This Island is famous for the Fogo Inn where a room goes for 2 to 3 thousand dollars a night.  Maybe Zika has a friend/relative special rate, but the story of the Fogo Inn is interesting.  Zika Cobb went to the Silicon Valley and made lots of money in the Stock Market.  She decided to return and invest in her economically struggling community on Fogo Island.  In 1992, 60,000 people of Newfoundland lost their jobs because the cod fish were overfished, and many had to relocate to other Provinces.

With this amassed wealth, she started several Artist in Residence Programs and finally built the World-Famous Fogo Inn using in town trades people.   

The hiking is so incredibly beautiful and varies up and down throughout.

So many steps through steep large boulder areas.

So many well maintained  plank boardwalks through bogs.  

So many coastlines that were totally reachable on foot unlike the cliffs that are part of mainland Newfoundland.

Hikes are relatively short, most under 3 miles, but the entire walk is with minimal elevation gain making for and a relaxing time unless of course you’re climbing to one of the Heads. 

But the scenery is breathtaking. 

Trails and Tales

Joe Batt’s Trail

This famous 3.1 mile/144 feet elevation trail offers many views of the infamous Fogo Inn. The Great Auk, an extinct native bird, let‘s you know that you have reached the end. By the 1850 Auks had been hunted to extinction as they awkwardly waddled and were easy prey and in high demand for feathers, meat and fat. 

It is one of the Fogo Island must-do’s.  Again, a leisurely beautiful walk with planked walkways and bridges and steps when needed.

Started out a Community Park and Ballfield,  with a small wooded stage that host the Etheridge’s Point Seaside Folk Fest in August.  

So many beautiful views and such varied terrain yet mild elevation gain. 

Another ultra modern style, but dark brown, sits along the Trail – we could see someone working at a desk wall through the huge windows. 

Fogo Island Inn Tour

First stop on the Island was the Visitor’s Center where we found out it was possible to do a tour of the Inn, which was scheduled for Thursdays.  You just need to call the Inn to reserve. 

There is no driving up to the Inn.  You meet at the shack right orf Route 334; we were told we could walk up the road or wait for a shuttle.  Our guide greeted us right near the lobby entrance and bar. 

The Inn was made to look very Newfoundland with wood planking that ran on the ceiling and walls.  She said that it was not to look too perfect, but have slightly imperfect seams making it authentic looking.

The Shorefast Foundation was founded by Zita Cobb to promote economic development and resilience on Fogo Island.   The Inn was the main project with all of the furniture and woodworking being done in the local woodshop.  Construction of the Inn was completed in 2013 and included all local crafting.  This bench seat tapestry below depict the Newfie life. 

The quilts, tapestries and décor was also all made by locals including the very cool rope chandeliers that hung over the gathering room.

Each of the 29 rooms faced the ocean with private balcony partitions to access the outside. The rooms were simple and contained a wood stove.

There was a library, a social room with a grand piano,  and a theater for movies/lectures among things like hot tub areas that we did not see. 

The décor was quite simple really and not what I would expect for a 2000 a night room. 

Each of the stairways had a different wall paper design depicting something of the island; since we were not guests, we took the stairs exclusively except for our first stop at the 4^th Floor.  Those Fogo Island designed stairway wall paper stops were perfect for stopping the group  and minimizing time in the paying customer areas.   Most importantly it is a success story of a former Fogo resident that used her riches to help out her economically struggling community through the Shorefast Foundation providing working opportunities.

The hiking all around Fogo Island is so much bang for your buck. Such beautiful views everywhere without having to climb difficult terrain.  The entire hike for most of them had beautiful scenery and I would say it is truly a hiking paradise for those who are not such avid hikers.   The trails are cut and well groomed even through the fields, bogs with so many steps, and viewing platforms.  

Brimstone Head Trail

The Lions Club runs the Campground and maintains the Trail up to the Brimstone Head as well as the campground.

Vinny is parked way right at the end of the cove. At times a bit windy, but so beautifully situated. 

There is a resident black fox who I first sighted on the first super windy day hike to the top.

He was quite aware of my presence and only jumped way as I moved closer. 

I would see him again the next morning has he was on the pounce for some critter or another.

The Brimstone Head viewing platform from fox level is impressive. I was quite glad for the various handgrip accouterments ato the top especially in that crazy windiest hike so far – glad there was no wet rocks. 

Really nice was the fenced viewing platform in that crazy wind. The Wishing Well Side Trail led you to a wishing well that contained water that looked up to the Brimstone Head and was extremely windy too. This path was wider and more meandering and  grassy but had many beautiful views as well.

Lion’s Den Trail

This 4.6 mile 708 feet elevation trail near Fogo was beautiful on this evening hike when the wind had died and our Bang Belly Bistro visit required a bit of a metabolism boost.  

Too many beautiful sunset photos. We never did find the picnic table that is in honor of Randy’s deceased grandparent.  Randy is the caretaker of the Brimstone Campground and told me specifically where to look and to make sure I leave a message in the bottle that is tied to the table. 

We thought it may have been to the right at the end of this rock grouping, but the trail was getting narrower and less groomed, and decided we still a 2 miles to go. 

This  area is made up of four abandoned fishing communities which thrived in the late 1800‘s and established commercial trade in the early 1900‘s.  At this time the Marconi wireless was being required to support weather conditions for both fishing and sealers(seal hunting).  This station would be closed down in 1934 as all stations transformed to tube transmission to prevent radio interference. Signal Hill in St John’s was selected to perform this function.  

The wind had died down nicely and the walk was beautiful this evening.

There were many side excursions to the abandoned fish communities like the trails  to  Eastern Tickle. 

And Lockes Cove 

The Tickle area was exceptionally beautiful during sunset. FYI:  a tickle is the narrow pinch point between the ocean and a bay. 

The rock formations along with some in the trees paths and greenery  made the Lion’s Den Hike exceptionally interesting even though we didn’t find Randy‘s Grandparent’s Picnic Table. 

Oliver’s Cove Trail

Oliver really did a nice job of this 2.5 mile/121 feet elevation loop through grassy pastures and crystal clear water.  

Up black rocky outcropping glittered with mica, especially against the green patches. The sparkling of the black rocks was really exquisite and I have never seen such abundance in one area. 

More jagged rocky shoreline. 

Small Ponds in the middle of the soft green bogs..

This trail ended in a dirt road back to Vinny who stood watchfully.

We had already completed the Joe Batt‘s Arm trail today, the Inn Tour, Growlers Ice Cream, Beer at Storehouse and we still had the Community Music Gig in Tilting to do.  It was a busy day, but one needs to take advantage of sunny weather in Newfoundland.

Fogo Head Trail

This was another 2.2 mile 446 feet elevation gain trail and we did it in the evening since the wind was scheduled to die down.  

But the low lying clouds,  in other words, the fog was also coming and going as we hiked.  Luckily not too thick, and  just made the whole thing a bit interesting really.

This made for a very mystical evening hike and the fog would roll away and come back so quickly. 

We found the beginning of the loop trail right up the road from the Brimstone Campground, but this was not the beginning Parking Trailhead that we came to at the end of our hike.  We could have hiked back the way we came or we opted to walk the roads through residential areas since fog could have gotten thicker. 

Residential areas are charming and so took the opportunity to get a few photos.

This was part of the Fogo Head Loop and was about 1 km of road walking back to the starting and the Brimstone Head Campground. 

Fogo Island Towns

Fogo

Bang Belly Bistro

We had tried to lunch here unsuccessfully and met the manager outside this dinner only restaurant.  So after chasing weather forecasts, and deciding wind was to calm down in the evening, we scheduled a first 4pm reservation that Sunday so that we could accomplish the Lion Den Hike that evening.  We had come across the manager again as we stopped to have a coffee at the Punch Buggy Coffee Shop.

Evidently the Bang Belly Manager was also manager for the sister coffee shop as he referred to it.  It was so nice to overhear him talking so nicely to the  café staff, and then said that he had better get Bang Belly up and running for our 4pm reservation – So small town.   Meanwhile I stopped in at the “This and That” store across the street where I have never seen a collection of so many hand knitted hats and gloves in my life. 

They sold these cushions which I also saw at the Bang Belly Bistro and Fogo Inn. Perfect to use up all those yarn ends.  Fogo has a real sense of people making things for sale to the summer tourists = products were very reasonable an I almost bought a red kids sweater like the one Ma had made for the girls in our Saint Ann Days.  The restaurant décor was retro and the metal/synthetic seat chairs looked like chairs from grade school, but adult sized.  Mismatched napkins were neatly surged to go along with the mismatched.

carrot puree shot brought out by our now acquainted manager.

John had the Savory Sourdough Bread Pudding with Sous-Vide Carrots and I had 

the Jiggs Pakora which is a deep fried cabbage, carrot, turnip mash, split pea puree with salty beef chutney.  For the main course I had Chicken and Potato Waffle which sounds plain, but add the spicy maple syrup with roasted corn and cabbage and mustard pickles to the crispy chicken and it had a world of deliciousness.

John had the BBQ Miso Cod with roasted carrots, turnip, soy and herb oil caramelized cabbage. We had pulled an “eat hardly anything all day”,  like we did in our college days in anticipation for this feast, and boy that did the trick.  Good that we had hiking plans or it might have been food coma time.  Evidently, reservations are highly recommended for this outstanding restaurant.     

Cod Jigger Diner  

After being turned away for lunch at the Bang Belly Bistro, the manager had recommended  Cod Jigger Diner where the bacon is supreme and the Wi-Fi is screaming. Sat here and did all the backups to the I-cloud and even had electricity during this cold blustery day.     

Joe Batt’s Arm

According to legend Joe Batt’s Arm, the largest of 11 communities on Fogo Island, was named after a crewmember of James Cook who jumped ship in Gander Bay in 1763 while surveying the area.  I guess he really liked it. He later arrived on Fogo Island community and was so well liked that they named the area after him.  The Arm was a term that indicated a place was wrapped around an inlet.   Someone does a great job of tending to this trail.  

This town of Joe Batt’s Arm was chosen as the infamous Fogo Island Inn.  We also saw people plowing small gardens on the trail edge.  We had noticed several places along the smaller Newfoundland highways where people had some fenced gardens and then we saw one right near the ball field entry of Joe Batt’s Arm Trail.

Growlers Ice Cream was perfect for our after hike treat before the Fogo Inn Tour. Yum. 

Storehouse for a mid-day beer and fries – no bar and we were required to order some food at this tastefully decorated restaurant which was part of Fogo Inn conglomerate.  Good Wi-Fi here too and we had heard the food here was excellent as well. What a cute teapot shelf.

Tilting

Heritage Center hosts a Thursday night Music Session in the charming Rock Bridge Café right on the wharf.  The Café was closed, but the adjoining quilt/gift store was open. Rather than a play together Irish/Bluegrass style session, several musicians took turns performing. With a few tunes,  the leader tried to initiate as play/sing-a-long. There were two storytellers there of whom we saw his front yard presentation on our Oliver’s Hike. He spoke very softly so my recording didn’t come out too well.   

Two accordions and a fiddler played a traditional jigs and waltzes and a couple of people danced. 

Toula Merchant Reunion was another concert we attended on Saturday night after seeing some bulletin board flyers.  Evidently one of the members, Paddy, lives in Tilting and arranged for his ole pals to come together at the Tilting Parish Club for this concert.  It turned out that the roommate, Andrew Dale,  of this group is a member of the “The Once” which is a group we heard and loved at StanFest last year. Boy could Andrew play a great electric lead guitar and mandolin too.  We even got to participate in the “Stop the Train” song written by Sherry Ryan about the human weather vane Lauchie MacDougal who could predict the Wreckhouse Winds.  Fun Night

Getting to Around Fogo Island

Brimstone RV Campground

I got reservations on-line two days prior to arrival in this mid June time-frame when we had decided to visit Fogo Island.  We had been warned that there are few campgrounds as well as places to boondock on Fogo Island, but it looked like there was an overflow ball field to this Brimstone Park.   Evidently it hosts a music fest in August where this field gets filled.  On Fogo there were many “no overnight” camping signs, but we did find a place to take a nap and have dinner in a 30 ft gravel driveway space between trees near on of those many ponds on the way to Tilting.  It would have been great for an overnight because there was no path to anything the gravel stopped at the pond.  Additionally, we noticed there was no sign at the Lion’s Den Parking Area so probably could have stayed there.  We had thought about staying an extra night but the morning of that Sunday there were only two RV spaces available at Brimstone Head, so we decided to spend out last night in line to catch the first morning ferry. 

Woolfreys Pond RV Resort

This was the closest Campground to the Fogo Island Ferry on the Newfoundland Mainland and we stayed here the night before going to Fogo.  The best unexpected thing about this campground is that it has a boardwalk around the pond which was so peaceful, so even in rainy weather it would provide for a nice 2 mile walk.  The dump station is located several hundred yards outside the park on the right hand side.  One could probably just use it for free because the office told us about it and there was none there. 

Ferry

Getting to Fogo is another 80-minute ferry ride.  The summer schedule had begun and there were about 5 ferries a day from the Twillingate Area – only $25 for our Vinny.  No reservations – you just line-up and wait.  All went pretty smoothly although the first smaller ferry didn’t fit us, but a second one was coming into the dock, so we easily got on this larger one. The return ferry was no additional cost and we slept in the line being awoken suddenly by the horn that said loading was beginning.  Seemed like this ride took less than an hour-good thing because we had no time for coffee and there was no services aboard.

Fogo Island, Newfoundland June 2025

Trails and Tales

Joe Batt’s Trail

Fogo Island Inn Tour

Brimstone Head Trail

Lion’s Den Trail

Oliver’s Cove Trail

Fogo Head Trail

Fogo Island Towns

Fogo

Bang Belly Bistro

Cod Jigger Diner

Joe Batt’s Arm

Tilting

Getting to Around Fogo Island

Brimstone RV Campground

Woolfreys Pond RV Resort

Ferry

Favorites

Spillars Cove Trail

Puffins, Puffins they must be cute with such a cute name.

After the Bona Vista Lighthouse viewing, we decided to do Spillars Cove Trail. 

This will always be one of our favorite hikes, not only for the coast cliffs but for the cute little curious colorful puffins. There was almost no one on this trail except John up on that flattop tide.

We found ourselves off trail to the rock edges and observed a few puffins flying into the cliff rocks.

Just standing still  as they flew in, they seemed to observing us; they seem to be social creatures as they moved around and poked and prodded each other.

Then they started to be a bit interested in us, moving closer and allowing us to do the same. Then there was a bit of a puffin squabble.

Before we knew it, they were only about 10 feet, putting on quite a cute show.The way they move is just so calming. 

It will always be a once in a lifetime showing for us, and the incredible cliffs were also so captivating.  

Dungeon Provincial Park 

 An incredible boondocking site.  The only gate was a grazing animal grate on either side. 

We had observed the horses on the first day, and then when we awoke from boondocking, they were there again only a bit more spirited and nosy.

I wish I had carrots for my white horse.

John went down to their grazing pasture and pet them.  Such a great way to do Grass maintenance and there were also cows for all the yummy Newfoundland Ice Cream. 

 Not exactly sure what is considered to be the dungeon in this park.  

Bona Vista Lighthouse

More incredible cliffs 

These adorable little colorful birds have been the source of economic sustenance  for many boat tours between the Icebergs, Whales and Puffins.

The Cape Shore Trail beginning at the Bona Vista lighthouse – a great place for Puffins on the Rock Ledges, but they are on an island of rock.

You had to stay on your side of the rocky cliff with 100’s of feet drop into the crystal clear waters of the ocean; 

the puffins island was on the other side.  SO you can never really get too close like we had done on the Spillars Cove Trail.Such incredible scenery.

Hikes / Places

Skerwink Trail, Port Rexton

Another one of those breathtaking coast cliff trails of Newfoundland, this 3.2 mile 203 ft elevation gain was stunning.

First down a gravel multi-use trail for about ½ kilometer before breaking off through the pine forests which was not so common on many trails so far.  It smelled like Christmas.

And between the trees that had nicely cut away by the wonderful Newfie Trail Elves,  rocky craggy cliffs were in lovely view from the trail along the cliffs.

There were some super steep drop offs to the green ocean below that I dared to peak over as John waited nervously.

The trail had all the step and rail accoutremants that so many of the trails in Newfoundland have to make it a very stressfree walk, unless you peak down the rocky cliffs several hundred deet below. 

We had opted to do this hike late in the day for wind purposes, although it still was somewhat gusty as we returned.  We overnighted right in the Trail Parking Lot opening to a lovely green field.  When we got started in the morning the parking lot was full and people were parked all along the roads for this very popular trail.

Elliston Puffin Viewing Site 

This an official Puffin Preserve that is crowed with tourists with big lens cameras  trying to get that perfect Puffin Picture.  Luckily my new IPhone is pretty good but nothing like when we were hiking Spillars Cove at 10 feet away. 

The green topped rock island is only reachable by those with wings, but like the Lighthouse set up, there is part of the rock that you can stand on and observe them from some 100 feet or more.

They are on the move flying down to the ocean where they are evidently quite good divers to get fish. 

Our hike on Spillars Cove with Puffins only 10 feet away took away from the allure of the Elliston Puffin Viewing Site. Elliston also is the root cellar capital of Canada or Providence one of those.

Elliston Municipal RV had poor cell and no Wi-Fi, but it seemed to have a beach that would be great to launch a paddle board if it were not so windy, which is almost never the case in Newfoundland.

Port Rexton Brewing

Harvest Host was on the way to the Bona Vista Peninsula so we overnighted there and stayed in small gravel parking area across from a church up the gravel driveway from the Brewery. It was a two-stop night at the Brewery. In the initial check-in session, guitar music lured us back to a small community room with sofas and a dart board.  Three friends on a conference in St John’s had picked up the guitar from the inviting stand and were doodling.  We sat and traded a few songs with them before they were off to their dinner plans and hike.  Time for us to take a nap.  Headed back down for some fries and beer as evening approached – the Rexford had pretty good Wi-Fi and my photos were getting to the cloud thankfully.  They even knew who Elephant Revival was.  They had super nice voices and two sang together in their university life – they had met up again for an Aneasteasoloagy  Conference in St. John so were do a bit of side travel in Bona Vista. 

Clarenville   –   WiFi, Water, LPG, Laundry

I needed to find a place to get my 700 photos of puffins and awesome scenery in the cloud before I dropped my phone over a cliff, that was the first task at hand.  Library was super slow, but the Bakery 56 was perfect with speeds in the 90mps range not 2 or 3 like so many places.  It was a new business with a delightful view, coffee, food, comfy cushioned chairs and lots of outlets to get all our devices charged as we had been boondocking for several days now.   

 Another task at hand was laundry and the Shepherds Laudrumat was perfect (must bring soap and $3 loonies per load. $3 to dry too).  Was not crowded at all, and I left John there as I tried to find good Wi-Fi and stopped by the Sobey’s for groceries.  This is where the guy at the Tellus store told me about Bakery 56. 

Thankfully we were starving and could properly support this local business because we sat there for several hour between a few downpours, and my 700 photos got to the cloud.  

This town is full-service with a Canadian Tire and Walmart and also an RV service area and RV Propane fill.  Many of the gas stations only do stand-alone tanks.  We should have found a dumpstation there.   The other issue we were having is that many campgrounds have boil requirements for water, and this was the first time we had been totally out of fresh drinking water.  Luckily the Foodland in Bona Vista has one of those you bring container fill stations so we did just that.  Much of the tap water had a brown tinge probably from tannins, but not what you want to drink. We stopped at Elliston Municipal RV Park and as they said they would return the next day we just swiped some brown boil only water for our tanks as we were running low too.  

Bona Vista Peninsula / Elliston / Port Rexton

Favorite

Spillars Cove Trail

Dungeon Provincial Park

Bona Vista Lighthouse

Hikes / Places

Skerwink Trail, Port Rexton

Elliston Puffin Viewing Site

Port Rexton Brewing

Clarenville   –   WiFi, Water, LPG, Laundry

Gros Morne National Park is the Natural Wonder of Newfoundland. Now in day 10 on the Rock, the two bucket list items are complete:  Icebergs and now the Western Brook Pond Boat Tour

Favorites

Western Brook Pond Boat Tour

The towering cliffs are high as 600-700 meter range – that’s 3 football fields high – were spectacular.   The cliffs make accessing the lake impossible except for the western side of the Pond where the terrain is nearly at sea level. 

Parks Canada is keeping this area pristine.   The fjord was carved by glaciers which eventually melted and the salt water was flushed out. Then Stag Brook as well as the many waterfalls filled the Pond. 

The water is ultraoligotrphic which means there are very few nutrients and organism making it extremely clear and pure.   It is quite spectacular and only one certified boat company is allowed to do tours much like at Maligne Lake/Spirit Island in British Columbia.

There are no roads going to the boat dock except for the 2 km gravel path.  $10 gets you a golf cart ride down to the boat dock with most people doing the easy walk through the muskeg, a peat forming  ecosystem which are scraggily fields where moose and antelope roam, but of course we saw none of this.

We did see a unique duck-like bird which determined to dig itself a hole and was not at all scared by us. We saw no canoes, kayaks or paddle boards but it was still quite cold. 

We were quite happy to have our winter puffy jackets and hats for the return and could not imagine paddling through these winds.  Kayaking is looked down upon the Internet says, and we heard tales of rocks slides every once in a while that create a thunderous boom, wave and dust cloud.  In early 1900’s a slide caused a 30 foot wave. 

My question was why is this called a Pond when it is 10 miles long with water depth in the 300 to 400 feet range.  Our Guide said it was a carryover from the British who even called the Atlantic Ocean a Pond  as in “across the Pond.”

It was an awesome day of incredible beauty.     

Green Gardens Hike

One of my all time favorite hikes.  During the first 2 kilometers you just wonder where the green of the gardens is. 

Then the ocean view.  This hike followed with cliffs and the grassy bluffs and beautiful coastal views and even steps down to the rocky beach.  

Parks Canada had arranged for some vigilant greenskeepers.  

It was a 6 mile day with ups and down and a 1200 ft elevation gain. 

The problem is there was a lot  of down, down down getting to the ocean bluffs and you knew that you would have to go back up, up, up at the end after being fatigued a bit by the hike anyway. 

The rocks cliffs and along with the green made it absolutely stunning on our beautiful sunny day.   

Hikes

Outlook Hike

The Outlook hike did just that provided incredible views looking Bonne Bay and East Arm from over 1000 ft elevation. 

The shaded walk upward dirt path continued into the scruff where Parks Canada had at least a kilometer of boardwalk assembled into shrubbery. 

It was a perfect workout for us 60 plusers and the views were amazing.

I had attempted this hike when we first came to Gros Morne and John was recovering from a head cold, but turned around because the fog was rolling in and it started to rain.   That day the damp, damp Newfoundland was a reality.

This hike starts right from the Visitors Center and can be combined with Photo I-cloud download and delicious Moose Soup or Cappuccino and a sweet treat. 

Baker’s Brook Falls

A nice 6 mile walk in the woods with less than 1000 feet of elevation.   The prize was the beautiful falls.   

And we even found several cute little toads along the way. 

Coastal Hike to Greenpoint Campground 

After being battoned down for a day of rain, we never even exited Vinny, John was feeling a bit better and we did the 3 mile hike along the Coast to Green Point. 

Here we investigated the Muskat Hotel as one of the rangers described it because the canopy had coverage like a roof of this tree. 

It was a nice and easy hike.

The salt water air felt great even though we had to beat back against the wind. We even found some fiddleheads. 

Camping at Green Point Campground would allow for this walk right from the campground. 

Green Point Geologic Site

This is where the layers of time tipped over and one can see them as you walk along the coast.  Perhaps we should take the guided hike because I was told that you can even see fossils, but our untrained eyes did not spot any.

The layers of limestone and shale were unique to see from a horizontal perspective. 

Tablelands

The hills are full of rusted peridotite. This rock is usually found deep within the earth’s crust and is rich in heavy metals creating an environment where few plants can survive. 

There are a few that have adapted like the Newfoundland State Flower, the Pitcher Plant. It attracts insects and the hairlike strands prevent them from escaping. Once inside the “pitcher”,  the excrement of these insects is where the plant gets water and nutrients to  thrive.

Tablelands are part of the ancient Lapetus Ocean floor that instead of being pushed downward got pushed upward exposing the Earth’s Mantle on one side and the Appalachian Mountains on the other. 

Furthermore, these Newfoundland Tablelands were instrumental in proving the theory of plate tectonics and Pangaea as these are the same rocks as in Africa and there were these green interesting alligator rocks here and called Serpentinite which are metamorphic peridotite.

We had decided to take the Parks Canada guided hike to understand a bit more about the Tablelands.

The hike was quite windy and we got back just as the sky began to sputter. 

Traveling to Places

Rocky Harbor

The 29 years running Anchors Aweigh musical performance is also home and performed three days a week at the Anchor Pub.  

Musicians were super talented and we loved the Led Zeppelin rendition of the traditional Newfoundland Song called Sonny’s Dream.  One of the original founders, the accordion player, had a whole series of costumes and especially funny explanations. This production came out of the downturn of the cod fish industries that economically devastated Newfoundland about 30 years ago.   They had a lot of energy and talent and even did a song where they got the whole waitress staff up dancing – the comradery was radiating in the place.  Finally they did a call out of all the places where people came from and did a song from the area.  In particular their walk across the artists from the Canadian Provinces was quite entertaining.   It was an enjoyable evening and well worth the money to support local talent.   

Norris Point 

Norris Point is the town where there are boat tours, stores, restaurants (Catstop Bar- under construction in this shoulder season, but heard it was the happening place on the Harbor) and shops. 

Twillingate to Gros Morne

Our drive from Twillingate to Gros Morne required a halfway stop at Lefty’s Pizza Parlor in Grand Falls Windsor.  We were lucky to find screaming Wi-Fi so all photos could make their way to the cloud and I-phone and I-pad backups could occur and the pizza was really good too.  We were both feeling a bit tired, as we had gotten screeched the prior night.  A small rest at nearby Gorge Park was perfect to break up the trip – a hiking trail is also available there.   And it doesn’t get dark to 10pm because we don’t want to hit a moose just see

Cow Head

Cow Head is home of the Theatre Newfoundland/Labrador Theater and of course we love to take in some of that when possible.  A local guy named Daniel Payne was providing the show for the Friday Night 25^th anniversary of the theater on the night we were passing through.  The very talented singer, accordionist and fiddler took us through some of the local music of the area in this smaller back theater.  It was so nice to hear his words without any amplification.  

At the performance, we briefly talked with an older couple.  Well, the next morning when I awoke, there was Darlene walking right by our cemetery hideout – I opened up and said hello and wouldn’t you know it, she invited us to the house for coffee on our way out of town.  

Darlene and George, had a cute little house with guitars on wall and harps in the corners and whole wall full of beautiful yarn.  Darlene wore another beautiful obviously hand knitted sweater which I had noticed the night before.  She gifted me a small woven and crocheted shawl.  She said she was mostly a weaver, but this was in her home in another province. 

Camping area

Elephant RV Park

When traveling from the east or south, one first comes to the Tablelands/Trout River area of Gros Morne. We found a private Elephant Head RV park between these two where we called ahead to secure a spot. Nice new facilities high on a flat grassy area with excellent cell coverage and very peaceful.  

Here if we had had been no clouds, it would have been great stargazing.   

They even had an air trampoline which I had to try out!  We followed the posted sign up a gravel road loop rather than take the Google Map route.  Upon leaving they had warned that this section of the loop was rough-and we have heard that the Canadians mean business when they say a road is rough.  The property also had several dome rooms and a nice community kitchen.  We decided to go private with the Elephant because we had not purchased A Gros Morne National Pass and it was getting late to do so, and didn’t want to take a chance tangling with the Parks Canada Mounties.

Berry Hill Campground in the Rocky Harbor

We did a rainy hour drive from Tablelands Area to the Berry Hill Campground in the Rocky Harbor Area.  Our campsite was pretty close to the community kitchen fireplace shelter and this had a wee bit of Wi-Fi with better reception when directly in the shelter.  We are enjoying yet another full day of planned rain in Vinny, although tonight we are going to the Anchor Pub for the Anchor’s Aweigh Musical Enlightenment in Rocky Harbor.

Trout River

No electricity here, but the spaces are tree surrounded and very private.  It took us a few tries to find the campground, but we found a picnic area with an incredible view of Bonne Bay. 

This picnic area was the back drop to Father’s Day dinner (Cream Chipped Beef – dad’s favorite) and phone calls with the girls.  We were the only ones there.  The 14 year old Oban seemed to do the trick on our Green Garden Hike muscles, and we both were great the next morning despite this 7 mile hike with 1200 feet elevation gain.  We had not done one of these for a while. 

Cow head

We arrived in the town in the afternoon and decided to have lunch at what seemed to be the main jigging Shallow Bay Restaurant/Inn which conveniently was located right across the street from the Theatre for which we planned to attend.  The bartender said that the Cow Head Lighthouse area would be a good place to park for a nice nap.  Turned out we found our boondocking site for the night in a small turn out right below the protection of the Anglican Cemetery that was up a dirt road above that provided a bit of protection from the winds that always seem to be blowing in Newfoundland.   This was a perfect boondocking site that was very close to town, yet quiet except for these strange sounding birds or maybe they were foxes, but both for our siesta and at night. The odd calls required me to have earplugs. 

We would definitely check the Theatre schedule when planning for Cow Head and travelling up north.   There is a Clover Farms grocery store and the area is charming.  The Shallow Bay Restaurant/Bar was quite large and we even came back after the show to watch the Stanley Cup where the Oilers actually won the game – we left before the comeback at the end though, only about half a dozen people at the bar during the first half, not exactly a Philly style loud crowd. 

Cow Head is the most northern part of Gros Morne, but still don’t know why it is called Cow Head. The Parks Canada, Shallow Bay Campground is nearby and people we met on the Boat Tour said it was quite nice and it has campsites with electricity.  Parks Canada always provides great facilities.

Gros Morne General Camping

In this beginning/mid June time frame,  would probably go up or down the Parks Canada campgrounds in this order or its reverse. If poor Wi-Fi is needed, get site close to kitchen.  We had very spotty cell service, but some did come through occasionally.  Visitor’s Center Wi-Fi way better

Shallow Bay / Cow Head

           Theater, Lighthouse and Western Pond Tour

Berry Hill Campground

           Hike Brooks Falls and Lookout

           Anchors Aweigh in Rocky Harbor

           Rocky Harbor Visitor Center Close with great WiFi and charging station at ever couch.

           Rocky Harbor Laundromat right across the street from Ice Cream

Trout River Campground – no electricity

           Green Gardens Hike

Tablelands Hike

           Trout River Hike

Parks Canada Info

The Tablelands Visitor Center allowed us to purchase an early bird Gros Morne annual pass for about $50 for the year.  We were planning to come and go to the park two more times during our Newfoundland visit, so this worked out perfectly rather than buying the $150 annual family pass for all Parks Canada that we would probably not use.  Although Terra Nova National Park is in Newfoundland, my research showed it to not be so spectacular and I had decided to let it fall out.  I spent a lot of time with the friendly park staff to get the 4-1-1 for all the places we must visit while in Gros Morne and while in Newfoundland.  It was quite the drizzly day, and as John was congested and coming down with something or other, so I took advantage of a few really nice people at the Park Info Desk.  

The Parks Canada Visitor’s center are brand new facilities.  Rocky Harbor had just opened and it was quite pleasant to sit in the lobby and enjoy some faster internet – way better than at the Campground kiosk and there were comfortable chairs with electricity, beautiful scenery and nice bathrooms.   Today we are going to try and download a season of Joe Pickett which helped pass the rainy days. 

Parks Canada will not take reservations online for the current day, you just need to show up and be lucky.  On the other hand, I have been searching for several days at the end of June when returning from St Anthony and it seems there are always non-electric sites available in all their campgrounds.  There seems to be many private RV parks with full hookups throughout the area too. 

Gros Morne

Favorites

Western Brook Pond Boat Tour

Green Gardens Hike

Hikes

Outlook Hike

Baker’s Brook Falls

Coastal Hike to Greenpoint Campground

Green Point Geologic Site

Tablelands

Traveling to Places

Twillingate to Gros Morne

Cow Head

Camping area

Elephant RV Park

Berry Hill Campground in the Rocky Harbor

Trout River

Cow head

Gros Morne General Camping

Shallow Bay / Cow Head

Berry Hill Campground

Trout River Campground – no electricity

Parks Canada Info

L’Anse aux Meadows

The world UNESCO site is a recent archaeological site at the very top of Newfoundland that was started in the 1960’s. In 1968 the discovery of a cloak pin and other artifacts supported the Norse Vinland sagas of Straumfjord and the existence of this 11th century encampment village.  Further excavation revealed eight Icelandic Style buildings.  

Evidently the Norse were in search of Vinland (grapes) which they found some in New Brunswick, but this village was thought to mostly be an encampment for further exploration.   There was evidence of interactions with the indigenous people, but the abrupt abandonment of the Norse encampment is only hypothesized. 

Maybe they didn’t like getting sleek ships all muddy from the Bay of Fundy massive mud tides in Vinland? 

We did a “Hiking with a Viking” tour where we heard some of the Norse sagas as well as ghost stories of the area as we wandered around the grounds.  

This was a tour sponsored by the annual St. Anthony Iceberg Festival and we even saw an faraway iceberg “Turtle” – I’ve started to give them names now. 

Norstead Village

This is a private living history replica of the Viking Village (only $12) – learned that Vikings are specifically Norse Warriors, but certainly the media popularity of this term seems to overlap with the whole Scandinavian Norse Land and horned caps and shields. 

Always fun to run around and see people of the period doing their thing and getting to chat.  I guess they didn’t having the Viking warrior women cooking in those days. 

Unfortunately, the iron forge guy was on a break when we went through because his fire was hot, but it was starting to rain and decided we should be getting along.  

Both fires were actually inside buildings and the smokieness factor became a bit much after visiting the living quarters and sitting upon the sheepskin thrones of the leaders. Worth the $12.  

St. Anthony

A cute little bustling town that hosts this Iceberg Festival with things like Viking tours, iceberg boat tours and other events.  We were going to come to St Anthony first, but the Twillingate Iceberg scene seemed to be better, so we detoured and went there first.  

It is much colder up here in the north of the Northern most peninsula.  Add in a bit of wind and rain, and it is not so pleasant for hiking around.  We could not find any music on these final two days of the Iceberg Festival; things seemed to be on the down turn.  Many of these little towns seem to have no main street area to stroll or to find something on a Saturday afternoon.  The only RagnaRoeck Brewery was permanently closed.  

We drove out to the end of a peninsula at Fishing Point Municipal Park which had some nice hiking trails all around, but it was starting to rain so an Iceberg Beer and lunch at the Lightkeepers sounded way better.  

• The Lightkeepers had a beautiful view and atmosphere bright and cheery even in the rain; evidently they do some kind of a special Viking dinner as well.  The chill and the projected more rain in the area, made us decide to head back toward Gros Morne where two sunny days in a row were forecasted – imagine that.

Moose – finally saw two

A five hour drive with the first two hours being quite rainy – and there in the middle of the 2 lane highway, something big and brown about 200 feet away.  Luckily it was straight away and there were no other cars to be seen for quite some time.  As we slowed and approached, he ran into the woods and we didn’t even get a proper photo.  Many smaller Newfoundland Canadian highways are built up on ledges,  and there are usually 4 to 8 foot ditches to fall into if you dare veer from between the lines.  Usually there are no shoulders – about 2 or 3 feet from the edge and into the ditch you go.  If someone has pulled over on the highway, it is not passable without getting into the other lane – not usually a problem because there is almost never traffic.  We could have stopped safely right on the highway, but mister moose ran away.. Oh well, I had gotten a photo of a big rack at Norsted Village. 

Maybe one day we’ll see the whole creature.  We saw the second one near Gros Morne, again ran away before we could get a good glimpse. 

Moose Burgers

Another perk of the Iceberg Festival was the special Moosberger offering at the Viking RV resort, perfect for a high energy meal before hiking with our Viking that evening. 

We managed to get a spot with no electricity as this was really the only campground close site to L’Anse Meadows.  It seems to be really popular for the Iceberg Festers.  Others we met said they needed to stay in Pistolet Bay Provincial Park a bit further.  The RV park had new bathrooms, kitchen/lodge etc but the actual park was a bit tight with no trees, a bit rough, but the fresh partridge berry pie and cookies for sale,  mooseburgers and the extra nice owner will be what stands out for me.

Daniel’s Harbour

We left St. Anthony with the rain, with more of the same expected in the area for the next days, and also colder temperatures than down south. We are very aware of weather and our movement to the next place is certainly driven by it.  Drove and drove headed for Gros Morne since the weather for the next two days there was sunny.  

Thank goodness for Daniel’s Harbor because the day was still blowing clouds and rain in the distance, but there was a 1 km boardwalk to the harbor from the highway side parking area.  Perfect for the body movement that we needed.  And we even got a rainbow on our walk. We made the Elephant Head RV park in the Tablelands of Gros Morne at dusk. 

North to the Norseland

L’Anse aux Meadows

Norstead Village

St. Anthony

Moose – finally saw two

Moose Burgers

Daniel’s Harbour

Sigsbee Campground, Key West Take Two 

This year the Navy computer system was fully functional, and the first stop at the pass and ID office ended in a year-long DBIS card to get off and on Navy facilities in Key West. Last year this didn’t happen. After two days, it was still broken,  and if we would have stayed at Boyd’s Campground for other days, we would have been broke too.  This year we arrived at Sigsbee Campground when the rest of the country was in a huge freezing front and it even snowed in Fernandina Beach Florida, so we are not complaining. 

Cold and windy weather down here in the Keys was reality, and we were thankful for wet suits that one could rent when we went snorkeling. I actually wore a winter coat to the Sunset Grill that was on the base that was perched right on the windy waterfront.   

This  was a happening place where we met lots of nice snowbirding retirees, saw the Eagles clinch their spot at the Super Bowl, and we even did some 60’s Karaoke in our coats,  We waited it out at the Sunset Grill happy hours for several days for the fair winds so that we could venture over the great bridge to Key West proper.  

This quad workout would propel you high up on the boat passable arch;  the bridge sidewalk was as narrow 3 feet wide,  and  we certainly wouldn’t want to blow off.   We rode bikes 4 miles into Key West from the Navy Campground.  The main drag into town had nice wide sidewalks where two ongoing riders could pass comfortably.  (FYI: We found that taking a left on  Olivia St would take you to the one-way Southard Street which had a dedicated bike lane into town.  Likewise, the parallel Fleming Street would bring you back out of Key West on the dedicated one-way bike path out of town)

Celtic Conch, Key West Eagles Bar 

When the  wind was not whipping we enjoyed the Key West sunsets and the libation establishments, as well as took in a play called “Angel Next Store”.  Irish Kevin’s and the Celtic Conch were added to our list of Key West Iconic Establishments.  The Celtic Conch was a heavy-duty Philly bar with posters about drinking Wooder, and we sang the Eagles Fight song at least three times with the guitarist leading the pack in song and not John. 

Of course, we felt at home there, and that was our one late night out, and we never even fell off our bikes. We me die hard Eagles Fan, Shelley, from New Jersey who welcomed us to park at her RV spot whenever we are in the area.  Decided to watch the game from our local sunset bar as the Conch bartender said people would be lining up in the morning to get in for the three-thirty game. 

Key West Pestaurants

We also found two more excellent restaurants to add to the Key West Collection – Two Friends and Santigo’s Bodega.  The latter was a tapas restaurant that our boat captain highly recommended and we luckily got an early reservation. This fit with our early night plan as we had been on the water for 6 hours, and the sleeping beauty had to wake up under duress to make the launch time.  Unusual small plates that you could keep adding to as they brought them to you whenever the deliciousness was ready.  Here we had our first plate of Saganaki, brandy flambe haloumi cheese, olive oil and oregano with grilled pita bread.  This was like flambeed goat cheese with crème Brulle type presentation only savory.  Yum. 

Definitely get reservations is what the captain said.  And the chickens were wandering – evidently, they are welcome in Key West because they keep the spiders and other pests at a minimum, and I must say we have not seen any dropping like we are accustomed to when the Snow Geese come through the desert. 

Dry Tortugas – NOT

Plans to go to Dry Tortugas the Fort that is a 70 mile ferry ride out to where the Gulf Stream begins was thwarted as the gusts were going to the 60mph and I had heard a podcast that said there ride was one of lots of barf bags and free ginger-ale as they were bounced around.  Excellent snorkeling is to be had around the Fort as well.  Seeding coral by placing hard structures like forts, for example, is a way that they are trying to bring back the reefs and the beautiful fish that attract snorkelers like us.  The hot temperatures of 2023 bleached out much of the coral and the beauty of the reefs.  First of all when I went to book the ferry there was only one day available for January through April –  so book early.  I decided to cancel 48 hours in advance because this was the height of the wind event, but you really don’t get your money back.  You need to book a day in the future that they will allow you to do several times evidently.  So hopefully we can go next year when it is a bit warmer, but I guess weather is always a problem.  Met a gal on our Sail, Kayak Snorkel trip who said it was super cold and poor visibility when they went a few days prior, so I guess we didn’t miss.  The other option is to take a $500 seaplane out there for the day

During our final two days, we biked to Fort Zachary Taylor which is a gorgeous public park with a great beach, bathhouse, snack bar for $8 per car or $1 per body.  It is perfect with shady pine trees and gorgeous aqua sea and protected swimming. 

 Sail, Kayak, Snorkel Trip

Now let’s talk Sail, Kayak, Snorkel Trip – luckily our captain was a professional and knew to stay in the deeper parts because we saw several sailboats that were permanently stuck in the sand.  Evidently, they were ownerless and abandoned, there for the taking if one had the means to pull them off.  Of course, most had been looted for everything of value once they got stuck and this became their final resting place.  The state came in and would remove all gas and oil, and they were left to hopefully be a spot for new coral to make a start.   

The first part of this tour included nice sailing wind, but we went out to a mangrove island where we snorkeled in sand and grass and saw very few fish and really not much of anything but sand and grass and a few bottom sponges.  We learned about the sponge economy that went on in the 19^th century as these were easily retrievable and used for filtering, as well as packing peanuts to transport delicate items for the rich from the European continent.  There was a whole on-land pirate economy too where the Key West salty types would pretend to help reef bound ships but then steal from them.  We also learned that Lake Michigan has had the most shipwrecks of all; however, they usually didn’t have gold and riches like many of the ships that ventured in these blue waters.  We’ll have to expound upon the actual Caribbean pirates if we ever make it to Dry Tortugas and Fort Jefferson because I understand there is a lot of folklore there.  And the pink flamingos were hunted to extinction in Key West although there are stories of flocks blocking the sun for a few seconds they were so prevalent in the area.

After our “disappointing snorkel experience”, the kayaks were off-boarded and we kayaked about 300 yards to a mangrove island and followed around a bit.  Unlike beaches which seem to always be eroding where you don’t want them to, mangrove islands are growing.  We could see the pods that evidently can be carried out to sea and when they float into the ideal place will plant themselves under just the right conditions.  As you go across the Florida Key bridges, one can see the many tiny mangrove islands that have popped up.  We didn’t see too much under the clear water with this kayak trip, and really had much more fun and went through the mangrove tunnels at John Pennekamp State Park.  

Last year after our Dive/Snorkel Tour,  I decided only to ever do a Snorkel only trip since divers need deeper water not ideal for snorkelers –  not really too compatible.  Likewise doing the Sail/Snorkel/Kayak of three item tours, none of the items was noteworthy, although the sailing was really nice.  Finally wind at the right time and right speed – this tour had been cancelled in the prior days as well. 

Key Largo, John Pennekamp SP

John Pennekamp State Beach was a return trip from 2024.  The paddling in the mangrove tunnels was really excellent, especially through the smaller ones which were protected from the wind which was going on for the first half of the trip.  These paddling mangrove trails took us to the high-end neighborhoods where boats were hoisted from the water to park and the houses were very upper crust. 

I became an obsessive weather watcher, and booked a snorkel tour the only day that looked decent for the week. This happened to be my birthday and John called ahead to arrange the party package with balloons, flowers and cupcakes.  I was the queen of the snorkel boat.  

The Secret Dive shop was a 5-mile bike ride, right next to the Shipwreck Bar and Grill where we had met new friends Bill and Mary last year.  We would definitely snorkel with them again as this was a convenient place for us to ride bikes from the campground. 

John Pennekamp also had snorkeling tours that only required a ride through the parking lot.  The nice thing is that you could call and rearrange your time for no cost if the weather was projected to be unfavorable. Since the weather was just this way for most of the time, we only did this trip one time.  But with all my weather obsession tendencies, we went back to the Christ of the Abyss Statue twice which evidently is in an area that can be rough waters. You have to check a box that says you are not guaranteed to go to this iconic statue; this throttles back the tourists that scream false advertising.  

The wetsuit rental was highly recommended, especially because wet cold snorkelers on a speeding boat is quite a “cool” experience.  The professional photographer who did the advertisements did much better than my GoPro, although the sun came out during our snorkel, and it was quite mesmerizingly beautiful with the abundance of fish and the waving coral leaves (evidently this is coral too).    

We learned this last year from the excellent movie at the John Pennekamp Visitor’s Center.  This was the same location we had gone to for my birthday trip, so I guess we were lucky to see Christ twice in one week!  I even got to see one of my favorite little pufferfishes and a school of barracudas, although I only captured these two.

On our in second trip the tide was lower and the sun came out which made the underwater glisten magically.   During our first trip we saw the biggest mammoth grouper which was as big as John, but our photos don’t exactly reflect that.  Perhaps it was so far away from him that it appeared smaller, but we both agreed it was the biggest fish we had ever seen.  It was very gray and ugly, nothing like the beautiful professional photographic grouper in Australia. Although it was real, at least we thought so, somehow, it was so pretty and blue that maybe we were fooled.

John Pennekamp State Park was also the first sunset paddle we did.  The wind finally stopped and it was a beautiful evening.  Amazingly there were no bugs on the water, just a beautiful sunset in the mangroves.  

During our 2 weeks at John Pennekamp, John flew to New Jersey for a long weekend to see Vaclav Prospal, his long-time favorite hockey player who is now coaching the AHL Rochester Amerks – John is hoping he moves up to the NHL soon. (Jazmine learned to count 1,2,3,4,5,…11,12,Vinny,14,15,16 – that’s how influential he was and now she 28-that’s a long time – 2001 photo below watching Vinny)

After dropping him in Miami, I hooked up with Mary, as in our 2024 Shipwrecked Mary and Bill friends. 

Vinny was very happy in her driveway and I got to stay in a real bed and bathroom.  Oh Lah, Lah.  We visited and she showed me around her area. Peacock Park has a SUP vending system where you can scan and rent a paddle board; My Padde Boy Would be out of a job if this was everywhere. 

But this is quite inviting, because the hassle of unpacking from Vinny, blowing up  and then having to get dry again to pack up is restrictive especially when bad weather is all about – not on this day though.

Key Biscayne NP

I also took a walk on a trail through Biscayne National Park and learned more about the ecology of the area.  This would also be a great place to paddle when it is not so windy! Even have a rinse off station.

Shark Valley Bike Ride, Everglades NP

I had planned to visit Everglades National Park while Paddle Boy was doing his Prospal hockey thing.  But I ended up cancelling.  We had already done the Shark Valley Bike ride on our way down, and I just was not enthused to see more grass and statue-like alligators.  Although, we did see one in action as he tried to crack a turtle that he had snuck up on, and that was pretty exciting. 

If I would be a birder, maybe I would have gone all the way down to Flamingo, but we saw enough on this bike trail.  I was enjoying some new girlfriend time with my new friend, Mary, so I bagged the birds.  It was still windy and rain in the forecast.

Homestead, Farm Country

“Robert is Here Fruit Stand” was a must see according to Mary and I did a visit to this unique  Homestead Farm Country.  Not only local fruits and vegetables, but quite a collection of animals.  Robert is famous for their milkshakes, but the line was about 25 people long this evening.  

We had already been in this farming area when we harvested hosted at Schnebly Redland’s Winery and Brewery too.  The winery had the most beautiful plant grotto to enjoy wine and a snack.

Unfortunately, it was dark after our Shark Valley bike ride so was not so visible.  We ended up tasting some unique fruit wines including Avocado and having a few glasses.  It ended up being quite expensive for what we got, but the Harvest Host Parking (long dirt driveway with lots of space that brought you in back of the winery where the brewery was going on) was excellent and we ended up staying 2 nights.  On weekends this brewery is the entertainment hotspot and there is Friday Latino dancing and Saturday country line dancing which can make for quite a bit of ruckus at the adjoin harvest host parking.  It ended at 11pm and the music from across the gravel was not too bad.  

The beer selection was nothing special, but it the indoor game was  huge and had several  cornhole setups.  They never checked our reservation as a harvest host and the area was so big that I would consider going there un-announce in our small setup. 

Bahia Honda State Park

Bahia Honda State Park was the next destination upon picking-up John at the airport.  And wouldn’t you know it, poor Eagle’s planning, as he was in the air for the first half of this important play-off game.  (That poor planning saga continued as he was doing colonoscopy prep while watching the Super Bowl a few weeks later – no giant Watch party for us, but 100s of texts on the Smith Clan message group.) His after surgery-propofol influenced singing of the Fly Eagles Fly and he has  gotten 500 views – the Doctor came in before we could spell “E A G L E S”  at the end of the song.  

Bahai Honda for two nights where we arrived late and in the rain.   Later that night the sky opened and for the first time in ten years, 

Vinny was leaking.  John decided it was leaking through the backup camera, and he was out in the rain to cover the camera with a plastic bag – all those magnets came in handy and the dripping stopped.  We awoke to a beautiful sunny morning, so that camera area could dry and the perfect picnic table could be stood upon to apply some silicone calking.  Vinny hasn’t leaked since then, and we had some heavy rains. The weather was still pretty variable and the Tuesday Snorkel trip from here had been cancelled several days prior.  Evidently, they only start with every day snorkel trips from Bahia Honda when Spring Break season starts.   We did a bit of bike riding and decided to snorkel off of the Calusa Beach along the jetty to the harbor, and saw way more fish than in Key West Snorkel, Sail and Kayak tour.

Sanibel Island and Periwinkle Park

Periwinkle Park on Sanibel Island on Florida’s West Coast was our final stop.  Biking Sanibel is the best way to get around as there is one main drag along the island.  One day we biked North about 8 miles J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge.  It was finally a warm day and we welcomed the air conditioned showroom where we continued to learn about Florida’s ecosystem and cool off.  The island suffered extraordinary damage from Hurricane Ian in 2022 and further in 2024 from Milton.  As one walked along the beach many of the condo complexes were in a state of abandonment or repair with less than half seeming like they had occupants.  

Near the town there were shops and restaurants that had returned to business, but there were also some that were not.  The bike path was separate, but ran along the main road through the island.  There was a variety of housing in states of newness on down to boarded up.  The destruction and downed trees and standing water was particularly evident in areas where there was no housing or businesses.  We decided to find the Turtle’s Tiki Bar and were transformed to the resort style outdoor bar and seating, swimming pool that was right on the ocean free from the destruction and renovation going on in much of the island.  

The Periwinkle RV park was outdated on the outside, but somehow old school charming, and they even had a fenced bird park with swans and other duck pond like swimmers (2 feedings a day)

They were still in the process of clearing and our site actually had some standing water behind it, few mosquitos though.  The bathrooms were immaculate and the laundry facilities had a backyard with many long clothes lines and there was a fish cleaning station and a very rough screened in meeting room where there were tables, puzzles, games, kitchen counters and a sink.  I was told by the friendly staff member that Old Fokers, a group of retired men, had been meeting there every morning for coffee at 730am for years. The slam of the wooden screen door on the concrete slab was freshly painted and neat. Somehow it was very old school and quaint and I liked it. Many people had seasonal trailers, some with permanent decks and foundations. Many were from out of state.   It was quite a mix, but evidently, Periwinkle was totally full because I could only get these three days when I inquired many months ago and called occasionally to see if anything was available.  The beach was a ½ mile through neighborhood streets and was perfect for walking with really cool birds 

We were hankering for pizza and when we got to Island Pizza Restaurant, we didn’t have reservations, so we had to sit at two of six free places at the bar.  Other white clothed tables were free but filled up as we ate the delicious pizza.  There were many other Italian selections and we would definitely return to this one.  Another Michigan couple, Tom and Sheila,  strayed in and had to sit at the bar too.  We ended up playing music with Tom in the screened porch room as they were camping at Periwinkle RV park too.   There was little luxury about the island, and the place was not over-run by tourist stores. It was truly relaxing.  Sanibel Island Beach is wide and perfect for walking and riding bikes everywhere.

And as I finish up this blog post almost a month after the fact, I begin planning for Newfoundland since the ferry cabins are already full during the night crossings. We also met fellow RV expeditioners from Mississippi and joined Susan’s Facebook group called Finding Freedom.  She posts exquisite photos almost every day they travel with great explanations and will be an excellent travel resource. 

Our February adventure was about to begin as we returned to our home away from home with Bo and Julie in Fernandina Beach. It’s time for doctoring that includes colonoscopy and an eyelid surgery for John hopefully followed by Cataract surgery.  But first Fly Eagles Fly and so they did !!

I will be checking out until I go back to Hawaii at the end of April lots of family stuff and then off to Newfoundland just after Memorial Day, but wanted to give you a day by day of John’s progress through eyelid procedure. 

John’s Eyelids in Pictures

 Day 1

Day 2 

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6 -stitches out 

These states are minutes apart in the northwestern tip of Massachusetts, and that’s where we were headed to North Adams to visit my childhood friend, Jane Culnane.  After almost 40 years of not seeing each other, Jane visited us in Ridgecrest when she attended her nephew’s wedding in Los Angeles.  Our mothers had been good friends and now with both of them gone, we had to rely on ourselves to keep it going.  The Finding Colors tour was planned to include a stop in this area!

The Dog Mountain Dog Chapel, St Johnsbury, Vermont

We knew of this because our music friends, JP and Liza, had told us about this place during one of their Ridgecrest Concerts.  

They even wrote a song called Dog Mountain, and when I discovered it was somewhat on the way, and John could get a dog fix, it was a stop-over.  Post-it notes cover the inside of the chapel walls in remembrance of all those loved canines who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.  

It was really quite moving and so lovely.  Then there was the dog field complete with pond for pouncing about on this cool October Day. 

Von Trapp Family Lodge / Café, Stowe Vermont

We had seen the property in Aigen, Austria that had featured the famous musical family before they fled from the Nazis. So naturally,    We had to see the American version which now is a very high-end lodge with a few guest houses.  

Not only was there a café filled with yummy desserts which was nicely situated upon the hills where the cows roamed, but also a brewery. 

There was a disc golf course as well as several mountain bike trails throughout the property.  Roaming cows mean cow patties here and there.  

John took a bit of a slide on one as we had walked on a narrow path and he quickly jumped aside to let a bike through.  The titanium hip still held on and it was only an embarrassment. 

Shelburne Vineyards, Shelburne Vermont

We decided to take in a local singer-songwriter show that was going on at the Vineyard that evening.  Delightfully small venue friendly people.  The younger of the three was quite proficient on the looper and he created a full sound as he was quite good at playing guitar as well.  His fiancé was sitting next to us, and of course, John is quite inquisitive about young people who appear to be in love, and playful discourse ensued.  

Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, New York

The day was to be rainy so we decided perhaps a bit of history would be a good way to pass the droplets.  We had already learned about the eternal war between the French and the British during the 1700’s from our visit to Fort Louisbourg in Cape Breton.  The French had built the original Fort Carillon, but abandoned it to British when many of their troops had left to attack British Fort William Henry,   in 1759 just like in Canada.

Power went back and forth between the two, but here in NY before one faction surrendered, they would burn and destroy the Fort on the way out.  Clever bridge building techniques were among the ideas that helped the Americans  sneak out the cannons and artillery which were in part responsible for winning independence from Britain.  For the non-historian type like myself,  it was hard to keep track of all the different circumstances in which it went back and forth during our boat tour.   The commanding views of this historically important body of water make it ideal for seeing the enemy as well as color peeping even in the rain some 250 years later. 

We had first stopped at Mount Defiance where we could look down onto Fort Ticonderoga.  After the British positioned some cannons up on this mountain the Continental Army withdrew without a fight.  Those cannon balls were big and could fly for over a mile from this height, evidently no shots were fired, just a big threat.

The weather put a damper on outdoor Ticonderoga demonstrations although we did here the 2 O’clock cannon during our Boat tour.  

Before the continual rain started, I wandered through the King’s Garden and found some really unique flowers which I had never seen. 

A demonstration of a wooden plank being bent and fitted onto a boat was quite interesting, as well as a cobbler repairing his shoes were the two demonstrations we saw on this somewhat rainy day.

Seems like the French were much more friendly with the First Nation People than the British.  Makes me wonder if the British recognize the Native people in their country like Canadians and Americans at least try to recognize through UNESCO designation. We also noticed in both Canada Festivals and Museums the First Nation of the region was acknowledged whether verbally or through display.  Perhaps this is the right thing to do in North America these days, as I also observed this in a movie theater in Williamstown Massachusetts.   

Artisanal Brew Works, Saratoga Springs

What a way to end a rainy day that was continuing to carry on through the night than with a few beers and an overnight.  At least they had a nice Porter. 

Massachusetts Color Peeping

The Greylock Veterans War Memorial was hopping with a college school group who gave us the best chocolate chip jumbo cookie ever after we completed the jaunt up.  

Beautiful views from both the mountain and the tower top as the colors were starting to dull to the tan now.  One can drive right up to the top, but we took the opportunity to do a bit of the very famous Appalachian Trail to a smaller parking area below. 

Jane and I did a delightful morning hike to Pine Cobble Trail in Williamston.

Mass MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art)

This facility is a prime example of repurposing space as the original industrial Mill building was transformed into a manufacturing center for Sprague Electronics who supplied crucial components to the war effort.  They employed just under a ¼ of North Adams Population and were leaders in research and innovation in electronics before closing doors in 1988 due to low prices abroad.  Nearby Williams College was seeking space to exhibit the very large works of contemporary artists.  Although there was much controversy over this Contemporary Art Space, widespread community support eventually prevailed and now it is a world-renowned space for the Contemporary works of art.  Better yet an old building is not crumbling in ruins and the space is also used for performing arts as well.  

Contemporary Art can be difficult to understand.  The Wikipedia definition of Art is a visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination.  

So even though many exhibits seemed to be things that a novice like me could create, the idea of putting it together to invoke a feeling is perhaps what many exhibits did.  For example, the plaster baskets that were created by destroying the basket that created them and seeing the piece from the inside out and then arranging them pleasingly.  

Would that exhibit be the same if there were only a dozen baskets and each did not have an eye?  Not sure. The solid 5 ft wide lines that were painted vertically on 75 feet of wall according to a set of text instructions to create them –  Is that Art? Hmm because technically a craft person could create.  Is it just the large scale that invokes a wow.  Is there a difference between craft and art?  I’m confused, but the exhibits were enjoyable to see.  Particularly the virtual reality experience of flying in space was really cool and provided a feeling to me that I had never experienced.  Is this art or is this Disney?  Does it matter? 

After all is said and done,  head over to the adjoining Bright Ideas Brewery to contemplate. 

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

The CCRT (Cape Cod Rail Trail)

This paved trail runs more than halfway around the Cape from Yarmouth to past Wellfleet, and there are dotted sections with plans to lengthen it.  We rode the smooth asphalt section from Brewster to Orleans and it had markets, restaurants and bike shop access points along the way.   Halfway down we stopped at Nickerson State Park to do one of the many hikes.  Our days’ furthest destination included a stop at the Hog Island Brewery in Orleans to enjoy a porter and a beautiful day to enjoy it during this week of Indian Summer.

Nickerson State Park

This state park lies right on the CCRT making a break it up ride from Brewster to Orleans a perfect spot for a hike.  The asphalt bike trails crisscross hiking trails throughout the property, and then there are the ponds. We hiked around Cliff Pond and saw many sandy-beach entrance points to the pond that were so clear and in the warmer weather perfect for SUP.  

Unfortunately, the Campground had closed for the season and we could not overnight there. There are several Camping Areas that surround Cliff Pond and have beach access, and I could see staying here for several days in September to paddle.  

The leaves in the area were not nearly as brilliant as in the mountains.  Cliff Lake allows a maximum of 10 horsepower vessels.  Nickerson offers that perfect balance of paddling, swimming, hiking and biking to get around to breweries and restaurants all in a beautiful wooded setting if you can get there before October 15^th. 

Cape Cod National Seashore

What should have been another bike and hike day turned out to be a P-town overnight.  Decided to try the Atlantic Ocean entrance at Marconi Beach near the Visitor Center.  The first entrance said no beach access, then another parking lot with other trails yielded the same.   Evidently there had been a storm and the stairway was damaged in one area and the dunes in the other.  Drive out to another said beach and again cement blockades saying no beach entrance.  A woman walking up where a few cars had parked said there was an 80-degree slope down a dune if we wanted to get toes in; we didn’t want to get stuck in the dune so moved on down the main drag looking for a public beach access and finally found ourselves all the way in Provincetown.

The next day we stopped in the National Park Province Lands Visitor Center where I obtained expert advice for a good bike ride mixed in with a beach walk.  

Evidently Cape Cod National Seashore is one of our Nation’s oldest and boy does it have a network of fabulous asphalt bike trails as well as an observation deck to soak in the seashore and dunes.   We decided to do the 7-mile Province Lands Bike Trail Loop starting from the Parking Area at Race Point Beach and then head through the short dunes path and finally getting that toes in the Atlantic beach walk I had been craving.  The bike trail had that perfect number of hills and valleys only having to switch from Q-Bike (Quad) to P-Bike (Push) mode just once.  The weather was so perfect on this mid-October Day.  The sand was beautiful.  Saw several seals come up close to the shore, but I had been warned that October is when the Great White Sharks come close in to feed on the seals.  

There was even a severe bleeding safety kit near the beach area.  

Yikes the likelihood goes way up in October and we were surprised at how close the seals came to the shore.  Unfortunately, there is no camping at this National Park.  Another thing of interest was the Race Point Over Sand Station where they looked like they issue dune driving permits.  May be fun for a future visit.

P-Town (Provincetown)

Our frustrating day looking for a beach and a bike ride landed us in P-town (can’t go any further than this) where we walked the Harbor Boardwalk and saw all the ferry possibilities to Boston, Hyannis and other Harbor Places.  There was Dunes and Sail Tour that would have been of interest with more time, but many of these things already posted that they were closed for 2024 season.  We walked the colorful streets of brightly painted and stylish houses that were decorated for Halloween whose plain old Victoria style made them a natural for the season of haunted.  

The one-way main drag on Commercial Street was an eclectic colorful display of vintage, ice cream, restaurants, bars, cannabis, tourist and T shirt shops that conveyed the LGBTQ vibe of this town.  

P-Town is to Massachusetts as Key West is to Florida, and the possibility to see drag shows and such stereotypical characters walking around town was more noticeable than most other towns.  We never did see  and equivalent to Captain Tony’s Bar that had dollar bills and bras stapled to the ceiling and walls like Key West.  The cross dressers that we saw were relatively conservative in my mind.

We had found a parking spot in a municipal parking lot for $2 hour right across from Provincetown Brewing.  As the day was ending after our P-town walkabout, we stopped there to have a beer and were drawn to sit on the early American style 60’s golden couch reminiscent of the familiar blue couch at John’s childhood house in Blackwood.  This indoor nostalgic décor was more appealing than the hard picnic benches that were outside even on this beautiful day.   Relaxed and comfortable on the loveseat after our beer, we needed to contemplate where we should spend the night.   Since it didn’t say overnight was not allowed, we took that as it was ok, just as long as you paid for the hours on the handy Parking App. We were tucked back on a perfectly quiet spot with a 3-minute walk to the hub-bub on Commercial street, so decided to paint the town which for us means find dark beers and a place with music.  P-town doesn’t seem to have any dark beers though, but the Tin Pan Alley did have a piano bar for entertainment that night so that was the plan.  

Got there early and found a perfect place at the bar, far enough to be observers on the sidelines but the place was small and we only had the window front behind us.  The very talkative George, the bartender, introduced us to two other regulars, one man even joined my blog as we talked about traveling and cranberry bogs in New Jersey and how we got Vinny to Hawaii.   The music was the Dean Martin Era of old songs as several different men came up to sing with the old familiar tunes of yesteryears.  The evening was quite enjoyable and was packed as a couple danced to a tune in celebration of their 46th wedding anniversary. By 9pm things were calming down, and George seemed to have been preoccupied as our water glasses were even empty, and we finally flagged him down to pay.  The food was excellent, and I was tired.  The Parking App only accepted payment until 12 am, but decided to be up at 8am.  There were a few overnight cars in the lot, but by 730am then next morning, the parking lot was full.  There was a bike trail nearby and one could even ride to the National Park Seashore as well as another trail from downtown P-Town, perhaps this was the reason for its early morning fill.

New England is beautiful, especially in the Fall, and surely will pass that way again!