i blame this on maps.google.com when typed in starting point and destination, clicked on satellite map and watched that blue line snake through the northern u.s. head as far east as it could go, i knew that i wanted to drive. not in the drive i fantasized about last year – the meander through québec through labrador entering the island via the northern peninsula, this year it is more practical. i want to get there, i want as much time as possible in rocky harbour and i want to spend as much time after the wedding as possible so this year flying would be the best option. this year, though, isn’t the minimalist trips of years past – an overnight bag and a courier bag to fit in the over head compartment of the plane -this year it is an expedition.
despite the princely sum of $800u.s. before taxes that the greatest art school since the beginning of recorded time (u.s news and world report) i am in dire need of funds to pull this off. or to put it another way i need to slice my budget any way i can. driving will cut down on the cost of a 45 day car rental even the relatively inexpensive one that i would get from t.j., the shipping and taxes that i would have to pay on the things shipped. i could carry more things.
all in all even though the cost of getting there would be about the same, i would save roughly $2000u.s.
the drive also would also permanently etch distance of the province. flying is a nuisance and one does get impatient after a while but the position of the rock to the rest of north america is still a theoretical isolation like time being 30 minutes off kilter. i know how happy i feel when i finally see the outline of the island in the dark. i can recite at will the distances between st. john’s and dublin, mention, greenland and iceland as being closer than chicago but it is all recitation. i am glad to see the island from the plane but it isn’t like i have become antsy due to time passed, a couple of chapters have been read, a film and news programme has been shown, i have two chances at tea.
how will it feel to go almost two days and not hit canada? when that finally happens realising that i still have a time zone to cross on the mainland and cape breton before reaching the ferry at north sydney. how much radio can i listen to?
do i take the short or long sea route to the rock the short meaning the snaking transcanada to st. john’s but being able to drop things off at rocky harbour – i have some film here – or the north sydney argentia route making the final leg a cake walk.
after going one way how much effort will it take to do the reverse trip when i have to return?
i want to do the drive as a homage to the final drive the brothers take from alberta in alastair mccloud’s no great mischief – only being from below the 49th – i’ll have to take it further – breezing through cape breton where the novel ends and robert frank’s place and still having a day’s travel in front of me. i really want an anticipation of landfall after being at sea for hours. i would like to document the trip but most of all i would like to arrive there fully knowing that i didn’t forget anything and didn’t have to leave anything behind.
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