THE ADVENTURE ROAD SHOW WITH JERRY AND JUDY

North-East/Ohio Valley Truck Camping Jamboree

2011-09-18T19:59:00.000-05:00

OK folks, we’re back for our second rally with the North-East Truck Camping Jamboree. The Ohio Valley Truck Campers have also been invited to this rally and over 90 truck campers of all kinds will be here for this four day event.

No rally can truly begin until Wagonmaster Mike(Mikeee) Tassinari arrives with his cargo trailer loaded with all kinds of rally stuff.

A special feature of this rally is the sweet corn, 300 pounds of steamer clams and 36 feet of sub sandwiches for Saturday nights dinner.

Mikee always has really good deals on camping clothing and everyone quickly comes to see what new items he may have.

Jackets, blankets and shirts with the jamboree logo are always popular items.

With over 90 truck campers present, we don’t think any manufacturer was left out. Arctic Fox, Northern Lite, Chalet, Big Foot, Host, Eagle Cap, Palomino, Adventurer, Lance, Okanagan,S&S, Shadow Cruiser, Northstar, and Travel Lite were all present. I am sure we missed some. With all these models and owners present, this has to be the best truck camper show one could find.

Gordon and Angela White from Truck Camper Magazine were there with a Travel Lite camper for everyone to see and tour.

Mikeee had the usual endless pile of firewood, all of which was used.

The morning seminars on truck and camper maintenance and related issues were well attended.

We had a wine and beer tasting demo with everyone bringing samples from their travels. Saki, Nova Scotia Blueberry wine and home made moonshine were my favorites.

Here’s a group of people that can tell you a lot about truck campers.

Part of the rally is paid for with proceeds from the raffle that is held at every rally.

There were a lot of nice donated items. We brought a lobster trap from our summer trip to Newfoundland.

We ate six of these six foot sub sandwiches--

---and 300 pounds of fresh, steamed clams.

Lots of melted butter for the clams and corn.

I don’t think anyone can add more enthusiasm to a rally than Mikeee. Here he is going over his last minute instructions on how to best enjoy his corn, sub and steamer extravaganza.

We took his advice and all agreed that the meal was a huge success.

These New Englanders really like their steamers.

John from Arkansas didn’t do too bad either.

The raffle is always well attended, with many nice items going to the lucky winners.

This helps to pay a major part of the rally expenses.

The rallies always end with a Sunday morning breakfast prepared by the guys.

Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes and coffee send everyone off on a safe trip home.

Got to get that flame just right.

Hey, they’re looking good right now.

You want your bacon crisp?

Mike Olesnevich from Xtreme RV in High Point, North Carolina sponsored this Sunday morning breakfast. Mike specializes in truck campers and that is all he sells.

Time goes fast and before we know it we are on our way--

--through the mountains of Pennsylvania, and into West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana--

--where we will visit relatives and our kids while we volunteer at the Chain-O-Lakes State Park near Chicago, where we used to live.

The Mighty Susquehanna

2011-09-11T22:02:00.000-05:00

We were able to bypass the wrath of tropical storms Irene and Lee by changing direction and heading north to visit friends in Quebec.

It is now two weeks later as we pass through New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Swollen rivers have receded considerably, but still remain high above flood stage in many areas.

This is a beautifully scenic area with many rivers, bridges and rural roads.

Destruction is now wide-spread and massive, with many bridges and roads completely missing or seriously damaged. Water rose over 14 feet here to completely cover this bridge and road.

With so many roads and bridges destroyed, even now two weeks after the storms, police, state highway workers and the National Guard could not tell us which way to go.

This guardrail was taken out by the force of the rushing water and debris that came down the road.

This is the main section of Vestal, New York two weeks after the storms.

These stores still have one to three feet of water in them.

With no electric and water and for some no homes or cars to return to, it will be a long time for normal life to return.

We have never before seen this much destruction in our travels.

After four hours of closed interstates, washed out impassable roads and completely missing bridges, we counted our blessings as we finally found our way south to the North-East Truck Camper Jamboree this weekend in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Road Trip USA

2011-09-09T22:05:00.000-05:00

Having a few days to spare before heading to our next camper rally, we checked to see what was ahead on our route.

It was easy to head towards Vermont’s number one tourist attraction, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, a fun factory in Waterbury, Vermont.

Here we found out how two childhood friends, Ben & Jerry, turned a Penn State University $5 correspondence course on ice cream-making into a global ice cream phenomenon.

Their non-traditional and caring approach to business made them one of the most recognized and admired companies in America.

The factory tour is fun and educational.

We saw ice cream being made and learned about the company’s history.

The free sample of the day was number three on their sales chart, Chunky Monkey.

They only use natural ingredients from fair trade companies all over the world.

Two life-long friends, Ben and Jerry began making ice cream in 1978, and became internationally famous for their ultra-rich ice cream and for their activism, donating a percentage of profits to support “progressive social change”.

The Flavor Graveyard comically tells of flavors no longer made.

Ben & Jerry have just announced their newest flavor, “Schweddy Balls”, in response to a skit about them on Saturday Night Live.

We then got into driving mode and headed across some of Vermont’s beautiful countryside.

Here we are in front of the Capitol Building in Montpelier, Vermont. Montpelier is the smallest city to serve as a state capitol, but its statehouse is considered one of the most picturesque in the U.S. We were not able to get inside today, but it is a very beautiful building.

The next stop today was at King Arthur Flour Store in Norwich, Vermont.

It’s a large store and they are tripling it’s size.

All sorts of gourmet cooking supplies and equipment are found here.

Renowned chefs and bakers from all over the world can be found here in the Demo Kitchen.

This wonderful lady will be doing a baking demonstration in Oct. near my sister’s home and I hope to be there with her.

Atlantic Journey

2011-09-07T21:27:00.000-05:00

Once again, this trip has told us that a journey is not a journey at all, but rather it is a series of short trips. We have always felt that our destination is more than a place—but adds to our way of seeing things.

You see, tourists know what they are looking for long before they know what is really there.

Their experience is known, planned and packaged before they arrive. They see only what they came to see.

A traveler, on the other hand, seeks the truth of a place, which adds to his understanding of the whole.

He is willing to let go of his expectations and lose himself.

That is when he is able to see what is really there.

From the Hancock Shaker Village--

--to the people in small communities,we have found them all to be friendly and helpful.

We have made many new friends that we will see again--

--and here there’s a certain sense of serenity and safety absent in many parts of the U.S.

This is the most RV friendly place we’ve been to. Water, propane, and beautiful night spots are easy to find.

Often, people invited us to stay in their yards or at their parks and were eager to share their knowledge with us.

The scenery sometimes reminds us of Michigan, Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.

The barrens of Labrador and Newfoundland sometimes reminded us of the tundra we experienced on the North Slope of the arctic on the way to Prudehoe Bay.

There are endless picturesque, coastal fishing villages--

-- and many historical sites to explore.

In Newfoundland the scenery is spectacular, with endless verdant mountains--

--fertile valleys--

-- and rugged landscapes.

This is a archeologists paradise, with many sites being actively explored today and open to the public.

Dorset and Paelaeo-Eskimo, Beothuk, Viking, French, English and other sites are numerous here.

The geology of Gros Morne National Park is stunning.

Some of the largest and best bird nesting sites in the world are found here.

At the southwest tip of the Avalon Peninsula, washed on three sides by the restless Atlantic, lies Cape St. Mary’s--

--one of the most spectacular seabird colonies in North America.

Here one is amazed by the immense, whirling clamor of 70,000 seabirds.

Thousands of icebergs float past these shores every summer--

--and whales are a common sight.

Our Canadian National Park Pass, careful planning, and economical camping once again kept our costs down.

Just as on other trips, the greatest things we see and do are often low cost or free.

Our Escapees Days End Travel Logs helped us find many free camp sites and we were easily able to find many more of our own. These were almost always scenic, ocean sites and much nicer than high priced commercial campgrounds full of RV’s. We saw few commercial RV caravans, probably because we spend most of our time away from tourist areas. Our favorite provinces so far are Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.

The seafood and foot-stomping Celtic music and dance is hard to forget.

The National Park Pass and Newfoundland Provincial Pass were great deals, saving us a lot of money.

Canada has many excellent National Parks and historic sites and we were able to explore them all with these passes.

The camper is a joy to travel in and is the perfect vehicle for us. We feel free to explore wherever we want to go.

We experienced lots of rain and fog on this trip and were sometimes bothered by mosquitoes and black flies. The roads in Nova Scotia are the worst we have ever encountered in all of our travels but the other roads were fine. We saw surprising little wildlife on this trip, but did see a lot of shore birds.

We were pleasantly pleased with the lack of roadside billboards and advertising, no roadside trash of and kind, low speed limits, and lack of crime.

We continue to use our GPS all the time and find all kinds of places we would not otherwise know about.

Especially impressive is that almost all houses and yards are exceptionally well cared for.

Most homes are fairly modest and have new roofing with new paint and siding. There is no litter or trash in the yards. This is true of all the Maritime Provinces.

These are outdoor-type people and ATV’s, snowmachines and camping trailers are common here. Over-sized homes and large motorhomes are rare to find.

Hiking and walking trails are everywhere.

Boats, ATV’s, snowmachines, lobster traps, gardens and other valuable items are often left unattended at the side of the road with little theft or crime.

With hurricane Irene in our path--

--we changed direction and headed North to Quebec and the town of St. Georges--

-- to visit friends Dennis and Helene who we met several years ago on a small beach in Mexico.

They are remodeling their home and landscaping their yard.

We will leave this French-speaking province tomorrow and find our way to another truck camper rally in Pennsylvania a week from now.

From there we will head to Illinois for a visit with our kids and then return to Texas where this trip began. This winter will be spent in the desert Southwest with friends. What lies ahead in our path? Who knows for sure, but the Southwest National Parks loom in the distance, a longer visit with our kids would be nice, and we even have visions of the Aurora Borealis and Polar Bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. See you there!

Camden Windjammer festival

2011-09-03T21:19:00.000-05:00

As we passed through the city of Camden, Maine, we came upon this beautiful harbor and decided to stop for a look around. By day’s end, we felt as though it was one of the most picturesque and family friendly cities we have ever visited.

As luck would have it, this happened to be Camden’s annual Windjammer Festival and the harbor and town was bustling with activities.

It was complete with pirates, 14 windjammers, schooners, historic yachts and sail boats.

Highlights included schooner and windjammer sailing trips, music, fireworks, a Heritage Fair, pirate invasions and duels , cannon firings, a kids lobster crate race, a chowder cooking contest, tips on how to catch and buy lobsters, evening pirate movies, and various other family events.

After starting our day with an excellent all-you-can-eat wild blueberry pancake and sausage breakfast--

--we watched the family boat building contest.

This is an excellent family event and these boats will race tomorrow afternoon in the annual family boat race.

Our attention was soon diverted to the harbor and the huge crowd that was building there in anticipation of the annual kids Lobster Crate Race.

It’s a test of speed and dexterity as kids race across floating, slippery lobster crates tied in a line across the inner harbor.

This is the winning form. He made 4 round trips without falling in the two minute time period.

The trick is to keep up your speed or you begin to sink the crates and it’s all down stream from there on.

A walk along the wharf brought us to the 86-foot schooner Appledore 2, the largest vessel offering short day sails out of Camden.

We were just in time for the next sail--

-- and quickly hopped aboard.

The Appledore can carry up to 49 passengers on private charters and 20 passengers on overnight trips.

She has a broad deck that you can stroll without having to duck the rigging.

This is a traditional wooden tall ship, designed for adventure.

Seaworthy and stable, she was built in Maine in 1978.

She has sailed around the world, and her voyages have been chronicled in two books.

During the winter you can join her for tropical sailing and snorkeling in Key West, Florida.

She is presently looking for crew members to sign on for the winter trip south from Camden, Maine to Key West, FL.

Contact Skipper Jerry, also known as “The Helmsman Who Guides, The Luminous Beacon, or The Shining Polar Star”, for further information.

‘

We stayed for the night at the Elk’s Lodge in Augusta, Maine after visiting the beautiful state capitol building.

Hurricanes, Salmon and Lobsters.

2011-08-31T18:37:00.000-05:00

We survived Hurricane Irene by spending the night in a Wallmart parking lot with about 12 other RV’s. We had high wind and rain but no damage.

The next day was bright and sunny and we found the Craig Brook national Fish Hatchery in East Orland, Maine, the oldest Atlantic Salmon hatchery in the United States.

It has been recently redesigned to meet the need for sound science in fish culture. Young salmon are captured each year in seven rivers and brought to the hatchery to be raised as parent fish. Their offspring are raised separately by river population and released as fry into their parent’s home river.

Using state-of-the-art technology, each salmon is genetically analyzed, tagged with a microchip and database tracked by computer. This allows biologists to identify individuals, determine spawning partners, and preserve the unique genetic makeup of each river population.

Biologists release two million juvenile salmon each year to restore populations in Maine’s largest river, the Penobscot. They also raise and release up to 1.5 million juvenile salmon in the six other rivers with endangered populations.

Biologists from all over the world have come here to learn this new technology. Unlike Pacific salmon, Atlantic salmon don’t usually die after spawning. They can return to the ocean where they journey to Greenland to feed for two or three years before returning to the same river where they were born four or five years earlier.

The museum is crammed with all kinds of fly fishing artifacts.

Heading south to the town of Wiscasset, we came upon Red’s Eats, a tiny red-and-white shack sitting beneath a Siberian Elm along the always snarled traffic on Route 1.

Open since 1938, it is almost universally recognized as serving the best lobster rolls on the Maine coast and the perpetual line of customers snaking out into the street testifies to that.

You order at the walk-up window and then chow down at one of the tables on the back deck.

This gal offers free battered shrimp to customers while they wait in line to place their order.

More than one whole lobster is crammed on a toasted hot dog bun and served with melted butter and fries.

It’s Been a Berry Good Trip

2011-08-27T21:28:00.000-05:00

With time steadily slipping by, we reluctantly head south toward the U.S. boarder.

Once again, we pass through Fundy National Park and witness it’s extreme tide changes.

These boats gently rest on their cradles, patiently waiting for the incoming tide to lift them up to the waiting dock.

We found one last harbor for the night, Dipper Harbor.

This is a real lobster pound, a holding pen where lobsters are unloaded from the boats and held until they are sold and shipped to market.

These two boats are scallop fishers, with on-board shucking stations.

This apparatus is lowered and dragged along the sea floor to snag the scallops.

It is periodically hauled up and it’s catch is dumped in a large tray and taken to the waiting shucking crew.

We had one more beautiful, peaceful sunset--

--and awoke to the same view with a foggy, but spectacular sunrise.

The fishermen were happy to talk with us, as they said it’s unusual for outsiders to come to this out-of-the-way place.

Lobster season is now closed here and traps and floats are stored on floating docks out in the harbor.

Our last day in Canada was uneventful except for this big blueberry we came across along side of the road. With picking scoop and bucket in it’s hands, we couldn’t pass it up.

The wild blueberries tasted better than any we had before and we now have a pie and basket of berries to eat.

These gals are removing any damaged berries and stems or plant parts that don’t get packed.

It didn’t look as though it was a very exciting job.

But they were having fun and get to eat all the berries they want to eat.

We were greeted at the border by the Acadian, American, New Brunswick and Canadian flags. We passed our border inspection at Calais and slipped into Maine where hurricane Irene is expected to make landfall tomorrow afternoon.

Anne of Green Gables

2011-08-23T19:39:00.000-05:00

It’s hard to spend any time on Prince Edward Island without becoming aware of Anne of Green Gables or Lucy Maude Montgomery.

The author was born in this house in the small town of New London.

The house still stands in the same place and is in the same condition as when she lived there.

Lucy often visited this nearby home of her aunt and uncle. She eventually moved here and was married in the house. This farm and the pond below the house is the setting for many of her books.

Green Gables has become famous around the world as the inspiration for the setting in the classic tale of fiction, Anne of Green Gables.

L. M. Montgomery lived nearby with her maternal grandparents and came to know this, her elderly cousin’s farm, through her explorations of the woods and lanes around it.

The house and grounds are preserved as described in the novel and the house is furnished with items authentic to the era of the novel.

She is buried next to her husband in the nearby cemetery.

Guess who’s coming for dinner!

This will probably be our last dinner out before heading back to New Brunswick and the U.S. Scallops in garlic sauce, and the rest was all-you-can-eat 40 ft. long salad bar, seafood chowder, mussels, dessert and beverage.

The College of Piping

2011-08-22T19:24:00.000-05:00

While passing through the town of Summerside, we came upon the College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts.

We decided to stay for their evening performance.

Since it started in 1990, students from all over the world have come here to learn traditional Celtic arts that have been passed down from generation to generation.

This is the only year-round institution of its kind in North America and has developed a reputation as an international school of excellence in--

-- Highland bagpiping--

--Scottish-style drumming--

--Highland dancing--

--and Island step dancing.

This was a high-energy, fast-paced show blending both Celtic music and dance and was very well done. It reminded us of River Dance that we saw several years ago.

Spud Island

2011-08-21T19:10:00.000-05:00

Once again, we made a last minute decision and crossed the Confederation Bridge to explore Prince Edward Island.

This is the world’s longest bridge over ice-covered water and is high enough to allow sea-going vessels to pass underneath. The 8 mile long bridge was finished in 1996 and is expected to last for 100 years.

For more information about this bridge and a live real-time cam view, go to confederationbridge.com.

Prince Edward Island(PEI) is very agricultural, with potatoes by far the principal crop.

Alfalfa and wheat are also important crops on this gently rolling, relatively flat island.

We have come to learn that often-times the best food can be found at road-side stands in the harbors and Meme’s at Seacow Pond is no exception.

These lobster sandwiches are piled high with fresh lobster—no fillers—just the real thing. They are delicious and would be hard to beat.

Our destination for the day is the wind farm and lighthouse at north Cape.

The energy center is a research center for the development of special technology to harness wind power.

Different shapes and sizes of blades are monitored.

The lighthouse warns mariners of the longest natural rock reef in North America.

At low tide one can walk out to it.

It is covered by gulls and Black Guillemots and is surrounded by seals.

Northumberland Shore

2011-08-20T18:51:00.000-05:00

Joe’s field of scarecrows is a popular tourist stop and is next to the main road.

We pulled in for a look --

--and after talking to this guy, decided it wasn’t worth our time.

The place is in disrepair and is now for sale.

Once again, we reminded ourselves how happy we are to be able to travel as we do and avoid many of these tourist areas and experience much more of the local culture where we may be.

We crossed the Canso Causeway, leaving Labrador, Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island behind and headed west along the Northumberland Shore of mainland Nova Scotia.

This is a dairy farming area, reminding us of Wisconsin. Milk is expensive in Canada. A gallon can easily be over $8.00.

This is one of the first really nice ,warm days we have had this summer. It’s in the 80’s and there are not a lot of really nice beaches, so people are here today.

There are a lot of old fishing boats here and they can often be bought for about $4,000. After fixing them up, people use them for pleasure boats with complete modern inside cabins and large outside flat decks with grills, picnic tables and lots of spare room.

These are usually 40 footers and are commercially built for the sea, with large below deck storage areas. Many are equipped with radar and lots of electronics. This would be a great Lake Michigan fishing boat.

Pictou is a wonderful, little sea side town that shows its Scottish heritage. We stopped to see the exact replica of the Hector, which brought the first Scottish settlers in 1773.

While touring the lobster hatchery, we were referred to Susan’s Cafe, the place where the locals eat. The seafood chowder and fish were both excellent. You just can’t beat the seafood they have here.

We took our time, enjoying the warm, sunny weather and the last two days and nights in Nova Scotia.

Once again, the scenery was spectacular, the campsites were free and easy to find, and we were welcomed everywhere.

Ceilidh Trail

2011-08-17T07:23:00.000-05:00

The Cape Breton square dance and stepdance traditions were brought over from Scotland by the early settlers and are central to the Cape Breton culture.

Inverness County in Western Cape Breton is home to the Ceilidh Trail. A Ceilidh ( pronounced Kay-Lee ) is a gathering or party, and these regular happenings featuring toe-tapping fiddle music take place up and down the coast all year long.

Here, traditional Celtic square dances can be found on almost any evening. These differ from the dances in the US. The beat is much faster, there is no caller and the steps and maneuvers are different. Everyone knows the dance and what to do.

We stopped in the town of Mabou for lunch at the Red Shoe Pub.

The Rankin and Beaton families are internationally known for their Celtic music.

They were not here today, but the music and atmosphere were outstanding.

The Celtic Music Center in Judique is home to archives and exhibits.

Music and dance lessons are taught here by well known instructors. The hallmark instruments used are the fiddle and piano.

We listened to a Ceilidh played by the music director and an instructor.

These are also known as “Kitchen Parties” or “Kitchen Rackets”, as that is where they often took place in early settlers homes.

We went back in the evening for another Ceilidh hosted by the instructors and highlighted by a foot-stomping eighteen year old student on the fiddle.

She was outstanding and had the place rocking the whole night.

These traditions are very strong here, with children taught Celtic music and dance at a very early age.

This girl is already quite good at stepdancing and just took over the floor.

These parties often go until 2 or 3 in the morning.

The Celtic language is still taught in the schools here and is seen on signs all around the area.

We enjoyed a peaceful sunset and stayed for the night at this lighthouse near the town of Mabou.

M/V Atlantic Vision

2011-08-13T14:13:00.000-05:00

We arrived early for the trip back to Nova Scotia on the Marine Atlantic ferry.

This ship has four vehicle decks and can carry up to 531 cars.

We were one of the first vehicles to load, with our friends, Pat and John, right behind us.

It began as a bright, clear day, with heavy fog quickly setting in.

We had nice entertainment, great food--

--and learned a lot from Jason, stationed with the Canadian Coast Guard. His ship has been monitoring the international fishing fleet off the Newfoundland coast to be sure no international laws are broken. We learned a lot about commercial fishing, life in the Arctic, ice breakers and polar bears. We left Argentia, Newfoundland at 3:30 Pm and arrived in North Sidney, Nova Scotia 14 hours later at 6:00 Am. The one-half hour discrepancy is due to Newfoundland having its own time zone.

We were the first ones off another fun boat trip and headed for the Cape Breton Highlands and the Cabot Trail.

We plan to meet Pat and John again at a truck camper rally in September.

The Cabot Trail is said to be one of the most scenic drives in the world. It has many beautiful coastal views--

-- winding and hilly roads--

--and the interior reminds us of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Once again, we found a nice, quiet place to spend the night overlooking the harbor in the town of Bay St. Lawrence.

Some Newfoundland Flowers

2011-08-12T08:52:00.000-05:00

Pull up your hood, there are mosquitoes ahead on this woodland, meadow and coastal hike.

Bog Laurel

Bunchberry

Pearly Everlasting

Violet

Foxglove

Clustered Bellflower

Alpine Sea Holly

The peat-like boreal forest floor is covered with moss

Water is everywhere

Indian Pipe White fringed orchid

Let’s take a walk to the beach

Scenes like this are easy to find

Blue flag iris

The pitcher plant is common in Newfoundland and Labrador and is the province flower.

Indeed, We is Newfies!

2011-08-11T11:14:00.000-05:00

Newfoundland grows low bush blueberries which begin to ripen in July and last until early September. The town of Brigus highlights its summer with an annual Blueberry Festival, held during the second weekend in August.

We were able to stay at the Royal Canadian Legion with friends Pat and John Swatloski and help set up the hall for their dance and Newfie Night Ceremony. This gave us a wonderful opportunity to meet Newfoundlanders in a friendly and festive setting. This is one of the biggest events of the year for this lodge and it was packed until 3:30 in the morning.

We heard Newfie tunes and saw dance steps that we had never seen before.

Later in the evening, they had a “Screech In”, a ceremony whereby outsiders become honorary Newfoundlanders. These ceremonies are held all over Newfoundland.

The master of ceremony must be a natural born Newfoundlander wearing a sou’wester rain hat.

Skipper Dickey spent a lot of time telling Newfie tales and jokes to start the ceremony.

Then, while wearing a sou’wester and life jackets, we were pulled in a small boat, the Swamp Fox, to the front of the legion.

John and I had special parts. John had to wear a puffin hat--

--do a Newfoundland jig--

--and answer some goofy questions.

I had to wear a sou’wester for the ceremony--

-- hold a plastic cod fish under my arm--

--generally make a fool of myself--

-- and answer some goofy questions.

After sprinkling salt water on all of us--

--Skipper Dicky asked each one of us, “Is you a Newfie?”

We had to reply: “Deed, I is, me old cock. Long may your big jib draw.”

In Newfie language, this means you are a friend and you wish him good luck.

This is not easy to repeat in front of an audience and you had to answer correctly.

Next, we had to kiss a real, fresh-caught cod fish--

--eat a piece of bologna--

--bite the head off of a real caplin fish and eat it--

--and end by downing a jigger of Screech, the official Newfoundland Rum.

These guys put their hearts into this ceremony and it is among the best and most authentically detailed in the province.

So, when you travel to Newfoundland, plan to be in Brigus on the second weekend of August for the Legion Newfie Night.

Burin Peninsula

2011-08-09T10:28:00.000-05:00

With a few days to spare before the Brigus Blueberry Festival, we headed down the Burin Peninsula to explore.

This is a land of rolling barrens--

--peaceful shorelines-

--heritage architecture--

-and quiet fishing villages and outports.

We got a distant view of France. The islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon lie just off shore.

We were told to stop for lunch in the lovely town of Burin.

The view from the My D’ Rock Cafe was excellent.

We had Toutons and fish cakes, a local favorite, and found them very tasty.

The Bakeapple Festival in the town of Garnish was a highlight of the trip for us.

Local Newfoundland music and socializing with real Newfoundlanders is always a highlight. Festivals are a big summer event all over Newfoundland.

This is a traditional “Jiggs Dinner” and was the best one we had on the trip.

The desserts were all Bakeapple and all were good.

We had a great time meeting people and, in typical Newfoundland fashion, were given Bakeapples to take home with us.

Signal Hill Tattoo

2011-08-03T11:11:00.000-05:00

We went back to Signal Hill in St. Johns today to see the tattoo.

Timing was perfect as the fog rose just as the British troops arrived.

The enactment was well done, with many British and French troops.

We saw lots of precision marching with drums and flutes.

A mock battle with British and French troops included lots of musket and cannon fire.

I auditioned for a part, but was turned down when it was determined that my night--time snoring would alert the enemy to our position.

Signal Hill and Cape Spear

2011-08-01T05:43:00.000-05:00

Originally known as “The Lookout”, Signal Hill had its present name by 1762, when it served as a signaling post.

It has a commanding view of the sea, the harbor, and present day St. Johns.

Cannons on the hill marked the time of day and warned of the outbreak of fire.

Signal flags were used to alert military and commercial interests of the approach of ships. The flag signalling service continued during the two world wars and ended in 1958.

Signal Hill was at the forefront in the development of modern communications. In 1901 Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal here at Signal Hill. A ham radio station is still maintained here.

We moved on to Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America.

We have been to the most northerly point in North America at Deadhorse in Prudhoe Bay, the most westerly point in North America at Anchor Point in Alaska, very near the most southerly point in North America in southern Chiapas, Mexico, and now to the most easterly point.

The whales put on a good show here and we saw many of them today.

Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve

2011-07-30T16:54:00.000-05:00

At the southwest tip of the Avalon Peninsula lies Cape St. Mary’s--

--home of one of the most spectacular and most accessible seabird colonies in North America--

-- and one of the best places in the world to see nesting seabirds.

The air is full of the sight, sound and smell of tens of thousands of birds.

The main cliff-top viewing area faces a nest-covered sea stack.

Bird rock and adjacent cliffs are like avian high rise apartment towers.

The ledges, outcrops, overhangs and plateaus offer a variety of accommodations for a variety of birds species.

It was foggy and wet today but we had no problem seeing the 11,000 plus nesting pairs of northern gannets--

-- 10,000 pairs of common murres--

-- and 10,000 pairs of black-legged Kittiwake.

The path to the cliffs was lined with many meadow flowers.

Avalon Peninsula

2011-07-29T16:43:00.000-05:00

After making reservations at the ferry terminal in Argentia, we traveled south along the coast to Placentia in Placentia Bay.

The French established a fort here in 1662 and this became the first capitol of New France.

The harbor was deep and well protected and the beach was long and well suited for drying and salting the plentiful, nearby cod fish.

The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 gave this fort to the British and the French went on to establish Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia.

The coast is rocky and rugged with low, wind-swept shrubs.

There are scattered pine trees.

This give way to barren peat bogs and ponds.

The roads are pot-holed, roughly patched and cracked.

We arrived in the town of Branch in time to watch as 21,000 pounds of snow crab were unloaded from a boat into a waiting semitrailer.

This boat had just returned from a one week trip out to sea in what is considered to be one of the worlds most dangerous jobs.

Fishing families help each other here, so they all come to the dock to unload the catch and help with the boat.

Tomorrow is the end of the crabbing season and the last two boats will return then, so it will be a busy day.

Provincial fisheries agents accurately weigh and document the catch to make sure limits are not exceeded.

Government quality control inspectors carefully grade and size random samples of the catch.

We watched their festival talent show--

-- stayed for the night overlooking their harbor--

-- and left after enjoying a traditional Newfie community breakfast of eggs, potatoes, beans and baloney with the locals.

Bonavista Peninsula

2011-07-25T06:45:00.000-05:00

The Bonavista Peninsula—a rocky thumb extending into the Atlantic from Newfoundland’s eastern face--has seen European arrivals since 1497-

-when John Cabot made landfall in this vicinity.

The Cape Bonavista Lighthouse has stood here since 1842. It marks the end of the road between here and Europe.

Gazing over the water in the direction of London, we watched a colony of puffins on a nearby rocky promontory.

Many gulls and this family of silver foxes were ready to catch anything they could for supper.

We toured an exact full-scale replica of the Matthew, the ship that brought Cabot and his crew to North America.

It is now kept inside a huge building to preserve it.

The Ryan Premises National Historic Site is a series of period seafront warehouses that present the last word on the once mighty cod fishing industry.

The history of inshore, offshore and international cod and seal fishing is well covered from its very early beginning to the present day.

Root Cellars and Puffins

2011-07-23T06:16:00.000-05:00

The town of Elliston is known as “The Root Cellar Capitol of the World”.

It has 134 documented root cellars, some dating back to the 1830’s.

More than 40 of these have been restored to optimum storage condition.

The nearby Atlantic Puffin nesting site is probably one of the most accessible places in Newfoundland to view the Atlantic Puffin.

They are friendly and, although wary, came very close to us.

This site is home to more than 400 breeding pairs of puffins.

It is also home to a few breeding pairs of Black Guillemots

And a few breeding pairs of the ever-present gulls

We found one more nice church in the town of Trinity.

With so many beautiful coastal camping sites it was hard to decide where to stay tonight , but this is the spot.

The Kittiwake Coast

2011-07-21T06:34:00.000-05:00

Newfoundland is a rocky island punctuated by many lakes and is surrounded by many smaller islands.

Most roads follow the coast, which is composed of many peninsulas jutting into the sea. Much of the interior is barren, peat and uninhabited. Only a few outlying islands have ever been occupied—most of those now abandoned due to the remoteness and difficult circumstances involved in living there.

As we travel south along the east coast we have come to an area known as the New-Wes-Valley. As is true of much of Newfoundland, the main industry here is fishing related.

Newtown is known as the “Venice of Newfoundland” and is home to the Barbour Living Heritage Village.

This was once part of a prosperous mercantile premises owned by the Barbour family.

In the early 1900’s, this site was completely developed with houses, fishing stages, wharves, fish flakes and a general store. It is now a Heritage Trust with seventeen buildings, some restored and others built to replicate the original site.

The tour of the Barbour Queen Victorian home with all original furnishing and several other homes and buildings was very interesting.

We stopped for the night on Greenspond Island, our camp site high on a hill overlooking the town of Greenspond and the sea.

Twillingate

2011-07-20T13:38:00.000-05:00

This is Twillingate, where each spring a procession of thousands of sparkling icebergs carved from the northern glaciers of Greenland make their annual pilgrimage down the Labrador Current to a narrow stretch of water known as Iceberg Alley.

Here you can get close and personal to these 10,000 year old frosty mammoths. Twillingate Island is one of a series of islands that were connected to each other and the mainland by causeways in the 1960’s.

This isolation has helped preserve old words and speech patterns that have eroded elsewhere. Here, a drung is still a lane.

It takes almost two years for these icebergs to get here from Greenland.

In another week the annual Twillingate Folk Festival will begin. This year they are having a special event as part of it.

It is called a “House Haul”.

Years ago houses were moved over the ice from one island to another and then hauled on land to a new location.

This old house was floated here from another island and will be hauled next to the town museum during the festival.

It will be pulled on a rope over a hill to it’s new site by anyone who wants to help.

It’s similar to a tug-O-war with a house on one end. Everyone repeats a chant and when they get to the word “Haul” they all pull on the rope.

We visited their very pretty church.

This is one of the oldest wooden churches still in existence in Newfoundland.

And found a wonderful night spot in a little bay with wild flowers and a nice iceberg view.

This seal came for a visit.

Calm Sailing

2011-07-16T13:52:00.000-05:00

The trip back to St. Barbe, Newfoundland was sunny and calm with a few whale, seal and iceberg sightings.

We were lucky to sail, as our camper was the last one to fit on board. Many were left behind to wait for the next ferry in five hours.

We headed south along the coast, stopping at a few places we missed before.

Gros Morne National Park has acquired this old fishing camp and all it’s original equipment. This building is called a stage and contains fishing equipment.

If it was used to store general supplies or equipment it would be called a shed or store. It is complete and gives one a good idea of the hardships of early life of a fishing family.

This was a seasonal camp used for cod and lobster fishing.

We stopped in the small town of Fleur de Lys and toured the Dorset Soapstone Quarry National Historic Site.

This is the only known soapstone outcrop in the Northern Hemisphere that preserves evidence of Palaeo-Eskimo vessel carvings dating back 1600 years.

With this nice, red sky, tomorrow should be a sunny day.

A Day in Labrador

2011-07-13T16:56:00.000-05:00

Our time in Labrador was spent driving the Trans Labrador Highway 60 miles to Red Bay.

This Coastal Drive takes us past fishing communities established in the early 1800’s. Icebergs and whales are very common here.

Much of Labrador is a vast wilderness filled with rugged seacoast, fast running rivers and barren mountain ranges.

Time and other plans will keep us from traveling across the barren center of Labrador. We would like to do this trip, but that is for another day.

Red Bay is an ideal natural harbor and was used by the Basques as a whaling station during the 16th century.

Four Basque galleons have been discovered in the harbor, one of which is the best preserved 16th century shipwreck north of the Caribbean.

A well-preserved collection of artifacts is though to be the best of its kind in the world.

The Visitor Interpretive Center tells the story of these whalers and their hardships.

Thousands of barrels of whale oil and baleen were shipped to Europe every year. The Right Whale is now numbered at 350-400 in the entire world today and is projected to become extinct in another 100 years.

www.pc.gc.ca/redbay

Some of the worlds best fly fishing for salmon and trout is found here.

Journey to the “Big Land”

2011-07-12T16:07:00.000-05:00

With the wind in what’s left of our hair and salt water on our lips, we stared at the rugged coastline looming in the distance.

This is one of the most difficult places to get to in Canada, with very few miles of paved road. Almost all roads are gravel and until the 1990’s only a few communities were connected to the Canadian highway system.

Today, winter closes many roads for long periods and travel is often only by snow machine for hundreds of kilometers between very remote villages and can be very dangerous.

Even in summer, some roads can be closed to all but four wheel drive. The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, can be seen here 240 nights of the year.

We are on board the ferry M/S Apollo sailing from St. Barbe, Newfoundland to Blanc Sablon, Quebec for a few days of exploring the Southern coast of Labrador.

We took front-row seats with a nice view.

Rain and fog limited our view, but the trip was uneventful.

Once on shore, we headed north--

--to the Gateway to Labrador Visitor Center, housed in the former St. Andrews church, originally constructed in 1919.

Soon after, we found ourselves in the small hamlet of L’Anse Amour, population, 9.

This is the site of the earliest known burial monument in North America, dating back to 7,500 years ago.

We stopped for the night at the point Amour Lighthouse, one of the two oldest working lighthouses in Canada today and the tallest lighthouse tower in Atlantic Canada.

The tower is 109 feet high.

The view from the top is spectacular.

First illuminated in 1858, it is probably the best one we have ever seen and it is still a major navigational aid today. We spent the night here watching whales and icebergs and listening to the waves crashing into the shore.

Unearthing History

2011-07-09T14:54:00.000-05:00

We stayed last night at the Point Riche archaeological dig site in Port au Choix so we were the first visitors today.

Philips Garden, as it is called, is widely acknowledged as one of the most important Palaeo-Eskimo sites in Western Newfoundland.

Following a trail along the rocky, wind-swept coast, past tuckamore and wild flowers, brought us to a barren peat meadow.

Between 4,000 and 1,000 years ago, the Eastern Canadian Arctic was occupied by a people we know as “Palaeo-Eskimos”. The southernmost sites of these people are found in Newfoundland.

Two large sites have been explored here, one dating between 500 and 1,00o BC and the other between AD 100 and 600.

This site was first unearthed in 1929 during a archaeological survey.

It was explored in the 60’s and is now being worked again using more modern methods.

Ground penetrating cameras and satellite imaging have helped to reveal that these houses were shaped differently than previously thought.

Many artifacts have been found here-projectile points, harpoon tips, and bits of whale bones are common finds.

The home sites are larger than originally thought, with some probably home to a many as 25 people.

These people did not hunt whales, but did scavenge their bones off the beaches.

They followed the seal migration and hunted them for food and used their skins for clothing.

The shaker is used to sift dirt, making it easier to sort for artifacts.

These pieces will be taken back to a lab for identification and cataloguing.

For the first time in about 1500 years, the sun glints off this sharpened object – a Dorset Palaeo-Eskimo Chert end scraper, and we are amongst the first to see it.

It is thought that a climate warming period caused the ice pack off shore and the seals on it to recede far enough from shore to make hunting them so difficult that these people left the area. No one knows where they went.

The Labrador Trail

2011-07-08T15:22:00.000-05:00

We left St. Andrews this morning driving south along the Labrador Trail. To our west is the Strait of Belle Isle and Labrador and to our south is the Viking Trail and Gros Morne National Park.

We are still seeing iceburgs close to shore.

Here, each small fishing community is accompanied by large piles of lobster traps and the largest stacks of cut firewood that we have ever seen.

People have lived along this harsh coastline for thousands of years and all have been dependent on the sea. Maritime Archaic Indians, Dorset and Palaeo-Eskimos, the Basque, the French and the English have all fished here.

Winter here is long and mean and these people are well prepared and ready to deal with it.

We passed this European tour bus along the way. We occasionally see one of these in our travels.

They are self contained with their own sleeping area and outside kitchen.

We have not yet been able to go inside of one of these, but would find that to be quite interesting.

Everyone here has at least one ATV, snow machine and large wood pile. Many yards have several of each. Seals are still harvested here on a limited basis.

The framed seal skins are first taken to a warm fresh-water pond. The skins are placed into the water with the hair facing upward. Large rocks are placed onto the frames, sinking them below the surface of the water, thus preventing the sun from burning the skins.

In 3-4 weeks, micro-organisms in the water remove the fur from the skins. The skins are then dried in the sun.

The Flowers Island Lighthouse with Labrador in the background is the prettiest one we have seen.

The St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Flowers Cove is very picturesque in a very photogenic setting. It is known as the Seal Skin Boot Church because it was financed by selling seal skin boots.

The inside is very pretty in it’s simplicity.

It reminds us of some small village churches in Mexico.

The harsh, cold wind along the coast causes vegetation to become stunted in it’s growth. Trees and shrubbery lean away from the wind and greenery on the coastal side is absent. This vegetation is referred to as Tuckamore.

Newfoundland is known as “The Rock”and the geology here is truly varied and unique.

We found this ship unloading salt in St. Barbe.

We saw this type of boat in Alaska several years ago.

The large boat drags a long net in the water with the small boat attached to the other end.

The small boat travels in a large circle behind the larger one and traps any fish in it. When the circle is nearly complete, the net is pulled aboard the large ship and the catch is removed.

We stayed tonight in the village of Port au Choix. Traditionally, the Cod fishery was the most important fishery here. It has not fully recovered from overfishing. Salmon fishing was also important at one time but closed in the 1980’s. Seal and herring are still harvested, but lobster is the most important fishery today.

The view from our window is typical of the area.

Exploring Early North America

2011-07-06T11:27:00.000-05:00

At sunrise this morning we watched as a young Australian couple in their early thirties left the harbor in their sailboat bound for Greenland over the top of Canada on a three year voyage back to Australia . We thought of Ron and Betty once again.

Actual pieces of bog iron that were found and remnants of iron smelting.

The village is set in a wonderful meadow overlooking the ocean. This is today the only known Viking site in North America and the earliest evidence of Europeans in the western hemisphere.

After excavation was completed, the area was covered with a fabric and then layers of sod to protect the area and to preserve it in it’s natural state, much as it was when originally found.

This is a Canadian National Historic Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the world’s major archaeological properties.

Very professional and experienced re-enactors are able to answer most questions.

Among many artifacts found, this bronze cloak pin is the most important find. It definitely establishes this site as Norse in origin and carbon dating sets the time period.