Holly HIKE!!! (Monday, July 10th)

It's a beautiful day to wake up by the ocean!  We have a jammed packed schedule today.  Another reminder that the time wasted with the truck really altered our plans.  We would love to spend more time here and would have had the luxury of time but right now we are squeezed for time.  We have a lot of things to do today and we want to be in St John's tonight (3 hours away).  Me and Gab take the time to go play by the ocean while Justin finishes to close up the trailer.  Our iceberg that we nicknamed the Twin Towers moved closer to us overnight.  The towers are not as big as they were when we first got here though.  Off we go! We head on through the beautiful village of Bonavista.  Justin really is in love with the beautiful houses.  We are really happy happy that the weather is so nice.  We are going to hike the Skerwink trail this morning.  A 5.3km moderate to difficult hike that has been rated in the top 25 hikes in North America and Europe by the ... .magazine.  We have prepped Gaby and she is ready to go and assures us she will do it without even 'chialer' (complaining)! As we get closer to Port Rexton, we are a little saddened because there is a good fog layer.  We stop at a gas station where we think we have to turn to get to the start of the trail and the attendant tells us we should leave our trailer here as there isn't much room.  So we unhook the trailer and head out.  Once we arrive, Justin realizes he forgot his hiking boots in the truck.  So he heads back with Bones and I start the trail with Gaby and James.  Within the first 2km we are blown away.   The fog is far enough and we are spoiled by the views.   Not only is the view beautiful but there are whales putting on a show for us!! We wait there for Justin to catch up to us and are entertained by the whales while we wait.  The entire hike is beautiful.  I wouldn't rate is as difficult but there are many steps and it is up and down a lot.  I decide to keep James on my back!  Training for the race in September!!  We are very proud of Gaby who does it all with no complaints! We came across a few people on the trail but it's a joy to share this beautiful site with everyone else who love it just as much as we do.  The free whale show is so much fun....we could sit there all day trying to spot them.  Once we are done, we stop at the trailer for a quick bite to eat and to the next village - Trinity.  First, we go to the lighthouse that we had a beautiful view of on our hike this morning.  James is sleeping and he hasn't napped all day so I let Justin and Gab go and explore.  Next, we go to Trinity.  I didn't really know what to expect and was imagining a real life Upper Canada Village but without people in character.  We went to the houses that we included with our Provincial park pass and skipped out on the others as it was already 4 and everything was closing at 5.  It was nice but I could have skipped it.  Justin on the other hand appreciated it.  We leave to pick up our trailer and I suggest we stop and eat on the way in order to break up the drive.  I promise Gab that we will grab an ice cream when we get the change.  We pass Clarenville and bad mistake on my part, there is nothing else along the way.  The kids are being really good.  Justin on the other hand is not a happy camper.  He is hangry!  About 60kms from St John's we pass a subway on the highway but this time he just drives by.  I think we just want to push through and get to St John's.  About 20mins away, James starts crying screaming but he passes out in no time.  Poor thing he is tired.  We arrive at Pippy Park in St John's.  The camping attendant is not pleasant and charges me 250+.  I question it after she has put my card through and she had us booked for 6 nights.  Her mistake as there were 2 Paquette's booked in.  Then we head to our site and it's too small.  Now, we are tired!  We go back, have our site changed for the pull through sites.  Setup and another snag.  They only have a 50amp plug and we don't have a converter.  We want to go pick up food anyways so we google Canadian Tire and are off.  None at Canadian Tire, none at Walmart across the road but we do pick up a chicken meal at Swiss Chalet.  Feed everyone and bedtime!

Rain (Saturday, July 8th)

Pouring rain this morning as the weather man predicted.  It's ok because our plan is to travel towards the Bonavista peninsula and might as well be driving when it's raining.  I wanted to go to a lookout as we travelled through Terra Nova Park but no sense on this gloomy day.  Justin had made the comment earlier in our travels that we had yet to see any milking farms.  Someone had told them that they were all on the eastern part of the island.  He just finishes saying that we are far east now and still no farms when we cross our first farm!  We would love to boondock tonight but I want a back up just in case so I look up campsites.  There are no campsites close to Cape Bonavista and there is one in Trinity.  By the time we arrive in Trinity it is downpouring.  We decide to go ask if they have a spot for us.  The man feels bad because there is no way we would can fit in their campsite.  He makes our decision easy...we turn around and head just a few kms away where we saw a spot to pull over on the small highway.  Of course, it is coming down hard when we set up the trailer.  Justin is soaked once he is finished.  We all strip down. Gaby even puts on her 'Meagan Trainor' giraffe onesie.  Turn up the heat and settle in for the afternoon.  We have a UNO Stanley cup playoff game! That's what we call it when we play first one to 4 :)  By late afternoon the rain slows down to a drizzle and we decide to take a drive out towards Bonavista.  I miss the turnoff towards Elliston but it's a loop so we start with Cape Bonavista instead of Elliston.  WOW!!! Cape Bonavista is breathtaking.  We didn't expect the village to be as big.  It's a 2000-2500 population.  I guess I should have noticed on the map but I never clued in.  We head towards the lighthouse.  As we are longing the coast we pass a sign that says 'free parking' with a fifth wheel parked there.  There is enough room for another 2-3 more trailers.  This spot is unbelievable.  We stop at the little ice cream shop across the road to inquire.  The kind lady says 'Welcome to Newfoundland boy'!  You come and park your trailer no problem!'.  Boy!! This spot is too sweet not to pass up, we will head back to our spot and bring the trailer up here.  I'm kind of upset that we didn't drive up here with the trailer but how were we to know.  On our way back we pass through Dungeon Provincial Park.  James is sleeping, so me and Gab take a sneak and confirm that we will stop in again tomorrow for everyone to enjoy.  On our way home we will stop in Elliston that is not only the root cellar capital of the world but where the Parks Canada lady told us it was a sure bet to spot puffins.  We see root cellars scattered here and there along the highway and then find 'THE' puffin viewing site.  We leave Bones in the truck.  Justin says he won't scare them away but once we get to the entrance of the site they of course don't allow dogs.  It's a small walk and we get excited thinking there is a puffin a few feet away from other tourists.  Jokes on us...it's someone with a camera big enough to see life on other planets that has a stuffed puffin!  Real puffins!!! Yes, now we see them!  There are hundreds of them if not thousands on the small island next to us.  Puffins are very small but we have a good view of them.  It's a wonder why they stay where they are.  It's almost like there is an imaginary line they won't cross but it is very cool to see them.  Gab was really excited to see them but I think it was anti-climactic for her.  Not sure why.  She may have thought they were bigger.  We head back to the trailer.  It's getting late, so we decide to feed the kids and get them ready for bed and travel after that.  James falls asleep on the way and miss Gaby stays up until we arrive.  We can't believe no one else has taken up the spots!  The turn to get in is tight and I don't know why I stress because Justin can always pull it off.  Kids in bed and all setup, Justin heads over the little ice cream shop across the road and grabs us supper.  We like to support the kind people who allow us to park for free and we really don't feel like cooking.  I love the name of the ice cream shop 'The little Dairy King'!  Cute.  We can't wait to enjoy the view when things clear up tomorrow morning!

Free view - amazing!

TERRA NOVA - Friday, July 7th

Eager to go this morning.  It's back to tourist mode and Justin is scared that I will be worst than usual with all the time we wasted.  I'm not that bad.  We get going and are the visitor centre for 9:45.  I am really surprised with their hours of operation.  They only open at 10.  While we are waiting to go in, I hear the boat tour operator speaking about icebergs and puffins.  PUFFINS???!!! Gaby has been talking about puffins since day 1.  It's the one big thing we have not seen yet.  Gaby is convinced they are in St Johns but I keep telling her that I don't know where to see them.  Well, this tour operator promises me that we can see them located besides the park.  There are no French tours and we prefer to visit the park so we head inside and are surprised by another touch tank.  Gab loves touching everything she can in the tank. 

We take a bit of a detour to go take a picture in the red chairs.  Next we head to Ochre Hill and climb up the communication tower to see amazing views of the park.  Gaby rarely backs out but she doesn't climb all the way up.  She waits for us at a smaller lookout below.  There is a lady there that chats up a storm with Gab.  It is so windy at the top of the lookout....we have lots of fun up there.

We then head to Sandy Pond for a small hike around - you guessed it! - a pond!  Tons of pitcher plants and beautiful flowers.  We have an encounter with a Grouse.  It literally scared me and I got a great gopro video ;)    Bones has a great swim and we head back for lunch.

Next stop is the East Port Beaches.  Gaby wants to swim but the water is WAY too cold!
Back to the trailer for supper and Justin and Gab play shuffleboard.

Then we have another uno stanley cup playoff - mel is champ tonight...gab better at loosing.




mom, dad, jack and lynda facetime
anthony call

Anger & Euphoria! (Thursday, July 6th)

We never heard from 'Tony our Saviour' (that's how his number shows up on my phone!).  Justin gives him a call at 8 and he tells him that he will be coming by this morning.  It's a long waiting game.  Justin hangs out with James while I get the trailer cleaned up!  The wait for Tony is killing both of us slowly!   He finally shows up and tells us that his boss is having him fly out to Halifax on a last minute trip.  He has to go check out tractors at an auction.  We are beyond discouraged.  He feels extremely bad and tells us to not change the injectors without verifying them first.  He tried calling around for someone to see us but hasn't been able to find someone.  He leaves and feels horrible and tells us he will come and see us on his return if we are not gone.

We have only one option left.  We have an appointment at Goobies tomorrow morning but I tell Justin to just drive out there and beg!  If we need a part, finding out on a Friday afternoon will do us no good especially here in the middle of the ROCK. 

I am left behind stressing out like crazy.  At least james is sleeping and Gaby is playing with the girls.
She goes to get ice cream with the girls grandparents in the top down Mustang.  At least our kids are having fun. 

Tony calls with another idea.  Nice man to feel so bad for us and try to help us as much as he can.

Justin tells me that they will plug the truck after lunch.  He calls me back and says that they are calling the engineers....  LONGEST WAIT EVER!!!

HE ARRIVES AND WE HEAR THE DISTINCT LOUD SOUND OF THE TRUCK.  CALL ME CRAZY BUT SHE SOUNDS LIKE HER SWEET OLD SELF!!  YES THE TRUCK IS RUNNING!!! AND IT SOUNDS PERFECT!!!!

Notes for today...
Ready to pack up
anger.... (can't believe we were stuck for so long...and for nearly nothing)
bike rack not working
campsite gives me a break on camping fees
someone waiting for our site
head out!!!
call mom and dad, mrs w, jord, my sister and liane - SO HAPPY
call to eastport because neighboors said it was nice.
the drive feels fast for me..not justin.
campsite is hideous but who cares.
you know we are tired....pulls away with cables on.
Talk to copain...he got the job, they called for reference..so happy for him
talk to kevin and Brandy!! congrats!!!
we call kuz, graham, jamie, all to explain the BS

(Wednesday, July 5th)

Wake up and hoping today is the day.  Tony calls and says he has to finish the job but he will work on our truck at the latest tomorrow. We head into town to pick up our parts at the shipping depot and stop at the grocery store.  Justin drops off Gab and I at the grocery store while he goes with James to NAPA to pick up some screws that Tony wanted him to have.  He calls me and says the truck is running REALLY rough so he heads back to the camper.  Our neighbor had told us that we could borrow her car so he asks if he can borrow it to come pick us up. It's a beautiful day at the campsite.  We cook up a pizza and have lunch outside.  James is everywhere!!! Justin decides to fix our bike rack because we are convinced that we will be ready to hit the road soon.  James plays with the tool kit.  It keeps him busy for a while.  He is always wanting to climb on something, escape under the trailer or eat rocks!

We don't hear from Tony.  By 1845, Justin calls him up and gets his voicemail.  We leave him a message asking if his job went well today and if he thinks he will be able to work on the truck tomorrow.  We don't hear back from him.  At least Gaby has found friends.  There has been two older girls at the trailer across from us and as much as Gab has tried to play with them they seemed shy.  Finally today,  they have clicked and played tons.  So much that Gab didn't stop till 830.  We gave her a quick bite to eat before she headed to bed.  We had been trying to get in at a garage called Goobys and they could only see us on Friday...worried about our faith in Tony, I ask Justin if we still have that appointment. He does!!! At least we have that to count on!!! Let's hope Tony pulls through tomorrow!!! Good night and say a little prayer for us!!!

Independance day...not for us (July 4th)

FML!!!!!!!!!  Justin is up bright and early to head into town to pick up the bike rack we took to the shop to alter so that it would be above the tailgate of the truck. On his way back he calls Good Sams, our roadside assistance. Everything should be ready to go as we set it all up this weekend when we called and spoke to them.  But what would you know, the B!^*&* who dispatched us last week put a note on our file that said we could not request another tow because she couldn't get confirmation from the service provider that they would accept us.  There was no other option...NOTHING is open in Newfoundland on a Sunday.  There is no way she would have gotten a response from anyone.  When Justin returns to the trailer and tells me that, I pretty much lose my mind.  I get on the phone even though I am pretty sure it won't change a thing but losing my mind on someone might make me feel better.  Of course, the dispatcher tells me right away that my husband just called and that she can't tow us.  I ask to speak with the supervisor and Micheal, the supposedly supervisor, gives me the same run around.  I explain to him how on our first tow, they didn't even send a truck that was capable of towing our trailer and that it was a single cab that couldn't take the kids.  AND NOW!!! You won't even tow me after we arranged everything on the weekend.  He says that we have to talk to customer service...oh wait...it's the 4th of July.  It's closed.  Why were we not towed on the weekend?  Because it was July 1st, our National holiday.  I am losing my mind and explain to him that I know he has no clue where Newfoundland is (first time they sent the tow they though they would have to send us by boat and mentioned PEI - ignorant people!!! I am so angry! Can you tell!!!) but to draw him a picture it is like we are in the most northern part of Alaska and make that part an ISLAND!  There is no getting through to him.  His 'computer' tells him he can't tow us so M. Supervisor, who has no power, can't do anything for me!  Well, let me tell you Good Sams will hear from us.

So now what do we do?  Pay for our own tow.  Let's sit, relax and analyze the situation.  There is an older couple on the campsite who ask us everyday how things are going.   Last night when we told them that we were getting towed to Gander, the man told us his son has a tow company there.  We didn't know.  He then makes phone calls and his sons gave Justin a few names to call.  One son actually said that the dealership in Gander had a great Diesel mechanic.  Justin calls the Gander dealership - can't see us for THREE weeks.  Oh boy!  They refer us to another garage - Husseys.  We call them up and they can squeeze us in this afternoon (now does Justin take the chance and try to drive the truck the 100kms on HWY1).  We also call a local guy who tells us he will call us back in an hour.  In the meantime, Justin calls Smithy's who was so kind to help us out last week.  He says that he thinks the 'Husseys' garage should be good.  We have to return the rental to the dealership.  We head out and Tony, the guy who said was going to call us back tells us he can swing by the campsite in 10mins.  We turn around and meet Tony at the trailer.  He listens to the truck and is pretty sure we have some injectors that are out. He pulls out a Dewalt drill and removes the cover for the injectors.  Within 10mins he tells us that 2 injectors are out.  Gives us a few shops that could have them for us and he can probably fix it for us.  I am a bit worries...this man out of his truck is going to fix our problem after the dealership has had our truck for a week!  Justin is convinced that this man knows what he is doing.  So, again, phone calls to find the parts.  Pat at Active Green & Ross helps us out but the parts store the man recommended has the parts in St Johns and for a good price.  Order them up and they will be shipped overnight.  We decide to buy 6 injectors.  Hoping we will only use 2 but better be safe than sorry.  By this time, James is sleeping so Justin decides to return the rental and ride is bike back home.  He comes back with a small victory.  They had the balls to hand him a nearly 500$ bill.  He used his calm voice and explained to 'Sonya' that he was not paying.  I wish I could have seen him in action.  He repeatedly used her first name and tells her how nothing that the dealership has done has even come close to fixing our problem after we are out 3000$.  She cuts the bill in half because they had quoted him 2hrs to change the main injector pump.  He still refuses to pay.  Story is. he is so good that she is the one yelling and she rips up the invoice.  Small victory but really there was no doubt we were ever paying for zero services rendered. We had the keys to our broken truck anyways.  Back at the trailer we are pretty discouraged.  Not super nice out.  We make it through the day and have nothing left to do but to laugh at the situation.  Gab and Justin play a game of shuffleboard.  We both don't have it in us to make supper but yet nothing is calling our name.  I think we are pretty much 'écoeuré!'.  We whip up some guac (James loves Guac) and Gaby requests quinoa  (what a kid!).  UNO tournament for the 3 of us.  Gab loses bad.  She is such a sore loser.  We are trying to fix that but not sure what way to handle it.  I am happy she wants to win but we try to explain to her that in order to have a winner, there has to be a loser and sometimes that might be you. Tony gives us a call and says that he has to finish a job tomorrow and that he will do his best to get to us afterwards.  He also makes sure that Justin gets some extra bolts in case he can't re-torque them (this gives Justin more confidence that he knows what he's doing).  This afternoon, Justin made a call to Chrysler Canada.  The customer service agent on the other end was in disbelief and felt bad for our situation.  Her answer in the end...."dealerships are independently owned Sir, there is nothing we can do!".  This is so upsetting.  We don't understand how they have no control over their "brand".  Graham put out some phone calls as well.  Time will tell if they look into the situation.

GIANT SQUIDS (Monday, July 3rd)

I wake up thinking that we should get towed today so that we are ready for the garage to work on the truck Tuesday morning.  Justin, brings me back to reality and makes me realize that we have our rental that needs to be returned tomorrow.  Ah! I just want to get things going.  At least today we can also continue our exploration - Leading Tickles here we come.  We drive up Route 350 and make our first stop in Glover's Harbour where they have the Giant Squid Interpretation Site.  They have a life-sized replica of a 55-foot giant squid caught along the shore here in 1878.  There is a cute small building with history and information on giant squids along with a gift shop.  Two youngers girls are running the site for the summer.

Next, we continue north to Leading Tickles.  I guess that it will be just as or even more beautiful than Twillingate as it doesn't looked geared towards tourism as all. Good guess! It's a quaint little village with high cliffs overlooking the seas. There are a few icebergs left which once again get us excited.  I don't think they will ever get 'old' to us.  We first head out to OceanView Park.  It's a campsite and they charge us 5$ admission to come in and walk the trails.  We decide to brave Bear Head Lookout.  It takes you to a 200-foot lookout to view the ocean!  You know it's a steep climb when they put skidoo tracks to help you out walking up!

Gaby climbs to the top and tells us to go faster, wish I could bottle up her energy.  Meanwhile, James thinks Justin is his donkey.  He is kicking and laughing the whole way up.  He is really loving his backpack ride today.  We are rewarded with a stunning 360 degree view. The scenery doesn't get old.  Once back down, we walk to the rock beach and it's finally nice enough to put our feet in the water.  Gaby convinces me that the water is not that cold and she's actually right.  Refreshing!  Gab wants to stop at the playground so we let her play while we check out the view from the other side of the peninsula.  There are a few more hikes we could do and Gaby notices them all!  We just don't have it in us.

The weather changed quickly and it starting raining a bit so we decided to drive around the little village and grab a few more iceberg pictures.  There are 3 young guys playing on a seadoo.... too bad the thing is smoking so much, or else I would have asked if they could drive me out to the iceberg.  We would have stopped for food but there is nothing around here so we head back south and pass through Point Leamington.  The one restaurant is closed so we keep going and think we can grab some food beside the river on the other side of the village.  It has a beautiful waterfall and many fishermen were trying to fish salmon.  The small museum/kitchenette there only has tea, coffee, muffins and cookies.  Too bad because it would have been a good spot for a picnic.  The little old ladies in there tell me the restaurants in the village are closed on Mondays.

It's only 20kms to Botwood and the lady tells me there is a Mary Browns there.  They have this fast food joint everywhere on the island.  We think it's a fried chicken place and we aren't in the mood for that so we stop at foodland and grab some ready made wraps!  Head down by the ocean and park to enjoy the view while we eat.  Catch up with a little facetime with Nanny and Mami & Pepere.  If it wasn't for the truck problems, this is an area we would have not seen.  At least these last 3 days were not lost.

The plan is to call the tow truck early tomorrow morning so I head into town with gab to find a laundromat so that we can get it all done in one shot.  We can't find it so we make a stop at the grocery store and head back.  I start the laundry at the campsite facilities and Justin cooks up some yummy steaks for supper.

Justin gets all our stuff outside ready to go and I have stuff hanging all over the trailer trying to dry our clothes as the dryers are not great.  Justin called the tow truck place we saw in Gander again to tell them that we would call our roadside in the morning and confirms again that they can work on our truck.  We also ask if they can park our trailer next to their shop and they say they will figure something out.  Off to bed confident that tomorrow will be a better day and we will soon be moving.