Midwinter in St. John’s, Newfoundland isn’t very fun. Snow, rain, hail, sleet, wind and fog. There isn’t much opportunity to get out of the house and do anything. From December to March, I’m limited to the house except to go to work and to get groceries. Being an outdoors lover and a person who has a tendency to develop cabin fever during the long, cold Atlantic winters, by mid-February, I am on the verge of insanity! During the winter of 2008, my sister across town was feeling the same way so we came up with a plan. Over coffee one evening, we decided to get out of town for a weekend. Since it was the middle of winter and there was snow on the ground, we decided to go to Clarenville to do some downhill skiing. When temperatures allowed, they were always making fresh snow at the hill so there would be no problem. Rain is not normally an issue during winter in Newfoundland. The next day, I called around looking for accommodations at the cabins my sister stayed at the last time she went skiing in the area. The cabins were impressive: heated, fireplaces in every cabin, full bathrooms, a lounge, laundry facilities and a restaurant. Sounded too good to be true and it turned out to be just that. The receptionist informed me that they were booked that whole weekend for a snowmobiling conference and it was unlikely there would be a room anywhere else in the area. I called around to seven or eight different hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts and all were booked solid for that weekend! I was about to give up calling the two remaining hotels, convinced I would just get the same answer but having nothing to lose, I dialed the number for the cabins near the provincial park. Booked. I was down to the last number. The St. Jude Hotel on the highway outside Clarenville. They had two rooms left! I secured a room immediately and hit a very good deal in the process. The price for just the room was 89 dollars but added 2 ski lift tickets, which usually cost 40 dollars a piece and the cost of both came to 110 dollars. I called my sister and gave her the good news. She had already succumbed to the idea that we would not be going anywhere. Her somber mood changed when I told her that I had found a room and hit a good deal! I checked the weather and it looked good. Sunny with cloudy periods and a few flurries! We got to planning the weekend right away. Friday came and once my sister finished packing, she arrived to spend the night at my house so we could get on the road early the next morning. At 7 a.m., we were off and on our way to a weekend away from household chores, boyfriends and work! A well-deserved weekend out of the city for the both of us. The drive to Clarenville went without incident. The roads were clear, no moose crossed onto the highway and we arrived before lunch which was great timing to hit the slopes! We drove to the ski hill first to check the conditions of the slopes. Everything looked good so we drove to the hotel to check in, eat lunch and get ready. When we entered, the receptionist told us that we would need to go into the room from the inside hall to open the other door that led outside to where our car would be parked. We took a key each and headed in opposite directions. I went to the room to unlock the door from the inside while my sister drove the car to the back parking lot. We were supposed to meet once I unlocked the door. It didn’t quite work out that way. I got the door unlocked but was unable to open it! I used all my force but it would not budge. When my sister pulled into our lot, she must have been confused when the door wasn’t open. She began pounding at the door for me to open it. When I yelled that it wouldn’t open, she tried to open it from her side. Still wouldn’t budge. She drove the car back to the front and we just carried our bags through the inside hallway. An hour passed and we were ready to go. Decked out in our ski gear, we walked outside and were greeted by a surprise - rain. In one hour it went from sunny to torrential downpour! There is an old saying about Newfoundland weather: “if you don’t like the weather at the front of the house, go to the back of the house.” This rang partially true that day because we entered the hotel at the front and it was sunny and when we exited at the back, it was raining! The change in weather that day was fitted more to the old Newfoundland saying “if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute and it will change.” We waited and waited and waited and it only got worse. The sky only got darker and the rain fell harder. By this time, we thought the weekend was a total loss. Skiing was definitely out. Even if some of the snow managed to escape the downpour, the slopes would be slushy at best and icy if the temperature dropped. We sat in our hotel room for what seemed like a long time, contemplating what to do. We had already decided to keep the room since we came this far and might as well make use of it but we got the ski tickets removed from the price of the room since we wouldn’t be using them. We had to figure out how to make use of our time and we needed to figure out quickly before nightfall. Trinity was about an hour away. It’s a small historic town that is a recommended tourist stop so we decided to get on the road and check it out. At the very least, we would see some nice scenery and get some nice pictures and it would be good to get out of the hotel room for a few hours. We changed out of our ski clothes and made our way through slush and freezing rain to the car, which of course needed de-icing. After getting lost a few times and getting directions from a man at a gas station, we finally found the road leading to Trinity. Fortunately, the freezing rain had not progressed passed Clarenville so besides there being some water on the highway, the roads were decent enough. We reached Trinity in good time. The weather let up only slightly. The sun made quick, sporadic appearances and the temperature rose a little but it was still raining. Trinity was a very small town but we still managed to get lost! We reached a dead end by the ocean and got out to take some pictures. The area was very scenic but unfortunately the rain had gotten worse, resulting in pictures with water spots on them! We walked around on foot and explored the town a little. It wasn’t hard to tell that it was a tourist town. There was no one around, homes were boarded up and there were no cars in the driveways. It was like a ghost town. We were the only people around. As we walked around the area, we noticed an old church at the end of a road. It caught our eyes with its colorful steeple, almost like a gingerbread house. We walked closer to get some pictures and noticed a sign on the front door of the church that said “come in for a visit.” Curiosity got the better of us and we tried the door. With some force, the door pushed open and we were inside. It was obvious that we were the first people to enter in quite a while. It was quite dusty, there was no groundskeeper in sight and we could see our breath which meant no one had turned on the heat in a long time! It was a nice escape from the crammed quarters of the car and the rain outside! The church was very old, in fact about 120 years old according to the plaque on the door. We were in the church about a half hour taking pictures, exploring, looking around and resting. When we exited, the rain had turned into a light drizzle and the sun was trying to peak through the clouds. I took the clear moment to take some more pictures, then we got back in the car. The narrow roads were like a labyrinth up and down hills and around houses of every colour of the rainbow. We eventually found our way back to the main road. The rain had started again but I still managed to get a few great pictures before hitting the highway. We reached the turn off where we had the choice to either head back towards town or towards Bonavista. We pulled over and weighed our choices. Head back to town and just hang out in the hotel room or be adventurous and head towards Bonavista and risk still being on the road at nightfall. We decided on the latter and headed towards Bonavista. We regretted our decision soon after. The rain became heavy and the highway was accumulating a lot of water, resulting in hydroplaning. We made it to Bonavista safely and just as some thick fog was lifting to reveal a beautiful view. A quaint village surrounded by ocean and brightly colored houses. The rain stopped, too; just long enough for us to get some decent pictures and explore the village a bit. We went as far as the main road would take us and ended up on a narrow road that ended where the ocean started and a lighthouse stood guard. We got out to stretch our legs. It wasn’t very cold, but it was very windy. So windy, we could barely walk! We found some shelter behind the lighthouse and just took in the view. There was some ice in the harbour and I thought I saw a whale or two surface although the water was very rough and my eyes could have been playing tricks on me. We went back to the car when we were satisfied that we had gotten enough pictures and drove around a little more before grabbing a couple of coffees for the road. There was no decision to make this time. It was starting to get dark. We had to head back to the hotel. The drive back was nerve wrecking. The roads were waterlogged, it was getting dark and moose were spotted on the highway according to a man at a gas station. It was dark when we made it back but we made it back safely and without incident. It was still early evening and we were not ready to call it a night and go back to the hotel yet. We pulled over into an abandoned parking lot and contemplated what to do next. We decided that, first and foremost, we needed something to eat! We drove around the town looking for a place we could agree on. After getting lost a few more times, we spotted a Pizza Delight and it was settled. I ordered more coffee, of course, a small personal size pizza and a Caesar salad while my sister ordered a seafood calzone. We were pretty stuffed after all that but we still ordered dessert, which we got to go so we could eat it later in the hotel room while we watched TV. We took our time sipping our coffee. There was not much else to do when we left, so we took one more little drive around and headed back to the hotel with our chocolate cake! There was the option to rent movies from the front desk but not only was this service a bit expensive, the list of movies to choose from was not very promising! Most of them were about 15 to 20 years old! We opted to just channel surf. There were a few movies on the tube that night but we got stuck on “Cops.” After eating the chocolate cake, I realized that I forgot my water in the car. I was too tired to walk around the building so I tried my luck at opening the door again. I turned the latch a certain way or something because the door opened without any hassle! My sister held the door open while I ran to the car. We didn’t want to close the door after I came back in for fear of not being able to open it again. We then noticed some big boulders next to all the doors. We were not the only ones who had trouble. They were obviously used as door stoppers. It was mild that evening and very warm in the room so we just left it there all night! We were not concerned about anyone wandering into our room. After all we are in Newfoundland where there is hardly any crime and if someone were to break in, the most they would do is clean up! I don’t remember falling asleep, but it must have been to the sound of the TV because it was still on when I woke up. I was tired from the long day and slept like a baby! The next thing I do remember was waking up to the sound of my alarm clock. Check out time was 11 a.m. so I set my alarm for 9 a.m. to allow time to get packed, eat breakfast and shower. But when I looked at my cell phone clock, it said it was 10 a.m. I was only confused for a few seconds when I realized my mistake – daylight savings came into effect earlier that morning! There was no way we could be out in an hour! I made a call down to the front desk to explain our predicament and the clerk just laughed. Apparently, everyone in the hotel had forgotten to change their clocks! One good thing came from it though – there would be more daylight that evening on the drive home. When we first woke up, we thought it was raining. But it was actually freezing rain, which meant the roads were slippery. We loaded up the car after scraping the windows of ice and by the time we pulled out of the hotel parking lot, it was snowing. We started to slide the second we hit the Trans Canada Highway. We needed to stop somewhere to wait for either the storm to stop or the salt truck and snowplow to go by. We spotted an Irving Mainway Station up ahead and stopped to have some breakfast. Irving Mainways are a traditional road trip pit-stop on the East Coast. They serve up the heartiest breakfasts in these parts. We took a seat on the side wall where the heaters were and ordered coffee. To eat, I ordered a veggie omelet and my sister had the traditional breakfast of sausage, scrambled eggs, toast and hash browns. We both had some fruit and yogurt for dessert. The storm wasn’t letting up and the roads were getting worse by the time we finished eating and there was no sign of a snowplow or salt truck. Driving was going to be tricky. We decided to have some more coffee and wait it out for a while. We got half-way through our third cup when we heard the familiar sound of blades on concrete! Now we just needed a salt truck. It never came so we decided to finish our coffee so we could get on the road and be back home before nightfall. The snowplow had in fact made the roads worse. The mixture of rain and snow falling was turning the packed down snow into bumpy ice and slippery patches. The usually 4-lane highway was now reduced to 2 lanes. Still, we had to keep going. That first hour on the highway was scary. Cars were swerving everywhere and the people in the big trucks were not reducing their speed, instilling fear in the ones who did not have 4-wheel drive and studded tires. The situation made my sister a nervous driver with her hands glued stiff to the steering wheel and I was one nervous passenger who was just as much on edge! As the freezing rain gradually changed to rain and the temperature started to rise, the icy conditions changed to slushy, wet conditions which resulted in hydroplaning and not being able to see out of the windshield because the cars in the opposite lane were splashing us! Eventually, the highway widened and we were back to four lanes. The roads remained bad until we reached Whitbourne. We stopped to take a breather and take some pictures of the ice on the trees. The drive from there into the city was clear sailing and we made it back just before nightfall and in one piece. There were still a few hours left of the weekend so we decided to make good use of it by grabbing some junk food and a movie. A perfect end to a great but flawed weekend!   Submitted By: Andrea MacEachern