Live. Travel. Play.

We’re in Ontario…

…about an hour east of Toronto. This evening we’re sleeping in a campground called Cedar Valley Resort, near the town of Orono. I didn’t know there were cedars in Ontario. The ones in this campground are pretty huge. I’d load some pictures but our Internet connection here really stinks. Anyway, we’re quite pleased to be here.

Last night, we stayed at a neglected campground near Gananoque, ON, which shall remain un-named. Although the place provided access to hiking trails and a colourful flower garden, the facilities (in our opinion) were filthy and in an awful state of disrepair – overflowing garbage bins, unkept sites, and decrepit buildings. When we pulled in, we didn’t notice these things at first – we were so tired and cranky from the drive that day that we were just focused on food and sleep.

The bathrooms at this place were exceptionally gross. In addition to unclean toilets, washbasins, and mirrors, the building had crumbling concrete, peeling paint, rusting fixtures, broken locks, and creepy cobwebs. Half of the ladies’ washroom was in the dark because so many light bulbs were burnt out (I can’t stand being in a dark bathroom, even at home). And the men’s showers were lined with sopping wet carpet (Gregor figures it was there to prevent slippage). To top it all off, Gregor heard a guy masturbating in a toilet stall! Not fun.

Gros Morne National Park, NL

Gros Morne National Park, NL

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With Jan and Mel.

Note to all: We’re in Quebec now, where our cellular connectivity is better and Internet access is more reliable than in the Maritimes. Over the next few days, we’ll post blog entries about our travels from last week.

After our weekend in St. Pierre and Fortune, we drove across Newfoundland on Hwy 1 to Gros Morne National Park, located on the west coast of the island. Since we also had to work during the day, we split the 10-hour drive over 2 days with an overnight stop in Grand Falls. (more…)

They took Henry away

They took Henry away

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I can’t believe it. The Canadian government took Henry away at the Port-Aux-Basques ferry terminal, before we boarded the overnight ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia. It was the last place I thought they would confiscate our plant.

We crossed the Canada-US border twice and entered Newfoundland without incident, so the Plant Quarantine Inspection Station caught us by surprise. They inspected the van and asked us if we had any plants or soil in our vehicle. I didn’t have time to hide Henry and we didn’t think it was a good idea to lie to the government. So we had to give him up.

The inspector was nice enough to let me take one last picture of Henry and to say goodbye. Then he went away with our plant and, after a few minutes, he returned Henry’s pot back to me.

Once we parked in the ferry lineup, I looked down at the empty pot and started to cry. I felt terribly guilty and regretful. I wish we had turned around and threw Henry into the sea, instead of letting him end up in a government-issue garbage bin. He deserved better.

We are now on the ferry to North Sydney – without our brave little plant.

St. John’s

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At Quidi Vidi Battery.

After all those long and sweaty driving days…all those camping nights listening to drunken neighbours, screaming children, and RV generators…all the times we used gross public washrooms…and all those desperate moments searching for a decent WiFi connection so that we could make conference calls and meet work deadlines…

…Visiting St. John’s made it all worthwhile.

After our ferry arrived in Placentia Bay (July 16), we wondered if we would see good weather again. We heard that the sun rarely shines in Newfoundland, so we braced ourselves for the worst. (more…)