Day 69 - Tour of Gros Morne National Park

Day 69 Friday, July 16, 2010 I did two blogs this morning. There has been a big breakthrough thanks to Neal who showed me how to type in Microsoft word processor and save it until I get internet and then he showed me how to transfer it to blogger.com. I gave him a big hug as we have been trying to figure that out since the beginning of our trip. I called Melissa, and Judy, and I both talked to her for awhile. Then Darrell’s younger brother by 13 years, Nathan, came over to fix Judy’s washing machine. Darrell's family grew up on an island and he lost two brothers who were swept away by the waves of the ocean. Young Nathan was just one year old when their father died of bowel cancer. Today was to be tour day. Darrell took off the afternoon and we headed toward Gros Morne National Park. On the way, he showed us the best way to go out of town when we leave. Darrell told us to look up at one stop at Breakfast mountain to see if we could see the face of the old man in the rock face. . Legend says that he is overlooking a treasure on Shelburne Island below. We saw the big Humber River and passed Marble Mountain where the downhill ski areas are. We passed a town called Pasadena and then saw Deer Lake where we turned to Hwy 430. Soon we were in Gros Morne National Park. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking at times. I tried to take some photos from the car but the windows were tinted so they weren’t that good. It was a day with an unusual dark, cloudy sky so it was hard to get bright pictures and my camera just doesn’t capture the beauty in the distance. We stopped at one hiking entry point for going up Gros Morne Mountain which is 806 m high. Both Darrell and Neal have hiked to the summit and back. At Norris Point, we toured the Jenniex House Museum and Craft shop. It is an old Salt Box house in the style of all the old houses of the past. The sight of a wringer washing machine, an old wood stove and a kitchen table with a long bench on each side brought back memories of my childhood. We stopped for a snack at a kayak rental place and snack bar run by some of their friends. At Neddy‘s Harbour we saw the Neddy‘s Harbour Inn. At the visitor center at the outskirts of Rocky Harbour, we watched a movie about hiking Gros Morne. I was ready to trade in my bicycle and call my hiking buddies Mary, Michael, Gail and Susan. They would love the challenges here. At Lobster Cove, we toured the lighthouse. Someone from Sault Ste. Marie had signed the guest book about 6 names before ours. On the way back to the highway, Darrell spotted 3 moose feeding back in the field by the highway. We all tried to take photos but they were far away. Darrell dared to go a little closer. I wasn't going to be so brave. After touring this side of the park, we retraced our path for awhile and then turned up Hwy 431. The uphills and downhills were spectacular just like the Cabot Trail but this time we were in a car. We drove until we reached the Table Mountains. What a change from the other side of Humber Arm The table mountains are all rock and yellow colored stone. We stopped and took a close look at the interesting patterns on the stones and the little flowers that can grow in this stark environment.. We drove to the Old Loft restaurant where we tasted mussels for the first time. They were okay. Dave also had cod chowder and liked it. Judy educated me about mummers and their ugly sticks. At Christmas time they cover their faces and go to make music with their sticks at other homes and the folks would guess who it was. The grub box was the fisherman's lunch box. After he took his lunch out, he would sit on it to eat. On the way home after a beautiful day of touring, Darrell spotted two more moose at separate places and we tried to get photos. I concluded that you need a telescopic lens to capture them clearly. We arrived back home late and I talked to Melissa briefly and then tried to load photos on the camera and empty one of my photo memory cards. Thanks to Darrell and Judy for a lovely day showing us some of the beauties of their corner of the western shore of Newfoundland.