Something is definitely wrong. I'm half awake...but it's warm...and dry...and I'm encased in real sheets...and I can't see the inside of the tent.
Wow...a great night's sleep in a hotel...in a real bed...what a luxury!
Included in the exorbitant hotel rate is a free hot breakfast, so Ed and I head for the restaurant...coffee, omelet, toast...good!
Then...it's off to North Sydney (15 miles or so) to catch the Ferry. We're there two hours early, and the lines of vehicles waiting to board are already long. We booked online, so we zip through in a few minutes. Now we have an hour and a half wait for boarding. But, that's OK...we chat with our fellow "shipmates"...drink a coffee...get a glimpse of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police "show horses"...it's a fun wait.
Around 9:30, we're driving aboard. I've packed a "travel bag"...books (a history of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge...unfinished from last summer's trip out west, camera, cigars, guide books...I'm we;;-prepared.
The ship is HUGE...almost like a cruise ship...restaurants, a casino, bars...you name it. Ed and I grab a spot between one of the bars and one of the restaurants...and settle in for our six-hour voyage across a part of the North Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. I read, have a cocktail...chat with a family of UM fans from Grand Rapids (Go Blue!). And, before I know it, we're docking at Port-Au-Basques in Newfoundland. By 3:45 or so., we're off the ship and on the road. We adjust our watches for Newfoundland time...one HALF hour later.
Now, we're rolling along on a 125 mile drive to Corner Brook where we'll camp for the night. Newfoundland has some impressive mountains...vast forests...many lakes carve out by glaciers many years before...all beautiful.
About 6:30, we're at our camp, Prince Edward Provincial Park, and setting up camp. A few cocktails to take the "edge" off, then a great dinner of homemade chili...excellent!
We meet a couple from Alberta...ranchers...and they give us some restaurant tips for Quebec City and Montreal. After dinner, it's time for a few last beers before calling it a night.
We're on this island...this rock...this Newfoundland.
Ed's Sidebar, Day 33:
The ferry boat to Newfoundland...
My little teardrop camper (actually Bill's)--everyone wants to see her. Her chrome rims and solar panel, wow. And what a rack, wow. And look how the tail goes up and down, wow, man, cool. What a sexy rig, they are thinking. Yeah, I am thinking--but you don't have to live with her.
Speaking of teardrops--live a little. Empty your refrigerator. Go ahead. Take out the shelves. Take everything out. Now get inside. Pull the door shut. Change your clothes in there and you will have some idea of cold weather camping.
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