Move to Lockston Path Provincial Park

 

Friday, August 23, 2019

We drove 4 hours to the middle of the Bonavista Peninsula. It is a 3-4 km drive on a gravel road to get to the park. We were a bit early, so Martha chatted with the people moving out of the campsite.

Just as we were getting settled, we noticed a flat tire on the trailer. Changing the tire and found a screw stuck in it, probably picking it up on that gravel road, or maybe even in the campsite. I was surprised my tire monitor hadn’t warned me. 

Everywhere we go lately, there is a boil water warning for fresh water hookups. We are carrying plenty of drinking water, but it is surprising in a land with so much water to see a boil warning. I think they are being over-cautious, but I boil it before making coffee, and we are drinking bottled water. Water – maybe the biggest problem for the next generation. I think of Diego and his family in Mexico City, where their huge water supply is being rapidly depleted.

I had a couple of other projects I wanted to get done, but after changing the tire and unloading bikes so I could get the tire in the back, I was done. My solar charger keeps reading battery voltage too high, thus cutting off before it should. I have to keep cutting it off and back on to reset the voltage. Yesterday I read an article suggesting it may be a loose connection, so I checked those and found nothing. I will check it in the middle of the day and see if there is a hot wire anywhere. They also said to measure resistance. I have never done that, but might have to learn to do it. 

I read a bit more of Patton in bed. What a luxury it is, and such a cozy spot. The war is ending now. It is all a political battle now, as Roosevelt has played up to Russia for control of Europe. Truman tries to gain leverage by telling Stalin the US has developed a powerful bomb, but Stalin has been playing Roosevelt and Churchill for a while now. He has spies in very important places. Wild Bill Donovan is also struggling to keep his power of spy network in what will become the CIA, but Stalin has a double agent, Duncan Lee, who is Donovan’s executive secretary. They have known about the atom bomb for years.

Truman hates Patton, as he is the polar opposite of Truman. He is flamboyant, outspoken, pompous and dresses with a flair. Eisenhower wants Patton out of the way. The Russians want him dead, as he has their number and knows the US is being played. A Ukranian general warns that Patton is at the top of NKVD (Stalin’s secret police) kill list. The warning is ignored by Donovan.

Patton is depressed as he will never fight another battle. He has asked to be transferred to the Pacific, but McArthur denies him. Patton is upset that Truman has allowed 20,000 American POW’s to remain in Russian hands, a political play for the future United Nations. 

Patton knows the only he can speak freely is to leave the military, but with top secret knowledge and a defiant attitude, “George Patton has made himself a target – and he knows it.” He visits his daughters in Washington and tells them, “Well, I guess this is goodbye. I won’t be seeing you again.”