Another Epic Trip Begins

Hello friends, it's that time again.  I'm about to set off on another epic journey (2-3 months this time) to the Canadian Atlantic Maritime Provinces. I'm going all the way to Labrador -- that's about as far as you can go.  Someone asked me why I was going there -- my best answer, because it's there and I haven't seen it yet!

I've spent months preparing for this trip; getting guide books from all the provinces, surfing the internet, pouring over maps, and corresponding with folks on the internet. One of the funniest experiences I had while preparing was determining how I would get to my starting point, and what would that point be?  I finally decided that I wanted to start in Labrador and work my way back.  Of course, this is after a week in Colorado camping with my sister and another week at Glacier National Park camping with my son and his family. Then I could actually start on the big trek. I thought it would be fun, and beautiful, to drive along the north shore of the St. Laurence River -- so I checked it out on the map (a AAA map of all of Canada -- not much detail).  I followed the road on the map, and the line got thinner and thinner, and finally disappeared at a town called Kegasha in Quebec. Off to Google to find the roads that went to Red Bay.  Alas, Google told me to fly or take a ferry, although there is a road. Here's the map...

It's 2275 kilometers -- more than 1300 miles and when I explored further, I discovered that much of it is a gravel road!  Oh heck no, I'm not doing that (although if it had been paved, I might have considered it!). Sadly, there is no road that goes directly from Kegasha to Red Bay.  

I finally decided to drive quickly through Central Canada and get to Newfoundland as a starting point. I'll begin the trip by driving up the west coast of Newfoundland, take the ferry to Labrador and visit Red Bay, then come back by way of the east coast of Newfoundland (with a detour to the northern tip of Newfoundland to see L'Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Site, a Viking settlement site reconstruction. 

From there, I'll be able to see the rest of the Maritime Provinces as I work my way back home, coming through Maine (Acadia) and stopping in Pennsylvania to see my other sister. 

I'll be back home sometime in October -- having missed the worst of the Albuquerque summer heat!