GETTING CLOSER TO THE GREAT NORTHERN PENINSULA.
TRAVEL DAY
From: Island Cove Town Park, La Scie, NL.
To:Gateway to the North RV Park, Deer Lake, NL.
Day 116 – We never did get rain and thunderstorms last night, but the wind has been gusting strongly. Luckily it was the windiest in La Scie at the campground on the hill without a lot of protection from the trees. It was 62 degrees this morning at 7 a.m. and beautiful out with fluffy white clouds and lots of sunlight.
Several other trailers were also leaving today, but they had all finished with the dump station by the time we got there and we didn’t have to wait in line. We departed Island Cove Town Park at 10:35 a.m. Even though the road work on Route 414 was almost done, thank goodness, the condition of most of Route 410 was not good. The girls were not happy once we got off the new pavement. There’s a place on the road that we call the big dipper, a dip so deep that no matter how much we’d slowed down, it still rattled the RV and us, terribly. By the time we finished both routes, we were very grateful for the Trans Canada Highway and its relatively recent road work. The scenery was pretty, especially since it wasn’t raining and it wasn’t foggy.
We headed west on the TCH-1, eventually pulling over at a rest stop for a lunch break. After the lunch break, the girls did not want to go back into their travel positions and had to be carried to the bedroom. They have gotten so used to traveling, like it or not, that when it’s time for them to be “put away”, Rob usually just calls out, “Self Storing!”, in a sing-song voice and they each (except for Gracie) meander back to the bedroom and take their places on the bed. Gracie has always liked to be carried – thinks she’s special – and she is. Grin. Today after the lunch break, they’d ignored Rob and his song and said, No, not me, I am done! So each cat was carried to the bedroom. They are big babies. You don’t think they’re spoiled, do you? Hee hee.
We stopped for gas in the RV, then continued on the TCH until Exit 16 in Deer Lake, then drove a short distance north to our campground. It was 1:55 p.m. and 72 degrees, partly cloudy and windy. We had reservations for two nights. We’ve stayed here twice before; it’s an excellent one-night stopover location. We’re staying an extra night because tomorrow we want to visit the Newfoundland Insectarium, near the campground. (Being up-close-and-personal with bugs has never been my idea of a good time. In fact, I have a bit of aversion to them – the ones that bite at least. But in the right setting, they can be fascinating, and Rob can stomach them better than I can. We both love butterfly gardens, though.)
Gateway to the North RV Park is a private campground right off the main road that heads north to the many attractions of the Northern Peninsula, including Gros Morne National Park. The campsites are mostly open to each other and the Park is lined with large RVs. Each site offers full hook-ups including sewer (and you don’t have to boil your water, LOL). This will be our third short stay here. It can be busy and noisy, including traffic noise from the highway, and is more expensive than most places we’ve stayed in NL. But there are advantages to this Park like its location near the town of Deer Lake with all the conveniences of stores, gas, and propane and you can always get a campsite since it’s a large Park. We were assigned Site #26; $100 (Canadian currency) for two nights. In addition, the owner of the Park is so friendly that he bent Rob’s ear for more than an hour when he was trying to get unpacked. Not sure if that is an advantage…..
Once Rob could break away from Mr. Talkative, we made a loaf of bread and made some ice cubes (yes, we have an icemaker – perfect for making Newfoundland’s Partridgeberry Bourbon Cocktails). We relaxed with the poor mistreated girls and enjoyed a sunny, breezy afternoon and evening. The high today on the road was 74 degrees.