Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Taking our time at Bellevue Beach on a blustery day, we washed clothes and caught up on some things. It’s only a 1-hour drive to Argentia, where we will catch the ferry to Nova Scotia Thursday. On our way out, we stopped to say goodbye to a couple we had met with a 1972 Airstream Argosy in great condition.
Martha read a brochure on Placentia, next to Argentia. I had called Sunset RV Park in Argentia about 7 times with no answer, and there is no website. It looks like a parking lot for ferry travelers. When we got there, a nice man checked us in. All the spaces were booked, but we could use the unserviced overflow area for $15/night. We picked a relatively secluded spot near a cute, little Evasion trailer from Quebec. Later a cool o’neiro pulled in between us.
It’s one of those times I am happy to have solar. Despite my constant tinkering with solar, we have only plugged into electric July 20 and September 2. We pay attention to what we use, but we watch TV, play movies, cook in the oven for short periods, run the fans and lights. It really has done well in a land where the sun doesn’t shine regularly.
We went down to Placentia and drove around. It’s a cute little town with a spectacular harbor, and two rivers. We drove up to National Historic Monument, Castle Hill. It is where the French built a complex fort in 1693. Bill was at the desk and I thought had a great analogy. He said the fishing resources were incredible here. It was full of cod and salmon ran up the rivers. Cod was a resource like oil is today. Countries would go to war over it. It was impressive the amount of cod that were caught, preserved with salt, then stacked and sent to Europe. The French would raid St. Johns from time to time. By 1713, the French gave up their right to settle Newfoundland.
Today it is a cool site with great views of the town and harbors. Trails run from one end of the fort remains to the other. It is well-maintained and quite pretty. The visitor’s center is a good one, explaining the design of the fort as well as the history.
We went to Three Sisters for dinner, which was OK.
Amazing how well the solar is working!
It is impressive…..if I could just figure out tweaking the settings. It sure saved us in this storm.