Just as there was purpose in selecting the destination — the Coral Cabin — the purpose of the journey was to transition us both in space and mind from our suburban setting to that of the “Coral Cabin”. While we could have flown and been in Roger’s Cove in a day, we chose to drive, taking a 9-day passage through northern Quebec and across Labrador. After Manic-5, north of Baie-Comeau Quebec, approximately half the road is gravel. Towns are often 300-500 kilometres apart, with no gas stations, accommodations, or restaurants in between. In contrast, our return route through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick could have been done in 3 days, although we took 6, to include a two-day stop over in Halifax.
Taking the longer route, at a casual pace, allowed us to disconnect our thoughts from daily life to pay attention to the wide, varied and seemingly endless landscape we were driving through; to released our minds to wander among the trees and bogs, to calibrate the distance between our suburban and this natural environment. Yet, the persistent presence of the road reminded us we were still connected to civilization.
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