We wanted to get out on the road early this morning. Yordie has relatives in the area, and she wanted to show us around Lewisporte. First stop was breakfast. Yordie remembered there was a nice restaurant in the mall. There is something so straightforward about the Newfoundland culture and what a wicked sense of humour! Sure enough much to my delight, the name of the restaurant is called, Restaurant in The Mall. After a traditional breakfast we were off to visit Uncle Abner, but he wasn’t home. Yordie left him a voice message. Maybe next time Uncle Abner.

The weather was quite windy today. They were calling for 80-100 km winds. We laughed when we would see a small clearing in the sky. Wait a minute and it is gone. We followed the shoreline and headed towards the “circle” today. For those that know the song I’se Da B’y, there is a point in the song that mentions three villages. Fogo, Twillingate, Moreton’s Harbour…all around the circle. Fogo Island is not possible today due to the timing of the ferry and the strong winds, but first stop was Moreton’s Harbour. The ocean was churning and swelling. Every turn in the car presented us with a new subject for a painting. Rocky knolls, tiny villages, waves crashing against the shoreline all yelling stop and take a picture of me! I can’t possibly describe the beauty and the power of Mother Nature. I’m running out of adjectives.

Next stop is Twillingate where I hope to see the Midnight Shadow (fishing boat) of Richard Gillett from the Coldwater Cowboys fame. We stopped into a little restaurant for a bowl of soup and homemade bread which was welcome warmth on this cool day. 10 degrees Celcius. We drove to the harbour on the look out for the Midnight Shadow, but no success. Yordie wanted to get outta dodge and get back on the road. We had a lot of ground to cover today.

Next, was to get as far as we could before dark and set ourselves up with accommodation. We headed past Musgrave Harbour, and came to an area that had a pull-off. We were able walk right up to the ocean. The wind was so strong that we had to lean into it to keep from being blown over. MaryAnn’s hood acted like a parachute and it even surprised her. The foam of the North Atlantic was hitting us in our face. It was exhilarating! We laughed and giggled while we videotaped the experience. You definitely could feel the power of the ocean. I had a total appreciation of the dangers fishermen could possibly encounter. Licking salt off our lips we fell back into the car energized and ready to finish off this leg of our journey. We didn’t realize it there the remnants of a hurricane. Very powerful.

This was a long driving day and we were trying to find a place to stay but no matter where we went there wasn’t anything. We stopped in Lumsden for a bottle of wine but onwards to New-Wes-Valley and had to keep going. We found this rest stop in Badger’s Quay that had a gas bar, fish restaurant, pizza joint and motel rooms. Yordie and I jumped out of the car to inspect the rooms. We were starting to get a little desperate as light was fading and poor Yordie has been driving for 7 hours. Yordie walked up to the counter and this delightful woman with missing teeth gave us a key to check out room 5. It was just down the hall from the bar. Walking down the dingy hallway, the lights were flickering, and the ones that were lit had bugs in the yellowed plastic shades. We came to a hollow-core brown door with a rusty #5. Sticking the key in the door, we slowly opened the door and peeked our heads inside. Stucco ceilings, brown and beige polyester bedspreads thrown on well worn beds looking like they had lots of mileage. Imagine a sway back horse long in the tooth, that’s what these beds reminded me of. The stench from the room of mildew, and disinfectant invaded our nostrils. I’m sure these rooms were rented by the hour! We didnt even put our feet inside for fear of what we would step on. We immediately shut the door, ran out of there and back to the car giggling and laughing. This was definitely not up to our standards! Looks like we will keep driving to the next “large” village of Gambo. Thank goodness because I had visions of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Hostel running through my head. Funny how the dark, being tired and hunger plays tricks with your mind.

We did a Trip Advisor search and found the Freshwater Inn in the hometown of Joey Smallwood that looked promising. 5 star rating on Trip Advisor. We drove up and there were 3 units in a well-manicured area that were definitely occupied, but no one was managing that evening. We were so disappointed and so close. Heading back on the road we found Wade’s convenience store. Yordie and MaryAnn went inside to ask the storekeeper about what was available in the area. Turns out the manager of the Freshwater was at a wake, and being a small town everyone knows everyone, and their business. They were able to reach the owner of the Freshwater named “Boom” who came over to meet us. $125 including breakfast….not bad at all split between three. The room had vaulted ceilings and had a queen bed and a pull out queen bed. Boom had to be 6’5″ and towered over all of us and was so friendly. He knew Yordie’s uncle Sid who lived on the outskirts. He said if we didn’t drop in, he would tell on us. Boom gave us the tour, arranged to have breakfast for 8:30 am, filled an ice bucket for us, arranged some glasses and left us to unwind. We felt so blessed (had to put that in for my brother Kevin) that everything worked out. These girls were adventurous, resourceful and smart! Way to go Yordie and MaryAnn! Girlpower!

We cracked open a few drinks, ate some horribly greasy fish and chicken from the take out place next to the convenience store and were just thankful we had a place to lay our heads for the night. A few giggles were exchanged for sure. We checked in with people “away” and probably were a little noisier than we should have been as the gentleman in the next cabin opened his cabin door and glared at MaryAnn who was on the porch and then banged on the thin room walls. I don’t think it was 11:00 pm yet. He was a little creepy.

Tomorrow, we head to St. John’s for the last couple of nights. JoAnn’s surgery is scheduled for 10:30 am tomorrow. We will be spending the next two nights with her at her place that overlooks Quidi Vidi Lake.