Continuing sights around Gros Morne National Park

After our boat trip at Western Brook Pond, we stopped at a few spots in Gros Morne National Park on our way back to the campground.

We stopped at the overlook where the remains of the SS Ethie are visible. When you take the steps down to the beach level, you can see pieces of the ship littering the shore.

The largest part is out near the water.

Carl was walking down the beach appreciating the look of the rocks -- you can see another piece of the wreckage in the foreground.

Some of the interesting rocks on the beach...

... some more rocks. (In answer to the question that I feel certain my brother is asking in his mind, "No, we did *not* pick up any rocks to bring with us!")

There was an informational sign up near the top of the hill -- the wreck was over 100 years ago!

Caption for the picture just above.

It was predicted to be cold and rainy (with possible frozen mix) for the next few days in this area of Newfoundland. We were thinking that we probably would not do much touring around. We had planned to move on Friday to a campground in Rocky Harbour to be closer to things to see in Gros Morne. We were thinking that we may want to use the internet more if we weren't able to get out and see things... and where we were camped on the South side of Bonne Bay had great Starlink service. We drove through the campground in Rocky Harbour, and figured that there may be sites where we would also be able to have a good sky view for "Dishy McFlatface", but decided that, if we could stay at Water's Edge with the view of Bonne Bay out our front window, we would prefer that.

There was one other place that I kind of wanted to visit in Gros Morne National Park -- Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse. This was the location of a sweet memory from when Dwayne and I visited this area 7 years ago. It would be a longer drive from Water's Edge than from the campground in Rocky Harbour, so we probably wouldn't do it if we stayed at Water's Edge. Carl suggested that we go ahead and visit the Lighthouse on Thursday as it appeared it may be the only pretty day we would have. We decided to drive there...

Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse and lighthouse keepers house

When we got out of the Jeep, another tourist was returning from the lighthouse, telling her companion (who had stayed in their truck) that it was closed. Undeterred, we started to walk toward the lighthouse, though we stopped to inquire about the lighthouse from the next lady who was walking out -- turned out that she worked for the park service and confirmed that the lighthouse was being used for an event for "bigwigs" that evening and was, indeed, closed to visitors. 

In reality, I didn't care too much about seeing the lighthouse or the keeper's house... but rather, I was hoping to see the lady who had been the docent there when we visited 7 years ago. I figured it was unlikely that she would still be working there, but, thought I would visit nonetheless. Carl encouraged me to ask the park service lady that we had just met if she knew the docent -- when I described the docent, the park service lady immediately said, "Oh, that's Bonnie Lou. She still works for the park service, but I think she is working in children's programming now. But, I work with her brother... That man who is coming down the path now, that's her brother!" The lady proceeded to introduce us to Bonnie Lou's brother, who, when he had heard my story, called his sister on his phone. She didn't answer, and he surmised that she was probably driving home (she lives about an hour away in Corner Brook). But within a minute or so, she called him back, and he gave the phone to me, and I was able to share with her how she had made our visit so special 7 years ago. I described what she had done, and the singing that we shared -- and Bonnie Lou remembered it (the singing part)! She was (and is) such a special lady, enthusiastic and engaging, and I'm glad that she is working with children with the park service - she would be great with kids.

If anyone would like to look back on my description of that day from 7 years ago, you can find it here: http://trekincartwrights.blogspot.com/2016/08/gros-morne-national-park-day-1.html

Watch the video at the lighthouse of the impromptu concert with Dwayne on percussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVLWz3uWECQ

That post actually also documents our visit to Western Brook Pond 7 years ago. 

I am so grateful that Carl encouraged me to go to the lighthouse on Thursday -- the timing was absolutely perfect with meeting the park service lady and then Bonnie Lou's brother, and then getting to talk with Bonnie Lou via phone! What a blessing to remember that special day!

When we got back to the rig, it was getting more cloudy and overcast, but it was still warm enough to sit outside (with jackets on!), so we sat out and talked with our neighbors for a while.

As the sun was setting, some of its setting rays broke through the clouds and lit the part of the coast just down from us -- so pretty!

We had a full day on Thursday, but got to do things I had on my list that I wanted to do at Gros Morne and share with Carl. We also checked with the campground when we got back and, they had to do some checking, but determined that, yes, they could accommodate us for 4 more days. So we decided to stay where we are, right on Bonne Bay, for 4 more days, before continuing our journey north toward St Anthony and the Iceberg Festival.