Day 8 – 20.3 km (total – 195 km)
The view between Ivany’s Cove and Clarenville.
We’ve officially started our 2nd week and in some ways we feel like we’re establishing some routines… in other ways, not so much! Last night in Clarenville, we were parked at the back of Canadian Tire gas station. Snow turned to freezing rain and our propane ran out at midnight. Both Sarah and I have good sleeping bags, so being warm throughout the night wasn’t the issue. However, the wind was! Gusts of up to 100 km/hr were rocking the RV back and forth. And you know when you’re in and out of sleep and somewhat cognizant of reality?! Well, I was convinced the RV was going to be blown on its side… needless to say it was a long night. We were woken up by trucks plowing and salting the lot, so we started our day. We had been assured that Canadian Tire could provide us with propane for the RV. Sarah came back to tell me that not only did they not have the nozzle to fill RV’s, but no one else around did either. We had passed an Irving the day before in Goobies that had propane, but no one licensed to fill it working that day. Anyway, we felt a bit frantic as it’s getting colder here on the Rock and we might be looking at another 5 or 6 days before we got to Gander. So we called the Irving back in Goobies to explain our situation and Pamela (the manager), came to the rescue. One of the licensed guys was an 18 year old student who just works weekends, but because of our circumstances, his dad drove him the 26 km down the road just so that we could get some propane. Sometimes you can’t believe that people can be so generous and helpful… and then you remember you’re in Newfoundland – home to some of the most kind, caring people in the world.
The giant moose in Goobies
This morning the roads were a mess and the winds were extremely strong. So after we sorted out our propane, we had some breakfast and sat in the Irving. Within an hour the sun began to shine and the plows were out. By about 1 pm, I hit the TCH and was able to get in about 20 k. So we’re back in Clarenville, cooking up some pad thai for dinner.
One of the many waterfalls along the TCH
