Let The Good Times Roll

A week into our trip and what an experience so far! Adjusting to living on the road has been

 Route 1
Maine, USA

pretty painless. Driving and navigating, quick set-up and break-down of camp and route planning to our next destination has required good teamwork. Yes, there HAVE been moments of frustration but it’s safe to say we are in the groove now. Today, as we leave the state of Massachusetts and head west towards Pennsylvania, we reflect back on our week and the lessons learned so far. 

Route 1
Maine, USA

1.Using a navigation system - Don’t set your route preferences to short!!!!!! Use easy instead!

When we first started our journey Steve was hell bent on travelling Route 1, the scenic route, through the New England states. I have to admit this highway was quite pretty, taking us along the coast of Maine where there were many opportunities to pull off and take in the scenery. This winding two lane road took us through the back country, through little nooks and crannies, past country towns and what seemed to be an endless amount of antique shops. We set up camp at Lemoine State Park and travelled to Bar Harbour on motorcycle for a day.

Lemoine State Park, Maine
Just back from a run to Bar Harbour!

Everything was going great until we keyed in our route to Massachusetts! What seemed to be a typical 4 hour driving day was all of a sudden turning out to be two Newfies, in their 24 foot motorhome towing a trailer, meandering through a series of left and right turns through every little side road that existed! Can you picture the cockpit of our trailer?! Needless to say, when we checked the navigation system it truly was taking us on the “shortest” route NOT the “easiest”! 

2. Remember that old saying….The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry? It’s true!!! The old folks were right!! One thing we have learned is to just go with the flow and think on our feet. We have researched as much as you can for this trip and have organized everything to the hilt! I can also say that we use that same philosophy when planning our new destinations and routes to getting there. Before embarking on a new road trip we have gotten into the habit of spending a few hours each night planning where we will go, what park we will visit and how long we will stay. Using the reserveamerica.com site to pre-book campsites has been wonderful and makes getting to our next destination a little less stressful. So when we decided to leave Maine and go to the Boston area, we did just that! We booked a 4 day stay at

Over 70 miles of paved and mountain bike trails at
Wompatuck State Park! Trying to exercise everyday!
Massachusetts, USA

Wompatuck State Park in Norwell, Ma., just outside Boston, set our route on the navigation system, and hit the road at 7:30 am on Friday morning. Everything was going great as we cruised along the Interstate highway! As the time ticked towards mid afternoon and as we inched closer and closer to the checkered flag on the navigation system, the Boston skyline came into view. 

“Oh, yes!”, Steve said, “I’m sure the route we are on will take us on the outskirts of Boston!” 

Before we knew it, we were in four lanes of bumper to bumper traffic in the middle of Boston city. Can you picture the cockpit of our trailer now?! Yes! This was a tense time to say the least when all of a sudden a text comes in from the local Boston area weather office to advise us that there would be an extreme heat advisory in our area for the next three days. Our dreams of mountain biking through Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket and trekking the Freedom Trail through the city of Boston were suddenly dashed! A new plan was hatched!

Just had to escape the heat!
Went for a run to Plymouth and Cape Cod on bike.
Check out the temperature!

3. People ARE nice! As we have travelled from the east coast of Canada down the New England states through Massachusetts and beyond we have met some incredibly friendly and wonderful people. Our licence plate and trailer sparks great discussion about where we come from AND where they come from as well. A big shoutout to Dealia from Maine whom we met at a roadside stop and taught us about her fellow American, John James Audobon, and his many 18th century trips to Labrador to draw seabirds; Jeff from New York state who has visited Central Newfoundland to go moose hunting; and Carolynn, the lovely laundromat lady from the Wash and Shop Laundromat whose grandmother is from Prince Edward Island. Steve really enjoyed the political chat as we waited for our clothes to wash and dry. There truly is six degrees of separation!  Until the next time….

Life Is A Highway

Yesterday when we left our home on the Avalon Peninsula, the weather on"The Rock" was looking like this!!! Cold, wet, and rainy....nothing unusual for Newfoundland!

Marine Atlantic Ferry Terminal - July 2019

Our enthusiasm and excitement to get going wasn't hampered until Steve looked out the side mirror as we travelled down the Placentia highway towards the Marine Atlantic terminal in Argentia. Trailing behind our camper were 30 foot long strands of blue plastic, flapping wildly in the wind. Steve could see a black SUV following closely behind. As we indicated to turn off to the side of the highway, the SUV turned off as well. A kindly older gent jumped out to help gather up the sewage drainage hose that had somehow disconnected and unravelled. Nothing big, we quickly determined, but thanks so much to the gentleman who followed behind until we stopped and offered to take the mound of plastic off our hands! This is the type of kindness that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are famous for and can literally be found in every corner of our great province! This was also a reminder to us that we need to be prepared for just about anything!

Today we found the sunshine and warm temps that we have been desperately craving! North Sydney at 9am this morning was a beautiful 24 degrees. The ferry ride across was pleasant. We enjoyed a lovely evening buffet the night before and some drinks in the lounge as we took in the entertainment of Cape Bretoner Joe Fahey; the usual Marine Atlantic ferry ride that we have all become accustomed to this time of year. And now tonight, as we settle into our campground in New Brunswick, we enjoyed  a BBQ supper with a lovely bottle of red wine compliments of our neighbour Diane! Thanks, Diane!!!!

What adventure awaits us tomorrow?

Stonehurst Trailer Park, New Brunswick

There's An App for That!

The school year officially came to an end on Friday, June 28! Other than some loose ends that I need to tie up next week,  I am now off for the next 14 months! I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity and would encourage any tenured teacher with the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District to check out the Deferred Salary Leave Plan. Whether you are looking to take a year off for travel, professional growth or rest and relaxation, this is a relatively painless way to accomplish those personal goals without any loss of pensionable service.

Freshwater Bay, Newfoundland
May 2019

Our date of departure is creeping ever so closely and our excitement is building with each day. The last 3-4 months have been quite busy to say the least; planning our route, reading tourist guides, making reservations, downloading apps, prepping the motorhome. I think it would be safe to say that Steve has read everything one could possibly read about travelling across North America in an RV. From the best ways to organize your motorhome to how to cook a chicken without an oven,  Amazon and the App Store have become our new best friends, and UPS, Canada Post and Coachman are soon going to offer us stocks in the company!!!  Steve has come up with an RV hack or an App for just about everything so that our life on the road will be comfortable, enjoyable and affordable.

Planning a route across Canada and the United States can seem like a daunting task. Thankfully, our technological world and the internet has made the whole process fairly easy. Keeping our bucket list of "places to see" in the back of our mind, Google Maps does a great job of clocking our distance and providing us with good road information. This trip, however, is about more than just going from Place A to Place B. We are interested in the nightlife, entertainment, and historical features of our country as well as the best places to eat and the beautiful scenery of a local area. How do you do all that without breaking the bank! During our research and reading, Steve has discovered some great apps that are used by many RVer's like ourselves; apps that promise to deliver on both functionality AND features!

Roadtrippers is a web based software application and mobile app that helps travellers like us plan road trips across Canada and the United States. Not only will the app provide a route but will allow us to explore the area we are visiting by highlighting points of interest and places to visit that are specific to that area. Roadtrippers will even give you suggestions as to where to gas up!! One of the features that I really like about this app, are the many, many itineraries that the creators of Roadtrippers has already preplanned for specific locations across Canada and the US. Have a look at this itinerary suggestion for Newfoundland! If you really aren't sure what to see and do when your wheels stop moving, check with Roadtrippers!

Speaking of gas, GasBuddy

is another great app that allows you to search for up to date gas prices by city, province, state, or zip code with listings in all cities in Canada and the USA. Not only is this a free app but it also gives the user an opportunity to update gas prices as they go thus providing the most up to date information to all travellers in the area. I can really see us using this app often as we journey through new territory, taking us off the beaten track.

Campendium is the ultimate app for RVer's! This web based app seeks to help users search, preview, review and even take a virtual visit to over 21 000 campgrounds. Created by RVer's for

RVer's the Campendium app provides information on the number of sites at a campground, the amenities, prices and more. It allows users to create a free account and review and upload photos of campgrounds they have visited. It also provides information on free camping, national parks and state forests. This is one app we are looking forward to using!!


Finally, I could not end this blogpost without telling you about Trail Wallet Travel Budget App. Last summer, when we travelled through the Atlantic provinces, Ontario and Quebec, keeping track of our expenses turned out to be an unorganized method of stuffing all the receipts into the glovebox of the RV until we got home and added everything up. We were both shocked and surprised by where we were spending our hard earned dough! Trail Wallet removes the guessing game of how much money you have to spend while tripping around the world. With this app you can organize your expenses by trip or by month, set

yourself a daily budget, and then add expenses as you go. The Quick Add screen makes things super fast AND the app automatically converts between currencies with the most up to date exchange rates. Our trip will take us between both Canada and the United States quite often, so this was definitely a selling feature for us!

If you have a favourite travel app you'd like to recommend, please drop us a line in the Comments section. Until the next time.........

Cupids Harbour, Newfoundland
May 2019

Welcome!!

Welcome to our travel blog!!!

My name is Stephanie and together with my husband Steve live in the most eastern province of Canada......Newfoundland and Labrador!

Living on the island portion of our province, in the middle of the North Atlantic, Newfoundland has a unique history as a former colony and Dominion of the United Kingdom and is known for it's wonderful culture, kind people, and regionally diverse dialect. Affectionately known by many Newfoundlanders as "The Rock", the huge land mass of over 108 000 square kilometres has a varied landscape and habitat. On the east coast of the province known as the Avalon Peninsula, the land is comprised of glacial barrens and cliffside coastal communities. The Great Northern Peninsula is dotted with communities in the lowlands of the Long Range Mountains while Central Newfoundland is sandwiched between with thick boreal forests. The climate is harsh and this has indeed shaped the people of this youngest province in Canada who have traditionally made their living from the sea.

We invite you to join us on our travels!