Bonavista, Elliston, Trinity, and then another 140 miles to St. John’s in one day. The last part was rough because for the first time in Newfoundland we fought the wind and it knocked us around pretty good.  There was also a bad accident that had us stopped for a while.  But I think the people in the accident, unfortunately and sadly, were stopped into eternity.  Unlike highway 1 throughout most of the middle of Newfoundland where there are thick forests, the last 100 miles before St. John’s is a lot of up and down hills and miles of wildflowers.  Really beautiful.  And the waterways!  Arms, sounds, bays, tickles, coves, harbors, ponds (lakes), rivers,  a channel, and a reach.  I’ve looked some of these up.  For instance, a sound is an ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord. 
We arrived in St. John’s too late to make staying at an RV park worthwhile.  Thank goodness for Wal-Mart.  The next morning (yesterday) we went to 3400 acre Pippy Park where there is a municipal campground.  Tessa and kids were also staying here and we had some more fun time together.  The RV park has over 200 sites but they are expensive.  $37 for full hookups, $27 to dry camp.  I would love to stay there for a week if it was more reasonable.  Our loop was in the woods and each site had at least an acre to themselves.  Plus, the park is only 2 miles from downtown.  Tessa and kids leave tonight on the ferry back to Nova Scotia so we really won’t be seeing them anymore this trip.  I hope tonight’s ocean ride is better than their aborted whale watching trip yesterday.  The waves got so high that they were all screaming and the captain turned back to shore, refunding what everyone paid. 


Before we checked out this morning Tessa test drove our View, making U-Turns plus sharp lefts and rights.  She was pretty amazed at the good turning radius.





After our goodbyes, we drove downtown to The Rooms Museum.  Steve got a wheelchair for me and it was nice to finally see something other than from the RV or a few steps outside of it.  The little towns do not have any concrete or asphalt to walk on unless it’s the road.  Until St. John’s, everywhere we have been has been mostly gravel with dips and inclines and it’s just not easy or safe to walk with a boot on that kind of terrain.  Anyway, The Rooms is the provincial museum, art gallery, and archives.  My favorite, and Tessa had talked a lot about it, was a large format photography exhibit of works by Edward Burtynsky.  He has made it his life’s work to document humanities impact on the plant.  The theme at the museum was the effects of oil on our lives and how it has altered the earths landscape.  You can look at some of his astounding pictures at his website   www.edwardburtynsky.com  Also very interesting was the room with exhibits depicting the history of Newfoundland. 
The museum has floor to ceiling glass windows with wonderful views.  The windows are tinted and so the colors are off a bit in these pictures.


The Basilica of St. John the Baptist, built in 1855,  is next door to the museum.  The inside has 65 unique stained glass windows and a beautiful ceiling with gold leaf highlights.  The inside was too dimly lit to get any pictures of the ceiling and alter but I managed to get one of some windows.