FL Vero Beach & Habitat

This was our fourth season volunteering at Indian River Habitat for Humanity in Vero Beach FL. We participate in the Care-A-Vanner program where Habitat provides a place for our trailer and we volunteer 5 days/week – four weeks this time. The big draw to this area is that we see Barbara’s dad during our free time.

Bill worked on new construction in the same Habitat neighborhood in Fellsmere where he worked the previous years.

 

Habitat homes built in the last several years

Bill also worked on two rehabs – houses that Habitat built over 10 years ago that needed significant work before turning over to new owners. Imagine Bill’s shock when they went to replace the broken shed door and found a guy sleeping in the shed. We pray that the guy found another place to sleep…

Bill worked with a delightful couple, Chuck and Judy from Wisconsin. They are gems who have worked in Fellsmere for over a decade.

Chuck & Bill

In the meantime, Barbara worked again in the ReStore and got to reconnect with many volunteers she’s worked with previously. When Barbara arrived she couldn’t even get to the Linens department in the store’s warehouse.

BEFORE

When we left, things were pretty organized.

AFTER

We also enjoyed special times with family and friends:

• spending time with Barbara's dad, brother and aunt,
• having Carrie fly down for a weekend,

• stopping at Barbara’s cousin’s place to and from Florida,
• seeing some friends in Georgia,

• and getting to know some other Habitat volunteers.

2019 Year in Review

We spent February in Florida visiting Barbara’s family and volunteering at Habitat for Humanity.

And we plan to do the same in 2020.

In May Bill and Carrie explored Iceland driving the Ring Road seeing waterfalls, icebergs, thermal features, puffins, whales, and much more.

Then we took a 6-week RV trip to Newfoundland – early enough for icebergs and late enough for whales. We loved the scenic coastal hikes, bird watching and boat tours.

Later in the summer we helped Kate move to a house she and her boyfriend, Josh, purchased in Framingham MA. Kate & Josh have tech jobs in Boston. Carrie works for an economics consulting firm and is looking into grad schools for next year.

Carrie, Kate & Josh at Rattlesnake Knob Christmas 2019

We went to Ohio several times to help out Bill's family and for Barbara to letterbox with friends.

And we keep busy with Habitat for Humanity (Bill), Community Bible Study (Barbara), our church and small group, local hikes, and our usual projects.

Newfoundland Trip Summary

What a cool trip! And we don’t just mean the weather, which was cool! We made some wonderful memories in the easternmost province of Canada and along the way.

Our trip came on the heels of Bill and Carrie's trip to Iceland, which had some similarities: icebergs, puffins, rock formations, whales, waterfalls, and seafood.

Despite the similarities, Newfoundland offered new places to explore at a relaxed pace. We stopped briefly along the way in New Hampshire, Maine and New Brunswick and then spent some time in the northern part of Nova Scotia before taking the ferry to Newfoundland. Here’s our route.

Here’s just some of the things we saw.

Lighthouses...

Icebergs...

Birds...

Waterfalls…

Natural arches...

Jelly bean row houses...

Moose tracks!

We also saw plenty of moose poop, but didn’t see a Newfoundland moose until the very end of the trip.

We heard the history, learning about: early Paleo-Eskimo seal hunting, Norse explorations, John Cabot’s landing, British colonization, and the fishing economy that took a major blow in 1992 with the close of cod fishing.

The culture was and is connected to the sea. A painting called Maybe Tomorrow reminded us of the challenges.

We really had a great time. Glad we have the opportunity to explore.

Newfoundland to Massachusetts – Heading Home

We divided the trip back to Massachusetts into three days: the ferry from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, driving almost to the US border, and driving from the border to Andover, Massachusetts.

The 7-hour ferry takes pretty much all day as you need to arrive two hours ahead of time and it takes a while to get off the ship once the ferry docks. Here’s the view of the deck. 

We grabbed seats close to the stern-facing window and watched as we got farther and farther from Newfoundland. Once we got to Nova Scotia, we went to a campground we stayed at back in 2000 – just stopping for the night.

The next day we drove through northern Nova Scotia and most of New Brunswick, camping in a quiet wooded corner of a provincial park on the Bay of Fundy. We were both pretty tired, but mustered the energy to walk to the beach. 

We included one last brief site-seeing destination before crossing the border – Kingsbrae Garden in St Andrews, New Brunswick. We spent a pleasant hour there walking through their various gardens.

And wouldn’t you know it. The very last thing we see before leaving is… a BIG red Adirondack chair!