Injury at Glooscap Campground

Matthew made his tongue bleed tonight... Popsicle injury.  He licked a fresh, icy popsicle and a chunk of his tongue the size of a quarter stuck solid to the popsicle.  Even with pouring water all over it, it took two or three minutes and a little blood (and much stifled laughter) to remove it.  The boy is fine but it was pretty sticking funny.  Just a warning to you all out there to melt your popsicles a little before you try to lick them! Lol

(No pics...we were all involved in the process)

Tides R Us

This morning we woke in the Walmart parking lot, did the normal shop and a poo and then bailed by 8:45am.  I honestly don't remember where all we stopped today but, there was one cool stop where we bought a fortune in fresh berries and swam in a brackish stream.  The family loved it there.

Rather than head right up to the Bay of Fundy, we decided to stay in Nova Scotia one more night.  The kids really want to buy something from each province and haven't done that yet for NS.  We stopped in a little town back a bit but didn't find anything so we found a trailer park right on the water's edge to play in the tide for a while.  See where we are below. 

The plan is to chill and rest up tonight and then head to the dinosaur and fossil museum in the morning, on the way out.  Should be fun!

This afternoon we played in the tides.  They came in really quickly and we were astonished at how quickly we had to move our towels.  See below... I will try to figure out the time stamps for the pics.


Apparently the tides come in and out twice a day and change by over 50feet each way ... Crazy.  The photo series below took 15 minutes between the first and the last photo.  About a foot between each stripe on the line.  It moves quickly.

High as Kites in Nova Scotia

It is always a little sad to be heading on the homeward part of the journey when you are enjoying a trip so much.  With the sleepover on a ferry to look forward to, we started home with excitement in our hearts.  We had a four-person cabin on the Atlantic Vision vessel and it even had a lovely, warm shower and tiny bathroom to enjoy. It was foggy for most of the trip so hard to see stars and land-masses along the way but I think it ate at Mike and Mackenzie that there was no point in staying up all night on the deck.  I slept well but no one else seemed to. The kids were given room keys and, as long as they stayed together, free reign on the ship for periods of time.  They returned to check in with us once in a while but mostly seemed to enjoy their Independence.  There were board games to be borrowed from Reception and a movie parlour and, oh yeah, $5 each to spend in any of the shops, arcades or cafeteria lol.  We brought our own dinner and breakfast aboard, knowing that there would be a microwave in the cafeteria to use.  Best idea ever 



In the morning we had time to eat muffins and buy a coffee before getting dressed and packing up to go.  We arrived around 9am in port, immediately pulled over to put the bikes and rack back onto the trailer (in the rain) and then headed off to McD's for a little more brekkies.  We did a quick grocery trip and then were on the road again.

Our first stop of the day was supposed to be a quick tour of the Alexander Graham Bell house (a Canada Parks centre in Baddeck) for a Nova Scotian Xplorer tag.  A quick stop it was not.  The center was really neat, busy and fun.  I was fully expecting to see and learn loads about the invention of telephones and communications but did not realize how involved AGB was in the introduction of flight and boat technology as well. We signed up for a kite-building session and learned about making tetrahedral kites.  Really fun.  Hopefully Mike has photos of the finished kites for you.  If not, I will have to take some when we get home.  They are so big we had to fold them down for travel.  Then we went outside and actually tried flying kites that the centre had for loan.  When they didn't work great we pulled out our own kites (thanks for the gifts Oma and Pops) and flew them for a good hour or so.  We scarfed some burgers that Mike made us and then headed off again.

We got on the road for a while, slowly heading towards the Bay of Fundy for the next adventure.  A little stop for ice cream and then off we went again.  It felt like were in the truck for a very long time today but I think we logged less than four hours.  Guess we have to get used to it again.  Anyhow, we are pulled over now in New Glasgow at Wally World.  We visited a park in town before settling here and the kids played with their kites again while Mike whipped up a nice meal.  Matthew asked for something healthy so we had nice big salad with dinner.  He also made a new friend at the park and they two of them got on really well.  It was amazing to see him talk to someone he didn't know.  Yeah!  Anyhow, the kids played kites and then we ate and headed here.  Time for some shut eye for everyone.  We are bushed.

Ferries Away

Aaaaaaaannnnndddd we're off...almost.  made the free terminal and found out that we grew somehow.  They made us remove the bike rack in order to keep down to the 40' length so there are two bikes on top of the truck-bed and the kids bike are inside the back seats. 

Anyhow, we're hanging around the terminal now, waiting to board.   The ship is scheduled to leave Port at 5pm Nfld time and should put into shore in Nova Scotia around 9am tomorrow (July30) morning.

Last time we sailed we had no wifi and no data so thought I'd throw out a quick note now.
Catch you all on the mainland!

St. John's - A Whalin' We Will Go

This morning we woke and headed out to our whale watching tour at Gatherall's.  Same company Mike and I went out with 20 years ago and they are still telling the same old jokes.  It's a great company to head out with and we really enjoyed the tour.  We overheard the crew talking on the radio with another boat, saying that this was the most whales they had ever seen at once so it was a good day to be out.  Freezing cold in the wind but a blast just the same.

Mike has all the really good pictures from whale-watching since he had the good SLR camera.  I won't waste my data on trying to upload all kinds of garbage ones so I'm afraid you get to wait for the better pics. 

From whale-watching we toured up to Cape Spear, the most easterly point in Canada.  The kids did another Jr. Xplorer tag and we learned loads about lighthouses.  Mike and the kids climbed down the big rocks, right down by the crashing ocean, giving me about 30 new grey hairs.  It looked thrilling but someone had to survive to be able to tell the tale.  Right as we were all leaving a CDA Parks guy went walking out with a bullhorn.  We figure he was heading down to yell at all the people down on the rocks so it's probably good we were leaving.... I feel a bit of a theme between many of our day-trips here.

From Cape Spear (where the wind was warmer but still whipped around real good b'y) we grabbed some Timmy's to warm our bellies and then headed to the Geo Centre in St. John's.  Our Ontario Science Center membership got us in free so we toured around and learned about rocks and Hibernia and the formation of the current-day earth crust.  Neat place.  Small and quiet right before closing but a nice way to end the day.

This trip we have all learned the meaning of "Hangry".... Today is no exception.  Many times on this trip, regardless of how many snacks and drinks we bring with us, we have all ended up over extending ourselves and returned to the trailer on bare threads of patience.  Generally, after a few bites of home-cooked food, we are all bouncing and ready to go again.  Tonight was no exception.  We bbq'd some steaks and leftover lobster to make fabulous fajitas.  Showers and a little down time help us to finish the night.

Oh, I do need to tell a quick story about scarring the pee out of Matthew.  He was feeling the Hanger while we cooked and we found the fire-crackers in the cupboard.  Without warning the kids, Mike set on off in the parking lot, behind Matthew.  The poor boy didn't know whether to poop or make tea.  He had the broom in his hands when the cracker went off and, with eyes as big as saucers, he ducked, crouching and tried to run away all at the same time.  It was pretty stinking funny to be honest.  Totally broke the bad mood and made us all laugh real hard.  Ah, good times.

We tried three different kinds of crackers and kinda got caught by a passer-by on the last one (it actually fired in the air and popped).  By the time the park's security truck came around to peek we were all busy doing other stuff.  After dinner Matthew was allowed to pick one last cracker to light and, now that dishes are done, showers are finished and kids are in PJs, that last cracker is about to go off.  Sweet dreams All!  Fingers crossed that we still get to sleep in the overflow tonight lol

St. John's

Full tanks and empty bellies... Perfect combo for adventure.

The above photo pretty much says it all about Newfie roads.  Many are half washed away and the rest seem to be laden with truck size craters.

Roly poly fish heads

So, the Russell family first landed in Newfoundland from the old world many moons ago and lived in Blaketown.  Very cool.  We found a sign all about "Sandy (Russell's) Point" and poked around for a bit before heading up to Dildo.  Yes, Dildo.

They have a restaurant, loads of fishing peir and boats, a post office and a little shop.  Worth the stop if you can make it 🤣

Made it to St. John's late afternoon and we were all in a bit of shock.  It has been so long since any of us has seen anything resembling a city so we were in a bit of awe when we first  arrived. We squeezed Dragon into the overflow field of Pippy Park without reservations, giving us the option of touring through town without a trailer.  Good thing too... The roads here are steep and crazy.  So.e intersections have five or six entry / exit points where only some directions have stop signs.  A little overwhelming at times.

Once we unhitched the trailer we visited Hill before they closed.  It's another national Park so the kids got to earn another Jr Xplorer tag and guess what... They were out of English booklets so the kids were forced to practice their French skills... Fantastic!

Signal Hill has loads of history between national protection and wireless communication origins.  If you're not super into all that, it's still a gorgeous view of the ocean and St. John's.

Just down from Signal Hill is the Terry Fox memorial.  It is the starting point for his cross-Canada marathon where he dipped his prosthetic leg in the Atlantic ocean and began running.  Not sure if anyone remembers our blog from two years ago but at that time we also visited the end point of his run where his re-emergent cancer forced him to stop.  Thunder Bay.  It is pretty cool to have been to either end but to have been at both ends is inspiring.  Not saying that I am going to buy sneakers and take up running or anything ... Pshaw.  It does create strong feelings of wanting to make a difference in the world though.

We walked downtown a bit, saw George Street all closed off to minors for the beginning of a festival, grabbed some dinner at a pub and headed back to our field for bedtime.

Tomorrow's game plan is to head for a whale-watching tour and then check out Cape Spear. 

Alive, Well and on the Road

After a quiet, dark and undisturbed night we had a quick brekkies and hit the road.  Onwards towards StJohn's.

11:30am, 2km to empty and we lucked upon an Orange gas station.  Yay!

Four IPAs to the wind

No pics today, unless I can manage to squeeze in a map real quick.  No data where we are sleeping so fingers crossed that the cell signal is enough to get through.

Here goes...

This morning we had our last showers for the next unknown number of days... They'll smell us coming long ways before we get to the ferry I think.  After showers we pulled out of our campsite and headed down to the Visitors Centre to collect the kids' Jr. Xplorer tags and to touch everything in the touch-tank one last time.

Heading slowly toward Bona Vista we stopped in Trinity to chat with a couple of locals and check out a wee beach.  Mike and the kids got stung with Stinging Nettles on the way through the brush and then a neighbour pointed out the clear path down a ways.  After a brief chat we stopped into a little store (cleverly disguised as a house) and chatted with the owner for a while.  Bought a patch for the camp blanket there as a little token of gratitude for his time.

Going around the bay we came across a brewery, Port Brexton Brewery to be exact. We were told to expect a gourmet grilled cheese truck there so we figured on grabbing some food for the Fam and tasting a little brew.  The truck was there but, as Mike was up ordering brews already, we discovered that the food truck closes Tues and Weds.  What?!?  Oh well, beer on an empty belly is way more fun anyhow.  Not a bad set of brews but I wouldn't rush back.  Still fun.

We drove on a wee bit and found a cove with a couple of icebergs in it.  A few chunks were close to shore so we played with them.  Met a guys from the are and he talked to us.  And talked to us.  Neat little place.

From there we found a little chip truck (I am a little sick of fries and gravy at this point but it's easy).  The kids and Mike got their Newfie fav of poutine with hamburger meat in it.  I had a chicken burger.  Huge portions on the fries.

We made it to Elliston after that in the hopes of finding a place for a self-guided puffin tour.  We discovered that it is a great place for that but also that Elliston is the Root Cellar capital of the world.  Who knew.  Gorgeous views from the cliffs over the sea and tall, tall islands for the birds.  Thousands of them.  Seagulls and puffins and a few crows or ravens.  Amazing.

We decided that we would keep on trucking for a bit so we could get a little closer to St. John's before bedtime.  We made a brief pit stop at the big lighthouse which was closed for the day.  No chance to buy fudge but we did climb around a bit, adding to the inukshuk garden before we left.

After a bit more driving we decided that, as much as we want to see a moose, we would rather avoid a nighttime close-encounter on the road.   We are parked in an abandoned parking lot beside an old, apparently unused firehall.  Hopefully no one is offended and no one needs this space.  Will find out either through a rude awakening tonight or when we make it undisturbed by morning.

Wish us luck!  Will add pictures in the morning.  Hopefully the map uploads so you can all see where we are tonight... You know, just in case 😉

We are in West Plate Cove.