Grand Falls and Corner Brook, Newfoundland July 7-12, 2017

Our last morning in Fogo was super windy.  I was planning to hike up the ridge (see the stairs in the left portion of the photo?) up to the top for a 360 degree view and this is one of the corners of the Earth, according to the Flat Earth Society (a tongue-in-cheek critical thinking philosophical organization).

One of the corners of the Earth according to the Flat Earth Society

We left Fogo and the wonderful icebergs via ferry - this time I was driving on and they all the large vehicles back onto the ferry (instead of backing off)!  The ship and our RV survived my second encounter with backing up into a very tight space.

After a quick crossing, we were on our way back south to the major central town in Newfoundland - Grand Falls-Windsor.  We got in a round of golf, playing with a very nice couple from town.  Course was pretty rough, but greens were in good shape.  A couple of holes were on the river with pretty views.

Mama grouse and her baby - the rest of the babies were on the other side of the road

We spent the weekend there, hoping on Monday to have a freightliner garage (only one Mercedes dealer and that is way back in St. John's) check out the funny engine noise we get when we first start up on cold mornings. They didn't have the right diagnostic tools, but after being referred to two other places, we found one that could take us.  Fortunately/unfortunately, they found nothing serious in the codes to explain the noise, so we will just keep on going.

Next up, the west coast.  We drove a couple of hours to Howley for a campsite, just outside Deer Lake.  We headed a bit south into the second largest town in Newfoundland - Corner Brook.  Our water pump started cycling on and off, indicating a probably water leak somewhere in the system, so spent the day having RV repair shop check things out.  They could not find anything wrong with the pump, but did not have time to chase down the leak and suggested we should just let the pump run and look for the leak ourselves.

Marble Mountain Ski Runs - 14 feet of snow/year

We drove out along the Humber Arm on a twisty road through lots of small towns and fishing villages to a Provincial Park called Blow Me Down - an apt name as the wind was really howling.

Directions to our campground

We found a beautiful spot on the water and spent cocktail hour with our neighbors who were locals just there for a few days.  No electric here, but it is light until 10 or later so we played cards.  No sunset or moonrise that we were hoping to see as clouds moved in.

Campsite next to Humber Arm that connects to the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Clouds moved in, blocking the sunset

Company

The next morning, we drove a few kilometers to the end of the Arm to see a couple of quaint fishing villages before returning to Corner Brook.

We decided to try another RV repair place to fix the surging water pump.  The owner and another guy spent four hours, but could not find anything and only charged us $100 because they were not successful.  We paid double their fee as they repaired a few minor things they found as they inspected every nook and cranny and took down walls, removed the hot water tank, etc., etc., looking for the leak until 8pm!  We finally told them we had to call it quits, otherwise, I am sure they would still be working this morning.

Got a local campground and take-out for a late dinner and fell into bed, exhausted.

Tomorrow we resume our work -- touring the southwest coast of the "Rock."