Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:50:29 -0700
Reply-To: "Phil W. Zimmerman" <philzimm1@OBERON.ARK.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Phil W. Zimmerman" <philzimm1@OBERON.ARK.COM>
Subject: BusFusion Bound Trip Report #03
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Hi Folks,
Day-26
BusFusion was a blast, slice, cool, way-too cool... you get the picture.
Hah! The piece of crap I call my Van (especially when it "acts-up") received
Best Innovative Camper Award. Now I'm confused, which those whom know me well will not at-all be surprised, who got the award...... me or the Van?
Guess for now perhaps, I will call it a draw. I did my part the Van did hers.
I'm deeply touched, in a good sort of way. The BusFusion judges bestowed
this honor on her and I was the proud innovative father of her many accoutrements.
A great thank-you to the whole BusFusion Organizational crowd. Well Done.....
closest one will see to darn near perfect; weather, place, surroundings and
the great VW Folks in attendance. So good, a few of us hung for Sunday night
before departing....
Monday June 11th (day 17 of my trip) found Kim and me heading towards Montreal to join with Joy & her friend P-N. I use brevity here to protect our anonymity, autonomy or maybe our anatomy..... who cares, two Vanagons were traveling the same road at the same time on the same day... a friggen miracle!
Benny-boy and Hans welcomed us to their great city of Montreal. The third
Van of the infamous Labrador Caravan joined with us and we were now three Vans and four souls. Next came Quebec (Quebec City to us anglophone-silly-westerners). Two nights spent camped on the South Shore of the mighty Saint Lawrence River in two of Canada's finest cities. Wow, saw Skunk, Wood-Chucks and a pile of unidentifiable critters living within these two cities on the river.
Ok, serious Labrador travel about to happen.
Sheeze, crossing over to the North Shore was fabulous.
The Villages were like the picture post-cards one buys to
send home... showing the folks back-home what the trip
looked like. But no lie here, the villages really looked
this picturesque. With names like 'Tadoussac' and camping
at Domaine des Dunes for the night heck, I thought I was
in France.... but nope, Quebec and the call to Labrador
remained strong. We left the North Shore and headed
towards Manic-5. Yikes, anything called "Manic" I avoid.
Big lump of concrete blocking the river was the Manic-5 Dam.
Off up the gravel now, to a place called Labrador. Camped
with a bazillion bugs on a pretty lake. The following day at
the first fuel-stop..... the Labrador Caravan was to be
dealt a fatal-blow.
Word passed down the road from Happy-Valley Goose Bay
(who needs WiFi with a jungle telegraph like this)
the Ferries were not running yet, due to late lingering
Sea-Ice. Whadda-yah mean here: Sea-Ice in mid-June and this aint
the Titanic Caravan it's the Labrador Caravan? Seems the Newfoundland
Ferries have lost their courage to navigate at night with bergie-bits
still in the region. Not to be overly tough on the Newfoundland Ferry
System, they are probably just cautious cuz recall: BC Ferries
(my home province) put one of our Ferries on the bottom in 1,200 feet
of water a year ago with around a hundred cars onboard! Not any
Sea-Ice in the area either... just stupid operators. So, who wouldda
thunk the Labrador Caravan would be sunk by sea-ice? Well, not sunk
but skunked by an indeterminate Ferry Schedule and determinate time
schedules of the caravaners. No Labrador Caravan this year for this
group of Vanaganauts! Sad, sad moment in time for all.
Day 26 for me now (June 20th) finds us on the North
Shore again, just allot further East than before. Slowly wandering
from village to village. Some with fantastic free camping opportunities.
Very few tourists (like us) around. Locals seem and act friendly, especially
since two of our group speak fluent French. Soon, I the lone anglophone-only, will be continuing solo to the end of the road. This will be a hoot, I hope for the locals attempting to interpret my crazy attempts at French.
Weather near perfect, scenic sights galore, fridge (Dometic) still working
so, life is beautiful..... wish you-all were here.
regards from the road,
Phil Z.
Campbell River, BC
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