Max relax day and visit to Lobster Cove Head (Friday, June 9th)

We have been going non stop since the start of our trip so we take it easy this morning. We head out after lunch to Lobster Cove Head.  It's a lighthouse with a small museum inside.  It is 23C when leave the campsite and Lobster Cove is maybe a 10min drive.  By the time we get there, the temperature has dropped to 16C and the wind is BLOWING!  We wore our shorts but we were smart enough (or maybe lucky enough) to have our warm jackets and tuques.  There is a super nice Parks Canada employee who has fun things for Gaby to do.  We ask about the kite's that they lend out so we can give it a try.  She tells us that her and a fellow employee will come help us because it's sometimes hard to get the kite to fly.  We think it's pretty funny seeing as the wind is blowing 100 mph! (and a small secret...Justin loves to fly a kite) She lets the kite go and it shoots right up in the sky and in no time she loses the handle and is running after the kite...it was hilarious!  I was just about to press record on the gopro... too bad because writing this out really doesn't do it justice.  It's too bad because we didn't get to fly a kite which would have been awesome by the ocean in those winds but maybe we'll find a way to do it at some other point. We did all the little trails around the lighthouse.  Gaby insists that we go on EVERY trail.  It was a nice way to spend a relaxing afternoon.

Interactive museum

Training for the 15km race in Sept with James on my back! :)

 Came back via Rocky Harbor.  We stopped at the pharmacy and Home Hardware to pick up a few things then drove through Norris Point.  Supper, laundry, game of skipbo with gab, blog and off to bed!

Footage fort this day has also been lost but running a recovery software right now with fingers crossed!

Western Brook Pond (Thursday, 8 June)

This morning we are excited!  We are in Grose Morne and ready for some adventure.  Visitor centre opens at 9 so we were there at around  940ish.  Parks Canada staff was great and gave us some great trails that would be perfect for us with the kids and told us to try and get booked on the Western Brook pond as it has been sold out the last few days.  So first thing we do is call up to make reservations and the 12 o'clock boat is full so we are on standby for the 3o'clock tour.  We have to call in at 1 to see if the tour is a go (they need a minimum to run the tour).  Meanwhile we head over to Berry Head Pond for a 2km loop.  Gaby loves the walk and has to stop at every plant/flower to take a picture for Kim.  Kim and Gaby always go for walks with the dogs and she's a big reason why Gab is so good at keeping up on our crazy adventures.  We saw a beaver damn and the trees they took down to make their hut.  (I would have never noticed...but my nature buffs - Gab and Justin spotted it).  It was a great trail for the stroller.  Gaby was having fun trying to call the Moose - 'Here Moosey Moosey' :)  We have yet to see a Moose in Newfoundland.  The only one we saw was in New Brunswick on the drive up.

Left over guac!  Never happens when Will's around!!!

We make our way back to the campsite for a good lunch and call at 1230 to find out the tour is a go. Off we go because it's a 30 minute drive-ish and we also have a 3km hike in to reach the boat.  Poor James - we wake him up again out of his car seat to put him in the backpack.  He has no complaints in the back pack...he loves it.  The cost of the boat tour is pretty expensive! 146$ for the 4 of us.  But when in Grose Morne....you have to do it.  It really was worth every penny.  The weather was amazing but we were warned to bring our winter gear, which we did.  We were happy to have our tuques! The wind blows right through you.  The fjord is now fresh water so technically it really isn't a fjord because to fit the description of a 'fjord' it should be salt water.  The boat we were in had to be air lifted to the pond and the other boats were taken to the pond in pieces during the winter over the bog.  Our french tour guide was really nice.  Her boyfriend was posted here last year and they are in Rocky Harbor for 3 years.  She has learned to love it but she really misses fresh fruit and vegetables.  It's about a 1.5hr drive for a grocery store.  Yikes!  But on the bright side, she said you can get a nice house on the OCEAN for 150 to 200k.  Try buying a shack for that price on the St-Lawrence!! The highlight of the tour for Gaby was at first the waterfalls, but then, on our way back, water was splashing into the boat and onto the deck floor! She was entertaining the other passengers with her full out belly laugh.  We had a lot of fun.  James did well considering he didn't have a nap. He got fussy near the end and Justin took him down to the lower deck.  For the last bit of the tour, they turned on Newfy jams, James loved it! He was clapping along and also putting on a show.  The walk back did our little man in, and he found a way to fall asleep in the backpack.  Our little trooper Gab also did awesome.  She was a little tired near the end and needed to use the restroom but she pushed through and we got back to the parking lot.

Looking towards Western Brook Pond

The fjord in teh background is our destination!

Beautiful walk to the fjord!

On our hike in to Western Brook Pond

Comfy on the boat

Having Fun with BB Girl

One of the falls along the fjord

James is done in!

Just taking in some rays

My little trooper did 8kms today!  Once at the campsite, she forgot how tired she was and headed for the bouncy mat while we enjoyed the sunshine!  Another wonderful day!

I am pretty upset with myself because I think my GoPro footage from the boat tour was deleted by accident.  I have been switching SD card between my camera and Gaby's 'caméra d'aventure'.  I have a feeling she or James may have deleted the footage before I downloaded it.  I am going to try and recover the footage but for now... it's more important to make the memories than to capture them.  The SD card came with a 'recovery' software download so fingers crossed!

Change of plans (Wednesday, 7 June)

Today the plan is to head out to Stephenville and find a campsite in that area.  It's about a 1.5hrs drive.  We get on the road by 10ish and head North.

Grand Codroy RV campground

View across our site

Gab prête a partir avec sa caméra d'aventure

We will drive the French Ancestors Route after we park the trailer.  As soon as we pass the campsite, I had my eye on, I decided that maybe there isn't enough for us to see here for it to be worth spending the night. Problem is, we needed to fuel up before doing the 125km loop.  Justin is an expert at wheeling our trailer around and we head back to fuel up and decide to stop in Port au Port at the narrows connecting the peninsula to the main land. It's about 1315 and we have a nice lunch.  The drive around the peninsula must have taken us an honest 1.5hrs.  It had beautiful views especially on the western side where the Dodge was put to the test driving up the big hill.  We were above the clouds looking down at the ocean.  Just breathtaking.  I was hoping to find the 'bread ovens' they talk about in the visitors guide but we didn't spot anything.

Lunch stop

Throwing rocks while waiting for lunch to be ready

Bones just hanging out after lunch

Lunch break is almost over - ready to drive around the peninsula

Back on HWY1 to get to Grose Morne.  We are all anxious to get there.  This is another long day of driving but I know that we will now stay put for a few days.  We debate on which campsite and agree on KOA as they are known to be kid friendly.  I had the wrong address in the GPS so we passed it and had to backtrack which was probably an extra 15 minutes and another occasion for Justin to turn the trailer around but we are all just happy to finally have reached our destination.  We book for 2 nights indicating that we will probably extend to make sure we don't have to move the trailer and we settle in for the night.  Quick pasta and off to bed we go! Mel finally figures out her GoPro and how to make awesome videos but the wifi isn't strong enough for the upload! :(

Sidenote:
I dropped a quick email to my RMC roommate, Heather, who is from Stephenville.  I should have written to her before because she gets back to me that same day but just after we have left.  Her mom still lives there and if I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure we drove right passed her house.  Still cool to have seen where she is from!

We made it to the ROCK!!! (Tuesday, June 7th)

*** You can skip to the video at the end if the write up is too long! 

Waking up on the Ferry!  They give a warning when we are 1hr from port but we kept sleeping and finally got up at the 30 minutes warning.  My plan was to get up earlier and bring Gab on the top decks while we were actually sleeping but it didn't take much for Justin to convince me that we should just chill.  So, we are rushing to get everyone showered in our mini bathroom and get everything packed.  By the time we make it to the elevators to bring us to the lower deck, they are calling for the owner of a Black Dodge with a travel trailer....oh boy!  Justin takes off using the stairs and we get off the elevator just in time to see Justin pulling away with the trailer..... The lady on the deck tries to figure out if they can stop him and if we can join him but it's too late and she tells me we have to get off using the passenger only buses.  Problem is that Bones is still up in his kennel and I have no idea how I will manage to carry all our bags, the kids, Bones and his kennel.  She tells me to head to reception on the 5th deck and they would figure something out.  Once I finally find it, they tell me to just go get my dog and leave him in his kennel and to come back and we would go on the passenger bus.  Hugh....my dog is 80lbs in a 4X3 kennel....no way.  Plus, I am not sure if Justin has the muzzle or if he left it up there.  Thank God we both have our cell phones and I can call him and he tells me that he left the muzzle it in the kennel.  I get to the top deck with the kids and look frantically for Bones.  He is so happy to see me.  I get him out and put the muzzle on him (which he manages to take off in record time, but I really don't care at this point)  I put our bags in the kennel, grab onto bones, Gab is pushing James and we head back down.  When the doors open a nice lady is there waiting for us.  She sees how nice Bones is and says that they will take us to the lower deck and have a bus for us. We get our own bus and get driven to Justin who is waiting in the yard for us.  Boy...are we happy to finally be in NEWFOUNDLAND!!!!!

Our tiny room 

tiny bathroom which included a shower

We made it!

So tired! Yesterday was a long day!

We decide on a campsite in Codroy Valley in Doyles.  About a 30 minute drive.  3 service, free firewood and super friendly service all for 36$.  The lady gave us a super well put together flyer of things to do in the area so we have a quick lunch and head out.  Our first impression of NFLD is WOW!  The drive to the campsite takes us on HWY 1 through Table Mountains.  We drive to most westerly point of the island where there is a cute lighthouse and then make a stop at a beautiful beach.  Gab is having a blast picking up seashells and trying to skip rocks on the water with Justin.  We then head back towards Port-aux-Basques to discover the communities that lie east of there.  Our first stop is in Isle aux Morts where we take what we guess is about a 4km loop walk along side the ocean.  The Harvey Trail is breath taking.  It's a gravel, coastal trail honoring the site of the daring rescues by the George Harvey family

Next, onto Rose Blanche.  This community is the last one going west inland.  You can catch a passenger ferry to get to 'La Poile'. (Had to mention it because it made Gab laugh big time).  We turned into Rose Blanche thinking we were heading to the lighthouse.  The tiny winding roads are crazy! There are tiny little houses all right next to each other with roads that only allow one vehicle at a time.  We are happy we turned in because driving through the village was fun.  We kept thinking of people who would accidently turn in there with their trailers!!! When we initially got off the ferry, I had thought of maybe going to west first to see these villages in order not to backtrack! Thankful we didn't.  We found the lighthouse and it was a nice little walk to go see it and visit inside. It is a restored granite lighthouse.  Unfortunately, we are not aloud to go to the top. 

On the way back, we decide to stop at a waterfall that we spotted on the way in.  We gave Gab the option to hike to it or not.  Our little trooper was all about it.  It's about a 3km there and back hike to Barachois Falls.  Very nicely done and well worth the easy hike.  James was sleeping in his stroller the entire way and Bones was a little tired from his first day so he stayed back in the truck.  Gaby and Justin went and touched the water and of course Justin had to try and get a hero shot and climbed up the fall a bit.  He had to take his shoes off to come back as he couldn't make the jump back to the trail (I think he was playing it safe seeing as on our last trip,  a hero shot landed him in Emerg with a sprained ankle!).  

Barachois Falls

Rose Blanche Lighthouse

Back to the trailer we go, via a small pitstop at Foodland in Port-aux-Basques.  Cauliflower was 8.99, it stayed on the shelf.  I bought broccoli for a crazy 4.29!  The meat on the other hand, was fairly priced. Some good chicken breast and broccoli for supper and we all call it a night!  The kids were both passed out on the way to the camper!

Day 1 on the ROCK did not disappoint.

A little video of today's highlights!

DRIVING, DRIVING MORE DRIVING AND GETTING ON A FERRY! (Monday, June 6th)

OK! So last night I signed off with hopes of making it to Edmundston.  Well, it would have been an easy goal if we would have planned a bit better.  It wouldn't be that bad if this was the first time this happened to us but no..... Twice on our previous trip we ran the truck to nearly dry.... DISTANCE TO GO indicater =0. However, every other time, we hit the 0 mark with a gas station in sight.  Last night no such luck... We got to a station and it was closed.  With about 40km till empty we kept going. Justin blames it on me because he wanted to just park at the closed station and wait till morning but I didn't think we were far enough to make it to the ferry on time so we kept going and when we got down to ZERO we stopped and I suggested we call Good Sam roadside service to get us some fuel and back on the road.  Not ideal but better than running dry (in our Diesel truck) and this way we could keep going.  So, a nice man brought us some fuel and we followed him to his little garage and we filled up and were on our way.  We really didn't need that hour detour but hopefully this is a lesson learned and we will now fill up anytime we can once the tank is passed the halfway mark.


We parked in a Walmart in La Pocatière, QC at about 2ish.  Setup gaby in bed and James didn't want anything to do with his play pen so being so tired I gave in and he slept with me.  Up at 630 and then on the road by 715.  Big day of driving ahead as the plan was to be in Edmundston last night.  We had a great day of driving.  Our kids really are the bomb when in comes to travelling. We saw a baby moose when we crossed over in New Brunswick.  We stopped for gas and picked up some hotdogs for lunch.  Having to be at the ferry for 2130 we really don't have time for any long stops.  We then stopped in Moncton at a Cabella's where we let Bones out for a good break while Justin got his Cabela's fix.  Mel took that time to get the stuff we needed to bring on the ferry ready to go.  A quick stop at Pet Value and we are back on the road.  Gab started the 'are we there yet?' at about 2-3 hours from arrival which is not bad considering we had been on the road for over 10hours.  Justin was even getting angry.  He had asked me if the ferry was next to cape breton and i said yes so without me knowing he was getting excited seeing the signs indicating the distance to cape breton but when I told gab we had 2 hours to go he was pissed because he thought we were much closer!  Cape breton is huge and sydney is on the other side :)

Gaby with her 'Fun Box' from Nanny

Des muffins de mami pour le long voyage

James s'amuse à manger ses pieds!

We arrived at about... 9ish.  It's a good thing we didn't waste anytime.  Check in was smooth.  I had already made reservations and all that was needed was to check our ID and our veterans card!  The ferry offers FREE passenger fare to veterans and their family! For us it meant nearly a 100$ savings and the lady even thanked us for our service.  Very rare to get recognition here in Canada (unlike in the States) so that was very nice.  We parked the truck and trailer in our loading lane and went in the to the terminal.  I hung out with the kids and Bones while Justin went a picked us up some subway for a really late supper!  The game was playing in the terminal so we got to peak at that for a bit (GO PK!) (disclaimer: Justin will be mad when he sees this - he loves his boy Crosby).  The boarding call is heard so I head back to the truck with the kids and Gab is freaking a bit thinking that Justin will miss the ferry.  He is back in no time and it ends up that we wait in the car for nearly another 40 mins.  We were not sure how we would manage getting the kids and all the stuff up to our room plus bones up to the kennel area.  The staff was super nice.  They warn you that you can't open a stroller on the lower deck where the vehicles are but the man was very accommodating and said we could to get to the elevator and even let justin help me up to the room and then come back to get bones to bring him up to to the kennel on Deck 10.  Both Justin and I know why we weren't in the navy! The rooms are SMALL.  To be expected and we made it work.  Gaby got the top bunk.  I thought maybe James could sleep in his stroller but it barely fit in the room so we decided to put it on the top bunk and we put James on some blankets on the floor.  Justin was very mad at himself with the Bones situation.  We debated a long time if we were going to leave Bones in the truck or bring him up to the kennels.  The thing is, you can't return to your car during the crossing. With the 'rocky' youtube videos we saw of the  we were scared how he would do in the car for that long...especially if we come back thought through Argentia (14-16hr crossing).  Long story short, Bones was freaking out in his kennel and it was tearing Justin apart.  He went back up and tried to get to the truck to put Bones in there but the doors are air locked and there is no way to get back in without special  permission from the captain.  In the end, Bones calmed down and he made it through the night.  We all had a great sleep.

Day 2 was a long day of driving but the excitement of the ferry made us get through it!

Lined up ready to load onto the ferry

Off we go!! (Sunday, June 5th)

The day has finally arrived!  Ever since we returned from our cross Canada trip with Gaby in 2012 we knew that we wanted to go East once our family grew once again.  It's a bit later than planned but we are so thankful to have been blessed with baby James and to be able to take another trip of a lifetime!  This time Gab is well aware that we are heading out on an adventure and she is so excited that it makes it that much more fun for us.  We have been talking about this with her since before Christmas and she has been counting down the days for some time now.  She is so excited for the trip that she was ok with missing the last month of school and that means a lot for miss Gaby who loves school!  Not to fear... She is taking 'her students' with her. (inside joke)

In order for Justin to get this much time off, we decided that he would also take parental leave.  The logistics around that was more complicated than planning the trip itself but we'll get into that later.  All that matters now is that we are on our way.  All of us including Bones!

We would have left sooner but our little dancer had her recital today and we couldn't, I should clarify and say I, Mel, couldn't break her heart and miss her recital.  So today, our little dancer danced her heart out to, as she would say it...Justin Timbrerlake, Worth it and Red light Green light in front of her fan club!  We are spoiled to have so many people love and care for our little ones. Ma tante Doudounne est arrivée pour nous aider avec les cheveux et le maquillage de cocotte.  C'est une tradition depuis que matante a donné à gaby son premier costume de dace et l'idée de danser.  Mami, Pépere, Russel, Grand-mami, Nanny Wheeler, Mon oncle "Nornon", auntie, Will et Liane sont tous venus voir la rockstar faire son spectacle. 

Un petit souper au Kelsey's avec la famille avant notre départ et évidemment les dernières choses de dernière minutes empilées dans la roulotte et nous sommes sur la route un peu plus tard que prévus.  Nous avons environ 16 heures de route pour se rendre à North Sydney.  Nous devons être rendu lundi soir pour 2145 pour le départ du traversier a 2345.  Notre but est de se rendre à Edmundston ce soir.  Il est présentement 1040 et nous sommes à la hauteur de Trois Rivières sur la 20.  Google nous indique qu'il nous reste 4 heures de route mais nous sommes déterminé d'atteindre Edmundston ce soir pour ne pas être trop stresser demain.  Justin a ses deux red bulls et je suis encore réveillé à ses cote!  Je vous donnerai des nouvelles de comment loin on s'est rendu!

THE ROCK!!!  Here we come!

Day 24 - kelowna to vancouver

This morning we are up bright and early.  Before we leave for Surrey, we have to get our four tires changed on the trailer.  Justin researched and called around yesterday and Fountain Tire had the best service around so we planned to be there for 07:40 (ATA 0830). 

They had a really big bay where we can just pull in with the trailer still attached and they changed the tires right then and there as we waited.  Frustrating thing is that the dealer in Cornwall (Cornwall Tire) where we purchased the tires, told us that in order to see if we could get some sort of refund, we would have to the bring the bad ones back.  So now, we have to carry the four bad tires across the country! Grrrr.  550$ later, we are on the road (0930) and crossing our fingers that these tires tough the trip.  For this leg of the trip, we also debated going south towards Penticton and the Okanagan Valley.   We were told that that route was longer but that the hills were not as bad. If we would have been 'sans bébé', we would probably have taken that road but the less driving we can do for BB girl, the better.  So the 97c highway it is!  After filling up the truck we are off (the steep gas station entrance makes the rack at the back of the trailer drag on the ground but no harm done).  

Thank you Fountain Tire! Great service!

Out with the old in with the new.

This leg of the trip was by far the biggest hills we encountered yet.  As much as our truck caused us problems with the entire front end replacement  it did not fail us today!  It showed those hills who's boss.  We pulled off the highway in Hope for a small lunch break and continued to the campsite to meet up with the rest of our crew.  We didn't really know what to expect because after speaking with them yesterday, they are really not impressed with the campsite.   We arrive at Dogwood Campground in Surrey at around 1430.  Mel and Aunt Sindy decide to go get some shopping done.  Surprise is on us when we discover that the stores close at 1800! Say what?!!!!?? So the only store we were able to hit was The Bay but at least aunt sindy was able to buy the pillow cases she needed.  We head back to the campsite and relax for the night.

The highway run-offs!  You know you are in the mountains when....

On the side of the road where we stopped for lunch - Hope, B.C.