LOST BUT NOW FOUND
Escaping to a place of breathtaking landscapes, quaint towns filled with endless cultural heritage, charm and energy. Hurricane Igor mainly effected the eastern side of the island...we are over here on the west. Our do it yourself style of travel seems to work...most of the time. Although, truth be told, the lingo in the car can get quite colorful at times.
The entire civilization of this place is wholly attributed to the sea. Rumors that made its way back to Europe that you could pull COD (tonight I had Cod Tongue!) out of the sea by the bucket full attracted John Cabot (remember that Cabot Trail) to drop an anchor in 1497. And the English made it their first overseas colony in 1583. Then here came the Irish, French, Spanish and Portuguese fishermen. From the first inhabitants-the Maritime Archaic Indians- almost 9000 years ago, to the Vikings in 998 AD and the Basque whalers in the 1500's- all roamed this land and left their imprint. A convenient spot to moor a ship, that's for sure.
Loads of impressive mountains abound. We are talking formidable landscape. If remote is what you seek, this is the place. In fact we find nothing but stillness as infinite as the landscape. Big Sky- Big Land.
Lots of hunters-they say there are 120,000-150,000 moose with a hunting success rate of 85%, better than most marriages. Oh sure, eeny, meeny, miny, moe to choose from and Boca was on the hunt just to see one all day. The caravans of pick ups and SUV's lined up at the the ferry yesterday for the great moose hunt.
Bubba muttered something to the effect "Do you have to have a gut the size of Texas to be a moose hunter up here?" Spot and stalk is the name of the game. They say nothing beats the adrenaline pumping action of a bull moose come to the call. The call? Sounds more like a Shofar to Boca. And your odds to shoot a Woodland Caribou is 90% (and it is the only place to hunt the Woodland). My favorite antler is the Barren Ground Caribou-over 450,000 strong here with a 95% hit rate. Two Caribou per license. Because everyone needs a matching set? Bubba just has to "hunt" one down (binocs only). Good job Bub-a real looker!And the Black Bear-home to some of the largest in North America- is over 10,000 strong. The average size of a Black is 200lbs but up here they tip the scales above 300 and 400 lbs or more-with some up to 650lbs! How about the Newfoundland Grand Slam...a bull moose, black bear and woodland caribou Bubba? "Trigger or Arrow Boca?"
GROS MORNE NATIONAL PARK
Time for a complete purge of mind, body and spirit. One step on the Table lands, a barren mound of rust colored moon rocks thrown up from the earth's mantle in some grand tectonic collision millions of years ago. Here the Precambrian cliffs towering thousands of feet above land locked fjords, dwarf my very existance. It's not hard to gain some perspective here.A good place to recover a little sanity for Bubba and Boca for sure.
Ah, some good breathing room. I'm feeling better already! How say you Bubba? And where is the Pleep? I think he's in here trying to hitch a ride with some cool folks who camp. Nice try Bubs. Oh no you don't...and Boca was afraid her Happy Hour Snacks would be reduced...but not to this....BUBBA!
The Park is a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE offering lots to do and see. Anybody up for the newly named international Appalachian Trail hiking? Hey Bob Knight and you thought you were done in Maine!
