Stephenville, a funeral and the Island of Ramea

From Burgeo and Ramea, NL

Wed. Sept. 10
Stephenville, NL

I have been here for a week now. They are doing construction outside of the motel. Putting in a form so they can our cement. It was a bit noisy but I was sleeping a lot. I have become addicted to the Discovery Channel. Mythbusters rocks! I like those guys. That and How Things Are Made. A couple of interesting shows. I got up and took a long bike ride around Stephenville. There is a bike trail that runs along the shore down to a small harbor. I rode that and all around an abandoned campground that’s along the path. Used to be a nice campground. Then to the supermarket and back to my room. I also took one day and drove around the Port au Port Peninsula which is just west of Stephenville. It’s very pretty and I spent some time at the Boute Park out at the very end. It was a beautiful day but very windy. I looked for a while but was not able to spot any whales. I drove on and spotted a memorial for a plane crash from 1941. I walked down the path and there are still parts of the plane. YOu can see the landing gear and some engine parts. I walked that trail to where it ended looking out over the ocean. Then I drove to Lourdes and there were some really interesting yard decorations and an old school that I photographed.

Port au Port Peninsula

I drove way out this thin spit of land to Black Duck Cove. This place is way out there. It would be a tough place to live in the winter! Then back around to the road I cam in on and I stopped to photograph the lamas at the Newfoundland Lama Farm and I have an ice cream. THe sales person tells me there is a great hiking path at the Gravels which is the narrow strip of land that connects the peninsula to the mainland. I find the trail and there are some really interesting circular rock formations. I walk out the path until it runs into a big construction site then walk back. I drive back to the Keyano Motel and eat dinner. My meals these days are canned meats, bagels, cheese, cereal, fruit, chips and salsa, and of course peanut butter. Not too interesting but fairly cheap. Tropical storm Hanna came through over the weekend and we go some rain but not to bad. I hear most of the wind and rain was east.

On Monday I had a phone conference with Jenny to get the site map ready for the folkfest in St. Pete at the end of September. It felt good to get that finished. On Tuesday I called Transmission Experts to discover that Phonse Noseworthy passed away from a heart attack on Saturday and the shop is closed this week. I am very sad to hear that Phonse has passed. He was a really nice guy and he was working very hard to get me back on the road. This is also going to delay my departure for another week. I talk to the owner of the motel and my room is available for another week and he is going to give me the best price he can. I decide to help with the construction he is doing. We are preparing to lay a brick walkway and there are lots of paving stones to move out of the way and we are cutting and installing 6x6 edging timbers. Then we get a load of gravel and spread it in the form and use a gas powered compactor to tamp that down. That become my job to run the compactor. My arms vibrate for about and hour after I finish. Then we spread in sand over the gravel and compacted it again.

Thursday Sept. 11

This afternoon I drove up to Corner Brook to attend Phonse Noseworthy’s funeral. It was held in a big modern Catholic church and there was a big crowd. All the seats downstairs were full and lots of people in the balcony. I was glad I went as even though it was a sad occasion I got to see all of Phonse’s family and friends. Ralph who is Phonse’s number two guy told me my van is next for reassembly when they open nest week. That is good news but it means that I won’t have time to drive through Labrador. I will have to plot a new course back through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and over to Quebec. I am sad not get to Labrador but there will be other trips. I have to be in Rochester, NY on Sept. 25th to fly back to St. Petersburg to help run the folkfest. I have a drink to Phonse and slice of pizza for dinner and then drive the hour back south to Stephenville. I have a couple more drinks in the Lounge and talk to Mary behind the bar. Then this obnoxious guy Corey gets up my nose by calling Barrack Obama a nigger. It really annoys me because this guy obviously knows nothing about Obama and is obviously just trying to get attention. I tell him off and then proceed to ignore him until I finish my drink then I head for my room. I watch Discovery channel until I am sleepy then off to bed.

Friday
We lay the rest of the brick in the walkway and adjust all the 6x6 bracing. When we take a coffee break the boys pull out a jar of freshly canned squid and pass it around. It’s very tasty and not too rubbery. A good break from cheese and bagels. Then back to work and spend the rest of the day working on the walkway. Then I have dinner in my room and watch Take Home Chef braise lamb shanks. Boy do they look good and I feel homesick for my kitchen in Florida. I would love to be braising some lamb shanks rather than eating mini bagels with cheese and vienna sausages and canned pears! Soon I will be back on the road and that will be great. I think we are going to hear some live music tonight. That will be fun. We did go out about midnight. dance clubs don’t get started until about midnight in Newfoundland. The bands were playing a mix of rock and country with some Newfie music mixed in. Lots of dancing. Everyone is willing to dance here and that makes it fun. I got home after 3 am and crashed.

Saturday

Lots of rain so i stayed in bed and nursed a little hangover. Watched a lot of TV. I have decided that i want to be a Mythbuster when I grow up!

Sunday Sept. 14
Forecast was good today so I saddled up Little Red and drove south to Burgeo. It’s a couple of hours drive through tree covered mountains and then tundra. Very rugged country. This is the first day of moose hunting season so I stayed on the road in the car! There are a few places were there are groups of trailers and hunting camps groups together around a lake. I could see where lots of folks were off in the woods hunting. I reached Burgeo at a bit before 11 and there was a ferry scheduled to leave for the island of Ramea at 11. Perfect. It was cloudy and misty on the way down but looked like it was going to clear. I got on the ferry and paid my $3.65 for the hour plus ride to the island. (Best deal in Newfoundland!) As we crossed the weather cleared and the sun was out when we landed at Ramea. This used to be a thriving fishing port until the collapse of the fishing industry closed the fish plant and put the fishermen out of business. Ramea is a beautiful town. There was one house and matching boat painted safety orange with blue trim! Cool.

Burgeo and Ramea, NL

As soon as i got off the boat a car pulled over and an older gentleman (Jerry I think.) Drove me to see the windmill power generating farm. They have about 6 windmills. It was still so none were turning. I guess this is a test site so they don’t really know how much power is being generated. Then he drove me to the end of town where there is a walking path that goes to a lighthouse and around the end of the island and back into town. I hiked out onto a boardwalk over the bog. There were cement tiles with children’s hand prints and other symbols placed along the trail. Cute. The lighthouse was up on a rocky outcropping so I walked up the stair to take pictures and walk around the light keepers house. No one came out so I figured he wasn’t home. I followed the trail on around and from the point I took some pictures of the fog lifting on the mainland. The trail led back through the windmill farm and then I walked up another hill that had a viewpoint and picnic table on top and took pics of the town and the mainland. Then I walked back toward town and a guy I had caught smoking in the no smoking zone stopped his car and drove me back to the restaurant. I ordered a club sandwich to go and walked over to catch the 2 pm boat back to Burgeo. I would have stayed longer but then i would have had to drive back after dark. Too many moose around for that. When I got back to Burgeo I drove out to the Sandbanks Provincial Park. Since it was late on the last day they are open they let me in free. Thanks!

Sandbanks Provincial Park

They liked my National Park Pass and scanned it to try and make their own for next year. They gave me a trail map and I walked out to the Western beach and even though the sun was mostly out I decided it was a little too cold to swim. I waded some and walked along the beach and found a perfect sand dollar. I walked all around the Park on the trails. Out to a historic old cemetery and then back along the other side of the peninsula where I there was a small cove and beach with a beach volleyball court in it. It was the perfect size for this cove. Nobody was playing but I could imagine it full of teens on a hot summer day. Pretty cool. Then back to my car and it was 6 pm so I drove back and there were lots of cars cruising the side of the road looking for moose coming out to feed. I made it back to Stephenville just after dark and headed for the bar for a drink and a chat with Mary and then off to bed. A nice day today.

Rainy this morning so I slept in and then walked down to the lounge to check my email. They should be sending me an email soon as BEYOND was next in line for reassembly. No message though. SO I go to the store and buy half a BBQ chicken and supplies. Boy did the chicken taste good! THen I hang out and watch TV, listen to music and read. I was up late watching Mythbusters and mixed martial arts fights. Finally I fall asleep.

Tuesday Sept. 16th.
I was up so late that I sleep in a little and then check my email. No word on BEYOND but a message about changes to the map for folkfest in St. Pete. So we have a phone conference and I realize that I have to be in Rochester in just over a week. Ouch! I call Transmission Experts and Betty says they are working on her. Yes! There isn’t anything I can do to help at the motel so I walk up the stream to where there are quite a few petrified trees. It takes me a while to find the site but then they are everywhere. Some of them are 15 feet long stretching out into the stream. It’s very cool. I take lots of pictures and walk as far up the stream as I can and then back to the Keyano.

Stephenville Petrified Forest

I spend some time plotting a new route to Rochester. On the route I want to take it’s just over a day’s worth of drive time. If I can get going soon it won't be too bad. I will be able to see a few sites along the way. But later they call back to say there is an unexpected hydraulic problem and it will be at least another day. Dang! How long can this drag out. So I go back to my room and type in my log and download pics. Everyone who reads this please say a prayer for BEYOND so i can get back on the road. Thanks!

As always pics are at http://picasaweb.google.com/allenloyd