We scraped up another load of beans from the camper cabinet, so we've got coffee again this morning. It's only a 150 mile or so drive today, so we're not in any particular hurry.
One nice thing about today's drive is that about 60 miles will be on new pavement...part of a larger project to pave the highway all the way from Happy Valley/Goose Bay to Churchill Falls. About ten miles outside of town, we spot a bear on the side of the road and stop for a few photos. Thanks to my "Dolittlian" communication skills, I am able to establish an immediate rapport by using the phrase..."Yo, bear dude".
Construction slows our travel today...not to mention the poor road conditions once we run out of pavement. Still, we arrive late afternoon in the town of Churchill Falls. This is the sight of one of the world's largest hydroelectric projects, and it's very much a "company town". There are no RV Parks here, but a guy at the gas station advises us that we can park either at the skating rink or the church...we opt for the church. And, then, there we are...pitching our tent and setting up camp in the parking lot of the local church. It's rainy, cold...and the black flies ar out in force. There is one bar in town, but it doesn't open until 6:00PM. So...we head over to the town's only hotel and restaurant for a light lunch.
Back at "camp", we're all bundled up and huddled in the Escape to get out of the rain. 6:00PM never took so long.
Over at Malone's, we're finally having a couple of cold beers and some decent chicken wings and fries. It's a friendly group of people, but the crowd is pretty sparse for a Saturday. It's a warm and dry place, so we linger for several hours.
When we leave, the rain has stopped, so the walk back to "camp" isn't so bad. Still, it's mighty cold...nothing to do but sleep.
Ed's Sidebar, Day 44, 45, 46:
The original idea for Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds, came from watching black flies hurl themselves against a camper window in Labrador.
What if trout had a social life unknown to us? There would be Bob, hanging out with his buddies at the local rapids having the trout version of pizza and a beer. When--Bob disappears with a hook in his mouth. Later, Mona trout wonders, 'Whatever happened to...what's his name?' Oh well, maybe there's something with shinier spots to be found.
You have to watch out for bears in Churchill Falls. They hang out at the town dump, beyond which is some great fishing, they say. At night the bears come in from the dump to wander the town. They caught a bear just last week, and one the week before. This scares the campers of course. We are the only campers in town. We set up in the church parking lot, though, so we should be safe, praise the Lord.
When we left Cochran's Pub, two drunks in the parking lot were smoking cigarettes and doing the black flies jitterbug. When it comes to fun in Churchill Falls, you pay to play. These guys should know that.
The Community Church in Churchill Falls is locked tonight on account of black flies or religious strife, no one is sure. One thing is sure, no one ever met a black fly who feared the Lord.
I dreamed black flies tried to eat my brain in Labrador City. They disrupted my command and control first, scrambled the communication of my eyes and ears. They sent suicide scouts into my mouth and lungs to deceive me, to disguise their true point of attack. Thus distracted, I was helpless when the sky filled with the black helicopters of their assault. I had gone insane in this frigid war zone. When I woke, I loved the smell of bug spray.
(to be continued maybe...else, good bye to sidebars for this trip)
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