Morning

We had a long day of driving ahead of us, so it was all hands on deck. Gros Morne was nearly 4 hours away, and considering that we only drive 90kph, we would need that full 4 hours, plus time for breaks. But first, a breakfast of oatmeal with dates.

Meeting again at Canadian Tire Gas+

On the way, to St. John’s, we stopped for a night in Grand Falls-Windsor and got some water from the nice people at the local Canadian Tire gas station. We needed gas on our way back to the ferry, so we again stopped at the same gas station. We actually wanted to find a station along the highway, but Google was telling us that the nearest station was the Canadian Tire one.

The wife was working on her own today, and we chatted about our time in St. John’s. Her and her husband are such nice people. If you need gas anywhere near Grand Falls-Windsor, make sure to stop by the Canadian Tire gas station across from the Walmart.

She even gave Ethan a bag of candy as a parting gift.

Afternoon

The rest of the day was spent on the road, getting out to Gros Morne. Throughout this long drive, Ethan was very good. It’s not easy for anyone to drive long distances without many breaks, so we’re proud of him for handling the drive like a champ.

The drive was a very windy one, as the weather was shifting between sun, clouds, showers and strong winds. When we finally arrived in Gros Morne, it reminded us of driving up to Whistler along the Sea-to-Sky Highway. It was certainly nice, though.

Another van from BC… via China!

At one of the scenic view points, we noticed a minivan with BC plates. We were more surprised to find out it was an old retired couple from China who had rented the van in BC. They drove up to Fairbanks, Alaska(!), across the Yukon, then all the way out to St. John’s, NL.

They told us they’ve driven over 13,000km and that they did a 32 state trip across the US last year. They also mentioned how they sleep in the van for a few days, then check into a motel for a night. We were so impressed by their stamina, enthusiasm for travel and how nice they were. We’ve gotten an invitation to visit them in China.

We also managed to find another set of the Canada 150 red chairs that Juju Jr. could even get close to.

One final stop at Lobster Cove Lighthouse and we had to head toward Port Aux Basque and the ferry terminal.

Evening

This was probably the most difficult drive, so far, as the wind was quite horrendous. Along the way, the full moon was quite a sight because there is so little light pollution out in the middle of Newfoundland. We enjoyed the somewhat clear skies while they lasted because it soon got very dark.

And we were running low on gas.

The distances between gas stations is rather far. We planned on stopping for the night in Corner Brook at the Walmart, but decided to keep going because we could see on Google Maps that there were a few gas stations along the way. We also thought we could stop at another 24hr Tim Hortons.

We were wrong about the gas stations.

The stations on Google Maps didn’t exist. One had recently closed down, and another was simply a bunch of trees along the highway. Not good. Our last chance for gas was an Irwin station we stopped at on our way from the ferry when we first got to Newfoundland.

Unfortunately, it was CLOSED!

I saw lights on and people still inside so I went and asked if we could buy some gas. We had less than a quarter tank left and I didn’t feel confident that we could make it the 94km to Port Aux Basques and the Tim Hortons there.

Luckily, the manager was kind and let us fuel up. They had just closed a few minutes before we arrived and were finishing their paperwork before heading home. Whew!

We decided to make dinner here before driving the rest of the way. It would be at least 10:30pm before we could get to Tim Hortons, so food was necessary.

No ferry service

I called the ferry company, Marine Atlantic, to ask about reservations for Saturday morning. I was told that due to high winds, there was a possibility the sailing would be canceled. Unfortunately, it was and we had to book a Saturday evening ferry, instead.

But we still needed to make it to Tim Hortons to camp for the night, so it was back on the road.

Fog… A lot of fog

With gas to make the trip to Tim Hortons and full bellies, we were feeling pretty good… until we encountered fog. We were following a semi-truck and letting it lead the way, but soon after, the fog became so thick that I couldn’t see more than 6 or 7 feet in front of the van.

That meant I had to drive about 40kph because it was pitch black and we had been warned many times about moose. Luckily, there weren’t any moose, and after about 20 minutes, the fog cleared and we were back at full speed.

Thankfully, we arrived safely at Tim Hortons and were able to camp for the night. There is still a chance the Saturday night ferry will be cancelled, so we’ll have to see what happens in the morning.

The post Road Trip Journal – Gros Morne National Park & Trying to Leave Newfoundland appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.

So, I figured renaming the posts on the site would be appropriate. I’ll still be talking about Ethan’s learning journey, as we roadschool/homeschool him, but now the titles are a better match for what the posts are about. Let me know if you have any thoughts about the renaming.

Last night…

Last night, we decided to try again to see the first sunrise in North America so we camped at Cape Spear. What’s nice about the VW Westfalia camper vans is how relatively incognito they are. Anyway, this would also be our final day in St. John’s, which we thought would be yesterday, but we like to just go with the flow of things, so…

Video to come.

Morning

Sunrise! We saw it, finally. The first sunrise in North America. What a feeling. We’ve now accomplished pretty much everything we set out to do on this amazing road trip.

Obviously, we had to have breakfast here to savour the moment. Someone didn’t like the dates in this oatmeal as others did, though.

One thing that Ethan has had to learn on this road trip is adapting to situations. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth talking about again because there are days when it’s easy to adapt and there are days when it’s more challenging.

Getting Ethan to wake up early to see the first sunrise in North America qualified as more challenging. We feel like he’s getting better all the time, and as long as we prepare him ahead of time by letting him know what’s going to happen, it definitely helps.

Swimming Alone

We needed a shower, as it’s been almost a week, so we went to the same pool we went to when we first arrived in St. John’s, which was the Paul Reynolds Community Centre. Nice pool, but I just wish the water was warmer and that they had a hot tub.

Ethan got ready before Dong Eun and I, so he went and started playing in the water by himself. I wasn’t aware of the rule they have whereby any child under age 13 must be accompanied by an adult. The lifeguards were looking for us, but we were too busy enjoying a shower.

The lifeguards were very nice, so it wasn’t a big issue.

Looking for postcards and a sticker

We wanted to find Newfoundland postcards to send to friends and family. We also wanted a Newfoundland sticker for Juju Jr. It turned out to be a lot tougher to find those things, as we spent most of the day driving around. But we did manage to find a sign with some mention of where we were… A mile zero, and kilometre, sign. Not sure why they put both miles and kilometres onto one sign, but we’ve now got a photo to show where we were, anyway.

The Rooms

Dong Eun has been wanting to go to The Rooms ever since we arrived in Newfoundland, as she heard the cafe there is very good. We finally made it to The Rooms today and had a nice look around. The parking was good, too.

But we didn’t go to the cafe, as it was more of a restaurant. We watch where we spend our money, and would prefer to pay when it’s something special or necessary. Having a muffin and having to pay extra for service and a tip didn’t fall into those aforementioned categories.

The Rooms did have some nice postcards, but we decided to shop around and try to find a better selection.

First, we needed some play time for Ethan and some late lunch. We were near Bannerman Park, the place we met Michael and where the Pumpkin Walk was. There were only some toddlers around today, but Ethan still enjoyed the time outside and the fresh air.

Lunch was scrambled eggs with spinach in a whole wheat pita and some yummy Newfoundland cod cakes we got from Costco. Once these are done, we’ll likely have to come back to get them, as they’re not sold in Vancouver (I think).

The Driving Around

Here’s where we went on our quest for a Newfoundland sticker for Juju Jr. and postcards…

• Walmart… no postcards or stickers.
• Dollarama… no postcards or stickers, but we got an envelope to send in Ethan’s assessment!
• Buck or Two… no postcards, but they had stickers. Too bad they were in a pack of 10, and the others were too big or too small.
• Downhome Shoppe… postcards and stickers, but the prices were way too touristy.
• Canadian Tire… no postcards or stickers.

So we Googled souvenirs and found one that was out at the airport. St. John’s is small, so it wasn’t a long drive. I even called to make sure they had both items on our list. The parking wasn’t free, so I waited in the van while Ethan and Dong Eun went in to find the store.

Ethan came back with good news and bad news… They found the shop. But they needed a plane ticket because the shop was in the departures terminal. Back on the road.

We saw some nice souvenirs and cards at the Johnson Geo Centre, so we went back to Signal Hill.

They had a couple of cards Ethan liked for 40% off, so we got those. But we needed a few more cards, and they didn’t have stickers.

Our trek finally ended back where we were earlier today… At The Rooms. They had a 10 pack of postcards for $5, so we got those. But since they didn’t have stickers, we decided that we’ll order them on Amazon when we get home. The driving around was a great way to take one last look at St. John’s before heading out of town.

We’re spending the night at a 24hr Tim Hortons, instead of a Walmart, because we wanted to be as close to the Trans Canada Highway as possible. Tomorrow, we have a long drive to Gros Morne National Park and then, to the Port Aux Basque ferry terminal to go back to Nova Scotia.

But first, some dinner! We love the cod cakes, if I haven’t already mentioned it multiple times. But we also love the Pho noodles we got from Costco. Costco has been good to us lately, for sure.

Are we supposed to sleep overnight at Tim Hortons? I guess we’ll find out.

The post Road Trip Journal November 2, 2017 – First Sunrise in N. America & Bye to St. John’s appeared first on How to Do Stuff With Ethan.