All Downhill

There's nothing like flying from Chicago O'Hare to the airport in St. John's, Newfoundland to make you never want to get on a plane again.

3 hour layover in Toronto- 1st stop Tim Horton's!

The day starts with leaving home 4 hours before the first flight.  Then an hour and a half to Toronto, just to have to wait another 3 hours....sitting across from four stores that sell perfume.  I had to sit at the next gate down and had a headache by the time we boarded.  Then I had to request some creative seating from the flight attendant on the plane because someone near my original seat was wearing cologne.  I spent takeoff with my fingers pressed to my eyes trying not to cry from the stress of the day while I hoped a migraine wasn't on its way.  Luckily I soon fell asleep and a migraine didn't appear.  After 3 hours to St John's in the air, it's pick up the rental car for an hour and a half drive to the final destination, while hoping no moose jump out in front of you in the dark.  And I had to be the one driving because two of my other companions were "impaired" due to anti-anxiety medication.  Katrina and I were dropped off at my grandmother's house while Cory and Wayne went on down the road a few more miles to Placentia.

This morning was a whole different story.  After falling asleep under an open window to the sounds of surf and seagulls (ahhhh!) I woke to the gentle company of my Nan.  I showed a few pictures to her on my laptop and told a few camping stories after we had toast and hard boiled eggs for breakfast.

Nan meets my hiking pal

After breakfast Katrina and I couldn't wait to get outside since the dire weather forecast I previewed last week didn't come to pass.  We decided to walk from Freshwater to Placentia and from there it was all downhill, but only in the literal sense.

When Katrina was standing by the sign to the "Back Path" all I could hear was my Mom and her cousins telling stories back in Gatlinburg about walking down that road in their high heels going to Sunday mass.

Katrina makes a friend

It took us almost an hour to get out Freshwater, that's how it works around here.  First one relative stops you as they pass on the road in their car, then another relative shouts out to you from their front step to come in for a few minutes, then further on down you have to stop into the local convenience store to visit the relative who owns that.

Is that a break in the clouds?

By the time we were leaving Freshwater the sun was trying to break through the clouds.  Not only was the temperature comfortably cool and the wind mild but sun too?

As you can tell from our faces, we were confused when confronted by sunlight when expecting fog.

Once in Placentia we stopped into the Paint Store to visit my uncle and immediately ran into Wayne and Cory who had spent the night at Wayne's Mom's house.  When Wayne suggested a road trip to Argentia to check out the campground we'll be staying at next summer I was on board.

Argentia

You all know me, it wasn't long before I was saying "stop the car" and I was hopping out with my camera.

My dad's favorite saying about Newfoundland is that it's nothing but a rock with stunted trees growing out of it.  We saw a lot of stunted trees growing out of rock in Argentia.

But stunted trees can be beautiful, right?

It's a bit too soon here for much to be growing.  I saw a few rhubarb plants making their way up out of the soil, but the pitcher plants aren't doing their thing.

When we got to the top of the road to Site Sam we had a "follower" and in true Newfie style conversation was instantly struck up.  You all know I wandered off with the camera though...

It's not hard to see where I get my fascination with lichens and pitcher plants, right?

In the five minutes I escaped from the car I found a cute little snail shell too.

Back in the car and heading back downhill Katrina made the wildlife sighting of the day.  She spotted the cute rabbit off the side of the road.

You won't believe the foolishness we got up to later in the evening.  Katrina brought a little "pal" along with her on the trip also that got up to some mischief...from there it was all downhill, too!