I’m not sure how long ago I added visiting Newfoundland to my travel bucket list. (Here’s my current bucket list – not all of which will get to involve Louise!)
But Newfoundland has been a dream for a very, very long time. It probably became a dream when I fell in love with an amazing band called Great Big Sea. Their music reminded me of a mix of the pubs of Ireland, the music of the phenomenal Jump, Little Children. And then I saw photographs of the Atlantic coastline, the icebergs, the puffins and the rocky shore. And then I met one of my best friends, who was born and raised near St. John’s. Eventually, my theater-nerd-self saw a Broadway show called Come From Away and the deal was sealed. I knew I needed to visit the rock! So it’s taken a dozen or so years, but in about 12 hours, I’m headed north, and a bit east, and headed to a grand Atlantic province adventure that will take Louise to national parks in Virginia, Maine, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. And on the way home, we’ll pass through Rhode Island, which will be the 48th state I’ve visited!
Planning this trip has been years in the making, but the really detailed planning has been a bit of a whirlwind – and taken place over the past five months. My travel companion and I debated between a trip to California to see Muir’s wilderness and a trip to Newfoundland, and ultimately decided it was time to visit the Rock. We have so much planned – so many things we want to see and experience – and I can’t wait for it to begin.
Teardrops & Ales 