Resorting to Love

Ken and I are on an anniversary outing, although it is weeks after our anniversary proper. I can't think of a sweeter way to slow down this season. 

He booked a honeymoon cottage at a resort "up in the Muskokas" for three nights. The cabin is showing signs of age, but it is spacious and comfy. (perhaps not unlike our marriage?) Because of still-present pandemical restrictions being adhered to at this resort, no maids come to make up our rooms and no one bugs us for anything. We have the place. to. ourselves.  Perfect!

The afternoon we arrived, it was extremely windy. By evening, the stiff gales had knocked out the power in a neighboring town, which we discovered when we drove there to find a restaurant and here the whole town was black. Except for one Italian restaurant with twinkling, welcoming lights. The food at Che Figata was top-notch, and the waiter was friendly and attentive in just the right measure. Our charcuterie board for two had some unique and delicious garnishes such as powdered olive oil and fried (or was it roasted?) olive oil!

We've been doing a lot of walking. Yesterday we walked nine holes of golf. Ken described the imaginative drive and chip and putt of the ball at each hole. Of course, he ended with a score that made it the best round of golf ever for him. Because I got a kiss from him at each of the greens, it was my best golf round ever, too.

We've taken a number of selfies. I kept telling Ken that I don't like how I look in that hood - it makes me look like I have multiple chins. Instead of asking how many, (so gracious of him) he said that I should look that way because I'm a grandma. Well, I like being a grandma, but I don't like having lots of chins. So for some of the selfies, I put my hood down, but my neck still looks thick. I guess I should get some training on how to take selfies. 

We play lots of Boggle. Our games are very competitive. Ken has won the most games, but he is only 1 ahead. Not to brag or anything, but this means I am playing well.  

The skies and sunsets here are to brag about. This means that our Creator is doing all things well, and there are really no words. His love comes to us in countless ways. It is just so special to be able to take off a few days off to slow down and notice some of them.

Dani's Discovery Tours via Photos #5: New (to us) Found Land

Photo Cred: Kayleen Martin

This is the fifth and final installment in the Discovery Tours series according to my current plan, anyhow. How can it be one whole month since I posted the last Tour? Much of the focus and energy around here in recent weeks has centered on the upcoming wedding of our daughter - that's how!

Thinking about Kayleen (in the above pic, the one on the right) leaving home for good (in just two weeks) makes me grateful for some intentional together times we've had during this past year. One of my favorites was the ten-day trip that Us4athome took to Newfoundland in August. On this trip I took "tons of pictures", as they say, so the options for this last discovery tour are vast. So are the memories, which are delightful to pull out and savor these days. I suspect they will continue to bless me in the months and years to come.

Our experience in NL was definitely a time of discovery, so it is very fitting to put these photos into a Dani's Discovery Tour. The problem is knowing which of the sevenhundredfiftyeleven pictures to post. I know what - I will put the discoveries into categories and put a few pics under each heading. Alrighty then, here we go...

Ten Things We Discovered in Newfoundland:

1. Lighthouses

We visited the eldest of two lighthouses at Cape Spear, which is the easternmost point in North America. This structure is the oldest surviving lighthouse in NL. 

The younger of the two lighthouses on the rocky bluff at Cape Spear

Cute little lighthouse along Lighthouse Trail (who would have thought it?) on the Cow Head Peninsula, part of the Gros Morne National Park

Twillingate, NL

2. Gorgeous hiking trails

East Coast Trail, Avalon Peninsula (St. John's area)

North Head Trail, Signal Hill, St. John's 

Skerwink Trail near Port Rexton, NL

Point of the Head Trail, Cow Head Peninsula, Gros Morne National Park

Sleepy Cove Trail, Twillingate

3. Flora & Fauna (which, being interpreted, is Plants and Animals)

Fun fungi and bunchberries along Skerwink Trail

Beachhead Iris at Cape Spear

Happy annuals in a St. John'site's window box

We saw fireweed like this all over Newfoundland, and I never tired of it.

We saw whales, y'all, real live whales! It was so thrilling. We spotted them, not from a whale-watching boat, but from the shore as we hiked on the Skerwink Trail. 

Also along the Skerwink Trail, we got to see a moose close up. With the amazing vistas around every bend of the Skerwink Trail, the whale sightings, and the moose encounter, we felt like it was a very profitable hike that day!

4. Bake Apples

We kept seeing these mystery jars for sale on the hood of people's vehicles parked by the road, so we finally stopped to satisfy our curiosity. This NL native explained that the home-canned fruits are cloudberries, nicknamed bake apples. The bake apple name is an anglicized way of saying a French phrase meaning "What is this berry called?"

Bake apples are supposed to be good for making into jellies and sauces, so we bought a jar to take home to try out. We laid out good money for a quart, which we were happy to do, especially after discovering how labor-intensive the picking is. Apparently, a single cloudberry grows on each plant.

My attempt at making bake apple jelly at home turned out fine and dandy, I mean tasty.

5. Fun Cottaging and Cabin-ing

The girls preparing colorful veggies to go with a grilled chicken supper at our By D' Bay Cabin

Our dessert that evening was Grilled Peaches topped with whipped cream and cinnamon - yummers!

K & K hauling home the groceries from a little store near our cottage in Cow Head

6. Signal Hill

Among the many attractions in St. John's, Signal Hill was a must-see. We began with watching the Signal Hill Tattoo as part of a Seven Years' War re-enactment.

Cabot Tower on Signal Hill

My girls and I, on an appropriately-named hill called Ladies' Lookout. Legend has it that the St. John's women came here to look out for ships bringing their husbands, sons, and lovers home.
Photo Cred: My Man

You can't get a much more Newfoundland-looking photo than this, if you ask me.

7. Ponds (and other neat water features)

I found it fascinating that lakes are called ponds in NL. One chilly, misty day we went on a boat tour of a large land-locked fjord called Western Brook Pond in Gros Morne National Park.

St. John's Harbour, as seen from Signal Hill

Atlantic shore, as seen from East Coast Trail

Shallow Bay at low tide in Cow Head 

Picturesque bay area after a rainstorm in Twillingate

We went on a whale-watching tour in Twillingate, knowing it was almost certain we wouldn't see whales. It was a great excursion anyway, with a friendly, competent captain named Cecil who gave us a "bit o' 'istory" every now and then. That morning he did a superb job of working his craft on an ocean that, in his words, "had a bit of an attitude."

8. Color

Newfoundland communities must have a rule about using containers to keep garbage bags out of sight. We saw wooden, metal, or plastic bins at the end of many a lane or driveway. Here somebody got creative with housing their garbage bags.

On Cow Head Peninsula, even the outhouses are colorful!

9. Food

How many different ways can one eat fish in Newfoundland?

10. Family Bonding Opportunities

One rule that the girls had on our trip was: Always take a selfie in the red chairs.

Photo Cred: Kayleen Martin

My three favorites at Cape Spear

Playing the spoons for the song "I'se the B'y" while on the Western Brook Pond tour boat

"Oh, that was such a great trip!"

Our last family selfie in NL, taken on the Sleepy Cove Trail hike

Photo Cred: Kayleen Martin

What intentional together times have you enjoyed with your family lately?