Terri and Peter's RV Adventures

The winds howled through the night. I can personally attest that from 3 – 4 am they had somewhat subsided and a cool, damp air had settled quietly around the campground. Why do I know this? Because Cali woke me up at 3 am, a very unusual event, and when I took her outside, she proceeded to chomp ferociously and feverishly on grass. It was clear she was having stomach distress and that was her cure. I’ve just never seen her graze with such intensity over a one hour period of time. I tried to bring her in after a half hour but she pawed the door to get out and kept going at it. I was exhausted and thought this was the end for her. But she got some relief and an hour later, around 4:10 am, we both went back to sleep. Today, she was back to normal, thankfully. It’s questionable whether or not I was.

Peter declared that he wanted to stay at our Grand Codroy Campground for three weeks! Underlying message: I’m tired of driving and moving. I understand but I also remember waking up at 3:30 am on February 8th when the Parks Canada campsites in Gros Morne were released and frantically deciding which ones to select. I’d also heard amazing things about Gros Morne and things to see and do north of there, so eventually Peter came around, fortunately after he did our laundry.

Codroy Campground and this area are places we could definitely return to if we get tired of being so far up north. The campground’s “check out” time is a generous 2 pm and we were on the road by 1:45 pm. What we didn’t expect was a solid one hour downpour about an hour into our drive. We’d stopped to get a few groceries in the larger town of Corner Brook and coming out of the grocery store, the heavens had opened up and the rain was fierce. Starting our drive into the mountains, surrounded by lush, thick stands of evergreen trees, the usual 60 mph ride on the Trans Canada Highway turned closer into 40 mph over ponding, pot holed pavement that had clear grooves created by steady truck traffic. The ponding was really daunting.

So slowly and steadily we made our way up and around thick forests, ponds, lakes, creeks and rivers careening down mountainsides. It felt like we were the only ones in this lush, primordial world. The total trip was over 230 miles and took us five hours.

Our campsite at Green Point Campground is steps away from the Atlantic Ocean. We can hear the waves crashing on the shore. We have power and water but there’s a boil advisory so that’s an unexpected inconvenience.

We grilled salmon and haddock that we bought in Halifax along with grilled asparagus and rice. Dinner was at 8:30 pm which I know is fashionable in Europe but not for me. I’m looking forward to what this next adventure in the far north eastern reaches of Newfoundland is going to be. Thanks for following along.

By the way, Gros Morne National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because “The park provides a rare example of the process of continental drift, where deep ocean crust and the rocks of the earth’s mantle lie exposed.” The name Gros Morne from French means “large mountain standing alone” or more literally “great sombre.” It is the eroded remnants of a mountain range formed 1.2 billion years ago.