We then drove north for a bit because I had read about Siemens Falls which were just at the town outskirts. Couldn't find those either, so after getting gas, we headed south on Highway #510, the Labrador Coastal Drive.
One of the things I didn't mention yesterday, but the last two photos from yesterday showed, the land was becoming more sandy. Today the scenery was much more varied. There were the usual trees, but they were scattered more with rocks lakes, and marsh. It really was a pretty drive.
The first 100 km were paved, but then it turned to gravel. The one good thing about gravel is that you can tell when someone is coming by the dust cloud. Not that that was a particular problem, as initially the traffic was very sporadic.
On a side note, Erg (our GPS - Diane asked us to name it after her, so we agreed) says the time is half an hour ahead of the time it actually is. Except for Goose Bay. In Goose Bay, Erg figured out that we are on Atlantic Daylight time, not Nfld time. But for everywhere else, she insists it is Nfld time. At least later today, when we actually enter that timezone, she will be correct.
At km 200, we noticed something dark up ahead in the road. It turned out to be a bear sauntering down the road. We stopped and watched as is sauntered up to the car. We moved ahead slowly, and then stopped again. We noted that the bear was looking back at us. When we stopped, it turned around and starting walking back towards our car, coming up alongside the driver's side. It looked at us, and then lay down. It just lay there looking at us. It certainly was not afraid of us at all. After Bob got a few pictures, we slowly started up and left it behind, laying in the street.
At about KM 250, our car received its first souvenir, and a truck-trailer spit out a stone that landed squarely on our windshield. Grrrr...
we noted that this highway had more rest areas on it than the northern road did.. however, a rest area is a large open area with garbage containers - no washrooms. Given the
vast distances between towns, I am surprised that there are not more washrooms along the way.
There has been a fair bit of construction on the road today. It seems like a lot of maintenance to maintain a gravel road. Just outside of Port Hope-Simpson, the road was paved. This was our target destination for today, so we turned into the town. We could not find the hotel, so eventually asked a local who said he was on his way there now, so for us to "just chase him". We followed around several curvey roads, watching him avoid the potholes with ease until we arrived at the hotel.
The hotel is very basic and appears to have two distinct sections. We were greeted at the front desk by a woman wearing a ballcap backwards. She had a local flair and told us a bit about her life and the illness that has been in her family over the past year.
There was one room left, which we gladly took. We are in the old wing of the hotel, which has not been renovated in forever. There is no air conditioning, no network, and no wireles. The television sported a message that the box needed to be re-initialized. After a few attempts with the front desk, the satellite starting working.
It's like this hotel has a life of its own. Everything shifts as you walk by - the walls talk to you. It's like going back in time in the decor and layout.
After checking in, we drove around town to get a lay of the land, and to grab a few photos from the local boat launch.
We had supper in the hotel restaurant .. we are pretty sure it is the only one in town. I had a fabulous home made hamburger and Bob had chicken fingers. We chatted with another guest whose sone had played AAA hockey in Nipawin two years ago. He knew a number of the kids involved in the Humboldt Bronco crash. He was from Cornerbrook and was in Labrador for the same reason we are.. he has never been here.
Hotel: Alexis Hotel
Temp: Sunny and hot
Distance: 440 km
Mileage: 9 L/100km
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