nf20052s

Newfoundland 2005

I awoke about 10 AM on my last day in Newfoundland with the realization that I'd need some clean clothes. So Flat Stanley and I trudged off to the laundromat up at the top of the hill and fixed that. Tim's at the botom of the hill filled the spot for breakfast - a coffee and a cinnamon roll did the trick. Flat Stanley messed around in the dryer.

I sat in the laundromat and finished the book Heather had loaned me - The Pilgrimage. It was an excellent book and I recommend it to anyone who has read and enjoyed Angels and Demons or The DaVinci Code. I was able to finish it right there! It was a GBS day on the radio as I heard Penelope again, Consequence Free and Fast As I Can.

When I got back home, I packed up my suitcases and reallized why I feel like I belong here. Here I was with two full suitcases coming into Newfoundland. And going home, with more tee shirts and souvenirs, I had more room than when I came! I figured that was because I had left a large chunk of myself here on the Avalon this time and was going home without it. Countless pieces of myself are here on this island?

Jim said Lillian called to tell us to meet her at Bridie's for lunch. It was a great lunch on the deck with Don, Lillian and Jim. Don was a friend of Jim and Lillian's and it was his birthday. We had great fun at lunch and Don had a nice big slice of Guinness cake. It was delicious, he said, as he gobbled it up. Then we went home to do battle with my laptop and his iRiver. I tried to squirt my photos over to his iRiver but it didn't seem to work. We also tried to squirt my audio files over. But that DID work right away. It turns out, the photos did transfer but without the names I had saved them under and in a different format. Weird.

We drove to McDonald's on Topsail Road for our "last supper" and enjoyed the time we had to spend together. When we got back to the house I reluctantly packed up the stuff in the car and said my goodbyes. Hugs were exchanged and I had procrastinated enough so I only had an hour and a half left to get there. Which should be all that I'd need anyway. So I bid adieu to Lillian, Jim and St. John's and drove down the TCH to the turn-off for the ferry in Placentia.

It was now dark and I was hoping I didn't miss any turns or hit any moose, but the Lord looked out for me as he had on the way from the ferry to St. John's two weeks ago. A truck turned in front of me and I was 99% sure he was going to the ferry. I just slid in behind him and coasted down to Argentia, past the road where Vic and I had our moose encounter last year. We pulled into the ferry terminal with no time to spare. You are supposed to be there an hour before the ferry leaves and I was there an hour earlier to the minute!

Everything went smoothly and I was directed to pull into a spot at the very end of Lane 3. I was the last one checked in it seems. I spent some time packing a ferry bag for the next 14 hours and then went to the ferry terminal to see what was going on. Turns out, the ferry was late and not only hadn't we started to load the cars and trucks but it hadn't arrived to UNLOAD yet!

Word in the terminal was they had accidentally loaded Port aux Basques-bound trucks on the Argentia-bound ferry and after it had already left port in Sydney, they called it back to offload the trucks. Inside the terminal were two large groups of people, each gathered around a musicain. I came in on the tail end of the performances and sat down at a table with a Coke and my puzzle book. I was wearing my Republic of Newfoundland t-shirt and my pink, white and green socks.

My manner of dress identified me as a sympathizer at least with the Republican cause, I guess and the man with the guitar came over to talk with me. His name was Tony Whittle and he was definitely a Republican. He had lived in Newfoundland all his life and had even had several forays into politics. We chatted for a bit (I was happy to have read as much as I have about Newfoundlanf before Confederation since it gave me a leg up on the conversation). He was a bit eccentric but I lestnened attentively and got presented with one of his CDs and a copy of his two books! Cool, huh?

My conversation with Tony made the time waiting for the ferry go by fast. It was after midnight when the Joseph and Clara Smallwood pulled into the dock. It didn't take much time to offload and by 1 AM we were pulling onto the ferry. When I first pulled into the terminal, I tried to reach the Ham Radio repeater I knew was there in nearby Placentia. I could reach it with my handy talkie but couldn't bring up the IRLP network to call Vic or Jim. Vic and I haven't been married for over 30 years for nothing, so he felt those mental vibrations I was sending out and brought up the IRLP node himself from back home in Pennsylvania! It was so good to talk to him and he figured out a way that all three of us - Vic, me and Jim - could speak together all at once. They helped me feel better and pass the time before I drove onto the Smallwood. I was one of the last 10 cars on the ferry and we ended up parked facing the "wrong way." They got us all on in record time, though. At least that's how it seemed to me.

I continued our radio conversation when I settled my stuff into my dormitory sleeper and hung out on the deck for a while.

Ferry musings