July 23, 2004

We ate a pub dinner in St. John's last night then walked around a bit - we decided to forego our campsite (already paid for) and instead, drive up to Cape Spear, again - more like Cape Fear!! Charlie parked the van and we slept in the lot overlooking the ocean and the cliffs. The night ended with Charlie finding out that Sophie was still in the hospital, mainly from a B-12 deficiency ...and then he called her in her hospital room. She will stay until they see some improvement. Charlie (I can see him coming down the stairs now, from the cliff that the lighthouse is on) has gone to purchase a book on resettled communities.

He just likes to own things.
We had a bad tiff last night but they all seem to stem from me making him feel like I'm telling him what to do...or that I'm not validating the good things he brings to the relationship. Despite our nattering at eachother, I really think we are good together - we most often bring eachother up and with him, right now, I don't feel that going above and beyond my station in life is impossible.

He is back to the van now and I realize that all he really wants is what most guys want - to feel like they are better than or as good as their fathers, and to feel like we look up to them and approve of 80% of their "stuff".

I am sitting on a rock as I write this and the ocean is in front of me and Charlie is heading over... this moment, this is peace, tranquility. I rarely stop to enjoy it. Charlie is now taking a picture of me and has commanded me NOT to look at him as I write this. The irises grow wild here and are so beautiful. One thing Charlie and I have managed to agree on is - we could both live here.

July 22, 2004 12:00pm

We spent the night in Notre Dame Provincial Park off the Trans Canada highway (on our way to St. John's) and spent a really nice morning taking our time - just relaxing with a coffee and breakfast - it was nice.... kind of like when we first started dating.

Charlie HAD to stop in Gander at the Aviation museum - Museum's are sometimes creepy, with those 1930's mannequins that they dress up in WWI and WWII uniforms. Charlie got a postcard with the picture of all the planes that landed on September 11th, 2001 in Gander, Newfoundland when all the flights were grounded. He is now looking for a post-office to mail it immediately - the Tourist Info. office is a little portable on the side of the highway. He is so child-like sometimes, yet all his instincts and decisions have been BANG ON!! ...right on the money. I have never seen anyone with such good luck, or maybe it's not luck - maybe it's just an entitlement attitude - he always operates as if things can't HELP but go his way. I need to start doing more of that.

FYI - We are currently gassing up and it is Charlie's turn to pay so of course, we still had a 1/4 tank left :p

We are finally leaving the boring town of Gander. I miss my mother. Is that strange, or what? Charlie has made up for the gas annoyance by bringing back pop and chocolate to the van for the

rest of our journey. Life is good.

FYI - when we read our email yesterday, Charlie found out that his great-Aunt Sophie has been checked into the hospital for some tests and then they took her to the Grenadier to stay for a while as she cannot walk very well right now. Charlie is visibly worried.

July 21, 2004 1:45pm

The whale and iceberg boat tour was excellent - I even loved the cheesy Titanic theme music the captain played as we went around the iceberg. They are dirtier than you imagine. Carrying all that Greenland muck along for the 2-3 year journey.
Charlie just mailed some postcards. I asked him who the 3rd one was going to, and he said "Mary". Of course it was Mary. We've been having a really good couple of days - today on the tour boat was wonderful. Fired off an email to my mum and Charlie's parents and I'm just now - only now - wondering what's going on at the office on a Wednesday afternoon. Charlie is paying for gas - again - since his was a small fill-up the last time.

Last night, in lieu of a campfire, we toasted marshmallows over the propane stove in the VW van. This van is truly amazing - it has gotten us so far - rough road and all.

The fact that I haven't worried about work at all just goes to show you that they should really give my job to D___. I wonder how M___ is making out with her.

The newfs are really friendly people... so simple...could it be that that is the key to being happy?
I think muffin-head should return to Newfoundland before the GTA makes her hard. I haven't even seen St. John's yet and already I know I could live here - they have a great sense of humour - Charlie is speeding, so the writing is all over the place. Bye for now!

July 20 7:00pm

I've sent Charlie to do the laundry - we're staying at Pistolet Bay Provincial Park outside St. Anthony's - love the newf accents! We drove into Raleigh, a little village just outside of Pistolet Bay and went to a little mini-market where some locals were shopping, the big event there was that the girl cashier had only given Charlie $4 in change for a $5 bill he'd given her.
He thought it was deliberate. Thought she wanted to stick it to him.
Gotta check the spaghetti.

July 20 5:30pm

We arrived in Labrador around 2:30pm - drove around and turned back toward the ferry to board it going back to Newfoundland at 3:30pm. Short trip. I, in my award-winning stellar performance as the patient and supportive girlfriend - said NOTHING.
Against every urge in every fibre of my being - I took this wasted (in my viewpoint) journey and turned it into a spontaneous adventure. Very hard to use this, though, and throw it back at C in an argument when you've already been the wonderful girlfriend.

We had the big chat about money and got that out of our system - I guess I was being very "Lena" by noticing that he was starting to really take us to the brink of empty not-a-drop-left when it was my turn to pay for gas and when it was his turn he'd fill up when there was still over a quarter tank left. I KNOW he's not being that petty. Calm reasoning has once again taken over.
What I wanted to write about earlier, but forgot, was that the trees in this area (down the Atlantic side of the Northern tip of Newfoundland) all look like they are permanently wind-blown in one direction - away from the ocean. The wind most likely blows on the coast off the water 90% of the time.
Anyway, a very good life lesson if you choose to see it. Life may not always be "on your side" - blowing the wind in your favour, but these trees certainly find a way to co-exist with the ocean's force - so why are we so often far less resilient? This was my own private little reminder to just let things happen - "everything is unfolding as it should".

We just stopped in Pine's Cove on our way to St. Anthony's where we will go iceberg and whale watching - but the reason we stopped was because there was a beached baby whale on the rocks - about 30 feet from the side of the road. Charlie got up close to it and made me film it - with him next to it. My witty camera banter for the viewers at home went something like this: "there's C___ next to a beached whale - (someone off camera yells out to tell him to get on top of its back) ...so I continue... "ya sweety, get up on it!" (aside, while camera is rolling, to the guy next to me I remark that he doesn't even like seafood). I thought it was pretty funny.

July 20, 2004 12:00pm

Well, we made it to North Sydney yesterday afternoon, got in the stand-by line for the Newfoundland ferry that would be leaving @ 10:00pm. After napping and eating we got on and set sail. This thing was huge! It had easily held over a hundred cars, trucks and R.V.'s.
Charlie got a bunk that we shared and I wandered around a bit before joining him. So many newfs all in one place...friendly people. I made the mistake of taking gravol just before getting off the boat at 4:00am and have been groggy ever since.

We've made our way up the Northern Penninsula of Newfoundland to go to St. Anthony's where there are icebergs and also to board the ferry for Labrador. I'm sitting here worrying about whether the time in Labrador will be the same as in Newfoundland. A few feet away, in the Ferry ticket office is a guy in all his newf glory speaking in an almost completely incoherent language. He sounds like John McDonald, our old DM in the West...but more Newf than you could ever hear back in Ontario. He sounds just like the guy from King of the Hill, Boomhower.
Charlie and I have had a few tiffs, - whenever I need an answer to a question I should just accept that I have to take what I can get - whether the answer is clear or not. This, I have learned, will avoid fights and flare-ups.
Also, sleeping for several hours at a time in the van helps one to avoid arguments of any kind.

Newfoundland, so far, is a very beautiful and undeveloped land - nothing will resemble civilization until we get closer to St. John's.
I will probably run out of money in the next week or so. Oh well, if you don't hear of me returning, you'll know why. I will have picked up a waitressing job somewhere in Newfoundland and settled down in Heart's Delight, Heart's Desire or Heart's Content.
If only.

July 19 2:32pm

Sue-Sue, I hope you're writing in your OWN little journal - at least about work...and maybe muffin-head and our comic-in-training, and even Rudy...