Trout River, NL

 August 12, 2023

Elephant Head RV CG site 6

Trout River, NL

Travel day once again today on the same highway we traveled to arrive at Port au Choix, only this time instead of the view while driving north, we enjoyed the views while heading south.  

The morning began with a stop at the dump station before departing the campground as we only had water and electric at our site.

I had met a couple of friends yesterday, Sky and Sonny.  I looked for them this morning,

but Momma hustled me into the truck so I wouldn't be left behind.  Sky had a pretty blue eye like me😉

The views on the Viking Trail, hwy 430

were just as impressive heading south.  As we entered the Gros Morne Mountain area, the sky turned dark and a bit of moisture in the form of sprinkles began.  So much for nice pics with a blue sky above.  Instead, it was grab a shot between the intermitent wiper passes with clouds blanketing the mountain tops.

Dad has been gradually been getting used to the rising fuel prices, so when he filled up at $2 a liter, it wasn't too much of a shock to him.  Converted to US dollars per gallon, that comes out to $5.63 per gallon. 

But the good thing was, it may have cost $2 a liter in Port au Choix, but at our newest location, it is only $1.98.

Our GPS told us to turn on Mountainview Rd and there was a sign just beyond the road from the turn with the campground name and an arrow pointing right so we turned onto Mountainview.  Momma kind of questioned why the campground sign was after the turn rather than before it but....they do tend to do some things differently here in Newfoundland.  We followed the GPS guidance on a nice smooth road that looked like it had been recently paved.  We made a 90 degree turn to the right and there it was, the steep downgrade that led to the water...

but there was a left turn at the end that led right thru the downtown area of Trout River.  About half a mile later the GPS declared we had arrived.  Ah, another campground on the waterfront...except there was no campground.  Maybe we are just a little short and it is a few feet ahead.  WRONG!!

Now normally, we would Google on the phone for directions but there was absolutely NO bars...NO signal...NO cell service.  That means, no calling the campground with an "I'm lost. How do I locate you?" plea.  

Luckily, there were two guys on the side of the road to ask for directions.  As we came to a Y in the road, we asked once again for directions.  The gal said, you really shouldn't take that steep, washed out dirt/gravel hill of a road to the sharp left.  Just take that paved left fork and follow it up the hill and around the bend until you see the campground sign.  

And there we were, right back where it all began, just a stone's throw from Mountainview Road where we made our wrong turn (that was correct according to the GPS).  We had just made a big loop.  

As we were turning onto Elephant Head Campground's dirt entrance road, Uncle Steve was just approaching the area as he took a while to pump his gas and therefore, wasn't immediately behind us and missed the tour thru downtown Main Street.  Seeing us turn onto the dirt road, he decided to follow along over the long, potholed drive that finally arrived at the campground.

The gal tending the office said that they have put up a cell tower, but it isn't in operation yet.

The original goal was to have the cell tower operational by May.  They are still waiting on a part.   This campground does have wifi.....kind of...that seems to work off and on, but there isn't much bandwidth.  This post will be delayed for sure.

The wind is attention getting today and the temperature is 61 degrees.  Momma and Dad quickly got us set up and the heat turned on in our rig so we would be cozy.

The gang decided to explore the downtown area and grab a cone of ice cream for 'Happy Hour'. 

The ice cream store was also a convenience store selling a wide variety of items from yarn, bolts of fabric, hardware and food staples as well as ice cream ...soft serve from the machine or hard packed from the freezer.  There is also another combo food and hardware shop just a few doors down.  

If you haven't gotten the feel for this area yet, let me spell it out for you.  Remote, small, with just enough services to survive.

It is unanimous, not one of us would choose to live here!!  And if we think it is cold here now, what would a winter in this area feel like?

It's hard for us to believe that the area still does not have cell service.  We have found that on stretches of highway between locations, we don't always have a cell signal, but this is the first community with no service at all....not even a weak signal.  And to think we frowned in Twillingate when we had 1-2 bars of service. LOL   We didn't know how good we had it!

I'm Chloe