WEDNESDAY 24 August

It rained during the night, but had quit by the time I got up at 0600.  We each had a 1/2 cup of coffee (half-caff for me) and toast for a light breakfast.  We had dumped our waste tanks, disconnected our fresh water system, and lined up the truck after dinner last night, which simplified our departure routine this morning.  Our What 3 Words location here was “handles.mixers.restored” in case I forgot to mention that in the previous post.

Today was another long travel day.  Our destination was the Grand Codroy RV & Tent Campground in Doyles, Newfoundland, just 36 km (~22 mi) short of the Marine Atlantic Ferry terminal in Channel-Port-aux-Basque.  Linda had called yesterday to confirm that we had a site for two nights, with a late departure on Friday.  With that confirmed, she had called Kinsman RV Park in Corner Brook to let them know we would not be stopping there after all.

We started our final departure preparations around 0800 and pulled out of our site at 0906 with 440 km (~273 mi) in front of us and an estimated driving time of 4-1/2 hours. The route was almost entirely the Trans-Canada Highway, except for a couple of kilometers on either end, and was mostly good driving surface. We thought we would be driving through rain, but had a mix of clouds and sun until about an hour from our destination.  Traffic was light, and we had long stretches with no one behind us and very little oncoming traffic.

I got a text message in transit from our builder.  He wanted to call us in an hour or two.  He has not had to do that since we left in June, so we figured he had run into an issue with something.  Linda texted him back that three hours would be better (we thought we would be in camp by then).  In hindsight, we probably should have called him back right then as we had good cellular connectivity along the entire length of the T-CH.

In thinking about our time in Newfoundland, and our marathon 2-day drive from St. John’s back to Port-aux-Basque, we wished we had planned more days for the return leg, as there were more places we could have visited, and back-to-back long driving days was not our preferred style.  But we also felt we had done Okay with our planning as we had a “date certain” by which we wanted to be home to celebrate a certain someone’s 4^th birthday.  And we still had a lot of things to see and do in places other than Newfoundland between now and then.

We arrived at Grand Codroy RV Tent Camping at 14:00 with under 1/4 tank of fuel and only 64 mte (miles to empty) remaining.  We averaged 10.5 mpg since filling up at the Irving station in Grand Falls-Windsor yesterday.

The campground was cash only.  That wasn’t a problem, but places really ought to tell you this when you call to book or confirm.  We were assigned site 36, a large back-in full-hookup (30A).  (W3W = “squid.patted.temptation”)  In fact, all of the sites in this part of the campground where very generously proportioned with trees and bushes here and there (but not “in” the woods) and nicely mowed grass.

We had to set up in light mist.  We were Level side-2-side without having to do anything, and a bit low in front.  Front-2-back leveling is much easier as it just involves adjusting the tongue jack after the truck and trailer are disconnected.  We got the truck unhitched, the trailer leveled, and plugged in the shorepower cord.  We had freshwater onboard, so I left the water and sewer connections for later.

Our one big disappointment was that we had NO Wi-Fi at our site NO cellular service.  We’ve been all over Newfoundland the past 27 days, and we’re pretty this is the first time we have not had a cellular signal that was at least good enough to send/receive text messages.  People like to talk about “disconnecting” from the world, but that has not been our objective.  We do not “work from the road” (much), but we are dependent on connectivity to make our travels work for us.

By the time we had checked-in and set up camp, it was going on 3 PM. We were hungry, of course, so Linda made grilled sandwiches for linner and served them with sliced fresh pears and peaches.  After or meal, we walked to the office and got the passwords for the Wi-Fi.  We were able to connect our phones to it, so we texted our children and our neighbor, Mike, about our lack of cellular service and spotty Wi-Fi for the next couple of days.  The staff said they had cellular “just behind the check-in building,” but no joy.  I was, however, able to switch my phone to Wi-Fi Calling (VOIP) mode, but Linda was not able to get her’s to do the same.  Our phones are similar, but not identical, and they do always behave the same way even through we are trying to access the same networks.

I called our builder back.  Our choice of roof shingle was no longer available and we would need to select a different one from new options he would e-mail to us.  He had also gotten the firm quote from the Overhead Door Company for our two large (12’w x 14’h) roll-up doors.  It was a bit higher than originally estimated.  He wanted us to review the cost and approve it since once the doors are ordered, they cannot be returned.  Also, the inspector had required him to change the stairs going up to the storeroom to get a code-compliant rise-run.  (My original design was a bit steep as I was trying to keep it from extending too far out from the enclosed shop/storeroom area.

With that important task taken care of, we took the truck to the Esso station (Mountainside General Store) and the T-CH and Hwy 406 to fill it up.  It took 108.294 L and 206.41$, almost identical to our fill up yesterday at the Irving station in Grand Falls-Windsor, but with slightly less expensive (1.906$) gas as they only had regular grade.  Linda came along just in case there was a cellular signal there, but there wasn’t.  (Sad face.)  We are in extreme southwest Newfoundland.  Even though it is the location of one of the two ferry ports, it’s a remote, sparsely populated area dominated by the Long Range Mountains that extend up into the western peninsula and central highlands.

We returned to camp and relaxed for the late afternoon, and I napped for about an hour until dinnertime.  Dinner was oriental style ramen soup and crackers with peanut butter or strawberry jam.  After dinner we each had a small glass of the Moose Juice wine we got from the Auk-Island Winery in Twillingate.  It’s a Blueberry and Partridgeberry wine, and a bit unusual.  It is not sweet, and has a bitterness, which is different from being tart.

We spent the remainder of the evening playing games and working puzzles.  I set up my computer before going to bed, but deferred working on the blog until tomorrow.

 

THURSDAY 25 August

I don’t recall what time I went to bed last night, but I was up at 0500 this morning.  I worked on a Katana Nonogram puzzle I had started last night, but could not complete it.  I restarted it, but still had a mistake somewhere.  I was obviously making a logical error, but couldn’t see what it was, so I set I aside.  The Katana puzzles tend to be more difficult than the Pic-a-Pix from Conceptis.  Morning is a good time to work on the blog, so I turned on my computer and settled in to account for our activities yesterday.

Linda got up a little after 7 AM, and made our first cups of coffee.  We continued to have connectivity woes.  Her phone was hooked to the park Wi-Fi all last evening, which allowed her to play some of her games, but it would not connect this morning.  She even walked over to the check-in building with it, but kept getting an “IP configuration error.”  Grrrr.  She likes to play Words With Friends while drinking her morning coffee, and it requires an Internet connection.  My phone, however, seemed to be retaining its connection.  I was able to capture our What 3 Words location and even pull up Google Maps.  (Throughout the course of the day we actually restarted them several times in different location.)

Breakfast was bacon strips and egg patties with toast and butter (all vegan, of course).  During breakfast we discussed the possibility of trying to change our ferry crossing to the day passage tomorrow, which departs Channel-Port-aux-Basque at 11:30 AM.  Loading would begin at 0930, so we would need to be checked in by 8:30, which would require us to pull out of the campground NLT 0800.  Very doable, but some logistics would be involved to make it work

First, we would need to check with the North Sydney / Cabot Trail KOA to see if we could get a spot for tomorrow night.  IF that was possible, we would then need to see if we could change our reservation to the 11:30 sailing AND get a pair of adjacent reserved seats in place of the cabin, which we would not need.  And IF that was possible, we would need to call the NS/CT KOA back and actually book a site.  We would then need to call the Elm River RV Park and let them know we would be arriving a day late and only for one night.  A lot of pieces would need to fall perfectly into place for this to happen.

We are near Cape Anguille, the westernmost point of land on the island of Newfoundland.  It’s a modest drive out past the Grand Codroy River, which our campground abuts.  There is also a stone lighthouse Rose Blanche, about a 45-minute drive east of Channel-Port-aux-Basque along the south coast.

With a forecast for partly sunny skies and a very low chance of rain, we decided to go for a drive to see what we could see, and stop at the Marine Atlantic terminal to see about changing our passage.  We took our technology along on the chance (in the hope) that we would have cellular service and be able to download notifications and e-mails.

We headed directly to the ferry terminal, which proved to be a useful trial run for tomorrow.  A staff member at the security entrance directed us on the service road to the terminal.  Before going in, we called the North Sydney / Cabot Trail KOA.  Yes, they had a 30A 3-way site if we wanted it.  The ticket agent could get us on the morning ferry, but there were no reserved seats left.  I wasn’t surprised about the seating, but was surprised they still had room for our 50 ft. long rig.  We decided to leave things unchanged.

Before returning to our car, we had a long chat with the security guard about things to see and do in the area.  He even had specific suggestions for all kinds of places we could park our trailer (for free) and go for hikes or for food before coming to the terminal.  Once again, a friendly, helpful Newfoundlander.

We appreciated his advice and took it into consideration before deciding what to do.  But first, we sat in the truck in the terminal parking lot and got online.  I could see a Wi-Fi antenna on the side of the building, but we could not get a usable signal.  (We presume it will work in the terminal tomorrow, and possibly in the staging area.  I need so serious Internet connectivity for a while to upload and assemble blog posts, and hope to get that done while waiting to board the ship, as we will be in the staging area for a long time.)  We were able to get a usable Verizon partner connection, however, and used that to download notifications and e-mails.  We had one from our financial advisors about scheduling a review via ZOOM, and I replied to that.  Our builder had not yet sent the info we need, so I hope he sends it tonight.  If not, it will be Saturday before I can check again.

We left the ferry terminal parking lot and drove to the Canada Post in downtown Channel-Port-aux-Basque so Linda could mail two post-cards.  We then drove around town just to have a look and ended up at the tip of a little peninsula with some nice rocks and crashing wave.  Our picture-taking for the day started here in earnest.

We eventually got back on the T-CH eastbound and took it up to Hwy-407, a bit short of Hwy-406 back to the campground.  This highway went south and then west out to Cape Anguille and the eponymously named Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is operational, and there is a small Inn there.  But the main reason for our visit was that Cape Anguille is the westernmost point of Newfoundland.  The drive and the scenery were a bonus.

On the return drive we branched off onto Hwy-406 and took it back to the Esso station at Mountainside General Store on the T-CH.  We had driven about 90 miles since filling up yesterday at an average MPG of 23, so I figured the truck would take about 4 gallons (~15 L) of fuel.  I ran the pump a bit slower to really top it off.  I was chatting with another customer when it reached 16 L and started to overflow.  That was a first—I’ve never overfilled this tank before—and will get us from our current location to Elm River RV Park in Nova Scotia on Saturday (~200 mi) with plenty of fuel to spare.

Back at camp, the weather was really nice, with the temperature in the mid-upper 70s (F), a light breeze, and blue skies backing various cloud formations moving through the area.  .Winds here are not always light, however.  The stretch of the T-CH between here and Port-aux-Basque is known as the “Wreckhouse” area.  There are warning signs at either end with electronic displays of the current wind conditions.  The winds were basically along the highway at 11 – 14 km/hr.  Under certain weather conditions, however, the flow down off of the Table Mountains that parallel the highway on the east side.  The maximum wind gust recorded here was 200 km/hr (~124 mph).  I didn’t have a chance to look it up, but I think that’s a Category 3 hurricane.  Needless to say, winds like that hitting a high-profile vehicle broadside will flip it over like a toy.

We both took naps.  Once I got up, we went for a walk around the campground.  It was a bit larger than we realized, but not huge.  The sites in the back/north section were much closer together.  Still adequate, but it made us appreciate even more the site we had been assigned.  We started down a woodland trail, but didn’t go very far as there were a few bugs and dusk was starting to set in.

When we got back from our walk, I started working on the blog.  I was able to get my phone connected to one of the park Wi-Fi networks, turn on the hotspot, and get my computer connected to Internet.  The connection remained surprisingly usable long enough for me download e-mail and then log in to our WordPress site and upload the photos and text for the blog post covering our visit to the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve on the 21^st, but I was not able to assemble and publish it before the connection slowed down and then became unusable.  At that point, I turned my attention to writing this post, which did not require me to be online.

By 8 PM we were both hungry enough to eat something, but not a large meal.  Pretzels and hummus to the rescue, with the last of the Moose Juice wine, followed by the last two tofu mango (pudding) desserts.  This meal also allowed me to keep working.  I wrapped up writing around 9:30 PM and transferred the photos from my phone to my laptop computer but did not take the time to process them.  I worked puzzles on my iPad until I went to bed.

I checked my phone before turning in, and had a text message from our builder with four photos of the barn.  The windows were in and the siding was almost done.  It looked good, and should be a nice addition to our property and lives.  I will include a few photos in a separate update post.

Tomorrow is a big travel day but without the angst of our first ferry crossing at the end of last month.  It will also not require an early start.  We can stay in the campground until 2 PM and can get to the ferry terminal anytime after the morning ship leaves around noon.  That will allow us to sleep in, have coffee and breakfast, and take our time getting ready to leave.  The drive to the ferry terminal will take about 30 minutes, so we should be queued up in the staging area by 3 PM.  The refrigerator will run on propane until we have to shut it off for boarding.  If we need to use our AC adaptors or power supplies, we can run one of both of the inverters.  We have never used the one in the trailer, and only occasionally used the one in the truck.

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