Welcome to Newfoundland

Mon July 2 2001
St John's Nf to Argentia Nf
234 Miles

I think the worst part of any vacation is coming to the realization that it is coming to an end. We decided to change our ferry reservations yet again, and leave from Argentia instead of Port Au Basques. One problem, the boat leaves monday, thursday, or saturday. Thursday gets us home sat night, so we decide to go monday, and check out some of New Brunswick on the way home. Okay now the important stuff: breakfast was french toast, fresh fruit, cereal, toast, etc. We head towards the ferry via the Irish Loop, which we again have trouble finding. I guess the sign thieves were out again last night. The first 50 miles or so while picturesque, don't seem too Irish to me. The weather is threatening rain for most of the day, and shortly after St John's the fog rolls in. At times I have trouble seeing Sean who cant be more than 30 feet from me. As if that wasn't enough the wind decides to pick up and attack us from the left at about 40 miles an hour. Yes we're having fun now!

We get to what we think is the Irish Part, the game preserve. The landscape becomes treeless, hilly, and scraggly evergreen bushes, with pools of water scattered across the green. I'm sure that this area is a bit more spectacular, but through the fog we just can't tell. Sean nicknames this place hell. There are signs warning about Caribou crossing, but we never see one. We were later told that the Caribou had already migrated further north.

We stop for lunch in Trepassay at this restaurant/motel on the ouskirts of town. Great soup! We stop in St Vincent's to try and see some whales, but alas the fog is thicker than ever. There were supposedly 20 or so feeding in that cove a few hours before we arrived. Foiled again! A few miles out of St Vincent's we run into a guy who has an Amphicar in his garage and shows it to us. We talk cars for a bit while checking out his near mint 1962 Amphicar.

Our original plan was to ride completely around the coast of the Avalon Penninsula, but with the weather we decide to drive across. Rt 91 which cuts across eventually turns into a dirt road, although the map doesn't give any hint of this. 30 or 40 miles later the blacktop comes back , and were almost in Argentia. I meet a guy on a Harley at the car wash who was from somewhere south of here. Sean and I run into him and his wife (Mike and Lois) at the restaurant and end up eating with him. He sells protective equiptment for firefighters, and gives us a Newfie history lesson, as well as explaining several dialects on the island. They are headed for the HOG Rally on P.E.I., so they will be on the boat with us, but we never do see them again. We meet up with Stew and his wife Barbara. This is the guy from Plymouth NH with the Goldwing that we ran into 2 days earlier on water st in St John's. (The guy who started my modeling career LOL) We sit in the lounge talking and listening to this duo playing Newfie/Irish songs. The seas are a bit rough and I have trouble falling asleep despite all the beer I've got in me. :)

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