Sept 16, 2019
We woke up to the sound of Canada Geese wishing us a happy anniversary. I got up and saw that the tide was in and the geese were swimming about 10 feet from the trailer. The town of Clarenville was waking up and we also wanted to get moving. We decided to pass on making breakfast and instead went to Tim Horton’s for a coffee and a breakfast meal. That ended up as a lump in our gut for a few hours and we both said we won’t do that again!
Debbie knew of a quilt store in the town so we drove there and I dropped her off while I went and refilled a propane tank and fuelled the truck.
After we left Clarenville we then drove to a small village called Thornlea. Debbie had heard about an amazing quilt shop called Jocelyn’s Quilt Shop. We drove down another secondary road for approximately 20 kms to get there. I swear it is the worst road in all of Newfoundland. I heard a joke the other day that describes the roads in Newfoundland:
In Canada we drive on the right side of the road,
In England they drive on the left side of the road,
And in Newfoundland they drive on what’s left of the road!
That pretty well sums it up! We got to Jocelyn’s Quilt Shop and she did not dissappoint. Debbie was very impressed with her inventory and of course bought some more fabric. Jocelyn only takes cheques or cash neither of which we had. Joceyln said, “Thats’ find get the money to me when you can.”! That is the way Newfoundlanders are. Incredible!
Our drive to St. Johns was uneventful, but the highway was in great condition and had no bumps to jar your teeth. We heard about the delays in the traffic due to a large construction project about 40 kms west of the city. We had talked to folks who had been delayed for as much as three hours. There is no way around this project. As we approached the construction zone and entered the detour, there were no vehicles ahead of us and we carried on through the 10 kms of detour at 50 kms with no problems! The local radio stations were reporting waits of up to one hour.
Debbie had been texting and communicating with several of our friends on the way in and arranged for us to meet Maggie and Charlie for supper. Then we found out that Doug and Brenda were also in town. They had towed their trailer to New Brunswick and then had flown into St. Johns. They are touring Newfoundland for a few days. Debbie arranged for them to meet us also for dinner. Then she contacted Meg who is also here in St. Johns working at the University and she is also going to meet for supper!
We found our campground in St. Johns. Pippy Park Campground is a large commercial campground and is conveniently located in the city. As we were setting up we noticed Scott and Jennifer were set up across from us. We had met them in Brimstone Head in Fogo Island. We compared stories and learned about some of the local sights that they had gone to the past three days.
We showered and then called a taxi to take us downtown to East Side Mario’s for our supper. It so much fun to meet everyone! Charlie and Maggie had never met Meg or Doug and Brenda, but it wasn’t long before everyone was telling stories and getting to know each other. Charlie and Maggie gave us a nice anniversary gift of fall and Halloween items to decorate our trailer. It was a real nice evening and we all enjoyed each other’s company. It was one of those moments in time when seven people who know each other and are from the same town meet in a different place totally across the country.
Doug and Brenda drove us back to the campground and we gave them a “tour” of our trailer. They are off to Gros Morne tomorrow so we wished them the best and said goodbye. We will see them in Nanaimo again later this year. It was a fun evening.
Quilting in a Kayak 