Vikings

 Pistolet Bay Provincial Park - June 4 to June 14, 2024

I think most of us were taught in grade school that "In fourteen hundred and ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue" and discovered America. Since that time there have been plenty of archeological finds proving the Vikings were here long before Columbus. They just didn't stick around. One of the sites proving the Vikings were here first is L'Ance aux Meadows, which is about a 30 minute drive from where we are parked.

As part of our preparations to visit L'Ance aux Meadows we check cruisemapper.com. Yep, no cruise ships due at any of the local ports, we are good to go! I wish I could find a similar web site for tour busses. I don't begrudge any of the folks that choose to travel this way, it's just that they overwhelm whatever they visit. How can you enjoy a site when there are 50 to several hundred other people jockeying for position to see whatever there is to see. It's just best to avoid them if you can. That way you can stop and embrace the essence of the location. 

L'Ance aux Meadows is where the Vikings, or Norsemen, established a settlement in about 1000 AD. Archeologists say that this was not a permanent settlement but was sporadically occupied between a period of 20 and a 100 years. Remains of the village suggest that this was used as a boat repairing facility and a staging area for explorations that ranged further inland and further south.

Our excursion to the Viking settlement began with a slight diversion. We are always on the lookout for a good boondocking site. We found a gravel road that went around a corner hiding what lay beyond and piquing our interest. Hoping it might be a good site to camp, we went to investigate, and found our second fox. As usual, we were both so stunned by the appearance of a fox headed straight for us, that neither of us thought to take a picture until it was headed away.

We finally arrived at the Viking site where EJ is greeted by the inhabitants.

On the walkway to the Viking structures we passed through this. It is an artists vision representing the meeting of two worlds. Beats me how they get that out of it. If you squint really really hard the object on the left might represent a Viking sail. The object on the right, I got no clue! And in the middle, "Oh look, another iceberg!".

Eventually we arrive at the Viking village. There is a long house, a blacksmith shop and several others.

And it's not crowded. Just the way we like it.

Of course on the way out, we had to find a geocache and ended up here.

And to close out our adventure, the fog starts to roll in. That happens a lot up here.

Obligatory cat picture follows...