"Did you say hurricane?"

This is a different type of blog for me - I am typing offline and I will cut and paste it in to the blog home page later, but I want to capture the moment while it is happening.
We arrived in Newfoundland this morning at about 630am, after the overnight ferry from Nova Scotia. We drove for about 4 hours until we arrived at our destination for the next two days - Gros Morne National Park. We have a cabin for two nights and we are supposed to be doing a sea kayaking trip from here in the morning. Today was a bit of a down day - I had a nap once we arrived, the boys played at the lake shore and sat, reading on the porch swing. We ventured in to the two closest towns - Norris Point and Rocky Harbour and we stopped by one of the National park visitor centers to see what was happening, It rained on and off through the day, but nothing to write home about (I find that expression funny now!). We had lunch at this great little place called "The Treasure Box", which is part cafe and part art gallery. The boys had chocolate chip pancakes (for $2.99!) and I had the best lobster chowder and a home made biscuit. We decided we would spend the afternoon around the cabin and then we would head back in to Norris Point for dinner and go to a local concert that was happening as part of the Trails, Tales and Tunes festival that is on until the weekend. The kids had a good time fooling around for the rest of the afternoon - skipping rocks, running around and reading. It started to rain a bit more at about 5:30pm, so we got ready to go back to town. We started the drive out of the campground and the wind was picking up as we turned on to the main road. We made a quick stop at the local drugstore for some more cold medicine (I'm still feeling pretty yucky) and a new book for me to read, and a couple of locals were talking about the "north easterly" that was blowing things around. (With the Newfie accent, it hard to really follow everything they were saying.) I didn't pay too much attention as the wind wasn't really that bad. Down in to the town for some dinner at Pittman's. Another great little local place, that one of the boys said, "if this place was at home, we wouldn't even think about going inside!" Dinner, however, was fantastic! (and less than $20 for the three of us!) While we were eating, a lady blew in to the restaurant (literally!) and started going on about something, but I had no idea what she was saying. It was then that I noticed the ceiling of the restaurant seemed to be moving and some scaffolding blew over outside. We were just about done eating so I got up to get our bill and pay our waitress - and I could then legitimately put myself in to the conversation that was going on about the wind. As I approached the counter, I could've sworn I heard the lady who blew in say, "the north easterly is set to become a hurricane shortly". I jump in with "did you just say hurricane?" Yes, I had heard correctly. Apparently, the "north easterly" wind is quite uncommon in these parts, but a bit ferocious when it comes. Now, the boys haven't heard any of this conversation and they aren't really phased by the wind because they've become accustomed to the winds at the farm. (As well, they've both given up talking to anyone around here, because they can't understand a word they're saying and Dylan is tired of trying to figure it out and having to ask everyone to repeat themselves several times.) At this point, I decide we will be forfeiting the cultural experience of a local folk concert and we will be heading back to camp while it's still light out. When we pull back in to the campground I stopped in at the office to see if there was anything I should know or be concerned about, I leave the kids in the car - the last thing Dylan needs to hear is the word "hurricane". When I get inside there is a bit of activity of people collecting rope and checking the weather warnings on the only computer with internet activity. I am assured that we are fine in our cabin, but we probably shouldn't drive anywhere, as it's quite common for cars to be blown over the side of the road when a "north easterly" blows in. Great. I dare to ask what the forecast is for the next few days and I'm told not to worry, it will all blow out in the next two days or so. So much for sea kayaking.
We make it back to our cabin to find our bbq blown all apart, the porch swing wrapped around a porch post and standard wind debris all around. We bundle inside, like this is any other day, Brendan strips down to his boxers and gets in his sleeping bag to read, Dylan digs out his fleece gloves, (there is no heat in our cabin) and gets in his sleeping bag to draw and I pull out the computer to write down this new experience before it becomes a fading memory. As I'm sitting here typing, my son with a phobia of severe weather and all natural disasters, says to me "I like it here mom, it's just like home." Well, hallelujah, we've now been to a place that Dylan likes! With the boys oblivious to any weather related danger, we are about to crack open our "Anne of Green Gables" book and read some more. They will go to sleep like cozy little bugs in the their sleeping bag cocoons and I will say a prayer that God will leave us in the same place until morning.
If you get to read this entry, we have lived to tell the tale, if not, we must have been blown out to sea by the uncommon, but ferocious, north easterly.