40 MILES OF BAD ROAD. AT LEAST.
TRAVEL DAY
From: Fallsview Municipal Park, Bishop’s Falls, NL.
To:Island Cove Town Park, La Scie, NL.
Day 109 – It was 58 degrees when we got up, and very cloudy. The mosquitoes were ravenous for some reason; Rob can attest to that from when he was outside putting things up in preparation for leaving. We had no bugs at all in Harbour Breton, but they were really bad at Bishop’s Falls.
After dumping tanks at the lower level of the Park, we departed the campground at 10:25 a.m. It was raining and 60 degrees. I guess that the recent one week of good weather marked the end of summer, the summer that started about two weeks ago. Oddly enough, we saw the beginning of fall colors appearing on some trees yesterday.
We stopped for gas in the RV and soon got on the TCH-1 heading west then north then west again. About half of our drive was on this highway. There was very little traffic. The rain continued. Then we turned north on Route 410 and the bad road conditions began. We thought, oh no, not two days in a row!
We eventually turned onto Route 414, heading northeast, and for a short distance we were on a freshly-paved road. It was wonderful. We pulled off on the side of the road and had lunch. The girls needed a break, too. We continued on the perfect road for another short distance, and just as we were relaxing and thinking the poor road conditions were over, the “road construction ahead” signs began. And for almost all of the remaining drive we bumped along at a crawl – we really couldn’t have gone any faster – on a gravel, pot-holed, washboard grated road. There was very little traffic going either way. I wonder why.
The scenery was pretty, at times dramatic, but it was cloudy and overcast with intermittent rain – visibility was not great. We passed by several turn-offs to dirt roads traveling to small communities. We’ll visit them all while we’re here, but in the Honda, not the RV. At the top of a hill near the end of the road, we had our first view of La Scie. We LOVE it here. And after surviving the journey on the road, it was a welcome sight!
We arrived at Island Cove Town Park in La Scie at 2:20 p.m. No one was here to check us in but we had reservations so we just went to our site and moved in. Site #7, the campsite we’d requested is where we stayed in 2019. It has an amazing view of the open ocean AND the harbor and its bay. In 2019, Humpback Whales came into the bay right below our campsite while others frolicked in the ocean waters beyond the harbor. We are hoping for the same this trip. The campground is located on a rocky hill, high up over the harbor and the town. There are several hiking trails leading from the Park that offer enhanced views. Was it worth the rough roads on the drive? Always.
We unpacked and set up camp. It was cloudy, foggy, and with some rain on and off. The high today was 60 degrees, back on the Trans Canada Highway. It gets really windy here at the top of the hill. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and very windy. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. The screened tent is up with views of the harbor. It’s going to be a great week here.