North to Newfoundland

This is an update for August 7th and 8th….

This day began very early—we left our campground at 12:05 am!! Our destination was the Newfoundland Ferry loading dock. They wanted us to arrive that early for a loading time of about 5 am. So after our short 5 mile drive, we took a nap waiting our turn to load.

About 5:15 am we drove on to the ferry. Our ship is much bigger than the Alaskan Ferry ships we have seen before. It holds a large amount of truck traffic as well as lots of vehicles and motorhomes. They have 2 vehicle decks and 5 floors above. Our trip is about 275 miles but takes 14 hours! Smooth seas. The food on board was good and there was entertainment (by Newfoundlanders) in the lounge that we enjoyed tremendously. The time went pretty fast.

After we docked, we drove through the tow of Argentia. Argentia is home to the place where Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter. This was the beginning of the United Nations.

We stayed overnight in Placentia, a small fishing village near Argentia. This morning, we looked around the town of Placentia and found a Canadian Historical Site called Castle Hill.

Castle Hill is the site of a large fort built by the French in the late 1500’s. It was the site of many battles between the English and French. The plentiful fishing grounds were prized by both countries. Eventually the English won out and later the major defense of the area was moved to St. John.

Later we drove on in to St. John, the capital of Newfoundland. We are getting settled in our campground and will be here for a few days to look around. We found a free internet site so you get to read this update!