20020618

June 18, 2002

Day 40

Start: Funland Resort, Deer Lake, NF
End: Grand Conroy RV Camping, Doyles, NF
Miles: 149

The high today was 62f and the low was 41 last night or early this morning. After a cloudy morning with showers, it cleared up in the afternoon and became a beautiful day at Doyles. Yes, Brian, I know it’s all in the name.

The trip down here was unexciting. We were just banging along on the Trans-Canada Highway. We saw a fox as we were getting back up to highway speed after fueling the truck. No big animals showed themselves today.

We’ve been in this campground before. The attendant greeted us like long-lost friends and asked what we’d been up to. That led to a chat of some length. Then she assigned us site #6, which we found to be the best in the place. It has a view up, down, and across the Codroy River running to the sea (Gulf of St Lawrence in this case).

The view in the other direction (east) looks on the Long Range mountains, a long but not very high range that runs along the southwestern shore. There are large patches of snow still on the mountains, and not just on the northern sides away from the sun.

We used the phone line in the registration shack to dial up our ISP. After sending some e-mail and a set of notes, we received our e-mail. We sorted the messages out at the little house and queued a few responses for the next time we connect. The worst was that son Bill advises that our old minivan has been damaged while parked on the street in front of the house. The person left a note, so we’ll settle that when we get home.

The guy in a Class B rig (camping van) next to us has a telescope that he sighted in on the mountains. When we asked what it was pointed at, he invited us to look. It was a gorgeous waterfall cascading down nearly the whole height of a mountain.

We took a ride and shot a few pictures of the Cape Anguille lighthouse and local Anglican church. Then we walked the beach, looking for driftwood (Dolores wanted a sample to decorate at home). In this particular location, there’s a sandy beach with small sand dunes which extends a couple of miles along the coast.

While having a beer and looking at things around the trailer, I found a tire problem. The left rear tire’s inner side was worn down far more than the outer side, and had reached the wear bars. This tire was nearly new when we started, so this is something of a concern. The tire’s air pressure was ok. Could be any of several things. I replaced the tire with one of the spares (one that has 17k on it from going to Alaska and 
Oregon last year, but is in good condition). I’ll watch this one closely to troubleshoot this problem.  [Ed. note: On return to Manassas, we found the rear axle had bent, causing this wear. We had to replace it.]

We went to dinner at the Silver Sands, where we went last time here. It was nice again. I think all the customers tonight were from the campground, given the pieces of conversation we overheard. One couple was complaining that they hadn’t seen a moose in several trips here. Dolores told her as we were leaving how to find them in Gros Morne (drive slowly at dusk).

We’re watching the sunset and its effects on the snow on the mountains. Right now, the snow has a pink shade. The sun has just set and is under a line of clouds but the rest of the sky in the west is blue. The underside of the clouds is pink, and that is probably being reflected onto the snow.

Tomorrow, we’ll go to Port-aux-Basques and Rose Blanche. Rose Blanche is supposed to be a super-prototype of a Newfie fishing village. Port-aux-Basques is the location of the ferry, but it must have something more than that. We’ll see.