Newfoundland and Labrador in a 'B' - Log 1

We are setting on the Newfoundland ferry and it leaves for Newfoundland in 15 minutes!!  Are only real travel plans are to try and limit our average daily driving when on the road to 300 miles or less.  We took a week to travel from Michigan to North Sydney for the ferry.  Some x-way and some two lane.

Vacation Journal
Labrador/Newfoundland
May 17, 2010 ? June 24(?), 2010

Monday May 17
This year our trip began with friends from church as we went to breakfast with St. David?s Breakfast Club.  Everything but the ice chest was just about packed so we decided we had time for one more get together.  After a tasty breakfast and well wishes on both sides, we went home to finish our few last minute packing jobs and at 11:00 set out for points east.
Len did all of the driving today and we got as far as Geneva St Park in northeastern Ohio.  The weather was cloudy when we left and as we passed through Toledo, it turned to rain and we had various degrees of it for the rest of the day from a fine mist to a pretty steady rain.  At least it didn?t come down in torrents. 
We had our first wildlife sighting along I90: a hen wild turkey was walking along the fence line of the highway.  I wonder how much wildlife we?ll see this trip?
We arrived at the state park and set up in a very light misty rain which stopped for a little while so we decided to walk back to the pay station and around the park a little.  The campground was basically void of campers.  There are some nice little cabins along the Lake Erie shoreline, but no swimming beach in front of them.  We got back to our camp just in time because it started to rain again and came down pretty steady for the rest of the evening.  We stayed in then and had a simple supper of hard boiled eggs and PBjs.  Then we played a couple games of Rummikub.  We were both so tired that we got ready for bed shortly after 8:00.  We were in before 9:00.  We looked at our iPods for a few minutes, but it wasn?t long before we were ready for lights out!
By the way, the new curtains are great!  They look nice and cover the windows very well.  The bathroom door curtain is good too.  I?m anxious to get the rest done now.


Tuesday May 18, 2010
It rained quite a bit last night, but we were snug and dry.  Nice to be up off the ground.  Daisy did quite well over night too.  She didn?t scramble around at all and stayed put most of the night.  She?s still getting used to being in the van again though.  Yesterday she was pretty tense and stayed curled up on our laps for most of the ride.  Of course as soon as we stopped, she was ready to explore and get to the bunk level.
When I woke up this morning, I could hear birds singing?robins, tufted titmice and one I couldn?t remember.  I got up, opened my bird program and listened to a bunch of warblers, but it wasn?t that.  Then I thought: Eastern Towhee, and that was it!  Cool!  Now, hopefully, I?ll remember it for a while again.  We had a slow start today ? still unwinding from a very busy couple months and in need of a slower pace.  We had to put the awning down in the rain and driving was rainy for the day.  I sure hope it stops soon!  We saw a couple more turkeys in the morning and a few more along the way in the afternoon. 
We got as far as Sacket?s Harbor and wanted to camp at the state park, but it was closed.  We drove through and it looked nice.  Too bad we couldn?t stay.  We saw a patrol car and flagged him down to ask about camping, but he said he was Border Patrol, and that if we did camp, we would probably get a ticket from the local police. 
We drove through a private camp down the road and it was very trashy looking so went on to another one north of Sacket?s Harbor and were able to get a decent site there.  On the way there we saw a very large hay pile; Len was looking at it and I looked to the other side of the road just in time to see a deer coming across almost in front of us.  Fortunately, it turned around and went back!  If it had continued, we surely would have hit it.  Close call!!  We went into town for supper at the Sackets Harbor Pub ? had a delicious shrimp salad.  When we got back to camp and set up, we looked at Labrador maps and information to plan some of our activities.  It looks like it is going to be another very beautiful place to visit.
Sackets Harbor was founded by Augustus Sacket and its claim to fame was the War of 1812 naval shipyard that was there.  The British and American naval commanders on Lake Ontario were both timid fellows.  They would periodically sail out onto Lake Ontario to do battle.  Instead they would count each others men of war and engage in battle only if they significantly outnumbered the other commander.  They never did.  They would sail back to their ports and build more ships to try and get the upper hand.  Sackets Harbor was very busy building American ships during the war.  The whole thing was really resolved when ?We have met the enemy and they are ours.? Perry on Lake Erie, not counting numbers, took his own squadron of ships out and defeated his British counterpart.  I think Sackets Harbor might be considered an active part of the first arms race!
Oh yes!  The rain stopped!  Yeah!

Wednesday May 19, 2010
It wasn?t raining this morning which made for an easier pack up and the awning got dry.  We took birdie baths and left about 9:30.  Len wanted a Sacket?s Harbor shirt so we drove back to town, but nothing was open. 
Today was a day of back-tracking and off routes.  The Garmund wanted to take us to Canada and the computer took us through the Adirondacks where the road turned, but we went straight before noticing the turn.  US-3 through the Adirondacks was pretty rough for a while and twisty, windy, up and down.  Phew!  We were glad to get to the end of that section.  Then the ferry boat across Lake Champlain we expected to go on was closed ? too early in the season.  Frustrations!  We asked at a gas station and the girl directed us to Plattsburg where we were able to get right on a boat.  Finally, when it was time to get a campsite, I indicated one that Len had marked on the map program.  However, when we drove the 6 miles off the expressway we found out that it doesn?t open until this Friday, no exceptions ?again  too early in the season.  We were pretty tired and somewhat grouchy at that point and were getting very anxious to end the day?s drive.  Len pulled out the Woodalls and found one right on our route.  It?s nothing to write home about, but again it?s a place to park.
I cooked Rice-a-Roni and the fresh asparagus for supper and we just spent the rest of the evening relaxing.  Daisy is still just staying on our laps when we drive, but is getting more adventurous in her explorations when we stop.  And she?s starting to eat more like her old self.

Newfoundland and Labrador in a 'B' - Log 2

Thursday May 20, 2010
It was foggy this morning as we got up at our little roadside campground, but warmer.  As we drove on after breakfast, though the fog dissipated and the sky became clear with just big puffy white clouds.  It was a much nicer day for driving and for getting to where we wanted to go.  We drove through some beautiful country side in New Hampshire and Maine.  Beautiful, quaint towns too.  We stopped at a roadside park for lunch and popped the top to have more room.  Daisy likes it as much as we do because she starts to roam around as soon as we stop.  It?s so easy to put the top up that we do it all the time now. 
We stayed at a small campground called Whispering Pines on US 2 and had leftovers for supper.  Afterwards we studied the maps, ferry schedule, and played some dominoes.  We were going to take the ferry to Nova Scotia, but don?t think we can get there in time tomorrow.  So we?ll drive around the land route, hopefully getting to the north end of the Bay of Fundy in time to camp and look around a bit.

Friday May 21, 2010
We were on our way by 8:45 this morning having had a quick breakfast of hard boiled eggs and fruit.  It was a beautiful day ? clear skies and light traffic.  I had expected the customs officer to ask lots of questions about Daisy and want to see her papers so I brought everything we have.  Well, he saw her sitting on the dash board with her bright yellow tag showing and didn?t say anything at all about her!  I was almost disappointed; I was so prepared!  So much for international regulations on pets. 
New Brunswick is rocky and beautiful.  The road was excellent too.  There are areas of road work, but where isn?t there?  We had our first glimpses of the Bay of Fundy and saw that the tide is out.  We didn?t stop though because we needed to get to today?s destination.  It?s an hour later here (Atlantic Time) and it?s Victoria Weekend so we thought that campgrounds may fill up early.  While I drove, Len called one he found in Woodall?s and was able to make a reservation at Camper?s City in Moncton, NB.  The 30 amp sites are full, but there are lots of 15 - 20 amp sites so we have a nice spot sort of by ourselves.  Nice and quiet. 
After taking a walk around the camp to look at the really big rigs, we came back to rest and have supper.  Len cooked scrambled eggs and sausage.  Simple, but very good.  We spent the evening updating pictures and the log.

Saturday May 22, 2010
We couldn?t use the heater last night because of low voltage in out hook-up box.  It was pretty chilly so we got out the down sleeping bags and we were nice and snug last night.  We both wish we had taken them when we went to Utah last November.  What a difference they would have made on those 23 degree nights!  I saw our young neighbor in the lady?s bathroom and she said that she was cold last night. 
We drove on to North Sydney, Nova Scotia today and had another good day of driving.  Driving along the Bay of Fundy we could see the tide flats and figured that the tide is out.
When we came to a toll booth for the NS highway, the fee collector look out at the van with a questioning smile on his face.  Len said, ?How much do you want??  He said, ?How much will you give me??  We all laughed and he said, ?What is that a customized van or an RV??  Len told him it?s a ?customized van? so he charged us the auto fee which is cheaper than the RV fee.  As we drove away, the man put his finger to his lips and said, ?Shhhh!? and we all laughed again.  Officially we are still a van, but we can operate as an RV.
The ferry to Newfoundland is busier than we thought because when Len went in to get our tickets, he couldn?t get passage until Monday.  We have some time now so we drove around the town of North Sidney.  It?s very small and what we saw did not look very prosperous.  It took a bit of driving to find a campground and we ended up driving to an RV park in Louisbourg and have a spot at the empty 24 site Point of View Campground that is overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  The campground is all gravel, but it is fine?we have a neat view of the water.
We had a delicious and fun dinner at the camp?s restaurant of whole lobster, fish chowder, salad bar, and ginger cake (her grandmother?s recipe).  They don?t serve wine there, but we could bring our own bottle in so we went to the local provincial liquor store for a bottle.
It was another evening for reading, computer play, and a couple games of Rummikub.  It will be nice to stay put tomorrow and just wander along the beach, rest, walk into town (which will most likely be closed for Sunday).

Your log is interesting so far.  Glad the weather cleared and hope it will stay that way.  Louisbourg is quite a place.  We were there shortly after its reconstruction.  We loved Nova Scotia.  Keep writing!  ;D

ArdraF

We spent the night at Codroy.  The campground there was referenced in several RVForum trip logs.  We will add our vote for the park there.  It is a WONDERFUL place run by great people.

Here are soime random pics of the trip to date.

The first are of the ferry across Lake Champlain.
The remainder are of Noval Scotia including Louisbourg.

Keep it up Len and Jo. We always enjoy reading about your trips and appreciate the photos.

Second try.....

It was 32F when we got up the morning.  Nice in the van though.  Only had heater on low (850w).

Several RVForum trip logs referenced the campground at Codroy and we will add our YES vote for this great campground.

The owners built and opened a craft center last year.  Cut their own trees to make walk ways in the park and cut them into planks on their bandsaw.  Only lumber they bought was the plywood used in the ceiling.

The crafts on display for purchase are made by 30+ local people.  All well made and reasonably priced.  "Not made in Chine or Nova Scotia".

I think on the way back the ferry in two weeks I will get one of the fishing trawlers.  Great workmanship.  Look in the cabin window and see gutting knives hanging on the wall, ready for the netted fish.