RV Chuckles

A Walk Through Bethlehem (part 1)

2009-12-10T17:25:00.010-07:00

While in Livingston, Texas, Terry and I saw a sign that said that they were having “ A Walk Through Bethlehem” in the park.

We drove to the park along Hwy 59 where we came to a large tent. A couple of shepherds were outside discussing with a girl that they had heard angels and the news that a baby was born.

Upon entering the tent, we were handed a green piece of paper that had a scroll on it and were told that there was a census. We had to put our name on the census form. To our right were cookies, coffee and punch. There were a lot of chairs so we sat down and ate while listening to the choir sing. The men’s quartet was awesome.

An announcement was made that those persons who had green census sheets could enter. We walked into an area that had booths set up for trade days except that we were in a time warp. I judged the time to be over 2000 years ago. The signs were written in a foreign language that I think was Hebrew as well as in English. Some richly clothed men demanded our census forms and said that we would have to pay taxes.

In the booths, we met a young apprentice blacksmith, and a sandal maker. I tasted wine which was not fermented, sweets like candy, and bread with fresh olive oil.

A Walk Through Bethlehem (part 2)

2009-12-10T17:03:00.012-07:00

I smelled frank incense and myurr and other spices. A little girl gave me a basket. I saw a potter working her wheel and a grandmother, mother and child making bread. There were goats and donkeys in one booth. A strolling centurian stopped and spoke pleasantly with me. I saw a brick maker and another booth selling fruit.

The inn was closed because there wasn’t any room in it but the inn keeper said that there was a baby outside if I wanted to see it. The shock of black hair on the child made it look as though it was a doll, wrapped up to keep it warm. On further inspection, I saw the beautiful face of a child about a week old.

We could see our car from where we were so we returned home to our RV amazed by what we had just felt, smelled, tasted, heard and seen.

Post Thanksgiving Day

2009-11-29T11:54:00.007-07:00

"Happy Thanksgiving from across the miles" was written on the Thanksgiving card that my friend Pat sent me. It was used in the table decorations at the Escapees Activity Center on Thanksgiving Day. After learning that Terry had Diabetes, the ladies at our table brought sweet potatoes without sugar and a no added sugar pumpkin pie for him. We had a delicious meal. Ninety nine people ate the Thanksgiving meal here in Livingston. In the afternoon, we went to my grandson's home for leftovers.

We are thankful to God for food, our relatively good health and family and friends. We are blessed. We hope that you had a great Thanksgiving too.

I made these Barbie doll clothes for my granddaughter Laura who will be five years old on December 11. Plans have been made for her and her parents and sister to fly to Houston for her birthday and an early holiday celebration. Ray and Teresita will fly from Alaska and Joy will return to her home in Seabrook, Texas from Colorado where she is spending her Thanksgiving vacation.

Lifestyle Changes

2009-11-19T01:54:00.010-07:00

Yes, we still live in our RV. We still visit friends and I play Bingo, Sticks, and Crazy Rook at the clubhouse. I lead the singing for the church service in the clubhouse.

Side trips have taken us to see muted russet and golden leaves although most of the deciduous trees are still green in Sam Houston State Forest. Since we are in the “piney woods” area of Texas, we see many evergreen trees draped with Spanish moss. I think that it is strange to see deciduous trees, palms, and evergreens in the same forest.

We watch osprey, hawks, cranes, herons, pelicans, and geese on the look out for fish in Lake Conroe and Lake Livingston.

Our daughter, Joy Miller, was our tour guide in the Bay of Houston and Clear Lake area last week. The ducks and catfish both tried to catch the breadcrumbs and pellet food near Laundry’s Restaurant where Joy treated us to lunch.

We viewed the area where Hurricane Ike caused wind and flood damage last year. Many areas were cleared of broken houses and now are empty lots with "for sale signs." Other houses have been rebuilt or are still in the process of rebuilding. We even saw a couple of houses, which were on a fountation in 2008, and are now on basements since the houses have been raised above the previous flood level.

I marveled at the realistic sculptures created a century and a half ago while Terry was more interested in the antique guns and tools in the museum in the Sam Houston Park in Huntsville. Margaret Houston made a pleasant home for the seven Houston children in the home that is now located in the park.

Brahmas, Long horns and horses are seen in the Texas ranches along the highway.

All these things we did last year when we were parked in Castaways Campground near Willis, Texas. What has changed our lifestyle this year is that Terry has been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. Now he is on meds and sticks his finger twice a day to check his blood sugar. He takes a walk everyday. We eat smaller amounts but eat more frequently. Terry also has stopped eating donuts, cookies, pie, candy bars and ice cream.

Yes, life changes. We grow older. Terry had another birthday on November 16.
I wonder what we happen this next year.

Jay Jay

2009-11-07T07:40:00.006-07:00

Do you know why God planned for children to be born to young adults? When you get to be my age, you don’t have the energy to chase after them.

Jay Jay, my great grandson, had a wonderful time in the park! He was under, on top of and inside the play equipment. He understands what his mother says when she speaks English or Spanish. Although his vocabulary is limited, the words he does say are spoken clearly.

He is one step ahead of you when you speak to him since he says “Welcome” before you can say “thank you” when he gives you something.

In other words, he is a healthy, happy child who will be two years old in December. I was very worried about him when he was born since he was over two months premature and weighed a little over 3 pounds.

Halloween Fun

2009-11-02T07:18:00.010-07:00

The RV clubhouse had more decorations than you can believe for the Halloween party. Terry and I were the cutest couple there. (Okay, many women dressed up but we were the only couple that wore costumes.)

I asked a woman at the campground Laundromat if she was going to the Halloween party. She answered, “Yes, but we aren’t going to dress.” My response was, “That should be interesting!” The jellyfish lady won the best costume prize.

About half of the group were kids but Terry didn’t get many pictures of them. They had fun bobbing for apples, going on a hayride and eating candy. We ate Frito pie and desserts and candy. The pumpkins are from the carving contest. Don’t you think that they are artistic?

SCARY TEXAS

2009-10-30T16:13:00.011-06:00

Although Texas is our home address, we weren’t in Texas in 2009 until the 21st of October. The weather was scary since we drove through the heart of Dallas in the fog and rain with accidents happening all around us.

We spent six days with our friends Jerry and Joan who bought a beautiful new home this year with an RV pad and 50-amp service. The six days were busy with visiting, shopping and sightseeing. Joan took me to her writer’s class at the senior center. We met with Joanne and Bill, Terry’s cousins, at the Red Lobster. Jerry and Terry had a great time speaking RV language and talking “techy talk”.

Joan took her grandchildren, niece and myself on a scary drive through a campground that was decorated for Halloween.

As we drove our RV south to Lake Conroe, we saw many places where water was over the side streets and overflowing in ponds and ditches. Yesterday, there was thunder, lightning and it rained about three more inches. Yes, that’s scary.

We drove by Huntsville with a statute of Sam Houston that is as big as the trees around it. Is that scary?

What picture is most scary to you? Don’t be too scared but have a FUN Halloween!

Fall in Iowa

2009-10-12T15:35:00.005-06:00

Yes, we like to watch the deer running free but the deer are so numerous that they are a nuisance in Iowa. We were driving around the Red Rock Lake area when we saw nine deer in a couple of hours. Before Ryan shot his small deer with a bow and arrow, a deer jumped in front of the car he was driving, smashed the windshield and put dents in the car. Since the car belonged to his sister, she wasn’t a happy camper. Saturday, Ryan shot a seven-point buck with his bow and arrow. Many farmers think that it is great to harvest the deer that have been eating their corn and soybeans. When the corn and soybeans have been harvested, some deer have a hard time making it through the winter since their food source is gone.

We expected to see fall foliage but most of the leaves are green. It is a photographic occasion when you see a tree this red.

Along the Red Rock Lake area, we saw white pelicans and these strange birds. Do you know what kind they are? (If you want to see any photo made larger, click on the left bottom of the picture.)

Iowa Wedding

2009-10-12T14:54:00.002-06:00

Never before have I wore all black to a wedding. A person of my generation thinks that black is for funerals but I’m happy that my nephew Ben is getting married. It’s just that black clothes are the warmest clothes that I own and it was snowing on Oct. 10, 2009, the day that Ben and Shawna got married in Moravia, Iowa. The picture is of the front yard at my daughter’s home.

The wedding ceremony was traditional with the bride in a beautiful white satin strapless gown decorated with red embroidery and the traditional long white train while the groom wore a dark suit with a rose in his lapel. The three bridesmaids and maid of honor wore brown strapless gowns with flounces of red, or orange or gold and carrying bouquets of flowers of the same hue. Then they covered up with coats, hats, scarves and blankets while the whole bridal party mounted a wagon with hay bales on it to be driven to the reception. To be sure you knew what occasion had occurred; the wagon was decorated with a big red heart and flowers and the words “Just Married” on the back. Don’t you wish that I had taken a picture?

The women in the bridal party wore scarves to cover their bare shoulders and traded their thin slippers for long socks and boots. Many relatives and friends changed into pants, boots and comfortable warmer clothing until they looked like a bunch of farmers out for winter fun just before doing chores.

Actually the huge white tent with propane heaters wasn’t as cold as I imagined it would be. There were salads, chips, dips, crackers, fresh vegetables and fruit, cookies, and buns to fill with hot ham or roast beef. I even had a strawberry dipped into the chocolate fountain. There were cans of “pop”, coffee and another fountain of punch followed by the traditional cake and ice cream accompanied by nuts and mints.

Of course, the best part of the wedding for me was joining my relatives in a joyful occasion and to welcome Shawna into the family.

Family News

2009-10-04T14:43:00.007-06:00

We had our grandchildren, Emily and Nathan, visit at my daughter’s house and our RV. Emily and Nathan made peanut butter cookies and learned that if you need 1 and ¼ cups of flour and your 1-cup measuring cup is wet, you can use the ¼ cup five times. Following recipes is a good way to learn fractions.

Nathan made a birthday card for my mother’s 90th birthday. He wanted to draw 90 candles with a flame on each candle but was spending more time counting the candles than drawing them. Then he started to write on another sheet of paper. When I asked what he was doing, Nathan answered, “I’m keeping track of the number of candles.” He wrote 32 and drew a candle and then 33 and drew another candle. I’m proud of him not only for his persistence but also that he was able to finish all the numbers and all the candles without any help.

Mother was proud of this five-generation picture that was taken at her Birthday party. Pictured are my parents, my son, Rich and his wife Shelly and their daughter Heather with her children, Shawn, Marcus and Mercedes.

Our family picture shows brother Jim seated on the left, my mother Agnes, my father Clarence, and brother Clare in the front row. The back row includes is my sister Angie, myself, and sisters Clara and Joy.

It’s bow-hunting season for deer. Grandson, Ryan, asked me to take pictures of the deer he shot before he ground the meat into ground venison. He sliced the rest of the meat as thin as possible, added spices and is drying it for venison jerky.

Autumn in Iowa

2009-09-25T11:37:00.003-06:00

I love autumn in the Midwest. My son gave us fresh homegrown tomatoes, apples and zucchini squash. I like zucchini best in a bread so I tried a new recipe for pineapple zucchini bread this morning. Tomatoes were used in salads and for BLTs. The cinnamon applesauce is great too.

The corn and soybean fields are turning yellow but we are waiting for the leaves to change. From our living room window, we watched two deer walk the fence line.

The weather is mild with temperatures in the 50's Fahrenheit at night and 70's during the day.

We are in Iowa visiting with kids, grandkids, brothers, sisters and my parents. We will help my parents move into Fair Haven in Pella. It is an independent living facility but the next building is assisted living and another building is a nursing home.

It’s a good time to do fall cleaning since we can store things in my daughter’s basement. It’s fun to go shopping with Karol and redo the RV. I bought the flowers at Michaels and new rugs at Kohls. The bedspread was bought in Shipshewana, Indiana at the Amish flea market a month ago.

We will help mom to celebrate her 90th Birthday on Oct. 3 and go to my nephew's wedding a week later. When we move, it will be to go to Texas.

RV/MH Hall of Fame

2009-09-07T09:48:00.008-06:00

Sorry about not sending emails or blogs lately. We had very limited Internet coverage in Newfoundland. Then we had no coverage while traveling to Elkhart, Indiana to get the windshield fixed before it fell out completely. (Little edges were raised on the glass but it stayed intact in the scotch tape.) Friday our windshield was replaced! It is beautiful! We are now in Illinois visiting with friends.

While we waited for the work to be done on the RV, we went to the new RV/MH Hall of Fame near Elkhart, Indiana. Terry took this overview of one section of the vintage RVs. The kitchens and bathrooms are sure different today. In one RV, the driver’s chair was a $35 “accessory”.

The dark blue RV is the one that Mae West used in 1931. The sign said that “This 1931 Chevrolet based custom made house car was one of the enticements offered by Paramount Studios to get Mae West to leave the Vaudeville circuit and make movies for them. It is designed as a chauffeur driven lounge and not as a ‘camper’ unit. It features a small hot plate stove, an icebox, and a small table to enjoy lunch or a spot of tea. It was used for several years to transport Miss West from her home or hotel to the shooting location. The story indicates she had a rocking chair on the back porch where she could enjoy the breeze when appropriate.”

I spoke with Al Hesselbart who is an author and historian and works at the RV/MH Hall of Fame about my RV books. Guess what? He wanted my books for the RV/MH library! That means that my books with stories by Terry Hager, Joan Pomeroy, Bill Miller, Jerry Leroy, Michele Quau and myself are in the RV/MH Hall of Fame.

Wildflowers

2009-08-19T06:01:00.013-06:00

Most of these wildflowers were photographed near the Rose Blanche Lighthouse in southwestern Newfoundland in a small amount of soil since the area is very rocky. Signs with their names accompanied many of the flowers such as the buttercup so I think that I have named them correctly. But I’m not a botanist so if I have incorrectly named a flower, please send a comment to tell me what you think the correct name is.

The red Pitcher Plant is the provincial flower of Newfoundland. Bakeapples are a favorite jam plant that produces a white flower and an orange berry that resembles a raspberry with large seeds but has it’s own unique flavor. Next is the white three-toothed cinquefoil. Sometimes the bushy white Labrador Tea Rose is used in a beverage. The small Harebell or Blue Bell is very delicate. Another purple flower is the wild Iris. The yellow flower is the Common Buttercup. The large white Queen Ann’s Lace, Purple Clover, Daisies and Yellow Buttercup often cover the hillsides. The Fireweed beside me isn’t only grown in Alaska but you often see hillsides covered with it. As you can see from the two pictures, the fireweed booms that were beautiful are almost gone. That is a sign that COLD WEATHER IS COMING SOON. I’ve more stories and photos but they will need to be written on the blog later. It’s time to leave Newfoundland.

Vikings

2009-08-17T15:36:00.015-06:00

At first I wasn’t too impressed with the Viking museum and its copies of artifacts and items behind glass of long ago.

The modern building of the L’anse Aux Meadows UNESCO World Heritage Site showed a sample of the recreated boat that brought the Vikings to North America. (It seemed very small.) Nails and a cloak pin that the archaeologist Anne Stine and her husband, Helge Ingstad used to authenticate the site as to a Viking 1000AD village site, were interesting. At first the distant sod houses didn’t look like much but on closer inspection, they were interesting. The site was more real as I walked the boardwalk to the recreated houses and met the enactors near the sites where the artifacts were found. They not only showed us what life was like 1000 years ago but also invited us to handle the reproduced artifacts. I could see them weave and make yarn and even look through the fence and see the icebergs like the Vikings did. But I think that Terry looks a little too happy to be handling an axe.

Churches Near Water

2009-08-16T13:21:00.005-06:00

I wondered why so many of the churches we have seen are built by water. When I saw a photo of a bride, dressed for her wedding, getting on a boat to go to the church; I realized that a boat was the usual mode of transportation.

I was told that most of the roads that are in Newfoundland have been built in the last 50 or 60 years. Most of the churches were built long before then. It makes sense that when your mode of transportation is via water that the churches are located conveniently beside it.

We were riding a ferryboat to Fogo Island when I met a family who was returning to the island where the parents lived when they were children. Somehow the father brought the conversation to religion. I asked what churches were on the island. He said that most churches are Anglican, United Church of Canada and Roman Catholic and that their social life was centered around the church they attended. The upper class attended the Anglican, the middle class the United Church of Canada and the poorer people, which included most of the Irish, attended the Roman Catholic. He was Anglican and married a Roman Catholic. He commented, “My family wasn’t happy with that.”

I noticed that most cemeteries, even those that aren’t close to a church building, are named for a particular denomination. I wonder if this causes problems in families even after they are dead.

2009-08-11T03:44:00.001-06:00

Newfoundland has many lighthouses along its shoreline. Some of them are still operating today but they are automatic now rather than having a lighthouse keeper.

Since I didn’t have Internet for so long, I took lots of pictures that are in one big group. Therefore I’m not putting chronological pictures on the blog but rather impressions of Newfoundland.

Most people won’t care where a particular lighthouse is located so I’m not spending the time through the Newfie literature to locate them. If you want to know where a particular lighthouse is located, I will do research on it and try to tell you. Email me or leave a comment.

We are going on the road again so I probably won't have internet until after we arrive back in Nova Scotia which is scheduled for August 21.

Newfie Lighthouses

2009-08-11T02:56:00.009-06:00

Jiggs Dinner

2009-08-10T01:39:00.005-06:00

A traditional Newfie meal is the Jiggs dinner. It is a combination of cabbage, turnips, potatoes, carrots and salt beef. Yellow split peas are cooked until they become a creamy solid they call “pea pudding.” When we were in Elliston, which the Newfies call the “Root Cellar Capitol of the world,” we saw where they used to store the vegetables and salt beef in root cellars.

We were going to leave our friends, Gordon and Gertie last week but Gertie said that she wanted us to stay and have a Jiggs dinner with her and Gordon, daughter and son-in-law, Dale and Brian and her sister Edna. (Dale and Brian are the young couple in the photo and Edna is serving the food.)How could we say no to that? Gertie is a great cook. The meal was delicious!

Twillingate

2009-08-07T23:28:00.008-06:00

Jerry and Suzy sent me a comment that said “What a wonderful experience! We SKPs are pretty friendly too, and we have learned that it is easy to strike up a conversation in lots of places.”

Yes, the Escapees (SKPs) are a friendly RV group. RVers are friendly but when is the last time that people in a motel knocked on your door and said, “Let’s go to Dinner?”

The Boomer SKPs are especially friendly. We met Gaye and Chet last year in Quartzsite, AZ who invited us to visit their home in Twillingate, Newfoundland. (Because of the turret or belvedere, I think that their home in Newfoundland looks like a castle.)

We left messages but were unable to contact them by phone so we knocked on their door. In spite of the fact that they were painting their house and exhibiting Gaye’s fiber art in an art show for the Fish, Folk, and Fun Festival; they made us feel very welcome. Chet gave us a tour of the home. Gaye told us that several Boomers were coming to their house for a potluck dinner on Wednesday and suggested that we might want to join them.

She also suggested that we visit the church that is now a museum and listen to a concert given by Steven Rogers. He was very talented and played, hymns, classical music and jigs from several countries on the organ, tin pipe, and accordion. Terry isn’t a musical person but even he enjoyed it very much.

Twillingate is known for their icebergs. A huge iceberg had actually closed the harbor this spring. Even though the ice wasn’t in Twillingate anymore, we traveled about 5 kilometers away in Durrell where we saw several pieces of it.

We visited several Boomers at their boondock area and made plans for Wednesday.

On Wednesday, we left our RV in Lewisporte and traveled by car to Twillingate. Since the food would be cold by the time we arrived, I brought the fixings for a potato casserole and knew that Elaine and Mary would let me fix it in their RV. The problem was that Elaine and Mary were gone when we arrived. I asked a SKP if he knew where they were and he told me they had gone with his wife Pricilla to hear Steven Rogers but I was invited to use their kitchen. So I did.

We had a great time getting hugs from the Boomers and information on where they had visited. Of course, we gave them information on the places we had visited too. The food and fellowship with SKP Boomers is always great!

Newfoundland Water

2009-08-05T19:42:00.009-06:00

I’ve been asked to describe Newfoundland. How do you describe a province about half the size of Texas in a few words or pictures?

Newfoundland is an island with most of the people living along the coastline. Water is described as ocean, coves, bays, rivers, lakes, ponds, waterfalls, brooks, and tickles. Water is also described as salty, fresh, or as a combination of salty and fresh. They have words to describe the depth of the water and the speed of its flow. Of course, frozen water becomes icebergs. I will do another blog on all the lighthouses that we have seen.

A picture is worth a thousand words. I hope the internet will print these pictures.

Gertie and Gord

2009-08-05T12:34:00.004-06:00

Newfoundland is the last province or state that we have visited since we began living in our RV for the past twelve years.

The people around here are different. The folks we have encountered live by the golden rule and do for others, as they want people to do for them. They trust others. In the northwestern part of Newfoundland, it is hard to find enough soil in the rocky ground to put in a garden so Newfies use the ground that has been dug up to put in roads. You will see gardens in the ditches of the highway several miles from where you see houses. When wood is ordered for the winter, it is delivered to the side of the road. No one seems to steal food or wood.

They are the friendliest people we have met. They wave at everyone and talk to you if you are in line at the grocery store or if you are visiting the same place.

Gertie and Gord came to us while we were at Wal-mart. Since they saw our license plate from Texas, they inquired if we knew . . . I thought, “there are millions of people in Texas, what are the chances of us knowing someone they know?” Gertie said “They RV too and have a Texas address.”

If they are from the RV Escapees Club, the odds are more favorable. Only about 10,000 people use the Escapees mail service and address.

Gertie continued, “Their names are Martha and Gene __________.

I replied, “Yes, we know them. We visited with them in Greensboro, North Carolina, Quartzsite, Arizona, Fairbanks, Alaska and even in a small town in Nebraska.”

Gertie said that Martha and Gene parked the RV in their yard. “Do you want to park your RV there too?”. . . “ Stay as long as you like.”. . . Do you have laundry you want to wash?”

Yes, we are parked in their yard. It’s so good to meet local people when you travel because they know where the tourist places are located and where to park and shop. But what are the chances that people would invite strangers into their home where you live?

Almost Cousins

2009-08-04T05:40:00.004-06:00

An update on the accident is that they don't have a replacement windshield on the island. A glass repairman put a lot of clear goop on the windshield and then we added the wide Scotch tape that is used to mail packages. Except for some small ground glass, the windshield is holding together and will be replaced when we get to Nova Scotia or the USA. The cabinet was put back together. Fortunately not much was broken. We are continuing the trip in Newfoundland.

The people in Newfoundland are so friendly! We visited Pauline Miller’s brothers and sister-in-law when we were in Corner Brook. Pauline is the wife of Terry’s cousin Ronald Miller of Edmonton but the brothers and sister-in-law aren’t related to us.

Elsie and Fred invited us to their home with the million-dollar view of Humber Arm and the Humber River from their patio. They drove us down Hwy 450 to the end of the bay. On the return trip we stopped and ate codfish at a little restaurant and watched the sun go down. Then the other four brothers arrived at Fred and Elsie’s home to visit with us. A granddaughter arrived to spend the night.

They had gathered information on Newfoundland and shared it with us. It is so good to get information from local people because they know where to go and what to see.

Elsie is an accomplished artist. She painted all the pictures you see in the photos. The brothers talked about golf and joked about a fox who stole golf balls and stored a pile of them in the woods.

I have pictures but the internet connection reads that I have "interrupted service" and will not let me upload them.

We had fun with the family and felt that we are almost cousins.

Newfoundland Angels

2009-07-31T23:01:00.001-06:00

I don’t know what time it is where you are or where this blog is published but it is 2:30 AM in Newfoundland on August 1. The time is ½ hour ahead of Atlantic Time. Today is HappyThon 2009. Send a happy message to everyone you know. This is a happy story because it has a happy ending. Sorry that I don’t have pictures but angels don’t take very good pictures.

Do you know what angels look like? No, our angels didn’t wear white gowns and come floating to us on gossamer wings. They appeared to be an attractive couple of about 40 years old wearing blue denim, black leather and motorcycle helmets and came to see us riding their motorcycles.

Angels give you messages and help you when you are in trouble.

The accident happened a few minutes after twelve noon on July 12, 2009. We were traveling in our RV about two hours from Corner Brook, Newfoundland when we wondered if we should take Highway 340 or 341.

“There’s a road with a place to park. Pull off and look at the map” I told my husband Terry. He drove on the service road but instead of parking on the gravel area, he pulled off onto a grassy area. Suddenly we heard a loud thump, glass breaking and stuff falling.
My first thought was to get out of the RV. I reached for the door latch. The steps automatically descended and the door and the steps slammed into the soft dirt. Both Terry and I crawled out.

The back wheel was spinning crazily in a ditch, which has been hidden in tall grass. The driver’s front tire was several inches off the ground. The RV continued to teeter. Terry crawled back uphill into the RV and put the jacks down. The RV leaned at a 20-degree angle. There were hundreds of cracks in the passenger side of the windshield and a gapping hole in the windshield on the driver’s side. I had seen a broken cabinet and stuff lying all over the RV before I bailed out.

It was obvious that we needed a wrecker. My camera bag was in my lap when the accident occurred. In it was my wallet and cell phone.

There was no service in this remote area to the cell phone. A gas station was near by. The attendant told me to dial 0 instead of 1 for the 800 numbers on the pay phone to call our road service. I was put on hold for half an hour before I was disconnected. I kept trying to get road service. Terry and the gas station attendant called someone the attendant knew before I reached road service some fifteen minutes later.

Then we waited. The couple on the motorcycle and others asked if they could help. We said that help was on the way. The angels said that stuff was replaceable and we were fortunate that we were not injured.

We waited. I was scared. What were we going to do? Would the RV go completely over when someone tried to maneuver it? We were on day two of a forty-one day trip to Newfoundland. The RV wasn’t just a mode of transportation but also our only home. We have been traveling full time for twelve years in one RV or another and all our stuff for our daily living is inside. What could we selvage? How would we get off the island?

Three hours passed before two men from the wrecker company arrived in a heavy-duty pick-up with jacks and 8 x 8 pieces of wood to use for cribbing. It stabilized the RV but there wasn’t any way it could be driven out.

The motorcycle couple returned with a heavy-duty pickup and their travel trailer. The man lay on the ground and checked the situation out. “I’d pull you out if I could with my wrench but you are too big. There isn’t any transmission fluid or fuel leaking.” He stated. “They look intact.” The couple, who said they were Susan and John, tried to reassure me.

We waited another one and a half hours before the men with the jacks and cribbing arrived with their wrecker. They didn’t have a clue where we should go to have the RV checked or glass replaced.

John and Susan arrived on their motorcycles just as the RV was pulled out. John checked the bottom of the RV and told us that it looked safe to drive.

Susan looked at me and said, “You look exhausted. You need to come to our house. My husband drives a semi truck. We have space for the RV, tools and even a pit if you need to work on it.”

I looked at Terry. He asked where they lived. They answered that they lived about a half hour away towards Corner Brook but not to worry about where. They would lead the way.

Now what are the chances that they would have space, a torch, welder, and other tools to fix the RV? John even had an aluminum strap to hold the muffler up.

Susan invited me in their home.” Have you eaten today?” She asked. I admitted that I hadn’t even thought about food. “Would steak, baked potatoes and corn be all right?”

When I expressed gratitude, Susan just said, “I’d want someone to help me so we are helping you.”

John said that he was broken down with his semi one day when a stranger came along and asked to help. The man returned and said that his wife insisted that John come home with him for lunch but John was shy and told the man that he was okay. A little later the man returned with a bagged lunch for John.

Susan offered to have us sleep in their spare room but we cleared a path through our stuff and crawled into our own comfortable bed. They didn’t want any payment. Both John and Susan hugged me before we said good night.

When we woke the next morning, the house and garage were still there but our angels were gone.

Peggy's Cove

2009-07-09T08:42:00.007-06:00

We have been to Peggy’s Cove three times. The first time it was a picturesque little village with the most amazing lighthouse because it was built on huge rock boulders while most lighthouses are on land. The second trip was in late September of 1998 when most of the area was blocked off because artifacts from the Swissair plane were being washed on shore from the accident site nine nautical miles away. July 7 was the third time. It is still a small village but there are many, many tourists who go to see it so it is difficult to get good close up pictures without hoards of tourists.

I have been hurrying to get these blogs on the Internet because I’m not sure that our satellite dish will work in Newfoundland to post them. We take the ferry in the morning from Sydney to Channel-Port aux Basques. If you don’t hear from me for awhile, you know that we can’t get Internet. We can phone friends and relatives but if they don’t have Canada coverage, it is costly for them to phone us.

The Citadel

2009-07-09T08:05:00.007-06:00

The citadel in Halifax is an old time fortress. We walked through it to see the changing of the guard, heard bagpipes played by people in kilts, saw many videos and artifacts from the various campaigns in the history of N.S.

The clock was given to the city of Halifax when Prince Edward, the father of Queen Victoria, lived in the area. He was very punctual and wanted people to be able to tell the time even if they didn’t own timepieces.

We also heard more about the explosion that Trevor told us about that happened in 1918. It was an accident, not an act of war, where two ships collided with the resulting fires exploding tons of ammunition. Over 2,000 people were killed and 9,000 injured.