Before I continue, there's one thing I
should mention about Labrador that I had forgotten to mention
previously. One of the things you'll read, if you read anything about
Labrador, is that the black flies are a real problem. I can now tell
you from first hand experience … it's true. In any wilderness
areas, the moment you get out of the car, you are completely swarmed
by these beasts!
Anyway, now onto today's drive. I'd be
travelling from Happy Valley-Goose Bay to Labrador City, a distance
of about 325 miles on paved roads. There would only be one town on
the way, a place called Churchill Falls, which is the site of a major
hydro-power plant. The drive time was expected to be about 7 hours.
After waking up and getting dressed, I
made breakfast, filled the car with gas, and then headed on my way.
Unfortunately, it rained from Happy Valley-Goose Bay all the way to
Churchill Falls. When I arrived in Churchill Falls, I topped off the
gas tank and continued to Labrador City. Fortunately, as I continued
westward, the weather started to improve. The scenery here reminded
me a lot of the scenery you see when you travel through interior
Alaska. Lots of rolling hills, small lakes & ponds and some small
mountains. Unfortunately, I didn't encounter any wildlife on this
portion of my drive.
When I arrived in Labrador City, it was
pretty early, so I found a local public library where I was able to
recharge my laptop and access the internet for a while. After leaving
the library, it was time to find a place to stay for the night. There
was a Walmart that was part of a small shopping mall. Walmart allows
RV's to park in their lots in most locations overnight, so I assumed
that this would be a good place to “camp”.
From what I could tell, it seems that
pretty much everyone in Labrador City works in the hydro-electric
and/or mining industry. Virtually every vehicle you see is a pickup
truck of one kind or another, and they all have amber lights and
flags on them. There was a Tim Hortons donut shop in the mall, which
had a drive through, and there was a line at the drive through the
entire time I was there. I had also passed a McDonalds which also had
a drive through, and there was a line there as well … they really
seem to like their coffee here!!! I'm assuming that they must run
multiple shifts, probably 24 hours a day, at the mines. The trucks
were flying through the parking lot constantly … the level of
activity was fascinating!
There was a restaurant in the mall,
along the lines of an Applebee's, and I thought about going there for
dinner, but ultimately, I decided to just stick with what I had
brought along for the trip. At this point, I had gotten pretty
organized with regard to cooking in the car, so I made dinner, and
then read for a while before going to sleep.
Tomorrow's drive would be another long
one, taking me from Labrador into the province of Quebec.
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