Robot Monkey Pants

Well, it’s been 3 days since the last entry. The reader’s digest
version of the past three days, as I’m using my phone…

Saturday: Got on the ferry and managed to get a cabin. The boat was
definitely built in the mid 70s, as unlike the Caribou, we had only a
small sink in the room — no shower, the bunks were made of wood, and
the door used old school deadbolt locks. It wasn’t a bad journey,
though. I slept pretty well, despite the fact that there was little “at
sea” time (I dig the rocking of a boat). Most of the boat ride was into
the big lake whose name escapes me, but it’s the one that connects Goose
Bay to the Labrador Sea.

Sunday: Drove across Labrador. 300-some miles of gravel road,
occasional rain, and not near enough spectacular scenery, unlike the
coastal drive portion. It was a lot like driving across Newfoundland,
except unpaved. I don’t think I’d do it again. But the coastal drive I
would. That had small towns and great scenery, whereas the *only* thing
you come across driving across Labrador is Churchill Falls, halfway
through.

Monday: Drove from Labrador City to Baie Comeau. Beautiful drive, about
half of which is unpaved. We passed though the ghost town of Gagnon,
QC, and the huge hydro damn that is known as Manic-5. It was a great
drive — just wish there was more asphalt, less gravel. I wonder when
I’ll get the dust out of everything. On this leg of the trip, I paid
the highest diesel price of the journey — $1.17CAN a litre. After
converting, that’s $3.69US a gallon. It only gets cheaper from here on
out.

The town of Baie-Comeau was interesting. The chain hotels were oddly
full, so we stayed at the H/Motel Compte, which I think is as close as
I’ll ever come to staying at the famed Gobbler motel and supper club.
This place had the oldest equipment you ever saw, and a bar that was lit
*entirely* with Pink Neon. The capital letters are deservedly given,
trust me.

Tuesday: We drove from Baie-Comeau to Montreal (Laval, acutally) on a
fantastically scenic drive along the northern coast of the St. Lawrence
seaway. Some of the views were simply stunning. And, at one point in
the drive, a bonus ferry ride, where a simple load & go car barge takes
folks across Lac St. Jean (IIRC). It’s a breathtaking drive and simply
must be experienced.

Tomorrow, we eat at the much cherished Wilfrid Pasta Bar near the hotel,
hopefully tour Unibroue, then off to Ottawa for a few days before
wrapping up.

Tonight we’re in Cow Head on the north side of Gros Morne. It’s a
beautiful drive and we got some great pictures which I’ll share later.

I’m writing this on the night of July 7th, but we have no net, or indeed
no cellphone coverage, so this will go out much later.

The crossing on the ferry this morning was nice and relaxing. We had a
cabin, and slept the whole trip. We needed the rest due to our early
rise.

Tomorrow we cross to Labrador!

Writing this aboard the MV Sir Robert Bond, docked in Cartwright, NL on
Saturday evening (6:30 PM ship’s time). We sail for Goose Bay in an
hour, it’ll take 12 or 13 hours.

Yesterday we drove up the Northern Peninsula from Cow Head to St.
Barbe. From there we took a ferry (over an hour late, sigh) to Blanc
Sablon, QC. I was an idiot and left the portable cooler running in the
car, which meant the battery was dead when the boat docked. But we got
a boost and 3.5 hours later we were in Port Hope Simpson for the night.

The road was almost all unpaved gravel highway, so it was slow (45 mph)
and dirty. In fact, it won’t be until sometime on Monday that we’ll see
paved highway again, save for a stretch here and there through Goose Bay
and Labrador City.

But the landscape is something to experience, and the folks up here are
the best. I highly recommend the Alexis Hotel. Nice rooms, nice food,
great people.

Tonight we sleep on the boat, and tomorrow we hit Goose Bay, NL. No
net, no phone. Ahh, this is nice.

No net here, and I don’t expect any for the next few days. So I’m using
my phone. Short drive today, with a little ferry ride to get off the
Island. Oh, what a miserable day for weather. Rain, drizzle and fog
all day, but it’s nice to have cooler temps. It’s supposed to be *86*
in Labrador when we’re there. What’s up with that?!

Tomorrow we hit the rock. Looking forward to it!

First up, I learned the reason the “river” outside our hotel was a big mudpile is that it’s part of the Bay of Fundy, and it was low tide. But by the time we checked out, it was a quickly flowing (yet still brown) current. It looked like a big river of chocolate milk.

We drove from Moncton, NB to Charlottetown, PEI today. That meant we were on the Confederation Bridge, the longest bridge in the world that covers (sometimes) frozen water.

It’s a long bridge — took us about 9 minutes at 80km/h. There’s no toll to get on the island, but it’s $40 to get off the island. We’ll actually pay more as we’re leaving by ferry. All the tolls/fares seem to be round-trip, so there’s no escaping it. Not a big deal, just something to be aware of if you’re coming here.

It was a short drive between the cities, and we spent most of today exploring the city. Well, actually, the waterfront. It’s a neat little downtown. Had some great beer at some microbrewery called the Gahan House brewing company. The Honey Wheat is fantastic, and the Stout is wonderful as well. I highly recommend it.

Dinner was at a small chinese take-out on the main drag — not bad, not great. Pretty much what I expected.

We’ll be heading to North Sydney tomorrow — another short drive but it includes the aforementioned ferry ride. That’ll be fun - 75 minutes at sea. We’ll then spend the night there before getting up super early to cross over to Newfoundland.

More later.

The view from the room.

I think Delta State is one of the trippiest things on TV.

Rotoscoping disturbs me to no end.

Well, here we are in Moncton, NB. We’re staying at the lovely Chateau Moncton (pictured).

The drive from Toronto to Quebec City was uneventful and quick. Alas, no pics. Sometimes I just don’t think to snap a pic of something interesting in time. But I have a list of things for when we’re making our way back through. Our room has a view of the river here, so when the sun comes up tomorrow we’ll see if it’s worth taking a snap of.

Today we went from Quebec City to Moncton. I really pushed it on the gas, but I got us all the way to Fredericton before filling up. That last tank got me 630 miles, and I filled up with 14 gallons which works out to 45 mpg. Not bad at all given how loaded down the car is.

Tomorrow we drive from Moncton, NB to Charlottetown, PEI. That’s a short 3 hour drive, and we’ll have the rest of the day to explore around, which will be nice as neither of us have been there before. It’s a bonus stop on the drive, given the driving and motivating factor was getting into Labrador.

More tomorrow!

Yesterday was Keith’s wedding. It was a lot of fun, though my feet are killing me. Congrats to Keith and Maria. Here’s a snip from the reception.

Today we begin the drive east, ending up in Quebec City tonight. A full day of driving lies ahead of us, but I think it’ll be a real nice drive. We’ll snap pics of anything interesting, of course. Stay tuned!

We had the rehearsal for the wedding ceremony today. As a groomsman, I have it pretty easy. Walk down aisle, bow to altar, stand around, walk back down aisle. Done. I can dig it.

On our return to the hotel, we saw this little beauty parked in the lot. Wish these were available in the US.