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July 30, 2000 Sunday
Well � the weather won last night! At 1 AM the tent stakes pulled up from the ground and the tent collapsed on Vic. Not wanting to wake Karen and I, the dear man put the tent back up and went back to sleep!

In the morning, it was Tim�s again and we took a tour of the local spots, Alder�s Point, Bras d�Or, Sydney Mines, Florence. Saw a World War 2 fortified thing on the shore in Sydney Mines and a sign advertising �Sue�s Hair and Breast Prostheses.� Not your usual billboard. Listened to 3 hours of Cape Breton music on the radio, it was wonderful. Actually heard GBS on the radio, too!

Got back to the tent to discover it had blown down once again! Our camp �neighbors� put it back up for us while we were gone. Laundromat time again! This time we conversed with a family on their way back to NFLD from a holiday in Maine. They said Newfoundland had been warmer when they left than the temps they had encountered in Maine and on Cape Breton. They also told us we�d be back again once we went.
We tracked down MaryJoe�s, the best Fish �n� Chips place on Cape Breton in Glace Bay for lunch. We drove by and the store wasn�t there! Disappointed, we drowned our sorrows with the thought that we could find Internet accesssomewhere and ease our way thru the computer withdrawl we were all now experiencing. Lo and Behold! Across from the closed Internet access place was MARYJOE�S!!!!!! Went in, had a delicious meal, chatted with her about Cape Breton, the economy, her store�s move, and forgot about our computer fix. Just the kind of conversation we enjoyed with our meal 3 years ago at her place! Went back, packed up the site and ate supper at Jane�s Pizzeria in Bras d�Or. Another sign of impending contact! Who knew that Garlic Fingers are really white pizza? Mmmm! Good stuff!

Then onto the ferry terminal �cause we�re chomping at the bit to get to Newfoundland. There had been no fast ferries for a couple of days because of the bad weather so the ferry was packed with people who had been scheduled to go on the Vomit Comet. Because of the weather, though, a lot of truck traffic didn�t show up so all the people on the waiting list got seated. While waiting, got entertained by a pair of piano players called 88 Squared who sang Cape Breton/Celtic music. Turns out, Cape Breton�s version of �Whaddya At?� is �How�s It Goin� Buddy?� And you are supposed to answer �Good, dear, good.� Fiddle tunes sound better on the fiddle though, especially Clumsy Lover. A guy from maine asked if we had driven from PA. I told him that my experience with Route 9 killed that idea for me. His comment? �Why in the world did you take Route 9? Bad move!� No kidding!

Met a lady and her daughter in the ferry terminal who are from St. John�s. They were surprised we didn�t have relatives in NFLD and were still visiting. A recurring theme. They told us to visit the Bonavista Peninsula and St. John�s, of course. What nice people! They were coming home from a Mother-Daughter bonding trip on PEI. The daughter was going to start med school. Heard GBS twice today � once on the ferry and once on the radio! 11:59PM ferry left at 12:25 AM.

July 31, 2000 Monday

The ride on the Caribou, once it left the shelter of North Sydney Harbour, was very rough. Got a nice cabin with a shower, which we used. Ahhhhhhh! However, I had the misfortune of being in the shower when the boat hit the ocean. Holding on for dear life to the handhold in the wall of the shower, I managed to get both my body and hair washed while the boat was pitching this way and that! The water in the shower didn�t know which way to flow! Despite the rocking and rolling of the boat (we sailed into the same gale that had blown down the tent!) the three of us were lolled to sleep by the motion. But Karen made me promise NOT to play �Wave Over Wave� on the CD player while on the boat. The sleep was too short however, and we were awakened at 5:30 AM Newfoundland time which was 4AM Philly time to go down to breakfast. Karen took way too long to get ready � she doesn�t do mornings well � and we had to literally shove our breakfast down our throats to get to the car in time to go out.

Drove out of Port aux Basques to find a large section of the TransCanada Highway leading from/to Port aux Basques was under construction. It was literally a dirt road in places. Just brought back horrible memories of driving Maine Rte. 9 at daybreak trying to dodge careening lumber trucks on a road that just up and disappeared every once in a while and reappeared two feet lower than it should. We watched what appeared to be a gray wolf cross the road on a particularly empty stretch of road in the Codroy Valley. We were later informed that it must have been a silver fox since we were told wolves are not indigenous to NFLD. Vic also saw a moose cross the road but Karen and I looked too late.

�Flew� across the island to Terra Nova Park where we arranged to camp for the night. It was so windy that the tent and cover dried out in no time. We had to pack it wet at Bras d�Or. We are all cranky. I guess 4 hours sleep and driving across the island don�t mix well. We were able to check out the campsites and choose one we liked. Just had to tell the ranger. But where we were was no entertainment and we were too tired to entertain each other so the bitching and moaning went on till we decided to grab dinner stuff somewhere.

After we registered, we went around to the �nearby� towns looking for a general store type place. Stopped in Charlottetown for groceries and tent stakes that will work in rock. What an absolutely gorgeous place to live! The lady at the store told us about a pod of whales that have come to visit their harbor for the past 4 Christmas Eves. It was a postcard sight. We found Jane�s Seafood Restaurant in Eastport (we�re getting closer!) and a town called Happy Adventure. Love that name! What�s in a name? Plenty. I think a person would have an advantage from the start being in a town called Happy Adventure. Can�t wait to visit Heart�s Content!

Terra Nova is a huge park and cold! Earlier in the day it was plenty warm, but it certainly was a hot chocolate/hot dinner night. I had 2 cups of hot chocolate. It�s too cold. Tried to have a campfire but everything is too wet. Even Vic the superb fire starter can�t keep it going. Used to be able to do this camping thing at the drop of a hat. Am I getting too old for this camping stuff or am I antsy because we HAVE to camp rather than WANT to camp? Here I am in Newfoundland and I am too tired to enjoy it. Karen is totally bored and therefore making everyone�s life miserable as only 14 year olds can do. Maybe a little talk with the Lord tonight will put things into perspective. Even though it�s 9 PM and still relatively light, I need to go to sleep. Good night!