It’s interesting, at least for me, to take a look back at some of the dimensions and thoughts about our trips:
Fuel Expenses
Unfortunately, for us, the cost of gasoline spiked during this trip. We paid as much as $1.93 Canadian dollars per liter. That’s about $5.68 US dollars per gallon. We average about 19 mpg in our Ford expedition tow vehicle when we’re not towing but only about 12 mpg when we are towing. Driving a total of 6,988 miles on this trip, we ended up paying a total of about $2,330 for fuel or nearly $0.35 per mile!
Caravan Travel
This was our first ever trip with a commercial caravan company. The company, Adventure Caravans, arranged and took care of paying for all reservations, campgrounds, ferries, admissions and a number of our meals. The leaders of the trip were personable, experienced and competent. The lead couple, Barry and Terri, were referred to as our Wagonmasters, and the other couple, Ron and Judy, were referred to as our Tailgunners. The Tailgunners brought up the rear on travel days in case someone ran into trouble. We all carried walkie talkies to help coordinate movements as we departed from and arrived at campgrounds
The majority of the twenty plus campers in the caravan were so-called class A coaches. Those are the giant, bus-like campers that are often more than forty feet long. There were only three trailers, including us, three van-based campers and a smattering of other drivable campers.
We liked our fellow travelers. They came from a wide variety of backgrounds and from all over the US and Canada. In general, they were bright and fun to be with.
But, we probably won’t be part of a similar caravan in the future. There are several reasons.
- The large campers are too limited in where they can go and the kind of campsites they require or prefer. As a result, many of the places we stayed resembled parking lots rather than the kind of campsites most people envision and which we prefer.
- Second, the size of the group was quite large and we often overwhelmed places when we went somewhere as a group.
- Finally, the trip was very structured. True, we visited a lot of places. But it was at a faster pace than we prefer. Rather than be in Newfoundland for three weeks, we’d have taken a couple of months.
Newfoundland
Touring the island of Newfoundland was the principle reason we made this trip. It did not disappoint. We absolutely loved the scenery and the people who inhabit it.
Most of the island is wild and sparsely populated. It is not an easy place to live. Winters can be harsh. It is difficult to make a living. The 1992 cod fishing moratorium caused economic devastation for Newfoundland. Although tourism is rising in importance, much of what people do to make a living is still on the unforgiving sea. And most people need to do multiple kinds of work to make a go of it. There don’t appear to be many 9-5 jobs in Newfoundland.
But the people seem happy and are clearly proud to be Newfies. They take pride in their homes and towns which is obvious by their well-kept appearance. And everywhere you see both Canadian and Newfoundland flags displayed. Can you imagine if a third of all private homes in your home town flew both a US and a state flag?
We loved Newfoundland and wouldn’t hesitate to visit again. Next time, though, at a slower pace.