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Day 91: Driving Across The Rock

The standing joke about weathermen out here is, "In what other job can you be wrong 50% of the time and still keep your job?". This time the guy is right though and it pounds rain all night, driven by swirling dark skies and high winds.

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The standing joke about weathermen out here is, "In what other job can you be wrong 50% of the time and still keep your job?". This time the guy is right though and it pounds rain all night, driven by swirling dark skies and high winds. We break camp and grit our teeth in anticipation of the 900 km drive in the full Newfie gale. The morale is high though, this is a cheery and hardy bunch and we are armed with all the modern diversions, including CBC radio, iPads, cell phones, books, music, snacks, etc.

I take the wheel and it's a full two-handed clench, as the 4 club wind wants to pull the 12.5 foot high by 34 ft. long RV violently sideways into the opposing lane, especially when the wind gets an opening in the trees. As my great pal Steve Alsip always says, "Don't send a boy". The rain blasts our huge windscreen and although we have paid to have the wiper motor repaired twice, the wipers fail after an hour. Needless to say it's going to be a "heads up" crossing. My co-pilot for this leg is Q-Dawg who is busy scouring the ditches with the binoculars on moose watch. Moose had been imported here in 1912 and with no natural predators have increased to the point of being a real menace to drivers. At very heavy populated areas there are moose fences to keep them off the road. There are even solar panels activated by wildlife that trigger orange warning lights on the roadside, to warn motorists. After a 7 hr. drive we reach Cornerbrook and gas up, grab a burger and change drivers, the rain having abated but still fighting a howling wind.

Quinn handles the rig well, (young enough to be a boy, but no boy) and we pull into the capital about 8 PM. Our Campaign Manager, Carol, greets us in the parking lot as she is here with her mom on vacation and to cheer us on. Weary from the day's travel we check into the hotel and dine, with clean white sheets and cozy blankets on our mind. It's exciting to be in St. John's and we prepare for the final chapter in our cross Canada trek tomorrow.

PS. Yes, we did see two young bull moose who wanted to charge onto the road but were turned back because of the heavy traffic.