20020606

June 6, 2002

Day 28

Start: Triple Falls RV Park, St. Anthony, NF
End: Gros Morne RV Park, Rocky Harbour, NF
Miles: 237

The low last night was 41f and the high today was 52f in northwestern Newfoundland. The winds were calm this morning, but the skies were cloudy and stayed cloudy all day.

This is the day we would have gone to Labrador. Instead, after breakfast, we set out back down route 430, the Viking Trail. The plan was to head south to the Canadian Historical Site at Port au Choix, then go on to Rocky Harbor.

The roads were wet when we started, so there must have been a rain at or just past dawn. Maybe that was a factor in the number of animals out running around. We counted 17 moose and one caribou in the first 35 miles out of the campground. 

I was hoping the clouds over Labrador would not be there, so I could get a good picture across the Belle Isle straits. The clouds were still there, so everything was shades of gray. A little later, it started misting, then the fog came in. We turned off 430 and went through Port Saunders and Port au Choix to the site. It’s next to the bay and was hard to see in the fog.

We went in to see the interpretation of the results of many digs on this site. They’ve established that at least four groups of people inhabited the point since 4500BC. Over a hundred skeletons have been found in burial sites. Many artifacts have been found and used to correlate the groups who left them. It was very interesting.

We drove out to the point, where there’s a lighthouse (naturally) and parked. We had lunch in the little house. Then we resumed our trip to Rocky Harbour.

I’m glad we had a clear day on the way north so we could get a picture of the place in our minds. We didn’t get that today. Visibility remained poor the rest of the way. We saw two more moose and two more caribou, bringing the total to 19 and 3.

After we settled in the campground we were in a few days ago, the neighbors came down to say “hi”. They’d been parked next to us in Triple Falls RV Park (between us and the rushing little river, blocking our view). We gave them advice on restaurants in the area. They’re running around with another couple here in the campground that they’d met somewhere else. The four of them took off to do laundry.

We sat for a while, then went out to dinner at the local restaurant. Dolores had mussels and lobster (again), while I had soup and a ham steak (to be different). As we were eating, the four from the campground came in to eat. Ours was good, and I hope theirs was, too.

Dolores, the mathematician, said we couldn’t quit moose spotting with 19, since 19 is a prime number. I couldn’t see the logic in that one, but we drove south to find more moose. We went quite a distance and thought they must not be out yet. We turned into a side road to turn around and there was a monster moose. We took a quick picture and got out of there when he started sauntering down the hill toward us.

That gave us 20 meese, so we headed for the campground. Naturally, we then saw more. We counted 21 (a small moose), then 22, then 23, which is another prime number. Thankfully, we saw another one just before we turned in to Rocky Harbor and the campground. Now it's 24. She also saw a snowshoe hare in this trip.

We’re signed up for the Western Brook Pond boat trip tomorrow. I hope we don’t get rained out again. But, if we do, Saturday is supposed to be beautiful.

Now, we’re back in the little house. D is watching a Paul Anka special (he’s a Canadian, remember) and I’m doing this set of notes. Then we’ll settle for the night.