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Mega Road Trip to Far-Eastern Canada, June 17
June 17

June 17, 2014. L'anse-au-Clair, Labrador, to L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland

Today was a momentous day and the culmination of many years of hopes, dreams, and trying: we finally set foot on Newfoundland.

Up and out of the hotel after breakfast, we traveled south into Quebec and inquired at the Blanc-Sablon ferry. Satisfied, we continued south to a bird sanctuary where we looked across the icy water to an island with thousands of Common Murre, plus some Thick-billed Murre and Atlantic Puffins (LB#625). We weren't positive about the Thick-bills, so we only counted the Puffins as life-birds.

We caught the 1:30 PM ferry and crossed into Newfoundland at St. Barbe, identifying Thick-billed Murre along the way, but seeing few birds. It felt great to finally get here. We drove north on the Upper Peninsula, stopping at a trail that leads to a site with fossilized stromatolites, rare fossils from the dawn of life on earth. We continued to L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site and visited the site where Vikings established a short-lived village some 1,000 years ago. Before it got too late, we got a nearby room and plan to return to the historic site tomorrow.

June 17
View from hotel room
June 17
Woodchuck on porch at hotel during breakfast
June 17
Ferry terminal
June 17
Good ship Apollo docking
June 17
Liz aboard ship leaving Labrador
June 17
Arriving in Newfoundland
June 17
Thrombolites!
June 17
Thrombolites!
June 17
Thrombolites!
June 17
Jim with roadkill moose skull -- these really are big animals
June 17
L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site
June 17
Remains of actual Norse sod house
June 17
Remains of actual Norse sod house
June 17
Norse sod house built to show what they looked like
June 17
Snorri Cabins sign
June 17
Snorri Cabins, a great place with a kitchen but poor internet

Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
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