Ease on Down the Road (Day 1)
Since I got in so late last night, it was after one a.m. before everything other than what would be needed to dress in the morning was packed. I concluded that I didn’t have a snowball’s chance of dragging myself out of bed at 3:30 a,m., which I’d need to do to allow enough time to complete the 10-hour drive around Newfoundland and arrive in time to get the 4:30 p.m. ferry back to the mainland. Plus, I probably wouldn’t be a safe driver if I did pull it off. Actually beat the cellphone’s 7 a.m. alarm–one of the few things that’s currently working on the phone while I’m in Canada–by four minutes. Showered, dressed, checked out and was on the road by 8:30 a.m. While the weather was foggy and chilly (nearly noon before the temps rose above 50), thankfully it only rained sporadically throughout the day. In the afternoon,…
At the Symposium (Day 1, Pt. 1)
Good morning! After the ship–anything big enough to hold semis is not a ferry, IMO–docked in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, on Sunday morning, RB and I disembarked and started our 809 km (555 miles according to my GPS–btw, those who have been trying to get me to buy one for years now have permission to say “I told you so”) drive to St. John’s. As I learned driving through Maine, it’s not a good idea to let your vehicle gas gauge drop below 1/3 tank since the distance between stations can be substantial. I also discovered that prices here are extraordinarily high. Gas averages $1.30 Canadian per liter, so it cost me nearly $85.00 to fill the RB, and that was regular unleaded gas. Discovered that Newfoundland is surprisingly mountainous. I can see why there’s just one main road around the outer edge. It makes for some great viewing along…