km: 42 to date: 215
End point: TCH exit 26
bottles/cans: 140 to date: 529
cups: 57 to date: 124
$ from empties: $5 to date: $5
Money spent: $18 to date: $74
Temp: 5C sun am, colder & snow pm light winds
Had a pretty good sleep last night (midnight straight through til 7am) and a very vivid dream. Later in the afternoon, I gave the dream some deep thought and mighy write about that in another blog. Perhaps not to be published quite yet though. I have a feeling the dream has a lot to do with what I call the battle of Newfoundland so best not to jinx it until I'm safe on the mainland again. : )
Sleeping straight through was definitely a bonus....usually I wake up cold or uncomfortable a few times per night while tenting. That too will change when I get used to it however.
Was on better terms with the weather man this morning. He was wrong again but in a positive way. Sun was shining and dare I say it even felt kinda warm. Comparatively anyway. Foot and knee felt better too so I made great time into Clarenville (26km away). Once in town my first stop was to see the good folks at the recycling depot. Like the staff from Irving, they remembered me from last year so it made for a warm welcome. I think I'm going to really enjoy this aspect of the return trip!
I'll also make more of an effort to return bottles and cans to these depots whenever possible. Then will keep track of, and donate the proceeds to charity once finished. That being said, if Oskar is overloaded with hundreds of empties with no depot around, any method of proper disposal will suffice (giving them to people who donate to thier own local charities or the good ol reliable Tim Horton recycling bins). Much can be said about this Canadian turned American company when it comes to the environment but in just about every town all across the country if there's a Tim Horton's I know I can drop off recyclables there. Even if no other businesses or residences around that particular community recycle.
Sorry got off on a bit of a tangent there....occupational hazard.
After getting some friendly goodbyes and a few extra recycling bags from the depot staff, my next stop in town was the local salvation army to buy a beautiful (lol) five dollar orange rain jacket. I've been pushing my luck not having one for the first week. This is Newfoundland in April after all!
Next was grocery shopping - $11 on some more rice, tuna, oatmeal, 3 apples and a bag of carrots. This, along with my supply of great supplements from Isagenix (protein shakes & bars, sports drinks far better than anything else out there, etc), will get me through the next 3 - 4 days of little or no services.
As much as I like interacting with great Canadians on a daily basis, there's always something adventurous about stocking up and preparing to go into the wild for a stretch of time. Even if 'the wild' is really just a provincial or national park with no stores, restaurants or gas stations for many miles.
Last stop in Clarenville was McDonald's. I don't frequent the fast food giant to eat meals while running across Canada but it is a handy place to go for their coffee and muffin special ($1.69), use free Wi-Fi and most importantly stock up on drinking water.
That all taken care of, I headed back on the highway around 4pm. Just as it was starting to snow. The morning sunshine gave away to cloudy and cooler afternoon so some kind of precipitation was enevitable.
I was in great spirits and continued on for another 15km quite content. (For the record, snow is indefinitely more enjoyable than rain is on the road).
The earlier sunshine did power my phone back up so I was able to take a few more pictures and even made a quick singing video which will be shared later. Yes I'm becoming that guy again! Just a fun filled product of a wonderful environment.
'Battle of Newfoundland' or no, I'm back in my happy place again!
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