lay one egg and build their nests burrowed as much as 4 feet into the dirt as the seagulls harass them continuously.  We may end up staying here one more night and then pushing farther north to Twillingate and then over to the big National park where we may see a moose.  Home seems very far away right now even though home is right here with us.  You can take me out of the city but you can’t take the city out of me.  We had a flat tire on the jeep on the way to the rookery last evening but as my manly man changed it several people stopped to offer help.  One man telling us he had some jolly big jacks just down the street at his house.  We just had it plugged and all is well.  We got to pet some goats and their babies as we drove through a Provincial park.  They were really cute.  All is well and we are having a fantastic time but I am feeling a little antsy for the USofA.  I’m sure when I get back I will really miss the tranquility of here.

July 14, 2007

·         It’s hard to believe that Brett has been gone a week already.  We left St. John’s last Thursday and started heading north.  We spent the first night at Walmart and the next in one of the 12 towns that make up Trinity Bight.  We stayed in the historic part of Trinity right on the bay with a beautiful view amongst a town comprised of B&B’s’ two shops and a theater.  We had a nice dinner at one of the inns and I had iceberg ice in my glass of water and it was from B.C. several thousand years old.  The town was very pretty and we saw a headstone in someone’s yard that was in memory of Mr. whatever who was 84 and was buried with his wife who died 2 years before him at 23 years old.  I think her name was Anna Nicole. J  We left and came north to Bonavista which is at the end of this finger of the island

and feels a lot less contrived than Trinity.  There was a sign advertising free camping across the street from the Dairy King with picnic tables and all.  It is one of the prettier spots we’ve stayed at with the ocean, beautiful sunsets, whales, and moments from the lighthouse and the puffin rookery.   

July 12, 2007

After putting my son, Brett, on a plane for home last Friday, we headed south in sheets of pouring rain and many pouring tears and hit dense fog.  It not only made it hard to see the towns, but the fog also caused us to drive right past the Provincial Park where we were planning to stay.  We ended up stopping at the Visitors Center in Portugal Cove South, and they graciously directed us across the street to a lovely tiny park on a pond.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t see that either.  I was grumbling a bit as I weary of the rain and fog.  I was having a hard time with the fact that we went all that way to see nothing.

We spent the night and woke to a clearer day, which led us to some of the more fascinating things that we’ve seen.  We took a drive out to Cape Race along a very unpaved road, came upon the Cape Race Lighthouse and the site where Marconi received the first trans Atlantic wireless message.  This was also the site where they received the messages from the sinking Titanic.

The water is so clear the waves have a blue cast to them.  It is too cold to support much life, which is why it is so clear.  I won’t climb a six foot step ladder due to an inordinate fear of heights, but managed somehow to climb a hundred plus steps that circled the inside edge of the lighthouse.  Our guide told me I was the first person that he’d ever escorted up that had a fear of heights.  Made me really proud of myself and allowed me to go up into the prism that floats on almost a ton of mercury and is run by a one half horse power motor.  We went outside and walked on the catwalk to take pictures of the water below.  WOW!!

By the time we came down, the fog rolled in and completely shrouded the lighthouse.  This is the area called the Eastern Barrens as you can see in our pictures of the white houses.  The yards are devoid of flowers or plant life.  The only things growing were natural bonsai trees on the Rock due lack of soil.  This is where there have been more ship wrecks than anywhere in the North Atlantic .  And where Mistaken Point is.  We walked on 500 million year old rock that was made up of sheets less than a quarter of an inch thick.  The fossils at Mistaken Point are the oldest complex life forms known.  They call it an experiment gone awry, as the animals that look like plants never developed into anything.

We then backtracked north 35 miles to Ferryland and a sparkling clear day.  We passed the Provincial Park we missed and saw the rock road we would have had to drive the motorhome down, so were happy we missed it in the first place.  We hiked to the Ferryland Lighthouse where they serve gourmet picnics.  We sat and watched whales blowing at a distance and were thrilled that we got to see them.  We saw where Lord Baltimore first settled before going south to Maryland .  This was where Amelia Erhart left as the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic -and that was not swimming!

The next day, we went to St Vincents Beach and sat at the shoreline watching the whales frolic in the surf.  The sea gulls literally dive bombing so fast that you could only see the splash when they hit the water.  After three hours of teeth chattering, we decided to leave and I needed to have a picture taken by the shore to give you a perspective as to how close we were to the whales.  A big humpback came up behind me and rolled over onto its back slapping its flippers on the water.  It was as if it was saying goodbye or thank you for being here.  We were squealing with delight.  It was the most awesome experience we’ve had on the Island bar none.

From there back to St Johns , where later we pulled into the park behind friends from the States.  They always say you can run but you can’t hide.  We had an exceptional dinner last night with them and today we are on pushing northward.

While in St Johns , we walking back from yet another Lighthouse and stopped to look at someone’s yard.  The next thing you know, we were on their porch visiting for about an hour and a half.  I hope the kindness and openness we been shown so far will stick with us.  And we can carry some home to the US of A.

We still haven’t seen a moose.  Remember I said there is one moose for everyone four people on the Island .

Peace.

July 7, 2007

We are just leaving St. John’s Newfoundland , once again, this time by ourselves for the first time in 5 weeks.  I say that only as a point of reference for myself.  We took Brett, my son, to the airport yesterday to head back to Los Angeles .  We picked him up in Boston and his 3 week trip grew to 5 weeks.  He had reached his absolute maximum  tolerance for sightseeing and seeing that St. John’s is the largest city on “the rock” we all decided it was time to say adieu.  When you think about it, it is amazing that 2 people can live in the space we do and wake each day still speaking.  The 3 of us did an exceptional job; us boring Brett to death with our iceberg searches; no use of our Motosat for tv or internet but many hours of hilarity watching dvd’s of Fraser.  We had the honor of being amongst the Newfies to see the first showing of the Transformers as we are ½ hour ahead of any other place in N. America ! 

Last night I had the opportunity to meet Peggy, who threw her arms around me, in tears, telling me she couldn’t believe she met someone from thousands of miles away who helped her realize that there wasn’t something wrong with her as she, too, feels like her insides are being torn out of her every time she seperates from any of her 3 grown sons who are all the ages of mine.  (We just passed a very large beaver house in one of the gazillion beautiful ponds we pass.)  I wish it would get easier to separate gracefully as it sets me back every time.  I try to learn from others but we all are different and I happen to adore my children and grandchildren.

It poured all day yesterday and last night and the wind is blowing so hard right now that we saw a seagull flying and going nowhere.  We are starting down the Irish loop, south of St. John’s and will see the spot where Emelia Earhart made her first trip as a passenger on her first trans Atlantic flight.  We already went through the spot where she first soloed from.  We have seen where the first trans-atlantic cable came to, the place where Marconi received the first wireless radio transmission from Europe, the spot where the first distress calls from the sinking Titanic will be on this loop we are on now.  We saw rock that had turned over and is the rock from the inside of the earth next to the molten inside, water that is so clear that it is possible to see the fish sleeping on the bottom (guess some fisherman was finished with his bait).

We are headed into a huge fogbank over roads that haven’t been repaved in quite some time.  Thank goodness for our air suspension.  I am still waiting to see a moose or caribou here particularly since there are 110,000 moose on the rock and 500,000 people.

We have met some of the friendliest people here and want to take thos lessons of openness and generosity of spirit with us when we return to the states.  We have not experienced pretentiousness, attitude, wariness, rudeness, panhandling or anything less than a feeling of welcome.  We have been given food, led to places that we have asked about, invited to spend time with the family of a lovely young lady named Ellen when we return to St. John’s in a few days to pick up our mail, I hope.  Pea soup is supposed to be very good here but so far we have only experienced what we are driving through right now.  What a great day for sightseeing things that are very close to the side of the road.    

This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen but it seems like winter and our winters in the desert seem like summer so we are totally confused.

I must stop now and soak up what I am able to see right now.

I miss you and love you my family and friends.


July 1, 2007

July 1, 2007 seems like a great day to start my “muzings”.  Newfoundland is amazing!!!!  The beauty is exquisite and the people are the friendliest we have met anywhere; second only to the Texans we met last winter during our 6 week stay around the hill country and the gulf coast.

It’s sweet to watch as people come and look at the motorhome; especially when we are camping at our “favorite” campground and they drive around us.  We smile and exchange waves.

Right now we are at Pippy Park in St. John’s .  The first day the 14 hour ferry to Argentia left we were aboard and the gods were good as it was as flat as a pancake all of the way here.  As we readied ourselves to exit the ferry we were just a little embarrassed and greatly freaked when the coach wouldn’t start.  Finally, one of the crew used a screwdriver and worked his magic with the solenoid.  Off we went and didn’t stop the engine until we had visited the info center and tried 3 spaces trying to get our satellite dish to work.  We never got connected and probably won’t until we leave the island as we’re too far north.  Having no dish, tv and spotty phone service is an experience for our spoiled selves.  We have joined the ranks of others who have to use wifi spots. 

Chet finally shut off the engine as we resigned ourselves to wait until Monday to get someone to fix the coach.  Wouldn’t you know he turned the key and it started right up and has been fine since???  We were immediately greeted by the people across from us with a big plate of fish and brews; boiled salted cod, potatoes, onion cooked with pork rind and hard biscuits that are boiled.  That was a first since hitting the road.  We slept through the only 2 days of sunshine that we saw for a while.  We left after 4 days and went to Winterton to the Outside Pond Park which was a great with board walks built around the lake and up to the top or the hill where you could see forever.  The mayor came by to welcome us with 2 dozen frozen mussels that he had cooked and packaged.  They’re still in the freezer as my memories of using mussels for bait when I lived in LA has soured my desire to eat them.  The mayor came by a few more times to invite us to listen to music…..which we did…..We toured the eastern side of the island and saw the posted icebergs and visited some sweet villages and towns, my favorite of course, being Dildo after Heart’s Content, Heart’s Desire and  Heart’s Delight.  We had dinner and the people at the other table offered us a taste of their fried cod tongues.  Chet had one as I respectfully declined.

As I said, we’re back at Pippy park and it is Canada Day so we will go and check out the festivities.  The girl at the front office brought us a lovely calendar of the lighthouses here and some jam.  I am so touched by the Newfies.  I gave her a little teddy bear yesterday to say thanks for arranging for us to have a serviced site this weekend as the park is filled to overflowing.  There are tons of children here and lots of people sitting around campfires.  The winters are long and cold here:).  They have about 2 months of summer. 

My son, Brett, has been with us for 5 weeks and is flying back to LA  Friday and we will be off to finish the island and then to Labrador .

Life IS so good.