I was quite late getting my vacation plans in motion for this year.  In the end, I decided to just visit Newfoundland rather than doing the usual cross-country run-around.  So, I’m in Newfoundland now.  Mom mentioned over Facetime last week that she’d like to do the Gander Loop and to see Cow’s head.  For my part, I suggested visiting  L’anse Aux Meadows and St. Pierre and Miquelon.  In the end, we didn’t go to St. Pierre because the timing was too late to sort out the hotels.   We stayed with one of my Aunts in Hare Bay and set out early in the morning.
 

 
Our first stop was Dover where I went to a lookout and got a view of the Dover Fault which marks the boundary where the rocks on one side come from Europe and Africa and on the other side come from North America.

The next stop along the Gander Loop was Greenspond, a gorgeous little town with houses that seemed to grow right out of the rocks.  There’s a plaque near the lookout that lists the sealing captains who came from Greenspond by year that goes back to the 1800’s. Perhaps this would be the place to go for some flipper pie in the spring.

From Greenspond we traveled along, passing through cozy little towns and eventually stopped for lunch in Newtown at the Barbour Heritage Village Restaurant where the servers were all dressed up. Guys wore white shirts and girls wore old fashioned dresses. Both mom and I had Cod Au Gratin.  I enjoyed mine quite a bit.  Mom, who can be very particular about restaurant food, enjoyed her meal quite a bit.  This is probably the highest of compliments I could pay the chef.  The village offers a tour but it takes about 90 minutes and that was a little too long for us.  So on we went, passing through more pretty small towns and coastal vistas while stopping for the odd photo op.  Once we got out of the loop we drove onto Deer Lake and got some rest for the night.