Greetings to our family and friends,

A final hello from Newfoundland, as we are starting our trip homewards on Sunday, taking the 11:45 pm ferry from Port-aux-Basques NL to North Sydney NS. We have had a wonderful vacation in Newfoundland, visiting with family and old friends, renewing acquaintances, and taking in the sights, both the new, and the dear and familiar. Myron has had a wonderful time (as have we all), and he has been feeling absolutely great. Other than some normal swelling in his right leg which has the blood clots, he has felt wonderful and has been very active. We continue to go to Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital in Stephenville for his weekly cleaning and dressings on his PICC line.

The man of the hour … Myron, who is looking more and more like his father every day!

This past week we have been travelling about his old stomping grounds in the Stephenville/Port-au-Port Peninsula area. Myron’s brother Charlie and his wife Susanna came over from their home in Marystown on the Burin Peninsula on the east coast of the province and joined us here at our home-away-from-home in Kippens. We have all loved having our own home while visiting here in Newfoundland and we thank Junior and Bernie dearly for providing us with it. We also thank Bernie for keeping us well supplied with her homemade bread. On Friday evening last week we attended a birthday party celebrating Junior’s 60^th, and on Sunday (after we attended mass at the church Myron grew up in, Our Lady of Fatima Church in Piccadilly), Junior and Bernie had us all out to their home in West Bay for a turkey/ham/salt beef dinner.

The “Kippens bunch”, heading out to Mass on Sunday morning.

We have visited Winterhouses (and our friend Jerome), Black Duck Brook and Blue Beach, Point au Mal and Fox Island River. Myron, Vern and Wendy also went for a hike up into the fields behind the property where they grew up, walked down the beach at Piccadilly, and then went on to visit with Myron’s sister Joan – and Dale who was already at Joan’s waiting for us. We also went for a drive around Harmon Field in Stephenville, visiting the sites at which Dale worked when he was in the US Army, posted in Stephenville in the 1960s.

 

Lobster traps at Abraham’s Cove.

Most evenings we put in some time at Lucy’s Bar across the street, where Myron, Vern and Dale try their luck on the slot machines with varying degrees of luck. Wendy, not being much of a gambler, spends her time uploading photos unto Facebook and writing this blog. Thursday we took a drive to visit the town of St. George’s. Friday (today), after Myron’s hospital visit, we plan to spend the day visiting with family and friends and saying our goodbyes, and our intention is to travel to Corner Brook on Saturday and visit the Railway Museum of Newfoundland to see “the Newfie Bullet”, Newfoundland’s infamous retired narrow gauge train. Sunday will be a day of housecleaning, suitcase packing, and final goodbyes before our departure for the drive to Port-aux-Basques early in the evening. We expect to arrive home sometime next week, probably Thursday evening, but it is all dependent upon the amount of sightseeing we do on our way home.

 

Heading back into Kippens, at the Romaines River

 

Lots of love and see you soon.

 

Myron and Wendy 

Hello from Newfoundland!

We arrived back in Kippens this evening after our journey north to Gros Morne Park and St. Anthony. We left early Monday morning and travelled to Gros Morne where we went on the boat tour among the fjords of Western Brook Pond (after an almost 3 km hike from the parking lot). Myron accomplished this walk very well in spite of his leg which swells with his blood clots. We were fortunate this year and the weather was clear so the boat trip was on (unlike two years ago when it was too foggy).

Entering Western Brook Pond



Following our boat tour (and the hike back to the parking lot) we returned to Rocky harbour where we spent the night. The next morning we continued north to The Arches Provincial Park.

 

We continued travelling north and eventually arrived in St. Anthony. We secured a cabin for 2 nights about 10 K outside of town and then went into town to explore the town, buy groceries for breakfast and have dinner. After dinner, while the guys were watching TV, Vern and I encountered a moose outside our cabin. We got a few pictures and were thrilled. Imagine our excitement the next morning when our moose returned and let us take his photo in the light of day!



On Wednesday morning we went out for another boat tour, this time for whale and iceberg watching in the North Atlantic. We saw whales (both Humpback and Minke), Atlantic dolphins, and icebergs.

 

In the afternoon we went up to the Viking village at L'Anse aux Meadows, and visited both the National Park recreation of the village, plus Norstead which is more of an historical re-enactment of a Viking settlement.

 



Myron, Viking chief

We're back in Kippens now, at our temporary home away from home, and Myron will visit Stephenville Hospital tomorrow again, for his second PICC line cleansing and dressing while on the Rock. He continues to feel good other than some swelling in is right leg, and he is truly enjoying his vacation "back home". Tomorrow evening we are off the his brother Junior's to celebrate his (Junior's) 60th birthday. We are expecting Charlie and Susanna to arrive from Marystown tomorrow sometime to fill the empty 3rd bedroom in "our" house. Please continue to pray for Myron's good health so that he may continue to enjoy his vacation. Thanks for all your love and support, and we'll try to post again some time next week, before we leave the province on the night of the 27th.

 

love,

Myron and Wendy

Greetings from Newfoundland!

We arrived in Newfoundland on Thursday evening last week, after a pleasant journey, stopping to visit with a number of friends on the way down, including an overnight stay with Mary and Reuben in Cape Breton. Many thanks to Dale who did the majority of the driving. We are staying in a house in Kippens which belongs to Myron’s brother Junior, but we have taken it over and consider it home. Junior and Bernie had a wonderful soup and homemade bread waiting for us when we arrived. Myron is feeling well and enjoying every minute of our adventure.

 Myron on deck of the MV Blue Puttees on route to "The Rock"

Our temporary home in Kippens, Nfld.

 

We have been busy non-stop since our arrival. We have visited with Myron’s siblings Joan, Junior and Dan, in addition to Aunt Marty and Uncle Nishi, Uncle Andrew, Uncle Mattie, & many, many friends. Friday morning we went to Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital in Stephenville and Myron had the first of his scheduled weekly PICC line cleanings/dressings. All went well. In the evening we went out to Junior’s place in West Bay and had a feed of lobsters provided by Myron’s brother Dan. We did some shopping in Stephenville yesterday (Saturday), and then in the evening we attended a Young Family Reunion/75^th Birthday /37^th Wedding Anniversary party in Piccadilly. A grand time was had by all!

 Myron (and Billy) waiting for his dressing change at Stephenville hospital

A visit with Aunt Marty

Today (Sunday) we went out for breakfast/lunch (Myron and Vern had breakfast, Dale and Wendy opted for lunch fare) at Dan and Marlene’s restaurant (Oliver’s) in Piccadilly. Following that we headed out for the circle journey around the Port-au-Port Peninsula (the French Ancestor’s Route) with stops at Sheaves’s Cove and Hidden Falls, Cape St. George and Mainland to mention a few places. Tomorrow morning we will be up early and heading north. We are planning to visit Gros Morne National Park and the fjord boat tour on Western Brook Pond, the Arches Provincial Park, and then heading up to the tip of the Northern Peninsula to St. Anthony and the Viking Settlement at L’Anse-aux-Meadows.

 "The boot" at Cape St. George

 Boats at Mainland

 Cliffs at the Cape

 Travelling through Campbell's Creek

Hidden Falls at Sheave's Cove

Myron’s health continues to be good, and he is ready for whatever adventures await us. We do try to make time for him to have a short nap each day and then he is good to go. His leg is swelling no more than it normally does, in spite of all our travels. We’ll be in touch again in the near future when we encounter access with the internet again. Talk to you soon.

love,

Myron & Wendy

 

 

 

 



Greetings!

All systems go and it is almost time to leave! Vern and Dale arrived here from Wisconsin yesterday evening, the packing is pretty much complete, and we will be on our way early tomorrow morning. We are all really looking forward to the trip. Myron is feeling well and we're all on top of the world.

Note the USA flag flying in honour of our American family.

 

 

Hard at work, putting Rain-Ex on the windshield (Sorry I couldn't help,

someone had the take the picture).

 

Tomorrow morning we head out ... Newfoundland here we come! Looking forward to seeing all our family and friends, and thank you all for your prayers, love and support. Talk to you soon.

 

love,

Myron and Wendy

Hello Everyone,

It has been a busy couple of weeks since we last posted here. As we told you previously, Myron has been given a break from chemotherapy for the summer. It has been a little over a month now since his last treatment and he feels GRRRREAT!!!! The days of total exhaustion are gone, his mouth sores have healed, food now tastes normal again and he enjoys his meals, etc. Other than needing a short nap most days, and still dealing with some swelling in his right leg, he feels very much like he used to feel before all this began. It is such a welcome break.

We have had a few trips to the trailer, including last weekend with Chris and Rachael. During that time we built a cardboard and duct-tape boat and set Rachael afloat in the great race across the pond. Our boat was a success this year, Rachael made it across the pond without sinking, and she finished in 4th place overall.

Our boat is launched into the pond with Rachael in it

 

Myron invited our neighbours over Thursday evening last week and we all celebrated Wendy's birthday together. A great time was had by all. With all the excitement of planning for the birthday celebration and packing for the weekend at the trailer we completely forgot about Wendy's annual birthday stilt walk, but Wendy will make sure she completes her annual walk, it will just be a week or so late this year.

 

With Myron feeling so well (yahoo!!!!!), we are frantically cleaning, doing laundry, running errands and packing for our much awaited trip to Newfoundland. Vern and Dale will arrive here from Wisconsin on Saturday evening and we all intend to take it easy on Sunday before heading eastward early Monday morning. Our intention is to overnight in Levis, QC on Monday evening, and travel to Moncton, NB the next day. We will overnight in Moncton while having a short visit with our friends Brenda and Derrick. We'll head out to Nova Scotia Wednesday morning, stopping for a short visit with our friend Gerry, and then on to Cape Breton and Englishtown where we will overnight with our friends Mary and Reuben. Thursday morning we will head for North Sydney and the ferry docks, and we sail for Newfoundland on the MV Highlander at noon. This will be the first time Vern and Dale have crossed to/from Newfoundland by ferry since they left the province in 1966. We will arrive at Port-aux-Basques about 6 P.M.

 

Newfoundland, here I come!!!!

(His shirt says it all)

 

We now have everything arranged for Myron's PICC line dressings to be done at Stephenville Hospital every Friday morning, so it is all systems go. The only difference is we must make sure we have all Myron's medical supplies with us while we travel, so packing is being done very conscientiously. We don't want to get there and find we are missing some necessary item. Let's all hope that Myron's health remains good while we are away (and afterwards) and that we have a wonderful trip. Thanks to you all for your prayers and good wishes, and we plan to return to Ontario around the end of July or early August. While in Newfoundland we are hoping to travel up to Gros Morne National Park and take the boat trip among the fjords, and then continue on to St. Anthony and L'Anse aux Meadows (and the Viking settlement). We're hoping to see some icebergs this year too (and lots of whales and moose, of course). Otherwise we will stay close to home (the Port-au-Port Peninsula and Stephenville), visiting with family, taking day trips and celebrating Myron's brother Junior's 60th birthday. We will try to get to the library while in Stephenville and post to this blog a couple of times while we are away to keep you up-to-date on our adventures and Myron's health.

 

Thanks again.

 

Myron & Wendy