Have a great time! Will your family be listening to "Weird John" singing tunes along the way?

Well RevJohn your fun cup is certainly over flowing this week.

Enjoy your travels, and while I, speaking only for myself but confident that others will agree, will miss your wit and wisdom I wish you nothing but sunshine and joy.

LB

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Well I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun.....

     National Lampoon, Vacation

Have a great trip RevJohn.  Honk if you pass through Fredericton, or better still give me a call.  If you are stopping overnight perhaps we could meet again, and catch up in person.   I'll wondermail you my phone number.

happy Holidaying

Have a fantastic trip RevJohn!

Why does the phrase "cruel and unusual punishment"  come to mind........

Hi Waterfall,

I will break up the monotony of the trip by listening to my copy of Alpocalypse and Poodle Hat.  I will alternate with the soundtrack for The Return of the King and my John Williams best of collection.  Toss in a little Petra and I'll be good.

We cannot fit the whole clan plus gear into one vehicle anymore so we'll be a tandem of vehicles.  My son and I in the lead car (because it is the brightest green and ultra visible in traffic) and my wife and the young'uns in the SUV.

My singing voice is nowhere near as bad as GordW implies.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Have a great holiday revjohn. Will look forward to hearing stories upon your return

Hi All,

We have arrived.

No confirmed moose sightings on our way up to Raleigh, NL from Channel-Port-Aux-Basques, NL.  Although we did see a coyote (rumour has it somebody brought them to the island) and either a second coyote or a moose calf (it was too far down the road to be certain.

Did see a moose and a deer just outside of Edmunston on Wed. Morning.  Took a nail to a rear tire on the NS Toll Highway.  Trip was for the most part uneventful.

Grace and peace to you.

John

Hi revjohn. Raleigh is a lovely place to vacation. Visited a few years ago when I was in NL. There was an inceberg in Ha Ha Bay near Ship Cove. Speaking of icebergs you should be able to see some of the large bergs that have split off the huge iceberg that was off the Labrador coast. They have been visible from St. Anthony...that is if you are interested in icebergs. Glad you didn't have any close encounters with a moose. Enjoy your vacation!

Glad to see you arrived safe, sound, and reasonably intact!

Moose and an internet connection - can it get any better :-)

Have a great holiday.

John - enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.   I loved my visit to Newfoundland. 

I hope that moose and deer you saw in NB were not in close proximity.  Deer kill moose. 

Ooo, I'd love to see Newfoundland some day. Bummer about the nail.

Hi All, 

Two moose sightings last night coming and going from the evening service in St. Anthony (My settlement charge).

The moose seen on my way into St. Anthony was a monster.  I just glanced over because I saw some guy on the side of the road calling out to something.  He was calling out to a massive bull who at roughly 200 yards away really, really, really stood out.

I suspect this guy wants that moose to think he's friendly so that when the season opens up . . . .
 

The second sighting took place on the way back to Raleigh after the evening service. Young calf, probably this years, was standing on the road facing away from me.  I pulled up and was considering using the passing lane as she was just chewing something and minding her business.  She looked over her shoulder at me and continued her chewing.

A second, older, noiser car pulled up behind me and she looked at the two of us over her shoulder, did a double take, spooked and shot off the road into the bush.  She's going to be a big girl too if she gets through hunting season for a few years.

Icebergs galore over around St. Anthony.  Was talking to a fellow from Goose Cove who says their harbour is jammed with ice and you can hear them cracking, scraping and foundering all day and night long.

The Reverend Stephanie McClellan, my successor's successor at St. Anthony was telling me that they were fishing bergy bits out of the harbour in St. Carol's and now has a chunk of berg filling her refrigerator freezer.
 

We had rain all through Saturday night and Sunday, it has also been fairly cool.  What great vacation weather after the sauna of Ontario.  Today is bright and breezy.

Grace and peace to you.

John

John, I'm glad to be experiencing Newfoundland again as you share the details of your trip.  We too saw moose.  But unfortunately we were a bit later (late July/early August) for ice bergs and only saw one melting away where it was caught in a bay.  It was still impressive - stark white against the dark blue sea, and the dark greens and browns of the landscape.  

But why, tell me, would somebody be saving a piece of ice from a berg in their freezer?

Hi seeler,

The purest water on earth.  Novelty item really.  We had a bergy bit in our freezer for when guests from the mainland would show up.

Grace and peace to you.

John

When I was in Battle Harbour, Labrador, we collected chunks of iceberg for the freezer because the guests liked iceberg ice in their drinks.

Whatever appeals....

Hi Gang,

It is time to start preparing for the trip back.  Too soon, way, way, way, too soon.

This last week has been pretty fabulous.  Monday, for my eldest daughters birthday we hit the water with the Alcock family and their tour boat ( http://www.discovernorthland.com/ ).

We had a great tour as two separate pods of Atlantic White-beaked Dolphins tracked down the boat and played in our bow wave.  When the first pod tired out they moved off and treated us to several leaps hurling themselves completely from the water.

We then managed to hook up with a group of humpbacks with a very playful calf.  we hung out for 20 minutes or so while the calf alternately breached and rolled onto its back for some flipper waving and slapping.  One or two Minke whales stayed quite a ways away, we saw them only when they rose to breath and then dive back below the waves.  The same went for a Fin whale which stayed out on the horizon.

We then cruised into St. Anthony Bight and motored in and around some very impressive bergs (towering 150 ft high and grounded in 240 ft of water).  We didn`t go near the Petermann Ice island as it had run aground just off of St. Anthony and was calving bergs unpredictably.

We had multiple moose sightings, I suspect the young male we kept seeing was responsible for most alarms.  He ran up on the highway in front of me one evening though I had seen him coming and was able to take appropriate action.  I saw a large cow moose right in Raleigh on Wednesday night.  She was having a feed on some grass at the side of the road.

Grace and peace to you.

John

John you make me envious.  You're in Newfoundland about the same time of year as we were last year - or perhaps a week or so later.  We were told that it was too late in the season for icebergs - although we did see one on the horizon near St. Anthony's, and the remains of another (still impressive) melting where it had floated aground  in a little bay near BonaVista.   We were also told that the best whale watching was past.  We did see  few sprouts in the distance from the light house area in Twilingate and a few from Cape Spear, but none on our whale watching trip out from St. John's.  The water was quite rough that day - although when I asked the captain "Have you ever been out before when it was this rough?"  he laughed and told me "Many times, when it was twice as rough, or more."    But the boat kept dipping into troughs and the water splashing up over the deck, and then rising again on the next wave.  Several people got sea sick.  Seelerman and I enjoyed riding the waves once we were reassured we were safe but we didn't see any marine life. 

I'm glad your family did.   Have a good trip back.  And watch out for our moose here in NB.  Maybe not as many as in Newfoundland (although the original Newfoundland moose were imported from NB), but enough to make people nervous traveling at dusk.

I share Seeler's envy.  What a fabulous experience.  Safe journey on your return home, and how will Ontario ever measure up ;-)

LB

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One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

     Henry Miller

Hi Seeler,

This has been a banner year for bergs.  We lived here for five years and saw nothing like it and certainly nothing heavy this time of year.  The Petermann Ice Island is to blame.  It will keep calving bergs until it is nothing but a berg itself.  It had run aground about 4 km off of St. Anthony a week and a half ago, it is now running down Ice Berg Alley and is due east of Conche about 30km or so.

The furthest south a berg has been detected is just north of Bonavista, most (60+) are still in bays and coves along the northeastern face of the Great Northern Peninsula.

We avoid driving at dusk or dawn because that is when the Moose are up by the roads.  We've learned from the experience of others and we keep a sharp eye out.  I also know that it isn't the deer you see that gets hit so much as the deer following it.

So will keep our eyes peeled and thanks for the traveling blessings.

Grace and peace to you.

John

My nephew and I are going East

on a VIA train this very morn.

We're going "coach,"

We'll sit up all night,

But we are happy and not forlorn.

When we get to NB what fun, what glee!

My mom, my nephew, and even me.

We'll take a swim,

We'll laugh, we'll shout.

We'll have great fun without a doubt.

I'll bring some books and read a bit,

the time will pass by quick.

We'll eat some lobster and then some crab

We'll eat til we make ourselves sick.

We're sure to take a drive to town,

to see what's up and then what's down.

We'll see a movie,

eat at The Big D

and then come home for afternoon tea.

Some games of rummy we're sure to play

and I might even win.

Although I doubt it,

it could be true,

I say with a little grin.

On Thursday p.m. we will fly back.

We're taking Canada Jazz.

A bag of pretzels they're sure to give,

with a smile and a razzamatazz.

And so my friends, for about a week,

I'll be out of Internet range.

Take care while I'm gone.

This is my closing song,

that you might a tad strange.

-- from the collected poetry of Turtle Jae

LOL - have fun MC!

Great poem MC! You're talented.  Have wonderful time!

Thanks somegal and Kimmio.

We are just outside Montreal now. I am posting thanks to wifi by CafeDonut which is a restaurant out there... somewhere.

Had a great dinner in the dining car. Nephew had pork, I had fish. Nice raspberry cheesecake for dessert.

Near the end of dinner the train window started to leak from the rain outside. Not a good sign as we head into the storm.

Keep safe MC

Remarkable people, Newfoundlanders. Perhaps the friendliest I have ever met. One of my conceits is that I was taught geography in grade eight by Art Scammel, the composer and lyricist of "The Squid Jiggin' Ground"  He also wrote some excellent short stories about life in the ouports.
 

Just got back. The only effect of the storm was that our train was 6 hours late getting to the place in New Brunswick we were going to. Since we were more than 2 hours late VIA is giving us 1/2 off our next ticket. Sweet. I think I will use it to go visit a friend in Vancouver. Might as well get the most bang for the buck.

On the eve of the train trip my nephew and I had just finished dinner in the dining car when the window started leaking. We agreed it was not a good sign for the coming night.

Had a great trip. Ate some good food down by the ocean. Had garlic cheese fingers and donair pizza. Mom made homemade strawberry-rhubarb, and blueberry pies. Can't beat that. My cousin barbqd salmon and ribs. Delicious.

Glad you had a good trip.